Whew!

Sorry I've been out of touch lately. Dad's here so that means home remodel time!! I kept is "easy" this time. Ok, "easier"....

Here's what we've done so far:
- removed chair rail and wallpaper from living room
- painting living room
- painted dining room
- painted family room
- painted stairway
- replaced molding in living room (floor and windows)
- replaced molding in dining room (floors and windows)
- replaced molding in family room (floors and windows)
- purchased an assload of pictures and...
- hung pictures on wall (the first things we've had on the wall in this house... in over 5 years..)
- took some artwork I bought in Egypt almost TEN YEARS AGO to get custom framed so I can finally use them
- added 2 rows of tile above the tub where the contractors screwed it up a few years ago
- ordered a sideboard to use in the kitchen so I can get rid of an old thing that was all function, no form
- rearranged furniture in dining room
- by doing the above was able to create a true reading/ music room (that also has to act as David's winter workout room. I can't have everything!!)

To do within the next week:
- build and mount headboard
- hang remaining pictures purchased

To do in spring:
- paint and install new front door and screen (that has already been purchased and is biding it's time in the basement)

Left to do to the house when budget allows:
- new windows throughout
- new carpet for stairs and bedrooms
- wood floor for living/ dining room

And I'm convinced we're living on borrowed time with our furnace so I might as well add that to the list.

At least the roof was new when we moved in!!

Whew!

Thanks Dad!!

how do you spell indelible??

Years ago when Cover Girl first came out with that "stay put" lipstick I gave it a whirl. Unfortunately my lips are pretty sensitive. For example I can't use any blistex products. There's something in there that doesn't agree with my lips. Can't do anything with menthol or peppermint oil. You get the idea. Same with the "stay put" stuff. There is something in it that just wrecks havoc on my lips. So I haven't tried any of the stuff in years - even though other companies have come out with their own versions.

I'm also one of those girls that looks best with a swipe of color on their lips. I say I look better, not that I do it on a regular basis. You know how some people just look better with mascara? Like that. The easiest way for me to look "made up" is to put on some lip stick. Which is still good 'cuz when I want to "dress up" I just put on some colored lip gloss and I'm done. You know me - that's just about as much effort as I'm inclined to put into getting "glammed up".

I decided that I'd give the indelible lip color another go. I steered clear of Cover Girl. Standing in the makeup section I saw that Revlon had an indelible gloss. I figured that'd be a good place to start.

That did pretty well. It will eventually come off but not as easily as regular gloss. However the color was a bit more pinky than the browny I was hoping for. But it still looks good. It's a keeper.

Last night I was at good ol' Walgreens and decided to see what else was out there. I again turned to Revlon. I won't lie - there was a BOGO promo. And since these things cost about $10 a pop I figured I could try two different colors with limited financial investment.

I picked up one that had two wands. One end was the color and the other was a clear gloss. I picked out what I thought was a "day" color. "Fearless fawn" or something. Then I decided for my "free one" to get a color with more punch. They have another formula that has no top coat. So I went for it and got a deep, dark red. Yes, me. I did!!

I was sure that at least one wouldn't live up to the color it suggested. So I got home and miraculously the fawn color looked great!! Woo hoo! Even if the red looks terrible at least I got one good one out of it!

As designed, the color would not come off. Not even with toner. I had to use eye makeup remover to get it off!! But now to try the red.

I don't use lip liner - which might change after this experience... It's hard to draw perfectly in the "lines". I had a few slip ups which made me resemble a three year old sneaking into her mother's makeup. But I cleaned it up and it actually looked good too!!

TWO FOR TWO!! Woo hoo!!

I went into the hubby's office to show him. I was so proud!!

I went back in the bathroom because I wondered if I put more on would it get darker?? I was playing with it for a bit and finally stepped back to admire my work in the mirror. About then the hubby walked in, and in an effort to be more spontaneous and sexy, grabbed me and planted a passionate kiss on my lips.

I went with it. I'm not gonna pass that up!

But when he stepped back I confirmed what I thought. Since I had been playing around my lipstick wasn't yet dry when he kissed me. HA! He was now smeared with dark red lipstick all over his lips and above his lips!!

Did I mention the hubby is sportin' a beard these days??

I started laughing. He grabbed a kleenex to wipe it off. It didn't budge.

I had to wet a cotton ball with my eye makeup remover and wipe it off of him. It was tricky getting it out of his moustache!!

Somehow I think I may not be getting many passionate kisses in the future! or at least he might stop to consider if my makeup is "done" before hand...

I heart funnylady

I heart funnylady from my office. On occasion she buys flavored creamer for us. I'm in the process of doing my fiscal 2011 budget along with a cup of coffee infused with Belgian Chocolate Toffee creamer.

YUM!

And that fiscal year is not a typo. I'm currently in fiscal 2010 that will end March 31, 2010. As of April 1, 2010 we are on fiscal 2011. Confusing, isn't it??

Band aids

WARNING: Personal body details below.

I have not run for the past week. And even the week before I didn't log as many miles as I was supposed to due to the blisters-on-the-arch-of-foot issue. Well this week I had a different excuse not to run at all.

See, I had, um... a skin tag. In a "private place". It appeared to be causing some of my aforementioned chafing in the nether regions. So I had that sucker removed.

And let's just say I can't run with a band aid in my crack.

I'm going to go to the gym tonight and see if I can comfortably run a few miles tonight. Sans band aid, of course. Heck, I scoot around too much on the sofa and that sucker wads up in a heartbeat. NOT comfortable!

We'll see how it goes. I really need to get movin' again since my race is in a MONTH!!!

I'm definitely not a kid anymore...

This weekend I finally got around to painting our bedroom. I know, we've only lived in this house for over FIVE years now...

One night last week I trimmed the edges while the hubby was out of town to make it faster for me to get it done in one day during the weekend. So come Saturday I painted the room with two coats. Well, almost 2 coats as I actually ran out of paint! It's not like our bedroom is huge. But I went through a gallon. I haven't used a whole gallon for any of the other rooms...

Because the room still smelled like paint and because I didn't want to move back furniture to sleep just to move it out of the way again the next day to finish touch ups I decided we weren't going to sleep in that room that night. I figured we'd leave it as it to make it easier on Sunday to finish.

So, to make it more "fun" I proposed that we pull out the sleeper sofa in the family room and have a "sleep over". Hey - how else do you sell sleeping on a pull out couch??

I didn't purposefully buy a sleeper sofa. I picked out the one I liked and it happened to be a sleeper. I say this because it's in the family room - not an ideal place to put guests. As a matter of fact I don't think we've ever actually used the sleeper portion before. 1) we have a guest room and 2) it's in the middle of the family room which is open to the kitchen. Whoever is up first (me) will be making a racket feeding the animals, watching the news, etc. It's just not feasible.

Also the family room is a small rectangle. You are required to move the coffee table to utilize the sleeper and even then you only have just enough space to walk between the end of the bed and the sliding glass door. (Thank goodness we have blinds for the slider!!)

Well, we pulled it out. I put on the only set of sheets that we have that fit it - currently our "camping" sheets. As soon as I put on the fitted sheet I remembered that last time we took the dogs camping they put big slices through it. So the fitted sheet on the sleeper has doggie toenail marks through it. Not good for use with guests, but what do I care if I'm using it??

I finished making the bed and the hubby and I climbed in. We watched some tv and when I was tired he used his trusty headlamp to read a book. (which is the same method we employ in our regular bed...)

I tossed and turned trying to get comfy. It's not possible on a sleeper sofa. I don't care what you say - it's just not. But apparently I feel asleep because the next thing I remember is looking at the stack of sofa cushions the hubby put on the leather chair beside my side of the bed. There was the unmistakable outline of a cat atop the cushions. He finally moved, as though trying to figure out how to get down. I thought to myself "good luck with that", rolled over and closed my eyes. Seconds later a huge clatter. The hubby "what the hell was that???" I guess the cat figured out how to get down after all...

Also, Nikki apparently didn't get the memo that we were downstairs to SLEEP. She kept pacing and would smack at the slider to be let out. Did I tell you there's snow on the ground here?? She didn't have to go she just wants to go play in the snow. We kept telling her to lay down. She would still wander around and come back and smack at the door. Finally at FOUR am the hubby let her out thinking maybe she did have to go since she's kept it up for so long.

Nope - she just went outside and ate snow on the deck.

We had the usual fight for leg space with cats. That's not new. We also had to listen to Liam snoring all night. He hasn't slept upstairs with us for a year or so now since his arthritis is getting so bad. So we got a reminder of why we aren't so upset at his choice of sleeping accommodations downstairs.

Then the morning came. Or rather, I decided I'd had enough and got up. And then I realized why we don't sleep on the pull out regularly. I HURT! I ached all over like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat. My hips hurt, my neck hurt. My knees were stiff. I felt AWFUL!!

What happened to being a kid when we thought it was a treat at a sleep over to get to sleep on the pull out???

Never again.

Feels like forever!

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. I have been out of town for work. again...

This time of the year is busy for us since Mr. In Charge thinks it's a great idea to combine a managers meeting, a national sales meeting all together with our biggest trade show of the year. It makes for two very tiring weeks. Yes, including the weekend.

And to make matters worse the hubby had to leave on Sunday to fly out so the pups were in the kennel from Saturday to Tuesday. : ( I hate boarding them. They're gettin' old you know!

So I was in San Antonio for these lovely meetings, etc. Yes, I was in Texas when SNOW came through! Really? People I can get that at home!! Show me some love! Give me heat!!

Ok, well only Houston got snow but it was colder than... than... well I don't know what. But it was cold for Texas. It was actually funny to watch the morning news. The headlining story for three days straight was the cold weather and possibility of snow. I think the last time they got any good accumulation was back in the 50's or something.

I actually heard this on the traffic report:
"It's going to be a very cold day out there. Remember, you're going to need your heater on for the commute!"

Seriously? She had to remind people to turn on the heater in their car?? I understand if you're not used to snow and extremely cold weather, but I'm pretty sure most smart people will figure out to turn on the heater if they get cold. Or maybe they'll just think to bundle up in lots of blankets... in their car. Geesh!

By the way - the record breaking lows were in the 30's. Yet one more thing to laugh at.

So according to the news I get the impression that people aren't too smart in that part of the country. However I will say that they were all exceptionally polite. (and they really didn't seem that slow to me...) I went running and everyone smiled and gave me a nod. Of course they're probably wondering what in the hell I was doing out running in the FREEZING COLD and all. I was in a long sleeve and capri pants and was quite comfy. (as I was running past people walking to the bus stop in Arctic parkas. no kidding...)

And I can also attest to the fact that San Antonio is THE place for margaritas. So much so that I fear I might have to take a break from them for a while. Not a lifetime ban, like whiskey... or bourbon... But I don't think I'll be touching another margarita until at least the spring!