this gal needs a drink [or two]

ham bored

1. my days seem to be going by super fast. before i know its time to pickup fleanut.

2. land rover quoted me about $1700 less for repairs so i had them fix it.

3. i went to a the Ladybug's Garden Club meeting yesterday and won some flowers. I also bid on a floral arrangement and won those too.

4. my duvet set came in and i love them! except now i think i ordered the wrong color. EEEEKKKK!

5. my land rover bill ended up being cheaper than what they had quoted me!

6. so i went shopping. [just for a few items] because i wasn't ready to go back to kaylee and ham picking on each other.

7. after eating leftovers for dinner, kaylee and i went to tutti fruitti for some frozen yogurt.

8. my parents closed their first bdubs store and opened another one at a different location.

9. land rover called me this morning and said they forgot to add a $700 charge which totally bummed me out. [mistakes happen]

10. it still ended up being cheaper than that other place.

pest control and freckles

1. front entry, left side. my awesome lamp was another house warming gift from ME!

2. the mirror wasn't there at the time i bought the lamp or i would of bought it too.

3. i will have to take close-up photos of them both so you can see the awesomeness of them.

4. car repair estimates to pass texas inspections: $3700. called the rover dealership for part prices and they quoted much lower so taking the rover there for a second quote.

5. debating if we should repair or buy a new car. sure do like not having two car payments! plus, we need a 3rd vehicle for mike.

6. pest control came out today. no! they didn't take the kids but the guy sure was cute. i hope he comes back in november for our next session. mama needs some eye candy!

7. kaylee and i are going to see how long she can go wearing different outfits.

8. ham just wears his swim suit.

9. i told him he's getting some freckles and he looks cute.

10. kaylee said she couldn't see it. i told her she needs to get closer because they're really light. she says "no, i don't see the cuteness." i busted up laughing!!

a much calmer sunday

1. right side, front entry. i'm not sure what to put here but wanted to show off that awesome mirror!

2. one of my nerd herds got it for me as a going away present. its awesome because its made from recycled magazine pages.

3. and because its from one of my fave. stores back home. i've bought many gifts from there. [even some for myself]

4. today was a much better day. nothing broke down and the kids kinda didn't complain as much. [i didn't cook all weekend either]

5. i still have water issues but i temporarily fixed it till mike gets home.

6. i also found a stein mart and bought a blouse that kinda looks like this one. [oh emersonmade, how i love you!] and two pairs of shoes. eek!

7. i met some neighbors that live down the street and around the corner. they also have a daughter kaylee's age. excited! potential hang-out friends!

8. sorry indiana but i'm not missing you with your 50 degree and very wet weather. today it was 97 degrees and still 92 degrees at 8pm.

9. i finally got kaylee's room cleaned and organized and i finished cleaning her bathroom this morning. we're ready for my in-laws to come and visit.

10. my sweet rover didn't pass texas inspections so now i have to take it in for repairs. [texas makes you get an inspection before getting your title and registration and licenses. it sucks!]

nothing like procrastinating!

1. this house makes me want to move. [taken with my iphone on one of my walks]

2. and now we're having water problems so i really want to move!

3. but its going to get fixed and all will be good again.

4. i can't wait for ham to go to college just so he can see how easy he has it.

5. constant complaining about my cooking and how there's nothing to eat yet when i ask for suggestions, all i get is a huff and stomped feet.

6. last night kaylee and i went to "family fun night" hosted by her school.

7. it was a fun way to kill 2 hourson a friday. kaylee got to swim, go on a huge water slide and hang out with her friends while i got to chat with the mom's.

8. i'm busting my butt getting the house in order. even went out and pulled weeds this morning.

9. though i have that urge and want to go shopping instead.

10. i'm loving how kaylee and her friends back in indiana are keeping in touch. its so cute to see her writing and drawing.

random wednesday

taken last night around 7ish. the lighting was awesome.

the operator not so awesome.

1. i took a few other photos while fleanut and i went on a walk but they came out blurry. operator error.

2. i made this tortellini salad for my dinner while the kids ate tacos. i added avocado. its yummy. [recipe original found via pinterest]

3. fleanut is wearing her new swim soup [kayleeism even though she says the correct way now]. i got it "free" through my rewards points.

4. so its official, our house in indiana is no longer ours. not sure how it all works but we got it for that "guarantee offer" price bp offered us though the buyers are paying $5000 less...

5. it's money in our pocket and i'm not complaining!

6. our neighbor friend is a family physician and he was nice enough to suggest some meds for me to take for my allergies. so far its cleared some of my runny nose.

7. Congratulations are in order for one of my favorite authors. she got married over the weekend! yeah, i'm jealous, she got to marry a surfer!

8. walked 4 miles today. my legs and feet were pretty sore afterwards.

9. can't wait to get my new duvet cover! bummed that its taking so long in getting shipped.

10. and i want to get kaylee these missoni shoes. so cute!

slacker and a sucker!

kaylee with her neighbor friend friday evening.

1. sunday i surprised kaylee to lunch to her favorite place- Olive Garden!

2. then we went to the local mall to check it out.

3. afterwards she invited her friend from school and her neighbor friend over to play and swim.

4. her friend from school and mom took kaylee and i to dinner at a chinese place. [i love that they have delivery here! pizza, chinese, hamburgers]

5. i feel really bad for ham. he's super bored is an understatement.

6. i still have lots to do with the house. i haven't touched anything since the last time. such a slacker!

7. got our house alarm set up. had to get it or pay that $600 termination fee. suckers. that would be us. the suckers.

8. i can't wait to pack kaylee's lunch for tomorrow. i bought her this. i would love to see her face when she sees it!

9. the weather has cooled down some [mid 90's] and it actually rained sunday night.

10. i walked 3 miles today. plan on doing 4 miles from now on. [i can see how many miles i walked on here]

life is good on sunday

before and after: front entry

1. someday we hope to get the tiles redone. either with hard wood floors or with lighter colored tiles.

2. yesterday kaylee had her neighbor friend over to swim. then her mom came over and we sat and chatted till about 9:30pm.

3. it felt good having someone to chat with.

4. today we face timed [apple's version of skypeing] with mike and his parents. got to give them a tour of the still messy house.

5. 2 more weeks and mike will be home for good.

6. 3 more weeks and my in-laws will be here for a visit.

7. my mom called too this evening and asked how we're liking texas.

8. i told her i'm loving it because i am! everything here just makes me happy. even with the hot temps and extra large flying cockroaches.

9. though we do miss our family and friends!

10. and we finally sold our house in elkhart. well, we accepted the offer. now just waiting for all the paperwork.

brain fart day

1. that was the sun setting one week ago today. it was a big ball of fire.

2. today has been one of those brain fart days.

3. i decided not to walk and now wish i had. maybe it would of cleared my mind some. [from what? i don't know]

4. i went to a different target this morning and didn't like it.

5. i went to a different lowes too and didn't like that one either.

6. and now i can't make up my mind on what to do.

7. i did get lots of things done yesterday. got kaylee's room rearranged, her clothes hung up and put away, totally cleaned ham's room and still made dinner.

8. today i'm not making dinner unless its lasagna. i made an extra one last week and stuck it in the freezer.

9. i have before and after of the entry way but for some reason blogger takes a L.O.N.G.A.S.S time downloading two photos.

10. i had a very vivid dream that booah, our pesky cat, ate a gecko last night. [did i tell you that i caught one in my closet?]

thought it was thursday today

more photos of flea nugget [another nickname]

1. i know i'm suppose to be cleaning but i'm taking a break.

2. not from cleaning but i just finished walking almost 2 miles this morning.

3. my plan is to do this everyday after dropping kaylee off at school. nothings better than good music, fresh air and sweating your "balls off" as kaylee would say.

4. while on my walk, a wave of happiness came over me. man i'm SO lucky!

5. while watching kaylee swim last night she was going to tell me something but changed her mind because she said it was something i didn't want to hear.

6. i told her to tell me anyway. her friend, alexis, yelled penis in class yesterday.

7. they saw a picture of a males body in class and she pointed to it and yelled it.

8. i asked kaylee if she knew what a penis was. while pointing down to the privates area she said "yeah, its gross." though i think she liked saying penis because she kept saying it over and over.

9. i just added muse to my playlist. [i'm so behind on the music scene] loving this song at the moment.

10. and since we all know what a fashionista i am (not), thought i would share my favorite nail color at the moment too. [just on my toes]

getting back to normal without mike

we call her crazy kaylee

[notice the empty room behind her? sad isn't it??]

1. mike returned to elkhart today. he's going to be on the road till thursday.

2. we might be getting an offer on the house- fingers crossed everything goes through! [calling all nerd herd power!]

3. we tried to get new driver's license yesterday but the line was way out the door!

4. so we went and opened up a checking account. it took 2 hours! [they were having computer problems]

5. i went and talked with a counselor at kaylee's school, my choice. she gets so nervous going to school and i don't want her getting tummy aches again.

6. i suggested that we get a buddy from her class to walk her to the classroom before school starts. she needs someone else to concentrate on besides me/home/pool/daddy.

7. my in-laws are coming for a visit in about 25 days.

8. i'm excited to show them the house.

9. so that means i better get started on cleaning the upstairs. kaylee's room and the guest rooms haven't been touched.

10. i also went out of my comfort zone and signed up for a cooking class at sur la table.

the weekend

swimming the first day in our house

1. the week we moved, texas was under a heat wave. even the locals said its been crazy hot!

2. every day and night that pool gets used. definitely well worth the money!

3. mike came home thursday. he goes back to indiana tuesday morning.

4. we've gotten lots of work done outside. the wrought iron fence is down, the old play set is being taken apart and plants got moved.

5. the back yard looks twice as big now.

6. we also visited lowes, ikea, pf changs and the cheesecake factory. [i got myself a carrot cake- YUM!]

7. kaylee's been a little mean and snotty to me lately. she's had to sit in time out quite a bit lately.

8. i told mike he needed to make her apologize to me then i got really mad when he said he asked her too.

9. i told him he needed to make her do it. where's the respect and husband support? no kids should ever be mean to their mom's- EVER!

10. what a game last night! i only watched the 4th quarter because mike was already getting crabby 10 minutes into the game. once again, michigan did it at the very last second to beat nd!

chatterbox sally today

original; from my camera taken in hawaii

the preview of what i thought i was getting

the canvas i got

1. yesterday i got my canvas from canvas lifestyle. i thought my photo would look like photo number 2.

2. instead it looks like the original but with a blurry background. nothing like an "oil painting" like i had requested.

3. though i must say, if i was to get a canvas of the kids or something. they might be the ones to go too.

4. i got honked at while entering into lowes yesterday. i could tell this women was not paying attention and driving super fast from a drive-in. i did not have a stop sign and i had to swerve way out of the way to avoid getting hit.

5. yeah, i wanted to flip that bitch off. [sorry for the vulgarness but sometimes you got to say how you felt at that moment]

6. instead i got some much needed plants since i couldn't bring mine with us. except for the shamrock one of my nerd herd got me a few years ago. that rode in the car with us.

7. ham's bored so he mowed the lawn again. for 10 bucks.

8. kaylee cried before school again yesterday. [only the 2nd time] she's missing her daddy. [he comes home for a week tonight]

9. i painted ham's closet and 2 pantry's last night. i must say its well worth the money to have someone else paint for you. they do a better job and they get rid of all the paint, paint brushes etc...

10. yesterday we walked home with our neighbors across the street. they have a daughter in the first grade as well. glad to see kaylee making a new friend who lives close by!

more memphis photos and some rambling

they had beautiful carriages and trolly roads.

took me back in time

beale street

the famous peabody hotel

[they walk the ducks through the lobby twice a day]

our hotel. our room was right beside the "cour"

1. yes i am delaying house photos.

2. i want before AND after photos.

3. is it wrong to read a blog only because you find her husband to be hot?

4. moving is expensive. more so when moving from state to state.

5. got reconnection fees coming out the wahoo's. [cable, phone, water, trash...]

6. while eating brie cheese last night it made me miss my nerds- horribly.

7. i'm also craving hotbox pizza.

8. even though we're dirt poor from all this moving i finally ordered that dwell studio duvet set i've been loving for the past few years. [lumens gave 20% off plus free shipping over labor day]

9. i also got it because we're getting ready to paint the master bedroom and i'm not sure what color yet.

10. we did get the front entry, kitchen, breakfast area and the main living area upstairs all painted too. [another reason why we are dirt poor]

road trip home

the great mississippi

1. blogger won't let me upload 5 photos so this is all you get.

2. tuesday evening after a long 10 hour drive we stayed in memphis. the courtyard by marriot.

3. ate a yummy dinner at bb kings and got to listen to some blues. it was awesome.

4. wednesday morning we got up early for the next 9.5 hour drive. ham slept most of the way and kaylee complained a lot.

5. it never crossed my mind to get the suitcases ready in case of rain. [remember, mike told me it wasn't going to rain the whole way]

6. by 8:30 that morning, it was down pouring. and whatever highway we were on, it was mostly truck drivers driving at full speed.

7. we saw at least 4 accidents on our way. i'm sure they were all semi's driving in full speed in the rain related.

8. by the time we hit texas, it finally stopped raining.

9. then we stopped to see the house. wanted to show the kids. ham thought it would of been updated more. kaylee loved the pool. they both fought over the same room, of course.

10. not sure what we were thinking but we booked our hotel that was 30 minutes away from the house. it also started raining again.

taking off

our 50 ft. moving truck. it was jammed packed by friday night

the rover. packed with 4 people, computers, other stuff

and yes,thats my dyson sweeper on the roof

cool storm clouds in st. anne

1. a few days before leaving, i got all teary eyed. seeing all those boxes and empty rooms made me sad.

2. tuesday before leaving i really got teary eyed. mike's buddy gary came over first thing in the morning to say good-bye and we hugged our fantastic neighbors one last time.

3. before leaving i asked mike where the tarp was. he said we wouldn't be needing it because he looked at the 10 day forecast.

4. i asked him if he was sure and he promised me it wouldn't rain.

5. being the good wife that i am, i believed him so i didn't wrap the insides of the suitcases with trash bags.

6. though once we got to st. anne, illinois we saw some beautiful rain clouds coming. [i have many more besides the photo above]

7. to make matters worse, the rain followed us all the way to champagne, illinois till it was time to stop for lunch.

8. we ate lunch with a few guys that works for mike.

9. to split the roadtrip up to two days, our first stop was memphis.

10. the kids were really good.

playing catch up on this ol' blog

almost to our house

1. we finally have real internet. meaning not from the iphone.

2. lots going on this past week. phew! the craziness is almost over.

3. loving texas! the heat is a killer though. [103 at 6pm the other night]

4. took kaylee for a 10 minute car ride yesterday and i thought she was going to die because she told me she was going die from the heat. she then said take me back to indiana i can't stand the heat! drama. queen.

5. she's swimming and jumping in the deep end like a pro and it only took her 2 days of being in the water.

6. i have lots to show and tell.

7. the house is still in chaos but it looks and feels much better now that we got the main living areas painted.

8. tomorrow, one of our neighbors is hosting a welcome party for us and another family.

9. went to a volunteer meeting thursday morning at kaylee's school. 50+ parents were there!!

10. i also got a new cell phone number. i am no longer a hoosier.