Happy Easter

Well I suppose first and foremost I should say Happy Easter, although it's just another day around here. We've had a major drop in temperatures over the last few days and it is downright chilly outside. Due to that, there was no egg hunt, BBQ, yardwork, or even sun for that matter! In fact we have the heat on again. Gotta love Louisiana with the A/C one day and Heat the next!
On a sad note, today is the 4th anniversary of the day we lost Ruben's dad to lung cancer. I don't think today has been easy on Ruben by any means. He has worked hard today (and yesterday) with pre-occupying himself by installing new ceiling fans....8 total!
We also spent Friday out shopping to buy a new grill - I think I killed ours when I moved it and the propane tank fell off, cause the next night when we went to use it, there where flames coming out from the bottom of it. I must have damaged one of the propane pipes. Aside from a new grill, we also had to buy a new weed eater, edger, and blower. We bought one of those Cub Cadet ones from Home Depot that has the rapid release (on the weed eater) so you can change the bottom attachment to something else like an edger or blower. Our yard is so huge we really do need something to make things a bit easier and not rely on the use of an extension cord. We also went ahead and purchased new faucets. 4 bath faucets, 3 shower/tub sets, a kitchen faucet and a roman tub faucet. I almost had a heart attack during check out over the $1100 total! Of course we still need to remodel the rest of the baths. We are looking for light fixtures, and so far both Home Depot and Lowes have been no help in the remodel. See, Ruben doesn't know how to remove and replace a tub and shower unit, so we need major assistance. Personally, I do not want to get into it. As this person was telling us, you basically have to cut the tub out of the wall. I do not want to see what is behind there! I have no desire to see the innards of my house - god only knows what might be in there or come crawling out from such holes! I'd rather hire someone, that is IF we can find someone! We also need/want the vanity countertops in each bath replaced. Ruben is slowly working on the toilets now, although he still DOES NOT have Natalie's toilet functioning. We can't seem to find a long enough hose to connect the toilet to the water supply. I told you this toilet was much taller than the previous one! So much aggravation! I hate home repairs & DIY sometimes!
But on a good note, today is the day I have waited like 18 months for....The Soprano's returns. Man am I ready for some serious whacking. This is the final season, so they're all going down in a blaze of gunfire. I'm also excited about the return of Entourage. I just love HBO. Once again, Sunday is the best night on TV. Which reminds me I have to find this clip I watched yesterday that sums up all 77 hours (thus far) of The Soprano's in 7 minutes. It's awesome. Link to 7 minute Soprano's article. I'll embed the clip later for you all to enjoy!
Almost forgot. We went to Barnes & Noble over the weekend as well. I've been putting off getting this book for quite some time. I first read about it on Jeff's Blog, and it got me interested. Since chemo, I have such a horrible memory that I have been wanting to find something to write down things about myself, family, etc. to leave my daughter when I die. Every since my mom has passed, I have felt like a lost soul. Like a child with no parents, and no home. I don't know half of my family - who they are or where they are, let alone how I'm related to any of them. In the last year, it has become increasingly more important for me to leave behind something for my daughter so that she won't feel the same when I am gone. As it is, she can't meet or learn about my family. I want her to feel grounded, rooted. The only real tie I feel left is that with my sister. My mom's passing has brought us closer than ever before. We feel a bond that will never exist with my other family members, because for one, I have a brother I will never speak to again. We have made a commitment to one another that not only will we always be there for each other, but that we will always be there for our other brother Billy. It's the ties that bind. But unlike me, my daughter has no siblings, so I worry about what will become of her. In any case, the book is All About Me, and I would like to thank Jeff for recommending this book. I love it. In fact, I am thinking about picking random questions and revealing my inner most secrets.
Case in point.......Under the morals section. A drug you will never try again? I'll answer this on the next post, if I remember to.

Well it's about time for me to prepare for tonight's TV entertainment.

Weekend Update & a look ahead

Well I'm happy to say that after the unfortunate flooding incident that our downstairs bathroom has finally seemed to dry out and the good news is the ceiling didn't collapse! Like I said, we will have to repaint it though. And much to our dismay, Ruben was unable to replace the upstairs toilet yet. The $250 toilet he bought didn't come with a toilet seat, and he has to make some kind of adjustments as this one is taller than the previous one. He should get his needed parts today and hopefully wrap it up. Looking ahead at the calendar, I see this month will be a crazy one. Lexie goes to the Groomer's on the 4th, I have a Dr. appointment on the 5th, Natalie starts Spring Break on the 6th and is off school through the following 13th. We still need to get an appointment to have our taxes done, Lexie needs a vet appointment for shots. I need to find a boarding facility for her that I like. And we still have more stuff we need to buy before leaving for Disney on the 28th. This month is going to fly right buy. In a blink of an eye Disney will have come and gone, Natalie will be out of school (May 23rd), and summer will be here.
I have a feeling that it will be so hot here this summer, I will have to sell my blood to afford my A/C bills. Maybe we'll get lucky and the neighbor who is installing a pool will let us use it too. Just wishful thinking. = )

Project and Other Things

Ok, well I finally started using MySpace. It's not that I didn't have an account, cause I did, it's just that it has always directed everyone here. So it's not like I'm late jumping on the bandwagon or anything. I've used it just to talk to a few people, but now I have some family on there, so I'm sort of using it a little more. I do have some different pictures on there, I think, and I do really, love, love, love my layout on there. I wish I could figure out how to customize Blogger layouts. I am so into the whole pink, black, skull stuff right now. IF ANYONE CAN CUSTOMIZE A BLOGGER LAYOUT FOR ME LIKE DESCRIBED ABOVE, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! It so suits me! If you want to check it out, it's under my favorite links, or go here.
So on with today's topic......We bought our house here in Louisiana back in 12/06 and we've been busy every since. We are still unpacking, painting, peeling wallpaper, replacing ceiling fans, light fixtures, we need dirt to level out the backyard, and we have 3 full baths to remodel, PLUS a vacation for 10 full nights to Disney World and co. coming up at the end of April.
On top of that we have the every day stuff like homework, dinner, yardwork, shopping, laundry, family drama, housework and the like to contend with. One example is like yesterday Natalie's toilet overflowed. For some reason the flapper didn't shut when she flushed it, so water just kept pouring out of the toilet onto the floor. I couldn't get it to shut, so I hurried up and shut the valve off and asked her to get the mop from downstairs. When she came up she said she heard water downstairs. I went down to see what it was and found water raining from the light fixture in the downstairs bath. By time I got back upstairs all the water in her bathroom was gone. The bathroom downstairs continued to leak for some hours. We turned on the air, and have several fans going - but now it looks like we will have to paint the entire ceiling of the first floor. Just pray we don't end up with mold damage, or that the ceiling caves in!
Also, if that weren't bad enough, it's tax time again! And we haven't had our taxes done yet - I'm really fearful we might owe. I'm pulling out all the home improvement stuff, but I can't find my donation receipts for write off. Owing would be the worst as we have to save our $ for taxes and insurance (mostly flood - think Katrina, it made insurance down here go up to $5000/yr.) to pay later this year - plus we still have stuff to buy for Disney.
Oh, and I guess I can count out having my mastectomy/reconstruction surgery done before vacation. The plastic surgeon hasn't called back - still waiting for insurance approval, since I want them both done, and now it's too late, I'm not going to Disney sore. It will have to wait till I come back.
I also forgot to post pictures from the other day. It's crawfish season down here and that's what we had for dinner. They were good although a bit spicy from the boil seasonings. Ruben said he's had better. I thought it pretty much tasted like most shellfish, and probably woulda been good with some cocktail sauce or something. Anyway, here's the pictures from that and one of this huge ass dragon fly I caught in the front yard. We had a whole tree full of them!

Oh, I almost forgot! Just when I though I bottomed out, I lost another 2 lbs. It happened in just a matter of like 3 days. I really need to take those weight loss pills more regularly, cause when I do, this is what happens! Wahoo!