My Little Stinker

By the title of this post, I think you can guess what the Noodle is going to be for Halloween, right?

Yeah, ummmmm.....we've had skunk issues here on Elizabeth Hill. It all started last year. The summer of '06:
We got some brand new neighbors, Pam and Jeff, their daughter Mel and dogs Nikita and Gracie Mae.
We've become fast friends. Mainly because of Jeff and Zuddy's mutual admiration for beer.
And grilling.
So we're always over at their patio/driveway area hangin' out most summer evenings.

I, being the morning person that I am, go inside when it's time to tuck the Noodle into bed and then I go to bed, too.
That's when all the interesting things happen. And I always miss them.

Picture this scene, if you will:

One warm summer night Pam, Jeff, Mel and Zuddy are sitting at patio table, having a brewski. Crickets are chirping, the stars are shining. They are probably discussing the latest Flava-flav show. Er, I mean, figuring out how to help their fellow man. Yeah! That's it!

Suddenly, Gracie Mae and Nikita are very interested in something under a nearby pine tree! Gracie quickly trots over to the tree to examine the situation and then sharply turns the other way and leaves (she's the brains of the bunch). Nikita starts barking like crazy, charges at the tree, and finds a skunk! She chomps down on the skunk and shakes the life out of it - all the while, the skunk is spraying!
As this is happening, the humans are scattering: Zuddy (being the gentleman he is) shoves Pam and Melanie out of his way so he can climb up the retaining wall and escape into our yard. He remembers using Melanie's hunched over body as a step-stool to climb the wall. Then, coming to his senses, he rembers that he is, in fact, a gentleman, and he goes back and lends a hand to Pam and Mel so they can climb the wall and escape into our yard.
Jeff jumps into action with his stellar hockey skills of days gone by and beats the skunk senseless with the stick.
Meanwhile, they all smell.
BAD.
Really bad.
Really, really bad.

Okay, so this was last year. THIS year, Nikita's been sprayed once, Gracie Mae has been sprayed once and so has Zuddy. It was about a month ago. He voluntarily slept in the garage that night.

Noodle decided she needed to be a skunk for Halloween. I mean, what other choice did she have, really?

My Mom and I made the costume from Family Fun Magazine:
The directions were really good and it was pretty easy.

For my Mom, that is.

Because I volunteered to clean her house while she sewed.

I'll take pictures of our little "Skunky McSkunkerton" on Wednesday, but go check out the costumes on the Family Fun website if you haven't already. Especially the contest entries they had. They're awesome!!

More Things......

Dudes.
I'm totally in love with all of these wallpapers!!!

I taped them up on the wall and I could stand there gazing at them.
All. day. long.
No lie.
And you, my friends, are going to be sick to death of them because I'm going to post pictures of them all the time!



BAM!

Sha-ZAM!

Woo HOOOOOOOOO!!!! WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee! Yeeeeeee-OW! I lllllllluuuuuuuuurrrrrrrvvvvvve 'em! Wooo!

A-hem.

My poor Noodle stayed home from school yesterday and she's not feeling well again today. The weird thing is: it's bad in the morning, then she's fine a couple of hours later, then she gets to feeling bad a couple more times during the day. Barely a fever, but I can tell she's not feeling well by the way her eyes look. Poor kidd-o.

I made some yummy chili yesterday. From the Best Recipe cookbook.

Do you have this cookbook?

It's a good one. I make a couple of the Asian dishes from there, too. Their beef and broccoli is FAN-tastic. I make that, and then their Spicy Sichuan Noodles with Pork. We make some sticky sushi rice and then bake up some frozen egg rolls from the grocery store and Voila! Big treat. But MESSY. Especially when one doesn't have a working dishwasher.

Hey. Speaking of which: Jen, from The Cottage Nest, asked me if this:

Is a Kitchen Aid brand dishwasher.

It's not. It's a Kenmore Elite. But maybe I should re-think? Jen says she wants a Bosch. Bosch is the way to go...and I've heard that from other people, too. I haven't checked out Consumer Reports yet.

What do you all know about dishwashers out there? C'mon. Share your dishwasher drama with me, friends!

Oh - more stuff. I got the Back To Basics toy catalog the other day. Love their stuff. Know what I want for Christmas?

This!

And This!!!
I totally remember these! I don't know if *I* had them, but I remember playing with them. I think Mrs. Schuno across the street may have had the TV. Wouldn't Franklin love to play with these? Maybe I should get these "for him". But, you know, keep them here at Elizabeth Hill so I can play with them. Errrrr, I mean, take care of them.

Oh! And GnipGnop!!! Remember that?

I tried calling my brother about this:

I think they had this! Evel and Kaptain Robbie!!! He never called me back (loser), I have memories of this toy for some reason.

Have a great day, everyone!

Working Fool

That's me, friends, I'm a working fool. I have a few things to get done, but I didn't want to leave you without some eye candy:





Franklin and I? We're a match made in heaven......he is happy as a clam at Target :)

All Bets Are Off

Zuddy has an opinion on the wallpaper.

Every once in a while he'll shock me with an opinion on something I assume he cares nothing about. Like when we were registering for dishes? I wanted some dishes with a basketweave pattern. "Oh no." says Zuddy, "I've been washing dishes for long enough to know not to agree to THAT!"
Waaaahat?! What the?
Fine. We find another option (which I like better anyway).

When we bought our house there was an agreement: I decorate as I please, but I have no say in the basement or garage (both are "man crisis centers").
Fine. (Well, I'm kind of encroaching on both spaces. But don't tell Zuddy.)

So tonight I have an email from Zuddy. He wants a say in the wallpaper. He's been giving it some pretty serious thought:






So.........what you think?

Making Progress!

Why I'm bothering to post these pictures, I don't know......can you even tell what's different?
I'll give you a hint: I've removed wallpaper.
Oh shucks, I gave it away....

I'm about 1/2 way done with the wallpaper removal.
And you know what? It's not so bad! I'm actually kind of enjoying it! The problem is, it's time consuming. So I basically get one wall done a day and then I clean up after myself.

Okay. Newsflash. I'm going to wallpaper again. I know, I know......just call me, "Captain Changehermind".
I already know which one I'm going to pick, but I'd like my friends' advice. Which one do you like best?
They are in no particular order and that one that's bigger? I have no idea why that happened. It's not some crazy subliminal message trick, or anything. So if you pick that one, I'll think you're a complete Sucker. Ha ha. Just kiddin'!

So which one?

So I've been stuck inside doing the wallpaper removal and it's been geeeeeeoooooooorrrrrrrgeous weather in these parts the last few days....so today I'm taking the day off of wallpaper removal. I've actually got some work to do that someone is paying me for.

For reals.

AND I'm going to do some billing today. So other people I've worked for can pay me.

For reals.

Hey - I stumbled upon a website this morning. It's called Finished Kitchens. It's real-life kitchen remodels. There are lots of pictures and a bunch of the remodels give product info and prices! Sa-WEET!

I could spend all freakin' day on this website, people. You wanna see a picture of my favorite kitchen so far?

Sweet Jesus, that's a beautiful kitchen!!! There are soooooooo many on this website, though, I'm sure I'll find many other beauties.

And so, my friends, will you.

Little Dream House

Hey there, internets!

I don't have anything remotely interesting to say today. Oh wait....."and how is this different than any other day", you say?
Yeah, yeah, I know.

I thought I'd share some pictures of a house in my neighborhood.
It's for sale. For the second time in 2 years. The first time it was pretty cheap and it was for sale a looooong time. I think it didn't sell because it's on a weird lot and there's no garage and no way to add a garage. Anyway, I think a "flipper" must've bought it and lived in it while making some improvements - a new kitchen is one of the improvements, though the old one was original and in good shape.

I love this house. Zuddy hates Dutch Colonials, but I LOVE them. So charming.


















Hey! See that yellow house in the background? The Garage Gourmet used to live there! On the upper level! He had a couple of kickin' parties there, too. Good times......
So anyway. There it is. All 1300 square feet. For the bargain basement price of $345,000. Did I mention the biggest bedroom (and there are 3) is 10x12?

Oh....another plus: The view and the treacherous front yard:

It would be a total beeeeeeotch to mow, but isn't it pretty?

Hey!

What's happenin' friends? Whatchya up to today?

AAAAaaaargh! It's so rainy here. It was nice when I was snuggled up in our attic bedroom listening to the rain on the roof, but now that I'm downstairs in our playroom/office? It's much less cozy and more......I don't know.....wet.

I was hoping to take the Noodle tromping through the woods today, but that's not going to happen, I think. And we never got that cake made yesterday. Noodle was invited over to the Sparkplug residence for a play date.

Oooo! A long time ago, Sparkplug Mom shared a picture of what the tile work would look like in her bathroom! Well, they're almost done and it looks JUST like the picture! Wanna see the picture?

Their sink and mirror isn't the same, but Sparkplug Dad totally recreated the tile work (The photos you see are a display at the tile place.) Isn't it just a great-looking room? Sparkplug Dad totally gutted the bathroom and has done all the work himself. That's one handy dude. And Mom has such great taste. I tell ya, they are the greatest family!

I took Franklin over there to drop the Noodle off and he was oh-so-happy to see all of the Sparkplugs! Then I took him back to our house and fed him some carrots, banana and crackers. He loved it! He was kicking his little leggies and chatting to me.

Here's a gratuitious Franklin shot:

SIGH......isn't he just the cutest? Believe me - those cheekers got LOTS of smoochies yesterday.

So I made that soup. Deelish. Roasted Tomato Basil from The Barefoot Contessa cookbook. Soooooooo good.

I've been in such a cooking mood since the weather has turned, but believe you me, it hasn't been like this in a looooong time. The Noodle is such a picky eater that I end up feeling like a punching bag at meal time. In fact, she made a face at the potatoes the other day and I let her have it.

Here's the deal at our house: You take one bite of everything. Don't like something? Fine. Just find something on your plate that you like and eat it, dammit! I'm not fighting with you and I'm not making you a separate dinner! I got this tactic from my dear friend, MJ. And every other day or so, I serve something I know the Noodle will like. So why is it so hard for her to get this? Still! I get a scrunched up face coupled with a whiney voice! I let her know how rude this is (for the umpteenth time) and told her she'd better not react like this at someone else's house! I'm sure she does, though.

Oh! Speaking of which: Mrs. Jones, you had to have seen Oprah when Jessica Seinfeld went on there and gave Oprah a taste of YOUR SPINACH BROWNIES!!! I hope she BOUGHT that recipe from you!

Okay. Today? We need to make that cake. I have a chocolate cake mix on hand from Target - their Archer Farms brand. It's the best cake mix out there, people. Then, I'm going to make the scratch buttercream from The Barefoot Contessa.

Then? We are cleaning this playroom. I started the other day and then someone called me and invited me to go for a walk with them. And exercise is more important than cleaning, right? Right. Especially for ElChubbo here.

Oh! I will leave you with a picture of the Clematis from my garden!

Oh! And some chinese lanterns!

Question: Does anyone out there know if these dry well?

Have a great day!

Things

I don't have much to say right now....but I've been up since 2:30 am and what's a girl to do??
Blog, that's what!

So, what's been happenin' here at Elizabeth Hill?

• The Noodle has the day off from school today (and tomorrow).
• We are making a cake together. Chocolate. With Chocolate frosting.
• We will hang with Franklin in the A.M.
• It's Schmakie's birthday and we need to get him a present.
• My friend Peg's birthday, too. I think I should probably send her the gift I got for her LAST YEAR!!! Happy Birthday, Peg!
• Kirsten's Birthday on the 25th.
• I watched the Matt Lauer interview with Larry Craig the other day. I don't know why.....I guess it was like a TRAIN WRECK and I couldn't tear my eyes away. Did you know he has a wide stance?
• Politicians give me the heebie-jeebies.
• I made a big dinner last night: Parmesan Chicken, homemade scalloped potatoes with garlic and fontina, green beans, salad.
• Whoever makes the dinner in our house is exempt from doing the dishes.
• I figure a few more dinners like the one we had last night, and zuddy will buy me this:
  

• I skipped a meeting last night.
• I always skip events in the evening. I'm a morning person.
• My brother Joe dropped Sweet Angel off at Elizabeth Hill while he did an errand. I can't take my eyes off of her gorgeous face. And her hair!

It's been rainy here. So I can't hang my sheets on the clothes line.

• I'm making Roasted Tomato Basil Soup today. I need to use up all of my Basil before it freezes here.
• I'm going to go on the sofa now and snooze until the Noodle wakes me.
• I'm going on the sofa because Zuddy is doing his "slow leak" snore: "Pssssssssssssssss"

Scary!

Wow.

In the wake of all of the lead-based paint issues with polly pockets and the like, I guess there's been a recall with some playground equipment. My friend Sal told me about it. I guess there are very few playgrounds unaffected by this recall, so just go to your local playground and make sure the slide isn't constructed like this one:










Have a great day.........and hey - let's be careful out there!

Tile

Hey! Guess what?

I went to a tiling class! It was fun and I know I can do the tiling by myself! Yay me!
Now.
I have some things to consider.....who wants to help me?
You do? Awwww, thanks! You're such a good friend!

Okay. Here they are:

• I can't get my mind off of marble tile. So pretty! And so expensive! Not only is it expensive, but would it look dumb with my cheap-o laminate coutertops? This is not the time to be polite. Just tell me...
  
  
  
  So... here they are. Aren't they pretty? One thing to consider here, besides the counter top and the price is I will have to rent a wet saw. Not a huge deal, but I will have to purchase all of the tiles at once and do the tiling in one fell-swoop. Since I tend to start and stop projects, this could be interesting.
  
• Another option: The tile place I went to has a really pretty tile with some crazing. I love it! It's cheaper than the marble, but more expensive than getting the subway tiles at Home Depot or Lowe's. Let's see if I can find a photo of it.........

Or.....I can just go to Home Depot and get a plain subway tile. Cheap...20 cents a piece.
By the way, I want to do a decorative strip and a chair rail-type tile, too. I can do this with any of the tile options - no problem. Here is and example of the look I'm going for:

Okay, but you know it's not going to be quite that extensive, right?
I'm just talking the subway tiles with a strip of the decorative tile and then a strip of the chair rail...although I'm kind of liking that diamond-shaped tile on top.....hmmmm......Well.....I don't have a lot of space to tile, so it can't get too fancy. Here's a reminder of what I will be tiling:

And I'm not getting all kooky, here, either. I'm just tiling from the counter tops to the upper cabinets.

And I have to wait for Zuddy to patch the holes in the walls.

So essentially, this may not happen till it's time for us to enter a nursing home.

What else is going on?

• I worked a little on Wednesday, on Thursday and Friday. So much FUN!!!! My friend Judy called and asked me to prepare a bunch of recipes for a taste panel. I got to work with her, my friend Sandy and I got to see my dear friend, Loree. Who, by the way, turned 50. And to celebrate? You know what she did? Ran the Twin Cities Marathon. Psycho. Happy Birthday, Loree!!! You're the best!
• We have a Bridal shower for my cousin, Katie today. I need to go and buy the gift. I will take a picture of the loot. It's a bunch of kitchen items that I love and can't live without. Franklin will be there. I can't wait to smooch his little cheeks and sniff his little head.
• Officer Mc Hott came over on Friday night to return something Zuddy loaned him. He stayed for a while and told us "cop stories". Zuddy and I LOVE his cop stories. He cracks us up. I want to set him up with my neighbor Jenny. Or me. Or Zuddy. Ha haaaaaaa! Just kidding. He and Jenny would make a good looking couple. Who cares if they have nothing in common, right? Tee hee.

All right! Have a great day :)

Nate on Oprah

DUDES.

Did you see Oprah yesterday??

I watched it right after my dear friend, Kirst, and I got back from Homegoods. We had just had this conversation about why we Americans feel the need to have everything we want, be materialistic, live beyond our means and decorate our houses to the hilt.

A-hem.

Anyway....did you see what he did to those houses???? My favorite was the kitchen - that couple was adorable! I want to be friends with them......did you hear when the lady said she wanted to marry Nate? She told him he could learn to love her, or something like that! Hilarious!

If you didn't see it, click here.

And here's a photo of the kichen:

Aaaaaahhhhhhh.............beeeeeaaaauuutious, huh?

Now.

I'm going to work today. So I can have this:

>

And this:



And maaaayyyyybe even THIS:

Clearly I'm not the one with the materialism issues, am I?

The Bowl of Coffee......

Yup. Looking at this picture, you really can't tell how large this cup is, but trust me, it fits more into the "bowl" category than the "cup" category.

My coffee consumption has drastically increased lately. I'm up to 2 bowls of coffee every blessed day, people.
I'm cutting down, starting..........never! Ha!!

No. Really, I'm going to start cutting back today.
Just a bowl and a half for me today...yessiree! Baby steps, right?
Right.

SIGH.

So many things to discuss......where to begin?

Okay.....how about the fact that I've been thinking about getting a job. But I'm sooooo stuck. There are huge benefits to me staying home with the Noodle.
"But wait!", you say, " The Noodle's not home on most days!"
See? Do you see where this is going?
Yeah.
I don't think my services are needed here anymore.

AND. Here's the thing: I can't finish the kitchen, get a new dishwasher or anything else until I bring in some ka-ching. So I'm scouting things out.....which brings me to my next photo.




This photo is featured on the AOL article entitled, "Jobs That Are Built To Last".

First of all: If I encountered this dude at the doctor's office, I'd run away.
Giggling.
Then, I'd make some ever-so-expected-in-poor-taste-naughty joke like, "He sure looks like he's built to last!"

He's just too hot.

Not even a remotely realistic depiction of a medical professional. Hey...I'm not saying medical professionals are ugly or anything. My doctor is a handsome guy. Just not smokin' hot.

But look at the way he's looking at us! Do you think he's interested in us? Ha haaaaaa!

So....back to reality.

I'm looking for a job that pays well and regularly, has virtually no responsibility, won't miss me when I have to stay home with my sick kid, and lets me off for summers and school holidays.

Hmmmm.

Is this the conundrum I keep reading about in all of those women's magazines?



More thoughts:

• I'm taking a tiling class next weekend. I can't wait. I'd like to start thinking about the backsplash


• I'm loving the new TV season!!! How about Pam and Jim on The Office??? And the Unit? Such a great show. Too bad they speak in covert language so much......I always have to have my Zuddy right there to translate for me. How about that. (Jonas always says that on the show.)


• I've been on a cooking binge with the cooler weather. I've made 2 soups: Carrot Ginger and White Bean with Kale. The White Bean and Kale soup I just shot from the hip and made it. Sooooooo good!!!! Even Zuddy loved it. We had nothing to eat in the house, but I had the kale lying around from my CSA box, a little bacon, carrots, onion, canned beans and some chicken stock from the freezer. Oh. And really good Parmesan. That's it!


• It's almost my Mommy's birthday! She'll be 67 years old! I can't believe it.


• Fran is STILL in the hospital!! Remember when I talked about my sister, Myrna's, Mom? It's been almost 2 weeks, I think! Last I heard, they were going to install a pacemaker. I think she's been a real puzzle for the doctors. (***since starting this post, I've heard that Fran has some internal bleeding and a gazillion ulcers in her stomach. They can't install the pacemaker until they stop the internal bleeding. If you're a pray-er, please say one for our Fran!)


• There is a big weekend of antiquing in my friend MJ's town of Buffalo, Minnesota!! I think it's this weekend!


• I need to update my blog list. Here's a great blog I've found through another one of my favorites: The Emory Restoration. The dude who writes this is a total riot. I found this blog through another favorite blog (one that every one knows about) , House In Progress.

• Franklin and I went to Ikea today. He LOVED it. He was actually all babbly and smiley!!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am. He was an absolute blast.

So that's it today. I'm about to go over to my neighbor's house and help her with the priming of her kitchen cabinets!

Have a great day :)

Stripping Wallpaper

Yes, I just started steaming off the wallpaper. Dave's friend loaned us his steamer and the steamer is working.......it's working so well that paint from some of the 80 years of this house's life is bubbling up after I get the wallpaper off. This work is not fun, friends. I do believe Mrs. Jones has warned me. The chances of me wallpapering again are slim. Just because I don't want to steam it off again.
Ever.

So anyway.....that's what we've been up to, here. Well, stripping the paper and doing this last weekend:

It was cold, rainy and a totally nappable weekend.

In other news, I've been spending more time with my boyfriend (Franklin). Turns out all he wants is a little field trip every day. It totally perks him up and gets us out of the house. We've been to Lowes, Home Goods, a park or two and a couple of coffee shops. He loves it! He even kind of likes riding in the car!

Oh - and my dishwasher is broken for THIRD time. Same malfunction every time. The weird thing is, the two times it's been fixed, the technician has fixed different things! What do you make of that?