Gobblity-Gook

This is just a gobblity-gook kind of post so bear with me...

Took the weekend off to go to the cabin and relax, which I did.  I finished another drawing of The Kid and will share soon.  Spent most of Saturday laying around drawing, napping, and enjoying the most beautiful weekend in a long time for me.  The weather was FANTASTIC!  Had to take the fixin's for Thanksgiving and go through the cabinets to make sure we had everything we needed and bring more.  Probably won't be there next weekend as #2 girl, A is going to be home. 

Daddy's house is moving right along.  The painting in the bedrooms, living room, closets and part of the kitchen is done.  Carpet will be laid on Thursday and the move of furniture will begin to be put back in place.  I want to take a break till after Thanksgiving and give our bodies and minds a time to rest.  Plus I want to enjoy the time with my girls this holiday and give thanks for my family. 

On a quick note and question...ponder this...you rise out of bed early, very early on Saturday morning, 4:30 to be exact, to meet your buds at the creek to get bait and fish for several hours.  You catch a few very large catfish.  You are very proud and it is the talk of the community.  Then, when you go back down later to clean them you find they have been let loose or stolen or whatever.  Hmmmm, what do you think.  We now know they've been "set free".  I was a bit ticked I can say but The Hubby was okay as long as they were released off of the rope and not still attached because they would surely die if so, in fact he was really planning on releasing them anyway and someone else made the decision of his fish for him.   

Taking a break from the paintbrush

Last night I/we took a break from the paintbrush to enjoy a night out.  The Hubby went to a dance class...blech...and I went to a "lingerie" party.  Well, it was more a gadget party.  Yes I said gadget.  Some of the attendees had their jaws hitting the floor and some embraced the concept.  I was not shocked and participated a bit in testing of some of the "lotions" (on my wrist!)  Honestly, I was a bit surprised at the amount of ladies buying some toys but, hey, live a little I say.  There was a lot of laughter and giggling and that is just what the doctor ordered for me.  I've been working so hard on Daddy's house and dealing with the ickiness of it that the nightmares are in abundance.  My sleep has been quite disturbed, but last night, I slept very soundly.  We're also taking a weekend to enjoy the cabin and the company of good friends.  I can't wait to head up there to enjoy the cool fall and a roaring fire in the pit, toast with a bit of wine, and laugh into the night.  Next weekend our youngest A will be home for Thanksgiving and I so can't wait.  It has been since Christmas since she was here.  This year I will be doing the turkey thing at our cabin with the family.  What fun it will be since I totally missed out doing it last year.  I've also jumped up to the plate to host Christmas Eve here at our house.  I'm not sure what possessed me except I have missed that tradition too.  That also means I have to deal with the many boxes that I have brought home from Daddy's.  I will have to go through a bunch of it and put away, reframe (for Daddy) or give away. 

The rose picture has come to my house to stay (as Momma wanted) but I need to find someone to clean it.  It has a film of nicotine coating on it that is hiding some of the beauty.  I told The Hubby this morning that I get a comfort from having it in our house.  It is leaning against the living room wall right now and it gives me a sense of home and contentment.  I don't even remember where Momma got it as it has always been in the living room, a part of my life. 

Sock Monkey

Today I started cleaning out closets.  Just let me say ..... YUCK.....YUCK.....YUCK....

I so hate smelly, musty, cob webby closets and that is what I have been doing all day today.  One of the finds was my brothers sock monkey...

along with a very old walker and a lots of Golden Books, wooden puzzles from the grandchildren, all grown up and a lot of 78 and 45 vinyl records.

Some stuff went to Goodwill and some...

Inside the closets that have not been touched in YEARS was a lot of THIS...I can't stand it...digging through it all today I somehow managed to get some on my black shirt without my knowledge.  So when I went to the little girls room and adjusted my shirt a sticky, cob webby piece flew up to my face, hitting my eye.  YIKES!!!!  I almost hurled right in the sink.  It was awful.  I am so getting out of my comfort zone here today but it is getting done.

We've painted the walls and have started the trim and next week carpet will be laid. 

When that is all done the POD will be unloaded and then we will start on the back porch and kitchen.  Still a lot of work to do.

Aching feet and hands!

The renovation is in full swing now.  I spent two days at Daddy's packing up his living room and bedrooms, cough, cough, cough.  My poor hands and feet are paying the price I can tell you. I've lost nails and today they are covered in Kiltz paint. My feet are absolutely killing me from standing and up and down off of a step ladder.

Daddy's  (and Momma's) treasures...

Yes, Momma's treasures....

If you don't like to look at "bodies"...please

Please

Please

Please

Please

Close your eyes and scroll past the next picture.  In the wardrobe of Mother's (above) I found this...

It's a Burt Reynolds jigsaw puzzle that she had and we totally forgot about...I warned you to close your eyes.

Now it is all packed up and put in this...

Then we were left with this....

and this...

this...

this...

and this...

Now we do this...

Brain before Body

It is 4:30 am and yes I am up.  The dog, Clayton started whining about 4 so I awoke and decided to at least use the bathroom.  I thought I would take him out and that would calm him down but when I returned to the bed he had crawled under the blankets and was already snoring.  I wedged myself beside him and hoped to go back to sleep for a bit.  Unfortunately the brain was way ahead the body and AWAKE.  It just wouldn't shut down.  I started thinking about the work I did on Daddy's house yesterday and then Thanksgiving and all the preparation.  Well, I was awake and so here I am blogging at 4:30 am.

Yes, I have spent the past two days cleaning out Daddy's house.  YUCK.  I will have pictures later.  It is dusty and, well, dusty.  I guess disturbing the furniture and stuff has also really dislodged the odor of pet urine.  BLECH!  I've found a few treasures amid the mix of Legos and dried up fingernail polish bottles, more cool old pictures.  The scrapbook of when Daddy was a boy scout leader with the boys and camping pictures and the ceremonies when some of the boys rose to Eagle rank.  Daddy was proud of the group and had great fun with Bro and his buddies.  Me, well, I like Boy Scouts :)  I found Mother's old permanent rods and the papers you use, trash!  There were VHS tape movies, cassette music, CD music and DVD movies, and the various players to go with each, although I'm not sure the VHS and cassette players work.  Then The Hubby popped in to be there when the POD was delivered.  It showed up but was the wrong size so off the driver went to get the larger size.  Meanwhile, The Hubby loaded the pile of "Goodwill" stuff in his truck and off he went, Sweet!  One pile gone and out of sight.  Today I think we will get the POD loaded with the furniture and start pulling up the carpet.  The Hubby asked if we wanted to paint the closets.  Oops...I hadn't even opened them up, another YUCK.  I think I'll leave that to Bro and Sis.  Really, there is not much in them, just box it up and then we can unbox it when done and the closet will be fresh and new!  So much more to do.

Big Catch

I forgot to put up a picture of the fish The Hubby (on the right) and his friend caught on Sunday morning...

What A Surprise

We traveled to the cabin Saturday to a most awesome weekend of weather.  Saturday night, Halloween, several cabinites went to a nearby ranch for a hot dog and hamburger dinner. 

We spent the evening petting horses, eating, chatting and singing around the campfire to the musical stylings of a guitar picker. 

It was a fabulous evening.  Unfortunately little Clayton was too excited to have us home later on and could not sleep well.  The Hubby took him for a walk before bed and a couple of hours into sleep as did I about two hours later.  Needless to say I'm tired.  It's like having a 2 year old.  His ride home was good until just before we hit town when he lost his breakfast.  Poor little guy.  Somethings got to change for him.  Tomorrow is a call to the vet.  We had to stop at Daddy's to drop off a few boxes to begin the packing process and took him out to run in the backyard a bit while The Hubby cleaned out his cage.  He sat him inside the front door and Clayton immediately took off towards Daddy's chair and side table.  I was quicker and saw the stance he was getting ready to take to hike his leg.  Whew.  The previous owner said that he would mark in a house that was previously marked and he almost did.  My Daddy's house has had 40+ years of marking animals so I had no doubt of his reaction.  Quick scoop up and out the back door he went to do his business.

First I have to say that on Saturday my friend Harri picked me up to take me to the cabin as The Hubby had a bunch of office work to do so I left the house before him.  Now on to the story.  When we arrived home I walked in from the garage and there sitting on the island, sparkling and bright were a dozen red roses.  He has not done that in a very, very long time and I was tickled.  He is a very sweet considerate man and I love The Hubby!  ....all together now...Awwwwww.....

 

Happy Halloween

Yes I know I posted that I did not like this day but at least I can say "Happy Halloween" to those who do.  Happy Candy Day! 

This week has been pretty busy with work and various functions in the evening like a nice evening out with some girlfriends to celebrate a birthday.  Last night was a 25th Anniversary celebration with another group of friends.  It was fun and was filled with wine, good food, and lots of smiles and laughter with friends.  We missed a weekend night at the cabin but will be there shortly.  The Hubby is going to stay most of the day in town to do a bit of office work which only means that Monday at the office I will be busy, wait, I may have to go in on Sunday (tomorrow) to make sure it is in the mail...Nooooo!  You do what you have to do when you are self-employed.  I've also been a drawing fool the past few days, completing several sketches for future paintings.  Now I need to slap some paint on canvas.  The problem is that I'm finding time fleeting and my confidence too.  I'm proud of one sketch, my Daddy sitting in the lawn chair fishing (previous couple of posts back).  It is going to be a cool painting I think.

Speaking of Daddy, he has indeed reached his destination and hopefully will stay planted at least for a couple of months of the six he has promised.  This week I will begin the process of packing and tossing stuff in his home.  We had his mail forwarded to our house and that has started.  His first bill arrived that I need to pay.  The Hubby kind of ticked me off a bit the other night when we were discussing the process that is going to happen at the house.  He started talking about getting stuff packed and that he wants to get some of our guys over there to move the furniture out but that I needed to sweep first because it was so nasty and didn't want the guys to see it like that.  WHAT!  Well, I know it is nasty but you know what, it was MY home and I know it is but I'm not embarrassed by it.  I grew up in that house and if he wants to find it icky WELL!!!  Excuse me I don't know what got into me but I was angry I can tell you.  My parents are the 2nd owners of that house and have owned it themselves for about 46 or 47 years (my grandparents owned it before that.)  They were smokers and my mother was not a very good housekeeper.  She was completely the opposite of her mother who was a bit OCD with her house.  It was kind of weird but it is what it was and nothing can change that.  That relationship and really my mother's relationship with the house is done.  We are now going to fix the house up a bit for Daddy, to make him happy and comfortable and to kind of give him a new start.  I think that is what he is looking for, a cleansing.  He loved mother but he is ready to push ahead with life and I'm glad for him.  He talked the other day about when he comes back to town and taking some lady out on a date that he used to go to high school with.  Yeah, wrap your head around that.  51 years of marriage and it is a difficult concept but it happens everyday and I'm glad he's moving forward.  It is time.  I think the process of cleaning the house out and setting it up again with be good for all three of us "kids". 

My Granddaddy, (Momma's daddy) in front the house before siding and when they owned it.  Notice the date August 1955, a little less than year before I was born.

After the siding a few years ago.  Now the huge pine is gone along with the nandinas that Momma loved. 

He's there and a book signing.

Well, Daddy has arrived at his destination for the next 6 months and I am relieved.  I was terribly worried about him driving such a long way by himself but it is fine.  Now we can proceed to packing the house up and make it sort like new again.  I have a feeling my painting days may be at more of a minimum for a few months as free time, what little I have, will be spent at Daddy's.  There is a lot to do. 

Green/red tomatoes from Daddy's garden.  The egg basket was my great-grandmothers.  May paint this.

Last night I went to the book signing of The Pioneer Woman Cooks new cookbook.  My copies arrived from Amazon so I was ready.  I decided I would arrive at 6:30 (time to start at 7) to beat the crowd.  Uh, well, I was very wrong.  The parking lot was jam packed already and I ended up having to park nearly to Woodward park and walk.  I hefted my books in my arms, rueing the idea of wearing my boots and took off walking to the Historical Society building.  I walked in and the place was PACKED!  WOW!  I was told that books to buy were in one room but since I had my own I could go to another room for the t-shirts.  I didn't really want to buy a t-shirt but I had nothing else to do and there were no seats to fight over so there I went.  Well, the t-shirts were free.  That was a plus.  Unfortunately the XL size was fit for a lady 10 sizes smaller than me.  I will look like a lumpy turd in the brown thing, but it is cute.  There was a sea of people in the building but I managed to spy a few I knew.  Ree Drummond finally made her appearance, chatted a bit, introduced her cute family, Marlboro Man! and brother Mike were among.  The audience got to ask a few questions while Mike joined her at the front to observe and give her a little courage to talk to the masses.  Finally, the book signing began.  They offered free beverages and cupcakes of which I only had a bottle of water.  Cupcakes are a no-no for me, besides I had a cookie at art class.  I stood and waited and waited and waited.  I milled around a bit and then made my way back to my corner to wait some more.  I finally spied a chair and decided to sit for a bit and wait some more.  They ran out of books so some left and when the crowd made their way to the front for the face time, pictures and signing they would leave opening up the room a bit.  I waited and waited.  Some men were in attendance,  but the place was mostly packed with the female persuasion.  The most popular thing was to have your picture taken with Ree's handsome hubby Marlboro Man.  Some young ladies in front of me snagged a young man, Matt who is Ree's best friend Hyacinth's son, who is in the book to have him sign and pose with.  They were just giddy over the cute little thing.  The clock was ticking away and I was constantly checking my watch.  The "show" was to be over at 9 but it rolled around to 8:45 and seemed that the crowd was not diminishing at all.  To make it worse was that if it kept proceeding like it was I would be the very last in line to have my books signed.  That's it.  I gave up the wait.  5 am is just way too early and I was too sleepy to be sitting and waiting for this.  I've met the lady before and decided I didn't want it that bad.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll catch her at our in-common hair dresser someday, again. 

Boo

Have I told you how much I dislike Halloween.  I have never been a fan of Halloween, even as a kid.  Oh I must admit that it was fun when I was very young and the neighbors would make homemade things like popcorn balls and candied apples to give away, when it was innocent, the days of innocence.  As I got older and realized that you had to go out in public and actually wear a costume, well that was not fun for a person that wanted to blend in with the scenery.  I was not a fan of standing out in a crowd.  It has taken me a lifetime to overcome that fear.  As I got older the fear of embarassment was just too overwhelming and I avoided at all costs any kind of get-ups.  I even hated trying to come up with the ideas for costumes.  Just hated it.  The only thing I ever really did was dress up like a gypsy because Momma had a cool dress with glitter and rick-rack on it to make me look pretty.  I was always that gypsy.  When the girls were old enough to dress up I just refused to go out and buy a costume.  It was such a waste of money and besides it brought up the fear again.  Then the problem of having the damned candy in the house.  I LOVED the candy but it was a killer for whatever diet I was trying to attempt before the holidays and my downfall until the end of the year.  It was a vicious cycle that I have broken.  When the kiddos are little you just have to let them have some of the candy but I would secretly throw it away a little at a time (or eat it.)  Then it got to the point that whatever candy I would buy to give out would be the kind I didn't like.  Now, and for the past several years we go to the cabin on Halloween (if on the weekend) or I just don't turn my lights on.  I avoid the grocery store and the candy aisles if I can and just try to get past the day.  I don't have any kind of religious affliction against the holiday, it is just a horrible fear from childhood.