Weekend Wrap-Up

It was a much anticipated and NEEDED weekend. Highlights with pictures (coming tonight)...

1) After a very stressful and wierd work day Friday - the Cox's came over for tortellini soup and wine. It was fun (as it always is with their clan). The boys played downstairs as we had a semi-adult dinner, then we watched a little ski movie - getting Caid and Brad excited about their weekend of skiing. They are 2.5 and 4 and already little rippers on the slopes - thanks to their active and athletic parents no doubt. Caid informed us that he wants to start jumping off of cliffs and jumps. I just hope they don't send us the emergency room bill and blame it on the Howell movie night.(Brad being goofy - classic Brad face)

During my weird work day, Laurie was an awesome friend and took time out of her busy day to walk with me at lunch - letting me vent and clear my head. She's a rock star friend! She also gave me a super cool new journal - 3 Things Journal. You jot down 3 things you are either grateful for, want to do, would like to accomplish, and a few others.... It rocks and is EXACTLY the kind of journaling I am capable of with my A.D.D brain and busy life.

2) Peter and I had a very relaxing and fun Saturday that started with of course, a long hot tub, lots of coffee, and a delicious breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and sausage links.

3) Housework which included: mopping floors, vacuuming floors, cleaning rugs, dusting, finishing / reinforcing the garden fence, pooper scooping ( 5 bags worth - gross), hanging pictures, laundry, cleaning my closets and mentally designing a new and improved closet for both of us.

4) Energy savings upgrades - I insulated our basement more by doing a really cool little project that ANYONE can do... You cut bubble wrap to the size of your window panes. You spray water on the window, just a bit, and put the bubble wrap on the window. It will seal itself and stay! You still get all the light from your windows, but it increases the R-value by ALOT! I did it in all my basement windows that we don't "look out of" but still want the light.
I also added insulating tape / seal to the openings. Check out www.builditsolar.com for more super cool and easy tips to reduce your energy bills and save the planet- one little home at a time.

5) Peter and I experimented with an old favorite recipe of his - meat pie with homemade biscuits on top. Yum. With the extra biscuit dough we made cinnamon rolls - delicious (and ate them all ourselves).

6) Peter has decided to become a football fan. So, we had the infamous playoff games going on in the background all weekend. They were actually really fun to watch! Go Brett Favre!

7) We harassed our friends Matt and Jeannette while they were trying to start their floor-refinishing project. I am trying to stay positive and reassure Jeannette-o that it will be done in 1 week. They have currently moved ALL their upstairs furniture and rooms to storage in the basement and are sanding and refinishing all the hardwood in their very cute house. BIG project... They are more than capable.

8) Spent more time over at Matt and Jeannette's later that night for more football. Our friends Levia and Will were also there... So good to see them. The girls sat upstairs giggling and reliving the 80's. We made those really cool paper fortune tellers. Remember when you ask it a question, pick a number, move the paper-finger-teller thing that number, pick a color, spell it out with your count, then open the flap and it answers your question? It was fun. The fortune teller concluded that: I will retire at age 75 (boo), Jeannette's floors will NOT be done in 1 week (or even close), Levia gets to retire at age 45, and it finally concluded that we needed to leave and go catch the 9pm show of Charlie Wilson's War.

9) Charlie Wilson's War rocked! Go and see it!

10) Peter and I had a perfect Sunday - and got to spend the whole day with his mom - she is fantastic!

11) We had a great morning hot-tub (the usual) on our own and then a nice egg scramble breakfast with Joellyn.

12) We then packed up the truck with cross country skis and 4 dogs and went to West Mill Creek for a day of cross country skiing. None of us had skied this trail and it was awesome! it followed an old mining forest service road and we got great view of Mill Creek and the fires from this summer and a fire from a few years back. The weather was perfect and the snow and trail was great. The dogs had WAY too much fun sliding in the snow, pouncing in the deep pockets, and running as fast as they can up and down the trail. According to my nifty Suunto watch / work out program counter thingy, we were in a calorie burning workout zone for 1 hour 45 minutes and 59 seconds and burned 599 calories. I figure we burned off the cheesy egg and sausage breakfast?

One thing comes to mind when I think of our AWESOME DAY in the mountains - "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity..." John Muir

13) We then went to Chico Hot Springs - local resort with natural hot springs / pools. We had their (in my mind) famous and delicious bloody marys and soaked for about an hour. Joellyn had NEVER been to Chico in all the years she has lived in MT, so it was a treat for all!

(this is a photo from the Chico website - we do not know this cute pool baby - BUT, this is what Chico looks like)

14) We went straight to Lee and Abby's house where they were celebrating (again) Lee's birthday with double iced brownies and hamburgers.

15) When we got back to the house, Peter's cousins were there. They are sick and wanted to get out of their house and rest. They watched movies, played cards, and watched more football with Peter.Loni and Gaucho - relaxin - on our NEW couch that we scored from Sally's moving sale

16) I tried going through all my mysterious keys that go to NOTHING! I tried about 2o different keys in our cars and doors of the house - trying to find what they go to. In the end, most are still in a little baggies labeled with a "?"

17) Cleaned out my medicine cabinet box. Found scary drugs in there! Some had been expired since 2003 and some medicines I have no recollection of buying. Why would I have ever needed glycerin suppositories and isn't that a problem I would remember!

18) We did some Willow Ranch business stuff and ordered a nice big Rosa's pepperoni pizza for dinner. Drank lots of tea and hot chocolate, watched a GREAT movie - Freedom Writers - I cried and went to bed wanting to become a teacher, work in a integrated school in the projects and save the world.

19) Woke up Monday morning NOT wanting to move to the projects and came to my job that works just fine.