The countdown

Folks, we have less than 24 hours until this crazy deployment ordeal is over. Praise God!

I had one of my first (maybe only) real breakdown last night. A breakdown of gratefulness. I think it just hit me that I don't have to do everything alone anymore. During the deployment, you have to be strong and just move on everyday, do what needs to be done. And I think I did. But when you know it's almost over, you are pretty much overcome with relief. I didn't know that there was a need for relief but now that it is so close, there is a definite need. I can't imagine what it is like for those with children. Well, I was pretty thankful Rick was going to be here to help clean up dog piss the other day. As I was cleaning it up.

I spent all yesterday preparing for his arrival. Which means I spent five solid hours in the kitchen plus 2 at the grocery store. 7 quarts of homemade bolognese sauce, homemade granola, chocolate chip cookies, bread dough, frozen okra. Plus Single barrel Jack, Diamond Bear, gin (for me- BTW, Caroline and Sara, you'll be happy to know I upgraded my gin), and an empty bottle of wine (the bolognese called for half the bottle; I couldn't just throw out the rest). I think the kitchen might be prepared now. At least it is pretty much clean.

Now on to cleaning the bathrooms, sunporch, and the floors. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight so go ahead and throw cleaning the garage in there too.

So overcome with gratefulness, relief, and simple joy; but still thinking of my friends and their husbands who are deployed and in less desirable locations.

Another off the bucket list

I almost died.

So for a couple of months now, my hair straightener has been going in and out. It won't stay on for any extended period of time. Sometimes it doesn't come on at all. It's a real pain in the butt especially since my hair is getting longer. And if you aren't familiar with my hair first thing in the morning, it's a scary, scary sight. It's been in a messy, throw-back to high school bun for the past month. I tried to do my hair the other day and it was completely unsuccessful. The thing only stayed on long enough for me to do the pieces near my face, not even long enough to touch the craziness in the back. So I logged on to amazon to buy one and saw a review about how their straightener was shorting out. That's what I thought was happening with mine. Well, the reviewer also posted steps to fixing it. Sweet. Because I had thought if I could just get the damn thing open I might be able to tighten up a wire or two and fix the problem. And save us $70 (and that's a cheap price for one of these....usually over $100. But spread that over the three+ years I've had this last one). I break out the mini screwdrivers from the drill head set and the drill and a couple of full size screw drivers just in case. I say this like I had a plan and gathered everything up but in reality it was more like 15 trips between the tool kit and the computer.

I'm humming along nicely. I get the plate off holding the cord, get the cord out, see some wires that look promising. Only they look too good. Like there's nothing wrong with them. But that's okay because I'm really after the switchboard under the switch. I pry off the covers for the hinge and de-hinge the thing. (That may have involved a drill, gigantic screwdriver, my knees, and some cuss words). Finally all that is standing between me and my faulty switchboard are two teeny tiny screws. First out pretty easy and them onto the second. STRIPPED. screw. I worked on that stupid screw for ten solid minutes with at least ten different tools. Nothing. Notta. Crap-ola. Maybe I could just pry it open. Fail. Well, maybe jiggling the wires and prying everything kind of open made it work. Like how kicking things can make it work. So I put the cord back in and go plug it in to see if it works. Nope. I pull the cord out of the straightener. Keep in mind, it is still plugged into the wall. Then I decide to put the cord back into the straightener. WIthout unplugging it from the wall. Now, I can check being electrocuted off my bucket list. After the shock wore off (pun? or just the truth?) I threw the whole stupid thing, stripped screw included, in the trash and hit purchase on amazon. A girl needs a present after almost dying you know.

Now taking applications

It's a sad sad day here in the Winfield house. My roommate just moved out. Now who am I going to get to mow the yard, take care of the dogs, and most importantly make coffee in the morning.

So any roommate seekers....apply here. You must be able to fix toilets, mow yards, do dishes, feed dogs, make coffee, watch That 70s show, and perform miscellaneous tasks to the best of your ability. Rent's cheap.

The story of MIA

Because I am such a regular blogger type you may have noticed I have been MIA. Well, technically I wasn't really missing because people knew where I was. And now we get to look at the pictures to prove I was where I say I was. Because I was.

When we were growing up, about every other summer we, grandparents included, would pile in cars and caravan to Oak Island, NC. I'm not sure if this is the Outer Banks or not. Mainly because I'm unaware of what is and where are the Outer Banks. But we would drive and drive and drive and finally meet our FL cousins there and a bunch of friends they grew up with in VA. (BTW, I'm also quizzing you on state abbreviations. Good luck!) A whole week was spent jumping waves and laying out on the beach. At least the rest of the family spent a whole week doing that. I was usually burnt by Day 3 and would spend the rest of the time reading on the porch or in the AC. Alas, that is the exciting life of a redhead.

Anyway, it had been about ten or eleven years since our last trip. Funny how the trip out there was basically the same. We just had more drivers. We even played the ABC Billboard game where you find words that start with each letter of the alphabet. Of course, we always get stuck on X (along with a few others like K...don't ask me why K is so hard to find.) I told my sister it was one of my life goals to find the word xylophone on a billboard. So much so I thought we should buy a billboard and paint xylophone on it just to help out the ABC Billboard game players everywhere. Well, lo and behold, look what we found.

Yes, that says 'xylophone.' Yes, that's Dillon's car. Thanks to the sneaky text messaging of my sister I can now cross that off my bucket list. It was awesome. I should also note that this happened during the only two or three hours I drove the entire trip. Us Harris women don't drive, we're driven.

After a long two days, a kinda sketchy hotel, and a huge bag of Twizzlers, we finally made it. Let's just say we were all paying for that first night the next day. Evidenced by the fact we thought it was necessary to take multiple shots of people wearing sun hats.

And such good shots at that. No one can say we aren't one photogenic family.

This was a regular occurrence on our front porch. I know I was shocked too. I didn't know Abbey could read. She said she just learned last year. Sidenote, we all get houses close to each other usually instead of staying all together. Ours was the furthest away but the best. Nice view, no? Oh you need a better look. Okay.

Nice, huh? Oh about awesome. That is my one of my favorite adjectives.

Joplin loved the water once she got used to the waves. Dad would throw sticks and she would swim out to get it. If there was someone out in the water, she wanted them to hold her though. She's a big baby.

We also discovered that she hates HATES black dogs. She's a racist. She ended up dragging Mom, Abbey, and a lawn chair down the beach at one point. The whole time Mom is screaming, "She just wants to play." If the dog's owner could have heard Mom over Joplin's ferocious, not happy barks, I'm sure she would have believed her. So Joplin spent a lot of time like this:

Bound by the stinking leash. That was also influenced by the leash laws they had on the beach. Which Dad was reminded of on multiple occasions by a crotchety old man and a six year old little girl whenever he chose to release the beast. Notice Abbey has no real responsibility over Joplin. As usual.

We always have a theme for each beach trip and a costume cocktail party at some point. This year's theme was Under the Sea. Apocalypse was a runner up but no one could read the Mayan calendar so we had to pass. Half the fun is trying to figure out what people are going to be before the party.

I was pollution. Thank goodness for Abbey's sea dress and a recycling bin.

Dillon was the Bermuda triangle. We both decided on our costumes about 45 minutes until the party. You can be impressed.

The cousins and aunt. Or a wave, high tide, and the sea goddess.

But the best costumes, by far, were these jellyfish. Because when they walked down to the beach they turned into this...

I hope you can see the tentacles too. Mom still can't quit talking about it. BTW, Mom and Dad were there too. I'm just too lazy to upload more pictures. Though I have quite a few of Mom doing Zumba. Those will be used as needed for leverage. Dad's costume of a sand dollar was pretty impressive too. Impressive because he participated.

However, all being said, the beach life is a hard life.

A thug life.

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Talked to Rick last night and, before I knew what I was doing, I blurted out "painting the bathrooms" when he asked what I was going to do today. That's what I get for talking to him in the middle of the night.

Luckily, that's what Dillon got too. The sweet job of rolling. And of accompanying me to Lowe's. I think I can outlast any guy in my family at Lowe's. I can't be in and out of there in under an hour. No way.

We just continued the same color as the rest of the house, just in a different finish. We're adventurous like that. The picture below probably shows the color best.

Gee, I'm handy. Lucky for Rick, I'm getting all the crappy house stuff done before he gets back. He'll probably be disappointed there's nothing left to paint. Too bad, Rick, too bad.

And that's how you spend a lazy 3.5 hours on a Saturday afternoon. Especially when it is 7 billion degrees outside.

*Sidenote, my painting clothes include a shirt from some place with the slogan "Who's your paint guy?" I thought it was especially appropriate.

** Second Sidenote, just realized all of my painting clothes, shirt and shorts, at one time were Abbey's. Thanks, sis.

Manly Men

Not only am I drinking my coffee black like a real man, I'm posting pictures of me doing manly construction type stuff, too. Like a real man. Who uses craft supplies to draw straight lines and complains about how heavy the saw is after cutting six inches. A real man I tell you. I'm even wearing my own work gloves. That I didn't even know I owned.

I had to post two pictures of myself to capture all the awesomeness.

Okay, Dad helped a little. Though all the tools are mine....like that heavy duty staple gun he is using. Mine.

After only a few dizzy spells caused by the swell Arkansas heat combined with not drinking any water (you don't drink water when you are doing real men's work), all finally resulted in this:

I just realized you probably don't know what it looked like before. Just imagine a black pit of despair without the lattice containing all the despair.

See that sad dog on top of the stairs? She is crying because I took away her mud/dirt bath area. Now she's going to have to pay top dollar to go to the spa for her treatments. So sad. Try not to be envious of my backyard oasis. I know it looks really lush.

Obviously, I probably should put some trim along there and maybe some plants. But I need to drink some more black coffee and do some more manly things before I start to accomplish that. And maybe wait for a day when the temperature isn't in the high 90s.

Rick, I'll teach you how to be really manly when you get back. It will take lots of practice but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.

Harry Potter Part II

15 days from my last post and this is all I have to say:

I'd rather not talk about it.

My Bounty

Back from my visit to Chicago with some of my favorite people. Too bad I only took one picture the whole time. It was worth it though. See the proof:

Caitlin and Matt accidentally dressed in identical shirts. They are flashing their matching Asian couple gang signs. I won't even let Rick and I wear similar colors or shoes. But with us it's because people would probably think we were twins.

Oh, and some guy asked if Matt was from Thailand when he was wearing that shirt. He looks Thai to me.

I tried to convince Rick we should move up there. We could all pool our money and buy a house together. That's how we would start our commune. It would be awesome. The warmest day was like 85 degrees. Rick countered my Chicago offer with Alaska or Colorado Springs. We are now in negotiations.

Now to see how my garden grew while I was gone. Actually, just a picture of my bounty because I was too lazy to go take a picture of the garden. But, hold up, did you hear me say bounty? Glorious bounty.

I made pesto.

And just for jollies, we have Dad opening birthday presents and Molly lookin' so fine.

His favorite birthday/Father's Day/Christmas gift. Happy 50 something birthday!

She's growing out her nails.

See what an exciting life you are missing, Rick?

Third times not a charm.

Only 1 mile today because it's 2 in the afternoon and hot. I'm calling myself an evening runner. I'm supposed to be out the door in ten minutes so thought I'd take the time to post for posterity.

I'm smiling because like I said, only 1 mile. And that it took at least 6 times taking a picture to find one suitable for posting online. This one almost didn't work bc I didn't look quite exhausted/bad enough. I've looked like this a lot of times just at the end of the day. You must have lucked out.

P.S. Congratulations to the new Captain in the family. Hint: it's not me.

Quick and Ugly.

Someone owes me two more dollars.

Pay up!

Last August (or maybe it was January? We'll use August bc it makes me feel less lazy) Rick propositioned me. He told me he would pay me a dollar for every mile I ran. Apparently money is not a real motivating factor for me. I think I earned a dime over three months maybe even longer. Then he decided we, his mom included, should all run Ft. Worth's Turkey Trot over Thanksgiving. Just a 5K. I could handle that I thought. Besides money, I also had the motivating factor that there was the distinct possibility his mom would show me up. She's only 60 and was definitely training more than me. So I ran a few miles and was just getting to where I could finish just about two miles without collapsing in the middle. Then I started teaching full time. That was stressful and time consuming enough without the run. Basically I had a really good excuse now to bail out.

Rick never paid me though. NEVER. (Ignore the fact that he's been supporting us for the last four years.) Well, he owes me now. I'll forgive the back pay, but as of tonight he owes me five dollars. That bill includes several runs. Don't get too impressed.

Including tonight's almost two miles in the eight at night muggy summer in Arkansas heat. Yumm. What's even better is the pictorial proof:

No, that's not a sweet pregnant glow. I'm not pregnant. That's just unadulterated sweat dripping down my body. Geez, I'm hot.

For Rick

You can read it too, but I doubt you are that interested in how I finally got around to painting the front door and shutters and close-ups of my jalapeno peppers (plural. as in I have four of them. Four!). Let's not delay any longer.

Try to ignore how horrible the yard and flower beds look. The 100+ degree heat combined with no rain is too much for anything live to handle. Except apparently Greg. Greg's my new pet: a lizard with a short cut-off tail whose made his home over by the rain gutter and insists on darting out at me, scaring me half to death ALL THE TIME. Rick wouldn't let me get a kitten so adopting a lizard seemed the logical Plan B.

This picture shows the color best. It's a very dark teal-ish color. It almost looks black in some light (which I'm not thrilled about). I don't know how to describe it. It's called Forest Canopy and I think that's probably the best description. I guess those paint namers really know what they are doing.

A close up of the front door so you can see how great the color looks with the bright pink crepe myrtle. By the driveway we have a dark purple crepe myrtle which looks really good with the new color, too. I was disappointed that the crepe myrtle was pink when we first moved in but know I'm thankful. I guess I'll have to get over my pink flower aversion. Now, I just need to find a small bench to put by the door. That way I could sit there, drink coffee, and spy on my neighbors.

Now on to what we've all been waiting for. Garden updates! Yayyy!

Did I ever explain why the garden was in that fence? Dogs, duh. Then, of course, I leave it open all the time and they never even go over there. Oh, well. OH and I have dug up two toads on separate occasions when working in both gardens. Terrified me as much as poor Greg. They were both alive just trying to keep cool, I guess. I touch one of them with my hand by mistake. Ughh... Oh and I know my squash is out of control and overcrowded, but it makes me happy because it makes it look even bigger.

Jalapeno close up. Can you find all four? There's about to be three because I'm going to pick that big guy and make a jalapeno popper. Just one though. It'll will be awkward when Dillon asks for a bite.

Tomatoes and basil. Made the cages by hand with a roll of wire I found under the sun porch. My hand hurt for three days from using the wire cutters. My basil is doing awesome. I'm going to make some pesto soon and freeze it for later.

Then, to continue to brag on how industrious I've been...Curtains for the sunroom. I just finished one side and they look pretty sloppy, but we can unroll them and block out some of the blazing sun. Which means the dogs can actually stay out there. Always a plus when Bill is feeling like peeing on the floor.

Last but not least just a couple of randoms.

This is why you should always use a Furminator when you are brushing your dog. Absentmindedly, using your hand to brush/pet them is disgusting. I won't even describe how it felt when I washed it. I'm gagging just thinking about it.

And just to make Rick laugh....

Showing off my muscles in St. Louis. Embarrassed because there was no one watching when I decided to do it. When I did it there was quite a crowd walking by. I can't be sure if they were laughing at me or in gossiping about how strong I am.

Peace out, y'all.

For all you naysayers

Bill just got a clean bill of health from the vet. No heart worms, a strong heart, definitely no hearing, and no dangerous weird growths. Not even the scary looking one growing where his tail should be. Apparently that one is just part of his docked tail that is now protruding. Lovely no?

He also got hooked up with some major pills. Anti-inflammatories, heart worm meds, and antibiotics for his teeth that are about to fall out. Like his snaggletooth that, for the past week, I just thought was a piece of lint stuck to his lip. So if you need something, I might be able to talk to him. It'll cost you though.

21 years and going strong. Let's make it until September and then try and hit 22. Go, Bill, it's your birthday! It's your birthday! Oh, oh.*

* Actual birthday that we guessed is in three days. I don't think he'll mind or notice if we celebrate early.

** No pictures, because it's his birthday and he hates pictures.

Super Star Blogger Here!

Twice in one day!

Ok, I just realized I have never posted any pictures of the new house. New to us, of course. Except of course the one I posted about two minutes ago before I reread the blog to see if I actually HAD posted other pictures. Which I hadn't. Got that?

These are a few months old. I haven't taken any since because either the camera is MIA or I need to clean. Usually it's I need to clean. At least they will prove I haven't been lying to you and we haven't been living in a tent in the middle of a vacant lot.

This outside shot is actually only a couple weeks old. And I just realized the front door is open. Welcome, neighbors. Please come rob us again.

That whole flower bed had huge holly and some other kind of bushes in it. It actually extended around the sidewalk all the way to the driveway. You would open the car door and walk into a holly bush. Besides being overgrown it gave the whole house a prickly demeanor. (Get it? Holly? Prickly? Hilarious, I know). That is probably the biggest change on the outside of the house. Pulling the bushes out was not only some of the best fun I've had in a single afternoon, it completely changed the way the house looks. Next step is getting the grass to spread and paint those mustard yellow shutters. Soon.

Just a close up of one of the hydrangea bushes out front. They have a ton more blooms right now and look great. Which makes up for the four plants I am about to pull up because they died. There are three hydrangeas and a gardenia along with some low lying perennials under the windows. Oh and the crepe myrtle tree. It has a bird's nest in it but I've been scared to check it out. Some bird screams at me the whole time I'm watering so I'm pretty convinced she's going to attack me if I get too close.

I only have pictures of the living room, kitchen, and dining so you'll have to wait for the rest.

This is what you see when you walk in the front door. The TV is to your right. against the wall. Out the back door is a sunporch which we basically just use for the dogs' bedroom.

This is looking back at the rest of the living room and into the kitchen and the dining room. Oh and say hi to Molly looking all cute in the corner. Stay, Molly, stay. We had the kitchen cabinets, walls, and all the trim painted before we moved in. That was the biggest change inside. Before the cabinets and trim were just a wood color and the walls were bright white.

Good girl! Good girl for staying!

Looking into the kitchen and laundry alcove behind. The garage is through there. It holds the cars and a bunch of bikes. Oh and that is a candle on the counter, not a glass of scotch like I first thought. That string is holding our dinner bell which you can't really see. That's right, this house is so big we have to have a dinner bell. (I'm lying yet again. Rick can probably hear me talking normally in the kitchen from the other end of the house. He's just not listening.)

Just another view of the kitchen. You can't see the awesome faucet Rick put in but it's there. We are really proud of it for some reason. I think it has to do with the fact that we thought we were going to have to get copper pipes cut and soldered on to put it in. Then the Lowe's guy looked at us like we were idiots and gave us these flexible pipe thingys you just screw on. I love Lowe's.

The End. Or To Be Continued (if I feel you are deserving enough for me to spend another hour on blogger at some point in the future. Or if someone asks what the bedrooms look like? I may just be all "What bedrooms? This is is 0 bedroom house." Booyah.)

The End. For reals.

The homestead

First and foremost, a quick pic of Bill I accidentally added. I was able to snap it before he realized I was using the soul-capturing machine (his words, not mine. I just refer to it as the camera). He's old. Really really old. And dirty and stinky.

Back to the important stuff:

I'm a farmer now. Whoo-hoo! Rick doesn't believe I can grow anything. Here's proof:

The pictures are pretty hazy because of the humidity I think. We aren't going to dwell on that. Or the fact that those plants were already that big when I bought them. Instead we are going to look at the awesome beds my dad and brother helped me make even after I explained I would take all the credit for making them. We have three tomato plants, two bell pepper plants, jalapeno, squash, and zucchini plants. There is also some basil, parsley, and cilantro in there. I'm probably going to move the squash or zucchini plants bc it's a little crowded. Hopefully, I'll get at least a couple tomatoes by the time Rick gets home. Just be forewarned, there will be lots of bragging and gushing about how great I am at gardening and how beautiful my bounty is. Just a couple up close and personal pictures to help you imagine the beauty that is yet to come.

Our cherry tomato plant has a bloom.

So does the jalapeno plant. It was just watered. In case you couldn't tell.

The interior of the homestead is currently pretty messy. I have finally become successful in completely trashing the house in just a few hours. Please send my awards for this right away. Thank you.

While I was trashing it yesterday I was also making curtains for the bedroom. So it wasn't completely pointless.

Just ignore the clothes on the bed. I'm sure they were folded and put away right after I took that picture. Not just shoved under the bed like I may have done the other day when my mom came to visit. May have.

There may be a need for further photos of the homestead to be accessible by all of the internet drones but I'll have to check. So stay tuned for possibly more photos if I haven't already posted them. If I were to make an educated guess based on my blogging history, I would say I had not. We'll see.

You're welcome.