Hello Green Thumb!

We had a wild and crazy (and productive) Memorial Day weekend! Friday night Kelly's parents came in town to visit. They were our first overnight house guests! So fun :) On Saturday Kelly's mom introduced me to the world of BOTANY! She has a HUGE green thumb, and before they got to town I asked if she would help me "spruce up" my flower beds. Little did I know, I too would soon have a green thumb. We headed to Lowes and picked out some flowers, hanging baskets, pots, spades, gardening gloves, potting soil and headed home for my first gardening experience. I have to admit - I'm now addicted. I never thought I'd be one of those people who loves to work in their flower beds... but apparently I am! We planted begonias, hydrangeas, geraniums, star flowers and hanging wave petunias (pictured in order below.) Hopefully in two weeks my flowers will look like the ones below! Here's to a new hobby...

Throwback to the Good Ol' Days

Sorry for the delay in updating... here goes!

Two weekends ago, Kellyn, Jill, Erin, and I all headed to Orlando to visit Liz! What a blast!! We were so ready to see each other and by Friday night we were finally all in town. We spent most of the weekend catching up with each other, hearing about those we'd lost touch with and just enjoyed the company of old friends. Liz was a great host and had tons planned for us. We grabbed dinner Friday night, made the necessary stop for late night ice cream, then headed back to Liz's to hang out. Saturday was our day full of sun! We headed to Cocoa Beach first thing in hopes of catching the prime sun rays. For the most part the sun was shining and we all got a little color. However, our bronzed bodies didn't come free and clear. After several hours of persevering through overcast clouds and a few sprinkles here and there - our afternoon got a little more exciting! It started to drizzle, then sprinkle, which turned into light rain, and then... the monsoon hit! Before we knew it the bottom dropped out of the sky and we were scrambling to grab all our belongings and make it to the car before we got SOAKED. Laughing the entire time, the five of us took off running from the beach and headed toward the car. Liz and Jill found some cover underneath an awning while Kellyn and Erin brought up the rear with the rest of our stuff. I was somewhere in the middle, keeping my eyes on both sets of girls. I caught up with Liz and Jill then turned around to signal Kellyn and Erin to our location when all of the sudden - they were gone! They were heading to the car about 100 yards away! So we grabbed all our stuff, again, and jetted back into the rain to meet up with them at the car. We finally all piled inside and headed back home, soaking wet and all! It really was a wonderful afternoon and the experience was priceless! Saturday night we grabbed another delicious dinner, had some more hangout time, and then we all headed back home on Sunday. It was so good to see old friends and it definitely makes me miss the good old days of college! Hopefully we can do this again soon girls!

Oh the joys...

Whew. What a day!

Today marks day 8 of normalcy in the O’Donnell household. (Our new household, that is!) Over the past 8 days we’ve managed to unpack all the boxes, organize all our stuff, find a place for everything (well, almost everything), and return to a somewhat normal lifestyle. However, our level of “normal” has a little bit different definition than before.

Now our normal life consists of dealing with the joys of homeownership.

We are LOVING the new house, but like every other homeowner out there, we are experiencing our share of homeowner “problems.” Let’s take today for example. Well, I’ll back up a few days to give you the full story.

I don’t know if you knew, but we have a roommate… the fly. The fly moved in when we did and he’s been buzzing around ever since. He’s about the size of a horse and faster than the speed of light. This morning, I walked into the kitchen and found him camped out on the counter. I thought to myself, “Today is the day,” and then I made my way to the fly swatter. I got really quiet, crept in on him and WHAM!

BLAST… I missed him. And then the tides turned. It was almost like he stopped in his tracks, turned around, and then proceeded to dive bomb my head. This stupid fly is now attacking me in my own house!

While I’m dodging the fly, Kelly comes bolting into the kitchen proclaiming that we have a leak in the master bathroom toilet. Great, just great.

Last night there was a puddle of water on the floor by the bathroom, but nothing was dripping, running, gushing or leaking, so we couldn’t find the source of the puddle. Well, now, he’d found it - pouring right out of the toilet. So, I leave the fly to tend to the running water.

Once I’m able to determine where the leak is coming from, I empty the tank on the back of the toilet and then clean up the water on the floor. Then, I call in back up. Dad! Luckily, he was already heading to the house to install the new dishwasher we had to buy. Yes, new dishwasher. Lovely. This appliance never worked – not even once after we moved in. Fortunately it was “somewhat” covered on the homeowners warranty so it didn’t put too much of a dent in the ol’ pocketbook. Just more of an inconvenience than anything.

So now that the dishwasher is installed and the toilet leak is fixed all is quiet on the western front. At least until I get home and hear the fly. I’ll keep you posted on my progress with him.

Full on Face Lift

Well, as you can see "The O'Donnell's Opus" got a face lift! While the contents of our blog is still the same, the new look is much more appealing. Marina, the founder and designer of Penny Lane Designs, and a girlfriend of mine from college, is the one to praise for this makeover. She does amazing work! Check out her website and see if she can help you with any of your creative needs :)

Thanks Marina!

Hard at work!

Southwest Airlines is known for its FUN work environment…but did you ever imagine that work could be THIS fun? Here is how Suzi and I spent part of our morning… riding around the hangar floor in a make shift rickshaw! Today, we are being very productive!

“What’s in a name?”

More like, “What’s in my purse?”

Last night I was frantically rummaging through my purse to find a receipt when I realized the bizarre (and random) contents of my bag. Below is a list of what I found and why I feel it necessary to hold on to such items…

1. Keys, wallet, cell phone. Your basic “must haves.”
2. Checkbook. For the checks that I don’t write.
3. 3 small pouches. I don’t know why I love small bags, but I obviously do. I mean, they all have something different in them, and I know I must have a good reason as to why I need ALL 3…
4. Camera. Not pictured of course – but you never know when you’ll need to take a quick pic!
5. Cell phone charger. I mean, what good’s a cell phone if it’s dead all the time, right?!
6. Triscuits. Because you know how I get when I’m hungry!
7. Two tubes of Carmex. I LOVE this stuff and get in a panic when I don’t have any around.
8. Bag o’ Lipgloss. Just in case I can’t find my Carmex, I have a whole army of moisturizing lip balm. (Actually, working for the airline industry has taught me never to be caught without a quart size baggie.)
9. My SWA Badge. I probably should be wearing this right now.
10. 21 ¢. I’m putting this back in my wallet. Jackpot!
11. An array of receipts. Which is what I was looking for in the first place – and it’s no wonder I couldn’t find it!
12. Paint swatches. For when I need a “color comparison.”
13. Three packs of gum. I don’t chew gum as much as I use to since Kelly hates it, but there are those times when nothing else will do.
14. Two pairs of earrings. Hey! I’ve been looking for those!
15. One memory stick. I never leave home without it!

So as you can see, I’m a regular old Mary Poppins! My mom’s taught me to be a “just in case” kind of girl… and quite frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.