End of an Era

....and we couldn't be happier!

Today is the actual day! After four rescheduling sessions we are FINALLY getting carpet in the basement today. What does this truly mean for us? It means that Mike will finally be getting an office and his own space to take his conference calls in. He won't have me folding/snapping laundry in the background or watching t.v. with earphones but still managing to laugh out loud despite his warning/begging me to not make any noise.

So - here's his current "office" situation. Four feet of desk space crammed in between the underwear drawer and card table holding the media center. High tech.

It isn't all bad though....he does have these awesome chairs to sit and gab in when he doesn't need both computers for his meetings. I foresee sometime in the future when he requests a chair for the corner of his office.

And - here's my set-up along the other wall in our room. Crazy messy, but I'm in the middle of a project...sorry.

As for my stuff? I'm not sure it's going anywhere anytime soon. I thought maybe it would end up in the basement. However, with my parents moving, I've convinced Mike that we really "need" to store her quilting machine at our house. It gets up to 12 feet long, I believe, so about the only open wall space we have will be my future crafting area. I highly doubt Mike will be gung-ho to have me move my crafting stuff into his office after practically popping bubbly in celebration of getting his own space. So - in our room it will probably remain.

Last Splash

This past week Mike and the kids got a chance to swim on Thursday night. The weather was nice enough and we'd kept the pool heated for just such an occasion. Unfortunately we messed up on the chlorine levels and the pool was pretty cloudy, but still swimmable. Actually, Maddie and Jake got a bit of a kick out of swimming in water they couldn't see in - while chasing "Rover" - the automatic pool cleaner.

Friday afternoon provided another nice chance for the kids to get some swimming in. This time the pool was much less cloudy and they were able to have a couple friends over. So the "Four Muskateers" (they play together ALL the time) jumped, splashed and had a great time getting in that last swim.


Rachel got such a kick out of fixing Jake's hair - she thought it was so fun to make his hair as spikey as possible.

Jake was slightly disappointed when he realized Rachel's long hair wasn't going to get spikey.


We'll probably be closing up the pool soon. Looking at the weather it doesn't look like there will be much more opportunity to swim. So, another season will come to a close and we'll look forward to next summer.

Pining Away

A few weeks ago we received some frozen cookie dough that I had ordered from the football team. (And I still get a little chuckle that the football team is selling cookies...).

Anyway - the kids have been begging me to make these cookies. In all honesty it's been a little crazy around here the last couple weeks and I just never seem to get the two hours to sit and make these. Once again last week the kids asked if I could please make these cookies. So, I apologized and said that so much had been going on, I just hadn't found the time. Both kids replied, mostly in the same manner, but I'll quote Maddie because she was closest:

"But mom...we are gone SIX HOURS out of the day."

I agreed - as if I hadn't noticed. I also informed them that there are other things that go on while they are gone. I ran errands, I worked on projects around the house, occasionally cleaned - oh yeah - and that pesky laundry, just to name a few. Apparently they thought I just sat by the window staring outside for six hours until they returned and my life began again.

So last week I found a morning where I was completely alone in the house - Mike was downtown for the day and the kids were at school. I got tons accomplished and between loads of laundry I managed to make M&M cookies.

So now life is back to "Leave It To Beaver" and the kids have a small supply of milk and cookies for after school. Now that this chore is done, I can go back to taking bubble baths and eating bon-bons while they are at school.

Lights Out

I found this note on the floor the other night before we headed upstairs - it must have fallen off the fridge:

And here's the back just to be polite:

So, when I was at church Mike headed upstairs to replace all the lightbulbs that were out (there happened to be one in each room). The light Maddie was begging for was in her closet. In all honestly, it has been out for about three weeks - but it's a closet. Not really the first thing we think about on our to-do list. Usually we remember it at the end of the day when we head into the closet to get clothes for the next day.

On a normal day in this house I constantly ask/tell/remind people - mostly kids - to TURN OFF THE LIGHTS! I clearly remember my dad reprimanding us for this all the time; what goes around comes around.

So it felt like things were back to normal when, the day after the lightbulb was replaced, I headed up to Maddie's room to put away laundry and there in the closet was her light - left on.

It was a lot cheaper when she just plain didn't have a light that worked.

Friends in Tight Places

Maddie and Jake have been playing almost non-stop with their friends Elizabeth and Rachel. All four kids are constantly traveling between the two houses. And they really play well together but they come up with the wackiest stuff...

This is what I found when I got upstairs:

I guess this was their version of house. After all the ruckus I heard though, I think it was more probable that it was a version of "we-can't-jump-on-beds-we'll-jump-on-everything-else".

Mostly Maddie and Jake were incredibly disappointed when we answered "no" to their question that night of, "can we just sleep here tonight?"

Blood, Sweat & Tears - not in that order

SWEAT: This past weekend Mike and I made yet another effort to get our basement ready for carpet. Neither one of us wanted to call the company and push the date back again - last time we called, the company threatened to rebid our estimate and this week we found out my parents sold their house (yeah!). While their new house is being built they will be living with us so we REALLY need to get the basement done so we can actually clean out the guest room that is currently housing everything that was in the basement.

So, Saturday (and most of Sunday) we spent putting up trim. Mike spent a good portion of the time putting up the casings for the doors as well as woodwork surrounding the posts. I worked on the baseboard trim. This involved a lot of use of the coping saw. I've decided I don't like that tool - for obvious reasons explained later, but mostly because it didn't work exactly how I wanted/thought it should. I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with my skill level.

This was what Mike said before I shot the above picture: "Umm...I guess I should put on my safety glasses."

These are the colors chosen by our kids for their "secret room". Wow.

But, I was in charge of coping the ends of the baseboard and after about the 6th board I finally figured out how to go about making the best fit. Of course, there was no way I was going to go and redo the previous five boards. Somewhere in the afternoon though, while making a final cut to one of the boards, the coping saw somehow managed to slide right across my left thumb.

BLOOD: Being the brave soul I am, I managed to call for Mike as I headed upstairs to stop the bleeding that I was sure wasn't going to stop and planned how I was going to play in church Sunday with stitches. This really hurt. It wasn't that I really needed Mike's help, it was more that I wanted a great deal of sympathy and attention. He came up so wisely and said, "You're supposed to cut the wood, not your finger." Let me tell you how much I loved living with a comedian at that moment.

So, I now have a cut about a quarter-inch long on my finger that when I hold my thumb just right I can see through my thumb to the wall behind it.

TEARS: And the basement? Yeah - Mike sucked it up and called the company to reschedule for next week. This is what he told them, "Our finishers just need a bit more time." When I heard this I looked at him with raised and questioning eyebrows. I got a weak shrug and smile in return. Nice to know that after all this work we at least have titles.

Grillmaster Murphy

Sounds like a rap name, doesn't it? Far from it.

You would think this post was about Mike. Surprise! On Sunday night while Mike was working on the basement I decided we would have BBQ chicken grilled by...moi!

So, after asking Mike for his help in actually turning it on I got to it. Jake took some photos for proof that it was me...

Now, Mike and I have been watching "Primal Grilling" with Steven Reichlan. This guy is a bit loony at times, but I must say he comes up with some dishes that make my mouth water; I'm usually starving at the end of the show. But, he's always talking about "killer grill marks" on your food...the sign of a "real grillmaster". Check out these bad boys:

And here's the kicker....my family actually ate it!! I was pretty sure the chicken was cooked through and when Mike cut into it and looked at me I was a little alarmed but he said it was done - barely - but done. But hey - IT WASN'T DRY!!! That was my biggest fear. Mike wasn't so sure that should have been my priority, but he ate it! Even Jake ate it!

So, after this meal was finished I told Mike that maybe it wasn't that I was meant to be a cook, maybe I was meant to GRILL! He just politely nodded and I may have glimpsed an eye roll. See...he's been dreaming of a new grill for quite awhile now. I may be stepping on some toes trying to claim his position of griller in the family.