Life is a Verb.

I hope you all had a restful and grateful Thanksgiving.  We hosted the first ever South Dakota Turkey Bowl.  It was a blast and I'd like to give a huge shout-out "thank you" to all of you who attended!  Surprisingly it was a very skilled game of football despite the fact that most of the players have been out of the game for 10+ years.  

No one got hurt.  No one cried and no one laughed at my jokes.  Personally I think using the term "huggle" (in place of "huddle") and "It is tickle football this year not flag football" is hilarious.  None of the guys even cracked a smile.  

Tough crowd.

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I did not do any Black Friday shopping.  

I value sleep way too much.

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I went to Minneapolis on Saturday to visit my friend Natalie.  We decorated her house for Christmas, caught up on sale strategy, grabbed Chinese food and watched a chick flick.  I oohed and ahhed over her inventory and of course had to buy a few items for my house (Boyd had requested that I take the car for this very reason.  Jerk.).   It had been a long time since I had been back to the Twin Cities and it was good for my heart.  I found myself breathing it all in.  I miss the energy of the place, the abundance of creativity, the hustle and bustle.

Natalie's house.

BUT that is not to say that I don't like South Dakota - it has its perks too.

Like a house that needs a ton of work. :)

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Speaking of the house.  I was able to paint the master bedroom on Monday.  It used to be a pepto pink but now it is a color called sea salt.  I'm not sure if I picked it for the actual color or just the name of the color.  I like salt.  And I like the sea.  It made me happy to request "sea salt" for my bedroom color.  Boyd has been tearing out the ceiling in a room.  It is a mess.  He also demolished the bathroom.  This is also a mess.  So far he is only making gigantic messes. I'm not so sure his prediction of moving in before Christmas will actually take place.

the bathroom

the master bedroom.  

Soon I will try and post pics of after pictures.  If I can get my lazy butt to actually finish a room.

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Boyd has been trying desperately to get a well on the property.  (personally, I don't think we need one but he REALLY wants one.  I REALLY want a pool but he seems to ignore that).  When Boyd initially called the well guy ("Mr. L"),  he was unsure if he was going to come out and dig.  Mr. L. then called back on Thanksgiving Day and said: "I sure don't need the money, and my wife thinks I'm crazy, but I will be there Friday morning".  And he was.  There and crazy.  Boyd and Mr. L were busy figuring out where there should be water, etc. - I went out to check on the progress and Mr. L says "You must be the wife!" and he gave me a hug.

So that was weird.

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Brother2 just asked me where my dog Lou was.  Apparently he is needed for his science experiment.  I wonder if the experiment is "how much cuteness can one dog contain?"

Have I posted this pic dozens of times already?

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Boyd and I were outside.  It is a full moon outside and you could hear the coyotes howling.  All of the sudden a huge gaggle of geese (is anyone else impressed that I used the term gaggle?) flew overhead.  I could hear their wings flapping.  It was . . . pretty awesome.

Immediately I thought to myself:  "Bastards! How dare they fly overhead.  We MUST shoot them!"

I'm channeling my inner hunter.  

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I bought a new book called "Life is a Verb".  It is supposed to be challenging and I'm due for a little inner working.  The first challenge is to "be curious not judgmental".  So . . I'm making a mental note every day to flip a judgment around into a curiosity.  When I found myself thinking:  "Good grief, he's an idiot".  I stopped and flipped it into "I wonder WHY he's an idiot?"  That was a cinch.

I think I'm a better person already.

Hustle. Bustle.

The holiday sale is finally over.  Such a relief and kind of disappointing.  Its almost like a wedding . . . you put a lot of work into planning the event and then Bam! Its over and now you are stuck with one big mess.  :)

Seriously though:  It was great.  I have to give a big shout out to the vendors who participated in this event.  The work and creativity they put forth was awe inspiring.  I felt so completely inept once I saw all the beautiful items.  My stuff looked like dull middle children. :)

Holiday sale held at the Goss Opera House

Yeah for shoppers!

And the shoppers.  THANK YOU loyal shoppers!  You make all the work worth it - - obviously by buying our stuff but also with all the kind words and encouragement. We really like that and, I can't speak for the others, but it made me feel warm and fuzzy. And for that I thank you and offer you my own warm and fuzzy to you:

kitten and my nephew

You are welcome.

I am not sure where "Lucky Day" will go from here.  If it will just stay a big event sale held twice a year or if there will be offshoots of it:  like maybe craft nights or even full craft weekends; selling a special item once a week online; traveling to special venues and renting a booth; maybe trying to bump up the big sales to 4x a year instead of 2x; offer decor/design services . . . . . who knows!  I certainly have no idea. BUT if you feel inclined, please do offer some insights or things you would like to see and it might just push me to focus on one area.  Maybe.

Cooking more is not a viable option. Boyd already offered that piece of input.

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Did I mention that I spilled a FULL quart of paint in my car during the sale?  I did.  It nearly pushed me over the edge. Boyd wanted me to give him a shout out for cleaning up all the paint but I am refusing.

Supposedly I am working at the "new" house this weekend. According to Boyd, that is.  We shall see.  Supposedly the heat is not hooked up and I am not feeling all that hearty lately.

People have been asking for before and after pics of the house.  The problem with this is that I don't have AFTER pics.  Here's the thing: we JUST got the house on the foundation and it is over 100 years old.  And my husband is "handy" which means we hire very little out and if you don't hire stuff out . . . . (a) you save money but (b) you live in a mess for a long time.

So . . . be patient because I know I will not be.

And the project begins.

Fun Alert:  The new James Bond movie is fun.  I have a few critiques but will stay quiet because they would be spoiler alerts.

The really big fun alert is that "Life of Pi" comes out next weekend.  The book was crazy fabulous so go and read it first AND then go the movie. Obviously, I have a very full social calendar.

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Random: I was looking through my notes and I found a list entitled: "Things I hate".  It consisted of leaky pens and salamanders.  Who's with me?

It is now 8:30 p.m. I have been in my PJs since 7pm. Things get pretty crazy around here.

Good night.