Date Night! And the rest of the weekend

Joseph asked me out on a date.

It was pretty serious.

He took his car out of the garage, came up front and rang the doorbell.

He said he would take me to a formal dinner if I wanted, but he knows how much I love...

Oh yeah. I chose the pretzels.

It was fun to pretend we were on a date getting to know each other. We asked the getting to know you questions that one asks on a date. Tried to stay away from talking about day-to-day routines that are a part of being a married couple. He looked into my eyes and made my heart flutter.

He leaned close and whispered, "You have such beautiful blue eyes."
I teased him and said, "Do you say that to all of the girls?"
He teased back and said, "No. Some of them have brown eyes."

He said our reservations (to some unknown, surprise place) weren't until 9:00, so we walked around the mall a bit.

I said, "Ooh, look, a moon-shaped cookie cutter."
He replied with, "You want the moon? I'll give you the moon."

The surprise reservation ended up being an improv club called Jesterz. It was hilarious.

We got out about 10:30. J informed me that the third part of the date was to go out dancing...if I wanted to. J isn't a fan of dancing and I was kind of tired, so I told him we could do that another time. When we got home he put on some music and slow danced with me. It was perfect.

J had a nerd conference the rest of the weekend. And my Mom decided the doors were ready to be painted. We painted the exterior in the heat of the summer (post can be found here).

Since J was at the conference, I painted the two doors by myself. This is the front door before.

I was taking a break to eat some food and I had three dogs staring at me. Yes, one of those dogs is my own. It could have been worse. This is only half of the dog population at my Mom's house that day.

And it's done. I know it only looks like I did the trim, but I painted that whole door, plus the trim, plus the frame on the outside (the door had to be left open so it could dry - the section with the hinges and door knob plate).

There is a whole other back door that I realized I didn't get a before picture until I was halfway done painting it and I decided I just didn't care.

The door painting took all day. At one point Breezy walked past me and said, "You are definitely the best daughter. I am ok with the number two spot." The things I do to stay on top.

That night J was supposed to come home and we were going to a friend's surprise birthday party, but he ended up going to an after party that was a good networking opportunity and I went to the birthday party alone. I missed that boy.

I forgot my rings at my Mom's house. I took them off so they wouldn't get covered in paint. And then I forgot my friend's gift card and showed up to her party empty handed. I really miss my memory.

Sunday J had another half day of conference. His brother Jacob recently bought a car for $500. Needless to say, it needs a little work. He asked if I wouldn't mind driving out with him to where it's parked in the east valley. He was hoping to get it fixed and drive it home. Unfortunately, he had to leave it there, but he did get some work done.

Look at the height on this kid.

It was a good weekend. Always over too soon.

Happy Birthday Sissies

We went to dinner at Carrabba's last night to celebrate my baby sister Breezy turning 21 and my oldest nephew Matt turning 16.

Matt is so tall. I think he's over 6 ft now. When he was younger I used to call him midget. Yes, as I post that on the internet I realize it is probably an inappropriate, offensive term. But now that he's so tall I think calling him midget is funny...all the good jokes are offensive anyway.

I can't believe my baby sister is 21. Is it weird that her being 21 makes me feel older than the fact that I will be 30 this year? I don't even care about being 30. But my baby, sweet, innocent sister being 21? I feel the cold whisper of death.

Speaking of the cold whisper of death.

At Sunday night family dinner sisters were asking what I was going to do for my 30th birthday. I'm not sure if I'm going to throw a party (I have certain discomforts with being a host - making sure everyone is having a good time, worrying when not everyone knows each other, etc) or go on a trip. This resulted in a conversation that my mom promptly posted on FB:

Daughter Deidre turns 30 this year. She might do a nice trip, so was trying to get myself invited along by saying I turn 59 this year, and might be a big year, as could be dead by 60. "Everyone needs a goal," Deidre replied.

Mom's Christmas Present

Awhile back my Mom posted a picture on FB of a plaque that said, "I can't remember if I'm the Good Sister or the Evil One."

I thought it would be a good Christmas present.

My first issue was that I needed to route the edges if I was going to put it on a piece of wood. So I took a routing class, learned what features to look for in a router, bought a router, and got to work.

I love my Silhouette machine. I asked J for help picking out a nice font.

And it's done. One edge is a little rough because I'm new at routing, so quit judging.

New Shed

My only complaint about my little house is my lack of storage. I don't know how I ended up with so much stuff. I think back to when J and I were first married and we lived in one small bedroom (we lived with my sister). Then we got an apartment and bought our first couch and table. And I remember when we bought our house and it seemed so empty.

We cleaned out our garage so J could park in there, and our bikes ended up in the guest bedroom. When Jacob (Joseph's brother) moved in, the bikes ended up in the shed (blog posts here and here). Joseph was not happy about that. That shed is his garden shed and he could barely walk in there to get his tools.

So we made plans to buy/build another shed. We saved up money, found a good deal, and got to work.

It was the same time his family was in town. So I felt a little bad that they ended up helping, but I REALLY appreciated the help. Especially since it was one of those tin sheds that have 1,005 screws. I'm not even exaggerating.

We built the base the same as the other shed - pavers.

The boys had a throwing sand bag contest.

It feels so good to have that crossed off my List. My garage is cleaned out so I can actually open my door far enough to exit my truck normally instead of squeezing through two inches of space.