The Week In Review

I know, I know, I'm behind on my posting. VBS is in full swing and I get home pretty tired, and then I have things to get done here so it's hard to find a moment to sit down without quickly dozing off.

We had Kuzco for the whole week. He was one spoiled puppy! I told my daughter that while he missed them, he would miss my yard a lot more. He was outside several times a day running, playing fetch, and having a good ole time. I enjoyed having him around but was also glad once he left because all those trips outside meant lots of dirt being brought inside. He got picked up late Friday afternoon and I spent Saturday vacuuming and steam cleaning everything. 

My son E has had a cold all week and dog dander didn't help. He's still not feeling his best but thankfully he's doing better.  I took him to the Minute Clinic last Friday because I was concerned he might have asthma but his oxygen levels were normal. He just needs lots of rest; not the easiest thing when he's also got schoolwork (he's doing summer classes this semester).

We got the first tropical storm scare last week. TS Elsa looked like she was gonna come barreling through Central Florida as a category 1 hurricane, but ultimately she lost steam and headed just north of us. We got plenty of rain, though, which meant I had to mow the yard again. I'd only just mowed the week before, but the mix of rain and sunshine energizes the grass. Thankfully I was able to finish it in less time with the help of a second battery for the mower.

This year's VBS theme is Destination Dig. I got an idea from one of the girls from my old church: a photo-op frame in the shape of a jeep. Whenever I saw the picture on Facebook I said, I have got to make one! So I did.

It turned out super cute! It's up as decor in the room for now but we'll use it for pictures later in the week. It was a mission trying to get this made with a puppy underfoot! He followed me around everywhere like my shadow. But I'm so pleased with how it turned out and glad I was able to contribute some decor to the room.

That was it for last week. Like I said, this week has been very busy and we're only halfway done. Next week rest? Hmm, we'll have to see. Have a blessed week y'all.

The Week In Review

Happy Monday after Independence Day! It was nice to see everyone out setting off fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July, though not quite as happy about the noise - more on that later.

I spent the week mowing the lawn. That's not an exaggeration. I was out doing some part of the yard every. single. day. Whenever we first moved into this house, the lawn was in really bad shape. There were lots of dry patches and areas where the dogs had dug up the lawn and it looked rough.

This was just off the patio. It looked like this in several areas throughout the front and back yard. I didn't know if I was gonna have to buy sod to take care of these spots, but I decided to wait till the rainy season started. Good thing I did.

This is the same spot as above. With all the rain and no dogs, it's like the grass got energized and has started growing with a vengeance. There are still dry spots but in just two months it has improved dramatically. 

All the rain has also meant the grass grows very quickly. Whenever I started cutting the grass, I didn't cut it too low because it was hot, sunny, and dry. I didn't want the roots to dry out so set the mower pretty high. Once the rains started I began cutting the grass lower and lower but it was a mission! I finally caved and bought a second battery so that I could get more done and not have to mow the lawn daily. Friday I was done, just in time for a visit from my grand-dog Kuzco. My daughter and son-in-law are on vacation so they dropped him off Friday evening for a week with grandma. He's been enjoying the backyard, running and playing and getting plenty of exercise whenever it isn't raining.

Speaking of raining, there's a tropical storm headed our way. TS Elsa has moved over slightly to the west, which means we're technically out of the cone, but storms have a way of doing their own thing and not always following the meteorologist's predictions, so we're keeping an eye on it. I'm especially bummed because of what came this past week:

I bought patio furniture! I've been saving to get a set of patio furniture but oh my word is it expensive! Not gonna lie, I didn't expect to find anything 1- in rattan, 2 - under $500, and 3 - before Labor Day weekend. 

Rattan is my favorite material for outdoor furniture; it just feels like the South. I know, that probably doesn't make sense, but whenever I picture a front porch or back patio in the South, it's always got rattan furniture and soft, puffy cushions. I looked at multiple websites, higher end, discount stores, heck even Big Lots prices were through the roof (based on my budget, anyway). So I kept saving and kept checking. I found a nice enough set of wrought iron furniture on Amazon, with seating for 6, that was $495. I'm not the biggest fan of wrought iron because our weather here is so humid, but figuring if I couldn't get rattan like I wanted, I'd settle for what I could afford. I sent a picture to my daughter who was not impressed. She said I should wait till the holiday sales, which I thought was a good idea. I wanted to show my son E the type of furniture I liked and how expensive the sets were, so I pulled up patio furniture on Amazon and this came up. 

(I took out the folding chairs out - they were my patriotic chairs for the 4th)

I had to do a double take. A rattan set - a sectional no less! - 5 pieces, for $379.99?!?! How was it I hadn't seen this before?! And why was it so affordable? I looked at the reviews and they were very good. Then I saw that there was a newer model being offered - that explained why this one was so much cheaper than anything I'd seen before. My daughter agreed that it was a way better deal and much nicer looking, so I went ahead and placed the order. It came in two separate boxes on two separate days, 4 days before it was scheduled which was fine with me! Assembly was not complicated once I figured out the instructions, and I was able to do it by myself. It's beautiful, comfortable, and I can't wait to decorate it - but now that'll have to wait, since I don't know whether this storm will stay away or shift closer to us, in which case I'll be bringing all my furniture back inside. Ah, hurricane season. Can't wait till you're over.

Regardless if we get a direct hit from TS Elsa or not, we're pretty much guaranteed a ton of rain this week. Right now, though, the sky is blue and it's hot and muggy outside. That was my week. Hope this week is uneventful, weather-wise anyway.

The Week In Review

 You know the holidays are approaching when I keep thinking I want to get a post up on my blog but it doesn't happen. I like the busyness of the season but it can distract me and stress me out.

And this week has been stressful. After Tropical Storm Eta literally blew in from the Gulf, my allergies went into overdrive. It always happens after a big storm, especially one as windy as this one was. All the dust and tree debris gets blown everywhere, and even though we got massive amounts of rain, it wasn't enough to totally clean all the allergens out of the air. Hence I've been dealing with itchy eyes, stuffy nose, and worst of all, asthma. I'm feeling better today but the dry cough persists. Which is annoying whenever I go anywhere because anyone coughing gets people's attention. I want to scream out, "Y'all, it's not coronavirus okay?!"

On Tuesday I put up the shelves I'd bought the week before from Ross. The guest bathroom went from this:

To this:

And finally to this:

I haven't really decorated it because in a couple of weeks I'll begin decorating for Christmas so I wasn't too concerned about getting it perfect. 

By the way, I'm so excited to begin decorating for Christmas! Now that my oldest son is married I needed a stocking for my new daughter-in-law. I checked Amazon first but I didn't find anything I liked that didn't cost over $20 or came in a set of 4+ stockings. So instead I went to Hobby Lobby. They have such a good selection of all different styles, and right now everything is 50% off which is right up my alley. This is the stocking I settled on.

The stocking I have for my son R has a reindeer on it. I wanted something similar but this was the closest I could find. It's super cute, and was only $5. I thought about getting all matching stockings for the whole family but that would be an unnecessary expense in my opinion. I'd rather spend that money on gifts.

Since I was already at Hobby Lobby I looked around and found this very pretty poinsettia arrangement for $6.99.

It's kind of hard to see against the granite but it's white and gold, which I think will look beautiful in my bedroom.

I wanted to get a few more small picks for the Christmas tree. I like using them as fillers and to make the tree look a bit more realistic since our allergies don't allow for a real tree. These were just $.99 so I got 5 of them.

They're small pinecones and greenery that's flocked. My tree isn't flocked but I like adding some little accents like this.

Finally, I found the cutest little pillow:

I got a red and black buffalo check throw for the sofa last year, and I think this will look adorable with it. I wanted to see how it looked with my new Costco pillow as well:

I love it! Then I remembered: the big pillow in the back is reversible! So I tried that out too.

Now I'm really itching to start decorating! I'll have to see how the three pillows look against the red and black throw but this is just so stinkin' cute! 

I was looking at some tutorials for Christmas villages on YouTube. I'm wanting to up my village game this year. Miriam's Manner gave me some really good ideas for adding more snow to my village and how to put it on so it looks full and realistic, and I knew that's what I wanted to do. So I took a trip to my local Super Walmart because the artificial snow on Amazon was ridiculously expensive. I'm not paying $25 - $30 for fake snow. 

This value size bag of Buffalo Snow was $5. I've used it before and it lasts. I also got some snow flurries to sprinkle around for more effect. While I was there I did my grocery shopping and picked up a few more items for Thanksgiving dinner.

Yes, I can make pie crusts. I've done it before. It's not rocket science. But when you've got a turkey to roast, plus mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, salad, crescent rolls...y'all, I will take shortcuts wherever I can! Boxed pie crusts it is, LOL! I'm thinking of making a pecan pie and maybe an apple pie. My boys will all want a chocolate pudding pie I'm sure. And the day after Thanksgiving I like making turkey pot pie. It's pie season y'all!

I also went ahead and bought the Stove Top stuffing mix. I'd gotten a couple of boxes of the Aldi's brand but even though it's pretty good, it doesn't compare to Stove Top. This twin pack box was $2.97, and the other boxes of stuffing will get eaten, trust me. We love us some dressing with our fried chicken.

Ladies bible study was on Friday. We studied the parable of the Great Banquet found in Matthew 22:1-14. It was an impactful study. This coming Friday is our last session, and I'm going to miss having this study time with my group.

Then Saturday our new church has a Friendsgiving day brunch for all the children's ministry volunteers. E and I had such a sweet time of fellowship! We both sat by ourselves because with our allergies we didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable if we sat near them and started coughing or sneezing. Well, a couple of ladies came and sat with us and we had some uplifting conversations with them. It was like God was showing us that this is where He wants us right now, and I'm thankful for the confirmation.

That was my week! I hope y'all had a blessed week as well. This coming week is Thanksgiving prep. I'm so excited!

The Week In Review

I'm sitting in my living room listening to the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving soundtrack, while outside my window the wind howls and pouring rain continues to fall. I'll get into that in a bit.

This week I found out that my neighbor has been calling the police on me, accusing me of doing construction in the early morning hours and throwing things on the floor so he can't sleep. I found this out because on Tuesday a police officer came to my door to ask if there was any construction going on in my house, and when I said no he explained why. I had to tell him what's been going on and that in fact it's my neighbor making all the noise. Thankfully the officer told me they'd already determined that the complaints were unfounded. Still, I had to call the police twice that day. The second time he was apparently playing some kind of racing game on his Play Station. It sounded like the Indy 500 in my dining room. The officer who came the second time was a woman. She told him she could hear the noise outside it was so loud. He called her a liar and began yelling at her, and ultimately slammed the door in her face. He's never done this to the male cops, which says a lot about him. What the officer told me was that the HOA needs to get involved. The police can keep coming but it's a temporary fix. The HOA needs to come up with a long term solution. I emailed the management the very next day. Their response? The HOA contacted their attorney, who told them this is a civil matter and they couldn't get involved. So now I've contacted my attorney. I'm hoping and praying we can come up with a solution to this situation. In a strange twist, his next door neighbors on the other side are remodeling their master bathroom, which is connected to his master bathroom, and they've made lots of noise this week with their demo and tile cutting. Poetic justice? Perhaps.

I've started on Christmas shopping and wrapping presents. Most of the items I've purchased through Amazon. On Thursday I had to go to Walmart and Costco for groceries, and while I was at it I figured I'd stop by Ross to see what they had. I went to Ross whenever the stores began opening again but it was bare. I hoped it would be a little better this time round.

I bought my normal fill-in groceries at Walmart plus a few fresh herbs to have on hand for Thanksgiving. Then I headed to Costco to get some allergy medicine. They have the Zyrtec knock-off for a good price. I also wanted to see if they had any cooking utensils. Mine had seen better days. They were not only old and dull, since they were plastic they'd melted in a few spots. I didn't find any cooking utensils, but something else did catch my eye.

Y'all, I got so excited whenever I found this pillow! Last year I got a new tree skirt, throw blanket and table runner, all in the black and red buffalo check pattern. My eyes went straight to the stocking on this pillow, but the plaid and the green check are also gorgeous and perfect for my very traditional decor! The sherpa fabric is cozy and soft. The best part is the price. $9.99 y'all! Now I want to hurry up and decorate for Christmas!

As happy as I was to find this sweet pillow, I still had the dilemma of not finding cooking utensils. I really hoped Ross would be my answer. They did not disappoint.

I got a set of cooking utensils, a set of tongs, and a set of rubber spatulas, and each was $6.99 and under. I needed the rubber spatulas because the one I had for years finally broke in half. 

Since I was already there, I looked at the bathroom decor. I've been looking for some bathroom rugs that aren't too pricey. 

This pretty set of two rugs were $9.99. I would've spent more than that on one rug at Target so I was super pleased. But it was the last item I was most excited about.

I've been eyeing some shelves at Hobby Lobby for the guest bathroom, but they were so much money. Even when they're on sale, the ones I liked were $30.00 and over. I'm glad I waited, because I found this at Ross for $19.99. That's more along the lines I was hoping to spend! I haven't put it up yet but when I do I'll be sure to post about it.

Saturday was a special day. Some of the ladies in our women's bible study group met for breakfast at Panera. This group is from my old church, which is a 40-45 minute drive, but my sweet friend who organized the breakfast chose a city that's more central, so it took about 30 minutes to get there. We had the sweetest time of fellowship and catching up. You don't realize how much you need that time together till you've been isolated for months thanks to a pandemic. I'm so hoping we can do it again soon.

Of course, soon won't be this weekend. If you've watched the news, then you know Tropical Storm Eta is heading towards Florida. As of right now, it has gone over Cuba and is in the Florida Straits, where they're predicting it will head west towards the Florida Keys, but most of South and Central Florida are gonna feel the effects. The system is massive! I think of the people in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, who took this on as a category 4 hurricane earlier this week, and my heart breaks for them. It's a real rainmaker, and we're looking at local flooding all over South Florida. We've had so much rain the past month that the ground is saturated. An additional 3-5 inches can be dangerous. Schools have been ordered closed for tomorrow and so have a lot of businesses. We are praying for safety and that this storm doesn't intensify nor slow down.

And that's what my week was like. The coming week will be a wet one: we're expecting the rain to continue into Tuesday, and after that we'll get a better idea where this storm is headed. Weather channel says it's supposed to swing back around to Florida whenever it gets into the Gulf. Pray for Florida y'all. It's been a rough year all around. God bless.