Some things are worth the money....

Anyone that’s been to our house recently knows that our deck was looking pretty bad. There were at least 3 layers of stain that were all blotchy and peeling so when I got a flyer from Integraseal with a discount coupon in the mail I showed it to Jim and we decided to get a bid. The salesman came out and as I was showing him the deck I mentioned that my brother had gotten them to do his deck. While we were sitting at the table going over stuff, he asked my brother’s name and when I said Matt Zimmermann he said, “oh yeah, Matt – he works at GM and lives in Lake St. Louis”. So I got an even bigger discount but the price was still pretty expensive. Jim & I discussed it and decided to get it done because there’s a 20 year guarantee and we wouldn’t have to stain the deck anymore.

A few weeks later one guy came over and power washed & integrasealed the deck. I couldn’t believe that he could do everything by himself in one day but he got it done. We had moved everything off the decks and from the patio underneath and the guy brought tarps to cover the mound of furniture and even the garden because it was quite a mess. He cleaned up afterwards and we left everything where it was because he came back the next week to sand the decks which was another mess because there was sawdust everywhere. Anyway, everything is done now and Jim & I spent last weekend cleaning & putting everything back in place.

Here are some before and after pictures.  We could have the deck stained but then we’d have to keep it up every few years so we’ve decided to go au naturel.  We love the look of the cedar and hope it doesn’t turn gray for a few years.

Garden

Peonies picked from the garden.

Siberian iris picked from garden, roses Jim gave me for Mother's Day, vinca vine & ajuga picked from garden

Siberian iris

Forget-me-nots

It's a jungle out there!

Garden with headstone.

Forgetfulness....

Jim & I went out to McGirk's Irish Pub in O'Fallon Saturday night because we love their food and they have a pretty awesome patio & garden area in the back where you can sit outside to eat.  We had stopped at Mattingly's in St. Charles but their patio was pretty lame so we just drank a beer and left.  When we got to McGirk's it was packed so we had to drink a beer while we waited for a table outside.  When we got seated and were looking at the menu, all of a sudden I remembered that our anniversary was in April and we had totally forgotten about it!  It was April 17 to be exact, almost 3 weeks ago!  I tried to act hurt and mad that Jim had forgotten but failed to convince him.  I thought maybe we'd been busy but when I looked at my calendar the 17th was on a Sunday and there was nothing going on that wekend.  Oh well, I guess old age is our only excuse.  I told him he owed me a gift....   

Emma turns 2 years old

Matt’s daughter, Emma turned 2 years old April 29 so we had a little party with the Miller’s on Friday night. Matt has been bringing Emma over every Thursday evening for the past couple of months so we are starting to get to know her pretty well. She took to Jim right away and he is quite smitten with her. It took her longer to warm up to me but she’s now to the point where she comes looking for me. She is a little cutie & a good little girl.  We’ve never had to put anything up or tell her no because she doesn’t get into anything.  She knows her toys are downstairs and she loves going up & down the steps just like any other kid. She never throws fits and only cries when she’s tired. She repeats everything we say so we have to be careful.  I don’t know – it seems that she’s too good for a 2 year old!  I hope I don't put a hex on ourselves by bragging!

We gave her a little kitchen.

And some clothes.

Emma with icing on her face.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Posing with Grandpa & Great Grandpa.

Like I said, Jim's quite smitten with her.