There's still a little bit of snow on the ground, but that didn't stop us from taking the top down on the MG today...

Making a case for commuting

Several times I've been asked by people why we choose to live in Pennsylvania while my husband works in NYC and NJ (actually he works from home now most of the time, but that's a recent change). The following photos dramatically illustrate why thousands of people from the Poconos choose to live here and opt for a longer commute to their jobs in another state.

Here's what $200k will buy in many parts of New Jersey. 

Now here's another option for the NYC/NJ commuter, a house on Long Island, NY, where your commute may still be an hour. There wasn't apparently anything listed for $200k, but this was the closest at $238k. Better than the first house, I suppose. At least the yard would be easy to mow!

And finally, a house you can buy for $200k in the Pocono Mtns. of Pennsylvania...

Our pets enjoy the early spring weather...

The two Huskies frollicking outside

Pretty girl 

Kylie is not a morning dog! 

Sebastian and Tasha sacked out for an afternoon nap on and under my desk 

Congress, butt out!

I've been following the Terri Schiavo case with interest ever since we lived in Tampa. My heart has gone out to this poor woman in a vegetative state, along with her husband and family, for what everyone has had to go through for the past 15 years. Almost as upsetting has been watching the media fiasco unravel over the last few weeks. Republican politicians are hijacking this scenario for their own "Sanctity of Life" agenda. The writing is on the wall - you know what is next (psssstt..it's a-b-o-r-t-i-o-n rights). It amazes me that one family's turmoil is being used to further political gain. I suppose it doesn't matter that this case was decided repeatedly in the state courts, in favor of the husband. What a horrible precedent this will set for the future of our legal system.

The only plus of this receiving such publicity is that a lot of folks are making their wishes known to friends and family about such matters. Everyone in my family already knows that if this ever happens to me that I'd like to be dispatched into the next world ASAP. Pull the plug, throw out the feeding tube, hire someone to do the dirty work if the courts won't allow it, just put me out of misery, do whatever you need to do. It is my belief that there is more to existence than what we have on this earth, and a physical death isn't necessarily the end.

Still, the Schiavo and Schindler families have my sympathy, whatever the outcome may be.

Can it be... Satan?!

MICHIGANTOWN, Indiana (AP) -- A turtle that was the only survivor of a pet shop fire may have emerged with a hellish memento.

The palm-sized red-eared slider turtle, named Lucky, was the only animal to survive a fire last October at Dora's A-Dora-ble Pet Shop in nearby Frankfort, about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

Owner Bryan Dora now says he sees an image of Satan's face on the critter's shell. He can spot lips, eyes, a goatee, shoulders and a pair of pointy horns on Lucky's back.

"The marking on the shell was like the devil wanted us to know he was down there," Bryan Dora said. "To me, it's too coincidental that the only thing to come out unscathed would have this image on it."

The image was not visible before the fire and Dora speculates the intense heat might have caused the shell's color to change. The turtle is healthy and there was no change in its behavior, he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/21/evil.turtle.ap/index.html

You know, that reminds me... There was a knot in the wood of the bathroom door at my grandmother's house that looked like Jesus. It always freaked me out when I had to use the toilet.

House update

Brad has not updated our house renovations web pages in a very long time, so I'm going to take it over. I will archive new pics on that website as well as posting updates here. The following are a few photos taken recently around the house and property.

I don't think we ever posted a picture of the yard barn on the house website. This is a 16' x 20' structure that Brad erected from a 84 Lumber kit. It rests on piers and is wired for electricity. This is Brad's workshop and storage space. 

This is what we call "the green room". It is a 2nd floor room on one of the additions which will someday be remodeled into a spacious master bedroom. This room is currently not heated, has no insulation, and is horribly overspanned with a low shed roof that I can barely fit under. It is currently used for storage. I've spent the last few weeks cleaning out most of what has been stored in this space.

And this is why we call it the green room! Parts of the room are painted a psychadelic 1960s lime green. These are the steps which lead into it from the downstairs back living room. I always liked these stairs, as they remind me of a servant's stairway(though there certainly were no servants in this poor farmhouse).

One of my recent projects was pulling up the carpeting in the upstairs bedrooms and hallway. One of the house's prior tenants had painted the floors a lovely puke gray/light blue color. Yecccch! 

I found this modern forced-air vent in one of the bedrooms. I have no idea what system, if any, this patches into... 

This was found in the hallway... 

And a mysterious panel made of tin screwed to the floor...

And we still need to finish painting... Not sure yet if we are going to replace the chair rail in the dining room and add some wainscoting. The existing historic moulding and door/window surrounds throughout the house are quite beefy, and this chair rail looks a little too delicate for my tastes... 

Ever wonder...

...what your pets are up to when you're at work?

 

 

 

Thanks to Amanda for sending this...

Another weekend, here and gone

It was a fairly productive weekend here around the house. My e-baying has continued, but will soon be ending, as I'm finally running out of things to sell. At this point I have 77 finished auctions, 9 currently up, and maybe a few more to go. What have I been selling? Books I will no longer read, old magazines, empty Minidisc cases (really), some bubblegum and Cracker Jack prizes from the 70s, clothes, an old phone/answering machine unit, an outdated Mp3 player that I no longer use, etc. I have learned that people will buy just about ANYTHING on e-bay.

In the process, I've made a few bucks, and have cleaned a lot of stuff out of the house. At least 3 trash dumpster loads have also been filled with things I've thrown away, plus there's still some junk left for the flea market in the spring. I am always amazed to see just how much stuff I am able to accumulate over time.

Brad and I took the dogs for a hike today. We've found one hike which we enjoy that follows a long-abandoned 19th century railroad grade for much of its length. I was only able to snap a few photos as handling Kylie at the same time was a bit too much (though probably nothing compared to walking with 2 Huskies with once, as Brad has been doing!)...

This photo was taken just above Brodhead Creek. The distinctive outline of the Delaware Water Gap is in the distance. Mt. Tammany is the ridge on the left (New Jersey), and Mt. Minsi is the ridge on the right (Pennsylvania). The Delaware River cuts through the gap between these mountains, and the Appalachian Trail crosses from NJ to PA along the Interstate 80 bridge.

This is an area being excavated for a future shopping mall. The mountain in the distance is part of the ridge which makes up our property. 

I recently bought a manual treadmill on e-bay. I had a manual treadmill years ago, but couldn't use it because the tenants below our 2nd floor apartment complained of the noise! The new treadmill is slanted at an incline, and is a killer on the legs. It sounds crazy, but thus far I've only been able to do 1/2 mile at a time, as it seems more like mountain climbing than walking. Since it's so hard, I would imagine that I'm getting a good workout...??