Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it's another year to add to the age. It's been a good one so far, so I can't complain.

Thanks to everyone who called, emailed and left messages. I received them all. I promise to get back to you soon.

I picked up my parents this morning from the airport, and we've been going strong ever since.

Tomorrow we head to NYC! Frozen hot chocolate, here I come.

Try to hang on until I return.

Bom Bom Bom Bom

Man the Eastern Time Zone stinks, but at least it was a game worth staying up for, even if it means I've just shortened my much needed sleep by at least 2 hrs.

My gosh, I forgot the best part of Sat.

While we were at the gardens on Sat, we came across several frozen water puddles. They were fun for Lise' because she was able to stand on them.

Later on, we came across a fish pond that was partially frozen over. Just as the thought crossed my mind to warn Lise' that stepping on a pond is different than a puddle, she tried it herself.

She quickly found out that it wasn't frozen through, and her toes were nice and wet.

Catch Up

I know I didn't make time to post this weekend, so I'll make it up to you right now.

We woke up on Saturday morning, and it was finally a warm 50 degrees outside. The wind wasn't blowing, so we decided to get the girls out of the house. The one thing our exorbitant taxes pay for are great parks. I've never seen a park system so good, and Tuscaloosa was pretty nice.

Anyway, within 15 minutes in either direction, we have parks into the double digits,and on Saturday, we headed to Deep Cut Gardens and Tatum Park. Tatum park is 366 acres and has a playground and trails whereas Deep Cut is 56 acres of gardens and greenhouses. Both are beautiful, and we only explored a small portion of each.

Picnic Winter Style

Abri LOVES the backpack

Both love to swing, especially when Daddy clowns around.



A few from the trail




Deep Cut Gardens (our exploration was cut short by a trip to the bathroom)

This was a big growth of bamboo. It felt like a little fort inside.

And, the Pièce de résistance

Lise's first public poop! We're so proud, and know she'll kill us later on in life for this. Yeah for Lise'

Conspiracy Theory

As I told you in my last blog, I was going back to Linens N Things for a heated mattress pad for our guest bed. They had a large display in the back with the heated blankets and mattress pads. I had been there before, I had looked around, and I had checked the internet. They by far had the best prices, especially since I had my 20% off coupon in hand. But, this time I wanted a new pillow, so I had to go a few rows over. Low and behold, there was a hidden display of heated mattress pads made by the same company only $30 cheaper! I had the original one in hand. It was in a nicely marketed box, but the less expensive one was in a plastic zip bag. Both were the same size, the same output, the same coils, dual controls, etc. The only difference I could find was that the one in the box said up to 17" mattress and the other said 15". What a crock! Needless to say, I bought the less expensive one home, and sure enough, it was plenty big enough. I'm convinced they did that on purpose. The gig is up, and now you know. So, if you're in the market for one, don't be fooled by the pretty shiny box....there is the twin just around the corner. Buyer Beware.

Happiness

Happiness these days can be found in warmth. This new bedding was my favorite find in the after Christmas sales. One word, FLANNEL. I just love it. The entire set is FLANNEL! I know you can't see it, but under the new FLANNEL duvet cover is a down blanket. Under that are beautiful FLANNEL sheets trimmed in a lace pattern, and all this is on top of our new heated mattress pad. (which we were trying out for our guest bed, but like it so much it's staying on ours). Can you tell how excited I am about the FLANNEL? For now, it makes up for the less than great blinds in the window and the inconvenient closet in the same room.

As for future guests, don't worry, we're headed to Linens' N Things tomorrow.

Ah, the kitchen

I'm quite aware that I haven't let you in on much about our house. It's really because it's quite unremarkable. For the section of the country we're in and the price we paid, we feel it was a good deal. However, for the same amount of money, we could be living in a 6 bedroom brand new home in many of the other locations we've lived in. That being said, we're still going to try to make it our own with a few improvements, the first being the kitchen. You'll understand why in a minute.

Evidence #1

For 3 houses prior to this one, we had great kitchens. Each and every time we moved, someone was sure we would never find a kitchen as large as the last, but we did. That was until now. From the above pic, what you see is what you get. If you look closely, it's your average kitchen, but look closer. Do you see the drying rack on the counter? That is our full service dishwasher at the moment. Where's the dishwasher do you ask?

Evidence #2
Look closely, still not seeing it. Look first at the sink, then follow the counter around to the right, past the oven and then in the far right corner you'll see the edge of it. That's a full 5ft 7 inches from the sink. Who on earth would do that? By the time you wash the dishes off in the sink (which also has NO food disposal) who wants to drip them across the floor just to put them in the antiquated dishwasher. How antiquated you ask?

Check out the rotating top rack. I'm sure this was evolutionary when it was installed in 1960 whatever, but now, when you turn it on, it sounds like you're polishing the floor with and industrial machine. Needless to say, it was tried once, and dishes didn't exactly come clean.

One more pic, check out my walk in pantry. The girls were a big help getting it put up. It's located on the left wall,opposite the highly functional dishwasher.



On a completely different note, it's FREEZING outside. The wind howeled all night. It sounded like a tropical storm or something, and it's only 18 degrees outside. Send us warm thoughts.