Property Taxes

For years I have lived in Washington and listened to people fuss about property taxes, re-evaluations, and such. When I bought my house, I didn't think much of it, because the tax value really didn't seem odd to me - it came in under where the estimate did when I bought the house.

Background for those of you that don't know - I live in a block house (like a school) built in the early 50's, with old raggedy windows that needs a new roof (yeah for tax returns).

So this year is a re-evaluation year.

And shock of shocks - my house is now worth $30K more than it was last year - NO JOKE.

So needless to say - thank GOD for spring break - so I can go down to the tax office to find out what I have to do to have this REDONE.

People - if I could get $100,000 for my house - I'd sell today - NO JOKE AGAIN.

More info as it becomes available.

Hoppy Easter

Whew - well that brings us up to this past weekend. Another event at the big house (as Todd calls it) in Washington for Easter. Ham, potato salad, all the fixings and eggs hidden in the back yard. At least now Daddy can mow. lol

It was a gorgeous day - a little warmer than I thought it would be in fact. The boys all looked for eggs, and the dogs got some before the boys got outside.

March was also Pinewood Derby Month

Well, for those of you that don't know, Riley and Hunter are both in Boy Scouts. And the Boy Scouts do this whole Pinewood Derby thing where you build cars out of these kits and then race them against other Boy Scouts.

So, one beautiful day in March, Brent and I drove down to the county to watch Riley and Hunter race their cars. (A couple of weeks earlier Neil and the boys had come up to the house so Brent could help Neil shape up the cars. Ended up with Neil and Brent out on the back porch working on cars and Hunter and Riley inside watching TV. MMHMMM)

We got there a little early, and it took the guys in charge a little while to get the software working - but finally things got going. Neither Riley nor Hunter did very well in the races. Won't say they finished last, but they didn't finish in the top three in their divisions, but they both seemed to be sorta happy with just being there, so that was nice. Of course Neil, Brent and Daddy all were discussing what you have to do to make the cars work right and this needs to be different, blah blah blah. LOL I think they are all three going to get kits for Christmas so they can build their cars way ahead of time. And I mean Brent, Neil, and Daddy, not Hunter and Riley. LOLOL

Anywho - here are a few shots from that even - very interesting way to spend a morning . . .

March is a month of birthdays - did you know?

Well, first of all, I totally effed up Todd's birthday. I got the card in the mail late, and haven't gotten to see him yet, but on March 6th, he got a lovely call from me, my mother, my sister, and my husband. LOL! I thought it would be funny to have Mama wish him a happy birthday as they both have the same birthday, and while she was on the phone with him, she said something about some place in Wilmington you can eat, so that set everyone off wanting to tell him something odd about a place in Wilmington. So the phone got passed around. I just hope he thought it was as funny as those in the room did.

So that was Todd - Happy 41st Birthday!

Also in March, is of course, Mama. This year marked her turning 69. OMG right - 69 - SIXTY-NINE. So we all rolled up into her house with a cake, ice cream, and lots of little boys, and partied! Here's a couple pic's from that awesome event.

The hats really made the event, dontcha think?

Then came Riley's 8th Birthday - March 20, the first day of Spring! (And he KNOWS that his birthday is the first day of spring - this I totally love about my middle nephew.)

Riley's party featured little kids running around and a cake decorated with Mario -of all things - so here are a few shots from that event.

And that was about it for birthdays in March! Happy Birthday to everyone! (What I also love is that Mama the other day just out of the blue goes - YOUR birthday is next - and I'm like yeah - in July - lolololol.)

Catch up time . . .

No excuses, I hate excuses. Lots of birthdays and things to get through, so expect several posts from me over the next few days with links to pictures.

I'm off this week - THANK GOD - and will MAKE myself sit down and share all the gorey details with you all.

Yummy, I know, so let's go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just so you know - Sassy is a kisser -

And the inside of the card says . . .

We LOVE Bandits strike when we're least expected . . .

SNOW . . .

It's snowing - started a little earlier - you won't believe this, but Pete heard it and barked so I got up and looked and ta freaking da - snow falling - that dog has finally shown he is good for SOMETHING.

Of course we have already planned to go out tomorrow to take pictures - so I will promise to upload this weekend.

SNOW I say SNOW!

At long last . . . Christmas

Okay, so a quick peek at fotos from Christmas.

The beginning ones are of Todd and me making sugar cookies in my tiny kitchen. Thanks to Brent who took these while watching the action.

Then we move to Mama and Daddy's where three nephews did very well this year opening one gift at a time.

Next the day after Christmas when Brent's parents came down for the day to open presents, eat ham, and visit.

And finally, some pics of the decorations we had out this year. for those of you that don't know - years ago, September gave me the Bumble from "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and Todd said you should put him at the top of the tree. Well, I don't know how many years ago that was - probably over ten, but the Bumble sits on top of the tree at our house, alone, or with a star, and should the branch he sits on give way, and he fall - it's okay - and you know why?

Because Bumbles Bounce!

LOL

http://picasaweb.google.com/leaseuhd/Christmas2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCLHNxtHEydqNSg&feat=directlink

Bathroom redux

I am sooo far behind on posting this. Charlie finally came to help Brent put in the new flooring and the new toilet (pronounced twa-lett). It looks fabulous!

The new commode (pronounced KA mode) lol - is a water saver whatever one with two flushes - we are sooooooooo green - LOL

Droid part 2

A big shout out to my dear friend Rob who brought his Droid up to Washington to meet me. And thank GOD for him, because he is my tech support.

Thanks Rob!

The DROID

Verizon has come out with a new phone - you've probably seen ads for it - the Droid.

I got one.

I love it.

My life will never be the same.

And let me tell you - I KNEW it would come in handy when I went to visit the inlaws and was able to connect to the Internet right then and there to answer questions about movies and weather and such and so forth - MAHVELOUS!

It is a phone, it is a web browser, it is a gps thingie, mp3 player, camera, video camera, lifelong friend and companion - need I say more?

And just for fun - here's a picture -

i <3 my Droid - lolololol

It's beginning to look a lot like . . .

yes yes yes - Todd took it all down over Thanksgiving and finally it's about time we got things decorated.

Brent and I went to Lowe's and decided that this year we would go with a cheaper tree - so we bought one of the $20 ones, which looked plenty big enough at the store. Once we got it home, it was a pee wee.

THEN - while I was watching ECU beat Houston - go PIRATES - Brent put Shortie in its stand and on a BOX in the living room - omg - not so sure about that - but then on Sunday he fixed it and we covered the box with a sheet - white snow - think white snow - and then sat down and decorated it. And you know what? Shortie looks good - Here - you look and tell me what you think.

Next of course there was discussion of what else to put out. For those of you that don't know - and most all of you do - I have boxes and boxes of Christmas stuff. Tons of Santas in all shapes and forms. Well, Brent and I agreed we HAD to put out the stockings - so that meant something on the mantle - and of course we put out the wreath.

So here's the mantle - I used some star lights I got at IKEA - ah IKEA - *sighs* - and put my ECU Santa and Snowman out along with the Santa and Mrs. Claus I like - you know - as an old married lady - and this is what the mantle looks like (in the dark) -

So then for the final project for Christmas decorating, I wanted to try the whole Southern Living Christmas tree made out of tomato cages. Now, for those of you that don't know what tomato cages are, they are the wire frames you buy to put around your tomato plants so that the plant has some support when it gets big enough to begin bearing fruit. Soooo I borrowed two of these from Daddy (once again a reminder that this word is pronounced DEAD-EE) which Brent spray painted CHROME (yes we tricked out the tomato cages) and then I put these upside down - pointy ends up - into a large flower pot I had bought a year ago probably and never used.. I then proceeded to wrap it with three strings of outdoor lights, tie a bow on the top, run a very very long extension cord from the carport to the pot at the front door. And voila!

Of course the funniest part of making the tree was that as I put the third string of lights on, everytime I moved between the tree and the wreath, the wreath went off (motion detector) and sang its song. Needless to say by the time it was over the song was stuck in my head - as Stephen King would say - an ear worm.

So that's about it for holiday decorating - I know - I know - some of you (who will remain nameless) will be very disappointed. Sorry folks - maybe next year - there has already been talk of pulling a boat out into the yard and decorating it - even mention of Frosty on water skis . . .

ECU wins the CHAMPIONSHIP

Well, they pulled it out of their asses, but they beat Houston for the CUSA Championship and the right to go to the Liberty Bowl.

Here is a short video I shot on my new phone - more on it later - :)

Thanksgiving with the Griswold's

Nothing much to say about Thanksgiving. No one got mad. So it was a GREAT day.

We took a family picture. Some of you may remember the last one we took out in front of my parents' house two years ago on Daddy's birthday. And then the next day, Mama fell and broke her hip.

Well, like four days after these pictures were taken Mama fell at the top of the steps. Thank GOD she fell left instead of right, because right would have taken her DOWN the stairs.

But anyway - here we are - in all our glory -

Enjoy -

http://picasaweb.google.com/leaseuhd/ThanksgivingAtTheBigHouse?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCN4pGMmo7AMw&feat=directlink

A fitting activity for a gruesome holiday . . .

For Halloween, Daddy decided to get some crabs. And the good kind. The kind that taste good and cost lots of money - sorta -

What it ends up being is a really big mess that to me is soooo delicious, it's worth all the mess.

Luckily, Daddy pulled the backs off of the crabs, and the claws, so when I got them they were dead. Yes, folks, if you don't know about cleaning blue crabs, well you do it while they are alive.

So, I went over and got a pot full and then had to bring them home and clean them the rest of the way, which consists mainly of scraping a LOT of goooo out of some sea spiders. LOL

AND - as it was Halloween - I thought I would get some GROSS pics - well maybe one GROSS pic for ya - to share the joy. (Many thanks to my handy cameraman Brent who helped with the shots.)

The pile before cleaning

All the orange and gray stuff - well - ewwwwwwwww

Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape

Just a SMALL sample of "scrapings" - we likes to call em GUTZ . . .

Riley and Colin and Halloween

Here are a couple of pics. I don't know if it's me or the camera - but everything's getting blurry - let's hope it's something i've "unset" on the camera - lol

Colin was Pinocchio
Riley was Luigi (Hunter - not pictured - was Mario)

And another thing . . .

I KNOW that many of you are familiar with my crazy ass neighbors and their desires to rid their yard of trees -

Well today they had probably a 50+ year old oak taken down - why I have no idea - but it's sad really - am thinking of taking the long way to EVERYTHING from this point on to avoid having to see where this beautiful big oak used to be . . .

I just know Mrs. Graves is rolling over in her grave . . .

Odds and Ends

Just a few notes for my loyal readers . . .

Last Friday, Brent went back for another radial ablatement (I have probably misspelled both of those words). What that means is that the treatment he had two years ago wore off, and his doctor decided to do this again. This treatment involves going in and actually burning nerve endings in Brent's back. The funny thing is that it has really helped him feel better. The general ache and pain is still there from the injury, but not the constant nagging, so his prescriptions are working and helping him manage it.

I went back to the doctor last week as well, and am finishing up a series of steroids for my back pain/sciatica. It is more nerve wrecking than anything, because if you know me, you know I'm a terrible worrier, and all I can think is - make it through this Christmas and I've broken the cycle of a surgery every two years - and I laugh as I type that, but still I worry too.

Also, today I went for the first annual smoosh lisa's boobs appointment. And either I am totally numb, or just was totally tired from feeling bad, but the appointment was quick and easy. \o/ yay. Sept had hers done too - yay being forty - and I am HOPING Miss Sally did too - oh the small joys of being a woman and 40.

The boys came over for Halloween. Mary decided to bring Riley and Colin over - Hunter was left on Daddy's computer and Neil sat out front with Mama to hand out candy. It was a nice visit, and I will post a couple of pics here in a little bit.

Travel is geared down now for Brent and me. Our next big event will be Thanksgiving at Mama's with Mary's crew. I'm thinking easy breezy mac and cheezy - so at least we won't have to do too much cooking or worrying. :)

Thursday night - ECU v. VA Tech at home - say a little prayer if ya can . . .

And that's it - be well and prosper . . .

Just a quick shot of Monkey . . .

OMG - finally used up the disposable camera we bought on the trip to FLORIDA. I forgot to tell you guys what a superb job Monkey did with his part of the driving. You know . . .

Once you get on the Florida Turnpike . . .

Pretty much anyone can handle the driving. Gave Brent a GREAT opportunity to catch up on his naps.