Progress Update

We recently installed a new side and front door. We use the side door as our front door. Before we installed the new front door the side door opened but would barely close so we just always used the side. It's become our "main" entrance. The one before just had windows half way up and my dogs would put their paws on it and move the blinds out of the way to see out and it was aggravating because their nails would scratch the door. Now they can just look out without messing up the blinds or scratching the door. My dogs must to be able to look out a window or door because they have been trained to keep watch and bark when something or someone unknown comes into our yard. If I didn't install this door they jump on the back of the living room couch and keep watch like birds and because they know they can't do that they get confused. This door makes everyone happy!

Yes, you see correct. The molding is off. The molding was around the old door and the old door was shorter. We'll fix it later.

The front door still needs to be painted before I post pictures but they are coming soon.

Also, the windows went in last night. Hubby asked that I not post about them because they weren't finished but I couldn't help it! Sorry Babe!

They still need to finish grouting, fixing the concrete and painting the foundation.

Fall Begins

Monday marked the beginning of the Fall Season for this year. Fall is my favorite time of year. It's also one of my most expensive times of year. We have (in order) my Birthday, the Blues Home Opener, my little Brothers Birthday, Jaxon's Birthday, my Sister in laws Birthday and Halloween. This is also the time of year we visit the wineries. Not to mention Thanksgiving, a few more Birthdays, Christmas and then a few more Birthdays as the year rounds out.

I don't think there is anyone who doesn't enjoy Fall. The leaves changing colors, the cooler weather, the sights, sounds and smells are all different. For me it's time to start baking, making different soups, planting my Mums and decorating for Fall. I usually go all out and even do little things such as changing my air freshener from Summer scents to Apples and Spice, Vanilla or Sugar Cookies. I change all my candles to these scents and even change my dish liquid and hand soup. I look forward to apple picking and visiting Rombach's Pumpkin Patch all year! I'm already trying to figure out how we will carve our pumpkins this year.

What a WONDERFUL time of year!

By the way...That's Gig Harbor, WA. I miss it most in the fall!

Shameless AW Moment

I was lucky enough to see my niece Nadia today. I haven't seen her since August and my has she grown! She smiles, laughs, holds her head up and even stands when held. She is so perfect! She looks so much like my Mom when she was a baby.

Isn't she the cutest?

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

I only check my Google Analytics about once a month. It's usually the same numbers. I usually get between 5 and 35. But Yesterday I received 160 visitors! Whoa! I am happy to get one a day. It looks as though about half came from Money Saving Mom's blog. A few more from Lisa and Kristal's blogs and some direct traffic. But why no comments? Who are you? Can you share your blog with me? I'm always looking for awesome new blogs and would love it if even a few of you let me know who you are....

So I want to invite all that read my blog to comment. Whether you stay for 1 second or read a few of my posts or whether you know me or not. You don't have to tell my anything about you if you don't want to. Maybe just tell me how you found my blog. Whatever you wish. I'll be sure to checkout your blog and leave a comment or two!

Early morning wake up call

This morning at 7:00 sharp I was again awakened by really load noises. I got up, looked out my window and what did I see? I very large concrete truck dumping concrete on in my yard to form our new driveway! Woohoo! The perfect way to start out my morning!

This is huge for us. This was one of the biggest projects that needed to be finished before we could "move back in". Now all we need is our windows....

Is it Friday the 13th?

Or did I walk under a ladder yesterday? Break a mirror lately? Must have.

The day started out with me half asleep making coffee. I poured the creamer in the coffee, put the creamer back and when I came home from taking Jax to school I went to go make another cup and I had a huge mess of creamer in my fridge. WTF? I didn't close the cap and must have knocked the creamer over because it spilled everywhere in our fridge :( After cleaning up the mess I sat in bed watching the news with my yummy cup of coffe and for the second time this month Cow jumped on my bed causing the coffee cup to move in my hand and spill coffee all over me and our new blanket! Damnit! Later I went to feed the dogs and poured the cup of dog food onto Cow's overturned bowl making the biggest mess of dog food. Needless to say Cow ate off the floor. So, then I go to put a load of white laundry in and didn't check the washer and of course last night I did my load of red dish rags. So now most of our socks are a light shade of pink!

All this before 1:30....I don't think I can take much more of this!

My Beautiful Mess!

We worked until about 2 last night so we stayed at the house and I woke up this morning, got the kids ready, grabbed my coffee and stepped outside to see this wonderful mess! I wondered what that banging around outside was...

My new driveway!


They have finally finished the frame and are pouring it today or tomorrow. Sweet!

Walgreens Deals

Thankfully Walgreens decided to grace us with another $10 off $40 purchase coupon this weekend. I discovered it earlier today and rushed out to grab my Free After Rebate stuff for the month of September. Didn't have much time to plan because the coupon is valid only Friday and Saturday. I grabbed all my manufacturer coupons from the office because I knew I would need them and I'm glad I did. Here is my trip broken down.

*SunSilk Hydra TLC Shampoo with bonus(s) & Conditioner with bonus(s): 2/$4.29
*Degree Men's Sport Deodorant = $1.99
*Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste = $3.79
*Chemistry Volume Treatment/Root Lifter = $7.99
*Degree Woman's Deodorant = $1.99
*Walgreen's Toothbrushes = 2 for $1.99
*Revlon Nails Top Coat = $4.79
*Bic Soliel Shimmer Kit with Refills = $6.99
*Excedrin Tension Headache Gels = $3.99
*Lypsyl SPF15 LypMoisturizer = $1.99
*Breast Cancer Awareness Coffee Cup (couldn't resist) = $4.99

Total before Coupons and Rebates: $44.79

*SunSilk Hydra TLC Shampoo with bonus(s) & Conditioner with bonus(s): 2/4.29 and used $1.50/1 coupon = $1.30 for both and $0.65 a piece
*Degree Men's Sport Deodorant = $1.99 and used $1/1 coupon = $.99
*Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste = $3.79 but Free After Rebate and used $0.75/1 coupon = $0.75 overage
*Chemistry Volume Treatment/Root Lifter = $7.99 but Free After Rebate
*Degree Woman's Deodorant = $1.99 and used $.50/1 = $1.49
*Walgreen's Toothbrushes = 2 for $2
*Revlon Nails Top Coat = $4.79 but Free After Rebate
*Bic Soliel Shimmer Kit with Refills = $6.99 and used $3/1 coupon = $3.99
*Excedrin Tension Headache Gels = $3.99 but Free After Rebate
*Lypsyl SPF15 LypMoisturizer = $1.99 but Free After Rebate
*Breast Cancer Awareness Coffee Cup (couldn't resist) = $4.99

Total Spent OOP after Manufacturer Coupons and $10 off = $28.04
Total in Rebates = $22.55

Total OOP = $5.49!!

I'll also get 10% back for putting it on my gift card. Not to shabby!

Win by default!

One of the MANY things on our "You must do or I'll fine you out the wazoo" list was the basement windows. We have three 56x14 windows down there that are either broken, boarded up or both. It's a mess. We always planned fixing them but only when we replaced the rest of the windows which was going to be November but now that our very precise time-line has been all jacked up we were forced to think quick. In turn, I got my dream windows! Yipee!

I am not originally from St. Louis. I moved from Gig Harbor, Washington YEARS ago.

Regardless I still call WA home and am obsessed with things that remind me of there. Glass blocks are one of them. They are very popular in WA and remind me a little of the broken glass pieces that wash up on shore after weeks, months and years of being tumbled around in the ocean. They also remind me a lot of the ocean when it moves.

In the beginning I was very set on Glass Black windows for the basement but lost out when hubby said it wasn't in the budget. We decided we would just order regular windows for the basement. Now this isn't an option due to the time frame we have to fix the windows. If we did normal windows the delivery time is 2-3 weeks. Now if we did glass blacks it's 7-10 days. Also, we got a sweet deal because we are a business and the glass block windows will only cost $4 more a piece than normal windows. Sweet.



We met with Donald Fendler of Glass Blocks of St. Louis to order our new glass block windows. We picked out the Decora pattern in the Thinline series. Hopefully they will be here on Monday and I'll be sure to post pictures once they are installed!

On a side note. Who knew glass blocks could be used for so many things and came in so many sizes and colors?

Check!

The St. Louis County Inspector just came and inspected and approved our new plumbing stack. This is huge because it means we are one step closer to sleeping in our beds at night.

We used Armstrong Plumbing and were very pleased.

We had about 6 companies/plumbers come to our home to bid the job of fixing our plumbing stack. Out of all the bids they were lowest but they were by far the most professional. They rushed right out to bid the job on Friday and had the job done Monday afternoon. They cleaned up their mess and were polite and friendly. They also wore a uniform and showed up in a company truck which NONE of the other plumbers did. We are very happy with their work and would definitely use them in the future.

Blogger Reading List

This new Blogger reading list rocks. I still have not been able to work Google Reader and I have tried a thousand times. The best part is now I can follow blogs that I haven't added to my "Stalkworthy Blogs" section yet. Some blogs I read a few posts and like what I read, others I just know I love. I hate to add more blogs to my list before I've gotten a true feel for the blog. If I don't add them, I can't find them again.


So hopefully now I can keep better track of the blogs I love and know when people post so I can actually comment!

When it rains, It POURS!

I'll keep this brief because if I don't I might break down in tears. Josh, the boys and I are being thrown out of our house. We needed a Occupancy Permit to occupy this house and because it wasn't done we have until tonight to vacate. On the upside we managed to avoid over $2,000 in fines and being arrested.

Our house failed the inspection because of the exterior of the house and a few other minor issues. Granted we could have everything finished by next week but it's still shocks me that someone has this control over the house I pay the mortgage on! What in the hell is this world coming to? Since when in the fact that the driveway isn't concrete become concern enough to kick me out of my house?! I find this crazy! I think the only thing that saved us was how shocked and glad the inspector was to see the inside. He actually smiled when he walked in and said he couldn't believe how wonderful the inside looked. Whew!

So back to living with family or the Chesterfield house. The very house I have been spending all my time cleaning and staging for the bank to come in a re-finance....Thank god we have such a wonderful and supportive family!


You said it Cheezburger Kitty :(