Halloween Spirit

Now this is what I call the Halloween spirit!

 

 

 

 

The Witch's Enchanted Castle is actually set up in their neighbors side yard!

Goodwill

I was completely inspired by Anna's transformation to check out the Goodwill's in my area. We practically have one on every corner here in the Lou. I had planned on "jogging" today at lunch, but it was raining and jogging is enough torture without getting wet while doing it. So, I decided to go to the Goodwill down the street from my work. If you live in the St. Louis area NEVER go to the Goodwill on Watson near Lindbergh. Ick. I seriously almost turned around and walked back out the door. I was totally convinced it was going to be full of treasure, cause the parking lot was jammed. Seriously, like 20 cars. I stepped in the door and was immediately visual and nasally assaulted. It smelled so gross! I can't even describe it. And there was stuff all over the floor. And like 5 women behind the counter, just chatting... I went to the home decor section all hyped up to find something great and there were two broken Halloween snowglobes on the floor. Two. Water and glitter and ceramic pieces everywhere. I found some cute little brass candlesticks, four of varying heights which I plan on spray painting to match the dining room. Maybe. None of them were priced. Of course. I get up to the counter and the lady is all, "If they're not priced, then they have to go into the back and get priced, then somebody has to put them back out on the shelf and you can go pick them up again". Seriously? I don't think I care that much. And the lady in front of me (who is still standing there debating over $2.00  a bottle for Love's Baby Soft perfume) is all, "Don't you just hate it when they pull that shit? I never buy when they try that crap" and the counter lady is all "$.50 sound good"? Score.

Rat Ride

This is a few weeks behind, but I just saw the pics and thought I would post about it.

Every year, for like 30 years, Saint Louis has the Rat Ride on the first Sunday in October. All the "bikers" in St. Louis converge in one place, Jack's Iron Horse on St. Charles Rock Road. People begin arriving around 8-9 am. The M.C.'s send their lackey in early with caution tape so they get good spots without actually having to get up and go first thing. This year we left the house around 8 am to meet some friends at Denny's. It was freezing cold, but I figured it would warm up, so I just wore my t-shirt and a flannel I always ride in so I don't get grease on myself. I didn't want to worry about leaving one of my expensive leather coats on the bike while we wandered around and the bike we took has no saddle bags...

This is Mister, Craig, Redman's bike, and Glenn getting ready to leave Denny's. Notice the boys all bundled up? Yes, it was freaking cold! Glenn actually showed up wearing coveralls...
Then we headed up to the par-tay. Thousands of people show up, from all walks, all groups, and all different kinds of bikes. There was a Cushman group this year, which are antique little tiny bikes, don't think you can even ride 'em on the highway. They are pricey too. Mister found a partially restored Cushman for like 8 grand... That's a lot.

I wish I could have gotten up on the roof to take a picture of the whole crowd, this was only about an eighth.

Check out all the cops they sent to hang around and "supervise". They were in the crowd too.

We got a spot right at the entrance cause Craig's crazy buddy Bob got there early. Bob is a true asshole, but some things you just can't fight.

See the guy in the red shirt with his back to the lens? I don't know his name, but there's a crazy story there. Supposedly he was riding behind Craig (black jacket, black jeans) one evening in a big group. Craig hit a piece of sharp metal, his bike flung it into the air, and it slit this guys throat open! Obviously he survived, but isn't that wild? Craig didn't even know it had happened.

Can you tell how big the tank on this bike is? It has to hold enough gas to power a V8! Yup, like a car engine, see the header covers (or whatever they're called) right under the tank? Can you even imagine?

 

 

The next place we went was right on the river. Beautiful.  There was even a pirate ship that came to visit!!

 

Can you read the name on the back? It's the Gypsy Rose! I want a pirate ship!

 

And check out this little girl. She was 14. It's not a real motorcycle, just 100cc or so, but man is she cool. I was a little jealous to be completely honest. She couldn't ride it on the highway, so they loaded it up on dad's truck and met us at the next stop and she rode from there. She must have kept up pretty good, I think we were doing about 55 on the back roads. Imagine going to school on Monday and getting to be all, "I rode my own bike on the Rat Ride". Well, maybe kids don't think that's cool, but I would've killed to be her at that age. 

We went to Fast Eddie's in Alton, Ill.  for dinner after that. If you are ever in St. Louis you must go to Fast Eddie's! They have phenomenal food and it's super cheap. They only have like 8 things on the menu, you wait in a line kinda like a cafeteria, and they make the food in front of you.  Mmmm... it's soooo good.

Finally...

My trashcan has arrived! Yay!

I was planning to get it at Lowe's way back in August. It was supposed to be in on the 17th, then the 27th, then the 17th of September, then the 27th, etc, etc.... I wanted to wait it out at Lowe's cause I have a 10% off coupon, but I finally got tired of waiting, so I ordered it from SimpleHuman.com. No shipping, no tax, so it probably came out to about the same amount anyway. I love it! It fits perfect, it's "fingerprint proof", and it looks snazzy with the stainless countertops. Fabtacular!

I also ordered a lovely shower rack. I can't have a floor to ceiling standing corner thing, cause the shower has a barrel ceiling. So, I got the one that hangs from the shower head. It is adjustable up, down, and sideways and also has an adjustable suction cup, in case you have an inconvenient tile seam. Sounds great, right? I thought so.
But it doesn't fit.
 

Even if I take the hole cover-upper(technical term) away from the wall and put it behind there, which looks just great, BTW. It still doesn't fit. It pushes the bottom of the hose out. I don't want to ruin my nice showerhead, so back it goes.

Have go had any "fun" misadventures you thought would work out lately?

Laundry Room

I don't have a "Laundry Room" per se. I have a wall of the basement that houses the washer and dryer, the washtubs, and the pump for the cistern. We inherited a washer and dryer with the house. The washer was probably from the late 70's/early 80's, but the dryer was original to the house. Yup, our dryer was almost 60 years old! Holy crap. I didn't even realize that until I just did the math. It was a condensation dryer, which basically means it got the clothes so hot that the water evaporated out of them and pooled in a tray underneath, which them had to be emptied. Not good for our clothes, and not good for me. Or our energy bill.

While the general attractiveness of the basement has not changed, my new washer and dryer pretty it up a bit.

Mmmm... lovely. I had a massive mountain of clothing to do and within two days of getting these bad boys, I was done!! Now I feel like I have already posted about this but I cannot find it.  So, I guess you will just have to see my lovelies again... They were waaaayy too expensive, but they get the laundry done quickly, they look fab, and they do anything I could ever need them to do. (Besides fold my clothes and put them away.)

And speaking of putting clothes away - I finally got our dresser together last week and look what is now displayed on top of it.

He kept it under the bed at our old house, cause we had carpet. Now we have hardwood floors and he is afraid it will scratch the floor. What about my lovely new dresser? The floor can be buffed out. My cheap IKEA goodness probably can't. I already took a few small chunks out of the front corner of the end-of-the-bed bench thingie when the top for the dresser fell and I didn't catch it in time. Grr. Back to the shotgun though, doesn't it look lovely there? Classy, right? Wouldn't you like a paranoid old man of your very own?

I also started on a project this weekend, but it's not finished yet. Here's a sneak peek.

Grrr...

The computer system at work "updated itself" and I have no access to any "social networking or personal site(s)", which is the main reason I have been M.I.A. these last few weeks. And I've been lazy. But that's nothing new.
Dozer is doing 100% better and doesn't seem to have any lasting effects from his dousing with an "unknown chemical". So that's terrific news. I've decided not to file the claim with Petco, though. It just doesn't seem worth it for a $53 vet charge. It's not like $53 is anything to them, it won't help change their policies or the way they train their staff, so there seems to be little point to the whole operation.
If anyone cares to know, I decided on the brushed nickle for the switchplates, went to Lowe's to buy the rest, and then got tempted (in spite of Kelly's warning) by some lovely white plates. Exactly like the brushed nickle, only white. I haven't tried them yet, but they look pretty scrumptious. I will probably still go with the silver though, cause the white won't look good in the master bedroom and I want them all to match.

Light Switch Covers

Help! The light switch covers in our house are gross, fade-y, yellowed yuckiness. They need to be replaced like yesterday. In the old house I replaced all the covers with lovely chocolatey carved wooden ones which matched the trim, even though we rented.

It made a HUGE difference. I just figured I would keep the old ones and then put them back on when we moved. So that's what I did. But here's the problem. Our wood in this house is not lovely, nor is it remotely chocolatey. It's sort of an orangey blah. Mr.'s mom calls it Honey Oak. I call it Impossible to Match. So my investment plate covers are out the window. Bah.

That decided I need a new plan. Most of the fixtures in the house are brushed or chromed silver/nickle. So I went to Lowe's and they have three options. All of which are going to cost me more than the fabric for my curtains(which I picked, by the way). Grrr. So help me out here:

I think the chrome is just going to be too shiny and a magnet for fingerprints. And let's face it, I am not the most motivated housekeeper in the world, so thinking I'll shine the light switch covers is a freaking joke.

 I very much like this one. Sophisticated and not too grandma or flashy. But I am afraid it won't fit in the spot next to the door, as seen in the next photo.

This one is the closest to the ones in the bathrooms, except they are shiny. I had to shove a bit to get this one to lay flat and screw in nicely. (Insert dirty joke here.) But these don't speak to me and, frankly, they're a little boring. But I'm nervous about fitting the middle one in this space. And maybe boring is best, it is just a light switch plate, after all.

Any thoughts? Did/do your switch plates bother you or am I a little nutty? 

Dozer

So, I was reading NewlyWoodwards and Kim mentioned that a lot of people only blog the good stuff. And she's totally right. People wait until their entire project is done for the big reveal. While those before and after photos are always exciting and fun, they don't always represent real life. Or at least not real life for us. I still haven't finished painting the dining room (it's been a month), I still haven't finished putting together the furniture I purchased at Ikea (also a month).
Reasons? (And some excuses). I posted a while back about all the trouble we were having with our new dog, Dozer. After we got the new crate from his previous owners, it all got better. Well, Wednesday the electrician had to get into our house to install the wiring for our new lift tank for the sewer system. Mr. decided it would be a good idea to schedule a "spa day" for the dogs at Petco, so his mom wouldn't have to deal with them barking all morning. I get a call at 1:15, luckily I take lunch late, stating that Dozer had "attacked" another dog and I had to pick him up immediately. I go straight there, 10 minutes tops, and they tell me I can't have my dog, they called Animal Control. ANIMAL CONTROL! I worked at a kennel for nearly a year, dogs get in fights all the time, we never once felt it necessary to call Animal Control. So, Animal Cntrol shows up, takes my info, they go to give me Doze (I already had Gidge), and the officer goes "What is wrong with his eyes? Is he blind? Did he look like that when you dropped him off?" Um, no. Apparently the sprayed an "unknown chemical" in his eyes to get him to leave the other dog alone. This is what he looks like now.

The vet says he may have permanent damage. My mom's neighbor works at the Humane Society of Missouri and says we should take legal action, because there is never an excuse for them to treat a dog that way. Petco's claims department called me and asked if we want reimbursement for his medical bills. It's all very scary and grown-up.
So while some things are moving right along, others are stunted because I hesitate to leave him alone for extended periods.

What do you think we should do? Demand compensation for his medical bills or just let it go and hope he gets better?