Mother Goose's Meandering Mind

Not Happening

2011-12-17T06:40:00.001-06:00

Who knew there were specialty plumbers. The guys who install the bathtubs can't do the finish work (hooking up faucets) or vice versa. Of course that means that my bathtub is finally installed but the faucets don't work. Neither do the toilets So... I won't have running water until Tuesday :(

I guess I'll move in when I get back home from Sarah's :(

Saturday's the BIG day!!

2011-12-14T07:03:00.000-06:00

So far if everything goes as planned tomorrow, I get to movve in Saturday!!!

End in Site??

2011-12-07T06:20:00.003-06:00

If the carpet gets here in time, the counter top people aren't lying, the plumbers get their asses back and Andy can get it together, I'll be able to move in on the 17th! Which will give me 3 whole days to settle in as best I can before I leave to go to Sarah's for two weeks. That''s a lot of "ifs" keep your fingers crossed!!

I've Got Heat!

2011-12-05T06:49:00.001-06:00

I have heat, tile and cabinets. Some of the light fixtures are hung and things are starting to fall into place. My counter tops have been templated but it will be three to four weeks before they are ready.I can live without counter tops.

So, the plumbing guy needs to come back and set the toilets, bathtub and shower. The carpet guy is installing the carpet a week from today provided the carpet I ordered comes in in time.

I won't have a driveway, a fence or grass until spring but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm hoping to be able to move in even if I don't get unpacked before I go to Sarah's for Christmas on the 20th. Then on the 4th when I get home, it'll be full speed ahead to unpack and settle in.

So Close!!

2011-11-30T06:46:00.001-06:00

My builder says he can have everything finished in 10 days however the gas company says they can't put in the meter and have my furnace running until December 15th. I am so frustrated!!! I wonder if I'll even be moved in before I leave on December 20th for Connecticut? I just want to go home! Living with someone else makes me feel like I can't even call my soul my own :(

Still Homeless

2011-11-10T20:49:00.002-06:00

Everything is at a standstill until we get electricity. Can't tile until we have heat so the thinset will dry, can't stain until we have heat, can't do anything else until the tile is in... and did I mention I'm homeless? UGH!!! I'm beginning to think that selling my condo was one of the stupidest things I've ever decided to do! I just want to go to sleep and not wake up until everything is done!! Wahhhhhh!!!!

Moving

2011-10-30T06:13:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Paul, Ellen, Joe and Karter moved most of my stuff out of my condo and into Karter's garage. I have my clothes, beauty supplies, computer and cleaning supplies left. I'm washing rugs and getting the rest of my things out today and plan to clean tomorrow. Tuesday is closing day.
I will be living at Karter and Allison's full time starting tonight!!

Babysitting Blues

2011-10-25T07:56:00.002-06:00

I've been babysitting the boys since last Monday night and I'm ready to be done. They've actually been quite good but I'm not used to being "on" all the time anymore. Allison and Karter will be home around midnight tonight :)

Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday night Stella and I will get to sleep in our own bed and then on Saturday we have our big move. No, our house isn't ready yet but I'm closing on the condo Tuesday morning. That will give me Sunday and Monday to clean it before handing over the keys. And you guessed it, we're moving in with Allison and Karter so it'll be full time boys until the house is done. Is it wrong to pray for speed for your builder??

Time Really Does Fly!

2011-10-02T11:43:00.005-06:00

While packing my craft room, I found this picture of me with my big brother. I must have been about a year old in that picture. That would make Paul around 3-1/2. Wasn't he cute?! I think I'll have a copy of it made for him for his 61rst birthday this week :)

By Request

2011-08-19T11:51:00.004-06:00

Bottom picture is the front of my house. Top picture is of the side with the garage. Sarah, that's your bedroom window you see :)

Andy (the builder) says he'll finish sheeting it today and will move on to the shingles next week :)

RAFTERS!

2011-08-18T07:09:00.001-06:00

I drove out to Allison's last night and could hardly believe my eyes. My house has rafters and is looking like an actual house now!! Yay!

Bittersweet

2011-08-05T14:44:00.003-06:00

It's hard to let go of a dream even when you're reaching towards a new dream.
I sold my condo today for full asking price, cash deal and we aren't closing until November first. A perfect deal for me. My new house is due to be done sometime in November so if I have to live with Allison and Karter for awhile, it won't get too long for any of us.

I remember 10 years ago when Jim and I were in the process of having this place built. We were so happy, I think it was the happiest time in our marriage. It was perfect for the two of us. However because Jim isn't here anymore and I've added Stella to my life, it isn't really the perfect place for me anymore. That makes me sad.

I think I've come to a place in my grieving process that I have to let go of this one last thing. It's sucks.

At the same time I'm excited about moving forward and planning and picking out things for the new house. I'm most excited for Stella to have her own yard to RLH in.

Progress

2011-08-05T06:40:00.001-06:00

Digging is done, footings are in and concrete has been poured :) Floor trusses have arrived and I picked out my new front door and my bathtub :)

Things are Coming Together!

2011-07-29T06:26:00.001-06:00

I closed on my lot yesterday, met with my builder, we ordered trusses and have started picking things out for my new home. Karter is going to do the digging this coming week and things will start happening fast. I'm getting very excited!

2011-07-21T18:33:00.000-06:00

Me and the gang :)

Excited and Scared

2011-07-11T20:25:00.005-06:00

Both at the same time. I bought a lot in Burlington today and am going to have a home built on it for Stella and I. I'm nervous about selling my condo. Thankfully I have a pretty savy brother who has agreed to hold my hand during the whole process. I've never done anything like this alone so it's pretty scary!!

I opened my safe today which hasn't been opened since a couple months after Jim died. In it I found 54 mature savings bonds!! Jim used to have one taken out of his check once a month and I had forgotten all about them. I'm taking it as a sign that Jim approves of my decision and I'm going to use the money for window treatments and decorating my new place :)

One More Sleep!

2011-07-11T06:29:00.002-06:00

And all my babies will be here!!

Burlington

2011-07-07T15:48:00.001-06:00

Still thinking about moving to Burlington. We're talking with a builder now and will be meeting in a couple days so he can present the final numbers. And no, the lot did not get water with the flood! :)
Stella may get her own yard yet!

Happy Happy

2011-07-05T07:12:00.002-06:00

My nephew Jason got married just a couple days after the record flooding in Minot. Kind of gives new meaning to the phrase, "Come Hell or high water..."

I am standing with my brother Paul, Jason's dad.

Flood

2011-06-29T08:25:00.002-06:00

803 houses in Minot are underwater :(
My brother has water seven feet up from the ground at his house. At this point they're waiting to find out if it is salvagable or if it will be demolished :(

There are 4,000 evacuees in Minot. Of those, only 250 are in the emergency shelters. All the rest are staying with family, friends and in campers and motor homes. The streets on the hill I live on are lined with cars and campers and the garages are stuffed to the rafters with household belongings of flood victims.
I'm thinking about opening a used appliance store in my garage. I have 4 freezers full of food, an extra frig and two sets of washers and dryers out there.

The spirit of the people is amazing!! Friends and family helping each other and total strangers lending a hand. It's heartwarming to see and I'm very thankful to live here.

Changes

2011-05-30T10:46:00.002-06:00

Stella and I are thinking about moving out to Burlington. There may be some big changes in store for us :)

Stella @ Four

2011-05-25T13:04:00.004-06:00

Stella learned how to shake hands and to drop and roll this winter and she's also trying to grow out her bangs. I hate growing out bangs, wonder what she thinks about it. Poor thing, I think they make her look sad.

The Verdict

2011-05-24T07:19:00.002-06:00

I spent Sunday afternoon putting the last coat of paint on the scrap room walls. Yesterday, I took off the painters tape and cleaned the room. What I've learned from the whole experience is to never pick up a paintbrush again. I've evolved into a SH!TTY painter. I used to be a good painter but I can't see well enough to do a good job painting around a ceiling. Funny thing is that I see well enough to see all the mistakes AFTER I'm done! The only fix now would be to paint the ceiling to match the walls and I am not about to do tackle that one!
Oh well, I'm going to call it good enough and keep my fingers crossed that no one looks up when they come into this room.

Painful Convenience

2011-05-21T08:34:00.002-06:00

In our previous house, I had to climb two flights of stairs to do laundry. I hated it. I couldn't wait to have a main floor laundry room. I finally got one almost ten years ago.

I've just realized that what I hate about having a main floor laundry room is that you also have another room that needs to be scrubbed down on a regular basis.

You know, I don't think climbing stairs would be all that bad and just think of all the great exercise I would be getting!

Getting Old Sucks!

2011-05-20T07:17:00.003-06:00

I've decided I need some new paint colors around here so I went to Menards and picked out a color for my computer room. I figured I'd start there because it doesn't have very much wall space.
DUH!!! What was I thinking? It has tons of cabinets and cabinets= taping!
So I spent the whole day yesterday taping and priming the computer room. My back aches, my neck is sore and I sure as HELL don't want to start on the top coat. Luckily I'm busy until Sunday so maybe my muscles will quiet down by then.

P.S. I also found out I don't see as well as I used to. I taped the ceilings but there were a couple spots I couldn't reach to tape. You can sure tell by the sloppy job I did eyeballing it! UGH!

Loving it!!

2011-05-19T06:46:00.003-06:00

My girls bought me an Ipad2 for Mother's Day. I recieved it Monday and after much hassle, it's finally up and working! YAY! I was even able to get my e-mail on it all by myself!! I've added Words With Friends and Angry Birds so far and am loving being able to pick up my WWF people again!

Over It!

2011-05-17T08:42:00.002-06:00

I haven't done any scrapping for a few years. Seems like after I spent a ton of money on a custom scrap room, the motivation to scrap dried up. However, I had a room with enough paper, tools, adhesives, embellishments and storage systems that rivaled most scrapbook stores. It made me feel guilty for not using it and I couldn't just toss thousands of dollars worth of perfectly good stuff.

Jane's daughter Megan e-mailed me recently and asked about storage systems. She is starting to get into card making. I urged her not to buy anything paper crafting related until she could come over here. Well, Saturday night was the night! She hauled so much stuff out of here that the back of her Mom's Navigator was full to the top :)

I spent yesterday morning cleaning out drawers and cupboards and still got 8 garbage bags full of stuff to throw out. Bet the garbage men were pleased when they stopped here this morning. But I have now got a clean and tidy craft room :)

YUCK!

2011-05-13T12:28:00.002-06:00

Stella spent Wednesday night with Allison and Karter. Being the scavenger that she is, she must have found some of the foil wrapped candy the boys got from the egg hunt on Saturday because she woke me up in the middle of the night last night puking. This morning, I found she had puked big globs of foil in three different spots. When she was little and would puke, I'd rush her into my bathroom so it was easier to clean up. Evidently that lesson stuck because she puked (mostly) in the bathroom. Poor baby!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T10:02:00.002-06:00

I had a busy Mother's Day weekend with the boys. Allison had to work and Karter went paddlefishing so Grandma filled in. They can be monsters like all kids but they were pretty darned good this weekend :)

We had dinner at their house yesterday, I brought the main course, Ellen brought potatoes and a salad and Paul made dessert. They stopped and got my mother and brought her out as well.

Karter and the boys went out yesterday afternoon and got Allison and I each a bouquet of fresh flowers and my girls got me an I-Pad. How sweet and generous is that and how spoiled am I??

My Mom was thrilled with her Amazon gift cards. She uses them to buy books for her Kindle and she's a reading machine!

The Ultimate Two Year Old Compliment

2011-05-03T19:17:00.003-06:00

Tom-Tom has always been a little hesitant about me when I come to visit. Breaks my heart but I try not to take it personally. It usually takes my whole visit before he's semi comfortable with me.
Luckily, this trip he warmed up much quicker. At one point a few days before I went home, he and I were sitting beside each other on the couch watching TV. He reached his pudgy little hand over and patted me on the belly and said, "Good boy, Grumma."
It sure made my day!

Thirty-one Minutes!

2011-04-18T09:16:00.002-06:00

OK, so there are a lot of things I hate about living in Minot. However, I left my house at 9:11 this morning, stopped at the post office to mail a package, stopped in at the credit union for some cash and went to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few things. I pulled back into my garage at 9:42 AM. Thirty-one minutes! I LOVE that!

Round Headed Boys!!!

2011-04-18T06:04:00.002-06:00

I'm leaving for Connecticut in the morning and can't wait to see the boys!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Thomas will accept me immediately this time. One can always hope, right? :) I think maybe some candy in my pocket might help.

Rock On!!

2011-04-13T07:17:00.002-06:00

I got reserved tickets for the girls and I to see Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow in July. Our seats are right in front of Patty & Roger, Cindy & Ray and Tom & Deb!! Can't wait!

Dog Sh*t!!!

2011-04-09T09:45:00.005-06:00

Ya know, I don't mind cleaning up after my dog. It's part of having a dog. I'm very diligent about cleaning up after Stella at least every other day but usually I do it daily. I don't mind. Really. Now that the snow is finally melting, I kept seeing what appeared to be many piles of the stuff, so I had to go out and investigate. Luckily I had a poop bag and a pair of disposable rubber gloves in my pocket. There were at least 12 piles of it and they were in a spot that Stella can't even reach. Now there's just something about cleaning up someone elses's dog's shit that I mind. Really.

Thanks to Paul & Ellen

2011-03-28T12:58:00.004-06:00

My brother Paul and his wife, Ellen have been helping me change some things around my place these last few weeks. I'm done for now which really means I'm out of money. I changed the things I could do cheaply :) I still want wood floors and new counter tops but that'll have to wait. This is what my place looks like now.

Flowers and a Hug!

2011-03-22T06:14:00.003-06:00

My friend Darla delivered these along with a hug yesterday morning :)
What a wonderful friend to have!

How I Spent My Morning

2011-03-16T09:33:00.002-06:00

I baked 5-1/2 dozen sugar cookies yesterday afternoon and spent this morning frosting them. You can't really tell but the green sprinkles are shamrocks and they actually look a little cuter in person.

My friend is the boss where she works and sometimes brings in goodies for special meetings and things like that. She asked if I would make St. Patrick's Day sugar cookies for her to bring to work tomorrow.

So I did and I've got 4 dozen for her, a dozen for Stella's groomer because they're having a Leprechaun party tonight, a half dozen for my friend Darla who I'm going to be seeing tonight and it leaves just one for the baker to try which is a good thing because I ate a dozen of them yesterday before I frosted them :)

Sleeping in!!

2011-03-14T07:11:00.001-06:00

The only thing I like about Daylight Savings time is that Stella let me sleep in until 7:00 this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Using Leftovers

2011-03-11T20:09:00.002-06:00

I hate to throw away food so I was very proud of myself for using a lot of leftovers this week.
I had friends over for dinner Tuesday night and made chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy. I had chicken leftover and also some cream from the mashed potatoes so I made chicken fettucine alfredo yesterday. It was very good :)

I found a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my freezer last week when I was cleaning and had a package of shredded Mexican cheese left from a party I had on Sunday. I bought flour tortillas, used a can of diced tomatoes and an onion I had in my pantry along with the chicken breasts and cheese and made four chicken quesadillas for my freezer yesterday. They're so handy to have because they heat up as fast as a frozen pizza but are twice as good.

I had two flour tortillas leftover from the quesadillas so tonight, going with the same theme, I used two slices of bacon I had leftover from Sunday, a couple of eggs, the last of the Mexican cheese and made breakfast burritoes for supper.

Years ago when I was cooking for a family, I planned meals using leftovers like that. Nowdays it's just a happy accident when it happens.

Blech!

2011-03-06T07:41:00.003-06:00

I spent most of last week cleaning. My kitchen, bathrooms and bedroom are all clean and looking wonderful! I still have a long list before I can put away my ammonia, Spray Away and Magic Erasers though.

Curio Cabinets
Laundry Room
Computer Room
Closets
Garage
Basement

I just cannot believe how much junk I seem to accumulate! And I'm a "thrower"! I don't suppose my garbage man is very excited when I start deep cleaning every year.

I think every muscle in the upper portion of my body hurts but if I don't keep going, I'll lose the momentum and the dust will continue to collect in all those strange corners and crevices. And my girls will have that much more crap to haul out of here when I die. I hope they realize what a HUGE Favor I'm doing them :)

My Shoulders Hurt!

2011-03-03T07:47:00.002-06:00

I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning out cupboards :(

And cleaning all the cracks and crevices on my appliances. I am amazed at how many crevices there are and how greasy/dirty they get. It's pretty bad when you need toothpicks to clean the gunk out! And I wipe down my appliances on a regular basis!

I have two drawers and one cupboard left and plan to do that this morning... if I can get my ass out of this chair.

I Hate Cleaning!

2011-03-01T18:54:00.002-06:00

But I love a clean house.
Today, I cleaned out, washed out and scrubbed down the cupboards on the window side of my kitchen. I can't believe how much crap I have that I don't use. Into the trash it goes!!

I also scrubbed out the frig, the stove, the dishwasher and microwave. In between I washed, dried and put away 5 loads of clothes. I'm beat.

I figure I have about 2 more days worth of work in the kitchen and then I can move on to the rest of the house.
Thank God I have new light fixtures because they are about the only thing in my house that doesn't need a good scrubbing! YUCK!

For Linda :)

2011-02-25T18:31:00.001-06:00

Marty Bars

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
*Mix flour, sugar and soda. Put aside. In saucepan, mix butter, water and cocoa. Bring to a boil. Pour over flour mixture and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour into greased and floured 10X15 jelly roll pan or two 9X13 pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.
Filling:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup room temperature butter
1 Tbsp. coconut flavoring
*Mix well and spread on completely cooled bars. Chill.
Glaze:
1 cup butter
12 oz. milk chocolate chips
2 tsp. vanilla extract
*Melt butter and chipc. Add vanilla and spread evenly over bars. Return to frig to chill completely before cutting into squares. (These freeze beautifully.)

Bedroom Update

2011-02-25T13:19:00.003-06:00

I've been looking at my comforter lately and thinking it's getting kind of tired looking. Darla and I went shopping in Bismarck Tuesday (fun, fun day!) and I happened upon a set I really liked. The walls in my bedroom are painted turquoise and there are a million shades of turquoise so I was worried it wasn't going to match the walls and I'd have to have them painted.

Much to my delight, the set goes beautifully with the paint color!! AND the best part is that it was originally $449 and on sale for half off. And then I got another 15% off for using my Kohl's charge :)

This is the one :) If you run your mouse over the picture, you can see the sewing details in it.

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/bedandbath/comfortersbedspreads/sets/traditional/PRD~c16308/Ferrara+20pc+Geometric+Bed+Set.jsp#

Queen of the Mountain

2011-02-24T08:33:00.002-06:00

I'm so sick of snow!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

2011-02-17T17:31:00.003-06:00

Today I had one of the most relaxing, chatty, yummy lunches I've had in a long time :) My friend Darla took me out for lunch for my birthday and I had the best time. I talked so much I only had time to eat half my lunch. Not only that but she gave me a cool wine bottle holder from Costa Rica and a bottle of moscato :) I love spending time with her!

Last week I got to spend a lot of time with Jane, Marty and Darley who are about as nice as people can be. I love being with them :)

I had a fun, chatty lunch with Joe, Paul, Ellen and my Mom yesterday. It's always so much fun to get together with my siblings :)

And I have to give my buddy Marilyn a big thank you for hauling three shirts home from Minot, altering them and delivering them to my hotel in Minneapolis. Also she and Jon picked us up at our hotel on the return trip and entertained us all day before hauling us and all our stuff to the train station. That's going above and beyond the call of duty! Thank you both, so much!! I loved being able to spend time with you :)

I am such a lucky woman to have so many wonderful friends!! Thank you all for being my friends :)

Buffalo Soldier,

2011-02-15T11:53:00.004-06:00

Dreadlock Rasta.

This is Gladstone. Darley and I met him at a bar while we were shopping in Ocho Rios. He was playing guitar and singing Bob Marley tunes for tips. We struck up a conversation and he told us about his family, especially his grandmother. Told me I reminded him of her. I took it as a compliment because he was remembering his grandmother from when he was much younger. Nice guy. I talked him into drinking Patron shots with me but he whimped out after one. Didn't stop me.

I also met the owner of the bar who was probably in his mid thirties. He was from India and had been living in Jamaica for 6 years. He repeated his name several times but I had had one too many Patron shots so I couldn't pronounce it. I asked if I could call him Sam. Nice guy.

When we left, I got a hug from Gladstone and Sam's business card where after his name and address, he had written Sam followed by his cell number. I don't know if he thought I was so drunk I might get in a jam and need help or if he just thought I would come back and buy Patron shots in his bar again. Whatever, I enjoyed visting with them both.

Jamaica 2011

2011-02-15T11:49:00.001-06:00

On My Way!!!

2011-02-02T20:01:00.002-06:00

I start the first part of my journey to Jamaica later tonight. I'm taking the train to Minneapolis and will arrive bright and early tomorrow morning.

After spending a day there (and having dinner with Mar!!), we'll be flying out to Jamaica early Friday morning. Reggae and rum, can't wait!!!

Erica Rocks!

2011-01-31T11:55:00.002-06:00

Stella's groomer took these pictures last summer while she was babysitting her. I just got them and am thrilled with them! She really captured my stellar girl!

Wild Weekend!!!

2011-01-31T10:08:00.005-06:00

Friday started off with a bang when I picked Marilyn up from the train station at 9:30 in the morning. I got the pleasure of spending the rest of the morning with her at my house. I dropped her off at Jennifer's where we had a drink with Lane and then I came home to veg and get dolled up for the evening.

I met my fellow Homemakers at the Vegas for a nice dinner and a lot of laughs. There were 12 of us there with only Nancy missing.
After dinner it was drinks and dancing at the Landing. I understand a few of the girls continued at Ebeneezer's later. I was a good girl and was in bed by 11:00 :)

Saturday we met at Shirley's for a fabulous lunch celebrating Marilyn and my birthdays. This time it was all 13 of us which rarely happens. We had a special punch and drank and ate all afternoon. Yum, those girls can cook!! Both Marilyn and I were showered with fabulous gifts :) Later Marilyn, Shirley, Jen and I went to Jen's for a few drinks and played Catch Phrase. I think my stomach still hurts from laughing and I feel bad that the rest of the crew didn't get see Shirley's performance!

Yesterday Maria, Sylvia, Jen, Linda, Shirley, Deb, Marilyn and I met at the theater to see Black Swan and Patty and Cindy joined us afterwards for a late lunch, early dinner and margaritas at Mi Mexico. Marilyn, Shirley, Jen, Linda, Patty and I all came here for drinks afterwards and to spend the last few hours with Marilyn before she had to board the train back to Minneapolis. While they were here, they approved my wardrobe for Jamaica!! I'm leaving Wednesday!!!

Miss you already Mar, it's always so much fun when you're here!

I'm spending today recovering :)

Kid Magnet?

2011-01-27T08:14:00.003-06:00

I met a five year old little girl last night. Within about 15 minutes, the kid was in my lap, complaining about a wedgie and telling me that when she gets a snot bubble in her nose, she has to pop it with her finger. She was pretty much in my lap whenever I was sitting down for the rest of the night.

Jim always said I was a kid magnet. I wonder why that is and why I don't have that same affect on men. Some things just make you go hmmmmm...

Thank you God!!!

2011-01-25T15:46:00.004-06:00

My insurance company has always been a stickler for having pre-approval for my sleeping pills. I take 1-1/2 every night and they only approve 18 or some weird number a month. Every year, my doctor has to call the insurance company and get them to re-consider it and so far they always have.

I went to get new prescriptions for this year last week and the next day I got a phone call from my insurance company saying they had denied it. Damn, I called the doctor's office and told them it was denied but was told that they would look into it.

I got a call a few minutes ago from my doctor's office telling me that they had called the insurance company and that I had approval through 2021!! As long as my prescription stays at 1-1/2 tablets a night, they will cover it. They denied last week because they thought we were asking for a new prescription not just continuing the one I had. So now for the next 11 years, all I have to do is go to the doctor once a year and have her fax my prescription to the drug store without jumping through any more hoops!!!

Now if they would just start making a generic so it's more affordable, that would be nice. I pay almost $300 a month for it when I hit the coverage gap in July!

Let There Be Light!

2011-01-20T11:17:00.003-06:00

I don't really care for the swagged look but had no choice unless I wanted to repair and repaint my ceiling. And I had no intentions of doing that.
I love what a change this chandelier has made in the looks of the whole great room. I'm thrilled to have it centered over my table finally. The fact that the old didn't bugged the Hell out of me.
I'm also loving my new shades. That top down, bottom up feature is totally worth it!

I am so lucky to have people in my life who are so willing to lend me a hand :)

My Brother ROCKS!!!

2011-01-20T07:23:00.004-06:00

So, I decided to change the light fixtures in my house. Of course I have the problem of not being able to do these kinds of things. An electrician is waaaay expensive plus even if I wanted to pay one, there is too much work in this area for an electrician to bother with a "small" job like this. My brother Paul came up on three different afternoons and changed out all the light fixtures on my main floor except the kitchen one over the island!! Yesterday he hung the new dining room chandelier :)

And of course, once I decided to go with a different metal color, I realized the door knobs needed to be changed as well. When I got done switching the doorknobs out, the gold hinges jumped out at me so I had to get new hinges. I attempted to change them myself but had a lot of problems trying to hold the heavy door in place while trying to line up all three hinges at the same time and get a couple screws in. I gave up after two doors.

But Ellen came with Paul yesterday and while he was hanging the chandelier, she and I changed hinges on the rest of the inside doors! What a trooper! I'm sure glad they brought a power screwdriver and that Ellen loves power tools!

Now I'm looking at kitchen lights to replace the old, ugly fluorescent light I have above my island. What the Hell was I thinking when I chose that for my kitchen??

Yes, please!!

2011-01-18T06:36:00.001-06:00

"Kathy, this is Maggie from International Travel. Your documents for Jamaica are in. Would you like me to mail them to you?"

Am I Vain?

2011-01-16T16:23:00.002-06:00

I never thought I was but since I only need readers to read the fine print, I'm starting to wonder. I love readers and when I come across an unusually cute pair, I can't resist. I not only have a pair in every room in my house, in every jacket pocket and a cute handpainted turquoise and purple pair hanging from a matching necklace that I wear around the house, I now have two pair I carry in my purse! It's so nice not to spend $400-500 on a pair of glasses. At $30 or less, I can afford to have a lot of different looks.

In clothing I wear a lot of pink, red and orange but I also wear a lot of black, white and brown. I have a pair of Susan G. Komen For The Cure readers that are hot pink with crystals on them in my purse. Very flashy :) I also have a pair of leopard print, brown and black ones in there. They're bold but understated. When I'm out and about and need my readers I reach in my purse for the pair that matches my outfit.

Is that vain?

MHS Class of 1971

2011-01-14T14:19:00.003-06:00

Jim took one of these girls to the Senior Prom and it wasn't me :)
And is it any wonder why I always feel like an AMAZON? Oh, how I wish I would've been born petite!
Gourmet lunch in Scottsdale and a bunch of friends. What more could a woman want?

Mama's Little Helper

2011-01-14T13:34:00.003-06:00

Stella loves to root around in my suitcase when I'm unpacking. Once she finds out what's in there, she lays on top of everything. I don't know if she wants me to quit unpacking or is just trying to be a pain in the ass. Good thing she's cute!

Yuck!!

2011-01-14T13:24:00.002-06:00

It was seventy degrees and the sun was shining when I left Scottsdale yesterday. When we got into town last night it was 7 degrees and dark. Of course I woke up this morning to snow. The paper says we've had 50.3 inches of snow this year so far and the snowy season is young!! I can't say leaving this beautiful house was easy.

Brrrrrrr!!

2011-01-08T14:03:00.004-06:00

My car said it was 9 degrees outside when I drove home from Burlington at 11:00 this morning. And the wind is picking up. They're forecasting below temperatures for this coming week. Yuck! I'm already sick of winter!

But lucky me, I'm leaving for Scottsdale tomorrow!! I'm going to visit a friend for a few days. There will be three of us staying in a four bedroom house and they each have their own bathroom!! And if that wasn't enough, there's a heated pool and a hot tub!! Best of all, I'm going to spend some girl time with one of my bestest friends!!! Can't wait!!

Let It All Hang Out

2011-01-03T10:09:00.003-06:00

Gage pesters Stella and she's very cautious when he's around. When he spends the night, she waits until he is sound asleep before she goes to bed. And then she makes sure to stay close to me and as far away from him as she can.

On the other hand, when Jameson spends the night, she goes to bed with him immediately and snuggles right up to him. He spent the weekend with us and I had to laugh when I went to bed and found them sleeping like this.

Ten Whole Days!!

2011-01-01T19:02:00.002-06:00

Jameson answered my phone today when his Mom called. He then wanted to know why her call came up as ICE on my phone. I explained that in case of an emergency, someone would know to call his Mom. He kept asking why and I finally told him that if I died, they'd know to contact his Mom. His response? "I'd be crying my head off for ten days!" Yeah, makes you feel loved, right?? :)

Snuggling

2011-01-01T14:03:00.003-06:00

Jameson & Stella

SCORE!!!

2010-12-31T14:36:00.004-06:00

I kept seeing an ad in the paper about a new place in town that buys gold jewelry. I had a bunch of unwanted chains, earrings and old rings rolling around in my jewelry drawer that were just collecting dust so I decided to take them in and see if they were worth anything today. Much to my surprise, I came out with a check for $585!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

2010-12-30T10:40:00.001-06:00

My baby turned 35 today. Man, I feel old!!

Snow Plows

2010-12-21T16:25:00.003-06:00

Out my dining room window. Driving should be a lot easier tomorrow :)

Looking out my front door!

2010-12-21T13:18:00.005-06:00

I took these pictures from my front door last night and then this morning. I had to take Stella to the groomer this morning. The main roads are all plowed but some of the side streets were scary. I'm glad I'm done driving for the day. YUCK!

Oh no! Snow!!

2010-12-20T18:19:00.002-06:00

It's been snowing all day and we've got 5-1/2 inches so far. The older I get, the more I hate the snow.

Caught up!

2010-12-17T13:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I stayed home, washed clothes and made caramels. I cut, wrapped and packaged one batch before I went to bed.

This morning I wiped down the bathrooms, wiped up the kitchen floor, vacuumed and cleaned up some spots on the carpet. I cut, wrapped and packaged my 5th batch of caramels. That's 500 of them :)

I made a couple of appointments and returned a couple of phone calls.
My kitchen is clean and I'm going to veg the rest of the day. I took some BBQ shredded pork and a couple of my Mom's homemade buns out of the freezer for dinner. The end!

Not Red & Green

2010-12-14T19:08:00.002-06:00

It always amazes me how long it takes to wrap a few gifts. Even though I don't have a tree set up and don't plan to, I do have a corner with gifts in it.

5:00AM is an ungodly hour!!

2010-12-12T05:43:00.002-06:00

I can't figure out why my eyes pop open and I'm wide awake at 5:00AM. This has been happening for about a week now. I hated getting up at 6:00 but 5:00 sucks even worse!

Caramel Countdown

2010-12-10T13:10:00.001-06:00

I made my first batch of the season last night and cut and wrapped them today. I also packaged up the ones I have to mail and I'm going to mail them tomorrow. I wonder how many batches I'll end up making this year??

Meatballs and Doorknobs!

2010-12-08T15:02:00.003-06:00

I spent a long time at Menards today trying to find the right sized deadbolt for my doors. It seems the ones that are there are a strange size and nobody makes that size. So now I'll probably have to have the holes drilled bigger. Who do you call for that? What a pain in the ass!! I'm just trying to change the metal color in my place :( It shouldn't be this hard!

I came home and took my frustrations out in the kitchen and I now have a big pot of spaghetti sauce with homemade meatballs floating aroud in it simmering on the back burner of my stove :) Ahhhhhh......
Jane and Marty are going to join me... Ahhhhhhhh......

Thanks!

2010-12-05T19:14:00.002-06:00

I am so lucky I have brothers, sons-in-law and a brother-in-law!!

Jeff ( my brother-in-law) and Joe (my brother) installed new blinds in all four of my great room windows on Thursday! They look great and have a top down/bottom up feature so now Stella can't see out of the windows, therefore eliminating almost all of her barking :)

I had a baby gate at the bottom of my stairs to prevent Stella from wandering around down there that was a PITA to step over or take down every time I needed to go down there. Paul (my brother) was here the other night and told me he had one with a swinging door on it that I could have. I picked it up today but couldn't get it tight enough to work. Paul came up and fixed it and while he was here, he also installed the new doorbell I bought today :) Unfortunately, Stella still barks when the doorbell rings :)

And finally, I've been wanting to replace the dated light fixtures in my condo and called Karter (my son-in-law) to ask him if he thought he could do it or if I would need to hire an electrician. He assured me he could do it. I found a chandelier I like today and mentioned it to him during a phone conversation. After an hour of just visiting, when he was ready to hang up, he told me to let him know when I get the lights and he'll get them hung :)

Funny thing is that Jim hated doing these kinds of things and wasn't very good at it when he attempted them. (Bless the man, he had many talents but handyman wasn't one of them.) We usually just hired someone to do these jobs and had to wait for the "experts" to fit us into their schedule. I think I get these kinds of things done quicker now and it's sure a lot easier on my pocketbook :) Sometimes I cook dinner in exchange for odd jobs but sometimes I don't. I love the guys in my life!! They're so good to me :)

Sucky Day!

2010-11-28T09:23:00.003-06:00

Until Jim died, I had pretty much avoided going to funeral homes. Never had a reason to. Now it seems I'm on a first name basis with them.

My Dad died yesterday morning while my Mom and I were in Connecticut visiting Sarah. We got the call shortly after the fact and Sarah (the best executive secretary out there) was able to get our flights changed from Tuesday to yesterday. And without a charge! The flight from Minneapolis to Minot was totally booked so I don't know how she managed to get two seats on it but am thankful she did. We arrived home at around 7 last night and today we get to go to the funeral home and make the arrangements. And I'm sure they won't be good enough for my sister Carol. She doesn't want to get involved but sure likes to voice her opinions after the fact.

The funeral is on Wednesday and the only good part of that is my sister Mary, her husband Jeff and their doggy, Rico are coming to stay with me.

I'm also thankful my Dad is finally out of the nursing home that he hated. They took very good care of him there but he hated the fact that he had to be there. I did too. I have visions of Jim meeting him at Heaven's gate and giving him the grand tour.

Another State For Stella!!

2010-11-16T15:08:00.005-06:00

I told her she was coming with me this time when I brought my big suitcase up out of the basement but I'm not sure she believes me yet.

She's added some states to her ever growing list of states she's been in. I took her carrier out today and tucked into the pocket were the tickets for Alex, Stella and I when he came home from MA with me.

Let's see, she's been in ND, SD, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, New Jersey (although this was just long enough to go outside the airport for a potty break), NH, MA several times, and now Connecticut. Nine states is a lot for a dog! I still wish she could get a frequent flier number and I'm sure glad she's such a good traveler.

Ooh, I forgot, she was born in Florida. That makes it 10 states!

Yikes! I have 5 loads of laundry to do before I even start to think about packing. My plane doesn't leave until 11 AM so I guess I'll have plenty of time to pack before I have to leave here at 10 tomorrow morning.

Poor Ms. Bear!!

2010-11-15T14:18:00.003-06:00

Not only did she get her muzzle chewed off, she has a gaping hole in her back with stuffing coming out and had her squeaker removed. And this was within the first hour of her arrival at our house. I think Stella is making it plain that she's the only furry animal that gets to live here.

2 More Sleeps

2010-11-15T11:47:00.002-06:00

Jim always counted off how many days until a trip by how many nights we had to sleep until the big day.
We now have 2 more sleeps until we'll be at Sarah's. Although I'm looking forward to spending two weeks with them, I am not looking forward to the trip with my Mom and Stella in tow. Keep your fingers crossed the departure gate at the Minneapolis airport is close to the one we'll be arriving at. Mom is too stubborn to ask for assistance but she can't handle walking very far and I'm going to try to go with no sedation for Stella. Wednesday could be a L-O-N-G ass day!

Welcome to the age of e-readers Mom!

2010-11-13T11:47:00.004-06:00

I went with my 83 year old Mother yesterday and she bought a Kindle. I finally convinced her she needed one. I'm tired of her trying to unload her used books at my house! :) She reads about 5 books a week!
We had a short lesson on it yesterday and she can turn it on and read now. I don't know how well she got the ordering of books down but I'll be with her for the next two weeks so by the end, she should be fine. It really is an easy machine to master.
Plus of course I have her account info and can order books for her any time. I got online this morning and bought her 5 books. They were all free so she can't get mad about that :)

OMG!

2010-11-11T16:35:00.004-06:00

I have one pair of jeans that I really like the fit on but they're getting old. I always feel good when I wear those jeans so I decided I needed to get online and see if I couldn't find a pair like them.

The ones I had were a size 27, which is pretty foreign to me. I didn't find them but I found a pair that looked like them in a different wash and came in a 27. The brand was AG which I'd never heard of before but I loved that the inseam was 34. They were even on sale for half of what I had paid for the custom clown pants. I ordered them. They came today and I tried them on and they're HEAVEN!!! No wonder they call them the Angel! Best fitting pair of jeans I've had in a long time. They were made for tall skinny girls. And they look good on me!! Well, you know what I mean, as good as I can look for my age, but I've been searching for these jeans for years! I'm so excited!!

I went online to look for more and found out that these jeans are normally priced at $150-175 a pair!! I'd love to have several more pairs and I am thrilled they have them in white too because I've been looking for white jeans for years without any luck. Guess I'll have to start saving my pennies! And why couldn't I have fallen in love with a pair of jeans from Wallyworld?

Jeans

2010-11-10T09:23:00.002-06:00

I ordered the custom made jeans and after waiting forever for them to be delivered I got them last week. What a joke!! They looked like clown pants on me so back they went. Hopefully I'll have a little time in Connecticut to shop for some. Ick!

Happy Birthday Pete, Allan and Jason!!

2010-11-09T14:42:00.002-06:00

I went to visit my Dad today and he told me that in 14 years he'd be 100 :)

He always makes me smile. Happy birthday Dad, I love you!

Jason turned 40 today, how is that even possible??
Man, I'm old.

See ya next week Allan, what a great birthday gift... two weeks with me, my mother and my dog! You should be nominated for sainthood :)

20/25

2010-11-09T13:39:00.001-06:00

I had an appointment with the eye doctor today. Found out I'm not perfect like I originally thought :)
I see 20/25 instead of 20/20. I'll take it!!! :)

Wild Weekend

2010-11-07T16:39:00.002-06:00

Or at least Wild Friday night! We danced and partied until 3:30AM up in Mohall and had a blast!
Saturday was a different story, we were showing our age :(
Years ago we'd have been ready to party Saturday night too. However, somewhere along the way, I got old. I was in bed last night at 8:10!! And I'd venture to guess that Deb, Jennifer, Shirley, Linda and Patty were probably in bed early too :) Jury is out on Nancy though, she's the young one and recovers faster than we do :)

Dear Jim,

2010-11-05T12:14:00.004-06:00

I miss you in so many ways every day that I can't even count them all. Today I missed you even more because I also missed you when I was wiping out the car. Thank you so much for taking such good care of my cars for all those years. I spent 1/10th the time you used to spend just wiping down the inside and it sure looks like it too. I miss you :(

In the 33 years we were married, I always drove a shiny clean car filled with gas and I never, ever did it myself. Man, I sure need to have my car detailed!

Grandma's Roses

2010-11-02T16:19:00.004-06:00

At Grandma's funeral, we had a bouquet of 5 roses representing her 5 grandchildren. White for the 2 boys and cream with rose colored tips for the 3 girls. I took the bouquet home and days later was marveling at how beautiful the girl ones still looked. The boys' unfortunately were dead. I decided to take the remaining 3 and have them freeze dried.

I picked them up today and couldn't be more pleased with the way they turned out. They are very fragile so I just tied a ribbon around them and laid them in my curio cabinet where I put a lot of things that have meaning to me. Because the curio cabinet has a mirror in the back, the picture makes it look like there are 6 roses.

I stood and looked at the finished product and although it needs a good cleaning, I love my curio cabinet!

I have a story for everything in it :)

Why???

2010-11-02T08:39:00.002-06:00

Why would men in their early 60's who live in condos that have a snow shoveling service spend time rearranging the snow on their lawns?

The guy across the street spent the better part of yesterday afternoon redistributing the snow on his lawn. The sidewalks and driveway had been done by the service last week and we're going to get a lot of snow before next Spring. Seems like a giant time suck to me.

And then the guy who lives next door to him came home from work and saw what his neighbor did so he did the same thing. Do these guys have that much spare time on their hands or are they just that anal?? And why risk a heart attack from moving all that heavy snow around at their ages??

Grossness!!

2010-11-01T06:41:00.002-06:00

I had to use the bathroom at Allison's on Saturday and her main floor bathroom is the one the boys use. I always check the seat before I sit down because Jameson and Gage are gross. Sure enough, I had to clean the seat before I could sit down. I came out to have a talk with them. I told them that they have got to remember to lift the ring seat before peeing. And I also told them that if they don't lift it at my house I was going to cut off their penises. With luck that scared them into at least lifting it at my house!

My New Eyes!!

2010-10-29T11:17:00.003-06:00

I now have a card that says I can legally drive without glasses!! And because I've learned that this post would be worthless without pictures, here's the best I could do taking my own picture. And check out my new do, although it needs a tune up :)

Islands

2010-10-28T14:28:00.002-06:00

I love my island, I really do but no matter how hard I try, I cannot for the life of me keep it clutter free for long. There's always too many things I need to attend to or remember that I'd ignore if I took them into the computer room where they should belong.

Like the quote for new great room blinds, my reading glasses so I can see the quote, an invitation I need to RSVP to after calling Mom and asking if she'll babysit Stella so I can go, batteries so I remember to ask Karter to change the batteries on the smoke detectors when he's here on Sunday, my phone in case anyone needs me and my list of things I need to do tomorrow. Oh and my passport case and the delivery confirmation receipt for my passport that I sent in for renewal which I'll need when I make my final payment on the Jamaica trip. And the purple lizard from a Lesmann party a couple years ago. He's lived on that saucer ever since I got him.

Ugh, off to whiddle down the pile.

P.S. If you look in the top right hand side of that picture you'll see the color of turquoise I had my great room painted. You definately know a woman lives here when you walk in my door :)

It's Ugly Out There!

2010-10-27T14:12:00.003-06:00

I decided to brave the snow and did a couple errands before meeting Joe for lunch. Thankfully I live close to a major road through town. The roads were very icy with some pretty big drifts in them but I made it around and back home. I was very thankful I have a double garage because there was a 2 foot drift in the middle of my driveway when I got home. I put the pedal to the metal and flew into the garage. I'm parked in the other stall but at least I'm home and the car is in the garage.

I took these pictures standing on my front porch looking out.

SNOW!!

2010-10-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

We're having a blizzard! I hate snow and am a chicken about driving in it for the first few days. Can't decide if I should just ignore it and get out there anyway or stay home today. UGH! It looks like it's going to be a LONG winter!

YeeHaw!!

2010-10-21T20:28:00.001-06:00

I'm leaving for Fargo tomorrow morning and am going to see George Strait tomorrow night!!

Legally Blind

2010-10-20T05:36:00.002-06:00

I've been legally blind without glasses for 50 years. I had my second cataract surgery yesterday and the bandages came off this morning. My doctor's goal is for me to be able to pass a driver's test without glasses in two weeks! I am totally thrilled and amazed at how wonderful it is to actually see!! I can get out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom without putting my glasses on first!! It's like having permanent contact lenses and I am overjoyed!! I think I'm in love with my eye surgeon!! He's my new hero!!

Wonky Eyes

2010-10-16T06:22:00.004-06:00

I'm still trying to get used to having one eye see perfectly. The surgery was a success but it's hard to operate with just one eye. I use magnifiers to read, my old prescription glasses to work on the computer and I watch TV without any glasses at all. I can't wait to have my other eye done so I can get by with just readers.

Cataracts

2010-10-11T18:42:00.002-06:00

I went to see the eye doctor on Tuesday. He noticed a big change in my cataracts. I didn't even know I had them, however, it would explain my wonky eyesight lately.
The eye doc sent me to the eye surgeon and I'm going to have the left one removed tomorrow. The good news is that they replace the clouded lens with a new lens corrected to your eyes. So if all goes right, in about three weeks after I have my right eye done, I should be able to see without glasses!!! Of course I'll need readers for fine print but being able to see when I wake up in the morning has always been just a dream for me.

Apple Turnovers

2010-10-11T18:40:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again and my friend, Maria gave me a bag of apples yesterday. I chopped and cooked them all and made dough yesterday afternoon. Today I made 50 apple turnovers for my freezer. They're so nice to have on hand and go from frozen to hot and ready to eat in about 20 minutes or so. Yay me!!

Runza

2010-10-07T07:51:00.001-06:00

I've heard of them, wondered about them and finally got to taste them when I was in Nebraska. Yummy! I plan to try my hand at making them seeing as how all the recipes I've found so far say they freeze well. Wouldn't these be handy to have in the freezer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runza

Rico

2010-10-05T18:29:00.003-06:00

Stella and Rico got along beautifully. He wanted to play a little more than she did but she ignored him when she wasn't in the mood. Typical female with attitude.

Rico is a one year old Coton de Tulear, the royal dog of Madagascar. He just thinks he's a dog :)