July Links

Main Event
The Show
The pig roast
Unpacking
Sunday Brunch
Food and Fun in MI cont.
Food and Fun in MI
Travel Day
WFMW - Giant Post-it
Kitchen pics
Closer and Closer
Pieces of Flair
Rain
Fortunes
Air Conditioning
WFMW - Kitty Litter
Flip that Bathroom
Pig Roast
Secret Scrolls
Etsy
Going to Target
On the Run
Apostrophe Abuse
WFMW - File Folder Labels
Fun stuff I found
Reunion Auction
Newspaper ads
We made it
Flip Pics
oh drat, it's in the car
You're Painting?
WFMW - 5 Ingredient Recipes
Paint and Flooring
Clothing donation

Main Event

OK, so I've been stringing you along with this party. I was only there a few hours and I've made it a week long gig online!



When Stan turned 40 - that's the man loading the potato into the potato shooter - his brother Lindy and his brother-in-law Hooch put on a skit - called Shit and Git. I don't normally swear, but that was there name and I can't change it. I was there. It was so funny.


Well, the original Shit and Git passed the torch to Hooch's boys, the next generation.




This is the story of the next generation.

Mike is the MC and crowd controller. Good Job, Mikey.

Shit and Git arrive via scooter. It is loud, out of control and smelly. It was a perfect vehicle for their arrival.

Spraying of beer. I should mention that closest to the "stage" were the kids. The kids were probably the only ones that got beer sprayed on them - of course. Zora didn't like it one bit.

This is when Mike was the crowd controller - using his applause sign. I honestly can't remember what these boys were saying, but I do know that they have cassette tapes available for purchase for $1.78 & they were happy to be in Lansing.

The showing of the muscles. LOL

They actually played those instruments - they belted out Happy Birthday as a matter of fact... well, at least that's what they told us they were going to do. We were laughing quite hard at this point.

The grand finale - A Happy Birthday mooning.


I hope you enjoyed the Pig Roast and festivities. I know I did. Shit and Git, the next generation, were real good and I'm glad I traveled all the way from Florida to be a part of the birthday events.

Happy Birthday Carrie!!

Have a great day!
Kristin

The Show

At the 40th celebration we were treated with an opening act and the main event.

The opening act was pretty good!

Have you ever seen one of those t-shirt shooters? Usually the T-shirt shooters are used at baseball or football games and they shoot the t-shirts into the stands.

Well this little baby is a potato shooter.

A potato is pushed into the tube.

Then a rod is used to push the potato down to the bottom of the shooter.


The "gas" in the contraption is Aqua Net hairspray!


Mike's son, Brady, was the operator for this round.


The main event...




Come back tomorrow night for more!

The pig roast

I went to Michigan to attend a 40th birthday party. This little Brownie right here... She just turned 40.

Here she is at the party. She's giving me that look.



The very first 40th birthday party in Carrie's family was celebrated by writing on a sheet and hanging the sign on the house. 20+ years later, the sheet sign is still in use! I was so glad to see the sign. I lived across the street when I saw the first one.

Carrie was given a pair of "40" glasses & Zora was gracious enough to model them for me.


Mikey (as I lovingly call him) is Carrie's brother and he was in charge of filling up the beer glasses. He did a real good job. So good, that he was empty when I caught up to him. He was also the MC for the show later in the evening... That will be tomorrow's post.


The pig was a big hit, my mother even ate some of its barbecued goodness.

Unpacking

I think that one of the hardest parts about coming back from vacation is unpacking the suitcases and doing the laundry.

I have always had problems unpacking my suitcases.

They tend to just sit in a corner of the bedroom or (gasp) in the living room for days and sometimes even weeks.

Usually the suitcases get emptied fairly quickly, but not put away.

The laundry usually gets done in a day or two.

I find that the stuff in the suitcases are just difficult to put away - I mean, you've got bathroom items, bedroom items, closet items, books, souvenirs, notes, snacks, etc. You can't just take the suitcase to the laundry room and drop all contents onto the floor and wash.

It takes thought.

It takes effort.

It also only takes about 10 minutes if you just do it.

Which is what I did today when I got home from work.

I gathered up a laundry basket and the suitcase and both of our carry-ons. I put all of the dirty clothes into the laundry basket and then put everything else away...even the cases, themselves. I put the books away, put the toiletries in the bathrooms (mine and his) and thankfully, we didn't have any souvenirs, just one card and a few business cards.

I did three loads of laundry tonight (and put it all away, too!) so there is hardly any sign that we left town for a few days.

I also won't run into a wayward suitcase in the middle of the night because they are high up on the shelf in the closet. Out of sight. Put away until the next trip. It feels really good.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Sunday Brunch

We had brunch today at Clara's in Lansing, MI. My dad couldn't make it to the party last night, so we all got together at noon. It was a really nice brunch buffet, but the best part was playing with the kids in the restaurant. Zora was real good today & Stella was just a bundle of love. She smiled and coo'd and drooled and giggled.

Here are a few photos that Alison (the mother of Zora of Stella) took at Brunch this morning.


Kristin, Stella and Judith (aka, Auntie, baby, Nanna)



Kristin, Stella, Zora and Judith




Stella & Kristin

We are back home now in Jacksonville after a wonderful 4 days in Lansing, MI. Thanks Mom for the hospitality and the guest room. Thanks Hillary for the wonderful stories of your trip to Europe. Alison, Thanks so much for letting me spend time your kids and for allowing me to kiss them a million times. Also thanks so much for sending those photos from brunch - they made a perfect blog post. Dad, thanks for being available to us today. It is always great to spend time with you.

Have a great week!!
Kristin

Food and Fun in MI cont.

We had a blast!

It was Carrie Siefker's 40th birthday party.

I will have a photo essay in a day or two.

I made gluten free brownies (they were really quite good) and my mother made Smoked Salmon dip. My cousin, Jody, made rice salad - so I'm really really glad that I didn't make it - but I was really really glad that it was there!


We had such a nice time - such a nice time. I'm so glad that Tom and I came up for this event.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Food and Fun in MI

It's Saturday morning here in the land of green and white. (Michigan State Spartan country)
So far we have just been sitting around visiting, kissing the baby, Stella, and running after Zora. Oh, we've also watched the movie "Death at a Funeral," it's an English movie about the funny antics that happen at a funeral. It is quite funny, even though some of the humor is definitely boy humor. Well, it was a fun movie - rated R. I watched it in the afternoon with Alison and Tom wanted to see it at night, so I sort of watched it again - dozing in and out of sleep.

We went to dinner with Tom's parents last night - I had the BEST dinner. It was grilled Vanilla Halibut with sweet potato pancakes, fried leeks and asparagus. I ate every bite, except for the tasting bites of fish that I gave to Tom and his dad. I was nice, I shared. I can't remember how the vanilla was infused into the fish, but it was and it was excellent.

This afternoon we are all going to a party. It is a surprise party, so I'm not going to say right now, just in case. We are trying to come up with a dish to bring. I always want to bring Rice Salad, my stand-by favorite, but for some reason I just don't want to make it. I'm just out of ideas as to what to make. So that's my project for the next few hours - go to the store and bring home items to make a delicious dish to pass.

Hope you have a great weekend! When I get back to FL, I will be able to post vacation photos.

Kristin

Travel Day

Hello Michigan!

This has got to be one of my favorite places.

When we flew in, it was such a joy to see all the green fields and grass and trees.

I love knowing that my family is down there somewhere and I will be seeing them soon.

Yesterday was no exception. My mother picked us up from the airport, we went to eat, and later both of my sisters and my two nieces joined us in the backyard at my moms house. We laughed and laughed and told stories and laughed some more.

I love coming home.

Have a great day!
Kristin

WFMW - Giant Post-it

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting Works For Me Wednesdays as usual. So far a few hundred tips have been posted. After you read what works for me, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more tips!

A few days ago I realized we were finally to a point in our house flip, that we needed to have a list of everything that was left to accomplish. We had a bunch of little things that needed to get caulked or painted and we had a long long list of things that needed to be cleaned, ready for the new owners.

I gathered up my Sharpies, Post-It Pad, husband, our carpenter and the electrician and we proceeded to write out the list.

The Post-It pad is on a cardboard easel (if you choose to use it that way) that measures, 20" x 23" and has a sticky strip at the top of the paper, so it can stick just a like a Post-It...it's just giant.

I use these giant Post-Its when I am cleaning my rental condos. I write out my tasks and put the sheet up on the side of the fridge and mark off the tasks as I go along.

These are just great for large projects when the TO-DO list is large.

My tip - go to your local office supply store and pick up an easel pad (I prefer the Post-It one) and use this for large projects, maybe a packing list for that big vacation, or use the large pad for getting your Thanksgiving dinner together without missing a single ingredient.

The Giant Post-It ad works for me. I hope it works for you!

Have a great day!
Kristin

Kitchen pics

Here is the kitchen with the cabinet pulls. It's an IKEA kitchen with IKEA pulls (and countertop.) We decided to mount all of the handles exactly the same. Flat across the bottom of the cabinet door for the upper cabinets and at the very top for the lower cabinets. It's quite nice, visually, I think. Everything is on the same plane. Once the family moves in and the kitchen starts to look lived in, it won't be as dramatic, but for now, it looks real cool.

A few hours after I took the above photo the electricians arrived and installed the under cabinet lights. Pretty cool!



I've got a one track mind these days - finish the house, document the house, paint the trim, caulk the nail holes, get the house finished! Finish finish finish!

Stick with me, this flip won't last much longer. The people buying the house want to move in on the 1st of August.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Closer and Closer

The changes that have taken place are so dramatic and yet so small. We have been painting everything white. Well, it feels like everything. All the trim, baseboards, crown molding & doors.

Our idea was to take all the doors outside and spray them. We just needed a day without rain. Maybe two.

Rain.

Rain.

More rain.




Plan B. Take the doors off their hinges and paint indoors!

This has been the scene for the past two and a half days.

We have one more door day to go.

I still need a no rain day, as I have three exterior doors that need to be painted.


I thought I'd show you the kitchen again. It is a bit cleaner. We put on the handles yesterday, but I forgot to take a picture of it.




This is such a cool range hood. It tested all of Robert's tile cutting and installing skills. He did a pretty good job.

I love this sink. I also an really pleased with the faucet.




This is the bathroom without all of the blue tape. The electrician moved the light, so now I have a spot to patch (and paint) so I thought this room was done, but it isn't quite yet - but it's close!


Tom and Robert installed cabinets in the laundry room. I think they look great.

So that's the quickie tour of the Jupiter flip. The missionaries are coming again tomorrow. I keep pinching myself that they want to come help. We should have all the windows washed and floors sparkling by the end of the day tomorrow.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Pieces of Flair

I just love the Pieces of Flair application on Facebook.

Now I wonder where they got that idea??

I'm not sure if I have 27 pieces of flair, but this is what I do have so far.

Have a great day!

Kristin