Thursday Randomness....

We've been busy but when I look around, it feels like we haven't accomplished much. I HATE that feeling! Jeff is pretty much occupied with the upcoming Morocco trip, but we have managed to do a few projects around the house, among other things. Here you go.....in no particular order.

• The deer have eaten almost all of my plants/flowers down to nothing. Jeff did a little research and mixed up his very own hopefully "magic potion", otherwise known as "liquid fence". We're crossing our fingers, although I have to admit, I'm not very hopeful. I grew up in a state park; I know the deer are pretty much immune to any human intervention.
  
  
• Sydney finally "lost" her final eight baby teeth today (Yes, she's almost 14!). Unfortunately, "lost" involved an oral surgeon and general anesthesia. Yep, she had all eight baby teeth pulled this morning in preparation for braces in the fall. We also found out she is totally missing two of her upper adult teeth and, lucky her, she has no wisdom teeth! Apparently, this is a good thing because her mouth is so small, they would probably be pulling teeth to make room anyway. She did great! If you need an oral surgeon in Westminster, I highly recommend this practice. They were wonderful!
  
  
• Yesterday, I made our cucumber "harvest" into this yummy spread! It was delicious on my homemade whole wheat bread with tomatoes. If you're looking for a refreshing summery sandwich, give it a try!
  
  
• The breezeway/foyer is almost painted! Hopefully, we'll finish it tomorrow. I have BIG plans for that space, which was one of the reasons I loved this house. I hated it before (think rough, barn-siding type paneling and dark green trim--ick!), and I want the entrance to our home to be welcoming and inviting. I'll post before and after pictures soon and you can decide for yourselves! Or you can come over and admire it in person! :-)
  
  
• Early last week, we were entertained with the happy sounds of drywall going up in the basement. Late last week, we realized we had been "had" by the dry wall guy (hereafter referred to as "Con Man"). Sigh.......Jeff and I seem to have luck like this, unfortunately. When Con Man left here last Friday, he assured us he would be back on Saturday to finish up. We smiled, nodded, and bade him good-bye. Silly us! When he hadn't showed up by Monday, Jeff finally reached him by phone (after numerous attempts). Big surprise: he was at the beach--or so he said. He used some choice words to basically tell Jeff "You got what you paid for, bug off." That was right before he hung up on him.
  
  Fast forward to today: another contractor came over to take a look at the basement and give us an estimate on completing the job. Big surprise: Mr. Con Man did a "crappy" job and now, before they can finish the job, they have to repair what he did. Lesson learned (again!): "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Anyone up for a drywall mudding/sanding party? We're pretty much busy from now until the middle of August, but we'll leave the door open for ya!
  
  
• In better news, my new 16g iPod touch is "in the mail"!! Woo hoo!! We had decided to get iPhones, but after lots of research and opinion-gathering, we decided we didn't want to deal with AT&T or pay the higher monthly rate. So we opted to keep our Verizon phones, and I'm getting an iPod touch (Jeff already has one.). Actually, I could care less about the phone; I just want the apps! I already have quite a list of them that I intend to download and use immediately! They are unbelievable--a dream come true for this Type AAAA personality. Games, schmames! I want the grocery list app, the mileage recorder, the checkbook register, etc. I can hardly wait!
  
  
• Finally (this is for you, Amy), another book I can't recommend highly enough. I avoided it for a long time because it's written entirely as correspondence, and I don't generally enjoy that style of writing. But everyone who had read it said it was great, and it's about World War II (one of my favorite story settings) so I reserved it from the library and decided to give it a try. IT. IS. SO. GOOD. A great summer read--heartwarming and fun! Give it a try!

Next up: some great linkage love! Stay tuned!