Hot Ham And Rolls

What an awesome Milwaukee Sunday tradition. I remember growing up and going to a little European deli near our house called Gerry O'Brian's where we'd buy hot ham and rolls. It sounds kind of chic, but it was actually a fairly shabby place. The owner, who alternately worked the deli counter and cash register, had a glorious British accent.

This morning Ryan came to mass with me at St. Mary's in Hales Corners, marking the first time we've attended together. Afterwards we drove to Greendale for coffee and a short walk. On our drive we ran past Old World Deli and decided to buy some hot ham and rolls. We took one of our frequent and short circles around the "C" section in a neighborhood we like in particular (a shout out for Kev: we walked passed your grandma's house). We were excited to get home and bust into our bag of Sunday morning treats. Hot ham wrapped in foil, two awesome rolls and a tube of Kit polish cookies. I made us some delightful sandwiches and we watched a bit of the Olympic distance men's cross-country skiing. All of this was a nice break after several days of intense errand-running related to "our" soon-to-be house and getting ready for my trip to a professional conference in Chicago next week.

We both took the day off Friday to meet with our mortgage broker and our home inspector. Thanks to every disreputable mortgage broker that helped cause the real estate market crash, we spent three hours signing many, many disclosure forms to ensure we clearly understand what we are getting ourselves into financing our purchase.

We ran from the broker's office straight to the house for our inspection. Inspector Scot McLean of Town and Country Home Inspectors has sparked my interest in the career field of home inspection. It's such a practical, highly-skilled trade that requires a keen eye and a mind that can put together many pieces to see the whole. So, I'll stack that up with all of my other would-be jobs for another life including: postal mail carrier, librarian, nurse, and coffee shop owner.

We learned that there is nothing majorly wrong with the house. However, it will need a new hot water heater, repair to the kitchen fan and a mega dose of cleaning to rid it of the disgusting cigarette smoke smell. The owner assured her realtor she doesn't smoke, which is a big, fat lie. Everything reeks like an ash tray and I discovered cigarette ashes on the coffee table and bedroom floor next to the night stand. What kind of person smokes in bed? Someone who is inviting danger into their life.

So, after the inspection, we entered a new round of the game we like to call, "should we, or shouldn't we commit to this contract for the long haul?". We spent most of Friday night angry, ready to walk from our contract while we can. We woke up the next morning with clearer heads and decided to stick with it. So, we're in it to win it (fingers crossed).

Saturday was totally engrossed with big-time shopping. Ryan needed gear for his upcoming trip winter camping with his brother, Jon, and I needed new work clothes in a bad, bad way. We visited the Johnson Creek outlet mall to hit Banana Republic, Ann Taylor and the Bali/L'eggs/Playtex store where my sister, Greta, works. Shopping was tedious, but fruitful. We enjoyed visiting with Greta and seeing her in saleswoman mode.

Sunday I hit Mayfair and DSW to finish out the conference clothes shopping responsibilities. Those of you that are close to me know that I hate to shop, especially for clothes - it brings out all of my impatience and my assorted body image issues. But, I muscled through it and came out the other side with many, much needed work essentials:

Three pairs of pants: dress khaki, dress black, dressier dark wide-leg jeans.

Eight sweaters: cream colored turtle neck, navy blue cable cardigan, cream heather v-neck, grey open ruffle cardigan, orange black-beaded fine-knit crew, aqua short sleeve crew, black short sleeve crew and a brown heather toggle cardigan.

One dress: black and white patterned silky knee-length.

Six layering tees: cream, brown, royal purple, black, black, key lime.

Three bras: nude, nude, black (thanks Gret!)

Six pairs of hose: 1/2 black, 1/2 nude.

Ten pairs knee high-hose: nude.

Two pairs of shoes: nude sling back heels, black rounded-toe patent leather ballet flats with solid leather accents.

So, I've essentially rebuilt most of my wardrobe for the staggering price of $759.98! Spending that much on apparel is obscene to me, but to put it in perspective I don't really think I've bought any clothes in the past year except a random pair of jeans and a pair of boots. I feel glad that I have finally purchased the clothes I desperately needed and didn't have a panic attack in the process. I am ready to clean out many things that have been taking up space in my closet that are too small, too old or ill-matched. I also feel more confident that I can find things to wear for work if I put my mind (and money) to the task.

A couple of photos to round out the weekend.

Ryan trying out his new 10 degree sleeping bag at REI:


Strange blue muffins. Banana, raspberry and chocolate chip:




Since it's almost March, we get a new monkey on the calendar: