Gangnam Style Delays Christmas Decorating

Yesterday, I was reading Facebook and I came across a friend who wrote,

 

"All Christmas presents bought, wrapped, bagged and tagged.  Now it's time to get the tree."

 

Seriously?!  

 

I almost puked.

 

I am wondering if she still has any Facebook friends left.

 

Okay, maybe I'm a little jealous.

 

I mean, I can still feel the belly ache from that "just a taste" of pumpkin pie.

 

My Thanksgiving mantel is still up, we haven't gotten our tree yet and our Christmas lights do not twinkle when I pull in the driveway at night.

 

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE the Christmas season and am just as eager as the next person to get my decorating up and my shopping done.

 

But there's something nice about taking it slowly ... enjoying each ritual.

 

I was feeling really good because I put together this little door decoration:

 

 

 

I found the ice skates at the Salvation Army over the summer and knew they would find their place in my Christmas decorating this year.

 

 

I wanted to decorate the door with something other than a wreath this year.  We are a little nervous that when winter weather really hits, those ice skates might bang against the glass and break it.

 

But our door is in serious need of being replaced anyway, so we decided to go ahead and take our chances.  If the glass gets broken, we'll just need a new door a bit sooner than we anticipated.

 

Maybe you think that's irresponsible. 

 

At first Jason did.

 

But when I came home after a day of thrifting, those skates were merrily hung on my door.

 

And Jason had a happy wife. 

 

I definitely hope the skates don't break the glass. I don't feel like buying a new door, but I sure am happy to see that little decoration when I pull in the driveway.

 

I'll be sure to keep you posted.



The only other Christmas festivities that have taken place in our house is that this little guy arrived with two gifts: one for Imani and Noah.

 

Good old Quinn returned from the North Pole with ornaments for Imani and Noah to hang on this year's tree.

 

Yes, we are THOSE people who have an Elf on the Shelf.  And YES, Imani "knows" but she's a girl who will always believe, which is one of the qualities I love most about her.  

 

 

So no, my presents aren't purchased or wrapped (I haven't even started yet),

 

my mantel is still set for Thanksgiving

 

And we don't have our tree(s).

 

I like to think it's because we like to gradually move into the Christmas season, but really it's probably because I sat around all weekend and watched Noah do his favorite dance to his favorite song, "Gangnam Style."

 

I love how he stops when the music stops.  He nails it every time.

 

 

 

 

 

What about you? Is your decorating done? Are your gifts wrapped?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faking our Foundation

Jason has hated our foundation since we moved into our house. It's never really bothered me but apparently, every time Jason went outside his OCD kicked in and he found himself staring at all of the imperfections.

We never really addressed our curb appeal. So far, nearly all of the work we've done in this little Cape has been interior work, except for the landscaping around our pool, which isn't looking too shabby if I do say so myself.

Anyway, you might remember that the front of our house looks like this

 

 

 

 

 

We have been stuck on what to do about those awful steps.

So we've done nothing.

I'd like a porch -   not really so I could sit out there because we have some very unsightly apartments across the street from us  -- but because:

A.) I think it would look nice

And

B.). I want to decorate a porch for all of the holidays.

 

I've got visions of pumpkins and hay for Halloween,

 

 

Source: google.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

white lights, a sled, and buckets of pine cones for Christmas

 

Source: blog.styleestate.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

Source: authentichomeblog.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

And rocking chairs for anytime

Source: flickr.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

But it's unlikely to happen because

A.) Jason doesn't want anymore building projects anytime soon. He values having the rest of his teeth

And


B.)  We just dropped a bunch of money on improving the unsightly foundation. To build a porch would be to cover Jason's beautiful foundation work.

 

So the steps remain.
 

But the foundation is getting a face lift. At the beginning of the summer we had a quote from some masons on how much it would cost to do stone veneer on our foundation.

 

After getting the quote, Jason decided to do it himself, even though he's never done stone veneer before.

 

So we placed our order at Lowes and a few weeks later, pallets of fake stone were dropped in our driveway.

And they sat there all summer while Jason finished the deck and we enjoyed ourselves doing all kinds of summery things.

 

Now that Fall is here, the pressure is on to get those fake stones up before the cold weather hits.

So Jason is busy at work. I've wanted to help, but having a one and a half year old running around doesn't exactly make helping easy.

 

 

The other added pressure is that Imani completed her summer reading challenge. (I'll explain in another post, but let's just say we have our part of the bargain to uphold).

We were worried it might look cheesy, but I'm loving the new look of the house. I can't wait to show it to you!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Wrap Up

I've been sick for more than a week but this weekend I was finally able to drag myself out of bed for a busy and fun weekend.

Friday night we had a cook out with a few friends.  Since I was just getting over being sick, Jason did all of the cooking because no one wanted to risk getting my germs.  He made my signature salad that we always have at barbecues. I'll be sure to post the recipe later this week because every time we make it, someone asks for the recipe.

Saturday was busy.  We have several home improvement projects in the works and we're gearing up to get moving on all of them at the same time.

We had a reunion with all of the couples from our birthing class, since all of the babies have turned one now.  It was fun to see everyone.  We gathered at the Ithaca Farmer's market, which is one of my favorite little excursions in the summer.

Saturday also brought us out to Newfield for Imani's annual solo at NYSSMA.

After the solo, we relaxed on the school's playground for a bit.

And since we were in Newfield, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and see Dick and Jane, although for the first time EVER, we didn't buy anything.

On our way back home we made a stop that is always part of every weekend.

I'm thankful my children know how to have fun no matter where they are because our stops at Lowe's are never as quick as Jason promises.

Saturday night we watched America Idol (we DVR it) and planned to see the super moon, but I took Benadryl Nighttime Cold and fell asleep far earlier than I care to admit.


Sunday we worked on our yard while Imani was at a birthday party.

The weekend also included:


playing catch


trips to Rite Aid (of course! and YES, it should be plural: TRIPS)


 making meals together


planting herbs


moving rocks


taking walks.



Hope your weekend was filled with lots of fun.



PS - I start a new job today! Wish me luck.

Learning to Plant

We've been busy here trying to get our landscaping under control.  In the past few years of fixing up this little Cape, we haven't even begun to address the yard until this year (unless you count putting mulch around trees).

Part of the problem is that neither Jason nor I really know what we're doing.  A couple of years ago we went out and bought a whole bunch of shrubs and plants in an effort to give our home a little more curb appeal.

Imagine our horror when we woke up and found nearly all of the plants had been eaten by the deer that roam our neighborhood.



We did learn that deer don't like peonies.

Or Irises

So this year, now that we have our pool fenced in, we figured we could plant some things that aren't deer resistant with the hope that the deer won't jump our small fence.

We enlisted the help of our friend Kelby, who once worked for his father's landscaping company.  Maybe you remember Kelby . . . he's the guy who knows how to do EVERYTHING and has helped teach Jason every step of the way in our remodeling our home. 

We owe him our next child.

Seriously.

Kelby helped us pick out plants and then showed us where we should plant them.  That, to me, is the hardest part of landscaping.  I know what plants I like but then when we plant them, they don't look right.  They look like a bunch of random plants stuck in the ground in no particular order.  I've discovered there is a real art to where and how to arrange plants. 

And we're still not good at it, so anyone with any advice . . . let us have it!

Anyway, Jason's been busy trying to get all of the plants in the ground around the pool and then filling the area with stone. I can't wait to show you all the work when it's finished.

In this quest for landscaping around our pool, we came up short on plants, even though we spent a small fortune . . . as in $1000 on plants . . .

So I did what any logical woman would do . . . I started asking friends for plants and I posted an ad on Freecycle.  (Do you have a freecycle.org where you live?  It's an AMAZING service!)

I've discovered that gardeners are some of the most generous people I've ever come across. I've been amazed by all of the plants people are willing to divide up and donate to our yard.

And although I'm getting a hodgepodge of plants and I have no idea how to arrange any of them, I like knowing that they came from someone else's hands, someone who cared enough to share them with us. They are an extension of strangers and friends whose soil nourished them from seedlings.

And now we will  plant them in our yard for the next journey of their lives and (hopefully) watch them thrive so that we can one day divide them and give life to other barren yards.

I'm still figuring out what must be planted within the fenced area of the pool, and what will be safe outside of the fence where the deer roam freely.

Other than landscaping, Jason is still busy clipping coupons.  For those of you who thought the baby would slow him down, you were incredibly wrong.    I received a text today from Jason that said,
"I figured out the Rite Aid deal and we can get all that stuff for -$3.51!"


Nope, Baby Noah hasn't slowed the Coupon Cowboy down not one little bit.  Can you say name brand diapers for next to nothing?

I have been busy trying to get back into shape and I'm happy to say that my battle with the treadmill has been paying off.  I fit into my skinny jeans again!  Enough said.

Imani has been busy planning a benefit concert for a dear friend's brother who was diagnosed with cancer.  Although Imani's never met our friend's brother (they live on the West Coast), his battle with cancer has touched Imani's young heart so she has been busily preparing flyers, a program and working out other details for her violin concert this Saturday.  I'll post more about that later.

And Noah?  He's busy doing what babies do:  soaking up all that is around him and winning everyone over with his precious smile. 

I Couldn't Take the Heat

Let's face it, we had a beautiful summer in Upstate New York this year, and we deserved it, given all of the rain we got last year.

But there was a huge heat spell that we Northerners just aren't used to!  I was miserable for several days.  I hated the stickiness. I hated showering and getting ready for work in a hot bathroom.  Blow drying my hair was torture.  Sleeping was nearly impossible in our sauna of an upstairs Cape.

I broke down and called Sears.  Within two days they were at my house and within a week, I had one of these.

I had friends tell me I was crazy to spend money on air conditioning, since we only have a couple of hot months a year, but I don't regret one penny spent on central air.  It brought comfort to me and my family and there were no more days showering and blow drying my hair only to feel sweaty after getting dressed.

But that's not all. 

When I tell you I couldn't take the heat . . . I mean I REALLY couldn't take the heat.  About a week after we got air conditioning, we made a little trip to make a BIG purchase. 

This big purchase sucked up most of our summer, not to mention all of our savings.

And it's still not finished.

When we bought our house, we started out with a backyard that was overgrown with shrubs and several towering pine trees.  Stop reading here if you consider yourself an environmentalist who cannot handle the removal of trees.

I always try to make eco-conscious decisions, but when we bought our house, we didn't have much of a backyard and the pines were wrecking our roof.  They had to go. 

We own an acre and we did leave some trees for privacy and we have intentions of planting more visually appealing trees in the future.

Once we cleared some of our backyard, we planted grass seed and enjoyed our new backyard for one year.  Yes, I said ONE year.

And then this summer I couldn't take the heat.  So one day when I was on a business trip the digging began.

And when I came home, our purchase was in our backyard.

The rest of the summer would be spent hiring electricians, backfilling around the pool, and hiring a person to do stamped concrete.

We still don't have the landscaping finished and we haven't gotten the fence but I have to tell you . . . this is another purchase I don't regret, even for one second.

We bought  a salt water system, which I hadn't heard of before, but which I've totally come to love. It doesn't have a salty taste like the ocean, but more like the consitency of tears.  It's soft and makes your skin and hair feel great once you get out of the pool.  The best part, is there is no adding chemicals to the pool because the salt water system creates its own chlorine with a nifty little computer that makes everything super easy.

We also got a heater.  This was a considerable expense, but again it's something I don't regret.  Imani and Jason have been swimming right up until a couple of weeks ago when we finally shut the heater off.  We figured that since our summer is so short, we might as well extend it by a couple of months so that we could use the pool.

We're quite happy with the way the stamped concrete turned out, along with the coped edge. 

I know that adding a pool to your backyard does not increase the value of your home but Jason and I saw it as a purchase that would welcome family and friends. 

We saw it as something that would allow us to feel like we're on vacation even though we're in our backyard. 

And we saw it as something that would keep our daughter and her friends playing at our house (at least for a few more years). 

I even enjoy just looking at it.

Here's what I see when I look out of my upstairs bathroom in the morning when I get ready for work.  It is a nice reminder of why I choose to keep working at my job.

I have big plans to get small waterfall next summer, but I'm not convinced Jason is sold on the idea yet.  See that white pipe sticking straight up out of the side of the pool?  That's where a waterfall is all set to go . . . if I can convince Jason that it's worth the money.

We'll see.  We still have to get a fence and complete the landscaping.  Oh, and we hope to extend our deck too but we'll need to start rebuilding our savings. 

Like I said, it was a huge expense and a huge amount of work (mostly for my wonderful husband) . . . but hey . . . we managed to stay cool for the rest of the summer. 

And I'm already planning our first pool party.