Smooth as Glass - part 1

On black Friday, we stayed home. Gladly. Because I hate shopping. So could you imagine a better day to stay in? Especially when said gifts are new windows for your entire house?

The first crew were a father/son duo. Here they are prepping the old windows for removal.

One window gone. See ya!

The window openings look huge when there are no windows in them! Especially ugly old aluminum ones.

Another empty window hole. This alone is a big improvement.

New windows set by their final destinations.

Screwing the windows into place.

Stay tuned for more!

Wrapped Up

Ok so if I post about Christmas dinner on January 20th, I guess it only makes sense that I post about Christmas gifts on January 24th.

At least I am consistent, right?

Jesse got bathroom parts. You can see how overwhelmed by excitement he is while unwrapping a cable drain.

I got a steam mop.

Rylie got a rubber chicken.

As did Karma.

Eat Away

Now onto what the humans ate for Christmas dinner:

Pineapple and tofu stir fry

Crab rangoons

And walnut shrimp

We made Chinese food this year, and it was big time yummy. Since it was just us 2, we went elaborate and made these time consuming dishes for the first time. Anyone else have a non-traditional holiday meal?

Hen Party

January 20th isn't too late to post about the holidays is it? Oh well, it's my blog, so I'll go by my rules.

Here is what the dogs enjoyed as their Christmas dinner:

No, not the meat head - the Cornish game hen he's holding in his hands.

A big 'hen party' for the bitches only. And it continued the whole weekend! Do your pets get special holiday treats?

In Hiding

Where's the red border collie?

Rylie can't be bothered with being disturbed. Being disturbed = sharing the couch with anyone, even Karma. That means snuggling is automatically out. But yet tossing blankets onto her is totally welcomed.

Weird.

But extremely cute. No?

Out of the closet

What? No I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that*), in fact I'm all for equal rights. But like the typical New Year's resolution, I'd like to get organized, starting with my entryways and coat closet. And I'd like to get my coats out of it. Or at least try and see how it works.

See these pics?

Inside of front door

Door to garage

To upstairs

There's a lot of blank and unutilized wall space. Space that me thinks might be used for more practical purposes (coats, keys, mail, wallets, dog leashes).

I'd like to get these or these, but they are sort of pricey for just being hooks. Here's some quick photoshop magic to help you envision it:

Or maybe I should go for something like this?

Or this?

What do you think?

*does anyone get this? Popular TV sitcom?

Bit the Dust

Regular vacuums cannot be used as shop vacs.

Ho Ho Holidays

A peek into our home for the holidays:

A mini tree in the entryway, alongside a toilet drain pipe.

Peppermint taffy and some nuts for snacking.

Tip: Don't launder the peppermint taffy in your pockets.

Stockings and some fruit and candy canes.

Heavenly Bamboo clippings as the table centerpiece.

Another tree upstairs along with some poinsettia. And a glimpse of our rocking new windows.

Garland up the banisters.

Another garland. With a ton of stockings again. And a Christmas tree scented candle (because we have a scent-less artificial tree).

Paperwhites blooming just in time.

Some bells strung on the console. And a neurotic border collie to go with.

And of course the tree. Decked out with a very obvious bath ventilation fan gift sitting underneath.

Happy holidays everyone!

Sprinkle On

Here's our sprinkler control system:

See all those sliders? Each represents a zone on our property. One of the reasons we don't use our sprinklers often is because I'm not good with numbers. As in, I don't deal with them if possible. See those numbers all over the sliders? Yeah.

So this is how I can actually deal:

I made a chart to show which numbers are which zones. It's probably an accurate way of seeing how my brain thinks - in colors and shapes.

Do you have the same dilemma?

Buttered Up

Some indoor entertainment (for both humans and canines) in this dreary weather:

I could use some more ideas, we're running out of peanut butter...