Upcoming Holiday Weekend

I am really looking forward to the coming Memorial Day weekend. Since we have yet to sell our house, we will be hanging out here. One of the downsides to listing a home For Sale By Owner. If someone wants to see it, you are on the hook to show it. And Open Houses? That’s up to you. The good thing though is that we can Open House it every weekend if we want to. Try and get your real estate agent to do that.

Not that I have anything against real estate agents mind you. My mother in law was one for a long time and we adored our real estate agents who we bought our house with… just wish their commission and brokerage fees were a little less than $13K… that’s a lot of money and so far, worth our time to put into selling it ourselves. We don’t get the traffic that homes on the market with an agent do, it just requires more diligence on our part.

Since we will have a three day weekend without houseguests and with no major plans other than swim lessons, a playdate, a pedicure (much needed by me) and an open house, I am thinking this is the perfect opportunity to sink further into our living quarters. I still have boxes stacked in regions throughout the house and I really need to get those emptied. I have loads of boxes in my formal dining room that are full of wall hangings – art and photographs.

This is where I start trying to figure out cart before the horse and egg before the chicken issues.

I want the boxes emptied.

I want my art on the wall.

I want my photographs on the wall.

I also want the walls painted that will house many of these items.

Do I put them on the wall, then take them all down when I get around to painting and put them back?

Or do I leave them in the boxes, paint, then put them all up on the wall.

My inclination is towards the later. While AB (my tired of painting husband) leans towards the former.

I am currently fighting a very ambitious notion of painting my entryway this weekend.

Not the whole entryway, and certainly not the very, very tall area.

While my mom and stepdad were here this past weekend they helped me line out what to paint and how. I am leaning towards an olive green in the entryway where AB and I think some of our black and white photos will go best.

This is the foyer area:

I am not a big fan of the stenciling here.

So I am leaning towards an olive green - mahogany/Japanese maple color - and creamy white combination for the formal dining room and office with foyer and half bathroom region. The olive green an Japanese maple in more accent roles.

Office:

Formal Dining Area:

So what do you think?

Weekend Wrap Up

AB and I enjoyed four full days off. The poor kids only got three days off, but both were ready to get back by last night. I asked Skadi if she wanted to go to school this morning and she nodded her head wildly. Let's just hope her teacher isn't about ready to boot her by the end of the day - she is trying to push through her last two teeth (as opposed to molars - she still has four of those left to go for a full mouthful) and is a little bear. Her nights have been misery and AB and I have resigned ourselves to one of us just jumping in the extra queen sized bed (currently residing in her nursery) with her to get her back to bed. Sucky habit I know, but we all (including Leif) get more sleep that way. Oh and she IS a cuddler.

After four days off, AB and I were both ready to get back to work. AB started a new position within his same company today. He passed his EIT/FE exam awhile back, his manager braggardly opened his mouth to some of the other managers and shortly after AB was invited to float around a few other groups and find a place where he is happy (not that he isn't) and feels like he will fit long, long term. His manager is the meantime left regretting having bragged about him passing his exam.

Me? I am ready to have a day at work where I don't have 24 lbs hanging around my neck that screams wildly when put down. It's no wonder when I jump on my treadmill to run lately I surprise myself how far I can go before panting and dropping to the ground. She really has been giving me a workout.

So the big news of the weekend is finishing my Master Bath off. For the most part at least. Little details remain like recaulking the shower, sticking the trim back on, figuring out how awful my spray paint job on the shelves went and whether or not I am going to put them back on the wall or not (AB votes for not) and buying new rugs. My bathroom rugs are old and I want some pretty ones, but AB suggests that I wait until we are ready to list the house since my son's aim is pitiful.

I am starting to look towards my Master bedroom planning out my attack. Storage, I need lots of it. Ideally I want to sell our two dressers and put the money towards a new bedroom set. Realistically I need to purge the dresser contents, replace the hardware that has fallen off and deal with it until we move. The walls will need to be painted. It shouldn't (in theory) be a big job. Now October when I hit the kitchen? THAT will be a big job. Maybe I should save the money that would go towards a bedroom set for a new kitchen floor instead.

AB and I started our fall ritual of dealing with food. Leif and AB put what seemed like hundreds of tomatoes through our food mill (it was horribly entertaining for a four year old) and then AB cooked down the purree to about 3 gallons. Then froze it so we can tackle spaghetti sauce another weekend.

I cooked down our Merlot grapes to about 2 gallons of ridiculously sweet juice. Cabernet grapes will be in a few weeks - and I am scared. I took a look at the vine last night and I estimate that I have at least two to three times as many Cab grapes than I did Merlot. AB asked me what I am going to do with the juice other than take up valuable freezer space. Jelly maybe? Sorbet? Sherbet? Maybe all three. My MIL, however, was disappointed to hear that I have no plans to make wine. I don't know... maybe I should try? Maybe it would be a good experiment and a quick way to use up all the juice. Though I am with Andy on this one... why should I make wine when I have the stuff the pros make in my backyard?

I made a big double batch of pumpkin, chocolate chip bread. Recipe courtesy of VG... (who I really wish would start blogging again... she cracks me up and I could use the athletic motivation). Anyways, I ended up with two large loaves and four minis. Though it was good I got it into the freezer (yes another thing in the freezer) quickly. Both my kids will devour the stuff. (I am blaming them 100%, they aren't here to defend themselves or point fingers.)

I had every intention of making and freezing a few nectarine pies - but our freezer is full of grape and tomato stuff. And the kids were starting to look a little pale and neglected like they had seen one too many movie. So instead we jumped in the car with the dog and headed to the park for a play and a short hike in the foothills. It was good for us all as opposed to nectarine pie that only tastes really good.

Weekend wrap up

We had a good weekend, though it is seeming like a blur at 9pm on Sunday. We joked about eating out on Friday. How tempting, yet how stupid of an idea that is after last week's debacle. Instead we ordered out Thai and were less than impressed with our normal take out place. They have major swings that last typically about 6 months. We have concluded that one couple runs it for 6 months. They are the nice ones that can cook and present you with nice sized portions. Then 6 months later the bad cooks take over who give you miniature sized everything. The bad ones have just taken over.


Saturday was swimming lessons, a little shopping after swimming. We looked at kittens at PetSmart. Long enough to put in daddy's head that having a kitten might actually be fun. We have recently had some new kittens very nearly "fall in our lap". (I use this term because AB told me the only way he wanted another cat was if one "fell in our lap". They were born two days ago to a coworker of mine. The cat she adopted as a stray turned up pregnant when she took her to the vet for shots and an exam. I told her maybe in December when the kittens are the requisite 8 weeks old. I think I can go back and give her a yes in December. Vargasgirrl assures me that the automatic litterbox is heaven sent.


We went and picked apples on Saturday afternoon. Leif had a great time. Skadi slept in the car. We got a box of fujis that are really fantastic.

Sunday we started out the morning with sourdough apple pancakes. Leif loves pancakes, he loves apples, but apples in pancakes was a no go. He ate oatmeal instead. Silly child. (But as someone with texture issues, I do get his aversion.)

Two days, no naps. During Leif's Sunday supposed nap (Skadi's real naps were exactly opposite Leif's "nap time". We got no breaks this weekend.), Skadi and I played with the camera some.

After the supposed nap on Sunday we had C and N and their parents and C's grandparents over for a pumpkin picking party. The pumpkin is out! Both are actually. We are giving thought to how to get an actual weight on the big one. One suggestion is to take the car to Earthworks and have it weighed, with and without the pumpkin. Very good idea and plausible.

AB has become more curious on the weight of the pumpkin when the second one repeatedly weight 720 lbs on our scale! Ok, decimel point wasn't as visible as it should have been... it was 72.0 lbs. (AB kept asking what "error 720" was since he was sure the scale didn't go past "350 or so". Then he noted the decimel point.) He felt that the big one was more than twice that. (Statistical estimates were 135-160 lbs a month or so ago - and it hasn't grown in that time).

Weekend wrap up

I am 2/3 of the way through my weekend as I type this. Three day weekend thanks to Skadi's daycare being closed for Columbus Day. I wasn't disappointed to hear this, in fact, I have had this day on my schedule marked off in eager anticipation for awhile now. A day home with Skadi, just the two of us. Our big plans? Encouraging extra good naps that enable me to clean out her bedroom to be/guest room since we will have guests at the end of the month. Also on the docket is a trip to our brand new Kohls! So exciting!

Friday night something came over me and I decided we needed to venture OUT for dinner. Stupidest idea on the face of the planet. Ever.

We went to a very family friendly Italian place where toddlers get salads of shredded cheese, olives and crackers as adults are served their salads. Toddler friendly, but you can still order a half liter of Valpolicella.

Leif on his own, was the best he has ever been in a restaurant, especially considering we had a 15 minute wait to start and the food didn't arrive with any expediency. He sat and ate and only visited the restroom three times. Skadi was not thrilled to be there. But she wasn't awful either. What was difficult was having only one set of hands for each child. Had it been dining with just Leif we would have had a downright great night. Just Skadi and we would have passed her back and forth to keep the faces as fresh as possible (ok, I know, like I had a fresh face at 6:30pm on Friday night...). But put them together and it made for a dinner that will not be attempted again for another six months or so. At least.

With the new PF Changs going in (1.5 miles from the house) I have a feeling our babysitter expenses are going to rise.

Saturday was swimming then a train ride and play in the afternoon with C and N (N being the newest friend - a 3.5 year old girl adopted from India by our friends). The kids played in the park afterwards. We got home late enough that our plans for burgers went on hold realizing we still needed a grocery store trip. We ordered pizza.

Saturday night was spent fixing the dishwasher/disposal (yes, dang Insinkerator) pipes. Fun. But then again I don't have to call a plumber tomorrow. Instead I can spend the money at Kohls.

Today we got up and had crepes (and Leif was quite thrilled about rolling his own). Skadi and I went and got groceries mid-morning and had a blast. She giggled her way through the grocery store. Then this afternoon J and his mom and sister came over for a visit. Skadi was nearly as thrilled to see her friend from daycare as Leif was to see J. The kids both had a great afternoon that ended with actual burgers on the grill.