we're going on vacation! we're going on vacation!

WE'RE GOING ON VACATION! we leave tomorrow for the wonderful mackinac island. 2 nights at the campground and 1 night actually on the island. we've never stayed on the island, and i am really looking forward to it. fancy dinner at the hotel. fancy bed for the night. fancy breakfast the next morning. fancy fancy fancy.

it's official

autumn is here. i put flannel sheets on the bed yesterday, and pulled out my flannel jammies today, and put my short sleeves and capris away for the duration. right now its cool (about 50ish deg) and raining. i love the fall, but it just means winter is on it's way.

while i finished my afghan for Afghans, i had ollie sleeping next to me on the couch. he snored. a cool rainy day seemed the perfect day to finish the afghan. i made it for Marolyn for her birthday present. she's always telling me she doesn't need anymore "stuff", so for her birthday, i thought instead of buying her more "stuff", i'd do something for charity. and i like to knit, and "afghans for Afghans" needed hand knit baby blankets for the newborns in their hospital in Kabul. a match made in knitting heaven, if you ask me. i get a warm fuzzy shiver whenever i think of some poor woman who doesn't have a single personal possession who will be thrilled to wrap her newborn in my warm wool baby blanket. i hope they'll be ok.

dinner guests two nights in a row!

we are party animals! we just can't help it. last night it was jason and jennifer and our (sort of) stepfather, gene. we had roast pork (a butt--it was on sale) roasted with prunes and leeks. mashed pa'taters and braised red cabbage. apple crisp for dessert. i love braised cabbage. i made a shitload of it so i could have leftovers. mmmm. gassy cabbage. mmmm.

tonight our friend trish is coming for dinner. roast chicken, roasted carrots and potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce. lemon bars for dessert. fancy wedding china two nights in a row. i love an excuse to drag out the good china. and the fancy flatware. and the silver coffee set. which, by the way, i got at the hospice care thrift store for 15 bucks! i love a good deal.

i'm the best wife ever

i'm just sayin'. i made hubbo cookies today. oatmeal with chocolate chips and oatmeal with orange flavored craisins. yum. we'll see if hubbo will eat the ones with craisins. that might be a bit much for my picky hubbers. (although, if you ask him, he's not picky at all {wife snorts to herself})

finally effing done!

yes boys and girls! i am finally done. hubbo and i can finally eat at the kitchen table again (although not today, still a little damp). it's like a modern day fairy tale! after 6 coats of paint (and that's just the table) and 4 coats of polyacrylic, the table and chairs are done. thankyoubabyjesus! it is, of course, raining today. but it's not hot. so that helps (a little) with that whole humidity/drying issue. you can't really see it, but the table is aqua, and each chair is a different color: pale green, pink, yellow and orange. it reminds me of sherbert. i've never been a big fan of sherbert as food, but as color? yeah, that's nice.

i know we need the rain...

but it makes it very difficult to finish painting the kitchen table and chairs. although, i have finished painting, and am just on the sealing portion of this lovely project. i'm going to be very very shirty if my furniture is sticky for the rest of my life. cause let's face it, there is no way hubbo is going to let me get new kitchen furniture any time soon. but i'm telling you now, if i find a chrome and formica table and chairs in yellow or aqua for a resonable amount, i'm getting no matter what he says. (that sounds super badass, but we all know i'll still ask and i won't get it if he says we can't afford it.)
on another housekeeping note. we have a rather large window in our front door. with godawful miniblinds on it. i hate miniblinds. they are so 1986. when, by the way, i loved them. i thought they were the height of coolness. chic. i've gotten over that. so i was at Home Despot with my dad (he needed a grab bar for the shower--he finally got his cast off, and is a little wobbly after not standing/walking on 2 legs for so long), and i saw this. it's a plastic cling-y thing. it came in a bunch of different designs and colors, and it was on sale. i'll tell you though, it was a bitch to get up there properly. it took 4 tries before i finally got it right. and i think it looks very nice. you can't see it very well (seeing as how it's raining and all), but it looks good. lets in just the right amount of light. it does sort of showcare the door, which (now that i'm really looking at it) is pretty effing dirty. so i'll have to scrub the door down, we'll see when/if that'll happen any time soon.

we're going on vacation!

ok, so we're not going for a while yet, but still. i love going on vacation. and we're going to mackinac island! pictured here is what it looks like on the island right now! i love going to the island. hubbo and i have gone every year we've been married except for last year. gas prices were just too high for us to afford it. bummer. but this year we're making sure we can afford it. even if it means ramen noodles for every meal, we'll get there. we have such a good time when we go. we always camp in mackinaw city and ferry over for a day. sometimes we go to Michilimackinac. which is a really cool fort on the island. guides in period cotumes and whatnot. lots of fun. i think one of the things i like the most is camping. we always take a bottle of wine (or two), have a fire and just sit and read or talk or stare at the fire and enjoy being away from stress and whatnot. we always treat ourselves to one "fancy" meal. i.e. not brats at the campsite or a pasty in mack city. this year we're eating at 1852 Grill Room in the island house hotel. their menu is amazing.
http://www.theislandhouse.com/uploads/2009_Menu.pdf
YUM is all i have to say. i already know what i want. october cannot come soon enough for me!