memories 3 Comments

Caught On Tape

After digitizing the VHS tape of my high school choir concert, I got the bug to digitize some of the home movies I made back when I first got my “Pro 8” (not even Hi8) RCA video camera. Specifically: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s of 1999. That was eight years ago, for those of you who are math-challenged like myself.

Eight years is a seriously long time… but, then again, it really isn’t. Depends on how you look at it. Now, after thinking about it and seeing it again, it does seem like a long time ago. My step-brother Philip wasn’t even in high school yet. I was fucking obese and a half. Both of my cats were still alive. I still had two years until I would graduate college. Aaron and I weren’t engaged yet.

It’s going to take another several minutes for the video clips to transfer from Aaron’s computer (where the capture card lives) to my computer, and it’ll probably be several days before I get it all edited together the way I want it. So, in the meantime, here’s a few amusing screenshots of me and mine in 1999:

Diana, 1999

Yes, that’s seriously me. I know that the camera puts on a few pounds and everything, but damn. I sure got sloppy. By the way, it would be nearly four years from this date before I decided to do something about my weight.

Fries, 1999

Fries hosting his Y2K New Year’s Eve party. Here, he’s about to launch into a description of all the yummy food there was to be had: pumpkin dip (which I honestly don’t remember), wings, shrimp, fudge, carrots and ranch dip, all kinds of yummies. I remember the wings and the shrimp cocktail sauce being especially good.

Kris and his ex, 1999

This was one of the weirder things about watching this video: seeing everyone happily hanging out with their now ex-girlfriends. Fries and Kathy, Mikolajczyk and his Heather, and above, Kris and Erica. (Erika? I forget. Doesn’t matter.) I almost have to wonder if people seeing themselves on my blog with their exes is OK. You know? It’s like the Twin Towers: you can’t have them in any pictures or films or video games because it’s insensitive.

Once I have my home movies edited, I do intend to post them on my blog via Google Video. The Millennium New Year’s Eve Bash is only ten minutes long total, so it’s nothing that’ll be too painful or embarrassing for anyone, I don’t think. Now, Christmas Day at the Smoke household… that could be long and weird and strangely insightful to those who haven’t met my step-Gary.

house

IKEA Upgrade #1

One of Saturday’s IKEA purchases was a Billy bookcase. I had previously measured the ceiling height in our finished basement, and determined that a Billy bookcase would reach to within an inch or two of our low ceiling. I had also determined that the white plastic shelving unit currently living in our basement was just plain ugly, and needed to go.

The white plastic shelving unit was a throwback to Aaron’s bachelor days, when an $8 shelving unit worked perfectly fine either as a bookshelf or for general storage. (I had one, too, I admit, but mine was black.) The shelving unit was thrown up in the basement as a stopgap measure — in my mind, anyway — until we could get some nicer-looking furniture in the basement.

So, I came home Saturday night with a couple pieces of nicer-looking furniture for the basement, including the Billy bookcase. Sunday afternoon was spent assembling the bookcase, then unloading and removing the shelving unit and replacing it with said bookcase. The assembly really wasn’t any worse than putting together a Sauder bookcase — it may have been easier, in fact, thanks to slightly different procedures with locking screws and whatnot. I did miss with one of the nails while attaching the back, and messed up the middle shelf a little. It’s not very noticeable in the grand scheme of things, though, as Aaron kept assuring me right after I did it.

Unfortunately, nicer-looking storage doesn’t magically turn the stored items into books and knick-knacks and cuteness; I still have super-8 equipment, camera equipment, sewing and craft supplies, photo storage, and other randomness on the bookcase. At least it looks a little classier, though:

The white plastic shelving unit is now in the garage, where plastic shelving units belong. 🙂

photos 1 Comment

Christmas Portrait 2007

Christmas Portrait 2007

It’s going to be a long time before I take a Christmas family portrait that I don’t have any qualms with. I must say, though, that this year’s portrait session went more smoothly than any so far.

If you’d like to know more, read on. Otherwise, accept our best wishes for a happy Yuletide.

(By the way, I’ve posted all six Schnuth family Christmas portraits, 2002 to 2007, in a set on Flickr.)
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roadtrips 1 Comment

Girlie Day With Sheryl!

Yesterday morning, I headed up to Michigan to hang out with Sheryl for the day. We had a great time shopping, eating, hanging out, and talking girl talk.

At my request, our first shopping stop was the Clinique counter at Macy’s. I really don’t know much about choosing cosmetics for myself, and I figured I deserved to treat myself to some nice makeup for once. The nice Clinique lady — Jill from Jersey — matched me up with a foundation color and put it on for me, then selected some powder and blush for a natural look. I already had eye shadow and lipstick at home, but I did let her sucker me into buying some brushes and some foaming face cleanser. I was splurging anyway, so what the hell.

The final total was an embarrassingly, staggeringly high amount for anyone to spend on makeup in one shot. But I now have oil-free foundation, powder, blush, three brushes, face cleanser, and some moisturizer samples.

As a side note, I put on all of my makeup when I got up this morning, just to see how long it would take me. Total time: 25 minutes. This is a major change from the two minutes it usually takes me to line my eyes and run out the door. I’m doubt I’ll be putting on my entire face every day for work; I’m sure I’ll get quicker at it as time goes on, though.

Our next stop was lunch at Baja Fresh. It’s a Mexican fast-food place that apparently has no franchises in the Toledo area. According to their website, there are a bunch in the Detroit and Columbus areas, but none in Toledo. Anyway, I got a steak quesadilla with peppers and onions, and it was quite yummy. Like Sheryl said while we were there: it wasn’t the nicest place we could have gone to eat, but after spending so much money already, cheaper was better.

After lunch, we headed off to Canton to shop at IKEA. We both went in with an agenda: Sheryl needed a file cabinet. I wanted to get kitchen organization stuff (as mentioned earlier), a Billy bookcase to replace the plastic shelving unit in the basement, and a couple of Japanese-inspired lamps for the bedroom. In addition to those things, I ended up getting a Lack endtable to use as my meditation altar.

All in all, I spent only $20 more on my IKEA haul than I did on my Clinique purchases.

Sheryl and I managed to Tetris everything into her SUV, although we were doubtful whether the bookcase would fit in the Kia for my trip home. Surprisingly enough, when we got back to her place and put down the back seats in the Kia, the bookshelf fit perfectly. Granted, we had to put the front seat all the way forward, too, but it worked!

After IKEA, we decided that we’d spent enough money for one day, so we hung out at her place and watched Princess Mononoke and snacked on some Sun Chips. Then we went to dinner at Claddagh; I ordered fish and chips, and she ordered shepherd’s pie, and we split our entrees between the two of us. I should totally do that more often.

After dinner, Sheryl and I swung past Best Buy and met up with Santa so he could give me one of Aaron’s Christmas gifts. Then it was time to go.

Once I got home, around 9pm, Mark and Rocky were here, playing Killer Bunnies with Aaron. They started their game over so I could join in (after Mark helped me bring in my loot from the car). So, the fun social day continued with a game of Killer Bunnies, then a game of Apples to Apples.

It’s not so much the shopping that I like about my Sheryl trips, although that is a big part of it. I really like just hanging out and talking and feeling comfortable and just being with Sheryl. Sometimes I forget how awesome it is to have girlfriends.

The only thing that’s weird is that I sometimes feel self-conscious about my weight when I’m with Sheryl. She’s lost a lot of weight and gotten a lot more fit over the years, and even though I lost fifty pounds myself (though I keep regaining and relosing that last ten), I’m still very aware of the fact that I’m teetering on obese, BMI-wise. I guess it’s just the fact that the Sheryl in my head is the post-Atkins Sheryl, and when I’m reminded that the current Sheryl is actually the post-everything Sheryl, I’m all, ‘Wow. She looks good.’ Which inadvertently reminds me that I don’t? I don’t know exactly what my brain’s doing, but I wish it would stop.

Again, I digress. I had an AWESOME day with my Sheryls, and I look forward to doing it again soon. Yay for girlfriends!