And for the record...

Paul knows I'm knocking him and his pop rocks on my blog.
I don't say anything here that I wouldn't say to him.
It's all good! :)

Don't Mess With....

My food! I'm not super picky or have wierd obsessions (in my opinion), but I don't like it when people mess with my food. I don't like people to eat stuff off my plate unless they ask me first. And I don't like people to put stuff in or do strange things to my food (unless I okay it first).

Paul and Abbie are famous for messing with their food. That is great - they are so creative! Maybe I am a fuddy-duddy, but please, don't mess with my food!

For example, Paul is always wanting to add a new ingredient to my famous caramel-brownie recipe. His idea for adding M&M's was awesome. But jelly beans? --- his coworkers gave that a thumbs down (I told him!).

For his birthday, he wanted caramel brownies instead of birthday cake. Today, he presented me with some strawberry pop rocks to add to the brownies. Ugh! Sure, I'll do it - it's his birthday dessert, but I'm leaving it off 2 brownies so I can eat them the way they are supposed to taste.

On Saturday, when I was working my hiney off trying to get the house ready to show, I didn't eat breakfast or lunch. I asked Abbie to follow me around and feed me a candy bar (not nutricious but easy), and yes, that is how busy I was. But then I got really thirsty, and she went to fix me a drink. When I heard stirring, I knew she was making a concoction. Ugh! I don't like it when people mess with my food or drink! She brought me some funny colored milk (I especially like my milk un-fooled around with). But I was gracious and drank it. It was her famous "mystery milk" recipe and actually tasted good (and I told her that and thanked her but secretly, I just wanted plain milk...).

On Sunday, Paul fixed both of us a bowl of Pink Salad. I noticed he had put some pop rocks on his serving. I cheered and said, "what a great idea!" (meaning - that is a creative way for YOU to mess with your food and use those pop rocks you bought). Then I looked in my bowl and noticed it had pop rocks too. {SIGH} I said, "Paul you KNOW I don't like my food messed with unless you ask me first. I've told you and told you that!" And he said, "But you cheered when you saw my bowl..." Then I had to explain why I cheered. And by the way, he had already put the pop rocks in my bowl before I cheered so that is not why he did it.

I ate the pop rocks on my Pink Salad. It wasn't horrible. But I would have preferred it without.

In other news, a couple looked at our house on Saturday. They really like it. But they have low-balled our offer. We'd love to sell it without a realtor commission, but we're not calling them back right away to let them sweat it a little. And we're still putting the house on the market so they're going to have to make a better offer.

Strange news of the week - my niece and her fiance stayed with us this weekend. As they were leaving on Sunday, Mike said, "there is a bird in your attic." Not the strangest news in the world. He said, "As I was packing the car, I kept hearing a tapping noise. I kept looking around but couldn't find the source. Until I looked up at your attic window. It's a big bird - I think a crow." I couldn't believe it! I wren or robin or black bird - I could believe that, but a large crow? I asked him to go up there and open the window so it could get out. I think it is out now, but I still can't figure out how a large crow got in. It's not like we have a big hole anywhere.....

Finished!

I finished cleaning the room and closet that was junked up and that I was avoiding like the plague!!!!!!

And I cleaned up some other really cluttered areas (that were all mine) today.

Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come.

Last night, Paul spackled some nail holes in Abbie's wall while she was getting ready for bed. After she was asleep, I went in and SANDED the areas and then painted them. She didn't wake up. She's such a deep sleeper.

Today, we took another load to the storage unit. Thankfully, we still have quite a bit of room. And some junk man met Paul after work, and he took a bunch of car parts with him.

I think we're going to put the new sink top in the master bath tomorrow. We'll finally have double sinks! Paul can stop crowding me while I do my tooth-brushing routine! I may not want to move once we have double sinks! :0

We have company coming on Friday (a niece), and I'm not sure if I'll have time to change the sheets. Or go to the grocery store.

We plan to show the house on Saturday to someone off the street who has approached us twice about wanting to buy it. It will be so cool to sell the house with ZERO days on the market and no realtor commission!

I am really excited about having a 3 day weekend coming up. I could use a little extra sleep and the extra time working on the house. I still need to work on curb appeal - weeding and planting flowers and cleaning the windows.

Everyday, I think about hiring someone so I can say, "go do this" and "now clean that" and "now I need you to do this" and "please help me" and "THANK YOU." Luckily, Paul and I are working in unison and not bickering. Yay!

Still Busy

We've had a busy weekend. Lots of home improvement projects.

Yes, I did start the project that I was procrastinating about. No, I did not finish or even put a huge dent in it.

Buying more Rubbermain Roughneck tubs helps. Some things are easy to pack, but other things... I can't decide if I should pack vertically or horizontally. Paul asked me today if we would "miss" any of this stuff that we're packing up and taking to storage. Some of it (winter clothes) is a yes, but most of it is probably a no.

We went out the eat on Saturday, and Paul and I both made our own "to-do" lists. Our lists do not overlap b/c there is so much to do. And neither list is short.

Paul called the dude that wants to buy/look at the house, and our goal is to have it ready by next weekend.

Today, we went to church. I prepared and served communion. Abbie waved some palms and sang. After church, while Paul and Abbie put away the communion items, I changed clothes and drove straight to my dads. He and I had a good time together. I got all his bills paid, swept and mopped the whole house, and changed the litter box. He and I gathered eggs together, and he gave me a dozen to take home. He's got two sets of eggs in an incubator. What is he going to do with all these chickens? I got a sneaky feeling today that he likes giving eggs away to his neighbors and friends so that he can have company. Ahhhhh! :)

Then I came home and watched a movie with Abbie and snuggled her.

In other news, Abbie really likes the Pink Panther movies with Steve Martin. She can do an excellent imitation of a French person speaking English. Paul can too. Me, not so much, but I try! Everyday, they speak with a French accent. I told Paul that I think it makes me love him even more. Can't explain why, it's just hilarious and fun and cute!
Oddly, Abbie speaks with a French accent perfect in-person, but on the phone, she can't really do it. I don't understand why that happens, but you'll have to visit our house to meet our "French exchange student."

Too Busy

I've been too busy to blog lately. I miss it.

We've been doing several home improvement projects lately. And we hired a handyman to do the other stuff that we can't or don't have time to do.

This handyman is amazing! He's a retired engineer and can do anything, and he's a very hard worker.

This weekend, we hope to get the new shutters up. There are two rooms downstairs that I've been procrastinating about - they need to be cleaned out completely. I need some motivation...

A man stopped Paul one day and told him that he was interested in our house. He left his name and number, and I kept the info b/c I planned to call him when we were closer to putting it on the market. Today, he came by again, and he's really interested! Eeee! We're going to call him and see what we can negotiate. But I really can't let anyone come look at the house until I get the carpets cleaned and get those two rooms cleaned. I need Paul to bribe me with a pedicure and dinner out or a facial or something. I just don't want to {wah wah}. I'm going to have to suck it up and do it tomorrow.

Yeah, tomorrow.........