Flip Pics

This is the tile flooring that was discovered underneath the layers of flooring in the bathroom. We were going to leave it and just put the subfloor over the top, but a structural problem was discovered under this, so this tile had to be torn out.



This is the cleaned up area - the master bedtroom all the way to the storage closet. Now however, it is a disater again. The chimney is gone, the floor is gone and all of the walls are gone.


This is a picture of the bottom of the kitchen flooring - all of the hundreds of nails. When taking out the subfloor our carpenters found that some of the flooring had been bolted to the floor - actual bolts with washers and nuts underneath. Our best guess was that they were trying to get the warped floor under control. This floor was the devil for my demo guys. Millions of nails, boards bolted together, three subfloors - ugh. It is gone now.


This is one of the electrical switches. Old wiring, old switches, old everything. The house had "grounded" outlets, but they weren't actually grounded. This place was just waiting to burn up. No need to worry anymore - we are rewiring the entire place. All new everything.

Jupiter Day Three

Tom and I met with Dan and Kenny (The contractors) today to finalize the plans for the bathrooms. I say finalize, but we never actually had anything written - just that we wanted there lol With all of the walls & ceilings down it was so much easier to measure and map out the spaces today. The floors have outlines of toilets and tubs and vanities and showers. It is fun. The master bedroom gained about 18 square feet. The master closet went from a 4 square foot space to a small walk in closet. The master bathroom will have a large shower, toilet and vanity. The main bathroom will have the tub/shower vanity and toilet. The chimney in this house will be torn down because we have it all exposed right now and that space will become the new linen closet. The linen closet that is in the house now will be a part of the second bedroom closet and will double that space.

Dan and Kenny have inspected the walls in the kitchen and we have all determined that we need to demo the kitchen walls...so we'll call the demo guys back this week and get that all torn out.

If nothing else this house has officially lost weight! We have taken off the plaster walls and layers and layers of flooring. The chimney is thousands of pounds, too. We are replacing concrete and brick steps with decking and we are taking off the horrible front awning and replacing it with a pergola. The lighter and brighter tone of the house is going to make it lovely! I can hardly wait to have it finished and I'm only on day three.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Springfield Days 1 & 2

The Springfield house is getting renovated fast and furious. On day one (Sunday the 13th) we got the carpet and padding out, the toilet, sink and vanity removed, the floor in the kitchen and the entire floor in the bathroom (all the way down to the ground, literally) and the refrigerator moved from the kitchen to the lawn.

Today, day two, Robert and a new guy, they call Pops worked on repairing the floor in the bathroom, removed all the kitchen cabinets and the stove. Tom is planning on listing the cabinets and the stove on Craigs List or on FreeCycle. They are good enough to use again, that's for sure.

I took pictures last night before a lot of the kitchen demo - but I did get a picture of the beginning of the Hole in the Floor in the bathroom before I left for home. I want to go over tomorrow and see what's happening. Robert and Pops are supposed to be there at 8am.

I suggested that instead of demolishing the chimney (which is no longer needed) and demolishing the pantry, that we keep it and take down the wall between the dining room and kitchen and just expand the kitchen that way. I think that just taking out the wall would be much less mess and time consuming and would give a much more open concept. Taking out the chimney would give us an additional 4 square feet. I think we can leave those feet for someone else to demo if they'd like.

Tom really liked my plan for the kitchen and thinks that is the way to go... so that's the plan! I'm excited. I didn't even have to explain why my idea was better! LOL

I'll post this and then get the pictures in on the other computer.

Juptier Day Three

Day Three arrived with rain for about half of the day. This was actually a real good thing because the boys needed to take off some of the siding and it really minimized the dust. The siding was from 1947 so it was more than likely asbestos. We got the boys respirators and followed all of the codes. The small area that we needed to come off was very easy to work with and came off without any troubles, thankfully.

We ended up having a full day of clean-up left on the house. We had a crew of five until 1:30pm when two of them had other plans. Then the three remaining, plus Tom and I went into overdrive to get that place cleaned up. The debris in the closet, bathroom area seemed to multiply throughout the day. It was almost finished when bam - something new was discovered and needed to be demo'd. We found some cool old tile - the octogon shaped small tiles in blue with white flowers. That was an unexpected find. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

The chimney is cool, too. It isn't needed anymore since there is no longer a furnace needing to use it - so to add space to the bathroom, masterbed room project, we are demolishing the chimney. I am not sure who is doing that or when it is going to happen, but I'm excited about it. The top of the chimney is red brick, the middle is white brick and the bottom is cinder block. It looks like the white bricks have almost completely pulled away from the mortar and is just locked in like a puzzle piece. I hope the white bricks are individual because I'd like to save them for a gardening project for that house. We'll just have to see I guess. If nothing else I'll save what I can and make a stepping stone out of them lol

I pulled staples out of the ceiling today. I started this project on Friday, but didn't really get much accomplished until today. Each 12" square acoustic tile was set in place with three staples. Thankfully the staples used just barely stuck into the wooden strips mounted on the ceiling, so they were fairly easy to get out with a pair of pliers. However, my middle finger on my right hand is starting to get a blister. I can see it. I went around and showed the soon to be blistered finger to all of the worker bees this afternoon. They all told me I should probably call it quits for the day. I'm so glad that they understood the joking nature of the "soon to be blistered finger" because those boys worked so hard today. I wouldn't want them to think that I was that much of a whiner LOL

Speaking of whining. I'm so tired! I'm so sore! My feet hurt! my legs, my arms, my fingers, my scalp, everything. It feels good in a way but not that good! The next few weeks I will more of an observer to the house being recreated, so it is nice that I got to help right away in the beginning. I love seeing all of the layers in the floors (even though they are so hard to remove!) and when you think you have hit the last layer, another is revealed - like the unexpected tile in the bathroom. Part of the floor had been removed at one time and that tile had been replaced, but some was left behind for us to find. And we are leaving it behind for someone else to find. I love the tiny closets with the wooden shelves and the notches cut out for the rods. I love the hardwood floors being revealed. This really is a great project.

See you tomorrow for Day four! (And an update on the Springfield house)

Kristin

Pics day two

This is one of the bedrooms & below is the same bedroom with the carpet removed. I am truly surprised at how nice the hardwood floors look. The other bedroom is nearly identicle.





This is a view from the Master bedroom, through the demolished closet, bathroom and all the way into the storage area, which will also become a bathroom.


This is that Kitchen floor. I don't think this picture even comes close to showing how many layers and how many nails were in that floor. Dean is working on it, in this photo.

The green side is the laundry room. We've taken the wall out between the kitchen and the laundry room and will push it back about two - three feet to give us room for a dining room table in the kitchen. The laundry room should still be fairly large. The door to the exterior will no longer be in the laundry room, we are putting in French Doors in the kitchen, which will lead to a deck.

Jupiter Day Two

It didn't start off well today - Everyone agreed at 8am, so I arrived at 8am and not a soul showed up until 9. I would have loved an extra hour of sleep this morning instead of sitting at a house with no workers.

The day picked up though - Bill (carpenter) arrived with Robert (who is our carpenter and who is going to live in the Springfield flip) & he brought along Dean. Those three got to work right away (the steam coming from my ears might have helped) and then about an hour later Tom arrived with Glen and Jerry. They all worked real hard today. We got a lot done & the 30 yard dumpster is nearly full.

I found out something interesting from the neighbor - there are two large holes, one on either side of the driveway, she said that area used to have palm trees. I wondered what had been there. Since this house was a foreclosure, the guy dug up the palms and sold them. He also sold the furnace/Air Conditioner unit and all of the appliances, but I hear that's typical. I didn't realize that plantings were normally dug up and sold though.

Here is what was completed today...or finished since yesterday.

-the wall between the master bedroom and bath - gone (there was a closet inbetween, too)

- the entire bathroom gutted

- Furnace room next to bathroom torn down. We are going to put the new air handler in the attic space.

- former coat closet/storage area , nearly gutted. It houses the electrical panel, so that wall was left intact, but the rest is gone.

-The kitchen cabinets - all gone.

- The kitchen floor. Oh goodness, this was horrid. The floor was nailed down, more nailed down than I had ever seen in my life. It took about 6 hours for these guys to get the floor up. It has a subfloor, then a particle board floor, then two layers of lino, then cement board, then tile. The cement board was nailed with 2" nails, 4-6 nails per square foot. This is just one of the things you find when redoing a home... people do the strangest things! The cement board could have just been glued and that would have made this job a 1-2 hour job.

- the exterior of the garage was rotting, so that wood has been removed.

- The insulation was just loose stuff. Most of it is now gone, everywhere where we took out walls or ceilings.

- The laundry room floor is being removed. That isn't done yet.

- The wall between the laundry room and kitchen has been removed. (We are making the kitchen a few feet larger, since the laundry room was so large.)

-We had one guy bagging trash all day. Most of it was plaster and insulation from the masterbedroom, bath, storage area.

-the carpets in the other two bedrooms were removed & revealed that the hardwood floors are still excellent.

All of our carpenters and workers are coming back tomorrow. The kitchen floor really held us up and we need to get another days worth of demo done before Monday morning when the Contractor, Dan, comes ready to work.

That was today. I will post pictures shortly.

I may post those photos after I have a bath. :)

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Zora Mail

Here is Zora with her Grandpa - my Dad. I'm so bummed the picture is a bit fuzzy, it is one of the only pictures of Zora that I have where she isn't moving!


Alison's birthday was the other day and Zora's birthday is coming up. I guess she was thinking about one or the other when she drew this cake and ice cream theme. Look at the cherry on top of the ice cream!


I'm not sure if this is a kitty because there is a leash involved. I haven't seen my name written by Zora before, so this is great. To Kristin From Zora

Pictures of Day One

The drop ceiling


The strips that we are going to keep, since the ceiling is so bad - we'll just put the new drywall over this... taking out all of the staples is going to be time consuming though.



Here is the living room debris field. 99% is now in the dumpster. I did that part!



The Kitchen area


This is where the stove used to be. You can see the vent opening still

Jupiter Court Day 1

I just woke up from my nap on the couch. It's 9pm. Before that I had dinner and Tom and I were watching Shepard Smith. I like Shep. He's a hoot. I don't normally fall asleep in the middle of his show, but I did - I made it to nearly 7:45pm. I think I'm going to write this, take a shower and go to bed. We are going to start early again tomorrow.

So I started with the end, but the beginning went pretty well today, too. Tom left our house early this morning and arrived on Jupiter Ct around 8am. The two guys Tom has hired to help were there and the three of them tore apart things that needed to be torn apart. The bathroom and the walls between the bathroom and the masterbedroom, the kitchen cabinets, the wall between the kitchen and the laundry room (for some reason they have only destructed one side of that wall) and the ceiling in the livingroom. The dumpster didn't arrive until 4pm, so all of this destruction was piled in the house. I do have to say that these boys did a real nice job of making piles of rubble and stacking stuff so that there was a lot of room to walk.

When the dumpster did arrive it was placed right next to the house and just about 6" from a window - which turned out to be ideal. I took it upon myslef to start tossing the debris into the dumpster and having that window opening was perfect. I spent about two hours tossing trash. Every muscle gets used tossing trash, even if all you have to do is pick it up and maneuver it out the window and toss. The cabinets in the kitchen weren't regular cabinets, they were actually made right in place. Getting them out required a ton of effort. In fact the base cabinets are still not all the way out after day one. Anyway, the sheer number of nails in the cabinets is mind boggling. Maybe I should have taken a picture of some of the pieces. Clearly someone enjoyed using a hammer. I am covered in scrapes and scratches from all of those nails and assorted other jagged pieces of wood and debris. Most of them I didn't feel at all, but tonight when I washed up with some hydrogen peroxide, I felt them.

I spent most of the day sitting at home waiting on the FedEx guy to arrive with Tom's medication. Since we have to sign for the package and they don't deliver on Weekends, it was very important that someone be here to answer the door. So, I watched HGTV for a few hours while I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed. Later I watched "The Jazz Singer" that I had recorded on the DVR sometime last week. (It was only given one star --- I would have given it at least two!) Finally at 2:45pm he finally arrives and I'm out the door over to our new home.

Tomorrow I am to start the crew off at 8am. I went over to our garage unit this evening and got some shovels and brooms, two garden hoses and some buckets. We can at least clean off a bit tomorrow with the hoses and the shovels are going to be key in getting all the tile out of the kitchen after it has been broken.

I think that is pretty much the highlights of Day One of the Jupiter Court flip. Come back tomorrow night for Day two!

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Just funny

I don't know if these are real or not, but I got such a laugh that I had to help spread them around the internet. Enjoy!!!
Kristin


Doctors' Comments On Patient Charts:

* "Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year."

* "On the 2nd day the knee was better and on the 3rd day it disappeared completely."

* "The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1993."

* "Discharge status: Alive but without permission."

* "Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful."

* "The patient refused an autopsy."

* "The patient has no past history of suicides."

* "Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital."

* "Patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days."

* "Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch."

* "She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night."

* "She is numb from her toes down."

* "The skin was moist and dry."

* "Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches."

* "Patient was alert and unresponsive."

* "She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce."

* "I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy."

* "The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stockbroker instead."

* "Patient has two teenage children but no other abnormalities."

* "Skin: Somewhat pale but present."

* "Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen, and I agree."

* "By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart stopped, and he was feeling better."

* "The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed."

* "When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room."

* "Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing."

Us Girls

Kristin, Hillary and Alison.

I'm in black, Hillary is in the middle and Alison is standing up in back wearing the black and white. Hillary gets that far off look every so often. Not sure what she's thinking about.

I'm the oldest, Hillary is the youngest and Alison is right here (can you see the hand motion) she's in the middle. We were born more than 5 years apart, so according to some "experts" we are all considered first born. I think that's why we are so independent, so different and yet we are all so much alike. I've got the BEST family!

We took this picture on the stage at the Williamston Theatre the very first week of March 2008. We saw a preview of the play "Hate Mail" - it was very very good.

Funny, but I really like this photo of me. My sisters are going to get me for posting this, I can just see it coming. You know what, I don't think I've ever noticed this before, but Alison and Hillary have the same smile and the same type of mouth -- I've got a much smaller mouth (just like my Dad and Grandma Corlett.) Hmmmm, very interesting. I knew I had that same look, like grandma, but I don't think I'd ever analyzed that I was the only kid in the family to have it.

Well, here are the three girls. Alison is having a baby in just a few days. I can't help but think how exciting it is going to be for her daughter to have a sibling. It may not mean much to Zora the first year or so, but as she gets older, she will hopefully have an incredible relationship with her sibling as I have with mine.

Sending lots of love from Florida to Michigan!! Wish I could be there on the new baby's birthday.

Love, Kristin

Cool, very cool

"Unassembled snow men are going to fall from the sky again."


Raven (Pati)


A friend of mine from an online group posted this statement about the weather they were expecting later in the day. I thought that it was so clever! I don't want to forget it. I can almost see the card with this printed on the front... Love It!

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Nervous Nellie

Tomorrow morning I get to go to the bank and authorize two cashiers checks to be cut from my account. Two checks = two houses. Even my toes are cringing.

I'm actually really excited about the flip project. I've been dreaming about paint colors, walls being removed, bathrooms renovated, floor covering, contractors showing up, sub contractors showing up, then I sit straight up in bed and wonder why I'm doing this!

Tomorrow is the day we send in the money. Friday is the day we own two run down houses.

Oh my. I've started another journey.

I can say this - It is going to be better than owning a scooter rental business. Much better.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

WFMW - The Dishes

Welcome to another edition of Works For Me Wednesday! Each week hundreds of people from around the world gather at Rocks in My Dryer for WFMW and share their tips. Please take a look when you have finished here. Thanks & I'll see you again next week.

I heart doing dishes, is the title I put in the WFMW post. I love to do dishes. I do. I am one of those mutant types that loves to have my hands in hot soapy water. My tip for you all this week is one that I've known about for a very long time. Wash the dishes as you go. I know, it seems so easy and so impossible all at the same time, but if you wash the dishes as you cook or at least fill up your sink with hot soapy water and toss items in the sink as you use them, you will find that your kitchen stays cleaner and your clean-up time is so much less.

I have a dishwasher and I only use it a few times a year...I run it to make sure it still works lol I hand wash all my dishes. I do it because I like the water, the soap, the time to reflect on the day. I also get to admire my dishes that I picked out so lovingly. It's one of the few times each day that I actually finish a project. All the dishes get done, the counters washed off, the room smells good and it is clean. End of project...well, until someone wants a snack, but for a brief moment in time the kitchen was completely cleaned up.

This is a habit that you need to work yourself into, I don't think you can just all of a sudden be a cleaner-upper while cooking dinner if you haven't before. So, fill your sink with hot soapy water even if you don't end up using it. Keep doing it and pretty soon you find that it is really helpful. You might even get a family member to do the dishes while you cook - that soapy water will just look inviting :0) (I know, I know, I'm dreaming!)


Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Milk for Kitties

I've been reading a lot about cattle lately. Pioneer Woman on her blog (one of my almost daily blog reads) and another friend has been sharing stories of her life on the farm, birthing baby cows and snow.

I saw this picture in my photobucket account, not sure where it came from, but it just fit the theme lately.

Don't ya just know that the kitties wait for this treat each day. I can just see the pleasure that the man has -- he's been doing this for a long time. His aim is perfect.

Kristin

Bye Bye Tiki stuff

The Tiki Hut inventory is gone.

Bye Bye

Yippppeeeee!!

This really nice couple came by to look at all of the inventory over the weekend. They called back yesterday and said they would take it and they came over today to count and load. We went piece by piece, finding the wholesale amount, writing it down - then when we had finished, we took about 15% off that total and that was that! They got a great deal and I gott rid of all of it out of my garage.

I was terrified it was going to stay around for 5 years or more like everything else in those garages... but I sent out lots of "I Want a Tiki Business" vibes into the universe and I was sent a buyer!!

It is a Great Day!
Kristin

Happy Birthday Alison

Happy Birthday Alison!!!

Funny

I don't know where this came from, who took it or who played around to get this picture but I Love It!

Springfield Ct.

This is our beauty on Springfield Court.

She is amazing.

I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of the entire front of the house. That little driveway to the left of the house goes back to a shed/garage-like structure. I can't for the life of me remember at the moment if it has a garage door if it is just a shed. Whatever it has, it is a real nice room. It is going to look great.

I sent an email to my family yesterday telling them that this house was the same floorplan as my Grandmothers home in Nebraska. Now I'm sure that a two bedroom, one bath house can really only be configured a few ways, but the thought of this having anything to do with that great little house in Maywood, NE makes me happy as can be.

This house is a gem if I ever saw one. My husband put an offer on it before I even saw it. In fact, I only saw it a few days ago. Anyway, the place needs a new kitchen layout, and I think I'd have open up to the dining room (which is really too small to be a dining room these days.) I would leave the seperation between the living room and the existing kitchen since this house is so small - a little privacy and noise reduction is going to be welcomed. Our carpenter suggested putting an entrance to the kitchen from the living room - but if we incorporated the dining room into the kitchen design, then we already have an entrance that way. Well, I'll be posting a million pictures.


I can't decide what to do with that front porch. (Besides a nice paint job lol) It either needs trim to make it look like it isn't just stuck on, or it needs to be taken off. I think I'm for keeping it and just sprucing it up. It is always nice to have a screened porch to keep the skeeters away.

We close on this house on Wednesday. Our carpenter is going to live in this house for a few months, work on the Jupiter house and this one and then we'll buy another one for him to live in, flip and so it goes...or we'll just see how this goes first. That's the plan anyway.

This is Springfield. She is going to be something great. I can see it now.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Cool Building

My husband was taking me around the city of Jacksonville the other day, showing me houses, when we came upon this little gem. It was just the neatest building. We stopped and got a cone, each of us. I got a small one - 3 bites. OK - maybe it was 10 bites but it was just the perfect size. Besides needing a good cleaning, it was just a perfect place. The people who have recently purchased the place were putting up a fence on one side - I guess to protect the picnic table area from the street just steps away.

I have no idea where in Jacksonville this place is located, although I'm sure my husband does - but it is someplace I will try to tell everyone about so it will stay in business for another 50 years.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Flipping Wonderful!

Here she is...

Miss Jupiter

Isn't she pretty?

She'll be all ours on Friday.

The list of things to fix, repair, replace, take out, move, demolish, upgrade, level, paint, stain, refinish and keep are numerous. When we get finished with this three bedroom, one bathroom house (plus a sort of started half bath in the garage) it will be a...

Three bedroom, two and a half bath, eat-in kitchen, original hardwood flooring, landscaped & fenced yard with a new roof! (The fenced yard will actually be roofless, but the house will have a new roof lol) There is deck access through the Master Suite, but that is just one of three decks gracing this property. Central heat and air as well as all new electrical throughout the house are among the amenities you will find in this charming home on Jupiter Court.

Have A Great Day!

Kristin

Caffeine

Caffeine is not my friend. I had one 12-16oz glass of dietCoke last night.

I was awake until 7 am this morning.

I keep telling myself that I cannot have caffeine, but it doesn't sink in. Maybe if I actually blog about, tell everyone about it and make it real - I can't have caffeine!!!!

Don't do it!

STOP!

There... I'm going to bed now since I only slept from 7am until 10:30am.

Whew, glad I got that out.

Have a nice night...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz


PS I quit having a daily dose of caffeine in 1992. This is something I've known about for a very long time.

Spelling Alphabet

My husband was a private pilot for many many years (and will be again, I'm sure). I think he got his first airplane when he was 17 years old. I've always been facinated with the alphabet that pilots used in the air, so I thought I'd pass it along today.

The alphabet is actually called the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (also the Phonetic Alphabet...although it's not phonetic, so I don't know why it is called that or the NATO Phonetic Alphabet). For this "lesson" it will be called the...

International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

A = Alpha
B = Bravo
C = Charlie
D = Delta
E = Echo
F = Foxtrot
G = Golf
H= Hotel
I = India
J = Juliet
K = Kilo
L = Lima
M = Mike
N = November
O= Oscar
P = Papa
Q = Quebec
R = Romeo
S = Sierra
T = Tango
U = Uniform
V = Victor
W = Whiskey
X = Xray
Y = Yankee
Z = Zulu

Most of the words are recognizable by native English speakers because English must be used upon request for communication between an aircraft and a control tower whenever two nations are involved, regardless of their native languages. Wikipedia

I think it is fun to know these words - especially when you are trying to say a UPC code or something over the phone. "Did you say D or B??" Now you can say - "Did you say D as in Delta or B as in Bravo?" You'll be oooh so clever!

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

WFMW - Greatest Hits

This is a rewind edition of Works for Me Wednesday...This is one of my tips that I thought I'd showcase again...Enjoy!!

Works for me Wednesday

I’ve been reading the WFMW posts for about a month now - you all have some great ideas. This is my first week posting a tip for WFMW, I do hope you enjoy. I love to clean things, but I also want to spend the least amount of effort doing it. I want it to be fast and easy and I don't want to use smelly chemicals. I'm a fan of soap and water.

If you’d like to see more Works for Me Wednesday posts, please click here.

I have a love affair with my shower. It is a man made composite material of some sort, it is bright white, it is supposed to look like tile, but it isn’t. It is supposed to look like there is grout between the tiles, but there isn’t - it is just one big plastic-like tub surround...I just love it. I hated it when I first saw it - When I toured other condos in our building I was shocked that even those folks who upgraded their bathrooms, still kept that awful tub surround. THEN I found the trick...

It is a chamois type product - It is called The Absorber - I googled it and this is just one of the many places I found -- The Absorber. It is the best thing EVER. I found mine at Target in the clearance section a few years ago, but now that I know how awesome it is, I would gladly pay the going rate.

When I get done showering, I pick up the absorber from its throne (laying across the tub faucet) and I get it wet -- I then wipe off the walls of my plastic-like tub surround. It takes a moment - maybe three moments. The fake tiles, two years later, look like they have never had a drop of water on them.

The Absorber is stiff like cardboard when it dries - but when you get it wet you can literally roll it up. I have placed it on the floor of the tub so you can get a little bit or perspective on the size of the cloth. Have I mentioned that I love this product!



For the tub, I use a magic eraser once a week - I keep it in the shower and just before I finish up in the shower I just grab the magic eraser and clean the entire tub, hose it down, turn off the water, wipe the walls with my absorber and my tub and shower are tide-clean!

My quick tip - Clean the shower while you're in it.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

I am grateful

When I watched The Secret for the very first time (I'm in my hundredth watching by now I'm sure) one of the things that popped out to me immediately was this quote from Bob Proctor.

"I am so happy and grateful now that..." fill in the blank. I say it many times during each day & I love how I feel when I say it. I have a connectedness that I had never had before. Or maybe I just feel the connection rather than just racing through life.

I purchased The Secret Daily Calendar this year. LOVE IT! Yesterday's message was....

Bob Proctor, featured in The Secret, suggests writing down what you want. "Begin each sentence with, I am so happy and grateful now that ..." (and you fill in the rest). When you give thanks as though you have already received what you want, you are emitting a powerful signal to the Universe. That signal is saying that you have it already because you are feeling gratitude for it now. Each morning before you get out of bed, make it a habit to feel the feelings of gratitude in advance for the great day ahead, as though it is done.

Today's Secret message is....

Laughter attracts joy, releases negativity and leads to miraculous cures.

On this April Fools Day, lets be Grateful and Laugh!!!!!!!!!

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

March Links

Going Home
Mocha
Pelicans
Books
Pioneer Woman
WFMW - Backwards Edition
I Went Home!
Chalkboard chalk tip
The Note
Purse
Chandelier
American Accent
St. Patty's Day
WFMW- 11:11
Making a Home
Spring Peepers
#42 The Laundry pt 2
Journaling
Oprah's Big Give
End of the Tiki Hut

End of the Tiki Hut

We cleared out the Tiki Hut slash Flea market booth. As we were taking the last load out to the car my husband turned to me and said "This is kind of sad. I thought it was fun." I will never understand him.

I hated the Tiki Hut - even though in my first few posts about it I tried to make it sound like everyone should have some crazy flea market business. I hated going there to work it, I hated that it was 17 miles away and I had to take two expressways to get there. I hated that I got stuck in traffic jams getting there or coming back. Not every week, but close to it. I hated that we had three weeks with ZERO Sales. I also hated that the 18 yr old kid that we hired to work, who was the best kid ever, just stopped showing up and has given me ten million excuses why he can't talk to us on the phone but only through cryptic emails. He keeps telling me that he is going to redeem himself, but its been 5 weeks now. I'm all out of patience.

So now we have hundreds of Tiki Hut items that went unsold in our garage. At least someone bought the Tiki Bar. Oh thank you kind sir for buying the Tiki Bar. I wanted to put the rest of the tiki items in the trash but my husband wouldn't let me.

Thankfully I had given away/sold a lot of stuff and the garage was able to handle more stuff, but now I'm going to have to get on the ball and get the Tiki stuff sold. I can't have it hanging around, its already stressing me out just knowing that my garage is full again.

So the Tiki Hut is gone -- but not forgotten. I'll post a victory post when the last of the Tiki items are gone :0)

Have a great day!
Kristin

Oprah's Big Give

My husband. Well, that is quite a statement LOL That statement is usually said with rolling eyes and a bit of a smile. He is usually doing something or saying something that is just so typical of him. He will watch Fox news for hours (or days) if I let him but if I happen to click on something where Ty Pennington is yelling or or Tyra Banks is talking to her Next Top Models he just throws a fit about something - their voice, their clothing, their attitude, the comment they just made - I don't think he even listens, it just isn't News and he has to let me know that he doesn't appreciate it.

Goodness.

He's been like this for years and I still can't figure out why we only have one place to watch TV, but that's another story I guess.

So, I love Extreme Makeover Home Edition. (EMHE) I even like the megaphone toting Ty. "Good Morning (Fill in the blank) Family! " Sunday nights have always had some favorites of mine - the Soprano's, Six Feet Under, EMHE, The Amazing Race (which has been moved to another day) and many other great Sunday shows. I set the DVR to record Ty and the gang at EMHE just so I can watch it in peace when Tom isn't around, but the newest show after that one I didn't want to have to watch in the middle of the night... and that's Oprah's Big Give. Much to my surprise and delight my husband LOVES this show and often talks about the previous episode a few times during the week.

True Joy!!

I'm so glad that there is such a wonderful show for us to watch together that so far hasn't involved too many megaphone toting speakers LOL

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Journaling

I purchased this journal called Journal 10+ back in January and I have been faithfully writing in it each night. The journal is dated 2008 - 2018, so it is a big commitment! There is space for just three or four lines a day, so it really is easy to just write a blurb and go to bed. (Journaling is one of my 101 things to do in 1001 days.)

The funny thing is that I am trying so hard not to complain in that journal - I don't want 10 years of whining! I also don't want it to be a gratitude journal (I have one of those.) I want it to be about my life, what I'm thinking, what's going on and what's bothering me, too. I want successes and I want reflection, too. That's a lot to put into just 4 lines and some days I can't seem to fill up one line lol Especially when all I want to do is whine about how tough my life is...

That's me - tough life Kristin. ha! :0)


Have a great day,
Kristin

#42 - Laundry part 2

I wanted to update my Laundry dilemma - which is number 42 on my 101 Things to Do list. The goal was to put away my laundry on laundry day, not just let it hang out in the laundry baskets all folded and pretty for a week. These laundry baskets, you see, would stay in the middle of my living room and each day my husband would call out for socks, or his pants or whatever he wanted but couldn't find in the closet - and I would say, gees honey, look in the laundry basket, duh??

It was beginning to really frustrate me that I allowed our laundry to be stored in baskets in the main part of the house. It needed to be put away.

Putting that item on my list of 101 Things to Do really drove it home to follow through on the task and complete it. Since the first of February when I accomplished the first "putting the laundry away victory," I have put away all the laundry by the end of the day. The other night it was seconds before I went to bed because I was "forgetting" I had to do it...but because I folded my sleeping T-Shirt and put it in the laundry basket, I instantly remembered that I still had 5 minutes of putting away to do.

One of the side benefits? I've asked my husband to help me put away the clothes. He grumbles and mumbles and pretends to not know where the socks go, but he finishes his basket in the same amount of time I finish my basket. The side benefit you ask? The side benefit is that I don't have to grumble anymore about having to do it all myself. I also don't have time to grumble, he does that for me. Hearing him actually makes me laugh. So the side benefit is Laughing while putting away the laundry!

I'm going to keep this in the active status for a few months longer, but I think this is a habit by now.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Spring Peepers

I lived in a house on Bell Hwy in Eaton Rapids, MI. Behind the house was a swamp. I can't help but think about that swamp when I think about spring coming. I think the window glass in that house was as thin as a piece of paper and that the caulking had long since shriveled up and died. The master bedroom had a sliding glass door, right next to my side of the bed and the ice cold breezes that came through there in the winter was welcomed compared to the sounds that the Spring Peepers made. Did you know that Spring Peepers turn into frogs with deep voices? Did you know that frogs talk well beyond spring??

We lived in that place a few years and the frogs drove me absolutely batty. They were so loud. People on the other end of my phone conversation could hear them, when I was in the house with all the doors and windows shut. I told my friend, Bob*, about these frogs. Actually I complained and complained about how I couldn't sleep, they were so loud, and it was only just the beginning of spring! She laughed her funny laugh and twilled - I just love spring peepers! Ha! She came to visit one spring. She was in for a rude awakening. She actually asked at one point -- What is that noise?!! Your Frogs, I said.

She will never, NEVER forget that Spring.

I don't think new windows could even help keep the sounds of those frogs out of the house. There were millions of them. The tad poles that hatched in our unopened pool (of course, on top of the tarp that covered the pool) were in the billions. Billions of baby frogs. Thankfully I don't live there any more. The people who bought the house said they wanted to extend the swamp...make it even more swampy. I disclosed to them that they didn't want more frogs. I told them that the frog noises drove me crazy. They laughed like my friend did - We love frogs!

I doubt they made a bigger swamp after their first spring in that house. The house on Bell Hwy.

Have A Great Spring!
Kristin

*Bob is a name that my friend and I call each other. We are both Bob's.

Making a Home

I have mentioned before that I just adore Victoria Moran. The way she writes just gets me thinking. Well, tonight I was reading her book "Shelter for the Spirit" and she was talking about how people tend to live in their spaces... it is either temporary or permanent. She said that people who are in temporary housing (and view it as temporary) will pack up the good things for the permanent house or the next place or their home instead of the rental. I have found, that I move about every three years. That is such an improvement from the "moving every year" phase that I had going for awhile there, but even at three years, I do find myself waiting to unpack things. It can take me months and months to unpack boxes that are in the guest room or the office. If I have a garage, they are stored in there when I am tired of looking at them in my living space.

The question being...if I move every three years, when will I ever be settled??

I recently read a story (or a blog) about a military family that unpacks everything the first & second day that they move into the house & take the boxes to the curb. Since they move so frequently, they need to be immediately settled and make it their home. What a fabulous thing to do. They are literally claiming their space as soon as they arrive. BRAVO!

I find that if I take a vacation for a week and stay in the hotel, I immediately claim that space as my own. I unpack my suitcase, hang up my clothes, put all my toiletries in the bathroom and viola I've got a home. The less stuff that I have to unpack, the quicker it becomes my home. LOL

Since about the day we moved into this condo my husband has wanted to move. He hates it here. Sometimes he says he doesn't really hate it, but he says it enough times that I do believe he has come to hate it. On the other hand, I really like it here! I can tell that I like it here because this has been the cleanest house I've ever had. I dust more often, vacuum a lot, put out those hot spot fires and of course keep the kitchen clean and tidy. I don't feel overwhelmed with clutter and piles, even though my office isn't neat by any means.

One of the best things I have done is to unpack the things that I like. I haven't stashed anything away for later. I either love it and use it or I have given it away. I still have garage units that are full of stuff but I don't want most of that stuff. I could give it all away and I wouldn't miss any of it. My husband isn't of that mindset - hence the reason why we have two garage units that are stuffed to the gills.


Oprah had a rerun on this week about hoarders. This specific topic was on a family that had so much stuff in their house that they had little mazes to get from one part to another. The stuff was piled so high that you literally couldn't see over it. The problem with that family was the sheer volume of stuff being purchased on a daily basis and brought into the house. I seem to get overrun with paper. I don't buy it, I print it or it comes in the mail, it comes as catalogs, as free newspapers and flyers.

A few years ago I was overwhelmed with furniture and now it's paper. Maybe I have improved LOL

I think that this residence - my home - has really become my home more than any other. I think I have been learning the tricks to make it mine. Victoria's book is just confirming that fact. Now if I could just release the last remnants of the clutter... ahhhh I still have a ways to go. :)

Have a great day!
Kristin

WFMW - 11:11

Welcome to another edition of Works For Me Wednesday! Each week hundreds of people from around the world gather at Rocks in My Dryer for WFMW and share their tips. Please take a look when you have finished here. Thanks & I'll see you again next week.



What works for me is something so easy. I do it everyday. I look forward to 11:11Am or 11:11PM each day. Most of the time I do a little a dance - my celebratory dance. OK, so I'm a total goofball, but I look forward to this each day.

Why does this qualify as a tip? Because I'd like to suggest to you that looking forward to something each day is a blessing and lightens the heart and can really bring a little bit of joy to the day, each day.

So find something easy to look forward to each day. Whether it is the time of day, or a nightly bath, or being able to read a few pages in a book - something. I think that is the key to happiness - finding true joy in your life each day. Even when it has been a trying day, 11:11 comes around and I smile.

It isn't 11:11PM yet in my part of the world, but when it does strike I will go from room to room looking at all of the clocks and smiling that they all say 11:11 - truly cheap thrills.

Do you have something that brings you joy each day? Post a note in the comment section about what makes you happy each day.


Have A Great Day!
Kristin

St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

When I was a kid, the thing that made St. Patty's day different than any other was that I was supposed to wear green that day. I think I forgot nearly every year to specifically wear something green to school. Most of the time I managed to have on green socks or something that had a tiny green stripe or something. And who came up with this ridiculous "custom" to pinch someone if they didn't wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

When I was a teenager I became aware of some friends of my family who threw a huge St. Patrick's Day party. They used to hold it in their warehouse/office - it was crazy! Hundreds of people came to this event. Literally we were packed into the place like sardines, or maybe sardines had more room! The place was packed and the food and beer flowed until the middle of the night. Those were the days. Now this family rents out a hall and sells tickets to get in. They donate the money they raise, so that is a nice side benefit. My Dad serves up food there most every year and when I was in town, I would almost certainly come by and spend some time with everyone.

I've had a few St. Patricks Day drinking tales that I'll just keep to myself, however these days about all I do for St. Patrick's Day is to wear green - usually my Michigan State University shirt, because now that I'm older I remember to wear green. I don't think anyone would dare pinch me if I didn't, but now that I can remember it doesn't much matter. ha ha

Happy St. Patty's Day to you all. Be safe and please don't drink and drive.

Kristin
*The picture is a close up of the door detail to the oldest house in St. Augustine, FL.

American Accent

I just took this quiz - How fun. The results you see in the little box are the results of my quiz. Click on the link at the bottom of the box to take your own quiz.

Since I lived in New Mexico for a few years, I tend to say "soda" more often than "pop." It must have been that last month that I lived in New Mexico that finally converted me to saying soda. I resisted for so long, I explained that I wanted a Coke or a soda pop or a fountain drink and finally I caved and started saying soda. When I went back home to Michigan everyone knew what a soda was and it was just easy to continue saying soda.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Chandelier

I just fell head over heels in love with this little chandelier. It holds one bulb. It can probably be hardwired but it comes with a plug in cord which means you can put this little gem anywhere you have a plug. Love It! Oh, did I mention this light was marked at just $42.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Purse

A few weeks ago when I was shopping with my friend we spotted these purses. I can't recall the cost of these at the moment, but just look at the detail of this little wiener dog purse. It is just hysterical and fun and something that I'd personally never carry (if it were a calico cat.....) but it is totally fun, nonetheless.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Here's a picture of a few more of these darlings.

The Note

My Mother has always written notes & left them in the kitchen for us kids and anyone else who was in need of a note. Mostly her notes consist of things she'd like us to do - Put away the dishes, clean up the kitchen, pick up sticks in the back yard or where she was - I took a walk to the coffee shop, I went to the movies or she was at meeting or luncheon or something. Rarely do her notes strike panic or fear, but the note that she left behind last week made me worry immediately.

(I forgot to buy toilet paper. There is not ONE extra roll on hand. lm)

I came to stay at my Mother's house while she was out of town. She was gone about 10 days and I was staying for 5. It was a lot of fun staying at her house with no one there, but the thought of not a single extra roll of Toilet Paper nagged at me all night, that first night. I investigated both bathrooms and found that each one had a sufficient amount of TP so that baring any unforseen paper eating animals rushing into the bathrooms, I would be fine until morning.

The next day my sister and I went shopping and I decided to get the BIG BUNDLE of my favorite brand, Scott. As a side note, I have to say that I have never seen the stick-on handles used on a bundle of TP before --- but I was terribly excited. When carrying the big bundle out to the car, usually I'm trying to carry it under my arm or on top of the bags of groceries I'm carrying or I stick a finger into the plastic and try to rush to the car before the plastic tears and I have toilet paper rolls flying out into the parking lot. But this handy dandy little stick on handle made everything SO easy! Thanks Target!

Here is the newly acquired bundle of TP for my Mothers house. I slept very well the rest of my vacation just knowing I had some spare rolls.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

PS - The signature on her note - the thing that looks like a tz is actually an L and an M - it stands for Love Mom. :0)

Chalkboard Chalk tip

Welcome to another edition of Works For Me Wednesday! Each week hundreds of people from around the world gather at Rocks in My Dryer for WFMW and share their tips. Please take a look when you have finished here. Thanks & I'll see you again next week.



My tip for you this week is a cool one. I used to write on a chalk board that was the sidewalk sign for our coffeehouse. I learned right away that if I wrapped the chalk up in a wet towel (or paper towels) and let them get good and wet before I used them,they were much easier to use. When I took them out of the towel they would just sail across the chalkboard with ease. The colors were so much more vibrant as well. I loved to write on the sidewalk board. My favorite chalk is the Sidewalk Chalk because it is fat and easy to hold, especially when wet. Not to mention you can find such cool colors.

The picture shown is of one of my rental condos - I painted one of the walls with chalkboard paint, so my renters could use it and have fun. My renters have all enjoyed the chalkboard wall.

The towels that you use to wet the chalk or to wipe off the chalkboard will probably get stained by the chalk - so designate a chalk towel or two before all of your guest towels become tie-dyed lol

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

I Went Home!

I just spent the last week in Michigan - my home. I live in Florida, but I grew up in Michigan so it will forever be home. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a mitten. Which is so cool. The Upper Peninsula is also shaped that way, but not as truly noticeable as the Lower Peninsula.

 My mothers walk way has this rock - I haven't quite figured out if it was just a coincidence or if it was intentional.

My mother was out of town so I stayed at her place all alone. It was the strangest feeling to be at her house for 5 days without her. The nice thing about the trip, was that I got a chance to relax, to sleep in, to read books, to just think.

I also got to spend time with my sisters and with my niece. I don't think my niece stopped moving for longer than 3 seconds. I never did get a picture of her that wasn't blurry or actually showed her face. She loves to roll in a blanket and then run to the mirror to see her static-y hair all sticking up.


My last Works for Me Wednesday post I asked for help in coming up with creative ideas to keep in communication with this little fireball. Thanks to all of you for your ideas...I can't wait to start trying them out.

I will be posting more pictures and more musings from my trip home in the next few days. Until then...

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

WFMW - backwards edition

This week is backwards edition of Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks in my Dryer - which means that I pose a question to you all about something that I need an answer to -- sounds easy enough! I think I have too many questions to narrow it down to just one LOL

My quandary is what can I do to keep in touch with my (almost) 4 year old niece (she isn't a phone girl) when I live 1000 miles away. I came home to visit last night and when I went to my sisters house, my niece came flying out of the other room squealing with glee and ran right into my arms. It was so wonderful! Just last year she didn't want to have a thing to do with me because she didn't know who I was -- so I started sending her cards more often. I want to continue the cards but would like to add in something more (especially since her momma is having a baby in April) something that is special just for her.

Do you all have any ideas?? I don't want to send gifts, she has plenty of toys & games. More mail ideas -- do we send coloring book pages through the mail? I'm at a loss. I've never had children, so my imagination is lacking.

I want to do something every two weeks - it is a goal of mine to really stay in touch with her and in the coming years also with her sibling. I can't wait to hear your comments!

Thanks so much!

Kristin

Pioneer Woman

I need to talk about one of my favoite blogs. I have absolutely no idea how I ran into it one day, but that was a fateful day. Ya know, I think it was through "Stumble Upon" - in fact, now that I think about it, I'm sure that's how I found her. Well anyway, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is a blog that I love - love love love!!

She also maintains her cooking blog The Pioneer Woman Cooks and soon to be her photography blog. I know nothing about Photoshop or photography and I am already excited beyond belief about her new site. It is all things Ree all the time, well her and her husband and children AND lets not forget her love story - High Heels to Tractor Wheels. That addictive saga has been a 30 chapter, painful, exhilarating, beautiful & at times hysterical story. We just got to the proposal in her last posting and I am just anxious as can be to read the next entry.

Ree decided before Thanksgiving this past year to help out all of us who were a little bit skittish about making Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd or just for the family. She cooked up and photographed each step of making Thanksgiving dinner. I decided right then and there that I was going to follow that woman's advice and make a turkey the way she was showing us. She said that the first thing I wanted to do was to brine the turkey. I thought it was a cool idea, so I purchased a $15 turkey and $37 in brining spices and brining bags!! I'll tell you right now, it was the best turkey I've ever had in my entire life. It was possibly the best $50 I'd ever spent on food. Yum! (The Turkey stock I made and stashed in the freezer is incredible as well. )

My husband was in Michigan for Thanksgiving 2007 & I was in Florida, so I decided to invite my tenants over for the day & then I invited a few other people that we had met through Mayo. I ended up with 7 people for dinner and it was lovely. My Mother decided on a lark to come stay with me for a few days, so she was here to witness and taste the best turkey ever. I was so glad she came down for no other reason than I was a tad nervous about hosting Thanksgiving by myself. My husband usually is in charge of all meat prep and cooking that doesn't involve just tossing it into a pan and stiring it around real quick.

So that is a real life example of what Pioneer Woman has done for me. If you have a moment, go check out her blog. If you have a few hours, go check out her love story. If you have a need for some really great recipes that are so incredibly delicious and that toss calories out the window, then please go to her cooking blog. If you want a step by step photo blog on how to brine a turkey, go check it out.

You all have a great day!
Kristin

Books

Here are the books that I have sitting on my coffee table right now.

Shelter for the Spirit - Victoria Moran
The Success Principles - Jack Canfield
Fit from Within -Victoria Moran
YOU: On A Diet & YOU: Staying Young - Michael Roizen MD & Mehmet Oz MD
The Long Tail - Chris Anderson

I would love to be able to read the entire YOU series by Dr's Roizen & Oz - they are just fascinating. Each chapter explains why something happens in the body - how it fires, how it works, what drives it, how to prevent it, etc. It is just truly engaging, entertaining and informative. Love It!

I can't say enough about Victoria Moran. I purchased the book "Creating a Charmed Life" many many years ago. I used to read just little bits of it before I went to bed. Then mysteriously it disappeared for about a year.

Then when we got the call for my husbands Liver Transplant, I already had his bag packed and ready to go, but not a thing for my bag. I grabbed a stack of my clothes that I thought were stacked and ready to pack - only to find out that I had 5 pairs of pants and a shirt. One shirt. However, I managed to remember to grab a few books. I went to my nightstand and picked up the three books in the drawer. Creating a Charmed Life was one of them & I will never understand how that book found its way out of hiding. I hadn't been able to find it for ages. One of the other books must have been a murder mystery - probably an Anne Rule true crime book - I'm just sure of it and the other book was something that I didn't like because I don't remember a single second reading it lol

Victoria's book was perfect. The little beautiful things she talked about in how to create a charmed life was just what I needed in an uncharming time of my life. I had the attention span of a gnat, so the little book and the three - five page chapters were exactly what I could handle. Also each story helped me see a brighter future, no matter how rough this transplant surgery/recovery was going to be, I could see a future.

In my nightstand right now, I have two more Victoria Moran books (Younger by the Day & Lit from Within) and the clutter book by Peter Walsh - It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff...what a great read that is...BUT you have to do something, not just read it before bedtime like I did.

I also have decided to join in on the Oprah Book Club - A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I love to read all of these self improvement books and spiritual type books, so why not join in on the biggest book club event ever. The first class is tonight, so I read a few pages just to get the feel for it - I'm assuming that I will read most of the book Tuesday while I am in the airplane flying off to cold cold Michigan for my weeklong retreat. (I'll tell you all more about that this week)

Are you reading anything fun, adventurous, thought provoking or that is turning out to be a real good "beach read" as I call those books. You know the ones - I read "The First Wives Club" when it was still in its first printing long before it had any movie offers LOL It was mindless and fun.

Have a Great Day.

Pelicans

See the pelican's sitting on the ruins of an old dock? My friend and I spent a few minutes in the chilly wind looking out at the sight. What used to be there? Why hasn't it been rebuilt? How many pelicans are out there anyway?

This area of Jacksonville really seemed like old Florida. There were beautiful old homes, small craftsman style houses, old brick homes and a few remodeled stucco homes every so often. I enjoyed the drive and sharing it with my friend.

Have A Great Day!
Kristin

Mocha

Mocha the Cat.
The scaredy cat.
The Free Online Dictionary describes Mocha as...

scared·y cat (skârd-kt)

• n. Informal
• One who is excessively fearful.
  
  
  That's our gal!
  
  I had a friend visiting for a few days last week. Most of the time Mocha hid in the bedroom.
  
  
  
  Silly Silly Kitty.

Going Home

I'm going home for a few days. Home to the land of the snow. The picture you see here was taken in the U.P. of Michigan in about 1969. I'm guessing I'm 3 in this picture. My mom said that a neighbor gave us that coat - I always thought that was a great coat...not too crazy about the hat. Hats give me a headache, but that probably wasn't a problem back then. I look kinda cute.

Anyway, I'm going home. I scheduled this trip in December when my grandmother was still with us and I had planned on spending several days just with her. My mother had planned on being out of town, so it was just perfect - I could take her place helping out my Aunt Jane with Grandma.

I'm going home. My mother is out of town, my Aunt Jane no longer needs any help, one of my sisters has been sick and can't take off any days from work while I'm in town, my other sister is 7 months pregnant, so she is saving up all those personal and vacation days. Dear Dad works most days, too. I'm kind of excited to go home and have my days free - what shall I do??? I've got a list a mile long and the funny thing is, it is all reading and computer work. I've thought of making some fabulous dinner for everyone - I've got all afternoon to prepare something. I might need to call the cousins and see if they can drop by. Hmmmm, this is an idea that is forming right here. Well, that might be fun. We'll have to see when my brother in law is playing so he can join us.

I want to take my niece for an afternoon and just hang out with her. She is just so much fun, smart, funny and all mine. OK, not all mine, but she is my first niece and I love the stuffin' out of her. If her folks let me & if she'll agree, I'd love to spend the day with her.

I plan on spending each evening with a sister or my father or a cousin. My husbands parents live in the same town as my family and as luck would have it, they will be getting home the afternoon before I leave, so I actually get to see them. That'll be nice, we haven't seen each other since my grandfather funeral in December and I really wasn't able to be with them any other time.

I'm a Florida gal now - the cold weather is not to my liking - I'm sending warm thoughts to Michigan. No snow. No snow. No snow.

Have a Great Day

Kristin