Can you have your cake and eat it, too?

Yesterday was my day off so naturally I enjoyed it just for that reason alone. I got to sleep in (well, I was sleeping on and off between 7:30 and 8:45, but I didn't get out of bed until almost 9, so woo hoo for me!), then I supervised the dogs and watched some shows on the DVR while Mom went grocery shopping. I also started my laundry while she was gone. She got back and we put the groceries away. Then I took the staple gun outside to try and fix some of the holes in the lattice work that is up around the bottom of the deck to block the animals from getting underneath. The holes kind of defeat the purpose! That wasn't working so well. After going inside again to grab a hammer and a pair of wire clippers to remove the old staples, I managed to fix one part before the next section got me so frustrated that I went back inside. I washed the dirt and mulch off of my feet and legs, then Mom and I went to pick up my license plates! I haven't put them on yet, but they are in my car and I have until November before the temp plate expires, so I figure I'm good for a while. We had lunch and Coldstone (they have Nutter Butter ice cream, omg!!!) then went home.

The most exciting part of my day was that I started my cake decorating class last night. It's every Thursday night from 6-10pm and we're going to work with different kinds of frostings and learn how to use different pastry bag tips to make flowers, leaves, basket weave, and to write on cakes. All we did last night was see the classroom, the baking area, talk about all of the things we would be doing and what supplies we need or might want to have for class. I'm super excited to get everything I need this weekend and to get started with the actual baking, filling, and decorating next week. I mean, like, soooooo excited!!! I'll be taking my camera with me to class once we start producing cakes and I'll post so that you can see all of the prettiness that will be my cakes. And if mine don't look pretty, I'll be taking pictures of other people's cakes and passing them off as my own, so yeah.

Just a little FYI...

Let's see, what has been going on with me this past week? I set up insurance on my new car. Definately more expensive than what I've been paying as a sometimes driver on the Jetta, but when you hit 23, it's kind of hard to not be the principal driver on a car, especially when you're the one on the title and the loan. We got a letter from Toyota Financial Services letting us know that the car is officially paid off, woo hoo! I signed release papers so that State Farm could gain access to my medical records from the emergency room visit I made the day of my wreck. The check I deposited from State Farm cleared so now I'm just waiting for the check I wrote to the dealer to come out of my account.
The new fridge was delivered on Friday and it was ever so slightly too tall. So on Sunday, we took the cabinet above it down and shaved about a 1/2 inch off the bottom and ta-da! So the fridge is in its rightful place again after spending five days hanging out in the middle of the kitchen.
I worked on Saturday so I didn't get to watch Purdue win (GO BOILERS!!!) even though we finally have the Big Ten Network! The upside was that we snuck in a DVD player and had a movie day at work. It took us over four hours to watch one movie because we had to keep turning the TV off when customers came in, but at least it was more entertaining than staring at a computer screen all day! The two highlights of my weekend were on Sunday: a giant Coke Slurpee and the Bears winning their season opener at Indianapolis with Kyle Orton as starting quarterback!

Can refrigerators explode?

We've had a few issues with the fridge, mostly with the ice maker and dispenser. So when we had to call a repair man to come and figure out why we had hollow ice cubes and a giant puddle of water in the bottom of the fridge that seemed to be coming from the back of the freezer, I was (not) hoping for good news. (I don't think that it's any secret that I think the fridge should be replaced) When Dean (the repair man) told us it would be a few hundred in parts and labor and he wasn't even sure that all of the problems would be fixed after that, Mom and Dad decided it was time to bite the bullet and replace the (18 year old!) fridge.
Mom had sensed this was coming and had checked out Best Buy on Tuesday so that's where we stopped by first so she could show me what she had found. We found another, better one while we were there. It's a black side by side with an ice and water dispenser and it will be delivered on Friday.
Our other excitement yesterday (other than me wanting to muzzle my stupid dog because he wouldn't stop barking!) came around 7pm while we were eating dinner. The phone rang, I answered it, and we spent the next hour or so in a giant cleaning frenzy so that someone could come and see the house. Mom's happy because now the house is clean and picked up. They stayed for more than twenty minutes and were still standing outside talking when we got back. It was a couple that just had a baby and are trying to find something quickly. Everybody keep your fingers crossed!

It is called LABOR Day...

So as you know (or at least you know now), Michelle and AJ are coming for a visit later this month, yay! AJ sleeps in a port-a-crib, pack-n-play thing when he visits Chicago, but we noticed that last time he was here, he was getting a little big for it (I think the thing shrank, but that could just be me in denial of him growing up!). We heard that he got to sleep in a big boy bed on the way down to South Carolina for vacation last week. Gramma decided it was time to buy AJ a new place to sleep when he visits. Where do you go when you want to find inexpensive furniture that doesn't have to be delivered and that you can put together yourself with nothing more than a hammer, screwdriver, and the little hex key? Come on, I know you know! IKEA!!!!!

So that's where we went on Sunday, and let me tell you, we were soooo not the only ones with the "Let's go buy furniture and put it together because it's a long weekend and we actually have time!" idea. Let's just say that it was a madhouse, people were cutting each other off, blocking intersections, running out in front of people, and all that was just the parking lot!

Eventually we got inside and here's how the trip went. We looked at the beds, looked at the children's beds, found a new hall table lamp and got lost in the lighting section trying to find a bathroom. Then we found a couple more random things, got a blanket for the new bed, saw a cute table, found me a new headboard/footboard set, sat/laid on some matresses, looked at sheets, tried to remember where previously mentioned cute table was making a complete circle in the process, went back to children's beds to look at more sheets, and then nixed the sheets. We found the elevator down to the first floor where you pick up all of the furniture you find, waited for someone to come and get the flatbed carts unstuck, set out on our mission to find everything, couldn't find everything, found out that one of the things we couldn't find had to be pulled from a seperate area and picked up after we paid. Then we paid, Mom waited for the thing we couldn't get ourselves, I pulled the car around, tried to fit my bed in, and called Dad to bring the van because I couldn't fit my bed in. Then I waited for Mom, went back in to find her and help bring the rest of the stuff out, finished loading my car, waited for Dad with the van, loaded my bed in the van, went home, unloaded everything, and Mom and I put it all together.

It was a lot of lifting, pushing, pulling, directions, and hard labor, but eventually we got both beds done. Here's AJ's new bed at Gramma's house:

This bed is nice because it has three length settings. This is the longest, making it a twin sized bed but you can push the two ends together until the curlicues on the side almost meet, making a good little toddler sized bed.

And this one is my new set:

Isn't it prettiful?! I lurve it!

Monday was less eventful with a trip to Best Buy to find a couple of cords and chargers I needed and then on to Trader Joe's which was slightly less insane than it was the first time we went. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing absolutely nothing, my favorite way to spend time!

Hope everyone else had a relaxing Labor Day weekend!