30 November 2019

35, quietly

Today I turned 35.

For many years, I've treated birthdays like any other day. As an adult, they lost their special-ness. This year, for some reason, this birthday seemed significant. Maybe because it's a nice, round number? Maybe because I'm firmly in my mid-thirties, and the next big birthday is 40 (which is scary)?

Regardless, I woke up late, ate pumpkin pie for breakfast (Thanks, Ash!), got my hair cut, went to Dollar Tree, and then sat on the couch watching Hallmark movies and reading magazines for the rest of the day while Pumpkin purred beside me. I decided not to go to Austin because the last thing I wanted to do was drive. Towards the end of the day I thought about calling a friend and grabbing a drink at this cute local wine place, but then I would have had to put on a bra and to be honest, I was perfectly happy to spend the day relaxing.

I needed a calm day like today.

FG's hunting trip got cut short, so he wound up in town and came over late in the evening. He plans to install a security light on the side of the house tomorrow, something I've been wanting for a while. Happy birthday to me... few things are hotter than a toolbelt and home improvement.

He is currently snoring softly in the bedroom while Pumpkin licks a can of wet food clean in the kitchen. I'm enjoying a glass of wine at the bar and planning next week's menu. It's raining and I can hear it pattering on the skylight in the yoga room.

You know, life is pretty amazing.

Nothing is ever perfect, and things can change in an instant, but I think 35 is going to be a good age for me.

Cheers.

29 November 2019

festive decor

When I work in my front yard (for example, putting up Christmas decorations), I always feel like the people driving by are looking at my butt. 

People are probably more likely looking at their cell phones, but I can never shake that feeling. I used to be self-conscious every time I bent down, but now I figure if people are looking, they're looking, and there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

Holy moly, I forgot how much work it is to put up Christmas lights. Things look a little different this year, and I've already gotten compliments from neighbors driving by. :)

The inside decorations got put up, too. I really won't have a chance to decorate after this weekend, so I did as much as I could today.

Pumpkin was interested in the tree... she better not pee under it.


This year the ornaments went on the wall again, gallery-style. They always seem to disappear inside the tree and look much more interesting on the wall. My dad suggested adding lights, and this is the final product:


It's a little wonky, but it's cute.

Now, everything hurts, including my hands. It's also warm and muggy outside. You think I'd be used to getting in the Christmas spirit while sweating.

27 November 2019

portal upgrade

Today, around 3:30 in the afternoon, I decided to start painting my front door.

It's the next thing on the list, I had the paint, it was a nice afternoon, so I went for it.

I've never painted a door before. It went surprisingly fast, standing in basically the same spot, vs painting a room.

I started by washing the door really well with hot soapy water and a sponge, then dried it off.

It took 2 coats of tinted primer, then 1 coat of the real paint.

I am so, so happy with how it looks.

Before:


I don't know why the previous owners chose this color. The best way to describe it... it was a terra cotta color with a mauve undertone. It bugged me every time I walked up to it because it doesn't really go with the other colors on the house, and it's the only thing painted that color.

After:


I don't know what this color is. I matched the color that's on the siding. This color scheme makes so much more sense to me!

It's brighter, happier, and open and I like it.

26 November 2019

so much stuff and updates.

I am sitting here, at my bar, absolutely ready for bed at 8pm on a Tuesday.

You know what I'm NOT doing? Packing. 

Last week, during my last-minute trip to Laredo, my boss asked for volunteers to work 3-11pm in Dallas the night before Thanksgiving. It's not normally something we do, but this VIP customer has been having some issues and has 24/7 onsite support right now. I offered, and to my dismay, he accepted! I was trying to be a team player, hoping that someone else had already volunteered, but nope. 

To recap, I drove to Laredo and back, then drove to San Antonio and back, then planned to drive to Dallas and back, Austin and back, and then back to San Antonio and back, all within a span of 3 weeks. My hips hurt just thinking about it. Seriously, the muscles in my leg that are involved in pushing the gas pedal are sore and have been since April. I have been taking my yoga mat with me and focus on hip and leg stretches in the evenings. There has to be such a thing as driving ergonomics. I should look that up.

Anyway, I prepared for another hectic week and psyched myself up for it, then today I got a text message saying that it wouldn't be necessary to go to Dallas. THANK GOD, because that was going to be rough and I am feeling pretty exhausted.

Now I get some breathing room, and I am so grateful for it.

I am still working in San Antonio next week and the promise of working locally for the rest of the year got rescheduled so now anything can happen.

FG's schedule also changed today. He was supposed to leave Thursday to go hunting all weekend, but now he is here on Thanksgiving, so we get to enjoy the day together at Ashley's mother-in-law's and that is so nice.

Even though things are falling into place, it's not how I planned this Thanksgiving/ birthday season to go. I had hoped to take another trip with Suze and skip Thanksgiving and spend my 35th birthday in some new cool place, but for various reasons it didn't work out. Now that it's here I'm glad I don't have a trip planned, because I'm burnt out on traveling for the moment... work-related or not.

In a fun twist, every member of my family will be out of town on my birthday, as well as FG. I might very well spend my birthday alone! I'm normally pretty chill about birthdays, but 35 feels like a significant one. I am so tired of driving, but am heavily leaning towards going to see Suzy and Kenzie in Austin, just for the night.

I was craving a night out dancing, but pretty much got that out of my system at Missy's bachelorette party last weekend. Towards midnight, my feet, hips, and knee were hurting and I was ready for bed. I was going to suck it up and keep the party going because I wanted Missy to have a fun night, but then I saw Zach yawn and I silently thanked him because I knew it wouldn't be long before we went back to the hotel. Ha, I was right.

Oh! The plants I was growing for the shower all lived and the shower was absolutely lovely.


The bridal party all wore purple and cowboy boots, and I suggested that FG wear this interesting shiny purple shirt he had hanging in his closet... I mean, when is there going to be another appropriate occasion for that??


I love that he's totally down for wearing coordinating clothing for things like wedding showers. Gosh, he's cute.

Also, Pumpkin has been acting like a normal cat again. Eating, playing, etc. Not sure why things turned around, but I'm glad they have. 

pretty bathroom

I finally get to shower in my bathroom again!

The paint is done. The tiles are scrubbed and sealed. Everything is caulked, clean, and fresh. There is a full-size towel bar now. I even got a new shower curtain. Here are a couple of crappy pictures that don't exactly capture how clean and fresh it looks:



This is one big project officially crossed off the list. (Except now that I painted the trim, the doors are looking a little yellow and dingy...)

18 November 2019

smart trick

Have you seen this neat trick to dry makeup brushes upside down?


I can't remember where I saw it, probably pinterest, but all you do is take hair ties and hang them on the towel bar so they dry properly.

This was obviously taken pre-paint, but the idea is still good.

16 November 2019

bathroom, painted.

I officially hate gray paint colors.

I did not have plans this weekend, other than watching FG's dog while he went hunting, so I figured it would be a great day to finally paint the bathroom. The weather was great, so it was no big deal to keep the doors open all day.

After spending all day priming over the grey color, and getting flashbacks of how much it work it took to cover up the grey guest bathroom in the old house, I finally got my bathroom painted. For simplicity's sake, I chose the same pinkish white that I used in that bathroom and I really like it.

I re-did the trim and baseboards in a nice, crisp white and things look so clean and bright now.


Still have a couple of items on the list before it's done, but this was huge, huge progress. And also, more work than I expected. I'm freaking tired and already sore. Tomorrow is going to hurt.

I uncovered some strange things, like very sloppy grout work that got all over the (dingy) baseboards, and some humongous holes where the toilet paper holder was mounted to the wall (which I now have to go buy spackle for). I'd like to know the story behind that one.

Unfortunately, I have to travel next week back to the border, which recently had some crazy Mexican mafia shit happen, so I'm not thrilled about that, and then I have to travel over the weekend, but maybe soon I'll be able to finish my bathroom.

13 November 2019

Hey, this is what's going on

What is it about the time change that makes me sooooo sluggish? By 4:30, I'm thinking about dinner and by 6 I'm wanting to tuck myself into bed. I'm 34 and 11.5/12ths, not 84, although there doesn't seem to be much of a difference.

Been doing a lot of crafting lately. I just feel like it. When the weather changes, I get the urge to clean and declutter. Yeah, there's spring cleaning, where I clean the windows once a year, but fall cleaning is better because I'm in fluffy socks organizing chaotic drawers and clearing away the year-long decor to make way for holiday glitz. Ah, it's weird how some things bring you such happiness.

I turned down a work trip to the Bahamas in early December. I weighed my options and this year, 2 weeks away from home right before the holidays sounds more stressful than fun, even if it's a paid trip to the Bahamas. Wait... did I make a mistake? No, No. I'd be all alone and I'd be working. So I did not make a mistake.

My electricity bill is $65 this month. Horray, horray, horray. The rest of the year will be expensive, not just because of the holidays, but also because of the wedding. Hair and makeup, gifts, hotel (ha! just kidding, I used points), etc. etc.

Since my brother bought a house this year and Christmas lights are expensive, I'm going to give them the stuff that I didn't have the energy to put up last year, and therefore will unlikely put up every year in the future. Win-win.

Houses. I'm still thinking that this house is too big and I want to move into a smaller house in the next few years. But... this house is pretty awesome for entertaining. Too bad I've thrown exactly 2 parties? I think it's because I traveled so much, but next year maybe I can start actually using the big party house for its intended purpose. There is a lot of business coming into Houston so that should keep me in town a lot more.

Oh, something funny to note:

This past weekend, I went to FG's grandson's birthday party. I gave him a book about trucks and things that makes noise, and signed the card, "♥ Nen."

I guess they've all been discussing what the baby will call all the grandparents and they assumed that I'd picked out my name... at first they thought it was Nan and they were all excited that I picked out my "grandma" name!

I tried to explain that it's Nen and it's just my name, and I'm definitely NOT part of the grandparents naming thing, but with all the commotion I'm not sure it translated.

Either way, the point was that it was super cute that they all approved and were really happy that I decided what the kid will call me. I'm sure it will sort itself out eventually, lol.

The even bigger point is that the kid got a ball pit from his aunt, and he lost it with happiness.  It inspired me to get Andrew a ball pit for his birthday. I already ordered it (and 400 balls) and it's sitting in my foyer and I have to wait over a month to see if he likes it. Gah!

11 November 2019

Hangover kits

Omg y'all these are so cute.

hangover kit diy

Missy's bachelor(ette)* party is coming up and in addition to my crazy plant favors** for the shower, I wanted to do something fun for the party afterwards.

I have seen these hangover kits on pinterest and thought they were such a cute idea. Who doesn't love hydration and snacks and a painkiller after a night on the riverwalk?

I went to the dollar store and got enough to make 12 kits for about 20 bucks.

It contains:
water
powdered sugar donuts
pretzels
advil
a mint

I put the mint on the outside with hot glue because it was really minty and I didn't want it to make everything else taste minty.

I wanted to get sunglasses, too, but wasn't willing to spend that much money on 12 pairs of sunglasses. It would have been cute, though.

I, myself, travel a little extra than everyone else, so I will have my own gluten free hangover kit, mostly consisting of chips and veggies and cbd oil.

*The shower and the bachelorette/bachelor party is joint. What do you call a joint bachelor/bachelorette party?

**I planted the cuttings today and CROSS YOUR FINGERS that they all live another two weeks and survive the drive to San Antonio.


10 November 2019

cold and work and fun

It's supposed to be cold next week and I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT.

I haven't turned my heater on yet, because I've been opening the doors to let the fresh, cool air in. I turned on the fireplace today, mostly to make sure it still worked, but this massive cold front may force me to use the furnace. I also put the heated mattress pad on my bed. Hello, coziness.

I'm glad I don't have to travel next week, mostly so I can cover my plants while the temperature drops below freezing for a few hours overnight.

Last week was interesting. So many problems. We were basically working on an active construction site and had to wear hard hats and such. I'm pretty chill about a lot of stuff, but the thing that made me call my boss was the fact that the restrooms weren't ready and I'm NOT about to use a construction site porta potty so I had to drive around the block to use the chick fil a restroom several times a day. My boss pretty much told me not to go back until they have a certificate of occupancy. The jobsite foreman was pleased about that and so was I. Sheesh.

Pumpkin has gotten back to normal, eating and snuggling and even playing a little. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm happy I have my cat back.

Missy's wedding stuff is coming up fast. I got my dress in (We ordered online so for modesty and warmth I bought the one with the highest neckline and most sleeves I could get), the shower/bachelorette party is soon, and the next thing you know, it'll be 2020.

Oh, I got all of the cat food cans washed and turned into cute little planters for the favors, and printed out the little flags. If I can get the plants to live, these are going to be really cute.


The rest of the year is going to be a lot of fun, and I'm so excited for all of it.

02 November 2019

news and fluff

I woke up on Wednesday morning at 05:30 to the sound of a puking cat.
Oy.

I got up, cleaned it up, and settled back into bed.

Then I laid awake for about an hour. When my alarm went off, instead of hitting the snooze button, I got up and started the coffee maker.

I poured myself a cup, sat on the couch, and decided that I wanted to watch the news.

I turn 35 in 28 days. Is this how being a grown-up happens? One day you wake up and WANT to watch the news?

I don't even know what channel the local news is on. I had to text my mom and ask her. And then, I was annoyed because the morning show had a bunch of dumb fluff instead of the weather, traffic, and headlines I was expecting.

Whatever happened to the 15-minute condensed version of the news that would play on repeat in the mornings, so that you could catch it before heading to work? I would up watching some dumb cooking demonstration before I got annoyed and turned off the tv.

This must be why I don't watch the news. Sorry, adult self. It's just not happening.