Monday Memos, Mail and Me

Thanks to Sian for this meme. It's a good one!

I got this photo from Mindy via text---still, it's mail to me! They went to a Nelly concert and got the VIP tickets so they could meet him. Justin said he flubbed the "bro" hug! Nelly went in for the hug while Justin stuck his hand out. Then Justin went in for the hug just as Nelly pulled back and stuck out his hand! Oh well, maybe next time!

I was off for a very long weekend scrapbooking with my sisters. We arrived on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday. Here's the stack of mail I came home to. I haven't opened the Cocoa Daisy box yet. It's always a fun surprise, so I wait until I can really take my time and examine every bit!

This "mail" is more like special delivery. Farm fresh eggs from my sister brought to me from Salem, MO. They are so beautiful to look at that I'm going to keep them on the counter---they can last for 3 months there. Don't worry, they'll be gone long before that. We eat a lot of eggs.

While I was away, the tile for the bathroom was delivered. OMGosh---the boxes are a little smaller than a shoe box and I cannot lift a single one---they are so heavy!

I got this printer to take on my scrapbook weekend, but it didn't arrive in time. Still I got it on sale for half price---$54.00. Printers are pretty cheap now. It's the ink that will get you. Luckily, the black cartridge is just $12.99. I do not plan to replace the color cartridges---ever! This printer will only get used a few times a year, so the color ink will dry up pretty quickly. We just won't be printing in color. 

And then, there's this. I've been waiting for the new door knob and escutcheon. I just love those. Actually, I prefer old ones, but couldn't find one I liked. Plus if you get an antique one, you have to worry about the hardware concerns. Maybe it's not a big deal, but it's out of my range of knowledge.

Oh, and I got a new E-book from the library! I'm really saving some serious bucks already. Looking at it that way, my new printer was FREE!

What about you? Did you get anything fun in the mail this week?

Ooops I Did it Again!

I feel like that Brittany Spears song was written for me. Except I had never done this before. But you know about the footwear issues I tend to have. Remember my UGGS on the wrong feet a few weeks ago? Well, this one is better. It starts out like this:

I had a 9 a.m. appointment with my AV guy, Ethan, to handle some printing problems we've been having. He's been out a lot lately for many different reasons over the past couple of months. When I contacted the owner of the company to send him out, I told him to tell Ethan that I missed him since it was a week since he was last here. When he arrived, I told him that I wanted a hug---that we're almost like family now! Of course, my girls can't believe I act like this. Hey, I'm friendly! What can I say!

Anyway, Ethan solved our problems and left about 10:30. That's when I left to run my errands---4 to be exact. First stop, Puffy Muffin to buy a quiche for the weekend. As I was getting out of the car, I noticed this:

I forgot to put shoes on. Here I am out in public in my slippers! I thought, "well, if I push the fur down, maybe nobody would notice." The fur doesn't push down. I thought about going home, but decided I didn't want to waste the time.

In all fairness, the bottoms are like shoes. I went about my business, but I was so rattled, I misspelled my name when signing the credit card receipt. I was self-conscious as I went to the drug store. Due to my recent health care changes, I couldn't use the drive-thru---I needed to go in and give the pharmacy attendant all 3 of my insurance cards. From there, I had to go to the grocery store. I quickly got what I needed and went home. I barely got in the house and Butch got home from a meeting. As I was talking to him, I carefully stayed on the other side of the counter so he couldn't see my feet. I was so seriously self-conscious!

Anyway, I'm not saying this is dementia. I'm not even saying it's "forgetfulness!" In order for it to be forgetfulness, I would have to have been aware and then forgot. I just never even thought about it. It never crossed my mind. 

I'll admit, I'm an idiot. Yeah, that's it!

Building Boom

With 86 people a day moving in to Nashville, the city is booming. We've been labeled the "hottest city to move to in 2017." We're also considered the best place for jobs. There is construction and road improvements going on everywhere. Between 2010 and 2020, we'll have had the largest growth our city has ever seen. A lot of the locals are not happy about it. They feel that all this growth is changing the face of our city. Personally, aside from the traffic, I am all for it. I like knowing that we are progressing and have become the "it" city.

Nashville is the number ONE destination for bachelorette parties. You can tell that by all of the pedal taverns downtown. While strolling the streets you might feel like you are in New York or Chicago with all of the pedestrian traffic. I'm proud that our streets are so clean---although you might run in to a bit of horse manure from the carriages.

Several years ago, when the rest of the country suffered from the burst of the housing bubble--we were not affected as adversely. Our housing market has remained pretty strong. In fact, housing prices are out of sight. The average home in Nashville is $260,000. I'm not quite sure  how they arrive at that figure, but you would be surprised at what $260,000 buys (or I should say, doesn't buy). Just about all of the Nashville area is being revamped. Small houses are being torn down with much larger houses taking their place. Often times, 2 or 3 homes are crammed on to one lot. Don't get me wrong. The houses are very nice. You just have to be willing to give up a yard. And some privacy. That was kind of a deal breaker for us. We wanted something new(er), but we just couldn't find anything we loved. That's why we've decided to stay put and renovate. Still, I guess it's good for the city.

A 2500 sq. ft. home runs about $675,000. Yes, $675,000! It's actually kind of depressing. I'm not really sure how first time homeowners do it. This figure must be for certain areas of town---I didn't catch that part in the report. Perhaps this is the Belle Meade area. On second thought, that can't be right because a lot in Belle Meade can cost over a million. This figure could be an average for this side of town.

Living downtown is the most expensive of all. Real estate is going for $800 a square foot. I'm not sure I believe that as Mindy lives downtown. She sold her one bedroom condo last spring and made an absolute killing! She and Justin bought a two bedroom in the same building. Yes, they paid a lot more, but were still able to bank some serious cash. Still, it did not add up to $800 a square foot. Maybe the report I heard was referring to businesses. There are so many cropping up downtown. 

There are at least 27 cranes on the skyline---maybe more. 

I think all of this is pretty exciting. I believe everything that I've stated above to be true. After all, I took notes during a news report. And we all know that whatever the news reports is the TRUTH sohelpmegod!

Monday Mail, Memos and Me

Well, my mail mostly consists of junk. There is the occasional bill and TONS of travel brochures! Those travel brochures are very nice. They must cost companies a fortune---only to have them wind up in the recycle bin. We travel a lot, but we don't use those brochures and don't look at them.

Then there was this:

 The book for my prescription drug insurance. Oh My Gosh!!

Seriously! This thing is a half inch thick. I would like to know who reads this? Not only is this a waste of a good tree, it's a waste of time. Surely Humana could come up with a more concise way to get us the information we need. I've put this in Butch's pile to read. It's too much of a snoozer for me! I'll bet if they did away with this, our insurance rates would go waaaayyyy down! What an archaic way to convey information.

Now on to the fun stuff that arrived this week. I've gotten new rugs for the new bathroom. I'm going with all white this time. I can't wait to show you the color I've picked out for the walls---(well, I've actually had it picked out for over a year). These rugs are really thick and fluffy. I hope they don't get matted down. We'll see.

Along with the rugs, my new fluffy, white towels have arrived. Remember my stockpile issues? Well, I'm getting rid of most of those since they are 20+ years old. I'll now have exactly 4 new towels. Maybe I'll keep a couple of the old ones. 

After all, I'll need a few to put on my new ladder towel rack. This is not my bathroom---just a picture of the ladder I bought. I would have preferred to have a really old ladder, but I wouldn't know where to buy one. I did get one at the flea market years ago for Mindy's condo, but she didn't want it. Butch got rid of it as it was too rickety to use as a real ladder. Luckily, I only paid $5.00 for it. This one was a bit more, but it's going to look really good against that new paint color!

Finally, this is the new ceiling fixture for the toilet/shower area of the bathroom. I opened the box and there are so many parts that I closed it back! I don't know if I'm supposed to put it together of if the guy installing it will. Of course, I'll want to clean it. 

So there's my mail report for the week. Thanks to Sian from High in the Sky for this fun meme!

Did you get anything fun or interesting in the mail this week?

A Few Things

Butch went skiing this week at Beaver Creek. He had a good time as always.

I decided to stay home since I can't ski anymore. I figure, if I'm going to sit around, I'd rather do it at home. I do miss skiing though---I loved it and was pretty good at it too.

Mindy brought me these crumpets. They are really good. They are so soft---even toasted. You can treat them like English muffins, but the texture is different.

Another thing Mindy introduced us to. Halo Top---ice cream. OMGosh! You can eat the whole pint for only 240 calories.

And they come in so many flavors---15, I think. The chocolate peanut butter and oatmeal cookie are my favorites. And so is chocolate almond crunch and chocolate mint---well, they are all good!

 This candle baffles me. I have no idea where it came from. It's called "NEST." On the other side, there's a little note about Autism Speaks. It smells amazing---even when it's not lit. 

I put a votive candle next to it so you can see the size---not huge. But it burns so slowly. I went online to see about ordering more. Wellll, I won't be doing that. This candle is $40.00!  That means someone gave it to me. For the life of me, I can't remember. I would never pay $40.00 for a candle. They do have that little votive size, but it's $16.00. I love candles and light one every morning. I guess if you have money to burn, it would be worth it. I'll just stick to either Yankee candles or Bath and Body Works candles. At least they run fabulous sales!

I was meeting my friends at Panera before Movie Monday last week. I got there early, so decided to walk the mall. I haven't been in the mall in quite awhile. I'm sorry this picture isn't better. But, I think it's pretty funny that a new Microsoft store moved in directly above the Apple store. First of all, I have never even heard of a Microsoft store. There wasn't a soul in there---except for the workers--unlike the Apple store which is always busy. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

I cleaned out Mindy's dresser and came across this. It doesn't look particularly stellar to me, but I made that note at the time so I would remember the significance of this. Sadly, we don't know what happened. Mindy just isn't a reader!! Actually, I do know what happened. Summer reading of boring books took its toll. It seems to me that if you are going to require reading in the summer, those books should be fantastic! I wish teachers and schools would quit forcing kids to read boring books in the name of the classics. If you want kids to love reading, you have to give them books that grab them. I think it's time to leave Shakespeare and Charles Dickens to the the scholars.

Speaking of reading, I finished this book this week.

It was really good. It's written in my favorite format---each chapter is a different person's perspective. I couldn't put it down. That was a good thing because my first library book has come in. I'm anxious to start it. So far, I've read 6 books since January 1st.

I'm ending with this shot of Butch hard at work in his office.

 It's way more fun working in a nice room. It's pretty inviting. I visit him sometimes and sit in that chair. I like it because it's low to the ground and my feet can touch the floor!

The shelves contains all of his keepsakes. We're lucky to each have a room of our own.

That's about it from around here. What have you been up to this week?

Stockpile Issues

I guess everybody knows by now that I have stockpile issues. A few days ago, I went into the pantry and was immediately attacked by bags! Bags of every description---shopping, brown paper, plastic grocery sacks and canvas bags.

What in the heck am I saving them for? And, when Butch takes one, I say, “Oh no, not that one”!---as if one is more valuable than another. In all fairness to me, they do accumulate more during the holidays. I haven’t cleaned them out yet this year, hence the “attack!”

I have to have multiples of everything and I really don’t know why---measuring cups, wooden spoons (23 to be exact), spatulas (11)---a whole drawer designated for them which  led to Mindy counting them.

 You’d think I was Martha Stewart!

Sheets (at least 3 sets for every bed in the house), towels (enough for a Turkish bath). Actually I've already gotten rid of most of the sheets. Just keeping two sets per bed. I got new towels for after the renovation, so the towels are going too.

22 tablecloths (after I gave away 3!) and don’t even get me started on my scrapbook supplies. 

5 drawers of ribbon---need I say more? Okay, some of that is class related.

I have tons of holiday paper goods—

for sure, enough Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to last me the rest of my life! I just can't resister an "after the holiday sale!"

I have too many white blouses to count—which I rarely wear since you can bet I’ll spill something on them. 

Why am I saving them? I should wear them, spill on them and then clear them out. 

Stephanie says I’m a hoarder. She says the only reason that our house doesn’t look like a hoarder’s house is because it’s big with lots of room for stuff and I’m extremely organized, so my hoarding is very neat. 

I definitely have stockpile issues, but I don’t think I’m a hoarder. Hoarders have mental issues—I’m not admitting to that—although a session on a therapist’s couch might reveal that I do! Real hoarders cannot throw anything away! I admit, I keep way more stuff than I should, but that’s because I can. I’ve always said, “no matter how much space you have, you will fill it up!” That is certainly true with me. But when I get on a “cleaning out” jag, I am ruthless! 

I believe that everyone stockpiles something. What do you stockpile? Be honest!

A Cautionary Tale

I've been saying it for a couple of years now. Our kids don't want our "stuff." In fact, if we don't do something about it now, they are going to HATE us for leaving them to deal with it.

I told my girls---when the time comes--- to take what they want and then just hire someone to sell the rest. I'm saying all of this because if you have things of value, you better take care of selling them yourself. Otherwise, it will end up in a garage sale selling for pennies. Here's a perfect example.

I just came across this post from a blog I follow: Between Naps on the Porch. In this post, "she"
found this Department 56 house that sold for $110.00 for 10 bucks at an antique shop. I'm sure the child of some collector had no idea its worth.
 
It's a pretty interesting piece. It's part of the Christmas Vacation collection and is the house of the Griswolds next door neighbors---Margo and Todd. If you remember the movie, you can see the Christmas tree crashing in to the side of their house. It's possible that whoever sold it might not even have seen the movie. After all, that was the 80's!

Anyway, all of this to say---if you have things of value, you better figure out how to turn them in to serious cash yourself or they will be worthless to your kids!

One exception is our needlework. We have an agreement amongst our friends that if our needlework winds up in a garage sale, we're going to buy it! Some kids may not know the value of that!

I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue for me as my girls love my needlework! At least I hope not.