Black Friday...and painting...

For those who know me best, go ahead now and pick your jaws up off the floor because yesterday morning at 3:30 I was in Wal-Mart waiting for the sales to begin. Yes, I know it's hard to believe but due to the fact we are moving I couldn't really do my online shopping that I love so much so I was forced to battle the masses in Wally-world. Why did I pick there, of all places? They had a tv on sale that we wanted for our bedroom...plus I could get everyting else I wanted and needed. So, in the course of 2 short hours I finished the majority of my shopping (actually STARTED and FINISED is more accurate)...as well as purchased the supplies needed to start painting in the house.

Which brings me to my latest project...painting the girls' playroom. I've decided after today, 2 hours of scrubbing till my hands cramped and fingers were sore, not to mention going through 4 Mr. Clean Erasers, Grace is no longer allowed to have colors of any kind...crayons, markers, colored pencils, chalk, you-name-it! All four walls had graffiti, which is why the entire room has to be re-painted. So while Randy is gone to Tennessee - he's not going to Tampa this next week so said he'd take his mom back home this weekend - I've spent the majority of the day scrubbing walls and taping off outlets, switches, windows and doors...but only in the playroom...I still have their room to do! UGH!

As for our holiday, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my mother-in-law, Katie, Efren and Liliana, and our former neighbors and good friends, Lisa and her kids. Randy deep-fried the turkey again, which was absolutely delicious! He even did one for our neighbors! Randy and I spent the night before and most of Thanksgiving day cooking all the food...my grandma's casserole mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, corn, dressing, dirty rice, seafoam salad and my grandma's wonderful pecan pie. Lisa added to that a delicious apple and a delicious pumpkin pie and our cleaning friend even surprised us by stopping by with a pumpkin pie she had made. Everything was delicious, everyone had a wonderful time and we certainly gave thanks for the blessings God has given us this year. We also said goodbye to Efren, who left early Friday morning for another TDY and won't return until after we've moved.

Well, time for me to close and get painting. Now that the 'hard word' is done and everything is taped and covered, painting should go quickly. We all hope that all of you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did...I just really miss not putting up our tree right now!

Time is getting shorter...

...and my list of things to do keeps getting longer! I spent this weekend driving to middle Tennessee to pick up Randy's mom so she can spend this week with us. I woke up in the wee hours of Saturday morning and decided that as long as I was awake I would go ahead and leave early and drive to Nashville and go to a sale I'd been told about that was going on that day. It was a Kelly's Kids warehouse sale and I had no idea what I was in for! I got there about an hour early and realized later that I should have gone to get in line as soon as I got there. There were people in line since 4:30 AM! For those of you who don't know about Kelly's Kids, there clothes are absolutely adorable but very expensive so when they have a sale where they are selling all tops and bottoms for $9.99 (regularly priced $28 to $42 EACH) and dresses, longalls and dress coats for $14.99 (regularly priced $48 to $65 EACH), a lot of people tend to show up. I talked with some ladies in line who told horror stories of other Kelly's Kids sales they had been to where some people went in and just grabbed entire racks of clothes! A lot of people go and resell the stuff on eBay. By the time the door opened I was hoping to get lucky enough to get an outfit for each of the girls. Well, ten minutes after walking in I was walking out having found a few things for Emily, Grace and even a complete outfit for Liliana. I estimated that I saved approximately 75%! Then it was on to my mother-in-law's where I spent the night before returning with her the next day. Randy had dinner ready for everyone and I crashed early! Today was spent at the doctor's...my last regular appointment with my pain management doctor, my only other appointment with him being next week for trigger point injections. After that we had lunch with Randy and then Judy, Emily, Grace and I decided to brave Wal-Mart and get as much of our Thanksgiving grocery shopping done as we could. We came home and shortly after Katie came by and treated her grandma to a pedicure. When they came back Efren and Liliana were with them and stayed for dinner. Tomorrow is another doctor appointment and then Randy and I have an appointment to get our wills done. He just informed me though that he has a phone conference with his boss at 2...in the middle of our appointment. He's known about this appointment for two weeks and I asked him if he could adjust the time of his phone call but I'm not holding my breath. We've said since we moved here that we would get our wills updated (they haven't been done since right after we got married) and we haven't, now Randy says he wants to wait until after we move...but I know it won't happen anymore than it happened after we moved here. Oh well, I'm still going to get mine done. Everyone will probably be here again tomorrow night for dinner. Wednesday Randy is making gumbo and then we'll start cooking everything we can ahead of time for Thursday.

Sometime this week I want to start on the painting that has to be done. We're not painting the whole house, don't feel we should have to after having lived here 4 years, but both of the girls' rooms need to be done and their bathroom in order to cover up the evidence from them coloring on the walls in each of those rooms! I still need to pull out all of the holiday decorations in the crawl space upstairs and move them into the garage (we're moving them in the u-haul so we have them immediately when we get down there). Randy still needs to empty the shed and bring everything up to the garage as well. He did tell me today that in addition to not working all of this week, he's not going to Tampa next week but instead work out of the Tampa office so he'll be here to help get done what needs to be finished before the move. The week we are moving he'll be going down on Monday though...I'll be here when the packers come Wednesday and Thursday...he'll be there for the closing on Friday...and I'll clear us out of here on Saturday and head down with the girls.

So instead of staying on here blogging, I'd better get off and see what I can get done tonight. There are always boxes to go through and clean out! Hey, I just realized that since Randy isn't going to Tampa next week, maybe he'll take his mom back on Saturday. That's going to be a quick turnaround trip though...there and back same day, about 12 hours drive time. There's just too much still to do to be away two days again.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Now the fun begins...

So now the fun begins. We close on our house in 4 short weeks and I have a lot to do to get ready to move. We are fortunate in that Randy's company is hiring a moving company to come in, pack us up, load up the truck and move it to the new house as well as unload our things and put furniture back together (i.e. the beds and anything else they have to take apart to move). So at least I don't have to do that! I spent today scheduling them...they'll pack on 10 Dec and load up the truck 11 Dec...contacting both girls' schools to let them know we're leaving and to find out what to do to transfer Emily to a new school down there...contacting doctors' offices to request copies of medical records...notifying our property manager that we finally have a date and are leaving...cancelling any appointments I already had sceduled after the 5th of December...whew! It's been quite a day and the battery on my cell phone died from too much use!!! Randy and I hope to be able to get the painting done before household goods are packed, one of several projects to do on the weekends when Randy is home. Both of the girls' rooms need to be re-painted, everything else just needs to be touched up from where we hung pictures on the wall, chairs scraped the wall, etc. The problem is though that there are only 2 weekends when we can really do it together - this weekend, and we're not ready yet, or the weekend before we move. The two weekends in between are going to be spent with me on the road to Tennessee. Randy's mom is coming for the week of Thanksgiving and I need to go pick her up and take her home. Randy would do it but with him travelling back and forth to Tampa every week, the last thing he wants to do is spend more time in the truck travelling. So, I offered to do it. It'll be great having her here, our last holiday in this house. Once we move to Tampa it'll be more difficult to see her for weekend trips like we have since living here.

Well it's late and I need to finish a couple more things before I catch a few hours sleep. It seems as if the work to get ready for a move never ends and sleep suffers as a result. But hey, is anyone ever REALLY ready when it comes time to move???

WE DID IT!

Yep, it's official, our offer was accepted this evening!!!

Housing offer, round 2

Our offer was rejected though we're not surprised since we asked for a lot and offered a low price. The current owners did accept our request that they pay closing costs though so that much is good. They countered with a higher price as well as a change in closing date (one week later which is not a problem) and the use of a different company for the 1-year home warranty (which is also not a problem). Our realtor has suggested that we take the difference between what we offered and they counter-offered and split it and re-counter with that. I've put a call into our mortgage guy to have him run the numbers but am still waiting on him to call me back. I have also called Randy but he has two big-wigs from corporate in town so is in meetings all day. So I sit and wait...

Pics of our *hopefully* new house...

We may have found our new home!

Randy and I decided to take today a little differently. Instead of all of us piling in the vehicle together and heading out through every house, Emily and I went while Randy and Grace stayed back at the hotel. He was getting frustrated with not finding what we were looking for so this gave me the opportunity to 'weed out' properties I knew he would not want to see. So, he and Grace eventually met up with us at the 4th house of the day, arriving at 16606 Blenheim Drive in Lutz (pronounced LOOTZ) to meet the realtor, Emily and myself. The flyer for the property describes it as:

"4 Bedrooms, 3 Full Baths, 3 Car Garage, New Stainless Steel Kitchen Appliances, Solar Heated Swimming Pool, Outdoor Kitchen & Scenic Pond.

It will be easy to make this wonderful house your home. It has a spacious open floor plan featuring high ceiling & decorator shelves. The kitchen has been updated with all new Stainless Steel Appliances and features a built-in desk. The formal living and dining rooms offer an opportunity to display your finest furnishings. There's a cozy family room / kitchen combo with decorative wainscoting, built-in entertainment center, a wood burning fireplace and breakfast nook overlooking the pool and pond. Nearly 2,700 s.f. of living area in this sturdy concrete block / stucco home offers plenty of room for your family to grow. The exterior paint, A/C handler, water heater and pool pump are fairly new. The huge 15 x 30 swimming pool has all new sreens and is solar heated. There are beautiful shade trees everywhere. Windsor Park is a gated community that features tree lined streets, scenic ponds, playgrounds, tennis courts, an activities pavilion and a boat/RV storage area for your use."

So, we went through it as a family and we all really liked it. Randy especially loves the pond view and there was even a duck swimming across while we were there. The owners put a wooden bench swing down near the water with a lattice arbor as well as a wood & rope swing hung from the tree. We left there though and went and looked at a couple more but finally decided we just wanted to go back and see the first house together again. I have to admit, I never had the AAAAAAHHHHHHH moment I was hoping for but I can definitely see my family growing in this house and us definitely making it our home. There is a wonderful little pond when you walk up to the front of the house and when you reach the front step the 'mauve-colored' tile becomes very noticeable. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention there is mauve tile throughout the house but the owner's were going to to change it out before they received a job transfer so are giving an allowance for the cost-estimate they received. The mauve tile even surrounds the wood burning fireplace! It's actually not that bad though - I'll know better when the house is completely empty. The master retreat is huge with sliders to the pool area. There are also sliders from the formal living room, the breakfast nook (2 sides) and the family room with a separate door to the pool bath which is next to bedrooms 3 and 4 (on the opposite side of the house from the master retreat). We will probably convert the formal dining room into Randy's office - guess that means we'll have to do better about keeping it clean!!! Bedroom 2 has it's own bath and private door to the outside of the house, but it's on the side of the house and not the back where the lanai and pool are located. The pool is beautiful with a lage covered area and the whole thing is screened. There is also an outdoor kitchen with a built-in down-draft Jenn-Air grill. In anticipation for the dog the girls want to get, there is also a dog run located on the side of the house!

So, we've returned to the hotel for the night and our realtor went on to run the numbers and see what sort of realistic offer we can make. We already know the taxes on the property so all I have to do tomorrow is call around about insurance. Then our mortgage-guy will crunch them all together and let us know if we're within the ballpark of where we want to be. So, tomorrow's the day...hopefully we'll find out if our total number is within our reach, make the offer, and hopefully have it accepted.

This is painful...

...I mean, REALLY painful. Day 1-1/2 of house-hunting proved no more fruitful than the first 1/2 day. We've already paraded through about a dozen houses and I have yet to experience that 'AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH' moment. You know what I'm talking about...think Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo standing in the middle of nowhere with their freezing kids in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. All of a sudden through the trees though they, or at least HE, sees the perfect 50-foot Christmas tree already glowing in lights and you hear the music in the background - 'AAAAAHHHHHHHHH'. That's what I'm waiting for but all I'm hearing is the little voice in my head telling me to run, Run, RUN as fast as you can out of there! No, it hasn't been that bad and to be perfectly honest, if we could take one house we saw and put it on another property we saw, our search would be over. We either find the perfect house with no yard to speak of or the perfect yard with the house that screams 1970s! We've also found a couple that would be great...with very attractive prices...but they would require a lot of work to be done before we could even move in. It's been almost sad at times walking in some of these homes that are bank-owned where the previous owner lost it through foreclosure. It's actually pretty pathetic when you see every appliance has been removed, light fixtures and ceiling fans torn down, baseboards and crown molding ripped out. Our realtor told us she went in a house once that had been foreclosed and the previous owner had even torn out the toilets!

So for us, at the end of today, we've looked at the homes that meet our criteria that are within a 30-minute commute for Randy...but without any luck. I haven't seen a single one that I would like to go back and look at again. So tomorrow we expand our search to include the 30-45 minute commute area and hopefully we'll have better success.

Daddy has a snatch...

...or at least that's what Grace says. She's been on this kick lately about who is a boy and who is a girl. We haven't gone into WHY some people are boys and some are girls but she does know there is a difference. Daddy was on the love seat this morning enjoying his cup of coffee when Grace walked up to him and informed him once again that he is a boy and she is a girl. Then she went on through her mind reciting the name of every person she knows and telling him who were boys and who were girls. Then she told him he has a snatch! and poppa has a snatch! but that even though Efren and Ryan are both boys, they don't have snatches!!! Have you figured out what she was trying to say? Moustache! We tried correcting her, as we have in the past when she's said it, but she just can't get her mouth to say the word right. I guess it's like our friend Henrietta - she's Grace's best bud but she can't say her name to save her life, she calls her Miss Mari-hetta! So yes, in Grace's mind some boys have snatches. I can't wait until she's A LOT older and we can tell her why this story is so funny!!!

Barack Obama, President-elect

I have to admit I was greatly disappointed Tuesday night when John McCain did not win the election, but I also must admit I wasn't surprised. Senator McCain had a lot to overcome, baggage from the current administration, that he unfortunately was not able to do. I am a flag-waving Republican, conservative by most standards, and very protective of my money. I don't like the idea of campaign promises made by a candidate that mirror socialism. I earned that money, my husband earned that money, and I'm not too keen on the idea of having to share it with those who 1. choose not to work, 2. prefer to milk the system of their own 'perceived' entitlements, 3. or to have it re-distributed in a system that does not promote furthering of education or job skills. Where is the incentive to better yourself when your money will be taken from you and handed out to those with less than you? That being said, I fell I should retire my soapbox. There is nothing that can be done now, the majority have spoken and the electoral college followed. Barack Obama will be our new president on 20 January 2009. I am excited...yeah, I said I'm excited...that history has been made and the first African American has been elected to the highest office in our country. However, I am concerned about articles I have read pertaining to 'friends' in his past (i.e. Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright), I am concerned about the controversy surrounding his birth certificate and wish the original would be produced to shut that theory down, I am concerned about his Muslim ties, but what I am most concerned about is his complete lack of experience to lead this nation. That, my friend, is what scares me the most. My hope and prayer is that he will surround himself with a cabinet of people with more experience than him and utilize them heavily. My hope and prayer is that a peaceful withdrawal of our troops in Iraq will occur with no lasting repercussions on the citizens of that country and that what has been accomplished the past 5-1/2 years will not have been done in vain. I pray for change and I believe Barack Obama will deliver, I only hope that it's the kind of change that benefits more than takes-away. If President-elect Obama is the God-fearing man he claims to be, I pray that he will maintain and further develop his faith and convictions. This can be...is...and will be an exciting time in American history and despite the fact that I feel that John McCain would make a better president, I will no longer stand opposed to President-elect Obama. I even removed all of my anti-Obama 'flair' from my facebook page. I will admit, Barack Obama is a very eloquent and charismatic speaker, he has a gift. He may just be the right person to re-unite the un-united of this country and this world. He has an ability to draw in the masses. I only hope it's not like the Pied Piper drawing in the mice and directing them off the side of a cliff. I hope his promises for change ring true and that my fear of American becoming a socialist country becomes unrealized. After all, campaign promises have been broken by, I'm sure, almost every president ever elected. But hey, if not, I hear Canada is nice.

New Recipe

Thanks Vanessa - you gave me a great idea when I saw the recipes posted on your blog. Last year I gave Randy a cookbook for Christmas from the Dean Brothers. For those of you who don't know, Paula Dean from the Food Network has two sons who travel across the country visiting restaurants, many of which are just out of the away and could be classified as a 'hole in the wall'. Anyway, one of our favorite recipes from the book came from a restaurant in Round Top, Texas, called Royers Round Top Cafe and it's called Creamed Corn and Fried Onion Casserole. Here it is:

1 x 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 x 10-ounce package frozen corn, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x cup canned french-fried onions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 7-inch square baking pan or casserole dish. Spread the cream cheese evenly on the bottom of the pan. Top with corn, pressing the corn into the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the onions evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

The third time we made this we added a little half-and-half to the cream cheese and liked the consistency better but it's up to you. Add just enough to make it smooth but not runny. This has become one of our favorites for Sunday dinners with the kids. Mom even took the recipe with her back home to Illinois and made it recently when they had everyone over. The recipe is super-easy, tastes great and even Lily and our picky-little-eater-Grace ate some!

Bon Apetit!

Southern Living At Home...I need help!

Many of you know that I am an independent consultant for Southern Living At Home. I got involved with this company a couple of months ago at the urging of a friend of mine. I've bought so much through her in the past year and a half that we thought it would be a great idea for me to become a consultant because at least that way I could continue to buy the products I like but with a discount!!! Well, had I known the economy would take a turn for the worst I probably would have waited but not knowing, I signed up and have been struggling with this for a few months now. I say 'struggling' with all the sincerity I can muster since I've only been able to do two parties with unfortunately no prospects for any future ones. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm not meant to sell!!! Even so I've decided to have my own catalog/website party where anyone can view the current catalog online through my website (www.southernlivingathome.com/marykelly) or I can drop off a catalog to anyone who is interested either when I'm out and about or in the mail. There are some really great sale items in November as well as great hostess and customer specials. Catalog parties count towards redeeming hostess specials - all that's required is a minimum of $250 in sales. So talk to your friends, generate some interest and give me a call! I'd love to 'hook you up' with some great deals through a company whose products I absolutely love! P.S. There are links on my website for the November hostess and customer specials as well as the November sale items!!!

More Halloween pictures...

Here are the rest of the Halloween pictures...check out Lily's shoes! and Katie's boobs!

Happy Halloween!

They are so adorable!!! We had wonderful Halloween this year with Emily going as a '50s girl' and Grace as our own little 'Stinkerbell'. Katie brought Liliana over who was dressed as a beautiful ladybug. Katie even got into the spirit by dressing up as one of the Housewives of Orange County or as a dark-haired Lindsay Lohan-look-a-like, depending on your perspective! I'll add photos of Katie and Lily when Katie sends them from her camera. It was Randy's turn to 'walk the girls' this year. Ever since we moved here we've taken turns - one of us stays here to hand out candy while the other walks the girls door-to-door around the loop here in our neighborhood. This year Emily got a special treat when she was invited by our neighbors to ride on a hay-covered trailor pulled by a 4-wheeler. Of course Grace wanted to go too but Daddy and Katie walked her and Lily to some houses and then brought them home. Grace got into the spirit of things when she got back by helping mama pass out candy. She even gave more candy to the kids whose costumes she liked best! She was too cute. After trick-or-treating ended and we wrestled all three of the girls to bed, Randy, Katie and I sat down with some pizza and hot wings to watch Jeepers Creepers. After being up most of the night before, fatigue set in and I fell asleep before it ended. To be quite honest, I can't recall if I have ever seen the movie all the way to the end! What I do remember is pretty scary though so if you like scary movies, it's worth checking out!
I really had a hard time getting into it this year, probably because I didn't really decorate a whole lot. With the upcoming move, on top of me putting all of the fall decorations BEHIND the Christmas ones in the attic, I didn't pull them out. I'm going to make more of an effort though for Christmas even though I dread the thought of moving in the middle of it! Oh well, Santa will hopefully be bringing us the best Christmas present for us all to enjoy - a new house with an in-ground pool! I'd better close and get back to my online househunting...