Boo hoo, Spring Break is over.

Well, actually after taking blonde rascal to the grocery store with me a few times the past week...I am glad school is back in session. Those trips are so much quicker and definitely more sane sans children!

Last weekend I was in Snyder painting. Duh. Two of my girlfriends came down on Saturday to help me paint. Let me just tell you how I adore them for that. Seriously. They were quite a team, Angie and Staci, they came armed with step stools, paint rollers... and margaritas. They were like the Red Cross coming to my rescue! They painted 2 bedrooms and then we may or may not have sat around drinking margaritas. Paint fumes, good friends and margaritas, it is what all good house remodels are made of.

Blonde rascal and hubs came on Sunday. Hubs was safety supervisor as I precariously painted the crown molding, which I guess is about 12' at its highest point, dangling from the extension ladder. Hubs then headed back to Lubbock since he had to work Monday, while blonde rascal and I started our Spring Break week.

Monday I painted some more and got everything ready for the floor installers who were coming the next day. That evening some friends in Snyder came by to see us. I caught wind of the fact that they raise miniature dachshunds. They had 2 left from the most recent litter. They brought them over so we could love on them.Seriously. Puppy breath, soft fur and that sweet face just about sent me over the edge. Luckily, something about the thought of simultaneously remodeling, moving and puppy potty training kept me from caving in and getting one.

Tuesday we made a trek an hour and a half south to Abilene to go to the zoo. Our first stop was in the creepy critters house where, lucky us, Tuesday is feeding day. So much to blonde rascal's delight we wandered around in that dark building while snakes were digesting mice and there were spiders and my skin was crawling.

We thankfully got out of there alive and I was pumped up by the thought of using my big camera lens at the zoo. My first subject was this stunning leopard......who I happened to catch mid yawn....Clearly the Abilene Zoo does not provide the animals with Crest White Strips.


Hello gorgeous...
We got to the zoo around lunch time and were excited by the thought of consuming zoo food... hot dogs, nachos...you know some greasy gut bomb fare. The dang concession stand was closed. I am sure it is only open in the summer, but come on it was Spring Break! There was a lone vending machine chocked full of peanut m&m's, chips, etc...and it was out of order.At the ticket booth they sold packs of these dry, wheat, rye, cardboard-like crackers that you could feed the animals. We bought some and by the end of our visit, WE were nibbling on them. Good thing the drink vending machines were in operation.


I was glad I could zoom in on this guy....from a distance.


Something about this grand creature made me want to hug his big furry neck. However that may not of ended so well for me.

We got back to the house in Snyder and blonde rascal decided to play in the hot tub. Still enamored by my zoom lens, I sat on the other end of the porch and took pictures. Which is fabulous because since I was not in his face, he had no idea I was snapping away.

There was splashing....
shooting hoops...
...and dancing....

Meanwhile, a little closer to the floor....
Pretty, pretty, princess Missy...
...had rummaged up a horse hoof trimming that she was happily munching on. Ewww.

The little shaggy dust mop...
Blonde rascal, who had for whatever reason gotten in the hot tub fully clothed instead of in his swimsuit, had stripped down to his undies to dry off. He was in a fit of giggles as I threatened to take a picture of him in his drawers....

He'll kill me for this.....



"The End"

Tobacco Road is the bomb.

Any fan of The Nester knows that she claims that Tobacco Road is the end all do all wall paint color. I wanted a warm, cozy, draw you in color. Not khaki or tan, been there done that...but more of a golden brown. I decided to trust Nester and use T.R. for the majority of our house.


Here is the living room when we bought the house.

OK, but the red accent and with stark white walls is too severe. The brown brick is just blah.


Fast forward to some crown molding added, the ceiling painted a fresh white, the mantle painted white and the glorious Tobacco Road....Tobacco Road blends perfectly with the brick....totally changing the look. Brilliant paint color, I tell you! Please note that this picture is mid-way through the project. That is just primer on the molding, second coats, cutting in, etc... are still on the 67 page to-do list.

Hubs loves the color. He was delighted. I think he holds his breath when I decide to paint. He was beyond pleased with Tobacco Road....could not stop staring at it and declaring how perfect it was for the house. (T.R. is a Duron color, but we don't have a Duron store within 500 miles of us...so I used the Lowe's version that the Nester gives.)

In case you were wondering, Missy approves too. She got a smudge of T.R. on her bootie (I told you she would) and thinks it looks fabulous with her chocolate coat.


I am working on a "before and during" house tour....it's coming I promise!

Lacking in sleep

After 4 solid days of working on our "new" house, I am beat. Today I feel like a zombie, an arthritic zombie.

Last night we got back home about 6:00 and I changed gears to prepare for the week. Then after a dose of Tylenol PM, I was in bed by 10:00 totally exhausted. Deep in a sleep like the dead...only to be awoken at about 2 a.m. by a sick blonde rascal. Diarrhea. Great. This required a jammie change. Back in bed...and woken up again at 3:00. Sheet change, sitting a spell on the toilet, giving a dose of Imodium (sp?) which was immediately thrown up. Back to bed and woken up again who knows when...another jammie change, starting a load of laundry. Back to bed, woken up again and then I just stayed up. Poor little guy.

What is even MORE tragic about the whole situation...I decided at 6a.m. to go to Wal-Mart to get 7-Up, crackers, soup, etc.... to be prepared for the sick day. I got dressed and tapped my comfortably snoozing hubby to tell him I was going to the store and to listen for blonde rascal....he startled awake and asked why I was going to the store so early. Obviously YOU slept well, dear! Men.

Oh well, if there is one person in the world I would stay up all night for it would be my little guy. I have the rest of my life to sleep, right?

The beautiful thing was that here is what WM looks like a 6a.m.

Sweet.

Oh, and I stopped here at 6:30a.m.


Even more sweet. (Sorry...took that picture w/phone and really don't care to take the time to flip it)

I had planned on posting pictures of the progress in the house...but blogger is now acting up. It won't save and therefore won't let me add pictures. Arg! So I guess you'll have to wait.

I really need to organize all of my pictures stored on my computer, that would make posting pictures SO much easier. However the Canon software is honestly not so user friendly...it is smarter than I am. I should switch back to iPhoto...because you know Mac makes it easy. I wanted to use the Canon software because I had aspired to be all cool and use the photo editing capabilities. Ya, well that is a pipe dream at this point so I might as well switch back to my beloved intuitive iPhoto!

All potentially contaminated surfaces have been sterilized, multiple loads of laundry completed, blonde rascal is 100% recovered and eating everything in sight. I guess I should go think about what is for dinner.

No pain, no gain

That is the back of hub's pickup loaded up with 14 gallons of various paints. I am leaving in the morning for Snyder to submerge myself in a 4 day paint-a-thon at our "new" house. Hubs is going to be Mr. Mom for a few days. He and the blonde rascal will drive down Saturday morning, which is when hubs is going to install the laminate floor in the bathroom.

I am taking my trusty assistant along with me...
Determining just exactly how helpful she will be is a total crap shoot.
90% of the time she is afflicted with severe ADHD.
So while it is doubtful that she will help me paint...
....I can guarantee she will inevitably get paint ON her.
I won't have internet over the weekend, but I will be documenting the whole ordeal with my camera. So tune in next week for the play by play...assuming I am not still high from paint fumes... or in traction.

Based on the pictures I have just downloaded from the past week, here is the long story short since my last post....

If you will recall hubs was out of town last week, Friday night b.r. spent the night with a friend so I rented "Nights in Rodanthe" during which I surprisingly stayed awake. Incidentally, it was not the best movie ever made.

The next morning I was calmly drinking my coffee in the glorious lazy silence, when all of a sudden Missy starts barking. I glance up looking out the front window and what do I see.......none other than these chumps in our front yard. It is Murphy's Law that they get out when hub's is out of town. I called my kind next door neighbor, and he came to my rescue.

Here is how God rewards me (That is how I prefer to imagine it anyway...He is happy I am taking care of my ticker, right?) for getting up at 6am to run on the treadmill....
...this is the view right in front of me as I step off the treadmill at the end of my run. That's good stuff.

There was also a major master bedroom closet clean out....but I only have before pictures because the afters can't be taken until hub's tackles HIS side of the closet. I know you hate that you can't see that. Maybe someday soon children.

Keep your fingers crossed for me this weekend. I hope to put a huge dent in the painting project...but come about Friday night I might drink beer for hours while sitting on the porch I fear I might fall into bed and sleep for 16 hours from exhaustion.

I'm still alive...I think.

Be forewarned that due to my exhaustion this post will be full of completely random and unrelated information. It is also possible that it will be infested with grammatical error. Don't say I didn't warn you.

In a nutshell, all of my time has been spent packing up, de-cluttering and prepping our house for sale. Then we go to our "new" house and unload, into the barn, all of the crap we packed up. Then I paint. And paint.

I am worn out. My lower back is done. I feel like I am walking like our UPS man. He walks with his upper body kind of at an angle...like his lower back hurts....

I have man hands as a result of all my recent manual labor. I told hubs that there was a massage/mani/pedi coming to me at the end of all this nonsense. Like a smart man he said "whatever you want dear"

To top it all of I have had the sneezes/runny nose. It could be spring allergies, but I suspect it is from all the dust I am stirring up. Makes me think I should do a thorough cleaning on a more regular basis.

I moved the treadmill from the guest bedroom to the newly repurposed "office" which used to be my sewing room. Heaven knows the hell hole of a mess that was my sewing room could not be alive while showing our house! Our 4th bedroom has been officially staged as an office/treadmill room. From the 10.5 million hours of HGTV I have watched over the years, I know that each room needs to have a clearly defined purpose when selling your house.

I ran 3x this week, which I was happy with considering my ailments. The swaying of the hips while running actually loosens up the lower back and it ends up feeling better....after the first excruciating minute or so. To add to my cleaning a little more often list, which I can honestly say I did not notice until I moved it, the sweat splattered dust encrusted film on the treadmill. I don't have my contacts in when I run in the morning...good excuse for not noticing it before, right? Disgusting.

Our house should be ready to show by next week. We are hoping to sell it quickly and not have to list it. Now, I know Realtors need love too, but dadgum we are trying to save money. We have some friends who when we first mentioned moving were very interested in buying our house. But, sadly they have decided it is not the right time for them. Now we have a few other people who might be interested due to word of mouth. Namely from our neighbor's and MIL's mouths. (I think they are anxious for us to move or something?!) Dear friends please pray that God will send a buyer our way!!!!

Hubs has been out of town at a conference since Tues. and will be back tomorrow. A little blonde rascal has slept in our bed all week as a result. Tonight b.r. is spending the night with a friend so I am about to go park my happy self in bed and possibly rent a movie....I think that Diane Lane/ Richard Gere chick flick is on pay per view.

I talked to the Marine this morning. He is stationed at Camp Lejuene, which is where Pres. Obama was speaking at this morning. So I called to ask him if he was guarding The Big Boss. He said in fact, no. His company had just returned from the "e course"....what? He forgets he is talking to a civilian...that is the survival course. He went on to explain that for like 55 minutes they RAN through this course, in full combat gear carrying a pack and a weapon through thigh deep mud, a chin deep freezing cold swamp and finished it off by crawling under barb wire.

He said he was bleeding, exhausted and smelt horrible.

I do believe that being a Marine is payback for his teenage years. HA! Ho ho ho har har ha!

Anyway he said that security on base today was NUTS. Obama had just landed when I was talking to him. He said there were fighter jets flying all over the base. He said it was pretty cool.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, I am about to make it big on Ebay. This is it folks, we are about to hit pay dirt, bigger than the lotto. Yep. You see in all my cleaning out, I came across a little gem in blonde rascal's room.

A baseball signed by Pete Rose! I realize that Pete spelled his own name wrong, not to mention used what appears to be a pink highlighter, but considering he is an alcoholic...or was it steroids...or gambling....or all 3...it stands to reason that he would spell his name wrong!

I scored an unbelievably wonderfully sweet antique little dresser and chest on Craigslist this week. I could just die I love it so. I haven't taken a picture yet, sorry. I will get on that. AND I will begin to post remodel of the "new" house pictures....when I have the time. In about 6 months.

I am kidding! I promise. Please come back to see me again before 6 months.

Budget Smudget

I painted the kitchen/dining room/living room ceiling at our "new" house on Sunday. The ceiling starts at 8ft. and slants up to probably 13 ft. or so. (I assigned myself the position of chief painter after the contractor told me what he estimated it would cost to have the inside of the house painted.)

Midway through the ceiling painting torture, in a weak moment, I informed hubs that I was through saving money.

(Remember hubs had rotator cuff surgery in Oct. so assisting in painting is out for him! In his defense, he did kindly offer to hire painters to save my fragile little self. Yet, I firmly & perhaps ignorantly remain cheap and determined when it comes to saving money.)

The trauma of schlepping the 12 ft. extension pole for the paint roller, wearing a shower cap and goggles (it's a popcorn ceiling...messy painting), hyper extending my neck and shoulders for 8 hours and the blisters on my hands...really, it was not fun.

However. It looks fabulous! It is amazing how a fresh coat of white ceiling paint brightens up the place.

It is all a distant memory as I have regained most of the movement back in my neck and I will bravely paint the walls of the house now. WALLS, not ceilings.

The good news is that The Marine was in town for the weekend and we had the strapping young man rip up the rest of the tile. He is used to physical torture by now.

On a different note, blonde rascal didn't have school Monday so we went to see "Hotel for Dogs"....totally cute. I even teared up at one point.

My mission this week is packing up excess clutter and "staging" the house for showing. Clutter....where does it come from and why do I have it?

It's fun to be a copy cat!

I have "co-room mothered" with the same 2 moms since 1st grade. At every holiday party for the class, they roll their eyes at me and grumble while asking what cute thing I made this time. I am always 100% honest and say I copy ideas right off the internet.

I don't get specific and give them blogs to go find....I mean seriously, I don't need another mom trying to one up me!

But I will tell you guys, cuz I'm nice like that!

Chris at Just a Girl posted this idea and it struck my fancy because blonde rascal's adorable teacher is a germ-o-phobe deluxe. What is not to love about a teacher that always has a Clorox Wipe in her hand? Stomach bug be gone!

In a moment of grandeur I decided to make Bakerella's cake balls as blonde rascal's Valentine treats for his classmates . Mine looked nothing like hers, but they are oh-so-good. Rich beyond belief but undeniably yummy! Oh, and I should mention....e-a-s-y!

Blonde rascal glued the Valentine tags together and we were done. Our contribution to the sugar crazed holiday.

Just a few hours of laundry and straightening the house and then I am bravely going to his class party...aka the sugar frenzy.

Go forth and be a copy cat today!

Shout out

How about a shout out to Craigslist? I am addicted, I mean seriously. I am stalking 3 pieces of furniture right now.

One is way too expensive. Too expensive on Craigslist to me, is over $75. It is the perfect chair and ottoman for a little reading corner in the "new" house. I can look at it and dream, right?

One is a chest of drawers that is desperately needed for b.r.'s closet. I am tired of schelpping around his out of season clothes, on and off the shelves in his closet in big plastic totes. When the weather is so weird...22 one day and 71 the next...I need easy access to all seasons.

Another is a cool curio cabinet that could be fabulously shabbied up.

I bought a set of 6 dining room chairs that I got before X-mas and I need to paint and recover them. I also got 2 completely cool funky chairs for the guest bedrooms....$15 bucks a piece. Hubs thinks they are wretched. Wait until he see the finished product! I'll have to show them soon.

Anyway, I got these 2 lamps on Monday for $10. Yes, 2 for $10! You can't even top that at Wally World!(Please disregard the mess on the dining room table. I could have pushed it aside...but just keeping it real.)

I think they are pretty cute like they are...but on the other hand the paint and lampshade re-do potential is pretty high.

On the agenda today is starting the Valentine goodies for blonde rascal's class. When he gets home from school there will be lots of gluing, chocolate dipping and such ready for his little hands!

There has been lots of flu junk going around town and I have been nursing an ugly headache for about 24 hours. I am NOT getting the flu, though. I just thought I would throw that out there. Even though the 3 sweet neighbor girls that we carpool with all had it...

I am off to main line a Lysol and orange juice concoction.

By a landslide

It is unanimous...Tobacco Road is the winner! Thanks for all of your input and tips. You guys rawk.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning out/packing the built in, in the breakfast area and the hutch in my dining room. Good grief. What I found was mass disorganization. So I made copious notes of things that must be grouped together when we move and ALL storage is uber organized.

For example. Candles. What the crap? I found at the very least one candle in every drawer, shelf, cabinet. Then there was holiday paper plates/napkins. I am a sucker for the after holiday 90% off sales when you can get cute paper plates for nothing. But what good are they if I never know where they are/forget I have them when the holiday rolls around?

Also included are salt and pepper shakers. And a new category, pool side plastic ware. A happy category indeed! I saw a whole collection of colorful summer-ish plastic plates at Goodwill...that will hopefully still be there after I scrape all of the coins out from under the couch cushions. Remember, we are getting granite, so my decorating budget is...exactly what I can find in the cushions!!!

While I was dutifully working, I couldn't help but stop to photograph the lazy miniature weenie dog napping on blonde rascal's bean bag...
What a life. I loathe using the flash unless 100% necessary, so I am still trying to master keeping the camera steady to avoid blur. I have a nifty tripod...but sometimes that hinders spur of the moment shots.

Then I decided to switch to my ultra cool big momma lens...Admit it, Missy is beeeeeeutiful! Still a little blurry so how about outside for some natural light shots?


Oh geez, sorry....a bathroom break.

Ahem. Moving on.... she goes down for a roll in the grass.
ahhhhh.
Shake your booty.

And then here she comes.......looking like a low rider wooly mammoth!


Last night hubs and I went to a wine tasting party at the home of some good friends. It was seriously fun. We sampled lots of wine while snacking on cheese, chocolate, meat and fruits that complemented each wine.

I was feeling all civilized, cultured and chic...until hubs asked the wine guru if Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill would be complimented by Frito's. You might be a redneck...

(Be honest, raise your hand if you drank a little Boone's Farm in your minor days!)

We are going to the "new" house today to tear out all the flooring which will be replaced (by professionals thank goodness) with wood floors. You know, a little sweat equity. I suspect our bodies, specifically backs, will be hurt by this project. Send Tylenol.

It's mind boggling, really.

My advice to you today is don't ever paint a room in your house again without first buying a few, hundred, samples. You know how the light in a room changes from sun up to sun down, so you have to live with you color choices for a few days to see how you like it in all light exposures. But who wants to spend $18 on a gallon of paint that you may hate AND goodness knows the little paint cards are honestly no help at all.

There is obviously a brilliant woman (no doubt) somewhere who said... hey make a pint size sample that costs $3.50!

This is a wall in the living room of our "new " house...and no I am not keeping the red accent wall. I think I have narrowed it down to 2.
I am looking for a warm buttery/tan color. When I turn the lamps on at night, my dream is for the wall color to softly glow in a wonderfully cozy way! One is Tobacco Road, which The Nester (and she knows, trust me) swears by. Then we have Cracker Crumb from The Queen Bee...by all means go visit her, she shares some way cool budget friendly decorating!

I think C.C. may be a hint too yellow. I dunno. What do you think?