I had a 101 List goal to get our cars detailed. There are lots of places nearby to have it done, just unfortunately not as much time on the Hayley schedule. Then, thanks to a reckless uninsured driver damaging our car, we went for a couple of weeks without the Sonata. Imagine my surprise when I […]
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Quick Fixer-Upper for the USPS
The latest quick improvement at the Hayley House wasn’t really for the USPS – it was for the Hayleys. I was tired of the over-eager spring-loaded flag in our (otherwise wonderful) locking mailbox popping out all the time. I’m pretty sure the mail carrier didn’t even check to see if we actually had mail to […]
How To Soften New Sheets
Battling the boy cats to put sheets on our bed, in addition to normal wear-and-tear, led to more tear than we’d like in our sheets. Fortunately Macy’s had a giant sale – 700 thread count Egyptian Cotton blend sheets for just $50 (normally $130). I ordered two sets right away. But here’s my surprising discovery, very expensive […]
A Gift for the Neighborhood or How We Reclaimed Our Front Yard
Long after we ripped out the holly bushes to repair our foundation… Long after we cut down our oak trees to prevent further foundation damage… Long after the oak trees had killed nearly all of the grass in our front yard… Long after all of that, we finally renovated our front yard landscaping.
Becoming a Sew-and-Sew
So (sew?) I did it…I finally purchased my very first new-to-me sewing machine. [ Insert angelic chorus here. ] For years, I’ve used hand-me-downs from my mom and my mother-in-law. While those machines performed admirably, they both eventually stopped functioning in frustratingly basic areas. Like the machine that wouldn’t backstitch. And the other machine that wouldn’t […]
Age is Just a Number – And My Number is 45
What does 45 look like? It looks a lot like me. It also doesn’t really seem very different than 44. You see, Kelly’s birthday is the day after mine (happy birthday, love!) so I have 364 days to observe how he handles his age. By the time my birthday arrives, I can comfortably step into […]
Two Weeks (Plus Some) Later
I had my second round of stitches removed just over two weeks ago. Scar 2.0 isn’t nearly as “pretty” as Scar 1.0. Those are the breaks, I guess, when you have to have surgery on top of surgery. It’s angry and red, far bumpier and sensitive to the touch. Vanity, vanity…thy name is Shannah. And […]
Recognizing the Awesome in the Not Awesome
As I’ve shared, dealing with cancer – even a relatively minor bit – isn’t awesome. If it’s a big deal, it’s things like radiation and chemo. If it’s a minor thing (like mine was), it’s outpatient surgery. (And testing and surgery and testing and thankyouLorditsfinallyallgone!). But even in the midst of the not-awesome – be […]
Resolving a Long Struggle Regarding Housekeeping
I swear it’s not that I’m a messy person – in fact, my work team says that I’m a neatnik (they’re overstating my tidiness, to be honest). I’m also not a lazy person – see my previous post on always having too much to do. Yet somehow I simply can’t keep our house neat and […]