Extreme Makeover Home Edition makes me cry. And it's online, so I can watch it at any time I want to. The only part that I have to see is when they move the bus and I get teary-eyed. Every time.

Dance your cares away

Speaking of Jay, our childhood dreams have come true! Fraggle Rock is hitting the big screen. We used to have a record of the theme song that we used to put on and dance to. Jay likes to sing to songs even when he doesn't know half of the words that he's singing. I think that instead of singing "Dance your cares away" it comes out more like "Base a care away" :) My favorite is when he sings the musical, non-lyrics parts of the song. He does the claps in the fraggle song too.

This is an awful picture, but this is my brother Jay. Jay has autism and you know how Rainman counts cards? Well, Jay remembers birthdays. Every time I talk to him he tells me who's birthday is coming up and he's usually in the process of baking a pan of brownies for whoever it is. The last time I talked to him it was May 1st or 2nd.
Jay: Know what month it is?
Me: It's May, right?
Jay: Yeah, and who's birthday is in May?
Me: *pretending not to know* I don't know, who's?
Jay: YOURS!

So in a few weeks on my birthday, I expect to get a call from him and he will sing me the entire song Happy Birthday :) But this weekend, I'll get to be reminded of it many times over, since I'm going to visit my family on Thursday! I'll have to remember to take a better picture of the two of us.

Michigan!

We're getting back from a week in Michigan, and here are some pics of our trip. We didn't take very many, and Steve deleted several that I took of him. Apparently he doesn't like my photography skills, I seem to catch him with some pretty amazing faces :)
This one is hilarious to me. We set the camera on the ground, and it looks like we're on a mountain or in the clouds, especially with the bird flying below Steve's knee!

South Haven. It was pretty chilly down by the water, but beautiful weather the whole week.

Our favorite beach in Saugatuck. We spent several mornings out there with the entire beach to ourselves pretty much. Got a little sun too :)

Us in South Haven, on a pier.

Moving & Shaking

This is what I practically shouted this morning as I woke up - "Steve!! Is the house moving?" Yes, it was. We both ran out into the hallway until it was over. It was so bizarre that I couldn't stop laughing for about 20 minutes until Steve had to get ready for his Point Man Bible study meeting. I watched the 6:00 news as he got ready to find out that it was an actual earthquake and not my imagination.

Block party

So I'd already changed into my pajama bottom capri pants and comfy socks, and am lounging around the house when the doorbell rings. I go see who it is, slightly embarrassed at how I look. When I see it's a bunch of kids with a video camera trained at the front door, I hesitate even further. Oh boy, what is going on. I open the door and this girl explains that they're working on a project called Dancing with the Neighbors, and they want me to dance for the camera. I laugh and try to think of a way out of it... I can't reject the kids :) So I tease the girl that she has to dance with me. She's not buying it. I tell her they can't expect me to dance all by myself! And take her hands and do a little twist action. Then she asks for the score from the 'judges': "7.5 for Monica and a 10 for the lady!"

More house photos -
Above the sink before shot:


After:

Our "splash back" and GDO

The Mellemas came for a visit this weekend and we were busy. Steve and Dad tiled the wall behind our oven, and while the glue was drying on that they put in a 2nd "GDO" (garage door opener). Steve kept calling the tiling around our oven a splash back; apparently he doesn't watch too much HGTV :) While the guys were busy doing that, Mom and I worked around the house at several things that I never get around to - cleaning all the windows, the china cabinets, hanging pictures, etc, etc, etc. My arms and legs are sore! Enjoy some before and after shots...

Before:

After:
It's not quite the final finished product, but you get the idea. They also tiled the area above our dishwasher, and I'll get those before/after shots up soon. We still have to do a little more grout tonight. I didn't get a shot of the GDO, but that's not all that exciting, until you use it!

Here are some shots during the tiling.

The spacers that the guys bought didn't really work, so they used plastic forks. The ghetto solution :)

Cleaning up!

And a funny story... I ran to a local home improvement store (that will remain nameless) to buy a small can of ceiling paint. When we painted our bathroom and bedroom we hit the ceiling a few times and I just wanted to cover those small spots. I repeat, the spots were small. I get to local fix-it place and look around at the endless rows of options. I decide to wait for paint guy to explain to what I need. Wrong plan of action!

Me: I'm looking for a paint that will cover up a few places on my ceiling where I just hit it with the roller while I was painting the walls.
Paint Guy: Has the ceiling ever been painted before?
Me: Well, no. But I'm not covering the ceiling, just a few places in the corners that have red and dark gray paint on them.
Paint Guy: *Grimaces* Ahhh, you're really not going to be able to match the color of the plaster. There are over 22 different types of plaster manufactured in Indiana alone and so you're going to have to cover the entire ceiling so that you don't notice the difference in color.
Me: I'm not covering the entire ceiling in 2 rooms just to cover a few small spots, we're talking less than a square inch each. I don't care if it doesn't match.
Paint Guy: *Shakes his head* You really will notice the difference in color.
Me: I notice a difference in color now, because it's bright red and slate gray! I just need to cover those spots.

Paint guy still wouldn't show me where the ceiling paint was. I left frustrated and we all returned the next day on our way back from church to talk to very same paint guy. He sold Steve the paint (Steve didn't tell him what it was for).