good birthday and new walls

Because Jeff is so great, he started smearing on the joint compound in our closets as a test run. Holy smokes. We have smooth walls, guys!! They look so great. Next step is to sand, then apply a second coat, then sand, prime and paint. It's going to take awhile to do the whole place, but it'll be so much less messy (and easier!) than scraping off the texture. Which, for the record, really is that bad. But we want to bring this place into a more modern era and get more money out of it as a rental!

Yesterday my dear friends Jen and Kortney took me to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I love CB for Dolly Parton, the rocking chairs out front, the country store. The food can be hit or miss. But where else can you get biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, grits, hashbrown casserole and fried apples for less than $8? Seriously! We were all stuffed!

Then we went to this NASTY estate sale that looked oh-so-tempting online. The 'SOLD' sign out front coupled with the unkempt yard made me think, 'Either an old person lived here and they died, or someone nasty lives here.' Unfortunately, it was the latter. As soon as we stepped inside the front door, a mix of putrid scents hit us like a heatwave. Pet urine, fecal matter, mold, rotting food--it was all mixed up in that smell. The lady behind us said, "I don't think I can do this." Neither did we, but the insides of this house gave good enough promises that we had to stay. The thick layer of pet hair covering the floor's entirety made me wish I was wearing close-toed shoes. We walked around with our fingers under our noses. I wished I had some lotion I could use as a scent buffer. One of the ladies running the sale approached us and kindly said, 'There are napkins on the kitchen table,' and a few seconds later, she left and reappeared with a stack for us. The stench still lingers in my nostrils.

Despite the decrepit conditions, the house proved to have a few gems, like the glass deviled egg plate Jen bought, or the MCM entertainment console I would have snagged had the sliding accordion-ish door not split in half as I tried to pull it shut. The owner (who was lounging on the couch in the main room as people meandered through her home--so bizarre) also had a 10-place setting set of some gorgeous Fire King dishware. That stuff goes for $$$$ at the antique fairs out here!

Then we went to Ulta. That place is ... all right. Too much for me.

Then I got home, and Jeff and I drove down to Galveston and went on the dolphin tour! It was so rad. I loved watching the pelicans dive head-first into the water. And the dolphins, they were so beautiful. What amazing creatures! What a fun boat ride! It started storming while we were out on the water, so we decided to turn home instead of going on that swing ride over at the Pleasure Pier (still upset we couldn't go, but who wants to be soaked through from rain on their birthday?). Then we went to Outback, because for some reason, Jeff's parents think I really like it so they send me a gift card to Outback for my birthday every year. 

Last night I spent three hours writing a talk for Sacrament Meeting that I didn't even use. Not even one piece of it. But it went better than it would have had I used it and I'm glad it's over.

Now I have homemade strawberry pie in the fridge. You know, I make everything homemade because I like knowing what goes in my food. So it's a whole wheat pie crust, with homemade strawberry glaze over the strawberries. Heck yeah yummy!! Can't wait to try it.