We have been living in a house for over a decade now that is not the one with the Red Tin Roof.  It has a pool in the backyard.  But until last summer, getting to the pool from inside the house was difficult and no fun.  Going through the garage or yucky sunroom each time was enough to make us not use the pool.

Well, last year we finally added a screen porch to the elevated living level that created an outside lanai on the lower level.  We even added some creature comforts to the lower level inside...a sink, a dishwasher, a few cabinets.  It's great!

Upon nearing the completion of this addition, we realized (because water came pouring out of the not-yet-buttoned-up trim on the lower level) that we had a faulty shower pan in our master bath.

Long story short...if you had ever seen the rear of my house, or my bathroom before this year, you should take a gander.

Thought we still have a few details to go before fully completing the bath (we are doing that ourselves instead of hiring it out - except for the tile of course.  We didn't do the tile.) we are nearing completion.  The bathroom was such an eye sore that there should be more pics, but it was an embarrassment, so therefore, no really good before pics.  But here's what I have for before.

before of the pink sink and yucky wallpaper

During demolition of pink sink and overall weird vanity space

New double sink vanity and shot of the new shower door

Old, gross pink potty and pink wallpaper

New pretty potty with beadboard.  Still some trim to go

Before of the crazy tub and ridiculous shower opening

Another before of the crazy pink tub on its platform

New space where pretty white tub will go

During construction.  Green spots on the house were left behind by the trees that used to stand there

The GLORIOUS after

I hope you enjoyed this picture montage!

While You Were Sleeping

It started with the dog waking in the middle of the night and me hoping she didn't want me to get up to let her out. This was in the wee hours of the morning - I don't really know when, 'cause this time I didn't look at the clock to see how much more time I had to sleep.

At 6:15 the alarm went off and I did the unusual thing of snoozing until 6:30. I hadn't done that since I had kids that need to be up and getting ready for school.

I headed to the kitchen, making sure the children were awake as I passed by their rooms. All was o.k .considering it was the first true day to require waking up since the time changed. I began getting ready to make breakfast when the dog came into the kitchen and wanted out - NOW. She usually wants out, but this time she didn't do her normal saunter, she wasn't waiting around. Which I thought was an urge to go potty.

As I was letting her out, it occurred to me that I could see light shining from the garage onto the driveway. This was not a good sign, this probably meant that Bryan left the light on, potentially inviting someone into the garage. Or, a bay door could be open possibly letting the dog out into the neighborhood (just an FYI - we never leave our garage doors open at night).

So I went down to check and I found not only the light on, but both bays open. CRAP. I checked my car (because I usually leave my purse in it), and the door was not shut all the way. My purse wasn't inside (I won't make you wait on this one....but it was up in the kitchen for the first time in like, EVER). So I headed in to see if my purse was in the house when I turned around and realized that our hide a key was in the door and then it dawned on me that the playroom light was on. So, I went in. And then noticed a big pile of papers where my Vera Bradley bag had been. And of course I kept getting more irritated at Bryan for leaving the bays up (he likes them up when he's outside) and leaving the key in the door. As I entered the playroom (did I mention my house is raised, so the garage laundry and playroom are on the ground floor and you go up stairs to get to the main part of the house?), my eyes took a second to focus on the fact that the entertainment console was bare. That's right - BARE (except for the dust).

And by BARE I mean no Wii console, no XBox, no games, no remotes, no cords. Nothing. Simply nothing. Luckily the TV is big and mounted on the wall - not so easy to pick up and take.

Long story short - I spent the morning with the finger print crew, mid morning thinking someone was in the house because of an opened door that had previously been closed and locked (this required the second visit of Charleston's Finest), mid afternoon shaking in my boots and answering a plethora of phone calls from concerned friends, loved ones and lock smiths. And then this evening I got a call from a neighbor telling me we weren't the only ones...about 4 other houses on his end of the street had been robbed. We don't know if they had been burglurized as we had been (the trespassory breaking and entering of the dwelling of another at night with an intent to commit a felony therein - and yes, they were in my house while we were upstairs sleeping), but apparently it had happened all over the neighborhood.

So back to the dog getting up in the wee hours, I think she heard them, went to check them out, and actually kept them from getting away with more. I keep thinking maybe they came upstairs because I am missing several stems of crystal from the dining room. And I keep saying "they" because the officers informed me that a patrol of the neighborhood was made in the middle of the night due to another neighbor calling because of seeing suspicious people out and about. So there was definitely a they.

So sad the fridge is out of beer right now. I sure could use one.

Suck and Blow

For those folks who don't believe in the power of the central vacuum system...
I changed the bag and cleaned the filter today and found the following...
1 - permanent marker
1 - yellow crayon
1 - partial, card board toilet paper roll (could have been a paper towel roll)
20 lbs of fur and dirt

I was expecting the fur and dirt and maybe the crayon.
I don't recall sucking up a marker OR a cardboard roll.

A shower is a MUST when I'm finished. I'm gray and covered from head to toe.
That sucker kept on sucking even though those things were in the way.

Glad I thought to change the bag today - now I'm sure it will suck even harder. Watch out Legos and American Girl outfits...Here I come!

Let There Be Light. Please!

I have hung a new bathroom fixture in the hall bath. Why? Well...the old light fixture had burned out 2 of the new CFL bulbs in 3 months (both on the same side), and since they're supposed to last for years I was getting nervous that there was a short or something in the old fixture. So OUT it went. And when it came down, guess what I found? The whole socket was hanging on by a thread. Nick of time!

I tried to have the new fixture hung before everyone got home from school/work so it could surprise them when they turned on the light. Before the "hanging" project got started I had to mount a metal "plate" to the outlet box that was behind the sheet rock. Unfortunately for me, the directions left out one, key step of how to attach the light fixture to the "plate" that you just mounted on the outlet box.

(Various shapes and sizes of outlet boxes)

The problem was that the "fixture screws" (that I put through the plate before I mounted it to the wall) were too long. When I added the decorative "nut", that shows on the front of the fixture to hold it on to the wall, there was way too much room between the nut and the surface of the fixture. Like about 1/4 of an inch of screw was showing, NOT securing the fixture to the plate. So because I thought I put the wrong screws in, I found myself re-hanging the thing to put in shorter screws. Which meant I had to take off the fixture AND the plate.

I did this several times with several increasingly shrinking screws (maybe 5 mount jobs in all for this one fixture). I finally called the customer service number and they told me that I had skipped the step about how to adjust the "little nuts" on the "fixture screws". I looked back over the directions and this step WAS NOT THERE. Very frustrating.

Basically the fixture screws got threaded out of the back of the plate and their little nuts hold them tightly in place. Bad thing was that when I went to reattach everything to the wall, the screw heads stuck out of the back of the plate. which they were supposed to do. But since the outlet box wasn't exposed (because it had been sheet rocked over, remember) there was no empty space for the screw heads to back into. So, after detaching everything again, I took a screw driver and poked holes in the sheet rock so that the screw heads could back into the space inside the outlet box.

After all of this, it was very rewarding to show off the new fixture to the family. I didn't get it done in time for the children to be surprised by it, but they got to enjoy helping me finish and getting it ready for when Bryan got home.

And man...I had no idea that there could be so much light! It's almost blinding.

The Day I Turned 40

Forty is good! Although it's kind of funny that Sunday night I woke drenched in sweat. Did I say "drenched"? I really meant "swimming in" sweat. I think that was my body's way of saying "Welcome to the club!".

I was born at 8:06 pm on April 19th. That's about the exact time we left Mom and Dad's Sunday night and we had some fun commenting about how now it was officially my birthday. When we got home and tucked the children into bed, Legare stopped me as I was leaving his room...
"Hey Mom."
"Yes, Legare?"
"I just wanted to say Happy Official Birthday."

Sweet child!

So, let me run down for you the events of the birthday weekend - it was pretty fun! On Friday I was supposed to go to lunch with two of my girlfriends. We always get together on each other's special days. This time we were going to the new restaurant BLU that I talked about the other week. I was very excited.

Well, when we arrived (I rode with one of the friends) and got inside I could see my husband's face. I thought, "that crazy guy, he said he wouldn't meet us today, but he did!". I was kind of excited. Then I realized that he was sitting at a large table with 4 other of my friends and family. A surprise birthday luncheon - just for me! How wonderful. After my friend Lisa and I rounded the corner I was told that we beat 3 others getting there, my mother and two other of my best girlfriends.

My friend Lisa, whom I arrived with, is the new owner of the hotel and restaurant and she was the one who gently guided my husband to making sure he did something special for me. It was wonderful! The atmosphere is nothing but happy (how can it not be with the ocean as the backdrop?), the weather was sunshiny and perfect, and to be surrounded by my friends and family - well that was priceless! I could go on and on about this luncheon, but I won't.

OK, maybe I will go on. But not on and on. There were menu cards at each place at the table. My name, the occasion, the date and the menu choices were all printed out these precious cards. The champagne flowed for toasts, and even the gifts somehow managed to all be color coordinated with each other and with the restaurant. (I couldn't find my camera on Friday so I don't currently have pictures, but some were taken, and when they get emailed to me, I'll share them with you). After all of the guests had arrived, Bryan shared the first birthday toast with us and then left us girls with the luncheon.

After the wonderful lunch most of my friends had to get back to children, but me, my mother and the two original "going to lunch for my birthday" girls headed to the bar for one more celebratory libation. This celebration truly was perfect!

Saturday was garage sale time. After a breakfast in bed fixed by Legare (waffles cooked on the iron by himself and coffee just the way I like it with cream and chocolate sauce - my version of a mocha latte) we were off. I don't usually do the garage sale thing, but my neighbor (one of the luncheon celebrants) called, and since our neighborhood was having a community wide sale we thought it would be fun to tool around the neighborhood to see if we could find some treasures. We also went to neighboring neighborhoods to look around. And that's where my finds came.

4 bar stools for $1.00 a piece. These are going in the playroom to offer additional "lean to" type seating. At the next sale I purchased a slightly used HydroSlide Pro XL for $10.00. Pretty good bargain considering husband was going to be spending close to $2oo.00 for one on some not so distant day in the future. At the same house I also purchased a pair of Hush Puppies brand bucks for $3.00 for Legare. These shoes didn't even have a scuff on the sole - I doubt they had ever been worn. They didn't even have lace marks on the tongue! My neighbor got some things for her niece including a $3.00 smocked dress that didn't have any stains. Husband and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the leaves from the pool, pruning plants in the yard and enjoying the outdoors.

Sunday - the official day - we started off the day by going to the Marina Variety Store for breakfast (I had the special - a shrimp, spinach and portabello omelet), a quick jaunt to church and then to Lowe's for another part of my present, plants and flowers to plant with the children; these went on the front porch.

We then went to Mom and Dad's for a birthday supper of homemade meatball subs and homemade banana pudding. Did someone say YUM! I got that Hamby's Catering cook book from Mom - yee ha! - and a nifty cooler cart and beach/boat necessities from my brother and his family.

The day was great! The whole weekend was great! So far, being 40 has been great! I don't really know what all of the fuss is about. The only thing so far that does stink is the sweat (which actually hasn't "stunk" in the true sense of the word - ha), and today's mammogram. I would say the beginning of that procedure will mark the official end of my birthday celebrating.

But then I'll be quickly off to Lisa's birthday lunch to begin that celebration. She's 41.

Southern Girl on the Hunt

I'll bet that when you need a recipe you have at least one handy-dandy cookbook that you go to. What I'm needing dictates which one of mine I choose. I will admit that I don't have many cookbooks; but being a good, Southern Girl living in Charleston, and holding a 10+ year membership to the Junior League of Charleston, I have a copy of "Charleston Receipts", "Receipt Repeats", and "Party Receipts". Not to mention copies of "The Sandlapper Cookbook" (Sandlapper Magazine's cookbook) and an old copy of "The Joy of Cooking" (which has almost everything basic that you'll ever need). I even have a North Carolina church's cookbook (which usually has everything else basic that you'll ever need) and a friend's family cookbook where all of the family, and friends of family's, recipes have been compiled.

Now being Southern, there are a few things that you "just know" how to prepare....deviled eggs, mac and cheese, and fried chicken. I know how to do those. And as a matter of fact, "A Southern Belle Primer or Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma", by Maryln Schwartz talks about how every Southern Belle should have an egg plate - and I do. (but I digress)

Anyway - I was hoping to make some egg salad. I know how to make deviled eggs; I actually have several variations of these under my belt. And knowing how to make those, I pretty much know how to make egg salad. But because I have eaten a lot of it, but never made it, I wanted to peruse recipes to see if I could find any "secret ingredients". Well how disappointed was I when NONE of my southern cookbooks had a recipe for egg salad? NONE OF THEM! How insane is that?!

Now I don't have Mrs. Hamby's cookbook (I'm turning 40 in April - hint, hint), and I can only imagine that egg salad and shrimp salad can be found there. But I was more stunned that none of The Junior League cookbooks had it than anything else. Incensed my be the better word. I usually Google most things, but you just know that the internet won't have a truly Southern recipe. So I was reduced to calling a friend to get her take on any "secret ingredients". How embarrassing.

Eggs - check. Mayo and mustard - check, check. Salt and pepper - check. Optional onions, celery, capers or olives - check, check, check and check.

Turns out her secret ingredient is (drum roll, please)...milk. MILK! I would never have thought about milk. So you see - you do need cookbooks for secret ingredients. Even if you do consider yourself Southern enough that you ought to have known. I'll let you know how it goes.

Eat Very Slowwwly

I'm so excited that mom gave us a slow cooker for Valentine's Day (mine is black). I have never really done anything but beef and vegetables in the crock and I am dying to try more. Mom gave me a handy little starter book of recipes and my Aunt Susie also shared some with me. Then, this morning on GMA, they had a whole segment on Emeril's Slow Cooker Challenge. Is this not perfect timing for getting a slow cooker, or what?

The Crockpot Lady (Stephanie O'Dea) did a buffalo chicken lasagna in one of her cookers and a breakfast casserole in the other. (I really feel like I should mention that she had the largest slow cookers that I've ever seen!).

ABC gave us the link for their site so we could enjoy the recipes shown this morning and I included it here too (scroll way down for the link to the breakfast casserole recipe). The links on ABC for slow cookers also gave way to a new blog called Crockpot 365 . This blog is where the Crockpot Lady from the GMA segment challenged herself to do a slow cooked meal every day for a year. I haven't checked it out yet, but I've added it's link to the side bar on the right; I foresee getting some good use out of it.

I don't know when I'll get started, but I can't wait to try out new slow cook/Crock Pot recipes. A family can only eat so much roast.