A Confession

I believe I've mentioned before about how I don't like to read directions. Like, I really HATE to read directions. It's only gotten worse since manufacturers have started putting owners manuals online rather than printing them. When I bought my Nook & my new digital camera I vowed to read the manuals & figure out how to work everything. Well, here we are 5 months later & I know how to download books & read books & how to take a picture on auto. I'm really going to try & do better. So, what does this have to do with my confession??  I'm about to reveal something that is going to really make me look stupid but I'm just keeping it real. I discovered the other day while reading my Nook that I don't have to use the buttons on the side to turn the pages. The Nook has a touch screen for searching, downloading & all sorts of other things. One of those other things is turning the page. You just kind slide your finger over the screen & the page turns. Really really simple! I wish I would've known this when I was wearing the brace. It would've made things easier.

Sunday, Dean & I spent the afternoon at my parents house. They live across the street from my brother, sis-in-law & nephew so we got to visit with them too & play with Logan.

I love the expression on his face! He was hitting that ball all over the place. Logan will be 2 in May. He hasn't yet mastered the art of listening to his parents. This was his reaction when his daddy told him to get down out of the chair.

Too cute!! After awhile we went back across the street & let Logan play on his swing that he has at my parents.

He loves it!! He would cackle. It was hilarious!

So, I told you about the Steve Madden boots I wanted. Well, last night Dean was online & he asked me if I wanted him to find me some boots. Um, yeh, ok. I'd already googled & searched & googled some more looking for the same boots only in a different, less expensive brand with no luck. WELL, he found a pair!!! At Old Navy for $40. Yes, I know they won't be the same quality as the Steve Madden's but that's ok.  For $40 I'm willing to take a chance. So, they were ordered & I'm anxiously awaiting delivery!!!

Toodles!!

Want to read??

I know everyone is in the whole resolution mind frame but I'm not. Not that I don't have about a million and one things I NEED to do this year but I know me & I know saying I have a resolution doesn't mean a thing. I've had them in previous years & it's always been a colossal fail. Except maybe 2003 when we got married & I wanted to lose weight. Between having all 4 of my wisdom teeth out & stress I was the thinnest I've ever been & it wasn't difficult, but I digress. Anyway, no resolutions, just a "to do list". I do better with a list.  I have lots of house stuff on it & I'd like to read more books. My good friend Wendy started a book club a couple of years ago. This is Wendy & her oh so adorable baby, Miss Emily.

How cute is that flower?? I found that the day I went to Market. I also got her an adorable little hat. Can't wait to see a pic of her wearing it.

Too cute! Anyway, back to the book club. You may remember it, "The Worst Book Club Ever" as dubbed by Andrea after attending one of our get togethers. We don't talk a whole lot about books & we don't all read the same book.  Shockingly, the book club is still in existence. Probably because of the reasons we're the worst book club ever! Anyway, the first year the goal was for everyone to read 50 books. No problem. Well, for me anyway. I read  almost 100. In 2010 it was decided that everyone would set their own goal. Mine stayed at 50 since I'd far exceeded that the previous year. Well, due to lots of different factors, mainly Words With Friends & reading blogs, I did not meet my goal. I really enjoy reading & now I have a Nook which I completely & totally LOVE & I also have several bags o' books from Mrs. Joyce (my MIL). I've come up with a system to enjoy both. When I'm at home, I'll read the actual books & when I'm away from home (work, car, etc.) I'll read my Nook. At least until I can get through some of the stacks of books which will help me on another item on the to do list, de-clutter! The only time things will be different is when I have a book loaned to me from the Nook & that's because you have 14 days to read it. The Nook is so great for traveling or just to keep in your purse for anytime you find yourself waiting. So, why am I telling you all this you ask? Like I said, I know everyone is making resolutions & goals for the year & if one of those is to read more books I have a series that you might enjoy. The High Heel Series! Good friend Wendy turned me on to this series. Thanks Wendy! These books are too funny, even though they're mysteries & someone seems to always end up dead. They're a lot like the Stephanie Plum series written by Janet Evanovich except Maddie has much more fashion sense than Stephanie. She's a shoe designer! Gemma Halliday is the author. I've read some background on her & she was an actress before she became a writer. She didn't make it big time but she's been in a couple of movies that I've seen. Another plus is these books are only $3.99 on the Nook & they're lendable. This is working out great for Wendy & I. She buys a book & lends to me & I buy a book & lend to her. I finished the 3rd book yesterday. BTW, this weekend had to be the laziest weekend I've ever had. I didn't feel so great. This merry go round weather is killing my sinuses. Anyway, I laid around & read pretty much the whole weekend.  It was positively glorious!

What else is on my "to do list"? House stuff mainly. I'm also going to attempt to cut back on my Dr. Pepper intake. I say that as I sip on my 32 oz. D.P. from lunch. I was at Sam's & it was .87. I couldn't resist!

Toodles!

Best Laid Plans....

You know what they say about those.....So, I attempted to hang all of the towel bars & stuff in my bathroom only to discover that I someone managed to lose a couple of screws. No problem right? WRONG. I didn't lose the regular size screws. I lost the teeny tiny tiny ones. I still didn't think this was a problem, Dean did. I'd just buy some replacements at Lowe's. Dean said he was sure they didn't have them. I assured him that he was wrong.  Well? Yeh, I was wrong. Typical. They don't have anything even close. Needless to say the towel bars haven't been hung. This could lead to me just buying new which I didn't want to do because for some reason that stuff is really expensive! I bought replacements for the other two bathrooms before I knew the greatness of spray paint so I'd really like to make this work. Please don't ask how I lost them, I have no clue. I thought I was being very careful.

Friday night Dean & I had dinner at The Chimes. I love love love The Chimes but once LSU is back in session there's no going there without a really long wait. It's practically on campus. We really enjoyed it. When we got home my new lights had been delivered! I was excited, yet a little nervous. I was really hoping they were what I wanted this time. I knew they weren't going to be so willing to give me return shipping again. No need to worry, I love them!

Saturday, Dean & I were watching our Godchild Lane. We had big plans. It was a beautiful day & we would spend it in the pool. Only one problem. Lane wanted nothing to do with the pool. This is what he wanted to do.

WATCH MOVIES!!! Not good ones either. There was no Toy Story or Princess and the Frog. It was Batman & Justice League. Blech!! I read while he watched these wretched movies. It was pretty funny watching him. When he would start to get sleepy he'd switch positions. This was one of his favorite spots.

I could hear my mom's voice in my head saying that was too close to the TV. HAHAHA!! Needless to say it wasn't a real exciting afternoon!

Speaking of reading, this finally came!

I was very excited! I'd ordered the case & light from eBay & it came in Friday so I was just waiting on the Nook. If anyone's in the market for Nook accessories I highly recommend eBay. The light & case were $17.99 & free shipping. They have the cases in all colors but of course I went with pink. I've been playing with it & I've downloaded & started reading a book. So far it's great!

Our friends that live next door came over Saturday evening to eat. Dean did BBQ ribs & they were soooooo good!! I'm not a big rib eater but these were delicious!!

Back to those best laid plans....Sunday after Mass we made a quick trip to Lowe's to get a few things we needed to hang my new lights. Of course I make things difficult by buying lights that have a different base than what we had before. This meant caulking, sanding & painting before installation. No biggie though. After all, we've changed out practically all the lights in the house, we know what we're doing. Yes, well, we know what we're doing but that doesn't mean a whole lot. We finished all the caulking & painting & everything was in the process of drying when Dean left for our Homeowners Association meeting. I was planning to go but I had a headache & it was way too hot for me to go sit outside. Our subd. is having a big debate over batting cages in peoples yards. When I say "our subd.", I mean one lady is aggravated that her neighbor has one. 2 Hours later Dean came home muttering about how that was 2 hours of his life he wouldn't get back. Apparently, the only thing that was decided was that nothing was going to be decided. Good grief. Oh & homeowners dues are going up. Just what I wanted to hear.

So, Dean's home & it's time to hang lights! Well, the screws the light manufacturer provided are too long so the base doesn't sit flush against the wall. Dean has a ridiculous amount of screws & nails but of course none of what would actually work. Isn't that always the case?? It's 6:00 & neither of us are interested in making another trip to Lowe's. What did we do? Took the lamp out of the guest bedroom & used it in the bathroom & I went to Lowe's at lunch today & got what we needed. We think.... Hopefully, we will get everything hung this evening.

OH & I just remembered that with all the light commotion we forgot to order an ice maker. Something else to add to the to do list.

Toodles!

Thursday

It's Thursday!! I wish it were Friday but we're a lot closer than Monday. There hasn't been a thing going on this week. Very dull. Despite some awful rain I managed to get all of my bath accessories (towel bars, rings, etc.) painted this week. I intend to hang it all up today. My plan was to do that yesterday but when I got home I had to assist Dean with the ice maker. Remember, it's not working. Our refrigerator has the freezer on the bottom & we determined that it would be easier for me to sit in the little space & take out the ice maker. It was surprisingly easy. Dean wanted to look at it before buying a new one to make sure there wasn't some issue that he could fix. There was some ice clogged up so he cleaned that out & I reinstalled it. Yes, I know, to be a fly on the wall watching me do this. I have friends that are probably rolling on the floor laughing at the thought of me with a screwdriver. Anyway, it's reinstalled & according to the owners manual we need to wait 24 hours to see if it's going to work. If not we'll be buying a new ice maker & I'll be installing it!!! Maybe I could sell tickets to watch??? Anyway, the reason I didn't get the bathroom stuff taken care of is I thought one project using a tool per night was sufficient.

Unfortunately, the lights I ordered from CSN weren't what I thought they were going to be. The color was off (when I say off, I mean a completely different color than what it said online) & I just wasn't crazy about them.  I called them to see what I needed to do to send them back. The guy I spoke with was really nice & helpful. I explained that the lights are silver & online it says they're Mocha. He sent me shipping labels to return them at no charge since he said they misrepresented the item online. I'll be dropping them off at the UPS store on my way home from work today. I did find some other lights that I really liked so I ordered those. Also from CSN. According to the FedEx website, they'll be delivered tomorrow. I was happy to hear that. Hopefully, all will be well with them & we'll get them hung this weekend & then I'll have before & after pictures to show.

I'm also waiting for this to appear at my doorstep!

It's a Nook eReader. I can't wait for it to come in!!!! I read A LOT! I've debated on buying one for a long time & since the iPad came out the prices on these have gone way down. I know it will be so nice to have when we go on trips. I won't have to pack a bag just for books! I don't know when I will get it. Unfortunately, it's coming via the USPS. Their tracking leaves a lot to be desired. All I know is that at 11:00 last night it left Memphis. I'm hoping it gets here tomorrow. Does anyone have an eReader? Any hints or tips? I hate reading directions!!!