Weekending

Linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday

Friday was a good day- I didn't work which is a bit unusual for Fridays. The available jobs were ones that I did not want and knew I had plenty to do at home. I ran some errands including picking up Donnie's favorite pizza for dinner. He's been working super hard (truly the story of his career from day one!) and while that isn't unusual, one thing that is particularly less than ideal for him right now is that December, right through the end of the month, is insanely busy for him as many clients want deals to be complete by the end of the year. 

Saturday, we both did things around the house in the morning. I wrapped about twenty presents- so many items had been delivered to the house over the course of the week. I get antsy if I have too many unwrapped presents! I enjoy wrapping presents provided I am not rushed for time. In this much less busy phase of life, I do have time to wrap presents 😀

Speaking of time, I spent some time watching it. Well, not watching time pass- that is not something one can see. Rather, I watched a device by which we measure the passing of time- a clock. We've had a clock hanging on a wall for several years that has only told the correct time two times a day. The clock, even when functioning, was more decorative than an often used device by which to tell the time (which is why when it stopped working, it was not that big of a deal and has remained  broken for a long time). I decided it was finally *time* for it to go (was going to put something festive in its stead- that was the impetus for dealing with it!). I got a ladder, took down the clock from the wall and decided to change the batteries to see if that would make the clock work (I'm pretty sure I had done that before and changing the batteries didn't result in it working). If changing the batteries didn't work, I was going to throw it out. I changed the batteries, propped the clock against a wall and watched it for a while. After a few minutes, it was obvious that it worked. Yah! (I guess? Like I said, it was not missed as a functional clock for years!)

I added some ornaments to festive it up a bit and put 'er back on the wall.

(I took these pictures on Sunday- we were out of the house around 4:00 pm on Saturday!)

In the early afternoon on Saturday, we went to our friends' house to pick them up and to go on an adventure to the big city (Cincinnati!). The guys wanted to go to one of their favorite stores so we did that and then we went to Jungle Jim's. I thought for sure the store would be more decked out with Christmas lights and displays. It had some and did pipe in classic Christmas carols which was nice but overall, I was surprised that it wasn't more festive. It did have a decently large selection of Christmas candy and there I found Mozert Kugeln.

Such a pretty, though freezing cold, night...

There was this large gingerbread house... 

The store is huge- we'd never run into the small theater before. 

Two sweet things!

Mozart Kugeln are candies made with pistachio and marzipan and then dipped in chocolate. They are made in Austria and sold in stores there and in Germany- if there's an American equivalent, I know not of it.

An individual piece- so unique and good!

I had never seen (Ms.?) Mozart bars. Obviously, I bought one! The concept of the confection is the same. The bar was delicious, but I prefer Mozart Kugeln. (One word for "ball" in German is die Kugel. "Kugeln" refers to the ball shape of the most ubiquitous way the candy is made.)

Heading north to go home, we stopped to eat dinner in Liberty Township. We decided to eat at a restaurant there called Ford's. As in the car manufacture. The wait staff wore coveralls like car mechanics wear and the whole theme was old timey car kitschy. I loved it- I would have taken more pictures of the decor but the place was crowed and I didn't want to take pictures of strangers. Here is the front of the menu.

Cute napkins and holder!

This car was right behind our table...

We were so hungry that we got two appetizers to share

My meal- chicken mac n' cheese. It was as good as it looks!! We all liked what we got and determined we'd come here again to eat.

Sunday- I rarely eat breakfast these days but if I do, there's a 75% chance it's because we have these bad boys in the house

Oh no we didn't- oh yes we did- at Jungle Jim's we bought a package of The Best Muffins in the World aka pistachio muffins. I ate my two before the sun had so much as come up!

In the afternoon, Donnie and I worked on putting together a dining/pool table for the uncovered portion of the patio project. It was chilly out when Donnie first went outside with his drill.

Donnie's drill had a work out- these were the screws that held the box together that the table was in...

I helped Donnie assemble the table and by help I mean I stood with the table resting against me so Donnie could attach the legs. This was my view of the portion of the patio that is complete- maybe just a week or so and it will be done!

Pool balls- so pretty!

Donnie loves the table! We will use this table to dine at and play (obviously, there's a cover to place on top of it when using the table as a dining table).

I was inside the house and heard the unmistakable sound of a cue hitting a ball. Donnie was playing a game... I took these from the doorway of the house.

The weather was perfect (for November!) to play a game of a pool on a pool/dining table outside in the midst of a project!! Especially since the day before was freezing cold.