We're Back!

We're back and trying to get caught up on work and home stuff...don't really have much to say right now, but I'll share a few pics from our trip. Enjoy!

I'll share more later...Adios!

Freshly Painted Doors

I have finally painted the interior of our new side and back doors!

Before:

After:

Dramatic difference, I know. And sorry again for the bad pic...I still don't have my camera back.

A few things to keep in mind when painting aluminum doors:

• Don't tape anything. This is more of my golden rule for painting anything as it makes a bigger mess than it's worth!
• Do the third coat, just to be safe.
• Use a paint that is a primer/paint combination...it definitely saves time!
• Give the paint a couple of days to dry and then apply an even coat of polyurethane. I haven't done this yet, but it will keep the paint from scratching off the surface.

I still need to paint the exterior, but as I mentioned yesterday, Ida has made her way through and left everything soaking wet. I cannot bear the thought of painting and then watching it peel due to moisture in the air, so I'll wait until we are home from vacation.

Speaking of vacation...3 DAYS!!!!

Bad Weather = Crock Pot

Hurricane Ida is making her way through Atlanta, and doing it very slowly since it has been steadily raining ALL day. At about 4:30 p.m., I was kicking myself for not watching the weather channel to know that rain was coming so that I could plan a Crock Pot meal. I'm obsessed with that godly little machine this fall. Since I had to miss out, I thought I would share my favorite Crock Pot chili recipe with you...enjoy!

Classic Beef Chili - 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 28 ounces pinto beans, canned, drained
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes, canned
• 2 green chilies, chopped
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons green onions, sliced

Directions

1. Brown the meat in a skillet.
2. Add meat and remaining ingredients to slow cooker.
3. Cover; cook on Low 10-12 hours or High 5-6 hours.

Manic Monday

What a weekend! Here's the abridged version...

Friday: Shane got back from being out of town the whole entire week and we hung out with our friend, Kirn (who had only been to our house once - by the way :)), at a local place. It was fun, from what I remember.

Saturday: Recovery. TV watching. Napping. Then got ready for our friends Austin and Kelly to come over. We hung out for a while and then headed out for a night on the town. Lots of fun and so nice to show them our neck of the woods!

Sunday: Shopping. Shopping. Shopping. Got lots of good stuff for projects and activities...more to come.

And Monday, blah. However, my team at work volunteered with the Atlanta Children's Shelter this afternoon. I was really NOT excited about it, but once I got there and saw the faces of those little children...it was totally worth it and I actually had fun!

P.S. We have only six short days until we depart for the Dominican Republic. I.Can't.Wait.

Seems Broken...Most Likely

I was in training, again, today in downtown Atlanta. During my lunch break, I grabbed my PB&J and headed down to the Ballard Backroom off of Howell Mill Road. This is the outlet version of the popular Ballard Designs and I had heard rave reviews. so I had to check it out for myself.

I walk in and veer to the right but then notice signs that say 'FULL PRICE ITEMS' and then quickly veer to the left where I see the randomly arranged and broken stuff. That's more in my price range. I am mosey-ing through and notice a lamp with a burlap lamp shade...beeline...so cute, but you are $200- outrageous! No thanks. I continue mosey-ing and see the same lamp in green but the shade is a little crooked. I walk over to straighten it up, naturally, and see that it is broken. And only $20! I then have a flash of DIY confidence and pick that puppy up, while holding the top of the lamp so that it doesn't fall completely off, as it is only attached with Scotch tape.

Here is the little beauty that I plan on nursing back to health (sorry for bad pics, had to use my phone):

The base is a little off center...looks like it was repaired with hot glue at one point.

Check that price! Original Price: $199.99; Sale Price $19.99. Holla!

What a steal! I have no idea where it will go, but I had to have it...don't you just love getting stuff like this?!?

The Librarian Yelled at Me

I was in a training class today and got out a little early, so on my way home I decided to stop by the library and drop off a book I had checked out and pick up the next in the series (yes, it's still the Karin Slaughter series and I'm obsessed). I find my book, as well as this month's book club book (yes, I'm just now getting started and our meeting is next week), and proceed to the checkout counter.

I'm greeted by a mousy little guy. I hand him my library card, he scans it and then lets out a really heavy sigh. 'Uh, you have several late fees here that will need to be paid before you can check out another book. It looks like the book you just returned was 43 days late and the two that you returned a few weeks ago were 23 days late...AND, you put an audio book in the night drop.' I am a little taken back by this TOTALLY RANDOM attack so I respond with 'Okay, well how much are the fees, and where should I return audio books in the future?' He informs me that my late fees total a whopping $9.70 and the audio books go in the drop box at the front of the building - DUH!


I get out my check card and go to ask some more questions about the deadlines on my new books, but before I can get my question out he tells me they only accept cash or check. Okkkkaaaayyyyy.....I had cash, but didn't want to break a $20 (yeah, I'm not sure why either...they are sacred, I guess) so I write him a check.


He finally lets me ask about the deadlines and the process around checking books out, since I wasn't properly informed during my last visit, and I swear he was talking so loud as he explained it! Almost like he was showing off in front of the other librarians! I have no problem copping an attitude in a situation like this, but I honestly had no idea what to do...so I thanked him (for the embarassing verbal lashing), tucked my tail between my legs and left the building. The walk from the desk to the exit felt like a mile long.


I have thus learned my lesson and swear to never be late ever again. I put my book due dates on my Outlook calendar at work and on my Google calendar.

I'm sorry....so sorry...I'll never do it again. Swear.

Chill Weekend, Getting Things Done, Movie Review

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween weekend! Shane and I took it easy this weekend...

Friday: Had dinner with the family...lots of wine and good conversation! We didn't quite make it to the movie though. Instead, we headed home and crashed around midnight.

Saturday: Hung out with friend's all day for Halloween and the Ga. v. Florida game...eating, drinking, chatting... It was good to catch up with Dave and Jennie and to see their little boy, Asher, in his very first Halloween costume - so cute! Unfortunately, Georgia lost...but that's not hard to do when you play a bunch of cheating thugs. :) Right, Shane?

Sunday: Cleaned the house and got a lot of housework done! I cleaned out my closet and went through all my clothes and got rid of a huge trash bag full of clothes and shoes. We also cleaned out the hallway closet as well. Now that all of the landscaping is complete, Shane sprayed off the driveway where the fill dirt was and we now have a clean place to park! Afterwards, we finally made it to see 'Paranormal Activity.' The movie was pretty scary and reminded me a lot of 'The Blair Witch Project.' My only complaint is that the ending was a little 'off.' They could have made a small change and it would have kept me up at night. I think that Shane was a little more terrified, seeing that he wanted to sleep with the lights and TV on all night.

This week has been pretty busy so far - I'm in training all day tomorrow and Thursday and Shane is out of town for work. However, I promise to post pics of the landscaping clean up sometime this week. Adios!