PUPternity Leave!

I’m counting down the hours until I can leave work today. We are picking up Maddie in LESS THAN 24 HOURS and I’m taking PUPternity leave next week. In case you didn’t know that when you take time off work to welcome a furry new family member (and yes I completely made it up and everyone at work thinks I’m crazy). Also, I’m probably going to have separation issues when I have to go back to work, but it’s going to be so nice to be a SAHDM (Stay at home dog mom) for the next 9 days!

The final puppy preparations that have to happen tonight are :
1. Clean-up dining room (still a mess from latest project, ie power tools everywhere).
2. Fix her crate (I built it wrong, we want the door to open the opposite way).
3. Buy her some food! She’s eating ProPlan Puppy, Chicken & Rice formula.
4. Clean out the back of the car and put her crate pad in there for the ride home.
5. Move all our jackets and boots out of the mudroom so she has limited opportunity to destroy things.

Anywho, make sure you add Maddie’s tumblog to your reader – it’s going to be cute puppy picture overload over there for the next few days.

2011 Task List - January Update

1 Month Down (I can't believe its already February!)
Time to check some things off the 'Master Task List', I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, mostly we've just been shoveling snow.




EXTERIOR : (We really can't do any of this stuff until the spring.)
Paint blue window trim.
Add grilles to windows.
Paint front door black.
Buy & install front door knocker.
Paint side door black.
Install whale door knocker.
Paint shutters black.
Replace house numbers.
Buy & install a new mailbox, or mail slot.
Paint front storm door black.
Build a deck off the family room.
Widen and lengthen the driveway.
Front yard landscaping.
Plant an herb garden.
Rear yard landscaping.
Power-wash & waterseal the fence.
Replace front & side lights.
 
INTERIOR :
Install box frames under chair rail in dining room.
Install crown molding in dining room.
Paint dining room.
Paint road-side Hutch.
Paint Craig’s List furniture.
Paint kitchen cabinets white.
Install new slate countertops.
Install new undermount sink.
Install new tile backsplash.
Build & install cabinets for the butler’s pantry.
Remove old laminate, and install new butcherblock countertop in butler's pantry.
Install crown molding in kitchen and above cabinets.
Remove built-in shelving from guest bedroom.
Paint guest bedroom.
Buy lamps for nightstands in guest bedroom.
Re-upholster Craig’s List chairs.
Remove and replace fish tiles in the shower.
Hang artwork & photos.
Make headboard for guest bed.
Buy stools for kitchen island. (I have to exchange them, but I still consider this 'done'.)
Replace contractor grade light fixtures throughout the house. (We've replaced one so far.)
Paint 'goldness' on fireplace insert.
Come up with a more permenant solution for the TV area.
Some how separate the dining room from the front entrance. (We made a faux-beam).
Hang curtains and shades in the dining room.
Hang remaining curtain over window in kitchen.
Install crown molding around entryway.

Pause for a Photo....

Can we discuss how cute my niece is?

She's rock'n the side-bow, a girl after my own heart.
And I get to walk down the aisle with her at a wedding this month.  That means she's my arm candy and I'm SUPER excited about it.

Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner! Congratulations to #29 E @ Oh!Apostrophe.

Sorry to everyone else, but if you are still in need of a Valentine's day card they can be purchased from my Etsy shop HERE.

Latest Color Obsession - Newburg Green

This color needs to go somewhere in our house.
Maybe my office?

I see white rooms everywhere on the internet and love them, but then I see rooms like this and fall in love with color all over again.  I'm convinced this is why people have more than one house. 
My summer house will be white.

both images from White Blossom

A Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Fresh off the presses, 2011 Valentine’s Day card by 4th&Folded with coordinating envelope.

The card reads:

*When we first met I had no idea you would mean so much to me*

Perfect for a friend or loved one, this limited edition Valentine's day card is printed on a flat A7 card on 100% Cotton, 110# Crane Lettra. The coordinating envelope comes with a printed liner made up of the word "Love" in many different languages.

TO ENTER:

1. Leave a comment saying who you would give your card to.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet, “I entered to win a Valentine’s Day card from @fourthandfolded ! http://bit.ly/eoaxSL" ,then come back here and leave me a comment telling me.

A winner will be randomly chosen at 2PM EST tomorrow, January 27th.

And sadly, if you don’t win – the card can be found on my Etsy shop here.

You don't CLEAN, you CLEAN UP.

First, let me preface this by saying I am 100% appreciative of everything my husband does. He is usually the one to cook dinner and go grocery shopping and I am very grateful to have dinner ready (or almost ready) when I get home from work. If I’m working through dinner, which I usually am, he will bring my dishes out to the kitchen and load them in the dish washer when we are done.

image

So here comes the gripe, he always tells people that he is the one that cleans, and that he is always picking up after me.
But darling, you don’t CLEAN, you CLEAN UP. Yes, you often take my dishes out to the kitchen or put my water glass in the dishwasher, and as much as I love the help, it’s not ‘cleaning’. Cleaning is when you wash the floors, scrub the bathrooms, wipe down the cabinets, clean the inside of the fridge, etc. It involves rubber gloves and chemicals and various scrubbing/washing accouterments, none of which you have ever wielded.

I love you but you don’t clean. You CLEAN-UP.

Anyone else’s husband think he ‘cleans’?