No Swimming Allowed at The Yellow Brick House

It has been very hot where I live in the Midwest the last couple of days.  I miss my saltwater swimming pool.  Last year at this time I had this:

This year with this hot, humid summer I have this:

Yea, a big backyard with only grass, trees, leaves and some crazy dogs.  Oh well, at least the air conditioner works!

Clearing The Clutter for Coco

Coco has the shower tiles started

Coco has been calling me asking for help at her house.  She is undergoing a major renovation project make that projects at her home that she bought four months ago.  She wasn't living in it, but now she wants to move in.  She asked Mr. B. and I to help with the tiling in her bathroom.  I picked Father's Day to come over; sorry Mr. B., you didn't get your day of rest and relaxation.   So on Sunday morning, we headed over to Coco's house to help out.  Mr. B. never did get started on tiling in her bathroom, he wasn't comfortable using the dry tile cutter, said he was used to using a wet saw to cut tiles.  Instead we got to work on clearing the clutter.  We concentrated on mainly two rooms, her kitchen and dining room.  We cleaned, scrubbed, dusted, swept and mopped the floors, moved furnishings, cleaned windows, organized items, painted baseboards, repaired a screen door, fixed leaky faucets, and put hinges on a broken door.  It took us many hours, but in the end, Coco was surprised when she got home from work.  In her words, "You can see the wooden floors again!"

Kitchen--Before

Kitchen---After

Dining Room---Before

Dining Room--After.  No dining room furniture yet, it's still the room for supplies.  But we did find the floor!

Single Girls: Advice To Find a Man---Get Edging!

I just learned something new about male behavior this past weekend.  I now know from observation; if you want to get a man's attention, go outside and start edging.  Yes, edging ladies.  Edging gets a man's attention quicker than that brand new dress you just charged to impress.  How do I know this?  This past weekend, Mr. B. was outside edging by hand, our long driveway at the yellow brick house.  I occasionally looked up from my desk at the front window and every time I did, I saw a different guy standing next to Mr. B. talking and pointing.   I counted six, yes 6 guys, that walked over or stopped by to talk to Mr. B.                                                                When Mr. B. came back into the house,  I made the comment, "Oh, I see our neighbor across the street finally came over to introduce himself; afterall, it only took him 7 months to say hello."  I was being sarcastic.   "Why did he stop by today?"

"He came over to comment on my edging."  Mr. B. explained.  "He said I did a really nice job.  He told me he used to do his driveway, but didn't have the time for it anymore."


"What?"  Did I hear him correctly?   "He was impressed with your edging?  That's what brought him over to introduce himself?"   I was trying to figure this out.


"Yep."  


I had to ask him about the other guys I saw at the end of my driveway.  "Well, who was the guy walking the little dog that stopped by to talk to you?"


"Oh, that was our neighbor, he lives two houses down the street on the opposite side of the road."


"Why did he stop, what was he talking to you about?"


"He told me I did a really nice job edging."  Mr. B. replied proudly.  "He told me he used to do his edging by hand too, but his back is really bad now, so he bought an edging machine and now uses it do his driveway."


"Really??"   I just couldn't believe these men and their fascination with edging.   "What was Tom doing over here?"  I had recognized our next door neighbor Tom when he walked over and started talking to Mr. B. too.

"He just wanted to tell me that my edging job looked really good."

After Tom left, I counted three more guys that stopped at the driveway to talk to Mr. B.  One guy was jogging, and Mr. B. said he had actually stopped his run to pay a compliment to him on the edging job in progress.


"What?!"   "All these guys and they all want to talk about edging? It's like a sporting event for them.   I'm just completely baffled by this male behavior!  I've never seen anything like it!"    This was getting ridiculous.  These men were more excited over this edging job than what most women get over a shoe sale.  "What is with you men and edging?" I asked Mr. B.


Mr. B. calmly replied, "I don't know, Brad says one can never do too much edging."


Brad is Mr. B.'s boss, the owner of a housing community who happens to enlist his maintenance team to edge all of the streets and driveways twice a year.  Brad gets excited over edging too.


Mr. B., "Did you see the white SUV that stopped in front of the driveway?"


"Yes I did.  Who was that?"


"That was Herb, our neighbor from four houses down, he lives in the red brick house." 


"Let me guess.  He wanted to talk to you about your edging."


"Yep.  He said it looked really good.  He said I did a nice job."


"Okay, I just don't get it."   "What is the big deal with men and edging?"  Mr. B. was laughing at me.  It was like he had a man secret and wasn't going to spill the beans.                                                I persisted,   "Does it have something to do with shaving their faces, is that like edging to you guys?"   "You know, the perfect line, the cleaning up?"     I was truly perplexed.   "I just find it so strange, all these men stopping by to compliment you on the edging you did."


"Well, one can never do too much edging."  Mr. B. was using one of Brad's favorite quotes again, "But I do know one thing."  Mr. B. stated.


"What's that?"  I asked, hoping to hear an explanation to all this foolish male behavior.  


"If Lola wants to get a boyfriend, tell her to take a wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a rake out front and stand at the end of the driveway and start doing some edging.  She only needs to start it and soon she'll have all kinds of guys stopping by to talk to her."


"Oh brother!"  I had to laugh.  "I guess edging is just a man thing."  Who knows?

The edging completed.  It's a man thing.

Baby Belle Graduates!!

Belle strikes a pose with Coco after the graduation ceremony

Belle enjoying some strawberries while big sisters Lola & Coco & friends talk in the background

Belle's all set with diploma in hand

Belle and I

My youngest; my baby girl Belle, graduated from university today.  Congratulations, Belle.  She worked really hard to get to this place, spending countless hours with her books.   Within the last month Belle has gotten a new job, had a birthday, graduated, and moved into her first apartment.  A girl with a vision, a girl with tenacity, a girl with a diploma, a girl with determination.  And most important, a girl with a mother that just adores her!!!  Way to go Belle!

Belle's smiling, she's glad it's over.  Or maybe she is smiling at Lola (in her left lens) or Coco (in her right lens).

First Trip Out

All my see-through containers ready to pack for our first camping trip

This past weekend marked our first camping trip for Mr. B. and I in our new, used RV.   It wasn't a good weekend.  Blame it on the weather.  It was too hot!!  Ninety-five degrees hot.   Just way too hot to go camping in our RV with an air conditioner that does not work, 3 panting dogs,a camp site with no trees, and a shower that does not shower. I was excited getting everything organized and packing all 11 of our new, see-through containers that we bought for our camping trips.  I was really excited to go.  Surprise was on us.  Neither of us knew that the air conditioner would not work, it had worked at home in the driveway.  The shower worked too....in the driveway at home.   

Rosco sitting on the bed while Cosmo in the background keeps an eye on Mr. B. making breakfast.  We ate, then left.  Quickly.

  It was so hot this past weekend I felt like I was melting.  I thought I looked like "Frosty The Snowman" melting; slowly melting into the ground.  That's how I felt.  My clothes were soaked with sweat right to the undergarments, my hair was wet and a frizzy mess, my ankles were swollen, and my face was dripping sweat.  Literally.  Lovely.   I have never felt so hot, sweaty, or uncomfortable.  The dogs were all panting endlessly.  I couldn't wait to go home.  I just wanted to go home, get me out of this place!  And then....at midnight, Saturday, Mr. B. figured out the problem.  We got the air back on.  Within 15 minutes the dogs settled down and my sweat evaporated.  I decided to jump in the shower. 

  I had just stepped inside the shower, and the water stopped.  The shower no longer worked.  The nice shower flow turned into a dribble.  Mr. B. took his tools and a flashlight outside; again, but couldn't find or fix the problem.  This sweaty, stinky body had to wash under a little, teeny, tiny dribble of water.  Needless to say we woke up early the next morning, packed up and drove home.  RV problems currently getting fixed in my driveway at the yellow brick house while I watch from inside my air conditioned house.

This RV is not moving again until all systems are running properly!

Birthday Belle!

Happy 24th birthday Belle!

My baby girl, Belle, just had her 24th birthday.  I can't believe it, 24 years old!  I say this every year.  Every year since she turned 16 years old.  Suddenly, as a parent, you realize your youngest is getting older.  And we all know what that means!

Belle's proud of herself.  She blew all 24 candles out on the first try.  Wow, it sure is smoky in here!

Happy 24th Baby Girl!!  and....many, many more!

Beware!! The Plants will Get You!

Coco--I think it likes you!

My three amazing daughters had some strange run-ins with plants-of all things-while on vacation.

Belle takes a break.  I hope that's a rock you're sitting on!

Lola likes this one!

Belle and Coco's favorite

Belle looks like a little fairy in front of her tree home.

Coco

Green, green everywhere.  Lola and Coco enjoying the plants and trees

Motivation

Two swans at peace on the lake

Motivation can be found everyday at 'The Daily Motivator' blog.  I like this one for the 1st of June.  Ralph Marston certainly has a creative talent for this.  Have a read:
http://www.greatday.com/motivate/index.html