Happy 45th Tom!

Tom got a half day off work so we celebrated his birthday in style at our first local Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant: The Shanty. I started with Pineapple Sangria…

Then we tried one of the dishes they showcased on the show: Whiskey Shrimp. It was delish.

 

And another dish they profiled in DD&D: Blackened Conch Filet. Super yummy.

 
  

And a free birthday dessert!

 

Then we went to check out the Costco in Wisconsin—just a few miles away! 

Last campfire before school

We wanted to have a fire with Papa and Grannie but needed some firewood so we actually found some free on NextDoor… Yay!

The kids caught a few lightning bugs (it’s in there, trust me).

After we made s’mores we got the fire going a bit crazy. 

The kids finally settled down and were cuddling of their own free will. 

Then they were trying to read by bug light. 

Facebook, friends, and scallops—oh my!

I had a major kitchen crisis (nothing fits anywhere and I was losing my mind) and jokingly asked on Facebook if anyone wanted to come help me figure it out…

And Jami volunteered! And then was serious! (She lives about 1:30 away so it wasn’t completely insane.)

She’s an amaaaaazing cook and has bragged about her perfect scallops so, since I LOVE SCALLOPS, she brought them to teach me how to do it! So I learned how to make perfect scallops with a saffron wine sauce on fresh spinach Fettuccini. It was divine!! Of course, she also brought snacks and wine…and a cast iron pan and avocado cooking oil and cream because my kitchen isn’t up to par yet.

They were so beautiful they really deserve a full-size shot:

She had brought cookies to Owen and Katie. When she handed them out, age called them by name. Katie asked how she knew her name and I said she knew her from the day she was born. (I had told the kids previously that Jami was from the same group of friends as Uncle Eddy, Aunt Sheryl, Miss Nancy, and the whole group of people that came to our house a few times). 

Owen waited on his cookie, but Katie was all in. 



Owen being silly after tasting other desserts.


Then we played with makeup a bit, did an unplanned Facebook Live video, she bought two new lip colors and a blush, and we drank wine.

I had to get creative since we forgot to keep it chilled. Yes, that plastic ice cube is from a boo-boo bunny. 


Oh yes, we did also get some kitchen stuff figured out (also with Linda’s help).

Dinner, wine, and s’mores with the neighbors. 

Our two next door neighbors could not be more welcoming. Aside from letting our kids play together all the time, this happened tonight…

Stacey came to collect her kids and I happened to mention that Tom was gone so I was ready to pop the wine and she said her husband was going to be really late so we should do a patio dinner. Yes, please! She would do hot dogs and pizza sticks and I’d bring wine and fruit. She even had frozen peaches for the wine! The middle neighbor, Ines, joined us and felt guilty for not bringing anything, so she offered s’mores at their house after! Yes, please!!

And this is why we can’t seem to make progress.

Apparently they never put anything heavier than Kleenex on the hall closet shelves. All I’m putting on them is regular hall closet stuff like shampoos, lotions, cleaning products, wipes, towels, etc. 😣 THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T GET ANYTHING DONE. We have to keep stopping to fix shit. (And in this case I have to have Tom fix it and he’s obviously working and has a huge list of other stuff to get to that’s more important…) So now it looks worse then it did in the last photo because I had to take everything off two whole shelves. 

Sigh. 

 

This is how unpacking goes. 

I start working on the upstairs hallway closet which leads me to take stuff to our MBA which leads me to put stuff away in the kids bath which then leads me to see Owen’s room needs attention where I find a box of guest room bedding so now I’m working on the guest room and the hall closet looks like this. It feels like I’m spinning my wheels. 

 

A list of things to even out my karma, Illinois edition.

So back in July 2014, I compiled a list of things I liked about our new house to hopefully counteract all the bitching I’d done about it. Well, it’s time for another list.

  1. We live just about equidistant from both sets of grandparents. 
  2. The house is on a flat street. 
  3. The house has a flat yard. 
  4. We have a nice green lawn. 
  5. We have a decent size back yard. 
  6. We have a good place for our patio set. 
  7. We have a good place for our picnic table. 
  8. We have kids living next door and next next door and around the corner. 
  9. We have great neighbors—with kids our kids like. 
  10. The bus stop is three houses down. 
  11. We live near two cul-de-sacs and one dead end which are great for bike riding. 
  12. There’s a small playground a short bike ride from home. 
  13. We met our landlord and he’s really nice. He told us he has learned “to make his renters happy.”
  14. Our landlord said he’d give us his pool passes to use the rest of the summer. 
  15. The landlord put in a brand new insulated garage door (because we said the old one was falling apart).
  16. The garage door is wifi-connected. 
  17. The landlord will be putting new hardwood floors in the kitchen because of the failing grout and his unhappiness with the overall look. 
  18. We live less than a mile from both kids’ schools. 
  19. We live about three miles from a big city water park.
  20. We live three miles from a huge mall and pretty much any basic store we’d want (Target, Lowe’s, Marshall’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.). 
  21. We have granite countertops in the kitchen and master bath. 
  22. We have a great gas stove with a center burner. 
  23. We have a good dishwasher that actually dries dishes. 
  24. I finally have an undermount kitchen sink!
  25. Our sectional couch fits in one of our living rooms (so it’s no longer relegated to the basement).
  26. The A/C works well. 
  27. There is a big storage room in the basement. 
  28. The kids will love the pool table the landlords left. 
  29. Katie gets a pink room (it was pink for the owner’s daughter).
  30. Most of the house is freshly repainted. 
  31. There is so much natural light everywhere that we generally don’t have to turn on lights until it gets really dark. 
  32. There are windows in the master bathroom. 
  33. There are windows in the laundry room. 
  34. There’s a window over the sink which overlooks the back yard. 
  35. There is a wood-burning fireplace. 
  36. The household wifi seems to be really good.
  37. We have a covered porch. 
  38. We have room for guests to park in the driveway and on the street (just not overnight).
  39. Sixty miles of bike trails nearby. 
  40. Located by many sporting events (professional and college). [Note: that one is from Tom—it isn’t a big deal for me!]