Teaholic not quite anonymous

My weekend was just wonderful! I left about noon on Friday. Matt painted the other handrail in the morning and I let him sleep in. The drive down was uneventful, no issues at all. I made it to Potomac Mills about 12:45 and spent a good 20 min. in a parking lot with my iPhone trying to find my hotel. I didn't spend any time previously printing directions. Ah well, after driving around for a while (lost) scouting out the place and finding some great places for dinner, I found the hotel. I went right back out after checking in and went to Ikea. I didn't buy a ton of stuff there, overall I was good. The majority of what I wanted to buy was for Maddy but did buy a few things for the house, too. It was so nice just bumming around without anyone else in tow! Going at my own pace was so nice!

After Ikea I went over to the mall where I spent way too much time in Steve and Barry's. I bought a few items of clothing for me (great A line black basic linen dress for 8.88 and two cute ones for Maddy, too). I spent some time at the mall just shopping around. I bought a pair of pants for Matt. A couple really great deals were had at the Cosmetic Factory outlet.

I was starving by the time I left the mall and it was time to find some dinner. I asked all the clerks I checked out with for a good local restaurant since the place is full of big box stores and chains. No one could come up with anything for me so I went to find the Hard Times I saw while looking for the hotel. In the process I ran across a great local Thai place and ate there instead! I went back to the hotel for the rest of the night to just hang out. I was going to work out but forgot my shoes! oops.

Saturday I got up about 7:30 after sleeping pretty cruddy, actually. I was hoping to sleep well but I'm not used to sleeping alone. So, I got up, packed up and headed out to Ihop for breakfast. I haven't been out to breakfast in ages. It was so nice! I had their stuffed french toast which is just heavenly.

After breakfast I went down to Occoquan. I was early for the shops, but that was ok. I checked out the water front and little at a time the shops opened up. I wanted to put some bags in the trunk but when I went to find my keys I couldn't find them! I searched through my whole purse. Nothing. So I went back and looked around where I had been. Nothing! I thought maybe they were locked in the trunk or I threw them in the mailbox when I put some mail in. Anyway, as I was passing by the visitor center a lady came running them out to me waving her arms. I was soooo thrilled! Turns out I hung them on the hook behind the door of a stall. I looked in the stall but not behind the door. Well, after that little excitement I dropped off my stuff at the car and pulled out my makeup bag since I didn't want it to melt and it was quite hot. I did a bit more shopping before I ran over to my tea!

I had tea at the Pink Bicycle Tea room. It was quite nice! The tea itself was great--I had coconut. I could have had more than one pot, but honestly, I was going to float away and I still had another spa appointment after that, so I didn't want to have to be in the bathroom the whole time. The sandwiches and treats were wonderful, too and all homemade. Very well presented. I also bought a pink travel mug with infuser with the name of the place on it. It worked out great since I still had left over tea that I wanted to take with me. The only thing I didn't like is that in the back room they were having a kids birthday party tea. I was not too thrilled having to listen to kids when I was 'kid-free' for the day. But it was fine.

I went straight on to my spa appointment! It was GREAT! The facial and massage were just heavenly. I could have laid there all day! We also had a large storm while I was in the there, but it was perfect timing since I wasn't wandering around the shops going in and out of doors. The little bits of thunder and rain just added to the ambiance. My pedicure is pretty, too! Red! Love it!

Maddy was really happy to see me when I got home on Saturday afternoon! Matt was too. He said he had a new appreciation for me getting the house prepped for showings with a 2 year old in tow! Thank you very much. :)

The rest of the weekend has been hurry up and wait with house stuff. The ball is rolling, just not rolling fast enough from our perspective. But I will keep it at that for the moment....

I should head off back to bed. I've had insomnia over the last couple of nights and it's killing me. I thought I'd at least check in while I could and make some good use of my time awake. But since it's 4 am I better head off back to bed.

Yep! We have an under contract sign on our house! Yesterday we ratified a bid and we are really pleased with it. Not bad, we were on the market for just TWO weeks! The average rate on the market is about 3 months right now.

More to say about house stuff, but most of it is still pending--will let you know more when things aren't as fluid.

So, it's been quite a whirlwind here. After we got notification that our house would have a bid on it on Friday, Matt and the realtor went looking at houses on Saturday. They didn't find anything that was amazing. On Saturday night/Sunday morning I found a house that I really wanted to look at and kind of had a 'hunch' about. Matt loved it online as well. It was a lot of house for the money (the yard definitely isn't anything to write home about). So when we saw it on Sunday we LOVED it. We saw a couple other ones as well, but none of them compared--especially for the price tag. Just for an example--a friend of Matt's live's around the corner (quite literally) and he paid 120 more for his house than we bid for this one. Now, his house has more yard, better flooring...etc. but still, ours is a steal.

So we put a bid on it once our contract for our house was ratified and then we waited the rest of Sunday and until 5:30 on Monday to hear back. Honestly, I am NOT cut out for this waiting game!!! We did get our counter offer today and it was for a decent price so we accepted it. We go in tomorrow AM just to put our initials on a couple of pages.

Man, I really don't know what I'm going to do with that much space!!! :)

Maddy and I had a really nice time today. We went to Burke Lake Park and road the train and carousel. She especially loved the train! She loved the train so much she insisted we wait in line for tickets. All her little friends were playing on the carousel but that didn't matter to her, she wanted to wait for those tickets! The picture above is Maddy and I on the train. Doesn't she look happy? We even stopped to have ice cream. She had such a blast! She was so excited to see her friends again, too. She loves Annabelle, Hailey and Nate.

Speaking of friends, we had our first real babysitter tonight! My friend Christine came to sit for Maddy so I could go to Matt's colo move celebration dinner. I wanted to go (since it's on the company's bill anyway) but also to support Matt in all the hard work he's done. I forewarned Maddy about the babysitter and how Christine is a lot of fun. Well, when Christine got here Maddy was really excited to see her. She wanted to start playing with her right away. She did cry when I left but only a little bit. I guess they had a really good time and Christine said she was really sweet and playing with Maddy was nothing like playing with her two boys.

I had a couple martinis tonight along with dinner and I made Matt drive me home afterward. (Also why I have insomnia right now after our storm woke me up.) We did get back late, which I wasn't happy with since it was my first babysitter and we were arriving almost 30 minutes late! But Christine didn't seem to mind.

Remind me that I need to remind Matt to get that dinner tonight reimbursed! Morton's steak house definitely isn't inexpensive and add in appetizers, dinner, drinks and dessert for 12 people and also then gift certificates for those who couldn't be there and.... well, yeah, let's just make sure he gets that reimbursed tomorrow! :)

Ok, I'm back off to bed. Have a good one, everyone! I still can't believe everything fell together as well as it did with the houses. Let's just hope the next month up until closing is uneventful for both places and goes smoothly. We sure have been blessed!

Tea of the day: Earl Grey

We finally dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's tonight to ratify our contract on the house we put a bid on. We went in this morning to sign stuff but the other realtor did some wacky clauses so we weren't going to sign it. We got the clause taken out, so we are ratified! Yeah!!!!

Our realtor. :) Maddy wanted to put her boas all over Bernie's desk but I told her it wasn't the best idea and he was busy. He brushed it off and said, "No! Go ahead!! Here, I'll even wear one!" So.... thank goodness for the camera phone. Thanks for being a great sport, Bernie!

Wow, it seems like we just haven't slowed down around here! Yesterday Maddy and I did some much needed grocery shopping. It's amazing how even that little thing gets to be such a huge production when I'm busy. But after figuring out a grocery list from what we had missing (err, everything?!) we went. Maddy was great at the grocery store, as always. Except I had one snaffu when I went to the check out! I forgot my wallet! Turns out that I left it in my picnic bag when I took it with me to the park on Tuesday! I was so mad since I thought I'd have to come back and do all my shopping all over again. Turns out they were able to put my groceries on hold and I could just go home, get my wallet, come back and pay for it! Maddy was so patient, too. I was checking out a candy for her and she asked for it going out the door and of course I said she couldn't have it since we hadn't paid for it. So I explained we're going to go and get the wallet and come back for it. She was as contented as could be with that. What a great kiddo! So as soon as I paid for the groceries the first thing I did was break her off a piece of Dove.

Speaking of patient, she was so great today as well. She went down for nap almost two hours late because of our home inspection that started today at 12:30. I knew we wouldn't go down for nap on time, so instead we wandered around the mall and had lunch/ice cream. She never once freaked out. I left a note for the realtor and asked him to call when they left so I'd be able to come home. They did! So she went down for a nap at 3. I got a cute note back from him saying they didn't eat much of the chili I left in the crockpot cooking. Hahaaa..

Some small but good news, I found my favorite scent that I love at BBW that's been discontinued! I am going to buy them out of stock. They are actually holding it for me at Dulles and Matt will pick it up on the way home from work. I'm going to the one nearby to get what they have there. Matt bought it for me a while ago when he knew another scent i love was discontinued and he hit the nail on the head--I love it! I was going back to buy a couple more bottles when I found out they were discontinued! At least I'm able to buy more at sale price now.

Ok, off to get the mail fast before Maddy is up. Have a good rest of the day all!

Tea of the day: Black sugared plum sun tea

Catching up, yet again! I haven't blogged during Maddy's nap lately since I haven't been home a whole lot during her nap this weekend. Matt's mom and I went out to Lowes and picked out lighting and paint colors. I have to say, I really had a blast with that! On Sunday we went out and looked at window treatment (shades/blinds) options. That wasn't quite as fun, but fun none the less.

Saturday AM we all went over to the house to get some estimates on paint. Holy cow, the estimate that came back gave me quite a bit of sticker shock. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work I want done, but I'm having three other guys come tomorrow during our continuation of the home inspection for more estimates.

The home inspection was started but then put off today. The home owner turned off the gas so a lot of the inspection couldn't take place. Matt will go tomorrow at 1 to finish it off. I cannot with Maddy's nap and I don't want her missing another one. Plus, Matt wants to walk around with the guy to see the place and the stuff he's inspecting.

Add in that I got most of the stuff done today that I needed to get done while I was there: window measurements, room measurements, assessing lighting, taking pictures, I really don't need to do anything else tomorrow.

The weekend was extremely hot. We filled Maddy's little pool and it was like bath water by the time she went in it in the afternoon after the sun was around and it was shady. But she's been loving it. She especially loves to eat Popsicles on the deck in her suit since she can drip all over and just get in the pool to rinse off! I have pictures, but I haven't put them up yet. I'll get them up either later tonight or tomorrow.

Tonight I'm getting together for coffee with my friend Karen! I'm excited for that. Tomorrow AM Maddy and I will go to school to see the 'my kids' one last time before the end of the year. My 'kids' have graduation on Thursday so I will be going to that as well. Saturday AM I have breakfast with Rosanna and then my hair appointment in the afternoon! Yippie! I need a bit of a cut. I felt bad since I totally forgot about it this last Saturday and missed my appointment without calling. Oops.

Maddy's been having a hard time going to sleep lately. She's been knocking for more rocking after bed. I know it's because it's more sunny, but she's really tired going to bed. We went up twice tonight but finally the third time she knocked we went up and gave her a hug/kiss and laid her back down. She cried for about 30 seconds but I'm not starting up this 'it takes 45 minutes' to go to bed after being put in bed after her bedtime routine is already a good 45 minutes as it is now.

Off to hang out with Matt before I go out! Have a good night!

So today we went to visit school. It's better late than never! It's their last week this week! I meant to get in earlier than that with Maddy, but just never did. Maddy had such a good time and she was so friendly with everyone. I mean, she gave hugs, answered questions, really did a nice job. I was pleasantly surprised! But then I started to think about it. She spent 9 mo. in this school--sure, it was in my womb, but come on... you know they hear things in there! So I wouldn't be surprised if it was all familiar to her. She was especially drawn to a few people I used to talk with all the time so that does not surprise me. Maddy was especially forward in 'my' old classroom with my kid and coworker. She spoke right up, moved around the room, closed the door behind kids as they came in and out, took a seat and started coloring. It was as if she fit right in and new what to do! The picture of Maddy above is with my 'first girl' who graduates grade school in two days! I can't believe it!!! I mean, I can. I was 23 when I first started working there and now I'm 30 so 7 years HAVE passed by, but it seems like just yesterday that 'little' girl was just 5 years old and now she's going on to middle school. Wowsers. Time waits for no man, I guess!

The trip to and from school could have been less eventful. Honestly, it was pretty miserable both ways. 66 was a mad house this morning at 9 going into DC but I expected that. But I wasn't expecting it would be so bad on the way home! Add in we have a high of 97 today and my air didn't want to work very well--poor Maddy was as red as a beet and all sweaty by the time we got home. Not to mention tired too, since she was up at 5:30 today after going to bed late last night. Needless to say, she went down about 1/2 hour early for her nap.

I'm tired too though. So I've just been sitting doing nothing for her nap and it feels darn good, I tell ya! But... I guess I should be productive, so I'm off. Have a good rest of the day, everyone.

I hope all the Wisconsinites I know have extracted themselves and their houses from all the water damage! Crazy stuff up there!

Tea of the day: Chai spice and sugared plum back sun tea, have more brewing on the deck.

To all Wisconsinites! I hope there's not much flooding where you are, my dear readers! I've been thinking about you!

So, according to the clock, I have a total of 2 minutes left before Maddy is up from her nap. The last two days straight she's only slept for ONE HOUR the entire nap period. Plus, she's been having a hard time going to sleep at night as well. *sigh* So I'm living on borrowed nap time, here!

Graduation went really well last night. It was so nice seeing all my kids that I started off teaching in kindergarten. It's amazing how big they've all become! They are great kids and I will miss being able to go visit them once a year or so. I can't follow them onto middle school! I did get some picture and they are in my school gallery if you care to go and look. I printed pictures from our last visit and put them into mini albums for Rosanna and also my student. I put that inside of a card. I couldn't pick just one graduation card for her so I bought two and put a gift certificate in the other. Hopefully she enjoys it. I was good. I never cried last night. I only got teary eyed a couple of times but nothing bad enough to need a kleenex. :)

Today we had the assessor come out and check out our house. They will get the assessment back to the mortgage company in a couple of days. Maddy and I went to the park as well. She enjoyed that although while chasing a squirrel she ran off the park and into the grass. I had to remind her we stay IN the park! We also played grocery store a ton this morning and she always loves that.

I'm looking forward to this weekend! Tomorrow I meet Rosanna for breakfast and then I have a hair appointment in the afternoon. Sunday is Father's Day and honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing for that yet. I have cards but both Matt and i don't want to bring more 'stuff' into the house so gifts won't be given. I know what I want to buy him, but we'll need to wait until we're in the new house for that anyway.

Ok, still working on borrowed time so I better go get something done!

Tea of the day: coffee, splenda and cinnamon bun creamer, but I've had three glasses of sun tea today so I'm zipping!

Happy Father's Day to all you daddy's out there! I hope your day is fabulous!

Matt is still sleeping in, but not before he got up with us for a bit to say good morning. Maddy ran up to Matt and said, "Happy Father's Day, Daddy!" Maddy then sent daddy back to bed and she keeps reminding me to be quiet. It's cute.

Yesterday was fun. I had breakfast with Rosanna at Ihop. She brought last day pictures of school and there were some really great ones in there. We talked for about two hours before heading home. Then I had my hair appointment in the afternoon. I found out that my stylist is moving to Texas! I need to figure out where, I'm pretty sure it's kind of close to a friend of mine! We did some window treatment shopping yesterday and I'm pretty sure I've figured out what I want on the family room and kitchen windows. We'll see. It's fun to think about though--although I don't believe Matt thinks it's so cool. :)

Ok, I finally convinced Matt to tell me what he wants for Father's day to eat today. He wants to grill brats. Ok! He also wants an eclaire ring so I will be making that as well today. Of course I don't have anything I need for it.... I'd go to the grocery store now with Maddy but all my clothes are in the bedroom.

Well, have a great Father's Day everyone!

Tea of the day: Earl Grey

Father's day went really nice yesterday although Maddy seemed to be in a bit of a mood. But we went out and bought the ingredients for eclaire ring that Matt decided he wanted me to make and also brats and mac and cheese for dinner. He spent part of the time after dinner vacuuming out both of our cars and they look SO much better now. He used some rubbing compound on his car because his doors get dinged so bad because of the tight parking at work. I think he enjoyed the time cleaning them out! Everyone also had a nap yesterday so that was really nice, too!

This morning we had playgroup at Hailey's house and Maddy had a nice time! I keep being amazed every time I see them at how big they are all getting. It's so much fun to have little friends to play with that they know so well.

I made Maddy some pizza in the microwave from our stop at Target's pizza hut eatery and put it on the table on a paper plate. I lifted the plate later and I had a huge white spot on the place where the hot pizza sat! I was SOOOO mad at myself for doing that! I looked it up online and it turns out that silver polish wipes it out. And it did!!! It's the slightest bit lighter than the rest of the table but you'd really need to look to see it. I was so impressed! Thank goodness for the internet.

Well, other than that here, not a lot is going on. I'm back on the wagon this week with counting points and working out. I haven't been doing much of either for about a month since the house stuff and Maddy sleeping poorly has left me just exhausted without ambition. And while I still fit into all my clothes I can tell they fit differently than normal as well.

I'm also off the coffee. I was drinking coffee almost every day and it just eats through whatever food I eat and leaves me really hungry. Plus, I have a caffeine high after it and that leaves me grumpy. So coffee is best left as a special once a week treat than an every day occurrence. I had my usual tea this morning and I have felt much better because of it!

Tea of the day: Holiday blend (cinnamon spice) black tea

On many fronts!

First, last Saturday dad received my father's day card in the mail. But just mine! He didn't receive the grandpa card or the gift certificate I bought for him over the phone to a local restaurant around him. WHAT?? I knew the restaurant was going to mail it since the charge hit our credit card but where was it! And Maddy's card, too! I mailed it the same day as mine. Well, yesterday he received the gift certificate so that was good and today he received Maddy's card. Don't ask me why it took extra days since I mailed them together from the same mailbox.

Also, the gas is finally turned on at the new house! YIPPIE! About fricken time! I don't think I mentioned that we had to put off the home inspection again (from Tuesday AM to Friday AM) because the gas wasn't going to be on overnight. So then we had to put it off again from last Friday to this Wednesday since they weren't sure they'd have the gas on by Friday either since they were going to turn it on 'sometime' on Friday. Matt goes by on Saturday with Maddy to the park and just to take a walk and sees a 'sorry we missed you' sign on the front door! Sure enough! The gas isn't on and the gas company left that sign. Well, needless to say, I'm irritated. Matt calls the realtor and he calls the owners realtor and lays into her about this. It's been a week and we've lost 1/3 of our time until closing in one week with NOTHING being accomplish. He tells her we're going to start looking into backup houses soon... anyway, that lights a fire under her rear and we're finally making headway!

So tomorrow AM Matt meets the home inspection guy there, the termite guy and also four painters for estimates. I will be home with Maddy while the electrician fixes the two things that came back on our home inspection. Then I'll probably drive out to the house to meet him there.

Also, we had our offer accepted for the piano in the rec room of the house. It needs a good tuning, but it's in great shape. Maddy will be thrilled.

On top of all that, I've started packing. Today I packed away most of the knick knacks into baby blankets (who needs bubble wrap?). So I now have six boxes packed of the most tedious stuff. I still have our whole china cabinet which I swear will take a day and a half. *Sigh* I'm thrilled that with as clutter free as we are because of selling most of the stuff is already packed in boxes in storage or neatly packed here. There's really not THAT much stuff to pack!

I also found out that our Home Owners Associations docs came back clean for the new house too. Now they need to work on having our radon issue fixed (it's quite common over there) and have a fan put in.

I've figured out what I want to put into all the main floor of our new houses windows. White wooden 2 inch slate blinds-not mini ones, but the regular ones. I will most likely do the same ones all the way around the house. Now I need to start getting estimates on that.

While we're on the subject of estimates, we're getting estimates for our moving company. We've picked a date and now we just need to find a company. We should get moving on carpeting, too.

My mom is coming down the in July to help with the unpacking! I think she's really excited to see the new place and I know I'm really excited to have a helping hand, even if just with Maddy so I can unpack.

Today was pretty uneventful over all. Just packing, some organizing, cut Maddy's bangs, blah, blah...normal daily stuff. It was nice to kind of have a down day and I think Maddy liked it too.

Ok, off to wait for Matt who worked late tonight fixing a network problem, but it's done! He'll be home all day tomorrow for the house stuff.

Tea of the day: Orange Sun tea and also Cinnamon spice tea

Good news, good news! Both home appraisals came back great so no need to worry about those anymore. I had two more painters come in today to do estimates. Our home inspection went well although we are asking for some money back for a little bit of water damage around a window whose seal has broken and a few other things. But that shouldn't be much of an issue. Our electrician came out and was done in 40 minutes if not less so that was relatively inexpensive, too! Whoo whoo! Good morning overall!

This afternoon I'm going to pack some since Matt is home. I'm hoping to get through at least 6 more boxes. We need to start finding a staging area for this stuff too as Joe liked trying to chew off the tape off the boxes last night at about 4 am. Darn cat!

Okey dokey. Have a good one, all!

Tea of the day: Orange Sun tea

Quite literally. We packed more boxes today. The place is looking pretty barren. It won't be long before we're as packed as can be before we move out. That's exciting! The days seem to be passing faster now. Our move out date seems to be just around the corner when really it's almost a month away still. We bought boxes from usedcardboardboxes.com. It's a really nice service, actually. Free shipping on five gigantic boxes of boxes. The used boxes are all in wonderful condition and it saves numerous trips to the mini ustorage store. Plus, when you figure out the cost per box it's only a few cents more than if we got it at the mini storage place and with gas costs we're probably saving money. Although, the tape the send to us just is atrocious. So we'll be going out to get scotch moving tape tomorrow. This stuff just isn't worth the frustration.

Maddy also helped pack tonight. I put up video of her packing her books. I am so impressed with how well she's been handling the changes. It's a lot for a little kid to go through. I continue to process it with her on a regular basis. It seems to help to talk it through a few times and she really seems to get it. Now, we'll see how things go on the big day, but as of right now, she's doing great with it.

I have three movers coming tomorrow for estimates. That should be interesting! I'm secretly hoping that we can have them move everything. Matt wants them to just move the furniture and we do all the boxes and the little stuff. I want them to take it all. We'll see how different the estimates are for just part or all.

Ok, well, it's been a long day and I'm tired. It was a total bust day in both the diet and exercise department (eating out TWICE and not good either) and then just too tired to work out. ARGH. I am reminded how absolutely essential it is that I plan our dinners ahead and make sure there is something on the table at night. Otherwise it's just too easy to order in takeout! So I see a grocery store run in our future for tomorrow and I see numerous crockpot meals on the table over the next month! Anything is better than eating out frequently and better on the pocket book, too.

Have a good night all! I think I'm going to hang out with Matt for a bit and then I'm heading off to bed early!

I started yesterday and it wasn't until tonight that Matt and I finished. But at least it got done! I'm shocked at how much china I actually do have. Now let's hope it all gets there unscathed! Our termite inspection is tomorrow morning. I'm glad to have that out of the way. I have a pedicure scheduled for tomorrow through the place where I bought my spa package. I'm excited for that. Matt's going to go and help out a friend of mine's husband with a light fixture. It will be good practice for the lights he'll be changing in our house as soon as we move in! :)

We are cat sitting for the next week. Maddy will love to walk down to the neighbor's house to see the two little ones. They are really cute!

Maddy and I went to Frying Pan Farm today to see the animals. She loves to get out. Then we went to Giant to pick up blueberries that were on sale. Then I bought her a cookie and we sat outside Giant enjoying the weather while she ate the m&ms and I ate the sugar cookie part.

I spent the better part of the afternoon on the phone with utility companies getting that all set up. I still need to wait until Monday to get our new phone number!

Ok, well, have a great weekend all! We'll be packing a lot, most likely!

Our Saturday was pretty eventful. First thing this morning we had the termite inspection. The dude was here less than five minutes before he declared us 'clear'. Then Matt, Maddy and I went out to Lowes to look at lighting for the new house. We also took a few things back, too. We weren't there very long because I had my pedicure at 12 in Fairfax City so we stopped to Costco to get gas and then headed back home.

I went to my pedicure and had the prettiest polish put on! I was telling Matt that to me it looked just like Dorthy's ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz! I LOVE it. I loved it so much I wanted to definitely buy it! I noticed about an hour after my pedicure I actually messed up my big toe which was all the more incentive to go out and get it. I had no idea of the name though.

During Maddy's nap I made a coffee drink and went over to the neighbors to cat sit. I took a magazine with me. One of the cats is such a lap cat! I sat down and he jumped right into my lap! He didn't like it when I read magazines though and played with/gnawed the edge of the pages. The other is a bit stand-offish, but still friendly and a bit curious.

After Maddy's nap we went to Next Day Blinds to get some pricing on the window coverings we want for the main floor of the house and the master bedroom. Then we came home and Matt got online and found them for 1/2 the cost. However, Next day blinds matches prices as long as you print off the quotes so we're going to take it in. Maddy was pretty patient while we were there (in fact two other girls were there too and she loved playing with them even though they are older). Except she raided the candy stash and gave one to each girl. Of course they went to their mom with it to make sure it was ok they had it and she didn't mind, but I told Maddy that she wasn't allowed to just raid any candy stash she found much less give some to others when they need to ask their mom first! HA! But we went to the park afterward since she was so patient.

After the park, dinner was a BUST. I made frozen premade turkey burgers that just need to be cooked on the stove and I didn't cook them long enough. But we had already doctored them up with sauces so they really couldn't be microwaved more. Matt didn't want them anyway so they just went into the trash. Instead we had microwaved hot dogs and vegetables. Ooops!

After bath and prepping Maddy for bed Matt sent me out to Ulta to pick up the nail polish I wanted. Wouldn't you know it, it was called Ruby Pumps! HA! I also bought a three pack on major sale that will be fun toe nail polish colors for this summer. I only paint my toes bright colors since the color actually lasts pretty well. My finger nails are just a sheer opal since they chip so easily. They are long right now though! I'm pretty impressed they've stayed so nice even through the packing!

I also stopped at BJs and picked up three bulk boxes of the containers of the wet cat food we feed the cats. I wanted to get enough since during the move I don't want to run out and have to go get more. I want to have stocks of what we will need for sure.

Speaking of the cats, the insulin is working well for Joe. In fact, it's become second nature to give him his food and shot. We feed both cats twice a day at 7 am. I feed Joe a can and a half and Ruthie gets her own can. We give Joe his food in the bathroom with the door closed otherwise he goes for Ruthie's too. After Ruthie is done eating we put her wet/dry food away and go in and give Joe his shot and let him out. The only issue is that by about 6 am he is an annoying pain in the butt! He's constantly under foot in the kitchen waiting for food and mewing. He tries to crawl in the fridge when the door is open to find his food. Ruthie's the bad one in the morning. She will jump all over me about 5:45-6 to wake me up. But anyway, Joe doesn't fuss about the shot and he seems to be responding to the insulin really well. He's definitely not peeing as much and drinking as much. Plus, he's gained back a lot of weight (I'm sure the vet would say too much). So that's going well and I'm glad. After all, he is so good to Maddy.

Ok, well, it's bedtime for me soon. Matt was up with Maddy this morning so tomorrow is his morning to sleep in. Maddy was up early this morning at 5:30 but we put her back to bed after about three minutes or rocking saying that anything before six is too early. She slept until 6:40. WHEW! I think we're also expecting another storm tonight, too so who knows if she'll wake up from that!

Have a great weekend all. Tomorrow we MUST go to church! It's been forever!

It was a nice day today! Maddy slept until 7:20! I got up at 6:45 when the Sears delivery truck showed up next door with a washer and dryer for their house. I figured Joe needed to be fed anyway. I turned on the noise maker for Matt who turn it was to sleep in and came downstairs. I even had a few minutes to myself before Maddy woke up! It was really nice.

We went to church this morning. I can tell Maddy is two. When I tell her not to do something she gives me this look and does it again. She's a willful little thing! She was good though and we made it all the way through without having to leave church. In fact, I've never had to leave church with her. We had communion today. We normally miss it, in fact, it's only once a month and we have not attended that service that has it. This has been our first communion since we left our other church! Wowsers! Glad we were able to have it though.

Matt dropped off Maddy and I at home and we went to cat sit for the neighbor while Matt went to Giant to pick up salads for lunch and some misc. stuff we needed. After we ate we all took a nap. Matt got up with Maddy and let me sleep after she woke up and it was HEAVENLY. After getting some cleaning done (the house was falling down around me again), Matt took Maddy to Home depot to take back some lights and check out the new house again. Well, he lost track of time and I did too. Before I knew it was too late to make dinner so he picked up pizza on the way home. *Sigh* There goes another good eating night that could have been!

He came home, we quick ate and put Maddy into bed. Now we're going to pack up some of the laundry room before we relax for a bit before bed. Oh, while they were gone though I went through all our home warranties to make sure they transfer with the house. We've done a lot of work to this place! Now I get the joy of doing it all over again in a new place! HA! But it will make it 'ours' right?

I hope everyone has a great week!

Tea of the day: Oriental spice from Adagio and also finished up the Chamomile from Adagio, too.

It was so nice to get out last night for Mom's night out! What a great time! It always is though. :) It's fun to talk about everything unde the sun with a great group of women. I'll actually be moving a little closer to them so that should be nice, too!

I also made a crockpot meal so last night was a nice night to eat in, too. The best part is we'll have left overs and that's good since I'll be pretty busy again tonight as well.

Yesterday morning, Maddy and I went to playgroup with Annabelle, Hailey and Nate. Maddy had a nice time but we didn't stay very long. We met at a park and it got hot pretty fast. Maddy was pretty beat red and sweaty by the time we got into the car. Then we drove over to Target and picked up some more valences for the family room. It's crazy to me how many valences we actually need. My mom and dad also went out to Target and bought some, too. So now we have enough for the family room and the stairwell windows, too. We aren't going to do drapes right away but just leave it with just valences now and of course the wooden blinds we've picked out. I may wind up putting sheers over the top if we feel we need them but it's better to do it incrementally.

Today Maddy and I went to home depot and put in an order to get our house measured and then have carpet put in. However, I don't think it's going to work since I don't think they can get the carpeting ordered/delivered by the time we need it in before the move in. So we're going to keep looking around.

Tonight I get to go and see a newborn! A friend of mine should be delivering a little girl right now. I told her I'd come by tonight while daddy went home to get the other kids into bed.

Okey dokey.. more stuff to do. Have a great one!

This morning Maddy and I ran some errands. We went to pick up Matt's contacts that have been waiting to be picked up for literally months now. It's a pain since it's in a hospital complex with annoying parking. So we always meant to do it on a day he was off so he'd just drop me off and I'd run in. Oh well, Maddy liked the walk! Then we went to the post office to put in a change of address form.

I had to wake Maddy from her nap today to get ready to go to the pool to meet Hailey! I couldn't believe it! She's been sleeping so poorly over the last couple of days that I didn't think she'd sleep past 2:45. I woke her up with the good news that she was going to the pool though and she liked that idea. We jumped into our swim wear and went right out! She had such a blast. She loves the pool!

Matt was home at a decent time tonight. He has been all week! I think he's antsy to get this house process moving. Well, only three more days for that! Then we'll be SUPER busy after that! He's out now buying some chicken to marinade for kabobs we'll put on the grill tomorrow night for dinner. They were just super last time Matt made them.

Matt's parents should be here tonight. They are bringing the twin bed with them that was originally mine when I lived in Virginia Beach. They've been storing it for us ever since! Well, my mom will use it while she's visiting and then after Maddy is adjusted to the new house, she'll use it and get out of the crib/toddler bed (since it has the side rail off). They are also lending us their truck for two weeks, so that is VERY nice of them! It will definitely come in handy while going over to the new house to do chores and taking some stuff with us every time.

Well, other than house stuff, that's all that's on my mind. Have a great weekend everyone!

Tea of the day: Earl Grey and Sun Tea

So there are more decisions to be made. We officially NEED to paint the fricken huge rec room. Do not get me wrong, I don't LOVE the blue, but honestly, it wasn't in the budget right now. But after seeing the paint job (if you want to call it that) behind the cabinets, I can tell you that it has to get done. Soo... that leaves us figuring out what we are going to take out to get that room done and still be within our price range. Decisions, decisions.

We did finalize blinds and shades today. We still need to buy some more for other windows in the house but they will be as simple as going to Lowes and picking them up there.

Oh! We did buy the queen bed and piano that are in the house!!! Whoo whooo! Now we have THREE queen beds and queen pullout, a single and a crib. Holy cow, think we have enough places to sleep? Maddy will love the piano.

Well, that's all that's really new here. Time to get grilling as soon as the kiddo is home. She went to the pool with grandma and grandpa and Matt are playing grand theft auto. I am trying to figure out paint stuff.

Tea of the day: Earl Grey

Well, everything is said and done. It went off without a hitch! We are now the new owners of a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath house!!! Of course, we are very excited but now the real work begins! Getting it the way we want it! :)

Remember my talk of beds? Well, turns out that the bed we purchased was a KING!!! Of course, I don't have any bedding for a king. So now we're in the process of buying bedding for that as well! :)

I'm off to pop open a bottle of champagne! Time to celebrate!

Tea of the day: Earl Grey