I Need More Room

** Keep checking back to this post. I'm adding photos as I have the hard drive space to edit them.**

I've run out of hard drive space on my Apple laptop. Now you know why you haven't seen many pix lately. My backup drives are full too, so I've been searching online for storage. Daunting task.

Meanwhile, the posts are backing up. I've so much to share: Salmon Tacos, incredible Chicken Bryon, Memorial Day pix, girls' weekend pix, Wheat Belly, Food Rules, my nephew's visit, Oliver's new camp, a 25-mile bike ride (holy shit!) and the big fun thing around here: Oliver's new playroom.

One of my summer projects has really begun to take shape. My X had an office in the basement. It's not officially a finished basement, so it's damp, cold, dark with lots of concrete and spider webs. The office was abandoned two years prior to my X leaving which means it's been sitting there for the last 4 years. Wasted. Space. My X's stuff was still occupying the room, one foot in, one foot out. Finally I asked him to get the unwanted dusty corroding furniture and piles out. He obliged. It took a month or two, but he finally hired some guys to come in and haul the stuff out to the dump. He left behind photos of us (on our honey moon), one of just me, and two full change jars. That's about it. I came home, and it was swept clean.

Next I put in halogen lights. That brightened the place up. I picked out paint colors per Oliver's request. He wanted a rainbow. So we have 4 walls, each a different color. I had a high school boy come to paint. I swept and mopped the floor, and he removed the cobwebs and extra wiring from the exposed beams in the ceiling and then painted the concrete floor a basic grey. I headed to IKEA to get a book case. My neighbor gave me the exact IKEA chair I was going to buy! Last weekend my sweet nephew was here and while I was at work, he put together the bookshelf and put some furniture laying around the basement into the room. It's a makeshift playroom right now, but I'll trick it out real soon.

Truly, as soon as I clear out some hard drive space, I can off load the photos and give you a glimpse of the before shots.

Same for the salmon tacos. Oh. My. Effing. G. They were so damn good! I've been eating at least a couple each week, and finally I just made my own. Wow. Can't wait to share that recipe either! (So D-Lish that Oliver ate them too!)

The chicken dinner I made for Oliver and myself tonight was outstanding! Grilled chicken with goat cheese and a lemon-basil sauce. Holy Moly. A-frickin-mazing!

My nephew Drew came to visit last weekend. He's 18 and just graduated high school.



He's James' brother — hopefully you remember James. :) He's doing well. Lucky lucky me. I have two nephews who actually think I'm cool. I just love those boys!

We went to a water park down the road from where we live. Lots of fun and I can see that Oliver is a little fish. His daddy has a swimming pool in the complex, and Oliver is not afraid to get wet. We had fun.



Drew is a swimmer. Only seconds from Olympic timing.






Girls' weekend in Door County. We do it every summer. We had a blast making margaritas, sitting by the fire pit, reading 50 Shades of Grey aloud. That is, until chapter 6. Then we had to stop. :) (The book is not all that it's hyped up to be, trust me. If you haven't read it and you're a book snob, save yourself the trouble.) We also rode our bikes 25 miles at a DC Ride for Nature. It was fun, but I def pushed too hard. Pix to come.

OK, time for me to keep looking for the best deal for online storage. See ya soon....