Backyard BBQ

In order to celebrate moving into Dream House and "debut" the house to my besties I decided to have a Backyard BBQ. There are 9 kids among me and my 4 besties so backyard was definitely the way to go. Plus, I figured it's pretty easy to grill and have picnic-type sides. I really did not think the BBQ was that big of a deal. I even called it a "No Judgement BBQ" to imply that my friends could not judge me for the unsettled state of the house, since the BBQ was scheduled for exactly 3 weekends after we moved in.

What I didn't count on was that of those 3 weekends, one was moving in and two were out of town. This fact caused Mr. Molly to feel very unsettled about having 8 adults and 7 kids over to look at our unpacked boxes and not hung pictures. Of course, he underestimated the power of Molly's Mom and her unpacking/decorating/overall awesomeness. In addition to that, I decided to rent a bounce house and take a day off of work to clean in the hopes that Mr. Molly would relax about it.

The BBQ was really low key and fun. The Bounce House was very key (my co-worker loaned it to me for $0.25 - SCORE!!)

Everyone brought food and the kids had a ball. My besties liked the house, though it was a lovely day/evening so we all just hung out outside. My kids enjoyed showing their friends their rooms and playroom and they all got into the dress up.

Even Mr. Molly had to admit, the No Judgement BBQ was a success and a really relaxing and fun experience. Can't WAIT to entertain a LOT more as we continue to get settled into Dream House.

Next Door Neighbors

When we were looking for houses there were 2 for sale on our street, right next to each other.  "How odd!" we thought.  The one we didn't buy was listed for a lot more $$$ (presumably because it is all brick and has a 3 car garage).  But we couldn't tell exactly why because they were using Stepford's Worst Realtors and they take terrible pictures to put on realtor.com.  All the pictures were of the kitchen and backyard and there was one picture of one bedroom.  None of the supposedly amazing finished basement.  The listing also said they wanted 24hrs notice before any showings, so I assumed that Buffy* and Clive* were just private people. 

When we moved into Dream House, Buffy and Clive's house was still for sale.  Note: We didn't move into Dream House until more than 8 weeks after closing.  We met a couple of our neighbors.  Two families came by and one we ran into while the kids were jumping in puddles after a rainstorm.  But we never even saw Buffy and Clive. 

We saw them drive to their house in their BMW convertible and Jaguar.  We saw their kid's Range Rover parked outside.  We knew from internet stalking that they both worked at Mr. Molly's (large) company.  They were around, we just never saw them. 

When we met each of the other neighbors they told us about people on the cul-de-sac but no one ever mentioned Buffy and Clive.  Other neighbors also work at Mr. Molly's company and none of them even knew that Buffy and Clive also work there.  We were starting to think that they were just hermits.

Then their house went into contract!  Which we found out on realtor.com because you are not allowed to put "in contract" on your fancy for sale signs in the Stepford Country Club.  And they decided to have a "Moving Sale."  You can bet your bottom dollar that I was going to check out that moving sale and also Buffy and Clive.

I had a good excuse, Cindy had left me a key to their house and it was only right for me to return it before they moved.  So I went over there.  The driveway was littered with presumably expensive antiques.  I gave them their key and they were actually super-nice people, really friendly and conversational.  They were busy with the moving and they had 2 daughters in college.  I asked them where they were moving to. 

They said, "Just to the other side of the neighborhood.  We needed to upgrade."  Literally, they said that.  To someone who just worked their ass off to afford the $0.5M house next door.  Nice.

Anyway, the next day they came over with a blueberry cake and a week later they were gone, off to their fancy new house on the other side of the Stepford Country Club.

Enter TM - Texas Mike*.  TM moved in next door.  I finally got to meet him yesterday.  I have yet to figure him out 100% and he has basically zero internet footprint so is difficult to stalk.  Here's what I know about TM:

• He is an oncologist at a big university and spends 75% of his time researching ovarian cancer (his job starts next week)
• He moved here from the DC area
• He appears to be living in that 4,645 sq ft house by himself
• He was born and raised in Austin, TX
• He loves food and wine and football.
• He looks like a big teddy bear
• He likes to spend time with his dad and brother (who live in TX)

So based on what I know, I'm super-freakin excited b/c TM seems awesome and reminds me so much of our former next door neighbor from old house (who ironically moved to DC) who we love so much.  I gave him some cookies and told him I'd have him over for a pasta dinner sometime.  Who knows, I may even have him over this weekend for Molly's Mom's Famous Ribs.

* All names have been changed on this blog
** If you are reading on a google reader then you can't see the KEY to the right that explains all my abbreviations

Wordless Wednesday #6 - 1st Apartment

Photo Credit:  Lakeview Associates

More Updates and Hand-Me-Downs

Every time we get a visitor from that state where Molly's parents live the house get a brand new update!  This time Molly's dad was driving through and brought with him a car packed with goodies.

The Dining Room got a Grandmother Clock that used to be Molly's parents.  It is not working but I'm pretty sure I'm ok with that because I remember from growing up that when it works it is LOUD and I hated having to wind it.  For now its job will be to look pretty.

The Dining Room also got a silver tray for the buffet courtesy of Molly's grandmother. 

The Master Bedroom got some new pillows for the sitting chairs.  Remember when I said I needed them?

One of the biggest updates was to the "Drop Zone".  When we were looking at houses we really wanted a "mud room" where the kids could drop their stuff in some kind of organized fashion when they came in from the garage.  Dream House doesn't have that, but we created our own "Drop Zone" thanks to a repainted set of hooks for the wall (used to be in our basement stairway in old house) some Pottery Barn organizers (used to be in our kitchen in old house) and a new bench (used to be in the kids' bedroom at Molly's Mom's house).  Molly's mom also got that cute little car bin for all of us to drop our keys, sunglasses, etc. So far it works great.

Mr. Molly's office got a new oriental rug (was in storage at Molly's Parents' house) but we haven't unrolled it yet so more pictures to come.

But the coup de grace was an original oil painting for the kitchen.  This also came from Molly's Mom's house, though I'm not sure if she had it up or not.  She bought it from the artist when they lived in California and had it re framed.  It's not hanging yet - we let her do those kinds of things - but this is what it looks like:

It will add a lot of color to the kitchen.

There were a couple other things; a new wastebasket for the laundry room, some clothes for the kids, and homemade Italian cookies.  You can imagine it was a very packed car.  

Can't wait for Molly's mom to arrive in 2 days and finish it off!

Cleaning Lady

Our cleaning lady (CL) has been with us for over 5 years.  I don't remember exactly when she started but I know it was before I got pregnant, which was in June 2007. 

She started with us in our old house and she watched that house transform as we bought furniture, had kids, and Molly's Mom continuously redecorated.  CL had a key to our old house and we didn't think twice about it.  As she got openings in her schedule, I referred her to my friends.  My friends moved away and they referred her to their friends. 

Needless to say even though we don't see CL very often, communicating mostly through hand written notes, she is like a part of our family.  She did our final move out cleaning of our old house and she also cleaned our AH once or twice (I can't remember because I blocked those 6 weeks out of my mind). 

Shortly before we moved out of AH I got a call from CL's sister (who I have never met).  It turned out that CL was in the hospital with a collapsed lung.  As they were working to repair the lung, they found a spot of lung cancer.  We were devastated.  However, over time they were able to repair the lung and remove the cancer at the same time and she did not require any cancer treatment.  This woman has been through a lot and is extremely strong.  We are so happy that she is recovering because it could have been much much worse.

She said that her recovery was going to be 7-8 weeks.  She never specifically said she was coming back to work, but I assumed she was.  Regardless, I ended up sitting in the brand new (to us) 4500 sq ft house with no cleaning lady.  Oh and did I mention that Cindy left it not so very clean?  Well that too.

So I called one of those "Molly Maids" type services to get a quote on a one time cleaning, just to get us through until CL could come back.  They quoted me $700.  Uh huh.  Yeah right.

So I went to the store and bought cleaning supplies and decided I would do it myself.  Jeez louise.  The problem with cleaning is that once you start,  you can't stop.  You begin seeing dirt in places that you never noticed it before.  Plus, I have no "free time" since I work full time, have 2 kids, and have a Big Brother addition.

All this is to say that I have rediscovered how to clean.  I don't hate cleaning, I just don't have time to do it.  CL is coming back to work and has me on her schedule for 8/29 (PRAISE THE LORD) and all this cleaning drama will be over soon.  That is until Mr. Molly tells me that we can't afford to have CL clean this entire 4500 sq ft house every 2 weeks so I end up doing part of it myself anyway.

Game Table

I don't really have a lot of hobbies.  In my past I have dabbled in some things... at one point in time I liked to cross stitch.  Before I had kids, I used to read books. 

One thing I've always enjoyed doing is jigsaw puzzles.  I freakin' love jigsaw puzzles.  Lucky for me, Mr. Molly's sister and her husband also love jigsaw puzzles.  As such, ever since I was welcomed into their family 6 years ago we have always had the opportunity to do jigsaw puzzles together over holidays, visits, or vacations. 

Molly's mom knows how much I love them, and so she set up a table in her house so that when we visit there I can work on puzzles.  The table is in the bonus room so that the kids can be playing, the guys can be watching TV, Molly's mom can be on her computer at her desk, and I can be doing my puzzles.  I like to be where the action is.

At Mr. Molly's parents house we are always trying to find the best place to do a puzzle.  Before we had kids, we did puzzles in the garden room.  There was a glass top table and we could spread out there and the mess would be out of the way of any visitors and meals.  Once the kids arrived it was harder to keep the pieces "safe."  Then one day I leaned on the table the wrong way, one side tipped up into the air and came crashing down shattering glass and puzzle pieces all over the garden room.  So that was the end of that. 

We tried doing puzzles on the dining room table but that never worked because it interfered with family visits and meals.  The last time I was there we were relegated to a card table in the family room.  It was ok though b/c that's where most of the action was located and I like to be where the action is.

I have never had an apartment or house big enough to have an entire area devoted to jigsaw puzzles.  Probably few people do.  But now I do!  There is a big huge spot in my basement just ripe for a game table.  At first, I thought of getting a specific puzzle table.  They look like this:

They have pull out drawers to sort the pieces and sometimes a lazy susan type top that rotates to different people can work on different parts.  Most specific puzzle tables are folding and/or portable because (as stated before) most people don't have space in their homes for all puzzles all the time.

But I do!  So it doesn't really make sense to put a portable table there.  Instead it makes more sense to have a more all-purpose game table.  Something round that lots of people can sit at and play games.  Card games, board games, and of course jigsaw puzzles.  It could be a friendly alcoholic game night, or a family game night with the kids.  So versatile, so very awesome. 

Now I just need to find this dream game table and not spend $2,000.

The possibilities are endless:

Wordless Wednesday #5

Pillows

I never before realized how important pillows are to a home.  The quality and quantity of your pillows can make or break your home (when it comes to the judgement of guests). 

For one there are the decorative/throw pillows that go on couches and chairs.  I'm not entirely happy with all my ones in the family room, and I don't have ANY in the basement.  Molly's Mom says pillows don't work well on faux leather.  I will try to prove her wrong.  I also need some comfy ones for the sitting area in the master bedroom (see Wordless Wednesday #4). 

But a bigger issue is the pillows you have on your beds.  There are sleeping pillows, what I call "hugging pillows," and decorative "making the bed" pillows.  Ironically, at least in our house, the "making the bed" pillows are the ones of highest quality.  But when you actually go to bed, they just get thrown on the floor.

Note:  In the middle of writing this, through a conversation with Bestie, I realized that writing a blog post about pillows may be a new low.  However I've already gone this far and so in honor of pillows everywhere I shall continue.

"Thank you Molly!  We are honored!"

In our house we have 5 beds.  How many pillows do you think are required for 5 beds?  Seriously.  If I knew how to insert a poll here, I would.  You probably can't answer accurately unless you know the size of the beds.  Well then it's 2 twin beds, 2 double beds, and 1 queen.  Now what do you think?  Time's up, pencils down.

My answer is 24.

Currently we have 18.  Hence, I need 6 pillows.  2 of them would be decorative for the boys' rooms and I think Molly's Mom is going to be dealing with that over Christmas so now I need 4.  Where do they go?  2 on each guest bed.  Why is this important? 

It's not really.  Because these ones I need are not decorative and I have guests coming 3 times this month.  Hence, my oldest son and I are taking a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond tonight to buy 4 pillows.  You're welcome future guests.

According to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, when you are purchasing sleeping/hugging pillows you need to be cognisant of the Fiber, Fill Power, and Size.  It's like the 4 C's of buying a diamond.  Except it's a pillow.  They actually sell a pillow that costs $220.  Might as well be a diamond.
It looks like this:
Obviously, $220 each, right?
The cheapest pillow they have is $6 and it looks like this:

You can totally tell the difference, right?

So anyway.  I'll get something in between that my guests will love and now you know everything you ever needed to know about pillows.  But just in case you want to know more, here you go.  You're welcome readers.



Wordless Wednesday #4