Flashing Ad Update

As of this evening I am approved and have a certificate to receive my $500 VISA gift card. I have only to hold my breath and hope that nothing falls apart. There is a slight chance I could be DQed but hopefully everything goes great so you don't have to endure a tearful retraction of this post.

So here is the official breakdown:

I ended up spending $70.12 for different products I had to buy/try out.

I have already received a $10 Exxon gift card and then I will also be getting the $500 Visa card.

If my math is correct that is a 439.88 return on the 5 or 6 hours I spent doing this. I'd say $73/hour isn't too shabby. Plus I know my credit score, I have 25 downloaded songs in my iTunes, I've learned a little German and I have some killer tights.

And that is why we don't have a coffee table

Our dog hates getting a bath. My mom's dog loves a bath. She gets all excited and tail wagging when my mom mentions the word bath. We've been reduced to spelling out B-A-T-H so that our dog doesn't pee on the floor from fright. And now I'm pretty sure she knows how to spell it. We'll probably start calling it C-L-E-A-N time.

The most tragic part of Austin hating baths is that she has this really nice skin condition that requires her to be bathed every 5 days. Not every month like regular dogs. So at the Fykes house every 5 days we lure our dog outside so she can pee on the sidewalk instead of our hardwoods once she realizes what is about to commence. Then after the most HORRIBLE experience of her life where she is put under warm water in our bathtub she is deemed clean and then the most HYSTERICAL thing happens.

She rubs on every rug surface in our house completely oblivious of furniture. She runs full speed throwing her body on the ground, rubbing, running to the next rug, throwing her body down and repeating the process. I don't know if she is trying to get her old smell off the rug or give it her fresh clean scent but its just the funniest thing to watch her run back and forth between the rugs in the living and dining room and then all of a sudden she'll remember there is a rug in the office downstairs and off she clicks down the stairs.

Almost makes it worth having to endure her tortorous stares after we've set her in the bathtub.

Car Dancing

One of the many things I love about Tiff is her car dancing. I myself am not prone to bust a move while driving, but Tiff frequently can be caught groovin' down the road. Now this isn't just regular dancing, no, she's always inventing new moves based on the tempo or style of the song.

For instance, the other night on the way back home we were listening to some hip-hop something and she started bobbing her head. Then out of nowhere she started throwing her whole body into it and came up with this half body twist, half karate chop. It was equal parts amazing and hilarious.

You Do What?

Since I started teaching piano at 14 I have had the most random jobs. And not random jobs one at a time, 5 random jobs at once.

My soiree with The Company led me to believe that "normal" people have two jobs at most. They work for their company and then they freelance on the side for themselves but its the same kind of work that they do for their company. No sane, self respecting adult has 5 different jobs at once.

We are sharing our life stories at community group and after I was done someone said "you have had the most jobs of anyone I've ever known." The thing they didn't know was I just hit the highlights. Just to be thorough lets make a list:

1. Piano Teacher - 6 years in highschool and college
2. Manager at Blockbuster - in college so I could watch all the movies I needed to to see for school for free
3. Substitute Teacher - I'd go sleep in my car during my off period because 7:00 was just too early for me
4. High School JV Basketball Coach - Just one season
5. Knitting Instructor - 2 years
6. Worked at a Yarn Store - 2 years
7. Selling Scarves I made in boutiques - Faith Hill bought one of my scarves
8. Online Bookseller - still have some books listed now
9. Office Manager for FYK Architecture - I specialized in client relations for a man who only has 200 words to use everyday.

While doing most of those things I was also doing my video production work either for myself or for The Company.

My goal for 2009-2010 is to revive the tax return that includes at least fifteen 1099s and ZERO W-2s. This blog isn't called "Normal" right? What do you expect?

A Little Competition

The Middle Tennessee AIA chapter held a design competition to spruce up their diggs at Cummins Station. The design is confined to the entry and hallway (no interior). We weren't allowed to remove or demolish anything existing, only add. So here's my stab at it:

BEFORE SHOTS:

MY SUBMISSION:

FYI - All the text/logo were requirements of the competition.

LEEDing

In celebration of acing the LEED AP exam, we decided to road trip around the Nashville area in search of bad examples of energy and environmental design.

First up we stopped to document our lovely mass transit system. As you can see from the sign attached to the telephone pole, this is a "bus stop." You might also notice there is no bench, or covering. Needless to say, I've never seen anyone at said stop (other than this motley crue).

Next up we stopped at one of the local recycling centers. I have to say Nashville overall does a pretty good job with recycling, however this center being moved probably means some people won't participate any longer.

Megan the friendly ghost says "boo!"

Ever driven by a totally empty parking lot at night that looks like a football field? Yeah us too. LEED calls this Light Pollution / Energy consumption, we call it our band cover art.

Can you say URBAN SPRAWL? Note the sign: "14th fastest growing" Who puts that they were 14th on a sign? Also I would like to note that we left south Nashville at 9pm and returned back from our trip to the 'burbs after 10pm.

Although we weren't cruising around in a fuel efficient vehicle, we were definitely an HOV. Yay for carpooling and good friends!

You Know You Want It

This my friends could be yours for the small price of $149,900.

This is my first listing at 446 Westcrest Dr. It is the perfect home for someone who just wants to move in their stuff and then sit down and watch TV.

Isn't it the cutest? I'm having an open house on Sunday so maybe I'll have it sold before you hear back from me.