richmackey - the blog

So, for anyone who's been following the house blog (not linked from here 'cause we're shutting it down), we are out of the house we were building - too many delays (i.e. 5 months and still no foundation). So we worked with our realtor and found a great existing house - 3 years old - that fits our needs perfectly. Since we were already pre-approved, had money in the bank, etc., we expedited closing and locked it all down today.

From New House Pic...

Not quite as stylish as the one we were building, but hey - it's bigger, better yard, unfinished basement and most importantly - it's already built!

So, for now, we're broke. But we have a house. Moving will be in March sometime.

Here are some shots of the snow. Click any of them to see the full album.

My car is the second from the right. Next to the red truck.

From Blizzard of D...

Looking out our front window to the Northeast.

From Blizzard of D...

We're getting snow in Denver. Lots of snow. People always told me (before I moved here) that Denver is mild. Very mild. Warm in the winter in fact. 50 degrees here is eminently warmer than 50 degrees anywhere with humidity over 10%. Mostly this is true. They also said that if/when it snows, it's either a light dusting or you get dumped on.

The system above has been hanging out above us for more than a day - and we're now up to 2' (feet, that is) of snow. TWO FEET. And, it's still snowing. How does it impact me?

• The BF is stranded at some random strangers' house because his car got stuck on the way home from work yesterday - and he's 5.4 miles from our houses, and walking that in a blizzard didn't seem helpful. He's attempting to walk the 1.4 miles to a mutual friends' house today (friend with SUV).
• Said friend's SUV is stuck at the end of his driveway.
  
• The cats and I are fine in the house - fire works.
• My car (which I left outside because the BF was working late and I usually let him take the garage when he comes home late) is buried under a 4 foot snowdrift. Even if I could get it out, there's at least 3' of snow across the parking lot and a 6' drift at the end.
• Though I have a case of Twin Bing candy bars (bonus points if you've heard of it), for the most part we have very little food. Burritos, pot pies & stale pasta is about it. Today was grocery day. Fat chance.
• I don't own a shovel.
• My parents were supposed to fly in this morning. They've decided to wait and drive tomorrow (Mom & Dad were tentatively rescheduled for 6:40 AM Saturday OR 7:08 PM Sunday - my Brother still doesn't have another flight). Driving seems to be the best option.
• One of my employees was doing a press check in Dallas and got stuck. She was supposed to fly from Denver to Canada (her home) tomorrow - but couldn't get back to Denver from Dallas until the 26th - according to United - and she's Premier Executive. So I agreed to let her expense a $1700 one-way ticket to Canada from Dallas. Given that staying in her hotel another 6 days would be about $1500 anyway.
• My Christmas shopping isn't done.

That's about it. The snow does look pretty though...

So I made brownies tonight. Brian usually does the cooking, but I started dinner (he had to come finish it) and so I decided to make some brownies. They're out of a box, but still yum. I mixed them all together according to the directions, added some mint-chips for fun, and popped them in the oven.

After the 45 minute baking time, they were still gooey. I asked Brian if they should be done yet, and his first comment "Did you adjust for altitude?" Oops. I told him the box didn't say to. But it did. Add 1/4 cup of flower per packet (meaning I'm 1/2 cup down) and 2 tbsp water (so I'm down 4 of those - which I think is 1/4 cup).

The short of it - we have brownies that are gooey on the inside (after another 15 minutes of baking) and dry on the outside. But they're still chocolate. And still good.

I noticed that Tr3nt over at Pink is the New Blog had done this on his myspace page, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. Interesting results with this picture.



I tried 4 or 5 pictures. Sean Hayes came up in almost all of them, so did Arnold Schwartzenegger (though not in this one). Also Shane Filan from Westlife (Irish boy band). Fun stuff. Try yours at http://www.myheritage.com/

It was announced a few weeks ago. I waited. I held out. I made sure we'd have enough for the downpayment on the house. Then I slapped down my Visa and bought the new TiVo HD. At $799 it's a really hefty pricetag, but for those who know me, you KNOW how much I love my gadgets.

The box itself is similar to most TiVo boxes, but they give you a great experience inside. Very fun. Very TiVo.

From TiVo HD Unboxing

From TiVo HD Unboxing

Once you open it, there is a little layer of velum with printing, touting all the new features and enhancements your TiVo HD will bring. Culminating with "The TiVolution will now be broadcast in HD."

From TiVo HD Unboxing

And lastly, the sexy little beast itself.

From TiVo HD Unboxing

Comcast comes on Sunday to install the two Cablecards (just $6.95 each, the price of box rental) so we can truly get HD TV on the thing. So sweet.

Lastly, there is a TiVo VIP promotion running through the end of the year which allows you to transfer the lifetime subscription of a Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo to the HD unit (and keep 1 year of free service on the unit you transfer from). Cost: $199. Details on that are here: TiVo VIP Purchase/Transfer. You have to buy the TiVo from TiVo, not Amazon or anywhere else to qualify. And a nice little letter comes in the box letting you know how to redeem. Pretty sweet. If you plan to keep the TiVo HD more than 18 months, well worth it.

Rufus - not the most flattering picture of him, but he's been a butt lately. So oh well. He gets a bad pic published. Maybe he'll behave.

From Cats

Little Cat (Beau) doing what he does best.

From Cats