I Have Lots to Say This Morning by The Pioneer Woman

The Boarding House is coming along! I hadn’t seen it in a couple of weeks, so Marlboro Man showed me around late Saturday so I could snap some photos. The wood floor is down on the third floor! I think things will move along lightning fast from here.

 
 
The windows are all in, and they look great. We weren’t able to salvage any of the original windows, unfortunately, but at least our heart was in the right place. Haha.

 
 
I’m not sure I told you that Marlboro Man and I are tackling different rooms in the hotel, but that’s how we like to do things: Try to outdo each other as we did with our bathroom competition in our office a few years ago. The rooms in The Boarding House have names like The Tack Room, The Ranch Room, The Emerald Room (guess whose room that one is?!?), and The Butterfly Room (ditto. ha), and this is a tile I’m using in one of the bathrooms. It’s concrete and I love it.

 
 
We tried to keep as much brick wall exposed as possible; I think it injects a little “this building has been here forever” reminder into each room.

 
 
We have coffered ceilings in some of the rooms, which I think is fun and elegant.

 
 
We had our staff party at The Merc last week, and it was a lot of fun. We put together gift bags for our employees and got to meet their families…

 
 
And BABIES. This is Alfred, and Marlboro Man took him when he noticed his mom juggling a few things at once. Alfred was completely transfixed on Marlboro Man’s hat, and I, in turn, was completely transfixed on Alfred. What an irresistible little chunky monkey pookie head.

 
 
We have children’s shirts at The Merc now. Take note of the emblem below the logo. I think Basset Hound emblems should take over everything!

 
 
And of all the new things in The Merc right now, these sifters are really speaking my language.

 
 
Oh, my…

 
 
GOODNESS.

 
 
Alex’s friend Mauricio came home with her to the ranch for a couple of days, and Paige made sure she was there for every photo. Ha!

Sisters are the best.

 
 
My nephew arrived from Dallas Saturday night, then yesterday, a whole crowd of Alex and Mauricio’s friends also came to visit! I thought they were arriving Sunday evening, so I was planning on making lasagna to feed them all…but just before church, Alex told me they’d be there by noon. So we picked up fried chicken, corn, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes at Pawhuska Hometown Foods (our local grocery store) and broke out the Solo cups…and it was the easiest meal I never had to cook.

Or something like that.

 
 
So this is my current mood. I just finished filming for 2017, I just finished my book tour, and everyone (and then some) is home. I have some local book signings this week, as well as a couple of appointments I’ve been putting off and a recipe video shoot…and I’m looking forward to all of it! Because when it’s all said and done, I’ll be home in my bed at night, touching feet with Marlboro Man and having the bizarre, wacky dreams that happen when I’m in the deepest, most cozy stage of sleep.

And the sweet anticipation of Christmas will be in the air.