Shopping with MB

MB, John, Grandmomma, and Granddaddy came up for a visit this past weekend.  The game plan was for MB and I to do some shopping then re-decorate my living room.  We had a few specific goals in mind, but more than anything I wanted to take our house from "apartment, college" looking to a true "grown-up home."  Here's how it went down:

1) Friday night - they arrive with both John's demanding pizza as soon as they step out of the van
2) Saturday morning - I whip up a country breakfast then we plot our day...Grandmomma and Granddaddy decided to head on back to Georgia since Granddaddy was missing everything about home...
3) Saturday mid-morning -
(a)MB, John and I (while Andrew worked) set out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond...we pick out some curtains and a rod for the kitchen door area since we can't sit at our table in the evening because of the sun...we also got mom and dad's Christmas from MB, John got a new noise machine, and I got a new crock-pot.  MB got a ton of other stuff too - I can't remember what all she put in the cart, but John was out of room by the time we left.
(b)We move on to TJ Maxx, where we get Grandmomma's Christmas, a few toys for John, MB a couple of shirts, and nothing for my house.
(c) John spotted the rear of the Chick-fil-A and started yelling "COWS, MOOOOOO" "French Fries, Dip-Dip..."  FYI - the kid knows the colors of the building, he doesn't even need to see the sign and he demands going there if he spots it.  So Andrew met us there for lunch.
(d) Andrew swaps out my car with MB and hands over he phone (since her's was at our house charging) and he and I take the swagger wagon (aka "The" van) with John to our house so he and I can take a nap.  Andrew heads off to the driving range once home...MB is gone to Toys-R-Us, Tuesday Morning, Dillards, etc...John, Tucker, Tico and I all take a nap.  Once Tucker and Tico decide that my nap is over - I get up, send Tucker outside, and decide to make cheese straws from Southern Living all before John wakes up.  I get half-way through making the cheese straws before John awakes, so I give him a snack and finish up the straws.  MB then starts calling and sending me pictures of her finds at Tuesday Morning.  So John and I finish up and head to Ridgeland to meet her.
(e) MB has completed John's Christmas shopping including a Christmas outfit, John and I meet her to review the finds at Tuesday Morning - she buys me a picture for my Birthday for over the fireplace and some candles...
(f) I head out to Newk's to pick up dinner, she and John head back to the house with the wine we picked up too...
(g) All parties arrive back home, and unload the finds...Andrew starts to freak...then he claims down after he found out I only bought the curtains and crock-pot as budgeted..
(h) we all eat dinner (with wine)...we then start rearranging...first we attempt to hang the curtains, but John needs to use the step-ladder with us and we realize we don't have a level...then we take the old picture down from the fireplace and put the new one up - good thing the new one is so big it just rests up there...we call it a night
3) Sunday morning - Andrew heads back to work, MB and I give John some "Happy Birthday Cake" for breakfast (really it was a blueberry citrus pound cake that Mom sent to me for my Birthday, but any cake is now Happy Birthday Cake according to John).  We start on the curtains once more.  Using a shoe string as a level, we get the curtains hung and taught John that if you teach your daughters how to use power tools, this is what they will do when their husbands aren't around...
(a) then we moved our old quilt into the guest room, switched around a ton of pillows, rehung the "Sunflowers" in the guest room with the day bed, and finally decided to get dressed so we could go back to Tuesday Morning and find more goodies...
(b) went to a different Tuesday Morning that didn't have anything, got John Subway for lunch, headed to the house as I fed him in the backseat - MB loaded up the van to head to the coast, John finished his lunch, I told them, good bye and away they went...
(c) I came inside, brought Tucker inside, and he and I crashed hard for about an hour - then I went to Kroger, and came back, and crashed again....

Here is a little taste of our work....it is still a work in progress but it has made a huge difference...