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4.28.2010

Is that Gretchen Wilson?

Over the weekend a good friend who works crazy hours convinced us to go out for a few drinks. 
Considering I was on the couch in sweats (as I had been most of the day) it was no easy task. 
So around 10:30 p.m. he picks us up and we head to a little po-dunk bar, CJ's. It's one of those bars where I could have left on my sweats and fit right in! Anyhow, I spotted the Redneck Woman herself, I swear!



Shaun looks a little horrified. But look at that hair and them cutoff shorts ... total ringer, I think!

Rain is a good thing?

So I'm crazy behind on posting this, but that's what life has been - crazy.
Anyhow, it more or less monsooned here over the weekend. Rain rain and more rain. 
But hey, rain makes corn and corn makes whiskey, so I'm OK with all that :)


This is what I wore most of the day Saturday:



I'm not sure how much it rained, but it was a bunch. Here are some pictures I got from the fields out by our house on the drive to feed the horses:






This is Scarlett's feed trough. So you can see just how much precipitation accumulated in less than 24 hours!

I guess I should go ahead and make the disclaimer that we live in sand, so most of this had dried up and disappeared by Sunday. And I know one thing - my garden sure loved it!
Now if I could just find a way to keep the darn neighbor dogs out!


4.22.2010

Thursday thoughts

- I was off work on Wednesday and got a lot of my house cleaned! And thank goodness, it was getting pretty bad.
- In addition to the surface cleaning, I'm doing a lot of hard-core cleaning. My mom and I are having a garage sale in two weeks, so I'm making a real effort to declutter as much as possible! I did this a lot when we moved and have been a lot better than usual. Unfortunately, my mom is one of those "hold on to it" people so I'm hoping she doesn't make me change my mind at the sale. 
- We originally planned the sale for this weekend but something came up and I'm glad, with all the storm forecasts. Plus, this gives me more time to go through everything. 
- With no real weekend plans and the threat of bad weather, we aren't sure what the weekend will hold! I'd like to finish painting the front door. We've also discussed painting our living room ceiling (before the ceiling fan is hung) and maybe painting the living room - if we can find/agree on a color, that is.
- My dogs are crazy and going to kill my garden - if I don't kill them first. I swear, Hank looks at it and obviously thinks it's a doggie playground. There are paw marks all over, and it doesn't matter how many times I tell him no, he still goes in. And of course runs where things are planted, not the rows. I may have to put up a doggie fence!
- I tried a new chicken recipe the other night and we absolutely loved it. It's here. I substituted brown rice and added a fifth breast, but that was it. 
- Yesterday, I decided I'm tired of being fat. I was doing great losing weight, but I bring entirely too many sweets into the house and have been working so hard on the house, the Shred has been tossed to the wind. So I'm back to drinking a TON of water (I got up at 4 a.m. to pee!!) and trying to be a lot more conscientious of what I eat. I did so much housework yesterday I didn't bother to work out, but I need to start getting some sort of daily exercise.
- I have to work later tonight. Yawn.
- Speaking of work, I had a really bad day earlier this week. A fire broke out around 8 and I went to get pictures. They rescued a lady from the house ... and she later died. I love my job, but I hate being the nosy reporter there taking pictures and asking questions. My heart really goes out to the people who knew the women. Oddly, there was a fire in another town we cover three weeks prior to the day and I wore the exact same shirt and pants. I know it's nothing big, but I'm such a conspiracy theorist I don't know that I'll ever wear that combo again!
- That's all. So there it is .... a lot of words about nothing. 

4.19.2010

Front Door Love

Since the weather was a bit cooler (but still gorgeous!) this weekend and we're waiting on mulch, we decided to finally tackle our front door — something I've wanted to do since Day One, as J insisted we repaint before we replace the door handle. 
Let me tell you, it was a task! The previous owners had painted the plastic trim around the window and it was peeling. We originally planned to just spray paint it white, but found windex and fingernails — and a lot of time — would peel it away. 
Here's a step-by-step of our Sunday afternoon.


The beginning:



That is one nasty door! See the smudges and peeling? And yes, I forgot to photograph until J already took it off the hinges.



After we peeled off all the nasty paint, we taped it off so we could spray paint. Yes, Hanky Poo is in the background and was a good doggie while Mommy and Daddy worked.



Jimmy does a GREAT job with a can of spray paint. 


Once everything was semi-dry, we taped the edges and got started on the door. We chose a charcoal color, as we didn't want a freshly painted door and shutters the same color, but faded shutters.



A new, pretty door handle :)



And it's hung! Now we just need to do the side panels ... hopefully after work a couple of nights this week. 

Now for a couple more pictures of my sweet baby:




I bet he thinks he has the most boring parents in the world :)

4.16.2010

Have I mentioned that I love babies?



Welcome to the world, baby Kaitlyn!
Shame on you for waiting so long to make your grand entrance :)

4.14.2010

Tidbits

- I am the darkest I've ever been in April thanks to the good old natural sunlight. I'm loving these 80+ degree days, especially with all the outdoor work I've been doing.


- Speaking of the outdoors, I've got my fingers crossed that we'll finish the landscaping work in front of the house this weekend. My sweet boss offered to work for me on Saturday, so while that means I'll be in the office a few hours later than planned today, I won't have to wake up before dawn on Saturday, and hopefully we'll be able to devote that time to working outside. 


- In addition to the landscaping, I've been doing some gardening. Monday, I purchased tomato and cucumber plants and yesterday I bought a bunch of seeds. All together, it's going to cost me less than $20 for my garden this year. Yesterday, I helped my parents get their garden started, and this afternoon my mom is coming to help me get mine planted. I plan to plant okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, radishes, and cantaloupe. I can't wait for the first tomato! And seeing how expensive produce is, I'll be able to save a lot of money with the garden. Plus it's a good workout!


- With all the outdoor work, housework sure has been put on the back burner. The house is an absolute mess right now. Last night I managed to get everything picked up in the living room, but didn't get it dusted or vacuumed. And considering we walk through there to get inside the house, we've unfortunately tracked in a lot of dirt. And I don't even want to talk about the mess in the kitchen. This morning, I felt so overwhelmed with it, I just wanted to cry!


- It sure is hot in the house too! Yesterday evening, I walked by the thermostat and noticed it said 80! Oh well, we'll be using lots of fans, as we've agreed to wait until June (if possible) to run the air!


- Last Saturday, we got up around 6 a.m. and hit garage sales! I also went to a couple after work on Friday. Some of my loot was a shovel for $2 that's already proved it's use, a bunch of photo frames, a glass 9x13 pan with a lid, a cute T-shirt, and a high chair/booster seat for my mom. She went to sales in Benton and found me a poker chip set for $4 - sweet! I love garage sales. 


- I also love clearing out my junk and having my own sale to make some money! Mom and I are planning to have a sale next weekend. I have about six large totes/boxes and I really just want to get rid of it. 



4.08.2010

I love Target

I don't always post a lot about my deals, but I am so excited about my Target trip yesterday!
Here's what $22.80 will get you:



(excuse the crappy cell phone picture)

Anyhow, there are a lot of freebies in here, when I combined coupons (sometimes both Target and mfr. ones!)
For free, I got: 
(3) buddies soaps 
(2) Crest kids' toothpastes
(1) Rimmel mascara
(2) Tide trial sizes
(2) Energy efficient light bulbs
(3) Travel size Dove men's care
and (1) Air Wick

I also got three bottles of seventh generation cleaner, a bottle of tire cleaner and container of glass wipes, four bottles of shampoo (pantene) and a two-pack of Scotch Tape.

The cleaner will be submitted for a $5 rebate and $7.99 for the tire cleaner - so my out of pocket is actually just under $10! And considering two of the bottles of shampoo are normally $6 and I got the big ones for $3.50 each, I am not complaining at all - especially since they are J's favorites and will likely last him a year! 

4.06.2010

Spring nights :)

We had friends over on Saturday night. We walked them out and then let the dog in Jim's truck (Hank seriously loves it.)
It was a beautiful night - about 60 degrees and just a slight breeze.
We sat on the front porch steps. 
Held hands.
Looked at the stars.
Talked about life, love and all the little stuff. 
Enjoyed the simple things. 
It was perfect. 


4.05.2010

Workin' on the weekends

People warned us, and now we see just how true it is — when you are a homeowner, you never get a day off!
We got started working on the flower beds yet again Friday afternoon. We didn't have a lot of time because I insisted we go to a fish fry with the best hushpuppies known to man, but got some work done. I had to work Saturday morning but once J and I got home from some grocery shopping, we got at it again and actually have measurable progress now!
Here's a couple of before shots:




Everything is horribly overgrown and scattered. We also removed all the blocks. 

And here is the after:



All lined up :) We'll trim them in a few weeks, once the plants get over the shock of transplanting. We'll also add mulch and blocks. 


We still need to dig up on this half of the house, replant to mimic the bed that is done, mulch, finish blocks, etc.         

There are also plants in front of the sidewalk. We plan to move those to the sides of the house or get rid of them all together. 
The weather is looking good for the week, so I'm hoping to get in a solid hour at least of work every day, so we can really get with the program on Friday and Saturday morning. I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product!