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This fifty-cent, unmarked shallow bowl

and this $4.99 gravy boat (marked "Washington Colonial")

are yet another "play" on the washbowl and pitcher:

This would be beautiful service at the table, or full of soaps or sponges in the bathroom...

So, this is where we stand today:  In about three weeks, we are going to temporarily move into my parent's rent house until our house sells.  This is the house that Lamb and I moved from to Victoria, so I think it's kind of ironic that we are circling back, LOL! 

This makes packing so much easier--I am labeling "rent house", "storage", or "garage sale" (our neighborhood is having a garage sale the first weekend of June and I decided to join in).  It is kind of nice that I can plan in my head how all of the rooms will be set up.  I am *not* moving my piano until the house sells, though!  It takes about five men to move it. 

My plan for what I am taking is a little bit of living simply combined with easy elegance--I will decorate, but keep it somewhat...light...

If I get most of the packing completed in the next two weeks, I will have time to run down there and paint the kitchen before we move in. 

I am beyond ready to see my husband every day instead of only on his days off, as we have been living since late November!  And, I am looking forward to living so close to our families, even if it is only for the summer!

What do I do when my toddler prunes most of the rosebuds off of what was a full and lush bouquet?!  I use my Salvation Army bowl, LOL.  I walked into the living room to discover seven beautiful blooms scattered all over my carpet.  Well, the bouquet still looks pretty, if a little...sparse...~I just need to display my flowers somewhere other than on the end table!!  

I have been meaning to tell y'all about our five-year old, Sailor.  I took him to the doctor last Thursday, as a second follow-up visit for a swollen lymph gland.  (Remember when I posted about the zithromax our three little ones were prescribed?  Sailor's cough went away initially after the antibiotic, but then returned as a lingering, occasional cough.  Also,when we saw the swollen gland, we assumed it was from that illness--it appeared around day 3 of the zithromax).  So last week, the gland was not sticking out as much, but was still the same circumference and our pediatrician had me walk him across the street to the hospital for an x-ray.

The next day, she called me and told me that Sailor had bronchial pneumonia!  What is so bizarre about this is that he did not have any symptoms that would have led us to believe that he was so seriously sick--he had the swollen gland (which indicates an infection in the body) and a lingering cough.  He did not have fever, he did not lose his appetite...he did not feel sick or act sick at all.  The x-ray showed a haziness or fog over the right lung, indicating pneumonia.  I just think it is bizarre!  I am so thankful that I remembered to mention the lingering cough and that she was cautious enough to order the x-ray.

Is this why people die of pneumonia--because they could go for weeks without even knowing they are ill?

With almost overripe (overripened?) fruit, LOL!  I made a honey/orange juice/grated orange rind dressing and we added whipped cream~yum!

p.s.  I need to buy another set of rechargeable batteries.  I "lost" mine between this house and the beach house.  I think the batteries are the cause of the blurry pics~strangely, they are not blurry when I use the flash, but they are too bright with the flash--example below:

Remember when I asked for advice on economical cleansers and skin care?  I decided to go with witch hazel. 

I bought two containers at CVS (and they both had instant coupons on them!).  I do like to keep my toner in the refrigerator and when I saw this decanter at Ross, I knew it would be perfect for the witch hazel (I emptied one of the containers into the decanter):

I am going to make a label for it, so no one mistakenly drinks from it!

This past year, I started collecting coupons.  I have found that this is a habit that might annoy others, my husband, for one!  It takes time to clip and organize coupons--I do not think it takes too much time, but it's just enough time to bug him a little.  People standing behind me in lines are annoyed by my coupons.  People do *not* want to wait any longer than they perceive they have to (I also feel their eyes boring into my head while writing a check or returning change to my wallet).  Some clerks are annoyed by coupons.  Especially if the coupon does not scan and they have to hand-type it in, heaven forbid!

And, I have also been signing up for freebies on the Money Saving Mom website and they are pouring into my mailbox!  Most of them come with more coupons (no clipping, LOL!).  In my Salvation Army bowl:

I need to take a picture of my last receipt from CVS, the main place where I use my coupons.  It shows where I have saved almost $300 this spring and only spent a little over $15. 

This little piece of information erased all annoyance from my husband's face...

A pitbull lives next door to us.  Should I be worried?  He is about a year old and is in a fenced-in yard.  He watches my boys play and keeps an eagle-eye on our pup's every move.  He has quite a ferocious bark.

We never found out who or what attacked our dog, Tag, in December.  Our oldest son saw the pitbull roaming outside that day.  At that time, I did not even know he was a pitbull--I thought he was a boxer.  To me, he looked like Petey from the Little Rascals~and I thought Petey was a boxer.  It was only last week, after thinking about the sound of his bark, that I got on-line to find a picture of a pitbull.  I googled "Little Rascal's dog" and learned that Petey was a pitbull. 

I have obsessed over this since then!  I think the fence is too high for him to jump over, but what if it isn't?  I tried to research on-line about our city's dog laws, but did not find anything.  Also, we are outside city limits and they may not apply to our subdivision...  I think I will call the city and ask tomorrow. 

Someone once asked me to write a detailed post about antiquing and what to look for~it is in the works!  For now, I will tell y'all about the above picture (again, apologizing for the picture quality--I really need to find out what the problem is:  is it my camera or my lack of skill?!):  the silver teapot is from one of my favorite shops half an hour from my town--I usually make a weekly trip to CVS, the antique store, then a tasty Mexican food restaurant that my boys enjoy.  (Somewhere in between, we stop at the park!)  I always go straight to one particular booth, and I found the teapot for $7 and (not pictured) a matching sugar/creamer set for $3.  They were somewhat tarnished when I bought them, but I have not cleaned them because I love the shabby, tarnished look.

The bowl I found at the Salvation Army the other day~it was in one of the carts that had not been priced yet, but I *sweetly* asked the clerk if she would price it for me.  $2.50~works for me! 

I love how they look together--kind of like a pitcher and washbowl.  There are so many decorating possibilities here~I thought about coiling a vine of berries around the base...