Ogres have layers (and so does our house)

On Saturday, we set out to repair the study ceiling and we quickly learned that there were several layers of paint and wallpaper between us and the plaster. Yes, wallpaper on the ceiling. I’ve seen it successfully pulled off in smaller rooms, like the bathrooms in my parents and Jason’s parents houses. But in a study? Hmm. So, we peeled it all off:

Then, we had to get some chemicals to peel the final layers of paper and glue off:

Finally, a clean(er) ceiling. Luckily, the plaster ceiling is in REALLY great shape, with only a few small cracks that we’re not going to even bother repairing since you can’t really see them.

This week, we’ll be washing the ceiling with water + the wallpaper remover chemicals. If all goes well, we’ll be priming and painting the ceiling this weekend. The Lowe’s man suggested that we do a faux finishing technique on the ceiling, but I suggested we go sistine chapel-style on it.

a good look for our study ceiling?

Naming Fiasco

Recently, our friend Dan pointed out that Karl is actually a girl. Oops. We’ve tried Karl-y and Karl-a, but they just don’t seem to click as well as Karl. I think we’re probably going to keep referring to the snake as “Karl” and use the appropriate male pronouns.

We fed Karl yesterday, and boy was he hungry! We drove the 7 miles to Nicholasville (subarb of Lexington) to get a “pinkie” (because it didn’t have hair yet) mouse, and when we got back, J waved it in front of Karl and he snatched it up. I think J is going to handle Karl in the next few days in order to get him used to people. I’m assuming that (at least) Trevor will want to touch him the next time he comes to visit, and I don’t want Karl biting our guests.

I sometimes think we should try to train Karl to do other tricks, seeing as we are animal behaviorists. I think Karl’s behavioral repetoire may be limited, being that he doesn’t have any appendages. And I don’t quite know what we’d use to reinforce his behavior, since he only needs to eat once every 7-10 days and hasn’t proven to respond well to touch/petting (like your dog would, for example). Maybe someday we’ll get a dog and we can teach him all sorts of circus tricks.

Other than that, still not too much going on here. I started a second experiment last week, and it requires me to be at work by 6:30 a.m. That means that I am usually tired and boring (J asks if that is a change from normal). On the other hand, I am getting a lot of work done, which is great since I am still finishing up some papers from Minnesota.

We did actually go out last weekend to eat at The Pub. The Pub is supposed to be a knock-off of British Pubs, but it is seriously Americanized. The prices are a little high – in England, we ate pub food when we wanted something cheap. The beer prices are ridiculous for Lexington – $5+ for a beer, when other restaurants/bars we’ve been to have been selling beer for $2-3. Certainly beer should be cheap in a British Pub. Also, the atmosphere is a little off, and the place was insanely crowded (~2 hour wait at 5:45 on a snowy Saturday). Getting past all that, though, the deep fried pickles (I LOVE pickles) and fish and chips were delicious, and it’s always great to get out – especially since Josh’s wife, Kim, came along. This officially made me not the only girl hanging out in a group of guys, which is typically the scenario here.

It’s all about Karl

I thought I’d post some more pictures of Karl, since he’s the most exciting thing happening here (and because the pictures in my last post weren’t very good). Jason added a clay pot to his cage last night so that Karl would have something to hide in and Karl thought that J’s pinky was his dinner. As in, he was actually trying to swallow J’s pinky (apparently, snakes will usually just strike and let go if it’s an aggressive manuever). So, I think we might have to feed him soon.

Karl, enjoying his new home.

Silly Karl, Jason’s finger isn’t dinner!

Karl the California King

I am proud to announce the arrival of our new housemate, Karl. He’s black and white, about a foot long, and as big around as your pinky.

Check him out:

Karl, the California King Snake

Cute, isn’t he? Not a great picture, but he hasn’t come out of hiding tonight. Last night he was all over the cage, and we even watched him drink some water.

Yes, I’ve completely lost it. What female is actually excited about having a snake in her home? Scary. What’s even more scary is that I even bought the snake – as a Valentine’s Day present for Jason, of course. Jason was really surprised since he thought he was getting homebrewing equipment… I was just excited that I managed to keep it a surprise – I am usually horrible at keeping these things a surprise from him (or he checks the history button on my computer and figures it out a la Christmas 2004 – sneaky).

Jason’s Valentine Surprise

Karl has brought on all sorts of fun, especially because he tells us things. For example, Karl likes it when I go shopping. Karl wants me to finish the curtains for Jason’s room (Karl lives in Jason’s room, and yes, his cage is double- and triple-secured so that he can’t escape). Karl wishes it would snow more. Jason claims that Karl told him that he likes J better than me, but I don’t think so. Karl enjoyed tonight’s episode of The Office. Karl thinks this week’s episode of The OC was lame. Karl wants me to stay home from work tomorrow so that he doesn’t get lonely.

You get the point.

Curtains and Other New Additions

The dining room curtains are finished! Yes! Here are some pics:

Dining room curtains open.

Dining room curtains closed.
(the seam at the bottom is not quite as noticable in person… I think the lighting and camera are playing tricks with us.)

So this works, no? I think it will keep a little of the cold out – and boy has it been cold here recently. We’ve been walking to work in 8 degree weather (Minnesota weather, if you will). However, the Kentuckians are not quite as used to this weather – schools were cancelled today for the 4th day in a row, since we got 1/2″ of snow last night. 1/2″. Seriously. Is this why Kentucky’s education rates are some of the lowest in the US? Because they never go to school?

Anyways, in the midst of last night’s “blizzard”, we managed to hang up a new shelf and put some things on it. I’m particularly excited about the metal star, as I have been eyeing them up for months and only recently allowed myself to purchase one. The picture is actually a photo of the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. We like it because it reminds us of our Minneapolis roots. And because it reminds us that we can eventually move back (or at least, we’re crossing our fingers that it will become a possibility at some point).

The new shelf above the TV, complete with metal star and cherry on a spoon picture.