Favorite Christmas Songs

In Pittsburgh, there are a few radio stations that play only Christmas music in December, and I admit that I only tune into these stations over the holidays. I flip back and forth in hope to catch 2 of my favorite songs:

"I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Domenic the Italian Christmas Donkey"

I was searching for the first song on the Internet, and I found this article. I thought that it was interesting.

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Be careful of what you ask for...

...because it just might come true.

I am referring to how I ended a recent post.

The insurance adjuster came to the house so that he can assess the issue with our hardwood floors and basement carpet and such from the water damage. He is giving us a figure that reflects what it would cost to replace ALL of the hardwood on our first floor.

How much hardwood is that? Well, it's our entry-way, front closet, hallway to the kitchen, kitchen, eat-in area, dining room, pantry, and powder room. The only carpet we have is in our family and living rooms.

So of course, my eyes widen, and I am thinking of all. the. work. that would go into doing that - i.e. emptying out the china cabinet so that we can move it to the living room, taking the toilet off, etc.

We think that we might be able to get away with just taking care of the kitchen and eat-in area and still make it all flow nicely.

And of course, since the house is going to be a wreck...we may as well do it all at once. So yes, we are redoing our kitchen! I have a feeling that we are going to be making a lot of stops to Lowe's and Home Depot soon.

Kind of excited, but kind of dreading it...happy thoughts!

The mother ship called me home!

The last time I visited was before the cruise.

That means that I have been deprived for 16 months!

I am impressed that I last that long without my one and only addiction:

An Italian twist on an American tradition

Our Thanksgiving Meal:

Appetizers - assorted Italian cheeses and meats, anti pasta, shrimp cocktail, bread, and fruit

Dinner - Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes (garlic), green beans, my Dad's cranberry crush, Caesar salad, and rice balls (not pictured)

Desserts - Pumpkin pie, peanut butter cake, apple and ricotta pie, run cake, make-your-own-Napoleon, Italian candies

Luciana - 7 months

I don't think that I am ready for our little girl to be growing up so quickly.

She had yet another busy month. We had a few Halloween parties, and she had 2 costumes: a strawberry and a monkey. I couldn't resist either, and they were cheap, so I was justified, right?

She is sitting upright on her own like a pro now. I am able to take her grocery shopping with me and she easily sits in the cart without any issues (of course she rides in the comfort and cleanliness of one of those cart covers).

As I type, she is sitting on the floor playing with a toy. However, she gets distracted by the base of the ironing board and somehow makes her way over to it without crawling. So obviously, we have to keep an eye on her at all times now. The days of laying her down knowing that she is not going anywhere are long gone.

She is even standing on her own as long as she is holding onto something for balance, like the couch or her easel-toy. Although she is not totally able to climb to her feet on her own yet, she is trying, and can get to her knees. Therefore, we lowered her crib mattress this weekend. It's better to be safe than sorry.

She is still a thumb-sucker, but not as much as before. However, she has found another body part that she likes to suck almost just as much - HER BIG TOE! It's hilarious!

She is spitting raspberries all the time, and laughs and smiles non-stop. She is just simply a happy baby and I am just simply a happy mommy!

We are really looking forward to our first Thanksgiving as a family, and we hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving as well!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2659738009/a=40662473_40662473/

Spoke too soon

Totally jinxed myself.

My neighbor was watching Luci today. John typically takes Luci over there in the morning, and then they venture across the street to my house for lunch. When they came over today, much to their surprise the fridge was on the fritz again!

John had just fixed the water line of the refrigerator on Saturday afternoon, and I was thinking as he was fixing it: Maybe we should just leave it alone and go without the ice maker. I should have spoken my mind, I guess.

So the line was shut off, the water was dried (both thanks to my neighbor calling in reinforcements from other other neighbors), and the dehumidifiers are running again.

Ice and cold water from the fridge are luxuries...they are not necessities.

No more wet floors

After a weekend of windows open, 3 dehumidifiers running, and constantly moving the frig around the kitchen to evenly dry the floor, I think that we are done with our efforts.

The musty wet wood smell is gone. But our floors are "peaking," which is a term I learned from the restoration guy who I spoke to the other day. He recommended that we should just leave the floors alone for a while. He explained that they very well could go back to normal on there own. He also said that a lot of homeowners make the mistake of trying to the fix the problem with sanding and refinishing too soon, and then the wood contracts, and then the another problem which opposite of peaking.

So we are going to wait until after the New Year and see if the peaking is resolved. If not, then we are going to call them to come and check it out.

I was kinda hoping for an excuse to completely redo the kitchen...Oh, we have to get the floors redone? Well, that will be paid for by the insurance company and since the kitchen is going to be under construction, we may as well go the whole way and get it all done at once. Don't think that's going to happen. Bummer.