How does Gretchen and Jeff's registry work?

You can browse everything Gretchen and Jeff
might like from a variety of stores on the Internet at
http://www.myregistry.com/public/gretchenandjeff

Over the five years we have lived together we have negotiated a shared style that is thoughtful, eclectic, rustic, and quirky.

Given this we knew we couldn't find just ONE store that captured our style. So our wedding registry is designed to share with you items we like from around the Internet.

We use a service called Myregistry.com. This lets us add things from stores across the Internet to our registry. Stores ranging from Crate and Barrel to Napa Style to Target to Jackson and Perkins. You can view everything we would like at www.myregistry.com/public/gretchenandjeff

If our online registry is too confusing, please use this guide:

• The dishes we would like - to replace our shared collection of dishes left over from old relationships - are the La Rochere Napoleon Bee collection - available on Overstock.com - http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/La-Rochere-Napoleon-Bee-6-piece-Dinner-Plate-Set/3866787/product.html
• The silverware we would like - to replace our Dollar Store finds purchased in between relationships - is from the Stanton Collection at Crate and Barrel - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Gretchen-Kinder-and-Jeff-Cutler/r4910258
• We want to do some landscaping around the house. So we've registered for rose bushes, forsythia and climbing hyrdrangea at Jackson and Perkins - http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/
• We have a duvet/quilt we love for our queen size bed from Garnet Hill 
• Towels and sheets from Kohls are a-ok with us. We decorate using warm fall colors - garnet red, rich teals, mossy greens, rich camels, etc. 
• We have registered for a wide range of cooking and home decor items at Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma.

There are many unique items you can find on our registry - Eiffel Tower bookends, hurricane lanterns made from recycled wine bottles, etc. We invite you to peek at the registry online - even if you don't buy online - to get a sense of our negotiated style. 

Or do nothing at all. Please remember, we both love presents, but this isn't why we're having a wedding. We're having a wedding to formalize our commitment to each other, and to share with you our excitement about living the rest of our lives together.

Zombie Squirrels

"You know how the squirrels have been taking the top off the bird feeder at home?" This is the question Jeff asks me during our drive-home check-in. "Well, there is one less squirrel in the neighborhood to steal our bird's tasty treats, because I hit a squirrel today while driving to work."

"WHAT!?" I shrieked while sitting in traffic on 93 South, "Did you stop to help it?"

"Well, I would have stopped to check on the squirrel if I hadn't hit it with both wheels AND if the two cars behind me hadn't hit it also."

"You killed another creature today! How can you stand it!?"

"Well, I wasn't happy about it when it happened, but it was only a squirrel."

I continued to moan into the phone, bereft with grief over the loss of the rodent life. "When I'm not overwhelmed with worry about becoming homeless or losing my hair I worry about hitting and killing small animals. I can't even drive over the flattest deadest roadkill without feeling like I'm crushing the animal's soul."

"If you are that concerned," Jeff nonchalantly replied, "why don't you check on the squirrel when you get home. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see it in the road. And, if it is there can you go home and get the shovel..."

I interrupted. "I'm not going to check for the dead squirrel and I may not even go home tonight. Because I'm pretty sure there is a zombie squirrel waiting on our porch to kill me."

Cat Crap and Other Delights of Feline Parenting

Have you ever stepped in cat poo on the way to the shower in the morning? Me neither. But it would be bad.

That doesn't mean it's not going to happen soon, because with two new kittens in the house there's an endless supply of kitten detritus at cat level all over our abode.

Here's a list...

Three crumpled receipts rescued by cats from various waste baskets

Two stuffed squeaky bones - a purple and a yellow

One plastic cage ball with bell inside

One tennis ball with a loose rubber bead inside

One hippo - stuffed

One plastic milk jug cap

One compass with long lanyard

One wicker garbage can - probably a former receipt repository

Two purple socks

One orange earplug

One yellow iPod sock

Four men's shoes

One squishy - stress-ball - turkey

One blue cup

What's on the floor around your house? Do you have kids or cats...and which are worse?

One way men and women are different

I just got back from a short business trip. Stepping into the house and becoming readjusted to my surroundings after three and a half days in Marriott splendor on Tampa Bay, I noticed that the dirty dishes in the sink looked suspiciously like the dirty dishes that were in the sink the morning I left town.

I said to Jeff,"I can't believe you let those dishes stay in the sink so long!"

"Huh?" he said, peering into the sink.

"That same pot has been 'soaking' for more than four days!" I exclaimed.

"Four days?! That's not a long time for dirty dishes to be in the sink."

"How long do YOU think is too long for dishes to be in the sink?" was my retort.

"An entire freshman year. THAT is too long," was Jeff's satisfied answer.

Dream home

Jeff and I built our dream home while waking up this morning. It would include:
1. An exercise room with a bow flex or solo flex and a cedarwood sauna
2. A library with leather club chairs and one of those "ladder things"
3. A movie theatre with 24 seats and a popcorn maker
4. A heated garage
5. A heated driveway - NOT a snowblower - with a heated grate at the bottom for run off and to somehow avoid giant mounds of snow at the bottom made by municipal plows
6. A scooter room
7. A dumwbwaiter to bring our sports gear up from the basement when we want it.
8. A walk-in closet for me
9. One spare bedroom
10. A giant screened in porch.
11. A hot tub on the giant screened in porch
12. A small greenhouse so I can start those giant pumpkins I'm growing indoors
13. A really big kitchen with a really big table in the middle of the kitchen
14. Two bathrooms, one for Jeff and one for me. Mine would have a jacuzzi tub and a separate shower

Things we DON'T want in our dream home include
1. Formal living room.
2. Pool table
3. Dart room.

If we win the lottery today (which is apparently on the horizon) look to here to see where we are building our mansion.

Gift Wrapping

I'm busy doing a lot of wrapping tonight while CF sits on the couch watching NCIS.

It's relaxing. Like the yoga of consumerism.

Ahhhh.

Yay cleaning lady!

I work between 9-10 hours a day and commute an additional two hours a day. I leave for work at around 6:30 AM and am usually home after dark. This leaves me exhausted during the week and wanting to use my weekends to recharge and play.

Jeff works from home, but isn't invested in having a tidy home.

As a result, the dust piles up, recycling overflows, and dishes get a little crusty. And I get cranky about "having" to do the cleaning on MY weekends.

We've talked about getting a cleaning service to help - at LEAST once a month. And tonight, as I left the bathroom following the ritual evening tooth brushing feeling like I SHOULD take a few minutes to clean the porcelain but not wanting to to take a few minutes to commune with Comet cleanser, I said to Jeff, "Honey, you know what I want?" "Is it time to call the lady about helping with the cleaning?" "Yes, that's EXACTLY what I want," I said with sighing enthusiasm. "I'll call her," Jeff said.

So, maybe by the first of the year we'll have someone who comes in to help us out. I mean, help me out. Yay cleaning lady!