Score!

Many moons ago, when I was pregnant with Katie, Colin's mom was busy making herself a new skirt from this fabric that I just thought was so pretty, especially in comparison to some of the wild and crazy stuff she usually sews with. Anyway, we decided that after Katie was born and I was back to some sort of a regular shape, she'd make me a skirt with the material she had remaining.

Only she forgot. And when I was back down to a more normal size/shape and asked about it, I got a blank stare, followed by, "Oh. I had enough left to make myself a jacket. So now I don't have enough to make you that skirt. I guess I forgot."

I was sad. Really, really sad. But I got over it and had almost kind of forgotten about it.

Fast forward to now. With all this working on the princess dresses, Colin's mom discovered something way back in her sewing room that she'd never finished working on -- the skirt and jacket! And now, nearly 5 years later, they absolutely will not fit her. She asked me to try them on, and we found that with some minor taking in at the seams, they'll work for me.

So, here I am, wearing the new skirt for church today! As for the jacket, that will have to wait. It's still 90+ here during the day!!!

Changes...

For those of you who haven't been to our house, you may not notice what is missing in the photo above...

We took down one of the baby gates!

This was a big moment for us. Ever since Katie could walk, we've had a gate between the kitchen and dining room to keep her out when I'm trying to pull things out of the oven. We've long discussed how when the girls are both old enough, that will be the first gate to go. Because, really, it takes a lot longer to set the table when you have to keep a hand free to open the gate all the time. And the girls are better about following directions now and staying out of the kitchen at the times they need to.

So, last weekend, down it came! We still have 2 baby gates up in the house, but they're located at the top of the stairs, and the top of the short flight of stairs leading down to the garage. I think those will stay up just a little bit longer...

Seriously?

Just when you thought the CCC construction couldn't possibly hit another bump in the road...

The electrical subcontractor filed for bankruptcy yesterday! Supposedly they are restructuring debt, but all their staff has been pulled off the project, and the lights are off at their main office. We wonder if they're still in business. I've talked with the contractor at length about this, how we are willing to work with them in terms of the schedule. Obviously this is WAY beyond their control. They're in the process of looking for a new electrical sub, so we'll see how it goes...

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday, Colin and I went out to see The Informant! for my birthday. Even with all the new movies out over the past couple weeks, I just couldn't resist the lure of Matt Damon. :) It's based on a true story, and Colin and I were really scratching our heads. You would think we would remember something like this being in the news, but we just didn't. Anyway, it was great. Matt Damon is fabulous. There were some funny moments, but mostly you are just appalled that his character is digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. Seriously. The crowd in the theater was gasping at some points!

So, as Colin's parents stayed at our house with the girls, we enjoyed time to wander the mall in quiet, go to the movie, and have a late supper at Tijuana Flats afterward. Colin seemed disappointed that I just wanted tacos, not something fancier, but hey! I'm the birthday girl, so tacos it was. All in all, it was a nice evening.

Today was pretty much back to normal, except I came to the realization that we never did have a proper dessert for my birthday! While doing our grocery shopping, I added brownies and ice cream to the cart, so we had that after supper tonight. Delicious! And even though that late-evening sugar sent the girls flying high and not really ready to calm down for bedtime, I didn't care. I can deal with them, and I got my ice cream. Yummy. :)

Happy BD 2 Me

Celebrating another year older today, and I woke to cards and gifts from my loving family. I received a gift card for Sports Authority, a quick-meals cookbook, and Born to Run, a book where Colin and I had recently seen an interview with the author on TV. Great stuff!

At work, it was obvious no one remembered my birthday. I was a bit sad, but cheered by all the nice phone calls and emails I received from friends and family members during the day. Talk about making me feel great to hear from so many people!!!

We had dinner with Colin's parents at LeeRoy Selmon's tonight. Based on how the girls were starting to get a little wacky, we decided to cut out early without having dessert. Katie was really sad that she didn't get to sing to me at the restaurant! Oh well, they did sing at breakfast, and I was glad to get out before anyone had a meltdown. :)

Tomorrow Colin's parents will stay with the girls as he and I go to a movie. Whatever will I choose???

So Close, and yet So Far

Ever wish your work week could have a do-over?

I really am excited at how close we are to the end of the CCC project. But in the last week, we have:

• Discovered the building slab was poured with the electrical and plumbing in the wrong spot, meaning parts of it will have to be torn out and re-done;
• STILL been denied the wastewater permitting, with the agency needing additional information before they allow us to hook our one tiny bathroom to the sewer; and
• Received an unreasonable amount of rain, washing in much of the work the contractor had at finished grade that was awaiting sod placement, and washing out some of the newly placed sod.

Ugh.

We are on the way to a resolution with the problems we can control. As for the weather? I guess all we can do is pray those dark clouds blow on by every afternoon instead of dropping lots of rain on us!

I know we'll get there. It's just been a bit discouraging lately. But we'll get it done!!!

Princess Katie!

I may have mentioned that Colin's mom found patterns to make dresses similar to those of the Disney Princesses. They've been working on Katie's Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) dress, and it is done! They even added a cape for good measure. :)

Katie was so proud to bring home her dress this afternoon. Next up: a Belle dress for Natalie! And then we will have 2 real princesses around the house. :)

More Progress on the CCC

We have made quite a bit of progress on the Community Collection Center since I last wrote about it, including asphalt pavement, bollard installation, and sod placement. It is starting to look a lot nicer! We have about 3 weeks until the substantial completion deadline for the contractor, and it can definitely be accomplished.

In honor of this, and in recognition of our on-site staff that has assisted me SO MUCH over the last 6 months, I threw a pizza party for our guys today. We had pizza, 7-layer Mexican dip and chips, and chocolate chip cookies. Maria, their supervisor, helped with some of the costs, but I put in all the labor on the planning and the homemade items. They were surprised but really appreciated it. I felt they deserved some sort of pat on the back, and this was the least I could do. After all, they've hauled out trees removed from the project site, hauled tons of excess soil for the contractor to our on-site stockpile area, and assisted with excavation area dewatering, not to mention put up with my constant occupation of their breakroom for project meetings and dealt marvelously with my "temporary" road closures (some of which have lasted longer than others). So, thank you, Ron, Charles, Neal, Harrell, Troy, Sean, Joe, Mike, and Maria. :) We're almost done!

Labor Day Weekend Wrap-Up

The "official" end of summer has come and gone... Here in Florida that doesn't mean much as it will still feel like summer, to me, at least through Halloween. But we did make it through Labor Day weekend without much incident (minus the hot pepper thing)...

Actually, it was more like a regular weekend with an extra day tacked on. Saturday the girls and I went to the Y while Colin had a football scrimmage in the morning. Later in the morning, we had the girls help us clean up the house a bit, and I engaged Katie in the project of packing away all those non-washable markers that Colin's mom bought us. Grrr... Messy things... After lunch and nap, Colin took Katie over to his parents' house for a bit. His mom found a pattern set where you can make dresses similar to the Disney Princess dresses, and she wanted Katie's help. Colin went to the office while Katie was there, and Natalie and I stayed home, did our Target shopping, and prepped for the fajitas. When Katie came home, I thought she'd be stoked about having her own Sleeping Beauty dress, so I asked her how it went. "Well, it was kinda boring... All I did was pull out pins and cut thread!" :)

Sunday we went to church. I had to play in a woodwind quintet, which was a surprise to me until about Thursday since I apparently didn't get the message that they were practicing with choir on Wednesday. Oops. But I had my music in hand and it went off without a hitch. We also did our regular grocery run, and the girls played outside most of the afternoon. I used that time to make a quick trip to the mall while Colin sat outside with them. They didn't even miss me!!! Too much playing in the sandbox, followed by running through the sprinkler.

And yesterday morning, the girls and I went to the Y again while Colin worked at home on a presentation he has to give this week. After I got myself cleaned up, we walked down to the park with Cherie and Gavin from next door and played until we were too hungry to continue. I baked cookies while the girls napped after lunch, and after that, we went to Colin's parents for a Labor Day BBQ. Katie helped a little more with her dress before the food was ready. Everything was delicious, and although we've been having Colin's parents over to our house a lot lately because it's just easier, we did OK over there. I was happy that everyone went to bed so well last night. It seems like when we're away from the house for supper, they get a little bit more crazy and just don't want to settle down.

Today even felt like an extension of the holiday for me -- I had a training class that started at 8:30 and was done by 3, so I didn't even have to work a full day. Hooray! Which explains why I am home and writing this now instead of actually doing work... But time to wrap this up and pick up the girls for dance. It's Tuesday, or Ballet Day, which is Katie's new favorite day of the week. :)

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Last night for supper, Colin and I made chicken fajitas. I would've been happy with "ordinary" fajitas, but not Colin. He sliced up a bunch of jalapeno and habanero peppers that he decided to saute separately and just place on his fajitas. After the way this turned out, I don't think he'll be doing this again anytime soon.

First, he sliced up all those peppers without gloves on. The seeds and juices got all over his fingers, including under his wedding ring, where he started to develop a big blister. Even repeated washing couldn't help poor Colin out. Ouch!!!

Second, while sauteing, even though he had the exhaust fan turned on in the kitchen, hot pepper fumes permeated our house, and got everyone coughing! We tried to keep the girls out of the kitchen, but after a while, they were coughing, too. It was terrible.

After those setbacks, I am happy to report our meal was delicious, probably some of the best fajitas we've ever made. However, one more issue came up after the fact...

Katie asked for a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today. I went ahead and made it like normal, pretty much on autopilot. After one bite, Katie called in to me, "Hey Mom! Why did you make my sandwich so spicy???" Spicy?!?! Colin and I each took a bite of her sandwich, and indeed, it WAS spicy! It seems that when Colin sauteed those peppers, they somewhat seasoned the skillet. Even though I'd seen him wash it, the hotness was still in there, and it came out in poor Katie's grilled cheese sandwich. We finished it for her and found something else for her to eat instead. Poor girl. Time to wash the skillet again and make sure all the heat is gone for good!

Fun Gift Idea

I received a letter in the mail today asking me to contribute toward a cookbook scrapbook for a friend's wedding. The bride's sister is organizing this and has asked everyone to contribute a favorite recipe, in their own handwriting, plus a photo or two and a personal story. She's going to compile everything into a scrapbook to give to the happy couple for their wedding. Isn't that an awesome idea???

I've already found one photo to include -- our cross-country team photo circa 1993! Now to decide on a favorite recipe... Anyone else vote for cheesy hash brown casserole??? I will have to put some thought into this over the weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. :)