Thankful Thursday

Now who wouldn't be thankful for this face on their beautiful niece?  I mean she opened her 16th birthday gift from us... yes... 16.  HOW did that happen because she used to be this little person....

How cute is that? How is it that one minute they are this size telling you their ice cream joke and the next they are 16?  Does that mean I got that much older?  Nah.....

Where was I?  Oh yep... opened her gift.. which was the DVD for Iron Man 3 and she got completely happy about that.  She apparently has a real thing for Iron Man because we got the same reaction at Christmas for Iron Man 2.  See how smart I am to know she'd like #3?  Just call me Sherlock. 

We are thankful for this beautiful girl and getting to celebrate her birthday with her.  She is talented too.... she even made her own birthday cake.... which the cake of choice is Eclair Cake... apparently its a genetic thing cause that is what Aunt Deanna picks too.

At the moment I am not remembering if she got all the candles.  She is certainly windy enough.  Bwa ha ha ha. 

After the cake shot we of course had to get the official 16th birthday portrait.  It took 3 or 4 tries but this is what we came up with. 

Not too shabby for a camera that is getting on my nerves!  I should have brought my husbands Nikon.  Did not think of that.  Used to LOVE my little sony cybershot.  I had a pink one for years... until I gave it a dip in the ocean.  Now I have a blue cybershot and it is NOT as user friendly.  Perhaps  being pink had something to do with a better working camera.  Makes total sense to me. I always work better when there is pink stuff around.  Who doesn't?

As long as we are being thankful.... I might also mention...

• the rain and the leaking chimney.  Not so thankful for that, but am thankful its just a very mild trickle... and that the new chimney insert is sitting on the back porch in a GIANT box that Monogirl could not manage to wrestle into the house.
• that I could sleep in today on this rainy dreary day
• date night on the Gator!
• the return of hostess.... I think they took them away just long enough so that we'd REALLY want us some hostess once it came back.  Although... I've yet to see a Suzy Q.  What is up with that?
• The official END of the sanding
• Kids Hope! We got to scrapbook again yesterday.  I need to take a pic and show you our project!
• Hot Chocolate and my Cocomotion machine. 
• the Candycrush game.  maybe.  I am either thankful for the relaxing entertainment OR it's evil and a total time sucker.  It's a toss up.
• skirted leggings.  Cute, comfy and warm... all highly important.
• the library
• a possible idea for a replacement for my broken vanity stool... is this one cute?
• Darrel's hugs
• my Sunday school class
• creativity and crafts
• Tanner and Miss Sophie.  Had bad dreams about losing Tanner last night.  Made Monogirl sad!
• Photos!
• Lisa's scarf!  She loaned it to me for the Gator ride and it was much appreciated!
• my job
• my church
• grace, hope and a desire to do better
• the fall colors that are becoming more and more beautiful right now
• diet Pepsi... which I am in need of at the moment
• Our opened up living room and dining room.  Loving the space!
• library books
• my dyson heater/fan in my office
• having some completed Christmas shopping
• the joy and peace I felt at the funeral last week
• playing Blink with Darrel
• a Friend asking my help with a scrapbook Christmas gift
• feeling 1/2 way decent today!
• my pink princess Tervis glass... my glass of choice
• having the plastic down and the house feeling more open again. 
• clean laundry
• dinner with my husband
• shelter when its rainy out!
• scrapbook ideas in my head that may eventually make it to paper!
• my wedding rings and anniversary ring
• old jars full of buttons... they make me happy
• those heat therapy patches you can buy that are helping my husband's sore back
• my blog readers
• music and singing!

And I could go on and on.... but my book is calling to me... and it's almost dinner time.  Perhaps I should also be thankful that I got this done before midnight!  Yay Monogirl.  Hope you have an excellent Friday!  Blessings.

Ten On Tuesday

1) This is an image that may be forever burned in my brain.... the infamous floor sander.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was UNENDING.  5 days.  It took FIVE pretty full days to get the floor looking like this.  And now?  The sander has gone silent.  Amen and Praise the Lord for that one because um if it wasn't done by the end of this past weekend?  I was just going to move.  Darrel too.  We were SO over the sanding. 

2) On the bright side?  My favorite part of this picture is that beautiful dust collection system.  Darrel uses that in his woodworking and he figured out how to connect it to the floor sanding which means.... NO SAWDUST cloud enveloping every nook and crany of our house.  We didn't even need the plastic up.  It contained it all.... and when you see how much is in the collection bag and then I tell you that was bag #2..... Can you imagine how much sawdust would be throughout my house?  It's in need of a thorough cleaning quite enough without any help from the floor sanding. 

3) Darrel was quite amused to find that at the end of the sanding parts of the floor....which is yellow pine...have now turned a um PINK hue.  He says this means it is really our house....

4) Anyone curious about the secret date night plans?  Does this pic give you a clue?  No?  Well..... we took ourselves a ride on a "gator" down to the river bottoms.  For all my city dwelling blog friends... a "gator" is something like this.  Basically an All Terrain Vehicle.  We have a friend that aquired one recently and she was telling us how much she and her husband enjoyed taking a ride in it and heading down to the river bottoms.  She was saying it was peaceful.  It was fun.  It was pretty... and then she said you and Darrel should go! Next thing I know I have a map.... to the river bottoms since Darrel and I were city dwellers not all that long ago and had nary a clue on how to get to the bottoms.... and a key... and we were set to go for date night.  It was cold!  But we had blankets and jackets and my BFF Lisa made sure I took her scarf with me... for which I was truly thankful.  We relaxed.  We took some pics.  We talked.  We enjoyed the fall colors that are starting to finally show up.  It was very fun and such a blessing to have such sweet friends that sent us off on our date night adventure.  Here are a few more pics.

5) And in the Husband earns yet more brownie points department... when he picked me up at work to head out on our Gator adventure, I got in the car to find this...

He had stopped at the convenience store and got us drinks... and snacks.  He knew dinner was a ways off so wasn't he sweet to take care of us?  I just love him. 

6) We had to head back before 7 or so because trust me when I tell you its dark out in the corn fields and river bottoms when you have no flashlights.  So Darrel headed to town to grab us a pizza.  I headed home because Monogirl was out of steam.... and we met up there.  We had pizza. We watched a movie.... RIPD... NOT the best thing I've seen lately... Not awful, but certainly not great either.  We also played Blink!  Do you know this game?  My Kids Hope friend taught it to me... and well Darrel loves games ... me?  Usually not so much.  But I had fun playing this so I thought we might enjoy it together and guess what?  We did.  Although... you have to think quick... which is not the best thing for Monogirl and she pretty much had a brain freeze right smack in the middle of the game!  Darrel says now we need two decks because it would be even more fun to play with 4 people at Christmas or something.

7) Speaking of my Kids Hope Friend, this is a little gift I put together for her for Halloween.  With it being at school, we aren't allowed to do any type of food so no Halloween candy or anything like that.  So?  Her goodie bag is filled with neon orange nail polish.  Neon green polish with little blue specks in it (I gave her the blue version for her birthday and she told me "that's cool!" )  and some very cool pony tail elastic thingys.  Monogirl might need some of those for herself! 

8) If you are a facebook friend you might have seen me post a little note today about my supposed "smart" phone which I swear is trying to get me into trouble.  How?  Well um lately when I am texting the word "praying" to tell someone I am praying for them.... it keeps trying to autocorrect "praying" to "peeing!" Really?  Are those 2 things interchangeable?  Cause I am thinking a big NO on that one.  I mean if I am trying to say "I am praying for you..." I sure don't want to accidentally send a text that says "I am peeing for you....":  Bwa ha ha ha ha... Oh. My Goodness.  Then the men in the white coats really will come and take me away. 

9) Have I told you I made my book goal for the year?  I can't remember.... so If I did... please forgive me.  You may browse over at amazon for a moment and skip point #9.... Anyway at first my goal for 2013 was 50.  Ever since the DR prescribed reading for Monogirl .... I was fast approaching that goal so I incresed it to 60.  Well I recently reached 60.... and um yes when I updated my Goodreads I totally expected confetti to pop out of the computer screen or something but sadly that did not happen.  I am however now in the midst of book 65 for the year... which is this one.... and am wondering if I could hit perhaps 75 by yrs end? And yes.. the current book is Amish.  You are so shocked aren't you? 

10) 58.  That was the temperature in my house yesterday morning, yesterday after work, and the day before that, and yes the day before that.  If it were not for space heaters and my pretty pink heated throw, Monogirl would be a pink popsicle by now because NO we do not have our new furnace insert yet... but the husband assures me its coming soon.  In the meantime let this be a public thank you to my Mother for my pretty pink heated blanket.  It is my new best friend.  That... and some pink long underwears... and uggs... and my thermal nightshirt... and yes.. the heater.  

Whew... well blogger is getting on my last nerve right now.... so I am happy to have completed my 10 for tuesday.  Please visit with me again on Thursday at which time I will endevour to continue to catch you up on things we missed last week!  Have a great hump day..... yes.  See?  I do know what day it is tomorrow. 

Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

OK so you remember the gray jersey shoes I showed you a few days ago?  Um they come in taupe too.  HOW cute are those?  And the taupe?  The laces are sparkly!  They have gold metallic in them.  So cute.  See first I found the gray jersey ones on QVC's FFANY shoes.  Not something I'd normally pick... but my curiosity was piqued when I saw that they were made out of jersey material.  I had to see that for myself.  They came.  They were so cute.  They are SOFT.  I wore them.  I loved them. They were comfortable. I googled them to see how good a price I got on them.... and found out $24.50 was pretty stinkin' good.  When I googled I then discovered them in other colors.  And yes... I had to have the taupe too and see... good decision because look how cute they are! I've worn them with yoga capri pants.  I've worn them with leggings and a little skirt... see good for all occasions.  And yes, I think you should run right out and get a pair too... or at least run right to your computer. 

And since yes... it is Thankful Thursday... I have some things I am thankful for such as....

• a husband that actually makes an effort to buy tissues in a box that matches the bathroom.  I love that he does stuff like that!
• OK and a husband that bought me new allergy pills and then took the time to take them out of the box, and pull the seal off the bottle before leaving them on my dresser for me.  He is good.
• my pink heated throw!  God bless my Mother for getting this for me!  The house is COLD but I am toasty when I am under my blanket. And did I mention its pink?
• The wrist warmers my friend Lori made for me.  I was wearing them while finishing up some work on my laptop today.  yes.  In the house.  If you are confused about that see my note above.
• I pulled some PJ's out of my drawer today and noticed they smelled like the PJ's my Mamaw used to pull out of that same dresser for me when I was younger. Apparently it's something about the wood the dresser is made out of.   Smells like that take me back and it was like I could see Mamaw standing there again.
• a nearly sanded floor and a husband who is working so hard on that project
• that it's my parent's 49th wedding anniversary today.  How cool is that?
• Ugg slippers
• a thermostat that has a new home on the wall....rather than on the Rob Petry footstool
• yesterday I tried to get out of my car while still wearing my seat belt.  The sad thing was that I did not immediately understand what the problem was.  I'm all what... is my coat caught on the steering wheel?  No  It seems to be caught over here by the seat belt.... Oh.. or perhaps unlatching the seat belt would solve the problem.... see there are some days when I am thankful the men in the white coats have not come to take me away.
• getting my work done from home
• Date Night!  Last week we got to have dinner at the Hu Hot place again.  Yummy stir frys!  We also got to do a little shopping and visit the Chocolate Moose.....although we quickly discovered sitting on a cold concrete bench to eat our ice cream was a bad idea.  We are smart like that.
• Schwan's holiday tin french vanilla ice cream and freeze and bake chocolate chip cookies.  A winning combination.
• Tanner and Sophie
• my new suede coat.... it has a blue fur collar... LOVE
• a friend at church that brought me a bag full of Hershey kisses this past week and a bag full of barrettes the week before.  Have I mentioned I love presents? 
• celebrating my Kids Hope little friends birthday
• that Allegiant came out this week and that my husband and I are both wanting to read it and both excited about it. 
• Watching "When Calls The Heart" on Hallmark channel last Sat.  That is my all time FAV Janette Oke book and book series and I am alllll about Janette Oke books.
• blogging
• ghirardelli hot chocolate... especially in the cold house this morning
• sleeping in
• some interesting plans for date night tomorrow..... but that's all I'm going to share right now.... bwa ha ha ha
• La Carreta
• a clergy appreciation gift from a dear friend
• getting another Christmas gift purchased

And with that I bid you goodnight!  Hope you have a fabulous Friday!  Blessings!

Sort Of Ten On Tuesday

So I didn't show up on the weekend.... who's mad at me?  Or OK.. did anyone notice?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  I blame home improvement.  It is ALL consuming.  But before we get into that... take a look at Miss Sophie here and my beloved husband.  Darrel leaned over to look at something on my computer and Miss Sophie jumped up on his back and settled herself down and just got all comfy.  I don't think she loves him one bit do you?  Apparently she was unhappy that he wasn't paying enough attention to her so she decided to remedy that situation. 

As for the Home Improvement?  Um the floor sanding has been unending.  Seriously.  We are now going on day 4 when this Saturday rolls around and please, please God let us be done after day 4.... cause we are pretty much over it at this point.  And my husband?  Who stood behind this sander alllllll day Saturday and pretty much alllll day Sunday?  He is probably way over it... he just handles things better than his wife sometimes.... especially unending home improvement projects.  On the bright side?  My very smart husband figured out he could hook up his wood working dust collection system to the sander which means guess what?  No cloud of sawdust all throughout the house.  He is brilliant. 

Now when I just said "on the bright side" an Amish proverb I read recently popped in my head.... I wonder why?  If one can become Amish by osmosis thru reading unending books about it I should be officially Amish at this point.... Anyway... the point?  Oh yes... the proverb was "If you can't find the bright side, polish the dull one."  Hmmmm  perhaps good advice on the home improvement stuff huh? 

This week?  After the unending weekend of sanding?  Well it is quite busy and full of numerous other challenges... one being that we have 2 funerals this week.  We spent part of this evening waiting in line at the visitation.  While we were doing that... we started discussing the fact that since there is now SNOW in the forecast perhaps it would be a good idea to get the furnace to a point where we can actually turn it on.  Ya think?  Well my husband had this really good suggestion that he thought we should turn the furnace on and see if the chimney is leaking.  See the furnace vents thru this old chimney in the house.  The old chimney used to be covered with plaster.  Now we've uncovered it and there are some gaps in the mortar as well as two old stove pipe connections that need sealed so we don't get carbon monoxide in the house.  So... when he said he thought we should try it to see... I asked how exactly was that going to work?  Perhaps he was going to wear a mask and we'd wait to see if I pass out and then he could call 911 before fixing the chimney..... He kept telling me that wasn't what he was saying... because obviously he wasn't going to leave it on that long, but he'd be able to tell where and if it was leaking.... I assured him I understood this but still felt the need to point out that really... what he was suggesting was that we should gas ourselves while we see if the furnace gases are escaping into the house.... a thorough test I am thinking. 

Speaking of the furnace... in other remodeling adventures... when we took down the 1/2 walls between the 2 rooms, this left us with our thermostat on the floor... because we took away the wall it hung on!  We didn't want to step on it while waiting to hang it on a different wall so we wanted to set it on something to get it off the floor.  I remembered this little green footstool we have and rolled it out there and set the thermostat on it.  Of course then I immediately wondered if now one of us was going to trip over it like Rob Petry...

So OK.. that wasn't 10... but since the first 2 days of this week have felt like 1 long day with a nap in there somewhere I am going to say yay me for doing 5.... and promise to try to get back here tomorrow to catch us up!  I have to tell you about scrapbooking with my Kids Hope friend.  SO fun.  And shoes... there were new shoes... OK a few new shoes.  And a birthday celebration for my niece and new books and a new game and and and..... don't worry I have a list so I won't forget a thing. 

Until tomorrow.... blessings!

Reporting In

Yes.  I missed Tuesday and OK since it's 12:24 AM I also missed Thursday.  Sorry.  It's just not been a blogging kind of week.  I have all kinds of stuff to share... as you can see there's been new shoes... sanding of floors... books read... books started... things baked... You'll tune in this weekend to find out all about it won't you?  Oh yeah.. .there was scrapbooking too! Amazing huh? So see you Saturday?  Until then.... how stinkin' cute are those gray sneakers....

Thankful Thursday

What have you been up to this evening?  Were you watching QVC FFANY Shoes on Sale with me?  OK so I forgot about the first hour and a half or so.. and yes... I even had it written down right next to me but that is Monobrain at work for you right there.  The sad part about that?  I missed out on 1/2 price Ugg PINK sparkly boots!  I've been sitting here hitting refresh for the past hour hoping a pair will suddenly appear because if they do?  Well then Monogirl is ON it!  This of course means so far I am empty handed.  OK ... so I couldn't even say that with a straight face because you know that isn't true don't you... There were 2 pairs of Danskos.  My other love next to Uggs, Coach and Vera.... I couldn't pass up cute 1/2 price Danskos could I? They had this cute pair of clogs and this very cute pair of Mary Janes.  I *heart* clogs and OK.. cute Mary Janes too.  Let's hope they fit because sometimes the styles other than the professional clog fit Monogirl differently so we shall see. 

Now looking at the picture there what do you think?  Does Miss Sophie seem comfy to you?  She is SUCH a cat sometimes especially when she gets her cat self all settled and lays there with her paws all crossed.  Cracks me up!  She love loves to sleep on Darrel's lap.  She has a rough life doesn't she? 

Did a little crocheting on my scarf today and no... that means I am still not finished.  I like LONG scarves and we just aren't there yet.  Soon.  Anyway, while I was looking at my fabulous One Skein book I spotted this scarf that is pretty cute.  It incorporates something called Tunisian Crochet?  I have not done this style before.  There are instructions in the back and they don't seem too terribly complicated.... looks like it uses an afghan hook... Monogirl is thinking of giving it a try.  Anyone else done Tunisian?  Am I going down a dark scary road and should turn around quickly? 

On Tyndale's blog today I noticed they were having a give away for a new Devotional book called The One Year Book of Amish Peace.  OK... so where do I get in line to get one of those!  I promptly signed myself up for the give away and um should that not work out?  Well then I've already placed it on my Christmas list.  Of course I already started my list. 

 

Other things to be thankful for this week?  Well...

• that my husband has stopped cutting holes in the lath to place electrical outlet boxes.  Why?  Because both the sound and the smell is totally giving Monogirl a headache.  On the other hand?  Very thankful its getting done.
• And yes... to recap.. thankful for the great shoe sale, crocheting, Miss Sophie and Amish books!
• Also thankful that I finished another book!  Finished this one and promptly started this one.  It's a good thing cause there are still lots of library books staring at Monogirl here next to her chair. Oh and don't worry I did get to find out what happened to the little girl!
• My new Kids Hope buddy likes scrapbooking and wants to scrapbook next week!  How cool is that?  She wants to do crafts and scrapbook AND play basketball.  At least I'll get a break in there somewhere in between.
• Getting my scrap room back.  Sort of.  Lots of extra stuff piled in there at the moment... not to mention the dust.  I give up until the remodeling is OVER.  The dust is just unending. 
• Date Night
• Saturday Pancakes
• singing at church last week.  Enjoyed that! 
• That worship leading went well!!
• things God is teaching me right now
• the Library.  Have I missed a week at the library since I started going back?  I am thinking NO on that one.
• the wonderful Orchard apples!
• that its still been warm enough for sandals and crop pants
• suede jacket #2 arriving today.  I haven't tired it on yet.
• Fall colors appearing
• microwave popcorn mixed with Charlie's caramel corn.... good stuff right there
• moving out more furniture this evening in prep for the floor sanding this Saturday... yep... its bare bones in here right now. 
• all the hard work my husband has put in on this house.  He like knows how to do literally everything... and I am totally not biased. 
• having a tiny bit of Christmas shopping done. 
• hot chocolate weather
• being able to talk to the DR via Email.  Love that option when I have a question.
• peace
• rest
• hope
• the desire to do better and be more
• Gods faithfulness
• the ladies at CVS loving Tanner in his Bandanna and always having a treat for him.  He doesn't like going there at all.  ha.
• my job.  Love it there and all the things I get to be a part of.

I hope you've had lots to be thankful for this week too.  It always blesses me that every day, if you look for it, there are blessings and things to show gratitude for.  God is good! 

Until next time.... Blessings!

Ten on Tuesday the Home Improvement Edition

1) This "Anniversary" clock was a wedding gift from my work friends more than 26 years ago.  I love to watch the bottom part revolve and I love the sound of the chimes.  Yep!  It chimes!  Once  on the quarter hour, twice on the 1/2 hour, 3 times at 45 minutes, and then the full 4 chimes on the hour and then it strikes for the number of the hour.  It's the Westminster Chimes sound like Big Ben.  Love it and I've looked at this clock for 26+ years to know when its time for bed, time for Darrel to get home, time for our shows, etc. Until now.... Home Improvement has interrupted clock watching because it is currently sitting on my scrap table as we are trying to protect it from the work zone and besides we are down to minimum furniture so there is no place to set it!   It also has an eye on it that turns down the volume in a dark room, so we haven't even been hearing the chimes.  Missing my clock.  It's been in the other room for more than a month and I still sit here every night looking for it. I am thinking about the time I get used to it being gone?  Well hopefully we will be putting our living and dinning room back together. 














2) We are now trying to narrow down a decision on a paint color.  We pretty much had set in our mind that we wanted to go with something neutral as in a nice warm, not too light, taupe.  My Mom had a great taupe in her family room when she lived in IL.  I think that is the shade I have stuck in my head, and of course since it's in Monogirl's head... it's a little hard to translate onto an actual paint swatch.  We've picked up these at Lowe's recently... and currently the front runner is the card on the top left.  We are considering going with the lightest color on 3 walls and then the middle color on an end wall.  These two rooms have been ensconced in old UGLY early 70's paneling since um.... the early 70's.  It all happened when my brother was born.  I blame him for chasing my grandparents back to Indiana to their newly re-paneled house.  ha!  Kidding.  I like my brother.  Sort of.  Bwa ha ha.  Yes.  Still kidding.  I guess I can't hold him responsible for the paneling and I am sure in its day it was all the rage, along with a nice shade of orange and green shag carpet.  Yes.  It's true.  At least that was long gone before we moved in. 

3) The old yellow pine wood floor is going to be sanded this Saturday!  Yes!  This. Actual. Saturday.  Wonders never cease.  The sander is already reserved and will be waiting for us Saturday morning.  yay!!  We have been uncovering, sanding, and refinishing the wood floors room by room as we've worked on the house these past um....12.... years.  Since the living room and dining room connect this will be the biggest area we've done all at once.  Cannot wait to see them all sanded and pretty!  Once they are refinished my two new rugs are here and waiting!  Do you remember them?  This one is for the dinning room.  This one will be in the living room. 

4) We plan to replace the also OLD also UGLY ceiling fan in the living room with a new fan with a light kit because yes... we do use the fan... and the light.  Funny how that works out.  We've looked at Lowes.  We've looked at Home Depot.  Everything we found that we liked was a brand we do not want to get again.  We bought it when we remodeled the bedroom and it promptly stopped working.  When we then had to uninstall it and take it back to the store the sales guy is like oh yeah, people seem to have a lot of trouble with that brand..... Thanks for the tip now.  Grrrr... So I got online and started looking and we are debating a few possibilities.  Such as this cool retro look, or this one, or maybe even this.  Of course I keep forgetting to check if they are flush mount or not, and we pretty much have to have flush mount so I need to check those again.  Also not a fan of the high price tag on a couple of them.  

5) Here is a look at the newly installed pocket door.  Oooohhh Aaaahhh.. Am I right?  I love the "craftsman" style.  Now to figure out what color to paint it.  White?  Dark Brown?  Not sure.  It only has primer on it at the moment.  This view is in the open position.  There will be drywall over that as well as the partially covered opening to the right.  That is where the old front porch windows were.  On the other side of that is my scrap room, formerly the front porch, but now closed in and adding much needed square footage to our house.  Mamaw and Papaw closed it in, but never used it for much other than storage.  Well we took care of that right quick.  :) Monogirl was happy to unload all her craft supplies and books right there and claim the space.  Good thing the husband was OK with that huh?  Here is the closed position....

Cool right?  Darrel still has to put the door pull on it and it needs trim finished.  I now understand that pocket doors are kind of like a set of sliding closet doors with no second door... ha!  OK so did everyone else know that but me? 




















6) Here are some better pics of the day we took the wall down.  LOVE the old chimney.  Although at the top there you can see why we now have to put in an insert to vent our furnace because there are gaps where it was used years ago to be hooked up to a heating stove.  Same thing on the other side.  Anyway this is where the old partition walls were between the living room and dinning room.  We decided to take them down and then try to decide if we want to put up a room divider kind of thing with a column and bookshelf something along these lines.....

OR do we want to leave it open now that we see all this space.  I was totally sure I wanted the old timey looking dividers.... until I saw how big and open it is now with no wall or divider.... So how is Monogirl supposed to make up her mind?  Decisions are not her best thing.  Here are some more (and better pics then I've posted before) of the wall coming down.

7) And now.... here we have a picture of the room tonight, just before we start moving out everything else that can possibly go so we are ready for Sanding Saturday.  I like the sound of that.  Perhaps it should be a national holiday?

And no, we aren't sleeping on the mattress.  Well sort of.  We gave away our old couch because a young friend of ours was getting started in her first apartment and we wanted to help her out.  We knew we weren't keeping it so figured she might as well go ahead and take it.  In the meantime we've been using the mattress in a sofa like capacity for lounging... TV watching... and OK some sleeping when Mr. Monogirl's snoring is shaking the bedposts in the actual bedroom.  Monogirl isn't as young as she used to be and she gets crabby with no sleep and trust me... no one wants that.

8) Speaking of needing a sofa.... we've been starting to think about that too and what we want!  Very fun.  It's been YEARS since Monogirl got to pick out a sofa!  We think we want leather.  We like retro, vintage, modern, eclectic kind of look.  Does that narrow it down for you?  Was browsing a bit on Wayfair.com the other day and spotted this one.  Normally that looks nothing like what I'd pick?  But I totally like that one.  I like that its 2 cushions.  I like that it sits up off the floor and I think it has a modern/retro flair.  We'd get brown probably.  I like this look too.  It's reminding me of some furniture my Grandma had.  OK this one is cool too.  How come the more I like it, the higher the price? Another winning look.  Again not so much on the price.  yikes.

9) We also need a new chair for Monogirl.  Her recliner has definitely seen better days.  Monogirl would like either another recliner or chair and ottoman combo.  However... Monogirl has recliner issues.  See... when one is a mere 5 ft 2" tall and one settles them self in regular size people furniture and then reclines.... and then has to get up?  She sort of feels like a turtle turned over on its shell because she barely has long enough arms to reach the release lever and um 5 ft 2" person legs are not much help either in getting the stinking chair to release her! She needs something on a little smaller scale.  Maybe something like this.... or this.  But again... not loving that price so much! Surely we can do better than that right?

10) So where do we go from here?  More furniture goes out.  We get our floors sanded on Saturday.  We get ourselves over to the Home Depot to cart home some drywall.  Then ceiling tiles need to come down.  Drywall needs to go up.  Then primer and paint.  Then stain the floor.  Then we can move in while we work on the finishing stuff like molding and stuff like that.  Oh... and there is some electric stuff to be done in there too.  I'm tired just thinking about it... and I'm just the assistant. 

And this is Monogirl signing off from Home Improvement Central... until Thursday!  Blessings!

Monogirl Monday

So I needed a fall coat.  And you might remember I am a fan of Dennis Basso coats... generally sold on QVC.  So when their TSV a week or so ago was this pretty suede jacket I figured sign me up!  Especially when they showed that it has a detachable fur collar.  I picked the basic black and eagerly awaited the arrival of my package.  It came on Friday.  I've yet to see the collar though because for whatever reason it shipped separately.  I mean seriously?  The collar wouldn't fit in the box with the coat?  Or perhaps 2 packages are better so one can charge extra shipping.  Do I like the coat?  Yes!  In typical Dennis fashion it was on a hanger, it was wrapped in tissue and plastic, and all the hardware was wrapped and protected too.  Really pretty lining also.  Problem?  It's a little snug.  But as I am perpetually working on my weight loss.... then the dilemma.  To exchange or not to exchange?  Since I am needing it to fit now and perhaps accomodate a sweater... exchange right?  Well of course, they are fresh out of black coats in the next size. What's Monogirl to do?  Well... perhaps try the blue that she was tempted to buy in the first place, and yes... with the collar.  Monogirl was a little sad to find out her husband is not a fan of the collar... but perhaps he just needs to see how cute it will be on Monogirl first since he is in fact a fan of Monogirl.  So who wants to vote?  Is the blue as cute as Monogirl thinks?  Bright blue is usually a good color for Monogirl.  Yes.  She does wear other things besides pink.  How about the collar?  2 thumbs up?  Monogirl loves a soft pretty fur collar and/or cuffs.  I think I have ever since this beige coat my Mom had when I was little.  It was like a mid length wool wrap style coat but it had this big fluffy fur collar and cuffs.  Love.  I also had a fur coat when I was a little girl that my grandma got me and I also had one of those white fur muffs.  Do they even make those anymore?  Check out the fur coat from Grandma here.... I am thinking that one had plenty of extra room.  ha!

Church went well yesterday.  Non stressful.  Flowed smoothly.  Saw God answering my prayers and taking care of things.  Why do I ever choose to worry and stress?  God's got it covered and I really enjoyed singing and the whole service.  I am blessed. 

Spent the afternoon reading and resting because Sunday mornings when I lead usually wear me out.  I finished this book and started the next one called The Guardian which I can't believe I'm not reading at this moment because I have to find out if the little girl gets home safe!  Is Monogirl the only one that gets caught up in her books like that?  And since I am having a bit of a Monogirl day today... and totally craving my husband because I am not feeling well and can't seem to get comfortable and am just some days tired of Monogirl being Monogirl I am sure I will be picking up my book here soon.

Tune in tomorrow for a remodeling update!  The pocket door is in yay!  And this means we can restore the front room....otherwise known as my scrapbook room to order which makes Monogirl a happy girl.  Perhaps she can actually do some scrapping with all the project life kits that have arrived huh?  What a concept.  Hope your week has started out well.  Blessings!

The Curious Case of the Flying Nail

See.... I told you I'd show up on the weekend.  Well OK... I almost forgot but that doesn't count because here I am and there is still another day left in the weekend.  Amen and Hallelujah to that because Monogirl is not ready for the weekend to be over.  How about you? 

I am ready for tomorrow morning to be over.  Why?  I seem to have this love/not so much in love relationship with being worship leader at church.  Does that sound horrible? I love being part of a worship team.  I love being up there with them singing.  I love that God lets me do that.  Love singing!  But there is more to it than that.  I am somewhat insecure about my leading abilities as far as picking and planning the music and then rehearsal and learning how to help a service to flow and not hinder it.  It can go oh so smoothly and be fine.  It can also be oh so stressful.  That there would be the not so much in love with it part of the relationship.  I think God is teaching me something in all of it though.  He is teaching me that I don't need to obsess and worry because I am not the one who should be leading.  HE is leading.  All he needs me to do is get up there and follow what he needs me to do.  When I pray about the music choices, when I pray over the people on my team, when I pray about rehearsal..... it goes so well and it is so obvious God is there.  So when I am stressing and worrying who am I relying on?  Me?  Or God..... It shows me when my focus is wrong and when I need to get my eyes back on Him.  When I do that?  Well then I can look forward to the good stuff he certainly has planned.

Friday.  Monogirl was still having not just a Monogirl day on Tuesday but pretty much a Monogirl week.  She did make it to work.  She did do her work.  She also really looked forward to being at home and getting some more rest.  So did you see it coming?  Date night was of course at home.  It was a wonderful evening together despite Monogirl being in fact... um Monogirl.  Her husband arrived home with Carry Out from Olive Garden and Baskin Robbins.  A winning combination . The husband was also in a very sweet, sweet talking, romantic, I like to take care of my wife mood.  Is there a girl who doesn't love that mood cause sign me up for that!  We ate our salad, bread sticks, Shrimp Fritta appetizer and Spaghetti.  We paid the huge amount of $2 on Amazon to watch this week's episode of Survivor that we missed thanks to a storm taking out the satellite feed on Wednesday and then we watched a movie.  Pacific Rim.  It's not available for rental yet but was available on Amazon for purchase.  Did we think my husband would want to purchase it after seeing it?  Yes.  Were we right?  Yes.  Did we purchase it and watch it?  Yes.  Are you interested in Monogirl's summing up of the movie?  Are you also wondering why is Monogirl asking so many questions today?  Bwa ha ha ha ha.  Monogirl's summation of the movie is that it is Godzilla & Aliens meets Transformers and Independence Day.  It had sci fi.  It had action.  It had monsters and robots beating the snot out of each other.  Yes.  Again.  It had it all including the happy husband who thoroughly enjoyed it.  Oh yes.  And we enjoyed the ice cream too.  But then you already knew that. 

Before date night commenced Monogirl made a stop at the Orchard and the Library on her way home.  The Orchard... the one that had the peaches, now has apples.  Giant, yummy apples.  I have deduced that things like fresh tomatoes from the garden, fresh peaches or apples from the Orchard... well they are like completely different foods from what you get in the grocery store.  Completely different.  They have something different... what is it called?  Oh yeah... flavor.  And juiciness.  And actually ripe.  Good stuff.  We will be getting some more apples.  Look how giant some of them were.

They were so yummy Monogirl ate one on the way home.  She never does that because she prefers her apples sliced up first.  Anyways... good stuff.  These were Red Delicious.  My husband thinks perhaps I should have also got some Johnathans and made a pie..... Apparently I convinced him I still like to bake with the Pumpkin Bread and Pound Cake.  ha! 

I also stopped at the Library because Monogirl loves the Library and its oh so easy to find her happy place there.  She also needed to return one book, pick up three that were on hold and then OK... she somehow manged to check out three additional books.  Perhaps that doesn't seem like a lot until I mention there were still 3 at home... so if you are doing the math, yes, that is 9. What a wonderful thing to be surrounded by library books.  Oh wait... I guess that would be 10 because I just remembered I also have a loaned library E-book on my Kindle.  Monogirl better get busy reading.  

Today has brought some more progress on the home improvement front.  Although I might have complained earlier asking if we were ever really going to see a pocket door going in since there was a whole lot of activity over there but nothing ever looks any different... as in I am an impatient Monogirl and I still don't see no door!  To give my patient husband the credit he is more than due he has been working hard tearing down everything that had to go so the pocket door could go in, and then installing header boards and repairing the floor under the old wall so it would blend in with the rest of the floor, etc. etc.  He is very detailed and very good and he is doing an awesome job.  Good thing he is very understanding of Monogirl's impatient tendencies huh? Although.... about an hour ago he was nailing in the top structure of the door and he sent a nail flying across the room.  In Monogirl's direction.  I said who knew I'd need to take cover from a home improvement project although now I am wondering if maybe he was just getting me back for the impatient comment earlier..... Nah......

And with that... I bid you goodnight.  Going to do a little relaxing, reading, and yes praying so I am ready for the AM.  Hope your weekend is wonderful!  Blessings!

The Long Long Long Long Thankful on Thursday Catching Up For Tuesday Blog Post

Nope... you are right.  Monogirl didn't show up on Tuesday.  It was a bad bad bad bad Monogirl Day.  Blogging was the last thing on Monogirl's mind.... The first thing?  Not feeling miserable.  Her alarm went off.  She was aware she should be getting up for work.  She tried to try.  But it was like coming out of anesthesia.... Monogirl slept till practically 2:00 and this was after a full night's sleep.  Then there was the never too far away fever and sore throat to contend with and yes... OK... some crabiness.  A sick and tired Monogirl who was sick and tired of being sick and tired.  See how that works out?  Likely the best reason to stay home that day was to protect the public from Monogirl's moodniness.  A good plan. 

But let's chat about happier events... events that were scheduled for 10 on Tuesday.... so since that opportunity has passed... consider this a giant here is all the latest 10 on Tuesday news plus Thankful Thursday alllll rolled up into one.  Are you ready?  Got your diet Pepsi and a snack nearby?  Laptop all charged up?  Good. 

Shall we start with the pumpkin soap?  You know my love for the Bath & Body pumpkin soap.  Sadly... they don't make him anymore.  Happily?  I saved a dispenser last time I bought one.... just in case.  See Monogirl does have good thinking on occasion.  As much as I love filling Mr Pumpkin up with Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Anti Bac soap it had become less fun because the last few years it was like they were saving their pennies on the orange coloring cause um not so much was in the soap and he ended up looking like Mr Anemic Pumpkin.  This year?  They found the orange coloring again and I am so happy about that because look how cute he is!    Looking at their web site I am thinking I need to go back and get this one too.  That would be way too cute in the kitchen.

Next up?  Mr Tanner in his fall attire.  He finally got himself a hair cut and a bath so now that he was all cute and cleaned up.... he definitely needed his fall bandanna.  And no... he doesn't think its too girly.  I asked him.  We also discussed that he needs to wear it this way... not on his back... cause then he looks like Underdog and that isn't the look we are going for.

In fun Internet items to share.... Did we all remember October is FFANY Shoe time on QVC? They have a shoe special every weekday for the entire month.  And OK... some year's I have actually been guilty of checking it at midnight.... or first thing after the alarm in the morning if I was unable to get it to pull up at midnight.  Not that its important or anything.  Just shoes.  On sale.  And sometimes there are Jessica Simpsons and Danskos.  Don't want to chance missing that now do we? And um so far?  No shoes have been purchased and I have actually forgotten to even check for a few days this year.  Apparently Monogirl is messing up my shoe action. 

Yesterday on Facebook I spotted a post linking to plans for this cool Trestle Table.  At first I just saw the benches and thought how cool.... I bet my husband could make those.  Then I noticed how cool the table was too and saw that they said it was made to look like one offered by Restoration Hardware for um like $3000?  Seriously?!  Yikes. Oh look... now its on sale for a mere $2495.  Well sign me up for two of them then.  We don't need to make one.  ha!  On the other hand?  Husband liked the plans and apparently there is about $200 worth of wood involved?  So I don't know... which one would you pick?  Perhaps should we ever get the dinning room finished.... we will make ourselves a fabulous farmhouse looking table to go in it.  There's an idea. 

Yesterday was my 2nd meeting with my new little Kids Hope Friend.  She is in the 5th grade.  My little person last year was in 2nd grade so 5th grade is a bit different for me.  I asked her what she wanted to do and do you know what she wanted to do?  Play basketball.  Um.. .I am thinking I am not a basketball playing kind of girl... but if my friend wants to play basketball.... well... Monogirl played basketball.  She also managed to jam her finger and break her cute red wedge sandals.... far from basketball shoes.  But... no nails were harmed or broken in the playing of the basketball and Monogirl actually made 4 baskets.  Her feet even left the ground as she made a jump shot or two..... The last time basketball was played?  Likley high school and um that was like 1982 people.  BUT... so glad I went with it and played ball with her.  We had a fun talk.  We got to know each other and Monogirl survived even if her shoe did not.  Well mostly.... she also discovered she has old arms and knees and OK... her back too.... because they are well aware she played basketball yesterday even still today.  On the plus side?  She found out her friend likes scrapbooking... yay.... and is considering playing the flute.  Both are things Monogirl knows how to do.  Perhaps God already had that in mind you think? 

Date night!  Last week.  Wow.. that seems like a long time ago.... and Monogirl is searching her memory for all the date night happenings.  Oh yes!  We were at home...both of us were wore out last week and we decided home sounded relaxing, yes, even in the midst of the remodeling mess.  We got a pizza from Turonis... YUM... and dessert from Baskin Robbins.  YUM again.  They even had the all time favorite best ice cream in the whole wide world... Chocolate Mousse Royal.  SO good.  We discovered that Amazon had past seasons of Chopped so we watched a whole championship from a few years ago.  Very fun to watch the judges cook!  Then we watched a move.... is it sad that at the moment neither of us can remember which movie it was?  Must have been good huh?  I think Mel Gibson was in it?  We liked it OK at the time.... but Monobrain is failing me at the moment. 

Saw this cool web page today with scarf tying ideas.  Must try the side knot and the sliding knot.  I like the braided one too.  It looks like one that my sister showed me how to do.  I mean if you are going to wear a scarf it needs to look cute right?  Unless you get one of the scarf vests QVC sells.  I got the black one and find it also to be quite fun to wear!

My BFF Lisa sent me a link to this blog today showing this awesome idea to cut out banners and tags from your photos using your silhouette.  How cool is that?  I love neat ideas to spice up your photos.  Should I ever manage to scrapbook again... which would mean being able to get into my room and to the table.... which is currently in the middle of a construction zone.... I'll have to try that!

In today's book report I am happy to um... report... that I finished this book and this book by Shelley Shepard Gray and loved them both. Loved that whole Days of Redemption Series.  I just finished Eventide yesterday so last night I started The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis.  I finished it today.  It's a 324 page book..... Apparently Monogirl wasn't up to much more than resting and reading today.  Loved that book too and immediately started on book 2.... The Bridesmaid and quickly went to the library website to track down books 3 & 4!  I am still alllll about a good series which is helpful in meeting my 60 book goal for this year... cause currently I am at 56!

So who else ordered the project life set from HSN earlier this year with the 3 mini albums on auto ship later in the year?   Remember how the mini's were supposed to be exclusive?  First one was Dear Lizzy and #2 was to be an Exclusive Amy Tan kit.  I got the email a few days ago that mine had shipped.... but in the meantime saw this on Becky H's blog about how the wrong kit was produced.  Oops.  Looks like lots of people were unhappy about that.  I wasn't too upset about it and I like their revised resolution idea where you get to just keep this wrong kit, and then in January they will ship the promised kit plus a date stamp.  Glad they took the customers concerns seriously and came up with a good solution/resolution.... especially since I had some specific plans for that album.  I was hoping to use it to document our 2nd Honeymoon trip last year.  I think it will be perfect.  If you also ordered that set of albums/PL stuff, be sure to check out Becky's Blog so you can email AC with your preference on resolution. 

Wow... Ten plus things to make up for Tuesday.... there you have it.  Are you still with me?  Run out of Diet Pepsi yet?  I have.... but before I go.... let's do a thankful list for the week. 

• my new Kids Hope friend
• pumpkin soap
• Miss Sophie or should I say Miss Fly Paper... since Darrel cannot seem to get her to leave him alone while he is working on the house.  She is nothing if not persistent.
• date night
• highlights in my hair
• Kindles
• progress on the remodel.... a giant header board just went into place about where the pocket door will be.
• patience and support
• Saturday Pancakes..... OK it was French Toast this week.... and so good.
• a fresh mani/pedi done by me
• a new fall coat
• rain... which we needed... even though it did expose a leak trickling down our newly exposed chimney. 
• Pink stuff
• Tanner barking at Darrel as he goes out to cut the next board... it was Tanner language for "wait for me!" 
• the return of Hostess.  ha!
• classical music
• singing at church this week
• days off when I need to rest
• my blog readers!
• seeing more fall colors
• that I could walk around the office barefoot for the rest of the day after breaking my shoe!
• good friends
• La Carreta
• OK all fall stuff
• hot chocolate
• the cute pink feather shirt I just saw on QVC and OK... ordered... but you knew that didn't you.
• marriage
• the things God has shown me this week
• less coughing and more sleeping
• down comforters
• answered prayers
• reading

And ok.... are you worn out from reading yet?  Me too.  Thanks for visiting.  I promise to try and stop back in on the weekend... Honest. 

Blessings!