Perfectly Petersen

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

It seemed like a good idea at the time: take 12 hours of classes this summer because they are short semesters and one of them is online. After my first week of summer session, that’s not such a wise thing after all.

Taking that courseload was going to be a sacrifice, and we knew that, but until you take that sacrifice for a test drive, it’s just not possible to get the full effect of what the next 15 weeks were going to be like. This week went like this:

• Left home at 6:15am Monday, got off at 3:00, got my books, ate dinner, arrived at school, and got home at 9:30pm.
• Left home at 6:15am Tuesday, got off at 3:00, ate dinner, arrived at school, and got home at 9:20pm.
• Left home at 6:30am (pretty tired) Wednesday, got off at 3:00, ate dinner, arrived at school, and got home at 9:20pm.
• Went back to bed to sleep until the last minute and left in a rush at 6:30, got to my desk, logged into the USF website, and dropped my Monday/Wednesday class.

I feel much better now that I’ve done that. I was missing our small group on Mondays, putting in too many hours away from home, spending extra money on gas and eating out, and I could see that for the next 15 weeks I was going to be doing a pretty “average” job at everything and leaving loose ends everywhere.

I can’t operate like that. My plate needs to be full, but I need to be able to clear it on a whim in case other stuff (especially paying stuff) comes up. Nothing like someone saying they want to pay you $1,000 to do something that takes a few evenings to do, but not be able to commit to doing it, right?

So, I’m still taking one online class and one on-campus class each semester session this summer with a 3 week overlap for the two campus classes. Not too bad. Life just got simpler.

Tags: campus, class, College, course, overbooked, USF

No Comments | Posted in » College, Life in General

Townhome Walkthrough Scheduled

We are scheduled for our walkthrough next Thursday the 22nd, and then we close the next Thursday after that. I can’t believe we are this close to being homeowners!

Tags: closing, Townhome, walkthrough

No Comments | Posted in » Townhome

David Archuleta’s Dad Gets in the Way Again

Jeff Archuleta finally pushed the American Idol producers over the edge. It’s been long known that he lost his back stage access to David back in the day on Star Search. Well, now Fox has had enough of his ways.

Last week he insisted on a lyric change that ended up costing the studio money, and I’m also noting extra stress for the lad who stumbled all over his lines in the beginning of the season. I’ll be that was another Dad moment.

TMZ reported the news on Friday, but I was at the beach, so it’s possible you missed it, too. I’ve got you covered here.

Tags: American Idol, David Archuleta, Jeff Archuleta, Star Search

No Comments | Posted in » American Idol

Townhome Update: 3 Weeks Left

Since I went to Chicago last weekend for the world’s greatest online publishing conference, we didn’t get a chance to go up and look at the house. Add that to the stepped up timeline, and a whole heck of a lot has happened since our last update. Just take a look at that street view now.

There was a lot to be impressed with and a lot to shake our heads at and wonder what kind of stuff would go on if we didn’t check up on things. The photos will be evident enough, but there’s more than what I am putting up because I didn’t want this to all be about what is wrong, but to also celebrate how stinking cool this is! We’ve only been married for 18 months and we’re getting a brand-spanking new house! Yeah, the Dude is pumped. Don’t bring the Monk down. I’ll be working for the Man for a while now… when will these silly sayings end?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: carpet, homeowners, kitchen, moving, tile, Townhome

9 Comments | Posted in » Townhome

Reviewing The Best of Broadway: The Lion King

Cue one of the spine-tingling-est songs of all time, add a huge stage with the coolest man-made sunrise known, and then toss in the most innovative animal costumes ever made, and you have the most captivating opening to any Broadway musical out there. From the opening note, The Lion King delivered everything that the banners, billboards, and posters hyped it up to be.

It is opening weekend of The Lion King and they will be in Tampa until May 22. Our seats were fantastic: right on the isle of the center section in the 10th row. That placed us spot-on level with the stage so that we couldn’t see the stage surface, but we weren’t missing the performers’ ankles, either.

The show brings a new appreciation for the talent that the performers have to sing, dance, and act in all of the crazy costumes they had. The ensemble had about 25 costume changes by my estimate, and some of them were quite elaborate. It was not your typical Broadway musical where the ensemble remains relatively human and does a quick change. We are talking about changing from a hyena to a lioness to a piece of savannah grassland, complete with makeup changes. Truly, though, words cannot describe the coolness of Mufasa’s and Scar’s lion faces and the way they could drop down in front of their face to create a very effective lion appearance.

If you have seen the movie as many times as most, the lines are right from the movie, with the exception of some live audience flair, such as the stage curtain looking “like a shower curtain from Target,” as Zazu so comically pointed out. As long as children can sit through the animated movie, they will have no problem being enthralled with Broadway’s interpretation, and this is an excellent opportunity to expose them to the arts in an attractive and entertaining activity. The running time is about 2 1/2 hours with a 20-minute intermission.

Don’t let this gem leave town without experiencing the Best of Broadway!

Tags: Best of Broadway, Disney, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, TBPAC, The Lion King

No Comments | Posted in » Current Events

*Update* New Closing Date

Now that the title company called to schedule our closing, we were given a few options for closing times. We opted for closing on Thursday the 29th in the afternoon, so I could get a full day’s work in and then take all of Friday off to do errands to prepare for moving. Wouldn’t it be great to have the shelves in the garage in place for our stuff when our moving help is there on Saturday?

I’ll take Friday and Monday off and we’ll do our best to get situated. If anyone wants to come help, we’ll take care of the food and refreshments.

Tags: closing, moving, tampa, title company, Townhome

1 Comment | Posted in » Townhome

We Have a Closing Date on the Townhome

The builder e-mailed us Friday to confirm a set-in-stone closing date of Friday May 30th. That gives us the weekend to move our stuff and the week to ensure we don’t get charged for crap at the apartment before we turn in our key on the 7th.
It’s time to kick the packing into high gear.

Tags: closing, Townhome

No Comments | Posted in » Townhome