Murphy’s Law at the Bunten’s

Yesterday was a day proving Murphy’s Law is alive and well at our house!

Last Thursday, garbage day, our trash can and recycling bin both blew away. Where we live, you have to have purchase special stickers to put on your bag or can in order for it to be picked up. We had purchased stickers on our can which last the entire year. They were gone along with the can. With nowhere to put our garbage and no hope that our bins would be returned, Mike went out and bought a new can. Of course, when he got home, he found both across the street and down a few doors.

And last night, we didn’t have anything to make for dinner so Mike went out and bought a pizza to make. I had worked at the quilt shop all and didn’t feel like cooking. So…when he got home from the store (after rounding up our garbage/recycling bins) we had 2 pizza delivers that he had purchased from a local church’s fundraiser. Of course!

We’re Home!

We moved into our new house on May 29th and have been unpacking and organizing our little hearts out! The change of address postcards have been sent out but here is a little slideshow of some pictures for those of you who haven’t stopped by to see our new place yet. It’s still a work in progress. By the time you get here, we’ll be done!

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The Price of Nostalgia

Did you ever see something that reminded you of your childhood that you needed to have really bad? Even though it probably didn’t look that special to anyone else but you but knew you wouldn’t be able to have the original item because your mom is probably still using it? That’s how I felt when I saw this bowl at a resale shop in town last week. I carried it around while we were browsing then put it back on the shelf because we’re moving and I should be getting RID of stuff, not bringing more IN. Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and went back today and bought it for a whopping $3.99. All is now right with the world.

 

Treasure Hunt

Audrey and I made the drive to Milwaukee last weekend for a mini Christmas celebration with some of my family. The day after we got there 8″ of snow fell leaving us with a little extra time to spend indoors at my mom’s. THAT meant hunting through the basement to see what goodies were still stored away there from my childhood. I was able to come away with a few goodies: a Battleship game (before they made it with noises and lights), a couple of puzzles (not pictured is my coveted Duran Duran puzzle), some Snoopy comic books, my Spirograph drawing kit and my still-unsolved Rubiks cube (also not pictured)! Thanks for saving all my crap, Mom!

Orange You A Little Sad?

When I was little and took “cold lunch” to school, I remember my mom packing a peeled orange in it for me. Sometimes the outside would be a little dry from the exposure to ai,r but it was still okay. Last week I asked Audrey if she wanted me to peel a clementine for her to take in her lunch. She said, “No thanks. You know it’s hard for me to chew the white stuff on the outside.” I tried to explain to her that the “white stuff” on a clementine isn’t as tough as on an orange and how my mom used to always pack me peeled oranges in my lunch. She still refused. I have to admit it made me a little sad.

Thankful: Day 28

Only 3 more Thankful posts left. It’s only fitting that I leave one of the last for my twin sissy, right? How can you put into words how thankful you are for someone you’ve known your ENTIRE life? How many people can say they’ve actually known someone that long? She was there to show me the way out of the womb one Halloween morning 41 years ago and has been telling me what to do ever since! Actually, we do our fair share of trying to tell each other what to do as often as we can…and trying to do the exact opposite of each other! Our mom dressed us the same until we were in 3rd grade and then made the big leap to the same item in different colors.

Our Boxer, Goldie, Andrea, and me!

No matter how hard we tried to NOT be like the other, it still is funny to me sometimes how alike we are. I used to be the crafty one but now Andrea is crafting & sewing up a storm herself! She used to be the big foodie (and took me to see Anthony Bourdain speak even) and now I’m in my very own cooking club, too. I used to be the one all in love with Keith Urban but I distinctly remember her dragging me to the front of the stage at more than 1 of his concerts!

8 months before we moved from Milwaukee to Iowa, she and her husband moved from the Minneapolis area to Milwaukee. I know, not really good timing. And though we don’t get to visit her as often as I’d like to, now that she’s lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom (who should really be called “running-around-always-doing-something mom”) she did find time to come down and visit us here in Iowa a few times this year. We’re going back to Milwaukee for an early Christmas in a few weeks and you can bet she’ll have a drink ready for us upon our arrival (or Bill will have a Brandy Old-Fashioned all mixed up)! Thanks, Sissy!

Thankful: Day 26

Had to go back to 2009 to find a picture of just me and Mike. It happens to be from the Badger/Hawkeye game in Madison.

I know I would be remiss to not mention Mike during my month of thankfulness. Even though he’s been mentioned in a couple of posts I guess I haven’t dedicated one solely to him! He’s downstairs hooking up a new DVD player to our extra TV right now. I’ve only been nagging him to hook it up since last summer. Last weekend (a long weekend at home) he finally had enough of my nagging and went to hook up the DVD player only to find it wasn’t compatible with our new TV. Being married for 14 years he’s certainly had to endure lots of nagging from me. It took a little more with this DVD player thing but I think he’s almost done!

He also put up with my hair-brained idea a few years ago using an unlimited supply of fabric scraps to make items to sell at craft shows. And he only complains a little when I volunteer at church one night, have book club the next, and cooking club 2 nights after that! He tries to tell me I sign up for too much stuff and I listen to him…once in a while.

Now that Audrey’s getting older and getting better at scheming with me, I’m pretty sure Mike’s going to start to feel more and more outnumbered. Maybe one of the reasons he’s finally hooking up the DVD player to the extra TV is because he’s going to be spending lots more time in that room of the house! So I guess I’ll say “Thank you, honey!” now…because he’s in for a long road ahead!

Thankful: Day 24

 

I’m thankful for my family…and that Audrey did not try to bring Piglet outside to be in our picture…and that it only took us about 5 tries with the camera mounted on a tri pod using the timer to get this picture (along with a little Photoshoppery).

Thankful: Day 22

I am most thankful for the house-ful of people we had for Thanksgiving dinner today. Our biggest crowd yet!