Like Jennifer H, yesterday was a big gardening day for us. I got the rest of my nursery plants planted, the lawn mowed and some trees pruned.

Today, I almost took a picture of our garage but didn't want to look silly in front of my brother and Mom and Dad, both our vehicles are in the garage for the first tine in weeks. My brother is here picking up his table saw and the other items in our garage, so David put everything away (miracle) and their is room for everything!

Tonight, in honor of my brother and nieces visit we had homemade berry pie, a wonderful salmon dinner and top it off with an apple pie. Tomorrow I am planning on surprising my brother with one of his favorites...German sour cream twists...for breakfast.

Pictures soon, I promise! And completed projects too...my parents are off to Germany for 2 weeks so my taxi duties will die down for a while.

Gardening

Yesterday after I took my Mom to the Chiropractor, we stopped at a local nursery (Knollwood) to look at plants. Every house that I have ever co-owned with my husband has had a clematis. Yesterday at Knollwood I bought my Dayton house clematis....an indigo sapphire. I am very excited to see it's bloom color!

When I got home with my plants (clematis, bee balm, guarda, delphinium, etc...) I mentioned ot my Dad that I needed a trellis for my new clematis. So he took one of the old decking boards and ripped it into 1/2 inch strips (all connected at the bottom) and fanned the strips out into a lattice. After about an hour or so and a pint of blood (his tremor was acting up while he was using the air compressor to nail the wood to the supports!) he brought this out and we planted my new clematis :)

So (I didn't take a before picture) I shaped all the huge overgrown bushes (boxwoods I think) into little mounds for "anchors" (because I can't throw a good plant away) and scattered my new flowering plants between. One garden down...one big one to go.

My brother is driving up from TN tomorrow morning to come and get his loot from Mom and Dad's truck. And he is a lanscaped architect. So I plan on picking his brain for ideas in the front. It is full sun and a DISASTER! The people who owned out house before us never gardened and just left all the contractor grade plants in for the last 16 years. The contractor grade plants are all too big and weirdly placed. I'll have to take a front garden before picture...

Middle School

Hannah Einstein. Yesterday at school all the 6th graders, I mean all billion of them, dressed up as their person for Biography Fair 2009. There were your Magic Johnsons, Annie Oakleys, Walt Disneys, etc. Hannah was Al.

Got No Time

Remember those "Mom's Taxi" bumperstickers? And remember how we have all joked that it feels like all we do is shuttle our kids from this to that? Turn about is fair play is guess. I have not done a THING this week but run errands and shuttle MY Mom around. Doctors appointments...shoe shopping...Walgreens.

Tomorrow? Maybe some sewing? I have a wrap skirt in green polka dots cut out and I am dying to sew it.

Good Grief

Hannah decided about 3 weeks ago that she needed a fish. So she and her cousin Katie went to Meijer and spent 23 cents or something on a fish. Well H's fish J.J. was stuck to the bottom of the bowl yesterday when she got home from school and she cried and cried and cried.

After a quick distracting trip to the dentist Hannah came home and buried her fish, fashioned a cross of stick and wires, made a tombstone and laid flowers on the grave.

Nothings

Got this book today in the mail...since the local library didn't carry it.

At first glance, it looks okay. I only liked a few on the patterns so I may just copy them and resell the book on Amazon.

Had another job interview today, I killed. If I could only interview somewhere that paid me a ton of money working only a few hours. Hmm.

Busy day tomorrow with Bubba's field trip and H's dental appointment, so no time to sew so far! I am itching to make the green dotted wrap skirt I have in the que!

Weekend Wrap Up

Very nice weekend here in Ohio. We had new friends (to me) over for a hot dog and hamburger BBQ at our house on Saturday night and laughed and laughed...felt at home at a new church prospect on Sunday morning...welcomed Papa and Nana into our new casa on Sunday evening...ate yummy BBQ at City BBQ on Sunday night...moved some bushes around in the yard on Monday morning...bought a couple of 88 cent McCalls patterns at Hancock Monday afternoon... and made grilled Cuban sandwiches and wonderful corn on the cob for an early dinner today and hung out and played cards into the evening.

A great weekend!

Suckcess

I've mentioned how much it sucks (for lack of a better word) to be church hunting. Well, we actually had success today. I'm not going as far as to say that the church we went to was a perfect fit, but today we ALL enjoyed the church we attended! The music was AWESOME, the people were really nice, the facility was wonderful, and the preaching...the preaching was great. Success! It really changes your day and outlook to go somewhere that you are loved and accepted and really liked!

The parental units arrived this afternoon safely with their satanic spawn dog Rosie. Rosie has been well behaved so far, and to celebrate their arrival we all went out to City BBQ (one of my local American-it being Memorial Day Weekend and all- fav's) and sucked some Deelicious BBQ down the ole pie hole. Ymmmm.

Maaaatha and others

I've always been a library junkie. Some nights when I am bored I'll go to Amazon and search their lists of top this or that or best sellers and open a second page link to our local library catalog and search and request books I see on Amazon. Here are the latest...

A few weeks ago I requested Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts.
I am a huge Martha fan, or should I say I am a huge pre-jail magazine fan of hers. I don't really care for the show or all the other corporate stuff, but enjoy sitting down with a copy of her magazine and planning. So I checked out her new release and...can I say that I am disappointed? The book is fine, nice photos and such, but every freaking thing in it is out of a past magazine. In the "reference book" sense the book is fine and a neat package of all her ideas. But frankly I have all the magazine articles I wanted to keep ripped out and saved. Big let down.


My other library pick up was this book...Sew What Skirts. Can I just tell you that it is pretty cute and has some great ideas!? Totally easy patterns. All the patterns are measure yourself add this subtract this # type things, but that is great since there are no silly tissue papers to deal with (I hate those). And it makes the book user friendly for all shapes and sizes. I am in the skirt wearing and making mood and really haven't found a pattern up to now that I like. I will be making a few things (hopefully) this week and post regarding directions and outcome soon.

The Mother Lode

The truck from my parents arrived this last Tuesday. Mom & Dad have sold their house and are in the process of clearing some furniture and things out. Since both my siblings have established homes it looks like we were going to get some fun stuff. Lately my Mom has always been about the "I'm not going to be around forever, is there something you want?" Well, we heard conflicting rumors on what was to be expected. One day the (coveted) 2 famous red leather chairs were coming, the next day they decided against sending the chairs.

Back and forth decisions and changes for weeks all leading to D and I just taking on a "don't ask, what ever we get is cool" policy.

The day of the big reveal we opened the truck and what was inside?

My childhood piano, which D was THRILLED about. It is wonderful and looks great in our once empty living room. Yeah!

A big burgundy leather Barcolounger of my Dad's which is AWESOME and everyone is fighting over. It even smells like my Dad...in a good way. We are all scratching our heads as to why it was sent because that is my Dad's chair...the chair he sleeps in :) I am guessing my Mom just wanted it out of the house :)

Some artwork. One of my favorite print's of theirs so that is really cool, and it looks great on our empty walls.

A rug for the family room that matches all our stuff perfectly. Our family room was once a bit cavernous and all "carpet" and the rug brings both sides of the room together really nicely.

A giant wood framed mirror that was my grandmothers. Very nice...can always use a bit of Fung Suei going on. Looks great above the mantel.

A table saw for my brother, which he needs to come up and get. Hint hint.

A band saw for D, which he is jumping for joy over.

A couple of twin mattress and box springs that we put in the basement for now.

A million twin sheets and pillow cases. (Since the beds are here I guess?)

Clothes and stuff for them when they are here.

A drop leaf table and little "fern table."

And last but not least.....drum roll...the absolute freaking mother lode of sewing stuff. Mom sent 3 sewing cabinets, a sewing machine, a serger (whoot!-I miss mine!) and a mess of thread, notions and patterns.

Needless to say...be on the look out for some crafty sewing posts soon!

We won the hand-me-down lottery!

One A Day

I have to admit that I am always disappointed when I log onto the blogging home page to look at my favorite spots and find that they haven't posted daily. This being said, I know I should be posting daily and haven't recently.

So my goal is to post once a day for the next hmmm....6 months? 3 months?

I like to post pictures when I post, so hopefully be looking for daily pictures too.

Yeah!

Design

Here is a peek at Bubba's new room...note the hanging chair in
the corner...ala IKEA. My sister and I did the paint job a few weeks ago, and I love it!









Here is the master...a little boring for now. We have NO furniture except a mattress and the old chair (we found it on the side of the road in Rochester a million years ago). I finished the valance today.








And finally, for now, here is the dining room. We just got our table and chairs a few weeks ago...the table is AWESOME and beautiful. It pulls out to reveal 2 leaves and expands to be huge! The chandelier has to go...but that is a pretty low priority for now. More rooms soon!

Lit a Fire Under Me

It takes a trauma to lite a fire under me to find a Doctor and Dentist.
Sam and his new BFF were out in the driveway playing basketball and Sam ran into Jon's melon. With his new two front teeth. He ended up jamming them back into their sockets and brusing his gums. Yikes. Needless to say I found a Dentist. Bubba has an appointment next week for cleaning and x-rays. Doctors, on the other hand, are still elusive. Ever doctor I have called (over 15) aren't taking "new patients."

Today, I tackled two more "to do's". I got my new driver's liscense and new plates for both vehicles.

Update

Last night at 3:30 a.m. Bubba came into my bedroom freaked out because of a bad dream. In a decision I think was made while sleeping I allowed Bubba to get into bed with us and sleep. A few sore ribs and hours later, we woke early to attend Muffins for Mom's, followed by my job interview at 9:30 a.m.

So this afternoon I am dragging! And since I am sans caffeine, I am really hurting.

The job interview went well. I feel like I answered the questions well and came off sounding like I knew what was going on. I am waffling on whether to take the job if offered. The people seem really nice, I liked them a bunch, and the hours and such are perfect...it is just that I am toying with the idea of getting my Masters in Ed so I could have a real job once Bubba reaches Middle School. Could I do both? School and work? Is it worth it for me to work for an hourly wage?

Much prayer and contemplation ahead.

Gold Star

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm gonna anyway. I am winning some serious D-I-L(daughter-in-law)/wife gold stars today. My husband just called to inform me that his Mother's friend, who was coming for dinner and to see his Mom, is spending the night at our house tonight. Frankly, it is no problem, but now I gotta go clean all those spots I kind of half-heartedly cleaned this morning. Especially the closet and bathroom in the guest room.

More gold stars for me :)

Better Love Day

The love here in OH is getting better, but, yes, Pastor X is still pissing me off. Part Deux of the saga continued that Pastor X had the gall to e-mail me yesterday and ask me to forward an e-mail to D for him since he did not have his e-mail. Here is an excerpt of what Pastor X said...

A few years ago, when I served as President of a theological seminary in Chicago, I found myself (as a husband and father) having to lead the family charge for the first time in helping our family find a church home. Given the fact of what I do for a living, we had never been in this position. I had always been in the position of having a church, due to my calling. I realized firsthand, for the first time, the enormous responsibility that I had as a husband and as a dad.

I share that with you at the outset because I can only imagine, that given the conversation Cara had with one of our Bible study leaders on Tuesday, we have done nothing but add to the already overloaded tasks that accompany transitions. I apologize for adding to the load. As I shared with Cara, the response was inexcusable and unacceptable. My hope and prayer is that you will consider giving us another opportunity to demonstrate grace and love.

So my take home? I interpreted this e-mail as "D, you are head of the house and going to make this decision, so I am addressing you." My feeling is that D and I both have equal say and weigh the decision together as to what is best for our family. If D really hated a church and I loved it, I would find a mutually agreed upon "Sunday" church to attend as a family and maybe go to the church I loved for extra-curricular things.

On a happier note I attended a social engagement last night. Woo Hoo. One of D's friends defended his thesis yesterday and we had an impromptu party last night in celebration. City BBQ (awesome take out) and friends. This social outlet was good, but I had my hesitations. D has been here in OH since January and has made friends, then the kids and I walk in and are we going to fit in? Last night we did. The hosts were awesome and I finally got to meet their dog, an adorable basset hound with ENORMOUS ears. There was only one other 'girl' there, the hostess and we talked all night successfully.

BTW, J and R, you are awesome. Thank you so much for the encouraging words and prayers.

Love

Yesterday I had a crap day. There was weeping. There were phone calls. There was yelling. There were e-mails. Here is the blow by blow...

Since D and I moved we have been looking for a new church home. BTW? The Great Church Search '09? It stinks. D and I have had many a discussion that we need to decide on a church because I need to have social interaction!!! Part of who I am is my beliefs and the people I surround myself with need to be supportive of my beliefs or at least respect them. Shortly after we moved to NC I decided that I had learned my lesson in MN and was going to take the Jennifer approach and get involved, gaining opportunities to meet new people and making friends. We found a church only a few weeks after our arrival in NC and I was awestruck at how these lovely church people would bend over backwards to love on me and my family. They were the sweetest bunch of people I had ever met. You know the kind...selfless, generous, loving...I felt instantly at home and thought that this was the church for us.

These NC church people embodied the love of Christ and my beliefs and "religion." I don't believe that religion is anything but the awesome love, creation and gifts of God. I believe in the Bible and believe every word is true.

I digress. So back to yesterday. We have gone to a church (let's call it Church X) twice in the last few weeks and last Sunday were very impressed by their special music, a rocking solo of "Eleanor Rigby" by I swear, a teen that sounded just like PM himself.

So I look in Church X's bulletin and see they have a Women's Bible Study on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 am. I have a job interview/fingerprinting thingy for the local public school system at 9:00, but I think I'll be able to make it. So here I am, walking into Church X bright eyed, bushy-tailed holding my trusty Bible and I ask where the study is. Here is what happened as described by me in my e-mail to the Pastor of the church...

The gentleman escorting me announced my arrival and left me to speak to the two women setting the room up. The two ladies informed me that this was their last study and it was a "going away" party. They went on to say that they would appreciate it if I did not stay since it was to be a special event. At first I did not think I heard them correctly. Then, one of the ladies informed me that after 14 years of teaching the class she was moving away and had brought some of her things to share with the class and said that she would not share with me. She reiterated that she would appreciate it if I did not stay as this was a special day for her.

To be frank with you, I was crushed. I went out to my van and left crying. I have lived in OH since April 3rd, know a handful of people and was looking forward to making new friends and speaking to other adults during the day while my family is off at school and work. When I informed my husband of the morning's events, he noted that the reception I received was exactly the opposite of my welcome at our NC church.

So there it is. An event publicized in the church bulletin (indicating to me that it was open for everyone to attend) and I was not allowed to stay. In fact, I was asked to leave.

I came home. I e-mailed the Pastor telling him that I wanted to be removed from any contact list and my family and I would not be attending again. When I was talking to my sister-in-law later in the morning she was mad!!! I told her what happened, cried again, and she apologized for not doing more with me since we've moved here, to which I replied, I don't expect you to come over and hold my hand everyday. My S-I-L has been awesome and is always bailing me out over the phone when I am lost, has my kids over to play, makes us food, etc. She rocks, so for her to say she has failed was silly. Anywho, my S-I-L's parents go to Church X. So as soon as she got off the phone with me she called her Mom and told her what happened which I knew she would do. Ooooo, are those people going to be in trouble!

The Pastor replied to my e-mail in a political way and apologized. I was like, whatever, take me off your contact list.

Then...my S-I-L calls me sometime later and tells me that she called up the Pastor to give him a piece of her mind and had to leave a voice mail, and asked if I was mad at her. I said no, and laughed calling her my protector.

A few hours later the Pastor calls me. In a nut shell he starts out the conversation telling me that I remind him of Jaime Lee Curtis to which I wanted to ask him how many women with short hair he knew...but I held my tongue. I gave him the courtesy of silence because I thought he'd talk himself into idiots-ville. He apologized again. I was silent. He asked if he could set me up with some people in the church who were nice, I replied that I did not want special treatment and did not need help making friends. Pastor X went on to say a bunch of stupid stuff and asked if he could call again to which I replied no, I knew how to contact him or the church if I desired to do so. I then told Pastor X that I prayed that the woman who turned me away this morning would have a different reception than I did when she moved and found her new church home and that regardless of what event I was hosting at church I would include everyone who showed up in a welcoming and loving manner.

When I told my S-I-L about Pastor X's call, last night on our outing to Sam's Club, she admitted that she had called him again and spoke to him suggesting that he NOT call. She had told him that I was not emotional (little does she know) and had told him off.

All this drama being recorded...no I am not going to become a hermit. I will try again. Somewhere else. I still believe that church and God are loving and all inclusive.

A Couple of Malcontents

So a typical weekend begins in our household...we decide that we are going to NOT do anything and sit on our bums and stuff our pie-holes, because we've done a lot of unpacking, projects, painting, etc. Long about 12:01 pm on Saturday afternoon, after watching two movies, eating pizza and twiddling our thumbs, we decide we are going to pull up the wood on the deck, plane it, regrade under it and put the decking back on. You see, on Friday night we had a gully-washer of a rain storm and come Saturday morning we had 3 little puddles in the basement, (Sorry Jennifer, I know it brings back memories), and we would eventually like to finish our basement and want to keep it dry for a year or so before finishing.

This all being said, we start on the deck. Above is our before picture...as you can see it was a little oxidized, you can't really tell, but the lattice is in fact rotting and falling down and it really needed a new coat of stain.

The deck is situated off the kitchen and is a rockin' place to sit outside. We had friends over the other night and stayed on the deck the ENTIRE time.

Fast forward an hour or so on Saturday and we have come to realize that the person that constructed the deck never thought it would ever have to be removed. The idiot used these crazy corkscrew nails that are a crazy pain to get out. D went so far as to get out a sledge hammer and use all 175 pounds to beat them out with little success. You know what we found under the deck? A giant swimming pool of water. Hmmm.


This is how far we got...and what idiot didn't move the grill before we started?