Lime time

We finished painting our kitchen! We left a couple inches unpainted near the ceiling for future crown molding. Besides the crown, all we have left to do is add the knobs to the cabinets and hang curtains & art. The color is Limonata from Lowe's but the paint is Sherwin Williams. We're going to put a chair rail and beadboard in the breakfast area at some point. And one day we'd like to upgrade our floors, but one step at a time! Here are pictures!

A collection of items completely unrelated to each other

More work was done on my house yesterday. All sorts of men tramped through with their nail guns. Then my carpet was cleaned. I'm so tired of my house being a construction zone.

In other news...on our way to IKEA Monday we saw an interesting site. A dump truck had run off the road and was stuck in the ditch. Took 2 tow trucks to pull it out.

In family news...my littlest sister is contemplating dating a guy who's shorter than her. Since she's 5'11" it isn't hard to find boys that don't measure up height wise. He's cute as can be, funny, and gets along great with the fam. She says she doesn't mind the difference. I hope they work out. I dated a shorter guy once (he said he was 5'9". I'm 5'7". 5'9" my ass) and lemme tell you it was hard to get over the shortness. I often felt like a giant dinosaur. Could you get over it? Have you?

Limonata

Painting the kitchen. Got bored with the family room color and started trimming out the breakfast area & kitchen. Now I have 2 ghetto painted rooms instead of 1 completed room! Doh!

No longer a blank canvas

CSP & I have tired of living in our white house. Every wall and all the trim is painted the same builder white. So yesterday we went paint shopping. We picked out paint for all of the downstairs and the master bath. I still don't know for sure what colors we're going to do in the rest of the upstairs but you gotta start somewhere, right? For our family room & most of the downstairs (hallway, entry, etc) we chose Angora. The master bath will be Unique Gray (I have a master plan, trust me). The 1/2 bath downstairs is Rhapsody Lilac. And the kitchen will be Limonata (a lime green). We painted the family room last night, although I think more paint got on Molly than on the walls.Kiki stayed out of the way and napped through the whole thing-waking just long enough for a photo op!

Mirror, mirror

CSP & FIL installed our new mirror & light fixture in our master bath. Yay! No more sheet mirror and Hollywood lights. And the best part about this mirror? It was free! My old boss gave it to me. Woohoo!

Snork

Well, I spent the weekend trying to get over this nasty plague. I'm up to the sneezing, coughing, snorking phase now. Meanwhile, CSP spent the weekend installing all of the lighting fixtures we've had sitting in boxes for weeks. He put up ceiling fans in the family room, kitchen, screened in porch, & master bedroom; lighting in the entry, hallways (up & down), breakfast room, laundry, half bath, master closet & master bath. AND he hung the big mirror in our master bath. Our house is finally starting to look more like a home. I CAN NOT wait to be able to start painting! And hanging things on the walls! Ooh, just remembered I need to take a photo of the m.bath, but I have been updating my 365 project with photos of his hard work. Click here to check, check, check- check it out.

Oh, and please keep good thoughts for us as we have our social worker visit tomorrow. She has to check out the new digs and make sure we're still fit to be parents.

Working it

A few of the drywall workers trying to fix our ceiling while covering everything we own with gritty, white dust.
My house was a maze of plastic sheet walls all day. I was trapped in the kitchen for hours listening to the workers speak Spanish. Must learn Spanish.

Ok, ok I'll tell you why he was sleeping in the closet

This is why: that is my family room ceiling. Note the sexy builder's choice light. Our master bedroom, dining room, and breakfast room ceilings look the same way. This is why we still have boxes all over the house that remain unpacked. Our lovely builder, CP Morgan left our house in a wreck and said it was ready to close. Let me tell you we will never build a house with them again, nor will we ever recommend them to anyone. Don't get me wrong, we love our neighborhood and our house, but the experience has been just awful. I can't tell you everything that's happened in one post as your eyes will tire from reading and fall out of your head- the post would be so long. But I want to get the word out to as many people as possible to spare folks the agony that is working with CP Morgan.
Right now there are 6 men in my house sanding, nailing, painting, and fixing things. All things that we pointed out needed repair back in August before we closed in September. And now all of our things are covered in a thick layer of white drywall dust. They were here all day yesterday too. Jon couldn't sleep the night before worrying, so he caught a nap before work in the closet- literally the only space there wasn't work being done.
We haven't been able to install ceiling fans and lighting because of the ceiling repairs. We couldn't unpack most things cause that would be more to dust after the repairs. We haven't been able to paint. Or set up our bed and other furniture properly cause it would have to be moved.
Everything on the 3 page list of items to be repaired we were assured were normal by our then construction manager. He's since been fired. It took an angry letter to the home office, multiple phone calls, a 3 hour meeting with CP Morgan execs, more phone calls, and another meeting to get these things repaired.
CP Morgan's slogan is "More Square Footage, Less money". It should be "More headaches, Less Satisfaction". I swear to you they sucked every bit of excitement and happiness out of building our house. Trust me when I tell you, spend the extra money. You truly get what you pay for.

Keeping Track

At our old house we had a chalkboard wall with a calendar on it. I missed having a calendar in plain sight. I realized my Crayola glass markers worked on the fridge and I was back in business!

Invasion

Ladybugs have landed on our house. A bajillion of them. They started coming here about a month ago and quite a few have moved in. I read that they are attracted to light colored houses and they're just here for the winter so just leave them alone. That's fine with me! I can use all the ladybug luck I can get! Here are some having a meeting in a corner of the kitchen:click to enlarge. I never knew their little spots were so symmetrical and each one has a different pattern. They were dive bombing my husband and BIL while they were building the fence and my BIL told me they were biting him! Big baby! They don't even have teeth! ;)

I'm a danger to myself even while I sleep!

This was going to be a boring ol update post, but now you lucky devils get a near death story to boot! But you'll have to wait til the end- muhahaha!
-Our bed situation: the king size mattress is still in the family room, however, we've been upgraded! My mom gave us 2 twin mattress sets that my little sister used to have in her room. They were covered in a plastic anti-allergen cover the whole time and Morgan only used them from ages 6-12 or something so she didn't weigh but a thing so it's like they are brand new. We pushed them together and it's like we're sleeping on a king sized bed again! Woohoo! I can sleep with my arms at my sides! Now CSP just has to get the bed frame upstairs (won't fit- shocker!) and we'll be all set. (foreshadowing!)
-Health: my arms are doing well. The braces really help. We're putting off my surgery for a while because we just can't afford to do that and finish our dossier right now. My arms can wait. My knee is also getting much better. My Ortho recommended physical therapy but I just didn't see the need to pay $80 a week so someone could tell me what exercises to do to get it stronger when we have Google. My only weak points right now are after I sit or sleep for a while and try to get up, and going up and down stairs, or after a long day of walking it will tighten up and buckle. So I'm really pleased with all my progress!
-House: I'll be devoting an entire post to all the reasons why no one should ever build with CP Morgan, but that will have to wait for another day. We're slowly getting unpacked. It seems like we moved in then all kinds of things happened to slow me down, but I'm picking up speed. We have to wait on painting and putting up lighting and ceiling fans until CP Morgan comes in and fixed our ceilings so we're still living in a white box with horrible lighting and no one is allowed to visit yet. But we'll get there!
-Nephews & Neicelet: LOVE and adore them. Jacob has become really affectionate and loving and gives the best hugs. Joey has become a lint eater. This kid will sit on the sofa and pick fuzz off the afghan and eat it. He will choose sock fuzz over real food snacks. Bizarre. Oh, and did I mention that Olivia regularly says Shanny now? Melts my heart.

Ok, you've been patient long enough... I was sleeping peacefully on my twin/king bed last night when I awoke while drowning. See, you're not supposed to have your machine higher than your head, but the bed frame has to be taken apart and put back together up in our room (CSP built it himself) so we're just on the mattress/box springs right now and my bedside table is higher. And somehow, some time during the night I managed to pull my machine off the table and tipped it so it was standing on the humidifier part on the bed. And all the water in the chamber raced down my tube and into my nose. I woke up in a panic (mainly because I was drowning! in my own bed!) and ripped my mask off. In the process I broke the little plastic piece that holds the strap on. I coughed and sputtered and cleaned up my mess and tried to rig my mask back to my face to no avail. I managed to get some sleep last night, but not much. My throat is killing me today. But the good news is that the way my machine fell meant that the water went away from the motor. Yay!! But no one is calling me back from the supplies place- probably because of the holiday. Boo!! Oh, and what was CSP doing throughout my ordeal last night? Sleeping peacefully on his twin mattress side of our ghetto king bed, blissfully unaware that I was facing one of my least preferred methods of dying. Thanks for all that marital support there, honey!
So there you have it. Proof that even while sleeping I'm a major klutz and a hazard to myself!

Where the Swedes kick my Southern ass all the way home

Driving to Atlanta, shopping at IKEA, eating at Lisa's, fighting over smokers, more shopping, driving home, and unloading is a crippling experience. But I can't resist the call of the affordable Swedish homewares. As soon as you walk through the doors something happens to you. Me, my brain slides out of my ears and lies in a quivering mass on the floor. I can never go to IKEA and get my order right. EVER. What did I screw up this time? I bought 2 sconces that must be hardwired instead of the ones that plug in, 3 shades for the screened porch that are 9 inches too short (and I was armed with measurements from home), 3 toliet brush holders instead of toilet tissue holders, and 1 giant cracked mirror. I am a shopping dumbass.
Our drive down was fun and liesurely AND we witnessed an up close and personal Fast and Furious Atlanta style as 5 or 6 souped up Hondas stopped- stopped!!- on the highway then took off like rockets with tires smoking. They crossed 5 lanes of traffic before hitting the exit ramp. We stayed in a fabulous hotel with a modern flare and enjoyed the giant plasma tv, ginger smelling shampoo and soap, and the free breakfast. We did not, however, enjoy the person who insisted on smoking in the room adjacent to ours. Since they were adjoining rooms the smoke came right under the door and flew right down my CPAP machine tube into my lungs. The entire hotel is non-smoking so this was an issue. Susan called down to the desk and told them about it so we wouldn't get charged the $200 smoking fee and so they'd make the smoker stop. We went back to sleep, but the drama didn't end there.
Saturday we shopped at IKEA about all day- 366,000 square feet is a lot of ground to cover, especially when every Atlanta resident is there with you. Man was it crowded! We loaded up our purchases and quickly got lost on the many highways that crisscross the metro Atlanta area. We pulled into a McDon@lds and asked the drive through girl what town we were in while Lisa looked up directions. We finally made it to their house and enjoyed a fabulous dinner and even better company. We laughed and talked til late and headed back to the hotel. Our room smelled clean again so we were hopeful. We were so tired and sore and went right to sleep. Only to be woken up at 2am with a room full of smoke again. This time Susan brought the front desk guy up to our room and do you know what he said? That we just smelled carpet cleaner or incense!!! My ass! We were so tired it just wasn't worth it to switch rooms so we endured another fitful night's sleep. By this time our clothes smelled even! We made sure to talk to the manager when we checked out and secured coupons for a free future visit. We went back to IKEA to return the 7 foot long curtain rods I bought the day before for our 3 foot wide windows. Duh. We couldn't help ourselves and went back through the store one more time before hitting the road.
We stopped for lunch on the way home and had the strangest waitress. Each time she'd refill our drinks or bring us something and we'd say thank you she'd say "thank YOU". It was so weird.
We finally got home with all our goodies and deemed it a fantastic weekend. I was so glad Susan liked IKEA too. And of course, I can't wait to go back!

Our first house guest

At the new house will be Lisa! She's on the plane right now on her way down for a few days. We're going to have a ball!

Don't fence me in

CSP & BIL are building our fence! Woohoo! I can't tell you how excited I am. Walking Molly is pure torture. She's the pug Houdini. She wiggles out ofher collar & harness and we've had to involve the neighborhood kids to reign her in. Building a fence is a big deal and it will take til Wednesday until it is completed. Can't wait!

We have an aggressive agenda today folks

Lots to tell you, so sit back & get comfy.

-If you're participating in the Halloween BPOH- remember to post your pics tomorrow! I can't wait to see everyone's spooky haunts!

-We closed on the old house today. Woohoo! It's done! We no longer own 2 homes AND we cleared enough $ to finish our dossier! So excited about that! We'll still need to save for the China trip, but I'm just thrilled I can get this finished up. I totally cried at the closing table because of it. Also because I was literally running on 1 hour's sleep. We procrastinated and frankly just have too much crap, and I can barely walk cause of my knee so it took forFREAKINGever to clear out the old house. We pulled an all nighter and got to bed at 6:30 this morning to get up at 7:30 to leave at 8 for the closing. We came home and crashed til 6pm today. I'm seriously doing some major purging of stuff and having a ginormous yard sale.

-Got my MRI results finally. Too bad I'm not a pro athlete, I would have had those results by the time Sports Center came on. I have an old football injury. I tore my ACL, I have a ton of fluid in my joint that must be drained (don't like the sound of that), and there is deterioration around my patella. Patella sounds like a dish at Olive Garden. I go in the morning to the Orthopedist (sp) to see what's next. I pray I won't have to have surgery. Or if I do maybe they can do a 2fer and take care of my arms at the same time. I wouldn't mind if they threw in some lipo, a tummy tuck, butt reduction and a pedicure while I'm out.

-I'm officially an old fogey. Lots of those combo restaurants going up- you know half Taco Bell half KFC? Those types. I don't like it. Don't mess with the formula. I don't wanna go somewhere where they are a seafood/Mexican joint. Stick to one theme. I don't want my egg rolls hanging out with my pizza.

-Sharing is caring: if you need anything from Sephora now's the time to get it. Enter JACKPOT for your coupon code and you'll get a goodie bag FULL of fabulous super sized samples. Everything from lotion to perfume to lip gloss.

Ok, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your time, you can go back to your day now.

A bunch of random stuff then I go on a bit of a rant

I promise I'll get CSP (my husband- Captain Safety Pants) to take my picture in all my gear soon. We close on the old house this week so we're scrambling to finish unloading the old house and getting it cleaned.

There are a ton of crickets at the new house. They sneak in from the outside via the garage and the boxes. So when I'm unpacking they venture out into the house only to be toyed with and eaten by Molly.

Molly & her dad on game day- loyal Vikings fans. We've accidentally been given the NFL Sunday ticket and my boy is sooo happy. He'll be sad tomorrow when I cut it off. Unfortunately on the adoption budget his happiness is not worth $70 a month.

I've heard the best costume ideas lately for Halloween. Gangreen: a bunch of people wearing green t-shirts & bandannas. Bad Spinach: dress all in green and wear tattoos, carry a whiskey bottle, some cigs in your sleeve and curse a lot. And mine- just the thought of it makes me laugh so hard. Whoever came up with it is a genius and if I can manage to put it together in time for the big day I will and then take photos for you.

So CSP & my BIL moved some furniture upstairs yesterday (finally!) and all was going well until we realized that unless we can somehow remove the roof and lower it in from a crane, OUR BED WON'T GO UPSTAIRS. I'm sooo mad about this I could just spit. Our stairs are too steep and the ceiling is too low so our king sized bed won't fit up the stairs. Poor CSP & BIL tried EVERYTHING. We've been sleeping on the guest queen thinking it was temporary. Heh. I swear I'm going to have a field day when I talk to the big honchos at my builder's offices. Who makes a house with a bedroom the size of a barn but you can't get a king bed in it? And we paid for 9 foot ceilings so they are higher than the model. But the models only have small beds in them to make the rooms look bigger. I will never build with CP Morgan again. Just wait til I tell y'all all the reasons why. I sent in our comment cards and they are sending out vice presidents to meet with us because of what I said on the cards. So I'm gonna leave our giant king sized mattress in our living room until they get here so they can see how ridiculous this is. And now we're gonna have to go buy 2 smaller beds for our room, cause you know, it's 19freaking55!

Look at me, I'm white and nerdy

First I want to sing the praises of our Mac. Computer-wise this move could not have been easier. I unplugged everything at the old house, plugged in at the new house, took the new DSL modem out of the box, plugged it in and boom shakalaka I'm on the internet. I heart Mac. No software to download or cds to install. Just plug in and go.


This, my dears, is my Tupperware cabinet. My new kitchen has more cabinets than the old one so the Tupperware got a promotion to an upper cabinet. Note the empty shelves up top. I can't reach those bad boys even on my step stool. This house was built by giants. The 6 foot 5 inch CSP could be hiding a stash of porn and smack in the cabinets over the fridge and I'd never know. Anyway, I love Tupperware with a passion that can only be rivaled by the love I feel for Pampered Chef & Crocs. Keeping my Tupperware cabinet this organized for at least the next month is my primary goal. Go ahead and gaze at it with wonder and amazement. What's that you say? Why yes, my lids and flat-out bowls are color coordinated. So nice of you to notice. Yep, take a good look, cause as soon as CSP unloads the dishwasher for the first time, this cabinet will be sure to look like a drink beaver came through here after losing an eye in a bar brawl.

Show & Tell

Hey y'all! We're hauling the computer to the new house tonight so this will be my last post until we get our DSL hookup this week. And I really shouldn't be on here right now as I have some loading up to do. But I remembered to upload pics for you, which is a good thing since I can't find my camera charger so once my battery dies that's it til I get my house organized, and that could take, well, forever. I'm behind on answering email and checking in on blogs. But I'll catch up. I do read every comment and totally appreciate them. Anyway, on to show and tell.

Tell: my dr put me on anti inflammatories for my knee and they kicked in today. Man that's better. Plus they seem to be helping my arms too. Yay for drugs! I'll get the results of my MRI this week. My dr. doesn't think I'll need surgery. Dammit! And I was just one surgery away from filling up my frequent under the knife card!

Show: I like to think that sometimes I can snap a good picture or two. Sometimes I can take a fabulous shot. But when I need to take a photo to show CSP something for some reason all my skills play dead. For instance when house shopping I'd tend to take pictures of the pantries and toilets. CSP has no use for pantry and potty pics as he knows that EVERY house comes with them! Here's my latest photographic screw up. We were in L0we's picking up some hardware-esque item so I hung out in lighting while CSP grabbed whatever tool thingie he needed. I found some lights I liked for the new house and thought I'd just snap some pics to show him later. Looking at this even I have no idea which one was the target!
This is the current state of my dining room:

Our new screened in back porch has already gotten some use. Sara, the boys, and I had a snack out there on moving day:
And finally, my mom's dog Sam wants to show you his new golf pants/glow in the dark skeleton fashion ensemble. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Gettin the move on

We're moving at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I won't have internet access until Monday unless I'm at my mom's or sister's house. We're trying DSL this go round instead of cable internet, so we'll see how that goes. Anyone have any experience with DSL? Opinions? There is currently a ginormous moving truck in my driveway. CSP is so in love with it. He gazes at it lovingly. The last time we rented a moving truck it was a 25 foot monster that we drove all the way to Maryland just to go to IKEA and furnish our new house. Luckily this time we can make it to our destination in under an hour. I'm really excited for this move- one step closer to Ling Ling! Now, if I can just sucker someone into coming and cleaning the old house after we move...

Oh when the Saints...

While our house was on the market I was told about St. Joseph. I never realized Joseph was turned into a Saint, although he totally deserved it, what with being Jesus' step-dad and all. So I did some Googling about St. Joseph and some asking around and everyone told me that once they buried St. Joe in their yard that their house sold 2 weeks later. I ordered the Deluxe kit cause I wasn't taking any chances. I buried him like I was supposed to, said the prayer every day, put the keychain on my key ring, and hoped for the best. And sure enough, 2 weeks later our house sold! Go Joe!