New Clothes

Everyone knows that Tuesday's are Chick-fil-a night, right? If you didn't, every Tuesday night we go to Chick-fil-a and generally follow up supper with a trip to Target.

Last night was different though. Abbey is going to Tampa this weekend, so she needed a new bathing suit. We pulled into the Dillard's parking lot (if you like a close spot, park at Dillard's, their parking lot is least likely to be full). Anyway, we were walking through Dillard's and we happened upon the men's department.

That's when it caught my eye. A beautiful sign, a 75% off sign. I was immediately drawn to it like a child to a sucker. Abbey and I looked through the rounder and found 7 shirts that we really liked. They will be great Sunday shirts and shirts for business casual days. Most of them were originally $85.00, so we got a great deal.

Here are my two favorite patterns of the shirts that I like the most.



We also found Abbey a bathing suit and we bought cards for Ava's birthday and for Father's Day.

The Elusive Leak: Final Hours

Act III, Scene 1
Enter Chris (the painter and his assistant)

Chris: We're here to paint.
Abbey: Great, here's where the leak was and we also want you to paint the stairwell and hallway. My husband has that paint in the back of his Jeep. He'll be here in a minute, although he said he would be home by now.
Chris: Okay. (Chris and assistant start moving things in living room and covering them up with protective covering.)

Act III, Scene 2

A few minutes later, Jeff enters.

Jeff: Hey
Painters: Hey.
Jeff: Here's the paint for the stairwell. We're going to go eat at Chick-fil-a, so you all can just paint away.
Chris: Okay.
Jeff: Oh yeah, we'll just leave your check on the counter.
Chris: Okay.
Abbey: Do you think we should go ahead and get them to paint the ceiling in the bedroom?
Jeff: Sure, do you all have time?
Chris: How big is it?
Jeff: Well, there's a tray ceiling, so there is not a lot of space to cover. Come take a look.
Chris: We'll do it if we have time.
Jeff: Great. Just call us if you need us.
Chris: Okay.

Act III, Scene 3

Enter Jeff and Abbey

Abbey: Wow, it looks great.
Jeff: Man, this is amazing.
Painters: uh.
Abbey: Did you get the ceiling in the bedroom?
Chris: Not tonight.
Jeff: Well, this looks great. Thanks so much. We'll call you when we can set up a time to come back to do the ceiling.
Chris: Okay.

HGTV Look OUT!

This weekend we headed to the IL's to visit and I had to shop at Market for Abbey's fifth anniversary present of dealing with me. So, I have to keep it a secret for 66 days or 1594 hours or 95646 minutes or 5738805 seconds. I don't think that I'll ever make it!

Last weekend, one of the things that we noticed about the IL's front flower beds were crazy full of an odd assortment of fowers. To say it was disombobulated would be saying it nicely. Abbey and I decided that we wanted to gut the beds. Last night, after supper, we went to the front yard and started pulling things out. Some of them were easy, like the 1000's of glads. Some of the things were more tough like the many different kinds of ground cover. I think that the people that owned the home before got a bunch of seeds and bulbs and just started throwing them everywhere. The problem with the flowers was that there was no thought put into them. You can see for yourself, in the pictures above how crasy they were.



We finished cleaning up the beds this morning. There were tons of lilies and so we put them to the side to move them to the backyard. We decided to break for lunch and then we would go to Home Depot to get a few of the essentials to get this yard into shape. After a lunch of grilled hot dogs, we all headed to Home Depot where we bought two more "Stella D'Oro" lilies, 3 boxwoods, 4 golden tipped hostas, and 15 vincas (periwinkles), plus 10 bags of brown mulch.

Putting the beds back together went fairly easily. Then we mulched the place and below you can see our beautiful results. We know that the neighbors will be excited that the potpourri of flowers is now an organized desirable yard. We did save 1 lily, 6 silver leaf plants, 5 pieces of ground cover (that may be replaced by heather in the near future) and a couple of other plants that we don't know what they are but think they could be pretty. Be sure to notice that the look was completed by the 2 inch blinds that Mr. Roy installed so that the look would be complete.

The Belle of the Ball

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a beautiful Belle, just waiting for someone to come and rescue her.

At the same time, there was a family who had just lost a very dear loved one. They began to talk and realized that they would just have to have another loved one to share their life with.

They traveled to the far, far away land in search of a new loved one. When they got to the land, they noticed a slight stinch in the air, but that helped them to know that they were in the right place.

"This stinks," commented the young daughter of the family. Her older sister said, "What did you think a land far, far away would smell like?"

One by one, they filed through the candidates who were just howling to become a new member of their family. The ugly ones went first, because there was no way the family could love an ugly family member.

Then, all at one time, their eyes met with the beautiful Belle. She was young, probably not a quite 7 years old. But that was okay, the family thought they could use some young blood in their house. She was young, but her curly, black locks just took their hearts. Her dark eyes gazed into theirs with deepest affection. Surely, the family had found their new family member (also known as a dog). The trip to the land far, far away (also known as the Animal Rescue League) had been a success.

The family traveled home with their new Belle. Belle has now been with the family through two houses. She's getting older now and her new yard is perfect for her, it's not quite as large. She also has a sister named Mollie.

No More Boy Toy

Alas, it is true. The dear maiden Ava no longer has a boy toy. I believe the American way of referring to it would be a "fiance`". The excitement all happened last evening. The way I understand it, it took place in the bathroom of Brookie's house in a very sweet, well-thought out way. Now the IL's have one daughter who was engaged in a bathroom and one who was engaged in a cemetery. Guess where I proposed? I'm sure your dying to see the ring. It is beautiful. Here is the unveiling.

Now, for today's haiku entitled: "The Sil"

likes to shop daily
genuine, kind and caring
has a great big rock

The Scary Dog Next Door

Here's the deal. We're out in the backyard of the IL's place and this dog is barking hysterically. Well, actually, it is two dogs. The neighbor's yard is not nearly as large as the IL's, but they have two seemingly large dogs. Well, at least their bark is loud.

So, I decided that I would try to figure out what this dog looked like. I stuck the camera lens through a large hole and this is what I saw.


I was a little afraid after seeing his mean snout. So, I stuck the camera lens further into the hole and this is the picture that I got. Okay, so he is not as big as his bark. Still, I don't think that I will be trying to hang out with this dog.

By the way, is it against the law to take a picture of someone's backyard with your camera?

And now a haiku entitled "The Fil":

chair by the window
just built his very own fence
electric genius

Stay tuned for some VERY exciting news. (No, Abbey is not pregnant.)

An Impromptu Photo Shoot

So this weekend, while we were at the IL's we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot since Ava and the boy toy don't have any pictures together (sigh)! We went into the backyard (which has WONDERFUL grass, by the way). You can click on the images above to see them in larger view.

These were taken right before we went to eat supper.


This week has already been a whirlwind, and we are still recovering. Yesterday, I came home from work and took a long nap. Then we had frozen pizza for supper and watched a little TV. We should have been cleaning the house, which is probably what we should be doing right now.

Before I let you go for the evening, I think I will leave you with a haiku, which I have entitled "The MIL":

very organized
has a pottery fetish
a caring person


Be looking for the next installment of "The Elusive Leak". I am told that tomorrow the dry wall guy will complete his task and then all we will have left is the painter.

Mimi's Pottery

On our way home from the funeral the other day, we stopped at our favorite pottery store, "Talk of the Town", in Batesville. You've seen our blue pottery before. I just love it, although when we got married I thought it was horrible. Over the years, though, I have learned to appreciate it as beautiful art. I also love the blue color that we have. It is called Peter's Pottery and is made in Mississippi.

We stopped to buy a piece in memory of Mimi. It's funny, for the past few years, Mimi has been giving us random things for Christmas. They are random, but they are completely like Mimi. She would choose a piece of china or glass or something from her cabinet and give it to us. Although we have several pieces that she has given us, we decided that a piece of pottery would be a neat way for us to remember her.

The pottery is a blue jar with a top that has a frog on it. We have not found a good spot for it in our house yet. We are still recovering from our whirlwind of a week. Now, I have got to go and do some writing for which I will get paid!

BM '06 and all that jazz

It's official, the Drake's are now Tennesseans. Woo-hoo! It's also official, we've put tons of miles on the Highlander. After coming back from Mississippi late Wednesday night, we left out Friday afternoon after Abbey got out of school to participate in the event of the year, "BM '06" (for those of you who may not know what BM '06 is all about, it is referring to the Big Move of Abbey's parents this year, and no it does not refer to the hospital way of saying "going number 2").

Because my Jeep needs it's oil changed (something I plan to occur early this week), I decided that we should put more miles on the Highlander (it's oil was changed last week). It also gets better gas mileage. For those traveling between Nashvegas and Memphis, exit 101 has the cheapest gas at $2.55. Of course, I missed that exit and stopped at the next one where gas was $2.73.

Okay, enough jargon about traveling, you want to hear about the move. It was a pleasant experience. After arriving, Abbey and I quickly went to work at putting the beds together. Remember, this was the first planned meeting of Brookie (Ava's boy toy). The movers were not so gentle with one bed so we had to set up the box springs and mattress on the ground in Ava's room. We made our bed and then put the twin bed together in the other guest room (AKA "Linda's Frames").


We then headed out for some supper. The mil said she stunk so she would not get out of the car. We decided to get Chili's take out. We came home and ate at the bar, as the table was not accessible. Speaking of the table, don't mention it to the mil, the mover's put a hole right through the top when they were putting it back together.

After supper, Abbey and I were still ready to work. Ava, Brookie and the fil had not arrived, so we decided to unpack the pottery (you're thinking, so what right?) There were 8 boxes of pottery that we unpacked, see the picture. The sad thing is, we found more boxes on Saturday. It is really pretty though.

Saturday, Brookie and I went to get breakfast at Chik-Fil-A which is like 3 hours away (Well, it's really only about 10 minutes, but the fil seems to think that it is further, because it is in a different zip code). We finished up breakfast and Ab and I went to Target for shelf liner (ironically, the fil did not mention that this business was forever away even though it shares a parking lot with the aforementioned one).


When we arrived home, Brookie was mowing, Ava was arranging the pottery, and Abbey and I started unpacking the kitchen. Eventually, the kitchen became too overwhelming for the mil and we quit working on it and breaked for lunch. After lunch we went to the Master closet where Abbey and I decided on several items that should never again grace the skin of my in-laws! I also categorized and colorized the closet, so that they could sleep easy that night.


We finished off the day at Abuelos, followed by a quick run in Haverty's to look for an Armoire for the television in the hugemongous living room. Now, we're tired! We picked a rose for the mil from their backyard which we decided is in honor of her grandmother name which will be "Rose" or "Rosy". The fil will be "Bud" or "Buddy." Gotta go, we're going to bed, it's 7:30.

My Brothers

Landlife has been quite busy over the past few days with traveling. As you may recall, we will be leaving again this afternoon to take part in "BM '06" where we will help Abbey's parent's complete their move to Memphis. We are excited about getting to help them, but first, let me introduce you to my big brother Trae. Some of you have commented that you really did not believe that Trae really existed. This is a picture of Trae in his living room.


Here is a photo of his house. Yes, it is a boat. Not a house that looks like a boat. It's actually a houseboat. Although it may seem odd to you that Trae would live on a boat, he is actually ALWAYS on a boat. He's a diver and usually works in the ocean, so he is used to the feel of choppy water.


Unfortunately, none of the pictures of my brother Bobby turned out so this is a picture of his wife, Alyson. Bobby also exists, although he has NEVER been to visit us! He is a policeman and if you know him, that would make you scared.

The same night that we went to Trae's boat, we met Brookie for the first time. I think that my family completely freaked him out. Another reason why we were looking forward to "BM '06" is that we are going to get to spend some time with Brookie to see if he makes the cut.


Stay tuned for lots more blogging. I am not sure if the internet is working at the in-law's yet, but I will definitely update on Sunday. We have to cover a lot like, "The Elusive Leak: Almost Fixed", Carah's Graduation, and complete coverage of "BM '06".

As a side note, my Mimi's funeral was one of the most celebratory and beautiful funerals I have ever attended. She would have been proud, but I know that she's even happier with Jesus.

Mimi

"Take care Jeff, I love you."

Those are the last words that I will ever hear from my grandmother. Her large heart finally tinkered out as she had spent her whole life sharing and giving love to everyone that she came in contact with.

I talked to her on Sunday morning, Mother's Day. She sounded much better than I have heard her in months. Although she had just woken up, she didn't sound groggy. She was aware, clear, and strong voiced. She talked about how she had fallen a few times and that she hoped we would make it home to visit soon.

I knew as I hung up the phone that this was possibly the last time that I would ever talk to her. Later in the day, I received the call that she was fading quickly. A few minutes later, on this past Sunday, my brother Bobby called to tell me Mimi had died.

Growing up, I never thought Mimi would die. She was definitely the strong type. She was a traveling nurse and when we were little she would take us to visit her patients. She cared for each of them deeply and even long after she retired, she would still receive little trinkets from the patients that they would leave to her in their wills. Color didn't matter, it just needed to be someone in need and Mimi was there. On our trips, we would generally get to see some of the most rural places around the area where I grew up. We got to watch Mimi in action and we always had a picnic lunch in some country church parking lot. It was usually the same, potted meat or vienna sausage and crackers.

As I got older and Mimi retired, I got to work in the garden with her. We would pick turnip greens in the afternoons after school and then go to the highway and sell them. I, personally, cannot stand turnip greens but the people around town sure love them. Sometimes, she would call out my spelling words to me while we worked.

Growing older, Mimi continued to help people. Always cooking meals at the church. Even in the past year, when hurricane evacuees came to the little town of Durant, Mimi headed the charge to open up the church and she diligently went to cook meals for the people in need.

Mimi, I never thought she would die, but I am so thankful that she lived. She touched countless lives. Tonight at the visitation, people came from all over. There were tons of people talking about different things that Mimi had done for them. The ages and race of the people varied as much as the different acts of kindness.

I loved Mimi and I will miss her, but I am so thankful that she is now receiving her reward for a life of faith and good works.

Life on the Farm

Today was a blast. I got to work in the yard and then I got to go to the birthday party of the year, little Will's birthday. You know you are always going to have a great time when you are going over to James and Sindy's house. This is their horse Babe. She's a pretty horse and quite dapper in that hat, don't you think?




James and Sindy have a great entourage of animals. One of the most interesting types of animals that they have are the fainting goats. The fainting goats are great, when you can get them to faint. However, for some reason, I could not get them to faint. Here is one that is passed out.


The family also has Llamas. The llamas are very friendly animals and they look really innocent don't you think? They come right up to the fence and let you pet them. They were really neat. They also have a donkey, but I am not going to post a picture of it.

James and Sindy really know how to throw a party. The kids were literally climbing the fence to get to the fun!


Now I am home and just blogging, because my wife is in Bartlett to see her parent's new house and to be with her mom for Mother's Day. Get ready "BM '06" is next weekend. The first part begins on Tuesday, Abbey and I will be there to help on Friday!

An Elusive Leak: Revealed

And now, for the exciting sequel to the original, get ready to experience "An Elusive Leak: Revealed."

The Setting: Living/Dining Room Combo and other areas of the house.
The Time: 2:34:47, May 11, 2006

(Contractor Jason and helper Martin enter the home using the key provided by the owners)

Act III, Scene 1
Martin: Man, Jason, what'd you do?
Jason: I can't find that leak anywhere.
Martin: Let's check the bathroom.
Jason: Okay, but I've already done that.
Martin: Well, we'll see if maybe you missed something.
(actors enter a few minutes of trying several different scenarios with the bathroom with very little dialogue)
Martin: Dude, I can't believe this.
Jason: Let's go up in the attic. You won't believe how clean their closet is.
Martin: Okay, what's that about their closet?
Jason: (with Martin in closet): Okay, you have to hoist yourself up into the attic.
Martin: I'm a big dude, I hope I can do that.
Jason: Just do it. Hey, Maybe it is the return valve on the air conditioning for the second floor.
Martin: Yeah, let's see if that's it.
(several minutes pass, then the duo end up back downstairs)
Jason: I just don't think that air conditioning thing is the culprit. Let's make the holes bigger so that we can see all of the pipes.

Act III, Scene 2


Jason: Okay, I just believe it's that bathtub.
Martin: (on cell phone) Hey Jeff, how full do you fill your bathtub? Just over the jets? hmmm.
Jason: Well, let's fill this sucker up! Martin you stay down here. I'll go fill it completely up.

Martin: Okay, I be looking for water.
Jason: (yelling from offstage) Anything yet? It's about half-full.
Martin: Naw! I don't see anything yet.
Marting: (looking up at the pipes as water starts rushing down onto his face) Whoa! There's water.
Jason: The tub is full, the water is over the overflow thing. It must be the culprit. Let me call Jeff and tell him. (on cell phone) Jeff, it's the overflow. We'll have that fixed in no time. Talk to you later buddy.


Keep Reading for the next addition: "The Elusive Leak: Conquered." Will the holes in the wall be patched? Will the couple get their ceiling repainted? Can they finally get the new bathroom floor installed? It's all just too exciting!

(Editor's note: The links to other blogs are still on the page. Just scroll down if you would like to visit any of our friend's blogs, I don't know why they moved!)

De Plague, De Plague

Okay, so most of you know that I have a fascination with frogs. All of them are banished to my office at work, because Abbey does not like them. I am taking this opportunity to blog about them, due to the fact that our new camera came today and I wanted to play with it. Check out the clarity of these photos!



The two frogs above are special ones that we have. The one on the left is one that Abbey painted for me. Teh one of the right, Abbey got for a graduation present. It was Abbey's first clue that she would be marrying a lover of frogs.


The next frog is one that my mil and fil got for me for Christmas. He sort of ribbits when you stroke his back.

Please not that this is but a *VERY* small sampling of the frogs from my collection. Blogger is much to slow for me to download all of them. We don't currently have any frogs at the Landlife home, however, we do have frog throw pillows being made for our couch and loveseat. Don't worry, Abbey helped pick out the fabric.

The Elusive Leak

The Setting: Living/Dining room combo in a newer colonial style home
Synopsis: A young couple approaching their fifth year of marriage must decided what to do with the leak recently discovered in the ceiling of their living/dining room.

Act 1, Scene 1:

The Time: 6:47:32, Wednesday morning, May 3
Abbey: (enters stage coming down the steps as if going out the door for school) Gasp! (runs back upstairs) Jeff, the ceiling is leaking!
Jeff: (groggy, in bed): Wha, what? (reaching for glasses)
Abbey: The ceiling is leaking!
Jeff: (getting out of bed) Okay, I'll come see.
Abbey and Jeff: (walking down the steps together)
Abbey: See!
Jeff: Ooo! Wonder what caused that?

Abbey: What should we do?
Jeff: I'll call a plumber, in the meantime, don't use the bathtub.

Act 1, Scene 2

Setting: the office at a local church

Jeff: (entering the secretary's office) Delisa, do you know of a good plumber.
Delisa: (smiling, with a slight southern drawl): Oh yes, you need to call Ron Dale Moseley, he does all my plumbin.
Jeff: What's his number?
Delisa: I don't know and the internet's down. Let me get the phone book. (getting the phone book) It's not in here. I know who to call. Look up ABC Supplies.
Jeff: Okay here's the number.
Delisa: (on the phone with ABC) Hey, this Delisa, I know Ron Dale's in there all the time, you know what his phone number is? Thank you! Jeff, here's the number.
Jeff: (on the phone) Hello, yes, this is Jeff Land. Delisa recommended that I call you. We have a leak in our ceiling between the first and second floors. We think it came from the bathtub. No, I don't think it's a bad leak, but I do want to get it taken care of. Okay, we'll see you on Tuesday morning.
Jeff: (back in his office, on phone with insurance agency) Hello, this is Jeff Land, you have our homeowner's policy. We have a leak that has come through the ceiling. (pause) Okay, so you want cover the cause, but you will cover the damage. Great, thanks.

Act 2, Scene 1
The Time: 7:38:12, Tuesday morning, May 9

Jeff: (phone ringing, feeling for the phone on the bedside table): Hello, (pause) yes, this is he. Okay, I'll be here.
Ron Dale: (ringing doorbell) Mr. Land, I'm Ron Dale. Hear you gotta leak.
Jeff: (pointing) Yes, it's right here.
Ron Dale: (grimacing) Uh, that ain't good.
Jeff: Yeah, I didn't think so.
Ron Dale: (with sidekick Rich)Let's go check out the bathtub.
Jeff: (motioning) Okay, it's right up here.
Ron Dale: (getting on the floor to open the door on the side of the tub) Well, it don't feel wet. Fill'er up.
Jeff: (turning the water on) Okay.
Ron Dale: Turn'em jets on. Feel anything Rich? (rich shakes head no)
Jeff: Would you like for me to open the drain?
Ron Dale: Yeah, do that. (Then leaves the stage as if to go back downstairs) Mr. Land, I don't think it's your plumbing. I think it might be your roof. You said you had a contractor coming this evenin?

Act 2, Scene 2
Jason: (the contractor enters the home) Oh, there's where the leak was, let's go check out the attic.
Jeff: Okay, sorry we don't have a ladder.
Jason: (going in the attic) Jeff, I don't think it's up here. I think the building hit a pipe. Sometimes it takes a while for the nail to come out.
Jeff: Oh, let's go check it out downstairs.
Jason: (grabbing a saw) I'm going to have to gut a whole in your ceiling.
Jeff: That's okay, it's got to be fixed.
Jason: (after first three holes did not reveal anything) You mind if I try another one?
Jeff: We've got to find it.
Jason: (after next two holes don't reveal anything) Maybe the next one will show us what it is.
Jeff: Surely.
Jason: (after eigth hole) Me and Martin will come back tomorrow and keep looking. It's got to be here somewhere.



Will the leak be discovered. Can the ceiling be salvaged? Will the insurance pay? Will the contractor be able to solve the problem? Stay tuned for the sequel: The Elusive Leak: Revealed

It's that Time Again!

According to the counter at the bottom of the screen we are almost to our 2000th visitor. Check and see if you are the 2000th. If you are, then please give us a shout and let us know who the "lucky" 2000 is. You may (although it is highly, highly unlikely) win a prize!

A Few Announcements

Well, after nearly a year and a half, we finally have curtains in the green guest room. We still have not replaced the blinds, but that is on our list of things to do. Along with new bathroom flooring, crown molding, living room floors, restaining the deck, and painting the master bathroom.

I told Abbey that I am not sure that we will ever be able to move away from our house once we do everything we want to do with it. Anyway, it's fun to work on the house. We also are looking for a good, cheap armoire. We plan on cutting out the inner part of the doors and sides and replacing it with chicken wire. Then we will whitewash it and put it in the kitchen with our Gail Pittman.



On another note about our house, we have finally chosen flooring for the three bathrooms. It is a Liz Claiborne "tile look" vinyl, which just happens to be discontinued and is less than half-off! Awesome right! So, hopefully we'll be getting that done in a few weeks. I guess good things do come to those who wait!

A Wide-Open Mouth Smile

To be completely honest, I guess it all started long before I could remember it. Even though it's been around for a while, it was just this morning that I realized the implications.

Throughout the time that I have known Abbey, she has often commented on the fact that I cannot smile with my mouth closed. In our wedding pictures, in our dating pictures, wherever I am, my mouth is open. That's not that hard to believe for some of you who know how much I like to talk.

The problem is though, that I don't even close my mouth when I smile. The picture above is one of my most favorite pictures. And as you see, my mouth is wide-open. I guess it was evident from the very beginning.


My friend Elizabeth drew this picture of a frog for me and gave it to me at church. I think that I am beginning to understand that my fascination with frogs may be closely linked to it open mouth smile!

On the exciting newsfront for all of our blogger fans: we purchased a new camera last night on Ebay. We'd been shopping around and I found a 6.1 megapixel Kodak Easyshare for less than half-off retail. We watched the final minutes of the auction as our bid flew into victory. We paid immediately, so hopefully, by Wednesday we'll be taking some high quality photos. No offense to our old digital, but it is older and only 3 mp, and the zoom is broken.

Low Cost Stress Relief

Things have been pretty stressful around here this week, with things going on at work, home, and with school. I generally have a problem with "letting" go of stress, instead I choose to hold onto it and think about it. Anyway, this morning I woke up determined to do something that I could control.

The Task: Cleaning Out and Up Our Closet
The Goal: Remove all items from the closet, properly hang each clothing item, put up my new (that I have had since Christmas) tie rack, and colorize the clothes according to style.




By the time I get the closet cleaned out, I am already starting to feel better. I have not thought about a single thing that has been stressing me so far this morning. I knew this would work, because when I worked retail and I got stressed, I would clean off a table or section and complete re-do it. Colorizing, sizing and merchandising always helped me to get lost in my thoughts and feel better.

I was still doing good and then Abbey called. She talked to me about an email relating to one of my stressors. I think I was short with her, because I didn't want to get out of my zone. I am almost to getting the new tie rack up and my ties colorized.


Aren't they beautiful? Can't you just sense my stress falling away. Now, instead of cramming our closet completely full of clothes again, I decided I was going to move the more wintry or less worn clothes to a the guest room closet (but I also colorized and categorized the pieces).

Now, everything is taken care of in the guest closet. Time to tackle our closet. But, first, I need lunch. I grabbed a bite to eat and then it was back to the closet.


I loaded in my side first. I put each category together. Starting with the tie rack and moving left, suits, dress pants, dress shirts, long sleeve wovens, long sleeve knits. At the tie rack moving right are jeans and short sleeve knits.


Next, it was time for Abbey's side. Beside my short sleeve knits, are Abbey's short sleeve shirts, 3/4 length shirts, long sleeve shirts, pants, skirts, and dresses. The shoes are also colorized and straightened.

And there's the story of how to relieve stress, the Jeff way.