OH baby....

I had a pretty relaxing weekend. Fri. night we looked at a house - didn't work for us. It's amazing what they can make a place look like on the internet!

I spent Saturday getting the house back to "immaculate" status for showings. Our realtor thought we would have a showing for sure - we didn't.

Sunday I was a lazy person. I read the paper, a magazine, finished a book. Then I proceeded to my temporary craft room. I finished the 8 grad thank yous and made 8 more cards! I'm almost done with July.

My cousin had her baby on Fri. so I made the sailboat one for them and the other for her parents. Can't wait to meet the little guy!

Friday's Feast One Hundred Ninety Five

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live? It's hot and muggy.

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you? I'm not so much career-minded any more. I am happy doing what I'm doing and not looking to move up the ranks at my age! I like to leave at 5 and my work stays at work. I guess I'd say a 2?

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.? All of the above! I have blinds on all windows except my den/scrap room. Those windows have shutters and valances. All other windows have curtains or valances. I also have a porch full of windows with nothing on them.

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up. The thought of vacation or the beach, or a photo of when my boys were little.

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning? I never hit the snooze. It's just not me. I hear the alarm, shut it off and get up. I am a creature of habit.

Finally.....

Here's my big mess from last night. I was able to cut a bunch of pieces for graduation thanks and put a few together. The designs are pretty basic but that's all I have time for right now. The hardest part is getting my ds to sign them. He's never home....which is a story in itself but I can't go there. I'm way too tired from his early a.m. arrival......

Still no crafting...

I made a fast thank you for dh's aunt who sent a nice grad gift to ds the other night but nothing since.

I was so tired last night so I sat down to read a magazine after dinner and I dozed off. Then I made myself get up and move. I started to get my stuff ready for the lss' yard sale coming up this weekend.

I hope I get a bunch of $$ in credit. I could use a little shopping spree. The other issue is I'm hoping to get rid of bulk before the move!

A successful party ...

Well, it flew by but my son's party was a success! We worked our butts off (my dh, mom & I) and got it all done with about 30 min. to spare.

A lot of my ds' friends didn't show up so I felt bad for him but he had a blast with a smaller group of friends and his cousins. They stayed late and played frisbee and just hung out and laughed. It was so nice that his cousins and friends got along so well.

Our friends stayed late with some family and we enjoyed it. Those same friends have their son and daughter's grad party today which we'll be going to. It'll be nice to relax and enjoy!

We have so much food left over. I was worried we wouldn't have enough! I froze what I could but I have a bunch of finger sandwiches and ham. Tomorrow night my son's band will come for practice and those guys are always hungry! I'm sure they'll help us out.

p.s. I didn't clean the kitchen floor before the party. I'll have to do it later today after the other party!

No news is good news....

Hmmmmm...I somehow don't believe it in this case. We still have not had our test results on water/air. We had to extend the date to sign a p&s. Don't know what is up there.

So starting tonight I'll be like a maniac - cleaning the house (small task since we've had to keep it immaculate); food shopping; starting to make foods that can be done ahead, etc.

My question of the day is: Do you clean your floors before a party? I used to but a few years back I decided why bother?! You end up having to do it again the next day anyway.

This is the first time we are having a party with hardwood floors. It should be interesting how dirty they get! What's really nice is we have the weekend of from showings. YAY!!!!! I can hang my towel on the rack!

Moving ahead...

Ok, we have a possibility or two on the house situation. We are still waiting for our home inspection results (water & radon tests). Things are moving ahead, I hope!

I am also getting ready for the grad. party this weekend. We have such a busy weekend! First a 30th bday party, then my son's party, then our good friends' son's party (also a friend of my son).

Calgon, take me away!!!!!!!!!!!!


p.s. too funny on the smoooching/lipstick comments from you ladies! and another comment - when I don't wear lipstick, people ask me if I feel ok. Yep, just no lipstick today. Some day I'm going to get them tinted!!

Ignoring the negative....

I have such a hard time finding lipstick. I can't live without it because my lips are really pale. Just when I find the perfect lipstick, it gets discontinued. My latest favorite (for the last couple of years) is Maybelline Forever Lip color in Mauvey. As soon as I saw they were getting rid of it, I stocked up on as many as I could. I'm now on my last one.

I've been on the hunt for a replacement with no luck so far. I've tried at least four and that gets expensive after a while. I hate throwing out a brand new tube. It's like taking a ten dollar bill and tossing it out the window.

Yesterday I made a quick trip to Walgreen's and I saw a new lipstick by L'oreal (Infallible in Gardenia). I thought I'd give it a shot because the color looked great beside my Maybelline. I tried it this morning and the color is perfect!!!!!!!! I sometimes like the long lasting and sometimes don't. This is one that has to be removed with make up remover. I'm very happy with my purchase though.

What kind of lipstick do you buy or do you even wear it? It's my one makeup I could not live without.

Well, believe it or not, this snow woman is still partially standing in JUNE!! It was close to 80 degrees when we were there on Saturday and I was shocked to see the mound of snow!

We met with an excavator to clean up and redesign our driveway in Maine.

For those who have asked, and I"m trying so hard not to be negative but.........house hunting is for the birds!!!!!!!!!! It's getting more depressing each day. Just when we think we may have one (yes, we found our very first the other day where the room sizes actually work), it falls out from under us. This one had small garage doors. Weird, I know. My Explorer would probably fit in if we turn the mirrors in. That is just too small. The house was a little more than we wanted to spend anyway.

We are back to the drawing board. I'm sure we'll be out looking this week but I will be really busy getting ready for my son's graduation party and also the lss garage sale next weekend.

Friday's Feast One Hundred Ninety Three

Appetizer

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?

I'm the ultimate optimist! Just a piece of info - I used to do accounting for the Optimist Club in MI.


Soup

What is your favorite color of ink to write with? I love medium blue.

Salad

How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?

I rarely get a pedi/mani though I love them. I love a french manicure and I can't do that myself. I paint my own nails but lately I haven't had time. I just love a pedicure, I just can't do it right now.

Main Course

Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it? I won some blog candy. It was scrapbook supplies!

Dessert

In which room in your house do you keep your home computer? We keep it in the basement family room.

A little bit of time...

I had some time to play last night. I finally finished these owl cards for upcoming male bdays. I'm trying to make two at the same time so that I have one for later. Most of the guys I'm sending to don't know each other and won't see the same cards! LOL They are for uncles, dad and brothers.













I made a quick thank you for my mom. She already gave my son his graduation card & check on the night of graduation. It's not my best work. I was tired and in a rush and the photo is cockeyed! But anyway....here it is. I have to come up with an easy design for the tons of cards I'll have to make after the party.

No crafting for me....

I have been sick as a dog. I have a major sinus infection. I was home sick for two days which is SO unlike me. I had no energy and a full head. You know I'm really sick when I can't even stamp! All I did was watch movies for two days.

The preimium cable channels didn't have a great selection but I caught a few on HBO. I watched Georgia, Rule which was good, Evan Almighty which was just ok, The Kite Runner (borrowed mom's dvd) which was great. I think there were a few more but I can't remember them.

The one thing about Kite Runner is I don't think I could have followed it if I hadn't read the book. I hated the subtitles because you couldn't read half of them (light colored text) and it took away from looking at the surroundings. It was pretty good though.

I hope to get back to semi-normal tonight. We may be looking at a house or two though.

Quick update....

We just got our first offer on the house. I'm very nervous. I have no place to go yet and they want to move fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not a full offer so we'll definitely counter on the $$ and the closing time.

So....it took two weeks on the market to get our first. I guess that's a great thing during these times. Now if we could only find something decent to move into....

Taking a DEEP breath here.

A BIG positive....

I just received the news that my son WILL graduate on Fri. We thought he'd be ok but I just didn't want to count on it until after finals.

Yay!!!! We will be having a long awaited party. It's been a tough four years....

p.s. I tried to upload the flying grad caps from the invitation but it wouldn't work.

Not liking the threes.....

They say things come in threes and I'm not liking it one bit. I have had the worst news on the health of people in my family & extended family in the last week. Makes me want to cry and also makes me very thankful for my health.

First was my uncle who has a terminal disease (ALS). Then was my aunt's sil with the big C. Last night my mom told me my SIL could possibly have MS or ALS. They are all way too young to die.

I also have a friend who is very sick.

I certainly hope that's the end of bad news. I'll try to be a positive blogger tomorrow.

Zipping through them....

I zipped through some cards last night because my time is short these days. I will post two I made for my mom but I made those a week ago. I always give her one from us and one from the boys. She likes blue - can you tell?! I used SU cs on both & SU designer papers on one. You can't really see the glittery flowers on the first one but ...
















I also cheated a bit. I copied the owl card I made a while back and made two other versions for upcoming birthdays - my brother and my dad (the owl and the moose).

Updates...

Well, I haven't been a very good blogger these days. I am just tired of repeating myself.

My house was shown a ton of times last weekend but I haven't had a phone call this week. It's really stressful each morning though. I have to make sure everything looks perfect and hope that when my son gets up, he makes the bed and doesn't leave stuff around. I'm wondering if it's weekend traffic only or there aren't many people out there that match my product. We'll see. Last Thurs. was the first day on the market and we had 4 showings.

I made a couple of cards last night. It's tough when the band is in the room next to me, now that I'm in the basement. Things were rolling off shelves in the closet due to the vibration.

Here's one I made for a new cyber friend. I don't want to post the other until the recipient receives it (sent to a fellow blogger/poster).

Ah, yuh....

We're back from Maine. It was a nice relaxing trip. We stayed at a nice Inn in a small village. We had a delicious meal in their dining room the first night. I had a macadamia nut encrusted scallop dish with apricot/mango salsa and it came with their yummy salad - field greens with red grapes, walnuts, bleu cheese and a maple vinegarette dressing. I was really bad and got their cheesecake. It had fresh raspberries on top. The second night we went down to the pub and enjoyed the entertainment and another great meal. Well..I got an app as a meal. It was a lobster artichoke cream cheese dip served with toast points. DELISH! The band was great!

Anyway, we drove around to see the sites. It's amazing how different Evans Notch looked. The last time we were there it was snowy and the roads were icy. This time it was all green with big puffy clouds.












We did see snow. First was the worlds tallest snow woman, Olympia. She was 122 feet tall but she's meellllltting....... and she's pretty ugly. Here's a photo.














Here's a view of Sunday River ski area:













Here's a suspension bridge we found. It's actually a snowmobile trail that goes from Maine on one side to New Hampshire on the other. It was kind of scary as it was windy and swaying but I made myself go across.

Heading up north.....

Just saying that makes me laugh. DH used to call our land "the Property" and I did a layout with the same title. He now refers to it as "Up North." When we are going through things in the house and are trying to decide whether or not to keep it, dh says, "We could always take it up north." I think I'll be hearing that a lot when we actually pack up for the move. We better build a huge place to fit all the junk!!LOL

So we are going up to Maine for an association meeting and to relax. We finally got into the Inn we've been wanting to stay at. It should be fun. I'll try to take some photos at Evan's Notch since my ds asked me to, and post when we get back. I took fall and winter photos and posted way back and maybe even some summer ones.

Hope everyone has a fun & safe Memorial Weekend!

Mixed emotions...

I was excited and nervous when I got two phone calls for showings on our first day. Got home and saw the For Sale sign and nearly cried. My dh said he was heartbroken when he got home and saw the sign and felt we may be doing the wrong thing. Then my oldest came for band practice and said it was really weird to see the sign when he drove up. Dh told him he was feeling bad about it and ds told him that new beginnings are good too. He can be so sweet!

Anyway, the house is sparkling for our showing this morning. Maybe we're counting our chickens before they hatch but I am really nervous about selling without a place to go. I want a full offer, but then again, I don't! I want to move so we can do our thing up north, but then again...I don't! We'll see what today brings.

** UPDATED: We are now up to 4 showings!!!