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Archive for Renee Spindle

The Game Room’s Been Quiet

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Renee Spindle

It’s a quiet Saturday here at The Party House. Quiet meaning the twenty-somethings are all out at their various activities. Travel Man is “on the road”. It’s fine though I have the stereo blaring with some good tunes, and I’m writing this post. Earlier today I was in our Game Room (this is where the twenty-somethings normally hang out with their friends) doing some cleaning. I realized, this room’s been quiet for a few weeks. It funny since the college kids have finished classes, and are into their summer jobs we haven’t had as much activity in the evenings here as we normally do.

And then I realized, as I was cleaning, that the Game Room is becoming a dumping ground for “stuff”. The available floor space in the room seemed to be shrinking at an alarming rate. You know the kinds of things I’m talking about. It’s those things that maybe belong in the garage or out in your garden shed. The things that make an interim stop on some “flat surface” (that one’s for you Hilary), and dont’ quite make it to their destination. I am the first to admit I’m guilty of parking some things in this room too. Camp Grandma supplies that did not get put away. Pool supplies that haven’t made it outside yet. And a Rock Band set that is collecting dust on the ottoman that needs to be put away. Anyone, anyone?

You know, if you have a big family and everyone leaves just one thing lying around it can add up to a mess quick style. We have tall sons with big feet. So just two pairs of shoes not put away can almost create a traffic jam. And then there’s our (mine and daughter Hilary’s) running joke with Travel Man about the flat surfaces. If there’s a flat surface in the house with empty space it gets filled quickly. And not to pick on Travel Man, because we are all guilty of leaving “stuff” on the flat surfaces in the house.

After working my Domestic Goddess magic, the Game Room is back in order and ready to go. Everything is parked back in its’ respective place. And the “flat surfaces” are cleared and ready for the next round of “stuff”.

Is the “stuff” in your house driving you nuts?

6 comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Family, Organizing, Travel Man

Strawberry Cream Cupcakes

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This recipe is from my neighbor at Maggie’s One Butt Kitchen. They look amazing and oh so summery! Enjoy.

No comments Posted in Blogging, Family, Recipes

What’s your Purse Style?

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Purse, noun = A woman’s bag for carrying keys, a wallet, and other personal items; a handbag.

Earlier this week I was with my Mom just hanging out while my Dad was at the doctor. We both had our purses sitting there on the chair in the waiting room, and my mom’s purse pockets were all opened and filled with stuff. I said, “Mom I think you need a bigger purse!” We started comparing a few of the contents of the pockets, and agreed that the pockets of your purse keep you organized. It got me to thinking about the purses and wallets we all carry.

You have a particular pocket for your wallet, one for any personal items you may carry, maybe a pocket for your keys, and definitely a pocket for the sunglasses. I think this is the part that scares a man away from a women’s purse. If you ask your favorite guy to get something out of your purse does he hand it to you with a scared look on his face and tell you, “no you do it”? Or does he just dive into the purse and look for what he needs? My guy always hands me my purse to get what he needs from it. He has told me previously he just doesn’t feel right digging through my purse. Would I dig through his wallet for something I needed? Probably.

Now are you a “one, big, huge pocket” purse person, or a “I need the compartments” purse person. I am of the compartment variety. I like to have the pocket dividers in my purse to keep my stuff somewhat organized. I tried using a denim, “one, big, huge pocket” purse last summer, and it drove me nuts. It seemed like everything I wanted to get at was ALWAYS on the very bottom of the purse under everything else. I decided just to keep the “one, big, huge pocket” bags for a vacation or a trip to the beach.

Same issue goes for wallets. Do you like a wallet that appears to be a big ‘ol coin purse, or do you prefer the compartments? You can probably tell a lot about a person by the type of purse and wallet they carry. Organized or disorganized. A care free spirit or a worry wart. Carries the same purse ALL of the time, or has a different purse for every occasion. The possibilities are endless.

The next time you are in store “browsing” for a new purse, ask yourself this question – What does my purse say about Me?

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family

Evan – The Photographer

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Renee Spindle

A few weeks ago at one of our family gatherings Evan had my camera and took quite a few pictures. I believe most of these are from the weekend my sister and her husband visited. We had a weekend party fest of food and fun. Here’s how our family dinner/gathering looked through Evan’s eyes. Enjoy!

As you can see Evan loves his self portraits, and is becoming quite the ham with them. He’s building quite a portfolio of pictures, and I can only imagine what’s going to happen when his baby sister arrives.

Do you let your kids/grandkids that are under 10 take pictures with your camera? Would love to hear from you all. Happy Sunday everyone.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family

When Travel Man is out of the Country

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This is the first day of a three-week trip for Travel Man. He is on a work assignment that requires travel to Brazil, and will return long after the Fourth of July. The preparation that went on before this trip was so stressful. He was not originally slated to be dispatched for this job. What this meant was that we had to scramble to get a visa for him to travel yesterday. In the normal course of things this would not normally be an issue, but Travel Man had to get this visa on a “rush” order. He had to take all of his paperwork to the passport/visa service office last Tuesday in order to get the visa by Wednesday of this week at the very latest. He was flying out on Thursday.

On Monday afternoon he calls the visa service office, and is told his passport and visa are scheduled in that afternoon, and he will have to drive to their office to pick it up on Tuesday. We call again on Tuesday morning and are told that the Brazilian consulate has gone on strike this morning. They proceeded to find out if Tom’s passport and visa had cleared through the system before they went on strike. After 3 most stressful hours and numerous phone calls by Travel Man we find out that his passport and visa had been released, and he will have it on Wednesday morning. Remember he is leaving on Thursday morning. The major panic subsides for both of us, and Tom tracks the package via FedEx.

Thankfully his passport and visa arrived early Wednesday morning, so we could breathe a sigh of relief. If it had not cleared on Tuesday before the consulate went on strike there’s no telling when he would have gotten his passport back. This was the most stressful pre-trip preparation that Travel Man has had in a long, long time.

For myself, I have not been this stressed out since Travel Man went to Russia last year. My stress level stays right up there until I hear from him that he has made is to his destination, and has cleared customs without incident. My Travel Man has been all over the world, and had some crazy experiences going from country to country. Maybe one day he’ll find time to blog about it or write a book. For the time being this Domestic Goddess is thankful that her hubby is safe and sound and on the ground.