Clearing Out the Closets!

Now that my oldest son is living elsewhere, this has left an empty bedroom in the house, which I’ve been conveniently ignoring.  Perhaps there was a twinge of longing for son Jordan to return home; however, I conceded to fate and finally the time arrived for action to be taken to solidify my child’s departure from my home.

A few weekends ago Michael bagged up Jordan’s clothing and cleared out a few other items in his room.  Our first thought was to use it as a spare bedroom along with my own personal closet, freeing up space in my bedroom.  That idea was dashed when Sam moved his belongings into Jordan’s old room.  We still ended up with a spare bedroom but now this one is filled with both boys’ castoffs.

This past weekend Michael and I emptied out the closet in the spare room and piled up the extra items and bed against two walls.  We then moved all my clothing (including five bags of apparel given to me by co-worker Kim) and my shoes into the spare room so I could begin using it as my dressing room.  It’s a bit of a wreck at the moment; however, last night I proceeded to clean out all of my clothes, tossing in a pile the items I don’t wear, won’t wear, are too big, are too small, outdated or simply ugly.  It’s a very hefty pile!  And I didn’t even begin on my shoes yet! 

Yeah, a clothes pile like this!

Last night I also tried on donated tops and shirts in order to determine what to keep and what to include in the donation pile.  Crisp white shirts, brightly colored tanks, and sparkly tops flatter my figure; peasant tops, small waist/large hip pants, and beige clothing quickly went into the “not for me” pile.

Along with sorting, I also organized my new closet from one end to the next.  Pants, skirts, tanks, cardigans, sweaters, tops, and finally dresses all hung in a line.  Alas, one closet wasn’t enough so the logo work wear, outside jackets, and party attire were returned to my bedroom closet, tucked into a corner. 

 Also over the weekend Michael and I moved the dresser, with TV on top, into the closet, which has definitely made the bedroom more spacious.  Sam was volunteered into bagging up the extra clothes today and taking them to the garage.  Tonight I look forward to organizing my shoes in hopes that I can easily find each matching pair when I get dressed in the morning.  My vision is to soon have this spare bedroom/Diva dressing room organized and repainted in the near future.  It may not be a closet in the style of Mariah Carey, but it will work for me!

 

 

 

Sooo Familiar!!!

I went through this last night! Stopped at Walmart for groceries and the trip seemed to go on and on and on. It's funny how you are most tired when you show up to the register to pay then you have to unload the basket, load the basket, unload to the car, then unload at home. Ugh!! Thankfully Sam does the unloading and the putting away at home!!

 

Beach Trip Getaway

We love the beach, which explains Michael and my weekend trip to Ocean Shores over this last weekend.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous!   Highlights included: 

·         Return trip to Alec’s for their mouthwatering clam strips;

·         North Shore restaurant next to the Ramada Inn which, although it smelled a wee bit odd, had excellent food;

·         The chrome-wrapped Cadillac in the hotel parking lot that Michael tried to jack;

·         The car show at the Quinault Beach Resort and the bargain $5 shirt from last year’s show;

·         Gambling at the casino – Lady Luck definitely smiled on us this trip;

·         Hearing my name announced over the casino loudspeaker when I won a one-night stay with dinner for two at the resort.  You’ve never seen a person cash out so quickly on a slot machine and book it to the service counter;

·         Hopping a ride on the free shuttle to the casino and back;

·         Warm white chocolate macadamia nut cookies at our hotel at night;

·         Taking off my makeup and settling in for bed Saturday night before deciding on second thought to continue our winning streak, hopping out of bed, and catching the shuttle back to the casino;

·         The shuttle ride home Saturday night, which made us rethink our return trip to the casino.  After everyone piled into the shuttle and the door was shut, the idiot driver announced “We need to make a side trip so hang on everyone.”  We then took a 15-minute trip to the boonies, entering a trailer/RV park called Ocean City Resort.  And a resort it was not.  It was dark, it was on a gravel/dirt road, and we began to fear for our safety!  Finally, we saw two oakies waiting for the shuttle and the driver picked them up.  He then announced that, since they had been waiting for so long, he had to drop them off at the casino before he could take us to our hotels.  Grrrrr…..we were not happy campers!!  Dropping the two off, he then picked up another group of riders, including some camo Duck Dynasty types who reeked of B.O.   I held my breath, just waiting for some redneck to make a racist joke.  For their sake, they held back because I pity the fool who plays verbal karate with my man as they are sure to lose!

·         Being greeted outside our hotel Sunday morning by a family of four deer munching on the grass for breakfast;

·         Hitting the casino once more before our drive home.  My little fingers were on fire so it was a nice visit before we left Ocean Shores.

·        The overload of romantic gestures my Michael displays for me – he sings love songs to me, both standard and ones he has created, he caters to (almost) all of my whims, he protects me and watches out for me during times when we are stuck in a shuttle in a scary trailer park, and he loves me unconditionally.  It was another memorable weekend with my love and I can't wait to use our free night stay in the near future!!

Cracker Abundance

Last Thursday at work there a cracker company in our conference center.  At the end of the day, they left a ton, and I mean a ton, of name-brand crackers and cookies for the taking.  Well, being the bargain queen that I am, I rushed to the conference area and picked up a large assortment of free crackers, thin chips, pie crust, and animal crackers.  We are now stocked to the brim until perhaps 2018 with cracker abundance!

Creative Way to Say Goodbye!

Hats off to this gal who quit using this medium. Nice way to exit!!!

Mish Mash for Blog

The last week has been a mish-mash of this and that bundled all together in no time or inclination for me to write on my blog.   Thoughts that come to mind:

Peach and Maroon Eye Shadow – I save a lot of makeup ideas on my phone; here’s my newest idea, which I’ve loved. 

 

L'Oreal Liquid Pencil - I’ve also been using both the brown and black L'Oréal Paris Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil Eyeliner.  It’s awesome and stays in place all day. 

Bandanna Headbands – At the airport to and from my way to Kansas City, I saw a ton of girls with their hair up with a bandanna wrapped around their heads. So cute but, with short hair, not in my future!

Shellac Nail Polish – the last few times at the nail salon my choice for polish was the Shellac gel for stronger nails.  This usually runs around $25; instead of paying for that, I picked up a Sensationail kit the other day so I could paint and LED my own nails.  So far so good but my bad habit of peeling off the old polish needs to stop!!

Breaking Bad – Son Sam roped me into watching a few of these episodes and I was hooked!  We watched the finale together (along with Michael, whom I roped into watching….must be a contagious trait) and now I want the entire five seasons on DVD for Christmas!!

Rain – The rain comes, it goes, the sun comes, deluge of rain comes…..enough already!  Michael and I were on our way back from Portland the other day and stopped at the Woodland Walmart.  Paying at the register, we then heard a tremendous, downpour of rain outside.  The floodgates had opened!  We hightailed it to the car but were still soaking wet.  From now on when it rains, we’ll ask each other if it was of “Woodland Walmart” levels.

 
October – October is here tomorrow!!  Where did the year go?  Christmas is right around the corner!!

Weight – Ugh.  I was doing so well but over the summer fell off the wagon so now I need to get back on track to lose my unwanted pounds.  Today I brought my better pair of walking shoes to work; didn’t use them yet but they will stare me in the face until I do!  I’m back to eating oatmeal with blueberries in the morning and soup for lunch.  And I turned down pizza today!  Veggie sandwiches, tracking my food, and a serious reduction of sugar will now be back in my life!!!

 

Here's to making it a great week!!!

 

 

Goodbye Seattle, Hello Fife!

Today was our last day in Seattle.  We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Sizerac, the hotel restaurant.  We've eaten two meals there along with room service; each and every one has been absolutely fantastic.

The service at the hotel has been equally par to none.  For example, we fell in love with the blue cups we used this morning for coffee.  We asked the front desk clerk if they were available for sale.  He said he actually had a couple extra so he gave them to us at no charge!  Quite the nice surprise.  Along with 100% top quality service, I would definitely recommend Hotel Monaco to anyone who is visiting in the Seattle area.

Checking out, we then drove 30 minutes to our next stop, the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.  The gambling gods were not so good to me but we did spend about three hours testing our luck.  Done chasing lady luck, we found our hotel in Fife, checked in, ate lunch and now I've just woken from an afternoon nap.  Ahhhh, this is what vacations are about.

I'm not sure what this evening will bring, but the amount of laughter, adventure, and R&R we've experienced have made some pretty good memories so far!