Eating Crow Pie

Links & Goodbye

2012-01-16T06:36:00.000-06:00

Possibly my favorite version of art imitating life- the wedding my Barbies only dreamed of! P.S. It's written in French, just scroll through the pictures!

A necklace for me!

.......................................................................................................................................................................

Technology is supposed to work for us, but instead we've made ourselves its slave. Or rather I have. My to-do list is miles long and things aren't getting done with me sitting around.

Facebook is an issue I've been dealing with for two years and it's time for me to say good-bye to that time waster. I've had nothing to write about the past three months and lately what I do write feels forced and stupid. I've had a lot of fun with this blog the past two years, but I think it has run its course. I'm taking a complete break from the Internet for an indefinite amount of time with the exception of email.

1:17

2012-01-13T07:40:00.000-06:00

Last week I showed you how to repair holes in your wall. This week I'll show you how to put holes in your wall! It's a weird world, ain't it?

First, you'll need a wall.

Like this one! You'll also need a hammer and a nail (not pictured.)

Step #9 3/4- figure out where you want the nail and hammer it in the wall. (Also not pictured, I only have two hands people!)

Take your art or clock or what ever you want to hang on that nail......

(This is the part my handsome assistant decided to assist with.)

......and hang it up!

"You said hang it, not set the time first."

Verbatim, ya'll.

Then step back and tell yourself how nice it looks.

***Dear friends that gave us this clock as a wedding gift, please don't be offended it took us this long to use it!***

This is the most random blog in the world, isn't it?

2012-01-12T14:01:00.000-06:00

I didn't get into wearing makeup until I was almost 17. I was in the band and sweating like a goat a lot and to me makeup was just too much work for the no maintenance kind of girl that I was. Am.

"She's high maintenance of the worst kind, she thinks she's low maintenance."

But one day, for whatever reason, I decided I wanted to start fixing myself up so my mother took me to the store (remember that?) and we picked out my colors. A couple of eyeshadows later and I was ~~in business~~ (Oh, that sounds terrible!) wearing makeup. I still have that same makeup bag that I bought that day. One thing I don't have that I did have, up until yesterday morning, was the the blush that we'd bought. Iced Cappuccino.

The same blush for six years? Get out of town! No, really, it was the very same one. For a while, I'd say 5.5 of those 6 years I was scared to use it. Terrified of making myself into a clown I pushed it to the back until I finally figured out less is more literally.

Yesterday morning I dropped the little plastic box and it shattered into a million pink dusty pieces on the floor. So now I have to buy a new one.

I'm thinking Vintage Peach. It's close to the same color, but nowhere near the price tag. I'm thinking quality this time. The price is definitely a drawback, but I have Christmas money plus I've been thinking about replacing my stuff with better stuff and now is a good time to start.

Would You Ask a Lawyer That?

2012-01-11T07:40:00.001-06:00

  One of the cool things about my job is always meeting new people. I meet somebody new practically every day. Sometimes more than one person, practically everyday!

With my young (a lady guessed 17) looks, people are usually drawn to me, interested in how (better yet, why) I do what I do. Besides the usual questions like, "How long have you been doing this?" and "What made you get in the funeral business?" my favorite question of all is, "Do you like doing this?"

I laugh inside my head every time! One day, I'm really going to shock someone and say, "No! I'm forced and I hate it!" I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that and how many times I've thought about being sarcastic.

One day I'll do it and it will be great.

Oh, the hilarity.

How Can I Make This Happen?

2012-01-10T09:14:00.000-06:00

Three years ago, my TV broke. I posted funeral arrangements for it on Facebook and everybody laughed. I went almost four months without buying a new one and honestly it was one of the best times of my life.

I felt like I accomplished so much without being zoned into the TV and imaginarily tied down to the couch by the remote. I loved that little bit of freedom from the rest of the world and I've been dying to get back to that ever since.

Boots thinks I'm absolutely psychotic and I can hear him roll his eyes every time I bring it up. He thinks I'm seriously mad. Read this- perhaps her post can explain it better.

We could save some big bucks if we weren't paying for TV. Serious money that I could think of about five ways right off the top of my head that would appreciate those dollars more than our current television providers do. If we didn't have TV I bet we'd get our house finished a lot faster, our house would probably be a whoooole lot cleaner, we'd probably get into exercising, and I could read that mountain of books sitting beside my bed.

I'm not saying completely give up the TV, I think Netflix is a great idea, but a definite tube-intervention is needed in my life.

Links to Etsy

2012-01-09T08:57:00.000-06:00

For Haley: a coin purse, a bag to make you laugh, a sold-out necklace, and a phone cover for a phone you don't have.

For Peacock Lovers Attending the Next Royal Wedding: this hat!

For Eclectic Wood Lovers: these drawers.

Fixing the Hole in the Wall

2012-01-06T06:35:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had a nasty hole in your walls that needed repairing? No? Then you're lucky. If you have and you haven't fixed it yet, watch me as I attempt to fix the holes in my wall. If you have had a hole in your wall and you have fixed it, tell me if I'm doing this right.

First, imagine a hole in your wall.

There was a hole here, as you can sort of see, but my overzealous husband started my project for me before I got home so I missed a couple of steps. If you really need to see what a real hole in the wall looks like, pick up the biggest, heaviest picture frame you have and ram the corner of it into the wall. Happy?

Anyways, there were some obvious holes here and they were covered up by wall putty.

This wall putty.

And here is a very blurry picture of a typical, basic, run-of-the-mill putty knife.

Basically, the instructions say to just slob it on the wall and let it dry (cure) for twenty-four hours before you start sanding on it. The instructions also say that when you do go to town sanding on that wall, you be sure and wear a NIOSH-approved face mask because that dust will give you cancer!

So you sand.

Until it's all nice and smooth.

Old t-shirts can be quite handy as damp rags to wipe away dust.

Your holes may still be a little holey and you may have to putty some more, as I did.

Just slob it on, I promise it doesn't have to be perfect.

Slob it on!

Sand again.

Tiny holes = more putty.

Slob, sand, wipe, and repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat until either you lose your mind or the wall becomes smooth as......smooth. Real smooth.

What I'm Cooking

2012-01-05T12:21:00.001-06:00

Bell pepper surprise? What is that?

Chinese Beef and Broccoli! Recipe from here, I used deer steak instead of beef, omitted the rice, and drizzled a little honey and a splash of soy sauce before serving. Fantastic! (I don't even like Chinese food!)

2012

2012-01-01T17:26:00.001-06:00

This is the year our house gets whipped into shape! Here's my lengthy, off-the-top-of-my-head to do list:

House To Do List

Master Bedroom
Buy, trim, and hang curtains
Touch up paint
Crown molding
Paint closet shelf
Hang bar in closet
New closet doors
Change light switches and plugs
Paint bedroom door
Paint door and window hardware

Mini Bathroom
Paint walls
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Install toilet and converter kit
Buy and install sink and cabinet
Buy and install light fixture, donate old fixture to Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Hang mirror/medicine cabinet
Buy, trim, and hang curtains
Change light switches and plugs

Office
Pick out color and paint office
Paint closet, paint shelf, and hang bar
Install new closet doors
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Change light switches and plugs
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Wood putty chair legs, sand, paint chair, hot glue faux fur
Paint office desk
Paint office door
Paint door and window hardware
New light

Hall
Patch holes
Paint
Change light switches and plugs
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Attic pull-down chain
Hang pictures

Bathroom
Paint tub
Pick out color and paint
Paint ceiling
Pick out, buy, and lay tile
Pick out, buy, and hook up new sink cabinet
Mirror
New light, donate old light
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Paint door and door hardware

Blue Bedroom
Touch up ceiling
Touch up paint
Quarter-round
Touch up trim
Paint closet shelf
New closet doors
New light, donate old light
Paint door and door hardware
Change light switch and plugs

Living Room
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Touch up paint
Crown molding
Paint doors and door hardware
Paint closet shelf
Change light switches and plugs
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains

Kitchen
Pull up and put down floor again
Quarter-round
Touch up paint
Paint trim
Backsplash
Top of cabinets
Cabinet hardware
Paint door and door hardware
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Paint laundry room shelf
Change light switches and plugs
Threshold
Light over sink

Dining Room
Put down floor
Pick out color and paint walls
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Change light switches and plugs
Add AC vent
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Paint doors and door hardware

Oy, vey! Here's hoping I don't lose my motivation anytime soon!

Heart

2011-12-31T05:07:00.000-06:00

Last year I made this resolution. I wasn't perfect and I wasn't able to stick to it everyday, but I think I did pretty good on the most part. I liked it so much I want to do it again! My New Year's Resolution is the same as last year's!

2011 in a Post

2011-12-30T04:34:00.000-06:00

Ok, folks, here's how this works. I have compiled the biggest and the best posts from 2011 for you in one place so you don't have to hunt for them (isn't that niiiiiiiice?) and all you have to do is click the links (in orange, of course) and read away to your heart's content. If you want to, totally optional.

Here we go!

January
My old car reached a high point, we went deer hunting, watched Nikki tear up a toy, and ECP turned 1.

February
Boots got a little handy around the house and our back yard went to the dogs.

March
I got plantin' fever, I actually did the plantin', I made a terrarium, I shopped for exec cas, I found a book with a title to live by, I stood on my toilet, I got stung by a bee, I decided to slow down (this was foreshadowing for June, you'll see), and I went back to college.

April
I thought about new cars, Boots made me supper and vacuumed the dog, and we experienced a true disaster.

May
I fell in love, we put up curtains, my sister graduated, and I thought about babies.

June
Sadness started, we went to a wedding, we put flowers in our front yard, we got a new baby, I made coffee, I wrapped up the baby, Boots painted my toes, the much talked about water leak happened, and I got a little sad.

July
We tore out the kitchen, I went a little crazy, I calmed down, we put up a light and a wall and another light, I wrote to our house, and Frank still sleeps like this.

August
We worked on our house, our kitchen started coming together, we started on the floor, we scraped glue, our hearts were broken, I cleaned out my phone photos, I dusted, we put down a floor, more dusting,

September
I used the kitchen, another leak, I remembered, I made a list, and we made it to a year.

October
We actually did the stuff on the list, I had a birthday, we bought a rug, I painted knobs, I painted doors, I wrote an alphabet, I cooked some stuff, I thought about baby names, we had a wild animal in our house, I wrote about Christmas before we even had Thanksgiving, and I got a little mad.

November
I had nothing to write about, something big happened to my photography, I broke one of my big rules, I posted pictures of my messy house, I made toothpaste, and we had a pee problem.

December
I put up our tree, and another tree, I spiffied up the kitchen, cleaned out from under my sink, Boots got sick, and we had Christmas.

A Different Kind of Christmas

2011-12-25T17:03:00.000-06:00

This Christmas has been decidedly nontraditional for me. Boots and I didn't skip Christmas, we both went to our company Christmas parties and a few family Christmas parties, we ate Christmas lunch with our neighbors and relaxed at home since we're both on call from work.

We didn't buy any Christmas presents for anyone except ornaments for an ornament swap, a DVD for our neighbors' kids, and I bought Boots new undershirts and a nose trimmer that he asked for last month. It was a giftless Christmas except for the gifts we got from relatives that didn't get the memo. We're certainly not being Scroogey about the gifts we did get, they were very nice and much appreciated, but it's liberating not to be one of the people running around like crazy trying to get good deals on things that will probably be soon forgotten.

I tried something new- like nonalcoholic eggnog (don't take that to mean I've tried the alcoholic version) and spiced peaches- two of the things that mean "Christmas" to my boss, thought about old traditions- putting up my Dee Dee's Christmas tree with my sisters, listening to Elvis Christmas records, and Boots and I went on our fairly-regularly holiday event date.

We didn't ride and look at lights this year and I didn't do any baking (trying to cut back!). We didn't make it to a single church Christmas event either. Not going to church for anything didn't make it seem very Christmasy to me. Maybe next year we'll do better.

Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you've had a great day.

2011-12-22T18:09:00.001-06:00

"In sickness and in health" pretty much locks you in for the rest of the ride. There's no escaping sickness or health unless it's death. Only then will your job be finished and your heart hopefully broken. It's probably best we don't think about these things when wearing our love goggles and can only see it clearer when we take them off. Otherwise there'd be no procreation and our world would surely end. Our world would surely end.

I'm Random & Jump Around A Lot (Like a Rabbit)

2011-12-19T19:54:00.000-06:00

I've got a new project in the works to share with you, but I haven't actually started on it yet. My plan was to begin this weekend and we all know how plans go......they don't!

Boots and I spent a surprise weekend at an expensive little bed and breakfast I like the call The Hospital. That's right- ~~we were~~ Boots was laid up for 3 days after going to the doctor Friday morning (I had a feeling I needed to pack a bag!) and getting diagnosed with acute bronchitis and gastroenteritis. His blood counts (red or white? I don't know!) were really high and his chest was very......congested? chesty? gummed up? sickly?

Ya'll, I've never spent a night in the hospital, besides being born. This weekend was not a good time. How do nurses expect patients to get better when they won't let them rest? I saw every hour on that clock next to the TV from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon, I swear. They'd come in and take his blood pressure and temp, leave for 45 minutes then bring meds, another 45 minutes then food, 45 minutes, breathing treatment, 45 minutes, x ray and repeat over and over and over again! Couldn't they time their visits and all come at once? The attention was really appreciated, believe me, but sleeping 45 minutes at a time for nearly 3 days isn't exactly restful. (Nurse people I know, don't get all heavy on me. I'm not downing- I'm just sharing.)

**Funny part- once Boots was so asleep the blood pressure lady couldn't wake him up by just calling his name. Her voice got a little panicky so I got up and shook him to wake him (I know this man, talking doesn't always work). When he opened his eyes I said, "Wake up! She thinks you're dead!" I couldn't resist! **

The unnecessary pestering was probably just ignorance on my part, after all, I don't know how this hospital business works. They were all super nice though. Except for this one chick that ran me over and the "pay for your room" counter and then turned out to be the "check your blood lady." She was having a bad day though.

Some good did come out of this weekend. Boots and I got to spends lots of ~~quality~~ quantity time together and I got invited to write for an online magazine, PaperBlog!

I thought it was spam at first, but these guys put you through a pretty rigorous sign up process to be spam. (Now I've done it, they probably are spam!)

I'm excited about writing for them, but scared too. What am I going to write about? I'm in disbelief that people that aren't related to me want to read what I write! Oh, the pressure!

Have you guys seen that Pixar movie, Up? We watched it Saturday night and I loved it even though I cried in the first ten minutes. Cartoon death scenes are really hard to take when you're sitting next to your sick husband's hospital bed. I want to watch it again.

Sadly, Not My Size

2011-12-14T08:18:00.000-06:00

I'm in love with these boots.

I'm Warning You!

2011-12-13T16:51:00.000-06:00

******Dear Uncle,

Don't read this post. Just push that red X up at the top and go on about your business elsewhere. You're not going to like it.******

For the rest of you still here, does your under the sink cabinet look like......

THIS?!

All you gotta do to fix this is pull everything out of there and organize it according to what stays and what goes, like so. Keepers on the right, chunkers on the left.

Now this highly technical piece of equipment is a disposable aluminum tray used for cooking stuff not catching future possible leaks like we're using it in this case, but who cares? Also that's a box of dog clipper pieces. Being advised by aforementioned uncle to buy an "industrial cookie sheet" to use in place of this flimsy piece of metal, I've been hunting for months an appropriate substitute, but none has been found other than the ones that cost upwards of $20! Yikes!

I'm a cheapo as you know, so I figured this less than $2 version would be perfect for the job.

As you can see, I didn't measure and/or think this thing through. By this time, after schlepping this pan home from the store and not worrying about its state of affairs, it was dirty beyond me being comfortable returning it for somebody else to put their food in. And because I'm cheap and not wanting to waste 2 bucks I decided to keep it and repurpose it, i.e., not food service.

Enter the keepers organizer!

Much better, right?

It's The Little Things!

2011-12-11T17:53:00.000-06:00

Do your pantry staples look like this? (Does this sound like a Billy Mays commercial?)

I bought these from Target and I'm loving them. They're plastic- not glass, which isn't exactly what I wanted, but you can't tell they're not glass unless you touch them. The mouths are super wide and they lock down really tight.

The grits are my favorite, so pretty! The scoops hanging on the side are pretty handy too. I've been needing some canisters for a while and at a price of $20.79 plus tax these were a good buy in my book.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-10T17:11:00.001-06:00

I think I'm done decorating for Christmas now.

I hope I'm done. (Don't they look like weird trees?)

Weird trees with ~~white spray paint~~ snow on them?

A whole forest of weird, snowy trees!

Weird, snowy trees piled under another weird tree! (I call this my sad, skinny, little tree. I won it at the company Christmas party!)

I put my Barbies on this tree since it's a little higher off the ground and hopefully inaccessible to Frank. We'll see.

I'm also trying to burn the house down by placing highly flammable painted weird trees next to hot, hot, candles. Yeah!

And repeat on the kitchen table! (I'm kidding about the burning the house down part.)

I love this tree. Here's my tree from last year.

P.S. All of the presents in these pictures are fake. Posers! I still haven't bought a single thing. I'm not going to either, unless you count an ornament for our family swap.

P.P.S. Thanks to you-know-who-you-are for the pinecones!

$3.80

2011-12-05T20:00:00.001-06:00

If you've ever had the ~~pleasure~~ misfortune of putting one of these tree holder thingies together from a million bajillion pieces then you'll understand what I'm saying, if you haven't just let your husband take yours apart after Christmas this year and when next year rolls around and you try to put the tree up we'll talk. ;)

I got mad, ya'll. Really, really mad. Like throwing the pieces in the box and packing up Christmas mad. Mad enough to duct tape Boots to the bed (he was asleep the whole time), pour sugar water all over him, and leave the front door open for the ants!

Not a good time.

To make matters worse, that smarty-pants put that tree stand together in five minutes after he got up!

Here it is after twice putting it together and twice stringing the lights. (I string lights in levels.)

Look how cute Nikki is waiting on Santa!

Here's the bad boy after lights and sticks. I picked up sticks, painted them white in my ~~paint shop~~ back yard on a piece of cardboard, let them dry, and stuck 'em in the tree. Sounds pretty simple. It is.

After lights and sticks, I added my glitter poinsettias.

Then, I wrapped on the red ribbon and threw on some white yarn. I have no idea where the white yarn came from (it was in the decorations box) and I had it so I used it.

That paper cone tree was gold last year, but this year it got a white spray paint makeover. If you've noticed, yes, the tree is in the kitchen; the living room is too crowded to hold the tree this year.

Oh, and remember what I said about presents? I still haven't bought any. That price in the title is for the paint I bought at the hardware store. That's all I've spent on Christmas this year.

I've still got a few more decorations to put up so expect at least one more post on Christmas trees. I've still got writer's block, but at least I'm cranking out something!

Sleep All Day, Party All Night

2011-12-02T20:41:00.001-06:00

If Frank was a baby I'd be in serious trouble tonight.

He slept for 9 hours under the covers today.

I hope he was doing something important under there, like curing diseases or solving complex algorithms.

P.S. Boots finally got our Christmas tree down from the attic so guess what I'm doing tomorrow!

Pee As In Patio

2011-11-30T14:19:00.001-06:00

Ever since Chloe died, we've pretty much spent zero minutes in our backyard. It needs some serious beautifying but we'll get to the outside after we finish the inside. Which will probably be in a million zillion years.

Recently, our back patio called Patio Protective Services on us and filed a complaint stating, "neglect."

Really, Patio? Was that really necessary?

Apparently so.

The past few days have been seasonably chilly, you see, and poor Patio has been getting......what's a nice way of putting this......

Ehh......just think about it.

That is so not nice, Nikki. Not cool at all.

Bad dog! You stop that right now, ya hear!

Clearly something has to be done before Boots and I get thrown in the pokie and they hide the key!

Enter the garden rake (I broke it) and the broom. And maybe 20 minutes of action time and 1 portion of bothering Boots with my silly requests for moving the grills. The nerve of that girl!

Nothing short of miraculous, am I right?

Pay no attention to my outdoor bathroom death zone. Like I said, a zillion billion years. And, also, don't come and steal my generator. (It's not really mine!)

Homemade Toothpaste

2011-11-15T08:03:00.000-06:00

Ever since my Canadian blogfriend Marnie posted her recipe for homemade toothpaste I've been dying to try it.

Here's the ingredients:

Mix 'em all together......

Boom! Homemade toothpaste! You can be a hippie too!

However, hippie's aren't cheap and I am. At roughly $3.46 per baby food jar (what is that, 3 ounces?) Tom's of Maine is looking like a much better deal. Less labor and time, more bang for your buck.

A Tour? Sure!

2011-11-14T08:08:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted any pictures showing the current state of our house so allow me to update you via photography.

Standing at the carport door, this is the view into the kitchen. At about 7ish is the laundry room, 10 is the dining room/sun room/extra tool shed. At 3- the living room. There's no door on the pantry cabinet, as you can see. Our plan is to buy another pantry cabinet just like that one and put it in the bathroom and swap the doors since the kitchen is in fact not painted white and the door that belongs with this cabinet is.

Here's the nomadic paisley rug (it spent a month in the living room but decided to relocate to the kitchen last weekend) and a new-but-not-going-to-be-permanent nubby rug from Target.

Boots doesn't think it really "goes" and I'm not in love with it like the paisley rug so the decision to return it didn't take very long.

Here's the sorta sad looking laundry room. The shelves walls need the paint touched up a bit and I plan to use baskets to keep all the stuff we throw up there corralled and hang a reedy-looking blind. Maybe. Maybe it will just be open.

Here we have the dining room/sun room/extra tool shed room. And also winter storage greenhouse. Boots flowers got moved indoors last week and Frank had himself a grand ol' time jumping in the one in front until I skirted it with a garbage bag. Foiled again!

Another view of our mess!

This is the view of the corner part of the kitchen.

Back towards the carport door and the living room.

Is he smelling for chipmunks?

Lots of painting to be done in this picture: the walls, the trim, the not yet existent quarter round, the door, the knobs (we really should just replace the door, it's old), a big strip of weather stripping or a door jamb or something is needed too.

Oh, and here's my little pet station for the kids' food.

There's always clothes on the couch. Always!

The doors need to be painted, as well as the knobs, the trim and quarterround needs to be painted, curtains and/or blinds need to be bought and hung, a new rug needs to be found.

Down the skinny, narrow hall.

The Blue Room. Pretty self explanatory, don'tcha think?

Boots is pulling the boards back up in that corner to lock together one that didn't get locked quite tight enough.

Our sad light. I want to do something fun with the new light in here. The paint is pretty much finished, I'd say this is our most complete room because quarterround being put down and painted.

Got to figure out some solution for closet doors. (I hate bifolds!)

My chandy!

(I don't know what that big black thing to the right is.)

The very sad bathroom.

Boots just put the door back up a few days ago but it's got to come back down for some touch up painting on the door and the knobs. See what power tools will do for ya?

We haven't touched the bathroom other than pulling up the old nasty floor when we had the leak so the whole thing has to be torn apart and put back together at some point.

At the end of the hall is a growing bag of I-don't-need/want-this-let's-chunk-it!

Got to do more sanding and painting here. And change the switch. Lots of switch changing to be done in this house.

This is our office. Let's not even go in there.

Our bedroom with half the curtains up. The paint needs work.

More clothes piled up everywhere, another switch that needs changing out.

More stuff!

Now you're looking towards our half bathroom which has nothing but a floor and needs a toilet, a sink, a mirror, paint, a new light, and curtains. It currently houses vacuums.

Our chest of drawers/wedding shrine has been pushed into the closet. Note the lack of bifold doors. This closet really needs to go back to being a closet, complete with shelves and a bar for hangers. In time. At least that's what I tell myself.

And that's it for the inside!

I Littered!

2011-11-13T19:44:00.001-06:00

Everybody knows I'm all Captain Planet and the very idea of littering is appalling to me, but I believed my case is justified. Somebody tried to kill me after church tonight.

Some one, I don't know who nor am I placing blame, released a wild, deranged, killer, bitey spider in my car! Whoever put that animal in my car was pretty smart, telling the spider to hide behind my sun visor, but biting the top of my head would have been better than giving me a heart attack/near wreck!

Imagine me, driving down the road, admiring the brand new cat eyes that were stuck to the brand new blacktop, when my superkeen eyes (I did just get them checked and I can see 20/15 with my contacts, booyah!), spotted movement. Ever so slightly, the spider shifted his weight (her weight?). My breath caught in my throat and I began to hyperventilate and hold my breath at the same time (I kid you not) while I frantically zoomed into the Subway parking lot, slammed the car in park, jumped over into the passenger seat, one eyeball on the spider, the other digging through the glove box.

Napkins! Where are the napkins! I always save my extra napkins, now where are they?!?!?!?!

No napkins to be found and I had no time to waste.

Ya'll, I squashed that spider with my hankie. And screamed. And threw the hankie out of my car onto the ground. In front of a cop. And a Suburban-load of kids. Then I drove off like nothing ever happened while the mom eyeballed my nice hankie wondered what nasty thing I'd left out there.

Spiders give me the creeps. Even now I'm scratching my neck every time my hair moves and looking at my shoulders like I expect to see some eight-legged monster waving back at me. I probably won't sleep tonight. I'm sure I won't.

2011-11-12T07:13:00.001-06:00

This Will Change Things!!!

2011-11-11T13:34:00.001-06:00

Ya'll, I had an epiphany yesterday.

I was reading this post on Pioneer Woman's photography blog and right about the point where she said, "I took the camera off of auto focus," is when it hit me-- if I could find the auto focus on my camera I might be able to take some decent pictures!!

Holy moly, I'm a genius! After a little googoogling I flipped a switch on my camera and voila! Instant! Clear! Pictures!

Sure, if you're smart enough to use your high-powered ~~rifle~~ camera this is no big deal to you......

But, if you're me......

After months of despair over the craptastic pictures you've been taking......

This is positively huge!!

(These pictures are of me and Boots packing our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. You should do this to if you're not already.)

Blank

2011-11-07T07:08:00.004-06:00

A post about nothing! (Seinfeld reference, anyone?)

My well of wonderful, hilarious, needs-to-be-shared thoughts got frogs in it that drowned and died, clouded the waters and choked the cows who drank the nasty water, who also died. In short, I dried up. I have nothing to write so why don't you read something I've already done already wrote! I mean, written!

If you're on a mobile device (I sound so techy!) I don't know how easy and slash or possible this will be. If you're on a computer, this should be a piece of cake.

I have archives, ya'll. Scroll down the right hand side and you can click on (look! There's labels!) the months past and read all that old stuff from long ago. I'm warning you though, some of it is ridiculous and the pictures are most likely of the worst quality imaginable.

Now that you've read all that, scroll back up to the top and click on "Posts" under the "Subscribe To" button and pick your poison, I mean, preferred method of post receivership. Or, enter your email address in the "Follow By Email" box and it will be like Christmas in your inbox every time I post something! Or, go alllllll the way back down to the bottom and click the blue "Join This Site" button so you can follow me on your Google Reader tab if you want to. (Side note: Dear Aunt Gina, I see your picture. It must have worked.)

If you're not sick to death of my babbling yet, take yourself back to the top and click on the tab "Questions." I've added my special email address so you can send me topics to write about (please?) or questions to things you just don't understand (Rachel, why are you such a hippie?). I'll be staring at my phone, waiting patiently for the email button to light up until you do.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must go dry my hair. Gosh, this has been such an awfully long post about absolutely nothing.

I'm Disordered

2011-11-01T07:22:00.000-05:00

Remember when I posted about my falling asleep jerks? Apparently, it's linked with deja vu which I get sometimes. Like the other night at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party-- I totally had been there before. Sort of.

Deja vu + hypnic jerks = I'm crazy

Read the links, you'll see!

Etsy Likes

2011-10-31T07:09:00.002-05:00

(Due to the horrible, unspeakable crime of plagiarism I will only be posting links to things I like that do not belong to me, not photos with a link back to the sorce; therefore, click the word in blue.)

If I was rich......I'd wear this for Halloween.

Have I shared these before? If I have, my apologies, I love them!

If I was a man (or wore French-cuff shirts)......I'd wear these.

This reminds me of a book I read once about a girl who lived behind the walls in her own house for years and came out as a luna moth at a party. What was that book?

In other news, my washing machine is broken (the spinner spins no more!) and I wore this to church last night.

(And don't say just buy a new washer because I'm not doing that!)

Dear Martha,

2011-10-29T09:35:00.001-05:00

(Can I call you Martha? I feel like I should be able to be on a first name basis with you since I've known you for years.)

I want to apologize. Yesterday I got pretty upset with you and gave you quite the silent rundown in my head after using your green dishwashing liquid and then pulling a dirty-looking fork out to eat my breakfast and reaching back in for a slightly cleaner one. I stepped off the hippie train, telling myself I'd go back to the hard stuff because this crap. doesn't. work.

Last night, when I was fixing my supper, it hit me like a ton of bricks-- the forks were dirty, everything in the dishwasher was dirty! I hadn't finished filling up the dishwasher and therefore the forks had never been washed!

Arrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

(Next time use the ones in the drawer, right?)

13 Months + 1 Day = Us

2011-10-26T07:06:00.000-05:00

Ain't it funny how you always realize things about yourself when you're driving down the road? Just me?

This weekend, driving down the road, duh!, I got a glimpse of just how weird and mixed up inside I am. For instance, if you tell me some random fact that I did not previously have stored in my brain I will take it as that's all she wrote, Amen!, and there'll be no telling me any different from then on. Absorbent as a super sponge!

However, if you are to tell me some random fact that I might have had previously stored in my brain and or already heard conflicting evidence of the same fact, I will question you to no end on its validity and ask a million different questions, "Why? Why? Why?" over and over again until you either crumple on the floor in agony from brain-question-overload or I'm satisfied with your answer, whichever comes first.

The second part of this realization drives my husband nuts. He's really very sweet and patient with me most of the time (he's the good one of the two of us), but when I start on the whys he gets kinda testy. I've been trying to work on the whys (my mother says I've done that since I was a wee tot), but its really a hard habit to break.

Boots gets particularly aggravated when Realization #1 and Realization #2 collide. I can tell he reeeeeally wants to wring my neck when I take ~~other people's~~ ~~peoples'~~ the words of others at face value and question him for every. little. detail.

They even tell you not to do that in all the marriage books I've read! (I'm not the only one?) "Don't question your husband!!!!!!" There goes my marriage. But seriously, we've got a great thing going on. (if I could just learn to shut my mouth)

Thanksgiving for Christmas!

2011-10-25T06:40:00.000-05:00

My anger against Christmas grows every year. It's not Christmas that I'm so unhappy with, it's the fact that Christmas (like Easter) is just another commercialized holiday (like Halloween and don't get me started on the V-day that is for lovers) and I hate it. Thanksgiving has won the coveted spot of being my favorite holiday the past few years in a row. Simply put, I love Thanksgiving. All your family gets together, everyone cooks and visits and has the best time catching up. Christmas is all that plus decorating a tree, stressing over buying presents, the perfect present, junk that never gets used, all the commercials on TV, waiting in line everywhere you go, bratty kids making mile-long lists.

It's too much. The hype is killing me. No more. This year will be different. This year I'm having Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving for Christmas. I will still put up the tree but there will be no exchange of presents like last year and the years before. We're all broke anyway so why are we doing this to ourselves?

Dear Family,

You've been put on notice. No commercialization at my house. It's Thanksgiving, plus a tree. Maybe we'll start new traditions like reading Luke 2 instead of opening presents. Not to be cheesy, but your "presence" will be the "present".

Love, Rachel

P.S. NO presents!!

Slapsticks

2011-10-24T06:38:00.002-05:00

The Scene: Dark living room, television on, middle of the day
The Characters: Boots, Rachel, and Frank
And......action!

(Frank walks through the living room, down the hall.)

Boots: What's he got?
Rachel: (barely looking up from her iPad) A toy.
Boots: When did you buy toys?
Rachel: A while back.
Boots: Squeaky toys?

(Cue Frank, dropping the "toy", "toy" runs across living room floor, Rachel screams and jumps on the couch, Boots clicks on the light revealing a chipmunk)

Boots: Hahahahaha! Where did he get a chipmunk? Hahahahaha!!!
Rachel: HOW DID A CHIPMUNK GET IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!! MUWHAAAA!!!!!!
Boots: Hahahahaha!!!

(Frank chases chipmunk in circles in living room, Boots throws blanket over chipmunk while continuing to laugh maniacally.)

Rachel: OK OK OK OK OK! I'LL OPEN THE DOOR AND YOU THROW THE BLANKET OUTSIDE!!!

(Rachel struggles to catch Frank who in turn thanks her with a scratch on the neck.)

(Boots throws the blanket out the door and slams it.)

Rachel: HOW DID A CHIPMUNK GET IN THE HOUSE?

(Rachel walks around, looking for obvious chipmunk sized holes that mysteriously appeared.)

Rachel: I LEFT THE BACK DOOR OPEN!! NIKKI!!!!

(Cue cricket sounds in the middle of day, no Nikki.)

(Frank runs out the gaping back door, probably to catch another chipmunk.)

Rachel: FRANK!!! COME BACK!!!

(Frank hunkers down obligingly, Rachel scoops him back up, all the while screaming for Nikki who has been inside hiding the whole time.)

The neighbors think we're idiots.

2011-10-21T18:30:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I saw a little house with a big patch of fluffy white cotton in the backyard. The bright white against the green grass was so pretty it made me want my own cotton field. Do people grow cotton purely for aesthetics?

2011-10-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

I've decided that one of my favorite feelings in the world, besides a big hug from Boots, is the feeling of total relaxation right before drifting off to sleep. That's pretty much the best part of my whole day right there.

I like that whole falling in the mattress feeling and just letting the cares of the day go, until I focus on how good it feels to just relax and all the things I didn't do start crowding in my head then things start getting really crazy. I try to calm my brain down and get out of that argument,

"You relax!"

"No! Don't tell me to relax! You need to get a grip and stop forgetting stuff before bedtime!"

Things like that. Anyone else? Just me?

Boots says that I jump when I'm falling asleep. You've heard of hypnic jumps before, right? Seems I've got a bad case of them. And I talk in my sleep. And I require lots of sleep. Last night I slept 10 hours and woke up this morning feeling like ~~a movie star~~ like I'd slept 10 hours. Now that's a great feeling.

Cheese Love

2011-10-18T19:14:00.001-05:00

I recently discovered Fontina and I love it so much I want to name my first baby after it. That's right, Boots, the kid's name is Mayhem Bruchetta Fontina. Like it?

Bad Kid

2011-10-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder how you would have reacted if you were your parents when you misbehaved? I have and I don't know that I would have done any better. Take this situation for instance--

I was little, maybe three or four, I can't remember what I did, but obviously it was enough to warrant a bit of corporal punishment. I remember running from my dad around the car and squatting down to stick my rear end in the hubcap of his old Thunderbird. Ha! Did I really think he couldn't peel me out of there? (He did.)

I can imagine how silly I would feel chasing a kid around a car so I could discipline them. I would probably lose my cool and scream. I can't see my dad just standing there and calmly saying, "Rachel, come here," and me complying. I probably would have ran off into the woods, laughing. Then, would he have yelled for me to come back or chased after me?

He probably did the right/easiet route, but really--what do you do when your kid does something embarrassing?

What I'm Cooking......

2011-10-16T07:29:00.000-05:00

Salmon with Green Beans and Carrots

I could not find Bok Choy anywhere (What is Bok Choy?) and I don't really like ginger so I didn't use them. Boots and I liked this pretty well, I'd give it a 3.

(P.S. Two days after I made this, I found Bok Choy. They were hiding it out at the farmers' market!)

Tomato Soup with Roast Beef Panini

#1. Not exactly tomato-y enough, too much onion

#2. Horseradish is weird to me, it gives me the shivers

#3. Arugula. No.

#4. Apparently I think "panini" is French or something for "burn the smashed flat sandwich". Geez Louise.

Boots said he liked it, but I'm not sure I believe him. I give it a weak 2. Like I said, I had the shivers and not in a good way.

(Click the links for recipes!)

Flying

2011-10-15T07:41:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Boots and I were riding in the car on the way home from his dentist appointment when a jet flew low over the highway, preparing to land at the airstrip. I thought about myself, back in high school when I wanted to be a flight attendant. Wouldn't that have been hilarious?

For Mindless Fun

2011-10-14T08:38:00.000-05:00

Remember when faceb00k and my5pace used to pass around all those silly quizzes? Jasi posted this quiz and I just had to take it......just because!

Age: 23

Bed size: reality- Queen, in my dreams- California King

Chores that you hate: Scrubbing the toilet 63782 times a week!

Dogs: 1

Essential to start your day: Potty break!

Favorite color: Currently- teal or grey, Past-black, red, blue, green, orange, yellow, purple

Gold or silver: White gold

Height: 5'5"

Instruments you play: I used to play the trombone and tuba

Job title: Funeral Director/Embalmer

Kids: One day

Live: Bait

Mothers name: Mama

Nicknames: Rach

Overnight hospital stays: When I was born?

Pet peeves: Oh, I've got a lot! I'd like to think that I've weeded out my peeves in the past few years though, although I may have added to them.

Quote from a movie or TV show: "Oh, Ashley! Ashley, I love you, I do!"

Right or lefty: Right, but I'm ambidextrous when it comes to sweeping or playing putt putt golf.

Siblings: 2

Time you wake up: 5:20-6:00 depends on what day it is

Underwear: Got 'em on!

Vegetable you hate: Carrots! BLECH!!!

What makes you run late: Catching up on blogs and playing games on the iPad

X-rays you've had: teeth, back, and right elbow

Yummy food you make: Boots likes my scrambled eggs

Zoo animal: Where was that stinkin' anteater hiding?

Door Makeover Day 2

2011-10-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

After I worked my magic on the door hardware, I started tackling the door ~~himself~~ ~~herself~~ itself. Basically, I started painting.

Start with one (1) door.

~~Remove hardware.~~ Check!

And sand!

Sand vigorously! I mean really sand the heck out of that old splintery, unloved, nasty, boogery door!

My apologies, sanding gets me all worked up for lost causes.

Oh, let me introduce you to our bedroom's closet shelf. Welcome to the paint party!

More sanding, ay yi yi!

Previous paint splotchies.

Is that dirt or is it something growing? Let's pretend it's just dirt.

Check out this paint bucket. It has a magnet for holding your paint brush up out of the paint. Pretty nifty, huh?

This is a comparison of new (right side) versus old (left side).

This bug dive-bombed ~~himself~~ ~~herself~~ itself into my fresh paint.

4 out of 6 legs ain't bad, right? (Unless you're the bug!) Plus, a smudge!

Somewhat streaky, in need of a second coat.

Bubble wrap for protection.

And that's how you paint a door. Layer after layer after hand-cramping layer, et cetera ad nauseum.

Don't Go To Sleep

2011-10-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

Lately ~~the past year or so~~ when I'm home alone, or Boots is asleep, or if I'm just plain ol' bored I start thinking about things I can do to our house that I've read about online. Since we are in the middle of a home renovation I get lots of crazy ideas. Like this.

This is the knob on our bedroom door. Nothing fancy or spectacular, but that's ok.

It's sad to think about somebody just carelessly slopping paint all over the ~~button latch thingy~~ parts.

I'll skip the boring part-- taking off the hardware, sanding, buying spray paint, buying deglosser (forgot it the first trip)-- and get to the fun stuff!

You know what, poking all those holes in the cardboard with the screws really wasn't that fun. Kinda hurt my fingers.

Initially, this project started out in the front yard; however, due to a fashion mishap that is holey low-rise jeans that are my "work" pants that I do "work" stuff in, like paint, that tend to show my flashy backside, I moved inside the that's-why-they-call-it-privacy fence to the back yard so no one except the squirrels could see me.

The squirrels dropped acorns at me while I was taking these pictures.

This is one coat.

Ain't they pretty?

Boots is going to die! when he realizes there's glitter in the paint!

My instructions said wait about 20 minutes between coats, but I just don't listen so I gave it at least 30 minutes (sometimes 45, once an hour!) just to be sure they weren't sticky.

Lots of checking to make sure leaves weren't piling up on them.

And Frank, just sunning.

Brownies

2011-10-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, that's the first time I've ever made brownies.

The Hunt for a Rug in October

2011-10-10T07:59:00.000-05:00

Ya'll, this past week has been nothing but rugs in my head- sisal, cotton, chenille, indoor, outdoor, and then the patterns and designs! The patterns, oh!, the patterns! Stripes? I've been measuring, sticking tape down, and rearranging furniture in my head too. The perfect rug will make a room and I'm not settling, although Boots may resort to desperate measures to get me to shut up about all this rug business.

Target

This rug is surprisingly soft.

Target, no link to a better photo. These guys are kinda plain in a good way.

This is an outdoor rug, with four different borders to choose from, at a local rug shop. The great thing about this rug is that it can be washed with dish soap and water.

At that rug shop, I learned that natural rugs are not good for wet areas such as kitchens because they were once living (sisal & jute- plants, wool- animals) and tend to be affected by water and heat more so than synthetic fibers. I really like the way wool feels. Bedroom, perhaps?

Pier 1

Ok, so this is a curtain and not a rug, but I love it!

Pier 1

This one too!

Pier 1

Nice, but expensive.

Pier 1, no link. Didn't really like this anyways.

Hello, pretty! Pier 1, no link.

Just when I almost lost hope of ever finding the perfect rug, Boots and I went out to dinner with some friends and I convinced him to stop at Kirkland's before we went home.

(This is the good part.)

Love!

This beeeeutiful paisley rug screamed at me, "Take me home, lay me down, and love me forever!" So I did. Or I am. It just felt right. I knew that this was the rug I've been waiting for.

Regular $80, marked down to $60, I paid $55 tax included. Don't ask where that extra $5 discount came from, I didn't either. The price was comparable to other rugs that size I'd been checking out.

I can't decide. This way......

......or this way?

The kids like it too.

We have a winner!

Happy Birthday to Me! (Yesterday!)

2011-10-07T11:11:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. Check out these beautiful cupcakes Boots gave me! AND-- chicken swirls for dinner plus a late night movie. (Courageous, it was great!)

Words I Don't "Get"

2011-10-07T07:58:00.000-05:00

Do you ever hear words spoken in very formal settings (like radio shows the whole country listens to) that make you scratch your head on the inside of your brain and think, "Is that correct?" Just me? Hmmp!

Words I Don't "Get":

1. Disconnect

I always thought this was a verb- Disconnect the electricity before I get electrocuted wouldja?!

Apparently its also a noun- We're experiencing a huge disconnect in communication!

2. Journal

Previously, I believed that "journal" was a noun, a noun that meant a bound notebook used for private writing. These days folks are using it as a verb also. What's up with all the nouns masquerading as verbage these days? Is verbage a legit word? Merriam-Webster says, "No, but verbiage is." So its a word, but I can't spell.

I'll use it in a sentence.

I think its good for you to journal, it helps get your feelings out.

Add -ing and its a......what're -ing words? It's been a long time since 8th grade grammar. Moving on!

Journaling is a stress reliever. (Spell check and Merriam-Webster say "journaling" is not a word.

Vacation To Done List!

2011-10-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

Before our vacation started I wrote out five major goals that I wanted to get done on our house. We got most of them done that are on the list and even dabbled in a few other things that weren't on the list. One night, I made a huge master list of all the things I could think of that needed to be done, printed it out, and slapped it on our fridge only to realize since then I've left at least three things off. So here's our vacation list scratched mostly off with pictures to illustrate. 4 out of 5 ain't bad right?

(Sarah, check out those pink arrows!)

1. ~~Polyurethane select parts of kitchen~~

2. ~~Restain kitchen cabinets~~

3. ~~Get all dishes, utensils and various other kitchen accoutrements washed and put up in their new homes~~

4. ~~Paint trim and quarter-round in bedroom~~

5. Paint mini bathroom (Didn't get to it, still a vacuum closet)

Scrambled Eggs and Cheese Toast

2011-10-04T01:54:00.000-05:00

Our first breakfast out of the new kitchen.

I'm Baaa-ack!

2011-10-03T01:50:00.000-05:00

The vacation was great and going back to work wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but before we get into all the work that was our vacation, let's talk about the fun stuff. Anniversary = fun!

1. Lunch at a pizza buffet (yum!)
2. Putt-putt golf!

I shot mine in the water and Boots ran over and caught it!

He lost his own and had to scoop it out of the water! Twice!

3. Sunday School AND church!
4. Starbucks mocha frappes
5. Anniversary pictures at the park!
6. Thawed-out frozen wedding cake!

Believe it or not, it wasn't bad. The cake was light and moist, the frosting was still just as beautiful as it was a year ago.

I looooooooooove the frosting. It's glittery and beautiful.

Good job, Mama!

Being married is more fun at some times than others, but overall it's a jillion times better than being single. Of course, it probably wouldn't be like this if I wasn't married to such a great guy! Happy Anniversary Boots, I can't wait til next year.

Dear Boots,

2011-09-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

Happy 365 Days!

Happy 52 Weeks!

Happy 12 Months!

Happy 1 Year!

Love,

Your Wife

VacStayWorkation

2011-09-22T07:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I start 9 days of vacation with my lovey huzzy, Boots. We are going to work on our house and have lots of good visiting time on our Anniversary Honeymoon. I'll be back in October and hopefully be rejuvenated with lots of things (and pictures!) to post about.

Our Vacation To Do List!

1. Polyurethane select parts of kitchen

2. Restain kitchen cabinets

3. Get all dishes, utensils and various other kitchen accoutrements washed and put up in their new homes

4. Paint trim and quarter-round in bedroom

5. Paint mini bathroom

Five is enough. If we get all that done I'll definitely feel like a winner.

2011-09-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

Ya'll, I just don't get it. I can not wrap my head around the madness that is the new Target Missoni collection. What is up with all the people going crazy over this zig-zaggy, psychedelic hippie technicolor stuff? I haven't seen anything that I would want to buy. Help me understand!

My Inspiration Is In The Toilet!

2011-09-20T19:40:00.002-05:00

No, really, it is.

On one hand, my inspiration is in the toilet because I have nothing to write. On the other hand, my inspiration is in the toilet because...... Just look at these pictures!

Yep, I'm in the bathroom.

These are the floors in the ladies' room at Zaxby's. Actually all the floors in the whole restaurant look like this. Beautiful, worn, stained concrete.

Boots and I could do this, right?

What would a stained concrete floor look like in our bathroom? It would be able to withstand any water we spilled on it. And if we got tired of it we could put something on top of it, like tile.

Thoughts?

31

2011-09-17T08:36:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wunnerful amerzing huzzband, Boots!

Nasty!

2011-09-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

2011-09-12T11:30:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I made a little trip two blocks from the house to the local laundrymat to wash mine and Boots comforter. The laundrymat was closed down and renovated a few months ago, but this was my first time to actually step foot inside the building. It was nice and clean, but not air-conditioned. The fall air was a relief blowing through the propped open door. I just want to share some pictures of my experience.

Obviously, somebody's tried it.

This is the biggest washer they have and it costs $3 to use, but it does a good job.

Washy washy.

Maybe "washer" refers to the whole place not just a machine.

If you go, be sure to take a pocketful of quarters. It may cost just 25 cents to dry, but it only dries for ten minutes at a time.

Ten Years

2011-09-11T18:35:00.000-05:00

September 11, 2001.

I was 12 years old and in the 7th grade. It was a regular Tuesday morning and I had just finished first block-- PE, which I wasn't too fond of because of my nasty classmates being sweaty and stinky the rest of the day. We were standing in front of the junior high building, buying our snacks from the machines. I remember my 8th grade cousin Angela running over to my little circle of four friends and telling us that the World Trade Towers had been hit.

I didn't even know what she was talking about. What were the World Trade Towers? Where were they? Angela said they were how we controlled our trading with other countries, that now we wouldn't be able to have gas for our cars and something about imports and exports. I was somewhat ashamed inside for not having a clue about the things she was talking about and wishing I did so I'd be a more informed and concerned citizen. At the same time, I envisioned us living without electricity and going back to a much simpler way of life. I wasn't worried in the least about what my new life would be like because I knew my good ol' farm boy country daddy would take care of our family. I knew I was safe way down here in Alabama, terrorists would never find us down here. So what if we didn't have gas or electricity? We'd have food and maybe I wouldn't have to go to school.

When the bell rang and second block began, our science teacher seemed pretty upset by the news and kept the TV on the whole class period. We watched the news the whole day in all our classes and learned about attacks on the Pentagon and the brave Americans who fought the terrorists in an airplane over Pennsylvania. Footage of the airplanes hitting the buildings played over and over again everyday for weeks on the TV until I grew sick of it and wished everyone would just shut up and move on and forget about it. We heard stories about angels holding the doors to stairwells open so people could escape and I wondered if they were true.

I didn't know anyone who had died in the terrorism attacks and my world didn't change at all other than "9-11" and "September 11" becoming permanent phrases in everyone's speech. Toby Keith's and Alan Jackson's songs played at least once an hour on every station it seemed like. American flags took on new significance to me and I saw an explosion of American pride in everyone's lives--flags on lawns and houses, stickers on cars, even t-shirts with flags. Osama Bin Laden became public enemy number one and we waited years for him to be caught. When his actual demise finally came, I felt somewhat relieved that justice had been served. But has it really?

I'm 22 now and this September 11, ten years after the attacks, I'm remembering the day by reading the newspaper articles about remembrances around the country today, watching the images I first saw ten years ago again, and watching new images of people visiting the memorials dedicated to the thousands of people who lost their lives that day. The past nine September 11's were basically just another day because every day since September 11, 2001 has been a day of remembrance. I've thought about September 11 everyday in some form since then. There's something in the newspaper or on the news about terrorists or new regulations in airports because of the attacks everyday. We can't forget. Our lives are permanently changed in someway forever.

Despite its problems, America is still the greatest country in the world and I thank God that it's mine.

(A special thank you to my Canadian blogfriends who are remembering with us on this day.)

Stripey!

2011-09-10T07:20:00.000-05:00

Click this link and tell me how much you love it! stripes

There's just something about these stripes that just makes me go, "Hmmm......" I'm currently in the process of trying to convince Boots that we need stripes in our bathroom. So far, he's not going for it. I'm feeling white-on-white stripes with a barely noticeable difference. I want our bathroom to feel airy and clean, but fun and unique without being too loud.

Thoughts? You'd better comment or Boots is going to wake up to a tone-on-tone stripey bathroom one morning!

Paranoid (Alternate Title: Serves Me Right)

2011-09-09T12:09:00.000-05:00

I'm a worrier, everyone knows this. I like to have all the angles figured out and know what I'm going to do if any number of things happens. I try to prevent bad things from happening if I can by being extra careful and terribly safe if I can be/know how to be. I try not to, but I'm always reading cheap magazine articles about what foods cause cancer and which ones prevent it even though I'm convinced that even oxygen is contagious these days. I've tried to slack up and not worry so much, but old habits are hard to break.

Since our water leak we've been particular about potential water problems down the road. The inside of the cabinets under the sink and underneath the countertops where water might run off and drip are going to be polyurethaned to maybe help prevent the inevitable moisture from causing this problem again. Our bathroom floor is going to be tile because wood definitely wouldn't work since Boots slings water like a buffalo when he showers.

This morning we went to Boots chiropractor appointment and then grocery shopping at Publix. I vacuumed the sawdust out of the pantry cabinet when we came home and put away our foodstuffs while Boots ran out to get a haircut.

This is the kind of junk you eat when you don't exactly have a functioning kitchen.

I started a load of dirty towels and got a little happy with the vacuum, going to town on all the crumbs and dirt spread out on our beautiful kitchen floor. I thought about how our lives would be different since the flood. Different in the respect that we'll be extra scared to run a load of dishes in the dishwasher and just go to bed. Will we even hook up our next fridge's icemaker or will we make ice the old fashioned way with trays? Our clothes and dishwashing schedule will have to work around one of us being in the house and awake since they can't possibly be trusted not to ruin the floors.

Its not a good feeling to be thinking about future water leaks and then look up and see one. My stomach turned over and I ran like a mad woman for my cell phone and some dry towels. I wiped water up with a fury and dialed the number. Boots finally picked up the phone the third time I called and I screamed in a panicked voice, "The wash machine is leaking water all over the floor!" Terror makes me incomprehensible so I had to tell him twice more before he got the message. Boots hurried home and I photographed the damage.

I had planned on writing a post on what might happen if the floors got wet and experimenting the damage on a scrap board. Don't guess that's necessary now, huh?

We pulled the wash machine out of its cubbyhole and turned it back on, watching for more water. We searched for leaks with a flash light and checked all the hoses, but couldn't find the problem until Boots checked the other side of the wall inside the shed.

We have a leak! Boots is planning to weld that little drippy section so I hope that works.

Oh, boy. Our Tara feels like the Money Pit these days. Does it pay to worry? You decide.

Hilarious!

2011-09-08T06:51:00.000-05:00

I have a new favorite tv commercial. This one has currently jumped the line of all the "Mayhem" commercials. Click this link to watch it! commercial

Fell Off The Wagon!

2011-09-07T18:44:00.000-05:00

I tried to post everyday for a month, but didn't make it. I ran out of steam five days ago and almost went on a self-imposed sabbatical. Seriously, I thought about taking the month off from posting. There hasn't been much going on in the home improvement court (until today, more on that later) and I haven't had anything funny to ~~say~~ write.

Ya ever have to think about something so hard you can't listen to the radio and have to drive in silence on the way to work? Just me?

Its Wednesday and the hurricane finally stopped raining on us. My tomatoes and brown yard send their thanks, by the way.

I put up my first batch of peas (~~black-eye~~ pink-eye purple hull, apparently I've had too much pop music and not enough vegetables) last Friday night and it was the first time I used my new stove. Check it!

Here's hoping I don't give Boots the food poisoning when we eat them.

I had three people ask me when me and Boots are going to have a baby. Geez Louise folks, let's have some freezer burnt cake first!

I dreamed I made peppermint candy with the Barefoot Contessa (or at least we intended to). We went shopping at the Winn-Dixie for ingredients which were really weird- peach schnapps, Bailey's Irish Creme, and some-sort-of-something extract, but not peppermint. After checking out, our exit was blocked by a pack of dogs fighting right in the door! Once we got outside, Contessa grabbed a stick off a tree and rinsed her hands in the water that started flowing from the trunk because apparently they were sticky from the liquor bottles. Weird? Very.

Oh! And! The point of this whole random junk post?

This!

My kitchen is on its way to becoming useable and beautiful! I'm so excited! I've been rippin' recipes out of magazines left. and. right! Boots better get ready because I am fixing to bring it in the cooking department!

Dear Boots......

2011-09-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

For my birthday, or maybe even Christmas, I want a meat mallet. This one's at Publix.

Love ya!

Etsy Likes......

2011-09-01T07:38:00.001-05:00

If I were cute, I'd wear these.

If I could not kill it, I'd have one of these.

(Notice I'm not posting the pictures, trying to not get arrested on the internets!)

Yes, Please!

2011-08-31T13:03:00.000-05:00

I've been eyeballin' these chocolate vanities at Lowe's for a while at the same time I've been on the hunt for the perfect bathroom sink that would fit in our mini bathroom. The mini bathroom is so mini whatever sink we use will have to fit 24" x 14". Coming in at 24" x 12" this one will be perfect!

Shark Stik Vak

2011-08-30T13:01:00.003-05:00

Here's my newest stalking obsession. I'm on the hunt for the perfect vacuum for our new wood floors. I like the idea of it because it's light and cordless, it's a stick vacuum and a handheld, plus it's battery powered. I read a few reviews on Amazon and people seem pretty divided. Some love it, some hate it. The ones that hate it had problems with the battery only lasting 25 minutes (not a problem for me) or that it didn't do so well with hair (I have dirt problems) and they liked Eureka or Hoover models better, but the price of those isn't as nice as this.

Perhaps I'll try it.

***Note: This has not been a paid advertisement although I wish it was!***

How To Dust......

2011-08-29T12:34:00.001-05:00

So begins my nonscientific, nonexperimental experiment involving the delicate (and I do mean delicate) art of rearranging your dust bunnies and/or mites without disturbing one's allergies.

Whatever, I'm dusting again, this time with the Swiffer Duster 360*. Boots came up with the title while he was begrudgingly taking my pictures. Thoroughly not impressed he was.

Take one box like so.

Remove the handle or fork as I like to call it.

Open the packaging and toss paper aside.

Handle + fork = duster.

Click!

Take one duster thingy.

Fluff!

Stick the fluffy duster onto the fork handle.

And get busy!

This is the delicate part. The teardrop glass drops kept clinking together and fearing my nerves of breaking!

Nikki was taking lessons and maybe even worrying about the possible carnage of the chandy too!

The hairy fibers of the fluffy duster are most susceptible to getting caught on the delicate wires of said chandy.

In conclusion, my Aunt Gia had an excellent idea of regularly maintaining my chandy's dust particulates; however, I'm not entirely convinced that Swiffer Dusters are going to do the trick. Perhaps the search continues, yes?

Who's Nailing?

2011-08-28T19:43:00.002-05:00

Why do two people need six hammers?

How To Install A Floor......

2011-08-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

***I've been working on this post for over a week and it still ain't done. This is Part One.***

This post is not meant to teach anyone how to do anything. The intended purpose of this post was to share how we (Boots and me) (well, mostly Boots) put our floor down- step by step, a visual demonstration through pictures, if you will.

Step One (Or maybe step 13, because first we had to decide which room(s) to put the flooring in, go look at it 7 times and argue back and forth over which one, then buy it, bring it home, let it set......blah blah blah, et cetera adnauseum) : Clean out the room!

Like so. (That's spilled dry cat food in the floor, nothing dusgusting besides the murder stains)

Cut the carpet into more manageable sections......

And carry it out!

Ew, padding!

Cut the padding and fold it up.

Scrape up the padding that's stuck to the slab.

Admire the nasty dirt that you've been walking on for how long?

Pull up the carpet tacks by using an industrial strength floor scraper......

Or use an air chisel apparatus. (We Boots learned that this is much! easier than pulling up the nails with a clawhammer like we did in all the other rooms, plus it doesn't pull up as much concrete.)

Sweep all this crap into an out of focus pile.

When we first started this bedroom remodel over a year ago, we got kinda stupid and pulled up all the baseboards and threw them out like idiots, so now we have to replace them.

We had to go pretty high with the new baseboards because our stupidity ripped the paper on the wall pretty high. Be careful when you're starting out on home improvements, but realize that you are going to mess something up.

Sometimes it can't be helped.

See? Just high enough to cover up our mistake.

Boots is pretty good at cutting the corners of these baseboards, but they'll still need some puttying to make them look perfectly seamless before painting.

You have to start in the corner of the room. As I've previously stated, figuring out which corner to start in can take some time. It all depends on how your boards lock together.

In this case, Boots started at the door so he could join our bedroom to the hall.

Here he is tapping in the board that was specifically cut to fit around the door frame. To end any possible confusion, he's checking to make sure it fits in this picture. He's going to pull it back up and then put it back down again, we'll get to that, you'll see.

And yes, you have to lay in the floor like this to get just the right angle on the rubber hammer.

More tapping.

This is a loud project. Don't babysit infants or bring home a migraine when this is going on.

Toes are for holding down boards too, ya know!

When you're ready to begin again, roll out the pad.

Cut it to fit the length of the room.

Maybe you'll need to place a scrap in the crack so everything is copacetic.

Peel off the sticky strip.

And fold the flappy plastic over to secure the two (or three) pieces together.

Tap, tap, tap!

Over and over again!

Yay! The doorway is complete!

Pretty good, right?

Now I Know......

2011-08-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

At the advice of my Aunt Gia, I bought Swiffer products for the first time. Publix had a sale(2 for $8) this week on select Swiffer things so I figured it was just as good a time as any. Not knowing what the difference really was, I got the Swiffer Dusters and the Swiffer Dusters 360*, both in starter kits.

Her reasoning for me getting the dusters?

My chandy.

She thinks a weekly swiping with a duster will keep him (chandy is masculine, right?) looking gorgeous for years to come and save me any heavy cleaning.

Good idea.

I thought I'd do a little experimenting and test out the magical powers that the Swiffers hold; however, there is some assembly required before you begin. Something like, "Click, Fluff, Dust". Simple enough. It was somewhere between "fluff" and "dust" that I figured out what the difference between the regular duster and the 360* duster is.

This is the regular Duster, already dirty with swiping over the tv.

360*, it ain't. Get it now?

Magical, be it not either.

I only dusted half of the glass shelf. The dirty part in the front is post-duster, the dirty part in the back has never been touched. This is the part where after seeing dust clouds floating in the sunbeams I gave up. Let's not disturb anybody's allergies, please. Perhaps my house is just too dusty what with all the construction going on. Maybe these are meant for "light" dusting, like chandys (chandies?). More on that later. That experiment will have to wait for the Boots to wake up so he can take the pictures of me practicing the art of dusting.

360* next time. Promise.

Dear Boots,

2011-08-25T07:18:00.000-05:00

One more month and we'll be eating frozen cake.

Love,
The Wifer

Here......

2011-08-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

......let me distract you with a picture of my kitty while I work on more interesting posts.

;)

As Quickly As They Came......

2011-08-23T08:25:00.000-05:00

They died! The three on top were dead the day they opened! What happened?

Finally!

2011-08-22T09:23:00.001-05:00

If you're getting tired of seeing tomato/rose photos just chill......I'm working on new stuff.

Good Morning!

2011-08-21T08:44:00.001-05:00

No Way......

2011-08-20T06:56:00.002-05:00

Guess how much I paid for both of these?!?!?!

$1!

I paid one single dollar, fifty cents a piece! for both of these stinkin' expensive ($4 each) cereals that I like.

A DOLLARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Here's how I did it: I had a coupon for $1 off two General Mills cereals and a coupon I clipped out of Publix's Wednesday insert for $2 off one box. I figured I would get myself a pretty good deal because Publix usually has sales on things like cereals. These bad boys were sitting pretty right inside the door with $2 coupons stuck to both of them, but I really didn't think that was going to fly with the coupons I already had. Talk about a shock when I checked out--that's $7 in coupons for $8 of cereal!

An accidental deal, but a deal nonetheless. That's what I call winning.

Getting Ready!

2011-08-19T06:55:00.002-05:00

Promises......

2011-08-18T07:35:00.001-05:00

Cell Phone Photos

2011-08-17T07:54:00.000-05:00

I had a deep conversation with Frank one night about how much he's enjoying pouncing around on this new floor.

Nikki said she likes the floor because its cooler in temperature than our old carpet was.

I fell in love all over again with the "Nordic Blue" paint in the extra bedroom after we temporarily moved our bed in there.

Boots and Uncle Roe finished putting up the rest of the cabinets.

Boots stained one drawer one time to see what I thought of the color.

Cookbook cabinet in the making!

Look at that countertop! And that sink!!

I'm so dang excited! My first meal is getting closer!

Egghead

2011-08-16T07:45:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I get bored standing out on the parking lot parking cars.

Its weird the things you see sometimes.

Keebler?

2011-08-15T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's a man. Can't you tell?

What A Nut

2011-08-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

Tonight after work I did a little yoga for relaxation. I got the idea from a newspaper article that promised "relaxation from summer stress." The air was warm and tasty outside so I used my trunk mat out of my car and sat out on the back patio of the funeral home, stretching in privacy behind the brick wall.

For fifteen minutes I did what's probably the 6 simplest yoga moves (seated eagle, lying pigeon, reclining butterfly, puppy pose, downward facing dog, and sphinx) in the world. If they were that hard surely they wouldn't have printed them in last Thursday's paper. I was in heaven--I couldn't hear the cars zooming by, only the birds and few dogs barking. Just me and my car mat. And the air.

After the six poses I texted Boots, "I love the air tonight. It feels so nice. Its like falling in love all over again."

"What song is that?" he replied back. I must be waxing poetic if my husband thinks its song lyrics I'm quoting to him when its actually me.

My last semester of high school, right before college, I had this crazy idea that learning yoga and growing bonsai trees would make me a cool roommate to whomever had the misfortune of winding up with me. I bought a mat, a couple of beginner books, a DVD, and subscribed to a yoga magazine all in the effort of learning yoga. I quickly fell off the yoga wagon after I figured out I wasn't as "spiritual" as you had to be. Exercise as religion ain't exactly my thing, I'm a Southern Baptist you know. (Insert fried chicken joke here.)

Tonight the yoga moves I did weren't about worshiping a tree or the air, I breathed deeply and basked in the setting sun, thinking about nothing, feeling the stretch. Maybe I should do this more often.

(Apparently I still have crazy ideas about yoga. Ayiyi.)

Just A Dog......

2011-08-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

"Sorrow come in great waves, but it rolls over us...when it passes, we remain." ---Henry James

The day finally came and the day was yesterday.

We didn't feel like we could prolong the inevitable any longer without causing her additional pain and suffering. Lately, her stumbling had taken a significant nosedive and she only walked when she had to. We didn't want her to get so down she couldn't use the bathroom on her own or even move at all. She'd eat her food with her legs splayed out like the scene of Bambi skating on ice. One day I even saw her standing on her own tail, probably not even realizing what she was doing.

Every time we talked about it, right before bed usually, I cried. Knowing what we were going to do the next morning, I cried Thursday night and asked God what was I even supposed to pray for? I didn't want to be strong and not cry, I wanted to feel the pain.

Friday was a gloomy day with low hanging clouds and sad colored air. I didn't even bother to blow dry my wet hair and skipped the whole Tammy Faye Bakker getup entirely. After we loaded her up in the truck one last time and started driving, silent tears streamed down both our faces. We got about two miles from the house and feeling like I was headed to my own execution, I almost asked for him to take me back home. I didn't though, more than anything I didn't want him to be alone. I think we cried the whole trip, with the windows rolled down and my half-dry hair whipping around.
When our truck passed by one of my favorite country cemeteries I had to close my eyes, I couldn't bear a reminder. I took pictures of her with her head hanging over the side of the truck, enjoying the ride and the blowing air.

We stopped at McDonald's to buy her two cheeseburgers, one of her favorite human foods beside Popeye's fried chicken. She whined and watched for him the whole time he was inside getting her snack.

We drove on to the vet's office and parked on the farthest end of the crowded parking lot. I stood by the truck while he went inside and started bawling when he walked back out red faced and crying. We cried outside beside her for a few minutes before deciding to press on and get it over with already.

True to the disease, she flopped around like a fish on land all the way to the door, until he just picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. We walked straight through the waiting room past the other waiting pet parents and down a narrow hallway to a room at the very end.

He petted her and cried for a few minutes before taking off the pink striped collar I bought her last summer. I couldn't pet her one last time when he asked. It shattered my heart to see her try to follow us as we walked out the room, her open-mouth smiley face and big eyes looking at us as we left.

I wanted to stay with her and be there for the whole thing so she wouldn't be alone at the end, but it was just too much. We couldn't stay and watch her die.

The whole waiting room was probably upset when we walked back out, everybody was looking at us crying, this time with a dogless leash. We broke down and sobbed on each other out in the parking lot until Boots cried himself sick.

We left.

To some people a dog is just a dog, but to Boots and me she was more than that. I loved her and I'd only known her two years. The sadness I felt (and still feel, I cried all night off and on; I'm crying and typing now) is at least multiplied five times for Boots since he thinks he's had her at least ten years. He's had her so long he can't remember. She was his baby and he loved her like a big hairy child.

All dogs go to Heaven, if they didn't why would God give us such big hearts to love them with?

I'll Stand On You

2011-08-12T06:56:00.000-05:00

Remember that stool my Popaw made for me? I finally got it! I can't wait to put the kitchen back together and use it to get my sugar or flour or something down from the highest shelf of my new cabinets.

Its very rustic, made out of recovered barnwood I think, or maybe he said "old wood."

I love how beat and banged up it already is, that way I won't feel so bad when Boots sends me pictures of him doing stuff like this.

(This was pre-floor.)

Oh, Floor!

2011-08-11T07:14:00.002-05:00

Saturday was a big workday in our house. It started out with Boots shooting up to Lowe's (while Haley and I did some super fast yard saling/thrifting) to buy some sort of machine thingy that would make quicker work of cutting out the bottom of the baseboards than the manual thing he'd bought on Friday. Fully prepared to pay over $100 for this particular machine, he was more than surprised when it rang up for $16! He asked the checkout person was that the right price and they assured him it was. What a deal!

You can see that machine thingy laying on that board. (That's Boots, btw.)

I'm starting in the middle again. I have a serious problem taking pictures at the beginning of stuff! This is an experimentation area to determine whether or not the glue remover Boots bought was going to in fact work.

Highly stinky. We probably all have the cansuh now.

You go girl!

Show that threshold whose boss! (And then Boots made us me dig it out of the trash and put it back because the air conditioning was escaping.)

Test area was a success so we doubled the demolition.

Yes, you need garbage bags to keep the area moist. If it dries out, you're in trouble. Seriously, you have to start over.

Here's what Boots was working on.

The glue removal was a slow process.

Boots and his friend Doug doing some jigsawing on a board. Doug's wife Sherry came too, but she's not pictured.

Tired and camera shy. Ya'll, this man has been working so hard. He has attacked this floor-putting-down-mission like nobody's business!

Almost done!

Half the kitchen deglued.

This stuff was good for working near things (like cabinets!) that you didn't need to get glue remover on. Very easy to work with, smells like nail polish remover, probably causes the cansuh too.

Here's the big contender in the glue removal. You can get it at Lowe's.

Its starting to look more like a house.

Wanna Buy a Roster?

2011-08-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

The following are cell phone pictures that I've cleaned off my phone from the past week. Most of these are things I've seen, wanted, and not bought (so what, I'm cheap!), some are pictures I've sent Boots, and some are just plain funny.

Bonus points if you figure out the title!

You know I love peacocks, right?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a possibility (my Uncle Roe thinks he can make me one) of what might go in that teeny hole between the pantry cabinet and my new dishwasher. That particular cabinet that I had to special order from Lowe's wouldn't fit. Apparently we did some miscalculating with the tape measure somewhere.

This is the biggest jar I've ever seen! I need one for something.

Baskets!

Bread box in the Target.

Bowling Friday night

Me and Haley snuck off to a huge! yard sale Saturday before Boots put us to work. I exaggerated that huge, btw.

Is this for a baby?

This was taped to the door of the Ace Hardware store.

Would someone please tell my husband I need this! It's on sale!

2011-08-09T09:10:00.002-05:00

Friday, my dad and Uncle Ruben came to help Boots and me get started putting our floor down!!!

Anyone else as excited as me?...... Anyone?

I missed a few steps in the process (let me tell you getting going is the hard part-- it took us two hours to figure out which corner was the left corner!) but here is a general photographic synopsis of events.

This is where they decided we were in the wrong left corner (that's right, right?) and swapped to the other left corner on the opposite wall.

Boots "applying pressure" to the flooring and messing up a perfectly good photo op.

Oh, look! Haley came to visit! And she's blurrrry.......

Some Pictures of Stuff. Like My Kitchen!

2011-08-08T08:37:00.006-05:00

Wanna see what my kitchen looks like right now? Come on in!

Last Thursday, Bootshuzzy and my Uncle Roe (plus my two cousins/his kids) put these bad boys up while I was at work. Thank you, thank you!!!! Imagine the squeals coming from me each time Boots sent me a picture message!

Here you can see the dishwasher, pantry cabinet, and some other cabinet sorta thingies. Yeah, I'm real good on describing the scene today--just let the picture do the talkin'!

(BTW- that white paint splotchy is where Boots vetoed my decision to paint the cabinets. Wop wahhh.......)

(Oh, and those empty spaces- more cabs coming soon. Promise!)

***The following photos were not taken by me; however, they were received by me via text message and I think that grants me the right to share. If it doesn't, the photographer is my husband. Sue me.***

This one raised the question, "What is he doing?" Boots replied back, "He said he wanted to rake. I ain't getting in his way!"

This one came with a caption: "Little mishaps screwed through a water pipe". Whoops!

This is my cousin, Em. She's checking out my new stove. She sent me a facebook message later on that day, letting me know that the light in the oven works!

***Now back to my photos!***

Part two!

Me likey.

Just let me mourn a little, 'k? I'm processing through it!

Oh, my dining room!

This is just to give you some perspective on the ~~mess~~ construction zone.

Yay, living room???

Just chew on that with your eyeballs for a while. I've got a transformation!!! coming tomorrow!

Oh, My Heart!

2011-08-03T07:01:00.000-05:00

Imagine me, getting ready for work, drying my hair......

Slamming down the hair dryer and running to the kitchen to check out our kitchen cabinets......

Now a sigh of relief......

What if the hinges were on the outside and I had to carefully paint around each and every single one?!?!

Saving!

2011-08-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

Say that in the same sing-songy voice ol' Chuck Sheen used for his "Winning!" catch phrase.

These shave cream thingies are regularly priced at $3.98 at Kmart.

They were on sale for $1.99 each.

I had two $1 off coupons.

I paid $2.34 for both of these and saved $4.40.

Winning!

Remodeling Progress

2011-08-01T19:22:00.001-05:00

***Originally, this post was planned for this past Monday, but due to time restraints, scheduling conflicts, work, and lack of sleep, its late. Enjoy.***

Lots of things have been happening this past week so here's a photographic recap to bring you up to speed.

One night (I can't remember which) Boots picked up our flooring (maybe it was Wednesday?) and bought 9 miles of quarter round to go throughout the house. There was no quarter round in the house before and I'd never even known that's what it was called so quarter round has been a new/learning thing for me.

Shouldn't it be called fourth circle? Just saying.

With the help of two of our friends we got all fifty-something boxes unstacked and restacked with the plastic pulled off for breathability. Its being stored in our extra bedroom right now, awaiting its fate!

Another night (possibly the night before the floor?) Bootshandyman blew the popcorn texture onto the kitchen ceiling. This is just the cell phone photo he sent me at work. I'll be sure to post a better picture when lighting permits. (We're kinda without a central light fixture in there but we bought an exciting replacement!)

What you're looking at now is our carport. Most of this is stuff we salvaged from Daniel's house and is being temporarily stored but a lot of it closer to that white door is our crap from the shed. We had a little water leak in there a few days after our major water leak and everything had to come out for the repair work.

Friday morning, Lowe's called. They said they'd be at our house in an hour with our order of cabinets ( minus one, more on that later) and our range and dishwasher! Its 6:30 AM, Boots hangs up the phone, rolls back over asleep and I bounce out of bed to go clear those guys a path because they're obviously gonna need it judging from this photo.

Actually this is the path I cleared. Pretty sad, right?

Poor, dirty little step.

Our mess from the ceiling redo in the kitchen.

Here's a shot of the wall where the cabinets will go.

This is looking toward our living room. Its chaos.

While I waited for the delivery truck and found my lawn mower that Boots bought me last summer before we closed on the house, and got to work mowing down our grass that has returned with the monsoons we've been having lately.

I was almost through mowing when the truck drove up. And the first thing they unloaded was this baby!

Yay, cabinets!

Oh, and the vent!

These cabinets are just the basic unfinished oak cabinets that Lowe's carries. We made a new friend with the cabinet man at Lowe's and he helped us design where they will go and what sizes we needed to buy. One cabinet had to be special ordered from the manufacturer and its costing us in shipping almost as much as the cabinet itself. Its pretty necessary to making this work without the use of fillers and we consider it an ok deal since these cabinets were so ~~cheap~~ cost effective. We plan to paint them the same color as the trim in the whole house so the light color can brighten up the kitchen and be all matchy-matchy.

Tuesday, Boots got all crazy with the carport mess and donated the whole lot of it to Habitat for Humanity ReStore, where he bought me a pink flashlight and a pink pair of scissors......

......that you need scissors to open.

(Sweaty photo, I'd been working in the yard for an hour.)

(And I got chewed up by bugs!)

Found a frog hiding behind my rosebush.

***More photos and updates later!

Probably much later.***

2011-07-28T20:51:00.002-05:00

Wednesday afternoon Boots went to the Lowe's to pick up a cabinet they forgot to deliver and Thursday afternoon we went to Lowe's to pick up three boxes of flooring we were shorted. It must have been a bad day all around for Lowe's-- our favorite cabinet man was at the doctor (so they said) and our backup cabinet man wasn't there either, the flooring man was MIA so it was a duck-duck-goose game getting our three boxes, and we witnessed another customer cut the buck because there was no one there to help her pick out carpet! Yikes!

The good news though-- Lowe's has kits for painting bathtubs.

2011-07-28T20:37:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Dee Dee.

Sure Wish I Could Sleep Like That

2011-07-27T07:59:00.001-05:00

Etsy Likes

2011-07-26T08:31:00.008-05:00

Its been a long time since I've done an "Etsy Likes" post so I'm featuring two "likes" post.

Let's start with my love of all things peacocks, but not actual peacocks because they are loud. Click this link to see further proof of my obsession. And how much is 18 EUR anyways?

My love affair with Boots asks for a pretty necklace to go along with the beautiful rings. Perhaps something like this?

(Let's not forget that our big oh-one is coming up soon (like two months!) and I'm on the lookout for something that rhymes with "paper" and "clocks." For a man. ;] )

And there you have it, my Etsy Likes, decorative in nature they be!

One Year

2011-07-23T17:10:00.000-05:00

Today is officially one year that we've had our house. Looking back through the pictures we've made some changes on it but not a lot yet. Here's the post I wrote about us getting the keys and Boots moving in. (There's some funny photos in that one, be sure and click "Here's".

We celebrated by eating Subway for lunch (a girl can only handle so many granola bars before she starts feeling like a chipmunk!) and I did a little painting while Boots was at work.

Dear House,

You've been great. Your roof hasn't leaked (probably because its brand new and I really wish the previous owner had let us pick the color of it) and nothing terribly bad has happened other than our water leak. We haven't unintentionally caught anything on fire or permanently disfigured/maimed anybody. We hosted Boots' birthday/our we're-getting-married-in-a-few-days-party,Thanksgiving and Christmas and a few impromptu dinner parties. We transformed the backyard from a no-man's land into a doggie playground for our puppies. We painted a few rooms, but we're not
finished with that project yet. We planted a few flowers out front and I planted tomatoes and squash in the flower beds, none of which have produced anything to eat yet.

In the next year, I'd like to see us put this place back together and make it better than ever. I want to host lots more dinner parties and repeat performances of our great Thanksgiving and Christmas. Next year, let's try to grow more than tomatoes and squash and maybe plant some bushes in the back yard since the dogs will probably eat the flowers. I hope to figure out a paint color for the outside that will go well with our brown bricks and orange roof and maybe the neighbors won't drive by so fast. Let's try to keep the water leaks to a minimum for the next 25 years because that's how long our floor is guaranteed to last. No repeats of that mess, 'k?

We love you, House. Let's see what another year brings.