21

Dinner at the Dipsy Doodle is how we spent Friday night, January 27, 2017. Our friends Lee and Judy met us there.
I visited my dad and then my sister on Saturday, January 28, 2017. We was in Sparta for the biggest part of the day. When we got back home that evening, I cooked dinner at home (shocker) and we watched One Tree Hill.

We had lunch at Olive Garden after church on Sunday, January 29, 2017. We visited Mildred for a while and went by to see Byrd and April's new house in Algood. The weather was rainy, but we ran in and out all day anyway. 

The record player that I ordered for Devin's birthday came just in time. It arrived on January 30, 2017.  Darlene and Gary went to dinner with me, Devin, Brookelynn and Stroker. Devin chose Buffalo Wild Wings.

Can't hardly wrap my head around the fact that he is 21. He seems to be pretty laid back about it.

I don't know about Devin, but I'm sure feeling older. I went for my second massage in two weeks on Tuesday, January 31, 2017.  This time she used some hot stones on my back.  That was relaxing.

And...that is it. January 2017 was over...

An Excuse to Shop

The new sectional arrived on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.  I like that there is room at each end for our large end tables.

I went to visit mom on Tuesday too. She had mail all over the kitchen table, so I organized what needed to be kept and what needed to be trashed. She said she always feels better after I get that done. I took her some Captain D's for dinner and she ate that while I was there.
Sterl stopped by the house to remind Brooke about helping with the little kids class for Wednesday night.
Brooke sent me a message on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 with a picture of her phone screen.

The entire screen was shattered. She dropped it coming out of class.  

I knew it was going to be an expensive fix. I called batteries plus bulbs and they wanted $500 to fix it.

Cellular Accessories said that they would have to call me back with a price because they had not repaired any iPhone 7+ yet.

They later called to tell me it would be $300.

When Brooke and Mary got home Wednesday evening, Mary went to turn on the ceiling fan and the cord broke.  They both were panicking at this point.  Of course the ceiling fan cord was just a $5 fix.

We had church Wednesday night, but didn't go to Cracker Barrel afterwords.

On Thursday, January 26, 2017 after we dropped Brooke off at school, Stroker and I headed on down to Green Hills in Nashville.  We took her phone to the Apple store because $150 was the lowest price that we could find to replace her screen. 

While they fixed her phone, we went to Nordstrom to shop a little.

We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory...yum

I got the chicken salad sandwich with side salad and soup. It was way too much for me to eat all at once.  Stroker got the Chicken Parmesan.

As we left, we drove by the juice bar, but didn't stop.

We drove by the church that I love to see. 

I had a massage appointment when we got back home.  

When I scheduled it, I thought it would be at the end of a stressful day, but turns out that the whole day was a relaxing experience.

Brooke, the Painter

I don't like to paint. I will paint, but I don't like to.  So, when Brooke approached me that she wanted to "make over" her room, I was not on board. The last thing I wanted to do was throw a painting job in on my weekend schedule. Brooke assured me that she would start and finish the painting herself if I would just take her to buy the paint.
Although I had a bad feeling about it, I reluctantly took Brooke and bought 2 gallons of white paint on Thursday, January 19, 2017.  It was a rainy Thursday and all I really wanted to do was kick back and watch a few episodes of One Tree Hill, but she was not giving in until we went paint shopping. Her plans were for a white and black bedroom.
Oh yeah,...my car hit a milestone mileage today too. I took a picture of it.

Brooke began painting her room Friday evening, January 20, 2017. We stayed home to make sure a painting catastrophe didn't happen. I inherited her desk since she didn't want it anymore.  

I figured she would give up painting after a couple of hours. That is why I assured her that if she didn't finish what she started, her room would stay the way she left it.  I cooked hamburgers and fries for dinner while she rolled paint until bedtime. Her friend Mary came over around 8 pm and helped for a couple of hours before they gave in for the night and fell asleep.
Brooke woke up around 8 am and took back into painting Saturday morning. She was on her third coat by now and it was looking good.  We sold our couch and helped the new owners load it up while Brooke put the finishing touches on her new paint job.  We also had to make a trip to Baxter on Saturday, January 21, 2017. We had lunch at Cheddar's after the completion of selling the couch, finish painting and our equipment pick up in Baxter.  It was a full agenda kinda Saturday, but very productive.
After church on Sunday, January 22, 2017, we went to Mount Juliet and had lunch at Red Robin.

Brooke wanted to shop for new decorations for her room to go with her white and black theme. Currently she has white walls, white trim, white curtains, and a white bed.  She was in desperate need to bring in some black to this "white & black" room.
We went to Target and TJ Maxx's Home Goods store to find shelving and wall accents.  When we got home Sunday evening, she "accidentally" ordered black bedding from Amazon.  She said she thought she was putting it in her cart, but bought it instead.  I think we are feeling the brunt of this room make over.  I may not have painted, but my I sure feel worn out.  At the same time, I sure am proud of Brooke. Here I thought that she would give up and quit, but she followed through until the job was finished.  She must take after me after all.

Cold weather set back in on Monday, January 23, 2017.  I cooked at home so we didn't have to get out in the cold. The high today was 44° and it got colder after dark. Devin left around 7:00 to go get gas. He called around 7:25 that his car wouldn't start. Stroker said " I bet he has ran it completely out of gas".  I didn't think that was the case since he made it all the way to the gas station and pumped gas, but what do I know?!

Stroker came back in about 10 minutes to get the jumper cables and went back. He called to ask me if I remembered how long ago it was that Devin bought his battery. I think it was just a couple of years ago, but what do I know?!

Then, Stroker called back to tell me that I was going to have to come to the gas station because he locked himself out of his truck with it running. 

😵

So, there we were...all three of us, in three different vehicles,  at the gas station. 

I just drove through and hit the unlock button on the key ring and pulled right back out on Willow to head home. Stroker and Devin drove to Auto Zone to check on a battery.

Turns out, the battery isn't even bad. Just a fluke thing that it wouldn't start I guess.

Couches

So, as we all know, I like to change out my family room furniture quite often.  And...as we all know, by "quite often", I mean basically every year.  So for the past few years, we have had....

  the brown sectional (2011)

the gray couch and love seat (2013)

We have had the green couch and love seat. (2015)

and last years beige couch and love seat (2016)

Well, in the last six months, I called an electrician and the cable company to relocate  the TV and add a fireplace.  After the change, we decided that we wanted to go back to having a sectional couch, so on Thursday, January 19, 2017, we went and picked one out.

So, there you have it.  Our 2017 sofa.  I like it because 

1.  It sits up off the floor so I can sweep under it, 

2.  None of the pillows are attached, so we can flip them or remove them if we want. 

3.  It comes with eight extra pillows.

I'm totally thinking that we will stick with this one for a while.  

It should be delivered next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, back at home, we watched more episodes from our current couch. It's been a rainy day, a good time to pile up on the couch.

Our Netflix Addiction

I had a hair appointment on Sunday, January 15, 2017, but it wasn't until late evening. 

We started the day at church and then had lunch at Outback. It was 70° outside so we kinda wanted to ride around for a while. We went and looked at an open house that a lady from church was having.  I have always liked open houses and Brooke takes after me. She loves them too.

I visited both mom and dad for a while on Monday, January 16, 2017.  I had a doctor appointment for a check up that day too.  We had the same 'ol talk about health and exercise.  I didn't mention the addiction that I have recently established with Netflix series.

I decided to make Philly Cheese-steak sandwiches at home for the first time. I thought they were pretty good, but I don't think anybody else cared too much for them.

While we ate, we watched more of One Tree Hill.

There are just too many seasons of this show...and they suck you into every single one.

We went to bed wanting to start another episode, but it was so late already, that we knew we needed to wait until Tuesday to sit through another 44 minutes.  

So, on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, I made Taco Salad for dinner... 

and we ate dinner on the couch.... and watched more episodes. 

I have been in front of the TV for a couple of weeks now. 

I should probably hide myself in shame.

Nah.

Moving on to some productivity....

I sold my desk on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.  

Brooke has been wanting hers out of her room, so I plan to use it for a while.  

She plans to get a make up vanity instead. Probably because she does more make up than homework.

💁

She has been helping with the youth at church on Wednesday nights here lately.

 I'm proud of her for that.  

We went to El Tapatio and had dinner before heading to church.

 I don't want those kids to see her when she is Hangry.

Scary Stuff

Our Sunday's always begin at church. Thank goodness we live just a mile from ours because we are always walking in just a few minutes before 10 am. Although, on Sunday, January 8, 2017 we somehow managed to get up and get to church about 20 minutes early. We had lunch with our church family afterwords at Rib City. Brooke isn't a big fan of Rib City, but the rest of us like it pretty well.
We spent the day catching up on episodes of One Tree Hill. It has consumed us here lately. Thank goodness it is winter so we have some extra time to binge watch.

Mary came over Sunday evening to spend the night. We had breakfast for dinner at IHOP.
We had snow day #2 for the year on Monday, January 9, 2017 because not all of the snow had melted off the back roads from Friday. I went to Sparta and had lunch with Maleigha on Monday.  I also took my mom to to her appointment to see Dr. Case here in Cookeville.

We stopped at the store before she went home because she was out of bugles and Pepsi. She sure loves Bugles, frito's and Pepsi these days.
I finally got Winter Jam tickets ordered on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.  I ordered 13 this year.  I also went through a lot of old files and shredded some of them to clear out some space. I have had the itch to organize in this new year.

The big news in Cookeville for Wednesday, January 11, 2017 didn't break until after church and dinner at the Cracker Barrel. It was about 9:30 pm when the alert came out that a woman had been abducted by an "armed and dangerous" man.  We received a phone call from the city at 11pm to keep the doors locked.  I thought that they would surely have him caught before Devin went to work.

The first thing I heard on Thursday, January 12, 2017 news was that the man was still on the loose.

That news was a little unsettling. There were news teams reporting just a mile and a half from us. It was around 11am before they found and arrested the man, but at least they found him.

😨

At the end of the day, we had dinner with Lee and Judy at Logan's.  That was a nice quiet end to an uneasy day.

We stayed in on Friday, January 13, 2017 and binged watched more episodes of One Tree Hill on Netflix. I also cooked Chicken and Bisquit Stew for dinner. I'll be honest, it didn't turn out too good.

I watched One Tree Hill ALL DAY on Saturday, January 14, 2017.  My husband helped my brother-in-law for a few hours to get moved into his new place. Other than that time, he was right there beside me.  I'm telling ya..do not get sucked in to this show.

Hello 2017

As I woke up in a brand new year, I felt no different.  I didn't feel like making any resolutions, any changes or looking forward to anything. It just feels like another year. I guess it's because I know it is going to be over before I know it.  I can't keep up anymore. Days feel like seconds, weeks pass like they are minutes and years are over before I even get used to writing the correct year on a check.
🎜🎝I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time, what is it that I've done with my life? It happens in a blink...🎜🎝

Well, I hit the floor running on the first day of the year. Sunday, January 1, 2017 was my day for breakfast at church. I made pigs in a blanket and a cheese danish. I even made it to church in time to serve it (insert giggle).
We went to lunch at O'Charley's after church, which was when I had a chance to sit down and eat. There were about twelve of us at lunch today. We took our time, talked, laughed and hung out for a while. When we got back home, we just rested on the couch.
I spent the entire day at home on Monday, January 2, 2017 too.  I baked a strawberry cake, tried to catch up on this blog a little and made a crock pot dinner (which no-one ate).  
We went to the movies on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 to see the Denzel Washington  movie Fences.  Talk about a movie that reminds me of life...that one was exhausting.  Good,...but exhausting

On Wednesday, January 4, 2017 we had to a delivery before church. After church we had dinner at Cracker Barrel.
We made a up Thursday evening, January 5, 2017.  Snow was predicted that day too, but it never made an appearance.
Friday, January 6, 2016 was clear and cold until 7am, that's when the snow started falling, it got slick fast. Schools were called off for the 1st snow day of the year. Although the first half of the day was tricky to drive on, the roads were clear by evening. We met Sterl and Debi for dinner at Olive Garden.
Saturday, January 7, 2017 was the first weekend of the year and the first rental of the year for us. Thank goodness it was indoors because the high temperature for the day was 11℉.  Brooke went to Mary's for a sleepover Saturday night. We had pizza delivered and watched Netflix movies.
That is the only way to spend a cold January Saturday night.

Closing 2016

Monday, December 26, 2016 was the beginning of many days of rest for me. I was so excited to get busy doing NOTHING. Before I could begin my week of laying on the couch, I had to put Christmas away. So first thing Monday morning, I took down all the tree decorations, took down the tree, the Christmas cards, and everything else relating to decoration.
Once packed away, I had one more small task of changing out the patio outlet (for the second time in a week).  Somehow moisture keeps getting to it and ruining the gfi.

Stroker and I had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and then came home to crash. 

On Tuesday, December 27, 2016, I got up, went to moms and disassembled her Christmas tree. I vacuumed and cleaned her house a little while I was there. I also stopped by my dads for about an hour. 

When I got home, Stroker cooked steaks on the grill because the weather was holding out pretty nice. It was almost 70 degrees outside

Wednesday, December 28, I went shopping for an adjustable base for our bed. I thought I wanted one that just raises and lowers the head, but when the sales guy showed me how raising your feet relieves your back, I was sold.

That evening, the Brooke's came to Cookeville for dinner and our Christmas gift exchange. We decided on O'Charley's because they have something that everybody likes...and it was free pie Wednesday.  

Afterwords, we drove to Smithville to see the "light fest" that I have been seeing advertised at all the traffic lights in Cookeville.
What a light show...it was down by the lake, which was a little creepy. We were the only vehicle in the area and we could have seen more lights at Dogwood park than at this place.

On a good note, we got to hang our with Brandon, Erin and Ansley for a little while longer.
My new adjustable base bed was delivered on Thursday, December 29, 2016.  It feels amazing.
I cooked dinner at home and we watched Netfix movies until bedtime.
We hauled our old boxsprings off on Friday, December 30, 2017.  We hung out at the house all day for the rest of Friday. We have kinda been binging on Netfix shows these last couple of days.
I visited mom and dad again on new years eve Saturday, December 31, 2016.  What better way to end the year, than with visits to your parents.
New Year's Eve night, Stroker and I went to Steve and Georgi's and hung out until the new year rang in.  It was our kinda party. Relaxing on the couch streaming the Rich Froning documentary.  I would take relaxing on the couch over a wild night of dancing and drinking any day.

We did toast in the new year and laughed at Mariah Carey's sad attempt at a performance before heading home and hitting the hay.  Happy New Year Everybody.