After a Friday spent working, searching for somebody’s wallet for over an hour, grocery shopping, busting my ass baking and cleaning the house I got an 8am text on Saturday saying my anticipated guests were not coming. Unfortunately for me I am a planner by nature so I put a lot of thought into things like menus and schedules.  I have to just not get upset when things go array. No crisis: we simply shifted to plan B which was a weekend to ourselves.

Every Saturday some friends of ours host a tailgate on Campanile Hill. Our team may suck but we still manage to have a good time and the food is always out of this world. This past weekend was no exception with the full on Tex-Mex breakfast buffet complete with hot whiskey toddies and breakfast margaritas.  The spread was even impressive enough to catch the attention of some hungry strangers. We joked that people must be confusing us with the homeless shelter tailgate until we learned that these "kids" were actually ex-KU football players from the 2008 Championship team. Since it was obvious a couple of them had been linebackers, we let them help themselves and besides that they were very polite and we had plenty of food. Personally I was enjoying my homemade hot chocolate laced with peppermint schnapps. I only made this at the request of my friend and since she didn’t show, I had the whole thermos to myself. It was just the right amount of “burn” to warm my insides on a chilly game day morning.

Saturday evening Daniel and I decided to go out to The Barrel House, our favorite piano bar that we haven’t been to since his birthday in February. It wasn’t busy for homecoming weekend other than a group of drunken sorority girls celebrating a birthday and what appeared to be their dads. They were having a good time awkwardly dancing on the stage and looking like asses so we watched the Bama/Mississippi game on TV and waited for one of them to face plant so we could snicker and laugh.  

Sunday morning we got the bug to plan a trip so we made some impromptu travel arrangements for the New Year’s Eve weekend. Then we HAD to stop procrastinating and get to work. Closing is in two weeks and there is still a lot left to do. We got all of his furniture moved to the storage unit, moved his couch over to our house and then being the sweetheart he is, he still took the time to suck up leaves in the yard with the mower even though it was well after dark. All of our neighbors had spent Sunday getting their leaves picked up so he worried that if a strong wind came up they would be after us with pitchforks. (Plus we hate to waste a Monday yard waste pick up day).  

I love the weekends that allow us to make time for both work and play. Hopefully the elimination of one household will hold a lot more time for relaxation than we’ve experienced the past year. 

The Many Faces of a Halloween Drama Queen

Syd love, love, LOVES to dress up and it doesn't have a thing to do with Halloween. However, the holiday does give her an excuse to go out in public.

Kim Kardashian Wannabe

The annual Zombie Walk down Mass St. is held each year to raise money for the Humane Society. Syd and her friend could not resist the urge to dress up and scare "the living." I was having a good time watching all the freaks until a Zombie Clown came down the street. That was the end for me!

Zombie Walk

This is the Oread Hotel at night. Daniel and I bet a beer at the Bird Dog on who could take the better picture. I'm not sure who won but the drink sure was good.

Contract Pending

It hasn't been quite five months since Daniel put his house on the market. He knew that such a unique and rather large house would require a special kind of buyer. The layout is very accommodating to a two family situation and that is exactly the type of buyer that the home attracted. After viewing the home on at least eight different occasions, a negotiated amount was finally reached. Hallelujah!!

It's hard to let go of a home that is full of memories. It is equally hard to go through possessions and decide what needs to be boxed up and what can be pitched. For him it's the space, the garages and the fear of not having those things again. I don't discount those feelings; I've been there twice before. I wanted so badly for Daniel to be excited finally getting a contract on the house but instead he launched into freak-out mode. It took him two days to even sign the contract. 

That was a little over a week ago and while the seller's remorse still surfaces every one in a while, he says he's ready to forge ahead. Soon we will be able to concentrate on maintaining one space and hopefully NOT be working on something every weekend. I am not a roofer or a tiler... but I could put both on a resume. I'm dreaming of Sunday afternoons watching football and not feeling guilty that we aren't painting.

The sale of this house turns a corner for us and while we aren't sure what's ahead, the horizon looks inviting. Perhaps we will just chill until Spring and do some traveling. I hear the Titans are still playing in Nashville and I bet we could find some palm trees somewhere if we looked hard enough.