Counting the days till March 21st

Can't wait till Saturday! Not only is it the first day of Spring, but the Twilight DVD comes out. I am having a bloody Mary brunch on Sunday to view the DVD with my OCD (Obsessive Cullen Disorder) friends. I haven't had this many folks over since before we did our renovations ( or survived our renovation nightmare!). I think I decided to host the brunch in January, so the DVD not coming out till 3/21 has given me time to think about those lingering projects. I was surprised how many there are - some newer than others. I have two old mirrors that I have had sitting in my bedroom closet for almost a year now. One I got a antique store and the other was a salvage piece from a funky interior designer cast off store that is only open a couple of times a year. The smaller, antique mirror got hung last weekend. That was the easier of the two projects. The larger one involves hanging picture molding in the bedroom, so not sure when that will happen. Plus, I am a little nervous that the mirror is going above the head of our bed and it is a substantial mirror. Possible head injury vs aesthetics?

Here is a picture of the finished antique mirror-

Back to Twilight -

I can't tell you how much this book has done for me and my OCD work friends. It has been a great source for a light hearted, informal book club at lunch and in the hall. Silly reminiscing about first loves, lost loves, why men aren't (and can't really be) like Edward Cullen.

The beautiful lullaby in the movie that Edward "wrote" for Bella is based on a piece by Yiruma. Finding Yiruma's "A River Flows in You" inspired me to start playing the piano again. (A doctor in my piano class says that this kind of activity helps with brain function and flexibility - I wonder if I can list this as my exercise when I go for my physical?)

And most of all, I am reading again! Yippee! I go through periods where I just don't read. I was barely reading magazine articles. Since I started reading the Twilight books, around 12/28, I have probably read 13 books. Granted, these are not major works, but I am reading and enjoying it. I just finished the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. The HBO series, True Blood, is based on her books. They are great, fun and easy reads. (Secret confession - I may - may love these books more than Twilight - shhh.) (I Vampire Eric!)

The next one in the series won't come out till May, so I am going to read some of my old favorites - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Rebecca byDaphne du Maurier.

Lullaby and cute boys

Yes, this is Twilight related. I am over the every day obsessiveness about it, but it has definitely touched my life. There is a pretty lullaby in the movie - Edward wrote it for Bella, so sweet. The lullaby is based on a piece of music by Yiruma called A River Runs in You. It is truly beautiful. Iwas so moved by this piece that I decided to take piano lessons.

After 2 years of piano lessons in elementary school and 6 years of band, I can't read a stitch of music. Wow, my brain is truly like a sieve...

I had my second piano lesson last night. I am getting there. The teacher is a little intense. Nice, but intense. I feel like a little kid - afraid I am going to get in trouble for not knowing the answer.

The whole experience has been full of guilt for me. I will feel guilty if I can't learn how to play - not well enough to get paid for it, but to be able to read music and play at a basic level. I would love to buy a piano - guilty if I can't play and spent the money on the piano. Guilty for even spending the money on such a non-necessity item.

I think the old saying - "jack of all trades, but master of none" applies to me. I don't want this to be one of those things. Again, I am not expecting to play at Carnegie Hall, but I don't want it to be one of those things I have left unfinished.

In other news, my favorite Saturday night TV show has wrapped for the season. I love Dr. Who. Who? The Dr. Who I knew about was from the 70's and was not cool. The BBC has revamped Dr. Who and it is great. They also have a spin-off called Torchwood - again, great. And cute boys! Jack from Torchwood is so cute and has a wicked sense of humor. Saturday night is really all about the BBC at my house. Well, that and a gourmet dinner (homemade of course) and a nice bottle of wine.

Sadly, the current Dr. Who is being replaced by a new who. The new who will be in next season, so only time will tell. (Okay, I just cracked myself up - Dr. Who is a time lord - Time - HA!) I know, but it has been a seriously long day!

The cute boys I promised:

The Doctor

Captain Jack from Torchwood

The Zone

I have been a bad blogger and taken too much time off. Sure, there were the holidays, but this is ridiculous. I do have an excuse though. I can hear the tee hee hees and the groaning as I write this - I went to the Twilight zone. (Not Rod Serling - think Edward & Bella)



No, I still haven't come back yet. I was such a procrastinator about the books. I had not thought much about them and kind of dismissed them - which is really weird, because I have always loved vampires and love stories. So, I am now a huge Twilight fan and reveling in my obsession.



It has gotten more manageable. After I devoured all 4 books (in a matter of days) and saw the movie (twice within a week), I am able to conduct myself in a normal manner - actually hold conversations that don't involve Twilight (for the most part). I was thrilled when I went back to work on the 5th, that Twilight had struck most of my close friends at work. YIPEEE! It helps the "I am so obsessed and can't think about anything else" and "If I relate something regarding Twilight to a normal conversation, you won't look at me like I have two heads".



I got my husband to take me to the movie. This is huge people! We have been married almost 12 years and have never - I repeat NEVER seen a movie in the theatre together. I just asked, plain and simple. Didn't expect I would have to talk him into it, but I was totally prepared to if necessary! We just never went to the movies, just rented them and hung out at home. It was always easier and when he and I can cook like we do, what else do you need? (Well yes, Edward on the big screen is nice...) Loved the movie!



We went to a 9:45am showing on a Saturday. This meant that I would have to get up by 7:30am. On. A. Saturday. This is something that is almost impossible for me on a workday, let alone a Saturday. I was so giddy I couldn't sleep. I had just finished the first book and was waiting to start on the second.



We are finding our seats in the theatre and my husband whispers in my ear that he is the only man in the room. Ohh, this may not go so well... I kept looking over at him during the movie to see if he were asleep or counting ceiling tiles - nope, good to go. He liked it too!!! I went to see it with some friends from work a few days later and it was even better the second time around and after finishing all of the books.



It is totally a frivilous distraction - but a fun one!
Do you have the Twilight fever or what is your fun distraction?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

My sweet, sweet Daisy

Tour of homes.

(Don't know where the home pics are, this is the court house...)

Yummys - rice krispy treats and gooey coconut bars (super yummy)

Prep for mini beef wellingtons

We had a buch of little things for our New Year's eve dinner

(Beef wellies, sushi, fried lobster tail, shrimp, etc.)

Sushi

(from Publix, but it is all in the presentation)

This was our Christmas dinner

Curious girls!

(They knew there was good food to be had)

I think eat and sleep pretty much sums it up!

Christmas Tour of Homes

I didn't think I would make it! With the water heater situation and my always running behind, I somehow managed to pull it together and have more decorations up this year than ever!
(I did a separate post with a picture of my new water heater - it is dressed up for Christmas too!)

So, welcome and Merry Christmas-

We hardly ever use the front door. This is our side door and garage. I have always wanted to put lights up on the house at Christmas time. This is the first year and I only got the garage, but I am happy with it and baby steps are fine with me.


We put up our tree in our everything room (living room/family room/t.v. room/sunroom) this year. When we originally started construction on this room it was supposed to a small sunroom off of the master bedroom. I am glad it morphed into all of the above.



I used the ornaments that my gram had given me several years ago. I had never used them before, but love seeing them on my tree. It really has a special feel this year, maybe a very tiny bit retro. They are the big round ornaments in pink, orange, blue and a greenish blue.



I made a mad dash to Michael's this afternoon and found a few new things. This wreath was one of them and I love it on my old mirror.

Here is the rest of my everything room~

We have had the large reindeer for many years and they are one of favorite decorations. Their antlers hold candles, but we haven't found those just yet...


My hubby loves nutcrackers and we try to get a new one each year.


This is my glass and silver table. I keep the large glass jars here year round and try to change them with the season. Across the front of the table are our silver bells. We were given our first one in 1997, the year we were married. We have gotten one each year since, it has become a tradition. We haven't made our pilgrimage to Macy's for our 2008 bell, but hopefully this week.

This is an iron hand made plant stand that we found at one of local antique stores. It has been empty for about a month and looks much more festive with something in it.


This is my Daisy. She is not thrilled that I woke her up with the flash. She was a super sweet girl today when I took out the new ornaments, she wanted to look at each one before I put it on the tree.



This is the sideboard in my dining room. We have three different nativity scenes displayed here.


Thanks for taking a look. Please post a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Merry Christmas!

Hot Hot Hot

Bless my plumbers heart. He said he would come back on Sunday and install the waterheater and he did! YEAH!!!

Merry Christmas to me!

Bah Humbug

This has not been my week! I have been pretty down all week. Just when I convinced myself that everything is okay, my water heater died. Oh, but not only died, it went down like the titanic. Water everywhere! It was old as time - it had been in our house for quite a while before we bought it and we have been here for 10 years.

Well, I am the kind of girl that has to have a nice hot shower to get my day going. I can live one day without it, Sure it will be fine - I told myself these things thinking that it would only be one day. It took at least 20 minutes for me to brush my teeth and wash my face today. I grew up in Florida! I don't even like my drinking water cold!

Plumber says - The floor and floor joist have to be replaced before the new heater can be put in. Today is Friday - Friday! The floor is currently being ripped up - 2:37pm on Friday. Okay, this means that the water heater won't be installed until Sunday at the earliest. Breathe...

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble....

Breathe...

Okay, up side is that someone was able to come out today and replace the floor.

Did I point out the gas line enough to them??

Should I get the emergency number for the gas company just in case??

Please don't let them screw it up.

I know, be grateful and don't let your overactive imagination get the best of you.

Hate house issues. Hate making these grown-up decisions. Grumble, grumble.

If everything goes well you can see a post of me with my Christmas present, I mean new water heater.