Category: Life

Renovations, sparkly frogs and my new speedlite

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Thursday Joe finished coloring and sealing the grout in the foyer and guest bath. It came out real nice! I will be posting photos once everything is done, but we’re not there yet. We (mostly he) still need to finish painting the vanity (it’s looking real good), buy a sink and counter top, repair the wall in the bathroom, paint the bathroom, put the toilet back in, paint the trim around the front door, and paint the wall above the front door. Ideally we’d like to be done before Memorial Day since we’re having friends over, but that might be overly ambitious for us.

Friday we went to K’s school for a concert. We didn’t get home until almost 10 pm so we ended up sleeping in later than planned on Saturday. We were lazy that day just playing some board games and watching a movie, Bedtime Stories, with E since K wasn’t interested in it.

Sunday after our regular grocery shopping we headed to a local fest where I bought this cute little beanbag frog. He’s so sparkly!

After stuffing our faces with orange chicken and a fried Snickers bar (yum), we drove around looking for open houses but all the properties we toured were disappointing. We’d like to get a house this year since prices are low, but we’re both very picky so we’ll see what happens. I’d really like to stop sharing walls with people. Our neighbors are getting increasingly louder. On one side they slam their cabinets constantly and have a toddler who shrieks to high heaven, on the other side they slam their front door, have a dog that barks all the time, and recently turned up the bass on their television which seems to be on all the time. I really should talk to them about it, and may still do so, but I hate confrontation because most times people don’t respond well. But the bass thing in particular is really starting to drive me nuts. I can hear/feel it as I write this. Where does it state I’m not entitled to some peace and quiet? It’s bad enough I can’t keep my windows open for any length of time because they’re smokers. Anyway…

Last night I tested out the new speedlite I bought for my camera, resulting in two new photos of Oreo I posted over @ Flickr – photo #1 and photo #2. I’m still getting the hang of it but I really like how it illuminates shots. I’m hoping it will net me some good photos next week while we’re off. I’ve got a bunch of fun things planned and cannot wait! Only four more work days to go.

Craigslist virgin no more

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I experienced my first Craigslist sale yesterday! I finally got around to posting E’s bike on Thursday evening and Friday got an e-mail from a woman asking about it. It took a few e-mails for us to reach a convenient time and location to meet, but we finally settled on 7 pm in the parking lot of the church where Joe and I were going to be playing Bingo with some friends.

The timing could not have been more perfect. Just as Joe was taking the bike out of the trunk, the woman pulled up in a minivan and two of her four kids jumped out to look at it. The boy she was buying it for was so excited, it was so sweet! He was jumping up and down asking if he could ride it and even put the helmet on. His sister was just as excited for him and it made me feel good that such a nice family was getting a good deal. I really hope that boy gets a lot of enjoyment out of his new bike.

Seeing how successful that transaction was inspired Joe to want to post his motorcycle on Craigslist. We were going to sell it to a dealership but would probably get less money for it. He even found a nice contract online that he had his notary friend take a look at so no possible legal issues could arise from the sale. Better to be safe than sorry.

Apparently we’re the last ones in the family to get into this whole Craigslist stuff because I found out yesterday while chatting with my niece that not only has she sold stuff on there but Joe’s mother has too. Once my niece explained to her that it’s the equivalent of an online garage sale, there was no holding her back.

The icing on the cake last night? Joe won $80 at Bingo! Since we had paid $20 at the Chinese buffet for dinner and about $40 at the Bingo hall, we came out ahead by $20. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night with friends.

It’s Wednesday and here’s what’s on my mind

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Recent frustrations:

People who want to vent to you but act all righteous when you attempt to do the same. How about a little support? I don’t always tell you exactly what I’m thinking in order to spare hurt feelings.

Allergies – Runny eyes/nose is not fun. Guess getting a cat right now wouldn’t be the smartest move. Going to revisit that idea in the Fall.

Remodel – Grouting was done on Sunday, but it dried in different shades (ranging from dark grey to almost white). Now we’ll need stain to make it uniform. Projects seem to always take three times longer than planned.

And for balance, the good stuff:

It’s thundering right now!

We scheduled a week off from work at the end of the month. It’s going to be what seems to have unintentionally turned into our annual May staycation.

I have the best husband in the world. He didn’t do anything in particular, I was just thinking how lucky I am to have someone so supportive in my life.

Unrelated: I’m totally getting this game when I get my iPhone in two months (just waiting for my T-Mobile contract to expire).

Warm

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It’s so warm in my house that I’m actually wearing shorts and no socks. I know, I can barely believe it myself!

forecast

Gonna have to get outside tomorrow and enjoy the weather while we can – more cold and rain is coming our way. I really can’t wait until it’s nice enough to start exploring the forest preserves and whatnot again. I miss our early morning photo excursions.

This pointless entry was brought to you by the letters B-O-R-E and D.

Let’s Get Organized

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We did a little Spring cleaning this weekend, most notably in the garage. We ended up with the back of the Escape full of stuff to donate to Goodwill. It feels really good to purge!

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I’m a bit shocked at how many storage totes we have just for decorations, though. There are three for Fall/Halloween and five for Christmas. WTF?

I photographed E’s bike which I plan to sell on Craigslist. He’s had it for a couple of years now, but other than the initial excitement when he got it, hasn’t been interested in learning how to ride it. No amount of cajoling with convince him otherwise, so why not let someone else enjoy it? They are going to get a good deal since it’s in mint condition and we’re asking less than we paid and including the helmet for free.

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How sad is it that neither one of Joe’s kids know how to ride a bike, though? I’m sure they’re not the only ones; it’s a sign of the times, unfortunately, but I can’t help but think of when I was a kid riding my bike all over the neighborhood. They are missing out even if they don’t realize it or care, kinda like my brother who also doesn’t know how to ride a bike. I used to ride his mountain bike too since he never bothered. :)

While Joe worked on removing the nasty green adhesive that was discovered underneath the flooring in our foyer that he ripped up during the week, I organized the junk drawer and kitchen utensil drawer. See how pretty they look?


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Now I need to work on getting the kids to purge their old toys they don’t use anymore. That’s my plan for this weekend. I want to make sure K is ok with me donating her Barbie van. Plus I’ve got way too much Playdoh in this house. I’m tempted to bring it out and play with it myself!