Last spring, when Hubby and I attended the Austin Food & Wine Festival we had so much fun there, we just knew the experience was so wonderful it was coined another “collar stay moment,” a time so joyful and memorable that was engraved on our hearts. We didn’t plan to do anything else with these collar stay moments, until I purchased the below canvas picture from HomeGoods. Originally, I placed it on a foyer wall, but Hubby moved it to the staircase, and it’s stayed there ever since. The canvas looked so lonely, I immediately wanted to pin up some company, but I’ve never liked the idea of old family photos lining the stairwell. Instead, I thought it would be the perfect home for our collar stay moments created and cherished over the past decade. I designed artwork in Photoshop and had it printed and mounted on canvases. At first, I was going to use my normal mpix.com, but while waiting for their semi-annual canvas wrap sale to take place, I ran across a sale at CVSphoto.com with much, much lower rates. Gleefully, I ordered my artwork, yet skeptical of CVS’s printing quality. CVS actually did a pretty good job. Two of the canvases have a tiny spec on them, but overall I was pleased with the value.

Before

After

Each canvas represents a favorite moment, from having each kid, to eating chicken ham in Tobago, to working out circuit diagrams in ECE 3085 together at Georgia Tech, to falling in love in a sunflower field in Geneva.

We received our new couch and the kids properly christened it with jumping, climbing and rolling.

Today I cleaned the pantry. A colony of ants took residence in my house since the temperature dropped from reasonable to where-is-my-puffy-coat-from-Minnesota cold, and I could not risk finding a character from a Bug’s Life lounging in my rolled oats. After taking everything out, wiping the boards clean, and lining them with this funky red liner, I could breathe again. Sigh.

Hubby told me that my standards were too high, but I was able to narrow the list down to three potential housekeepers. I called them and scheduled for them to come by last Saturday to look at our housekeeping needs. The first applicant arrived a little late, and she was very quiet. I immediately ruled her out mentally, and waited expectantly on the next two. The second applicant called about ten minutes before she was to arrive, asking for directions. Not a great start. When she finally arrived I really liked her, but she changed her rate from $20 an hour, to a flat rate of $85 after meeting me. Not kosher. The third applicant called ten minutes before she was to arrive, stating that she was having ‘sink troubles,’ and was really sorry that she couldn’t make it then, but wanted to know if she could come by later. Ahh, no.

So we went with the first applicant and yesterday was her first day. We wanted her to arrive at eight, but she had another client at 9AM, so she agreed to arrive at 6. She rang the doorbell and 5:57 and immediately got to work. She didn’t finish everything, so next week she’s arriving at 5:30. I like her flexibility. She did exactly what I asked, so I’m happy. I was able to soak in a clean tub yesterday afternoon, all the laundry was folded, the kitchen sink had no dirty dishes, and the bathroom floors were clean. Sigh and smile.

Today is ice day number two. The boys’ daycare and my work are closed. Oh, and Coserv keeps intermittently shutting off the power. We’re literally trapped inside a cold house because the roads are hibernating under a sheet of, what looks like, the frozen tundra. Growing up, I used to not-so-affectionately call my hometown the frozen tundra, but there a several things I appreciate about Minnesota (and yes, there are black people in Minnesota, in addition to Prince, Kirby Puckett and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis). For one, the city was equipped and ready with professional inclement weather machines. When it snowed, the roads were clear well before 5 AM. Granted, ice storms did slow down even Minneapolis, but a sand truck would have passed by my home by now if I was still living in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis has hundreds of snow plows, salt and gravel trucks. Most Minnesotans keep chains in their trunk, in case they needed extra traction around their tires in emergencies.

I remember the extreme weather as a little girl… the four foot snow drifts, wearing a face mask to walk my miniature Schnauzer, Strawberry (clearly named after Strawberry Shortcake), and rolling down front lawns to avoid icy staircases when I had a paper route during January of 1998. I think the paper route job requires a little explanation. I wanted spending money, and my parents didn’t want an after school job to hinder my academic performance, plus I did tennis and track. So, because paper routes are worked in the middle of the night, I was allowed a weekend carrier route. It didn’t interfere with school, and I made some nice change. Back to the present… My eighteen years in Minnesota mean that I have been well trained in inclement weather. The only problem is that Dallas has not. I cannot even get out of my driveway. Hopefully, I can click ‘Publish’ on this post before Coserv turns off the power again and takes my router’s juice with it. We’re down to a few drops of cranberry juice, plenty of rice, some eggs and frozen salmon. A grocery run will soon be warranted.

It hailed through the night two days ago, and this is what the alley behind the house looks like. As I walked down the driveway, I slide my way to the grass to get some traction. Unless it warms up, or the city gets it act together, we’ll be iced in tomorrow as well. Hint, hint… I won’t be at work tomorrow and I have proof of good reason not to be.

I spent the entire day organizing the laundry room. This morning it contained three huge boxes, piled high with miscellaneous painting supplies, cleaning stuff, Christmas tree ornaments, and the floor was scattered with clothes. My clothes, his clothes, their clothes, ughhh. I moved everything out, swept and mopped, and then got to work putting together an all-in-one closet organizer thingy, that works perfectly as a laundry system.

I was so proud when I was finished, I did six loads of laundry (and folded them). Yay for our clothes, and yay for less stress this week.

We arrived in Texas in early September and immediately set out looking for a house. When we learned of a foreclosure in the area at a great price, we bid on it at an auction. Praise the Lord, we won the bid! We thought we would close on October 27, but after learning the title had two liens against it, we finally closed on November 24.