Our House In The Middle Of Our Street.

We bought a house!  We are in the process of moving yet again.  A "not so fun fact" - this is our 3rd move since October.  You would think we would have the process down - but we do not.

On the top of my list of WHY I don't like moving is that I never know where anything is.  I ended up using a pillow case for a towel.  I ran to Target to buy new sheets since I couldn't find our tote of linens JUST to realize after I got home that I only bought one flat sheet - not a set, like I had thought. Oh, Target . . . how can you do this to me - you always make me happy when skies are gray.  I have been let down.

The paint fumes gave me a severe headache and I woke up several times in pain.  Of course, who knows where in the H the ibuprofen is. . . probably with our linens.  Boyd slept blissfully.  Jerk.

HOWEVER . . . despite my moaning and groaning, I am very excited to have a new place to call home. The backyard is delightful.  The previous owner was meticulous inside and out with this property and I am forever grateful to him.  G and O came to check out the new digs and G says:  "This is the coolest house I have ever seen - all you need is a zipline and a hot tub."  He was being serious.  O picked a few of our strawberries and says excitedly to Sister1: "Mom!  These taste just like real strawberries!"

I guess I will have to add zipline to my "must purchase" list along with vacuum cleaner and microwave.  Does anyone else find it disappointing to use birthday money to buy a stupid vacuum cleaner?!

And lastly . . . please enjoy a lovely tune from the 80s.  I think.

http://youtu.be/4p4RWBCEFRo

I am a Tease.

So.  One odd thing that happened during the wedding ordeal is a texting conversation that I THOUGHT I was having with Dan, the videographer.

Me (2:30pm Saturday):  This is Sabrina, text me when u r around bc I have the video camera.

Dan (10pm Sunday):  Ya so?

Me:  **Ignore text bc Dan had already left the wedding to head back to MN.  I assumed the text was meant for someone else**

Dan (7 am Monday):  What do you have in mind?

Me (7:10 am Monday):  *Ugh.  Seriously, Dan.  Look to see who you are texting!*  I think you are texting the wrong person.  This is Sabrina. :)

Dan (7:15 am Monday):  Just following your text.  It sounded interesting.

Me (7:25 am Monday):  Ahhh . . . was totally confused : )  Very funny.

Dan (7:35 am Monday):  I'm Jeff.

*****

For any of you concerned.  I did not make any rendezvous plans with Jeff.  I told Boyd he now has some competition so he better bring his A Game.  He's scared. ;)

****

In Shoppe news . . . . we have our FIRST EVER OCCASIONAL SALE happening this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Did any of you forget?!  Write it down now.  I will wait.

NORMALLY, there will be a special vendor or two who will be bringing a stockpile of stuff for the Occasional Sales.  However, I am that special vendor for June.  Pretend I am a "special vendor".  It would make me feel . . . special. :)  I've been holding back on a lot of my inventory so the place will be packed.  Join us for the ribbon cutting at 3:30 on Thursday.  The doors will open right after that.

*****

Yes.  I'm tired.  And yes, we close on our house at 8am on Friday.

****

Must jet to the office.  Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Wedding. Over.

I had to inform Sister2 that her wedding day is not about her.

Its about me.  And I had a blast.

Wedding Week

June is INSANE.  Sister2 is getting married on Saturday.  WHICH MEANS, I now have to clip my toenails and pluck my eyebrows and also find time to clean up the dog poop in the yard.

The wedding is to take place outdoors.  In South Dakota.  Which means it could be perfect, windy, rainy, cold or too hot - - or MY FAVORITE:  A rainy, cold, windy day.

Last night Boyd and I rented True Grit.  Since it is not appropriate for 7 year olds and younger, we ended up watching it in our room.  I could hear Sister1 trying to get the boys in bed . . . . . there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.  About halfway through the movie, G comes crashing into our room *let's all breathe a sigh of relief that there was nothing "intimate" going on* closely followed by O and Oli . . . all in their little superhero underwear.

G:  We found dog poop in our room!!!
O:  YEAH!!
Oli:  *a little behind but still in the middle of everything* We found poop!

Me:  Well, don't eat it.

G:  Why would we eat it?!

Me:  I'm just kidding. Tell O to stop pooping in your room.

O:  I didn't poop in the room!  *He's laughing his head off at the thought of pooping on the floor*

Me:  Are you sure? - - who do you think pooped?

The boys:  Lou?

Poor Lou . . . . always being blamed for the poop.  I made Boyd clean it up. He likes that sort of thing.

****

Boyd went to Stillwater this past weekend to attend a cousin's wedding and also dug footings for the back porch on the house.  Oh to be DONE with that house . . . my mind dances with the possibilities of what to do with extra weekend time.  2013 is looking pretty good.

****

Next weekend is the first occasional sale at Shoppe on the Corner.   I am pretty sure it will be fantastic.

Side note, I have Men's t-shirts available (Black with "Mr Fantastic" across the front) if anyone needs Father's Day gifts.  I'm not entirely sure what sizes I have left but if interested, shoot me an email.  They are $10. Boyd would wear his as a uniform when he helped with my Front Porch Finds sales in the Cities.

And I do have one "My Wife is Smokin' Hot" t-shirt left but only in a small.

****

I must go.  There is poop to be picked up, toenails to be clipped and dogs to feed.  I lead a very glamorous life.

Weekend

This weekend was GORGEOUS.   Finally.   Shannon's dock had been put in but not secured (I am unsure of the specifics of all of that) and then we had 50 mph winds.  It was painful.  I think I can handle the wind . . .but I can't. I really can't.  Anyway . . . during that time, her dock flipped over in the water.  So, this weekend a bunch of guys came over at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday to flip it back over.  It was windy and wavy (is that a word? It looks funny) and the water isn't warm yet.  There were girly screams galore.  The effort was gallant but alas, the dock split in two.   To be continued . . . . .

No men were injured in this attempt.

I was busy working on painting projects all weekend.  Brother1 and Erin came to visit on Saturday and also Sarah, Erin's sister.  We did wedding stuff and hashed out important details like who is on what golf team for the Pre-Wedding activities.  Boyd just found out he's not in the wedding.   So now he's in charge of serving lemonade.   I jest.  Kind of.

The boys have been a lot of fun lately.  I bought them "pop its" or "snaps" . . the little things you throw on the concrete and they make a loud Snap! sound. . . anyway . . I taught O how to rig the toilet seat with them.   He kept telling Sister1 that he was "pretty sure she had to use the bathroom" and then he would clamp his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing out loud.  He's not the most discreet.

Have I mentioned that we found a house?!  I keep forgetting to tell people.   I think I am afraid of jinxing it since it was such an issue to get a loan.  BUT . . . as far as I know, the closing is still scheduled and we are moving forward.  Fingers crossed, knock on wood, throwing salt over my shoulder (is that for good luck or am I completely off on that?)  The house is small and cute.  And has a lime green foundation which Boyd hates but I find kind of charming.  In 2 weeks we will be moving again.  "sigh".

I painted 3 chairs and 2 dressers.  WHOO HOOO.  Although I still have some finishing touches on all of them.  Fail!  Boyd finished the stairs on Sister1's front porch. Win!  

All-in-all it was a lovely weekend.  

Remember When . . . .

Brother1 is only a year younger than me.  This was fun and yet frustrating to not completely have the FEAR OF THE OLDER SIBLING over him.  I was a constant source of amusement when it came to public humiliation.  Brother1 is what one would categorize as an "extrovert".   I am not.  Unless I happen to be at the moment . . .  don't judge me.

So back in the day we hung out quite a bit.  I was only one grade older than him and consequently we had many many friends gathered at the house at all times.  It was a riot.  The golden years (is this the correct term? Now I have "Golden Girls" in my head. . . .).  HOWEVER.  Brother1 was a class clown.  I was a prime target.  And he would only do such stunts in a place that I could not punch him.

Setting the scene:

High school cafeteria.

I'm leaving to dump my tray which also happens to be near the line to get food.  Brother1 YELLS from the other side of the cafeteria.  "HEY, BREAN!  When you go back for thirds, can you grab me a milk?"  Snicker. Snicker.  oh so funny . . hahaha.

Another fun one he would do:

Brother1 would be in front of me in the lunch line.  He would whisper with a wink to Wanda The Lunch Lady, who was powerless to his charm: "Hey, Wanda,  Brean really likes your mashed potatoes . . . load them on!"  By the time I arrive to get my plate of food, Wanda is smiling at me knowingly and LOADING up my little sectional tray with potatoes.  She grins and says: "I hear you really like my mashed potatoes."   I never could do anything to come back with that . . . I didn't want to hurt her feelings and say I don't really care for the mashed potatoes . . . and yet by being silent, I was inadvertently giving her full freedom to keep piling up the potatoes . . . without a doubt the entire line (or at least the person behind me) must have been amazed at my impressive appetite. I could feel their shocked stares. Later I would have to SNEAK to discard the potatoes I did not want in the first place so as not to disappoint Wanda. The agony.

So that was lunch time.

Probably the worst thing he did to embarrass me was in church.  In church! With God watching and everything! We attended a VERY SMALL church. 50 people would be a full house.  Prayer time was a free for all.  The pastor would just open it up for people to raise their hands and give prayer requests.  Brother1 raises his hand.  I looked at him. He had a slight smirk on his face.

Pastor Ian:  "Yes, Brother1?"

Brother1:  "I would like to pray for Sabrina's unspoken prayer request"

Me:  Looking up startled . . . WHAT THE H . . .

And there again . . . . I can't deny the unspoken prayer request . . . (a) maybe I did have one after-all - - hadn't actually thought about it; (b) I couldn't just state to the whole congregation that my brother was mocking prayer time; and (c) denial of needing prayer just seems  . . . . weird.

Is there a lesson in all of this?

I'm not certain.

But I now do have a love for mashed potatoes.  And if people want to pray for me . . . I give full permission.  Unspoken requests and all. :)

Brother1 is in the plaid pants.  Yes, I used to have short, blonde hair.