My House Feels Naked, Does Yours?

 

Christmas is no longer in my house, but now I am starting with a clean slate for the New Year. I forget how much clutter Christmas decorations entail until I take it all down….yikes!

I made out like a bandit this Christmas and am still busy burning holes in all of the gift cards. How about you? I still think that my neighbor got the coolest gift, a hovercraft.

I think that Murphy Grace and I need one of these to run around the yard, but they are very noisy. (imagine like 10 gas leaf blowers all going at the same time)

I have some resolutions for the New Year and they include posting more regularly and sharing more crafty projects. There is a great book that just came out by Gretchen Rubin called The Happiness Project. This book will be a major player for my life in the coming months. I am looking forward to becoming happier and maybe even healthier!

Right now, I have to get back to filling some blank walls and throwing the prime rib in the oven.

May you have a very Happy and Safe New Years Celebration and I will see you on the flip side!

My Dad was Here & I Have the Rocks to Prove It.

 

My dad and Maria went back to Arizona today and left me with tons of warm fuzzies. (in part thanks to the warm and fuzzy down jackets they gave to Art and I)

We were both nervous to see each other, but I didn’t puke or freak out when they drove up. Even though they did go to the wrong house at first. 

I wore pants with zippers for 3 days straight. That is cause for celebration right there.

We ate too much. Maybe that isn’t fair, I ate too much, I could hibernate like a bear in my pants without zippers right now.

We saw seals. Turns out, they don’t have those in Arizona. Who knew?

We went to Moonstone Beach, where they have cool rocks instead of sand. Not to be confused with the ugly rocks that I have in my front yard. Now I have a jar of Daddy Rocks.

We saw cool seagulls with peanuts in their mouth. Do they have those in AZ? I am thinking not.

We went outlet shopping, but I didn’t take any pictures there. You know what an outlet looks like right?

We walked here. We saw lots of happy California cows. We visited the glassblowers in the tiny town of Harmony, population 18. How do I know that? Because they had t-shirts, shot glasses and a bunch of other crap telling us.

Most importantly, we reconnected and they got to met Art and Murphy Grace. They wanted to bring Murphy home with them, but never said anything about bringing Art with them. Hmm, don’t tell him that, his feelings might be hurt.

My daddy, me, and my step mommie, Maria. She will kill me for saying that, but she can’t because she is now in AZ.

I also learned that they read my blog because they stressed that I am more important than the dog several times. Opps, now I have to watch what I say. Must not mention strangling their dog again. She was cute, by the way.

A grand time was had by all, I hope and I can’t thank them enough for making the trip. I am just happy and grateful all the way around.

Merry Christmas everybody and just in case my mom reads my blog too……for Christmas, I really want a lampworking torch and a kiln so that I can make my own beads.

This post brought to you by a very happy girl that got to see her daddy for Christmas.

A Christmas Miracle Almost Ruined by a Dog. (This time it wasn't Murphy Grace)

 

Long before Murphy Grace and I found each other and I started to blog, I was a member of a another great community, Gather.com.  I met people like j r of the blog, Frugality is Free, Heather of My Frugal Family and Sophie of Opening Lines.

The online friendships are something that I really treasure on Gather, but I have a secret. They have great contests and I love those too.

On Wednesday, thanks to Gather and Hallmark, I won a contest to send my daddy to me for Christmas. The prize package included airfare, $250 in transportation costs and a $100 Hallmark gift card. (If interested, you can check out my entry)

I was overjoyed because I haven’t seen my dad in years and he has never even met the love of my life, Art or Murphy Grace. (Is is possible to have two loves in a life?)

What should have been a great thing turned into an emotional nightmare because my dad has a dog. He didn’t want to fly with this little 7 pound wonder because he was worried about her stress levels. Yet, he didn’t want to leave her with a boarder either.

He also didn’t get the concept of when you win a contest like this, there are some ground rules, like he has to travel on certain dates, etc.

There were a lot of phone calls between him and I and a lot of emails between the wonderful people at Gather and I, but for my sanity, I had to stop. It is not so great to seem less important than a dog and it really felt like my dad was passing up the chance to see me after it had been seven long years for a dog.

I couldn’t take it anymore; when I say emotional nightmare, I mean it. I finally emailed Gather and asked them to give the prize to the runner up, someone that has a family that really wants to see them.

IT HURT! More than the black eyes and a conked head, let me tell you.

A few hours and many more tears later, my dad called and told me that he had rented a car and they would be here on the 20th. (Mind you, if he had just been open to this a few hours earlier, Gather probably would have paid for it)

So, this year, for Christmas, this little girl is going to see her daddy and gonna have to hold herself back from strangling a 7 pound Chihuahua named Abbie.

My Gather friends don’t know this story yet because I have been waiting for Gather to announce the change. I sure hope that they do give it to the runner up. I am totally embarrassed and hope that all the other entrants understand.

I was just a girl, who wanted to see her daddy for Christmas and now doesn’t like Chihuahuas. Murphy Grace will crush her like a bug, I better watch that:)

P.S. because of all of this drama, I am way behind in reading and responding to my bloggy friends. I will catch up soon.

A Bloody Nose, A Slight Concussion & Maybe Another Giant Dog..

It has been a busy week here at Murphy Grace Home, let me take you on a trip back to last Thursday…inset weird time warp music here……

While I don’t follow any organized religion, I do enjoy learning about other people’s views and their faiths. With that in mind, I have taken to weekly discussions with a nice Jehovah’s Witness person named Darlene. We wax on the bible, talk about the events of the day, compare their teachings to my Catholic upbringing, etc.

Thursday, sitting on the front patio, we are chatting about the role of women in marriage when Murphy Grace manages to get out from the backyard. He is not, uh, how do I put this, very socialized or very graceful. (hence the middle name) He lands in my lap, where with his 70 plus pounds of overabundance he smacks me in the nose with his hard head.

There is blood everywhere very quickly. The Jehovah’s Witness lady, who I lovingly refer to the “Up with Jesus” lady behind her back has nothing to say except, “That is a lot of blood.” Meanwhile, I am trying to staunch the flow biting my lip to stop the flow of cuss words that is flying through my brain at Murphy Grace. If I was still a practicing Catholic, I would have to gone to confession for just thinking those words if you know what I mean.

We all lived and looking back, the whole thing was rather funny. Of course, it wasn’t so funny when I woke up on Friday with a nice black eye, but as long as I don’t look in the mirror, I am golden.

…..insert time warp music here again….

Last night, I deserved this one. I was trying to do a replay of sorts of Murphy Grace once again, proving the laws of physics. You see, minutes earlier he had bashed his head on the closed sliding glass door. This is a frightenly regular occurrence in our home, except this time, instead of just hearing the thud, I was there to witness it. (It isn’t like I even keep the doors clean mind you, he just doesn’t look)

So here I am, pretending that the back of the couch was the glass door and mimicking his idiotic crash, when I see a black blur. Next thing I know, I am flat out on the living room floor and while I can hear Art laughing, he also has a sort of worried look on his face. The darn dog hit me so hard on the right side of the head that I actually conked out for a bit. This time, I can’t even think of any cuss words because it feels like my skull is cracked and my brain is leaking out from somewhere to the left.

I was worried about going to sleep. Aren’t ya not supposed to go to sleep when ya get conked on the head? My head hurt too much to google it, so I just gambled on it being an old wives tale and hit the hay.

I am still trying to shake a horrible headache and now two black eyes today when my mom calls from the local animal shelter. It seems that they have two Great Danes that need a home and she wonders if I would like them. Gotta love a mom that remembers that you have a thing for Great Danes, but her timing sucks.

I am not so sure that my body can take it, so I told her that I would think about it………

Editing this to add one of the Danes that my mom wants me to look at. He is a mix and weighs in at over 100 pounds….

Say hi to Tuxedo, he looks a lot like Murphy, only bigger.

I am still thinking….and aching….any good make up tips to cover up two black eyes?

I Scored with a Dresser!

 

Get your mind out of the gutter. I picked up a great dresser last week and I am still dancing my deal’s praises.

I have been chillin’ with my friend Craig, you know CraigsList, for a while chatting up dressers when I came across this beauty.

I know that she doesn’t look like much in this picture, but she is a classic beauty made of Elm wood and all decked out in dovetailed finery.

The best part was the price, $25 for an antique dresser! I know many of you will ask, “What color are ya gonna paint her?” I am not going to touch her. She is perfect just the way she is and I have an aversion to painting antiques if they are in pretty good shape.

Now my all of my unmentionables have a home and they no longer have to share with Art’s in his dresser. They are almost as excited as I am. (Yes, I asked my socks what they thought and they cheered!)