pleasant and not-so-pleasant finds.

friday night i burnt our steamer pot again, for the third time now. i had just washed the dishes and prepped all the veges before rick called on his way home from work. i was all proud of myself for having everything started before he got home so we could actually eat dinner before 7 or 8 pm. after i threw some chicken into the oven, i turned on the stove. i heard some clicking noises but just assumed it was oven warming up. when i got up to stir the vegetables (10 minutes later), i noticed the smell of burnt steamer pot. Mmmm!! turns out i forgot to add water in the bottom pot. (i know, i deserve a "duh"). and so i ruined all the vegetables. :( but i did beat rick in scrabble later that night. :)

so saturday night rolls around and rick and i are hungry. the burnt pot is still sitting outside, full of water, on the balcony. we decide to check out a new thai restaurant for dinner that just opened by our apartment. on our way to the car, i collect the mail that we've neglected to get this afternoon. by the light of the car interior, i sort through it... there are two bills, the daily assortment of supermarket flyers and an envelop addressed to me with no return address, just "Court Leve" which threw me off because it was dark out and I only saw the word Court, but then I made the connection... it was from Dave's friend. inside the envelop was a check for $100 and a note:

Jena-

Thanks for your modeling help a few weeks back at Nagel's - I really appreciate you spending the time with us.

All the best

-Court

P.S. Send me some neat images to look at sometime.

my jaw literally dropped. first of all, this man did not have to send me a check. he didn't hire me to model. he wasn't even expecting a model!! Dave hired me because he thought it'd be more fun and he knows i need money and he knows i appreciate getting the work. that said, Dave paid me that day before i left. so this pleasant surprise is above and beyond the realms of generosity, WAY beyond. and so a HUGE thank-you to Court whose awesome work can be seen here!! :)

ohhh yeah... earlier today, rick and i checked out that guest house we were hoping to rent. the owners were super nice but the place was TINY. the bedroom looked like it would barely fit our bed!! there was a small bathroom and one kitchen/living room/dining room area. the deal breaker for me was the positioning of the house... it was attached to the backside of their garage making it constantly shaded. add in the small heater and tiled floors and we'd be freezing our butts off all winter long. and it was so far out in the middle of the woods that neither of our cell phones got service. :( and so the apartment hunt continues...

***update: even IF we wanted the guest house, the owners went with someone else, but we were "a close second."