Jetting Through June

How is it almost the end of June?!?!?!  Like usual, this year is jetting right past me at lightning speed.  It's hard to believe that we're already approaching the halfway mark of 2022.  I was looking at my calendars and we've still got a lot going on.  I thought that I better check in now since I've already got blog posts planned into July past the 4th.

Eliot and I haven't really been up to too much outside of our usual.  We have been watching hockey in the form of the Stanley Cup Finals.  We're still trying to watch each of the new Hallmark movies as they premiere this summer.  We are both really looking forward to the three new Christmas movies debuting next month during Christmas in July.  (Our poor Fubo app is about to get overloaded with Hallmark Christmas movie recordings... thank goodness we have 1,000 recordable hours on it!)

We also recently started watching Up TV.  We've seen so many of the Hallmark movies at this point, that we're getting bored with the reruns.  A few weekends ago, Eliot put Up TV on while we were working on business stuff... and that was it.  I got sucked into the commercial for a new movie debuting that evening on Up TV and the next thing I knew, I was recording it.  I'm glad I did though!  We watched it a few days later and they used video footage of Bar Harbor as the "random coastal town" that the movie took place in!  It was really cool to see my hometown on tv!

As for the businesses, they're moving along as per usual.  We had an influx of orders for Happily Ever Hatter a few weeks ago, so we're finishing those up now.  Thankfully, we've been mostly ahead of our printing schedule, even with a few of the machines down for maintenance and new parts.  Eliot and I are also busy finishing the three large orders that we got outside of our usual Etsy shop orders!

I'm still working on getting supplies together for my newest business endeavor.  Now that we have our tax refund, I'm also hoping to get some more supplies for the new Happily Ever Hatter products that I've wanted to make for a while now.  Inspiration also struck for some new Snowblade Creations products a few weeks ago... so once Eliot has time to print me some samples, I'm planning to start working on those!

On the personal side of things, Eliot and I have both been making a conscious effort to try to keep a balance between work and play.  We always work so hard that we need to make sure we're taking time to relax, rest, and enjoy life!

Last week, Eliot and I were busy with orders but we took a break to watch basketball and hockey.  Eliot's stupid Golden State Warriors beat my Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals and I was a bit annoyed about it.  But the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first two Stanley Cup Finals games... so that made up for it. 

On Friday, Eliot and I were able to meet up with my parents on their way through town on the way to New York.  It wasn't very long, but they got to join us at Applebee's for a little bit.  Eliot and I had dinner while they both had desserts.  Afterwards, we visited with them in the parking lot of Kohl's for a few minutes.  They gave Eliot his birthday presents- a Ryobi battery, a battery charger station and a new tool.  Then, we wished them a Happy Anniversary and Happy Father's Day and they were on their way!

Sunday, Eliot and I undertook a massive house project...  deep cleaning our master bathroom.  It took us a few hours, but we scrubbed everything down like crazy.  I'm really trying to get it finished in the next few months... and this was the first step to that process.  Unfortunately, most of the decor and was packed away in our small guest bedroom, so Eliot and I are going hunting for that this weekend.  I'm hopeful that I'll be able to paint the cabinets and re-do the countertop soon too!  (The current colors look awful with the paint colors we chose.)  The master bathroom is going to look so good when it's all finished though!!!  I can't wait!  (Here's an in progress sneak peek!)

This week I continued my cleaning frenzy during the day while Eliot was at work.  I spent most of the day Monday reorganizing all of my clothes in containers.  (Most of my clothes are still packed away in containers while we work to finish painting and reorganizing the master bedroom.)  It dawned on me about a week or ago that if I organized everything into the containers, that I would actually know where my clothes are instead of looking through everything trying to find one piece.

I spent the afternoon on Tuesday finishing my clothes reorganizing project.  It took me way longer than I had anticipated; I probably spent at least 6-8 hours between the two days.  But in the end, it was worth it.  Now, all of my clothes are organized enough that I can find what I'm looking for between now and when they finally find their way to their new home in the dressers and my closet.

I've also come to the conclusion that I have a lot of clothes.  It's easy when things aren't organized to lose track of what you do have.  I've got an entire giant container filled with Halloween clothing.  I have two buckets worth of Christmas stuff... and even then I found more that I'll have to tuck into those.  I have two containers filled with Spirit Jerseys- but that didn't really surprise me.  I also filled one bucket with dressy Disney clothing and another with less fancy Disney clothing.  And let's not even talk about the containers of Disney shirts that I have.  (It's like Bruno... we just don't talk about it!) 

Eliot and I had been planning to go see Lightyear at our recently re-opened movie theater Tuesday evening, but he went into work later than planned and I was working away organizing clothes in our master bedroom until 7 pm.  It worked out though, because we realized that it made more sense to wait until next week since we have so many orders we're in the process of finishing this week.  (The movie theater also has discounts on Tuesdays so we figured we'd try to go during that.)  We don't have anything on our calendar at all next week, other than going to my parents' house next weekend for the 4th of July.  Next week will be the perfect week to see Lightyear!

Wednesday was kind of a catch-all day.  I answered a bunch of customer messages for both Etsy shops.  I also checked in with a few customers.  I spent most of the day doing small loads of laundry of new clothes that needed to be washed separately.  I tidied up the kitchen and the dining room.  I hand stitched a small snag in one of my pairs of black leggings.  And I finally started cleaning out the refrigerator... something that I've been avoiding because I know how much of a project that it's going to be.  (I'm planning to completely empty it, have Eliot help me deep clean every inch of it, and get a bunch of those storage containers to organize everything in it.)

Late in the afternoon, I decided to take a break for some "me" time.  I actually started reading a book over the weekend, and I've been reading a chapter here and there each day when I've had a minute.  I wanted to spend a bit more time relaxing though, so I bolted through 80 or so pages while waiting for Eliot to get out of work, pick up dinner and run a few errands.  He arrived home just as I was finishing a chapter.  (It was so nice to read again... it's really been too long!)  Then, Eliot and I spent the rest of the evening watching Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and working on orders.

Today, I took a break from the cleaning projects because I had other plans.  At 12:30, I met up with my cousin Karen in Portland.  She and her Mom (my Aunt Janie) had driven up for the afternoon.  We gathered at Longhorn Steakhouse where my Aunt Diane was also meeting us and the four of us ladies had a nice lunch together.

Afterwards, we split up like we usually do, with Karen and I heading over to the mall to walk around and talk.  I wasn't feeling 100%, so we ended up finding a bench in a quiet section near Round One to sit and catch up.  We spent the rest of our time together there talking and filling each other in on everything going on in our lives.  Before we knew it, it was time to head back over to the Longhorn parking lot to meet Diane and Janie.  Then, we all said our goodbyes and headed in our separate directions.

I had originally planned to run a few errands in the area, but I wasn't really feeling up to doing them on my own.  After some thought, I decided to skip them.  I called Eliot to check in since he had called while I was with Karen to tell me he had a huge project he needed to do at work and that he wouldn't be home until after midnight.  He gave me more details and I knew that he wasn't exaggerating; he wouldn't be home for the rest of the evening.  I didn't really want to go back home to an empty house though.  

I happened to check my voicemails and my boss at the chiropractic office had left me a message about a question they had on an Excel document that I made.  The office was open until 6 pm, so after a quick call to the new office manager that I had been training, I was on my way over there.  I had to pass by the office on the way home anyways, so the universe kind of lined everything up.  I ended up staying with her for about 2 hours while she finished her day and asked me a few questions.  It was nice to visit with her, the other doctor, and a few of the patients while I helped her out.  I was also able to help with her Excel document problem, even though I didn't really know what I was doing prior to getting there!  But it all worked out!

I left the office, grabbed something for dinner since I was finally hungry again, and headed home.  It wasn't long after getting home and eating that I found myself drifting off on the couch.  It was only 9 pm, but I decided to call it a night and go to bed early (really early for me) since there wasn't anything too pressing that I had to do!  (And Eliot didn't end up getting home until 2 am, so I'm glad that I called it a night early!)

As you can see, it's been a busy week, and it isn't slowing down either.  Tomorrow morning is registration for the 2023 RunDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Virtual Races.  That's in the morning and then I have to have blood drawn tomorrow afternoon.  (Yay, my favorite... not.)  I absolutely hate getting my blood drawn, so I've promised myself that if my arm is feeling ok afterwards, I can go over to Michael's in Biddeford.  I've got a few supplies for projects that I need to pick up, and I'd like to get supplies for my new business idea if they have them in stock!

This upcoming weekend and next week, I'm going to try to focus on getting more stuff done around the house.  There aren't too many business things that I can be working on during the day right now, so I've got time to get house projects done while Eliot's at work.  I'm also trying to take advantage of the cooler temperatures.  Once the heat and humidity are here, I'll probably be camping out in the living room most of the summer in the air conditioning!  I can work on some of my new business ideas then!

Things do look like they'll slow down a little though.  Next week is actually pretty quiet with nothing on our schedule other than going to Trenton for 4th of July.  Like I said, I'll probably stick close to home so I can get some stuff done around the house.  But I will go out to have a date night with Eliot to see Lightyear next Tuesday!

As for my blog, I'll be busy as ever.  I've got one post planned every day from now through 4th of July weekend.  There will be plenty of new content the next few weeks!

It's time to buckle up, hold on, and enjoy the jet ride through the rest of June!  °o°

Yay, It's May!!!

Happy May Friends!  I can't believe that it's May.  April flew right by in a blur.  And if April was jam packed, then May is the complete opposite.  Aside from going to the Lego event again today and working at the office a few more days... the holidays are pretty much the only thing on my calendar right now.  And I'm lovin' it.

Last week was the end to a few commitments.  My spring sewing class ended last Tuesday.  The San Jose Sharks hockey season is over as of Friday night.   The Sharks have pretty much been playing at least three games a week for a few months now.  So that will free up quite a bit of time... although I'm still sad to see the season end.

The other thing that was originally going to be ending last week was my time in the office.  I am going to be working in the chiropractic office a few more days before I hang my hat back up in regards to that.  The new office manager needs a bit more training before she will be ready to spread her wings and fly on her own.  So I'll be going back in on Thursday and Friday of this week to help.  I'll also probably go in at least one other day for training when the office is closed... but that won't be this week. 

After my time at the office is done, the rest of the month opens up to possibilities.  My plan going forward into May is to focus on working on the house before it gets too hot to do much away from the air conditioning.  I'd like to pick up where I left off with my week of cleaning in April.  I have some more work to do in our bedroom.  Eliot and I are also going to continue working on the dining and living room area.  If we're able to get those in shape, I'm hoping to move on to the master and guest bathrooms!

I've also got some business things that I'd like to start working on, but since I do most of my work at the dining room table, it makes sense to hold off on that a few more weeks.  We have a pretty powerful air conditioning unit in our living and dining room area, so I'll be able to sit at the table working on new products and items once it's too hot to work in other areas of the house.  We've talked about getting a few more air conditioning units as well, so that might help!

Eliot and I have still been pushing hard with our businesses and both are still ahead of schedule.  The plan is to keep ahead of 3D prints so that I'm able to continue to focus my energy on the house and creating new products for them!  If that goes as planned, hopefully we'll be able to shift our energy into opening our other shops later this year!

As for my blog, I'll probably be a bit quiet on here compared to the rest of this year so far.  I've been on pace writing a post at least every other day so far, but that might drop off if I'm working on cleaning and other house projects.  Or, I could be inspired to write a ton when I'm resting after a hard day's work.  I really have no idea!  But I'm not going to put myself on my strict schedule.  I'll just see where the wind takes me!

Of course, it isn't all work and no play around here either.  The Maine Mariners are still playing in their Round 1 playoff series that is 3 to 2 right now (with the Reading Royals in the lead).  If the Mariners win the next two games, and advance to the next round, Eliot and I plan to make time to go to their home games to cheer them on.  

We'll also be keeping an eye on the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I'm fully invested in cheering for two former San Jose Sharks: Joe Pavelski and the Dallas Stars and Joe Thornton and the Florida Panthers!   We also enjoy watching the other games and seeing how everyone does.  Plus, hockey games are the perfect thing to listen to in the background while cleaning or working on orders!

Finally, I also have my Spring Bucket List to work on.  I've literally completed one thing on the list so far... so I'll definitely be cranking up the heat in May to get those things done!  Eliot still has six vacation days to use before the month is over, so I'm hoping we can work a few of those fun things into our extra time off together!

It looks like it'll be a quiet month, but I'm sure it will be anything but.  Watch out May, because I'm coming for you.  Hopefully I'll be back to report that I got a lot done!  °o°

The Busiest Bee

Phew!  Has this been quite the (kind of) vacation.  Like I told you back on Easter, my plans for this past week got a bit derailed.  I was supposed to be at my parents' house Monday to Wednesday.  At one point, I thought I might be working on Thursday and Friday.  Instead, I didn't go north due to a potential coronavirus exposure.  Then, the chiropractic office was closed this week so I didn't have to work.  I figured that this was the universe's way of telling me to take some time for myself... 

And me, myself and I wanted to focus most of my energy on working on the house!

Monday morning, I kicked it into gear and got as much done on the computer as I could.  In the afternoon, I dove right into my house projects by starting with one of the bigger things on my to do list- reorganizing my master bedroom closet.  I spent three hours upstairs moving things around and planning where I wanted to move everything.

Eliot had already repaired the shelf and the closet rod for me, but all of my clothes were still in buckets for the time being.  Right now, I'm focusing on organizing the storage underneath.  We have really deep master closets, so I have a storage unit and some plastic drawers tucked in the back of the closet to organize my stuff.  I went through everything and noted where it was currently located.  Then, I made a new note on my phone with photos showcasing my plan to move things around.

It was fun to dig through my accessories.  I haven't used a lot of it lately since it hasn't been easy to get to, so it was like Christmas digging everything out!  I went through my mint storage trunk with some of my novelty bags in it.  I also tried on a few of my hats that were tucked away.  I went through my scarves.  Finally, I took all of my booties out of their shoe boxes and placed them in their new home on the repaired closet shelf.  

When I was finished, I was completely exhausted, but it felt so good to have made as much progress as I did!  I was also excited about my plan to get it all organized!

Tuesday wasn't a super productive day, but I still got stuff done.  Eliot and I spent way too much time signing up for the 2023 WDW race weekend.  After that, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and it put me into a funk.  I didn't feel like cleaning or organizing, so instead I spent most of the afternoon browsing and researching on Pinterest and working on blog posts.  Later in the afternoon, physical exhaustion overcame me so I took a nap since the Sharks had a late game.  Then, I spent the evening doing a bit of computer work and watching the game with Eliot.

Wednesday I took most of the day off to rest.  My allergies have been starting to act up so I took the day to relax and recuperate.  However, I did continue with Monday's organizational plan for my closet and master bedroom.  I found my old note on my laptop of how I'd originally organized everything and I copied it into a new one.  Then, I took my new note from Monday and combined them into a comprehensive plan.

Later in the day Wednesday, I felt a bit better so I at least got some cleaning done in the kitchen.  Then, Eliot and I spent the evening working on orders for our businesses.

Thursday I got a lot of computer work done during the first half of the day.  Later in the afternoon, I went upstairs to work on the master bedroom some more.  I didn't feel like tearing apart the closet area again, so instead I worked on my vanity area.  A lot of that stuff has piled up over the years, and I really needed to go through it.  I want to make a game plan on organizing that area, decorating it and making my vision come to life; so I spent a few hours going through everything to get an idea of what I need to do.

One of my bigger plans is to reorganize all of my jewelry.  When Eliot and I lived in our apartment in Woburn and then our rental house, I had most of my stuff well organized, but since we've moved into our home, I haven't gone through everything.  I have also acquired more jewelry and accessories since then.  I've got a loose game plan to get them all organized so I can get to them easily.  I also bought a jewelry closet mirror to put a lot of it in!  I'm hoping that will make it organized and easily accessible!

Thursday evening, I worked on some business things, wrote a little more for my blog, and crossed a few more things off of my to do list.  The Sharks had another late game, so Eliot and I spent the rest of the evening watching that before bedtime.

Friday morning, I started my morning by signing up for the 2023 Walt Disney World virtual marathon.  After that, I spent the rest of the morning working on upcoming blog posts and other computer work.  Around 1:00 pm, I was ready to shift gears... 

I spent the afternoon Friday organizing in our master bedroom.  I primarily focused on my closet, but I moved a bunch of stuff around.  I made the changes that I'd noted on my organizational plan and I moved a few things around to accomplish that.  Once I was happy with how the bottom part of my closet looked, I started to tackle hanging my clothes back up.  The bottom part of the closet isn't completely organized yet, but I figure that I can always take the clothes back out if I have to! 

Time was passing by as I kept hanging stuff up and gradually moving things around.  I took about an hour off from 3:00-4:00 to eat a late lunch and take a break, then I dove right back in.  By 6:00 pm, all of the dresses in the containers I'd stored them in were hung back up.  At this point, I was really happy with everything that I'd accomplished, and I was starting to get tired.  I decided to call it a day.

After calling Eliot to check in, I completely crashed.  I moved everything that I'd put on my side of the bed so there was enough room for me, and I got under the covers and took a nap.  I guess staying up until 4:00 am for the Main Street Electrical Parade merchandise drop caught up to me after only getting about 5 hours of sleep!

I woke up feeling rested and crawled out of bed at 8:00 pm.  After admiring my hard work from the afternoon, I made my way downstairs.  I had a snack and watched some television.  Then, I spent the evening working on my blog while Eliot stayed late at work to get some stuff done.  Eliot got home around 11:00 pm with dinner and we spent the rest of our night watching a Hallmark movie before it was time to go to bed.

Saturday morning, Eliot and I deviated from our usual plans a tiny bit.  We were both completely exhausted, so we skipped our usual trip to the post office.  We picked up the routine with the part where Eliot went to the grocery store and to Dunkin Donuts to get us breakfast.  When he got home, we watched A Million Little Things while eating.

After that, we decided it was time to tackle the dining room.  It's been a disaster for a while now, and we've both wanted to work on it.  The dining room is my workshop area and I've let things pile up more than they should have.  We're still working on moving everything from the dining room into my office.  We spent the afternoon tidying up and going through things.  We also loaded up two containers worth of holiday stuff to put away!  It's still a work in progress, but it'll be more manageable moving forward!

Late in the afternoon, my hip was really bothering me so I went upstairs to lay down for a bit.  Eliot came up and gave me a back rub to help relax my muscles.  It must have worked because I fell asleep and woke up about an hour or so later.  It wasn't a long nap, but I definitely felt less sore and very refreshed afterwards!

I came downstairs to find Eliot out on the porch working out with his Oculus.  He was just finishing up.  We were both really hungry so he went to get us something for dinner at Subway.  By the time he got back, the 8:00 pm Sharks game was starting so we spent the evening watching our boys play their 2nd to last home game of the season.

After the game was over, we watched the new Hallmark movie that I'd recorded on the DVR.  Once that ended, it was about 1:30 in the morning so we decided to call it a night.  Eliot started up the 3D printers and we went to bed.

This morning started a bit lazy as we slept in way past when we should have.  Usually, I'd feel guilty about it, but I didn't since I'd had a super productive week.  Today, I'll be working on a few things for our businesses and helping Eliot with a few small house projects... but I'll mostly be resting up for the week ahead.

This upcoming week is going to be a bit insane.  I have my last spring sewing class on Tuesday.  Thursday and Friday I'm working at the office.  I just found out yesterday that the new office manager is going to be training on both of my work days and my boss wanted someone there to watch her remote computer session.  So now I'm working a few extra hours than I planned.  On top of that, the Maine Mariners have their first home playoff games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Eliot and I are planning to go to the weekday games since this weekend is the event my family is coming for!

As you can see, this upcoming week is going to be a pretty busy one.  I'll basically be gone all day both Thursday and Friday between work and the hockey games.  I'm also not 100% sure if I'll be needed in May to help with training at the office.  That's why I was so concerned with focusing on the house this past week.  I thought that I would be more mentally prepared for whatever is thrown at me if I felt like I'd utilized this "week off" to make some forward progress on my personal goals.

Thankfully, I got quite a bit completed this week!  I still have a lot of stuff to do, but I'm really happy with what I did get done.  I wanted to end this "vacation" week feeling like I had accomplished something and I definitely achieved that!  I felt like the busiest bee buzzing around juggling everything.  Hopefully, I can ride this momentum when I start to refocus my energy towards working on the house again in May!!!  °o°

Forward Progress

Yesterday, I did a quick check in on what Eliot and I have been up to so far in June... but the truth is that was only part of the story.  Another reason that Eliot and I have been so busy is that we've been working really hard on projects all over the house.  I am 100% serious about getting our two puppies sooner than later, and that has pretty much become my main focus.  The only obstacle in my path right now is getting the house finished enough so the puppies will be safe.

Lately, it feels like we've been in overdrive working on the house.  I've told you about Eliot's Funko Pop Display in his office that he started over Memorial Day.  At this point, we've decided that we like the idea and that we're going to put those shelves all the way down our upstairs hallway.  It's the perfect place to display our Funko Pops.  Last weekend, Eliot and I measured the hallway and calculated how many of the shelves we need to get in order to finish his office and the hallway.

Speaking of the upstairs hallway, Eliot also recently built both of my new 3x3 storage cube units and he moved them into place in the hallway.  Once they were all set, he helped me move a bunch of my Loungefly bags out of our master bedroom and onto those units.  The bags aren't organized, but the storage units are full!  (Organizing my bags is something I can do later this summer or this fall when it's cooler out.)

The weekend after we got our COVID shots, Eliot and I built one of our new bookcases for Eliot's office to put 3D material on.  We still have one more bookcase in our storage unit that we'll probably bring home this weekend.  I'm so glad that I thought of these bookshelves.  We finally have a way to organize all of our 3D material by color and they're easy to get to!  When we're done, we'll have four of them and that should be plenty of space for all of our material, as well as a few of Eliot's collectibles!

We've also been busy cleaning the entryway from the garage.  Eliot and I have always entered our house through our front door, but I'd like to start using the garage entrance so wet, dirty little puppy feet won't be tracking in mud all over the wood floor in the living room.  After Squirrel-Gate, the entryway was where a lot of the stuff from my office ended up.  (My office is right off of the entryway.)  Eliot and I cleaned and moved all of that stuff back into my office, or to another location.  

In addition to that, we've also moved the 2x2 Kallax from his office into place.  When we bought the bookcases for his office, we knew he'd have to move that out.  It's a little beat up from moving from MA, to Biddeford, to our house, so it was the perfect one to put in the entryway.  Eliot put the new white drawers and cubby units for it together over Memorial Day weekend.  Since then, he installed them and moved it into place!

I've also started to organize the closet in our entryway.  We don't have a pantry in our kitchen, so that's what we use instead.  The closet is filled with shelves instead of a clothes rod, so we assume that's where the previous owners stored extra food.  Since it's just the two of us, we also use that closet to store our hats, mittens, gloves and all of our winter gear. I've been trying to organize all of them in containers that fit perfectly between the shelves.  We'll probably put the dog food and supplies in there as well.  It doesn't have to be perfect right now, but it feels good to make progress!

Eliot also assembled our new exercise machine last weekend.  I saw it in an ad on Facebook, and it looked different than what we already have.  Eliot used to love doing the climbing stair machine at the gym.  Instead, this is more of a climbing up a ladder motion.  It works out your entire body, so we thought for the price it was worth trying out.  Plus, it can fold down and it doesn't take up much room!

Last but not least, I've continued to try to get my accessories organized.  I finally spray sealed all of my new Pair Eyewear frame toppers the other day.  (A bunch of people in our Facebook group said it was best to spray the old ones that don't have the glossy finish.)  I have so many of them at this point and I've been putting it off.  But since Eliot and I found the correct spray, I figured it was time.  It took me an entire afternoon to spray, let them dry and then do the next batch.  I'm so glad that's done!

Now, I'm shifting my focus to storing them.  After a lot of internal debate back and forth, I've finally decided to make my own board.  Most people buy magnetic boards, but that can cause the toppers to flatten out.  I don't want to spend a ton of time having to reshape them daily, so I'm going to make a hanging board that will keep their natural shape.  Last weekend, I measured out the space I want to put it.  After, I measured a few of my toppers and did some quick math.  I've got a plan for the size of the board and how many hangers I'll need!  So Eliot and I have yet another house project on our list (and another visit to Home Depot in our future) but it'll help get us more organized!

None of these house projects have been a big deal, but anything is better than nothing; plus, it's nice to see more progress!  Hopefully, we can keep moving forward!  °o°

Memorial Day Weekend 2021

The month of May has ended in a flurry of activity for us.  I've left the house multiple days in a row for the first time in forever.  I'm pretty sure my FitBit doesn't even know who I am anymore.  I've certainly been getting my steps in!  As I mentioned before, Eliot and I were really busy the first few days of our extended holiday weekend.  We had to adapt our plan a little bit, but we got a lot of business stuff done.  The past few days have also been busy as we've been visiting with my family, working on completing more orders and getting some stuff done around the house!

Eliot and I spent Saturday morning finishing off the rest of our hard work from the previous days.  Eliot dropped off a few Snowblade Creations orders at post office and returned with Dunkin Donuts bagels for breakfast.  My parents, Nana and Jeremy all weren't going to arrive until later in the afternoon, so after we ate our bagels, Eliot and I decided we'd try to get a few things done around the house.

Eliot went upstairs to work on a few small projects while I cleaned up in general.  I did the dishes, laundry, and the usual stuff.  Then, I went upstairs to see what Eliot was working on.  We decided to put together one of the new 3x3 cube storages units that we picked up at Target on Thursday.  Eliot put it together but I handed him the pieces while we discussed plans for the house.  After he finished it, I helped him move it down the hallway.  Then, I put a bunch of my Loungefly mini backpacks on it.

My brother Jeremy arrived right as I was checking my phone saying that he should be showing up soon.  My parents were still quite a ways out, so Jeremy relaxed on the chair and a half while we kept working.  Eliot sat on the couch putting together a few storage pieces that we'd bought from Walmart and IKEA for our entryway.  I ended up snacking since I was getting hungry.  Jeremy and Eliot eventually got some food too.

After what felt like forever, Mom called to say that they were finally at the hotel in South Portland.  Once Mom and Nana were settled, Dad drove out to our house.  When he arrived, Eliot and I walked him through the house projects we need help with.  (He's planning to come down with Mom in June and probably again sometime this fall when it's cool out.)  First, we walked around to the backyard so Eliot and I could show him a few things.  We've got a bit of landscaping that we'd like to change.  We also wanted to look around at where we might eventually put a fence for the puppies.

Finally, the thing we needed my Dad to look at the most was our deck.  Our deck is in rough shape.  I've honestly never been a fan of it.  In the five years we've lived here, I've probably gone out on it less than 5 times.  Right now, the sliding door from our dining room to the deck and the backyard has a folding table in front of it that we use for our businesses.  Eliot and I don't even go out there because I don't trust it.  But, because we're hoping to have the puppies soon, it was time we look into the deck.  

Apparently, my gut feeling was correct.  Dad had Eliot bring him out a chair and he placed it near the deck so he could sit and lean under it to see the structure.  I went back inside the house for a minute to change from shorts into pants because it was cold and I didn't want to get eaten alive by mosquitoes... and while I was gone, I missed all the excitement.  Dad had Eliot go up on the deck to check something and Eliot's foot went right through one of the stairs from the lower level to the upper level.

I've sworn that thing wasn't stable, and now Eliot's foot literally went through one of the boards.  Thankfully, the way the stairs were designed, he was able to stop from going all the way through with the deck below it... but still.  The wood is rotting and the entire lower section is warped where the hot tub is.  (The deck is literally floating above one of the posts because the wood is so warped.)  After Dad checked it all over, he has determined the upper section near the house is stable, but the lower section is not.  I'm not sure what our plan is, but I'm for ripping the entire lower section apart and starting over.  My Dad built the deck at my parents house and that thing is sturdy!

Once we showed Dad everything on our projects to do list, we all got ready to head up to Portland.  Jeremy rode with Dad in his car while Eliot and I piled into the truck.  We arrived at Longhorn Steakhouse and split up to divide and conquer.  Eliot and Jeremy took the car to get drinks while Dad and I went inside to order the food.  After we all gathered dinner, we met up at the hotel and dove in.  It was the first time we'd seen Nana since Christmas so it was nice just to hang out and talk.  A few hours later, around 11 pm, we decided it was time to call it a night.  Eliot, Jeremy and I hopped in the truck and went back to our house where we all went to bed.

Sunday morning, Jeremy, Eliot and I got up and took turns showering.  Once we were all ready, we drove up to South Portland to meet Mom, Dad and Nana at IHOP for brunch.  Jeremy packed up his overnight bag and took his car so he'd be able to leave from Portland.  Eliot and I tried to order our food on the drive up, but their phone line was constantly busy and both the website and the app wouldn't let Eliot order.  We finally gave up and arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later anyways.

My family had just gotten there too.  We all parked and gathered by Mom and Dad's car.  The guys ended up going inside to order while I jumped into the car to visit with Mom and Nana.  Eliot came back outside after ordering and Dad and Jeremy waited inside for the food.  Then we all drove over to the JCPenney parking lot at the mall so we could park next to each other.  We split up the food and all ate inside of our cars with the windows down.  My strawberry and banana pancakes were so good!

Once everyone was finished, we went into the Maine Mall.  Mom wanted to get new sneakers so we all went to the shoe section of JCPenney.  They were really picked over with few options, but we were able to find two pairs of sneakers that fit her.

After that, Mom wanted to get a card for my Dad's birthday so we slowly walked down to the Hallmark store at the opposite end of the mall.  Jeremy took Dad to Best Buy to keep him busy and Eliot wandered ahead of me and Mom so he could go over to check out Newbury Comics.  I helped my Mom pick out a card from her and I bought one for Dad from the three of us kids as well.  While I was checking out, Eliot met up with Mom and me and the three of us slowly walked back towards JCPenney.  

On the way, Dad and Jeremy caught up to us.  We made a stop at Mrs. Field's to pick out cookies.  Eliot grabbed two lemonades for us to split and we made our way back out to the cars. We separated everyone's cookies out and ate them in the cars.  It was raining pretty hard at this point, so we had to close the windows.  It was depressing since we didn't get to say proper goodbyes with hugs, but we all said goodbye and waved from our cars.  Jeremy headed south while Mom, Dad and Nana headed north.

Eliot and I had a few errands to run while we were in town.  First, we picked up a few things for the house at Home Depot.  While there, we also checked out tools and new storm doors.  Next, we went over to Target.  Eliot ran inside quickly and emerged with what he went in for as well as some rainbow cups he thought I would like.  (He was right; I love them!)  Finally, we swung by Walmart to grab a few more supplies.  Once we were finished running errands, we drove home and were prepared to collapse into bed for a nap.  (I'm not sure why, but we were both so tired!)  

However, when we arrived home, I noticed that the birds nest on our front porch had fallen over.  (It's been there for over three years, so it really surprised us.)  We dropped our stuff off inside and went back out to check it out.  Eliot put his gardening gloves on and carefully picked up the nest.  Thankfully, we couldn't find any babies on the porch or on the ground.  We tossed the clump of grass and twigs (that were the base) aside, but Eliot carefully put the actual birds nest on the porch under were it used to sit on the windows.  We have no idea what happened... but we were relieved we didn't find any dead babies.  The eggs we found on the porch have been there for a few weeks, so hopefully if there were babies, they were able to leave the nest safely before it fell over.

While reorganizing the nest, we heard a bird tweeting.  Eliot looked around for a minute and found our bright red cardinal sitting in the trees out of the rain and watching us.  I felt comforted by his presence and we decided that we'd done all we could for the nest.

Eliot and I went inside and took our nap.  Thankfully, I woke up feeling refreshed.  We went downstairs and put playoff hockey on.  While listening to the game, Eliot worked on orders at his work table.  Meanwhile, I was on my laptop making a social media plan for Happily Ever Hatter for the next two months.  Once Eliot and I were both finished with what we were working on, we put on a Hallmark movie we hadn't seen before (that's been on our DVR for 2 weeks), watched that, and went to bed.

This morning, we slept in a little bit.  (It is a holiday after all.)  When we finally got out of bed, Eliot ran down to Dunkin Donuts to pick up breakfast.  He returned home with the food and prepared to go into work for a few hours.  While he didn't have to work today, he did have a test he wanted to run while no one else was there and needed to use the equipment.  After setting up the 3D printers, he said goodbye and headed in.  While he was gone, I tackled a few things on my computer... including working on this post!

Eliot returned home around dinner time with an Amato's BLT for me.  He had a pizza that he'd already eaten so he went upstairs while I was eating.  He decided to hang the picture shelves that we bought at IKEA for some of his Funko Pops.  He wasn't 100% sure what he thought of the shelves, but I swore they'd be perfect.  They actually fit in his office perfectly and now he's bummed out that we only bought two of them.  We're planning to go back down again to get a few more to finish off his office!

After Eliot showed me his new Pop display in his office, I wasn't feeling well so I went to lay down for a bit.  After napping for about an hour and a half, I got up and felt a lot better.  I went downstairs and Eliot had the hockey game on while he was working on a few more orders.  I decided to play Emoji Blitz since I still had a two hour infinity lives prize that I had to use before the end of the month.  From 9 pm to 11 pm, I played the 101 Dalmatians event while we listened to the Bruins hockey game.  Thankfully, I was able to finish it since I had two hours to work on it!

Eliot turned on American Ninja Warrior after the hockey game ended.  (He finished his pile of orders and decided to take a break.)  While he watched his show, I've been finalizing this post.  We're staying up for the July Loungefly pre-order bag release at midnight.  Then, we'll probably go over this weeks' orders before we head to bed. 

Tomorrow, Eliot goes back to work and our 6 day extended holiday weekend will be over.  All in all, Eliot and I had a pretty good mini "vacation" even though it wasn't really much of a break.  I have to admit, I'm feeling kind of disappointed that we didn't have the super productive "home project completion" weekend that I've been hoping for... which means we just have that much more to do these next few weeks... which is depressing, but it is what it is.  At least Eliot got a bit of a break from work, which I think he needed just to clear his head.  We did get a few things done around the house... no matter how small it feels right now.  Plus, we got caught up with most of our orders which is a big accomplishment!  It feels good to not have that looming over us.

Finally, as people across the country are kicking off summer and enjoying barbecues, I want to take a minute to acknowledge the real reason for today.  Memorial Day often gets overlooked and I admit that we usually use this weekend to get together with my family to do something fun.  But this is not a fun holiday weekend for a lot of people.  

Today, we remember the members of our armed forces who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom.  You have not been forgotten.  °o°

Things Are Heating Up

Whew, things are definitely heating up around here... both figuratively and literally.  The temperature here in Maine has been rising with multiple days in the 80s in the past week.  Eliot and I finally caved and installed our AC unit in the living room last Saturday when it was over 80° out.  We still haven't gotten the one in our bedroom set up, but that will be happening in the next few days.  It's supposed to be 90° on Thursday!

In addition to the physical heat, we're feeling the heat with our businesses.  We're so thankful for all of the orders that we've received these past few weeks.  April and May have both broken sales records and we've been insanely busy.  However, it also means that we have to make everything that has been ordered... and when the 3D printers can only print so fast, it becomes stressful.  

We've had a bunch of orders for Happily Ever Hatter and Snowblade Creations that have been due at the same time.  At this point, we've gone from being ahead to being behind.  It's been an adjustment that we're still working on.  Eliot and I have never been this busy with both businesses at the same time, but we're hanging on.  We are hoping to be caught back up in the next few days.  We've got a plan of attack, and once we get a bunch of pieces printed, we'll be able to finish the backlog of orders that have been at a standstill.  Then, we'll tackle the next wave of orders on my list!

Thankfully, Eliot and I have been able to keep our minds engaged while working on all of these orders.  We usually listen to music, but this past week and half we've been able to listen to hockey in the background.  The San Jose Sharks season might be over, but the NHL Playoffs have also been heating up.  The first round of the playoffs is currently happening and a few teams have already punched their tickets to the next round!  We're looking forward to the playoffs and listening to the games while we work!

Even though Eliot and I have been busy fulfilling orders, I've also gotten out of the house a few more times.  My calendar continues to slowly fill up and it has been really encouraging.  I know that we're not totally out of the woods with the coronavirus pandemic, but things are starting to feel more like normal for us.

Monday May 17th, Eliot had a massage appointment over by the mall.  (He's been scheduling a two hour session once a month to help work out some muscle pain.)  I've been driving up to the appointments with him so I can do some shopping while he's in his session.  The past few months, I've used the time to get dinner at Chipotle, but most times, that's taken the majority of the two hours since they're so far behind with to-go orders.  This particular time, I decided to go to Joann and Michael's instead. 

I spent most of the time browsing at Joann.  They had the Mickey rainbow fabric (that my Dad bought me on Mother's Day) back in stock, as well as a few other designs from the Pride 2021 collection.  Then, I stumbled across a few fabrics that made me think of Mickey and Minnie's new outfits for Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration later this year.  I almost bought them, but I decided to wait until I figure out the designs for my ear hats.. then I'll go back to get some!

I also found a cute Disney Princess sign that had Moana, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, Mulan and Cinderella on it.  It was in a random location, but like usual, I spotted it right away out of the corner of my eye.  I picked one out for my office and continued to wander.

After going through the jewelry aisles, I came across a center display of Disney Happy Planner items.  The display had one side with a bunch of princess items, as well as another side of Mickey and Minnie items.  I took photos of both sides and made a mental note to come back when I had more time to look through everything.  After that, I checked out with my stuff and made my way over to Michael's.

I didn't really need much at Michael's, so I browsed through some of my favorite craft sections.  I ended up finding a few glitters that were on sale.  They also reminded me of the WDW 50th colors so I thought they might make fun ears!  When I got back to my car, I called my parents to check in with them.  May 17th was the last day of extended tax season this year so I wanted to make sure they were still standing!  They were wrapping a few things up, but still hanging in!

At that point, it was almost 9:00 so I drove back to pick Eliot up from his massage.  We had already decided that we'd get Friendly's for dinner so I was ready for that!  We ended up going inside to eat instead of getting it to go.  It was so late that there weren't that many people inside, so we decided it was safe to do so.  (This was the 3rd time we'd eaten in a restaurant since the pandemic and it still felt a little weird!)  But I really enjoyed having hot food served on a plate and I even got an ice cream sundae to go!

Our other big outing was this past Sunday on the 23rd.  It was totally unplanned and last minute.  Basically, the bookcase that we've been waiting weeks for finally came back in stock at IKEA.  I got a text Saturday morning, and I kept checking the inventory throughout the day.  What started out at 54 left in stock became 21 by the end of the day.  Saturday night, Eliot and I decided that we'd drop everything (knowing we'd be putting ourselves even further behind) and drive down to IKEA on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we got up, showered and headed south.  We met Jeremy at the Burlington Mall where we picked him up and kept driving.  After arriving, we made a mad dash to the aisle it was located and realized that there were plenty of them.  Still, we bought the bookcase and a few other things we needed.  Then, Jeremy sat in the truck with the stuff while Eliot and I went back in to buy a few other things on my list.

Eliot and I returned to the truck with the rest of the stuff and some food from the snack bar.  Eliot ate his pretzel sticks while Jeremy had his hot dog and I drove around the corner to Target.  Then, I enjoyed my Swedish meatballs, potatoes and lingonberries while they went inside.  Then, we continued north- making a quick stop at Home Depot in Waltham to get a tarp when it looked like it was going to rain.

We arrived back at the mall and went inside to check our usual haunts.  First up was the Disney Store of course!  They had the Winnie the Pooh nuimos and Eliot wanted Tigger and Eeyore.  Then, I selected a Spirit Jersey for them.  Eliot caved and also got a Donald nuimo and I grabbed a rainbow key from the 2021 Rainbow Collection.  We made a quick trip over to Newbury Comic but I ended up standing outside to wait.  The store was boiling and I couldn't handle the heat with my face mask on!

After that, we made our way up to New Hampshire and Eliot and I met Jeremy at the Walmart in Amherst.  We ordered our to go meal from Friendly's down the road and then walked around Walmart while we waited for it to be ready.  Then, we drove over to pick the food up.  We decided to sit in our cars and eat outside of the Merrimack outlet stores.  By the time we were done, everything was closed, but it was a quiet place to eat.  (We really need to find a place with picnic tables somewhere around there.)

After eating, Eliot and I said goodbye to Jeremy and headed north.  We stopped at the Walmart in Epping since Eliot wanted to see if they had a few things.  I sat in the car and relaxed my legs while he was gone.  Then, we both needed a pick me up so we got Starbucks from across the street.  I hopped back on the highway and we didn't stop again until we reached the Walmart in Biddeford.  We picked up a few things that we needed for the house and made our way home where I fell asleep almost immediately!

It's been crazy busy the past few weeks, but in between all of the hustle and bustle, we've been enjoying the small things.  Eliot and I have been watching the wildlife around our house.  We've got a bunch of chipmunks that live in the flower beds in our front yard.  They like to run around and aren't scared of us until we're really close to them.  I also recently discovered that we have a family of red squirrels living in the bird house on our tree that tipped over.  They like to chase each other in the trees.  We've seen as many as five running around at one time!

Eliot and I have a few other forest friends we're fond of.  There's a momma bird in the nest on our front porch.  It's been there for years and we haven't had the heart to move it.  Obviously, it's in a safe location away from the elements.  This year, it looks like a small sparrow or chickadee living in the nest.  I haven't seen babies yet, but I hear her out there all the time.  (As I've been typing this, she's singing outside our window.)  

Then, there's "Munchie", the cute groundhog that we think lives under our storage building.  Every year I get really excited when he finally makes his reappearance after winter.  He's a constant in our yard every spring and summer.  He likes to come out and munch on dandelions in the backyard.  (Hence the name I've given him.)  I'm not sure what he'll think of our puppies, but I hope he hangs around.  This year, we have also seen him in the front yard, so I'm hopeful that he'll just move his munching habits there if we have the dogs in the back yard.  He doesn't seem too phased by human things.  The other day, Eliot opened the front door to find him standing in the center of the porch!  I don't know who was more startled... Eliot or Munchie!  (Munchie hightailed it to the woods and Eliot let out a small yell.)  But we've really enjoyed watching him!

Anyways, that's pretty much what we've been up to as of late.  I thought I'd take a break from cleaning and working on orders long enough to post an update.  

Today is Eliot's last day of work before the holiday weekend.  This rest of this week, Eliot is using his last three vacation days for this past fiscal year.  (Use them or lose them!)  I'm trying to use the rest of his work hours today to be productive, but to also get a little bit of relaxation done.  After today, we're going to juggle cleaning the house, working on house projects and working on orders until my parents, Nana and Jeremy arrive down here sometime Friday.  (3 days of productivity here we come!)  Thus, I probably won't be back here until things quiet down after the holiday weekend!  

Have a wonderful week and weekend friends!  °o°