I have heard from a few friends who have gently reminded me that I have not posted any new blog entries in weeks and weeks. It's nice to be missed. One friend told me that she's sick of visiting the blog only to find that Danda is still resting in peace. Okay, okay. I get the message.
FYI, Danda is continuing to receive mail at our address, despite our best efforts to eliminate her. Oh, well! At least the phone calls for Danda have ceased.So, what's new with us? Lots! Each day has been full to overflowing with activities. Almost all of the walls in the Smith Haus are painted, the shutters are installed, and it is beginning to look, feel, and smell like home. Ahhh.
We have managed to get the garages cleaned out & organized enough to get one car inside AND be able to close the overhead door. It will only be a few more days until we can get both cars under the same roof. That will be a major victory.
We have made at least six trips to Goodwill over the past few weeks. Each trip has been a carload full, so we have eliminated a lot of junk... er, uh... I mean really useful stuff that someone else should be happy to have. One man's trash is another man's treasure, or at least I hope it will work that way. :-)Our "recycle guys" have got to love us. Each week we put more recyclable stuff out by the curb than the entire neighborhood combined. The recycling guys even poke through the trash that we set out to make sure that we don't overlook something that could be recycled. Now that's service! Our trash men are likely praying that we will soon be at a point where we won't be throwing so much away. The volume (of trash) at the Smith house has been on HIGH for weeks. The garbage men happily make their rounds twice a week & load it all up -- bag after bag of trash. No complaints, either. They even took a old queen-sized mattress & box springs without flinching. Oh, sure -- they smile & wave at us, but I know that deep down inside they are tired of loading the huge quantities of discarded stuff that we leave out for them 2X/week. I attempt to "artfully" arrange our refuse for their enjoyment. I'm certain they have noticed... HA! (Sorry, no photos of how white trashy we really are.)
I'll recap some of the goings-on for the past several weeks -- mostly through photos. Here goes:
In late July, M&M and I made a road trip to the Hoosier state. We left Mr. Smith home alone with an empty refrigerator & pantry, partially unpacked boxes, & three cats. It was our mission to go help with a few chores at my parents' place. It was a fun "working vacation," but it was HOT!!!! I had forgotten what real humidity feels like, but after about 5 minutes of working outdoors, I remembered. Ugh! It does get hot in Texas, but the humidity level in Texas is nothing compared to what Indiana can dish out. I kept telling the kids that we were building character as we sweated what felt like bucket loads of perspiration. I think this pep talk was for my benefit, as well!
Obviously, the corn in Indiana must thrive with humid weather conditions. This field is picture perfect.On the trip back to Texas, we made a brief stop in St. Louis to have a Cafe Ventana beignet & coffee break with Uncle Todd.
(FYI, my son is NOT donning a "Twilight" tee. Millie's noggin' is in the way. His shirt says, "The light." And then there's a Scripture verse. It's a great shirt & makes people look twice. No teen vampire foolishness for us, thank you very much!)
There are messy, but very tasty beignets. Let's just say that there was powdered sugar everywhere. It's probably a good thing they do not offer drive-thru service, as I do not think it would be possible to neatly eat one of these beauties while driving. :-)
We were treated to a mini tour of downtown St. L. as an added bonus.
I liked this street sign for some reason. And the brewery sign is pretty cool, too.While three of us were off in the midwestern part of the US, Mr. Smith went to Austin to visit the ballerina girl for a Sunday afternoon outing. Liesey spent four weeks at the University of Texas campus (Austin, TX) participating in ABT's summer ballet intensive, a.k.a. ballerina boot camp, so she welcomed the opportunity to get off campus for a few hours. Daddy & daughter found all sorts of fun things to do from a paddle boat ride to a quick tour of the TX State Capitol.
Oasis retreat
Lake Travis
Ballet on the lawn of the Capitol? A capital idea! ;-)We returned to Austin on August 7th to see ABT's final ballet performance & bring our dancer home. It was sooo good to have the family reunited.
We had to take a few more parting shots of the UT campus.
This must be the university's holy ground -- football IS a religion at UT, right?
Liesey and her new ballerina friends posed for one more group shot before we hit the road.Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Whistle while you work? Or at least smile a while.All rooms are now painted -- with the exception being the master bedroom & bathroom.
Jemima has tested out the TP holder in the guest bathroom to make sure it rolls smoothly.
Boxes, anyone? We've got 'em.
We were told by a cat breeder that Maine Coons are helpers, and this photo shows it to be true. We found Jemima in this cabinet doing her best to act as a bookend. Comfy & cozy?
Our wine grotto is definitely complete with this somewhat furry sommelier. Instead of calling it a wine grotto, we think a more appropriate name might be the gato grotto.While there has been a lot of work going on, Miss Millie did take some time out to have fun helping her friend Katie celebrate her 11th b-day American Girl style. :-)
Tea for two?(Or four, if you count the dolls.)
So there you have it. (And that was the edited, streamlined, Reader's Digest version of what we have been up to.) Did you really read everything or simply scroll to the bottom to see how it ends?
September promises to be another full month with three Smithling birthdays, school, a little more painting, more organizing, and possibly some landscaping, but I vow to update the blog with a few photos of the house & its MANY projects.
