The big 55

Okay, if I've done my math correctly.....this is going to be my 55th birthday.

Wow.....that sounds so old.

I really don't feel that old......some days.

Well anyways, since there isn't much family here and we probably won't be able to go anywhere's far away because of the business, and because we are closed for 2 WHOLE DAYS......I'm thinking that another Birthday/Christmas trip to the casino is in store.  We had so much fun the last time we did it.

So, attention to my family who may or may not read this blog.  I am giving myself a birthday party.  I have already told Cris and Aaron to take the time off work and I was going to talk to the neighbors across the street and see if they wanted to go too. 

I threw such a great 50th birthday party for Paul......now I want to throw a great party for myself!

Planning for Christmas at the Casino 2012 is officially underway!

A half day does not equal 3 hours

Okay here's the update on yesterday's HALF day off. 

It actually turned out to be 3 hours.

We had a nice lunch, exchanged some stuff at Walmart, and went to Trader Joe's.

The end....that was it.

It was raining.  Pizza Zone was not handling the business the way they should be.  Husband ended up going into work to fix their problems.  So the half day off was officially over.  We had a grand total of 3 hours off.

Well, we'll try again next week.

Is a half just as good as a whole?

We can't quite take a whole day off today......but we're getting a half!  At this point in time, we'll take what we can get and enjoy every minute of it.

What's on the agenda?  Why all the errands that we don't get a chance to do because we are WORKING ALL THE TIME!

Today's list:  Walmart, Trader Joes, a bed store, Grant Rd. store, and whatever else we have to do today.  Maybe we can sneak in a movie today.

On a side note: I actually got to make a real dinner last night. Here's the results......oh so very yummy!

 BEFORE:  pork loin roast with cloves of garlic stuck in it and topped with Onion Powder, fresh Rosemary, salt and pepper.  Surrounded by vegetables.

Made a quick gravy with the drippings and we had an incredibly delicious meal!

I seriously love food!

The delayed progress picture I promised

Well as I recall I said that I would post progress of the new guest room.  It was supposed to happen on Monday, but hey -- give me a break.....I've got lots of things going on.

So here is the progress that I got done in about a day and a half:

I know it doesn't look like much to you, but notice the beautiful teal colored walls (actual color Raindrop according to Sherwin Williams).  The walls are painted, the night stand got painted black and the entertainment center got painted black.

Due to having to do payroll this week and other important Pizza Zone matters to attend to, progress on the room will continue on Saturday.  Supposedly.....the eldest child is going to come over and paint the ceilings for me (hope he shows -- I hate painting ceilings).  He also plans on replacing that crappy white ceiling fan that's been there since we moved in to a brand new one.  My plan is to finish touch up on the entertainment center, paint the doors and the baseboards a gleaming new white, and shampoo the carpet.

If the plan goes according to schedule, we should be ready to load and decorate by Monday morning.

Here's a before and after picture of the nightstand that I transformed.

Looks like another busy weekend is planned!

It was a glorious day!

Well, not really.

It was a day off.  A day off with no plan.  A day off that was meant to be just that......A DAY OFF!

So our day off began with dropping off the Mustang.  She needed new brakes and needed some maitenance service.  So once Paul picked me up from the dealership, we were off for our adventure.

We just headed down the highway.  No destination in mind, and just some light discussion about where we could go or what we could do.

Mostly it was just time for the two of us to be together with NOTHING work related happening. 

This blog will chronicle the exciting adventures that happened on Tuesday, October 9th.

First place found us driving down the interstate and found us at a restaurant supply store.  No day off can ever be complete without visiting a restaurant supply store!  I'm serious, it evens happen if we are out of town!

Our next journey took us on a highway we'd never been on before in Pasadena, Texas.  Pasadena is really a chemical plant city.....so of course there was nothing to take a picture of except.....tanks!

Next we decided we needed to check out the pizza place that is in 2nd place in the Houston A-list contest.  We wanted to see what we were up against.  It happened to be in Pearland, TX (which also happened to be about 1/2 hour from where Aaron lives). 

We enjoyed a pizza with roasted garlic, salami, pepperoni, and canadian bacon.  It was actually pretty good....but we walked out of there confident that we ARE the best pizza in Houston!

As we were driving down the highway, we spotted a very unique sign at one of the malls in Pearland.  Of course we had to get a picture of it!  I've heard that Pearland is named after it's abundance of pears.....so this sign was very fitting.

Sorry.....no more pictures from the rest of the day....I guess it was just so exciting that I didn't even take the time to pull out my camera (ha! ha!).  So I'll just give you a brief synopsis of the rest of the day.

1.  Stopped at Kirland's to try and find some beautiful artwork for the new guest room.

2.  Stopped at Fry's Electronics to find a MP3 player docking station for Paul.

3.  Stopped at Garden Ridge to once again try and find some beautiful artwork for the new guest room.

4.  Stopped at the Grant Rd. store to drop off and pick up stuff.

5.  Home for a nap and some quiet time reading.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  (Actually, we were going to go to IKEA....but decided that a nap and reading sounded way better at the moment!)

6.  Paul went and dropped of the bank deposits.....he was gone for 2 hours (gee I wonder where he REALLY went?????)

7.  Off to the Richey Rd. Movie Tavern for dinner, beer, and a movie.  It was awesome.....we just sat in the movie theater and they brought us beer, food, and whatever we needed and we never have to get up (except to go to the bathroom because of all the beer!).  The movie we saw:  End of Watch with Jake Gyllenhal....good movie!

8.  Off to bed to read some more and talk about how restful our day was.....but way too short! 

We look forward to the next one!

P.S.  I would just like to add that Houston is so ENORMOUS that it's possible for us to venture in parts of the area that we've never seen before.  It's like taking a vacation to a different city sometimes!

Shhhh.....don't tell anyone...it's a secret!

We are actually taking a day off tomorrow.

The first one in almost 2 months!

We are thinking about driving to a nearby town just to get "out of town".

But no destination is planned yet.

Just crossing our fingers and hoping that everything gets taken care of while we are gone!

Please don't call the Hoarders show!

When you are completely demolishing a room and changing it from floor to ceiling.....you need to clear the whole space.

So where do you store the stuff temporarily while you are working on the room?

In the extra bathroom that really doesn't get any use anymore.....of course!

I would also like to point out that all this "crap" is the stuff that my children didn't take with them when they moved out. 

Thank you very much!