Happy Monday!

Yep, I'm awake, but I'm going to roll over and go to sleep after I post this.

The painters came out on Friday and finally painted the ceiling. I need to snap some pictures of the kitchen and of the fence so I can post here. We still do not have a speaker where the electrician took away the one that was slightly melted in the fire, so we still have a hole and a wire hanging down, but other than that, the very obvious damage (paint, recessed lights and blinds) is taken care of and if not for the hole, the kitchen looks like nothing happened.

On Friday, a counter top person came out to take measurements and is going to get back to us with some quotes on what the difference would be if we decided to replace the laminate with some type of stone, most likely granite. When we get the counter top we will get a new sink if we do granite b/c most of those are undermount sinks. We are due a new faucet because of the existing one being damaged by the fire.

Yesterday, Hannah had a day out at the barn for horseback riding. She and 10 other girls were prepping for some new spring animals. Deb (owner/instructor) is going to use the fenced in area by the parking lot as a "zoo" for the parents and younger siblings to sit in, read, pet the animals, etc. while their child is in lessons. She said it will be for all of the parents except me, because I will need to continue to stay in my car with the windows rolled up b/c of my allergies, lol. Hannah worked hard and dug out some "steps" because it is a steep grade up to the little gate. She put some nice flat rocks in there and it actually works. Deb told me, "I hope you don't buy this child any toys because she is happy with sticks and rocks." That is so true.

While Hannah was taken care of, Keith and I went to the movies to see Watchmen. He had been wanting to see it since it came out and actually he and Hannah were very excited about going to see it opening weekend until I brought it to his attention that it was rated R. We are very particular about her seeing PG-13 movies, let alone an R. OMGosh, this movie earned it's R. In fact, I think it should have been NC-17. It was like an acid trip wrapped around hard core porn. Throw in a healthy amount of graphic, slow motion violence, and a glowing blue man walking around through a good chunk of the movie displaying all of his glowing blueness.... and there you have it. Holy cow, I just don't even know what to say about it. To top it off, it was just shy of being 3 hours long. By the final hour, I was laughing hysterically at parts that weren't even really funny because I was delirious. It was the worst movie I have seen in a loooong time. I walked out with my mouth hanging slightly open and noticed another mom from cheer (the one whose videos I share typically). She had pretty much the same expression on her face and the same things to say about it. We talked for a bit and she said she was glad that she wasn't alone in her thoughts. There were only 5 people in the theater. Not one that we're going to be purchasing on DVD, lol. The thing that made me happiest is that Keith shared my thoughts. That was the BEST part of the movie. I was glad to see my hubby still had a brain in his head. He just usually loves going to the movies and will sit through just about anything and say, "it was entertaining, stop looking for a plot."

Today we did a LOT of yardwork. Tons. Keith did tons, actually, I got off rather easy compared to him. He cleaned up a lot of the piles of dirt left by the fence crew when they were digging post holes. He also put in new rocks for our pathway since they basically ruined the ones that were there. I was on retail duty and ran to some home improvement stores to get things we needed, ended up buying some new flowers. We cleared and dug a new flower bed where there were some lilies planted by the former home owners. Hannah and I hung up 3 birdhouses she made and Keith put out the shepherd's hook I bought to hang a bird feeder off of last year (finally). We are also using the old scorched blinds in the window in the garage. They look fine there, I like not having that window uncovered. I wanted to see if they would work there before I tried using a primer spray on them. I wouldn't do that in the kitchen, but in the garage, sure.

My hands are dry now and I am in need of a mani/pedi, lol. I have more to plant tomorrow though, so I will have to wait. I also told my boss I'd come in to work if she needed me b/c a co-worker had to go to NY unexpectedly due to a family illness. I need to freshen up the guest room for Sharlene and am working at night again this week, so I'm hoping she won't take me up on my offer, just because I have a lot to do, not b/c I don't want to help out.

Just one last note, if you do follow my blog at all, could you drop me an e-mail and let me know which e-mail address you would like me to contact you at? I am considering moving to an invited readers only format which would require readers to sign in with their selected e-mail address and a password of their choosing. I'm not sure I will switch this up right away, but I am putting things in place in case I do. With the economy, etc. a lot more people are using social networking sites, blogs, etc. and in my position, I don't necessarily want my personal life to be open to everyone. I have always kept my blog pretty much to the surface events of life, but there will always be things that are open to interpretation.