HOME FIRES, MISHAPS, MY MAIN MAN & ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

Hello!  Happy Weekend although when I publish this it may be Sunday morning.  I have a tendency to proofread a thousand times.  How are you guys weather-wise?  Our warmest day was Tuesday at 28 degrees but the wind was so bad I felt like I had windburn on my cheeks walking from the parking lot into the grocery store.  The Husband has been so good about making fires...we have a ton of wood from the lakehouse piled up in the garage.  We also use a Duraflame logs to keep it going a little more effortlessly.  Our living room and the direction it faces gets a lot of the cold wind so the fire truly keeps  us warm as well as cozy.  We have snow predicted tomorrow--3-6 inches which is truly not terrible for us.  In fact, I'd love to see the beauty of the white stuff.  Still, not crazy about anyone having to drive in it.

In spite of the cold we had many sunny days.

 Milo and Layla usually play games with this chair in the living room which faces southeast and gets that mid morning sun.  I truly think they love each other, they share the same food and water bowl, sometimes at the same time...but Milo seems to have owners rights as he is two years older and was the king of the roost.  To see them on the same chair is quite a phenomenon.  Toleration?  Brotherly/sisterly love?  I have to grab it when I can.  They are precious and even more together.  And lets not forget that sun, it makes me smile.

   

Thank you for all of the compliments on Elsie's party and the pics.  She is so beautiful and with her walking...what a game changer.  I sometimes feel very far away from when my children made these milestones and at other times I still feel that instinct from having four kids so long ago. That instinct never leaves us.  I'm so glad I get to do this over again!

We celebrated her true birthday on February 10th.  Kevin and Mary Clare had both sides of the family over for pizza.  So fun.  I made a little cake...man, I need to stick with cookies and cupcakes.  I frosted the bottom layer on a piece of cardboard so it wouldn't smear up the cake pedestal.  My best and most honest critic, Emily, asked why the bottom of the cake was odd.  It was a chocolate cake and that was obvious along the bottom.  Well, I ended up tinting more frosting and fixing it but didn't take a revised picture.  Still, I'm a perfectionist and until I take a cake decorating class or simply practice, practice, practice...I'm leaving cake decorating to the experts.

I mentioned in my last post that we were making progress at the lakehouse and picking out so many new things.  I think it would be a big mish mash to show you little bit by bit things.  Just let it be said, I've chosen the kitchen floor and lower cabinets (see above and more about the stain below).  I'm doing reclaimed wood shelves above.  I am going to stay with subway tile for the backsplash but will use a darker gray grout to make it pop a bit.  I picked out a porcelain floor that mimics wood.

Above you can see the stain that will be used on my lower cabinets.  It's called 'Rye",  I want nothing with an orange or honey shade.  They will be glazed in a shade called Sable that will get into the grooves.  I'm going to have black hardware that will also be used in the brackets of the open shelving.  I have a bit of a rustic/country theme going.  I can't wait to share it all.

I had a little mishap, mistake, not too pleasant experience when I ordered this book.  I was really excited when I pre-ordered it and maybe I neglected to read the fine print.  I received it, even posted positively on IG, but once I settled down to read it, I realized it was all very familiar.  I have the original from 2011 and this is simply the same book with a different cover.  What?   Well, I could return it to Amazon but seeing how many people on IG responded that they'd love to read it, I'm going to give it away.  Yes, another giveaway within three months.  Just leave a comment to be in the drawing.  And spread the word around with a link if you'd like. ;-)

This week was a string of mishaps and although I was terribly frustrated, it's always great to look at it from the humorous side.  Here goes...

I feel like all I've been doing is going from one doctor appointment to the next.  Seriously.  My annual exam with my GP a few weeks ago, 3 visits with my audiologist, the second opinion with an orthopedic specialist on my arm.  Blood tests, bone density and a colonoscopy ordered (whoa boy...hasn't happened yet).  

So here's the real unadulterated poop...

~I was driving to the suburbs to one doctor and as I pulled into the parking lot, realized I was at the wrong doctor, 6 miles out of my way.  And wondering if I had completely lost my mind or just jamming to The Weeknd and Justin Beiber.  

~Went to another clinic (another day) a mistaken hour before my appointment.  After complaining a bit, I pulled the appointment card out of my purse, realized my mistake and of course felt guilty.  I directed my anger to the wall rack of magazines,  Parents, Highlights for children, Prevention and Woman's World.  It made the green vinyl chairs and rubber plants seem appropriate.

~This goof up had to be the worst of them all.  I tried to prolong my gynecologist appointment for so long--I even rescheduled once.  And on Tuesday I was wallowing in self pity that I had to go.  This sort of exam for me is similar to how some of you dread dental appointments.  I'd rather have a tooth pulled.  So as I sat that morning with my coffee contemplating rescheduling my appointment, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, took a three hour long bath and headed out into the 17 degree weather.  I arrived at the office thinking the waiting room was quite empty.  Yay, no wait.  When I announced my appointment... well long story short, they couldn't find me on the computer and then voila, I was actually scheduled for the next day.  I had the date wrong.  What????  And I have to do this all over again???  So I rescheduled and now I have to go through the same anxiety, loss of sleep and three hour soak in the tub.  Shoot me.    

~And finally.  I had to renew my passport for our upcoming trip.   The Husband was nagging and a little inpatient about me doing this.  So I was in Walgreens one afternoon and it was quite empty.  Considering many of us do not want to pose for a picture in the busyness of a store, I seized this moment, had the photo taken, and had the proper papers printed.  Once home I methodically filled them out and then  smugly presented them to The Husband along with the photo of my beaming face.  And then he said, "Oh, Jane.  I forgot to tell you that I looked at our existing passports and we are good until 2018".  Again, shoot me.  

I'll end with a funny moment here.  One of our grocery stores has a promotion which involves getting little tabs/stickers based upon how much you spend.  It's sort of a Monopoly game where you stick those little babies on and you can win win over $500,00 dollars or a $2.00 coupon. Or nothing.  I never play and usually give my little stickers to the customer behind me.  When The Husband found out he shared warm and fuzzy moments about his father collecting S&H Green stamps  Remember those?  It was a part of my life, too, and I remember my mother winning a set of  pots and pans.  So...here is the man totally involved with the stickers.  My life was threatened if I dared to give them away again.  The funniest thing here is...The Husband can rock a suit and tie like nobody else, but little do you guys know, he dresses like someone from Archie Comics when he's relaxed at home.  Well, not always.  Hubby, if you are reading this somewhere in 2027, forgive me.  He is truly a man I'm proud to be out and about with.  And maybe you should see me on downtime! :(

Happy Valentine's Day to all.  I bought myself some cheap tulips yesterday...this guy is absent minded but that's just another thing I love about him.  :)

Jane x