September Acres

We here at September Acres have been on a new eating plan (not really a diet, just trying to eat healthier) for about 4 months now. My husband was diagnosed with sleep apnea back in the spring and had gained a bit of weight. Wanting to get some of the weight off he consulted his personal doctor and his friend, N (who is also a doctor) and came home with a list of what he wanted to eat. Just for the record, these are things I have been telling him for year (although I am not a doctor). The following has been removed from his diet and our home: Soda (and all other caffeine)-we generally didn't drink soda but I did buy him a 6 pack of Dr Pepper a week to take to work. He only drinks water now - and the occasional Michelob Ultra- gone are his weekly nights out with the guys at his favorite watering hole. Bread - in all forms except for Ezekiel bread and 100% whole wheat bagel thins (by Thomas's - very tasty). Pasta- in all forms. That's been a tough one since we ate past

Last weekend we headed out to Dillards to find sheets for our new bed. No luck on the sheets but check out this lovely cake stand I found tucked away on the 70% off rack. I fell in love with it when I saw it and I was more in love with the price :$5.79! There were lots of great deals on that rack. We also scored a large white stoneware platter for $9.00. Make sure you check out those racks in the corners at the end of the season. Bargains abound and it reinforces my motto: You never need to pay full price for anything! Head over to the Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday.

I try to be nice. I REALLY do! It seems that I have a short fuse for incompetent (for lack of a better word) sales clerks at stores that start with a K. Today LM had early release from school so we went shopping for a birthday gift for the party she is going to on Saturday. We found the gift, card and a few other can't live without things for home and headed to the register. I am notorious for getting in the wrong line. I picked a line with one lady in it. Thought that was safe. Well, not really. The clerk proceeded to chat away with the customer (I believe there is a fine line between being nice and chatting too much) in front of me then finally gave her a receipt. The paper was all curled up like ribbon on a gift and the clerk said 'oh, I hope I don't run out of tape.' I should have bolted then. Now, anyone who has worked with cash register tape (for that matter, anyone who has shopped) knows that the tape will turn a color (usually red) on the edges well bef

My friend M and her husband are redecorating their house. As in they have torn out all the tile, carpet and counter tops but have yet to pick out the new tile or paint yet. Yikes! She called me this afternoon after my friend E told her I was the one to talk to about decorating and picking out paint colors. I have to say I was quite flattered. Of course, my husband said he should help her since he was instrumental in picking out everything in our house. HA! M said I could come over and do a 'design on a dime' thing for her. I am quite excited to be offering my assistance to her. I think it will be fun. We are going over tomorrow after dinner. I am sure my hubby will end up talking to M's husband about cars or something. Hopefully, anyway. Maybe I should take some paint swatches with me...

to the post below regarding not being welcome at school. LM's teacher said she would pass my concerns on to the principal. I really expected that to be the end of it. Well, this morning at 8:13 am I got a call from the principal. She was very nice and said she wanted us to feel welcome and that yes, we could enter the school after the bell rings as long as we enter through the gym or front office. Frankly, I don't see why it matters since the kids are leaving from all the doors, not just those two. At least she cleared that up. We had our volunteer training this afternoon and it went well. Most of the people there have been volunteering for years so it was short and sweet. Three of the nicest teachers in the school did the training which certainly made it pleasant. We are getting our own name tags this year instead of having to put 'visitor' stickers on. We have been super busy here with home projects. My husband installed new interior doors which I am still

Well, here we are, the end of the 3rd week of school for the 2010-2011 school year. I may have mentioned last year that they got a new principal. Looking back, she really didn't do much to mess up the wonderful school we had. Had, as in it's no longer that way. I don't think the kids have noticed much (except for the fact that there are no chairs in music this year and they have to sit on the floor on assigned 'stars' made out of paper and stuck to the floor with duct tape. At least they still have music.) But life for the parents has changed drastically. First off, the vibe I and other parents are getting is that we are not welcome in the school. Like physically not welcome in the school. There is much to go into and I will save you all of the details but we have been told in not so many words that we are not to go into the school to pick up our kids or to speak to the teacher. This may seem the norm to some of you. If so, I would love to hear from you.

I am watching my friend E's son, C, for a little while so she can take her other son to the dentist. LM's friend S called a bit ago to 'talk' (yes that's starting already!). I told LM to let S know that C was over playing and she would call her back when he left. This is how she interpreted it: "S, I can't talk right now. I am babysitting C so I'll call you back when he goes home." Alrighty then...

Our trip to the zoo this summer... Looking for adventure. In a dinosaur egg. Mama and Baby. Carousel Ride. Time to go. With a memento, of course!

Last weekend we decided that the bushes that line our driveway needed to be trimmed. We borrowed hedgeclippers from a friend and my husband started clipping away. I didn't realize how big they'd gotten until I started filling the trash cans and bags. And of course we decided this needed to be done on a day that turned out to be 112 degrees. Of course! My husband made it about 3/4 of the way down the driveway. He stopped after he cut 3 extension cords. Tripped the breaker 3 times. He was hot and done. Headed off to Ace to pick up 3 plugs so he could repair the cords inside. In the A/C. Fun times. I told him he was no Edward Scissorhands and should not give up his day job....

You know you've been married a long time when your date night is spent at Lowe's! LM stayed with her friend S the other night so off we went to Lowe's. While we were out of town my husband put in new interior doors (pictures later) so we needed to get some paint (he stopped at installing the doors since he 'doesn't paint'.) I kind of mentioned that once I paint the trim in the halls we should probably paint the walls in the hallway too. I threw out a few color ideas: white, tan/taupe, a creamy yellow. He suggested blue. I almost died! I had never thought to paint the hallway blue. We picked up a few samples and are in the process of making a decision. I am not totally sold on the blue but it's only paint and can be painted over if it's not right. Next date night? Home Depot maybe??

Since I am the only one up now I thought it a good time to come back to the blogging world after a small summer break. While it is technically still summer, and it was 114 today, summer is officially over at our house. LM went back to school on Monday. I have yet to figure out why they go back so doggone early but it is what it is. We had a good summer although it seemed REALLY short. Really, really short. But we did pack in a bit of activity. LM went to Sea World with her Brownie troop. My hubby and I went to see Rick Springfield (and just for the record, he did not think it would be fun to go on the Rick Springfield and friends cruise this fall - darn!) We went to No. Ca. twice to see family. The second time my husband, cousin, dad and I went to a couple wineries for a little wine tasting . When we got back to our hotel my cousin and I proceeded to quickly fall asleep and have little naps - too MUCH wine, perhaps? LM , my mom and I left the bay area and headed East to hit every