A house in disarray

Our air conditioner quit cooling a couple of weeks ago.  It was 80 degrees when B-rad got home from work.  We have a programmable thermostat that's set to go down to 75 degrees by 5:00pm.   The air was coming out cool, but not cold.  B-rad immediately went to work & took the cover off the fan thingie outside to get it cleaned out.  

He also took that opportunity to chastise me for my settings on the thermostat.  "80 degrees is TOO hot to have the house go to during the day."  (B-rad would have the house on 67 at all times if I would let him...)  I said, "I DON'T have it set for 80 - it goes to like 77!"   And that's when the arguing started...

 I kept putting my foot over the register to see if it was blowing cold air as he worked on stuff.  I kept saying, "It's not cold.  It's usually colder than this." When he's in work mode he doesn't really want to hear me blabbing nor does he want me in his way.  (You would think I would learn this after 20 years together - but sometimes I forget...) So he's marching angrily around the house & I said, "I don't know what to do to help you.  If you need my help you have to tell me."  

He said, "You can quit talking about that register.  THAT would help."

Touche', B-rad - touche'...

He was finally able to get the a/c to cool the house back down to our normal 75 degrees.  I called the place that put it in the house 15 years ago when we moved in & he determined that our 'A Coil' had a leak & the freon was low.  He charged it up so it would start being cold again & explained our options.  For some dumb reason I was the one home when all this went down which is a bad, bad idea.  The guy could have been speaking Japanese for all I knew.  I did my best to scribble down buzz words on the back of an envelope that he said that sounded important to fill B-rad in later.

The A Coil could be replaced for about $1,000, but our system was so old that it has R22 freon in it & the stupid government has changed to R410A.  The production of R22 is becoming less & less (so eventually we wouldn't be able to have it re-charged) which also makes it more expensive.  (The 2 lbs he put in it were $37 EACH.)  SO-if we replaced the coil & still had trouble & had to replace the whole thing we would be out $1000.  

Awesome.

B-rad isn't really big on 'decision' making but I love it.  I'm a decision maker, people....when I know what the hell I'm making a decision about.  I'm precious & don't know a thing about air conditioners.  Except they make me cool & comfy - that's it.   He quoted us a new a/c unit for $3200 OR we could go ahead & do the furnace too (it's 15 years old as well) for $4500.   So the big questions were:  

'Do we replace just the a/c or both?'

'Do we do it now or wait?'

I called B-rad's dad because he's super smart in matters like this.  He suggested that since it was pretty low on freon & the guy charged it that it might last us the rest of the summer.  We could get through the winter (hopefully) with the furnace (because we hadn't had trouble out of it last winter when it was sooo cold) & we could replace the whole smash in the spring.  I liked that idea because it also gave us more time to save the money & that's what I we decided to do...

I went to dinner with some friends Tuesday after work.  I was in an area that doesn't get good cell phone service plus I try not to text & drive.  As I was pulling in our driveway around 8pm I got a call from Shauna (which comes through the speakers in my car thank you very much...).  "Ok-on this a/c thing - my dad has a guy that can replace it for you on Friday."  I was like, "UHM - ok????"  (She knew we'd had trouble a couple of weeks ago so I wasn't sure where this call was coming from at this exact moment?)  I had no clue what was going on.  I said, "I literally just turned in my driveway - I'm not sure what you're talking about."  She said, "You have no a/c."  Ah - now I get it.  Good times... (Then I looked at my phone & had several texts about us having no a/c...)

We had ICE in the thing inside the house.  B-rad got it thawed out - but it froze again.  Don't ask me why there's ice - it sure as heck wasn't blowing off that ice to cool our house...

This was the beginning of a lovely fight between B-rad & I & mass chaos.  It was almost 8:30pm & he wanted to go buy a window unit & 'Home Depot closes at 10!!'.  Listen people - my brain doesn't move that fast.  I have to process information...& think about it...& weigh out the pros & cons...& make a calculated, educated decision.   That was not happening at this moment.  

I didn't want to spend $400 on a window unit if we were going to get a whole new unit installed 3 days later, but B-rad knows I don't like to rough it.  (I love him...)  Our home is fairly small so if we closed off a couple of the bedrooms the window unit should keep us comfortable enough for a few days.

So after much yelling, arguing & gnashing of teeth - we headed to Home Depot to get a window unit.  We decided that:

 A) we didn't wanna sweat our asses off & 

B) It would get us through until we could gather more intel on brands, sizes, prices, etc.

I had also just gotten a coupon from Home Depot in the mail for 12 months same as cash on any purchase over $299.  I'll take it.

B-rad got it all unpacked & I sat on the couch & read my book.  SEE-I remembered to leave him the hell alone!  I sat & read until he said, "Hey - I need you to do this or that."  GO ME.  

I We decided to put it in the living room because we have an open floor plan.  It would keep most the house cool & we could use fans to move the air around to our bedroom when we were sleeping.  I am not a neat freak at all, but I do like things to look neat & tidy.  Like I have a stack of B-rad's magazines on the counter...but they are stacked nice & neat so I'm ok with them.  I know I've told ya'll this before - I'm fine with them until the crazy switch flips & I'm not... 

This right here is making me insane.  Look at that cord on the floor.  Lordy... And my cute trunk degraded to holding a fan?  Blasphemy...

We have a manufactured home (which was ALL the rage 15 years ago) but now its become an albatross around our necks.  Banks don't want to re-finance you, nothing is 'normal' sized & it's a real pain in the ass in general.  Our window is 44" wide...the a/c unit fit windows UP TO 41" wide.  Seriously?  B-rad got 2x4's to cut to fill in the extra space to make it fit.  It's not the most sealed thing in the world so he used some painters tape to seal it the best he could.

Then we have another fan on a chair outside our bedroom door to blow the cool air from the living room in.  Yes - it's totally in the way...

I always tell B-rad that 'we look ghetto' or 'white trash' when the hedges aren't trimmed or there is stuff laying around outside.  He said to me, 'NOW we look ghetto...'

No offense meant to anyone who uses window units.  My parents still do...but only turn them on when it's 9 billion degrees outside.  My dad is way cheaper than me.  We weren't allowed to use the a/c much when I was growing up...that's probably why I refuse to rough it now.)

It's in the VERY front of the house.  I tried to put flowers in front of it to camouflage it a bit.  Totally works, RIGHT?!  There's not much I could do for the big black strip in the top of the window to seal it though...  

The screen is propped up by the fabric wall.  Oh, the humanity...

The user manual & other various relics are on my table w/ my pretty glass vases...

The living room is a hot mess.  I tied the curtains back so they didn't restrict any of the airflow.  Window unit with fan on long extension cord on cute trunk shooting air to fan on chair blocking bedroom door.  (Told you our house is small..)  And it's loud in there w/ the air & fans running when I wanna watch tv... Sniff, sniff.

And my new, custom made drapes?  Well they're in a closed position until further notice.  That's to not let light in & help insulate to keep cold air from going out.  

I have to give B-rad credit because he always takes care of me.  He knows I'm precious & wouldn't wanna sleep in the heat (neither would he - but whatever.)  Of course I have to tell ya'll about the fighting - that's real life & it's funny stuff!  I know it has been cool, but it's hard for me to keep the windows open because of all my stupid allergies.  (A day or 2 I could've suffered through, but not much longer.)  He was up until after midnight that night to get the window unit installed. He had to be up bright & early at 4:30 am the next day to go to work.  (I got to sleep in a little because I was off to hang out w/ Alicia.)  

Since I don't know anything about this stuff, I told B-rad it was all up to him to decide what to get & where from.   Shauna helped him get estimates & made phone calls (she knows about this kinda thing too) & yesterday he finally decided what we're getting.  As much as I was irritated about him wanting to get a window unit & spending $400(!) - he was right (but DON'T tell him I said that, mmm kay?). The new a/c & furnace will be installed next Thursday... so until then we're living in a ghetto hot mess of extension cords, fans & loud noises.  Pray for me...

Chaos is the name of the game

Alicia & I like to try & get together during the summer when she sucks & is off work to hang out for the day.  I think we enjoy it for different reasons... I enjoy the fun conversation, the laughing, the catching up & the fact that her children are great birth control.  She likes it because she enjoys laughing at me whilst I watch the chaos that is her life unfold in front of me...

To my great dismay pleasure, she had accidentally on purpose picked up a friend of Sam's during her child pick up that morning.  She says, "Eh, What's one more?"  I say, "WHAT?  WHY would you do that?"

(Ok-if you're new here - you know this is all in jest.  That extra little boy was no problem the whole day.  I know his parents  - he was more quiet all day than her kids anyway...)

When Sam saw me, he smiled this HUGE grin, walked over to me & kind of punched me.  (not hard or anything - he was playing around.)  THEN - he hugged me.  That's our relationship & I'm ok w/ that...

 First stop was lunch at Chick-fil-a.  It's always packed & we had quite the crew.  Alicia got all teacher on them & started waving that finger.

 'Jake-you want chicken nuggets, right?'  (And NOOOO Jake did not want nuggets - it was quite the scene when we sat down to eat & he refused...)

 It's like a well oil machined feeding this army.  I just watch in amazement hoping no one thinks any of those tiny humans belong to me.

 Jake perked up & quit pouting when it was time for ice cream.  He's a sweet little guy & took his sister up to get hers.  Then he had his arm around her when he walked her back to the table.

If you think this momentary act of kindness makes me wanna have kids - you don't know me at all.

 Nora worked on that ice cream until it was liquid.  

 I may or may not have encouraged her to lick it off the table. 

(But only after she had already done it & I wasn't quick enough w/ my camera... 

She already had the germs in her mouth, people...No harm, no foul...)

 We went to the library & then home to let the boys play on their Kindles.  Nora wanted to watch Frozen & Alicia & I were just gonna hang out.  We talked while I followed her around the house while she cleaned up & did laundry.  I've decided she doesn't have to run because she had to have covered 5 miles in her house while I was there.  She'd clean up something, a kid would appear, stuff would appear, kid would disappear, she'd clean it up - again...

Nora was cranky & tired but wouldn't sit still on the couch to take a nap.  She was up re-arranging lamps & knick knacks.  Alicia chastised her for that & added, 'It's like Brad McAfee's at my house!'  (B-rad thoroughly enjoys moving stuff around when he goes to their house to annoy Alicia...)  Alicia gave her the choice of sitting in her bed or sitting on the couch to watch Frozen.  And she doesn't play - those were the choices & that was it.  And she doesn't forget.  She's a childs nightmare!  Like you know how they try to wear you down so you just give up?  Nope, not Alicia McAfee.  She just kept telling Nora her choices until Nora decided to sit on the couch & watch Frozen... And she fell asleep 3 minutes later...  She said, 'You probably think I'm the meanest mom ever.'  I said, "Hell no - I love it you make your kids mind!" 

Nora woke up like 3 hours later - her hair was in shambles...she gets that from her mother.  

 Alicia was having the Sandy's styles van come that night so Nora had to get ready for the girl party.  

How do you think she felt about getting her hair brushed?

LOOK AT THOSE POUTY LIPS. 

 Alicia said, 'Ok-fine - you're not going to be able to go to the girl party if I don't brush your hair...' & she perked up & said, "Mom - you can bwush my hair".  She put in 2 of her favorite bows, added jewelry & she was perfectly happy.  Hmph, kids...

 Notice the camo sunglasses?  Seriously...

 Lucky Poor Daniel was running late getting home because there was a problem on the interstate.  Alicia had to get out the blower to clean off the front porch.  (In the spirit of full disclosure I don't know for SURE that she did it because Daniel was running late... but it's funnier this way - just go w/ it...) We DID have to consult Daniel on how to start it - we had to do everything but stand on our heads - flip the switch, pump it 5 times, pull it 3 times...

 We got it started & it ran out of gas... Lord have mercy...

 She was forced to use a broom instead...

 Jake was quite helpful in telling her where to sweep.

 He wanted to help her fold laundry so he sat on the bed & leaned back on the clothes.  I said, "Hang on, Jake - I'll take your picture."  Alicia was in the other room & she said, "Jake - get up!  You're going to wrinkle the clothes."  I said, "Oh sorry -that's my fault - I told him I wanted to take his picture."  She said, 'OH?  It was planned?  Ok then - no problem.'  True blogger right there...

 Jake folded 2.4 articles of clothing & he was over it.

 Last year when their immediate family descended on my in-laws houseboat they had a camping spot reserved but decided to stay in a cabin instead w/ the rest of their family.  We decided a year ago that she would reschedule the spot & voila - the plan was born for all of us to go to the lake together!  (UHM no one can accuse US of not being planners.  SOOO opposite of our husbands!)  That's gonna happen in a couple of weeks.  I know you can't wait to read HER version of the day & then read MY real version... 

Fun day w/ a fun friend.  Thanks for the good conversation, the laughs & the birth control.  You're the best...

Kitchen & dining room before & afters

I've been working on 'changing' the decor in our house for what seems like forever.  I hate doing stuff like this.  HATE IT.  I have no idea what I'm doing, no idea what looks good, no idea of anything.  I'm super impatient so I want to just buy it all at one time & be done w/ the whole thing.  I don't wanna go to 5 million different stores & look at stuff.  Don't wanna...

I had high hopes of doing a whole before & after post for ya'll when it was all done.  With grandious fanfare & pomp & circumstance....

BUT, since it's taking me so long, the internet may not exist when I'm ALL done so I'm giving you what I have so far.  

And I will preface this by saying that decorating is like past hairstyles...at the TIME they seem like a good idea...

The kitchen.  The horrible paneling on the walls.  The horrible lighting for this picture.  This is what I did when we moved in 15 years ago.  I love sunflowers - why NOT put them all over my kitchen cabinets?

A year or so ago I took all that down & replaced it with these, uhm er - things?  They had some purple in them (shocking) & I LOVED that plate.

Then with a welcomed 'it's ok - you're not crazy for wanting to paint your whole house purple' suggestion to paint the kitchen & dining room purple from Alicia, I painted the dining room first...then maybe 3 or 4 months later the kitchen. 

I wasn't happy with the 'things' on top of the cabinet after I painted, but I left them there while I decided my next move.

I bought this bowl of glass balls at Kirkland in New Albany to put on top of the cabinet between the kitchen & living room.  It doesn't have much clearance between it & the ceiling so it works perfect.  

And this is when the obsession for colored glass began...

I bought these at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.  I put them on the dining room table & thought they went great against the fabric wall.  I love how the light reflects through them.  

(My friend, Rose, made the table runner from scraps we had from the fabric wall.)

Then I decided I wanted to find fun, different colored glass containers to put on top of the kitchen cabinets.  B-rad & I went to Old Time pottery one night & I found 2 red colored glass vases.  I snatched them immediately & told B-rad, "This is what I want for on top of the cabinets.  Help me look for more."  

As we wandered aimlessly through the store, my red glass vases clanking on the cart because their stupid floor is concrete & the most un-level thing I've ever seen, we turned a corner - & I shrieked.  

We had found the colored glass area...

I know the lighting is awful...sorry about that.  Just know that it is SUPER cute in person & I LOVE it.  That green plate was the most expensive purchase.  It was $40 & I did NOT wanna buy it.  Lucky for me I have a hubby that loves to spend money & he kept telling me, "Who cares?  Buy it if you like it."  

I'm glad I did because I think it breaks up the whole 'vase' theme.  I love the ones w/ the knobby thingies on them too.  The blue one has bubbles & etching on it.    

I got a monogrammed cutting board from work a few years ago for Christmas.  Of course I will never use it for what it was intended so I decided to use it as a decoration on top of the cabinet.  

Before:

After:

My friends, Debbie & Rose, came over last Friday to finish drapes we were making for the sliding glass door.  While they were there - we had other little projects we did as well.  

New pillow covers for the couch.  I wanted to pull in the fun colors from the fabric wall onto the boring, brown couch.

They also hung up my anniversary gift from B-rad.  They raved & raved about how cool they thought it was.  It's hanging to the left of the sliding glass door in the dining room.

I hadn't ever hung up my paintings from Uptown Art because I wasn't sure what to do w/ them.  I knew I wanted them in the hallway by our guest bathroom.  I knew I didn't want them to be all lined up nice & neat AND I wanted to be sure to leave room in case I do more.

Debbie & Rose raved about my mad painting skills (see why I love them?) & had a FIT when they saw these just stacked in my office. They forced me against my will gently coerced me into letting them help me hang them. 

It really worked out for the best because we had 6 hands to hold them in different places to see how they looked best together.  I love how it turned out.  And I have room for more.

Debbie is an awesome seamstress & she's the one that gave me the crazy idea that we could "MAKE" curtains & drapes.  She helped me with my kitchen curtains over a year ago.

Before:

After:

I bought those colored things to go along w/ my  newly discovered colored glass obsession a long time ago.  I never liked how they looked, but had no idea what to put in the window.

These are short & small so they don't take a way from the picture window.  Found these at Old Time Pottery too.

The dining room.... Before:

After:

I didn't want anything too loud & crazy for the door because I didn't want them to compete w/ the fabric wall.  I went with plain grey to pop against the purple walls.  Then we trimmed them in the same fabric we used in the kitchen.  

Eventually I'm going to paint the living room grey.  We have an open floor plan so I wanted to be sure that everything complimented each other. 

Summer concert series - Jason Aldean

This past weekend we went to Cincinnati w/ the Groves' to see Jason Aldean in concert.  You may remember we saw him last year in Chicago at Wrigley Field.  And he's no Faith Hill or anything, but B-rad really likes him, as does Shauna, so it was a no brainer.  

Miranda Lambert was going to open 4 shows for Jason Aldean's ball park tour this year & this was one of 'em.  That added an extra layer of excitement because- well - B-rad REALLY really likes Miranda Lambert...& she's Shauna's favorite so it was a quadruple no brainer.

I always try to start the night w/ my hair half way fixed.  I don't know why - because I know what's gonna happen...

The weather was super nice for a mid-July night.  It was a bit sticky but nothing unbearable.  

Shauna & I missed most of Florida Georgia line because we were on the hunt for Straw-ber-Ritas!  But we could hear them!

 I get hot.  I get sweaty.  My hair gets curly.  UGH.  I throw that nonsense in a pony tail.  Sadly, you can still see the curl on the pieces I leave down.  I hate it.

 

I hate photo bombs but I totally did it to B-rad.  I told him he could take it again but he kept this one.  Curly hair & all...

 Miranda Lambert was up next...

& this is about the time B-rad started taking pics like a mad man.  He likes her just a little - I told you...

 The whole crew.  

 I think this was during Miranda Lambert... I only remembered taking it when I went through the pics...

You would not believe what we had to go through to find a dang Straw-ber-Rita.  If I wasn't such a princess & could drink beer like most normal people we would've been fine - there was a place selling it right outside our seats.  But noooooo - I have to be difficult.  

We went out during Florida Georgia Line to find Shauna t-shirts...& we found some chick w/ one of these.  If you think we didn't stop her & ask where she got it - you don't know me at all.

We were on floor 4 - they only sold them on floor 1.  The elevator was near our seats so we hopped our asses on it, rode it down to floor 1 & started to search.  There was like a mini-convenient store inside the ball park that had them.  It reminded me of a little store at the airport.  

This is how I spent most my night.  Those damn shoes are killer.  I have blisters again today.  B-rad chastises me for wearing them.  I said, "THEY'RE CUTE!"  He says, 'WHO CARES?'  I say, "UHM---girls!"

G-my purse is on the dirty floor... did you notice?

So I had this nice young(er) man sitting next to me with his girlfriend.  I was dancing, etc & kinda bumped him a couple of times.  I finally looked at him & said, 'Listen-I'm giving you a blanket apology now for the whole night.  I will NOT apologize every time I bump you.  K?"  He was fine with that (do you think he was gonna argue w/ me?)  He said he was 30 & had 'forgotten' his id so he couldn't drink.  I said, "Who does a dumb ass move like that?" because I thought he might by lying.  Of course they check id's when you buy alcohol.  He said, "If you would buy me a beer, I'll return the favor."  And since I try to be a good example & not encourage underage drinking I was like drilling him w/ questions to see if he was lying about his age.  "What do you do for a living?  Where did you go to college?  What year did you graduate high school?"  He rattled off "2004" right away so I believed him.  B-rad went out to buy him a beer & the dude had no cash.  I chastised him for THAT & he rounded up like $7 bucks & tried to give that to us.  I said, "No - don't worry about it.  Consider it a good deed.."    I promise it was much funnier in my drunken state than it is reading it.  He was laughing & knew it was all in good fun.  Or he was laughing because he was scared - I'm not sure.  Bygones.  At some point he said, "Oh c'mon- you can't be much older than me?"  I looked at him for a moment & considered telling the truth.  Instead the words, "You're right, I'm NOT..." came out.  

No harm, no foul... 

   I do not remember taking this picture.  

 I also do not remember taking this picture.  Lordy.

 Finally time for the main attraction, Jason Aldean.

 He sings a lot of songs that remind me of B-rad & how hard he works.   There's one called "Fly Over States".  It's about 2 guys on a plane flying from New York to LA over the Midwest & complaining about how boring it is down there - who would want to ever live THERE?  In the song he says, "Have you ever been to Indiana?  Met the man who plowed that Earth, planted that seed - busted his ass for you & me?"

Yea, that's my B-rad...

 Another one is "The Only Way I Know".  It's like the theme song to B-rad's life.   I'm gonna type it ALL out so bear with me - it's a good one.  You should totally Google it even if you don't like country music!

'Well I grew up in one of them old farm towns

Where they hit it hard till the sun goes down

Nobody really seemed to care that we were

living in the middle of nowhere.

We just figured that's how it was

And everyone else was just like us

Soaking in the rain, baking in the sun

Don't quit 'till the job gets done

That's the only way I know

Don't stop 'till everything's gone

Straight ahead never turn round

Don't back up, don't back down

Full throttle, wide open

You get tired, you don't show it

Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more.

That's the only way I know.

That old red dirt the first thing you learn

You don't get nothin' that you don't earn

Humble pride I grew up on

You find out just how bad you want it.

Sun in our eyes backs to the fences

We didn't know the odds were against us

Hit the wall smoking & spinning

Still wasn't thinking 'bout nothin' but winning

That's the only way I know

Don't stop 'till everything's gone

Straight ahead never turn round

Don't back up, don't back down

Full throttle, wide open

You get tired, you don't show it

Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more.

That's the only way I know.

Maybe there's another path that will get you there a little bit faster

But I'm sticking w/ the one inside of me.  

That's the only way I know

Don't stop 'till everything's gone

Straight ahead never turn round

Don't back up, don't back down

Full throttle, wide open

You get tired, you don't show it

Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more.

That's the only way I know.'

 At the end there were a ton of fireworks that went off...

Another concert in the books...