I'm done!!!

Well...mostly. With my Christmas shopping that is. We've got a couple of little things to buy for Anne, and I'm making her a calendar and I've still got a few things to get for Mark, but other than that - done, done, done! Ahhh, it's nice. Now I just have to start wrapping. I've been putting that off.

I also finished addressing my Christmas cards, except for a few. I must have miscounted because I'm short a few so I'll have to get some more. I imagine I can do that tomorrow afternoon. I hope to get those ready to go next week. I'm not sure I'll get them sent by then, but I'll get them ready at least.

I don't have much new other than that. I also finished the Christmas cards at work (which I designed and printed myself). There may be a few stragglers I'll need to finish, but pretty much done. We'll have the annual seal and stamp party tomorrow afternoon so we can get all 300+ of those off.

Laura, glad to hear you *might* have opened the pattern today ;) I didn't even think to send thread with all that. Sorry.

Man, I'm boring tonight, but I hadn't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd give y'all something! Have a great weekend!

Back to work!

I have had such a nice, relaxing weekend! I hate that we weren't able to be there for Thanksgiving on Saturday, especially since the phone didn't even ring the whole 1/2 day we worked on Friday. What a waste of time! I was, however, able to get a little Christmas shopping done. Now I'm down to 3 people to buy for...well 4 including Mark. I have several ideas of what I'm going to get him, I just have to decide which big gift it's going to be and then get that and a few small things for his stocking.

Our Thanksgiving went well with Anne on Saturday. Mark roasted a huge chicken (no...not one of ours!) and we also had mashed potatos, peas, corn, turnips (ick!). Fruit salad for dessert (Anne's diabetic and refuses to eat anything sweet, even if it's just Splenda). Mark did all the cooking except for making the mashed potatos. While he was finishing up, Anne looked around the house. I think this is her thing when she is invited over. She wants to look at everything! Which is fine, I guess...the house is still technically hers. So, she wandered around and looked at all the pictures and stuff. Then she asked me if I had any family pictures on the computer. She is very intrigued by the computer...so I pulled up Daddy's website and showed her a few. Daddy, I need some of the really old ones, like in the Garrity family album...the Cavanaugh's, etc. Then she asked me if I could find this out of print book for her...which I did. It's a 2 volume reference book on exotic plants...she's likes that sort of thing. She was pleased I could find it, and I'm pleased she asked...that makes buying her Christmas present alot easier! It's a little on the expensive side, but I'm just happy we can get her something we know she specifically wants!

The rest of the weekend we spent cleaning up the yard and lounging, nothing interesting, but much needed relaxation. Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow...blah.

I'll leave you with a scrap page I did of our house. This picture, according to Anne, was taken some time in the 1850's. It's so neat to see how the house has changed over the years. Thanks to Laura, as usual, for your input on this page. I hope everyone has a great week!

All elements and paper: Iron Orchid

Almost Thanskgiving

We had the BEST Thanksgiving lunch at work today. I made 2 pies...chess and chocolate chess, neither of which I'd ever made before and they were GOOD...the chocolate probably could have cooked a tad longer, but it tasted very good, it was just a little gooey.

Laura, the fabric has been purchased!! So RELAX!! Mommy found some at Joann's...I haven't seen it, but she had a swatch of the fabric for my chairs with her and said it matched perfectly. So, I told her to get it. And she got the lining too. For a really good price I might add. I still need to get some contrasting green fabric, but I haven't exactly decided how to do that yet. I think it's just going to go on the valance/cornices, so I'll be doing that part anyway. So, as long as I remember to bring the pattern with me Thursday, you're all set. I'll try to remember to go ahead and put it in the car so I can't forget it.

In other, WONDERFUL news...Nan gave Mark an extra day off so he can take off the day after Christmas. That way we won't be so rushed. So we don't have to go back to work until Wednesday after Christmas. I need to know everyone's plans for that. Are we going to do what we did last year and go to Mommy & Daddy's after Mammaw's? Did we do dinner there? I know Jennifer and Laura have other places to be, so let me know so we can plan accordingly...Oh, and Mommy and Daddy might want to know to be prepared too ;) I'm hoping everyone can be around on Christmas Day, because that's really the only time we'll have to spend with everyone. So, let me know!

The weekend already?

This has been a bit of a weird week. I went home sick (stomach bug...woohoo!) on Tuesday afternoon and didn't go into work at all on Wednesday. I don't know how I ever stayed home before...I was bored out of my mind! So I worked on painting the trim in the hallway. We have now pretty much finished that project except for the ceiling and trim. That might get done tonight, but I kind of doubt it. I also got a lot of my Christmas shopping done online thanks to an IM session with Laura. I think, except for Brent, all of the kids' gifts are done. Of course, those are the easiest ones really. I have a pretty good idea of what the rest of the gifts are going to be, it's just a matter of getting around to shopping for them...online or otherwise. Mark is a bit difficult to buy for and I've got to come up with 2 for him...birthday and Christmas. I have ideas, but I'm not sure which way I'll go with it yet. I better get on it though, his birthday isn't that far off!

Mommy and Daddy are coming to visit tomorrow and miraculously the house has stayed pretty well clean and straightened up all week. Mark's just been in cleaning mode. So, I've got to do a few things tonight to de-cat everything for Mommy's sake. Not that it'll help much, but it will help and it needs to be done anyway. I dread doing it because it makes my allergies nuts, but it helps in the long run. So, I will vacuum and Febreze Allergen Reducer everything within an inch of its life. I was noticing that the drapes needs lint rollered, so I'll do that too.

My friend Tonia is supposed to get back to me today about fabric stores. Her father does upholstering (sp?), so she was going to ask him if he knows of any fabric stores nearby. If he does, hopefully Mommy and I can check those out while they're here. I'm sure Daddy and Mark can find something else to do that will be more entertaining for them. I'm down to the wire on getting fabric for Laura to make my drapes. My deadline is Thanksgiving. I can't for the life of me figure out why it's so hard to find solid color fabrics, but I will find it...I just hope I can get it done in time. I do have a Plan B...different curtains for a different room. Hmm...Laura, I didn't tell you about that, did I? LOL Probably easier to make than the drapes, which is why I was saving that project for myself.

And, in work drama, our new sales rep quit yesterday...I think he found a better offer, which is unfortunate because we all liked him alot. So, the search is once again on for another one or two sales reps. We just can't seem to find anyone that will stick. Ugh!

Ok...I've seriously been slacking on my posts. I'll try to do better next week. Have a good weekend everyone!

Shopping, shopping and more shopping...

Whew! Today wore me out! I can't remember the last time I spent the whole day shopping. I spent my birthday money plus a little more, but I think I did well. I'm not even going to try to find picture of everything. I got 1 pair of pants, 1 suit (pants & jacket), 2 shells to go underneath my suits, 2 skirts and 2 sweaters. I'm rather pleased with myself ;)
While I was at the mall I went to Gymboree and got Madeline & Caleb's birthday presents....Toys for Christmas, clothes for the birthday...Here's what I got for them.
I was able to get 2 pairs of pajamas for Caleb because they were having a good sale on those:

















And then I got an outfit for Madeline...I just can just see her in it...so cute:













Before all the clothes shopping, I went fabric shopping for the drapes Laura's making for me...not fun and I didn't have much luck either. Very frustrating!

After all the clothes shopping I had to go to WalMart...so let's just say I've had enough shopping to last me for quite awhile. AND every place I went today was SO crowded. It was like shopping in December. It took me 30 minutes to get a parking spot at the mall!

I don't know where the week went. This is a good thing, though. It didn't seem to be going all that during the week, but now it seems like it flew by. Nothing terribly eventful happened at work and at home Mark and I continued to work on the house some. Mostly cleaning things up and getting things back in order. Last night we took some extra furniture up to the attic and Mark swept floors and dusted a little. He was certainly in a cleaning mood! Not that I was sharing that feeling...I wasn't. He moved the trim and closet doors from the library out to the shop last night so he could trim the doors down some and then we can paint them. While he worked on that, I cooked. I believe it's the first time this week that I've cooked! We had beef stroganoff, which turned out really well. After dinner Mark was buzzing all over the house straightening things up and cleaning. I sat down at the computer to scan a drapery pattern in for Laura so she can see what she will be getting me for Christmas ;) Then I talked to Mommy and Daddy until we were all 3 about to fall asleep.
So that's about it for last night.

This certainly hasn't been the best week. My birthday, overall, was pretty crappy. It was a nice day outside and everyone at work remembered my birthday and spent a large part of the day teasing me about being 30...which they can do because all but 2 of them are OVER 30. Anne (Mark's mom) stopped by the office that morning and gave me my presents and chatted with us for a minute or 2. Then Mark and I went to the Pub after work for a few minutes. We hadn't been in quite a while and we thought maybe we'd get to see some friends, but there wasn't really anyone there, which was disappointing. So we went home. Mark made me a pizza on a flour tortilla (one of his specialties) and then fixed me a huge piece of birthday cake. About 8:30, I decided I'd just had enough of the day, so I went to bed. Birthdays just aren't that much fun anymore. Not that Mark didn't try, he did. He took me out on Sunday and baked my cake and gave me a present on Tuesday night. Maybe that was the problem...my birthday was just anticlimatic. It was depressing...and it wasn't that I was turning 30. It would've been depressing if I had been turning any age. Anyway...it's over. So, tomorrow I'm off to Paducah to spend my birthday money on myself! And hopefully find some fabric for the dining room drapes...which I think is going to be a challenge. Maybe some retail therapy will be good for me.

Still going...

Yesterday Mark took me to Jackson for my birthday dinner. We had Japanese...and oh my gosh it was good! Not Kobe's good, but really good. Before that we did a little shopping. I can't believe the money we spent this weekend, but 90% of it was for the room (library). We bought a roman shade for the exterior window. It's red to tie in with my Van Gogh (Field of Poppies) and add a little color to the room. It looks very nice. Also, since that room has no overhead light, we bought a floor lamp. So, except for painting the closet doors and getting them rehung, the room is complete. Furniture and all AND we got it all cleaned up and the books neatly arranged on the shelves. That gave Mark a chance to exercise his OCD tendencies. He put all his paperbacks in alphabetical order and the non-fiction books in order by subject. This was kind of a long, drawn-out process, but it's done. Mark really was in rare form this weekend. He usually gets up pretty early, even on the weekends. Usually he spends that time before I get up lounging, reading, watching TV, or on the computer. This weekend he did laundry, arranged the books, cleaned up the dining room (where all the books and knick-knacks had been sitting while we were working on the room), cleaned the kitchen, polished some furniture, etc. He even arranged some bittersweet in a vase for our fall table centerpiece. He did a good job with that too. I was quite impressed. He got a ton of stuff done. I did far less, but still had a productive weekend. I'll post some more pictures when I get a chance to take them.

We're done!

Well...pretty much. With the library that is. I've still got to scrape a little paint off the windows and then wash the windows and we have a couple small pieces of trim to paint, but other than that it's finished! It looks really good too. We do good work-if I do say so myself. We drove to McKenzie today and bought a new computer desk and a lighted curio cabinet. We had been using Mark's old drafting tables for a computer desk, but that wasn't really working out so well. The curio we bought because we're dorks. We like rocks. We had a lot of geodes and fossils that were just collecting dust on the bookshelves and were all lined up in front of the books. So we cleaned them all up today and put them in the new curio. We also have a shelf full of shells and stuff. It looks really good. We both love it. AND I found a new home for my Van Gogh painting. It looks much better in here than it did in the living room. Here are some pictures...







The view towards the porch...no books on the shelf yet.









The view towards the dining room with the new curio and a very busy Mark.

And the new desk, disregard the can of Pledge to the left...still a work in progress.

And you'll notice there are no pictures of the middle of the room...there's a good reason for that! Still a bit of a mess, but Mark's working on that as I'm typing this. I guess he might want some help, so I'm off to help. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Friday! Woohoo!

It seems we've all slowed down on our blogging, haven't we? Is that an indication that everyone is very, very busy?

I'm doing my very best not to get sick, but I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the battle. Just a little cold I'm sure, but I hate not feeling good! Work has been a little less busy for me this week, but promises to make up for it next week. We hired a new tech a few weeks ago (I think I already mentioned that) and this week our new sales rep started. Both seem to be fitting in quite well, which is no small feat in this office. We are a very tight knit group, so it's like voting someone into the family when they are hired. These 2 seem to be successful additions.

Outside of work we haven't done much except for work on the library. Thankfully we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on that project. I really like it. The color actually looks more like a Frappucino than really khaki, but I think we both like it. It looks very nice with the new white trim. We were afraid it was going to be too dark, but since we've gotten a couple coats on now, it doesn't look too dark at all, it looks nice. I can't wait to get the furniture back in there and get it out of the rest of my house! We've been talking about rearranging the furniture in there too and I think that will make as big a difference as the wall color. I'm going to split up the 3 bookshelves instead of having one full wall of them. Or at least I think I'm going to do that, we'll see how it looks. I think it'll look better with them split up, and it will also allow us to move the computer desk to a more practical place in the room.

Hmm...I can't think of anything else to say other than I'm dreading Wednesday a little. How is it possible that I am going to be 30? I sure don't feel 30. Or maybe I do...it's not like I know what 30 is supposed to feel like. It just seems like a bit of an adjustment or something. 30 sounds so adult. Then I think about it, and I guess that would be what I am, right? I go to work everyday, I pay bills, I get the oil changed in the car, etc, etc. Oh my Lord, have I become responsible? Is is possible? I guess 30 isn't so bad. It's really just another day, right, I'm basically already 30, so what's the big deal. I guess I always imagined myself to be in a different place in life at 30 and I'm not at that place. It would really be worse if I didn't like where I'm at. I've most definitely been at worse places in my life. So, this is pretty good. I should have a really big party to celebrate that I made it 30, shouldn't I? I'm supposed to have a girls night out the day after my birthday, so maybe that will be my celebration. Or maybe I'll just hang out at home with Mark because either one sounds about as appealing really. I mean that in a good way. Ok then...I'm wrapping this up now. At the rate I've been going I won't blog again until after my birthday, so goodbye 20's...you were fun, well sometimes anyway. Hello 30's! Everyone have a good weekend and have a good my birthday next week!