So, I know that have been gone for what seems like a zillion years! Sorry about that! Quite a bit has changed since the last time that I wrote.
So... my eye is still acting all wonky (yes... it's a very technical word!) even tho I scratched it all the way in the beginning of JULY!! I go to the eye Dr on Tuesday. I'm hoping that he can look at it and tell me what's wrong. You would think that a scratch would have healed by now!
The garden wasn't a complete loss, but, it wasn't that great either. Hurricane Irene kinda wiped what was left of our garden out. Of course, there wasn't much left after my trip to Houston!!
Hubs has FINALLY got his medical board findings back! he's going to get 100% medical retirement!! WOOOHOOOO! He's basically decided that he wants to go to school for Electrical Engineering. Which is fine. Whatever he wants as long as he follows through with it!
So, like I normally do, I put the cart before the horse and decided to look at some houses. This is super dangerous!!!! 1) because I always find something that I like II) because I have no idea what areas of town are "good" or "bad" and C) because I absolutely found the most beautiful house that I could ever hope to own and it's significantly less than what we paid for our modular!!! I'll show you guys... it's here. If I could, I would drop everything and move right into this house immediately! Why do I do this to myself? I find "the one" and know that by the time we are ready to move it's not going to be there. :'-(
That's all for now... I'll try and come back and update this with a better post... but.. I thought I would revive the ol' blog here tonight. :-)
Showing posts with label House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Rolling right along!
So, I failed again this week for Project 365! I stink!! I swear! :-(
Anyways! On to good news!
I got my new shoes. Sam gave me a $100 budget for running shoes. This is how much I paid for my Nikes, so, that's what he was expecting, especially since I told him that I wanted a pair of Brooks that were $80. Well, I went with my friend Keona to breakfast, and then we went shoe shopping. I found a GREAT pair of Adidas that I fell in LOVE with! They were grey, white, and light baby blue! They were comfortable, and PURDY! Then I found a pair of Asics that I fell in love with the gel padding in it. They are one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes that I have ever worn. So, I bought them both. I got them BOGO 1/2 off, so, with tax and everything for both pairs of shoes I paid $95! I immediately called Sam and said that I had good and bad news for him. I then told him that the bad news was that I had bought 2 pair of shoes. Of course, his reaction to that "Why did you do that?! I told you that you had a $100 limit!" Then I said, "Well, the good news is that for both pair I paid $95 total." HA!!
We've bought a few things that we've needed for a while. We got some lawn stuff. We got some new hedge trimmers because our old pair broke. A pitch fork because Sam is starting a compost heap. We got some new mulch for the trees, and a few other things in the way of lawn care products. We also bought a couple grape and blueberry plants. We probably won't have any of those this year, but we should have some apples and pears! We bought those a couple of years ago and last year the apple trees produced a couple of apples, but nothing that really would have made anything.
Our biggest purchase was a new desktop computer! It's something that we've needed for a while actually. All we had was the laptop that Sam bought after his last deployment.... in 2007. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that laptop, but, it was coming to the end of it's life! If you didn't keep it plugged in ALL the time, it would die within 5 minutes, it was barely running some of the programs that we needed to run. This one will be able to run the programs and then some! I did have a little hitch when we first got it home tho. I set everything up, I had to put a hole in the bottom of the desk because I didn't have anywhere else to put the stinkin tower! Then, I had to undo everything and redo it because I put it on the wrong side!! ACK! THEN! I couldn't get the wireless to work. I finally called Staples, which is where we bought it from, and they tell me that it didn't come with wireless ready!! GRR!! I had to break out my old trusty USB wireless adapter. Oh well! It works, and that's all that matters. :-)
OH YES!! I finally got to order the supplies for Charwood Candle! A week from Monday, I should be receiving all of my supplies and I will be able to rock and roll!! I've even already had my very first custom order! A massive 4.5 pound candle!! It's a good thing the customer is local, I don't know that I would have the ability to actually ship that! If you want to check out our candle blog you can do so here.
Things are winding down here for the evening, and I'm getting the kids off to bed, and then I will put myself into bed so that way I can get up bright and early and go jogging!
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, and that your week is just as great!! :-)
Anyways! On to good news!
I got my new shoes. Sam gave me a $100 budget for running shoes. This is how much I paid for my Nikes, so, that's what he was expecting, especially since I told him that I wanted a pair of Brooks that were $80. Well, I went with my friend Keona to breakfast, and then we went shoe shopping. I found a GREAT pair of Adidas that I fell in LOVE with! They were grey, white, and light baby blue! They were comfortable, and PURDY! Then I found a pair of Asics that I fell in love with the gel padding in it. They are one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes that I have ever worn. So, I bought them both. I got them BOGO 1/2 off, so, with tax and everything for both pairs of shoes I paid $95! I immediately called Sam and said that I had good and bad news for him. I then told him that the bad news was that I had bought 2 pair of shoes. Of course, his reaction to that "Why did you do that?! I told you that you had a $100 limit!" Then I said, "Well, the good news is that for both pair I paid $95 total." HA!!
We've bought a few things that we've needed for a while. We got some lawn stuff. We got some new hedge trimmers because our old pair broke. A pitch fork because Sam is starting a compost heap. We got some new mulch for the trees, and a few other things in the way of lawn care products. We also bought a couple grape and blueberry plants. We probably won't have any of those this year, but we should have some apples and pears! We bought those a couple of years ago and last year the apple trees produced a couple of apples, but nothing that really would have made anything.
Our biggest purchase was a new desktop computer! It's something that we've needed for a while actually. All we had was the laptop that Sam bought after his last deployment.... in 2007. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that laptop, but, it was coming to the end of it's life! If you didn't keep it plugged in ALL the time, it would die within 5 minutes, it was barely running some of the programs that we needed to run. This one will be able to run the programs and then some! I did have a little hitch when we first got it home tho. I set everything up, I had to put a hole in the bottom of the desk because I didn't have anywhere else to put the stinkin tower! Then, I had to undo everything and redo it because I put it on the wrong side!! ACK! THEN! I couldn't get the wireless to work. I finally called Staples, which is where we bought it from, and they tell me that it didn't come with wireless ready!! GRR!! I had to break out my old trusty USB wireless adapter. Oh well! It works, and that's all that matters. :-)
OH YES!! I finally got to order the supplies for Charwood Candle! A week from Monday, I should be receiving all of my supplies and I will be able to rock and roll!! I've even already had my very first custom order! A massive 4.5 pound candle!! It's a good thing the customer is local, I don't know that I would have the ability to actually ship that! If you want to check out our candle blog you can do so here.
Things are winding down here for the evening, and I'm getting the kids off to bed, and then I will put myself into bed so that way I can get up bright and early and go jogging!
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, and that your week is just as great!! :-)
Monday, April 4, 2011
I'M ALIVE!! (sorta...)
So, I've been UA (for you non-military folk that's Unauthorized Absence) for a while. I apologize. I really do. But... life has been getting in the way of my blogging time! Quite a few things have happened since my last blog post!
1) I did, in fact, start C25K! Tho, I did skip this morning and now I feel like a total poop for not going. I did 3 weeks of the program and didn't skip any days, and then I miss this morning! *pout* To be honest, I THOUGHT I was going to be sick this morning. Not like, throwing up sick, but stuffy nose, sore throat sick. It turns out that it was only because of sleeping all night that my nose was stuffy and my throat hurt. As I lay there saying to myself "I'm sick... I hate being sick!" trying to battle dogs and hubby for bed space and blankets, I realized that I really wasn't sick and I was starting to feel much better, but, by that time it was getting to late to go running. :-( If it's not raining in the morning I will go, if it is, it looks like Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I will have back to back running days! ACK!
2) Monkey got a cell phone and we cut the house phone. Who really needs a house phone anyways? Other than Bug... who now doesn't have a phone number for her friends to call her at.. other than my cell phone. Oh well, I guess I don't mind too much. Does it make me question whether she should have her own phone? Sure! Does the thought of my 7 (almost 8) year old having a cell phone make my eye twitch and question my sanity? Absolutely!
3) We got a free paint sample from Valspar, and I chose a color close to the one that we will be using to paint Bugs room. It's really pretty up on the wall, but we've got a LOT to do before we can paint her room. I do have plans to put up a cork board so she can hang all of her papers and whatnot and not have tiny holes all over her walls. There are a few other things that I would like to do for her room as well, like put up a chandelier and other things, but, that's not in the budget right now.
4) My sister and her girlfriend are coming down to visit us in about 2 weeks! I'm SO excited!! I haven't seen them since Christmas 08, which was right before Sam and I got married, and the kids haven't seen them since summer of 09! Wow... crazy to think that I've gone that long without seeing parts of my family. I seen my mom and my other sister just this past summer, but I haven't seen my brother since December of 08 either. I guess at some point in time we're going to have to go to Ohio for a visit.
5) I have no idea which days are which on my P365. I'm a terrible photo taker, and I feel like a failure. :-( I'm going to restart it today
6) I'm a thief, but it's okay, I was told to steal by the original owner. (Yes... that sounds strange... LOL) We live at the end of a cul de sac. There are 19 houses on our street. We have the neighbors with the giant house, and then Mr Toms old place. Mr Tom lived across the cul de sac from us, and right beside our neighbor, which would make him our neighbor as well. Well, Mr Tom is an older gentleman, and he sold his house (which was GORGEOUS and I wish we would have bought it instead of ours) and moved into a nursing home. Mr Toms wife passed away right before we moved in (I think). Mr Toms wife always planted beautiful flowers all over the place. The new owners aren't taking very good care of the place, and currently aren't living there because there is no electric or water. Well, Mr Tom told our neighbor to go ahead and take any of the plants that she wants because they're going to waste because nobody is taking care of them. So, my neighbor and I went over there and pulled up quite a few flowers and a couple of Forsythia (I think... LOL) and planted them in MY yard! So... that makes me a thief. :-/
7) I still haven't finished trimming the Crepe Myrtle. I dunno how the heck I'm gonna reach the branches way at the top without tromping all the flowers underneath! I guess I will have to see if someone has a ladder I can borrow. Oh the joys of not having a shed! We're going to have to remedy that very soon! I'm tired of my lawn mower being outside under a tarp, and my gardening tools being in my laundry room! *grumble*
8) I am a parent of a Pee-Wee Football cheerleader. Bug BEGGED us to let her be on the squad this year. So, after a talk with Grammy and Panpaw Punkin-head, she had a check in the mail for the cheerleading fee. (Yes, we're poor... but we're working on that!) We signed her up on Saturday, and she even seen one of the girls in one of the other 2nd grade classes from her school signing up as well! She's very excited to get started. Maybe when we get all our debt paid off we can afford to send her to some tumbling and cheerleading classes! I'm sure she would love that.
9) We've started a "Family SOP" system here in our house. We just implemented it on Saturday, but, so far it's working well. My living room and dining room are spotlessly clean, and the kids rooms are pretty clean as well, and the kids/guest bathroom is rather clean to boot! That just never seems to happen, but it is! The only thing left to perfect is that kitchen. It will get there. I gave Sam the task of putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and I get to hand wash all the pots and pans.
10) I don't know what else to write about right now... but I will think of something, hopefully tomorrow, and be back! :-D
1) I did, in fact, start C25K! Tho, I did skip this morning and now I feel like a total poop for not going. I did 3 weeks of the program and didn't skip any days, and then I miss this morning! *pout* To be honest, I THOUGHT I was going to be sick this morning. Not like, throwing up sick, but stuffy nose, sore throat sick. It turns out that it was only because of sleeping all night that my nose was stuffy and my throat hurt. As I lay there saying to myself "I'm sick... I hate being sick!" trying to battle dogs and hubby for bed space and blankets, I realized that I really wasn't sick and I was starting to feel much better, but, by that time it was getting to late to go running. :-( If it's not raining in the morning I will go, if it is, it looks like Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I will have back to back running days! ACK!
2) Monkey got a cell phone and we cut the house phone. Who really needs a house phone anyways? Other than Bug... who now doesn't have a phone number for her friends to call her at.. other than my cell phone. Oh well, I guess I don't mind too much. Does it make me question whether she should have her own phone? Sure! Does the thought of my 7 (almost 8) year old having a cell phone make my eye twitch and question my sanity? Absolutely!
3) We got a free paint sample from Valspar, and I chose a color close to the one that we will be using to paint Bugs room. It's really pretty up on the wall, but we've got a LOT to do before we can paint her room. I do have plans to put up a cork board so she can hang all of her papers and whatnot and not have tiny holes all over her walls. There are a few other things that I would like to do for her room as well, like put up a chandelier and other things, but, that's not in the budget right now.
4) My sister and her girlfriend are coming down to visit us in about 2 weeks! I'm SO excited!! I haven't seen them since Christmas 08, which was right before Sam and I got married, and the kids haven't seen them since summer of 09! Wow... crazy to think that I've gone that long without seeing parts of my family. I seen my mom and my other sister just this past summer, but I haven't seen my brother since December of 08 either. I guess at some point in time we're going to have to go to Ohio for a visit.
5) I have no idea which days are which on my P365. I'm a terrible photo taker, and I feel like a failure. :-( I'm going to restart it today
6) I'm a thief, but it's okay, I was told to steal by the original owner. (Yes... that sounds strange... LOL) We live at the end of a cul de sac. There are 19 houses on our street. We have the neighbors with the giant house, and then Mr Toms old place. Mr Tom lived across the cul de sac from us, and right beside our neighbor, which would make him our neighbor as well. Well, Mr Tom is an older gentleman, and he sold his house (which was GORGEOUS and I wish we would have bought it instead of ours) and moved into a nursing home. Mr Toms wife passed away right before we moved in (I think). Mr Toms wife always planted beautiful flowers all over the place. The new owners aren't taking very good care of the place, and currently aren't living there because there is no electric or water. Well, Mr Tom told our neighbor to go ahead and take any of the plants that she wants because they're going to waste because nobody is taking care of them. So, my neighbor and I went over there and pulled up quite a few flowers and a couple of Forsythia (I think... LOL) and planted them in MY yard! So... that makes me a thief. :-/
7) I still haven't finished trimming the Crepe Myrtle. I dunno how the heck I'm gonna reach the branches way at the top without tromping all the flowers underneath! I guess I will have to see if someone has a ladder I can borrow. Oh the joys of not having a shed! We're going to have to remedy that very soon! I'm tired of my lawn mower being outside under a tarp, and my gardening tools being in my laundry room! *grumble*
8) I am a parent of a Pee-Wee Football cheerleader. Bug BEGGED us to let her be on the squad this year. So, after a talk with Grammy and Panpaw Punkin-head, she had a check in the mail for the cheerleading fee. (Yes, we're poor... but we're working on that!) We signed her up on Saturday, and she even seen one of the girls in one of the other 2nd grade classes from her school signing up as well! She's very excited to get started. Maybe when we get all our debt paid off we can afford to send her to some tumbling and cheerleading classes! I'm sure she would love that.
9) We've started a "Family SOP" system here in our house. We just implemented it on Saturday, but, so far it's working well. My living room and dining room are spotlessly clean, and the kids rooms are pretty clean as well, and the kids/guest bathroom is rather clean to boot! That just never seems to happen, but it is! The only thing left to perfect is that kitchen. It will get there. I gave Sam the task of putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and I get to hand wash all the pots and pans.
10) I don't know what else to write about right now... but I will think of something, hopefully tomorrow, and be back! :-D
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Early mood boards for the house
So, as you've seen on here a time or two, I can't WAIT to pay off our debt so we can start redoing and redecorating our house. I have some BIG plans in store for this place. I want to build a front porch, put a new fence up (that goes all the way to the edges of our property and not just directly behind the house!), build a new dining room off of the kitchen, remove the sliding glass doors from the current dining room and turn it into a den/office/craft area, and build a deck on the back. Those are just the things I want to do to the house! Not including the landscaping, outbuilding(s) or anything else!!
So, I've been playing around with Olioboard, and I must say, it's pretty stinkin cool!! Of course, it doesn't have EVERYTHING that I want, but, it's pretty good for being free!
So anyways! I played around with things today and I pulled out our "house dream book" and I put a few things together. I tried to get the colors as close as possible, but, they're not exactly accurate.
First is the kids/guest bathroom. I think I might want to put tile or something on the floor. I'm not a huge fan of vinyl. Never have, never will be. We're also going to put wainscoting panels up about 3 foot all the way around (other than the inside the shower of course.) I'm Thinking that I'm going to put in some of those nifty "air plants" in the kids bathroom so they will have something live in there that will be super easy to take care of.
So, I've been playing around with Olioboard, and I must say, it's pretty stinkin cool!! Of course, it doesn't have EVERYTHING that I want, but, it's pretty good for being free!
So anyways! I played around with things today and I pulled out our "house dream book" and I put a few things together. I tried to get the colors as close as possible, but, they're not exactly accurate.
First is the kids/guest bathroom. I think I might want to put tile or something on the floor. I'm not a huge fan of vinyl. Never have, never will be. We're also going to put wainscoting panels up about 3 foot all the way around (other than the inside the shower of course.) I'm Thinking that I'm going to put in some of those nifty "air plants" in the kids bathroom so they will have something live in there that will be super easy to take care of.
Kids/guest bathroom
Next is Bugs bedroom. She picked her own colors, which I think they are good. They're not too little girl neither are they're too adult. I think it gives her some good colors to work with for quite a few years. I'm not quite sure which chandy I'm going to put in. The "pink" one (which is actually white) only has 3 lights, and the green one has 5. I also forgot to put in a chair for the desk. (oops!) I had put a nice lap on her night stand, but apparently I forgot to redownload after I did it! We will also probably reuse her current bed and dresser. They're in great shape, other than a couple dings here and there.
Bugs bedroom
Monekys room was the hardest. The only thing we have picked out for his room really is the paint scheme and the bed. Even the bed we're not completely sure about. We may end up doing a hybrid bed of what's in the picture and incorporating a bookshelf/entertainment center/dresser bed. The colors that Monk picked out are Laura Ashley (Lowes) Sky Blue 3 (or 4) and Light Copper. They didn't have either of those colors on Olioboard, so I came as close as I could. I DON'T think that either of the bedding sets I have up there are going to work. I need to find something that would match well with it. It's sort of got a beachy vibe to it.
Monks bedroom
I am open to suggestions for bedding for Monks bedroom. I'll probably end up having to make a quilt if I can't find something that I (and he) fall in love with. I think tomorrow I will do the dining room, kitchen and our bedroom/bathroom. I had a lot of fun doing it! :-)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
GREAT NEWS!!!!!!
So, Sam and I are going to pay off some debts with our tax return instead of doing other things. We're HOPING that we can continue on with the track that we have set for ourselves for the next year and things will stay relatively the same. (Tho a better paying job would be nice!)
We have decided that we are going to use the "snowball effect" to pay off our debt. Together, we have quite a bit, but, it looks like in about 19 months from this tax return, that we will be free of debt, other than our house and cars!!
Well, okay, maybe not COMPLETELY debt free. I'm sure there are a few things on my credit that can be paid off so that way from there on out only good credit will be on my report!
Sam and I dug ourselves into quite a pit with credit card debt and the like. We come from the "instant gratification" generation, tho I think our kids will be "worse" than we are. In 18 months, I don't know what I'm going to do with an extra almost $1000 a month!! Well, yes I do. We're going to start fixing up our house, saving for retirement, and for college expenses for the kids. I think I can deal with the crappy red and brown walls for another year and a half.. hopefully! Once we are able to REALLY fix this place up, I'm positive that it will look FANTASTIC! I'll be able to get Sam the wood working tools that he really wants, we will be able to get the outbuilding that we really need, replace the fencing with wooden fencing, get a doggie door, build a porch, a new dinning room! Oh man! I can't WAIT till next spring/summer!!
We have decided that we are going to use the "snowball effect" to pay off our debt. Together, we have quite a bit, but, it looks like in about 19 months from this tax return, that we will be free of debt, other than our house and cars!!
Well, okay, maybe not COMPLETELY debt free. I'm sure there are a few things on my credit that can be paid off so that way from there on out only good credit will be on my report!
Sam and I dug ourselves into quite a pit with credit card debt and the like. We come from the "instant gratification" generation, tho I think our kids will be "worse" than we are. In 18 months, I don't know what I'm going to do with an extra almost $1000 a month!! Well, yes I do. We're going to start fixing up our house, saving for retirement, and for college expenses for the kids. I think I can deal with the crappy red and brown walls for another year and a half.. hopefully! Once we are able to REALLY fix this place up, I'm positive that it will look FANTASTIC! I'll be able to get Sam the wood working tools that he really wants, we will be able to get the outbuilding that we really need, replace the fencing with wooden fencing, get a doggie door, build a porch, a new dinning room! Oh man! I can't WAIT till next spring/summer!!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Day 6: Whatever tickles your fancy
So yes... I missed a day yesterday, so it will actually be 31 Days of Me! LOL
Whatever tickles my fancy... hmmmm... My house tickles my fancy! I guess I will talk about my house. We've lived here for a little less than a year. The end of this month will be a year. We have such wonderful plans for this house. I'll share some of them with you! :-)
(Pay no mind to the date, it's wrong. These were the pictures that we took when we were buying it.)
Here is the front of our house.
What we would like to do is this: rip out all of those horrible hedges. They stink for one thing, and for another, they're a pain in the arse to maintain! So, we're going to rip those out. Then, we are going to build a new front porch from the edge of the current porch, to the end of the 3rd window. Basically following the ^ in the house. On either side of the porch, we will be planting 3 Josee Reblooming Lilac in the front. One in front of the single window on the left hand side of the picture, and two on the other side, one of which will be right outside one of our bedroom windows. I'm not sure if I want to put in a porch swing or some rocking chairs and a table between. There will be some other plants up there too, but, we just haven't figured out what we want there yet, other than the Lilacs.
Next is the living room. (Yes the picture is fuzzy....)
Yes, the walls are painted Brick Red and Dark Brown. We have plans to paint this room a light green color to go with our black couch and love seat. There really isn't a whole lot to change here, other than the paint, maybe put some new trim, or possibly some new tile in front of the front door. Which would be nice.
Here's the Master Bedroom. (By FAR the worst room in the whole house!)
Yeah, so, those pictures on the wall, the previous owners painted it a horrible sponge paint, of light brown on the bottom and dark brown on the top, well, the failed to move any of the pictures on the walls, so, amongst the horrible paint, is touch-up horrible paint. We call it the "diarrhea room" because it literally looks like someone has thrown poo all over the walls. It's terrible!!!!!! They even had CONTACT PAPER on the windows to help black out the light from the lap post that's on the corner of the property. *shudder*
We're going to paint this room a nice robins' egg blue, maybe just a little bit darker than robins' egg blue. I would like to get white bedding and repaint our dressers white, and the trim the same blue as our room, and white curtains. Sam says he doesn't really like the idea, but I do. He thinks that because our master bedroom and bath are connected that we would have to carry the "theme" into there, which I tell him that we don't have to. I want to do the exact opposite in there. Everything pretty much white with blue accents. Of course, I want to put new trim in the bathroom because everything is trimmed in icky 80's looking brass. I want everything to be stainless steel or silver.
The kitchen.
So, the kitchen isn't that horribly big, but it's not tiny either. We want to repaint it. I'm not sure what color yet. We actually want to build onto the house as well. We would like to add a dinning room off the back of the kitchen, where the windows are, on the left side of the picture. We would then turn the dinning room into an office/den type area. I would like to take out the door from that section of the house, and put in a nice picture window possibly, and add a deck to the back of the house between the house and the new dinning room. I was thinking of a light yellow for the kitchen. It's currently a burnt orange color sponge painted with a creamy orange on the top. It's the most tolerable room that was repainted by the former owners. They still did a horrible job of it though. We also want to take out the small counter right beside the laundry room entrance and make it into a pantry. We have PLENTY of cabinet space, but, I had thought about taking out the bar to open it up a bit. Not sure if we are still going to do this or not.
The last room that I would like to do anything with as of right now is the Laundry room. Not much to do in there.
What I would like to do in here, other than get one of those really awesome front loading washers and dryers, is paint it a deep sky blue color and get some boarder to put around the whole thing. Except I wouldn't put the boarder on the top of the wall, I would put it about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up the wall.
I was thinking about something like this border, considering it's also our "dog room" as well as our laundry room.
Whatever tickles my fancy... hmmmm... My house tickles my fancy! I guess I will talk about my house. We've lived here for a little less than a year. The end of this month will be a year. We have such wonderful plans for this house. I'll share some of them with you! :-)
(Pay no mind to the date, it's wrong. These were the pictures that we took when we were buying it.)
Here is the front of our house.
What we would like to do is this: rip out all of those horrible hedges. They stink for one thing, and for another, they're a pain in the arse to maintain! So, we're going to rip those out. Then, we are going to build a new front porch from the edge of the current porch, to the end of the 3rd window. Basically following the ^ in the house. On either side of the porch, we will be planting 3 Josee Reblooming Lilac in the front. One in front of the single window on the left hand side of the picture, and two on the other side, one of which will be right outside one of our bedroom windows. I'm not sure if I want to put in a porch swing or some rocking chairs and a table between. There will be some other plants up there too, but, we just haven't figured out what we want there yet, other than the Lilacs.
Next is the living room. (Yes the picture is fuzzy....)
Yes, the walls are painted Brick Red and Dark Brown. We have plans to paint this room a light green color to go with our black couch and love seat. There really isn't a whole lot to change here, other than the paint, maybe put some new trim, or possibly some new tile in front of the front door. Which would be nice.
Here's the Master Bedroom. (By FAR the worst room in the whole house!)
Yeah, so, those pictures on the wall, the previous owners painted it a horrible sponge paint, of light brown on the bottom and dark brown on the top, well, the failed to move any of the pictures on the walls, so, amongst the horrible paint, is touch-up horrible paint. We call it the "diarrhea room" because it literally looks like someone has thrown poo all over the walls. It's terrible!!!!!! They even had CONTACT PAPER on the windows to help black out the light from the lap post that's on the corner of the property. *shudder*
We're going to paint this room a nice robins' egg blue, maybe just a little bit darker than robins' egg blue. I would like to get white bedding and repaint our dressers white, and the trim the same blue as our room, and white curtains. Sam says he doesn't really like the idea, but I do. He thinks that because our master bedroom and bath are connected that we would have to carry the "theme" into there, which I tell him that we don't have to. I want to do the exact opposite in there. Everything pretty much white with blue accents. Of course, I want to put new trim in the bathroom because everything is trimmed in icky 80's looking brass. I want everything to be stainless steel or silver.
The kitchen.
So, the kitchen isn't that horribly big, but it's not tiny either. We want to repaint it. I'm not sure what color yet. We actually want to build onto the house as well. We would like to add a dinning room off the back of the kitchen, where the windows are, on the left side of the picture. We would then turn the dinning room into an office/den type area. I would like to take out the door from that section of the house, and put in a nice picture window possibly, and add a deck to the back of the house between the house and the new dinning room. I was thinking of a light yellow for the kitchen. It's currently a burnt orange color sponge painted with a creamy orange on the top. It's the most tolerable room that was repainted by the former owners. They still did a horrible job of it though. We also want to take out the small counter right beside the laundry room entrance and make it into a pantry. We have PLENTY of cabinet space, but, I had thought about taking out the bar to open it up a bit. Not sure if we are still going to do this or not.
The last room that I would like to do anything with as of right now is the Laundry room. Not much to do in there.
What I would like to do in here, other than get one of those really awesome front loading washers and dryers, is paint it a deep sky blue color and get some boarder to put around the whole thing. Except I wouldn't put the boarder on the top of the wall, I would put it about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up the wall.
I was thinking about something like this border, considering it's also our "dog room" as well as our laundry room.
It's kinda cute. But you never know what I will actually put up there. Until we get it all painted and done, there's still time to change my mind! LOL
Monday, May 24, 2010
Schools almost out!
Well, the kids have 14 days of school left this year, and then will be out of school until late August. Ten weeks of bliss for the kids, or so they think! This summer is going to be a little different. As most of my readers know, Monkey is dyslexic, and cannot read very well. He has brought his reading level up during this school year, but, he is still a couple grade levels behind. This summer we are going "back to basics."
I had a friend of mine that home schools her children help me with some sites that I can print off worksheets to have a summer school of my own. I have signed both of the kids up for the summer reading program. We've got flashcards galore for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! We've got "summer workbooks" from previous years. I have educational "field trips" planned. This summer is going to be all about catching up! I know that we can do it!!
This weekend, we were a bit low on funds, and so we took time to go to Lowes to take part in their Build & Grow program. The kids absolutely love going to these! Monkey has been doing it for some time, but Bug just recently decided that she wants to be a construction worker. This week they made small catapults! It was quite the site to see Bug in her pink dress with goggles and a hammer! We spent in total about 2 hours at Lowes. We were daydreaming of what we would buy when we win the lottery. Bug has big plans for her bedroom and bathroom. She wants an antique looking bathtub with the little hand held shower sprayer. She also wants a corner shower with a frosted sliding glass door, oh, and marble counter tops! She wants her bedroom to be pink (who would have thunk it?!). Monkey says that he wants an all in one shower, but he wants it to be more modern. He wants to have a bedroom that looks like a jungle with a bed that's "in a tree." Sam and I and a large whirlpool bath and a walk in shower in our bathroom, and of course, marble counter tops. We also looked at some back yard furniture. We settled on a really nice outdoor wicker set that was actually quite comfortable! They had really neat outdoor fire places as well, tho we would want something more of a fire pit to be able to roast marshmallows and hot dogs on occasion. Outside, we spied enough trees to make our own fruit orchard! Everything from apples and pears to bananas! Along with wonderful water features, they had some gorgeous roses! If I had it my way, our whole yard would be full of roses! Finally we had enough day dreaming, and headed home.
While we were at Lowes, we also passed out some flyers for my best friends' fund raiser for her mission trip to Spain. We, unfortunately, we not able to attend because of the low cash flow. We will be donating some things to her yard sale tho! I'm sure that we have alot of things laying around that we can donate to a good cause. Of course, if we win the lottery by then, we will just donate whatever she needs, possibly what everyone needs, to be able to go.
Of course, another friend and I have decided that the aquatic snail business is where we want to be, so, we would just have to build additions to our homes to set up tanks for breeding snails and selling them! They are quite cute, and have lovely personalities! I told Sam that I would want to buy everyones house, and sell it back to them for $1. We would also donate our current home to a family that is in need. Also buy more books for the kids school, so each child can have a book, and be able to bring it home. That was one of the things that we noticed was strange about school this year. The only book Monkey every brought home was his math book! Apparently the schools just don't have the funding to be able to buy every child a book, so they share. For kids like Monkey, that just doesn't work.
See! We really deserve to win the lottery! We want to help other people, not just ourselves! I guess we will just have to continue day dreaming for now. I've got to pull myself back to reality, the buzzer on the dryer went off, and the maid hasn't materialized yet, so, I guess I should go fold clothes!
I had a friend of mine that home schools her children help me with some sites that I can print off worksheets to have a summer school of my own. I have signed both of the kids up for the summer reading program. We've got flashcards galore for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! We've got "summer workbooks" from previous years. I have educational "field trips" planned. This summer is going to be all about catching up! I know that we can do it!!
This weekend, we were a bit low on funds, and so we took time to go to Lowes to take part in their Build & Grow program. The kids absolutely love going to these! Monkey has been doing it for some time, but Bug just recently decided that she wants to be a construction worker. This week they made small catapults! It was quite the site to see Bug in her pink dress with goggles and a hammer! We spent in total about 2 hours at Lowes. We were daydreaming of what we would buy when we win the lottery. Bug has big plans for her bedroom and bathroom. She wants an antique looking bathtub with the little hand held shower sprayer. She also wants a corner shower with a frosted sliding glass door, oh, and marble counter tops! She wants her bedroom to be pink (who would have thunk it?!). Monkey says that he wants an all in one shower, but he wants it to be more modern. He wants to have a bedroom that looks like a jungle with a bed that's "in a tree." Sam and I and a large whirlpool bath and a walk in shower in our bathroom, and of course, marble counter tops. We also looked at some back yard furniture. We settled on a really nice outdoor wicker set that was actually quite comfortable! They had really neat outdoor fire places as well, tho we would want something more of a fire pit to be able to roast marshmallows and hot dogs on occasion. Outside, we spied enough trees to make our own fruit orchard! Everything from apples and pears to bananas! Along with wonderful water features, they had some gorgeous roses! If I had it my way, our whole yard would be full of roses! Finally we had enough day dreaming, and headed home.
While we were at Lowes, we also passed out some flyers for my best friends' fund raiser for her mission trip to Spain. We, unfortunately, we not able to attend because of the low cash flow. We will be donating some things to her yard sale tho! I'm sure that we have alot of things laying around that we can donate to a good cause. Of course, if we win the lottery by then, we will just donate whatever she needs, possibly what everyone needs, to be able to go.
Of course, another friend and I have decided that the aquatic snail business is where we want to be, so, we would just have to build additions to our homes to set up tanks for breeding snails and selling them! They are quite cute, and have lovely personalities! I told Sam that I would want to buy everyones house, and sell it back to them for $1. We would also donate our current home to a family that is in need. Also buy more books for the kids school, so each child can have a book, and be able to bring it home. That was one of the things that we noticed was strange about school this year. The only book Monkey every brought home was his math book! Apparently the schools just don't have the funding to be able to buy every child a book, so they share. For kids like Monkey, that just doesn't work.
See! We really deserve to win the lottery! We want to help other people, not just ourselves! I guess we will just have to continue day dreaming for now. I've got to pull myself back to reality, the buzzer on the dryer went off, and the maid hasn't materialized yet, so, I guess I should go fold clothes!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Bugs tooth!!
So, Bug had a couple of her adult teeth come in behind her teeth on the bottom because she absolutely refuses to wiggle, or try to pull her teeth at all. When we were at the Dentist a few weeks ago, they told her that she needed to pull them out and that if she hadn't pulled them by the next time she came in that they were going to have to pull them out for her. This sort of scared her a bit. It just so happened that she had Poison Ivy at that time and they weren't able to do her cleaning. So, we went back on Wednesday for her cleaning and she was SO worried that they were going to pull her teeth! I told her that they weren't going to pull them and that they would give her a little more time. She was still a bit worried though. Well yesterday Sam picked the kids up from school because I had a little more running around to do, and when I got home she runs up to me with a little baggy and says "Mom! I pulled my tooth at school today!" We then had dinner while we watched The Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson in it. It was a really cute movie! Then the Tooth Fairy gave her $2 for her tooth and she was very happy that he didn't just leave $1 like in the movie!
Yesterday was an okay day. I went to Sams therapist with him. He gave us some good ideas for communicating better and whatnot. We, of course, started talking while we were in bed, and I told him that I didn't completely trust him yet. I KNOW that he's not going to do anything, but, to have been treated the same way that I was in just about every previous relationship really has me flummoxed. I never thought that my wonderful husband would be capable of anything like that. He has such strong ethics and values, which is one of the things that I love so much about him, and to just blatantly disregard them is just mind boggling! He ended up pretty upset because I can't completely trust him right now. I told him that it would take some time and effort on his part to regain that trust. He completely disagreed. He thinks trust is something that I have to work towards on my own, like forgiveness. I told him that wasn't the case. He was the one that did the damage, and he needed to make efforts to repair it. I guess maybe I should have asked him if I set a wooden bridge on fire, but put it out voluntarily, if I should expect it to repair itself. Sam ended up sleeping on the couch last night because he was upset. We didn't fight, or argue, he was just upset that I told him that I couldn't trust him completely yet.
Today, I'm watching my friend Keonas' lil boy! He's such a little cutie!! Every time he sees me he gets all excited and squishes up his little face. Keona is going to her little girls class tea party. Who was I to come in between a mother-daughter tea party?! Besides, I really like watching lil man. It gives me enough "baby time" to not want another one, which is something I'm sure my mother is thankful for! I've started to think that I'm just getting to "old" to have more kids. Monkey is 11, and Bug is almost 7. They're both in school all day, can feed themselves, no bottles or dirty diapers to deal with. I don't think I want to start all over again! I'll be 30 in just over a month. I really didn't want kids in the first place, but I'm glad that I do have them and I'm glad that I had them young. I don't know how my Dad stayed sane when he found out Mom was having me. He was getting ready to turn 50 when I was born! Sheesh!
Today is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day! I can still claim this title for that time being. If you are a Military Spouse I want to thank you for "standing by your man (or woman)", and if you know one, make sure they know that you appreciate them today.
Yesterday was an okay day. I went to Sams therapist with him. He gave us some good ideas for communicating better and whatnot. We, of course, started talking while we were in bed, and I told him that I didn't completely trust him yet. I KNOW that he's not going to do anything, but, to have been treated the same way that I was in just about every previous relationship really has me flummoxed. I never thought that my wonderful husband would be capable of anything like that. He has such strong ethics and values, which is one of the things that I love so much about him, and to just blatantly disregard them is just mind boggling! He ended up pretty upset because I can't completely trust him right now. I told him that it would take some time and effort on his part to regain that trust. He completely disagreed. He thinks trust is something that I have to work towards on my own, like forgiveness. I told him that wasn't the case. He was the one that did the damage, and he needed to make efforts to repair it. I guess maybe I should have asked him if I set a wooden bridge on fire, but put it out voluntarily, if I should expect it to repair itself. Sam ended up sleeping on the couch last night because he was upset. We didn't fight, or argue, he was just upset that I told him that I couldn't trust him completely yet.
Today, I'm watching my friend Keonas' lil boy! He's such a little cutie!! Every time he sees me he gets all excited and squishes up his little face. Keona is going to her little girls class tea party. Who was I to come in between a mother-daughter tea party?! Besides, I really like watching lil man. It gives me enough "baby time" to not want another one, which is something I'm sure my mother is thankful for! I've started to think that I'm just getting to "old" to have more kids. Monkey is 11, and Bug is almost 7. They're both in school all day, can feed themselves, no bottles or dirty diapers to deal with. I don't think I want to start all over again! I'll be 30 in just over a month. I really didn't want kids in the first place, but I'm glad that I do have them and I'm glad that I had them young. I don't know how my Dad stayed sane when he found out Mom was having me. He was getting ready to turn 50 when I was born! Sheesh!
Today is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day! I can still claim this title for that time being. If you are a Military Spouse I want to thank you for "standing by your man (or woman)", and if you know one, make sure they know that you appreciate them today.
Monday, April 26, 2010
New friends!
So, as some of you know (mom), I have blogged for a very very long time. THIS blog only started recently, but I've been keeping blogs since Bug was just a wee little thing. My Mommy got me started back in 2004. That blog is long gone now, tho I still have it archived for my personal entertainment. Recently, I decided that I needed to reach out, and get to know, more military spouses blogs. Some of them I've been following for a while, some I just found. I've added a lot of people to my blog roll. I think the best thing about my blog roll is that all I need to do is look at it and I can see who's posted a new blog! Of course, that means that I have to come to my own blog to see who's posted a new one, but that's fine! :-)
Some of these women are braver and stronger than I could ever imagine being. My hats off to you, and I commend you for your strength. I cannot imagine what these women are going through, but my heart aches for you none the less.
I've found more things to do in my quest to make the house look mom-ready! All 3 dogs need baths, and Lilly needs her nails trimmed!! *She's got Velociraptor talons, I swear it!* That will get done later in the week (dogs seem to get dirty quickly,especially the white one!), except for Lilly'stalons nails, they need done ASAP. She HATES to have her nails trimmed. Of course, I think that sort of stems from the fact that ONE time, I accidentally quicked her. (Sorry puppy!) Sam wants to get a picture of the 3 dogs all together, just them, to put on our mantle. His thinking is "They're part of the family too!" which is true. I just have NO idea how we are going to get 2 Greyhounds and an American Eskimo to all sit still and stay in the same place long enough to get a good picture of them for the mantle! I do have one picture of them that is really cute tho. Our dogs, just like us, are very strange characters. They LOVE fruits and veggies! They will all sit in front of Sam and patiently wait for him to drop some apple or banana their way. While I'm making dinner, they're always waiting for me to throw an errant potato or slice of celery at them. Well, one day, Sam was eating and apple with PB. They were all standing right in front of him just staring. You know the kind of staring that makes you feel like you've got a pork chop tied around your neck, that was it. Well, I stood on a chair and took a picture of them, and it's actually a very cute shot.
Okay. I've got laundry in, waiting for it to dry so I can fold it and put MORE laundry in. Sam's still sleeping (I wanna sleep like him! *pout*) so I have to wait until he gets up to run the vacuum and carpet cleaner. I guess that means that I can make acomplete bit of a mess of my kitchen and throw some Amish bread in the bread machine and clean the fish tank as well. Man oh MAN! Today is going to be busy busy busy!
Some of these women are braver and stronger than I could ever imagine being. My hats off to you, and I commend you for your strength. I cannot imagine what these women are going through, but my heart aches for you none the less.
I've found more things to do in my quest to make the house look mom-ready! All 3 dogs need baths, and Lilly needs her nails trimmed!! *She's got Velociraptor talons, I swear it!* That will get done later in the week (dogs seem to get dirty quickly,especially the white one!), except for Lilly's
Okay. I've got laundry in, waiting for it to dry so I can fold it and put MORE laundry in. Sam's still sleeping (I wanna sleep like him! *pout*) so I have to wait until he gets up to run the vacuum and carpet cleaner. I guess that means that I can make a
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Julie and Julia
So, as of late, I have become a little bit of a Domestic Diva. I've learned how to make Amish bread (partly in the bread machine, of course), I've learned to cook more than roasts and soup beans in my crock pot, and I've (sorta) learned how to sew. I've kept the house fairly clean, been shopping and recipe swapping, and have even gone out to brunch! I've learned the best way to get stains out of clothes, and the quickest ways to iron a shirt, and which fabric softner works, and smells, the best!
Tonight we watched Julie & Julia. It was a pretty good movie. I love food, and apparently it really loves me, it likes to stick around. (Bah duh duh!) I did some laundry while watching it as well. Monkey had an accident again, despite going to the bathroom right before he went to bed. It happens every now and again, but I try not to dwell on it and just wash the sheets. I never ridicule or make fun of him. It's not his fault that the muscle just hasn't developed yet and there's honestly nothing that the doctors can do about it. (We've been to one... said it's normal.) Monkey and I made his bed, I grabbed him a comforter since his hadn't made it's journey through the washer and dryer yet. Both of the kiddos are now sleeping peacefully in their beds while visions of sugar-plums dance through their heads. *Yes, I know it's not Christmas* While all of this is wonderful, I have a rather busy week ahead of me.
First on the agenda, deep cleaning the dinning room carpets! You guessed it! I never got to it on Friday with all of the commotion of going to appointments and whatnot. So, I said I wanted it done by Monday, so it will be done by tomorrow! Then, I need to finish up the laundry. I've also got to go to the grocery store and figure out something for dinner, and make another loaf of bread. I think that will keep me busy for the majority of the day. I've also got to slip in a workout as well!
Tuesday brings another day of busy-ness. I want to wash all of the windows, at least on the inside and clean the curtains. (What curtains that we do have!) Then I want to clean out the cabinets and rearrange every thing, and also clean the cabinet doors as well. (That means upper AND lower cabinets.) Also fit in a work-out and made dinner as well.
Wednesday, I believe I will wash the sheets (for my parents), and the blankets in the dogs crates as well. (No, not together Mom...) More than likely the blankets that go in the living room as well. I will more than likely vacuum and dust as well. (Hopefully) Also, clean both bathrooms, sweep and mop. Did I mention work out in there at all? Oh... and Girl Scouts!
Thursday, I and going to sweep and mop the kitchen. Since the kitchen gets used so much, the floor can get rather icky, and even with mopping it, sometimes there is still some gunk left on the floor, so I'm going to scrub it with a scrubby sponge. I haven't done that in a while! (Oh yeah... and work out!)
Friday is pay day! (Hooray!!) So, I would like to pick up some sheer material and a curtain rod for the dinning room and make a curtain for the sliding glass door, get Bug a new set of blinds, and maybe even make some curtains for her room as well. Also, I will more than likely pre-make the apple pie that I want to have for dessert for Saturday, which is when my parents will be here! Shew!!
Saturday morning, I'll throw the beef Burgundy in the crock pot for dinner, and relax a bit before I have to pick up my parents at the local airport at 11! Shew!!! I have a VERY busy week ahead of me! Here's to accomplishing it all! Now it's off to bed to read a bit and slip off to Never-Never Land in the arms of my wonderful husband!
By the way, I forgot to mention that Friday was my FANTASTIC step-dads' (That's you Kevin) birthday! Hope you had a good one, and glad you liked the cards! :-D*
Tonight we watched Julie & Julia. It was a pretty good movie. I love food, and apparently it really loves me, it likes to stick around. (Bah duh duh!) I did some laundry while watching it as well. Monkey had an accident again, despite going to the bathroom right before he went to bed. It happens every now and again, but I try not to dwell on it and just wash the sheets. I never ridicule or make fun of him. It's not his fault that the muscle just hasn't developed yet and there's honestly nothing that the doctors can do about it. (We've been to one... said it's normal.) Monkey and I made his bed, I grabbed him a comforter since his hadn't made it's journey through the washer and dryer yet. Both of the kiddos are now sleeping peacefully in their beds while visions of sugar-plums dance through their heads. *Yes, I know it's not Christmas* While all of this is wonderful, I have a rather busy week ahead of me.
First on the agenda, deep cleaning the dinning room carpets! You guessed it! I never got to it on Friday with all of the commotion of going to appointments and whatnot. So, I said I wanted it done by Monday, so it will be done by tomorrow! Then, I need to finish up the laundry. I've also got to go to the grocery store and figure out something for dinner, and make another loaf of bread. I think that will keep me busy for the majority of the day. I've also got to slip in a workout as well!
Tuesday brings another day of busy-ness. I want to wash all of the windows, at least on the inside and clean the curtains. (What curtains that we do have!) Then I want to clean out the cabinets and rearrange every thing, and also clean the cabinet doors as well. (That means upper AND lower cabinets.) Also fit in a work-out and made dinner as well.
Wednesday, I believe I will wash the sheets (for my parents), and the blankets in the dogs crates as well. (No, not together Mom...) More than likely the blankets that go in the living room as well. I will more than likely vacuum and dust as well. (Hopefully) Also, clean both bathrooms, sweep and mop. Did I mention work out in there at all? Oh... and Girl Scouts!
Thursday, I and going to sweep and mop the kitchen. Since the kitchen gets used so much, the floor can get rather icky, and even with mopping it, sometimes there is still some gunk left on the floor, so I'm going to scrub it with a scrubby sponge. I haven't done that in a while! (Oh yeah... and work out!)
Friday is pay day! (Hooray!!) So, I would like to pick up some sheer material and a curtain rod for the dinning room and make a curtain for the sliding glass door, get Bug a new set of blinds, and maybe even make some curtains for her room as well. Also, I will more than likely pre-make the apple pie that I want to have for dessert for Saturday, which is when my parents will be here! Shew!!
Saturday morning, I'll throw the beef Burgundy in the crock pot for dinner, and relax a bit before I have to pick up my parents at the local airport at 11! Shew!!! I have a VERY busy week ahead of me! Here's to accomplishing it all! Now it's off to bed to read a bit and slip off to Never-Never Land in the arms of my wonderful husband!
By the way, I forgot to mention that Friday was my FANTASTIC step-dads' (That's you Kevin) birthday! Hope you had a good one, and glad you liked the cards! :-D*
Friday, April 23, 2010
Chilly morning
So, today started off not so good. I couldn't fall asleep last night, so I ended up reading The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson until almost midnight. I was then riddled with a recurring dream that I just cannot seem to remember. I woke up dazed and a bit confused, and 5 minutes after I should have already been up. I get out of bed to find BOTH of my children in Monkeys bed. For anyone that knows me, my kids, or knows a 11 year old brother and 6 year old sister, knows that these two get along about as well as gas and fire. I was sort of shocked that they were both in there giggling and playing at 7:05am. I hurried them both out of there and on with medications. Bug has Poison Ivy (again) and this time we had to give her antibiotics to calm the rash. It seems that there was a touch of infection and the Cortisone shot that they had given her, which worked last time she had it, made the infection explode all over her upper torso. Monkey takes his usual morning medications, tho he is slowly being weened from the Risperidone. It's a good thing.
I went with Sam to his cognitive therapy this morning. It went well. I have realized from the few times that I am a cornucopia of knowledge that I never thought I knew. Sam and his therapist were talking about proverbs. Everyone knows at least one proverb. One of the most common ones is: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Well, Sam had to break them down and tell his therapist what they meant. Of course, I knew what this meant, and where it actually came from. I explained it came from the actual horses mouth, that if you look in a horses mouth you can find out all kinds of information on it. It's approximate age, and some heath issues also stem from the mouth, and how well the horse had been treated. So, looking at a horse's mouth, that was a gift, would be just like telling someone that has just given you a baby grand piano that it has a scratch on the top. Going to these things with Sam is always good for me, because I learn about what he's learning, where he is struggling, and how I can help, or at least try. Sam got a headache while he was in therapy, so she stopped and told him that he did a good job. I'm really proud of Sam for everything that he has been doing, to try and regain some memory, some shred of his former life.
Today on the agenda is, again, cleaning the living room, and the kitchen. I'm HOPING that I can get the dinning room carpet cleaned today, but by the latest Monday. It's not that it's overly dirty, but, I'm sure it could use some TLC. I've already got the kitchen clean, but will be doing it again next Friday right before Mom and Kevin come for their visit. Also, I'm going to start the laundry today. Most of the time it takes me a couple of days to actually get all of the laundry done, and I would like for it all to be completed by Saturday. Next Friday, not only will I have to do ALL of the normal laundry, but I want to wash the sheets and comforter that my parents will be using on the blow up mattress that we will set up for them. They've been in storage since the last time they came for a visit! All in all, not a horribly busy day, but enough to keep me busy for the day, and part of the weekend.
I think next Saturday, I will put some beef burgundy in the crock pot for the family. It's one of our new favorite meals, and we normally serve it with mashed potatoes and corn. Kevin normally isn't the real potato type of guy. Sam and I have been trying to make most everything we can from scratch to try and cut down on the processed food that our family eats. (Thanks Jamie Oliver!) So I'm hoping that he doesn't much mind that for one night, he has to eat potatoes that were in the ground. We also normally eat corn from a can, but I think next Saturday, we'll have corn on the cob. I will probably make a fresh loaf of bread as well. Maybe I'll even make an apple pie for dessert and have some vanilla ice cream! *Don't I just sound like the little domestic Goddess!* I think that would beat my sister and her grilled tenderloin steaks any day of the week! ;-)
On that note, I think I should go have some lunch. All the food talk really made me hungry, and I forgot to eat breakfast with all of the hustle and bustle of getting the kids around to go to school and going to therapy with Sam!
I went with Sam to his cognitive therapy this morning. It went well. I have realized from the few times that I am a cornucopia of knowledge that I never thought I knew. Sam and his therapist were talking about proverbs. Everyone knows at least one proverb. One of the most common ones is: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Well, Sam had to break them down and tell his therapist what they meant. Of course, I knew what this meant, and where it actually came from. I explained it came from the actual horses mouth, that if you look in a horses mouth you can find out all kinds of information on it. It's approximate age, and some heath issues also stem from the mouth, and how well the horse had been treated. So, looking at a horse's mouth, that was a gift, would be just like telling someone that has just given you a baby grand piano that it has a scratch on the top. Going to these things with Sam is always good for me, because I learn about what he's learning, where he is struggling, and how I can help, or at least try. Sam got a headache while he was in therapy, so she stopped and told him that he did a good job. I'm really proud of Sam for everything that he has been doing, to try and regain some memory, some shred of his former life.
Today on the agenda is, again, cleaning the living room, and the kitchen. I'm HOPING that I can get the dinning room carpet cleaned today, but by the latest Monday. It's not that it's overly dirty, but, I'm sure it could use some TLC. I've already got the kitchen clean, but will be doing it again next Friday right before Mom and Kevin come for their visit. Also, I'm going to start the laundry today. Most of the time it takes me a couple of days to actually get all of the laundry done, and I would like for it all to be completed by Saturday. Next Friday, not only will I have to do ALL of the normal laundry, but I want to wash the sheets and comforter that my parents will be using on the blow up mattress that we will set up for them. They've been in storage since the last time they came for a visit! All in all, not a horribly busy day, but enough to keep me busy for the day, and part of the weekend.
I think next Saturday, I will put some beef burgundy in the crock pot for the family. It's one of our new favorite meals, and we normally serve it with mashed potatoes and corn. Kevin normally isn't the real potato type of guy. Sam and I have been trying to make most everything we can from scratch to try and cut down on the processed food that our family eats. (Thanks Jamie Oliver!) So I'm hoping that he doesn't much mind that for one night, he has to eat potatoes that were in the ground. We also normally eat corn from a can, but I think next Saturday, we'll have corn on the cob. I will probably make a fresh loaf of bread as well. Maybe I'll even make an apple pie for dessert and have some vanilla ice cream! *Don't I just sound like the little domestic Goddess!* I think that would beat my sister and her grilled tenderloin steaks any day of the week! ;-)
On that note, I think I should go have some lunch. All the food talk really made me hungry, and I forgot to eat breakfast with all of the hustle and bustle of getting the kids around to go to school and going to therapy with Sam!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Time Delays!
So, yes, I know I've been gone a very long time. *bad me!* BUT! I'm back to write again. *I'm such a terrible blogger these days!*
Things over the past couple of weeks has been pretty hectic. I decided that I want to put a porch on the front of the house. One of the houses up the street has on, and it looks very nice, so, Sam and I decided that hopefully by next spring we will be able to afford to put a nice porch on the front of the house, following the peak of the roof. It won't be an overly large porch, just enough for a swing and maybe a little bit more, but, it will help keep the living room cooler, which will lower our energy bill, thus it's a good investment and in time will pay for itself! We also want to rip out thehorrendous horrible stinky not so pleasant shrubs that are currently in the front of the house and replace them with some Lilac trees. Both Sam and I grew up with Lilac trees all around, and LOVE the smell (Current candles on the dinning room table: Yankee Candle Lilac Blossoms and Yankee Candle Sweet Honeysuckle) of them and when we were first married Sam promised me that when we bought a house that we would put a Lilac tree outside of our bedroom window so when it bloomed we could have the smell in our room. It's one of the only things that Sam has ever promised me. I also dug up about a 3 foot circle around the Crepe Myrtle and planted some flowers around that as well. Let me tell you! That was an all day project! It started at around 9, I worked for half an hour, went to the dentist, came home, had lunch while my mouth was still numb (I'll save that story for a different day....) and went back to work. I finally finished and got the plants in the ground about 4:30pm. I even broke the hoe trying to loosen the dirt!
On the flip side of the house, I would like to redo the fence and put in a 6' privacy fence. Not so much because we need the privacy, but because the neighbors have a dog that they don't do a very good job of containing, and the neighborhood kids are always running by, and we have 3 dogs. One of those dogs likes to bark at anything that moves, one of the others likes to bark just because the first one is barking at times, and the other just looks at them all like they've got a screw loose, but will bark at a few things now and again. We also have a pear tree and 2 apple trees that are currently on the other side of our chain link fence that only covers the property immediately behind the house. I would like to try and protect them a bit from all of said neighborhood kids that wander through our yard so we can at least have some of the fruit! Also, I want to knock out the wall to the kitchen and add a sun room of sorts that would serve as our dinning room. The dinning room we have would be turned into a den/office for Sam with a section for books and also my crafts. If course, I think the sun room idea might also generate more heat, which would negate the cost savings that the porch would save us, but, at least we would add more square footage to the house!
The new tank is looking very good! We have some live plants in there that are doing really well that we got when we bought the 1.5 gallon. One of my friends and I were at WalMart and she was getting some of these really neat GloFish, (They glow in a black light!) and I spotted this poor little ivory snail in a little tub. There was no food or anything, and Lord knows how long it had been stuck on the bottom shelf amongst all of the Betta fish! I felt really bad for it, and so my friend bought it for me as a Thank You for helping her set up her tank and pick out her fish. Her name is Lucky. So now we have Blueberry (Betta), Gary (blue-green snail), Squidward (blue snail), and Lucky (ivory snail) in the big tank, and Spongebob in the little 1.5 gallon tank. The only reason he's in the small tank is because I found out that he can breed himself! :-O I don't need a huge infestation of these tiny pest snails in my tank, so he can't go in there.
On that note, I need to go get my car inspected! *sigh* Sometimes this state is SO backwards!!
Things over the past couple of weeks has been pretty hectic. I decided that I want to put a porch on the front of the house. One of the houses up the street has on, and it looks very nice, so, Sam and I decided that hopefully by next spring we will be able to afford to put a nice porch on the front of the house, following the peak of the roof. It won't be an overly large porch, just enough for a swing and maybe a little bit more, but, it will help keep the living room cooler, which will lower our energy bill, thus it's a good investment and in time will pay for itself! We also want to rip out the
On the flip side of the house, I would like to redo the fence and put in a 6' privacy fence. Not so much because we need the privacy, but because the neighbors have a dog that they don't do a very good job of containing, and the neighborhood kids are always running by, and we have 3 dogs. One of those dogs likes to bark at anything that moves, one of the others likes to bark just because the first one is barking at times, and the other just looks at them all like they've got a screw loose, but will bark at a few things now and again. We also have a pear tree and 2 apple trees that are currently on the other side of our chain link fence that only covers the property immediately behind the house. I would like to try and protect them a bit from all of said neighborhood kids that wander through our yard so we can at least have some of the fruit! Also, I want to knock out the wall to the kitchen and add a sun room of sorts that would serve as our dinning room. The dinning room we have would be turned into a den/office for Sam with a section for books and also my crafts. If course, I think the sun room idea might also generate more heat, which would negate the cost savings that the porch would save us, but, at least we would add more square footage to the house!
The new tank is looking very good! We have some live plants in there that are doing really well that we got when we bought the 1.5 gallon. One of my friends and I were at WalMart and she was getting some of these really neat GloFish, (They glow in a black light!) and I spotted this poor little ivory snail in a little tub. There was no food or anything, and Lord knows how long it had been stuck on the bottom shelf amongst all of the Betta fish! I felt really bad for it, and so my friend bought it for me as a Thank You for helping her set up her tank and pick out her fish. Her name is Lucky. So now we have Blueberry (Betta), Gary (blue-green snail), Squidward (blue snail), and Lucky (ivory snail) in the big tank, and Spongebob in the little 1.5 gallon tank. The only reason he's in the small tank is because I found out that he can breed himself! :-O I don't need a huge infestation of these tiny pest snails in my tank, so he can't go in there.
On that note, I need to go get my car inspected! *sigh* Sometimes this state is SO backwards!!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Life, and other things
So, I came upon one of the other blogs that had written "back in the day." It was before I had moved to North Carolina, and it was basically about my day to day life as I tried to piece it back together from a bad break up that I had with a man that I was very much in love with. Back then I wrote a whole lot more. (Maybe because I had more time?) I wrote about things that had meaning to me, and to others. I'm not exactly sure what happened to that old me, but, I think it's high time I got back to it (at least the writing part!)!! So.... here we go!
Monkey was put on a new medication on Monday. It's called Intuniv. So far, so good!! I went to pick them up from Boys & Girls club last night and the director said that they were on the playground (his problem area) and that he sat in the sand with 2 other kids and made sandcastles. He was then playing with some dinosaurs that he had gotten from the school store and she asked if she could have them because he wasn't supposed to have toys. He gladly gave them to her, and even volunteered the ones in his pocket she didn't know about, and asked politely if he could have them back when they got inside so he could put them in his back pack. I was really surprised! I asked him if he thought the new medication was working, and he said yes, he thought it was. I just hope that since we have found another medication that works so well, that it doesn't have the same side effects as the last medication that worked so well. I don't think I could handle another round of high blood pressure readings like the last time! He is normally a very polite child anyways, but last night he was extraordinarily so. He offered to help me make dinner, which is normal, and help set the table, which is normal, but he also offered to carry all the plates to the table (even his sisters!) which is not normal! Normally, I get all the plates lined up on the counter, take them to the table, get everyones' drink requests, pour them, set them on the table, and by this time I get requests from both Monkey and Bug to start eating, and when everybody gets everything that they need, I finally sit down and everyone eats.
Bug got her room redecorated. We're still working on the paint tho. She got her butterfly net hung around the head of her bed, hopefully this time it stays up! She also got her name spelled out on the wall with big foam letters in blue, green, and pink! I still need to make her some curtains, and apparently replace her blinds, as they are slowly but surely getting broken. She's been doing a pretty good job of keeping her room clean! We had to move the bed to the other wall so she had more room to maneuver around and pick things up. I really think she likes this layout a little better, I know I do! I believe that we have made plans to paint her room a light pink color. It pretty much matches everything that she has. My wonderful mother bought her a bedroom suite that is just absolutely adorable! It was all painted an antique white, and decorated with pastel pink, blue, green, and yellow. It came with a headboard, dresser, and a chest! She keeps all of her bedclothes in the chest currently. She has cute little rugs in her room too. She has a butterfly that stays in front of her dirty clothes hamper, a pink oblong one that is on one side of her bed, and a pink and purple flower with a bug on it on the other side. She's just too cute when you peek in there and she's dressed up in one of her princess dresses talking to her dolls.
I had come up with an idea for the rest of the house as well. For our bedroom, I would like to paint the walls and off white color and repaint our dressers a distressed off white as well. I want to get new bedding that is black and tan. We really like the color combo of the two in there. I also want to build an addition to the kitchen, and make it a dinning room. Maybe more like a sun room/dinning room with some big windows to let in light. Then I would like to take what is currently the dinning room, and turn it into a den/office type spot, take out the sliding glass door, and put that in the new dinning room. From there I would like to put a big corner desk in the "den" with some bookshelves for all of the books that we have lying about, and possibly a spot for me to do my sewing. Off of the new dinning room, I would like to build a deck that would go to the corner of the house and out into the back yard. Now I know that this isn't something that we are going to be able to do right away, but it would be nice! I also want to replace the front door and the storm door with something a little bit nicer, or at least something that won't fly open if a stiff wind hits it! I also want to put a bigger front porch on the house as well, and cover it. It will help keep the heat from beaming inside the living room windows in the summer time and making the house hotter. Sam and I have settle the color dispute for the living room as well. Instead of the horrible red and brown that it currently is (which doesn't match our style, nor our furniture) we want to paint the walls a cream color. We already have the black couches and the sage-green accents!
Oh yes! My sewing! I had forgot to mention that Sam bought me a new sewing machine for our anniversary! It's something that I have been wanting for a while. I remember, growing up, my mom making this beautiful creations on her sewing machine! I thought that she was magic and the best "sewer" in the world! One Halloween, I think I was 9, she made me a pilgrim costume, complete with a white apron and bonnet! I will never forget that costume! I think it was my favorite, looking back at all the Halloween costumes I had growing up. I wanted to be able to make beautiful garments like my mom, and had expressed this to Sam a few times. He went to Wal-Mart and got me a pretty nice sewing machine. Granted, it's not the best sewing machine, but it works, and I'm thankful. I am just a beginner, and I think if I had some complicated, expensive machine with more gadgets and do-dads that I might be overwhelmed and not be inclined to want to even try it! I did make a dog coat already. It was quite the experience! I learned alot more than I thought I would! I have plans on making Bug some summer clothes, and I would like to make her a dress, me a top, and the boys a polo shirt for us to have some spring pictures done. (We still haven't redeemed our Christmas present from J!) I found a really cute fabric online that I want to order, and some coordinating fabric on the same site. Now I just need to find some patterns to make them! I wish that I was more creative, so I could make my own patterns. Never know, someday I might just be the next Alexander McQueen, without the whole hanging myself thing.
Anyways! I should probably go. I have laundry to do, dishes to put away, dishwasher to load, and I have to take back the pants that I bought Sam and Monkey! Monkey's new pants were too big, and Sam hated the color of his new pants!
Monkey was put on a new medication on Monday. It's called Intuniv. So far, so good!! I went to pick them up from Boys & Girls club last night and the director said that they were on the playground (his problem area) and that he sat in the sand with 2 other kids and made sandcastles. He was then playing with some dinosaurs that he had gotten from the school store and she asked if she could have them because he wasn't supposed to have toys. He gladly gave them to her, and even volunteered the ones in his pocket she didn't know about, and asked politely if he could have them back when they got inside so he could put them in his back pack. I was really surprised! I asked him if he thought the new medication was working, and he said yes, he thought it was. I just hope that since we have found another medication that works so well, that it doesn't have the same side effects as the last medication that worked so well. I don't think I could handle another round of high blood pressure readings like the last time! He is normally a very polite child anyways, but last night he was extraordinarily so. He offered to help me make dinner, which is normal, and help set the table, which is normal, but he also offered to carry all the plates to the table (even his sisters!) which is not normal! Normally, I get all the plates lined up on the counter, take them to the table, get everyones' drink requests, pour them, set them on the table, and by this time I get requests from both Monkey and Bug to start eating, and when everybody gets everything that they need, I finally sit down and everyone eats.
Bug got her room redecorated. We're still working on the paint tho. She got her butterfly net hung around the head of her bed, hopefully this time it stays up! She also got her name spelled out on the wall with big foam letters in blue, green, and pink! I still need to make her some curtains, and apparently replace her blinds, as they are slowly but surely getting broken. She's been doing a pretty good job of keeping her room clean! We had to move the bed to the other wall so she had more room to maneuver around and pick things up. I really think she likes this layout a little better, I know I do! I believe that we have made plans to paint her room a light pink color. It pretty much matches everything that she has. My wonderful mother bought her a bedroom suite that is just absolutely adorable! It was all painted an antique white, and decorated with pastel pink, blue, green, and yellow. It came with a headboard, dresser, and a chest! She keeps all of her bedclothes in the chest currently. She has cute little rugs in her room too. She has a butterfly that stays in front of her dirty clothes hamper, a pink oblong one that is on one side of her bed, and a pink and purple flower with a bug on it on the other side. She's just too cute when you peek in there and she's dressed up in one of her princess dresses talking to her dolls.
I had come up with an idea for the rest of the house as well. For our bedroom, I would like to paint the walls and off white color and repaint our dressers a distressed off white as well. I want to get new bedding that is black and tan. We really like the color combo of the two in there. I also want to build an addition to the kitchen, and make it a dinning room. Maybe more like a sun room/dinning room with some big windows to let in light. Then I would like to take what is currently the dinning room, and turn it into a den/office type spot, take out the sliding glass door, and put that in the new dinning room. From there I would like to put a big corner desk in the "den" with some bookshelves for all of the books that we have lying about, and possibly a spot for me to do my sewing. Off of the new dinning room, I would like to build a deck that would go to the corner of the house and out into the back yard. Now I know that this isn't something that we are going to be able to do right away, but it would be nice! I also want to replace the front door and the storm door with something a little bit nicer, or at least something that won't fly open if a stiff wind hits it! I also want to put a bigger front porch on the house as well, and cover it. It will help keep the heat from beaming inside the living room windows in the summer time and making the house hotter. Sam and I have settle the color dispute for the living room as well. Instead of the horrible red and brown that it currently is (which doesn't match our style, nor our furniture) we want to paint the walls a cream color. We already have the black couches and the sage-green accents!
Oh yes! My sewing! I had forgot to mention that Sam bought me a new sewing machine for our anniversary! It's something that I have been wanting for a while. I remember, growing up, my mom making this beautiful creations on her sewing machine! I thought that she was magic and the best "sewer" in the world! One Halloween, I think I was 9, she made me a pilgrim costume, complete with a white apron and bonnet! I will never forget that costume! I think it was my favorite, looking back at all the Halloween costumes I had growing up. I wanted to be able to make beautiful garments like my mom, and had expressed this to Sam a few times. He went to Wal-Mart and got me a pretty nice sewing machine. Granted, it's not the best sewing machine, but it works, and I'm thankful. I am just a beginner, and I think if I had some complicated, expensive machine with more gadgets and do-dads that I might be overwhelmed and not be inclined to want to even try it! I did make a dog coat already. It was quite the experience! I learned alot more than I thought I would! I have plans on making Bug some summer clothes, and I would like to make her a dress, me a top, and the boys a polo shirt for us to have some spring pictures done. (We still haven't redeemed our Christmas present from J!) I found a really cute fabric online that I want to order, and some coordinating fabric on the same site. Now I just need to find some patterns to make them! I wish that I was more creative, so I could make my own patterns. Never know, someday I might just be the next Alexander McQueen, without the whole hanging myself thing.
Anyways! I should probably go. I have laundry to do, dishes to put away, dishwasher to load, and I have to take back the pants that I bought Sam and Monkey! Monkey's new pants were too big, and Sam hated the color of his new pants!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Merry Christmas... and all that happy jazz.
So, Christmas was here and gone. We had a pretty good Christmas. Living with only one income in the house has been kind of hard! I did find a new job, and I start on the 29th! (Hooray!) We set a pretty strict budget this year, and came in just barely over! I achieved that by using online coupons whenever possible. Sams' birthday was on the 18th, we had Christmas on the 25th, our anniversary is on the 29th, and Monkey's birthday is on the 31st! We have a pretty busy December!
The kids were really pleased with their Christmas bounty. They both got DSi's. If you don't know anything about Nintendo DSi's, oh man! I would suggest getting one! They have 2 cameras on them, so you can take pictures of yourself, or outside your DSi. The ones that the kids got came preloaded with a few games and such. Now that we have 4 Nintendo DS/DSi's in the house, we can all play our own games, or, we can use the chat feature and chat with each other. (Yes, I know this is the lazy mans way! *hehe*) They also got some new clothes and some toys. They also got a gift card each, which was promptly spent getting toys and other various things that they deemed as necessities after the holidays. My best friend got us a portrait package from Sears. We're pretty happy about that, the kids would rather have the presents tho.
Sam got himself a very nice guitar for his birthday/Christmas/anniversary present. It's black Fender and it's an acoustic/electric guitar. Maybe next year I will get him an amp! For my Christmas/anniversary present, I got a sewing machine! It's been a very long time since I've used one, and so we just simply bought an inexpensive one. Hopefully, someday, I can be as good as my mom. She used to make things for us all the time. I remember her making me a pilgrim costume for Halloween one time, complete with the white bonnet and apron! More recently, she made a clown costume (which is REALLY awesome, by the way) and a vampire cape! I'm sure she has made other things as well, but, I just don't know about them.
I have already found some really neat things that I want to try to make. Hopefully, I don't screw them up. I have my eye on a couple books that I would like to get. Both the kids would like to learn how to sew as well. This gave me quite the surprise from Monkey. He is begging to have a Sock Monkey kit for his birthday. I would say that we may just have to oblige him that request. My mom made him a Sock Monkey a very long time ago, but, Lilly, his dog, tore it up.
Other than that, things have been going pretty well here. Sam is still working on getting out of the Marine Corps. That seems like a never ending project itself! It seems like it has taken forever for things to work themselves out, but, we have been assured that we're close to the end. We're figuring that it will be at least another 6 months before he gets out. In a way, that's the hardest part, not knowing. We don't know when he's going to get out, so he can't look for a job. Nobody will even consider him unless he's 90 days from getting out. We're in the process of trying to save up a years worth of expenses right now. We refinanced the house and his car, both with a better payment. Unfortunately, we didn't win the Powerball last night either. Congrats to the lucky winner in KY. We sure could have used that $128,600,000! I'm sure alot of people could have.
Anyways, It's Sunday Funday here, and I'm behind on laundry and dishes, so it's time to get back to that! I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and from my family to yours, Happy New Year!
The kids were really pleased with their Christmas bounty. They both got DSi's. If you don't know anything about Nintendo DSi's, oh man! I would suggest getting one! They have 2 cameras on them, so you can take pictures of yourself, or outside your DSi. The ones that the kids got came preloaded with a few games and such. Now that we have 4 Nintendo DS/DSi's in the house, we can all play our own games, or, we can use the chat feature and chat with each other. (Yes, I know this is the lazy mans way! *hehe*) They also got some new clothes and some toys. They also got a gift card each, which was promptly spent getting toys and other various things that they deemed as necessities after the holidays. My best friend got us a portrait package from Sears. We're pretty happy about that, the kids would rather have the presents tho.
Sam got himself a very nice guitar for his birthday/Christmas/anniversary present. It's black Fender and it's an acoustic/electric guitar. Maybe next year I will get him an amp! For my Christmas/anniversary present, I got a sewing machine! It's been a very long time since I've used one, and so we just simply bought an inexpensive one. Hopefully, someday, I can be as good as my mom. She used to make things for us all the time. I remember her making me a pilgrim costume for Halloween one time, complete with the white bonnet and apron! More recently, she made a clown costume (which is REALLY awesome, by the way) and a vampire cape! I'm sure she has made other things as well, but, I just don't know about them.
I have already found some really neat things that I want to try to make. Hopefully, I don't screw them up. I have my eye on a couple books that I would like to get. Both the kids would like to learn how to sew as well. This gave me quite the surprise from Monkey. He is begging to have a Sock Monkey kit for his birthday. I would say that we may just have to oblige him that request. My mom made him a Sock Monkey a very long time ago, but, Lilly, his dog, tore it up.
Other than that, things have been going pretty well here. Sam is still working on getting out of the Marine Corps. That seems like a never ending project itself! It seems like it has taken forever for things to work themselves out, but, we have been assured that we're close to the end. We're figuring that it will be at least another 6 months before he gets out. In a way, that's the hardest part, not knowing. We don't know when he's going to get out, so he can't look for a job. Nobody will even consider him unless he's 90 days from getting out. We're in the process of trying to save up a years worth of expenses right now. We refinanced the house and his car, both with a better payment. Unfortunately, we didn't win the Powerball last night either. Congrats to the lucky winner in KY. We sure could have used that $128,600,000! I'm sure alot of people could have.
Anyways, It's Sunday Funday here, and I'm behind on laundry and dishes, so it's time to get back to that! I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and from my family to yours, Happy New Year!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Roller Coaster of Love
Well, Sam and I had it out last week. It ended up with me staying at J's house with the kids and him eventually going back to the barracks so the kids and I could go back to at least some sort of normalcy.
In a way, I'm sort of glad this has happened. In a way! It gives us fresh eyes into what has really been going on in our marriage while we are so busy with kids, school, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, work, doctors appointments, and just life in general! We weren't making time for each other, we were letting life come between us and it almost ripped us apart! He has been staying here for the last couple days and things have been pretty good. We have been in one, for lack of better word, argument. We talked it out, went back to bed, and I even let him sleep in the net day because I kept him up way too late!
We are going to be going to a marriage counselor to try and work things out and become a stronger couple, not only for ourselves, but, for our kids (yes, even tho they are only mine biologically, they're his too), and for our future. We are both committed to this relationship, and neither of us took off our rings. I did say that I wanted a divorce, but at the time, I was very angry. Neither of us feel like that now, and are on the way back to a happier life.
In a way, I'm sort of glad this has happened. In a way! It gives us fresh eyes into what has really been going on in our marriage while we are so busy with kids, school, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, work, doctors appointments, and just life in general! We weren't making time for each other, we were letting life come between us and it almost ripped us apart! He has been staying here for the last couple days and things have been pretty good. We have been in one, for lack of better word, argument. We talked it out, went back to bed, and I even let him sleep in the net day because I kept him up way too late!
We are going to be going to a marriage counselor to try and work things out and become a stronger couple, not only for ourselves, but, for our kids (yes, even tho they are only mine biologically, they're his too), and for our future. We are both committed to this relationship, and neither of us took off our rings. I did say that I wanted a divorce, but at the time, I was very angry. Neither of us feel like that now, and are on the way back to a happier life.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monkey on reading among other things!
Well, as some of you know, my son (Monkey) is 10. He has ADHD and he was also diagnosed with dyslexia last year. It has been a constant uphill battle to get him to read. He does not have the easiest time at it, and is significantly behind in his reading, which effects alot of other sections of his education, well, actually, almost all of them! Last night, Monkey actually brought me a book and asked if we could read! I was so happy! A couple of weeks ago, we had a conference with his science teacher, and he was in his homeroom right across the hall. He actually got out his book and started reading on his own!
What's the change, you may ask. I think it is a combination of a few things actually. We started buying him books that he really enjoys! We bought him some Diary of A Wimpy Kid and some Bakugon books as well. I'm just glad that he is wanting to read and is actually starting to enjoy it and not scream and cry every time you said it was time for reading homework. Go Monkey!!
In other news around the Charwood house, we're getting rid of cable on Tuesday. Totally not my idea, and it couldn't happen at the worst time! On Wednesday I'm having sinus surgery and will be laid up for a couple of weeks. When I asked Sam what I was supposed to do all day while I was alone, at home, with nothing to do but lay on the couch and talk to the dogs. He said that I could read. I guess that's not a horrible idea.
Oh yes! I started college! I'm actually going to an online school called the Animal Behavioral College! I'm taking Veterinarian Assistant and Dog Obedience. Almost all of the curriculum is online, and then you have to do an externship to complete the course and graduate. It was all actually paid for by the government because I am a military spouse. It's called My Career Advancement Account, and it pays for up to $6,000 to help with college. It's been a big help!
Tomorrow is the Marine Corps 234th birthday! I am proud to be able to say that my husband is a Marine. He is far braver than I! We won't be going to the ball again this year. Wednesday, which is also Veterans Day, I'm having sinus surgery! Of course, Sam didn't tell me when it was this year, so, I scheduled my surgery 2 days before. God love him! My best friends, J, is probably going to go with me. She will be having pretty much the same procedure done in December, so, she would like to go with me. I'll probably be the one that goes with her as well.
The dogs are great! They're both sleeping on the couch right now with their feet straight up in the air. It's actually really cute. Lilly's hair has finally grown all the way back in. She is a fluffy white dog again! Doc is finally in the swing of things around here. He will sit on command now! That was a pretty big thing for us, considering that most people believe that Greyhounds can't sit. Both of the dogs are very quick learners and are doing really great!
Other than that, I think that's really all that's going on lately. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this a little better here in the future. We will see!
What's the change, you may ask. I think it is a combination of a few things actually. We started buying him books that he really enjoys! We bought him some Diary of A Wimpy Kid and some Bakugon books as well. I'm just glad that he is wanting to read and is actually starting to enjoy it and not scream and cry every time you said it was time for reading homework. Go Monkey!!
In other news around the Charwood house, we're getting rid of cable on Tuesday. Totally not my idea, and it couldn't happen at the worst time! On Wednesday I'm having sinus surgery and will be laid up for a couple of weeks. When I asked Sam what I was supposed to do all day while I was alone, at home, with nothing to do but lay on the couch and talk to the dogs. He said that I could read. I guess that's not a horrible idea.
Oh yes! I started college! I'm actually going to an online school called the Animal Behavioral College! I'm taking Veterinarian Assistant and Dog Obedience. Almost all of the curriculum is online, and then you have to do an externship to complete the course and graduate. It was all actually paid for by the government because I am a military spouse. It's called My Career Advancement Account, and it pays for up to $6,000 to help with college. It's been a big help!
Tomorrow is the Marine Corps 234th birthday! I am proud to be able to say that my husband is a Marine. He is far braver than I! We won't be going to the ball again this year. Wednesday, which is also Veterans Day, I'm having sinus surgery! Of course, Sam didn't tell me when it was this year, so, I scheduled my surgery 2 days before. God love him! My best friends, J, is probably going to go with me. She will be having pretty much the same procedure done in December, so, she would like to go with me. I'll probably be the one that goes with her as well.
The dogs are great! They're both sleeping on the couch right now with their feet straight up in the air. It's actually really cute. Lilly's hair has finally grown all the way back in. She is a fluffy white dog again! Doc is finally in the swing of things around here. He will sit on command now! That was a pretty big thing for us, considering that most people believe that Greyhounds can't sit. Both of the dogs are very quick learners and are doing really great!
Other than that, I think that's really all that's going on lately. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this a little better here in the future. We will see!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Newest Family Member
So, we officially have a new family member! His name is Doc's Whipper. He's a retired racing Greyhound that we rescued from Greyhound Crossroads. He's such a sweet boy that we have decided to call Doc. (Or Doc-er Do!) The kids absolutely love him, and he loves them too. Lilly isn't quite sure about this very tall dog that has invaded her house. She will give a warning bark when she thinks that he is getting too close, and will give a nip if he doesn't heed her warning. It doesn't seem to phase him much and he continues to stay close to either me or Sam. She does seem a little jealous, but, she will come to love him as part of the family, just like all the rest of us, in time.
We've run into our first "problem" already this morning! While it's not really a problem at all, it could become one very quickly if we don't figure out a solution. We got up to start our morning routine and Doc was doing very well. We let both Lilly and Doc sleep in our room and have not had more than a couple barks from Lilly to tell Doc "You are not allowed in my bed, go sleep on the floor!" He doesn't seem to mind sleeping on the big fluffy bed that we have for him on the floor. Well, Sam got up to let the dogs out to go potty. It is raining outside. Lilly just runs out the back door and does her business. Doc, on the other hand, stops at the back door and looks at Sam like he's lost his mind! We even tried putting him on a leash and taking him outside under an umbrella. No luck! He will need to go out to use the bathroom about 15-20 minutes after he eats, so, we haven't fed yet today. It's only 8:30am so, it's not like they're going to starve to death.
Other than that, things are pretty good! I will learn about my fate at work on Wednesday. I'm not so worried that I'm freaking out, but I am a little worried. If we could afford it, I would just stay home. Someday!
Monday, August 31, 2009
New baby.
Well, Sam and I have decided that we don't want to have any more children, and if we do, it's going to be quite some time before we do. (Think 5 years or so.) So, we decided, along with the kids, that we were going to adopt a dog. It's been a dream of mine to have a retired Greyhound for a very long time. I think it's horribly sad that alot of these animals are put to death after their racing careers are over, simply because they don't have someone to take them and love them as part of their family.
Lilly, our American Eskimo dog, she is very high energy. We go outside and play with her and take her for walks, but you can almost tell that she wants another dog to play with. When the neighbors have their dog in the back yard they run up and down the fence line just wagging their tails and playing. It was a decision to bring her home a "brother" as well.
I had been watching two different Greyhound rescue sites for the last few weeks, and Sam and I had fallen in love with one. Before we had really made the decision to go forth with the adoption, he was placed on hold pending adoption. We were both kind of sad, but if he got a good home, then it was great for him!
We took the kids to the ER for the rash that they have, because it spread from Bug to Monkey and Monkey's had gotten worse. The doctor had told Sam it was something that we didn't think it was and we were going for another opinion. We spent pretty much all night in the ER with very little sleep. The next day we slept in and recovered. I also wanted to watch the rash a bit more. I ended up calling the adoption agency that he was at just to inquire about their adoption policy. It turns out that the people that had put him on hold for adoption didn't want him after all! I decided right then and there that we were going to get him.
I filled out the application, answered some questions, and Sunday afternoon we found out that we were approved to adopt! This upcoming weekend the entire family will go meet him to see if he is a good match for us. Everyone at the agency has told us that he is the sweetest guy and that we will fall in love with him the moment that we see him. I have no doubt in that considering we are already in love with him and all we have is pictures!
Hopefully, this guy will be in our home next weekend and part of the Charwood family! Here is a picture that we got from the agency, and the one that made us love him!
Lilly, our American Eskimo dog, she is very high energy. We go outside and play with her and take her for walks, but you can almost tell that she wants another dog to play with. When the neighbors have their dog in the back yard they run up and down the fence line just wagging their tails and playing. It was a decision to bring her home a "brother" as well.
I had been watching two different Greyhound rescue sites for the last few weeks, and Sam and I had fallen in love with one. Before we had really made the decision to go forth with the adoption, he was placed on hold pending adoption. We were both kind of sad, but if he got a good home, then it was great for him!
We took the kids to the ER for the rash that they have, because it spread from Bug to Monkey and Monkey's had gotten worse. The doctor had told Sam it was something that we didn't think it was and we were going for another opinion. We spent pretty much all night in the ER with very little sleep. The next day we slept in and recovered. I also wanted to watch the rash a bit more. I ended up calling the adoption agency that he was at just to inquire about their adoption policy. It turns out that the people that had put him on hold for adoption didn't want him after all! I decided right then and there that we were going to get him.
I filled out the application, answered some questions, and Sunday afternoon we found out that we were approved to adopt! This upcoming weekend the entire family will go meet him to see if he is a good match for us. Everyone at the agency has told us that he is the sweetest guy and that we will fall in love with him the moment that we see him. I have no doubt in that considering we are already in love with him and all we have is pictures!
Hopefully, this guy will be in our home next weekend and part of the Charwood family! Here is a picture that we got from the agency, and the one that made us love him!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Break-in!
Sometimes people just suck!
My best friend, J, has been out of town for work since the Tuesday after July 4th. I've been going over to her house to get her mail, to feed and water her cat, make sure nobody has broken in. You know, things you do for friends when they're away. This morning I took the morning off to go register the kids for school. I get a frantic phone call from J this morning as I'm getting ready. Apparently someone had broken into her house at some point last night! Her cat, who is just like her daughter, was still there. I quickly got dressed and got in the car and took the quick 9 minute drive over to her house. It seemed like it took forever! She called me as I was pulling into the driveway. I walked in and the house was a disaster! They had cased the place and taken just about everything of value. The kicked in both doors to the house, disarmed the motion lights, and just cased the place. I got there, and the cat was still inside. Thank God for small favors!
My best friend, J, has been out of town for work since the Tuesday after July 4th. I've been going over to her house to get her mail, to feed and water her cat, make sure nobody has broken in. You know, things you do for friends when they're away. This morning I took the morning off to go register the kids for school. I get a frantic phone call from J this morning as I'm getting ready. Apparently someone had broken into her house at some point last night! Her cat, who is just like her daughter, was still there. I quickly got dressed and got in the car and took the quick 9 minute drive over to her house. It seemed like it took forever! She called me as I was pulling into the driveway. I walked in and the house was a disaster! They had cased the place and taken just about everything of value. The kicked in both doors to the house, disarmed the motion lights, and just cased the place. I got there, and the cat was still inside. Thank God for small favors!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sunday Funday!
Well, we are going to try and continue the trend that my parents started with the kiddos. It's what they called "Sunday Funday" where the whole family goes out (or stays in) together and does something fun.
Well, we decided that we were going to go to the beach! Well, we got the blankets, towels, beach toys, and the most important item, sunscreen!! Monkey has a very fair complexion, just like me, but Bug is blessed with a bit darker complexion like Sam. I slathered Monkey up with some sunscreen and he got his swim trunks, and he was ready to go! Get Bug slathered up with slightly less of the white mess for the sun goddesses skin and she's ready to go! Sam and I get everything packed into the pack, get everything into the car and off we go to the beach! Now, Sam being Native American, we never ever would have thought that he needed any sort of sunscreen. I should have known better! He now is definitely a red man! Of course, I didn't fair much better either. I have very fair complexion just like my son, and should have known better than to not wear sunscreen. I do know better.
When I was younger, I didn't really need to wear sunscreen because I was outside almost all the time with my horses and such. I would just gradually build up the tan as I needed it. Oh no! Not now! Being an adult really stinks sometimes! I miss being able to go outside and play, and just be a kid. Now, I have to stay inside for 8+ hours at work, go get the kids from daycare, come home, make dinner, do laundry, clean the house, make sure the dog has food and water, make the bed, read bedtime stories, run baths, and a million other things!
Speaking of dinner! Boy, did I make a great dinner tonight!! I made a roast, with carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, and garlic. Threw some watered down tomato paste and some milk in there, covered it with aluminum foil and cooked it on 350 for about an hour or so, and oh man it was good! Even Monkey, who doesn't like potatoes, commented how great they were! What a surprise! It wasn't my best roast, but it was close!
Now, it is time to head off to bed. This lady is pooped!
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