Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone is having (or had) a fantastic Thanksgiving. For sure, we did. And while I know that it is just the two of us, I still wanted to set up a table. Like this:
I used the tea lights that I got on clearance with the little glasses from Salvation Army. I added some pine cones (on clearance last year), plus plates from Sal. Army. The pumpkins are from...Walmart (!) 75% off a few weeks ago. The burlap runner is left over from the drum shade.

I really wanted brown place mats but didn't have any, so I grabbed two sheets of scrapbook paper instead.
Whaddya think??
We liked it and it felt nice to make something special even though it was just dinner for two. Dinner was terrific, too.

How was everyone else's Thanksgiving?

Multi-Tasker

So I took this picture of Jeremiah last weekend:
He is: listening to a record, searching through his photographs, and playing the bass. All at once. I would find that over-stimulating, but apparently Jeremiah? Not so much.

Plus, for your viewing enjoyment, notice that he is in jammy bottoms, a long-sleeved shirt I brought back from MI, and a How to Train Your Dragon hat.

Sweet look, Babe.

What Time Is It?

It's time to rock and roll!!

Just kidding. We aren't that nerdy.

Not all the time, anyway.

I wanted to share a project that Jeremiah did this weekend:

He turned a very cool piece of vinyl (Rolling Stones, yo) into a clock.


We actually ended up using my Cricut (LOVE.IT.) to make numbers out of the album cover. Yes, it is cool. You dig it?


P.S. Jeremiah had so much fun (especially picking out the vinyl) that he's decided to offer up his services. If you know of anyone that is a music buff, vinyl fanatic, or punk (doesn't it look punkish/modish/eighties?) they might enjoy one. Let us know. He's offering his services for way cheaper than you might find elsewhere.

If you aren't into it, then I hope you enjoyed this technicolor post. And the craftiness.

Backyard, Revisited

I know I mentioned recently that we like our backyard. We do. It isn't perfect, and if you catch us on an off week it's a puppy-poop land mine, but STILL - We love it. So I thought that I'd share a bit more.

I'm not entirely sure why the pool is so vivid (I didn't enhance it), but here's the view from the patio.
And then a view from inside, looking to the left of the yard. You can see the patio and palms.
We were hoping to sell the fountain (visible in the gourd/Alfred H. post, but not this one) this summer and use the money to create a really nice outdoor living space. Apparently no one wants a fountain that would look at home in front of Caesar's Palace. What's that all about? So the upgraded backyard dreams will have to wait. For now, we are content with it as is.

I think mostly that we love it because it is a tiny bit of green. We only water for about a minute three nights a week, which obviously seems to do the trick. Plus, there are trees, so we have some privacy from neighbors on the back and on one side. Ooh, there is the pool, which makes me happy. Yeah, it isn't perfect, but it makes us happy.

Anyone else have a backyard that they love?

Numb Noses & Hairy Ears

Well.

Went to my new ENT yesterday. I have been having problems with my allergies since I've moved here, and they just keep getting worse. And my family doctor is clueless (I'm looking for a new one. She also told me the answer to my muscle problems was sports drinks. Apparently she mistakes me for being so dumb that I don't know the difference between ache-y muscles and muscles that are on fire and being smashed with a mallet. I tried the drinks, just in case. They didn't work.).

Anyway, I went to the ENT.

He was funny. He was nice. He was prompt. He suggested a course of action - which I love.

And then...

He numbed my nose, throat, and sinuses. So he could see all the action up in there.I'm not sure if I've had this done before. It opens the nose up so he can stick a long black thing up there (with a camera?). I closed my eyes for it. Nothing I needed to see. But can I say? The only thing weirder than feeling those parts fall asleep? Feeling them wake up. Weirdest damn thing. Felt a bit silly, trying to eat my dinner and you know, swallow.

And then...

I was having serious ear problems. SERIOUS. Weird noises, slight pain, etc. He takes a deep look. He grabs these ultra-sharp scissors.

It is at this point that I grab his coat. I am THAT patient. Some doctors get weirded out by my touching. I touch. Or tap. Or even swat. My chiropractor calls his personal approach "get in, get it done, get the hell out of the way". I tend to do little taps or sometimes hit.

Not hard. Just so they know I'm there.

Anyway, I grab the coat, he pauses (but apparently isn't weirded out) to say that I'd best not move. Okey Dokey. Ten-Four. I drop the coat.

The scissors go IN MY EAR and they pull out...


a teeny, tiny, itty-bitty...


Atticus hair.

All the pain and irritation. Caused by a single hair. I'm not too embarrassed by this because we're clean people. I'll chalk it up to "it was bound to happen." I've never not had a pet. One hair is bound to make its way into my ear. And I clean my ears but this baby was way in there. Remember the scissors?

Could have been worse. I had a student with a tick in the ear. I knew a person with a moth in their ear. LIVING THINGS. So my hair? Not a big deal.

Anyway, today I'm feeling about 90% good. Let's hope it stays that way. Hope my story wasn't TMI. Lovesies you.

Disturbia

So...

On Halloween , Jeremiah was shootin' the sh- I mean, breeze with our neighbors. One of which hasn't spoken to us in the entire year we've been there. Regardless of the smiles, waves, whatever...nothing.

But on Halloween she was chatty. Most witches are.

Just Kidding.

I promise.

Anyway, she asked if Jeremiah had gotten a new tattoo.

Which means, this year that she hasn't been speaking to us, she has been memorizing our features and details. He didn't see the weirdness. But then I pointed out that in order for her to recognize anything as new, she must have memorized his others. From a distance. Which is weird to me. Is she watching out the window? Is she planning a sketch for America's Most Wanted? I just find it a bit odd that she can identify something as new when she's never met him to know what was old.

Disturbed.

p.s. For those of you that don't already know, I've had some issues with my "delicate health" lately. In fact, I ended up in the hospital for a fun visit last week and was out of commission (as in, couldn't do ANYTHING) for...well, still. Except now I'm back to work. So I'm doing a bit better after a week. And everyone knows at work. So interesting. We call it Crayola Wireless. The gossip mill runs strong in schools, I tell ya'. So anyway, posts are sporadic and at times they may be a bit...sparse. I'm used to writing almost every other day, which is hard to do when you are W.A.U. (without arm use). Love you all for still checking in.

p.s. Jeremiah was still thinking that perhaps it wasn't that weird. So I asked him whether the neighbor that noticed (or any other neighbor, for that matter) had tattoos. He got the point.

Thanks

Thanks for everyone that took the time to vote for me. It means a lot. For suresies. I didn't make the top twenty, but I was FAR from last. Out of tens of thousands of applicants, I landed at about one hundred fifty. Not too shabby.
Thanks.