Trading veggies for herbs!

We get a veggie and fruit box every other week and for the most part we like everything or will try it if it’s something new. This week had artichokes. I steamed two and Tom and I tried one for lunch…

and it wasn’t exciting for either of us…so I texted my neighbor to see if she’d want it—and she did! As we were chatting she mentioned she had lots of dill and asked if I wanted some. Yes, please!!

I hope our new neighbors like to trade!!

Dear Diary—2020 Edition

This is an amazing read, totally spot on, and absolutely hilarious. I didn’t write it, but I feel as though it sums it all up pretty well through around June 25th. What will the second half of 2020 bring…??

Dear Diary, (2020 Edition)

In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was totally put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the f— out, but then Netflix released Cheer and everyone fell in love with Jerry, but then there was a thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, shit hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its whole ass down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a shit on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King. (Carol totally killed her husband), and Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.

In April, parents all earned their teaching degrees and drank in the job. Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learn that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere, But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed earth.

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the south was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the civil war, and there is a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons….., but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a god given right (still haven’t found that part in the bible or even in the constitution), but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH. IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus, Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I’m like that is so not on my f-ing 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo’s worse ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an ebola outbreak that was the worse ever?

The new color of our floors!

So one of the perks of meeting the seller/owner was that she said “Hey, the floors are being refinished Monday. Would you guys want to pick the color?” UM, YES PLEASE!

So we scheduled a meeting with the floor guy and then thought about what color we wanted…I really thought a light gray would be great—it would really change the look and lighten things up a lot. (I’m so tired of everything feeling dark. I want everything light and bright.) Tom wasn’t sure at first but quickly came around and agreed. It will go perfectly with all the current paint colors and kitchen cabinets, etc.

He mixed some colors for us and these were our options (without making him do 32 varying shades). I had hoped for a bit lighter version, but A) I wasn’t taking the original wood color into consideration and B) when we added more white, it actually looked a bit more blue. We ended up picking the top middle. We can’t wait to see it finished!!

Just nine days until closing!

I wasn’t expecting to buy this today.

Tom and I innocently went to a local artisan shop today to get some ideas for the new house and one of the very last things we saw was this desk/hutch. We had actually been looking at desks for the kids rooms (since they’re bigger) and even a basic Ikea piece is like $100 (and not real wood). So I had a hard time passing this up. (Of course Tom could build something like this but he just doesn’t have the time.) So this will be Owen’s new desk… Something he can definitely grow into and something that we can paint over the years if we need to. Now we just have to go pick it up next week after we close!

Charlie finally saw the chipmunk.

This bird feeder has been up for about a year now but the cat hardly pays attention to it. Well, a chipmunk has started visiting and Charlie still hasn’t noticed it…so today I literally pulled her out of the bed and forced her head in the direction to see it. She wasn’t having it so it took much longer than I thought it would, but then she saw it. And she was intense. (I thought we might get some chirping but we didn’t.) Now I can’t wait to see if she looks out on her own…

Physically-distanced margaritas with my new friend!

So if you recall, the seller of our new house invited us over for drinks and a casual walk through. That was today. And it was epic.

Long story short, she’s amazing, the house is amazing, and we love it even more now!! We got along really well, we have a lot in common (to start, a love of margaritas and makeup!), and we are definitely going to be friends! How cool is that? The kids even wanted to stay the night!

Just 13 days until closing!!

I guess this is better than throwing a tantrum?

Owen has been asking and asking and asking for a specific iPhone game and we finally told him tonight that the answer was no (and explained allllll the reasons why). Of course he’s not happy so this is the note he handed me, telling me he wanted me to write him back.

Owen: I’m sorry about today and I’m a jerk and it feels like you’re being mean and you don’t want me to get Terraria.

Me: You aren’t a jerk. You’re a kid who didn’t get what he wanted. You’ll be okay. I love you. Love Mom

I feel like as your Margarita Queen, I have failed you.

You guys.

For legit YEARS I have been juicing limes for the freezer (because who can use a whole bag before they go bad?!) and then also freezing the rinds to put down the garbage disposal to freshen it up.

And then today. Today y’all. I had the mic drop moment. I was juicing limes from our local fruit and veg box (George Fourkas Produce Company) while also drinking a margarita and I thought why not use those frozen lime ends as ice cubes? 😱😱😱 No more watered down margaritas!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

You’re welcome.

I hate it when Alexa doesn’t listen.

Me: Alexa play XM channel 179.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play Sirius XM channel 179.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play XM channel one hundred seventy nine.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play XM channel 1-7-9.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play XM channel 179 stay at home.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play Sirius XM channel 179 stay at home.
Alexa: Playing Sports 971
Me: Alexa play stay at home on XM radio.
Alexa: Playing stay home radio

This is exactly how my whole day is going thus far. (Data point? I’ve been listening to this channel for a month using the same verbiage.)

Surprise! The kids saw their new back yard!

We went on yet another walk in our new neighborhood today and the homeowner was outside in the garage and we quickly debated introducing ourselves or not…and I said WHAT THE HELL and long story short she’s super awesome—she was excited to meet all of us, reiterated that she’s thrilled the house is going to a nice family, and she let us show the kids the back yard.

She also told us she was leaving two additional TVs (one in the wet bar and one in the gazebo), that we were welcome to start bringing stuff over to leave in the third garage bay, plus, after we exchanged numbers, invited us over for a house tour and a drink on the deck!

Both kids are super excited about the gazebo.

We also got to scout out the back yard again to see where we could put a small shed so that was good.

The kids took us to the river!

A neighbor took the kids on a bike ride to the river the other day and that’s ALL they can talk about. They went back a time or two by themselves and really wanted to show us (mostly so we’d let them go by themselves once we saw how they could get there without traveling on the main road)…so we finally agreed.

First you ride through the church parking lot. At the far back corner there’s a strip of grass that you ride across which connects to a dead end neighborhood cul-de-sac. Then you ride up to the front and hop a curb and ride on some grass untill you reach the sidewalk then take that until you reach the next street and then you ride all the way to the end in another cul-de-sac where there’s a…creek. River is exaggerating a bit.

It is pretty back there… Can you see the kids? They are on their favorite rocks. Owen calls one of them his thinking rock.

Underneath is more fun… traipsing through the water in their rain boots.

This is exactly the kind of place I’d have loved to explore and play at as a kid so I get the fascination. I just wish they’d found it before we were ready to move. They’ll just have to explore the new neighborhood…

Zoom comedy show!

Back when we lived in Troy (2008-2011), we met a super nice couple that we really enjoyed hanging out with. He eventually quit his job to become a standup comedian and he’s actually done quite well. We’ve been wanting to see him live for many years now but it just has never worked out. Well, he was participating in a zoom comedy show with some other comedians tonight so we got tickets and went!

This does not make a happy mama.

So….this is how Katie left the front porch (and driveway, too!) today while she’s off gallivanting around the neighborhood. After, you know, we’ve told them 2,638 times to PUT SHIT AWAY. So not only has their shit exploded inside the house these days (as we’re trying to organize and clean to move next month), but shit has now exploded onto my front porch.

They skip steps all the time. Never finish anything without prompting. Because they’re kids. But it’s just sooo frustrating because it seems like it’s all I’m ever saying! I wanted to throw all of this away but Tom intervened and sent Owen to bring her home. She apologized (but it won’t change anything) and then she “cleaned” it up by stacking it all up under the bench. Sigh,

And this is what the sink looks like after I told both kids to load the dishwasher. TWICE. After I’ve told them every single time when they load the dishwasher that they need to check the sink. But heaven forbid I didn’t follow behind them and watch them so they didn’t do it.

Oh oh oh! And this is what the living room always looks like because they pull all the pillows and blankets off. AND LEAVE THEM ON THE FLOOR.

It looks like mac and cheese to me.

So after my great success with the Neon Green Shimmer, I decided to do a look with the new Amped Up Orange. Aaaaaand welllllll it’s not so much neon as it looks like Kraft macaroni and cheese to me.

I tried to soften (hide) it with Cinnamon Shimmer and a Rustic Brown but then I didn’t want to lose the orange…but I think I could have gone a bit darker. That said, it’s not BAD…it’s just not as good as the neon green was. 😂 It definitely needs either some perking up with a bright color or muting with more dark colors.

But I think the Cocoa LipSense is spot on, and I love the little Chocolate Copper highlight in the middle of my lips.

What say you? Yes or no?

Look at me looking like a rock star!!

Soooo I kinda felt like a rock star today—I actually pulled off a Neon Green Shimmer look with fake lashes!!

I never in a million years would have paired neon green and smoked topaz so I’m glad my friend Joyanne was leading me because holy shitballs it turned out good.

But if I’m being honest…I’m torn between thinking it looks awesome…and then catching a glimpse in the mirror and doing a double-take and thinking I look like a clown. (I have been branching out but am mostly still into earth-tones!)

But bottom line… I’m thrilled with the look and I couldn’t be happier! And because I looked so dang good, here are the rest of the photos!!