Plans changed, but it all worked out

Well this weekend's plans were to go down to visit my parents in Arizona.  I was going to bring my friend Adrienne along with the boys and I.  We had high hopes of visiting downtown Old Glendale and going thrift store shopping.  We even had a VW car show we were going to attend.  When it came right down to going, I had nothing but road blocks in my way. Nothing was working out, and I just didn't feel good about making the trip.  The biggest problem was my renters.  I have 4 rental houses that give me grief monthly, weekly and sometimes daily.  I don't want to blog negative, so I will let the pictures do the talking......

They didn't take care of the yard pretty much the whole time they were in the house.  So we had to do a thorough yard revamp when they left.

Really, this is a small sample of the destruction they caused and left, but it's enough you get the idea what I've had to deal with.  Until you've done the landlord thing, you have no idea the pain these rentals can cause you. But the thickest is cleaned up, repairs were made, and the "For Rent" sign is hanging out in front of the house now. 

I somehow, with help from Rooster's sad phone call, convinced my mother to come down and help me in Vegas this weekend.  She agreed, as usual after Rooster gets to her, and she came down to my rescue.  Kes was gone all weekend between a overnight scouting trip and hunting.  With my mom's assistance I was able to get a lot accomplished and get back on my feet.  I feel a lot better.  We had a good time. 

Here are a few pictures in between my task accomplishing:

 We were out of EVERYTHING in the house.  I'm sure my mother will devote and entire blog post to this fact.  And yes, her post will probably be fairly accurate.  My mom said she was starving from the moment she walked in to my house.  We did end up ordering pizza last night due to the lack of ingredients to create a home-cooked meal.  Somehow, I ended up pulling bacon and muffins out of a hat for breakfast though.  It was similar to the loaves and fishes, pretty much. 

Here we are enjoying our muffins and bacon "picnic" on the floor.  Bean decided to throw a fit right about now over some small trivial issue, so he was banished to his room for a time out when this picture was taken.  Thank goodness photos don't come with sound recordings unless you make a video! Annoying child!

This picture is a PORTION of the groceries that I purchased to replenish our stock.  The other FLATBED (can you believe it???) was not properly photographed.  An obscene amount of money was paid towards these groceries.  The only thing that made it more comforting was this: The previous night, I returned the same exact dollar amount in items to Walmart, Sams Club and Costco.  How ironic/crazy is that? The same amount! First of all, it was pretty ironic/crazy that some insane person would actually have that amount of "items to be returned", stored over a years time, in her hallway closet.  And then, after I returned all those said items, I went the next day and was able to buy usable and useful groceries? A great trade! It was honestly crazy the items we had stashed away to be returned in that closet! 2 hands free sets, a countless number of clothes that didn't fit (including even a dog sweater that didn't fit chubby Hailey- the senile schnauzer....) and a dog collar.  Boy did it add up though.  So I felt a lot more responsible to get those items returned and buy food for my family :)

Pretty much the only "fun" activity my mom and I got to do was run to Rod Works for a bit on Saturday afternoon.  It's such a cute store.  http://www.rodworks.com/

I found this plaque above that fit my mom's teaching career well. 

This is one of the cute items I had purchased the week before with a friend.  It looks great out front.

Every time the boys visit my mom we get their hair cut and my mom pays.  Isn't that fun and kind of her? It's a fun even the boy seem to enjoy and a task that I don't much care for, so I appreciate her taking care of it for me.  This time the Gunman got in on the fun.  This was his first haircut courtesy of Grandma Jo flipping the bill.  He enjoyed it quite well, especially with his sucker. 

It turned out great.  My mom and I both thought he looked like an old man with his cig. Sad that I didn't get to spend the weekend with my dear friend Adrienne in Arizona :( but VERY grateful my mom could come help me get some stuff done here in Vegas!

Song: Crash- Dumb and Dumber Soundtrack