Closing in

As we close 2008 and jump head first into 2009 I should reflect. Well, maybe I shouldn't but I think I will.

I started 2008 with one little word (OLW) to lead me. I chose OPTIMISM and tried to keep that ideal in my forefront throughout the year. It turned out to be a great word choice considering the year we had.

January was spent in a white-out called winter in Iowa. We had a bunch of snow days and a bunch of snow and paid a bunch of money to have that snow pushed around and piled high.

February brought news that Lennox was ready to move us south. We, mostly Fred, spent some quality time on home improvements and we listed our house in early March.

March brought showings, an offer on the house and chicken pox for Nic. More snow days too.

April was the month of finalizing the sale of the house. Mamma came from IN for a visit. The weather was so nice there were water gun battles outside in swimsuits! I finished working at WMHS

May, we headed to TX for a week to find a house. We were successful, found a great house with awesome schools in a lively neighborhood. Will celebrated his First Holy Communion at St Joseph's and we had a bunch of company from IN and SD.

June, bad bad bad rain and tornadoes in IA. It was hectic right up to the last minute before we left the state. We headed south for the next leg of our journey and had no idea what was waiting for us. Dad came from IN to help us settle in at the new house. Fred spent a few more days at home and thankfully was home on June 25th. The house was struck by lightening and our lives were challenged to say the least.

July brought hope and optimism and another move to a rental house in Frisco. We took a week to settle then ran up to IN for Ben and Andrea's wedding and Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary Party and medical drama for MIL.

August was HOT! A new HOT. We tried out a pool or two and stayed home a lot. We celebrated Will's b-day and my b-day and got ready for school. Oh and got a new van that ROCKS! And the boys started 3rd and 5th grades.

September, getting into the flow of school. Considering extra curricular opportunities and dealing with insurance stuff. Not fun but very necessary. Also started Faith Formation (Religious Ed.) at our new parish. Also hosted the Star Wars the Clone Wars House Party.

October was the month of elections for student council, Will won, Nic lost... to a girl. We also did the regular Halloween fun, flu shots and life

November was a BUSY month at the crispy house. We took a trip to IN for Thanksgiving and hugs before the hectic December waiting for us in TX. Nic celebrated #10 with a pizza dinner and REALLY wanted an ice skating party but as of this date 12-31-08 it has not take place. (Yes, I know I am a bad mother.) I was so lame I didn't even bake the kid a cake. I should do that tonight as an attempt to redeem myself.

December is a bit of a blur. Work really ramped up at the crispy house and also with school commitments and stuff. It was not unbearable but it was busy. We got to move in on the 22nd and still have a bit to go. We are all sleeping well and enjoying the layout and space in this house a bit more than the rental.

Well, I have a ham and rice and rolls for dinner and it is almost time to ding. after we eat I think I'll bake something and maybe work on clearing off the DR table and my desk before the ball drops. Here's hoping the 2009 is all that and more. Stay tuned for the unveiling of my OLW for 2009. Happy New Year!

It's Monday right?

So one of the challenges of the vacation week has been knowing what day it is. I think today is Monday. I should know that yesterday was Sunday because I would have gone to church but I am not feeling great and have a little cold/cough so I stayed home mostly. I made lunch meat sandwiches for dinner and did very little else. My cough is lingering today so we'll see how much I get done.

Will Baker had some issues yesterday. He is LOVING being back in the hood but it has also caused him some trouble. He was so excited about being out and about yesterday that he left the house across the street and headed to some other kids' house without letting us know. I thought he was across the street the whole time. He then misplaced his helmet that is required to be worn while riding on his scooter. When he came home without it and seemed less than concerned about the fact that it was missing I sent him back out to find it. Well, in the conversation of where to look for the helmet, I found out that he was not just at D's house but had also gone to M's house. I told him to walk to both houses and try to find his helmet.

Well, my brilliant son decided he could ride his scooter without his helmet while he was out looking for his helmet. UGH! When he came home on his scooter and without his helmet he was bawling. He said that when he went to M's house he went in their back yard and was attacked by their dog. He had scratches and a bruise to prove it. Well, later in the evening we learned that Will invited himself into the back yard without supervision and that M's dog is a bit crazy and very high strung. He did not have an escort to the back yard because he did not go in the house just through their gate.

Well, the helmet turned up across the street but Will just kept messing up his night with lies and bad choices. We usually do not deal with too many discipline issues in our house. We have good kids. Fred and I were a little stumped about handing out reasonable punishment. What we came up with is no scooter, his or anyone else's for 1 week. (He is allowed to wear his helmet as much as he wants.) He also has to clean up Petey poop in both yards. We are stumped about the proper punishment for lying and going to some one's house without permission.

I would say that he has learned a lesson but I'm fairly sure it will happen again. He may just not get caught.

Forging through...

We are slowly but surely getting moved from point a to point b. We figured last night that we have about 6 more car loads to get from the vacation house. The original recipe house, or HOME, as some might call it, is getting plenty of attention and being filled with things we love and need. I have the whole kitchen moved over but have yet to really cook too much. I need to do that today. It is slightly challenged by the lack of microwave. It seems that ours in on the fritz. It worked once but not again. The reconstruction guy is looking into a repair or possibly just replacing it. Whatever he decides I hope it is soon. You have no idea how much you use that thing until you don't have it.

My dishwasher is also broken but Fred has figured out how to make it run a normal cycle. We are waiting to hear if that will be repaired or replaced as well.

We have most of our Christmas stuff put away. I need to find a spot for my cool new digital photo frame. I have already put to use the camera case that Fred gave me and I have stored the smelly soap and good stuff that Will and Daddy chose for me. Fred is a little excited about his I-touch goggle things that make his movies all big and easy to watch so he doesn't have to squint. He also got a few shirts and an I-tunes gift card.

The boys are excited about their newest Wii games and Will is now in love with Bakugan. Santa brought him enough balls and cards to battle with his brother. He has spent a bunch of time perfecting his roll. The best Christmas present seems to be living back in the hood. Both boys have spent a good amount of time outside playing with neighbors and just moving. Will's friend from across the street got a motorized scooter and every kid on the block has seemed to enjoy that. Thankfully the boys have not asked for one of their own. They both received el basic Razor scooters this fall just because so they are set for a bit. Boys also got some clothes and books and for the first Christmas in many years there seemed to be no disappointment, just joy! YEAH!

Christmas Day we headed to the movies for a change of scenery. We saw Bedtime Stories and we all enjoyed it. We had popcorn for dinner then stopped by the vacation house for another load of stuff. Yesterday we joined some friends to go bowling and have pizza for dinner. We had a great time and totally enjoyed our time with the Crawfords. Thanks for letting us crash your party.

Big plans for today include a trip to the bank, post office, and a few more loads from the vacation house. We try to bring stuff then immediately put it away. We are going to get to the books soon and we have no good bookcases here so they will stay in boxes for the time being. We can get them when we are ready to commit boxes to stay with the books. We are reusing the ones we have over and over and at the books they will stop being usable. Gotta plan that well.

OK, off to test the two ovens by simultaneously baking two pizzas. Dear God, please let them work without incident!

We are elves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Christmas Eve

So we got a lot done yesterday and I am feeling pretty good about where we are. There is still lots to get at the other house but we have plenty of time to I am not freakin' out just yet. Pete seems happy to be home again, he ate today for the first time since Sunday. He has such a freaky awareness of changes and upheaval.

So I got some really awesome Happy Mail today. Check this out! Whoever sent this to us knows us very well! We love chocolate in this house. A chocolate card is such a perfect gift!

So, I am not braggin just wanted to show the juxtaposition from last year to this year. Last year we drove to IN in snow and home to IA in snow and yucky weather. Today I went to the grocery wearing these.

The lack of snow will be strange but not having to scrape the windshield after church will be a nice blessing.

Gratitude: 1. Getting back in our house before today!

2. Having a fridge that works.

3. Being invited to the neighbor's for Christmas Eve dinner. She is cooking and I am not. Thank you Linda!

4.The Charlie Brown Christmas tree doesn't look too bad on the little side table. Fred is coming home with a skirt and stocking to make it all look festive.

5. All of our Christmas presents are wrapped.

6. So much more, but I have no time. I need to go find the Santa Tags that I bought and have misplaced. I have some ideas, just need to get them into my hands!

Real Quick

We are in the house. We have some stuff but not all stuff. I need to run back to the vaca house and get some sheets and pillows for the boys. Oh, and I think they need some clothes. We have mixed reviews about the move itself. Some movers did me up right and others broke my refrigerator that had only been used for 11 days. Thankfully someone was able to come and temporarily fix the cord but a new part must be ordered. My oven is now working too so that is all good. Interestingly when they hooked up our phone at the original house they gave us our old number. Strange because they assured me that this number was not available here. Do I call and ask about it or don't ask don't tell?

OK, gotta get back to work, just wanted to let you all know that we are alive and moving! Love you all!

Isn't it lovely?! (in your best Stevie Wonder voice)

Before

After

I snuck in the back door today to find the house very quiet (Except the annoying beep from the alarm for trouble in zones 2 & 3. Anyone know what that means?). The workers had been and gone and had put the first layer of polyurethane on the floor. It looks lovely and will look even more lovely tomorrow after the second coat is on. It will be most beautiful when Sunday comes and it is dry and we can walk on it. In our sock feet of course;)

We're closing in...

Nic in the DR with the chandelier that I could so live without.

Silly boyz excited to be back in the hood!

I can see it! I can see the end! The hand scrape hardwood guys got busy today and I am certain that the floor looks absolutely different right now. Part of me wants to drive up, unlock the front door and just take a quick picture. I'll be good and wait until the morning though. The fog is as thick as pea soup around here.
So this guy scrapes the entire floor with a scraper that is about 3 inches wide. It makes a HORRIFIC sound with each drag. I am thinking he must be immune to the piercing tone.
After a little scraping.
This guy was hand sanding so we could to test spots. They have a big sander. It's hand scraped, not hand sanded.

Which one would you choose? Fred did not choose the same one I chose. Too late though, like I said, it is probably all done right now. (I chose the one on the left.)

I did get to the house this afternoon to see my new foyer chandelier, carpet in the master bedroom and in the living room. There was probably more to see upstairs but the handrails were wet so I stayed on the main floor.

Today I met up with some MOMS friends and their kids for lunch. We went to Peter Pipers Pizza and had a hot lunch and some conversation while celebrating Lauren's big 03. As I was making the rounds to say goodbye I totally missed seeing the Dance Dance Revolution stage and totally fell. I think only one person actually saw me fall but boy did it hurt, my knee and my pride. I hobbled out with what pride I had left.

This afternoon I managed to get the boys to Sport Clips for haircuts and then came home and signed a contract for a mover. This outfit is owned by off-duty firefighters. I thought it was fitting to sign with them. Let's hope I'm right! We have two men and a truck showing up on Tuesday to help with the big stuff at the rental that needs to go back to Castlebrook. Better them than me. Our new mattresses are HEAVY.

OK, I think I need to finish the game of Monopoly that we started on Tuesday. Such a great game that you can walk away from and come back days later. Later.

"Did I mention I love Texas?"

That is the quote that Nic just shared. Why at 8:00 AM on a Tuesday would he be announcing this? Well, because people in TX are wimps and school has gone from delayed to cancelled due to a little bit of ice.

The boys had an early day today so we were up and out by about 7:25. On my way up to school I considered the POSSIBILITY that there might be a delay. I switched by radio from XM to FM and heard them announce that FISD is delayed. Darn! We went through the hood that was suspiciously quiet and turned around and headed back to our vacation home. Upon our arrival both boys ran to the driveway and immediately fell on their butts. They were laughing and have a great 'ol time. I was picturing in my own head that we would be at the ER in a matter of time to have broken arms set. Well, no such bad luck for me and soooooo much good luck for them. I came in and sought out a website with a ticker of delays and closings that I could add to my favorites and easily check on days like this. As I checked the FISD home page I found, with my mouth handing down to my lap, that FISD announced that it is CLOSED for the day!

The boys jumped up and hugged each other when I went out to share the news with them. I am bummed because this makes day two that my "plan" for the day has been messed with. Nothing too terrible, more annoying that anything. Que sera sera.

YIKES 11 DAY!

I guess I should be paying a bit of attention to that ticker over there huh? The good news is that I am done with my boys and even have a few things for Fred. I have some out of town people to buy for and send so I should get a bit busier on that task.

Look at what my hubby brought me from Mexico! I have been told by many that Mexican Vanilla is special and now I have my own 1000ml bottle for the low low price of $7 that should last me for a few years. It even came with a cute sombrero that I am going to reuse as a Christmas ornament on our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

I spent the whole day at home not doing much of anything. I did manage to pull a muscle in my back while blowing my nose. Hopefully that will fix itself while I sleep because not doing much today leaves a lot to be done tomorrow. Beside the fact that Christmas is in 11 days I am moving in 9! God willing. (please pray!)

The bad, the worse and the just plain frustrating

#1 Somehow two toilet tanks have disappeared from the crispy house. I know that they were removed to paint behind them and now they are gone. UGH! The construction guy is taking care of it. I told him it was my throne, he'd better pick a good one.

#2 I got a call today from our phone provider that when we move back to the crispy house we will need to change phone numbers. We have an AWESOME phone number and it was installed at the crispy house before the fire but apparently some line was drawn in the sand and now this number can not go with us back up the street. Our new number is stupid but I will share it when it's time.

#3 Got home from taking the van in to get a new lateral monitor installed this morning to find three messages waiting for me. One from a friend, one from my reconstruction company and one from American Airlines. The last message was to tell me that Fred's flight from Mexico is cancelled for today and he will fly home tomorrow morning. Not a huge deal, maybe even a little bit of a blessing, now I don't have to run around and clean up the house, I can do it after DI this evening. Trying to see the good... there is always some good.

Let's look at the glass half full...

Today while I was at the mall before 98% of the stores were open I was walking a lap and saw this.... Santa keeping in touch with the North Pole on his Blackberry.

Yesterday I received some "Happy Mail." Nic had no clue what Happy Mail is, so I explained to him that Happy Mail is anything delivered that is not a bill and that makes me happy! I received 24 packages of Beef Stew Mix. So good!

Snow in TX

I write this knowing that my Iowa friends had a snow day yesterday and a delay today. Looks like a long winter guys. I'll be thinking about you all. Just wanted to show some evidence of snow in TX. If you look really closely at the valley of the roofline you will see a little white stuff. Do you see it?

We also saw some iced trees this morning on the way to school. Ice, how you ask? Well they line a street where a new park sits and the city hasn't turned off the sprinklers for the new sod. It seems that the sprinkler water froze on the trees. Didn't get a shot but it looked funny to see iced trees from the bottom about 1/2 way up. I'll try to get a picture of that if the city continues to make ice.

Busy busy

Life trots along. Monday afternoon I worked at the Holiday Shoppe at the kids' school. Monday night flew past as usual with Faith Formation and homework and such. Tuesday I started my day back at the Holiday Shoppe and it was crazy busy. Now I have reaffirmed my desire to NEVER work retail again. It can be fun but it can wipe a girl out too. I took a long lunch to check on the house and have lunch with a new friend then I went back to help with the end of the day at the shoppe. After school we bummed, had frozen dinners and I watched TV. I was catching up on old episodes of Little People Big World and House. I had the volume up to 50 at times. I have had this white noise in my head since my little Indiana cold. Of course today I called the doctor, she can see me Friday. About two hours later my ears popped and now I can hear so much better. I should have called for an appointment sooner huh?

Today I was going to go back to school to help but I was wiped. By the time I started my day I was working two phones and some e-mail trying to take care of house stuff at the same time that the nurse called from school saying Nic was dizzy. I wrapped up all of my loose ends and ran up to get him. When I did I found the flooring guys laying down a vapor barrier, Yippee!

I brought Nic home, he chilled, so did I. I continued to make plans for the move and putz around here. At 1:00 I took Pete to Petsmart for a bath and teeth brushing. He was not happy about it, but it had to be done. He smells so much better now. While he was at the spa I swept up the house and cleaned all of his bed covers, there are only 2. No reason to have a clean dog sleeping on a dirty pillow right?

I went to get Will, stopped by the house again to see actual wood being installed and the gas meter guy was there! Yippee again, we will have heat once someone turns on the furnace. I did not volunteer for that job. Someone else can do the honors.

The near future plans of the house include installing the rest of the hardwood, covering it and letting it acclimate for about a week. Next Thursday they will scrape and stain and poly and then we can be on the floor by about Saturday. There is painting that can be done while we wait on the floor and I think they are going to try to install carpet upstairs next week as well. That will leave downstairs carpet to be installed on the 22nd. I had scheduled some of our stuff to be delivered that day from the restoration company but I may need to push that back a day. I have the dining room furniture coming on Christmas Eve and some refinished stuff coming on the 23rd. I may be pushing it... Need to talk it through with Fred and the foreman this weekend. I am hoping that they will see that my timeline is viable. Stay tuned.

DARN IT!

I forgot St. Nicholas Day AGAIN! I think that in 10 years of Nic's life I have hit about 4 celebrations of his patron saint. Why can't you people remind me? Sorry, that was uncalled for. It's my fault, all my fault. UGH!

This is what all the fuss was about.

Have you ever seen a bathtub full of Legos? Pretty cool huh? The boys were excited but overwhelmed of course too. They just can't decide what they want to work on first. Nic studied one of the instruction booklets as his bed-time reading. Too bad those things don't have words.

Off to take of some room parent duties and work at the Holiday Shoppe at school. Fun, fun and more fun!

Slow Sunday

Well, Nic and I went to a DI workshop yesterday and lost a good bit of our weekend. The good news is that the workshop was very good for the kids on our team and the team managers. We had fun, learned a bunch and have a better understanding of the event that takes place in February. The team had an opportunity to take part in some instant challenges and get feedback from REAL appraisers. This is valuable and the feedback was more positive than negative so we'll take that and move right along.

When we got home around 6:30 I was beat and had no desire to cook or even decide about a plan for dinner. We ended up at Peter Pipers Pizza. Hot pizza, YUMMY bread sticks and games for the boys, all three of them, made for a nice evening. A quick stop at Target for milk and a few other necessities including a Halloween rug for just $3.74. Always lookin for the deal I tell ya.

So today we all slept late. Nic, Will and Fred stayed up late playing Sequence so they were all tired. I am still battling this cold that I brought home from Indiana so I was just too tired to stay up and involved. When I finally put my feet on the floor I realized that I had a ton of laundry to do and wanted to make a yummy Sunday dinner. I had bought what I thought was a 2 pack of pork tenderloin at Sam's last month. I pulled one out on Friday to thaw a bit and realized that it wasn't pork but actually Turkey. Still sounds yummy so we have that in the oven cooking up for dinner. After dinner we are going to break out some excitement. Here's a peak, you don't have to guess, it would just be too hard. Just check back tomorrow for the big reveal. There will most certainly be squeals of delight around here after dinner and showers :p

Still moving along

Nothing too exciting going on today. My pal Sabrina joined me at Home Depot and gave her blessing to my light fixtures. The list has been submitted, let's hope it falls below the magic number! Since I do not know what that magic number is.. I'm really hoping.

We had a fun night at Family Bingo night at the boys' school. Nic won a BINGO game and a door prize. Will did not. He was sad until I reminded him that he recently won the chance to silly string the principal at their school and he won a free homework pass. I think the silly string event happens next week. I need to check that for sure.

Well, I am going to go take some medicine and hope that I can keep from coughing up a lung tonight. My cold has moved from my sinuses to my chest and ears. UGH! G-night!

Gratitudes:

1. Healthy kids

2. A car that gets me from here to there and back and allows me to help friends and their kids

3. My sister - Hugs from Sukisan Tihahi sista! (spellcheck is hating this! Guess the Knothole Club didn't have spellcheck back in the day)

4. My site foreman Joe who is getting the job done!

5. Subway - they made dinner tonight.

Progress continues

Stopped by the house today after a second trip to Home Depot this week. I apparently did not pick out enough fans, so back I went. There were three subs working simultaneously. Can't they just all get along? Well, yes they can! I was a little nervous about this pile of wood that had been brought down from the attic. If the removal caused any damage to the painter's hard work I'm sure there would be words!

I found a fan for the Master Bedroom and the Great/Family Room. I am a little concerned about the size so I need to do some research about fans/ room size ratios. Hope it's all available on-line. How could it not be?

After Home Depot and the house I picked up my boys and we ran to the library to return some late materials. Then we came home and the boys took advantage of the mild weather to scooter around the park. Once inside and settled they got busy on homework. While they were working away I got a Skype call from cousin Dan and we were lucky enough to see Tracey too. That was a nice treat for everyone present.

Then at about the same time I was ready to make dinner Nic decided to make Bubble Gum. Yep, you read right, he bought a bubble gum making kit at the Children's Museum last week and it needed to be tried TODAY. Well, it did not go well. It is a sticky process and despite my encouragement to read the through the directions and understand them thoroughly before starting that did not happen. So while I was "stirring" the sticky mess in the paper cup and he was tearing in to the wax paper box without the best sense he cut his finger on the box blade and the gum making was history. He was mad at himself and was ready to throw the whole kit away. I told him we just needed to prep better next time. Plan ahead a little. Not his strong suit. We'll keep trying.

So I patched him up, finished dinner and the neighbors behind us brought the mail from last week that I never picked up. I am guessing it was some sort of sign. In the mail was a letter from the ISD Personnel office. I have applied to be a sub at the boys' school and they were responding to my online application with paper forms and an invitation to the next substitute orientation that is required before any subbing can happen. The sign here, I am not meant to sub this year. The meeting is tomorrow morning from 8:30-11:30 and the paper forms were required to be submitted before you attend the session. Guess I wait for the January opportunity. Probably best anyway with the hectic pace of December in general and the reconstruction and move hanging in the balance. I'll send it off tomorrow and wait to hear from them I guess.

OK, I need to get some stuff done tonight. I pulled sheets off of everyone's bed today and they are all clean waiting to be put back on. I hate that job. I would hire someone just to do that job. It is satisfying when it is done but they are just going to ruin them tonight. Oh well, off I go!

Some funnies from today

Will is in LOVE! Last week we made a fun trip to Chuck E Cheese with Natalie and Landry. We had a bunch of tickets and wanted to walk out with stuff not receipts that require a second trip. Natalie got a sparkle comb and a bead ring. Landry received a sucker, Nic got Pop Rocks, Will got Pop Rocks and a beaded ring too. He said he was planning to give it to a girl in his class. Today was the day. I gave the ring to him yesterday but he misplaced it. This morning he remembered... It took a minute to put his hands on it but once he did he kept it close and worked on his plan. So sometime today he gave the ring to M and she excitedly accepted. Now there are rumors throughout third grade that Will and M like like each other. No typo ther folks. Like like is an actual third grade term. Will insists that he just likes M as a good friend. A good enough friend to talk to twice after school today. He called her, great motivation for getting through homework by the way, then she called him back later. He apparently paid enough attention to the call that he added up the minutes he spent on the phone. He talked to M for almost 20 minutes he announced. So cute.

Here is a funny for Nic too, just to be fair. After you read this you may wonder how fair this is.... Nic has taken on the task of cleaning up Pete poop in the backyard. He of course it for the $1 but hey, who am I to judge. Well, today was the day and he got busy in the backyard. He hollared in that the bucket had no liner so I trotted out with a target bag and he kept working away. A few minutes later he came in after a second bag. I questioned him about what happened to the first bag? Did it break? His answer... "Well, yeah. I was swinging it around and it ripped. I promise I'll clean it all up." It seems that the boy was whipping it around and somewhere between the back yard and the trash can on the driveway it tore open. Yep, poop on the drive. He wanted to hose it off for me but I told him it will wear away, no need to waste the water.

LOTS of subs at the crispy house today. Drywall texture, paint, framers, electrical and maybe even an inspection at some point. If not today then definitely tomorrow. I went up twice to check on progress and take some pictures. I have an assignment of finding lighting replacements for a few room. I headed to Lowes with mixed reviews and then after lunch went to Home Depot and found some better options. There are many large fixtures that need to be rehung and they are all hoping that they work. I am hoping that for some reason they don't. They are nice enough but they have a strange finish to them. I can not seem to find a match. Not sure that I want to.

So I came up with a few options. Feel free to chime in.

Sconces for the media room.

Celing fan for media room and my scrap space/game room.

Ceiling fan for three upstairs bed rooms.

Possible globe fixure. Not sure that it meets the specs.

Another possibility.

I need to have Fred chime in then present my finding to the contractors. Once they get the painting done and rehang the larger fixtures I will know if I get to shop some more.

OK, this is the best part of my day. A nice warm mug of spiced apple juice. It wouldn't have happened without the diligence of BFF Denise and LOTS of muscle and some sharp knives used on the bottle of juice. The boys and I all tried our darndest to get into the Motts and it was just not ready to be consumed. We convinced it otherwise. YUMMO!

Photo heavy post

Kitchen with new paint. There are VERY dirty cabinets under all that plastic!

LR note the hint of baseboard along the floor. Also note the missing window sills. It will come I'm sure.

DR with 2 Celery Walls. I think Fred thinks that it is too bright but once the furniture goes in, the floor is in place and there are blinds on the window it will grow on him.

Master bedroom. Not the best shot of the color. Hard to capture in the dark afternoon with no interior lights that work... yet.

Another shot of the MBR with doors from throughout the house waiting for primer and paint.

Apparently I have torqued off one more person and we are now on our third site foreman for the crispy house. In actuality it is not really about me but how, Joe the guy who showed up the night of the fire, feels that his word to us is just not being kept. He feels like his company has let us down and he is out to make it right. Joe takes over today and will do his best to get us in the house by New Years. He has actually mentioned a date before Christmas but I hesitate to believe it. I agree with Fred that we need the house fixed correctly not quickly. May patience reign and optimism make the holiday season great no matter where we lay our head at night.

So tonight we started to decorate our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I bought some bead garland at Target but need another strand. I picked up the letter ornaments at Kohl's last month. I bought the Puppy Love ornament at Hallmark, it is the 18th in the series I think. Fred and I have the whole collection. (I remember that the first one I bought was from the Hallmark shop in the middle of Glendale Mall.) I digress. I also picked up this year's New Home ornament from Hallmark. We have quite the collection of that theme as well. Finally the TEXAS ornament is from Kohl's. My plan is to add more ornaments by either making them or making them out of found items around the house. I would like to find a firetruck one to commemorate the event. Probably need to check Hallmark for that sometime.

It may not be what we are used to but it should make the presents look all the more abundant. Getting the Christmas stuff from storage may prove to be quite the challenge so we'll try to make due. I would like to find our nativity, even if it is the Little People version. Beyond that we will deal and it will be that much easier to move when the time comes.

I talked a bunch today and was around the dusty dirty house and seem to be losing my voice. Off to watch a show off the DVR and mellow before bed. More tomorrow I'm sure!