music ga-lore

this weekend the hubby and i escaped to one of our very favorite places...Natchitches LA. Such a relaxing, historical and peacful little town.

We went down for...

It was SO much fun. The hubster had several gigs he was booked for so it was a weekend of some awesome music!

The same weekend just happened to be the 100 year aniversary of the

Demon Marching Band!! (The hubs is a proud Alumni of this awesome band!)

So we went down to celebrate so kick booty music this weekend! We also got to catch up with old friends who we havn't seen in a while. I love catching up. I just wish everyone lived closer so we could get together more often!

Just a Bangin and a Clangin

Hummm what to do, what to do......I have a set of these in our bedroom at the duplex.

They hang all the way to the ground to cover our sliding glass door to the back yard. I personally could do without this glass door and wish it was 2 nice windows. We already have a back door, why do we need another one??

My other issue with these blinds...I have one of these:

and one of these:

and they like to play at 4am in the vertical blinds. I really think that the dogs like the noises the blinds make. Ranger (the corgi) likes to sit and wag his tail in them so they move from side to side just a bangin' and a clangin' away.

I need to find something else to cover this sliding glass door with so that I am not awake every morning when they decide its time to play in the blinds. I really wish I could take the door out, put windows in and fill in the rest with a wall, but I don't want to spend that kind of money and I am sure the landlord doesn't either. Darn.

Back Yard Blues...

One of my biggest issues for the duplex is the back yard. It isn't really a backyard but more like the largest sandpit in Texas. We have very very very little grass back there.

While I am completely in love with our 4-legged children...they bring in pounds of sand everyday. They go out and lay in the sand, run in the sand, and play in the sand. So when their sweet little paws hit my tile floor in the kitchen, so does the pounds of sand. YUCK.

This means that most every day I am sweeping up little piles of sand from all over the house, and vacuuming the carpet to get the sand out. I swear that one day I will vacuum or sweep up the entire yard full of sand.

The other thing I dislike about our back yard is that our puppy has figured out that we wouldn't chase him into the back yard late at night if he drug anything out there. Also, he learned that when we were gone to work he could play. So before we knew it the back yard looked like this:

Yes, nasty I know. I am a little ashamed. But with a puppy you are busy enough and don't see what's piling up outside. 

So I called the yard guys (who only mow the front lawn) and asked them to come clean up the back yard. So a well spent $35 later the back yard was picked up of all trash, leaves, gumballs, and pine needles. We have sense tilled the back yard and spreed grass seed. I am praying that it grows. 

If not....I am planning a trip to Lowes and getting sod and laying that. I am BOUND and DAD-GUM DETERMINED that before the baby gets here, the back yard is going to look like this:

I just hope all my dreams can come true soon! :-)

Rub and Grub

Today I had planned to paint the bathroom, I had been thinking about colors ALL week. I had put money back to cover the cost of paint, tape, rollers and all other painting supplies. My dream was put on hold when I remembered, well reminded by my sweet hubby that we were cooking for a fundraiser for his job. 

So, this morning we rolled out of bed at 6:30 (on a Saturday...GAG) and headed to the golf course. Got there and fired up the grill. This grill is AWESOME! It is a trailer with a smoker and a grill welded on.

Once the grill got good and hot my wonderful Hubby started to cook!

This chicken was some of the best chicken I think I have EVER EVER had!! It was seasoned in Lowery's Seasoning Salt and a dry BBQ rub from a local BBQ joint. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! 

See.....

This was just one round of chicken. They cooked (and I supervised--yes, it was a very hard job) about 150 pieces of chicken. The chicken was a complete hit. Everyone loved it. 

I am so proud of him and his Dad's hard work today. I know everyone left with a full tummy!!

Its a family affair...

There are several people in this world who understand why this duplex is not just any other duplex, it is THE duplex. There is none like it and there will never be another place like it in our family. It is a story that makes us sound a little nutty, but that nutty-ness is what makes our family AWESOME! :-)

Uncle Bobby (my husbands uncle) bought the duplex several years ago for his mom to live in one side of. The other side he rents out. Here is the list/ order of who all has lived at THE duplex:

1.My husband's sister the wonderful Skye (who you can follow over at Nethering Our Fest--she has a pretty awesome blog!). When she moved in she had a wonderful room mate named Liz.

2.After Skye and Liz moved out Grandpa moved in. He lived there for awhile before he passed away. It still saddens me that I never got to meet this man. He sounds amazing.

3.Then Skye moved in after he passed away.

4.Not to long after Skye had moved in the 2nd time, I came along. I met her brother (who is now my husband) at college down the road. I wanted out of the dorms, so I moved my happy little self in with Skye. 

5. About 6 months later Chris proposed to Skye and so moving out began for me!!

6.Naturally Chris was the next person in the family to move his self right on into THE duplex. After they got married, they found out that they were moving to Louisiana so guess who got to move back in after they moved out??

7...that’s right! ME! I moved back in!

8. Next came my wonderfully HUBBY! :-) and soon we will be joined by the next member of the family to live in the duplex....

9. BABY HAWTHORNE! He/She will be here soon and will be just another member of the family to be able to call THE duplex home!

This list does not include our four-legged family members who have been able to call THE duplex home. But we have had our fair share running in and out of that doggy door in the back! :-)

With all the family history in just this one house, it is easy to feel at home, but I am slowly working on making it even better. I hope to be able to show the growth of THE duplex over the next few months as we get ready and get THE duplex ready for a new little bundle of joy! So come along with me and join me in the transformations, frustrations and imperfections that make THE duplex...well just that THE duplex!!