After my 20 mile run on Saturday...

I took an ice bath, an Epsom salt bath, a shower, and a nap.

Oh, and I skipped kickball. I hurt a lot!!!!

Sadly, though, I lack the natural ability to just lounge on a couch and watch bad tv. I need a project...this can be something I do in concert with bad tv, but my hands need to be busy.

Enter: project pillow.

Our couches came with a collection of 7 really really ugly pillows. I didn't mind the main print so much, but the back of the pillows was the same fabric as the couch and they had the world's most horrible fringe on them.

I like fringe in small doses, usually on a flapper dress.

So I spent all afternoon ripping the pillows apart. Ugly fringe trashed and a giant bag of stuffing salvaged. I turned 7 ugly pillows into....

Nope. I'm going to wait until they're appropriately displayed on my surprise...which is coming all the way from Kansas on Saturday. Yay!

And, just because I'm weird, here are some pictures of my iPod that I killed...

You can't see it very well, but all the metal around the plug is corroded and crumbling away.

I started my 20 mile run (man, I like saying that) using a cheap-o iPod knock-off that Mom had scored free at an animal conference. And it died at mile 4. So the remaining 16 miles were all in my head. You can't even imagine the things I thought about and decided...that is too much time to think!

But I ordered a refurbished shuffle online... I hope it gets here soon!

Law School Prom

Sometime in the winter, David's law school has a prom. They call it Barrister's Ball, or something like that...but you have to have a prom-ish dress. Since the whole world knows I'm cheap, I've been on the lookout for sales anywhere and everywhere.

And I won!

This dress cost...wait for it...

TEN DOLLARS!

I had to do a little work to it first, though. I cut off a silly bow on the front (but forgot to take a picture of it before I did, sigh).

I had been debating whether to keep the ring of tulle at the bottom. You can see my struggle to evaluate whether I like it with pictures... but setting the self timer, running across the room, and folding the tulle under didn't give me an accurate representation.

You can see how Maggie was trying to help... Good dog!!

In the end, I cut off the tulle.

For $10, I might even add some puff paint and make it totally original.

Just kidding :)

Yard work, Shmard work

I started babysitting pretty young...it was a small town and my parents knew everyone. The first time I ever "for real" babysat, I brought Halloween face paint along with me (I must have been reading the babysitter's club for inspiration) and painted the kids' faces. Everything was going well until the younger one noticed that you couldn't see all of his face paint because his bangs were in the way (it was the 90's, everyone had bangs). He asked me to cut them.

For some reason, I did. But then they weren't even, so I took off a little more. And a little more. You get the picture. Luckily, his mom laughed when she came home and said he needed a haircut anyway.

I feel like something similar to that happened this weekend. David and I bought some hedge clippers because our front bushes were going crazy with long branches poking out everywhere. (Sorry, no before pictures because I'm lazy).

So I trimmed...and halfway done, realized that they weren't totally even.

See how they're lopsided?


When I was done, they're looking fairly even, but sparse. There's a big old hole in the front of the left one. The lighting is forgiving, but it's there...trust me.

David says I might have killed them...and I (cleverly) replied that I didn't care because I hate the bushes.

I really do...our front porch needs some work, but we have no idea what to do or where to start.

Other than searching for a bistro set on sale, we're at a loss. Ideas?

And then, oh man, we started looking at the back yard. All along the fence line there are random little trees and bushes, which, since we moved in, we had assumed belonged to the neighbors.

Upon closer examination, all those bushes and little trees are ours. And they are a bunch of weeds.

Since daylight was fading fast, we decided to just tackle one...by pulling.

That went no where fast. So, we decided to hack at it with the hedge trimmers.

Nothing.

So, with the help of the trusty shovel I had bought earlier that day at Big Lots (don't judge... I love Big Lots), we dug him out.

It was in there good!

Monster roots on a silly weed!

I'm shoveling and shoveling...yuck. David commented, "Man, for someone that likes manual labor as much as you do, I'm surprised you're not a republican."
Stereotypes! Liberals work hard!

Anyway, I was working so hard, that I managed to break my BRAND NEW shovel!

That is some good digging!

Finally, as night set on us, we managed to pull and cut the bugger out.

Take that, nature!

Bwahh ha ha ha!

Maggie, of course, didn't help at all.

Some shots of our house guest, Wrigley.

He's part pug, part cocker (I think...maybe Martha will correct me), but I personally believe he looks more like a monkey with his jaw poking out. Darling!

He and Maggie...calm

Not so calm...

Full-on wrestling...

Grrrrrrrrrr

And, after a long 7 minutes of playing, Maggie needs a nap.

I swear she's not dead. Swear!

Random thought: I think I want to start making cheese. Last spring, the book club I was in (before we all got too lazy to read) read Animal Vegetable Miracle. I loved it...this family moved from Arizona to some country mountain area and spent a year only eating things that they grew or could be grown/made in their county. The mom (and author, it's true) raised chickens and a huge garden...but she also made cheese. Seriously. She tells you all about the Cheese Queen and makes you want to make your own cheese. So, to all you 7 or so people who read this (Hi Martha), that's an ideal birthday present. Never mind that my birthday is well over a month away (and David's is in a few short weeks!) and that I don't own a goat so the goat cheese kit would probably not be the best (unless your gift came with a goat, which is a whole other story), I love cheese!

On the opposite spectrum of my love for cheese, my iPod died during my run tonight...actually, she died while driving to Forest Park, so I did the whole 10 miles in silence...thinking about cheese (really). After I got home, I decided (after a solid 10 minutes of staring) that I killed her with my sweat. Any area where things can plug in (the comp connector, headphone jack) is crumbly and corroded. And stinks like sweat. Gross and scary! So, because I have a 20 mile run on Saturday, I'm headed to buy a new friend ASAP. I will probably get the cheapest option possible, considering this is the second iPod I've murdered by running in less than 2 years. Ooops.

House guest

We've got a house guest on our hands!

Wrigley, Martha's little bugger, is staying with us until Saturday. He and Maggie are having a contest to see who can give the other a heart attack first... I haven't seen such wrestling in ages. Never mind that Maggie probably tips the scales at 5 times the amount of little Wrigley--he's scrappy.

My goal for this week--besides painting things and trying to label myself as a decorator (yeah right), I am going to work on a household budget.

Yipes.

First step...after my 10 mile run tomorrow, a trip to the library to check out a book on budgeting. Any recommendations?

And I thought weekends were supposed to be relaxing!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww.



This was a long weekend! Wonderful, busy, and full.



Friday, David had a law school softball game. Maggie Roo and I went to watch...and by watch, I mean visit. I have no idea what happened. I think they might have lost. Afterwards, David went to celebrate his friend Jess's birthday. I was supposed to go, but realized as we were getting ready to leave that I would have to turn around and go home 15 minutes after arriving due to an early run the next day.



Running is ruining my social life...seriously. First no drinking and now going to bed early. Boo! At least after October 18th, I will get some of my life back :)



Anyway, I met some people for a long run on Saturday. They were the group that Susan, who I share an office with on Tuesdays and Thursdays, runs with. One of them, weirdly enough, is the wife of a guy that lived in David's freshman dorm and was also at the wedding last weekend. Connections!

I had a good run--they did the 1st 10 miles with me and then I finished out last 4 alone. And, for the first time in ages, I had a negative split! Yay!



Right after that, I took an ice bath (brrr) and went to kickball practice. Maggie got to come to that also. She played with Steph and Jon's dogs...Wicket and Willow.

After that, I started painting the frame of the mirror in our closet, napping between coats. I also went to the farmer's market, ripped off the ugly towel bars in the bathroom and replaced them with snazzy hooks.

Whewww. When David got back from his golf tournament (yes, I realize the man was golfing while I was hard at work. He needed a break!) we headed to Cafe Eau to see an awesome cover band. They were called Vote for Pedro (I know, I know...the name makes me smile anyway).

Some shots at the bar...

These are girls from the middle school.... Laura and Kelly.

Sunday, we went to church...in the rain, which made it very hard to get out of bed. After a lunch, I went grocery shopping and got some stuff for around the house. David's law frat is hosting a bake sale this week and somehow I was volunteered in a meeting to do some baking. I believe this is mostly due to David's inability to boil water. But I still love him!

So, that's when the work began... I installed a door stop, hung some pictures, made 2 kinds of rice krispie treats, brownies, and cupcakes. I also made homemade pizza (turkey sausage, pepper, and mushroom!!). While I was waiting for the cupcakes to cool so I could frost them, I ran to Tara and Dan's to check on their kitties.

When I returned...horror. Maggie Roo had eaten HALF of the cupcakes. I yelled, threw a dish towel, and crated my bad baby girl. Ooooh, I was steamed. Oooooh, I am still steamed. BAD DOG!

Luckily, they were in two different places, so I managed to salvage and frost the remaining half.

BAD DOG!

I work hard for the money, hard for the money, all right

Welcome to another productive day in the Brady household...
thanks to yours truly, the mistress of the power drill.

David and I had decided when we first moved in that we wanted our tv raised on the wall instead of leaned on our dresser...so we had the cable guy put a cable plug in the wall, right next to where we chose to put our shelve.

And we ignored the fact that a tv requires power to work. Oops.

So we MacGyvered up an ever-so-classy masking tape and power cord combo.

Nice, right?

Well, with the help of a cordless drill (and the fact that David wasn't at home to stop me) I put another hole in the wall...and hid our ugly cords. Maggie, of course, hated the noise of both the drilling and the vacuuming (to clean up my mess)...but doesn't it look nice now?

Ignore our messy closet and ugly wooden-framed mirror. Those are getting tackled next!


I also finally hung up some things in the bedroom.
Happy Day!

I have all these plans to make the house better and brighter...which are terrifying.

Dad's planning on teaching me how to change out all the plugs and switches to a new, bright white. Far better than the almond stuff we've got now, right?

Up next, working on my electricians license...yeah, probably not :)

Getting comfy, getting settled

Ahh.

On Labor Day I promised that I would post pictures of the meager decorating I had done...but decided to wait until after the epic Bed, Bath, and Beyond trip.

Seriously, gift cards are like manna from heaven.

Here is out dining nook...all shelved out.

I'm thinking of painting that frame black

(or just buying a black frame).

David's grandma got us the flower picture thing for a shower gift...Here is our very needed baker's rack and (non-sparking!) microwave!Our living room, complete with a lazy dog.

Thank goodness for Garden Ridge...

where all the decor was purchased except the lamp (a gift from the Castens/McNallys), couches (oooof financed), and the throw (my dad's aunt knitted it for us!).

Doesn't Maggie's toy match well too?

And our bathroom.
It finally feels complete.
We have a shower curtain.
I am happy.

It seems like I have a thing for white votive candles.

Interesting...

Workin' For the Weekend

Welcome to a recap of a whirl-wind weekend. It was craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy, (all the A's are well worth it) but fun.

On a positive note, David and I realized that this weekend is one of the last of our pre-scheduled jam-packed weekends. Next weekend (ignoring my 14 mile run) is free and easy.

David took a small break from the Health Law Journal cite check assignment to celebrate Bob and Lindsay's wedding. Bob lived on David's dorm floor at Mizzou and owns a house about 7 minutes from us. Because David was an usher in the wedding, Friday we went to Bob's rehearsal and fancy dinner.

Before that, though... it was house cleaning city! David's friend, Brett, and Brett's wife Lesli stayed with us Friday night. And, because we live in Pet Hair City, we had some major cleaning to do.

I say major...it was really just sweeping and mopping...but that's tough for Friday afternoon!

The rehearsal was fun...but the dinner was snazzy. It was held at the zoo in some room with a huge fish tank. Fancy wine that I love was served...but this sad girl abstained because of a silly marathon run. Booo berries.

No pictures, sadly. I must have been grumpy to have to go to bed early.

Saturday morning I woke up an hour later than I planned and went on an EVIL run... 18 miles. It was rough. I dry-heaved the last 5 miles or so (I think I'm going to blame the fried food at the rehearsal dinner) and might have had to lay down. I think I napped. That is not a productive run, but I "completed" all 18 miles.

When I got home from the park, I was in so much pain and so upset about my "bad" run that David was convinced I was too much of a mess to make it to the wedding. However, he did not count on the fact that I am a trooper and on the restorative wonder of ice baths. Despite getting home at noon, I was both pleasant and presentable at a 1:30pm wedding.

Go me!

Bob and Lindsay got married...and then David, Brett, and the rest of the wedding party spent 5 hours driving around St. Louis in a bus taking photographs. Apparently, the air-conditioning was limited. Yucky! Lesli and I chose to nap on the couches while watching a chick flick.

Heavenly...and just what I needed.

Thanks to the nap, I was raring to go to the reception! It was a blast!

Look at my man all spruced up!

Brett and Lesli.

Brett claimed this was the best picture he had ever taken.Gross!

This picture was supposed to look like David and I were yelling at each other...

but he chose to add the tongue.

Classy!There might have been a little thriller action...And maybe a little free alcohol!Lesli and I break it down...And are promptly shown up by David's mad skills.The darling girl in the vest is Tara.

Her husband Shawn also lived in David's dorm...

...but, more excitingly, Tara goes on runs with my friend Susan from work.

Next Saturday, Tara and Susan are going to go on a run with me!

Score!David and Lesli show the crowd how it's done.

I'm pretty sure her husband is "hanging out" in the bathroom at this point.

Earlier in the evening, Brett had informed me that he wants to be the Director of Kansas Homeland Security if Sam gets elected Governor.

I told him I would work on it. And, lastly, David and I rock out.

We look like we're yelling...and we probably are.

Journey might have been playing. :)

Sunday...lazy Sunday. Laundry and cleaning and napping. Heaven.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond had a "registry completion" event...thank goodness for gift cards, because this girl took advantage of 20% off everything. I'll take pictures of all my new "prizes" soon. We have a microwave that doesn't randomly spark at us! Yay!!!!

Back to work

Today marked David's first cite check assignment for the Health Law Journal. Yeah, all those words made no sense to me either... loosely translated they mean that he's going to have about 4 times the work as a normal week.

So, in anticipation, I made his favorite meal... turkey meatball spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. (I love Ellie Krieger!!) And, man, did I make it. The recipe called for 1 lb turkey but the package I had was 2.5 pounds. I figured that David wouldn't mind leftovers, so I just multiplied everything by 2.5.

That's a lot of spaghetti!

I also found out that I had been accepted to UMSL for their graduate certificate program... UMSL was ignoring the fact that classes have already been going on. In calling them, they think it's best that I just start in the spring. My district pays better the more credit hours you have past your masters, so I figured 1 class a semester wouldn't be so bad, especially if David's swamped.

Man, I swore I would never go back to school when I gradated! Ugh~

Holiday! Celebrate!

Labor day is over...which is sad. We had a swamped weekend... starting with the Mizzou/Illinois game.

Mizzou won, which is swell...sadly, though, I'm not a huge football fan (David was aware of this when he married me) and had run 12 miles in pouring rain earlier that day. Those 12 miles would have dampened even the hardiest football fan's enthusiasm. Well, maybe not David's.But look! I'm wearing the only yellow shirt I own...it's got the Golden Girls on it! Sunday, a bunch of us loaded up and drove to the Cave Vineyard...

http://www.cavevineyard.com/

It was so fun! We started the day with a nice little wine tasting.

And then sat in the cave with a picnic. And live music...see how dark it was???

Poli's mom was visiting from Puerto Rico and brought some fancy bread that needed powdered sugar on it. Apparently, the package of powdered sugar made her a little nervous in the airport, since she thought it resembled a white powdery drug.

Cute...

Monday I slept in until 11 (mostly because I woke up at 4am with a sore throat and took Nyquil...not due to wine) and then went house-decorating shopping with Melanie. I bought some pictures and a rug (yay Garden Ridge!). The house is finally starting to feel put together. I'm ready just to live and not be decorating.

Pictures to follow...sometime.