Thanksgiving, and more!

My first Thanksgiving in my new house. Found out a few things about my kitchen that will alter Christmas dinner plans a bit. The oven is just big enough for the turkey pan. Thus, if I need to bake anything else at the same time, well, I can't fit it. So, rule one, cook everything last. Or don't cook a turkey. I think Christmas will be lasagna (like my mother makes) instead of turkey. However, Corbin might not go for that, seeing that he ate about two pounds of turkey breast today.

This Thanksgiving required no sweaters, unlike last year's. It was a picture postcard perfect day out (high 65) and my entire family played football at some point. Love my yard! Gotta watch out for the bushes by the driveway, though, as they will seriously put an end to your touchdown run. Being in Pensacola has weather advantages over Misawa to be sure, though I still enjoy a white Christmas, as a rule. This year, we will have a white Christmas, hopefully, because we are planning to walk on Pensacola Beach after we open presents. The absolute whitest, most powedery sand on the globe. And Christmas (or Hanukkah) shopping begins on the morrow. Do I jump into the fray? We'll see after the morning cup of Starbucks.

After two years of having my Divisions over for Thanksgiving dinner, it was a nice change of pace to just have the fam and a two other friends over (though I miss the din caused my my Sailors eating turkey and such). Quiet (yeah, right) and relaxing, only the madness of properly rotating food from oven to stove to table or counter to create the atmosphere in the house. Ended with lounging on my lovely couch with a cup of Starbucks Winter Blend.

A day of peace, a day of remembrance, a day to celebrate love with those you count dear. I am truly thankful for having a family who loves me, and allows me to love them in return. So many things could have kept this day from being as special as it was, too many to list, but in the end, we reflect on the past year and give thanks for making it through to here. My hope is that all of you had a great day and were able to give thanks for blessings in your life. I count many of you reading this as a blessing to me and thank you for letting me share in your life.

As a gift, I share with you some new photos of my greatest treasure (along with some crazy paparazzo in several of them) and wish you a happy Holiday shopping season. I'm wearing Large now. Still love receiving Titleist Pro V1s, golf hats, and golf calendars. Cosby sweaters get returned or regifted.

Love and hugs,

Fergi

Out with the old, in with the new

Old carpet is, well, old. And the older it is the worse it looks. The worse it looks, the more you want to replace it. This is EXACTLY how we felt when we saw the carpet in the house we bought in September. So much so that as soon as we could get the wood picked out, the carpets decided upon and the order made, we were on track to rip out the nasty 1991-vintage carpet that was so decayed that the latex in the matting was hurting Micki.
Forward to mid-October and Monday 9 A.M. when Howard Young, of Howard Young Flooring Inc. in Milton, Florida and his crew showed up at my house to begin what was described as a week-long project. Fortunately for us, I wasn't trying to put in the floors or carpet, or a week would have been just enough time for me to rip the old carpet out. Howard's crew had the old carpet out of the living room in 15 minutes, the old hardwood at the entry in 25 and the whold thing sanded and prepped to have the new wood put down in under 2 hours. I would have been trying to figure out how to get the little pieces of wood the carpet was nailed to off the concrete. Uggh!
The living room was done on the first day, the hall and den on the second, and the third day they finished putting carpet in the kids' rooms and our Master bedroom. THREE DAYS! No way could I have even attempted this. The house looks totally different. The dark of the walnut brings out the colors in the furniture and the room appears bigger (though that is unneccessary). Now that the floors are in, Micki and I can work on decorating the place.

The slide show gives you the shortened version of the renovation. There is before and after in it as well. Feel free to stop on by and take a look yourself. We'd love to have you over. And if you need your floors redone, give Howard a call. His work is top notch and his crew were all professionals.

Get Your Own! View Slideshow

Micki's New Car, detailed nicely!

Just a quick notice for those who wish to view the last week's work at my house in the latest edition of "Pimp Micki's Ride". I will give more info later this week, but in the mean time, go to the My Pix link to the right for pictures of our new hardwood floor and furniture.