New things that go pop in the night

Last night was the first night in here the new house. Paige slept with absolutely no trouble. I however was up from 2 AM to around 4 something.

There are fluorescent lights in the bedroom and the plastic covers were really tight on the fixtures. When the heater came on, they expanded and popped. They must have really gotten warm around 2:00. And not really knowing for sure what it was and why, it kind of freaked me out. It sounded like really loud water dripping to explain what it sounded like. I would have turned on the TV to drown out the sound and try to get back to sleep, but I didn't want to wake Paige.

I walked around the house - at least the section we were in - read my Kindle, and finally got back to sleep but woke up before the 7 AM alarm. Not good.

Then, I was trying to figure out the stove and its quirks so I burned my pancakes. As dearest Paige said, "when you remember the first thing you cooked in this house, you'll remember it was burnt pancakes."

When the handyman who has been fixing the blinds, etc. got here, he took the covers off the lights for me. They don't look too much worse (they are fluorescent fixtures after all). But at least there will be no popping tonight. We tested it out, and there is no popping with them off.

With most of the boxes unpacked, and only decorative items left to place, I decided to go to Waxahachie shopping. I still had a Target gift card from Christmas burning a hole in my wallet.

I found the globe for the upstairs fan that they handyman was unable to find. I think part of it was just not knowing exactly what he was looking for. I knew that I was looking for a fixture like the one in my old bedroom. I'm proud I found it at Lowe's because it looks great.

At Target, I got this new standing lamp since one end of the office is really dark. I also bought bar stools for the little breakfast bar area in the kitchen. Thank you to my brother and family for the Christmas present! I only had to pay tax there! See that ugly shade on the window with the green pom poms? As soon as I find something to hang there, those are coming down. Because of the air return, I need something that doesn't go to the floor. And these days, 90% of all curtains are 84 inches long. Frustrating. I need half of that.

In JCPenney, I couldn't find a curtain close to the color blue that I needed to match what I had, so the sales person dug out and gave me a great deal on the one panel she had in chocolate brown back in the back. I hope it looks ok when I get it up. I won't know until I paint first. Give me a couple of weeks. Then I'll have tons of pictures to hang.

At Walmart, I bought all the curtain rods for the two bedrooms. So score there! I liked what I got there (and they were cheaper) than Target's. Then, I found my way to Starbuck's of course! Unfortunately, I used up the last of my last gift card for there too.

Here's your bonus picture... I went into DQ because I was starving from only eating 1 1/2 pancakes that weren't burnt. The one was the smallest one I made, I think. I thought this husband/wife combo had interesting fashion choices. Mainly his boots.