The week before Thanksgiving, I received an email at work announcing that, as a gift, all employees were receiving one free vacation day that could be used any time before January 14. Some business hand out holiday bonuses; we get a free day off. I'm not complaining, though. It's better than nothing. I claimed this past Friday, January 14th, as my free day off and now, after enjoying my day off, I think I have finally figured out the secret to beating the winter blues: shorter work weeks. Thanks to the Christmas and New Years holidays, our trip to Indiana, the stomach bug that knocked me out for two and half days, and this free day off, I haven't worked a full forty hours in weeks! (I'd add last Monday's snow day to the list except, unlike everyone else in the city, I had to go to work. No snow day, only a delayed start.) And thanks to Mr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I'll enjoy sleeping in again tomorrow (Monday) morning followed by another short week. I think all this time off has really improved my mood towards the cold weather. It really isn't as bad if I can stay snuggled up by a fire and just read all day. Now I just have to start thinking about how I'm going to get more days off in the weeks following this one. As long as it doesn't involve a stomach bug or someone getting hurt or sick, I'm up for anything. Anyone got any creative ideas?
So anyway, I had a whole day off with nothing to do, but it turns out I was able to find LOTS to do! As soon as I finally got up, the first thing I did was move almost every piece of furniture in our bedroom and living room. I had already scheduled an appointment with Service Master so they could come clean our carpets and a rug later that day.
The floors in our room looked nice and bare by the time I finished moving everything out of the way. Our two nightstands are full of books that we've read, and I had to drag those into the bathroom. I wish I'd had Doc around to help cause books are heavy, y'all!
I couldn't get this chair into the bathroom so the carpet cleaner guy just had to work around it.
Downstairs in the living room, I shoved all of our couches and other furniture to the sides so he could have complete access to our rug.
Since this isn't my first go round with getting our carpets cleaned, and I know it's recommended that you don't walk on them for several hours while they dry, I thought ahead and brought down everything from upstairs that I thought I might possibly want to play with during the day.
Lap top, camera, kindle, clean laundry to fold, pictures to hang, a couple of sewing projects...I had no clue what I wanted to get into on my free day!
But before it was time for the carpet cleaning appointment, I had to get out and take my sweet baby girl Minnie to the vet. Seeing as how it was her issues that were the cause of us needing the carpets cleaned anyway, I figured it might be time to get things checked out. Poor thing was not very excited about being at the vet.
I left her there so they could run some tests and headed back home. The carpet cleaner guy arrived and while he was upstairs shampooing away, I decided to tackle our hall closet. I was sick and tired of it looking like this:
All of our coats have been hanging on dinky wire hangers that couldn't handle their weight. They were constantly falling on the ground. So I switched all of our coats over to wooden hangers and cleaned out and organized everything else. I feel much better about the closet now.
By the time I finished organizing the closet, the carpet cleaner guy was finished with the carpets and was looking at the rug. I joined him in the living room just as he started rolling it up. "Woah, woah, woah," I said. "What are you doing? Can't you clean it here?" Apparently the answer to that question is no. I listened as he talked about the different sprays and rinses and fumes and hanging to dry and deodorizing and yadda, yadda, yadda, and finally I said ok and that he could take the rug. Totally didn't see that happening when I made the appointment.
So now we're rug-less for a few days. I really hope it comes back soon.
After sending the carpet cleaner guy out the door with all my money, I realized I was pretty hungry. After several texts and phone calls, I found myself sitting in a cafe with my friends Allison and Mary Elizabeth. I just love an impromptu lunch, especially when I don't have to rush back to work! It was a total fluke that we were all able to meet up but I'm so glad that it worked out. Good food + good company = good day off.
Since I was out of the house, I stopped by a local hair salon to get my bushy eyebrows cleaned up a little. I'm pleased to say they now each have their very own unique shape. Matching eyebrows are so overrated (or at least that's what I'm telling myself).
Back at home, I surveyed the dining table full of toys and decided to tackle the sewing project. It's one that I had put off for a long time because there was nothing fun about it. This is how our pillow shams normally look on our bed:
When we picked out the bedding, I loved the ties on the side of the sham. I thought it was a cute detail. Now, though, I hate them. Half of them have fallen out so I can't tie them and the shams are always gaping open, exposing the white pillow inside. Last weekend I finally remembered to grab some velcro while I was at JoAnn's. Since I had all the supplies I needed, there were no more excuses to continue putting it off.
Before going to the sewing machine, I cut off all the ties on the side. Lots of sewing guesswork and a broken needle later, my shams were all velcro-ed up!
Perfect! (Well, as perfect as they were gonna get with me doing the sewing.)
Doc and I both went to pick up our sweet puppy at the vet. I thought the carpet cleaner guy ran off with all my money, but it turns out it was the vet that really cleaned me out. My free day off was pretty expensive! Minnie got sent home with a bag full of medicine. She's an official pill head now. But since she was such a good girl for the vet, I rewarded her with a new collar.
Out with the dingy green and in with the new purple polka dots!
She wouldn't sit still long enough for me to take a picture of it on her, so you'll just have to take my word when I say she's looking pretty cute. The next time you see Minnie, be sure to compliment her on her new outfit!
We let my dad treat us to dinner since my mom was out of town. Then, back at his house, we gave him a few minutes of help with a project he's been working on (pictures coming soon!).
We ended the day on the couch watching the most recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. It was such a great day off...I seriously have to figure out how to get more free vacation days!
