house update

Ok me and my sister shampooed the bedroom carpet. All that is left in that room is two pieces of molding and three window sills to paint. And hubby is changing out all the switches and sockets. Oh and we have to put the pretty covers on them.

Good news

My Mother-In_Law is out of the hospital and at home doing fine. She did NOT have a heart attack, it was all stress from having to put up with ungratful house guest and not taking her meds. She got an ass chewing from the nurse, the docs and all us kids.Maybe it will work.

T'was the night before Christmas...

and we all ended up at the ER!
No shit, the ER.
We had a great dinner, sat down to watch the kids unwrap their gifts when all of a sudden the front porch burst into flames!
Hubby, his brother,nephew in law and cousin in law all bolt out the door and get the water hose after it. Then they started ripping it apart with hammers and dosing it some more.
I grab two dogs and everyone bales out the backdoor, along with dog #3.
The guys get the porch out before it ever touched the house or the either of the fire departments show up.
They ended up taking my MIL to the ER due to her heart, they thought she might have been having a heart attack due to her health problems.
They take her in the ambulance, we left after they did and we still beat it to the hospital!
By the time we get to go back and see her she is feeling no pain.
Three nitros and a moraphine shot will do that to a person.
Anyway her doc came in said the test showed no cardiac episode, but they were going to keep her for observation and more test incase she had a tiny infarction.
So now me and hubby are off to my mom's waiting for his mom to call us and let us know what is going on.
Let's just say it ended up being a Christmas we all shall never forget.

Holiday Party

MEMO TO ALL EMPLOYEES
RE: Christmas PARTY ON DEC. 23RD
DATE: DEC. 1ST
I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23, starting at noon in the banquet room at Luigi's Open Pit Barbecue. No-host bar, but plenty of eggnog! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along. And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00 P.M. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time, however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees! A special announcement will be made by our CEO at that time!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Patty

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 2
RE: Holiday Party
In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.
We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party." The same policy applies to employees who are celebrating Kwanzaa at this time. There will be no Christmas tree present. No Christmas carols sung. We will have other type of music for your enjoyment.
Happy now?
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Patty

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 3
RE: Holiday Party
Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed to handle this? Somebody?
Forget about the gifts exchange, no gifts exchange are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and executives believe $10.00 is very little for a gift. NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
DATE: December 7
RE: Holiday Party
What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs. Perhaps Luigi's can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party — the days are so short this time of year — or else package everything for take home in little foil swans. Will that work?
Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Overeaters Anonymous to sit farthest from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms. Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men, each will have their own table. Yes, there will be flower arrangement for the Gay men's table. To the person asking permission to cross dress, no cross dressing allowed though. We will have booster seats for short people. Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control the salt used in the food we suggest for those people with high blood problems to taste first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry!
Did I miss anything?
Patty

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 8
RE: Holiday Party
So December 22 marks the Winter Solstice...what do you expect me to do, a tap-dance on your heads? Fire regulations at Luigi's prohibit the burning of sage by our "earth-based Goddess-worshiping" employees, but we'll try to accommodate your shamanic drumming circle during the band's breaks. Okay???
Patty

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
Date: December 9
RE: Holiday Party
People, people, nothing sinister was intended by having our CEO dress up like Santa Claus! Even if the anagram of "Santa" does happen to be "Satan," there is no evil connotation to our own "little man in a red suit." It's a tradition, folks, like sugar shock at Halloween or family feuds over the thanksgiving turkey or broken hearts on Valentine's Day.
Could we lighten up? Please????????? Also the company has changed their mind in announcing the special announcement at the gathering. You will get a notification in the mail sent to your home.

---

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director
TO: All #%&$**@ Employees
DATE: December 10
RE: The %#*&^%@*%^Holiday Party
I have no #%&*@*^ idea what the announcement is all about. What the %#&^!@ do I care...I KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO GET!!!!!!!!!!!! You change your address now and you are dead!!!!!!!!!!!! No more changes of address will be allowed in my office. Try to come in and change your address, I will have you hung from the ceiling in the warehouse!!!!!!!!!!!
Vegetarians!?!?!? I've had it with you people!!! We're going to keep this party at Luigi's Open Pit Barbecue whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your #$%^&*! salad bar, including hydroponic tomatoes. But you know, they have feelings, too. Tomatoes scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream right now! > HA !
I hope you all have a rotten holiday! Drive drunk and die, you hear me!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bitch from HELL!!!!!!!!

---

FROM: Terri Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director
DATE: December 14
RE: Patty Lewis and Holiday Party
I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery from her stress-related illness and I'll continue to forward your cards to her at the sanitarium. In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd off with full pay.
Happy Holidays!

To all my friends...

My holiday wish to you,
May your days be wonderful, and nights magical.

never underestimate sisters.

Ok out kitchen/dinning room is big. It's total measurement is 28X15 with 8 foot ceilings. And the entire thing is covered in nasty 1970 fake wood paneling.
I hate that stuff, specially when it has been painted. And since we are going to repaint it I wanted all the little cracks and crevices filled in to give me a smooth wall effect.
Everyone told me it would take so long to do it, one even said a week. Well they don't know me and my sister. We had the whole room and even two little passage ways knocked out in 90 minutes!
Tonight I get to start sanding it all, hopefully get done, so we can start taping everything up to start spraying primer and paint.

changes are coming

We got our beautiful French Provencal(sp?) Dinning room suite. It has table 6 chairs, hutch and a buffet. It was made in the 50's and we make owners number 3.We had to drive an hour one way to get it but well worth the $500 it cost and the time to load. Gotta love eBay!
We are now shopping for carpet and paint. Hopefully by friday we will have the colors picked out and some new paint on the walls.
Oh and the washer/dryer combo will be delivered then. No more lugging heavy stincky baskets of dirty laundry around town. I have been do that for 10 years.
We already have two coats of paint/sealer on the concrete floor in the cat room, two more coats to go,then we are putting various carpeted shelves at all sorts of angles and levels so they have tons of places to climb and perch. We are also planning on installing what hubby calls "kitty stripper poles" poles that go from floor to cieling and wrapped in sisal rope for them to climb. I am planning on putting nesting box type perches on those.Not to mention the cool kitty toys I have made and bought for them to roll around on the floor with. So by the time I get done with that room I will probably want to move in there with them.
As soon as the floor and paint in all the house is done we are moving in.

Yesterday...

As of yesterday at 3:15 P.M. we became the proud owners of a house!
The relief is great.
Excitement high as we get to plan what to do with it.
Can't wait.

We have a date...well sort of...

We will be closing on the house we live now on Wednesday Dec. 10, that will make it 9 years to the day that we owned this place.
Then either Thursday or Friday we will be closing on the new place!

Then the REAL fun begins!!!
All the dirty work of paint, drywall, tile and carpet.
Can't wait!

It getting real...

We signed the loan papers yesterday.
Now we just have to wait until closing.
Wish it was next week.
I want this over with.
The past six months have been nothing but stress and anxiety.
I want to go home.

Home Sweet Home

FRONT YARD LOOKING TOWARD STREET.


FRONT OF HOUSE.


LIGHT ABOVE FRONT DOOR(this will be replaced)


FRONT DOOR(ain't it cool!)


STANDING AT THE FRONT DOOR LOOKING BACK TO THE KITCHEN DOOR.


STANDINGA T THE FRONT DOOR LOOKING AT THE LIVING ROOM AREA


STANDING AT THE FRONT DOOR LOOKING AT THE GAME AREA(supposed to be dinning room we are putting a barsized pooltable)


STANDING AT THE KITCHEN DOOR LOOKING AT THE GAME AREA AND THE LIVING ROOM


THIS IS AT THE KITCHEN DOOR, I AM GOING TO PUT SHELVES IN AND KEEP MY COOKBOOKS IN IT.(you can see the pantry door open around the corner)


MY PANTRY THAT IS IN THE HALLWAY OFF OF THE KITCHEN


MY KITCHEN(we are going to build an island)


THIS IS THE DINNING ROOM(formerly the family room)


FIREPLACE IN THE DINNING ROOM


PATIO RIGHT OUT SIDE OF KITCHEN


LOOKING AT THE SIDE YARD WHILE ON THE PATIO


PATIO, THE SLIDING DOORS WILL BE REPLACED WITH WINDOWS. THAT IS THE LIVING ROOM BEYOND THAT PART.(the messy bit by the wall is an old flower bed we are going to build a bench seat there)


THE PATIO IN FULL


THE POOL WHICH WILL BE FILLED BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR AND SHALL BE MY VEGGIE GARDEN(it needs to much work and we don't want to throw the money for up keep down the drain literally)


THE VIEW OF THE SIDE YARD FROM THE BACK FENCE


MY READY MADE SEWING ROOM!


LOOKING STRAIGHT BACK IN TO THE BACK YARD


LOOKING TO THE LEFT


AND THE RIGHT


LOOKING DOWN THE DRIVE WAY TO THE FRONT YARD

I lost the pics of the bedrooms and the bathrooms.
The bathrooms are ugly, but I will save and get rid of the ugly blue tub, blue sink and yellow tile.

Too all my friends out in Bloggerland...

Something to be thankful for

We got our house!!!
We close in a few weeks but we have it!!
It is a 1970 single story, brick house that sits on 1.8 acres loaded with oak trees.
It also has an inground pool but that is getting filled in ASAP.
Too much to repair and resurface, to much upkeep. Instead it will be the site of my veggie garden.
We are taking our mother's out to see it tomorrow before we eat, I will take some pics and post them later this weekend.
But I am so relieved!
This whole situation has been so stressful!!!
We close on the house we live in now in about a week, then hopefully the new house the next week. I want all of this over, done with and gone!

Momma's little helper

Baby wants to help pack unfortunatly she is trying to pack herself.

Happy Birthday Mojo!!

Ok I am a bit late posting these but I have been busy.
Here is Mojo with his birthday loofa dog!
He loves those loofa dogs, how I wish I invented them.

Here's Mojo...

Ok when I saw this pic it reminded me of that scene in The Shinning with jack Nicholson.
Maybe it's just me, or it could be that Halloween is tomorrow, and I am ready for a horror movie fest at my sister's.
Any way tomorrow my sweet baby boy Mojo will be one. And right now I am worried about him. He is having surgery today. He is getting nuetured. Hell of away to celebrate a birthday!(hubby says he is worried what I have planned for his in March!LOL)
He gets to come home tomorrow evening.

The mess I call my life.

Ok in the end of June a realtor came to our house to inform us that we are selling.
Funny this is the first we heard about it.
But it seems that the county wants to buy up the entire block to build a new probation office.
So we have been house hunting since, to no avail.
Everytime we find a place something happens and it fell thru, that happened twice.
And those were the only two houses that came close to being what we need and want.
So anyway we went and signed the papers to sell our house this past Tuesday.
We close on December 17th and have until March 17th to vacate and take everyting and anything that we want to take out of the house.
And we are planning on doing just that.
Anyway we are going to keep looking and maybe we will find one before we have to move in with my mother-in-law.
And that is what I have been up to.
And trust me looking at 21 houses in a week really wears you out!

Mr. Bear and Mr. Rabbit

Mr. Bear and Mr. Rabbit lived in the same forest, but they didn't like each other very much. One day, while walking through the woods, and they came across a golden frog. They were amazed when the frog talked to them. The golden frog admitted that he didn't often meet anyone, but, when he did, he always gave them six wishes, so he told them that they could have three wishes each.

Mr. Bear immediately wished that all the other bears in the forest were females. The frog granted his wish. Mr. Rabbit, after thinking for a while, wished for a crash helmet. One appeared immediately, and he placed it on his head.

Mr. Bear was amazed at Mr. Rabbit's wish, but carried on with his second wish. He wished that all the bears in the neighboring forests were females as well, and the frog granted his wish. Mr. Rabbit then wished for a motorcycle. It appeared before him, and he climbed on board and started revving the engine.

Mr. Bear could not believe it and complained that Mr. Rabbit had wasted two wishes that he could have had for himself. Shaking his head, Mr. Bear made his final wish, that all the other bears in the world were females as well, leaving him as the only male bear in the world. The frog replied that it had been done, and they both turned to Mr. Rabbit for his last wish.

Mr. Rabbit revved the engine, thought for a second, then said, “I wish that Mr. Bear was gay!” and rode off as fast as he could.

Still don't know what I am doing..

Me crocheting is like me cooking or even trying to fix my computer.
I just keep doing stuff until it does what I want it too!
Like this bag.
I still don't know what kind of stitch I used to the net effect.
I like it, no one showed me I just winged it.
It is made up of random cotton yarn leftovers I had in my stash.
I made the strap EXTRA wide so if I decide to head out to the market it won't cut off the circulation in my arm. Or I may just line it and use it for a purse. But then I am still debating on getting rid of the strap and putting wooden handles on it.
Who knows what this thing will end up like.
Any way I like and that is all that matters right?

More adventures in crochet

So I got tired of doing dish cloths, still haven't learned any new stitches just the basic single crochet.
So I decided to make gauntlets.
It is all single crochet, but I did have to to learn slip stitch to do the cuffs(which was taught over the phone!)
I like these the last dark blue pair are for my mom. They are made out of the softest suede yarn by Lion Brand! Love that stuff, love it even more when you can get it at Big Lots for $1.50!!!
All of these are just made out of left over yarn from my stash.
I have a ton from when I used to make dammit dolls.

Crayon tinted embroidery

I thought I would give this ago.
Not to sure how it will hold up in the wash.
I will let you know in a future post.

Lesson learned...

When crochet a pair of something, make sure you use the same size hooks!
I grabbed up the size smaller and now I have a miss matched pair.
Won't be doing that again!

More chocolate!

Sunday fishing continued

So we came home for lunch then decided to head back out.
Big mistake for my dear sweet hubby. HEEHEE

Here is what he caught...


And here is what I caught...

The last two are black bass and the very last one is as big as the one on the previos post that has me in the pic.

We released each and everyone.
We do that 99% of the time.
100% when we fish the creek by our house.
That creek is so smelly and full of trash that we wouldn't eat anything that comes out of it. But is sure is fun to fish in it.
We always catch something.

Today's fishing results...

Ok the pic with the two fish in it mine is the BIGGEST one on the left.
We reeled them in at the same time.

Ok hubby caught more than me but I caught the biggest!
So it's a tie!
LOL
I love my twisted sense of winning.

Thursday's fishing trip...

Hubby's haul...

and Mine...
So who is the better fisherWOMAN?
LOL
We are going back tomorrow wonder if I will out fish him again?
We shall just have to wait and see.

Chocolate anyone? WIP

I am make some of these for a Christmas gift for a friend, no names here just incase they decide to peek.
And some may be up for sale as my first items in my Etsy shop.
I figured I would give Etsy a shot. It will probably be a week or two before I put them up just keep checking here I will have a link for sure.

This past month...

Some embroidery goodness...

Squirrels for Aunt Patricia

Fruit for cousin Jennifer

Kitties for Aunt Marilyn

On a roll...

This is my second one.
I like it much better, this time I used my hook which is a size K
instead of my MIL's which is a size F.

I finally did it!!

It's not pretty, it's shaped like an ameboe but dammit it's all mine!!!
I still need to find out why my sides are all wavey but who cares. I can finally do something more than a chain!!!