hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Yes, @baymule I have to keep reminding the BF of that!
Yesterday 2 of my friends came over that I met when we all took an animal reiki workshop together. We've become really close and supportive of each other, and so they came over to celebrate the house and to help me smudge the place really good. We had so much fun, and the place still smells like sage, LOL. One of the gals is an interior decorator by trade, and so we talked over paint colors and ideas for the living room. I have some things to work with now, and so I need to go buy some samples to see what I like.

Yesterday the BF got to come home for a little while, which was awesome. How he backs his tractor trailer into the street I have no idea, but he does. I don't think I want to know, either, frankly. I worry that someone is going to hit him because they aren't paying attention and come flying down the road. But I guess that could happen anywhere he goes because he often has to back into and out of places that are tight. He is a great driver and can do it, I just worry about all the other crazies on the road!

I got some of my pictures hung, finally, yesterday, which made me feel great. I want to get more of that done this weekend, along with painting the living room. Then we can finally put up a tree. Better late than never Since we're having a party on the 6th I'll at least get to enjoy it for a few weeks. I'm sure in that time frame the cats will try to destroy it, so we'll see how THAT goes.

It ended up being a late evening and a pizza in the oven instead of the stew that I planned. I'm just proud of us that we have not eaten out since lunch on Saturday this past week. We've planned all our meals, and even yesterday I had leftover soup that the BF could eat for lunch. That's a big accomplishment for us!

Yesterday I also stopped at Joann's and spent WAY too much time in the store looking over things. I did find the end of a bolt of the original fabric I had for the valences in the office, so I picked up more of that just to have in case I decide to rework those. I also got a wreath for the front door, and a hanger for that, plus the felt I needed to put underneath the super heavy box that the BF made me to store my oils in so that it can sit on top of one of the other pieces of furniture that I have. The wreath was hilarious, I found one I liked that was a bit different and sent the BF a picture, and he replied that it looked like it was made of spinach. Ok, guess that one is out! So then I sent him pictures of like 5 other wreaths and he picked out his favorite 2, so then I got the one I liked and picked up some ribbon to make a bow with. I got it all home and set it up on the door, and it looks awesome. I've got to figure out how to get a photo without too much glare on the storm door so you can see it. I tried taking a picture with the door open from inside the house, but there was too much shadow. I'll have to try again tomorrow and see if I can get a better image. It turned out super cute.

So not much has really happened in the bigger picture. I've done a lot of little shuffling around, but nothing major. I really need to dive in and get more things sorted so they can be put away, because I'm just so tired of living with boxes. We've gotten a huge amount done, but I want to be finished with that part of things! I'm ready for it! I'm hoping this weekend we can get a lot done. We've got to get the basement presentable to the cats, and then get them down there so that we can finish spackling, and sand, and then paint the living room and hallway. I don't want them upstairs for any of that or it could be a disaster for them and the house!

The BF was late getting off work yesterday, but his boss told him he'd try to get him off at a better hour today. I told him I'd rather have him off at a better hour tomorrow because I'll be home! Today I'm in the office and we're having a holiday party after our meeting this afternoon, so I know I'll be late getting home. It's extra hours for me though so that's ok, even if it is going to take me about an hour to get all the way back up to our end of town.

I got some texts from the girls in the barn, and the gal that feeds on Friday and Sunday needed help on Friday, so I'm going to cover for her on Friday and she's going to cover for me on Sunday. That's a relief because I couldn't figure out how I was going to go to the family dinner and go to take care of the horses. I guess it gives me less of an excuse to get out of going to midnight mass, but we'll see. I really don't want to go because I don't want to be dead tired on Christmas morning when I have to get up and go take care of the horses before we go to his family's house for christmas celebrations. I would really like to relax on Christmas day but I don't really see that happening all that much.

Hopefully next week will be a little slower and I can get more stuff done again. Then we'll have another 3 day weekend to get things ready for the party. That's part of the reason I'm not all that stressed about it, even though the BF is rather worried. We have plenty of time to get things presentable, and our friends aren't going to care if it isn't perfect. We've done so much, and it's already looking great. There really isn't that much left to take care of at this point. I'm slowly getting excited!

 

[baymule]

Nothing says home like a party with friends. You are right, they won't care much if things aren't perfect, they know what you've been through to have that home. A party is the perfect celebration for a new home!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Moving right along. It takes a while to get things where you want them. Bay is right - party on --- friends won't care if it's perfect yet!

 

[Denim Deb]

Were you ever able to get a shower?

 

[hqueen13]

LOL @Denim Deb yes, finally He fixed it for me the next night, and we found the right kind of rubber stopper for the tub. The tub isn't THAT bad, it's just narrow. It's deep enough, just skinny, and the back is fairly upright. So if I ignore those things it's not half bad, LOL.

I hope yall had a great Christmas!!!! I love yall lots, and am so glad we have each other on here!

We had a good Christmas, it was just WAY busier than I wanted. We got a lot done on Saturday and Sunday before the holiday. Sunday evening we went to his cousin's house, which was nice. He ended up not feeling well, so we left (which thankfully, got us out of church at least!). Right before we were leaving I was standing in the kitchen and noticed that his cousin put the ham bone into a grocery bag and was about to put it into the trash. I was like NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I probably reacted a little more suddenly than I should have, but I couldn't believe she was about to throw away that much food, much less the HAM BONE! She happily said that I could have it, so I began ripping chunks off the bone to get it to fit into a bag, Christmas jacket or not! It took 2 ziplocks to get it all in, but it's not happily waiting in my freezer for me to have the time to deal with it. There's enough ham there to make a couple of dishes before I cook the bone for soup, so I'm super grateful for that.

Monday morning I had to take care of the horses, and I woke up at 6 and heard the wind and figured I'd better head out. Got to the barn and got the feeding started, and started taking them out, and everybody was a little goofy. Storm spooked on me and danced around, but he was ok otherwise. Puffy decided to bolt off in the gate, which was NOT cool, and with the gloves I had on I couldn't hold onto her. It was slick with mud because it hadn't completely frozen the night before, so I didn't want to wrestle with her, nor did I have the patience to school her on Christmas morning. Bella was ok, she just tossed her head half way to her pasture. She was very polite in the gate, though, so that was a relief. I took care of the stall and swept out the barn and then headed home. It was nice to have a little quiet barn time to myself before I had to go dive into the craziness.

I got home about 8:30 and so we opened presents together, and then were just relaxing when his mom called and was like "Are yall still coming for breakfast???" Last year's breakfast wasn't ready until 10:30 and we sat around waiting on them, so I wasn't going to do that again. So we were just chilling in OUR house when she called. So we changed clothes and headed down to their house, and ate breakfast, they had put it in the oven to stay warm for us. Then we sat around for over 40 minutes waiting on his dad to come so we could open presents. The sitting around and waiting on them was what I was trying to avoid, but I don't think his dad knows how to do anything efficiently (which drives my uber efficient ocd up the wall).

They are too generous with us, and gave us all kinds of really nice things. His mom got everybody really plush blankets, and she found one with foxes on it for me, so that was super fun. She also got me a salt lamp, which is pretty awesome because I didn't ask anyone for one, but I had been thinking that I would like to have another one, and she knew that I had one already. When I opened it, she said "I know you have one, but I thought you might like to have another one!" I was like, Yes I do! She also gave us an electric broom vacuum, which is something else I had been thinking about be nice but hadn't explored buying. She gave me a gift card to a department store, and a couple other small things, which was really nice. She really goes all out every year, and she really doesn't have to.

So we sat around, because his dad was still opening presents, and then we finally started getting organized to leave. We had to be at his aunt and uncle's house at 2, and we managed to get out the door in time, but everyone else took their good ol sweet time. It was a nice time there, until his aunt announced that she had a game planned for everyone. She had arranged a white elephant/chinese gift exchange for the whole family. She did everything her self, all the purchasing and all of it. We guessed after everything was opened that she must have spent somewhere between $300 and $400 on all of it. She is so generous. There were some funny moments, and some silly moments, but I still don't like doing those things because there is always someone in the group that ends up getting the short end of the stick. We got nice things but had even nicer ones and they switched the rules on us in the middle of the game. They switched the rules twice, and the BF's brother's girlfriend also kinda got screwed as well. So it goes. We finally left way way way later than we wanted to, and didn't get home until 8:00. I was a little upset that I hadn't had any time to talk to my family at all that day. My mom was a bit irritated at that as well. I really don't think we're going to go to the second house next year. It's just way too much for me, and I want to spend time in MY home with MY boyfriend and just us. I don't want to celebrate for the entire day bouncing from house to house to house. It's just not my style.

Tuesday I did a little bit in the house before I headed into the office for a few hours. I finished up there and went over to take care of the horses in the barn again. The BF got off a bit before I did, so he grabbed the potatoes we needed for dinner, and got that started so it was almost ready when I got home. That was a relief!

Yesterday I stayed home ALL DAY, which was awesome. I didn't even go outside, other than to empty the vacuum canister! LOL. It was COLD here yesterday, and is worse today. I don't think we broke 30 yesterday. Today I don't think we're going to hit 25. Yesterday I managed to get 2 loads of laundry done, got a lot more things organized, made up another test paint swatch for the paint we are trying to decide on for the living room, put up some christmas lights in the basement, straightened up a little more of the pantry shelves in the basement, got the rest of the books set on the shelves in the living room, got some more of the clothes organized in the closet, emptied the dishwasher, and vacuumed a little bit. I was TIRED by the end of the day! And then I made soup for dinner! I'm glad to be in the office today to take a break! LOL

This weekend I really want to get the paint DONE in the living room and keep organizing and getting things put away. I think we'll be easily ready for the party next Saturday. I need to figure out a food list and decide what we're having. I know I'm going to do a crock pot of mulled wine and a crock pot of cider. The BF's mom is bringing a "spinach tree" thing that I found the recipe for on facebook, it's super easy and really good and looks cute. I have to figure what else to do that will be easy and be ok sitting for a while.

Other than that, not much else is happening. I need to take care of some more pictures on the wall, and get some more things put away, but we're getting there, slowly but surely!

 

[sumi]

Sounds like you had a good Christmas, if a bit crazy! It's lovely to hear about you getting settled and nesting in your new house. I'm so glad things came together for you two there

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Perpetual motion, huh? Glad you had a good one - even if it was hectic!

I hope yall had a great Christmas!!!! I love yall lots, and am so glad we have each other on here!

Ditto!!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm w/you. I always hated to run all over creation for any holiday. Now, my parents come to my house for Christmas. Hubby's parents are both gone. My son has moved too far away to come for Christmas. My DD and her hubby came, but I also would not have been upset if they hadn't come.

They had been living w/his parents since they got married. He's in the air national guard, and had all kinds of training he was doing right after they got married, so it was easier for them to live there-until his parents started to drive them nuts! They just got their own apartment, and it's over an hour drive. If they had just wanted to stay home, while I would have been disappointed, I would have understood.

 

[baymule]

We drove 3 hours to my sister's, spent 2 nights. Our Christmas is the gathering of the family. We have a White Elephant Christmas, everybody brings a gift, we draw numbers. #1 goes first, picks a present and opens it. #2 can either pick a new present or steal #1's present. On the 3rd steal, the present can not be stolen any more. If #4's present is stolen, he/she can either choose a new present or steal one. If your present is stolen, you cannot immediately steal it back, go steal someone else's. Once everyone has opened/stolen a present, #1 gets the pick of any present to steal or keeps what he/she already has. It is a LOT of fun!

We all pound the little kids with presents, it is a blast watching the little kids open their presents.

 

[hqueen13]

Aww sounds like everybody had a great holiday!
New years was uneventful, which is exactly how I wanted it. We attempted to get the paint settled on Friday and started painting on Saturday, but the BF didn't like it. I was so frustrated! I really just wanted to get the room back together since it had been a mess since Friday night. The cats were locked in the basement, and not happy about it, and the room was unusable with all the furniture in the middle of the room. Finally on Saturday we found the combination that we liked. Saturday evening I got one wall painted as a test, and he was happy with it, that was that. Of course it cost me a lot more because we had to buy more paint. Though I will say that Lowe's will even take paint back. I was really surprised but they did.

So Sunday we worked on that, but then I had to head to the barn to take care of everybody. That took me a lot longer than I wanted to, so that blew about 3.5 hours of my afternoon/evening that I could have been doing other stuff. It was a very uneventful new years eve for sure. We tried to keep working, and ended up in bed later than I wanted, but we weren't able to get as much done as I hoped.

Monday morning I had to go back to the barn again. I managed to get there just after 8 (so nice driving on the roads with no one else!), and didn't leave until 11. 2.5 HOURS and all I had to do was feed and turnout 5 horses, and then muck 1 stall. The hacking ice out of the troughs and refilling them was the problem. It took FOREVER. I forgot to mention that it was 6 degrees when I left the house, and it had been 4 overnight at the barn. So yeah everything was frozen solid. After I got finished in the barn I had to head to 2 other places to take care of animals, and so I didn't get home until noon. I was NOT happy about having HALF of my day wasted in the barn. Especially since I'm not getting paid for that 2.5 hours. I'm contributing to my board. I wouldn't mind so much if it was only an hour or so every time I'm there, but this is crazy.

The BF had been wonderful while I was gone and continued to keep painting. He got the under coat done on all the walls, and then started doing the double roller technique on the living room walls that hadn't been done. After we ate lunch, I finished cutting in the hallway, and then he got started rolling with the double roller, and I cut in on the new stuff with the double colors.

I seriously can't do anything simple. I had this awesome double roller from a company called Wall Magic. Apparently they don't really make them anymore, so I had to buy a sponge roller and cut it in half. Worked like a charm. So the double roller technique uses a light paint and a dark paint. The paint tray is divided in half, and you pour the dark on one side and the light on the other. Then you use the double roller and literally roll both colors onto the wall at the same time. We chose a pale yellow and a cream color. We rolled those over a deeper yellow (the BF swears it is peach, but it's way too yellow for peach...). Normally you don't do a 3rd color underneath, but since we had already started, and I liked the depth the deeper yellow added AND we had the partial gallon, we just went with it. So yeah, it took 1 coat of the dark yellow, then a coat of the double colors, and each one had to be cut in. Cutting in around the edges isn't so bad on the regular walls, but painting the radiators was a b!tch!!!!!! It took me FOREVER. I FINALLY finished doing all of that about 5:30 on Monday evening. It looks fantastic, but man did it take forever (of course the wishy washy in the beginning didn't help at all... we could have been done easily on Sunday if we hadn't had to keep changing things!). We pulled the tape off the living room and got the curtains hung back up (dang cold window, I was NOT please not having them hung for that many days!). The colors look great with the curtains, too, which we never checked, so that made me happy. We got the floor vacuumed, and the furniture put back into place again. What a relief! I still had to run back out to the 2 farms, I was starving, and the BF decided he wanted to add a light fixture in the downstairs bathroom, so we had to go back to the store anyway. Lowe's closed early, so we headed down to Home Depot, and then grabbed dinner on the way before stopping at the farms to check in on the animals and feed the cats. We got home and he futzed with the light while I pulled the tape off the hallway walls. We finally crashed into bed!

This morning I got up and made breakfast, and then futzed around a bit. I got the laundry folded from the weekend (at least it got washed!), and then put away the BF's clothes that hadn't managed to make it into the closet since we moved. I also got the rest of his summer stuff packed and into his trunk and put that into the closet. One less thing to do later! I hung a set of 3 pictures in the living room and they look terrific! They are staying on the wall right there because they were so difficult to get on the wall that I'm not moving them! Hopefully the BF can take a few minutes and help me hang my big pictures over the couch when I get home tonight (after more barn chores, so we'll see how long it takes tonight...)

So tomorrow I need to go to the grocery store and to BJ's to get food for the party. Then I need to come home and CLEANNNNNNN. We haven't done much cleaning because we've been working on all the other things. I hope that the BF will have time tonight to get some things into the attic so that I can get into the guest bedroom again, you haven't been able to walk in there lately due to the pile waiting to go into the attic and the rack holding the drying curtains... It's been terrible!

So on my to do list:
Grocery shop for the party (probably means BJ's and Aldi, maybe the regular store, too) (need to remember to get 2 bottles of red wine to mull for the party, too!)
Clean up/organize the office
Clean up the guest room (check to see if there is room to hang coats in the closet in there during the party)
Straighten up the bedroom
Put the rack in the basement, get the canning stuff emptied out of the tub and put away on the rack
Clean out the small freezer to get it ready to sell
Organize basement a little better
Vacuum basement & stairs
Clean basement bathroom
Paint basement bathroom (That's the BF's idea.... I'm gonna let him do that one!)
Wash sheets & towels
Clean bathroom
Make cookies for the party

So it looks like a lot, but I really don't think it will be that bad. I have the whole day to myself tomorrow (other than swinging down to take care of the really easy horses twice), and Friday after yoga class I'll have the rest of the day to myself (other horses, too, of course). I'll probably run down and take care of the horses in the morning and then go to Aldi and BJ's, and then stop again if I need to make one more stop at the store. Between Aldi and BJ's I should be good, though. Oh, and I'm going to make Chex Mix. To me the stuff you get in the bag just isn't as good as when it's home made!

So that's my week cut out for me! I hope the horses are easy to deal with tonight and I can get chores done quick. I have 3 stalls to do, and get water buckets filled and then bring everybody in. Plus stopping at my friend's place for her easy horses (mostly just check their water in the evening). I really don't want to be out too crazy late. We'll see I guess.