Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A month's worth of posts in one

It's been a month exactly since my last post. 
 I typically post on average about once a week 
so it's been a long time.
I can't begin to tell you how crazy it's been the last month.
Here's a quick recap sprinkled with some holiday pictures.
Let's begin with the first of the month where my last post ended after Thanksgiving.
First off, let me just say that I LOVE my job, my career.  
I really do...but the first couple of weeks
of December pushed that to the limits.  
I can't tell you about it really (confidentiality laws) but
a crazy thing happened that consumed the first couple of weeks and I had to put other tasks at work on hold until that crazy thing was over.
I had the bright idea to put this old red sap bucket on my front door instead of a wreath.  I loved it!
Unfortunately, every time my teenage son went in and out,
he would knock it around and a few times even knocked it off.
So, I had to take it down.
I replaced it with the pretty red wreath that lights up.
It comes with a timer so we could program it to come on
every evening at the same time and go off after a few hours.
So, anyway, back to work.  After the crazy thing was over,
I had to work like a madwoman to complete everything else that needed to be done before I left for my two week winter break on Dec. 16.  I managed to get most of it done
but had to bring a little bit home and finally finished it all up Saturday morning, Dec. 17.
There's our little Maisy peeking out the window.
This was her first Christmas and she couldn't figure out
what was going on.
That left me less than one week to decorate the house,
bake a gazillion things, 
shop, shop, shop,
wrap, wrap and wrap.
Then, I had to clean, clean, clean and even finish up
a couple of little projects before cooking a big dinner because
my husband's family came to our house Christmas eve.
I got it all done...with the help of my husband and son.
We had a wonderful Christmas eve with my husband's family.
We had a wonderful Christmas morning at our house...
...and then spent the rest of Christmas day with my family.
It was really nice.
During all of this craziness this month, we decided we needed a new car.  So, here and there when time allowed 
(and sometimes when it didn't)
we visited dealerships and searched for a new car.
We don't have one yet but we think we've finally decided on the one we want. This week we'll start the negotiations and see if we can work a deal.
Oh, and if all this wasn't enough to keep us busy,
one of our chocolate labs, Bella, is sick.
We found a tumor in her throat.  
Now, we are dealing with biopsies and lab reports.
Other than the huge lump in her throat, 
she had no other symptoms.  
Although we know it doesn't look good, 
we're staying positive for now.
And finally, my son's birthday is the day after Christmas.
So, we had birthday preparations to think about as well.
We do something small, just the 3 of us, on his actual birthday. He can choose a party or 
however he would like to celebrate on a later date.
He turned 15 yesterday.
I just can't believe that.
Hopefully, I can begin again with my somewhat weekly posts after New Year's and catch up on some of the posts I've missed from your blogs.

Whew!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

public display of affection and Thanksgiving reflection

The last few days have not gone as planned...
but they were WONDERFUL!

We made a trip to Home Depot on Black Friday to get a new garbage disposer.
We left with the new high powered, quieter, bigger disposer
and a new stainless steel sink and new kitchen faucet.



My husband (who is not a plumber, electrician nor handyman with any significant skills)
removed the old gross sink, broken faucet and dead disposer
and installed the shiny new sink, industrial style faucet and new disposer
all by himself in a relatively short time (Friday evening). 


I'm so proud of him and am so happy he did this.
He did a great job using fewer curse words than I expected
and it turned out great!
Thanks Jeff!  You're awesome!
Public hug :)





Our Thanksgiving didn't go as planned either but it was maybe even more special.
We had planned to spend Thanksgiving with my family (a total of about 12-15 people).
My husband woke up with a bad headache and didn't feel well.
So, we decided to stay home, just the 3 of us.


We still wanted a traditional Thanksgiving meal but we had none of the food.
We headed to the grocery store mid-morning (and it was crowded!) on Thanksgiving day
and bought all we needed.


By 6:00 pm, we had traditional turkey and dressing 
(my family's old recipe; I'm going to have to post that sometime)
along with side dishes, rolls and some southern sweet tea.


When my family gets together, we love to play Scrabble and
watch the Cowboy game on Thanksgiving.
We don't have a Scrabble game at my house 
(it's at my aunt's house where we were supposed to be)
so we appreciated the technology we have in 2011
and we played Words with Friends on our iPhones.


It was really kind of fun and nice to have a quiet
Thanksgiving holiday with just the 3 of us.
We hung out all day together.
I can't remember the last time the 3 of us spent quality time
together for a whole day.


With two working parents and son in high school, 
we all have our interests, hobbies and commitments 
which keep us very busy.
So, this was a special Thanksgiving for us.


It won't be long until this guy is off to college, on his own, 
bringing home his girlfriend, working and someday married.
We might not have that many more opportunities 
with just the 3 of us again.
I loved it.

Hope your holiday was just as great.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

From our home...


Wishing those of you around the country a safe and happy holiday 
with your family and friends.



Sunday, November 20, 2011

what we made with an old windmill base


Remember when I snapped up tons of goodness from my 

One of the things I grabbed was this base to an old windmill.

I brought it in because we had big plans for this.
It still has the price tag on it...$12.

You can see my plans, can't you?

It's perfect for making a vintage industrial floor lamp.

So, we ran down to Home Depot and bought a $10 lamp kit.

If you've never done this before, 
the directions are on the back of the kit
and it is EASY!

I've re-wired lamps before so 
my husband decided to try this one
and it took him about 5 minutes...okay, maybe 6.

We grabbed a natural creamy white square lamp shade
and there you have it!




For less than $25, we have a one of a kind
vintage industrial floor lamp.
 


What do you think?
I love it all rusty and a little bent in places.
It would be just as cool with a fresh coat of white paint too.
I'm leaving it like this for now. 
 I like the contrast against my white beadboard.







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