I want to blog...... I really, really do.

It bothers me when I let a week go by without posting...... Maybe it shouldn't. I'd like to blog more, but life just gets so busy! I'd love to blog everyday, that is, if I had something interesting to say or show. But I think I'd be happy with 2-3 times a week. That is my goal. And it seems realistic right now.

So, if you'd like to know what has been keeping me so busy lately, here it goes:

Last week, my husband had to take a mandatory week off work (4th time this year) so I decided to take a weeks vacation too. We had a lot of things to do around the house as we are going to have a busy Fall. Mostly, I had wanted to do a thorough cleaning of the house. Not just because it needed it, but because we were having company over the holiday weekend. You have to be in the right kind of mood for that cleaning, and I was! Maybe I am more of a Fall cleaner than a Spring cleaner. I had a service come and clean my couches and rugs. I washed most all my windows and the tedious blinds. Floors. Dusting. Organizing. You get the idea. Also, we still had to put up the new woodwork in the dining room (that's right, the one we had redone in the Spring from the water damage and are just now getting to the wood trim)!!! As much as I protested getting involved in a project that was mostly my husbands idea, we had fun together staining and varnishing the wood. An early morning trip to get lumber and Starbucks....... Finding and listening to an old White Lion cassette tape in the basement as we worked........ Good times. And I must admit, what we have up so far looks great!

Many people asked if I had time to work on jewelry or scrapbooking while I was off and the answer is no. It was kind of a bummer, but I feel good about everything else I got done. But, it wasn't all work - we did enjoy things like lunch out with friends and boating one day.

Then, my brother came to visit (from Wisconsin) for the long weekend with his fiancee and their son. We had a great time together! Saturday, we went to Gilmore Car Museum.
The museum has probably a complete collection of every type of hood ornament ever created. How exciting to see there were peacocks and owls! While many of the auto manufacturers had their own signature ones, many companies made them as aftermarket accessories. I know if I ever have a big ole fancy car, I would have to find a peacock!

On Sunday, we went to the Binder Park Zoo. Here are a few of my favorite pics from that outing:

Eric, Kaylan and Cody

Jon and I

I was disappointed that not many of their 20+ peacocks were out and about, but then again it was pretty crowded. The ones that we did end up seeing had lost their tail feathers for the season.

The biggest highlight of our zoo is that you get to feed giraffes. Cody was pretty thrilled!

The weather was beautiful all weekend, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate turning 32!

Now it's back to the daily grind, and I am trying to get on some sort of routine here. The hubster is back in school on Tuesday and Wednesday nights so that should motivate me to get on a schedule of jewelry making and blogging!