Not really interested? That's fine...I also just wanted to play around in Photoshop :-)
So, here's the plot layout of our street:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Our Street
So, I had some down time this afternoon and I thought y'all might be interested to see how our street has filled out in the past six months.
Radon
As I've been working on a redesign of the blog, I've also been flipping through some of our old posts from May and June. (It is soooo much fun to go back and read through them all and remember everything that has happened). As I was reading, I came across the post that I made right after we got the results of our radon test (http://our5percent.blogspot.com/2008/05/21-pcil.html).
Recently, two of the houses on our street have sold (however, I never truly believe it until I see people with their moving truck), but we've noticed that both of those houses must have elevated radon levels because they have the radon-remover-boxes on the sides of their houses (they're very noticeable because they basically have a box at street level and then a square pipe that goes up the side of the house to the roof to release the radon). They're extremely unsightly and quite loud.
So, of course, we were pretty pleased that our house tested low for radon, but I think it may have tested low because of the time of the year. Evidently, radon levels are usually higher in the winter months. So we're probably breathing evil, Satan radon right now, but at least we don't have an ugly box on the side of our house :-)
Note to all: sell your house in the summer!
Recently, two of the houses on our street have sold (however, I never truly believe it until I see people with their moving truck), but we've noticed that both of those houses must have elevated radon levels because they have the radon-remover-boxes on the sides of their houses (they're very noticeable because they basically have a box at street level and then a square pipe that goes up the side of the house to the roof to release the radon). They're extremely unsightly and quite loud.
So, of course, we were pretty pleased that our house tested low for radon, but I think it may have tested low because of the time of the year. Evidently, radon levels are usually higher in the winter months. So we're probably breathing evil, Satan radon right now, but at least we don't have an ugly box on the side of our house :-)
Note to all: sell your house in the summer!
New Blog Layout
Today was a pretty lazy day around our house, so I took the evening to redesign the layout of the blog. I was aiming for something simple and streamlined, so I hope that I accomplished that much. :-) If you like it, let me know. If you hate it, let Brian know.
I also used the collage feature in Picasa to create the new header image. (As an aside, Picasa is like the best picture collector software program ever.) I thought y'all might be interested to know where all the pictures in the collage were taken.
So, from top->bottom; left->right:
In a golf cart at Put-in-Bay in Ohio (Oct. 2003)
Atop Mount Royal in Montréal (Feb. 2006)
SOLD sign for our house (Jan. 2008)
Appalachian football game (Nov. 2006)
Gatsby LeBlanc (Oct. 2008)
Before a Panthers game at BofA Stadium (Nov. 2004)
Bryson City/Great Smoky Mountains for our 1st anniversary (May 2007)
My master's graduation (May 2006)
Emergency drill on our honeymoon cruise (June 2006)
With the Stanley Cup (July 2006)
Niagara Falls (Mar. 2003)
Ice Skaing on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa (Mar. 2003)
A few things I noticed as I was putting these into the collage:
I also used the collage feature in Picasa to create the new header image. (As an aside, Picasa is like the best picture collector software program ever.) I thought y'all might be interested to know where all the pictures in the collage were taken.
So, from top->bottom; left->right:
In a golf cart at Put-in-Bay in Ohio (Oct. 2003)
Atop Mount Royal in Montréal (Feb. 2006)
SOLD sign for our house (Jan. 2008)
Appalachian football game (Nov. 2006)
Gatsby LeBlanc (Oct. 2008)
Before a Panthers game at BofA Stadium (Nov. 2004)
Bryson City/Great Smoky Mountains for our 1st anniversary (May 2007)
My master's graduation (May 2006)
Emergency drill on our honeymoon cruise (June 2006)
With the Stanley Cup (July 2006)
Niagara Falls (Mar. 2003)
Ice Skaing on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa (Mar. 2003)
A few things I noticed as I was putting these into the collage:
- I'm always on Brian's right in pictures, unless there is a huge hunk of metal in the form of a cup named Stanley between us or there are millions of gallons of water free falling behind us.
- We take a lot of pictures in places where it's cold.
- Brian and I have been together for a very long time.*
- I like my hair better short.
- Gatsby is really cute.
* Brian and I just realized that we've "been an item" for more than 6.5 years; we've been married for more than 2.5 years; and we've lived in our house for more than 6 months!
Life goes by way too fast!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Photos de Noël
Today around sunset, Gatsby and I treked around to take some pictures of our house with all the Christmas decorations. They're up in our Picasa directory:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lsleblanc82/Christmas2008
http://picasaweb.google.com/lsleblanc82/Christmas2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Christmas Poem
My dad sent this to me a few weeks ago and then I saw it on Robbie and Sara's blog, so I wanted to post it here because I think it's always important to remember those who fight for our freedom.
---
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue ... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'
---
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue ... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'
Monday, December 8, 2008
TIS THE SEASON!!!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CHRISTMAS!
Seriously (I'm the one person listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween).
Brian and I got most of the Christmas decorations out the Sunday after Thanksgiving and then we got our tree yesterday.
I am very, very traditional when it comes to Christmas decorations. I'm a firm believer in a white light façade and I've spent the first 2.5 years of our marriage convincing Brian of the same. :-) (And now he agrees with me!)
I'm OK with multicolored lights on other peoples' houses--just not ours :-)
So we have very lovely candles in our 20 windows (on an 8 hour timer from 3:30-11:30 p.m.) and a very lovely fake, prelit, white-light Christmas tree in our front window (in the study). We also have garland on our three front "square" columns. We bought some icicle lights, but they seem like a giant pain to put up, so those may have to wait until next year after we can research the situation a bit! :-)
Inside our front hall we have our nativity scene and my Christmas village (http://www.department56.com/content.aspx?cid=VLXC&ms=PRD&msi=58994&smenu=Products).
In our "great room" [lame name], we have our real tree and it's awesome this year. (I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so Brian went to get it by himself and he did a fantastic job.)
(To digress for a brief moment, it is wayyyyy easier to bring in a Christmas tree into our house with a flat driveway than to bring it into our 2nd floor apartment that sits on a hill.)
So, last night we decorated the tree (and by "we" I mean "me" for 45 minutes and "Brian" for 5 minutes). Because we're super compromisers, we have multicolored lights on our tree and I have to say that it looks quite pretty.
I'll try to get some pictures up later this week, but I'm not sure how the house pictures will come out because I'll need to take them at dusk.
Yay Christmas! (Oh yeah, and we have tickets to the Nutcracker and we're going to go to the Raleigh Boychoir's Carols of Christmas.)
BTW, Gatsby hasn't paid too much attention to the tree except that he doesn't like it much when his ball rolls behind it and he thought it was fun to drink the water when I was pouring it into the tree stand. He also likes the tree skirts on both trees, but he knows that it doesn't make us happy if he plays with them, so he's been leaving them alone lately.
He kinda looked at us like we were crazy as we were bringing in the "dead tree" yesterday.
Seriously (I'm the one person listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween).
Brian and I got most of the Christmas decorations out the Sunday after Thanksgiving and then we got our tree yesterday.
I am very, very traditional when it comes to Christmas decorations. I'm a firm believer in a white light façade and I've spent the first 2.5 years of our marriage convincing Brian of the same. :-) (And now he agrees with me!)
I'm OK with multicolored lights on other peoples' houses--just not ours :-)
So we have very lovely candles in our 20 windows (on an 8 hour timer from 3:30-11:30 p.m.) and a very lovely fake, prelit, white-light Christmas tree in our front window (in the study). We also have garland on our three front "square" columns. We bought some icicle lights, but they seem like a giant pain to put up, so those may have to wait until next year after we can research the situation a bit! :-)
Inside our front hall we have our nativity scene and my Christmas village (http://www.department56.com/content.aspx?cid=VLXC&ms=PRD&msi=58994&smenu=Products).
In our "great room" [lame name], we have our real tree and it's awesome this year. (I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so Brian went to get it by himself and he did a fantastic job.)
(To digress for a brief moment, it is wayyyyy easier to bring in a Christmas tree into our house with a flat driveway than to bring it into our 2nd floor apartment that sits on a hill.)
So, last night we decorated the tree (and by "we" I mean "me" for 45 minutes and "Brian" for 5 minutes). Because we're super compromisers, we have multicolored lights on our tree and I have to say that it looks quite pretty.
I'll try to get some pictures up later this week, but I'm not sure how the house pictures will come out because I'll need to take them at dusk.
Yay Christmas! (Oh yeah, and we have tickets to the Nutcracker and we're going to go to the Raleigh Boychoir's Carols of Christmas.)
BTW, Gatsby hasn't paid too much attention to the tree except that he doesn't like it much when his ball rolls behind it and he thought it was fun to drink the water when I was pouring it into the tree stand. He also likes the tree skirts on both trees, but he knows that it doesn't make us happy if he plays with them, so he's been leaving them alone lately.
He kinda looked at us like we were crazy as we were bringing in the "dead tree" yesterday.
Our horse finally caught up with the cart.
Yes.
Saturday was a very sad day, as Appalachian was defeated by Richmond in a quarterfinal playoff game. So...their season is done.
I would be lying if I said that it doesn't suck. It definitely hurts. It sucks because the games are just so much fun to go to, it gives us something exciting to look forward to each weekend, and it's an awesome chance to spend time with my family. I mean, seriously, how many 26 year olds get to see their parents in Ocean, sis in Wilmington, and future brother-in-law in Ocean (at least) every other weekend from August to December?? It's pretty awesome that we all get to spend so much time together.
We all knew that it would end sometime, but that doesn't make it any easier; however, the fact that we got four incredible seasons of football is pretty awesome. How lucky are we as fans to see THREE STRAIGHT Division I National Championships and FOUR STRAIGHT Southern Conference titles AND a win over No. 5 Michigan IN Ann Arbor?
In a way, it's probably good because it will make the team want it more next year and they'll be set for greatness. The players that were really young this year will have a lot more experience. It will be Armanti's senior season and they will be out looking for revenge. I am VERY excited for next season and it will be very cool to start it off at ECU. It should be an electrifying atmosphere! They'll be ready and we'll be ready. (Interestingly, App doesn't play one single game outside of the Carolinas next year!)
So, we turn toward Labor Day Weekend 2009 and we spend the "off season" cheering on the Panthers and watching hockey!
Anyone want 5 seats to the National Championship game in Chattanooga on Dec. 19? :-)
Saturday was a very sad day, as Appalachian was defeated by Richmond in a quarterfinal playoff game. So...their season is done.
I would be lying if I said that it doesn't suck. It definitely hurts. It sucks because the games are just so much fun to go to, it gives us something exciting to look forward to each weekend, and it's an awesome chance to spend time with my family. I mean, seriously, how many 26 year olds get to see their parents in Ocean, sis in Wilmington, and future brother-in-law in Ocean (at least) every other weekend from August to December?? It's pretty awesome that we all get to spend so much time together.
We all knew that it would end sometime, but that doesn't make it any easier; however, the fact that we got four incredible seasons of football is pretty awesome. How lucky are we as fans to see THREE STRAIGHT Division I National Championships and FOUR STRAIGHT Southern Conference titles AND a win over No. 5 Michigan IN Ann Arbor?
In a way, it's probably good because it will make the team want it more next year and they'll be set for greatness. The players that were really young this year will have a lot more experience. It will be Armanti's senior season and they will be out looking for revenge. I am VERY excited for next season and it will be very cool to start it off at ECU. It should be an electrifying atmosphere! They'll be ready and we'll be ready. (Interestingly, App doesn't play one single game outside of the Carolinas next year!)
So, we turn toward Labor Day Weekend 2009 and we spend the "off season" cheering on the Panthers and watching hockey!
Anyone want 5 seats to the National Championship game in Chattanooga on Dec. 19? :-)
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