Day 21 Summer July 2

Friday morning I gave up on the accent wall and Kenzie and I moved all of the furniture around to it's new spot. It started to look a little better and not like such a train wreck, but there was no way to get everything done before Becca came home at noon. Unfortunately I was in the shower when Becca was dropped off! Can you believe it???? But she ran into the bathroom to tell me she loved it! Whew.

Five minutes later Becca ran over to visit the neighbor and decided to stay there for the afternoon instead of running Kenzie to class in the next county.

I dropped Kenzie off at class and decided to come home because I was really sleepy. Becca and Kiera came back home in the late afternoon and then all three of us went to get Kenzie.

Kenzie really enjoyed her art class. It was admittedly a pain to take her and pick her up each day, but I think it was totally worth it. Plus it got Becca and I out of the house! We were probably much more active than we normally would be. Although the credit cards got a bigger work out than we did!

After we picked up Kenzie we went back to Home Depot to get new paint. Same color, same brand (because the Behr Premium Paint and Primer has worked so incredibly well for us in the past!) and then came home and ordered calzones from Cheech's. Yum. If you are not jealous, you should be.

Becca headed back to Kiera's to spend the night and I painted the stupid wall again. But this time the paint worked beautifully. It took two coats, but it looks great!

Day 20 Summer July 1

Well, I remember updating my blog in the morning. Becca was gone at the FDs and when I called she was happy to stay for an extra day. And I don't think she suspected a thing. Mid-morning Kenzie and I ran over to the MVs to borrow their carpet cleaner. We stayed to visit for a bit and it started to rain really hard, so no reason to leave until it was over. Kenzie and the girls were out in the rain and decided to just go with it since they were already wet. They had a great time jumping around on the trampoline in the rain. Wish I had gotten some pics! Shoot.

Kenzie and I stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-a, not a place we usually go and now I remember why. :) They put pickles on my sandwich unbeknownst to me and I ate one. Bleck!!! Days later and I'm still trying to get the taste out of my mouth. I like cucumbers, I like vinegar, I hate pickles!!

While Kenzie was at class, I headed back to the FDs to give Becca some more clothes and I had a nice long visit with Michelle. I love her! She is such a great friend to me. Of course we work together, but we teach at opposite ends of the school and she lives about 30 minutes away, so we don't get to see eachother that much other than an odd dinner out here and there and we nearly always have the kids with us. (Sorry for the run-on!) Becca and Rachel were engrossed in the TV in the other room, so we actually got to visit.

After I picked up Kenz we went home and started working on Becca's room some more. By we, I mean Mike and I because Kenzie didn't so jack squat! Ironic, considering it was her idea!!! I say that in jest, but really I was very irritated with her.

Mike finished painting and I did the trim and then I started to paint the accent wall. The walls are lavendar, Orchid actually and the accent wall is a raspberry color. Well the raspberry paint was like painting with grape juice. It looked horrible! Even with two coats!! So I decided to see if I could paint it lavendar and maybe that would block the orange better and then I could paint the raspberry. So I painted two coats of lavendar to cover the bright orange and then a coat of grape juice, oh I mean raspberry. Nope. So six coats of paint and it still looked bad. Like really super bad. Crappy in fact. Ugh.

So frustrating.

Day 19 Summer June 30

If you have been following my posts you have probably been wondering what happened to my plan to clean a room each day. Well, it pretty much didn't happen. We managed to do four rooms. That's a partial success, right? After we decided to redo Becca's room, everything else kind of flew out the window. Life kind of happens like that, doesn't it?

Wednesday we left a little early for art class. We went to Tuesday Morning to return the comforter (I decided it was just too freaking heavy even though I love it), canisters (two were broken), and two chair cushions (not big enough). Then we stopped at Arby's to grab a bite before dropping Kenzie off. Then Becca and I went to JoAnn's to find some fabric for curtains and to Home Depot to look at paint chips. And then it was off to the FD's for a nice chat! Becca spent the night there so I headed back to Stuart on my own to get Kenz.

While driving back home I mentioned to Kenzie that the way I did Becca's room last time was that I sent her out with Mike for the day and I just did it! She had picked out the pink walls but nothing else was really gelling and she couldn't make up her mind! Of course, she was only five. Kenzie said we should just do that again. Send Becca away for a night or two and just surprise her with a new room. Crazy, but crazy enough to work! I had a good idea what Becca wanted having spent three days shopping, but she is just too picky! Or she picks things out that just don't go. Well, since Becca was already gone for at least one evening we decided to go for it. So Kenzie and I stopped by Home Depot and picked out the paint and we headed home. Surprise Mike! Guess what we are doing tonight???

It took an hour or so to clean out Becca's room and then we started to paint. Mike got two walls done and I got about half the trim painted. Not quite as far as I wanted, but a start. Wow. . . what did we get ourselves into??

Day 18 Summer June 29

Tuesday I think we went to Tuesday Morning to return a few things but that might have been Wednesday. Okay, yeah I think that was Wednesday. So Tuesday? Hmmmm. . .

We must have taken Kenzie to class, then I think Becca and I went to Home Goods to look at some accessories for her room and to look for artwork. I think Becca found a silver box. Then I remember going to Kirkland, a place that just has artwork and accessories. It's really overwhelming but so cool. We found an art piece for Becca's room, black wrought iron tree type thing. Pictures may help. I'll work on that. And I found two pictures for my office. They are big, probably 30 X 30 each, beautifully framed, old maps. They go great with the wall color in there and with the carpet and they were only $35 each. Funny that two cheap pictures and a really cheap old carpet can make the room look like a million bucks!

I think Becca and I headed to Goodwill and the Salvation Army next and prety much struck out there. Oh yeah, I remembered more about Monday! I'll have to go back and fix that!

Day 17 Summer June 28

Oh no! I got totally behind! Yikes.

Well, I may have forgotten some of the details, but I will try to do my best remembering what we did each day.

Monday I remember as Target Day! Becca and I dropped McKenzie off at art class and Becca and I headed for Target. While we were there, we finally found some bedding that Becca and I both agreed that we liked and the horse was finally out of the gate! With bedding we finally had a color scheme, theme, etc for redoing her room. Becca has been living with the same colors for five years - hot pink and orange - and it was time for a change. But every time we have been in a store she either doesn't like anything or the things she has liked do not go together at all. Like really, not at all.

I'm sure we were not at Target until 5 but I'm having a hard time remembering what we did after that. Wait. I think we went to Michael's first, then Target? Yeah, I'm drawing a blank.

After we picked up McKenzie we went back to Plato's Closet so Kenzie could look around. She wound up picking out 2 tank tops and two pairs of jeans for $16! And I found a necklace and earrings for $6! And I talked to my dad for a bit.

Then we met Mike at a new Mexican restaurant in Palm City. Pretty good food and very friendly waitstaff. We'll probably head back there since it's not too far from home.

And that night I remember watching The Bachelorette. One week! One stinking week and I can't remember jack crap. Getting old sucks.

Day 16 Summer June 27

Another day when I planned to tackle the kitchen! What is it about the kitchen that I keep avoiding? It's not that bad! And the girls can help a lot with wiping counters, cabinets, etc. Ah, the art of procrastination!

Kiera came over to play with Becca around 11 and brought "Alice in Wonderland" with her, so I watched that with them. Pretty good, although it didn't seem to have much to do with the original book. Of course, I didn't really enjoy the book, so no big deal to me! Becca seemed to love it so that's good. She had been wanting to see it since it came to the big theater. Kenzie spent the day hibernating in her room and Mike has been reading tons. Some series Kenzie lent to him. So he spent the day hibernating in our room. :)

Kenz and I stayed up late to watch Design Star and Color Splash Miami! Gosh, I wish that was on earlier. There is no way I could stay up to midnight on a Sunday during the school year!

Day 15 Summer June 26

Well the big plan today was to clean the kitchen and it never happened! I kept waiting for the cleaning urge to strike me and it just never did! And of course, my family never gets the urge to clean! I did get caught up on all the laundry. That's worth something, right?

Mike went golfing early in the morning and I took Kenzie to her drawing class at 10:30. Oops. It started at 10? Really? We are signed up for the Friday afternoon class but rescheduled because of Kenz's art class. Oh well, she got a little bit of time anyway. The girls and I stopped by Sam's Club on the way home to do some grocery shopping and get gas.

In the evening we met Michelle and Rachel at Port St Lucie High School to see "The Sound of Music." I thought it was delightful. The girl playing Maria went to St Lucie West when I was first teaching there and I remember how well she could sing the National Anthem. Well she has improved even more and she was very very good. It was a really amazing production for a high school. They actually use kids from all over the county, so I guess they get to choose the best of the best, but it is still really amazing. Afterwords we went out for pie at Perkins, something we used to do as kids all the time. Yum, strawberry pie!!

Day 14 Summer June 25

So today we planned on tackling the kitchen but we ditched the cleaning project and headed to the beach with friends. After all, what is summer for?

The girls and I headed out around 11 and stopped at Subway for lunch before pulling into Jensen Beach. It was already very warm, probably close to 90. The water was refreshing, but the surf was pretty rough, so I didn't stay in for long. Our beach umbrella broke last summer and I really need to get a new one if we are going to go to the beach very often. Thanks to my friends for providing me some shade! Otherwise, I wouldn't make it more than 10 minutes! It was fun visiting with Sophie, Claudia, Dawn, Kathy and Jen, my school peeps. The girls had fun, too and we didn't even get suburned this time!

We left at 1 to take Kenzie to her class (which is just down the road). Then Becca and I headed to the movie theater in Stuart. We were just in time to see Shrek 3D. We were the only ones in the whole theater which Becca thought was pretty cool. Cute movie, but two hours of 3D gave me a bit of a headache. I wonder what they will do when the movie goes to video? Will it just be normal or can you watch it on your TV in 3D? Just curious. . .

The movie was over at 3:15 so Becca and I had a bit of time to kill. We ended up dinking around at the Treasure Coast Hospice Thrift Store. I actually got a really cute purse there for $6. It looks brand new and it's a great summer look which I had been searching for. If I get really ambitious I'll snap a photo of it.

The girls and I picked up a pizza at Little Caesar's on the way home and spent the evening vegging out. Why is it that sunshine can take so much out of you?

Day 13 Summer June 24

Today we tidied up McKenzie's room. Since we re-did her room last November (and removed half of her belongings!) she has done a really good job of keeping things tidy. We mostly just went through her dresser and cleaned up the stuff that had migrated under her bed. I still need to take pictures of that room all tidied up!

In the afternoon Becca and I . . . let's see. . . what did we do?? It's funny how the summer days just seem to run together! I believe we ate at the CK Bakery (which used to be the Atlanta Bread Company). It was pretty good. Behind the bakery used to be a little thrift shop where I got a cabinet for my dining room about five years ago. Well, it's not there anymore! So we headed up the road and ended up at Tuesday Morning which my friend Tanya had suggested we stop by. Well, thanks to Tanya, I dropped about $300! Yikes!! The big ticket item was a King-size comforter set and sheets. I've been looking for months and I really love the comforter, but I'm still not sure. The truth is that 8 months out of the year, we only need to sleep with a sheet or light blanket. So having a comforter on the bed looks nice, but it's really just for show since we would need to pull it off the bed each night!. What I have now is a duvet cover with no duvet in it. The weight is just right for most of the year. The issue is that our mattress is sooooo thick (22 inches) it's nearly impossible to find a blanket or comforter that will cover the whole thing! And there just aren't many California King duvet covers on the market. Of course, I could always sew something. . . Anyway, we also picked up some decorative pillows and some odds and ends craft stuff.

Then it was off to Goodwill to look for shorts for McKenzie. She has been growing so fast the past year or two that she grows out of her clothes way before she wear them out. Not such a big problem except for this week when she has needed junky clothes to wear to her art class. It was a lot of work but Becca and I waded through rack after rack of high waisted, pastel colored, pleated shorts to find three pairs that we thought would work for Kenzie! (And you will be happy to hear that all three fit her!!) Becca and I also found this really great consignment shop called Plato's Closet. Their niche is carrying teenage clothes for boys and girls. Bonanza for us! We'll have to take Kenzie there soon so that she can check it out. I expected to see jeans, tops, shoes and bags but what I didn't expect were to stacks of young adult novels for $2! What a great deal! So Becca and I brought home a big sack of books for $30!

Thursday night we watched So You Think You Can Dance and a rerun of Glee! which we all love and adore (we have all four albums and Becca plays them constantly).

Okay, I will add the photos of the comforter and you can tell me which look you prefer. . .

The first one is a red coverlet that we have had, the second is the reverse side of the new comforter and the third one is the floral side of the new comforter. Is it too much? Kenzie thinks it makes the carpet look dirty (although you can't really tell in the picture).

New comforter. . . please excuse the mess! We haven't gotten to this room yet!

Day 12 Summer June 23

Day 3 of the Clean the Whole House Challenge!! and the winner is. . . the Laundry Room! All right, this isn't going to be as scary as it sounds. I'm actually pretty good at keeping up on laundry. It wasn't always this way, of course! I didn't have a washer and dryer on premises until 2000. I spent all my years of college and the first five years of my marriage at the laundry mat! Wow. Good times. Not.

At any rate, I'm good now. I have front loaders that can do BIG loads of laundry, so even if I fall behind a little, it's pretty easy to catch up. The kids are required to bring their laundry to the master bedroom and sort it. I take care of washing/drying/folding/hanging. Then everyone has to pick up their laundry from the laundry room. Out of all the chores, it's my favorite. Not that I love it, just that I don't dislike it as much as other chores. :)

Basically all I needed to do was tidy up the shelves and scrub down surfaces (which I made the girls do!). I did, however, pull the front panel off the dryer and clean out all the lint. I also pulled it from the wall and cleaned the back hose part out. It's a pain, but I'm glad I did it. The laundry room looks basically the same as it has since we moved in when I put in the countertop and the shelves. It's desperate for a coat of paint. I don't want white. Any suggestions??


So while Kenzie was at art class Becca and I went to lunch at Steak n' Shake, went shopping and took care of some returns! Fun stuff, huh? I really should take the girl to a movie or something. We started at Michael's and bought a few things for craft projects. Becca wants so much to be talented at something. And she's just not. I know, I'm gonna get fired from the Mom Club. My daughter is beautiful, smart, and a very kind person, but if God has given her any artistic ability, He is keeping it a secret. The girl can't dance, sing, draw, etc. She is actually a pretty decent writer but she doesn't really enjoy it. I'll let you know how the craft thing goes. . .

After Michael's we headed to Kohl's to return a pair of shorts and a shirt that I had gotten Becca for her birthday that she didn't care for. Her style changes from minute to minute, so it wasn't a big surprise. I think she liked the shorts but they were too small and I think she may have kind of liked the shirt, but it fit kind of funny. While there, we found some earrings on clearance. I LOVE Kohl's. Especially the jewelry section! You can always find something that's just darling and it will be on clearance for like two dollars. Love it.

Then it was off to Home Goods to return the lamps (bye beauties!) and to TJ Maxx to return two little decorative plates that I decided I didn't need. Then we grabbed a drink and headed back to pick up Kenzie. Here's what she was up to:






It's her acrylic version of the apples! Pretty cool, huh? One of them kind of looks like a nectarine, but the shading is really good, I think. She is enjoying her class. Way better than hibernating in her room which is what she did all last week!

Day 11 Summer June 22

Drum roll, please! Today the room we attacked was the . . .

DINING ROOM!!

I was happy about that, because the dining room is pretty under control already and after tackling the office yesterday I really wasn't looking forward to cleaning another room! but I also know that the cleaning needs to get done! One wall of the dining room serves as a craft room with all my art/scrapbooking supplies. Shockingly, that area is pretty tidy, probably because I do very little crafting these days! So really all that needed to be done is clean the table off, mop the floor and dust some shelves. So here it is. . .

The cabinet against the wall holds all my stamps! Stamps that haven't seen the light of day for months! The table is from a yard sale in Austin. It actually has another leaf that allows it to expand to 108 inches. And the chairs are also from a yard sale with chair covers that I sewed last summer. the curtains have been up for 4 years or so. I have always wondered if I should find curtains that go all the way to the floor or do they look ok the way they are?

In the afternoon we stopped by Pei Wei on the way to Kenzie's art class. Rebecca wrote about Pei Wei for a homework assignment (it was a descriptive writing activity about your favorite restaurant) several months ago and I happened to mention it on a post on PeiWei's Facebook page. A marketing assistant contacted me and sent Becca $30 in gift certificates and a coupon for free lettuce wraps!! See? Doing your homework does pay off!! So lunch today cost us $0.87!

Kenzie worked on apples at her art class today and Becca and I went shopping!! We hit a consignment shop (we struck out there), Home Goods and TJ Maxx, and a shoe store. I picked out two new lamps from HomeGoods that I love, but ended up taking back. They were crystal and chrome with gray organza shades and I really did love them, but I didn't love the way they looked in my bedroom, so back they went. At TJ Maxx Becca found some more shorts and a cute top and I found a knit top in a pretty raspberry color. Three hours of shopping was hard on us. Becca and I both ended up with aching feet!!

Day 10 Summer June 21

Officially the first day of summer! Day 10 for us!

Have you wondered why I am blogging every day of our summer, even when it is incredibly boring??? Well, I always feel like at the end of the summer it has just gone so fast and that outside of some traveling we don't do anything. It's so easy to just relax, stay in the jammies, watch TV all day. You know how it is. But summer should be an opportunity to catch up on life and build some memories too. So I thought if I blogged each day first it would help me remember what we did since it seems to all blur together, and second it would force me and the girls to get up and do stuff because I would be embarrassed to have nothing to blog day after day!

Another brilliant plan I came up with was to pick a room each day and with the girls help, clean it from top to bottom. After two weeks we should have hit every nook and cranny and have a clean, perfectly organized home. That's the plan anyway. So I wrote 10 rooms on the back of index cards and the girls have chosen one each day. So today the girls picked the office. Yikes.

Ever since I got a laptop (about two years ago) I stay out of the office. I use my laptop in the living room, sitting in a comfy chair. It's way better than sitting in an uncomfortable office chair with my feet dangling. Inevitably, my feet would always fall asleep! So this room belongs almost exclusively to Mike and Becca (Kenzie uses her ITouch in her room for her communications fix). Of course, since I don't use this room, I don't clean it! Of course I nag on Mike and Becca once in a while to clean up and occasionally they vacuum or file something, but mostly it is just a disaster with precarious piles everywhere. So our first room is also the worst in the house.

The office has a long countertop (ten feet long) on one side of the room where the two computers and the printer sit and on the opposite wall is a gigantic bookcase with 25 cubbies. Great for storage but it tends to get cluttered. So the girls and I emptied everything from the office into the living room and cleaned and then put everything back. It took two full hours to clean and then the whole evening to organize. We still need to clean and organize the drawers and cabinets under the computer but it's tons better. A design question for you. . . does the window need curtains or drapes or are the 2-inch wooden blinds enough?

Today was also the first day of McKenzie's art camp. Camp runs from 1:30 to 5:00 Monday thru Friday for two weeks. It's about 40 minutes from our house to the Elliott Museum where the class is. A long drive but ultmimately worth it I am hoping. That means Becca and I will have to entertain ourselves each afternoon because it's really too far to drive home. So today we walked around the Eliott Museum, got a pedicure (me) and manicure (Becca) and then went to the mall for an hour. We ate pretzels, bought two candles at the Old Yankee store and found some shorts and underwear for Becca at JCPenney. Then we headed back to pick up Kenzie.

The instructor is a lovely, warm, older lady with long, iron-gray hair pulled back into a bun. Kenzie impressed her with her drawing abilities. On the first day Kenzie sketched a plant with charcoals, played with clay and then used black and white acrylics to paint the plant. Busy. McKenzie is only 12 but she comes across to others as very mature and she is so very tall that people constantly think she is much older. Her teacher thought that McKenzie was a sophomore. Yikes! I'm having enough issues with her being a teenager in a few months. Don't give me a heart attack!

Day 9 Summer June 20

Father's Day!!

So we woke up at the hotel in Stuart near the beach. We headed to the pool for a morning swim (the pool water had to be close to 90) and then checked out at 11. We headed for home to check on the doggie. She was fine and happy to see us! Thanks to our wonderful neighbors, the Chase Family, for always keeping an eye on her when we are gone!

Our day was pretty chill. Mike didn't want to go out for lunch or dinner, so I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. We did manage to clean out all of our closets and get all the laundry done. Unfortunately for me I found that I have 3 tubs of clothes that no longer fit!! Yikes. We ventured out later in the day to grab some groceries. It was a great reminder of why I avoid Walmart at all costs!! It's always crazy busy with long lines, crying babies, whiny kids, and the produce just sucks.

We picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner along with some other staples and headed home. Hmmmmm. . . oh yeah, we watched "The Empire Strikes Back!" There was a Star Wars marathon on the Spike channel (??) a couple of weeks ago and Mike and I and Rebecca spent the whole day watching Star Wars. Yes, an entire day. The marathon started at 9 am and ended at 4am the next day!!! Needless to say we did not make it through all of them. Star Wars movies are long anyway but with commercials they are realllllllly long. I made it through Episodes 1, 2 and 3 and the original Star Wars before heading to bed at 10. Mike and Becca were determined to watch "The Empire Strikes Back" but neither made it very long, maybe an hour at the most. So we put the last two movies on our Netflix queue and waited for them to show up. So we finally got a chance to watch it. The big difference for me was when Luke finds out at the end of the movie that Darth Vader is his father. Originally I remember being as freaked out as Luke! It was absolutely shocking!! Beyond comprehension even. But having watched the prequel, it wasn't any big deal. Kind of took something away in my opinion. Next weekend it will be "The Return of the Jedi!!"

Day 8 Summer June 19

Well we woke up early to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, but it was too cloudy to really see much. Oh well!

We walked on the beach for a bit and then it started to heat up and my tummy started to growl so we found a little restaurant in Stuart to have breakfast. Alice's, it is called and it looks like it has been around for a long time. We were the youngest patrons by a good 40 years! Funny.

Then we went back to the hotel to check out and check into a different room (from a King to Double-Double) and went home to check on Sophie. There was a major storm and she gets kind of freaked out. Plus we had left her inside the night before so we didn't want ot have to clean up any messes. We hung out with Soph for a couple hours and took care of some housework before we picked up Becca from Amanda's and Kenzie from the Civic Center (where Lauren was playing basketball) and headed south again. We ate lunch at Pei Wei (of course) and headed to the hotel. In the parking lot we ran into a teacher (and good friend) from school who was doing the stay-cation thing too. In the evening we got some snacks at Publix, swam a little and watched a movie. A nice evening with the family all in all.

Day 7 Summer June 18

A momentous day. . . my 15th wedding anniversary!!

Wow. Hard to believe it has been that long and that I am old enough to have been married that long! Crazy. In fifteen years we have lived in 9 homes and five cities, had two kids and one dog. Nine homes?? That means we had to pack and move 8 times!! and that was in the first 10 years, because we have been in our house for 5 years now.

So how did we spend our special day? Running around two counties mostly! The girls and I had plans to spend the morning at the beach with schoolmates. I picked up Rachel on the way because Michelle has SHINGLES (!!!) and won't be able to get out much for a few days. She feels pretty good considering. . . So then we drove down to Bathtub Beach (in Martin County) but there were no spots left in the parking lot! So after a few frantic cell phone calls it was decided that we would all meet at Jensen Beach which is about 7 or 8 miles north of Bathtub. So we got to the beach around 11. I really did consider taking pictures but there is NO FREAKING WAY I am bringing my new Canon to the beach and I can't find my little Canon with the cracked LCD screen. So no pictures. I know. I suck.

I spent about an hour and a half in the water because it was way too hot to sit on the beach in the hot sand. That was enough beach time for me. I don't know how other people can stay for hours and hours. I'm good for about two hours, max. And even slathered in sunscreen I still managed to burn my back and shoulders. Crap. Two days later and it is still sore and starting to itch!

We stopped and got burgers and headed back home. That is another thing I never do. We never bring food to the beach. Been there and done that and ate enough sand that I have never done it again! We got home around 2 o'clock and Mike was already home. Yeah! Everyone took a shower and then we packed everyone up for their night away from home. We dropped Becca off at her friend Amanda's house (I just adore her family. . . They are so nice and their house is adorable!) took Kenzie to art class, took Rachel home and visited with Michelle, went to pick Kenzie up and dropped her off at Lauren's house and then headed south to Stuart for our night away. (I love Lauren's mom, too!)

Mike and I ate at the Thai Basil Garden in Stuart and then headed over the causeway to the Marriott Hotel on Hutchinson Island. We had a lovely evening on our own and even got to watch a grown-up movie that I would never be able to watch at home (well only on the laptop with headphones): The Hangover. Basic grossout humor but with a plot! Very funny and recommended by both Mike and me.

Mike's gift to me was some fabulous caramel popcorn with nuts (I'm sure there's a better name for it, but it's like Super Crunch n Munch) and a caramel apple from Kilwin's. Unfortunately Mike ate most of it! LOL! And I have another gift coming that is in the mail. . .

Day 6 Summer June 17

Well, looking back, we didn't do much of nothin' on Thursday. The only eventful thing that I remember was making butter chicken for dinner, which was really amazing. Try it out if you haven't ever made it. It's really pretty dang easy. You marinate some chicken in lime juice and spices (I never remember to do this, so my chicken only sits like ten minutes and it's still just fine). Then you saute an onion in butter, add the chicken and saute a little longer. Add a can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce and let it all simmer about 20 minutes. At the end you stir in some cream and serve it over rice. See? Not too difficult! And absolutely delicious. If you leave out the cream it might even be kind of, sort of healthy.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/02/a-tasty-recipe-butter-chicken/

Day 5 Summer June 16

Well I got the kids out of the house by 10 to get to McK's dental appointment. The chain across her front teeth snapped on Tuesday and within a couple hours she had a gap between two of her teeth. Oops. Definitely needed to be taken care of. While there I ran into an old student and her family. It's nice to know that I have made an impact! Sometimes it really feels more like I beat my head against a wall!

After the dentist the girls and I headed to Tradition. The girls don't have much for summer clothes. In fact they both wore long jeans to the dentist. Crazy! When we got in the car after the dentist appt. the car said it was 113! Ha Ha. It wasn't that hot of course, but it was still super warm. Over 90 and incredibly humid. We made it to two stores before the girls started to beg for lunch: Old Navy and TJ Maxx. Becca finaly found some shorts! She is hard to fit. She is very narrow with a tiny waist but has a bigger butt and thighs than a slim. So most things are too big in the waist or too tight in the thighs. Definitely a Mayo. McKenzie is in a junior size 5 now. And both girls found some T-shirts. I'll try to remember to take some pictures to post.

We ate lunch at Wicked Burger. It was delicious (and yes I stayed away from the girl's soda) but their a/c was out and we ended up eating outside. It was shady and they had fans going, but I was still soaked in sweat by the time we were done so we headed home. The girls and I ended up watching "The Blind Side." We all enjoyed it and none of us cried. I kept hearing from everyone who saw it to be prepared to cry. What is wrong with us? We must be hard-hearted or something!

Day 4 Summer June 15

Day 4 and I must admit that I was, dare I say it? Bored. Yep, it's true. I didn't feel much like cleaning or housework and I don't have many projects going, so I didn't do much at all! Mike and I did take the dog for a walk. We did it before the sun was up and it was still pretty warm. The humidity has been terrible. The temp may only say 90 but the heat index is around 105. Nasty stuff. What I wouldn't give for a pool!!!

I ran out of Pepsi Sunday and forgot to buy some at the store so I figured maybe it was a sign that I should try giving it up. I had a can of Pepsi with lunch on Monday but none Tuesday, so by Tuesday night I had a pretty killer headache. And there wasn't anything on TV so I mostly laid in bed and read a book. Fun stuff huh? I should be caught up on sleep!

Oh, I did paint the patched wall in the master bath. We tore part of the wall out behind the shower over spring break to fix a leak. I had patched it, but never gotten around to painting it, so I did take care of that. Now I need to paint the baseboard and replace it. I really should paint all of the woodwork. All the trim in the house is a flat builder's white. The house is six years old now and the baseboards are looking pretty sad and beat up and they could all use a coat of fresh paint (as well as the doors) but that just sounds like a LOT of work, so I keep putting it off. I need to just do it!

Day 3 Summer June 14

Started the day very early, at 4 am! Yuck. I let the dog out and she ended up terrorizing a monarch butterfly on the back porch. Nothing quite like a barking dog at 4 am to make your neighbors love you. I fell back to sleep around 5:30, but had to get up to go to work anyway. Double yuck. I spent 8 to 12:30 at school doing some instuctional planning for next year with other teachers. They fed us breakfast and lunch and I will get paid, so not too bad overall.

Got home and rallied the troops to do a little cleaning. Got most of the laundry done and Kenzie helped with the kitchen and Becca helped here and there. My house needs to be deep-cleaned from top to bottom and I need to do a LOT of organizing (closets, drawers, shelves, etc), so it's hard to not go crazy and just tear evrything apart, but I'm trying to keep my cool. :)

I got Kenzie signed up for a Fine Arts camp at the Elliott Museum for the next two weeks. The classes are in Stuart (about 35 minute drive) from 1:30 to 5:00, so Becca and I will need to find stuff to keep us busy. It's too far to come back home, but I'm sure we'll find things to do. And Kenzie will really love the opportunity to learn and hang out with other kids with similar interests.

Around 3 a kid showed up at my door to apologize. A few nights ago we were woken up around 3 am by a policeman letting us know that our car had been spray painted in the middle of the night. (FUC U written on the back window of Mike's car) Several cars and houses were spray painted. The paint came off pretty easy with WD40. We got a call a couple days later that the person had been caught but I didn't ask for particulars but we figured it was just a few teenagers pulling a prank. It turned out to be a black kid, probably about 13 or 14. His aunt was taking him around the neighborhood to apologize and to offer to clean up any damages. Apparently he just moved in a couple streets over. I have a lot of respect for that aunt driving that kid around in the heat of the day to take responsibility for his actions. Good for her! I hope the kid appreciates her. In my line of work I see a lot of apathetic parents.

Becca had a neighbor boy over for the afternoon (too hot to play outside--heat index 104!). They played Wii for a couple hours. She kicked his butt in the Family Feud but he did better with the Summer Games or whatever it is called. We'll have to set up some more play dates especially for Kenzie who hibernated in her room all day. Becca is much better at picking up the phone and calling friends. Kenzie texts a bit, but doesn't spend much time on the phone.

For dinner we had Chicken and Green Beans with Spicy Orange Sauce (America's Test Kitchen again)and strawberries and mangos with whipped cream. Super Yum and fairly healthy (except for the whole whipped cream thing). I've lost two pounds this week. Only about 50 to go! Ha Ha. Then Becca and I watched The Bachelorette. Not sure why I keep watching. It's an illness I guess! I just love it! Even while knowing that The Biggest Loser and Survivor have better matchmaking rates. Right now my money is on Roberto or Kurt.

Day 2 Summer June 13

Got up early again to take the dog for a walk. It's not fun getting up early in the summer, but if we don't get a walk in by 8 am, it just ain't gonna happen!

Let's see, oh yeah, I was going to make pancakes because we had some strawberries to use up and then Mike suggested waffles. YUM, I thought. Uh oh, no pancake mix. Now for the most part, I do not use mixes; I prefer to make things from scratch. But I find that the pancake mix where you just add water is every bit as good as from scratch. Unfortunately, I was out of mix. So I dig out my fave cookbook, America's Test Kitchen, and peruse the ingredients. Uh oh, no milk. Seriously?? If you read yesterday's post you will recall that I was too smelly to go to the grocery store. Oops. So I ended up making oatmeal-cranberry cookies. Yeah, I'm not quite sure how I came up with that either, but the family was happy. Except Becca who picked the dried cranberries out of hers. Oh well. . .

We did finally make it to Sam's Club later in the day. And we made it out for about $100 which is really good for us. We got steaks, snacks, fruit, etc. So for dinner we had rib-eyes, grilled mushrooms, corn-on-the-cob and fresh sliced mango. Delish!

It was also my mom's birthday!! And Michelle's high school graduation! It's rough being so far away during all these celebrations. I just feel so disconnected from our families. At first it seemed like it might be temporary, but we haven't lived within a day's drive in over 7 years now. At least when we lived in Utah we could drive up. It took a full day but it was possible. Now we are 3700 miles away and we are limited to once yearly visits. This year we fly out on July 8 and we come back on July 26.

DAY 1 Summer!

Got up early and took the dog for a walk with Mike and Kenzie. It was already HOT!

Becca was over at Kiera's house on a sleepover. Mike and Kenzie and I took Sophie to the Farmer's Market in Fort Pierce. Picked up some bread and veggies. It was hot there too, even though it's right on the water.

We decided we were too sweaty and gross to stop at Sam's Club so we went home.

Took Becca to a pool party at a schoolmate's house at 12 and then ran to the post office to mail some paperbackswap books and my mom's birthday gifts (and dad's father's day card). Mike and I went to BerryFresh Cafe for lunch and then picked up Becca at pool party.

What I wouldn't give for a pool right now!! The Heat index is over 100 everyday and it's just miserable to be out in it. Canada sounds good right now.

Becca got a little gift in the mail today! A couple weeks ago I mentioned on Pei Wei's Facebook page that my daughter had gotten a A+ on an assignment where she had to write about her favorite restaurant. One of Pei Wei's marketing people contacted me for our address and he sent Becca $30 in gift cards and a coupon for free lettuce wraps! See, it does pay to do your homework!

Spent the evening reading and went to bed early! Exciting start to vacation! Okay, maybe not. But it feels good anyway!

Installing a Husband

A friend sent me the following email. I thought that it was hilarious, so I forwarded it to Mike. His response to it follows.

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.



DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.


Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!



Mike's response:

System Check.



Husband 1.0 - running

Romance 9.5 – not optimally configured, check settings

Personal Attention 6.5 – not optimally configured, check settings

NBA 5.0 – not installed

NFL 3.0 – unobtrusive background program

Golf Clubs 4.1 - unobtrusive background program
Conversation 8.0 – An outdated version was detected

Housecleaning 2.6 - Version 1.3 detected

Nagging 5.3 – runs concurrently with Housecleaning 1.3

Tears 6.2 - runs concurrently with Housecleaning 1.3

Guilt 3.0 – a critical error was detected, hit continue to close program

Jewelry 2.0 – application missing

Flowers 3.5 – overwritten by Sam’s Club Arrangement 1.0
Grumpy Silence 2.5 – runs concurrently with Nagging 5.3

Happy Hour 7.0 – runs sporadically

Beer 6.1 – operates in safe mode
Mother-In-Law 1.0 – virus not detected

Cooking 3.0 – optimally configured

Hot Lingerie 7.7 - An outdated version was detected

Where does the time go?

I can't believe I haven't posted since October. Crazy! The days just seem to fly by!

In November I went through a big cleaning fit, so I can honestly say I was too busy to post much and really, who wants to read about how we cleaned out our closet or how we organized the garage? I did spend one entire week overhauling McKenzie's room. We pulled out everything, YES, everything, and shampooed her carpet and painted the walls a soft apple green. then we got rid of three-quarters of her stuff and put the rest back in! It's much easier for her to keep tidy and she has been spending a lot more time in there since. Practicing for the teenager years, I guess.

December saw the usual flurry of holiday shopping, decorating, baking, planning, wrapping, etc. My parents were able to come from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve and we spent a few days with them in Cape Coral, Florida, at a very nice resort. It was nice to get away. I wish we did it more on regular weekends, but getting behind on chores and laundry always freaks me out. I feel like if I let it get out of control I will never be able to rein it in again!

I have no idea where January went! Becca got a Wii for Christmas and she has been playing with that a lot. Kenzie spent a lot of time texting on her new cell phone and Mike was busy working on a grant. But what the heck did I do?? I used the Wii Fit for the first two weeks of January and then stopped. I have felt like a deflated balloon for about 3 or 4 weeks. Just no energy. I thought I was fighting something off, but maybe it's something else? Iron deficiency or something? Not sure. In November and December I was getting so much done on the weekends. The house was clean, I was getting errands done, rearranged the dining room and living room, etc. But I can't think of any accomplishments since Jan. 1!! Oh well, life is a rollercoaster right? With its ups and downs. . .

I'll try to keep up with my blog a little better. Although we don't have much new to report these days! Life is just a constant circle of school, work and chores! But if we have any signficant deviations, I'll let you know!