Saturday, October 13, 2012

Gifts

Happy Saturday, Friends!

It is chilly and wet outside here in Minnesota. Not really a rain, but just a constant mist. It sounds pretty and it was for about 15 minutes while I walked the dogs this morning..but it quickly became wet and chilly. On the positive side..it does finally SMELL like fall. Like crunchy leaves and the best scents nature has to offer. Too often lately it's been crazy windy and then when it calms down..we get the stench of manure from nearby farms. "Good Things"!  One day I had the windows open and closed them due to "that smell is bumming me out, Brad!"

Fall in MN. Image via panoramio.com.



We've had a less than stellar two weeks here. While Brad is recovering from hip surgery, I must admit that pretty much anything that CAN go wrong HAS gone wrong. Our kitchen faucet blew up and so we needed a new one as I need to use that sink daily. My plan was to try and switch it out myself, but I don't have man paws strong enough to  loosen and tighten everything so Brad ended up helping and then doing. Not a good position physically for someone to be in after hip surgery.

Then our downstairs toilet flooded twice. Take a pee, flush the toilet..it floods. We spent one whole day dealing with that and let's just say..leaves you feeling uninspired. Me: "Brad, should we just call a plumber?" Brad: "NO!" So again, another thing he fixed that someone two weeks post op shouldn't be fixing.  Our gazebo top was torn apart by the crazy winds here last week. The garage door stopped opening and shutting for a time. I could have just applied common sense to that one, but instead just started yelling "Of COURSE it stopped working! Why would anything work around here?"

Image via Wikipedia. Can we teach our dogs to do this?!


Both dogs got sick. I don't know what they're getting into but one gets ill and gives it to the other. First Curtis the puppy and then Daisy. So I had a few nights of little to no sleep and diarrhea pick up and then dog vomit. Good times!! Is this what parenting is like?! Then..Brad got ill. Some sort of flu or something. I don't know if the dogs are to blame. Can you get sick from dogs? I don't think we can get them sick as their body temps run higher..but clearly I'm no medical expert and I have learned to stay off of WebMD as it makes me paranoid and prone to yelling "I'm dying!"



Our cute nephew Emerson (fishing in summertime, below) made Brad some very sweet, thoughtful and COOL homemade and handmade/store bought gifts to cheer him up. The next day he sent me a message saying "I made those for you two because I love you." He is nine (and a half! Big deal at this age!) and so kind!





Gift Number One. He told his Mom "Because Uncle Brad likes coffee." Even though I didn't have any surgery, I got a mention and a stick drawing on the cup, too!






He also bought me this Solar outdoor light because "you love butterflies and it's got yellow in it, your favorite color."



Our neighbors brought us dinner one night and homemade cookies that tasted like they had love and goodness in them. Thank god for kind and thoughtful people. It couldn't have happened on a better day as I had no dinner planned, our week was hellish AND as Gretchen gave me the food, I almost cried. But I didn't want to scare her! The lesson: Do something nice. It is generally very appreciated!


Our nephew Andrew (on the right below and pictured with Emerson) also made Brad a huge chinese star out of paper. He said he learned how to do it by watching it on YouTube. He also said in the cutest voice: "I am sorry but I was eating and accidentally got some cheddar cheese on it." I LOL and told him what providence is and that his item now is probably worth MORE with the cheese stain than without!






This drawer of Brad's just makes me laugh! He's got all kinds of treats in there and I was impressed by how organized he is with candy and his Sunday football stash of chips.



I'm off to either run a few errands OR eat a slice of carrot cake and then MAYBE even a little Debbie nutty bar...the world is my oyster. I'm just not sure.

Have a great weekend and please send magically good vibes our way! Thank YOU!

xo

T



4 comments:

Nicole said...

Geez Louise! What a week you've had. I'm glad Gretchen was able to help you out with dinner. Sometimes it's something that small that just does it for you, right?

'Cause Rick works shiftwork, I have dealt with my fair share of house disasters too. Not at this house, but our old one that was in constant renovation mode for 10 years. Maybe that's why I haven't done any real decorating here?

Cute, cute nephews! Now I'm craving cotton candy :)

Hope Brad didn't do himself
any real damage fixing stuff. That guys just needs to heal.

Little doggy upset tummy remedy--canned pumpkin. I can't remember if I told you that before or not. Sounds crazy, but works!

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

Good grief, T.
What a nightmare week! I hope this one started off better than last- although from the sound of it, you can only go up from there.
I would've sat down and cried my eyes out. Things always go wrong when Magoo travels. Floods, hurricanes, kids in car wrecks...never fails. Twice I had to take a corgi to be put down. Thank God that my friend went with me for the second one. I haven't been back to that vet yet and won't. And yes, being a parent is hard! Just like at your house, they all get sick at the same time.
Hope Brad isn't too sore from his plumbing jobs. He doesn't need a setback.
You, my friend, need more than a nutty bar or a piece of carrot cake!
Sending good vibes your way!
xxx, TOT

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

P.S. Your nephews are the cutest. I would steal my nephew's cotton candy.

Tina@thriftingwithcake.blogspot.com said...

Nicole- the dinner was a gamechanger! It made me realize I NEED to do things like that for others!

TOT- It has not been fun! It sounds like your life goes to pot when Magoo travels! Good God! Natural disasters and pet deaths? That is TOO much. Thanks for your kind words and for "allowing" me to gorge on more treats. I ended up (with your permission!) getting a piece of pumpkin pie with a huge helping of whipped topping! YOW!!