A Giant Garlic!!!!

Snapped this gem in my daily travels today. (Little did I know I'd drive by it four times today. I could've gotten a better picture!)

What happens with this thing AFTER the garlic fest? Do they store it somewhere in a box? Or is it on permanent display?

I'm quite certain I've never seen a giant blow up garlic. Thank goodness it was the frankfurter fest....

The Drayer.....Our Backyard Renovation

The Drayer.

The house that found us before we found it.  Or, more accurately, the house that conspired with Sweet Sarah unbeknownst to moi.

Rewind our story to 2010, December to be exact.  We are house hunting in Northeast, Ohio preparing for my work relocation.  A cold Saturday with snow on the ground and we had eight houses on the schedule for the day.  [This after narrowing down from no less than 2,218 houses online].

After touring the sixth house, I called mercy and told the realtor we NEEDEDTOEAT!!!!!!  Goodness!  Didn't she know I needed to eat in regular intervals because my Uncle is a diabetic? sheesh!

Anywho, after a tasty lunch in this amazingly cute, quaint, fall-in-love and think you've been transported to New England town, we headed to the next house.  This house, mind you, was only on the list because Sweet Sarah insisted.  I had absolutely zero, I repeat, ZERO interest in this house.  ZERO.  I mean, come on!!!!  NO CURB APPEAL.  To say nothing of the fact that it was built in 1873!!!!!  [have I mentioned Sweet Sarah had no interest in home improvement or knew what a phillips head screwdriver was???  Ummm, yeah.]

Seriously!  No curb appeal.

"I'm callin' my shot right now.  THIS is our house." confidently declared Sweet Sarah as we pull in the driveway.

Sigh.

Shoot.  She was right.  [don't tell her, but she usually is on things like these....]

And the rest is history.

The Drayer and I have a love/hate relationship.  The ol' gal has good bones.  And when you walk in her doors there's a zen like quality to her.  But dear Lord, there should be a Medicare program for the ol' dame.  At least a co-pay option or a prescription drug plan.  You know, I'm pretty sure there's some statistic that like 80% of hip replacements are subsidized through government help.  Maybe I could get The Drayer signed up.  She doesn't have a hipped roof.  But she does have a crown that we just replaced, a few major joints need repair, and the creaking arthritis sure is catching up to her.

PEOPLE!!! Need I remind you, her hallway floor fell in a month ago????

But I digress.......

After much planning and hem-hawing we decided to embark on a backyard renovation.  The planning started back in April.  Born out of my constant desire to be outside, to dine al fresco, to myrtle in the yard and Sweet Sarah's natural ability to attract every.single.biting.stinging.flying.thing the MINUTE she steps outside, we decided to put on a screened porch.

That, of course, grew in to a full fledged P.R.O.J.E.C.T.

That involves one of these!

I look great up there don't I?  I know.  I'm a natural.  Pretty much I was born to haul rock.  It's what I do.

But alas, I didn't haul ANY of rock [even though I was born to haul rock].  Nor did I move any dirt.  Nope, this is a job for professionals.  

Ok, anyway, I''ll post pictures of the projects as it progresses.

As a side note, when we signed on the dotted line they told us "Three weeks, give or take."  On the second day of the project they told us, "At least a month and a half."  Yeah, that's close....oh, well.

So here are the pics.

The patio will be bigger and will have a fire table

The turnaround will be replaced with a level grassy knoll [ok, I don't think it'll be a knoll.  Actually, I don't really know what constitutes a knoll.  Come to think of it, I don't think a knoll is level.  It sounded good though.]

The screen porch will be added where the current deck is

Turn around, deck and patio will all be changed!

This is after one week of work.

We learned from the next door neighbors this rock was excavated when the basement was built for the family room in 1984.  It will be a part of the garden once finished. 

Some poor little college kid moved every last one of those suckers BY HAND!!!!  Wowza.  [One summer in high school I worked for a landscaper.  I'm pretty sure I never had to move barn stone by hand!]

                                           

No more deck.  Look closely at the screen door.
You'll see the duct tape where Jack "Ferris Bueller" the cat escaped last week.

                                           

More to come!!!!  Stay tuned.  

Gotta run, I'm sure there's a pipe leaking somewhere.

So this little guy?

The quietest, smallest least demanding living being occupying space at The Drayer.

Tonight he went for it.  Yep, he waited for his chance and he decided to "bust up outta here!"

That's right.  After Sweet Sarah and I returned from our bike ride, having been gone about 45 minutes, we walked in to Teddy, the much more vocal brother cat, SCREAMING A MEOW with his head through the hole in the screen door.

Yep, that's right.  Jack, pushed through my Spannvention duct-tape, theft proof (but not kitten proof) screen repair.  

And oh.  oh.  OH!  OH YEAH!!!  I forgot to add that the backyard renovators also ripped off the back stairs.  So he pushed through the screen and promptly dropped four feet!

Nevertheless, by the time we realized what was happening, he was out of sight.  And, so you know what happens next.  Controlled panic.  Lots of "herekittykittykittykittykittykitty" and subdued run/walking trying to find him quietly praying he hasn't decided to cross the road.

We found him after a bit of searching.  He was hunkered down in the neighbors back yard under the ginormous hosta, scared to death.

Now he's lying on the floor in the family room proudly exuding the "I'M DA' BOMB!!!!  THAT'S RIGHT.  BOOYA TEDDY!!!!  I DID IT.  YOU DIDN'T.  SMELL THAT!"

And Sweet Sarah?  Well, I'm pretty sure she aged a few years in a matter of minutes.

Friends forever....even longer

With nineteen years behind us, I could write a book about these women.  Like many women of six different lives, scattered about geographically we've been through much----dating, weddings, cross country moves, sickness, babies (lots of babies!), losing a parent, job changes, new homes, retirements and much, much more.  

Through all the years, there is always one constant....conversation that feeds the soul and laughter that never ends.

Two weeks ago we got together for our annual summer getaway.  As always, we had a blast.  We saw the largest statue of Virgin Mary in North America and the longest covered bridge in the United States. We geocached [though quite dampened by the rain] and shared some wonderful meals.  Our accommodations were beautiful right on the lake and we spent a beautiful day wine tasting in Ashtabula County.  We all enjoy the adventures, but mostly, we love, love, love the conversation and laughter.

Humbling work...

I'm pretty sure I haven't ever spoken of my work on the blog before. I'm not sure that's been as much of a conscious decision as I'd like to take credit for. If pressed, I certainly could list reasons why I have made decisions not to post things about my work--confidentiality, sensitivity, assumed disinterest in the three of you that read my posts.

But today I feel compelled to share a small bit of my world. In April we went through a re-alignment, complete with new job assignments and territories. Not radically different, but enough different that I've spent the better part of 120 days building relationships and yelling at Gabby the gps "GO AHEAD AND RE-CALCULATE ALL YOU WANT! I'M NOT TAKING THAT ROUTE!!!!!!" as I have tried to navigate my new territory. (It hasn't always been pretty people).

And given the re-alignment, I've experienced and am still experiencing all of the highs and lows and early successes and stupid mistakes and "oh my gosh I'm exhausted of the newness" and the "holy cow, did I make a mistake taking this job" emotions.

So much so that today I think God sent me a clear reminder to give it the ol' Nemo try "just keep going. Just keep going". And I was reminded of WHY I do what I do.

This is a text I got from one of my agents today.

How many people get to do that for a living? To say nothing of the fact that even though she can't bring the husband back, the $250,000 check she delivered will help ease a lot of stress that comes in times like those.

Hug your spouse today.

(And check on your life insurance coverage)

A little palette party

Love it when I accidentally create a new little magic for my mouth.

Stumbled on this today.

Chili cheese wheat thin with a slice of peach

#todiefor

Spanngenuity

I come from a long line of Einsteins.  Inventing, like rock hauling, is in our blood.

Dead serious.

Completely.

Don't believe me?  Let me give you an example.  I'm not sure how long ago coffee pots starting including an auto start timer option.  But I can tell you that my grandpa was WAY out ahead of this trend.  

The man worked swing shift for many, many years.  And let's be honest.  Swing shift is perpetual walking dead.  I mean, one summer in college I worked swing shift.  No joke, on my first full 24 hours off I slept 18 hours of it.  Yep.  Went to bed around 9 pm and didn't wake up until my mom came in my room when she got home from work that evening!!!  I had NO idea where I was when she woke me.  

Anywho....Well Hurshell had just about enough of the getting up, running downstairs to make coffee and then back upstairs to shower and then back downstairs to get coffee and then back upstairs to get ready.  So, Einstein 2, whom I called Poppy, put an end to it.  

That's right.  The man put a switch in his bedroom closet that was wired downstairs into the kitchen.  Before going to bed he prepped his coffeepot.  When he awoke, he reached in the closet and turned on the coffeepot.

Voila!  The autoswitch for the coffeepot was born.

And if you dare remember not having a remote control, but were lucky enough to have a TV in your bedroom?  Back then, there were only three channels so surfing wasn't really the issue.  The issue was having to get out of bed to turn the TV off after you had dozed off to Johnny Carson.

Guess who solved THAT problem?  Yep.  You got it.  Poppy.  Wrapped around their headboard was a switch that powered the TV.

I could go on and on.  Riding lawn mower safety flap lift.  Travel remote control storage in the camper. [when my sisters and cousins read this, I'm sure they'll add to the list].

Mostly, I'm proud to report the Spanngenuity lives on in the latest invention.

My cousin, Jen recently discovered her dashboard lights were no longer working.  After a bit of research, she learned this could be a costly fix.  

Enter Spanngenuity.

She has fixed the issue.  Check it out.

6.99 with TWO settings!!!!  Who knew there were other uses for head lamps?  Who?  Jen did, that's who!

Pure brilliance!

Long live Spanngenuity!!!!!!

For a good cause....

Yesterday wasn't just wonderful because we got to spend time with family.  Yesterday was wonderful because we walked for a good cause.

We participated in the Pan Can Purple Stride in Columbus in honor of my Aunt Mar---a 4 1/2 year survivor and Donna Sanders Waddell, my cousin Jaime's aunt.

We had a blast.



But more imporantly we raised money for a good cause.  And the most moving past, as with any of these events, was seeing the number of SURVIVORS!  Honestly, pancreatic cancer s.u.r.v.i.v.o.r.s.  Praise the Lord!

Laura and Spencer

Two sleepy looking Spann girls!

How GREAT is this guy??!

1,000 participants and over $100,000 raised!

Jaime and Spencer

Julie, Jen and Mark

Yours truly and Sweet Sarah

Jaime, Julie and Sweet Sarah

And check this cheerleader out!  Tutu, Lens-less purple glasses and a kazoo!
[I have NO idea what I'm straddling here]

The wine always wins...

And this is what happens when you're more concerned about uncorking the wine than cooking your meal.

You win some, you lose some.

Tonight = winner!!