Updating some stuff

The week just seems to fly by.  On Monday I think the week is going to take forever - then the next thing you know it's Friday (or Sunday)!

Last Saturday we went down to Ft. Myers.  We went to Hobby Lobby to pick 

up some picture frames then went to Home Goods and found some items for the house.  Sunday was spent cleaning and laundry.

This week didn't have too much going on during the week - 

we went out to eat Friday night and then

went up to Lowe's to pick up some things that we needed to

complete some of the projects we are working on.

Saturday we went down to the farmer's market in Okeechobee.

I guess I really didn't realize that it is as close to go to

Okeechobee as it is to go to Avon Park.

Anyway, the farmer's market there is a nice market and we were

able to pick up a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit.

Today, I went over and visited with my mom for a little while.  Then I came home and cleaned house and did the laundry.

Dan hadn't been feeling well this week - a bad cough - but 

he did go fishing twice during the week, and he is 

out fishing now.

He is really enjoying being able to just walk out the back door,

walk across the yard, lower the boat, get in, and away he goes.

I listed a couple of things on Craigslist, but haven't gotten any "hits"

on them - so, we will probably just donate them and take the

tax write off.  That's okay - it will all work out.

The main thing is getting the stuff out of the garage.

To give you a little update on our projects:

There are some things that we want to do - most of these are outside - so, we have been getting some estimates on the work.
So far, we have not decided which project we are going to do first.  That will be decided after tomorrow, as we are getting an estimate on adding A/C vents in the family room.

The family room was, at one time, a screen porch.  It is under the roof of the house - not an add-on - and the former owner had windows installed to make the family room; however, since they were only winter residents they did not have a/c vents put in.  Well, there is a marked difference in the air temperature between the living room and the family room.  So, an a/c man is coming tomorrow to see if we can add the vents without having to get a larger a/c unit.  Depending on what they say (cause we have GOT to have air out there) will determine what else we will be able to do - as we are paying CASH for what ever we do!  (If we can add the vents WITHOUT having to

upgrade the A/C unit we will be able to do at least one of the 

following projects)

Some of the other projects that we want to do are:

1) the vents in the family room (first priority)

2) add a porch all the way across the back of the house - 

not all of it will be screened - but it all will be under roof.

This project will have to be done in stages - 

with the concrete slab going in first - 

then the roof over - 

and finally closing in the screen room part.

3) fence the back yard

(I think that is more important than the porch since Little Miss

will be playing in the yard this summer and I don't want to have 

to worry about her and the canal)

Those are the big projects that we want to do - of course, we will be

painting and doing updating in the house, but that doesn't count as these won't be MAJOR expenses.

Here are some before and afters of the house so far.

(The before pictures were taken that first Saturday we 

took possession.)

 Living Room Before:

 Looking from family room to front door

From front door to family room

Now:

From family room to front door

Front door to family room

Looking toward the Dining Room before.

Dining room now

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedroom now

Guest Bathroom Before

Guest Bathroom now

This is the room we have been working on this week. 

Changes so far include:

New shower curtain, towels, rug

(from our Home Goods trip)

New hardware on vanity

New light fixture over vanity

 The pictures, lamp, and decorations in here

we already had.

I've ordered the wallpaper we are going to use in this room

 (It is a paintable bead board wallpaper)

and we have settled on the paint color 

we are going to use above the wallpaper

 and on the wallpaper itself.

So, this room is a "room in progress". 

(and it will probably be the first room "finished")

Guest Bedroom/Nursery Before

Guest Bedroom/Nursery Now

and

finally

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Now

So far, we have made the most changes to the Kitchen -

New Stainless Steel Appliances

(the only large expense inside the house)

New handles on cabinets

New curtain

New rugs

(still need to change out the dishwasher but that will have to wait)

So, as you can see, we have been making steady progress but there are still projects that we want to accomplish. 

(Can anyone say PAINTING!)

We are going to get estimates on this too, since Dan has 

decided that he doesn't want to paint the whole house. 

However, I don't think we have done too bad 

since we have only been in the house a month.

Now, of course, I have to leave you with some pictures of Little Miss.

These were taken this week - hope you enjoy.

She is getting "SO BIG!"

Gosh, her Nana loves her "SO MUCH!"

Hugs -

Carol/Nana

P.S.  I am still thinking about the other blog.  I'll let you know IF I decide 

to tackle another one.

Happenings

Wow!  Has it really been almost two months since I did a post (other than the notification of comment verification being put on the blog)?  That just is amazing to me - I don't know if it is because I have been so busy, or because I don't have anything to say.  Well, a lot has happened so it can't be because I don't have anything to say - so, I'll just blame it on being WAY to busy.  Let me see if I can get you somewhat caught up.

We closed on the house on March 13th - after a lot of drama the preceding couple of weeks,  the closing went down with no problems.  Now, while we closed on Wednesday we did not get possession of the house until Saturday, March 16th.  I actually think we were turning down the road to the new house as the previous owners were turning on the main street out of our subdivision - Dan was that anxious to get here.

I think I told you guys that we bought the house furnished.  However, there was very little that we wanted to keep.  So, we arranged for a consignment store to come in and they bought all the furniture.  The only problem was - it took them a few days to get everything out, which meant we could not move our stuff in.

Dan did paint the master bedroom while we were waiting to get all the old stuff out.  With the help of our fantastic SIL we moved things in every night for a week - then on Saturday the 23rd we FINALLY had all our furniture in the new house.  I guess I should qualify that statement - we had all the our furniture that will FIT in the new house.

There are just some things that won't go in this house because this house it just too small.  However, I'm not worried about it - if it doesn't fit, it's gonna be GONE!  We are planning on a HUGE garage sale and just get rid of all this stuff.  (I am determined to make THIS our forever home - so if it doesn't fit in this house I'm not going to pay storage to keep it!)

We have been making some slight changes  in the house already - I'll show those pictures in future posts.  I'm just excited to make this house a home for all of us.

Little Miss is doing great - growing so fast.  She is standing on her own more and more, but still not walking yet.  I'm sure it won't be long - but I have a hard enough time keeping up with her while she is crawling - don't know what I'll do once she is walking!  (I guess there will be more doors closed than what I normally like.)

I'll give you an example of what I am talking about.

We put a baby gate up going into the laundry room to keep Little Miss out of the dog food and water.  I had to leave the gate up off the floor so the pups could go under to get in.  Well, the pups kept going in and out, showing Little Miss how to get in - well, about two weeks after we moved in I missed Little Bit - and this is what I found

Well, we don't worry with the baby gate any more - it doesn't do any good.

I so wanted to get a video of her going under - it is so cute - but every time I got the phone out to video her - she wouldn't go under.

This one was taken a couple of weeks ago too - Grampie Dan with all "his" girls.

I've been trying to get back into the swing of things - but I don't know why it's a lot harder this time.  Anyway - I'll get my mojo back soon - I'm even thinking of doing a different blog for the stuff we do to the house and just have this one as a "weekly" diary of what we are doing.

Just something that is going on in my head - the other blog would have the DIY projects, menu's, cooking ideas, maybe some stuff about our diet efforts,  and, of course, stuff about Little Miss.  I know that some of you that read this blog don't want to hear all the other stuff, but I find that is what inspires me to write.  So, I'm thinking that if I get into that - this will be the diary of our everyday life - with posts on Sundays.  The other blog would have posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  So, what do you think?  Think I can handle that?  Like I said, just something I'm thinking about.

Well, gotta run - think Little Miss is up from her nap.

Talk to you soon!

Hugs -

Carol

Putting up Comment Moderation and Verification

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in awhile.

I will explain in a later post, however, I wanted to let you know that I have been forced to put comment verification onto my blog.

I have been over run with spammers and I am so over it.

So, if you want to get in touch with me, and you don't want to do the verification (and believe me, I don't like it either) you can reach me via my facebook account.

Sorry guys, but hopefully this will stop the spammers.

If not, I will delete this blog, which I hate to do because it has all the records of our time on the road and the remodeling of the old house, but I will do what I have to do.

Hugs to my friends!

Carol

Surgery for Jessie Lee

All week I have been fighting headaches.  I tend to get migraines when a strong weather front comes through.  Well, this week we have had one front come through - then reverse and come back through again.  So, it's been headache, no headache, headache, no headache.  And today - another good ole front is on the way - so, again today, headache.

For the most part I can function - but it sure isn't pleasant.  I just wish I didn't have to worry about them.

  

I've spent the day cleaning house and doing laundry.  Have I told you how much I HATE tile floors - I sweep the floors every day and you should have seen the amount of dirt I swept up today!  I just can not keep these floors clean - it is so frustrating!  I really think that living on the golf course does not help with the situation.  Between sweeping everyday and dusting every other day - well, I'm just over it.  I will be so glad to get back in a house that has carpet!

Speaking of carpet - we have three more weeks until closing!  Yahoo!  To say that we are really getting excited would be a major understatement.  We have had a few issues that last couple of weeks, but we think that we have them straightened out and everything is back on track.  What does this have to do with carpet, you might ask?  Well, the new house has carpet throughout except the family room, kitchen, and bathrooms.  Yahoo!  We are making all kinds of tentative plans on what we want to do with the house - furniture, paint, construction (yes, a little of that - but all of it outside - and will have to be done in stages).  It is exciting and I'm looking forward to working on it all!

Now, about the surgery for Jessie Lee.

As most of you know, Jessie had some growths that were getting larger and larger.  At our vet appointment last week it was determined that they needed to be removed.

Now, I'm going to show you a picture of the growth on her foot - and I will warn you now - it is gross.  So, if you don't want to see gross, just scroll on down past this next picture.

You really can't tell how large this thing was, but it probably stuck up a good 1/2 inch.  Poor baby, it was really bothering her.  Friday morning Dan took her up to the Vet's office in Sebring around 10 so they could do her pre-surgery blood work and start her pain medication.  Surgery was scheduled at 12 noon. We called and checked on her at 4:00 and they said the surgery went well and she was ready to go home.

Melissa was here to pick the baby up when we called so we were able to leave right away and head to Sebring to get her.  Poor baby was shaking like a leaf when they brought her out to us (did I tell you that she has only been left without us or Samantha once in her life - and that was when she was "fixed")?

The vet said to keep her "quiet" for the next 3 to 5 days.  Well, let me tell you something, this little baby girl is already going strong.  Jumping off things - even though we are trying not to let her - and running and playing with Samantha and Dan.  She is still on pain meds (once a day) and an antibiotic, but it doesn't seem to slow her down any.

So what does her foot look like?

Well, you won't have to scroll past this picture

Looks pretty good doesn't it?

She also had two growths taken off her chest - but I don't have pictures of those - the incisions are a little swollen right now, but they are looking good too.

Also, by the way, we also had her teeth cleaned and boy is her breath better!

Well, that has been our week - hope you had a productive week and I'll talk to you later.

Hugs -

Carol

Quiet

I know I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks.

It has just been really quiet around here.

Our days are filled with keeping little miss -

 I must say, she is keeping us hopping!

She is crawling everywhere now, so we keep our bedroom door shut and the door to the guest bathroom.  We have also put up a baby gate so she can't get to the dog food (or water dish).  We put the gate up high enough that the pups can go under it, but low enough that she can't.  Guess that is an advantage of having small dogs - huh?

Lorelai and Samantha

I wish I knew how to download a video from my Facebook page - I have a couple of cute ones of little miss - crawling around the house and her newest accomplishment

pulling up!

Yep, she is pulling up on everything now.  She is up in her crib (thank goodness we had already lowered her mattress) and pulls up on your pants legs - just about everything.

She is not napping much anymore - I'm lucky if I can get her down for one a day.  She just doesn't want to miss anything - so she fights going to sleep.   IF you can get her asleep and try to put her in her crib - she wakes right up.  I actually held her for an hour one day just so she would sleep, but by the end of the week I was able to get her in her crib for a hour and a half nap.

YAHOO!!!!

It is so much fun to see all the developmental milestones she is going through.  I don't remember all these things with my girls - maybe because I worked or maybe I was just so "busy" with stuff that I didn't pay attention.  Anyway, we enjoy watching her.

Last weekend her parents took her to the beach for the first time - don't you love the swagger in that look?

Here she is with her daddy looking out at the ocean for the first time.

Having fun with her daddy.

And playing in the sand.

(Mom's knee is in the way - LOL)

If I could download video's I'd show you her playing in the sand, but alas, you'll just have to take my word for it.  

I can see a sandbox in our future.

Okay, I'll change subjects now since I'm sure you are tired of seeing pictures of our little miss.

Monday, after Little Miss went home, I fixed dinner and we ate in.

That was the last time until Friday.

Tuesday the pups had an appointment at the vets, so Melissa picked the baby up early and we headed into Sebring to a new vet.  We decided that since we are going to be here for the foreseeable future we needed a local vet.

We also knew that Jessie needed to see a vet.  She has a few growths that needed to be looked at - two on her chest and one on her paw.  Now, she has had these growths for about a year and a half, but they are getting much larger.  The one on her paw was looking really bad - it is huge and is bothering her quite a bit, with her licking it all the time and it is quite raw looking.  Anyway, the vet determined that they (all three) need to be removed - so next Friday she will go in for surgery.  They will remove all three growths and clean her teeth while she is sedated.  I worry about her, but I also know that it is something that needs to be done.

Dan will take her in Friday morning - they will do the surgery at lunch time and we will pick her up between 4 and 5.  I am hopeful that all will go well.

Since we got back home sorta late we went to the local Mexican restaurant.  We have been going every Thursday night and meeting some friends there - but because Thursday was Valentine's Day (and we had plans for a dinner at home) we decided to go on Tuesday by ourselves.

Wednesday Melissa picked the baby up early (3'ish) so we decided to go into Sebring and try Cody's BOGO Fajitas. If you don't get there really early you can't get in - however, I told Dan when we left at 4:45 that we had officially turned into "old" people. ( BTW, they were okay, but I'd stick with the steak bites).

 We had planned on a nice quiet evening at home for Valentine's Day.  

We had bought a couple of steaks and planned on grilling them and having  baked potatoes and a nice salad.

Well, mother nature threw us a curve ball.

It rained almost all day  (the first time in months, so we really needed the rain - no real complaint) -  so, no grilling out for us.

Instead we met our friends at that local Mexican restaurant for dinner.

We had a great time.

A seven piece Mariachi band was there and went around to all the tables.

I couldn't get a good picture of all the band because I only had my phone camera - but the picture above shows a few members at our table.

There were two guys on the violins, a couple on the trumpets, and three guys on the guitars (different types).  They all sang at different times. 

We were all very surprised at how good they were.  (They got an excellent tip at our table - Dick gave them a $20 and Dan a $10.)

It was a fun night and we had a nice Valentine's Day dinner with good friends.

Now, if anyone is keeping track - Dan ate at a Mexican restaurant three times this week - but before you get all excited - he didn't eat Mexican food all three times.  The two times that we were at the local place he had a hamburger and fries - I ate Mexican all three nights though! Yummy!

Friday, we were finally able to fix the steak and have our quiet dinner at home.

I cooked last night too, just in case your curious.

With football season over we have really cut down on the TV watching - GMA in the morning - two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Little Miss -  then the TV is turned off until the evening news.  It was back off by 7 (since NCIS wasn't on this week). A couple of days I did turn the TV to the all music channels - 60's revolution.  It was nice to hear some of "my" music for a change.

Since we haven't been watching TV I have read three books in a week.  I don't have anything on my Kindle that I haven't already read - so looks like I might be surfing Amazon today.

I haven't even been on the computer much this week - checked emails and checked in on Facebook a couple of times a day - and that's it.  Haven't read any of the blogs I follow - maybe that is something I can do today too (while doing laundry).  Oh, the choices, the choices!

Well, this has become a very long post.  

I will try and do better about posting in the future.

Hope you guys have a great week ahead - and wonderful weather.  (It is currently 42 here - the coldest it has been in months - the weathermen are calling for a freeze north of us, but I don't think it will make it down here.  Might be in the mid to high 30's tonight - but back in the 70's by Tuesday).

Take care and will talk to you soon.

Hugs -

Carol

Keurig or not to Keurig?

Okay, how many of you have gotten on the Keurig band wagon?

Dan and I have been doing the "should we/shouldn't we" dance for about six months.

We think about how convenient it would be to go in and fix a cup of coffee whenever -

but, then we talk about how expensive the K-cups are.

Then we also talk about how we still like to have a whole pot of coffee in the morning.

So, we talk ourselves into one, and then talk ourselves out of one.

Dan had decided that he was going to buy me one for Christmas - I talked him out of it.

Now, fate decided to rear it's ugly head.

Our coffee pot that we have had for about four years decided to go out on us.  So, we had to make a decision.

Well, we were out looking a couple of weeks ago - and had pretty much decided on the middle Keurig model - not the cheap one, but not the most expensive one either.  When, what to our wondering eye should appear, but this -----

The absolute best of BOTH worlds - 

and cost less than the cheaper less expensive model Keurig.

You can still make a full pot of coffee - OR - you can do individual cups.  PLUS, you don't use K-cups. 

Nor do you have to buy  the strainer thing that you have to use 

with the Keurig.

You can use your own coffee and adjust the strength of your coffee.

Plus - it is programmable.

So, 

guess what came home with us.

Yep, 

 here she sits in our kitchen.

Love it!

So, IF you haven't jumped on the Keurig band wagon - you might want to consider this Hamilton Beach model.

We have really enjoyed it so far

(it was really nice last week when I was so sick -

 Dan was able to fix me hot drinks 

without having to fix

a whole pot of coffee).

Oh, just a little disclaimer - I am not being compensated by Hamilton Beach (yeah, I wish) in any way and the opinion stated here is strictly my own.

Hope you guys have a fabulous rest of your week!

Hugs -

Carol

How can someone so little create this?

Good Monday morning ya'll!

It's good to be back at the computer - I am starting to feel much better.  Still have the "fog horn" cough and the masculine voice, but it is getting better everyday.  Pretty soon Dan will stop asking me "What did you say?"  Well, at least not every time I say something.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend - but to tell you the truth I'm getting a little depressed.  Why?  Well, yesterday was the Pro Bowl, which means - there is only ONE more football game this season.  That is such a bummer for me!  I don't know what I'll do on Saturday's and Sunday's - much less Monday night and Thursday night.

Seriously, our whole TV schedule is skewed around football.  This is (or was) our TV watching schedule:

Monday - Monday Night Football

Tuesday - NCIS (only show we watch every week)

Wednesday - anything that I've TiVo'ed (Castle usually)

Thursday - Thursday Night Football

Friday - nothing (this is usually when we watch a rented movie)

Saturday - College ball

Sunday - Pro ball starting with pre-game stuff until the late game

Pretty lame, huh?  

Really - this is our TV viewing schedule.

So, as you can see, we have a problem Houston.

There is nothing to watch anymore - 

we are not Basketball fans, racing fans, or hockey fans.

Now, I will watch golf (yep, golf) IF Tiger is playing.

Now, before anyone jumps on my case - I don't agree with what Tiger did in his personal life - but that was in the past and he has paid dearly for his major screw up.  I still like to see him play golf - and when he is on - NO ONE can come close to him.

Anyway, I have ordered some books for my Kindle so it looks like  Dan and I will spend a lot more time with the TV off and the Kindle's on.

Not, necessarily a bad thing.

Boy, am I completely off topic.

So, let's get back to the program.

I'm sure that many of you (if there are people out there that do actually read this) have this problem  - but we aren't use to this anymore.  I'm a little OCD - okay, a lot OCD - so, this is something that I'm getting used to again. 

What am I talking about?

Take a look

!

You see, when my oldest daughter was a baby, her dad and I rented a nice little house in Thomasville, GA.  In the family room was a wall of wonderful bookcases - with cabinets on the bottom.  Wonderful storage!  In the middle was an open area for the TV and underneath was a big cabinet with no shelves.  So, I put a big round laundry basket, and at the end of the day all the toys went in the basket - close the door and all was clean again.

This is really pretty tame - 

but you know what -

I don't care.

Let her make a mess - it takes about two minutes to pick it up and put it in her toy basket.  She is only going to be a baby for such a short period of time.  Such a small price to pay for being able to take care of her every day.

She certainly pays for any mess she makes with her smiles, and her hugs, and her little kisses.  

So, where was she when I took this picture this morning?

Nap time!

Sweet baby!

Hugs -

Carol