STOP!!!!!

And so it begins. Winter.  For realz. Oddly enough, I don't like it any more than I did last year.

It started with a winter storm warning on Sunday night letting me know to expect 3-5" of snow yesterday, with an expected 6-12" more today. Fan-frickin-tastic.

First casualty, Kev unable to get home from Atlanta last night because the flight into Escanaba was canceled. Awesome sauce.

On a good note from last night, the bossman came out and plowed my driveway with his truck. A huge thanks for that!! He's basically my driveway savior when Kev is out of town.

I awoke this morning to noise on the bathroom skylight. Great. That can only mean one thing.....rain. Now, this can mean one of two things; either it's really warm out, or it's raining and freezing.

I'll give you one guess as to which one it's doing here. I hopped in my lovely new vehicle and even with that nice all wheel drive, the fact that my road isn't plowed (and probs won't be for days) means the road was trying to pull me every which way but straight. And of course, because it's raining, I had to stop and get gas. I can't believe there isn't a damn full service gas station anywhere because today I would have liked that.

I got to work and after firing up the computer, I figured I'd message Kev to tell him what the weather is doing. He messaged me just as I was about to and told me he was getting on the plane to Detroit and wanted to know what I thought his odds were of making it here. Ummm.....not good. But since he has nothing better to do, he decided to risk it. Worst case scenario, he said he'll get to Detroit, eat some Taco Bell and then hop a flight back to Atlanta. Unfortunately, if that happens I won't see him for another week because there's no point in coming home for 8 hours.

So yup. Great start to our Tuesday.

I did do my nails again last night. That's two days in a row! Go me!!

This one is a little different than my normal stuff.

I have to say I rather like this one! The brown is China Glaze Soft Sienna Silks. I did the usual Seche Vite topcoat before stamping with Sinful Colors Black on Black and the DRK-A stamp. Then I used the Sally Hansen Big Matte topcoat. I'm a fan of the topcoat and this mani.

I'm sitting at work waiting for the boss to make his revisions on a divorce judgment. After that I have no clue what we'll be doing. The courthouse is closed for Veterans Day, and we have no clients on the calender. 

When I drove into work, it looked like half the damn town was shut down because of the weather. I swear, not only do people forget how to drive during the first couple of storms, they act like this weather is foreign to them. I understand the schools being closed but don't understand the wusses that are evidently sitting home right now. Seriously, you DO live here, correct?

It's not like this stuff is abnormal. It's Upper Michigan. It's winter. Same shit, different year.  You should have learned how to function in it by now.

Crap. I just checked the flight status. Delayed. Just as I thought, doesn't look too promising. 

MADE OUT WITH THIS ONE. TWICE.

It is absolutely gorg outside. Sunny and warm and summer-ish. It feels so good! I went outside to refill a couple of the hummingbird feeders in a sweatshirt and realized that I was way overdressed. I'm just so accustomed to automatically dressing for winter that it hadn't occurred to me that it might actually be over 60 degrees. But it is! 64, to be exact.

I've been waiting for the weekend because I was planning to plant all of the flowers that we bought. The area along the garage needs to be cleared of the "decorative" rocks that are in there. Then the dirt needs to be all dug up and added to with some good stuff. I went to the moving company and got unprinted newspaper so I am ready to plant.

Even though I didn't ask him to, Kev had gone outside before he had to leave for work on Thursday to shovel the top layer into the wheelbarrow so it would be easier for me to get in there and dig.

15 minutes later he came in, sweating like a buffalo, and informed me that it was going to be a LOT more work than we thought. Great.  I still figured I would at least make an attempt today. Right now the plants are just all in their little nursery boxes sitting on top of the rocks. After I watered them, I put on my gardening gloves, grabbed the little shovel and went to work. 

Or tried to. It ain't happening. I'd need a jackhammer to get through that stuff. I'm so saddy-pants that now I can't plant until next week. Then I decided I would take my Supertunia out of the big pot and try again. It's looking a smidge wilty so I broke up the root system a little more, added some more dirt and replanted it. 

Kev also found time to put up the hooks along the garage for my new hummingbird feeders. They are super cute, and I love them. I now have 3 window feeders and 7 hanging feeders up. That's a lot considering I only know of 2 females and 2 males living here. There might be more, but I've seen 2 females eating at the same time and 2 males eating at the same time. Hopefully there are 2 nests with babes coming soon. Of course, there may be more adults but I haven't paid close enough attention to figure it out.

So if those 4 want sugar water, there is no lack of that here. I've yet to see any of them go near the flowers, but they are loving all of the feeders.

For some reason I have also already had to kill 3 hornets in the house. Um....not a fan of those little bastards. I haven't seen a nest anywhere. Usually late in the summer we get a yellow jacket wasp nest under the front porch, but Kev has a plan to prevent that this year.

I did this mani on Thursday night, and I am so in love with it.  I love when something I picture in my mind turns out exactly that way.

I actually did try going with a lighter grey first but didn't like it so much. I'm glad I tested that on just my thumb before painting all ten with the light color. I also was a bit concerned on how the pink flowers would hold up with no topcoat on them, but they are still perfect.

The dark grey is Julep Brandt, and just like always, it went on like a dream. I'm annoyed with what Julep has been offering in the Maven boxes lately, but I do like their formula.
 
I then used the Butter London matte topcoat.....still my fave matte topcoat. For the Llarowe LeaLac B stamp, I used China Glaze Admire.  I've used that for stamping before, and it's amazeballs. I also wanted that to stay shinier, thus the no topcoat.

I may take this off today if I find some nail inspiration. If not, I'm more than happy to look at it for another day.

I wish I had an outdoor chaise lounger. I'd probs throw on a swimsuit and lay out. I need to get my tan on. This is damn near shorts season today, and I wouldn't want to blink and miss all of it.

Instead, since I can't play outside with the flowers, I guess I'll do laundry.

This makes me very sad.

I THINK THESE ARE PRETTY GOOD....JUST SAYIN'

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally!! I had put out a couple of old catch and release traps that I used to use because of my sneaky little escapee. I had quit using them because I can't see inside and they open way too easily when trying to move them.  But I caught me a mouse around 10:30 last night in one of those different traps I put out. I didn't even hear it snap shut, and he hadn't even eaten the peanut butter so I don't think he was in there for very long.  I checked the trap and saw it was closed, and since I can't see inside of it, I had to pick it up and kind of shake it. They weigh next to nothing so even then I wasn't sure. Finally I set it on the cupboard and put my ear next to it and finally heard movement.

And then I laid the trap in a bowl, snapped a cover on it and handed it to Tyler and said, "go for a ride".  So I'm sure he won't be back. Now I just have to wait and see if any others show up or if this little guy is the Houdini that's been laughing at me for the past three days.  Time will tell.

I ordered a sleep wedge the other day to hopefully let me sleep in bed again and still be able to after surgery on the 13th. They recommend sleeping at a pretty decent incline and actually say to sleep in a recliner, but since I've been failing at sleeping there I was kind of concerned about the next 2 months. Tyler suggested a sleep wedge which had never even crossed my mind. That girl is pretty smart sometimes. I'm looking forward to trying it.

I also finally convinced the damn doctor to give me some pain killers to help me at night. He prescribed me 30 Tylenol with codeine, one or two at bedtime. Hopefully they'll knock my ass OUT.  At this point I've kind of been wondering who I have to sleep with to get a good night's sleep.

Here's the mani I did last night. I decided I had to wear something for Halloween even though nobody will even see it.

My grey here is American Apparel Factory Grey and then I used Konad black with my Messy Mansion plates HD01 and HD04 for the tree and for the gravestones stamps. I was really not having an easy time trying to think of something to do, but I am pretty happy with this look.  

This next mani is my all-time fave Halloween mani I think I've done. I just think it's really striking. 

For my gradient I used Orly LA Sashay and Square Hue Iron Horse. Then I stamped over it using my Bundlemonster BM213 stamp and the Messy Mansion HD01 stamp for the bats. I topped all of that with my fave matte topcoat from Butter London.  I used a dotting tool and went over the bats with Seche Vite to make them shiny so they would stand out more.

I completely stole this idea from Makeup Withdrawal. As soon as I saw it on Pinterest I knew I had to try it. I love the burgundy/black gradient.

And there you have it. Another October come and gone, and now we can sit back and whine about how cold it's getting.

At least that's what I'll be doing. Wouldn't want to break a lifelong tradition.

EVERYBODY FAILS SOMETIMES

I've been quite the busy little bee the last couple of days. I went to Walmart after work yesterday, and I am proud to report that I did not spend $100. Go me!! I actually only spent a smidgen over $30, and I didn't buy a single polish or polish-related item. Shocked? I am.

What I did buy was a frozen Marie Callendar's Dutch apple pie. If you've never had one of these, you are missing out, people. I grew up eating my mom's homemade Dutch apple pie, although I didn't know it had any name other than just "apple pie". I thought all apple pies had no top crust, just a yummers crumbly topping. I did try to make one myself many, many years ago, but I didn't put enough apples in the pan so it was kind of a flop. 

A couple of years ago I saw the frozen Marie's and figured I'd give it a try. OMG. I will never need to attempt a homemade one again. This pie is sooo good! When I got home I immediately baked that sucker up, and it is a delight. I actually just finished eating a piece.

I've also been dying for something pumpkin so I grabbed some of their sliced pumpkin cake. Also yummers, but it is a smidge dry. I should have grabbed some cream cheese frosting for it. Still good, tho!

Today after work I decided to clean the house in preparation of Tyler coming home tomorrow. She and the Griffster will be here for a whole week, and I am really looking forward to it. I feel like I haven't seen them in so long.  Cleaning was slow going with my arm, and it's nice that Kev has been doing the vacuuming for me. My house is now clean, and my arm now throbs.

Last night I also didn't start doing my nails until way after 11; not sure what I was thinking. I decided I would just do some kind of French mani because I haven't done one in awhile, and they're easy.

Oh, lordie almighty.  This is awful!! And since I started too late it was also too late to remove it and start over. I'm just glad nobody saw it today. I'll be taking it off tonight and hopefully doing a soakoff and reapplication of my nails.

Gawd, just looking at the picture irritates me. The light grey is Revlon Timeless, and I have no clue what the OPI is. It's one of those stupid-ass mini bottles that I hate and are even more annoying because there's no name of the color on it.  Suffice it to say it's almost black without actually being black.

I decided to throw on Essie Matte About You topcoat just to try and save this sucker. Fail. There is just no saving this horror.

I think I'll go eat a couple pieces of pumpkin cake and take a nappy-nap.  I'll just consider it dessert to the piece of pie I ate 1/2 hour ago.

Dinner of champions!

SO I FIBBED A LITTLE.

Went and visited my doctor. I get such a kick out of him. Gotta' love a doc I can give shit to and he dishes it right back. I remember when I first started seeing him years ago, I thought he was such a dudster with no personality whatsoever. I've trained him well.

Got me a lovely cortisone shot and asked how often I'm allowed to get them since the one from March only lasted a month. Only allowed four a year. Super duper. I told him that I do not want that frozen shoulder thing. He agreed and said, "No. No, you don't."  I told him that since only 2-3% of the population gets it, obviously that's what I'll end up having because that is typical me.  I thought he would fall off his chair he was laughing so hard at me.  So now I'm being referred to an orthopedist for my shoulder. Sounds fun.

Then I told him about my failed EGD with the useless, retiring doctor who obviously had no interest in referring me for anything or to anybody....just said to talk to my regular doc and that maybe I don't want to try another EGD, make just get an upper GI. Well, imagine my surprise when I learn today from my general doc that at my last EGD in October of 2009, I not only had ulcers, I also had Barrett's Esophagus. News to me. It was also news to me that this is something that should be checked because a very small percentage of people get esophageal cancer because of it. WTF. Isn't that special. Mabes you could have mentioned that in passing, Mr. Retiring Jackass. An upper GI wouldn't show how that little gem of a problem is doing. I'm being referred to a gastroenterologist for that.

AND since my red blood cells were too large at the last visit, he took blood again today. Doesn't big blood cells sound like it should be something super awesomesauce??  Not so much. If those are still big, he wants me to have a sleep study because that can be caused by sleep apnea. Seriously? Is that "all" the fun news you have for me today? Oh, what's that? That's not one of those at-home sleep studies? I have to go sleep somewhere else? I just called him an asshole, slapped him on the arm and we both started laughing.

Why can't I ever just get a cold or the flu like normal people. Seriously, you guys would not even believe me if I told you all of the weird things I've gotten or had happen to me over the years. Redonk. Truly.

'Nuff of that.  So I lied. I said I was going to leave that foil mani on, but I didn't. I changed my mind last night and took it off. I just felt like monkeying around a bit.  It was a quick one and didn't take much time.

I knew I wanted to do a dark red with a black stamping. I dug through my two drawers of reds and decided on Nailtiques Milan.  It's such a pretty color, but I like it even better when it's matte using Butter London's matte topcoat. Since I want the black to show up well, I used my Konad black with the Llarowe LeaLac plate B to just put a little bit of a flourish on there.

I love it. I think it's dramatic without being "out there". I was wondering how the black stamp would be about staying on during my shower since I couldn't topcoat after stamping, but it still looks great after that and after working. I keep looking at it cuz' I think it's so pretty, so I call that a success.

Now I have the weekend to just lay around. Hopefully that cortisone will do its thang so I'm not in pain and so I can sleep. A decent night's sleep without waking up from the pain would be delightful.  One day last week Kev told me I had actually woken him up because I started screaming in pain. Now, he didn't define "screaming", and I don't remember it, but I guess that means it hurt.  And I don't even lay on that side.

So here's hoping!! If it works and the weather turns nice so I can lay in the pool, that would make this a damn near perfect weekend. 

In the meantime, I'm gonna' take a snappy-nap for a bit. I is tuckered.

TROPICAL COLORBLOCK

Oooo, my bathroom is coming along nicely. My new light fixture came today. A new sink is ordered along with a new scale and toilet paper holder. Tomorrow night I'll probs start refinishing the top of the counter. That'll be a few days kind of job. 

I think I almost have Kev convinced that we should buy a kit to refinish the tub and shower. That sounds like a nightmare to do, but it will really make me happy to not have the disgustingly well-water stained crap we have now. Even when it's clean, it looks dirty, which makes me feel like a slobster. I'm not the neatest person on earth, but I am no slobster.

Anywhosers, I did this mani last night and would have posted earlier, but we decided to go out for dinner tonight and then stopped at what we jokingly call our mall so I could get an upholstery needle for fixing that rip in my recliner. My ex offered to fix it for us, so I'm hoping it will at least look good enough to not annoy me every time I look at it.

I got striping tape happy last night. I'm loving the Square Hue polishes this month so I just had to use two of the immediately.

I started off with a base of American Apparel Cotton. I love this polish; it's white without being too white.....know what I mean?  Then I grabbed my striping tape and taped off my sections before filling them in with Square Hue Collins Avenue, Ocean Drive and Sinful Colors Savage and Sweet Nothing.  I wasn't thrilled with it shiny so I used my Butter London Matte Topcoat. Done deal.

It really didn't take me as long as I thought it would to do this. I like it so much I'm keeping it another day.

Truth be told, I'm only keeping it because it's too late tonight to take it off and do something else. But at least I'm wearing something I don't hate for two days. 

 

STAMPED AND MATTE

Yes, I feel bad for not posting anything yesterday. I had the afternoon off to head off to my dentist who just happens to be 2 hours away. By the time we stopped for dinner and got home, for some reason I was just bone-tired. I'm at the point in my "say no to sleep" life goal where I hit that wall I occasionally hit. Ya' know, the wall that says, "Hey dumbass! You need to catch up on your zzzz's!"  I dozed off and on in front of the tv until Kev finally convinced me to just go to bed. So at 11:30 I stumbled off. It would have been nice, but of course I still woke up at 2:15, 4:25 and 5:35 a.m. God forbid I should ever just sleep through the night.

And since I'm still tired and don't know if I'll have the ambition to do my nails again tonight, I'm throwing up a past mani. My total exhaustion has its grip on me. I hate it.

It might be old, but it's still purdy, no? This is Agro from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection. I love this green!! I used my go-to fave gold for the stamping, Essie Good as Gold. Those mirror effects are the shiz for stamping. It's really just about all I use them for. Then I wondered how it would look matte, so I grabbed my Butter London Matte Finish topcoat. The nice thing about throwing on a matte topcoat; if I hate it, just topcoat it again with Seche Vite. Problem solved. lol

I promise something new over the next day or so. I have those new stamping plates to play with, and I'm kinda' itching to do a water marble....mabes with that new Kleancolor duochrome collection. Hmmm...hope I'm that ambitious over the weekend.

That's it. I'm tired and can't think of any more words.