Sandy

Glenn and I made it home to Virginia from Minnesota last night after two cancelled flights and a 5 1/2 hour drive.  Our house is fine, just a ton of pine needles and leaves everywhere. We were expecting a few puddles in the basement, but we didn't have any!

Our original flight from MSP to Philly was cancelled on Saturday so I rebooked through Charlotte (with a complimentary first class upgrade!) but while we were in the air to CLT, our flight to Norfolk was cancelled as well.

The next flight out was Tuesday morning so rather than pay for a hotel and losing a day of work, we rented a car and drove the 330 miles home. It rained the entire 330 miles, but wasn't terrible. A few spots and strong winds, but it was relatively smooth.

We picked up our car at the airport, picked up Stella at our friends and headed home. It was a long day! Thanks for asking how we were doing. The house faired our first hurricane pretty well and we got to miss most of it!

Wordless wednesday: Good try buddy.

Birthday Fun.

So turning 30 was not the wild and crazy party that my last several birthdays have been. No Yokohama Oktoberfest this year. Glenn asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday though and I was pretty lame, but I enjoyed it all the same. :)

I wanted to buy some pumpkins and flowers for the porch so we went out to a farm in Virginia Beach and picked up 4 large pumpkins and 2 yellow mums. I think they look pretty cute and unlike last time we lived in Norfolk (in 2007), they didn't get stolen 10 minutes after I put them out!

After enjoying the fall festivities, Glenn watched the Vikes, I worked on my curtains and then we got cleaned up for dinner. I thought we were just going to have a romantic dinner. Perhaps our friends, the Morans, would be there since I had mentioned it at the baby shower the day before (it was a Kelly-tastic weekend).

Glenn had arranged other plans though. Eight of our closest Norfolk friends were at Norfolk Chophouse to surprise me. Nine if you count tiny 2 month old John. We sat Homecoming dance style too. Boys on one side and girls on the other! :)
Glenn had special ordered cupcakes (Samoa girl scout cookie flavor, red velvet and carrot cake. Dang, he knows me pretty well!) and a special birthday girl "wine" glass.

It was such a fun night. I love you Mr. Here's to my thirties! It's going to be a pretty crazy year. Less than 3 months til D day!

Nursery Progress

A few weeks ago, Glenn assembled the crib while I watched. Stella clearly supervised the operation. I've also picked out a wall color and tested it out. You can see how far I got. :)

Glenn leaves in November for a few weeks so I know what I'll be doing! I wonder what it feels like to leave and come back to a newly painted and cleaned up space. Must be nice. ;) Kidding of course. He takes care of so much else! My guy cooks dinner most nights so I think we can reverse rolls every once and awhile!

Can't wait to have it painted so I can start hanging things on the wall! I see another Ikea trip in the near future too!

Congrats Emily!

The second of my three celebrations on September 29th was Emily's baby shower! Laura and I have been planning via text, email and the phone for the last month or so. More Laura than me! The nursery is going to have an animal/jungle theme so we continued that for the baby shower as well.

We lucked out and had a beautiful Minnesota fall day. Sunny and in the 80s which was perfect since we were outside in Laura's backyard.

We had hot chocoloate and yummy fall foods. Laura (and Nate!) did a great job planning and preparing all the food. I can't believe it's been over 12 years since we all met. I love these girls!

Emily is due November 30th, plenty of time for her little guy to enjoy the rest of football season. He got a lot of football gear to wear!

She got a ton of other great gifts too. Her MIL sewed her a beautiful diaper bag and her mom is sewing her cloth diapers. She's got a lucky little guy and only a month to go until she meets him! I won't be able to meet him until the spring or summer probably, but some of our maternity leave might overlap so I know we'll have lots of time to Skype!

I can't wait to meet him, Emily!

Installing a Pendant Light

When we bought our house there was only a flourescent light and one can light in the kitchen. The area over the peninsula was always kind of dark. Glenn HATED the flourescent light so much so that he would work in the dark before he would turn in on. I never understood it, must be all the time he spent on a windowless boat. Who knows?

We've been trying to get on some of the DIY projects around the house since we know we have a massive Time Suck coming our way in January (I say that in the most loving way). So I ordered a pendant light online from ShadesofLight.com (love their stuff!).

Step one was running wire to the pendant. We have an access panel in our closet upstairs for the air handler. Glenn dressed in his coveralls and shimmied his way back there. I think those 33 lost pounds (go Glenn!) were super helpful on this particular Sunday. We were able to run power from the overhead flourescent light and then had to run another line of wire down to the switch.

We switched out the single switch for a double switch, but ran in to a few problems running the wire down the wall to the switch plate.

We ended up cutting a hole in the ceiling in the basement stairwell and running the wire down the wall and then in to the back of the wall behind the switch. Not the best option, but with lath and plaster walls, I didn't want to just start cutting holes. They will never look the same since the plaster is textured.

Once the wire was run, we cut a hole in the ceiling for the new pendant light junction box and pulled the wires through. We wired up the new light and thought we were on the home stretch! 

 We wired up the switch and light, flipped the breaker and flipped the switches! One switch: no light. The other switch: both lights at 50%....hmm...

Glenn sat here for quite some time.  

Then he had a beer. And sat some more. We made a few phone calls to my dad and brothers.

Then a figurative light came on!

Incorrect:

Several more incorrect tries followed.

Correct:

Yeah, I don't know the difference either. Something about the switch being after the power or the order of the switch, light and power source. I forget already, but I love my new light!

Craigslist Fail / Bed for Sale

Remember when I posted about my various projects in the works? Well I finished one! I bought this bed on Craigslist, but wasn't a fan of the wood color. I wanted to put it in the guest room and add a bright color. I bought some enamel Benjamin Moore paint in a fun red color and painted 5 (FIVE!) coats of paint on the bed. I love how it turned out.

Then I moved it upstairs (from the basement) to set up the guest bed.

"Hmm...that looks kinda narrow now that it's in the room."

Measuring ensues.

Swearing follows.

So the lady I bought it from told me it was a Queen size bed frame. It is a full size. Fail. Six inches of fail. Queen size beds are 60", full size are 54".

Sooo...anyone want to buy a bed frame?

Happy Birthday Hayes!

I made a very short trip home a few weekends ago and managed to hit up 3 celebrations in one day! First was little Hayes' 1st birthday party. Last time I saw Hayes, he was only about a month old.

Such a cute family!

I miss my girlfriends back home so much! I'm glad I'll get to see several of them next week for my baby shower. Happy Birthday Hayes!

Dirty Thirty

Hard to believe I'm in a new age bracket now. Glenn surprised me with a dinner with 10 of our closest Norfolk friends on Sunday night! It was wonderful! It's going to be a great year I think, even if I am getting old. ;)

Peanut Fest

Glenn's mom is originally from the next town over so when he was a kid, he came to visit often. An annual stop was the Suffolk Peanut Festival.

We decided to make a visit last weekend to eat some peanuts, tour some Winnebagos and check out the peanut butter carving contest. It was a beautiful day to relax and enjoy all the rednecks. Well, and be one too! If only I wasn't pregnant, we could have gone on the monster truck ride!