Forgotten Happenings

As I was trying to figure out what I could update

people on I realized I've missed a few little adventures in the process of covering the big adventures. Here they go in chronological order:

#1. I never showed people pictures of Mark's painted office when it got finished way back in September. It was that same cranberry red color the previous owner painted everything else and I painted it Valspar's Jekyll Club Veranda Blue. It is the perfect blue for an office! We get compliments on the color choice for that room more than any other.

#2. Q: What is this?

A: Shattered Glass

When we bought the house one of the front room windows was shattered. The lawn care company had kicked a rock up into the window and it broke the outside layer of glass. She was paid for the window, but since she knew she was going into foreclosure she just pocketed the money. We hired Lowes to replace it. The installers were very friendly, they weren't on time or prepared, but they didn't spill any glass in my house or my yard. It wasn't until they were done that I noticed the grid pattern was wrong. Originally I had asked that the grid line up with the grid on the semi-circle above the window, but then realized the two big windows wouldn't match so I changed the order so the new window would match the old. Apparently Lowes never made the change. Our new window had 20 sections and our old window had 30. It just didn't look right. I was unhappy that it wasn't what I wanted and now it was obvious that the windows had been put in at different times. I should have stood my ground and made them reorder the window or replace the other (same size) for free, but I took their deal for 1/2 off. Now if you paid close attention you'll have noticed that I said they didn't spill any glass right after showing a picture of the installer cleaning glass out of my flowerbed. Ah-ha...did you notice? I find it rather ironic that the broken window came out without a hitch but the good window, that we were going to donate to Helping Hands, was very problematic! When they were carrying the window out of the office it slipped and part of the window hit the carpet while the other part hit the tile. Tink, tink, tink....shattered! Luckily they were able to get it out of my house before it all fell apart, but unluckily we obviously couldn't donate it anymore and they had to spend almost 2 hours vacuuming my lawn and flower bed. Now my windows match and we have a new warranty on each of them.

#3. I am now making my own laundry detergent. The recipe is very easy and we are saving about $30-40 a year. I modified the recipe found here by adding about a cup of Clorox2 into the mix and using only Fels-Naptha soap. I make it using:

1 cup. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (Eliminates Order)

1 cup Borax (Laundry Booster)

1 bar Fels-Naptha, Zote, or Ivory Soap (Stain Fighter)

1 cup Clorox 2 (Whites Whiter and Brights Brighter)

I didn't have to spend any more money on the Clorox2 b/c that is what we were already using but I like the idea of having something that I already trusted to keep my whites clean in the mix. I love the smell that Fels-Naptha has when I mix up a batch and also when I run the washer, but also love that the scent disappears before the clothes come out of the dryer. I use 2-5 Tbsp of the powder for each load depending on how big and dirty my loads are, but the website says to use 1 Tbsp. I would just rather know I have plenty in there the first time then get a load washed and be unhappy with the result and then spend more money to wash it again.

#4. Do you remember the post way back in the summer when I had bought 2 stools for the counter that were too high? Yeah I'm still bummed about that, but now we've bought stools that will fit. I am using the old stools as plant stands and we have three nice stools. I keep 2 out in the kitchen on a daily basis and the 3rd is tucked in the hallway corner between my office and the home gym waiting its turn to be used when guests come over.

#5. We threw a Superbowl Party this year. I wish I had taken pictures while everyone was here. It was a houseful with 15 kids and 16 adults, but it worked. Mark made his amazing BBQ Pork while I decorated a football cake and tried my hand at Andies Mint and Heath Bar Cakeballs (thanks for the help Rachel). Everyone else brought something yummy to share and we ate like kings!

I'm sure I've missed more than those 5 events but I had pictures and really what fun is reading a blog without pictures to look at?