Daggum, that felt good!

the yard sale was today and we worked so hard all day yesterday cleaning out the garage and the storage building. it definitely paid off, but we worked our butts off.

it felt so darn good to get rid of stuff. what we didn't sell went straight to goodwill. we made a grand total of $289! hooray! and a tax write off for the stuff we donated. so it was well worth the time and the sweat we put into it.

the profit goes toward a mini-vacation this week with some of our very besties, justin and linds! we can't wait. we need time away and it will be great to get away with them to the mountains of west jefferson, nc. i am taking 3 books with me and will hopefully finish at least one by the time i come home! so only a couple of work days this week and then we are heading up to the mountains.

jeff is still doing great with having his teeth pulled. he has not yet felt any pain or had any swelling, so he was quite blessed. he'll go in for a follow up on monday. we have been making sure to follow all of the instructions so he doesn't get a dry socket. but i think he's all in the clear now. he had it MUCH better than i did when i had wisdom teeth pulled, that's fo sho'.

that's about it for now--SO looking forward to a chill day tomorrow.


Flash Toys At WishAFriend.com

golfth?

jeff did beautifully today with having his teeth pulled. he went in around 10:45, they called him back right at 11 and i was helping him into the car at 11:50.

he was so precious. i went back and they still had the laughing gas on him. he was very concerned that i remember to get his cap and kept pointing to it. so i put it in my bag.

the nurse then started telling me how to care for him over the course of the next few days. she said, "no strenuous activity for a few days, at least." jeff's eyes got big and he looked at me incredulously. oh no, i thought, please don't ask her about sex. i will die.

and he didn't.

he looked back at her and said with the saddest look on his face, "GOLFTH?"

"huh?"

"GOLFTH? THRIDAY? THITH THRIDAY?"

"no, jeff, you can't play golf this Friday...that might be overdoing it."

"oh." then he just shut his eyes and pointed for his cap again.

precious.

he's now on the couch and eating his jello. his numbness has worn off but he has felt no pain and there's very little swelling. he's had bags of frozen veggies on his face.

wall-e? eeeeeeevvvvvaaaaa!

oh yeah! we went to see wall-e this weekend and i loved it!! it's a must see and a must buy when it comes out. it's amazing how little dialogue there is, yet there is no question about the ideas and points that the movie is conveying.

i won't spoil it--just go see it before it leaves the movie theater.

and i finally saw sex and the city--literally a month after it came out, which is crazy, seeing as how that is one of my favorite shows EVER. i was completely satisfied. it was perfectly concocted and developed. it met every expectation i had and then some. i must say that i despised carrie's choice of wedding dress....why didn't she go with the oscar de la renta one that she had on in the photo shoot? and the headpiece? hmmm, what exactly was that?

i did adore the movie though. and those wicked black dior heels she wore throughout the movie.

"the" poem gives me cold chills. i'd like to have the last few lines tattooed somewhere. i bought a book of love poems and this one in particular is the one that carrie was reading in bed. it was written by beethoven (go on with yo bad self, Ludwig!):

From "Letters to My Beloved" by Ludwig van Beethoven

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us -
I can live only wholly with you or not at all -
Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits -
Yes, unhappily it must be so -
You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never -
Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves.
And yet my life in V is now a wretched life -
Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men -
At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection?
My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once -
Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together -
Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell.
Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.
ever thine
ever mine
ever ours
--------------------------------
eeeeeek! cold chills!

taking some sick time...for jeff

i am going to be taking some sick time from work for the rest of the week. am i sick, you ask? no. am i going to the doctor? nope. but poor jeffy has to have teeth pulled tomorrow and i am going to be a good wife and take him since he will be going under anesthesia. and i'm taking sick time for it. i have already forewarned him that if he wants to confess anything now, he can, as i will be questioning him about various things while he's out of his mind temporarily. just kidding.

as badly as i hate it that he has to undergo dental work, i am looking forward to taking a few days to get some things done while he is recovering. we are having a yard sale on saturday and i need to get all my crap together for that. yard sales are great--you get to really purge yourself of all of those little nick nacks that just accumulate.

this year's yard sale bin consists of books that i don't care to keep, sheets that are less than 300 thread count (cause i'm spoiled like that), glasses that don't match any of my other glasses, tank tops that are size XS (when the hell did the girls ever fit into a size XS?!?) and some old cd's that someone in their eighties might like (such as michael mcdonald and spanish guitar serenade). i'll be sure to take pictures at this grand event and i'll even tell you how much money i make.

ooh-almost forgot...we had such a great 4th of july here. the weather was great--not too steamy hot and definitely not to cool. we enjoyed an afternoon at paul and mj's--paul made ribs, steaks, burgers, hotdogs and a boston butt. holy crap! can you say C-A-R-N-I-V-O-R-E-S?? everything was great. we all went out on the boat and watched the fireworks. they were literally all around us. it was gorgeous. bryce got to captain the boat and isaac had a hand in choosing what we listened to on the iPod (mostly Bob Marley and Frankie Vallie...he's got great taste!) with all of the great things going on, it was easy to lose focus of why we were out celebrating in the first place, but i was reminded of it when i saw a big american flag on our way home.


we are so lucky to be free and to live in america.

ps--i've now added a music player to the blog for your listening enjoyment.

fall vacation!

how you spend your dash

One of my dear friends sent me an e-mail this week with a link to a song that she said reminded her of me. It's such a powerful song and the meaning that is packed into it is awesome. I wanted to post it so that if any of you out there (yeah, all 3 of my readers...) hadn't heard it, you could.
Listen to the words. (and thanks, Janelle!)

POINT OF GRACE: "How You Live (Turn Up the Music)"

In listening to the song again, it brought to mind one of my favorite poems ever by Linda Ellis called "The Dash." Since I'm in such a sharing mood, I thought I would post it here as well. It has been made into a small movie. Here's the link and please watch it--it's so great and so well done. Make your today and your dash matter.

Go to www.dash-movie.com

Panini Mania

I'm obsessed with paninis. I bought a panini press the other day and I've been obsessed for a week now. I've made breakfast in it, lunch in it, dinner in it, snacks in it. It's awesome!

It takes very little to impress me sometimes.

char-lay....

it's bound to make you smile! these are the cutest little kids that some mom put on youtube.

the green room gets a makeover!

if you've ever stayed at our house, you've stayed in the green room! we decided to "adultify" it (so galinda of me...) and redecorate.

the old colors were loud and the hot pink lended itself to more of an 18 year old's room, so here's what we did to make it over to be a more grown up space. after all, we are fast approaching our 30's. oh wait, jeff's already there.... :)

it's been a while!

it's been a while....

jeff got a new "classic" car the other day...a 1988 ford bronco. it's 20 years old, but get this--it only has 35,000 actual miles on it! he really, really likes it and i must say, it is sharp. i'll post pics later.

we are are trying to be finished with the master bath...we started on it back in october, but my work kicked into high gear and it just hasn't gotten finished. we are having a guy come out to start tile work in there in two weeks. our big dilemma right now...should we put in a new tub or should we forgo the tub and put in a kick butt shower? i must say that i am pleased with what we were able to do. the paint looks great! i did some striping...

we are also so glad to have our cousin, bryce, back home! bryce underwent a major surgery in atlanta on his back to correct the curvature of his spine and came through it miraculously! he is such a hero to all of us. the surgery was in february and he is already back home and in his own bed. we were so fortunate to have a visit from uncle frank and aunt pam this week. they came all the way from texas to stop in and say hello and visit with bryce and the family. of course, any special occasion calls for dinner at paesano's...it's our favorite! it was bryce's first "night out" since his surgery and he wasted no time digging into the bread and dipping oils! and us stovalls wasted no time digging into a bottle of red wine!






we're really, really ready for springtime! we got a good taste of it last week when it was in the high 70's...we got grill fever and ate outside. it was wonderful! here's a pic of our yummy supper...cedar plank salmon with long grain brown rice, roasted asparagus and a small roasted tomato with prosciutto, basil and mozzarella. mmm mmm!



that's about it for now. hope all is well with everyone out there! :-)