“Mayor. . .”

“. . .we may be attacked by a large, carnivorous bird. There is a small chance that it might be a bunny with cookies. But I wouldn’t count on it.”

We have just seen Horton Hears a Who for the firs time. HILARIOUS. And very, very timely.

AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

What Jane and I have in common

Disclaimer:
You will need to read the post below for this to make any sense what so ever, although the chances of it making sense even AFTER you’ve read the post below is still very, very small.

This has long been one of my favorite Disney clips, and I quote it as often as I can. . .which until now has been rather infrequently. . .but with the advent of the Dog/Shoe Adventure, I can now work it into conversation more often. And did, in fact, use it the day my shoe turned up missing. Just click the link, then drag the bar below to watch 6:23-6:31 if you want the EXACT spot. . .or, if you want a little Disney movie excitement, watch the whole bloomin’ thing. OR, if you are Sarah, watch from 5:50-6:50 to be reminded that not ONLY do Jane and I have a missing shoe in common, but also the ability to give completely disjointed speeches with very exuberant arm movements AND sound effects.

“And after this, the deluge.”

So we enjoyed our trip to Louisiana IMMENSELY. Tony and I sat (almost) perfectly still for three days while ingesting INSANE portions of ham (and for me also some deviled eggs and shrimp pasta dish my sister’s friend made that is OUT OF THIS WORLD).

Santa had to cut back on the size and number or presents this year due to the recession, you know, but the children loved what they got. Thad and Tony spent 9 solid hours (I had to MAKE the boy eat breakfast/lunch at 3:00 p.m.) putting together the super-duper Agent Lego Command Semi Central–or whatever it’s called, while Victoria has already gotten a good start on her “Do It Yourself Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book.”

For my part, other than the ham, a dog stole my shoe. It was my own fault. I was helping carry things from my sister-in-law’s car into the house, and my shoes got muddy, so I left them at Momma’s front door. They were muddy, because there is no grass near my mother’s front door. . .and no sidewalk. . .and my very own (new) front door looks much the same. AND the neighbor’s dogs run freely up and down the black-topped road. . .and that happens at my new home too.

So. I, having grown up there, should know better and it was a good reminder to bring my muddy shoes inside. Momma located it across the street on the neighbor’s front porch railing. So I have have one shoe in Texas and one in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, due to all of my wonderful rest and relaxation (and ham) I awoke at 5:44 this morning and cannot go back to sleep–which is good since I have a LOT to do. Like move.

IN TEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My current home does NOT look like the home of someone who is going to move in 10 days. Egads!!!!

We have a first walk-through today at the new place, and then we are going to buy a mailbox!!!!! No more community mailbox central. I am so excited. It takes very, very little to blow my hair back.

Alert!!! Alert!!!

Our house will be ready on December 31st. We are moving in on January 8th. We still have not sold our current home, but interest rates as of TODAY are at 4.75% for a 30 year mortgage, so we really don’t care that we’ve not sold our current home anymore. It will sell–and our mortgage will be at 4.75% for the next 30 years. WAHOO!!!!!

We have been thankful to God for so many blessings and I am thankful to you for being patient with all of my house blather as this process has ruled our lives for nearly a year now. It is nice to see the finish line. We are going to see Momma tomorrow. . .Santa comes on Wednesday night. . .Merry Christmas to you and yours.

I’m a Poet and Didn’t Know it.

The original title was. . .

Did I happen to mention that I really like my kitchen?

Then I realized that title COULD be turned into a rhyming couplet or a song or a limerick without much effort. But I will save you from my impromtu poetic efforts regarding my kitchen and let the pictures speak that particular thousand words for me. Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty more words to give you later. 🙂

This is paint, counter, cabinet, floor, and backsplash. . .together at last.

Now all we need are the appliances and my blue and white filigree chicken, and we are ready to go.

Here is the front porch railing. It will be painted (not quite God’s Glory) white and will go all the way around. This is just what was done on Saturday.

Humor Me (again)

Oh, it’s been a long, long week. AND we are very nearly out of school for Christmas. AND I don’t know what happened to December. Santa will have to find us at Momma’s house for Christmas this year. . .and we are all ready to get there. We haven’t been there ON Christmas day since Victoria was a baby.

Meanwhile things are GOING CRAZY at the house. Here’s the short version: Tony and I laid 625 ft. of water line on Saturday, then we took the day off work to be there today when they installed the septic system and drove up to find many, many more suprises–all (thankfully) good. See below.

This is what PART of a 625 foot trench looks like. You can’t REALLY see how far it goes, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s LONG. It is, actually, 2 football fields long. . .plus 8 additional feet. It’s long. Very. Very. Long.

Tony operated the machinery. I was there for moral support and as a general go-fer of sorts. Plus I helped lay the pipe and backfill the dirt, but I’ll spare you those photos. We were very happy that when the septic dudes needed water today, they had it.

We plan to never do this again, so do not ask. But we CAN tell you where to rent a Ditch Witch.

At the end of the road where our water main is located, there is also a telephone pole. It has this faded tape flapping and flying from it. I’m sure it used to be orange or pink or something. I don’t know what possessed me, but I walked over to look at it.

And this is what I found, people. It is emblazoned with little Texases. . .Texii, if you will. Only in Texas would the state PAY to have little Texii emblazoned on the plastic tape they use to tie to telephone poles on a road in the middle of NOWHERE. Puh-leez.

When I pointed this out to Tony (who bleeds all three colors of the Texas flag–and in their correct order I might add), he smiled knowingly with just a hint of smugness as though he would expect nothing less of the Grand and Glorious Empire. And the same thing happened on Sunday when I showed the photo to his Dad–also a Texan born and bred. His mom, who is from Louisiana like me, was just as puzzled–and disgusted–as I was.

It was stinkin’ cold in southeastern Texas today–and gray–and dreary, so when we drove up the house very early this morning Tony said, “Is that a light?” And, indeed, it was. It was several lights, actually, as they had been left on all night long. Seeing as how we are PAYING for the lights, we turned them off, but it was nice to be able to stay after dark tonight and SEE.

(Forgive the blurry photo. . .I was taking it at dusk and my hands were shaking ’cause it was C-O-L-D, plus I couldn’t use the flash.)

Okay–I am so incredibly relieved to have all the components of the kitchen put together at last. I could see it in MY mind. . .all the samples and paint chips and ideas and photos from magazines had meshed together into EXACTLY what I wanted, but Tony’s mind (though brilliant) does not function that way. I was nervous that things might not work out. . .but they did. . .and they installed our granite today!!!! It was still very dusty as they were working, but here’s a sneak preview. (The paint is not in this photo because white subway tile will be installed as a backsplash.)

The other issue was the flooring in the kitchen and breakfast room. We decided to forego ceramic tile to save money and, instead, use the same flooring as we had for the gameroom/craftroom/powder room. We had planned a very dark slate-type tile for the kitchen, and I was more than a little nervous about how the change would look. . .and what Tony would think.

It is now in as well and has gotten the THUMBS UP from Mr. Texas. He said, “It’s fine,” and also, “Instead of replacing it as soon as we can, we don’t have to replace it until it needs replacing.” That is some HIGH praise, y’all.

Breakfast room

Powder room

(Pssst. . .I’ll tell you a secret. . .it’s VINYL. No lie. It’s vinyl. It’s very nice vinyl–but it’s vinyl–and it is just fine.)

Meanwhile the septic installation crew left a huge pile of dirt which the kids took full advantage of when we brought them out after school. We didn’t have a camera with us to photograph the backhoe and deep, deep holes and big concrete septic tanks this morning. I know you are so sad about that.

Victoria was running up the pile, but the photo turned out incredibly funny. She kind of looks like a very happy periwinkle monkey.

And since it was so cold. . .and since there was no snow but plenty of dirt. . .the kids made a Dirt Man. Life in the country don’t ya know.

Here is Joss all clean. It is a long and complicated story as Joss has made the rounds of the neighborhood, but she finally got her “female issue” taken care of, and while she was at the vet she got a bath. Ain’t she purty?

So now, Joss and I are engaged. That’s right. Betrothed. Bound. I keep on telling her that I will be out there very, very soon, and that I promise to give her bed and bone as long as she doesn’t get run over. (Don’t tell Tony. . .but I think he already knows as the dog spent a large portion of Saturday either laying on me or following me around. And I’m sure I won’t have to REMIND him about the two snakes, tarantula, and various and sundry fish, reptiles, and amphibians that have passed through my KITCHEN. And my purses.) I kept my Jossified hands away from my face, but I had to hug her once.