Miscellaneous happenings

Not a whole lot has been happening here lately. It's been busy around our house, but not with anything monumental. Chad has become a lot more busy lately with teaching the high school Bible class on Sunday mornings at church, co-leading a small group at church, working, and studying for his clinicals. I've just been settling back into the routine of waking up early every day and going to work.

So, a few weeks ago I mentioned that we were upgrading our entertainment at home. Yes, we now have satellite TV, DVR, and a new TV. It's awesome! I come home every day and watch my favorite cooking shows...Everyday Italian (yes, she shows a lot of teeth and other body parts, but I like her recipes), Barefoot Contessa (so snobby and uppity, but I like her recipes), and Paula Deen (I like to live vicariously through all the butter and cream). It's wonderful! I don't really think it has increased the amount of TV I watch, but now I'm always watching something that is a show I actually want to watch instead of watching the TV because it is on. So, there's that update.

We also hosted small groups last night, so Chad and I spent the entire afternoon cleaning the house. I think I need to make a public confession that I am somewhat of a slob. Maybe you don't think so (and maybe you do). But if you don't, it's probably because I knew you were coming to my house and cleaned before you came, because that is the only time I clean. People come visit our house just often enough that it doesn't become a complete pigsty, but it is still no small task. I have been thinking about this aspect of my personality a lot lately. What does it say about me that I am more concerned about my house being clean when others come over rather than enjoying a clean house on a regular basis? Am I a people-pleaser? Just super accommodating? Is there anyone else out there who only cleans their house every month or so? Please tell me I am not the only one.

Also, we spent a lot of time at Lowe's last week. We decided to move our patronage to the only other big-box home improvement store available to us, thinking it would be better than Home Depot. It's still too early to tell, but at least the folks at Lowe's were pretty helpful. We designed cabinets for the cabin on Thursday night, and the poor lady's computer kept freezing up on her, so we went back and ordered them, the countertops, the bathroom vanity, the kitchen sink, etc. on Saturday. Apparently we were the first people ever to be at one Lowe's store and want to order items to be picked up/delivered at another Lowe's store. Or at least that's what it seemed like, because the idea of having everything available to our builder in Santa Fe seemed like a bit of a pickle to the people that we were dealing with. But, by yesterday (after 3 hours at Lowe's on Saturday, a call put in to the cabinet guy in Santa Fe and waiting for the guy to get back to us yesterday) we had ordered all that stuff, AND we got 10% off our cabinets and a free sink base cabinet. Yay! Anyway, like I said, it's still too early to tell if Lowe's was a good choice to work with, because we'll need to see if the order was done right and everything gets delivered in a timely manner. I'll let you know.

Also, Chad reminded me that I had not posted that the roof is on the cabin. Our builder says it looks really good, and I am hoping he will send me a picture. Also the electrician and plumber are working, so as soon as the wiring and plumbing is done then the sheetrock can be put up. We're hoping that the ditch for the water line can be dug this weekend and that our place will be hooked up to water soon.

Hmmm...what else...oh yeah. My friend Amanda gave me this idea to sign up for something called e-mealz (yes, with a "Z."). Anyway, I signed up for it, and it is basically a subscription to do the work I was already doing by making weekly menus and shopping lists. The only difference is now I don't have to do it, and they follow the weekly sales at the store to help you save money on your groceries that week. It has been good so far, and I did save money on my grocery bill on Saturday, so if you're interested you should check it out. Takes all the hassle out of the never-ending "What will we eat?" dilemma.

That's it for now.