This weekend was fun. In fact, it’s the most I’ve relaxed in a long time. Some things have been going on in my little world, and we really needed to just take some time away from the stress of reality. On Saturday we spent most of the day outside doing yard work, then set up the little plastic pool in the backyard and let Matthew play for a while, before ending the day in sweet, sweet air conditioning.

Sunday, we went to the lake. Our neighbor’s parents have a lake house about 40 minutes away, and this is the second time we’ve there. It’s really nice.. even when it’s 100 degrees outside, there’s tons of shade and a nice breeze. Jeremiah spent most of the time in the water, and I hung out on the shore where Matthew was playing in the shallow water. There was good people, good food, good fun. Sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I just feel like so much weight is off my shoulders, between Jeremiah and I working on things, and being able to relax.

How was your weekend?

Does anyone have a nice backyard and would like to share ideas? We really want a place we can enjoy.. sit back in the cool evenings and relax in. Right now we have a concrete slab. The last owners had the backyard landscaped, which is the dumbest thing ever because the backyard is pretty small. They even had kids and 4 dogs.. I guess I don’t understand how you’d rather have pretty bushes with mulch over an area you can enjoy and let your kids and pets play in without worry.

One thing Jeremiah really wants is one of those outdoor fireplace kits. I sure wouldn’t mind that, but first I want to expand the porch. I was thinking about how to stay cheap.. possibly just do gravel and stepping stones, so we can have our chairs and table with the umbrella in an area that is landscaped (poorly maintained, though) right now. Our grill takes up a good portion of the concrete slab we have now. I’d like some outdoor lighting, some mosquito stake things.. I can’t wait until we can take on our next project!

Today, I was supposed to go to a playgroup meetup at Joe’s Crab Shack. Well, I did go to it. The only problem is, nobody else went.

Yeah.

I knew it was happening. It’s been planned for over a week. So, I checked this morning to see that it was still going on, and headed off to the gym. Left the gym, went home and showered and cleaned up, left the house and went to Joe’s. I was seated outside on the patio (the idea was to sit outside on the shaded patio while the kids play on the playground they have), and I ordered myself and Matthew drinks. 20 minutes later, I realized nobody was going to show up. I checked the “event” on Facebook, and the creator of the event didn’t cancel it officially, but simply commented and said, not enough people RSVP’d to the event, so she was going to reschedule it. She posted that 45 minutes before the time we were supposed to meet!

Argh! So, Matthew and I stayed. He played on the playground, then we ate some lunch, He played some more, and we headed home. I felt so dumb telling that waitress that nobody else was coming, and I wish someone would have told me it was cancelled via text or phone call!

Anyways. On the way home, we stopped by our local Ace Hardware store where they were having a 75% off all plants sale. I went a few days ago and got some marigolds for my vegetable garden (pest deterrent) and two plants for my front garden. I didn’t think there’d be any plants left, but alas, there was still a lot. I got a pot with geraniums, some random pink flowers to go in the flower bed, an impatiens and salvia. The front of my home will be so PURDY!

A couple of months ago, I got a HTC Thunderbolt. I REALLY adore the phone. My sister wants to order one but she’s still debating it since she has a decent phone as well as an ipod touch. The HTC Thunderbolt has a 32GB sd card though so I no longer use my MP3 player.

The biggest complaint about the Thunderbolt was it’s huge size, but after a couple of days I was used to it and now all other phones seem way too tiny. I love the big screen and how it feels tough. As Jeremiah says “It’s a brick!”

I know I’ve said it before, but I REALLY love this time of year.. Berry season is my favorite season! Costco has a GIGANTIC thing of Strawberries for $6.49 and we go through it in my house in less than a week. SO GOOD.

If someone was to send me a gift, I’d really prefer some chocolate covered strawberries rather than flowers that will wilt and die. In fact, if anyone wants to send me a gift.. say, for, a belated Mother’s Day gift, or just because *wink*, there is a Sharis Berries free shipping coupon so.. you know..

But seriously.. I love berries. I just bought more blueberries today, too. DELISH!

Matthew doesn’t get sick often. In fact, he’s got a great immune system. Unfortunately, he seems to have come down with something and is now quite under the weather. I just laid him in our bed, gave him some tylenol and turned on the movie “Cars”. He was starting to get all ‘moany’ and I noticed since last night he’s been running a low temperature.

Yesterday, my sister and her boyfriend drove up here from San Antonio to visit for the weekend. So, there’s me, Jeremiah, Matthew, my mom, my sister & her boyfriend, all staying in our house. It’s actually not too crowded, if you don’t notice the full size mattress against the wall in the living room. I love spending time with my family so it’s all good.

Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? Hopefully Matthew starts feeling better so we can do some stuff, but even if we don’t, I always enjoy seeing my sister so it will be a good one!

So my mom got here Sunday night. We went and got some Taco Cabana¹ for dinner and then came home.. I showed her around the house, she played with Matthew for a bit and we went to bed. Monday we got up, had breakfast, and proceeded to unpack her 16 foot Penske truck. In 95°F heat. Both of us got really ill from the 4 1/2 hours of working really hard in the heat. We drank plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of water, but mom still got really sick that day, and then my body waited until that night to react the worst. After a short nap on the couch, I woke up with a pounding headache, sore throat and stiff body. Yesterday I wasn’t very useful, but managed to get some grocery shopping done at the commissary, then came home and relaxed. This morning, I’m feeling better, but I’m still not completely myself. My headache is better, but my throat’s still a little sore, and my body HURTS.

It’s getting really hot here. Highs right now are around 98°F, but they have been 100 and above. Over the next 10 days it’s supposed to drop to highs of 93, not like that’s much relief. My garden LOVES the heat though. I’ll have to take a picture of the cucumber that’s about ready to pick.. it’s beauuutiful. Then my tomato plants have about 20+ tomatoes on them that aren’t quite ripe yet, but I’m so excited to have some fresh organic veggies straight from my garden!

It’s amazing what dentists will try to charge you for little things. For example, a filling. A tiny little filling, they want us to pay $120 – after insurance.. but our insurance covers most of it, that’s just OUR part of the payment. The thing is, you know they get wholesale dental supplies and they don’t pay near that much. That’s how they can afford the fancy office with fancy things, thousand dollars a month to maintain fish tanks, etc. They make so much money off of people. I’m ready to go to Mexico and get it done cheaper, DANG. Not really, but I sure wish dental work wasn’t so expensive.

Hopefully within the next month, our home improvement loan will be completed and we can start work on our house! We’ve already done all the research and gotten quotes on things like an air conditioning system, the best laminate flooring, carpet, kitchen cabinets and countertops. The best part is that with our mortgage payment AND home improvement loan, we’ll still be paying less than we were renting for, and this will all be OURS.

My favorite part, for sure, will be the cabinets. We’re getting them from IKEA. We’ll be doing an island in our kitchen, different kinds of cabinets that are more space-friendly, and new laminate counter tops. I am SO excited!

It may be only June, but honestly, I need to start planning my Christmas stuff. I know, I’m freaking crazy, but that’s really how long it will end up taking me to get it all done. Besides actually wanting to get presents for people this year, I also REALLY want to put some actual effort into Christmas invitations and cards. I’d like to have a get-together here, our first Christmas in our first house. I did cute cards last year, but I definitely did them last minute and I am pretty sure most of them didn’t make it to people’s houses by Christmas. I’ll do better this year, I’m determined!!