It Almost Never Happens...

I'm never a deal getter. Never. Not on clothes, at least. Now my sister.....she once gave me a precious skirt that she found for $1.99. Yes, that's right. $1.99. And I rocked that skirt out for all it's two buckage.

So the other weekend, after doing some Christmas shopping, I decided that Boog could watch the gals a little while longer while I tried to find some jeans that fit. I had specific wants: Not too long, not too low, hit me right below the ankle where I don't have to roll them up to wear flats. So.....not hard to do, right? We all know that's wrong. It's near impossible!

All the "teeny-bopper" stores well, really.....why don't I just show everyone my underwear and get it over with? Gap....almost. But I didn't love 'em and fretted paying $60 bucks for so-so. Old Navy....forget it. You can't have any thighs at all.

So after tons of stores, me - all ragged and haggardly - not wanting to look in any mirror.....I had one last stop. The Loft. And of course....they were perfect.

Voila!!!

And perfectly expensive, too. Almost $70. Now, as a teacher....and a teacher who's funding is going straight to "house re-model/moneysuckingvacuum" .....I cringed at paying that much. But, it had been three hours....and I was done. I shifted into neutral and just glided to the cash register.

Now THIS almost never happens. The lady was ringing me up.....I was pulling out my debit card.....and she said,
"OK...with the extra 30% off sale items...your total is 14.98."

Surely, she was wrong I asked. But she scanned again, and there it was.

I'm still sure she probably got fired for making some huge mistake. But I questioned...she confirmed. I was on cloud nine. It's only taken me a decade of shopping to come across a deal like that. I'm excited to be 43 when it will happen again!

Two Weeks!!!

Old paneling ripped off. Check. Mud and taped. Check. Now....texturing and priming. Then paint. Then floors. Then finish the cabinets. Wow.....I've been told in two weeks, we should have a functioning living area & kitchen. Just in time for Christmas......

....then we start on the bathroom.

More from our "Hopeful House Inspire" pictures...

The Reality.....

Is My Thanksgiving Like Yours?

The Feasting Table

Maybe your Thanksgiving is easy, easy. Every year it's at the same home, same cousins, same jokes, same game playing...... us Ferrell's? Oh no. We like to mix it up. Every year it's a guessing game of who's gonna have the dinner, where's it going to be located, when are we going to do it, are we going to be here/there/everywhere? etc. etc. Now that's a holiday!

This year, the Thanksgiving candidate that won was.....

My sister's house!

The lovely winners - Cody & Angela

Cody Digging In

My dad & Sopees (as she now calls herself!)

Grace and her best cousin bud, Landrie

My other two nieces, Emerie & Kellie-Laine

I love my sister's house because it's always busting at the seams with little girls. And this year, with my hubby gone hunting, it was even more girlish. Poor Cody. And the dinner is pretty much a chaos of getting everyone plates & drinks.... then hoping the adults can sit down and eat a bite before the little ones need something. Then sending the little ones on, so that us big ones can chat and laugh. But I'm thankful for a family that can be at a table and have some laughs. Even if it's mostly at ourselves.

Progress....Slow Progress!

Well, the beginning of some cabinets are beginning to show. Now, we're in the battle of deciding countertops - granite, wood, quartz, what HAVE you. But it's nice to see paneling off the walls....I can't wait for "paint day" and after that "floor day". Our trusty remodeler says it should be about two more weeks......we'll see about that!

Stage 7 - out of 42

The Nutcracker

For our niece's birthday, Mimi decided to treat her and Grace to go see "The Russian Nutcracker" in Dallas this past weekend. I got to tag along, of course, not just to see the stars of the show, but to get to hang with the stars of ANY show....

these two. Birthday girl & Grace.

Grace had a blast. Back home, she immediately went to ballerina mode. Practicing her plies and arabesques......which in 6 year old body language is more like splits and flying leaps.

Mommy enjoyed a meal with my oldest. Sometimes Sophie Monster garners all the attention 'round here. It's nice to get to slather some onto just Grace.

Thanks Mimi for a fun day!

Hello, My Name is Florence....

.....and I craigslisted again. I admit it. I'm ashamed. I scoured the site. Found what I wanted. Schemed a way to get it. And drove miles out of my way, just to get a hit. I did this awful thing. Based on this "inspiration" picture for our gutted bathroom......

Ain't She A Pretty One?

I needed a table for the sink. I could have it made, but when I saw this on Craigslist for a really, really cheap price - I thought - SCORE!

Chop it in two, hook it to the wall, drop a sink it in, grab cute fabric and voile!!!

I promise. I'll NEVER DO IT AGAIN. (grin!)

Gut It.

Lately, I think these two words have been used more often than they should. Remodel phase 3 out of 45. We pondered, dilemma'd, wondered, and thoughtfully decided that instead of salvaging any of the former kitchen cabinetry, we....just...wouldn't. The bathroom, too. Gut it. Gut it all.

If only those words came with "Gut it...while we stay at the Holiday Inn". Unfortunately, we are still living in this house. Breathing in the dust. Using the one bathroom sink as our kitchen sink, and eating take out. Lots of it.

Our new canned lighting has been installed (Yea!) and tonight, in preparation for the sheet rocking and painting to come this week, Boog and I got busy putting order to the chaos. Just so we can survive another month.

Ahhhh. All in a day's remodel.

Old Kitchen....

Gutted. No More Dividing Wall!

The Lovely, Nasty Gutted Bathroom