We put in a pet door so the girls can go in and out as they please. Unfortunately one problem is that they sometimes come in with sticks…
One problem with the pet door…
Category Archives: House & Home
She’s a food hound.
And if we didn’t watch her she’d be up on the table immediately.
I’ve graduated to the good tequila.
And boy does it make all the difference!
I blame David. He started it.
Today’s reading helper
And then Katie came home…
First nice day in my egg chair!
Exotic snack store attack!
I looooove chips. So I might have gone a little crazy at the local exotic snack store!
The last time I did something like this was probably over a year ago when Tom and I wandered into a Japanese grocery store and we bought a bunch of chips (and I think we only have one bag left—we just open a bag every now and again and do a taste test with Anna and David). So I dragged her along with me…
I know the flavors are probably hard to read, so I’ll share a few:
- Roasted Cumin Lamb Skewer
- Salted Egg
- Fried Crab
- Seaweed
- Sweet Basil
- Spicy Garlic
- Sichuan Pepper
- Wild Mushrooms and Sour Cream
- Creamy Forest Mushroom
- Green Onion
- Scallop Butter Garlic
- Salmon Chili Lime
Enjoying the beautiful day!
New fence door number 1!
Both fence doors are very much worse for the wear so when we saw a great deal on the metal frame, we picked up two. Tom ended up having to replace all the wood, but now it swings open soooo nicely! One down, one to go!
Yes, smoked Chex mix!
I recently saved this recipe so decided it was happening today since the smoker is already on for brisket!
And it was delicious! This is the recipe that gave me the idea but I didn’t follow it much. I used 2 sticks butter, Worcestershire, onion powder, minced garlic, and some random spices Tom uses when grilling or smoking!
First fire of the season!
Spring Break Day 2
Grannie surprised the kids with a longer golf cart drive…for Johnny Rockets for brunch — somewhere we ate on the cruise! They loved it! Grannie and I enjoyed adult shakes.
Then we walked around a little, Katie named two turtles in the bay, we got some souvenirs, and then went to another pool.
I had this exchange with the waitress:
Waitress: So that's a strawberry daiquiri.
Me: Margarita.
Waitress: Yes, daiquiri.
Me: Not daiquiri, margarita.
Waitress: Yes I know what you mean.
Aaaand it tasted like a daiquiri to me! (Not bad but…not a margarita!)
Back to the pool after dinner…
Unfortunately someone got a little too much sun…
Soooo happy to be able to wash my face tonight!
Spring Break Day 1
Welcome to creepy crawlies!
First practice session driving the golf cart! Grannie is brave!!!
Driving all of us to the pool!
My view today from the shade of a cabana at one of the “executive” pools.
Katie: I haven’t put sunscreen on in a long time. This feels weird to be doing it in March.
The kids immediately disappeared in the pool. Grannie was in the sun. The music was great. I read my Kindle and hit the adults-only hot tub — then ordered a frozen margarita!
Of course I was 100% in my element—so the kids didn’t want to stay too long. (I thought we’d be there all day like we are when we go to our pool…but we were only there like 1.5 hours!)
Dr. Pepper Strawberry taste test
Anna: I really like the Zero version. 4/5 stars
Jen: I am not a huge flavored pop fan but I give the regular version a 3/5.
Tom tried both and liked the Zero version better. 4/5
We have consensus that it needs vodka. 😂
They’ll take any sun.
It must be gremlins, then?
I discovered this mess today. No one claims it. Not even Owen, the only person in charge of emptying the dishwasher.
Magic Spoon cereal? Meh.
We wanted to try it after seeing tons of ads for it—we were intrigued. So we finally forked over $10 for a box and…meh.
As you can see — the bag is only half full. And it was a smaller box to start. The taste was okay — it definitely didn’t taste like the sugar cereals of our youth like they claim. That said, it wasn’t bad…but I wouldn’t waste your money on this unless you really REALLY specifically needed this type of product and just couldn’t live without cereal.
It looks nice but…
I realized we need more desk space, so now Tom is building an 11′ desk for the other wall!
Omg. Look what’s still up.
I just happened to be sitting on the couch (Nott my normal seat) add looked up. Oh. My. We were going to take them down at one point but got sidetracked. ..
Office Revamp Day 2
Katie wanted to help paint so we let her!
Office Revamp Day 1
We’ve been wanting to redo the office for awhile now…so we decided on this type of shelving. This was the dry fit stage fort the cleats and boxes that Tom built!
The office threw up.
Everything had to come out of the office so we could paint…so the front room is a disaster. We are amazed at how much we had crammed in there!
Tom has been building boxes for awhile now for the new wall of shelving for my business. This was the dry fit.
Like father like daughter?
Tom made the most delicious smoked T-bone steaks tonight…so gave the pups a treat. Ivy tore the hell out of it.
The office teardown begins!
Dry January is over!
I did it! A whole month with no alcohol! So as a reward, I got my own personal pitcher of Holy Water while celebrating Owen’s birthday a day early with friends!
When it’s cold and snowy…
If your Monday didn’t start by…
… having to clean vomited dog shit out of carpet, you’re ahead of me. And now look at how cute they are.
Amazing Christmas ornament craft!
I’m so excited about the Christmas ornament project I finally finished today (with moral support from Anna)!
INSPIRATION PHOTO:
I wanted to do this because we have soooo many ornaments that we don’t always get to use but I miss seeing. And I didn’t want a wreath because I had lots of big ornaments that wouldn’t have fit well around a wreath. (I used a deep mirrored tray.)
So the ornaments range from things I grew up with on my parent’s tree to handmade ornaments from both grandmas to mementos from family and vacations to favorite TV shows and hobbies and favorite things…and more!
I am soooo thrilled with how it turned out!
Second batch of Chex mix!
The kids missed giving gifts to their teachers since they had a snow day so they need to take them tomorrow! I had planned to give them some from the first batch but we ate it all. But loving my new oven!
I finished 80 books in 2022!
After not having really read in the past 20 years, I had wanted to read 12 this year. Needless to say I got sucked in and ended the year with 81: Goodreads Challenge 2022
What a beautiful evening sky
