Today..

I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter. Yesterday I spent most of the day cleaning out part of one of the flower beds. I discovered I have some purple crocuses that are flowering right now..(which is extremely odd for it to be this warm up here this time of year) It will take a few days of clearing to get the flower beds in shape. It looks like they haven't done anything with them for a couple years. There's a lot of leaves, dead flowers/stems etc. When I am done it needs a thin layer of new mulch too.
Other than that, Kris and I cooked a ham dinner for the evening meal. It was just JJ, Kris and I. Wynonna chose to spend the holiday with Dan and his mother and her family. It kind of hurt my feelings because Wynonna complains about how nasty and hateful his mother is all of the time but yet she never visits here, she's always at his mom's house with him. I know she's just trying to please him and so she goes to his mom's because he wants her to, but it still bothers me all the same. I seem to be the one she comes to when she needs something like money, or laundry done or when everything is falling apart, not just because she wants to visit me.
I am waiting for the plumber to call back. When we moved in, we had to buy a new washer and dryer because ours went with the old house but the ones that were in the new house didn't stay with the house. So when the new ones were delivered the guys that were supposed to hook it up didnt' have any hose clamps. So we had to hook it up ourselves. Not being very handy, we had our BIL check it to make sure it was okay..it was great he said. Well a couple weeks go by and it's leaking from the drain hose everytime the washer spins out. The area behind the washer to access the plumbing is too small. The hole will need to be cut bigger and I don't know if it needs a new hose or if the pipe that the hose goes down into can't take the amount of water that goes down into it when the washer spins or what..but we need to have the plumber come look at it. Kris said in his best McCoy voice ( old Star Trek) "I'm a programmer, not a plumber." lol

Our big family get-together was on Saturday, so we had yesterday to relax and spend at home. We ate our big dinner at about 2:30 pm so the kids could get back to college/home at a decent time. We had decent weather and I originally planned on eating outside, but when the time came we were all agreed that it was just too windy/chilly out,so we ate inside. Later on in the evening I started feeling like I was getting sick, but it may have been leftover effects from the unusually strong onion I chopped up to make scalloped potatoes. I felt like my eyes were actually swelling up and I could barely keep my eyes open after dealing with that bugger. We got rain, thunder & lightning late in the evening, so that was fun. It felt like spring!

We spent the day doing Yard work, spreading sand and chasing Xander. A friend came over early with his little boy and they hunted eggs. The dogs also hunted eggs, Dh and the friend 'hid' the eggs, but didn't put the dogs in the kennel...so they opened about 30 and ate the jelly beans
After Kristin got off work we went to eat with MIL, who was supposed to be here at 3, but showed up at 7.....sigh


Pics Here:

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=198116&id=511623133&l=4c5db21c50

We had a huge egg hunt on Saturday. We have one 7 year old (great-nephew) who had his own hunt, and then the rest of the "kids" range between 18 and 31. LOL So us "adults", of which I'm the youngest at gonna-be-50-this-year, hid eggs that we filled with candy and money. The kids get locked up in the garage so they can't see where we hide the eggs, and we hid some EVIL-HARD this year. DH buried one in the gravel of the driveway so I swear, only a teeny speck of green showed through. I made him uncover the egg so it showed at least a dime-sized amount of green. It was still one of the last found. The winner of the hunt came down to an egg that I hid down the driveway. It was a white egg with widely spaced red hearts on it, and even though it showed quite a bit, to the eye it looked just like gravel.

We also have a Bingo-palooza. We play Bingo and we all bring prizes that we spread out on a big table. Then we play till all the prizes are gone.

Oh, and today - my banking, Grandma's banking, the paying of the bills, shopping for produce, ironing, and hopefully getting in a walk with my dog.

We had a good day yesterday. Long but good. Tonight is our coaches meeting for the Spring Soccer season and I can finally unload two car loads of stuff from my dining room! I'm very excited about that, lol.

We were over at Grandma's yesterday and even though everything went well, I was too tired to enjoy it. I drove to Nashville and back the day before (7 hrs in the car) to pick up my mom and Zaven from the airport. Nashville isn't the closest airport, but the tickets were a couple hundred dollars cheaper so that's where she flew out of. After we got back I was just whipped. Se even though Easter was nice and kind of low stress, it was still too much for me.

I'm back home today and looking forward to some normalicy.

Plumber is supposed to come on Monday...Wynonna and Dan were late and needed money on the electric bill again....so she called last night asking,"We are $65. short on the electric bill...can we borrow $65.00? I told her to call me a few minutes later and talked to Kris. So she called back again..I told her, "No, you can't borrow $65.00, but you can work for $65.00". We didn't bother lending it to them because Dan wouldn't pay it back if he had it..but by having them work it off atleast we get something out of the deal. So they came today and raked most of the back lawn (which is absolutely huge..and will be back tomorrow to rake the rest). It saves me from having to rake it...and them from thinking they can just get $$ from us for nothing. They were here from noon to 5:30 and were outside the whole time raking except for a few water breaks..and have to come back tomorrow to finish..they definitely did earn that $65.

Made pulled pork sandwiches and white choc chip and orange cookies today...have to catch up on grading JJ's homework this week and finish getting all the flower beds cleaned out...as soon as everything turns green I will take some pics of the front and back yards..

Great way to handle the situation, Kelly! I hate to turn people I love down flat, but just giving them the money won't change their situation in the long run and will only end up with you resenting them. Working for the money is a great solution.

Going back to to the "today" post, we had our good friends and backdoor nieghbors for dinner (Liliana, Jessica & Matthew, Henry has been deployed to Afgahistan).... nice non traditional dinner, panko breaded chicken tenderloins, cheesy hashbrowns, Harvard beets, lime jello with cottage cheese, pineapple and mandarin oranges. Jessica (14) made the dessert, upside down apple cake--delish.
After dinner we played some games,Pig Mania and Left Center Right, which Matthew (almost 11 loves).... great day.

The yesterday and today, got to work outside, mowing, burning, and today, more edging (I"m talking around gardents in front and sides) and more burning... It's been sunny, hot and perfect.

Finish the day off with our bunco group... which is always a nice break from reality.... and now, well ready for bed.

I did some yard work, watered my garden, planted green beans and cleaned the house......same thing I do every day except the beans.

Glad you made the work for it Kelly, don't give it to them. Geez how much was their bill? Mine is less than $65 for the whole giant house!

Well Erin..you have to realize first that it's still cold up here..and they have electric heat in their apt..so the electric bill isn't just for lights. Not only that, they are on a payment plan. In the winter months their electric runs over $100. due to the electric heat..so the electric company figures out the average ($75 a mo) and they pay that fixed rate per month. I wish our electric bill was that low.. We haven't recieved our first full bill here yet, but in the other house it was $170. average a month in the winter...and about $150. in the summer. I can't imagine a monthly bill of $65. that would be lovely..

My dad's electric runs over $300 per month on the fixed rate plan. It takes a lot to heat a home when it's 20 degrees and the wind is blowing.

OK, I don't have electric heat, I have Gas. I also have insulation to the fire hazard limit....and then some. I also had Energy star doors and windows put in.
OUr electric bill used to run $200 in winter, $400 in summer.....so i know how it is, it sucks.

It's awesome that they have a payment plan, we have Level billing here, kinda the same thing.

LOL less tha $65 must be nice. I use aprox $45 worth and then nation greed charges me $140 to "deliver it" And if we happen to do something to lower our usage I know enough to bend over and grab my ankles because they just raise the delivery rates to make up the difference.

Two years ago before all the energy improvements we paid 110 for supply and 50 for delivery.

my Easter was interesting...well all family events tend to get interesting. uncle brought his ex-girlfriend that no one can stand especially his adult kids. Old No.7 saved that situation from getting out of hand, although I think she knows she's not very welcome since no one said a word to her.

Then we had the earthquake of earthquakes...went on for a good couple of minutes followed by some good aftershocks. Still having random aftershocks. no damage and only a few random things ended up on the floor...

yeah, that was quite the earth shaker !

briteasafirefly wrote:my Easter was interesting...well all family events tend to get interesting. uncle brought his ex-girlfriend that no one can stand especially his adult kids. Old No.7 saved that situation from getting out of hand, although I think she knows she's not very welcome since no one said a word to her.

Then we had the earthquake of earthquakes...went on for a good couple of minutes followed by some good aftershocks. Still having random aftershocks. no damage and only a few random things ended up on the floor...

I prefer the Captain, although Old no7 works well in certain situations.

LOL... today was a laid back day... no yard work as rain was expected, but to this moment hasn't arrived... but needed a day of nothing. Okay, well walking 4 miles on the treadmill followed by an hour of yoga, a trip to Walgreens... but other than that -- oh wait, gather trash and put it out to curb -- a nothing day. Well except for a lot of tears. Watched the taped American Idol... love McCartney Songs and every singer this season is so good in their own way... and I get emotional listening to certain sons. Know whoever leaves tonight is going to send me into another crying jab. Oh did I mention Oprah's show today? The cast of Glee, more songs, more tears. I'm such a sorry case

Plumber finally coming this morning..hopefully by the end of the day I will be able to wash laundry without having a pool of water on the floor. Other than that I am still trying to get caught up correcting JJ's homework..I was 2 months behind from the whole packing/moving process. I have 3 of his subjects completely caught up and his grades put in the book. I was able to get those done the end of last week and over the weekend, now I just have 3 more subjects to go...

I am probably still arguing with my neighbor. She says my "butterfly vine" is offensive,and my flower bed is vulgar.....I am pretty sure they are, but they are unique!

Why would they be offensive..and why does she feel that she can say something about your things that are on your property?

Because the flowers are shaped like...um...female parts, ad I honestly did not know this before I planted it...but the butterflies/Hummingbirds love it.
The flower bed has some bulbs in it( VooDoo Lily), and the flowers also look like...body parts...I KNEW about these, I LOVE them even though they stink. I also have Black Tulips( neighbors says directly from Satan) and black elephant ears..... My yard is unique, and I like it that way. I certainly don't want the same boring flowers everyone else has.

We are deed restricted, so if she complains to the City they will try to make me remove them, Since it is growing on and over the fence., but she is just nosey and bitchy, and has nothing else to do. This woman is the reason I am spending a freaking fortune and putting up an 8 ft privacy fence, and I HATE privacy fences

But they are flowers for pete's sake..it's not like YOU are flashing your female parts everywhere...I swear some people have nothing better to do. I am in no way attracted to evil or Satanistic things..but I think the black tulips are pretty... You need to plant a Whomping Willow (like the one on Harry Potter) on the adjoining property line next to her yard..

Ok so I looked up pictures on both the bf vine and the voodoo lily...they may not be everyones cup of tea..but I like them....to me they have a more earthier, natural look as far the the coloring and whatnot..but still have the graceful delicate shape of a flower....I would have flowers like these in my beds...still in favor of the Whomping Willow idea....

I just keep saying really nicely " But it's a BUTTERFLY vine"..... she will move onto somrthing else in a few days. The other nieghbors dog has been barking, and the people across the street from her are going out of town and leaving 4 teens( 16-19) at home alone ...that'll keep her busy.

I agree, not everyones cup of tea, but they are unique, and not something you run across every day. I also have Amaryllis, she says nothing about them.