The time has come

for me to go back to work...starting tomorrow I will be back in the rat race.  Starting a new job and a little anxious about it.  I have really enjoyed my time at home over the last several weeks awaiting all the paperwork to be completed.  During this time off I have gotten alot accomplished at home.    We finally had a realtor come to the house on Sunday and we should have the house on the market by the end of the week.   Woo Hoo! 

Today will be full of running errands and taking care of a few last minute things.  Got to try to get myself back on my schedule of going to bed early and getting up early.  UGH!  I have really liked staying up late and getting up a bit later. 

Gonna grab some lunch with my best  bud, Donna.  We have such a good time together. And we don't get the opportunity to "do" lunch when I am working so going to take this opportunity before our schedules change again to do just that.

Wanted to share a few pictures that were made at Tori's graduation cookout.  Better late than never huh?

Tori and I

Me and my girl

Michael,Tori, and Me

Derek, Tori, and Wesley

Don, Tori, and Stepmom Colleen

Me, Tori and Don

Tori's cake and cap

Well now I need to scoot..hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Hugs to all!

Let the weekend begin

well here it is Friday and the start of another weekend.  I love weekends.  This week has been filled with a little of this and that, but didn't get nearly all done that I wanted to do.  Two days this week I suffered from horrible headaches and it really slowed me down.  Hoping that I can make up for some lost time over the weekend. 
I did a little shopping  this morning.  All because I needed to go to wal-mart. I've had a little running list and had to pick up a few things, most importantly a rod and some curtains for my sliding glass doors.  Granted I am not thrilled with what I got, but think I can make it work.  Michael plans to build me a box to put over my door, and I am going to insert a tension rod with some curtains that I can pull to the side during the days.  He doesn't want to put holes in the walls for rods since he just incased them all with molding.  So it has left me with a bit of a dilemma of how to "dress them".  Hopefully my plan will work.
Whilst I was out and about, I stopped by the local goodwill store and found me some goodies.  I found me a set of 4 little white plates ($3.00) that will be adorable with ribbons weaved through them.  Kinda like these.  I am looking for some cake stands like these too.  (Photo images from Layla Grayce) The thrill of a hunt. Let's see what else did I pick up.  I got bunches of decorative lemons that I added to my glass jar. But when I was looking for some inspiration I found this great shot and didn't realize you could do so much with lemons.   (Photo image from No Fuss Fabulous) Wow is there some neat things at this site. 
After a quick stop in the GW store, I ran to Marshall's.  I found the greatest little read there.  What I have read so far is fabulous.  I think it is one of those books I will want to have a few of to pass out to friends.  It's called

" nesting it's a Chick Thing"

.  Can't wait to read it tips, hints, and stories.  As I was searching for this book on Amazon, I noticed they have another one that I am definitely going to put on my "wish list".  It's a Chick Thing: Celebrating the Wild Side of Women's Friendship.  Looks like some good reading.
Guess I need to scoot, hubby just got home and now this little chick is going to get him to take her to dinner. 
Hope everyone has a awesome "Father's Day Weekend".
Hugs,
Cindy

Whirlwind of activity

Hey ladies, Were do I start.  Over the last several weeks so much has been going on, and I have just been to tired to post.  Mainly because I couldn't put two sentences together to make any sense.  Not sure if this one will either but I just wanted to let you know what has been going on and what I been up too.

Things are coming along quite nicely on the house.  I just wish it was finished.  We are down to the little things now, but that seems to be taking forever, mainly because we are tired and just don't want to spend anymore time doing it.  We finally got our new doors hung, and I love the front door.  It is so pretty, and it lets in so much light into a area that really has no light.  This is not a actual picture, but it is this style.  I need to paint the door and we have to paint all the trim on the inside and out.  We  used a Ventician bronze hardware on the door and I am very pleased with it.  I can't wait until it is finished.  We also replaced our sliding doors in the family room.  Nothing fancy, just a  typical slider.

We also had our carpet laid upstairs and on the stairs.  Wow what a difference that made.  Ours was so bad, it was almost embarrassing. That took alot of work to get it ready for the carpet layers.  We moved all the furniture and also took up the old carpet.  Then of course, had to make loads of trips to the storage unit. 

My daughter also graduated from high school and Carroll County Community College with her certification  in cosmetology as a stylist,(the picture to the right is of Tori on the right, with her best friend Chelsea after graduation at CCCC)  and we had family from out of town here  for her graduation so I hosted a graduation cookout at the house.  It was alot of fun, and it gave us a chance to show off some of our hard work.

Tori also had her prom, I don't have any great pictures of her...but here are a few that were made. 

Tori and her dad Tori and I, me acting silly

Another shot, but not very good of me.  So between the house and activities going on with Tori, we have been busy.

This past weekend was the first weekend that we got away from the house and spent the day antiquing.  We had a blast.  I got several goodies. We traveled over to Hagerstown Md. this weekend and scouted out "Crossroads Antique Mall".  Boy did we have fun.  This is a huge place even though the picture doesn't look that large.  There is also two other stores, one being a mall next door...but I had already been there.  Anyhow, a few things I picked up were... 

Jade-ite Fire King Pitcher-5 dollars, I also got a nice little saucer for 1.00 that matches this.

 

 

Vintage wooden checkers for 5dollars. I have a collection of old toys, and these were awesome. In great shape.

 

 

I also have a extensive collection of Wexford Crystal and I found 4 of these wine goblets for 5.50.  Woo Hoo!

 

 

Well those are just a few of the goodies I got.  I also picked up some books, one was a Gooseberry Patch cookbook for 4.00. And you know how I love cookbooks.

Well this post is long enough but wanted to show you what I have been up too, other than just renovating.

Plan to post a few no so recent pictures on my Home blog shortly but they will give you a idea of the changes.

Happy Tuesday!

Moving right along

with each new day.  Ladies, I am so tired, but can't stop now.  Since my last post, so much has been happening.  My house is nearing completion and I am so happy about that.  Although this is going to be a very hectic and busy week.  In the last week we have gotten alot done. 

I had a little problem with the outdoor spiket on Wednesday and so we had to have the plumbers here on Thursday.  When I was leaving to go to Tori's graduation for the tech center on Wednesday afternoon, my tire got tangled in our garden house, and my car pulled it down the driveway causing the spiket to pull away from the house.  I had a gusher flooding my garage.  Now picture me, in dress slacks and heels running down to the neighbors house to find someone to help me.  I was beside myself.  My house was flooding and I was going to be late to my daughters graduation.  I wasn't real happy.  Needless to say, a gentleman from down the street came to my rescue, my hubby flew home from work and all was taken care of.  We had no water Wednesday afternoon/evening, but we weren't going to be here for the main part, so the plumbers came first thing on Thursday morning and replaced the damage I did and showers were had by all in time for Michael to go to work. ;)

My dear daughter graduated from Career Technologies on Wednesday evening.  She has been taking cosmetology classes for the last 18 months and working in a salon part time.  She took her board certification test a week before and last Monday we found out she passed.  So now she is a certified stylist.  She was thrilled beyond words.  This next Saturday night she graduates from HS.  I know this will be a sad day for me, my last child graduating from High School.  Seems like only yesterday she was starting school. Anyhow, my folks are coming up from Kentucky on Thursday to share the joy with us.  I am hosting a celebration cook out on Saturday before graduation for some family and friends.  Should be fun.  Although I think I must be a bit crazy since my house still isn't finished yet. 

On Thursday and Friday my new doors were hung.  I purchased a new front door and a new slider for the family room.  Boy what a difference that make.  Now I have to decide what kind of window treatment to put on the slider.  I just don't know what to do?  Please if you have any ideas I would love to hear them.  I need help and fast with this one.

This morning I had a man from Lowe's out taking measurements of all our rooms for the new carpet.  As it stands now they are coming out on Wednesday to install it.  Woo Hoo...after that, with the exception of a few little touch up projects that house will be finished.  It'll be time to put it on the market.

Over the weekend, we finished up some more yard work and powerwashing we wanted to do, plus my daughter had 4 softball games, one of which was a ALL STAR game which she played in and they won.  Just another busy week and weekend.  But this week I have to kick it into high gear. 

This morning I spent time in the workshop and garage sorting and organizing some of Michael's tools and such.  When you are remodeling you don't seem to have time between jobs to organize your mess, and before you know it, YOU CAN'T FIND ANYTHING!  So you go buy doubles and triples.

Tonight looks like a night that we will try to get some things back on our walls and tomorrow we will moving everything around upstairs to get ready for the carpet folks on Wednesday.  Believe me when I say I will be glad when this time next week rolls around.

Need to scoot, got lots to do today...so need to get started. :)

Hope your having a blessed day!

Hugs!

I'm totally beat

And I mean that with every sense of the word.  I haven't had any computer time since Thursday afternoon, so haven't gotten to post.  I have been working like a mad woman on a mission in this house.  Thursday night when I got home from work, I started gathering and boxing miscellaneous ideas in Tori's room and worked on this most of the evening.  On Friday, Wesley came over to help his momma out.  He and I gathered all the things for goodwill into the back of his truck and headed out.  Either they are loving me or hating at Goodwill.  I don't have any idea how much "junk" I have taken there.  After dropping all that off, we swung by our local senior center.  I have a piano that I have been trying to get rid of, no one plays it here, takes lots of room, and it just too heavy to move again.  So anyway, I stopped in to see if they might be interested.  Unfortunately they didn't need it but one of the seniors there was a piano teacher and she said maybe one of her students could use one.  Also the director of the center wanted my phone number and name and said she might know of some people, within a few hours, she called me and said she wanted it.  SCORE!  So she is suppose to call on Tuesday to set up a pick up time.  WOO HOO!

Once we got back home from that little errand, Wesley and I loaded up our vehicles with all the things from Tori's room and headed to her dads.  It felt good getting that stuff out of the house.  Let me tell you.  This took the better part of the day.  By the end of the day I was famish and sore.  So Michael and I headed out to dinner and done some grocery shopping.  I wanted to pick up some things, because the kids are coming over on Monday for a BBQ. 

Yesterday morning Michael and I got out EARLY in the yard and were there all day.  I really got nothing done in the house except for washing the linens off Tori's bed, and ours.  We spent the day working on planting flower beds.  After that, we had 3 yds. of mulch delivered and we got  that all out too.  Do you know how much 3 yds of mulch is?  Let me tell you it's ALOT!  2 yards wouldn't have been enough and 3 was too much, but we decided to put the extra in our veg. garden to keep the weeds down.  So needless to say my flower beds look great.  I mowed the back yard while Michael was working on other yard work.  Finally at 8 last night we called it a night.  We ordered dinner to be delivered and then we vegged in front of the TV for a couple hours, and it was all I could do to stay awake.  So hit the hay, just to get up and start all over today. 

We have LOTS of little piddly jobs that that have to be done upstairs and we have divided those up to conquer them.  So while Michael is taking a break from inside work, by going outside...I decided to post to my blog, and update ya.  He is power washing the front of the house,porch, driveway and the one sides of our house.  He has already done the back when he redid the deck.  Anyway, we want the front to look nice before the guys bring in my doors.  My new front door and slider is going to be installed on Thursday and I can hardly wait.  We also plan to call the carpet guys either tomorrow or Tuesday, and get that oredered and installed.  So as you can see there hasn't been alot of time for the weary here.  Just pushing forward.  I can see the light!!!

Gotta scoot...really do have things I should be doing...feeling guilty sitting here when I know he is hard at work. 

Busy as a bee

Hey blogging friends, today is going to be a busy day.  I have bunches of things that I want to get done today. Plus the weather is suppose to be in the 80's. Which makes me a very happy girl.  It just gives me that extra boost of energy that I need to accomplish some things.
I didn't get alot done last night after I got home because frankly, I was tired and took a nap instead, then had to head out to a meeting so by the time I got home, I just wanted to watch AI and go to bed.  Not without getting my votes in for Kris though.  Those phone lines were busy for the longest time.  I think both guys deserve to be in the finals, but I am just drawn to Kris.  His ability all around.  Is there a instrument he can't play?  To me, Adam is so predictable and guess I lost luster with him some time back.  But after tonight I guess we will now who the new idol is.  Is anyone watching the new Bachlorlette show?  I recorded it, but haven't watched it yet.  I really like Jillian and it will be interesting to see her pick in guys.  I already have a favorite guy for her from the little bit I did see, but not going to divulge that right now.  Let's face it, I got to watch the show to see if he even stuck around for the next show.
Anyhow, yesterday while I was out at lunch I picked up a few things to complete some projects that have been running through my head.  I picked up some of those liquid chalk markers that Auntie Ruth has been telling us about.  Can't wait to try my hand at putting some pretty messages on my chalkboard for the kitchen.  Plus I picked up a roll of black and white toile wrapping paper that I plan to line the back of my hutch with.  I am anxiously awaiting my new dinnerware from Longaberger and thought the toile paper would be a pretty and formal backdrop for me new dinnerware.  I also picked up some new valences for my son's room, so need to change those out too. 
Our door guy comes today and we have also contacted a plumber to install a new shower fixture in our shower.  Michael did all the other installations but this one is going to be a bit tricky and wants to get a professional to do it.  We also picked up some carpet swatches so we can make a decision about that.  Man is things rolling right along.
With the weather being so pretty today, I hope we can get the rest of our flowers out.
So tell me what is on your agenda for today?
Gotta scoot for now, check back for some pictures soon. 
Hugs!

Can you say random?

Hi friends, Just wanted to say hello and wish you all a great day.  It is a sunny pretty day here in Maryland.  Albeit a bit breezy for my taste, but sunny and pretty all the same.  Looking forward to June because maybe the temps will be more consistent.  Last night it got down to freezing here.  can you believe that?  Fortunately I don't think any of the flowers or veggies we put over the weekend suffered. 

We don't usually do a big garden but we do put a few things out each year.  Several different type of tomatoes.  We both love them.  I like the little cherry ones for my salads, and the beef steak ones, I use mainly for burgers and such, plus I like to use fresh ones for my pico de gallo.  Boy do we love that stuff.  We also put out several types of peppers.  We like sweet peppers, but Michael has to have his hot peppers, so I always do some jalapeno's for him.   I also like to put out cucumbers, because that is something I just like to snack on or use in salads too.  My mom use to make pickles, but I never have tried that...but one of these years I am going to try it.  I also put out two kinds of squash, I love fried squash and Michael makes them great.  Mine aren't usually all that good, I think I cook them to fast, but his are always perfect.  Usually I put out zucchini but couldn't find any...that is until today on my lunch hour.  I ran out and found a couple of slips so I am sure they will be in the ground later today.  :)  Squash is such a favorite for us.  We like to cook it in foil on the grill and add some peppers, onions and some seasonings...mmmmmmmmm yummy.  I am ready for garden produce to start coming in, and cooking out on the grill.  Nothing says summer to me like a big cookout.

So tell me, what are some things that you put in your garden?
Other than typical stuff there is really nothing going on with me.  Mainly house projects but hopefully that is going to be over soon.  Tomorrow afternoon, we have a guy coming over to show us samples of doors, and we are hoping we will be able to order them and get them installed next week.  That is one of our major jobs still left to do. Of course our other major job is replacing the carpet on the stairs and upstairs.  Hoping to do that in the next week or so.  I will be so happy when those things are done. It will feel like such a huge accomplishment. 

This weekend ( I have a three day weekend) I plan to go through my kitchen with a fine tooth comb, and clean out the cupboards.  That will be a chore.  But again, it will be a nice feeling knowing it is all behind us.  It isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my Memorial Day, but hopefully I can get out at some point and do something fun.
Yesterday I went to the salon and got my hair cut  and highlighted.  Let me tell you girls, it is BLONDE!  It is taking getting used too. But now I feel ready for summer.  Well almost, I could of/should of tried to lose a couple of pounds but that didn't happen.  Oh well, I'm hopeful I will drop of little weigh with the hot months upon us.

I will try to get Michael to get a picture of me in the next few days and post my hair.  Be prepared to be shocked.
Well ladies, I need to scoot...got things to do.
Have a blessed Tuesday.
Hugs,
Cindy