Monday, March 29, 2010

Things happening in my life right now...

1. On February 28, 2010 we listed our house for sale. And, having done this a couple of years ago, and never getting a single offer, and with the housing market in the shape it is in, I was not very optimistic about a quick sale and proceeded with my spring cleaning.

2. Several people looked at the house since it was a new listing. I was cleaning every single day to keep things nice and neat for potential buyers.

3. On March 8, 2010, we had a potential buyer look at the house that seemed to "look" a little longer than the others.

4. On March 13, 2010 I took all the screens off the windows, cleaned the windows inside and out, scrubbed the window ledges, and cleaned the blinds. I also cleaned out the laundry room, threw away some useless stuff, made a pile for Goodwill, made a pile for mama, etc.

5. On March 14, 2010, we got a contract on our house. I think it is because I cleaned the windows. :)

6. On March 16, 2010 my husband went to look at houses without me because I DO NOT LIKE LOOKING AT HOUSES!!! And, he found one he thought I would like.

7. On March 17, 2010, I went to look at the house he thought I would like, as well as three others. I picked the one he thought I would like.

8. Long story short, we made an offer, negotiated a few things for a few days, and we now have a contract. Home inspections are complete and we close on both houses in 4 weeks. Moving day is April 28, 2010.

9. I started packing this weekend. Upstairs is completely packed. Brandy helped me pack Saturday morning and we have packed the dining room and part of the den. Yesterday I packed a lot of kitchen stuff. No dishes, but cookbooks and stuff. I had 4 large boxes of cookbooks.

10. Today, I am tired, and it is only just beginning....

Monday, March 15, 2010

Another busy weekend...

I think I can find something to do at home, at any time of the day or night. I am forever moving from one room to another looking for projects. Or, if I do sit down to watch TV, I think of at least 5 other things I could be doing, and sometimes just get up and start doing them.

I did take off work this past Friday for a "ME" day.. Unfortunately, it is never completely a ME day because if my husband knows I am off, he plans stuff like getting his car serviced, or detailed, and then needs a ride home, or somewhere else, and it doesn't matter where I am or what I am doing. He still wants a ride because he would rather be home watching TV than at Gateway Tire watching their TV with the same exact shows. Does it really matter where you watch TV? And, just to be clear, when I say a ME day, which happens about once every 4 months, I am still running errands that benefit my husband, and other family members, but I am doing it at my own pace, and not in the usual running-around-like-a-chicken-with-my-head-cut-off pace on my lunch hour. Just to be clear! And, there are times I tell NO ONE I am taking off.. I will actually get dressed, go to work, and when the coast is clear, take off and do my own thing.

Daughter and I were still in the midst of pedicures and I was getting my nails done when my husband called, twice, to check on my whereabouts. He actually had another ride lined up, but didn't want to watch TV for 30 minutes somewhere other than home until that person could come get him. So, off I go, and there is an hour of ME time that I will never see again. So, I have a Michelob Ultra, earlier than planned, and adjust my attitude. Anyway, I get to do a couple of things I want to do, find a couple of things I really wasn't looking for, which was a pleasant surprise, and then we head to get the grandest kids of all from daycare. Benton simply wanted to go home. Bailey wanted to go to my house. Benton loves being at home and Bailey loves being anywhere but home. So, we went to their house, and hung out for a while before I headed home for the evening.

Saturday morning I was awake at 3:00 A.M. and after much tossing and turning, got up at 4:30, read the paper and decided to make my Walmart run while everyone else in the Metro area was sleeping. I saw three other customers. I love going to Walmart early in the morning. I can go with a ball cap and no makeup. When I got home, I started cleaning the house since someone was coming to see it at 11:30. I ran some more errands in the afternoon and then took a nap. That was about the extent of my Saturday, other than continued miscellaneous cleaning and organizing.

Sunday morning I was up bright and early to enjoy the Daylight Savings Time and decided to clean the windows, and they are now so clean, it almost looks like there are no windows.. I also did a lot of laundry, and washed other things that needed to be washed. For there to be only two of us, I sure do a LOT of laundry.

We briefly rode around and looked for houses, but I do believe this is one of my LEAST favorite things to do. My husband loves going in and out of houses, but I do NOT like it at all. My philosophy is we now know the area we live in very well. When our house sells, we can easily pull up available houses we like, in the areas we like, on the internet and have a realtor take us around for tours. Until then, I just don't want to ride around and gawk at available houses. NOT FUN!!!! I would MUCH rather be sitting on the deck at Philip's eating crab nachos and drinking a Michelob Ultra.

And That, was my weekend. If you are interested..

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Busy weekend....

My weekend started with a birthday celebration for my niece who turned 25 this past Saturday. We celebrated Friday since I knew she would want to be with her friends on her actual birthday.

Benton had his first sleepover Friday night. I think it went pretty well. His mom said she would definitely do it again.

Saturday morning I cleaned like a wild woman. Having the housed listed for sale is a royal pain in my rear. I don't mind cleaning, but it seems like that is ALL I do these days. But, when I was done, we headed to A.J.'s on the Lake for the first crawfish of the season and although they were a little small, they were GOOD!!! We sat outside by the lake and thoroughly enjoyed them. Bailey even joined in the fun and peeled and ate a few. She did point out they had eyes and wondered if they were watching her.

Saturday night, we just hung out at my house..

Sunday hubby had some stuff to do at his office, so I had the morning to myself to get a few things done, and then I watched the grandest kids of all while Daughter ran to the gym. After that hubby called and wanted my help doing some things at his office. I then treated myself to a hydration therapy treatment, which was quite nice, even though it got a little warmer than I expected. My skin felt better when it was done.

For dinner, I grilled chicken, baked potatoes and made a salad. It was some good stuff.

I was not ready for Monday. But I am ready for Friday.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

LOUD MARKS!!!!!

I picked the kids up from daycare on Tuesday since their mom had school that night, and we headed to G's house. As soon as we got in the truck, Benton started reading Cat in the Hat to me, non-stop, except when interrupted by his sister, who was just not that interested in Cat in the Hat. When we arrived at my house, he read some more and Bailey continued to interrupt and ask for Popsicles and ice cream. He did stop reading so he could share the Popsicle and an ice cream cone experience, and then he read some more. This is pretty much how the night went until right before they went to bed. When he was winding it down, he asked me if I knew what these "!" marks were at the end of the sentences, and before I could answer, he told me they were called "LOUD MARKS" and the more there were, the louder you could be. I laughed out loud!!!!!

After giving both a bath, I asked Bailey if she wanted me to brush her hair and she said "No G, I do it myself." So, she dragged the brush down each side of her head and declared the job well done. I asked her if I could finish the back, and she said "yes, but if I say ow then you are doing it too hard G and you need to stop."

What comes out of their little mouths never ceases to amaze me.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

"Swamp Thing"

I was reading some of my favorite blogs earlier and came across one that referred to Vienna as "Swamp Thing." That's pretty dang funny! I don't care who you are..

I truly believe if Ali had stayed on the show, she would have been "the one." She seemed to have it more together than all the others, especially Vienna. Any woman/girl who believes she doesn't need friends, is going to be in serious trouble IF she ever gets married. Who will she have as attendants and who will throw her bridal showers?? The way I see it, she may be standing alone at the altar, if she makes it that far, and if she has any kind of shower, I hope she has some relatives who can tolerate her enough to at least throw her a shower. She came across as very self-centered, and immature. Several times she made the statement "this is the life I want," and then followed it up with "this is the man I want." I think she wants "the life" and the only way to get "the life," was to "win the man," which she did by a landslide after Ali left the show. Good luck Jake.. you are going to need it to hang on to this one. I can't wait to see how she handles you spending 10 to 12 hours a day practicing for Dancing with Stars with some HOTTIE professional dancer!!!

Monday, March 1, 2010

I am tired.....

This weekend was a busy one. Friday night I had dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday. Not my birthday, a friend's birthday. I don't want anyone to think they missed MY birthday!!! LOL! We had dinner at Walker's and it was beyond fabulous! I had grilled shrimp and grits... There are no words.....

I stayed up really late, at least me for me it was really late, and it was hard to get out of bed the next morning, but four doggies' need to go outside, in the cold, at 5:45 A.M. was urgent, and the racket they were making would not allow me to sleep anyway. Hubby, yes.. Me, no.... So, I got up and tended to them, read the paper, and proceeded with some cleaning projects, laundry, plucking my eyebrows, shopping for new throw pillows for my sofa, a brief nap, more cleaning and straightening, etc.

And, Sunday was not much different, except I was in a mood to get rid of stuff. After 26 years of marriage, and a husband who is a serious pack rat, you can only imagine the amount of stuff we accumulated over the years. He hates to get rid of anything, even clothes that he will NEVER wear again. He cleaned out his closet SEVERAL years ago and made me keep about 30 pairs of pants he wanted to "save" for some reason. Reality is, he was never going to wear those pants again, even if they did fit. They were past their prime, but he wanted me to keep them and I did, for almost seven years. I put them in a plastic container and kept them in the closet upstairs until recently and then I hauled them to Goodwill, without further discussion. He has not asked about them in seven years, and since just yesterday he asked me when Valentine's Day was (I am serious!), I am pretty sure he has finally forgotten about the plastic container of pants. We also still have his scuba suit he wore the last time he went scuba diving in 1982 and I think it is safe to say, he isn't going to wear it again. And, even if he could still wear it, can you imagine what would happen to it after 28 years, if he were to try it on. I would imagine it would just create a cloud of dust as it disintegrated right before our eyes. We also have a framed picture of his Doberman named Smokey, that was taken by Olan Mills Studios in 1981. I can understand keeping the picture, but lets get rid of the frame. It will not be gracing our walls, or tables, ever, and it is broken. But, he wants to keep it. He also likes to keep boxes that stuff came in. We bought a really nice TV about 3 years go, and he made me keep the VERY LARGE box it came in just in case we had to send it back.. My question is, "send it back where?" If something happened to it, we would put it in my truck and drive 5 miles to where we bought it and let them deal with it. I did throw that box away one weekend while he was gone. He brings large "really good" boxes home from the office "in case we ever move." Really??? He can't help prepare for a meal he wants to eat at 5:30 P.M., but he can prepare for a move that doesn't exist yet???? I have a lot of Christmas stuff, but that doesn't count as stuff that will NEVER be used again. I use that stuff every year, and if I don't use something, or replace it with something I found on sale, I get rid of the old stuff.

Anyway, I cleaned out the freezer, the Tupperware look-a-like bin and got rid of all lids that did not fit anything, and it was all very liberating. I am sure my garbage men loved me today! Needless to say, I was asleep on the couch by 8:15 last night. I went to bed tired and woke up tired. But, I feel better mentally because I got rid of some useless stuff.