"Fresh Air" In D' House!

OK, I know you're wondering what's up with the "rap-pish" sounding title. When I was bargaining on the sale of this house, one of the items I had requested the former owners to repair was the screens for the windows. I'm not talking about just one or two. Not one of the windows had a screen in place! Not even the patio door! But my requests were to no avail. They said they were not going to fix them. At all. No way. Uh uh.
Just so you know why they were needing to be fixed---for example---the patio door screen had a hole near the bottom of it the size of a beach ball. NO KIDDING!!!! A toddler could have crawled through it because it was so large! I know for a fact that the former owners had a small dog....I was told it was a chihuahua. Don't quote me on that issue. However, if your own pet or child damaged something, wouldn't you be inclined to make the repairs? Even if it didn't belong to you? As time goes by, I realize that the small easy repairs are the ones that were left by the wayside. Light bulb burned out? Get by without that one. Metal trim around the outside edge of a window needs a few nails to keep the window from shredding it as you open it? Naw......just leave it....the window still opens with a little snap as the trim rubs the window frame. The drain in the bathroom sink needs a new rod assembly to plug the drain? Who needs a sink plugged??!?! Closet doors don't operate correctly? Fireplace doors don't open at all? Front door storm door needs a new closer? .....AHGHGHGHG!!!!! Little piddly items that need such a short amount of attention were just left and they called it good!
Yesterday and today, I replaced the screens in the windows that were needing it and today I was able to get them all into the windows that they belong in. Not without a little sweat and cussing and a few gouges in my left hand, mind you. But they're in! The screen door for the deck was the one I was wanting to get done the most. And the cats love the open air and scents from outside as much as I do!
Over time, I'll find other items that need attention but I guess that comes with owning your own home. Next project....remove ugly front yard bushes and ground cover.....or paint a couple rooms inside.....whichever. Gotta love the never ending list of things to do! ;-)

A "Pampered" hostess

Last night I hosted a Pampered Chef party at my house. I think I counted 18 people here at one point. Some arrived a short time after we started at 7 PM. And the late arrival was due in part to a severe thunderstorm/tornado watch that was moving very quickly through our area very conveniently during the time of my party! And severe it was! The sky was extremely black as the winds picked up with no warning. Soon the rain came. Across town, there were downed power lines and fallen trees. The sky had a very ominous look to it. And after the worst of the storm passed you could see the sun beginning to set and it made the clouds a very orange color. It was actually quite pretty. Here are a couple web sites from a local news channel that viewers had submitted photos. You have to see them! http://www.ketv.com/slideshow/news/13935499/detail.html

http://www.ketv.com/slideshow/news/13937766/detail.html

Everyone had been sitting in my living room and some of them thought we should go downstairs as a precaution. So we did. And the TV was on so some could watch what they were saying. But my consultant continued on. Once the heavy rain and wind subsided, we went back upstairs.

Two different recipes were cooked by my consultant, Carrie. An Italian Stuffed Calzone and a Strawberry Cheesecake Torte. Wow........I don't think the word "good" is enough to describe how tasty these dishes actually were! I myself had provided the following:

• 3 kinds of chips...Ranch Doritos, Wavy Lays, Tostitos for dipping and Pretzel sticks
• 6 kinds of crackers...Wheat Thins, Toasteds ( buttercrisp, sesame and wheat),Chicken in a Biskit, and TownHouse
• 3 store bought dips...French Onion, Veggie Dip and Bacon and Cheddar
• 2 homemade dips ....pretzel dip and Mexican Velveeta cheese dip
• cut up veggies.....cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and celery
• soda
• beer
• 2 selections of wine....red and white!
• Home brewed Iced Tea
• 2 selections of mixed drinks

Once the demonstration was over and questions had been answered, the rest of the food was prepared and it was time to eat! This happens to be the best part of a Pampered Chef home party. You get to eat! Then everyone figured out just what they couldn't live without (products of Pampered Chef that is!), filled out their respective orders and left me with PILES of leftovers!

Carrie, my consultant, filled me in on what I had in sales at that point and we discussed what I will be able to get from said sales. I will still have people ordering that were unable to come to the party.

Once Carrie left and I had cleaned up the kitchen, I made my way outside to see what, if any, damage had occurred from the storm in my yard. Other than my flower pots being tipped over and several large branches from the tree on the ground, nothing major to report. It was a very interesting night to say the least! And I thank everyone that was able to come and/or order products from Pampered Chef.

A friends night out......

This past Saturday, I entertained my friends for the first time since I moved into my house. It was great! I cooked a roast and made whipped jello and vegetable medley with herb seasoning. I also had pickles and tortilla chips with salsa along with Doritos Taco flavored chips. Tammy made a fresh fruit salad and Trisa brought a scrumptious chocolate brownie recipe with broken up Reese's Peanut Butter cups mixed into the frosting! How rich it was! Later on Scott and Lisa brought sliced cumcumber salad. We drank various wine, beer, Juicy Juice (for the kids) and sodas.
Afterward we sat downstairs and played a couple different card games that the kids could play along with us. And I was able to take some "Kee-Ute" (cute) pictures of Madison! What a perfect little girl......and always so smiley! ;-) Take a look.

Madison looking at Tammy under the glass. But you can see her reflection in the glass as well.


Madison riding in a plastic bucket for toys.


It was a fun night and I'm sure there will be plenty more where that came from.........BBQ perhaps? If it ever cools off outside long enough to stand being out on the deck.....sheesh!

It's starting already....

Barely a month after moving into my lovely home, I have already had a minor problem.
As I was backing out of my driveway on the way to work today (at 4am), I pushed the button to close the garage door and heard a very loud bang. I looked at the garage door and noticed that it was slightly open on one end and sitting at an angle. Puzzled, I pulled back in the driveway and got out of my van to look. After staring in disbelief for a moment and wondering why this had to happen at 4 AM, I figured I had better go look at the inside and try to at least level it off and close it. As I don't have a walk through doorway into the garage, I would have to enter the house again and go through a different door from there. Well, I had locked the storm door from the inside and had no way to get in at all! Can you say predicament? The only alternative I had was to slither into the garage....under the small opening that was left. Fortunately for me, I don't weigh 225 lbs. I was able to get under the door and have a look at the door. I noticed on one side that the top roller had been popped right out of the rail. What caused this to happen, I had no idea. Nor did I have the time to investigate much further. So I went back through the house and locked the door behind me in the event someone else had the idea to enter the garage the same way I had and discover that they could go further! I then went out the front door after UNLOCKING the storm door (note to self; leave storm door unlocked when leaving home).

Off to work I went and all the while I was driving, I kept trying to figure out what might have caused this untimely event! At 8:00 AM, I called Overhead Door and scheduled someone to be at my house in the afternoon.
A very friendly and knowledgeable man (he has 15 years of experience in this business) named Mark arrived with parts in hand. He showed me where one of the cables had broken. Plus the rollers were original with the house...19 years old, and were very rusted. After helping him to level the door, he replaced all the rollers, replaced the two bottom fixtures on the door and put on 2 new cables. He lubed all the hinges and left the can of lubricant with me for future use. And as it turns out, his fiance lives 2 blocks from my house and mentioned that if I have any problems I should knock on her door and ask for help! How nice!
Here are a few pictures of the broken door........looks a little corny...but it's good as new now! And very quiet with the new rollers!