Project of the Day/WEEK

I took on a new project this past week that landed me outside quite a bit.  I didn't really mean to start a project considering in the last 7 days I spent a day in the hospital with Dalton - food poisoning, Blue had an all day field trip to the Space Center in Huntsville Alabama, Dalton got inducted into the Junior National Honor Society, Blue had her end of the year 5th Grade Cookout (I'm Room Mom), Dalton had his last day of 6th Grade, all of the "normal" soccer events of the week, and oh yeah, I work.

Can you see that building among the trees?  That is the building Jeff built last Fall/Winter.  If I'm not mistaken, it's still empty.  BUT, it HAD to be done then.  He didn't choose to work on the inside of my still unfinished house.  I'm having to take some of those matters into my OWN hands.

He did do a good job of camouflaging the building though, which was a BIG concern to me.  There really isn't a way to make a HUGE metal building look attractive on  your land.  It also houses the Bug and Golf Cart and should house the lawn mowerS, but he chooses to keep those up near the house.

OK, we scored this awesome antique mantle on Craig's List.  Jeff is an avid Craig's List shopper.  Me...not so much.  I like the deals he finds, but I don't have the patience to shop.  This one paid off and we scored it for $20.  We are having to do a little work on the wall for it to fit, but in the end we are still coming out great.  AND, it gave Jeff the opportunity to show off his power tools.  Power tools make him happy.  I don't get it.  I prefer a hammer and nails.  Jeff prefers a nail gun that requires an air compressor.  Whatever floats his boat..

I posted pictures of my score on FB and my idea to paint it white to match the trim.  Several folks were as proud of my find as I was and suggested different ways to finish it.  Considering everything else I had going on, my creative juices were not flowing on this one.  It's a good thing I have friends I can count on :)  Donna told me to spray paint that bad boy and but a chocolate glaze on it.  She's never seen my house (that I know of anyway) but she couldn't have told me anything more perfect for my hodge podge of decor.  After a few questions and a few brief directions that all played out on Facebook, I dove in.  (I ain't skeered of some paint.)

This was after the first coat of spray paint and it was getting dark and I had to quit.  Not to mention my husband had moved on to a gas can and some sort of fire making device...Have I mentioned the fire department has paid my husband MANY visits over the years.  That small fire in the background was an ant hill.  Poor ants.

I just think these are pretty so I took a picture of them.  Anybody know what they are??  They are just occurring naturally in my back yard (a part which still has had NO attention) but I really like them.

I took the next two pictures in time sequence watching Jeff from a distance.  He had a large pile of branches and sticks that have been blown around the yard from recent storms.  What caught my eye, was that he had come back up to the patio for MORE gasoline.  Apparently this size fire was not big enough for him.

So, he poured gas on it.  I was shocked to find out he still had eyebrows when all was said and done.

I asked him to note that not only did he take out the ants, but to also note the LARGE amount of grass he burned.  He doesn't really care what I think when it comes to the yard.  I've left it alone.  He'll get obsessed over it sooner or later.  He always does...

I told you it was a busy week...This one passed out on the trampoline.

Two coats of paint...

Here is a misplaced picture of before, but we will make the most of it.

Here it is finished and back in my living room with that unfinished wall.  I WILL BE SO GLAD TO HAVE MY DEN PUT BACK TOGETHER!!

I'll catch up on all of the other events later this week.

Peace Out.

Kacy

Crawling Back

It's time to write...sometimes it's hard to write.  The more I don't write, though, the harder it gets.   My dysfunctional family has reached an all time dysfunctional high.  Or would that be a low?  Whatever it is, it's just plain NUTS and I'm just plain OVA IT.

I try to keep it positive and sometimes that just means I don't write....have you noticed how long I've been gone?  Well, I'm back and just like I've had to stay away from reading some other folks nonsense, they can stay away from mine. 

My family experienced a great loss last week.  My cousin Dylan took his life.  (That's a tough sentence to type...I just tried several different ways to say that, but there isn't a better way.)  Dylan had to endure way too many things in his short 26 years.  He lost his little brother and his mother and battled addiction since junior high.  He was truly one of the most handsome men I've ever known.  I didn't realize until after I had gotten this news that I had TWO pictures of him on my desk at work.  It's been a week and a half now and I am still in shock.  My dysfunctional family flared up two days before his intimate funeral service.  We were all able to be in the same room together and the service was lovely.  A pastor that knew Dylan from his childhood did the service and spoke words that my heart desperately needed to hear.

  Tomorrow would have been his birthday.  RIP Dylan.  I love you.

On a lighter note, my last final of this semester is tomorrow morning and YES, I should be studying right now.  All the more reason to blog, right?  I start the Nursing Program in August and I think I'm getting NERVOUS, but super excited at the same time.

The kiddos are taking their state tests this week.  They are both bundles of nerves and energy.  Dalton is being inducted into the Junior Honor Society a week from tonight.  SO PROUD OF HIM :)

We will explore what is on the camera next time...There is no telling...It's been awhile.

Kacy

THIS WEEKEND

This sums it up for the weekend. I have written and backspaced and written and deleted and written and turned the computer off. Then Blue and I were listening to music this morning and I saw this. She changed the channel when the tears started coming again. They've been hard to turn off this weekend. I know we've gone days without talking, but not because we HAD to. It's different when it's a choice. Now it just hurts. I'm happy for you, but I wasn't ready.

Another Day on the Farm

What do "NORMAL" people do when they get overloaded and start to feel a little overwhelmed?  I'm feeling a tad bit that way at this particular moment, so I decided to blog about some more of the insanity that goes on at my farm (I don't really have a farm...more like a "funny farm").  That is Jeff scaring the poo out of me outside of my bedroom window a couple of nights ago.  He WAS being too cheap to turn the air conditioner on and made us open windows.  It was nice that one night, but when I saw 80+ degree temps all week, I got the air turned on :)

Tony also enjoyed his easy access to the outside.  He went in and out quite a bit this particular night.  NO SCREEN...thus an unhappy ending to the night when a moth attacked me.  I don't do flying bugs...crawling ones (most of them, unless they have hair) I can handle, but things with wings go in the same category as clowns and carnies and gnomes...I CAN'T HANDLE THEM.  I think Jeff measured for screens, but either way, the window got closed.  My heart really couldn't take anymore.

I have finally decided to conquer my fear of public speaking.  It could be what made me quit school the first time......just saying....so I am doing it now....as in WEDNESDAY.  AS IN WEDNESDAY I HAVE TO STAND IN FRONT OF MY CLASS AND WORDS HAVE TO COME OUT OF MY MOUTH FOR A GRADE.....see why I'm blogging.  I can't face it.  I even shaved my legs tonight.  I'll do anything to keep from writing a speech.  Trust me shaving my legs is like the WORST thing to ask me to do.  You long time readers may remember the time Jeff and I had a contest to see who could go the longest without shaving and I WON!!  I used to at least shave every two weeks before I went to get my pedicure...I didn't figure the girls wanted to massage my hairy legs.  Then I got to know them and now I don't have to worry about that anymore.  I tell myself that ladies in the chairs next to me are staring because they are jealous.  They only WISH they could grow hair that thick on their legs :)

I'm babysitting tonight, too.

This picture covers a LOT of ground.  The cushion got put back on the couch (by me) and I revived that plant.  What are those anyway???  You CAN'T kill them!!  I call it an Easter Lilly, but I might have made that up.  AND that is DUKE a.k.a. Ducas with his head looking out the window freaking touching my curtains by just standing there.  His dad went somewhere with Jeff tonight and left him with me.  I took him out for a walk and it was very much like walking a horse.  He cried and cried when his daddy left him (so sad...I didn't know what to do so we went for a walk).

Izzy was NOT happy about his presence.  She's cool unless I'm in the room.  She doesn't like Ducas anywhere near me.  I had to tell her she better settle down, I think Duke could take her.  She finally got up in her chair and got in her "spot".  We just have furniture for the dogs...

I learned that Duke does NOT like the flash on the camera and since I don't know what all of his barks and growls mean,

I decided to make that the LAST picture I took of him without his father being present.  After all, the dog weighs at least as much as I do.  He could probably take me, too.  (I think he's a GIANT pushover though).

Recognize this space???  That's where the Christmas decorations were until Saturday.  YEAH for public humiliation!  Sometimes it works.

I got all creative yesterday morning.  I knew I needed to be writing a speech or doing an essay or something so instead I decided my camera needed a new strap.  I just went back and whipped one up....

It will do for some scraps and it got me out of speech writing.  I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to just wing this one and pray for the best.  The anxiety has caused me to go on a diet and make drastic changes to my hair.  I'm not sure I can take much more.

kacy

.....lots going on today....

Sometimes "public" as in blog humiliation works....someone cleaned off his night stand.  He employed a little slave labor from his co-hoarder.

Isn't he cute when he works??  He has a particular obsession with receipts, for EVERYTHING.  I understand most of them, but the ones for gum, or a coke at Mickey D's....I don't really get those.

For Valentine's Day this year, I got him a purple box.  Purple is his favorite color.  I know, it was romantic...It was so he could clean off his damn nightstand and have a place to keep all of those receipts!!

Blue and I did some shopping today.  We put a hurting on Jun Lee.  If you are local, you know where I'm talking about.  If not, let me know and I'll hook you up with the inside scoop on a great little Memphis hole in the wall with some serious jewelry.

No makeup, pictures were all post shower.

LOVE THIS!!  Can't wait to wear it.

Savannah was doing tonight's photography and she is one of "those".  You know the one's that ALWAYS have to take a picture of themselves. :)

Trying out some Biore strips...Anybody remember those??

And I ended the night with some homework :(  NO FUN, but it had to be done.

Tomorrow wraps up our Spring Break.  We managed to get the laundry done today and since tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day, I'm thinking we may need to get out for a little more shopping.  Hope your weekend has been as great as ours has.

kacy

Back to the REAL WORLD

We made it back home today!!  We HAD to.  Blue is doing some Physical Therapy for her foot.  Jeff and I were a both a little skeptical on the front end if it would do any good or not, but I decided we needed to do EVERY thing we could to keep this foot in tip top shape.  After her first two sessions, Jeff jumped on board and says she needs to complete all 8 appointments.....  So, we rescheduled one to get a couple of days away but didn't want to get too far off schedule.

We were already getting bored in the waiting room...Friday afternoon P.T. was apparently a popular place.  We had to wait a few minutes for Matt, our P.T. with mad skills.

We did have the TIGER game on the ole tele, and at this point it was going good, but it didn't end on that same note :(  Oh well, we always have next year.

We finally got going....

Warming up...

She actually thought this was pretty fun.  We are trying to strengthen that left foot.  These balance skills are good for that foot and she actually enjoyed this little "game".  From the looks of the place, kids are NOT the main age group they see.

This one freaked her out for some reason.  She was afraid she was gonna fly off the end every time she jumped.  Proud of my girl for hanging in there.

I got major bored.  Have you ever seen my manicure look THIS bad?  That would be NO!! 

I totally split this middle finger.  Blue's look just as bad.  I think I know where we are headed tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed your Spring Break.  I think we did.

kacy

How do YOU keep kids from killing each other??

I'd like to go on record here and officially say that from this point forward, I want adjoining rooms with these monsters!!  A hotel room is NOT the funnest place to be cooped up with two EXHAUSTED pre-teens in a hotel that doesn't even have Pay Per View!! 

WHAT KIND OF HOTEL DOES NOT HAVE PAY PER VIEW??? 

We can't agree on anything to watch.

We had a blast today at the Aquatic Center.  I didn't take my camera because I actually got in the pool.  I apologize to all of those that had to endure me in my bathing suit today :)  Now we are all tired and stuffed and in bed and fighting over what to watch....  I think the only way to solve this is to give one of them the computer.  SO, I'm out for the night.  Heading back home tomorrow.

kacy

Spring Break!!

Welcome to our home away from home for the next few days.  I mean, after all, IT IS SPRING BREAK!! 

What's better than going 30 minutes down the road and checking in some place where they clean up after you, serve you dinner in your room and, oh yeah, have a swimming pool?  NOTHING if you ask my kids.  I was up for a little something more this year, but considering we all got REALLY sick this week, this will do JUST FINE!!  and even better if you ask JEFF...IT'S PRACTICALLY FREE!!

Dalton IMMEDIATELY found the remote.  Luckily, we brought his laptop and Jeff just set him up on Netflix...have at it my little grasshopper.

I'm about to chug from the Nyquil bottle and pray I never have to relive today.  I'll keep you posted on the fun this mini vacay or should we call it a "staycay" has to offer.

kacy

Meet my new friend Duke.  He's actually not a new friend...he's been around for a while just not AT my house.  Here lately, he is a daily visitor.  He is a Great Dane (A BIG DOG) and yes, those are my Christmas decorations behind me in the picture, but no worries, the meds are working well today.

Check out this huge monster.  He can lay his chin on my kitchen counter without even stretching.  He gets along well with everyone....thank goodness!!  He even talks...he can say "I love you!!"

He's talking in this picture.  He's too big to bark.  He peed a couple of nights ago in the house.  I thought a pipe had burst or something.  He's got skills.  (How about my pajama skills?  I'm not shy)

Here is my best friend Izzy.  For those of you that don't keep up with me on Facebook, which by the way is a MUCH easier way to "keep up" (just not a good journal) she got hit by a car on December 3rd.  She almost lost her left leg.  To be honest, I can't believe we saved it.  It had a drain in it for a week that I had to flush three times a day and not enough skin to sew together.  BUT, we did it.  After we pulled the drain, I let her go back inpatient for 5 days for intensive wound care, but that was all I could take of her being away.  We took care of it just fine at home in 7 short weeks without a single infection, she came out of that huge E-collar and all is well.

She has some permanent swelling and will more than likely experience some arthritis in that leg, but other than a scar that's actually hard to see now, you wouldn't know if I hadn't told you.

Of course, Tony still rules the roost, or at least he thinks he does.  Right after we got Izzy to the point we knew she was going to be able to keep her leg, Tony got in another fight and had to have a toenail removed.  Did you put it together that all of that was during Christmas??  Needless to say, Izzy's left leg was my Christmas present and Tony's toenailectomy was Jeff's gift :) 

Blue invented this contraption last night.  Her book light on her binoculars....I don't get it, but she thinks it's nifty.  She did clean her room today.  Only because my head spun around backwards last night and I spit pea soup...public blog embarrassment doesn't hurt either.

I'm having a hard time keeping up at the moment.  I don't know why...it's Spring Break.  I thought I was supposed to feel relaxed.

Here is a look at the planner on Spring Break....not much of a BREAK.  Blue has PT pretty much every day.  She broke her foot twice in 6 months...NO GOOD.  We are working on some PT to see if that will help.  She's been twice so far...we shall see.

Over and out.  Time to bleach the ole mustache...don't act like you don't have to do it too....

kacy

anybody know why some of last night's blog had things underlined in orange?????  that bothers me.