He Killed It

Austin killed my computer Sunday.

Literally killed it.

I told him I was going to unload my camera from my shoot I did that afternoon. He told me to give him ten minutes because he had to do something first.

I didn't realize that what he had to do involved killing my computer.

So Monday morning we headed to Best Buy to buy a new computer. Austin has been waiting for Windows 7 to come out so we just got a mid price range bridge computer. He stills plans on getting one when 7 comes out. That's fine with me then we each have our own computer. Sounds like a plan to me. He even upgraded and got the 22 inch monitor for 40 bucks after some haggling. I kinda regret teaching him how to haggle but anyways in this instance it got me a nice monitor.

Thankfully Austin was able to get the old computer going long enough to back up the files he wanted. I already had all my photos backed up because I just had a feeling it was getting ready to take a dive.

Now to the real unfortunate part.

The money for the computer had to come out of my flash fund. I was so close too. Within 50 bucks of my goal.

Let me tell you it is enough to aggravate a person.

Few Things

Austin's sister, Princess Hateful Raquel is coming for supper tonight. She was unable to make it to his party because 'something came up'. I don't believe it for a moment but anyways she is coming for supper and I haven't told Austin yet because he will bolt and then I would be here alone with her. Not my idea of fun. So I have some cleaning to do. Not much but the dishes need washed. My ankle hurts so stinking bad that I just don't want to stand on it and wash the stupid dishes.
I sprained my ankle over a week ago and it hurts still. Yesterday I actually went to the doctor to have it checked out. After x-rays and everything the doctor can't find any broken or fractured bones. She thinks I might have tore that little muscle on the outside behind the ankle bone. She told me to take it easy. I have been on my feet a lot lately. Cleaning and sorting through kitchen cabinets. I am trying to getting everything cleaned out so that I can paint them on the inside. I have never liked the red and after Mason has been playing in them they need to be organized.
I went and got samples of paint yesterday for my office. I just can't decide. I brought home samples of a light yellow, medium green, and a warm brown color. We'll see. I would like to get the samples on the wall today anyways. If I don't like any of those I have a couple of other paint swatches that I am thinking about. I'm usually not this indecisive. It is driving me nuts. I thought I wanted a warm color but then I saw this really pretty blue color and now I just don't know. My helpful husband suggested that I just paint each wall a different color. After I decide on a paint color I need to decide on curtains. Yay that should be tons of fun! I have been looking for a big mirror to go on one wall but they are expensive so I might improvise and just get a big cheap mirror from WalMart and just have my husband put trim around it on the wall. I am still deciding. I do know that the Cincinnati landscape is leaving.
I had the urge to clean my red shelves yesterday. Thankfully, I resisted the urge. As if I don't have enough projects going on right now.
I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and spent a total of 5.31. It was a rather disappointing trip. I was looking for some interesting fabric but was let down. I also went to Joann Fabrics and nothing jumped out at me so I am still on the hunt. Looking for fabric for a shower curtain since I can't find one in stores that I like.
Next week I am taking down the wallpaper in the dining room. No debate on paint color there though. I have a really cherrie (as in upbeat) rose color for beneath the chair rail and a white for above. I need to decide if I want to stripe the bottom or leave it alone. My husband will have to be out of town when I paint that room. For sure it is a ask forgiveness project because I refuse to ask permission to anything inside the house. I figure he has the whole garage he can do what he wants in there. I wouldn't complain if he made it a man cave. Well as long as I was welcome in it anyways.
Well I have tons of stuff to do so I better get to it...

No Excuses!

I have no good excuses for my lack of blogging. Well you know other than the hormonal bitchiness that has become my life lately.

The Metformin seems to be doing its job. Thankfully! Now if I could only remember to take it at the same time everyday... I've now got it in my phone on a daily reminder, annoying but it works.

Last week I bought Photoshop Elements 7 and have been playing around with it a little bit. I don't generally have time to get on the computer very much anymore with the weather starting to get nice. So needless to say I haven't been getting much sleep.

It rained all weekend so we are inside today. Thank God for tv and IPTV. My little boy is trying to drive me nuts. Literally.

Mason thinks it is great fun to throw tantrums at my feet. He doesn't even have to be in trouble or told no for this to happen. Nope it could be something stupid innocent like his car falling off the table, or my favorite, Hyde sniffing his little monkey. I know some of you are thinking so just walk out of the room. I do and guess what the little boy just picks himself up giggles and follows me to the other room and proceeds to continue throwing his tantrum at my feet.

I seriously doubt there is any of me in him. He is just a little replica of his father. It is on days like today that I have to check my sanity.

I don't think Austin will be letting me go to Best Buy alone anymore. I went in to buy Photoshop and came out with photoshop and a new tv for the kitchen. I have been thinking about a new tv for awhile and my tv fund finally got bit enough. It is a miracle it did because I kept taking out of it for my photography purchases.

I decided the tv in the kitchen didn't have to be anything special. Basically able to change volume and channel was enough so I got in on a pretty good sale. I had to do something because my old tv would no longer turn off and was starting to smell if it was on for more than 20 minutes.

With the left over tv money and what I had in my photography account I had more than enough to buy my new lens that should be here on Friday. FRIDAY!! I should have enough to get my flash by the end of May.

Austin was a little worried about my timeline. Ha! I might have neglected to tell him that he was getting paid 3 times in May. If he gets paid 3 times in May then so do I. Amazing how that works out. I get 75 in fun money out of his pay check and then all of my checks in May go to fun money. If he was that concerned about it he would just take over the budget. I don't see that happening so he will just have to get over it.

I have to work tonight. Our assistant Manager quit last night. Our manager is a nut job and she got fed up and just quit. He had better not have changed my schedule. I am not even digging him out of this mess. Someone else can have the hours.

I Love...

when I get home from work and the house is quiet. Everyone is asleep and I can get some things done. You know the important stuff like take a bubble bath, check facebook, clean the fridge, read a good book, blog. The things that make me happy are many, these are just my favorites. The top of the list though is a silent house and a nice long soak in a scalding bath.

I have decided...

I have decided to get a camera strap slip cover. I just can't decide which one to get. The Brown and Turquoise, the Black and White or the Red one. I am sure I will end up with all three but I have to start off with just one because of Austin. He gets weird about buying stuff online. I think he is crazy.
I have also decided that my diaper bag needs retiring. It is not cute and I don't use it that much so I might as well just use a purse and keep a diaper in it. I am tired of carrying around a ugly diaper bag filled with toys, diapers and snacks for the 'just in case'. I don't think I have ever changed a diaper while we were out unless it was a day trip. I will have to wait until next month to replace it though because I am fairly certain that Austin would flip out if he saw both hit the account in one month.
It is probably a good thing that way I can decide what one to get. The Pink Black Paisley, the Spa Chocolate Trellis or the Spa Kiwi Chocolate.

That isn't quite how I remember it...

So I reread the post I put up yesterday and I have to say that that isn't exactly how I remember it happening. I know hard to believe. Here is how it really happened.
We are in the awesome green truck. I am in the middle, Mason is on the passenger side all bundled up and in his car seat, Austin is driving. I knew this would be an adventure when Austin had to go back to his parents garage and grab the 2x4 block of wood that keeps his door shut. It is always a tight fit in the truck when we are all three in there because of the car seat and gear shift, this time we were really lucky and had the dog with us also. Hyde couldn't sit on my lap because of the gear shifter so he had to settle for Mason's lap. This made Mason really happy. I was hoping that Mason would sleep on the way home but the truck is too loud and he was too excited after he realized that Hyde 'wanted' to sit on his lap.
After we got all settled we were off to try to get out of the driveway. This might be where I suggested for the first time that maybe we should just walk back to the house and stay the night. Austin looks at me like I am crazy so I smile sweetly and say 'It was just a suggestion that I now realize was stupid.' Austin actually laughs. At me. I couldn't believe it.
About halfway down the drive we encounter a drift that easily covers the tires and is longer than the truck. We get about halfway through it and the back end of the truck starts to slide sideways but I don't say anything. We make it through finally and I am sure I just had a heart attack and we aren't even to the highway yet.
At this point I am thinking this could be interesting but at least it isn't too cold out for the walk back. I know I really played the 'good wife' and trusted my husband to get home in one piece.
We get to the highway and it looks clear so I am thinking that the road maintainers have been out and cleared the roads. Then we get to the top of the next hill and I know better. The road is covered in snow in areas and where it isn't you can see the snow blowing across it. About half a mile down the road we run into the first big drift. I am surprised that the truck doesn't have any problems getting through it. I say to Austin 'What is the strategy for getting through those? Speed.' He looks at me, smiles and says 'Nope. I didn't have you pressing my foot down on the accelerator.' I was speechless. I might have been wondering if I heard him wrong or something. Needless to say I didn't say anything back and made a mental note to ask him about it later. That is when we come across the biggest snow drift of the night so far.
We are coming up on this thing and Austin isn't slowing down so I look at him and he is smiling. A little excited type smile. I say quickly and a little frenzied 'Aren't you going to go around that thing.' (the last of which was said in such in a high pitch that I think only the dog heard it) as we hit this monstrous drift. To me it felt as though we had hit a brick wall. I closed my eyes vowing to myself not to open them again until we get home.
I didn't keep this resolve very long.
I had a moment to think about it and decided that I wanted to know what was coming. I open my eyes and it is like I am in some kind of nightmare. We are just getting through the drift and Austin starts laughing and says 'Don't you just love that feeling. Like a roller coaster where your stomach falls out the bottom.' and laughs again. Mason being awake is loving every minute of this. He has become a mimic lately and even if he doesn't know why you are laughing will start laughing with you. I feel as though I am surrounded by two laughing idiots that are taking me on some crazy ride down some redneck rabbit hole.
Again I am sure that he has just taken 10 years off my life. I am sweating and starting to feel queasy I ask him if we can roll down a window a little bit. I must have looked green because my husband who has an aversion to anything cold didn't hesitate to roll the window down.
The next mile or so was okay as were in the valley between hills. We come to the top of the next hill and I am sure this is where we are going to die. I don't think there is anything worse than this feeling. We are at the top of a hill where we encounter a couple of medium sized drifts but I don't notice them. I am frozen in fear of what is to come.
You see at the top of the next hill is a stop sign and what looks like a huge white wall. Austin asks me if I can see any headlights coming from either of the other directions and I can't so that is what I tell him. I still don't know if this was a bad idea or not. All of a sudden (I say all of a sudden because to me it feels like time has stood still) Austin punches the gas. I get a little frantic and grab his arm and say what the crap are you doing? Again he smiles. A little sardonic smile. I want to just slap him. For a split second I think it is my imagination and that we aren't speeding up but no luck. We hit that drift and I knew we weren't going to be stopping for that stop sign.
Austin and Mason start laughing again and are having a great old time. I feel as though I am going to throw up. I am sweating and dizzy and I think I taste bile in the back of my mouth. I don't know if it was my imagination or not but it felt like we were spinning and the walls were closing in on me.
Next thing I know Austin has pulled over and is asking me if I need to throw up. All I could do was ask him to roll down the window to give me some fresh air. He informs me that the window has been down for the last 3 miles. I tell him that I get by and just to get me home. He informs me that the worst is over. All I am thinking at this point is liar.
The next couple of miles are uneventful because it is flat ground so there aren't any big drifts. We are coming up on the second stop sign and I see that the intersection is drifted fairly bad. I also notice that my husband isn't slowing down and we have to take a right at the stop sign. At this point he notices that I am quiet and ask if I am okay. I am thinking great how sick do I look.
I yell at him tell him that I am fine. We barely get through the intersection and there is a huge drift. (there is a house close to the intersection and the wind blowing around their wind break causes a drift all the time.) I hadn't seen this particular spot drift that bad before. Austin tells me to brace myself. I really start to panic at this point. Austin being the ever observant one notices this and tells me that he has a shovel and it isn't likely that we would rollover if we happened to go into the ditch. Didn't that just make me feel better. Ha.
I don't know how it happened but I had a moment of clarity. A brief moment but a moment non the less. I look at him and say that is okay because if you really want to live to see another day if you at any point think we won't make it through one of these drifts you will pull over and walk home and get the chains and then come back and get our asses. Understood.' He didn't even blink but turned pale and agreed. We only encountered a couple of little drifts and one big one the rest of the way. The big one though we had to drive on the wrong side of the road where other people had driven through it. I was just glad it had some tracks through it unlike the other ones we encountered.
Finally we turned onto our gravel road and he asks if we can have some fun. I agree because the ditches on our road aren't ones that we rollover in. He was a little disappointed that we didn't see any big ones. I am just thankful that our neighbor knew we would be coming home that night, thought of us and plowed us a path from the highway to our driveway.
We pull into the driveway and Austin turns off the truck and opens his door, Hyde jumps out, Austin gets out and then I get out. Austin is still laughing so I tackle him. I was so mad. He just kept laughing. I put snow down his shirt and even managed to stuff some down his pants. He never did apologize for scaring the crap out of me. Nor did he yell at me for tackling him and putting snow down his pants and shirt. He just kept laughing. Probably figured he deserved it. He did.
I unloaded the truck of our junk and he took Mason into bed and came back out to help and make sure I was okay. We went inside and went to bed. I will never forget it. Never.

MOPS Christmas Brunch

Yesterday was my MOPS Christmas Brunch. I was afraid I was going to have to miss it because of the horrible roads but I decided that since Mason was staying home with dad anyways that I may as well go. It took me around an hour to get there but I didn't care because I was by myself and had given myself plenty of time. Well that and my window wasn't frozen shut.

It was nice, the food and conversation were wonderful. Afterwards I went to the store to get my guys some lunch and do a little grocery shopping.

The roads were much better on the way home which was good. Winter in Iowa is bad enough but to add bad roads on top of the windchill 3 days after the snow stopped is really unacceptable. It isn't like our county guys don't have the resources. I figure they should be able to at least keep the roads in better condition but they are probably hording the said resources for 'in case' we get a bigger storm.

I was a little glad to see that Austin was frazzled when I got home. Evidently Mason was a little naughty. Something about the computer and losing the whole mornings work. I don't know. I can't say that I cared too much. I figure if Mason was alone long enough with his laptop to do that then he wasn't watching him that great and probably deserved it.

I know another 'good wife' moment.

Well I hear Big, Big World coming on tv so I'd better get lunch made before he gets too grumpy. I am really hoping he takes more than a 30 minute nap today.

It's Real Life~ Store It- Kitchen

This weeks theme is Store It: Kitchen over at Farm Fresh Jessica's.

I am late this week because my husband decided to work from home yesterday and took over my internet and basically the whole house. I don't know why he thought he could work from home and have it be a quiet work environment with an 18 month old running around. Obviously he is laking in the common sense department some days.

I have a huge kitchen with so many cabinets that I don't even use them all. However that doesn't mean that they are organized. Especially since this kitchen was made for a tall person and that I am not.

All these photos where taken by the rules of no cleaning before snapping. Everything is still relatively clean considering we just had Thanksgiving last week and I am having a PartyLite party this week. Otherwise I am sure it would have collected more clutter than what is seen here.

So here is my kitchen in all its glory.

Top of the fridge. I don't give this area too much thought because I am short.

Most of this stuff is Austin's.

Kitchen utensils are kept in this apple crock on the stove or on the table so that they are handy.

Under the table. Generally just the toaster is kept here but Austin likes to put anything on it that he doesn't know where it belongs.
At the moment there are some duh things on it like the fish tank filters and Mason's swim floaty.

These are the very top cabinets by the ceiling. Just misc junk and my corelle baking dishes.
NOTE~~ I am standing on a chair and still have to be on my tip toes to get to the top shelf.

Glasses, plates, bowl, measuring cups, mixing bowls, sippy cups and the ever important tea.

Cabinets above the windows. Stand mixer, extra plates and bowls, waffle maker, a really ugly cat candle that Austin got me for my birthday many many years ago.

More cabinets above the window. My blender, cookie jar, and open paper towels.
Everything else was left by previous owners and I just didn't care.

Even more cabinets up by the ceiling.

Baking goods, fry daddy, a pampered chef chopper that I've had for 5 years and it hasn't been out of the box yet. Austin's extra new gloves.

The actual food cabinet. I did have this organized but Austin thought it need some improvement and I just haven't changed it back yet.

Junk drawers. Literally JUNK.

Drawers to the left of the sink.

Hot pads and can opener.

Misc kitchen utensils. Measuring cups.

Cook books and cooling racks.

Pie and loaf pans. Custard bowls.

Under sink. The water bottle is my Windex. Austin broke the bottle.

The kitchen sink cabinet lock.

The silverware drawer. The silverware that breaks all the time are the ones with the brown handles.

Today is towel laundry day otherwise this drawer would be full.

Cake pans and cutting board.

Baggies and wraps.

Austin's junk food drawer and important receipts.

Yet another misc junk drawer. Just how many does one family need.

Misc cabinet by fridge.

Coffee maker, Scentsy warmer, flower pot with impatients.
Impatients don't do well in the house from about November to March. As soon as the days start to get longer they do really well. Until then they look like this.

Water cabinet. We added some insulation so hopefully it doesn't freeze this year.

Pots and pans.

Kitchen sink. I leave the strainers out because otherwise I would be constantly putting them away and getting the back out again.

It is so beautiful...

I need to get some photos up of the bathroom. We are in the home stretch. Finally!
The trim is not up and there are a couple of spot that need some mudding but not yet because he has to decide what he is going to do about the trim in those areas.
I know that the color choice was a little bright/dark to some peoples taste but I really do love it. I think it will look really nice with all my stuff in it. At this point I would be happy if he would just rehang my mirrors on the vanity.

Why??

Why is it that my day goes good until Austin gets home? When he gets home I am usually in the middle of some project and he thinks he has to interrupt. Well not really interrupt but detain me from finishing.
Take yesterday for example when he got home I was in the middle of moving everything from the dining and living room into the kitchen so that I could shampoo carpets. Yeah... I didn't get to shampoo carpets and everything is still in the kitchen... in the way... in the kitchen. But I'm not bitter. No that wouldn't coincide with my 'good wife' ways now would it.
I know your wondering what I did instead of the carpets. Well naturally I had to run to town and run the errands that Austin didn't/wouldn't do on his way home because obviously I wasn't in the middle of anything. Some days I just want to beat him.
I had to go get Hyde dog food at the farm store; Wal-Mart for painters tape, metal roller tray, roller liners, and a 9V battery; Jimmy's BBQ for supper. I get home and he asks me what took so long. I get to ask him why he didn't change Mason after nap. We are nowhere near even to my thinking.
So we eat and then watch Big Bang Theory (my husband doesn't see it but I see a lot of him in those guys; socially awkward) and How I Met Your Mother. No Monday is complete without watching these.
After those I was planning on doing the carpets. Didn't happen because Austin goaded me into playing Wii. Then it was time for some lovin bed. I wasn't in the mood to get back out bed to stay up late and do the carpets so here they sit this morning. Still dry and dirty and on my to-do list.
I have a million things to do today but knew I would be useless from stewing if I didn't get this off my chest. Sometimes I really think it would be easier to just put him in a highchair to keep him contained like I do Mason when I am trying to do something. I think he would throw a little more of a fit though. I warned him that the consequences today are death. I don't think he believed me. For some reason he never believes me when I use the 'good wife' voice.

Thanksgiving...

This year for Thanksgiving we are staying home and having friends over. Well friends and Austin's parents.
I decided that I didn't want to drive for 3+ hours to see my family for an hour. Luckily our friends felt the same way so we are all meeting at my house.
I love to cook so we are going all out. The only thing I am not making is the pies because Austin's mom wants to. That is just fine with me I don't especially like to make pie. Especially pumpkin pie.
I am really surprised that his parents decided to join us. I think they are even more antisocial than Austin. They say they don't like to come over when we have friends over because they feel as though they are intruding. Mind you, I am a sweet and wonderful daughter-in-law when they are around. Sweet and wonderful dammit!! So much so that it is just wrong, sometimes I am afraid my face will break. It really doesn't go with my personality.
We get together with our friends and their parents all the time. So it isn't like it is an unusual occurrence for one or more sets of parents to be at our gatherings. I think it is just something they will have to get over.
Thursday should be fun. Busy but fun. Austin has decided that we need to have turkey and ham. I think he just doesn't want everyone eating his turkey. Which is odd considering I have made 4 turkeys this year. This will be number 5, I figured he would be tired of it by now. I spoil him shamelessly. I really should stop. I guess it probably makes up for all my other... um... "good wife" behavior.
Now I just have to hope that Mason's black eye is gone by Thursday. Poor little kid is Austin's, that is for sure. So. I will set the scene. We were all in the kitchen and I was making supper. Austin, Mason and Hyde are all playing with a ball on the floor. I go to the fridge to get out the butter, it is one of those fridges that has the freezer on the bottom, so I had the door open and Mason gets up to chase the ball and runs right in to the corner of the fridge door. He cried a little bit but then got distracted when Hyde tried to run off with 'Mine', his bear. So his eye is to the ugly brownish greenish stage.
I realize that little kids get hurt and I wouldn't be afraid to take him to my any one of my family because they know things like this happen and aren't judgemental. They wouldn't ask where I was when it happened. Then look at me like I was the devil when I said right there beside him. So just to keep everyone happy on Thanksgiving I really hope it is gone. After all I am just the 'spoiled princess' who married her wonderful son.
It's alright I am laughing too. At least Princess Hateful Raquel isn't coming this year. I am afraid I won't be as fortunate come Christmas. She better not even think she is controlling Christmas this year. She might run her husbands families holidays but she has to remember I am the only daughter-in-law on this side and I run things. I can't wait for the fight that will ensue. It should be monumental because she wants to get together on Christmas at her parents house that is 3+ hours from where we are going to be. Can you tell I am excited just thinking about it. I really can't wait to show her who is boss exactly. I think it is about time to remind her that I always get what I want by being sweet and wonderful dammit!!
I know the holidays really bring out my... um... yeah... good side... yeah that is what it is called.

Today...

Today is my birthday. Normally I don't like my birthday. The whole getting older thing just doesn't agree with me. There have been some years that I have forgotten it was my birthday until later in the evening. I just have not put any special emphasis on this day.
This year was different though. It was just a feeling I guess. A couple of weeks ago I started to feel some anticipation for this day. I don't know why. It isn't like we were going to do anything special today. I wasn't and am still not anticipating a gift or anything special. So I am asking myself why all the anticipation. I still don't know why but am hoping it passes quickly.
Austin and I are going into town for an early supper and some shopping. I know your thinking it is for my birthday but it isn't. A couple of weeks ago I found out that Austin was going to have today and tomorrow off and it had been awhile since we had gone out so I told him we were going to. He thought it was for my birthday so he asked where we were going to go and what we were shopping for so I told him he could pick where we eat and that we were Christmas shopping. He looked at me like I was crazy. I don't know maybe I am crazy.
Which brings me to something confusing. Austin got me a birthday card. We have been married for almost 9 years and he has gotten me a card exactly 3 times now. He wrote my age wrong in it. You would think he would know how old I am. I am 17-12 and he wrote 17-13. So I of course pointed it out and he said it was a 2fer card. I get it this year but it also counts for next year. I will admit that was some pretty quick thinking on his part. It left me wondering just what he is wanting.
So now your wondering about the 17-12. Well, when I turned 17, I decided that I wasn't going to get any older. I figured 17 was as good as it got. Really I could drive and work but had no real responsibility. I think it works pretty good.
As soon as Austin gets home from what he is doing we are going to go into town and eat do a little Christmas shopping and buy some fish for our fish tank. I think those two little goldfish are getting lonely. I still haven't decided what kind of fish to put in it but I am sure Austin will have his own opinion as to what should go in there. I think I am looking forward to the pet store the most out of today. I told you I was crazy.

I'm really not surprised...

Monday is almost done and I feel as though I have got nothing accomplished.
Austin ended up not being home very much on Friday which was a good thing. We would have ended up arguing if he had been home.
The whole weekend went smooth. Very rare indeed. We both worked on the bathroom and hopefully we will be painting it next week. I guess I will rephrase that. We WILL BE painting it next week.
Austin has Thursday and Friday this week and I am really hoping that he has something to do that will keep him away from the house and out of my hair. It would be really great if he could take baby with him and let me have some quiet time. I know this won't happen but I can dream.
Well I didn't get anything done that I wanted to and now it is time to make supper. I think he will eat PB&J. I don't feel like cooking.

What am I going to do?

Austin is home all day Friday. I don't have enough stuff to keep him busy. He is going to put another coat of mud on the bathroom but that will only take at most an hour. I have no clue how I'm going to keep him busy and out of my hair.

Shelving

This last Sunday Austin and I put up some shelving and we didn't argue or anything. He didn't even make a squeak when I told him I wanted to paint them red. Not just red but hormonal red.

I couldn't believe our teamwork/cooperation. No one lost a finger or anything. There was no unnecessary yelling. Very unusual for us. We were all done in about 4 hours. Best yet they cost us literally nothing. Everything was re-purposed. I think that is my favorite part.

The long black thing you see to the side is actually the level that I was using to hold up that support because I was not tall enough to reach it on even a chair and Austin was already on the ladder.

Before we put the supports in this was just empty useless space behind the door to the stairway across from the bathroom.

Here are the shelves in and unpainted. There is enough room under the bottom shelf for 2 stacked totes.

I left the blue painters tape up in some spots because those areas need a second coat. Now I have a designated spot for my laundry detergent and misc. My bath mats are in the plastic sack waiting for my bathroom to get done. The white little tote is for Austin's stuff. He was shocked when I showed him that he would only have that little tote out of all these shelves. He has been trying to convince me that he will need one entire shelf. I very calmly told him that he has whole shelving units in the garage that are empty. He was less than thrilled with me. I then had to explain to him that it is not my intention to just keep junk on these shelves. If we did that we wouldn't ever be able to find anything.

Clear up on the top some misc baby items that we no longer need, guest bed bedding, Austin's old toys that he doesn't want Mason to play with collectibles.

The next shelf has all my sewing material. Someday when I am able to find time to sew again I will finally get a couple of projects done. I know I will have to find the time somewhere in the next couple of weeks to get some curtains made for these shelves so that you can't see them from the kitchen. It wouldn't be so bad but we painted them to match the trim in the upstairs not the trim in the kitchen. Hind sight is 20/20 I guess.

The 3rd shelf down is pantry. My kitchen cabinet shelves are not tall enough for a box of cereal so I have designated this shelf for cereal and whatever other pantry items I want to put on it. I will also be putting some of my PartyLite stuff on it. The Global Fusion Hurricane usually sits on my dining room table but I have my fall centerpiece out now and next month I will have a Christmas one out. Eventually I will get my stuff organized into totes and put below the bottom shelf but I will have to do that on a day that Mason is spending over at the grandparents because he is just too much help.

As of right now the bottom two shelves have no designated purpose and I'm sure that Austin will fill them with junk. As long as he knows that anything that spills out of his tote can be thrown away at any time he can put whatever he wants on them. I have learned that he needs to be aware of his boundaries and reminded often.

Busy, Busy!

We have been very busy since last Wednesday. Cleaning and getting stuff ready for spring. Wednesday Mason and I reorganized my kitchen cabinets. They needed it. Nothing fit where it belonged anymore. I felt a lot better when it was done. I received no phone calls on Wednesday. Very unusual. Cameron and mom have off Wednesdays so I usually get calls from both of them. Well they forgot about me so I had to give them a bad time.
Thursday we went to MOPS. Then we stopped at a friends house on the way home and the store to buy the turkey for Saturday. Mason flirted all day. Smiled and laughed for every lady he saw. We get home and I wasn't too sure someone hadn't switched kids on me. He wouldn't be good for at all. Sadly we lost a plant due to tantrum. Austin was more upset about this than me. I truly hated the plant. It was an elephant ear plant that has always always looked sick. I was glad to see it go.
Friday, Austin took off from work at noon so that I could go and help out at the MOPS garage and bake sale. I took advantage of this. I left home at 1:00 and got home at 8:00. Mason was already in bed and my husband was sitting in his recliner and looked like he had been run over by a steam roller. Evidently Mason was his usual self and was hyper and naughty the whole time. I was so glad. I actually asked Austin if they had gone over to his parents house because it looked like they hadn't been home. He looked at me real pitiful like and said "NO! All I did all day was follow Mason around and get him out of things. He wouldn't leave my stuff alone and didn't even play with any of his own toys." Me being the good wife that I am said all innocent like "WELCOME TO MY WORLD!! Get over it. What is for supper?" I thought he was going to beat me. I have never laughed so hard. I did take pity on him and cook supper. Well I don't know if it would qualify as cooking. I heat up some leftover goulash. Don't matter, he ate it and didn't complain.
Saturday was a very busy day. We had some friends coming over for supper and we had planned on turkey. Well my fridge doesn't get warm enough to actually thaw anything so we had to thaw it in the sink. Austin must have been feeling bad about not helping me very much because I didn't have to touch anything but the kitchen. It was wonderful!! He even cleaned the bathroom.
So we get the turkey thawed and cooked and everything else ready and it was perfect. I went to get the turkey drippings to make gravy, I lifted the turkey legs and they just fell off the bird. It was juicy and flavorful. I regret not taking a photo. I doubt my next attempt will be as good. I do have witnesses though which can vouche for me. After dinner we sat the older kids in front of a movie and we girls washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen while the guys drank some Slovakian brandy. Then we looked at Austin's trip photos by hooking the camera up to the TV. Everyone went home about 10:30. It was nice being able to just go to bed without having to clean the kitchen first.
Sunday we went to a brunch to celebrate the baptismal of two of the little that were over on Saturday. We stayed longer than we planned. It was nice out so the kids were outside playing. Then we had to make the weekly trip to Wal-Mart. I usually make this trip alone because Austin is such a whiner when it comes to shopping. When we got home it was too nice to be inside so we worked outside cleaning up around the corncrib so that the lawn mower doesn't pick up things. I'll post those pictures next.
So that brings us to today. I am exhausted and would like to be looking forward to an uneventful week but that is not to be the case. Austin has to go to Pennsylvania Tuesday and will get home on Thursday. Then we have a day trip to my sister's house on Saturday for my nephews birthday. Hopefully next week we can slow down and have some normalcy.

Austin Is Home!!

Austin is home finally. It was great to pick him up from the airport last night. His flight ended up being delayed but that is okay. At least he is home. I have already informed him that as soon as he gets home today I will not be touching the baby for the rest of the night. He seemed okay with that so we will have to see what tonight actually brings. I am just so glad he is home! So glad in fact that I made him breakfast and packed his lunch. I even told him that we could have chili for supper and that I would make corn bread. I'll play the good wife till he gets home at least.

I was playing with the camera before he left for Slovakia.

(I'm really hoping that he gives up and shaves soon!)

My Hobby

For those out in blogland that don't know me I love to take photos. Not of just Mason. He is a great subject but my passion includes so much more than small children. Here are a couple I took Sunday afternoon. I'll post more soon, right now I had better play the good wife and go make supper (put leftover homemade lasagna in the oven). At least it was fresh and homemade yesterday. That should count for something!

Sick Again

Austin is sick again. Or should I say still. I think it is new anyways. He never says anything to me until he is ready to pass out.
He stayed home from work today and we all know how much I love to have him home all day. It is horrible. I love him but when he tells me he doesn't feel good I have this urge to pack my bags and go to Mom's for a couple of days. I know I am horrible and will never win the "Good Wife" award. Good thing I'm not trying!

Total Accident

Somehow by accident I washed Austin's favorite khakis. Totally accidental. I was shocked to pull them out of the dryer. So now I have a dilema on my hands. Do I put them in his drawer and let him wear them or do I hide them for a week and be mean. I haven't decided yet. I think he snuck them in. I am sure of it.

Well Mason has decided he is afraid of my sewing machine. He can be afraid of the vacuum but not my sewing machine. I have no clue what sparked this fear. We are going to work through it though. I am sure it will be fun.