I wish I had a career, not just a job.  I would think it'd be much more fulfilling... 

It’s been a busy week!  It seemed like there were things going on every night last week, so this week I would love to just relax after work.  And watch Season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy. J

 

Friday night Bryan and I made dinner and watched Juno.  It was a good movie, both funny and out there. 

 

Saturday I had lunch at Highland House with my mom and Aunts for Rene’s birthday. It was a good time with great food.  Saturday afternoon Bryan and I went to Lowe’s to purchase some window treatments and then visited with my parents for a few hours and watched part of the Tigers game.  We did not get home until about 9 pm and just made some nachos for dinner and watched part of Season 1 of Grey’s Anatomy.  It’s a really good show that we’re both enjoying.

 

Sunday was a crazy busy day of working on the house!  I made a nice breakfast in the morning, then we headed out to Target and Sam’s Club to run some errands.  Bryan got a bunch of stuff for organizing the garage and I got some gardening stuff (soil and flowers).  I spent the afternoon/evening organizing and cleaning all of the upstairs while Bryan got the garage in order and brought the poor water-destroyed carpet into the garage.  He also cleaned up the kitchen!  It was an intense day of cleaning and organizing, so last night we ordered pizza and watched more of Grey’s Anatomy.  We started Season 2 and are looking forward to watching more tonight…

 And more good news – Aaron the Painter started today!  So when I get home from work part of our house will have color.  I can’t wait!

So the warm weather has finally come, although not so much this week..  With the warm weather I really need a pair of nice sandals that I can wear to work.  A few weeks ago I had purchased a pair of black patent pointy toe pumps from DSW, but I have not yet worn them.  With the warm weather I probably wouldn't wear them more than once or twice until the Fall so I may exchange them for some nice summery shoes.  There is a really nice pair of sandals that I saw at Macy's the other day that I have my eye on, so that may happen...

Aaron the Painter is supposed to start Monday.  That's less then a week away!  He just broke his arm three weeks ago, so let's see if this happens.  Bryan spoke with him last night and he said he was ready to start, so I am certainly hoping so!  If all goes as plans he will be done by Friday, May 2, which is about a month later than what we had planned.

Hopefully we'll be able to have a housewarming party some weekend in May, perhaps the weekend between Mother's Day and Memorial Day.  It would be nice. :)

The weekend went by way too fast! 

Friday night I met up with Jamie, Ryan and Clint for dinner at the Red Dog.  Clint's sister, brother-in-law and niece joined us shortly after to watch the Red Wings game.  They are pretty intense fans!  I am not very into many sports, especially hockey, but it was still a good time.  Plus the Red Dog is always a good time with good company. :)  Jamie is now done with school and has a few weeks off to do some wedding planning.  I hope I can help a little!  And I can't wait to see her dress once she gets it.  The picture is very pretty!  Plus once she has the dress she can move on to accessories.. And the dress makes everything feel that much more real and important.

After the Red Dog I worked for a few hours on our spare bedroom but made very little progress.  I think I actually made it look worse for the interim by creating quite a few messes.  Anyways, I partly put together a nightstand but that was frustrating.  It was taking a while and the screws were not always going in correctly..  Then I put up a really cute window treatment, but it's about an inch too narrow so I think I have to return it. :(  Oh, and I bought a lamp at Ikea but did not buy any light bulbs.  Oops.  I am hoping they will have the right kind at Target.  Since these few things in the bedroom took a while to set up, I did not get the chance to clean up the rest of the house.

Saturday I had a hair appointment at 11:00 a.m.  I also purchased some new hair product at the salon, but promptly forgot it in the bathroom.  I am so incredibly forgetful sometimes it sucks!  A few months ago I forgot my purse in a bar, but luckily it was still there when I called later that night.  A few weeks ago I left my camera at a restaurant, and luckily again it was at the table when I went back later that night.  Unfortunately this time I forgot until the next day and it was gone when I went back on Sunday.  I may end up just buying it again because I really liked it!

Saturday night Bryan and I went out to Dino's in Ferndale for Jerome's 30th birthday party.  That was a lot of fun.  They had a good live band later in the night, and we were able to catch up with some people we had not seen for a while. :)

Sunday I slept in really late, till 12:15 p.m.  This is wayyy later then when I normally wake up.  And it was such a beautiful morning that I just slept away!  I was so tired though, and we did not get to bed till 2 in the morning.  So it felt nice.  Bryan was outside doing some lawn work when I woke up, so I went down to help him with that.  Our yard is looking quite nice now!  I can't wait to put some flowers in.

At 4:00 we met my family in Brighton for Carolyn's birthday dinner.  Why Brighton, you may ask?  Because Katie did not want to drive the additional 15 minutes to Novi from East Lansing.  Oh well.  Carolyn turns 16 on Thursday, which is a little scary.  She doesn't get her license for another month, so there's no need for drivers in Oakland County to panic just yet..  I am not exaggerating, she is a terrifying driver.  We'll see how she does in a car, driving alone.

Last night I was supposed to clean a bunch of stuff around the house and put away all of my clothes.  But I did not.  Instead I was lazy and did not do much of anything.  All of my clothes are currently in different random containers in our bedroom.  And I do mean ALL of my clothes.  Because last night I took them all out from our old dresser in the spare bedroom and stuck them on the master bedroom floor and barely attempted to organize and put them away.  Tonight I must do that, or I think Bryan will kill me.  It's just a lot of work.  All my summer and winter clothes are all piled together and I have to figure out what to keep out, what to store, what to hang, etc.  But it will happen!   

And that was my weekend.  I got nothing done and caused Bryan a lot of stress, I am sure.

I believe that Bryan and I will have new neighbors in the upcoming months.  Currently the two lots next door to use are empty, but it looks like on of those lots will soon have a house built on it.  And Bryan actually knows one of the future owners!

It was quite random how it all happened..

Saturday afternoon Bryan was outside washing his car when a van was driving by.  Well, the stop at the lot next to us and Bryan realizes he recognizes the woman.  Her name is Tina, and they went to college at Northwood together.  Even more random then Bryan knowing her, Tina won the house at a Pistons game in March!  She had the correct key to open a door..  How crazy is that!  So her and her husband and their 16 month old now have a house.  They're going to start building in the next few weeks. 

I am excited to have more neighbors, especially another young family.  Tom and Sarah, who live on the other side of this empty lot, also have a 16 month old baby.  I think their kids are two days apart.  It's nice to have lots of starting families.  Plus more homes helps our property value.. 

How lucky they are to have won a house though - not a bad deal!

I went to Panera Bread at lunch today to get a frozen coffee drink.  I have had one before, a while ago, and remembered it being very tasty.  Well, I think I ordered the wrong drink today, or something.  I ordered the frozen mocha, and this thing is so chocolately it's ridiculous.  I can't even taste the coffee!  The drink doesn't taste bad, it's just not what I expected.  It's more of a chocolate shake than a frozen mocha.

I am dog sitting for my parents tonight and tomorrow night while they go down to Dayton to see Carolyn in Worlds.  It should be interesting.  Tomorrow night Millie and Darla are going to stay at our house in Clarkston, so let's hope that turns out well! :)

So things are going much better for our basement, the sump pumps, and the water level!!  Monday afternoon a few Clarkston DPW guys came out near our house.  Apparently there's this water pump that nobody on our street knew about.  The pump is next to an empty lot, and pipes run behind our house and over a few more houses.  It was installed by the builder of our home who has since left Michigan.  The pipes and pump keep the water circulating through our drain tiles and out of our sump pumps and out of our basement.  As soon as this pump was fixed/turned on the water level in the sump holes went down substantially, and now they are not even running all of the time!  It's amazing and soo incredibly relieving.  :)

Yesterday Bryan went over to the water department to get copies of all the plumping/plat plans and also to speak with a few different township officials including the supervisor and an engineer.  The next step is to figure out exactly who will be managing the pump system and what an emergency system is for when it breaks/turns off.  I think that it's supposed to automatically dial some number, but that did not exactly work last week.

But it's good news that this pump exists!  Huge news.

I just discovered a wonderful new tea!  I found it at Target, too!  Normally Target doesn't have much of a tea selection at all outside of the Lipton variety so I am glad that I randomly stumbled across this spearmint tea.  :)

It's very tasty, especially with an added packet of Splenda.  The spearmint flavor is excellent making this tea highly recommended!  It doesn't really have a big tea flavor, just a very strong minty flavor.  I really like strong tasting teas, too, so it's perfect!