So, when I got back to my house with Frisco and Kat, Steve starts in on me about how I need to move my dog stuff to the garage. I was like, yeah I do, maybe next weekend when I have time since the garage is a disaster. Anyway somehow I went out and took a look at the garage.
Only to find out he'd already cleaned it!
And, he'd shampooed the carpet.
And...when I came back to post on hatrack I noticed that my tray icons had totally changed. I kept asking him what he'd done with it.
Turns out while I was at the wedding he also went out and bought me a whole new computer! (same monitor and keyboard though)
I really need to go away more often!
AJ
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
that is definitely a great homecoming.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Hahahah! OH my Lord, that is terrific.
Quick, leave again now while he's still in this mood!
[ April 03, 2005, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Ryuko ]
Posted by FriscoProofKatAlias (Member # 7691) on :
Steve was so adorable. I got on the computer as soon as we walked in the door, and he pointed to the new tower and whispered to keep it quiet. Since I had noticed nothing, this was not a problem. He was just glowing with the secret though - it was so cute.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Steve is making the rest of us look bad.
Of course, when I got home from New Zealand, we had new carpet in the upstairs bedrooms - which was about time, since we've lived with the bottom-of-the-line carpet the previous owner of the house installed in order to sell the house twelve years ago. But it wasn't a surprise, I already knew it would happen; and my wife was with me, so we can't exactly say it was a gift one of us gave the other.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
AJ, I'm very jealous.
Last time I came back from somewhere, all that had gotten done in my absence was a load of laundry.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
And then Uncle Orson posts all weekend long, including on your thread.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
While I was at WenchCon, my husband cleaned the entire apt., rented a steam cleaner and did the carpets, couches, and chairs, did all the piled up dishes and laundry, and bleached out the cat box.
When I walked in, not only was it clean, it smelled wonderful-- because he had dinner in the crockpot. My husband who does not cook had gone online, looked up my recipe for one of my favorite crockpot meals, and made it for me so it was waiting when I got home. And while he was at the grocery store, he had gotten me Penguin, which I love, and had it in the car for me in case I'd gotten hungry after I missed my flight.
I also think I need to go away more often. Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
*considers trading husband in for newfangled cleaning model*
Posted by FriscoProofKatAlias (Member # 7691) on :
Oh, and he cooked for us.
Megan, maybe we can just borrow them for a while. They look friendly - won't kick too much when we chloroform them and shove them in the van.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Hey, AJ, tell Steve that I'm going to be out of the house all day tomorrow. He's welcome to come by give me a new computer, and he doesn't even need to worry about cleaning the carpets.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I'm in shock actually. I was dreading downloading AIM and installing it. I still haven't adjusted to the faster download times!
Kat apparently knew because she came back to the computer first and Steve told her(kat) not to tell me!
AJ
[ April 03, 2005, 11:29 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Kat, I like it. I'll bring the van, you bring the chloroform.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Ok let's be realistic here, this effort probably means Steve thinks he's entitled to coast for at least six months...
AJ
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Oh, I'm sure that's not all he feels he's entitled to. (bawdy wink )
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
*hides ketchup prince consort in the closet*
*thinks about it*
*joins him in the closet* Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
So now you are BOTH gay? That is weird, but I hope it works out for you booth.... Posted by FriscoProofKatAlias (Member # 7691) on :
In all seriousness, one of the weirdest events of my life was when a guy I knew came by our apartment and, with only a little prompting, cleand our bathroom for us.
Sadly, this did not make me love him. I did think it was sweet.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
If you invite me over for dinner, I'll clean your bathroom and/or kitchen.
*hints*
And we're not in the closet to be gay-- ever play "7 Minutes in Heaven"? Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
KQ, then you're officially invited to dinner.
Of course, once you get here, you may not be allowed to leave...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Okay, next time we're in the area, we'll consider ourselves invited.
I warn you, though, I'm a pain to live with. Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Oh, you won't be when I'm through with you.
*tries to be scary Megan*
Posted by FriscoProofKatAlias (Member # 7691) on :
Oh! Next Sunday then. What do you think? I'll invite Coccinelle too. I'll cook.
Added: And no, you don't have to clean.
[ April 04, 2005, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: FriscoProofKatAlias ]
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Next Sunday sounds great. E-mail me with a time and your address. Or call. Whatever.
Oh, and church for us is from 11 to 2, and we'd need to give Emma a nap, and then get everything together, and then drive there... Shall we say any time after 5:30 is good for us?
And remind me to bring your monkey.
[ April 04, 2005, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: ketchupqueen ]
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
Wow, AJ, you're lucky. Whenever I go away, Andrew eats microwave burritos and lets the garbage pile up.
I think I'll go "accidentally" wake him up now.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Goodness. Steve is the man.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Actually, come to think of it, my dad cleaned the house too. And repainted our porch chairs.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
We came home to mold that had grown in a forgotten cereal bowl in the sink.
Eeeew.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Awwww!
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
mack
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I came home to a clean house . . . but this was hardly a surprise, since the housekeeper comes every Friday.
It's not generally this clean by the time Sunday night rolls around, though. Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Best thing I ever did while my wife was away: She and I went to a sci-fi convention, leaving our kids behind to be tended by grandparents, and when we came back and went to our rented house in Sandy, all the furniture was gone from the bedroom.
While we were gone, I arranged for some of my brothers to move all our bedroom furniture to our new house in Orem, the first one we ever bought. (Kristine knew about the house - that would NOT be a pleasant surprise, to find out your husband had bought you a house without your knowledge.)
So after the shock wore off and she was speaking to me again, we drove on down to the new house and spent our first night there together.
Posted by Jane_Lane (Member # 7665) on :
I love surprises. About five years ago, my parents were planning to go their first holiday without us kids. Upstairs, we had this really horrible carpet that was scratchy and old, and my mum couldn't bear to walk on it without slippers. So my brother and I saved up for about a year, (we were 13 at the time), to get the whole of the 1st floor re-carpetted. When they came back, my mum was so happy she cried! Then she got worried that a couple of 13 year old kids had been allowed to pay a few hundred pounds for a stranger to come to the house to rip up the carpet - She told us never to do it again!
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
*still in shock today* The happiness is helping with the sleep deprivation from having too much fun with jatraqueros.
AJ
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:since we've lived with the bottom-of-the-line carpet the previous owner of the house installed in order to sell the house twelve years ago.
This has always confused me, although I did it, too. My carpet needed changing when I sold my first house, and I figured I'd acknowledge that and work in some kind of carpet credit or price reduction into the final closing costs. That way the buyer could pick the carpet they wanted, and I wouldn't have to day anything about installing a new one.
But EVERYONE I talked to except my dad told me that it was better to install cheap neutral carpet before showing the house. I needed to sell quickly, so I went ahead and did that. Plus, I had it painted, even though I thought it would be better to let the buyer pick the color.
I don't really understand it, myself. But I've gotten anecdotal evidence that it's true. The house we bought last year was on the market for longer than it should have been, and they hadn't replaced carpet or painted.
I still think it's nuts.
Dagonee
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Dag, watch Sell This House! on A&E and it will make you a believer. We're accustommed to such a high level of consumer driven marketing that it's very hard for most people to envision the house they're walking through any other way than the way it's presented.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
Watch "Designed to Sell" on HGTV - they fix up a house with a $2,000 budget (sometimes the homeowner volunteers to pay for something like carpet or appliances, but usually that's the whole budget).
Sometimes they get thousands more than they originally asked. The woman in tonight's show had her house on the market for six months before they came in.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I love Designed to Sell. I think that watching their show was what gave us the idea to change from nasty linoleum in kitchen to new linoleum even if it was stick-on squares and probably upped the apprasial value of our house considerably because we'd disposed of the eyesore.
AJ
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
AJ, if you come down here sometime to visit, who knows what he'll do to the house.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
*perks up*
Well I'm going to see fugu again in two weeks. And he'd better bring me a bottle of Honey Mead if he wants to go home with a puppy.
AJ
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
*laugh* Bribery is necessary to get puppies? How cute.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Hmm I viewed it as bribery necessary to get the Honey Mead AJ
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
Lucky bastards. When I return - from whatever it may be, including a 7-week trip to Australia - I get nothing. NOTHING.
All I get is mother-nagging; when I've been out for three days, so tired that I didn't defecate or take a shower for 36 hours (after walking 9 hours every day in the desert, late spring, around 37 degrees Celsius) - and all I get is nagging. "How was it? Did you sleep enough? What did you eat? What did you see?" It's 10 O'clock at night, and I don't even have energy to take my clothes off before sleeping, or walking to my bed. I've got 20KG of stuff on my back, and it's hunched like that lad from Notre-DAMN!, whatever his name was. "It ******* well sucked. I'm hungry, thirsty, suffocating, tired and really, REALLY stressed and irritated. Leave me alone."
And I'm not even an adult - for Christ's sake! Am I really so unlovable by all except a few open-hearts found here on Hatrack?
JH
Posted by Jonathan K. (Member # 7720) on :
Pushing for a compliment?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
umm... I think comparing this to a parental relationship is entirely inappropriate. Parent-child relationships are not those of equality, they aren't supposed to be. It's apples and oranges.
Parents don't exist to make you happy. They exist to keep you alive until you can survive on your own. And often times that includes making you unhappy in order to improve your character. Particularly if they financed the Australia expedition, they are going into it with expectations that somehow you will be a better person as a result of the experience. It is very rare for a parent-child interaction to be spontaneously altruistic and have no strings attached. There's always an expectation from one side or the other on something.
AJ
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
quote: Pushing for a compliment?
Nope. I had enough for the past year. I'm a "grumpy guts".
Still, when any family returns I ssentially always get them something - even a symbolic chocolate!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
AJ: I'll bring at least a bottle of honey mead, and possibly some other stuff too Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Sounds like they just wanted to know how you were, JH. But I understand that sometimes parents can irritate.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
woo hoo!!! My friend Jacque may be coming out to see the puppies the last weekend in April. So I'm not sure any more exactly when I want you to come pick the puppy up.
AJ
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Heh, works for me, I've got enough to do in preparation for the big day
Heck, if its late enough I can work it into my still-forming trip up to Chicago and then the Twin Cities. I'd take amtrak to you, then to st. paul, then back to you, then go home from you in some way that allows a dog to come along (flying?).
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
Once my mom told us she was going food shopping, and brought home a dog. Go figure .
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Poisonfish! Come eat lunch with me when you're in St. Paul!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Certainly Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:We're accustommed to such a high level of consumer driven marketing that it's very hard for most people to envision the house they're walking through any other way than the way it's presented.
This means the ability to envision the house in other ways gives a buyer a good advantage.
This time if we sell it won't be a problem - we've got paint and carpet less than a year old, and a ceramic smoothtop stove/over-the-range microwave less than two months old. Plus a very nive built-in desk by yours truly.
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
quote: Pushing for a compliment?
Nope. I had enough for the past year. I'm a "grumpy guts".
Still, when any family returns I essentially always get them something - even a symbolic chocolate!
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*hides ketchup prince consort in the closet*![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
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mack
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