LET IT SNOW!!

IT`S A BLIZZARD - litterally. We are to receive a total of 10-15 inches by the end of the storm tonight. We`ve had wind gusts up to 50 MPH, too - hence the reason the storm is being called a blizzard.

Kids are home from school today, of course - ISU even shut down so Laurie is home, too. I really wish we had a fireplace today.

I`m just glad we don`t live in northern NY. The report this morning was that parts of NY had received 140+ inches of snow in the last 10-days - THAT`S NUTS!!

OK, I`ve got to do something today. Have lots of work to do on the computer

Andrew Quotes

"Andrew quotes" from today that made me smile and cry:

1) "Someday, Jesus will find a way to make it snow more often."

2) "Daddy, I`ll always want to hold your hand." (While we were walking together tonight and in response to me saying, "You know Andrew, it won`t be long and you probably won`t want to hold my hand like this any longer.")

I LOVE BEING A DADDY!!

Neighborhood Watch :)

Sometimes isn't it just fun to sit arond and watch your neighbors? They can provide better entertainment than the TV!!

There is a rental house across the street from us that has been vacant since November. We had heard rumors from a neighbor that a son of the owner was going to be moving in, but we were warned that he was trouble. Our neighbor told us that she had warned his parents that she won't hesitate calling the police if he's acting up (and we don't doubt that she will). Well, we've waited and waited for someone to move in, but no one ever has. So, we wondered if our neighbor's threats about calling the police on their son made them think twice about that decision.

Then on Saturday Laurie looked out our front window and saw people going in and out of the front door, but there appeared to be something wrong. Since the front door was open Laurie noticed something all over the floor... and something hanging from the ceiling. She called me over and I could see drips of water coming from the ceiling.

Apparently the pipes had frozen and burst and there were long icicles hanging down from the ceiling of the first floor. We're wondering if they had left the heat off since no one was living in the house. Laurie called our neighbors to tell her what was happening and they started laughing.

So today... Serv-Pro showed up (a cleaning and restoration company)... I can't imagine what mess they're having to clean up and "restore." Funny thing is... they were only there about 30-minutes and left the front door wide open. Hope they get back to close it up before we start getting this 6-12 inches of snow tonight!!

Now answer this question, please... if you own an investment property and it's currently empty, wouldn't you be concerned of it's condition when it's as cold as it has been? Can we say "insurance check?"

Survivor 14 - Fiji

Woo Hoo!!! It's that time again... SURVIVOR FIJI!! Starts tonight at 7!!

I don't think Laurie and I will EVER get tired of this show. We've been "with them" since the very first show and missed few. We usually have to record it... it's on right when we're either eating or putting the kids to bed.

Sounds like this season is going to be a good one. But, have any of them been bad? Keep up with the action at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor14/.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me

Yes... it's the 12th anniversary of my 29th birthday. :) You figure it out... It's older than I want to be and older than I feel. That's a good thing, right?

Just a simple celebration at home with the family.

I just figured it out this year with all the hoopla of the super bowl... I was born the same year as the first super bowl. Now I'll never forget my birthday!! I just have to look at the roman numerals for the super bowl a week before :)

We ended up gettin about 4 inches of snow yesterday. Andrew and I went and bought sleds a couple of nights ago, so I figured since we were buying them it probably wouldn't snow. But, it's still so cold to go sledding. It's suppose to "warm up" tomorrow to about 20, but Laurie and the kids are taking off to Laurie's parents to stay the night. So, I might have the kids take the sleds with them to Indiana. But... I kind of wanted to take them the first time with their new sleds :( We'll see...

Savannah stayed home today from school... pink eye. Poor thing... but, she's been in a pretty good mood today. And (this is a strange one) she loves getting the eye drops!! HA!!! She says it tickles when it lands on her eye ball.

Before I go I've GOT to share a couple of pictures I made up today... it all started when our worship leader at church made a comment about watching the A-Team last night rather than have choir (actually, choir was cancelled due to the weather)... so then someone in the choir shared a picture of the A-Team but with our worship leader's face photoshopped in place of one of the character's faces. I couldn't leave it at that... so... I had to find a more "appropriate" group that he would fit in with rather than the illustrious A-Team...


I liked Charlie's Angels a lot more than the A-Team! But, I'll never remember them the same way now.

Super Bowl After-Thoughts

Two post-super bowl comments...

1) (Laurie said it best) I now know I'm much more of a Bears fan than a Colts fan - because I'm just not getting any satisfaction from the Colts winning. We had thought that if the Colts won we'd be ok with that, because we cheer for them behind the Bears. But... WE'RE NOT OK WITH IT.

2) CBS got what they wanted.

Super Bowl Beauty Shop

Laurie and Savannah play beauty shop during the super bowl.

CBS Broadcasters

Is it just me or does everyone else think the CBS broadcasters want the Colts to win?? Grrr... The broadcast sounds a little heavy on the Colt side to me. Maybe they think they have to make up for there being more Bears fans at the game.

GO BEARS!!!

Makeup Artist (LITERALLY!!)

Laurie and Savannah had a little fun last night doing makeovers. Well, let me correct that... SAVANNAH had fun last night giving herself and Laurie makeovers :)

Check these cute pictures out...

Is there a future in Mary Kay for Savannah?? She even refers to demonstration pamphlets as she does Laurie's makeup.

She works with GREAT detail in making sure Laurie's makeup is done correctly.

Savannah reveals her own makeover... :)

Then, Laurie's makeover is revealed :O

The combined work of our little makeup artist

One more look at Laurie's new look... I'm sure Cosmo will want to use this for their next cover model!!

What a fun and awesome time for Laurie and Savannah... And yes, they left their makeup on all evening, through supper and a movie (at our house NOT at a theatre). Laurie had to clean Savannah's makeup off after she fell asleep on her lap.

Colts Cheerleader

Here she is... the NEWEST Colts cheerleader...

Isn't she adorable!! She was so excited to get her "Colts dress."

Bear Excitement

Only three more days until...

Is it a bad thing that I'm actually praying for the Bears to win? I'm sure God understands... He's GOT to be a Bears fan!! Don't you think?

I bought myself a new orange Bears jersey the other day... Of course I wanted orange because it is also a U of Florida color... you know... the COLLEGE NATIONAL CHAMPION FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL TEAM... GO GATORS!!

Anyway... I tried to buy Andrew a jersey, but we couldn't find a store that had children sized jerseys... so a navy blue Bears NFC Champion long-sleeved shirt had to do :( The kids had given Laurie a white Bears jersey for her birthday... so we were all set. Notice... that I had left Savannah out. She was asked if she wanted a Bears shirt and she said, "No, I want a dress for the other team we root for." "You mean the Colts?" she was asked? "Yeah, the Colts." "Do you mean a cheerleading outfit?" "Yeah... I want a cheerleading outfit for the Colts!!"

So... guess what Daddy did for his little Princess the other night... Ordered a Colts cheerleading outfit, and even paid for 2-day delivery because I was afraid it might not make it in time if weather for some reason got bad (it was coming from Florida). Laurie started calling us "Colt-ilocks and the 3 Bears". I REALLY wish I had a Blue Bears jersey now for Andrew... because we want to have our picture taken on Sunday and a jersey for Andrew would really top it all off :)

No word yet on the bid I made... I actually re-bid it because I realized I was too high. I've made follow-up calls, but... we'll see. I'm putting a lot of time into getting things organized for Tropical Touch... I'm excited about making the changes to my business. I'm hoping that over the next year I'll be able to really grow in the interiorscape part of the business. I've been making supply contacts for the past week and am feeling good about the ability to get the plants I want/need and a wide variety of containers for almost every interior style. If you pray... please lift up my business for me. I have such a strong urge to go this direction with my business. I know it won't happen over night and that I need to be patient.

Business cards should be done by next week and that will give me something more to give than just words. And, though I've done a lot of outdoor containers with tropicals and annuals... I've done next to nothing indoors. Granted, some of my outdoor arrangements could have easily been interior... but I need some interior business so I can use them for my portfolio. I'm really limited on what I have done. At least I have a decent portfolio of exterior work.

I REALLY wish I could avoid doing flower beds all together this year... but... I don't think the new direction of the business is going to grow quickly enough for me to give that part up with my core customers. But, I will be declining perennial, shrub and tree planting... unless it's just a few perennials here and there. I really want to focus exclusively on interior/exterior tropical/annual containers and small tropical/annual entry and patio beds... and of course the weekly maintenance of them. Even if that means accepting new business and possibly saying no to some things that my core customers want done. Of course... I can always sub-contract work out... which is probably what I am going to do with some things. I'll oversee it, but I won't physically do it.

I never published better pictures of the kid's bedrooms... here they are... :)

Savannah's Room...






Andrew's room....





We still have to hang all of the framed train pictures in Andrew's room (10 pictures in all, in groupings of 3 and one individually... they're from a 2006 train calendar that Andrew had hanging in his room... he LOVED the calendar and I wanted to somehow use them) and I want to use some track and the engine and coal car from the Lionel train set I had growing up to display on a couple of shelves.

We also still need to paint several butterflies and flowers purple (with pink and yellow accents on them) to put on her walls.

Ok... Laurie's home and it's 6 pm... need to spend some time with her and get ready for supper.

Since I started with a Bears item... I need to end with one, too...

DA BEARS!!

Corrected Colors on Blog

Ok... so I promise I won't use blue against that dark green background anymore... after I got done writing the last time I didn't go back and look at it to see what it looked like... WOW!!! It hurt my eyes to try and read that blue text against the dark green background!! So... I lightened the background and it seems to help a lot :) Thanks for the anonymous tip :)