Category: Randomness

A couple family friends have passed away recently and another is very sick. It has made me think about how fragile we are and how short life is. Anyone that reads this, please take care of yourself. I have been thinking about all the small things in life I blew out of proportion or made a big deal about that really don't matter in the greater scheme of things. I just wanted to say something because it has been on my mind.

And to the friends and family that have lost someone close to them…you are in my thoughts and prayers. Your loved ones will be missed, but never forgotten.

* Unaccustomed Earth
– Jhumpa Lahiri

* The Memory Keeper's Daughter
– Kim Edwards

* A Dog's Life
– Peter Mayle

* Friendship Test
– Elizabeth Noble

* Stiff
– Mary Roach

* This Year it Will be Different
* Silver Wedding
* Glass Lake
– Maeve Binchy

* Oryx and Crake
* Lady Oracle
* The Robber Bride
* Bodily Harm
* Cat's Eye
– Margaret Atwood

* Letters to a Young Conservative
* What's so Great About America
– Dinesh D'Souza

I have been working on my recipes page a bit more recently. I have found I need to come up with more meals to eat. I have the recipe database I created as a tab at the top of his page. If you don't have access to it and would like access, email me and I can help set up a user name and password for you.

I picked up my China that was my Grandma's yesterday. My dining room is really the Grandma room. All of the things in there were hers. But I really like it. It makes me feel like she is still around. I like having a little piece of her around. It's almost been a year since she died. I can't believe how quickly the time went. I am not looking forward to the holidays this year without her. They will just be strange. Hopefully I can get my grandparent fill from Chuck's grandparents.

We finally closed on our old house in Minneapolis on Friday morning. It is nice to not own two houses. It just felt like such a long time from when we moved into the new house and closed on the old one. I was very ready to have only the one house. And I don't have to do things in the attic anymore. It's not fun. We did take a look in the new attic here, and it's not nearly as scary. No bats!

There are only a couple things to work on here, but it doesn't NEED to be done like it did at the old house. This stuff we are doing is beacuse we want to, not have to. I feel like we are pretty moved in. We just got a desk and shelf for Chuck's office. Now he doesn't have his computer on a card table. It's nice to have that done. The only things we won't have done by the time people come are wall hangings/artwork because we haven't gotten any yet, curtains/blinds (there are only ones in the bedroom and master bath right now), and I would like to paint the walls at some point. That's about it. I am really feeling like it is coming together. It feels more like home everyday. Actually, it felt like home to me the first day we looked at it. 🙂 I love it here.

We had a few kids come by for Halloween last night. A group of 4 boys were having a competition to see who could be the most polite. 🙂 And one girl was afraid to come up the stairs. She thought something was going to jump out at her. I told her nothing would. Then as soon as she got to the top of the stairs, the fog machine turned on and she jumped out of her skin and about 3 feet back. I had to laugh. It was pretty funny. Then one little boy told us we had spirit! It was a fun night even though only a few kids came by.

I just sent out an evite to a party we are having. It's a compilation of a few things….a house warming party, a late wedding reception and my birthday party. I think it will be a good time. I am looking forward to it.
 
Then the following day we are going to the O.A.R. concert. I love their concerts. They are so much fun. And I really like their new cd, soI am looking forward to it. And it will be on my birthday/anniversary, so it doesn't get much better than that!
 
We just have a couple small ends to tie up at the old house and we close on it on Friday. It will be nice to have that taken care of since we are settled in another place. It's one less thing on my mind to think about.
 
The kitties are getting along pretty well. No major casualties. Dax is getting more comfortable around the house and her paws are healing from her surgery. She is getting a little braver and hitting Sam and Sadie back. She even chased Sadie around the house yesterday. She might be getting happy in the house and with the other cats, but she isn't getting much quieter. She is still meowing like crazy. I am hoping she will grow out of that, Soon she will be able to stay out in the rest of the house at night and not be confined to our bathroom. I think that will help a bit. She doesn't seem to make quite as much noise with Sam and Sadie aroud. 🙂 And Paige came over yesterday and I think she really comes to see the cats, not us. 🙂 That's ok. We like to see her. 🙂
 
 

This morning I took Dax to the vet to have her declawed in the front. We won't get her back until Wednesday. 🙁 That makes me sad. But when she gets back she'll be able to play with Sam and Sadie without me worrying she will scratch their eyes out. And Dax won't hurt my dining room chairs that were my grandma's. And that will be nice.
 
On a different note…..My birthday and our anniversary are coming up. I am planning to have a housewarming party/reception for the wedding. So just plan for sometime the beginning of November. I will get emails out about it as soon as I pick a date. 🙂

Since I have had this site for a while and haven't done much to it, I decided to start using it more appropriately. I was writing things at Chuckhays.net before, but I am going to write here. There is still a link on here to the old page, as well as links to the photo gallery and my recipe database.
 
I got a new camera for my Annibirthary (Anniversary/Birthday) and will be taking lots of pictures. Bear with me, as I am not much of a photographer. I don't claim to be, so my pictures will be of silly things….like our cats. 🙂
 
Now it's time to keep making the site pretty since I finally have some text on here now. 🙂