Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, Happy Independence Day! Whatever it is you call it, I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday!

After one of the parties in our neighborhood last night, I wonder what TONIGHT will bring! This kid must have invited every single person he has ever met. Most of the people on my street park in their driveways or garages so there are not many cars on the street. Last night every single inch of available street parking was for his guests. And his house is about 1100 square feet so I don't know where they all fit!

Today, we will be celebrating the 4th at my brother-in-law's house. His little grand-daughter (my great niece?) is turning 1 this week so it's a combo Independence Day/birthday party over there. I just love one year old parties! The little ones always look so cute with frosting in their hands and on their faces. I haven't seen the little one since Christmas so I'm sure she has changed quite a bit since then!

My BIL is also quite the pyromaniac so I'm sure there will be plenty of fireworks all around. Good thing he is also a paramedic in case something goes horribly awry!

Have a safe and happy 4th! And thank you to all our military personnel (past and present) who have fought and served to make our country what it is.

Where Has The Time Gone?

OMG! I was surfing around some blogs today and thought, "Hmm.... I haven't updated my blog in a little while. Let's go post something." Ummm..... seriously? Almost a year? That's insane!

And yet as I read through some of my last posts, not much has changed. I have such a boring life. I love it that way!

Let's see if I can recap in bullets:

• Amy made it through her freshman year of college! Things got tons better when her roommate moved out at semester. But all in all, she LOVED college.
• Things at work settled down quite a bit. There was some restructuring done and it really was for the best. I am working, busy as ever, and loving my job.
• I became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! in November. My blog for that adventure can be found HERE. I would really like to do some more classes and demonstrations so if you or anyone you know are interested and live in the area let me know!
• I still can't buy Playtex tampons at Costco. (I KNOW you have been wondering!)
• Bunco with the ladies is going strong. I have made some really special friends and wouldn't trade them for the world.
• We had an AWESOME vacation in Boston this year. THAT'S something I could post about. Duh!

I think that's about it for today! Let's see how I do in posting this next year, huh? If you have any ideas for subjects for me or really burning questions about something, leave me a note!

Sunday Visit

On Sunday we went to visit Amy at college for the first time. She was feeling a bit homesick, we were missing her like crazy and she needed a light for her bike so we decided that sounded like a trifecta and off we went!

We were so excited to see her! And it was great to see how she has made her room look. It's awesome! Everything (on her side) is all organized and neat. She bought some posters and had one of the young men on her floor help her hang them. It really is starting to look like a home away from home.


After she put away all the stuff we brought that either a)wouldn't fit in the truck two weeks earlier or b)she had forgotten to pack, we decided to run a few errands. First up was Target to return some hangers and pick up a few things and then off to King Soopers for some groceries. We stayed in the older part of town and it was so cool to see a regular Target (as opposed to a SuperTarget) and the grocery store looked like the ones here in town looked about 20 years ago. It was nostalgic!

We drove around town for a bit and then stopped in at a cool bike shop just west of campus to get a bike light. Since none of us had eaten much for lunch, we decided to grab an early dinner. We got to Carraba's about 4 and seriously we were only the third table in the restaurant. We even beat the white-haired crowd! The food was awesome and it was so nice to have a meal as a family.

While at dinner, Amy came up with a great idea to go to the movies. There is a theater about five blocks from the restaurant so we went over to see what was playing. Unfortunately, we were about ten minutes too late for the show we REALLY wanted to see (500 Days of Summer) but we were about 15 minutes away from the next showing of Julie and Julia. It was just as good the second time seeing it!



After the show we took Amy back to her dorm. I had been worried earlier in the day that saying goodbye again was going to be as rough as it had been two weeks earlier. It was so much better this time! We had spent an excellent day together, having shenanigans and basically making her dad regret the decision to go for a visit. Just kidding but, really?, when we get together we tend to get a little silly and I think we embarrass him a little. It was pretty much a repeat of the time we were in Seattle and he about left us there. I know he really wanted to!



The visit refreshed all of us and made us realize that we can do this thing! We just need some little visits in between the big visits. And we are so grateful to be less than two hours away.

Girlfriends

During the four years that Amy was in high school marching band, there were several other moms that I got friendly with. I got to know some of them better by sitting with them in the stands for hours on end, some by standing side by side as we served food to 120 kids, some by the selling of various products for fundraisers, and some of them by a combination of ALL of those things! Most of the ladies that I got to know the best had kids that were either in my daughter's class or the class right ahead of hers. We were all going through the same struggles and triumphs with our kids; who had so-and-so for a teacher, who was dating who, what colleges did they apply to?

Two of the moms and I are becoming fast friends. We have gone to the movies and out to dinner, and I see one of them almost every day now that we have coordinated our gym time to ride the monotonous stationary bikes at the same time (it's amazing how much faster the time goes when you can just chat with a friend). But I wanted to make sure that I would somehow keep in touch with these other women. They mean something to me and so do their kids, many of whom I have known since grade school.

I had a feeling that all of us were going to be needing other moms to talk to soon as all of us had moved our kids in to various colleges within the last two weeks. So I invited 15 of these ladies over for a night of bunco and all but three of them were able to come. Guys? We had a blast!

We started off having some appetizers (way too many!) and some sangria and just talking about our experiences with our girls (and boy) and how they were adjusting to college life. It was so awesome to hear the stories and know that each and every one of them are going through the same sorts of things that my daughter is going through. I think every one of us was so grateful to hear that other kids were having some of the same struggles that our own kids are facing. And the conversation has changed a little bit from when the kids were in high school, but as I listened in on the stories, we all were asking the same questions. How is the roommate situation? Are the classes hard? Are they making new friends or hanging out with kids from high school? It was so good to not feel alone.

And then we played bunco! Some of us (like me!) had never played before and some had played a time or two and were able to help out with the first couple of rounds. We had such a good time talking, laughing, zinging each other in friendly competition. And drinking sangria. Lots of sangria.

I think everyone said that they would definitely want to get together on a monthly basis and play! So we are all set for September already and I am so looking forward to hearing from everyone again and finding out if M got a new roommate, if H is still feeling sad, if H2 is making more friends, if they have all escaped the H1N1 flu. And I look forward to hearing how we, as moms, are adjusting. Are WE feeling more confident, are WE adjusting to buying fewer groceries and doing more of our own chores around the house? And most of all, I look forward to laughing with my friends over three dice. And drinking sangria.

And She's Off!

August 23rd? For REAL? What a crazy couple of months it has been. Work has been fairly busy and getting Amy ready for college was hectic too. And now fall is almost here. But you won't hear ME complaining about that! I LOVE FALL!

Anyway, the last few weeks have been spent making Target runs, setting up new technology, making Target runs, bra shopping, school supply shopping, and going back to Target for just one more thing. As if they don't have a Target anywhere but here. But the shopping is now done. At least for me.

Last Monday we took Amy off to school. The kids who are in marching band had to move in on the 17th instead of the 20th. Which is kinda cool because I understand we avoided all sorts of crowds by moving in three days earlier than the rest of campus.

The Plan: spend Sunday night at a hotel near campus so we can get an early start at 8:00, start moving in, Amy to run off at 9:00 to get registered for band and back at dorm by 10:00. Unpack from 10 to 11:30. Say our goodbyes in the dorm room. Amy to go to lunch with new band friends and report to the field at 12:30. Mom and Dad stay back to unpack a bit and then drive back home. Doesn't that sound nice? Carefree? Not too stressful?

Reality: spend Sunday night at a hotel near campus and got our early start about 8:15, fill out paperwork and pick up keys, locate room and hotel style baggage cart (good job with these, CSU! you have done this a time or two!) and start moving things into room. Rearrange furniture to Amy's liking. Start unpacking. Realize that bookcase is not going to fit. Start hanging up clothes to go in closet (that incidentally does NOT look like the one in the pictures and has a hanging bar at waist level. WTF?) and realize we don't have enough hangers.

Amy starts texting her friend at 9:15. Where are you? Friend won't be there to pick her up until 10. Keep unpacking. Ask Amy if maybe we should say our goodbyes then since it's going to be hectic. No, she will definitely be back at the dorm by 11:45. Off she goes to register. Dad does a Target run to get a shower caddy that will work, some shelves and some plastic drawers (refer back to the closet not being like the ones we had been shown). Mom keeps unpacking. Mom does a lot of wondering. "Where will this fit? Why did she bring this? For REAL?" Stuff like that.

Mom gets text that says Amy is still standing in line for a uniform. And several more during the next hour that are along the same vein. At 12:15 mom gets an actual phone CALL (you know it's bad when I get a call instead of a text) that says there is no way Amy is going to make it back to the dorm before she has to report to the field and can we please bring her her tennis shoes, a water bottle, something to eat since she didn't get lunch? And do all that and be across campus in less than 10 minutes so she's not late? Find all the above mentioned items including a slightly bruised banana that I'm so glad I didn't have time to eat, and fly out to the car. Drive down street with no outlet. Turn around. Wait in traffic. Drive to the UCA building but take two detours because of street construction. Find parking lot but no spaces and park in the fire lane. Run as fast as my knee will let me to where she is waiting (with a high school friend and her parents - thanks, Caroline and Rick for waiting with her). Hand her her things and give her a huge hug. Try to calm her, as she is frustrated, mad and sad. Hug her some more, kiss her head a million times, wipe away tears (hers and mine) and off she goes.

I like the PLAN version better. Although the dramatic movie version of reality makes for a better story. I'm sure I will find clever ways to embellish it over the years. :)

We spoke on the phone yesterday though and, while Monday and Tuesday were kinda rough, she is having a good time and meeting lots of new people. Classes start tomorrow and I know she's a little nervous about that but it will be FINE!

We have a mother/daughter blog in the works and I'll link here when we get our first post up. I hope we're as funny in print as we are think we are in real life.

It Is No Fun Getting Old

Oh my gosh, guys! There has been much physical drama with me lately and I'm frankly a little bit sick of it!

I started having trouble with my left knee shortly after my daughter's graduation. If you have ever been to Red Rocks Amphitheater you know that is one gorgeous place and we were very fortunate to get to observe graduation there. But if you click on the link and look at the photos you can see that there are tons of stairs. In fact, the park is one of the more popular places around here to work out. All that running up and down the stairs and benches really works you out! So anyway, all that up and down the stairs irritated my knee.

It wasn't getting better so I went to the doctor who sent me to an orthopedist. He diagnosed me with chondromalacia patella. Basically, I have blistered the cartilage in my knee. So he prescribed physical therapy and I went. I went three times, learned some exercises, she ran electricity through my knee (THAT was weird!) and then when I wasn't really improving she sent me back to the doc.

Last Friday, I made an appointment on Monday for a follow up. Then on Saturday I was in my basement and the doorbell rang. So I took off up the stairs to see who it was and got about four or five steps up when POP! I heard and felt it in my knee and I was down. Oh my gosh it hurt!

So I kept my appointment on Monday and basically, nothing new is going on! It's still the same old cartilage problem. They gave me a cortisone shot that they said would make things feel better (it does NOT!) and he prescribed riding a stationary bike four days a week. Guys? Can you think of anything more boring? I have GOT to get this thing healed! It is driving me nuts. I mean, going on two months of it not feeling well and I have a sinking feeling that I am in for a long haul. I am going to do exactly what he says to do but I'm really scared it's never going to get better.

So if you are the praying type, can I ask you to pray for my knee to be restored? And for blessings on my family who have been so helpful to me? Thanks so much!

Meme

Susan at Love, Life and Labradors posted this meme this week and I thought it was one of the better ones I have seen. That, combined with my recent laziness, means that you get to read ridiculous nonsense about me! Yay for you!

1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now? Bath and Body Works Island Sea Cotton and Lever 2000. For my 2000 parts. (Remember those commercials?)

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No.

3. What would you change about your living room? I would like a new rug.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean. Yes, I know I should just empty it but it's my life's mission to make Amy do that each and every night after dinner. And since I only get to take advantage of that for 40+/- days I am going to milk it for all it's worth.

5. What is in your fridge? Plain low fat yogurt, 2% milk, black and red plums, pudding cups, hot dogs, cherries, limp celery and cheese. And leftover chicken pot pie.

6. White or wheat bread? Both!

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? A bag of potato chips, 1/2 a bag of tortilla chips, a Costco-sized box of hot chocolate and a 5 lb. bag of sugar. I hate that I have so little cupboard space in my house that things have to be on top of my fridge.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? Yellow, blue red and white stripes.

9. How many plants are in your home? Only one. The rooms where I have light I don't have flat surfaces for placing plants on.

10. Is your bed made right now? My "made" do you mean dogs laying all over it? Then no.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Comet.

12. Is your closet organized? Which closet? My bedroom closet is not a pit but I wouldn't call it organized either.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? Large, blue and metal.

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Plastic for cold drinks, glass for coffee.

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? No.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? The edges are a little cluttered but I can fit my car in there.

17. Curtains or blinds? Most of my rooms have warm window roman shades. Except my living room which has blinds for the time being.

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two, one for my head and one for my knees.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No it has to be absolutely dark.

20. How often do you vacuum? Only about once a week. I only have one area rug. Now if you ask how often I sweep it's more like every other day.

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard.

22. What color is your toothbrush? White with an orange stripe down the back.

23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? No.

24. What is in your oven right now? A piece of foil that contained the overspill from making chicken pot pie. I actually remembered to put it down first so baking my dinner didn't make my smoke alarm go off!

25. Is there anything under your bed? Two plastic containers for Tim's out of season clothes.

26. Chore you hate doing the most? Scrubbing the shower.

27. What retro items are in your home? My house itself is retro! Built in 1961 it is the epitome of the 60's ranch houses. And I have a 1956 Singer sewing machine.

28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Yes, the front bedroom.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? Six.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? No, just a change jar.

31. What color are your walls? Every room is different! Green, tan, red, blue, yellow and brown.

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? No, unless you count my freaky black lab. She'll cut you.

33. What does your home smell like right now? Coffee.

34. Favorite candle scent? Aunt Kooks Apple Cider. Cannot. Get. Enough.

35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? None. But I would LOVE it if I had some spicy bread and butter pickles.

36. What color is your favorite Bible? Brown.

37. Ever been on your roof? No.

38. Do you own a stereo? Yes.

39. How many TVs do you have? Two.

40. How many house phones? Three.

41. Do you have a housekeeper? No. But I think about it every week!

42. What style do you decorate in? Casual with a touch of country.

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Both. My current living room furniture has a print for the body and solid cushions. I love it!

44. Is there a smoke detector in your home? Three of them actually.

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you'd grab if you only could make one quick trip? My dogs, photo albums and computer. That is assuming the rest of the family is helping with this quest.

Graduation!

Wow! I cannot believe it's been over a month since I posted last. It's been very busy and I have been very lazy. Oh, I have been READING blogs just not creating posts for my own.

Anyway, back to where we left off......

Amy graduated! Aww, yeaaaah!



Graduation was held at Red Rocks Amphitheater and we were hoping that there would be no reason for the park to be closed so that it could go on as planned even if we had to bring umbrellas and ponchos! But the day was perfect, some clouds in the morning and early afternoon gave us enough shade to not roast once the sun poked through.

I must brag on her just a bit and announce that she graduated 7Th in her class of 395 with a GPA of 4.13. I am just a BIT proud I guess!



I cannot say enough nice things about this kid. Even if I were not her mother, I would like to hang out with her because she is so funny, sweet, and clever. And did I mention funny?



Congratulations, Amy! We are SO proud of you!

Happy Mutha's Mother's Day!

I hope you all had a very happy Mother's Day! Mine was pretty low-key but lots of fun.

I ended up ditching church because Amy and I stayed up way too late on Saturday night watching SNL with Justin Timberlake. OMG! He is so funny! Anyway, Tim (my personal alarm clock) was working on Sunday so I didn't get up in time. I went to Michael's to get a few supplies I needed to finish a project I am working on for Amy's graduation and then stopped at Starbucks for an americano and a rhubarb crumb cake on my way home. Yum!

In the afternoon, we went to see "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". It was a pretty good movie and we enjoyed ourselves. Being as it was a chilly/rainy day here, lots of other folks had the same idea!

For dinner we had our leftovers from our Saturday Mother's Day dinner out at Macaroni Grill. After Tim got home I opened up my cards and gifts and was surprised with a really pretty silver ring necklace from Tim and an Amazon gift card from Amy. It was a great day. Oh! I almost forgot! Amy made me a cake. It was a very special cake. Have I mentioned before that she has a really fun sense of humor? One of her favorite blogs to read is Cakewrecks. She was inspired by THIS POST to create me the the most spectacular Mother's Day cake imaginable! In true Cakewreck fashion, I present my Mother's Day cake, 2009 edition, complete with uterus, sprinkles, squished ovary and the famous misspelling of mother. I am so proud!

Shameless Bragging

Tonight was a bittersweet night for us. It was the last high school band event for Amy. She has been in the music programs at school since she was in fifth grade and is quite an accomplished flutist. But tonight she received a HUGE honor! Presenting the 2009 GMHS recipient of the John Phillip Sousa Award!



"The John Phillip Sousa award is the pinnacle of achievement for high school band students. The award honors the top student in a high school band and recognizes superior musicianship and outstanding dedication." And my little baby won! Congratulations, Amy! We are so proud of you!

Wow! Thanks!

My first blog award! I feel like Steve Martin's character in "The Jerk". "The new phonebooks are here! I'm SOMEBODY now!"




Thank you to Lisa from Yeah, I'm Still Here for my very first blog award! Even though I mainly blog for myself, it's so fun when others read and comment.

So now, I need to award this same award to 15 recently discovered bloggers. Now, I hope they mean blogs that I have recently discovered because I'm sure that several of these have been out there for awhile. But here are some of my favorite discoveries from the recent past.

Vivienne at The V Spot

Jamie at Something To Do

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick

Tim at The Remodeling Guy Do guys like blog bling?

Sarah at Create Studio

Jennifer at The Craft Patch


Okay, now this is getting ridiculous! I have over ninety blogs on my Google reader and for good reason. It's because they are my favorites and they are other people's favorites too. And either they already HAVE this award or have already been named by other award recipients. And I am reluctant to tag them again because then it's kind of like when you host a Pampered Chef party. All of your friends are excited about it and you swear to them that if they host a party of their own (to get free stuff because they really do have the best hostess program, but I digress) you will come! To support them! And buy stuff! And so they have the party. Several of them have parties. And you go to all of them because that's what friends do. But now you have WAY too much Pampered Chef stuff and you run out of things to buy. Then what?

Where was I? Oh yeah. Anyway, this is all I am able to name because I am sure that Jill from Controlling My Chaos and Lisa from Yeah, I'm Still Here do not really want to do this again. And I want to read more of their good blog posts!

Upon further consideration because I was clearly not awake yesterday, I have added more blogs below because even if they don't want to accept it I still want to give it in the spirit it was intended. So without further adieu:

Lisa from Yeah, I'm Still Here

Jill at Controlling My Chaos

Carrie at Buzzings of a Queen Bee

Liz at Mabel's House

Susan at Love, Life and Labradors

Kim at Petroville

Laura at The Wooters Family

Leigh Anne at Your Homebased Mom

Melissa at 320*Sycamore

Chickadee at A Familiar Path

Thanks for the award, Lisa! And I hope you all enjoy these blogs as much as I do.

The Furniture Is Here! The Furniture Is Here!

I am so excited! I finally have my living room back! Even though it has not taken nearly as long as it FELT like it took (no, Amy, it wasn't four months) it is so nice to have it done. Wanna see some pictures? Even more than you bargained for? If you make it through to the end you can even give me your opinions!

First we have a full on view of the sofa. The body is the diamond pattern and the cushions are solid velvet.

Here is a kinda side view. In real life there is just a very subtle sheen to all three fabrics, but when I took pictures all of a sudden there was this LIGHT everywhere! It's crazy!

Here is the best chair in the world. When it finally wears out and can't be revived with any more batting or slipcovers I don't know what I will do. Seriously it is the best thing ever. It's so deep and wide and my very favorite place to sit in the whole house. Everybody likes it, including my dog, Molly. We have to puppy-proof it when we leave so she doesn't get up on it. This involves putting the back cushion sideways on the seat cushion and putting hardback books on both the chair and the ottoman. She's a little thick and can't get it through her skull that just because we aren't here doesn't mean she gets free reign of the furniture. Goof.

Here is a closer shot of the arm of my favorite chair.

A different angle which includes a book and my glasses. Stupid over 40 eyes.

Here is a close up of the ottoman fabric. It's the same fabric as the cording on the cushions. And the cording of the ottoman is the diamond pattern.

Here's a shot from the doorway of the dining room. My entertainment center needs to stay on that wall because it's about the only place it will fit. But if you have any suggestions on other furniture placement, I'm all ears.

A couple from the front door area.

And here's one from the corner looking towards the dining room.

And here's one of the whole wall where the couch is. I would love to do THIS behind my couch but it would make it come too far out in the room and would block my access to the bookcase in the corner. Unless I figured out a different place for the bookcase or moved the couch down toward the dining room doorway a bit. Or moved the couch to a completely different area. I also notice that the green(s) of my walls look so much different in real life. Do they "go"? Should I paint them more of a neutral?

Thanks for looking and visiting me in my home!

Paper Clutter!

OMG! I am buried under paper clutter and don't know how to get out. Well, okay, I know how but I don't take my own advice to throw stuff out. I mean, what if for some reason I need to see my check stub from January 2008?

Today is my day to sort through stuff that has been sitting on my desk for a few months. And, honestly, I bet I could shred the whole stack of stuff and never even miss is. But instead, I am going though it piece by piece and deciding what should happen to it. Ugh.

I need to remind myself that going through my files at the end of each month would solve most of this problem. But old habits die hard! And the fact that I love all the file folders, staples, cute paperclips and other "file organization" ephemera doesn't help me. At. All. I would much rather make labels, file folders and filing systems with all the cool toys than to actually file stuff away.

Do you share this sickness?

Prom Update

I have had a couple of emails asking about what Amy decided to do about prom. And since I can't think of anything else to blog about at the moment I'll give you an update!

She has totally decided to go visit her BFF at college this weekend! She is using some of her birthday money and she and her friend are planning a grand adventure. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to tell you the truth! One of the other benefits (for me anyway) of her not going to prom or after-prom is that I won't feel obligated to work at after-prom. Anyone who knows me knows that I can get a little (okay, a LOT) cranky if I don't get enough sleep. And a party that starts at 11 and ends at 4 a.m. is NOT going to end with a happy Kristi.

I think that this was the right decision for her. Amy is really suffering from senioritis right now. It's not the classes or work that is getting her down. It's just that she is so over all the drama and bitchiness that everyone seems to be exuding right now. She is done with high school and ready to move on to the next step. It's such an exciting time for all of us!

The only part of this year end stuff that is freaking me out a little bit is this: you know how fast time has gone from January 1st until now? That is the same amount of time I am looking at until she is at school. I don't know if I'm ready for this......

Dilemma

So my daughter is having a dilemma and I thought I'd blog about it and see if I get any fabulous advice to pass along to her!

This is her senior year of high school. It is prom time. For the last few weeks she has been planning on going as a single but with a group of friends who were also going as singles. But just within the last week or two the group has started to fall apart. Some of the kids have coupled up with other kids, some are going with different groups, etc. So now she is trying to decide if she still wants to go at all. The group as it is right now is full of kids that she knows but she is not close to any of them and it's not like any of them run with the same group. It would not occur to any of them (including my daughter) to call any of the others up on a random weekend to just go hang out.

She did go to prom last year, and while she had a good time it wasn't as fun as she thought it was going to be. Her date and his group of friends were pretty new to her and it was just a little awkward. So it's not like she would look back and say "Gee, I never even went to prom!". But she is having feelings like if she doesn't go that she is going to feel guilty.

She has thought about going to visit her best friend that weekend. Her friend is a really good girl and I have absolutely no qualms about her going. The friend attends the same college that my daughter will be attending in the fall so that would sort of be a fun weekend since they'll get a bit of a preview of what next year could be like.

So, should she go to prom with the group (even as it morphs into something else yet again)? Or should she have a girls weekend with her BFF?

Back in Business

I am back in business with my slipcovers! Remember the very sad tale of how the fabric store didn't have enough of what I needed? I had picked out two fabrics and they had enough of the accent fabric but not enough of the main fabric. So I ordered yet MORE samples from another company. Those came in and I just wasn't in love. BUT! I did what I hadn't thought of doing before and just switched out my fabrics. So my accent fabric is now the main fabric and what was my main fabric is now my accent fabric. Duh! Why did that take me two weeks to figure out? Anyway, I ordered it up and the warehouse was even kind enough to give me free shipping since that was the promotion going on at the time I originally ordered the fabric. Whee! It came in this week and I called the seamstress to let her know it was here. She came over to pick up the fabric and my chair that afternoon! In two weeks I should have all three pieces completed.

The only "problem" is that now between the couch, chair and walls I think I will have way too much green in the room. So I am going to repaint my walls a light gold/tan color. Of course this part will need to wait until Amy has left for college because I really don't want to hear all the bitching about home improvement projects. The girl has no use for re-decorating. She is under the very false impression that things around the house are ever done. Nothing is EVER done, right? It's constantly evolving, right?

Anyway, I think I am going to repaint the living room (and you know I means Tim right?). But if you have ever been to my house you know that there is no way to paint the living room without painting the dining room and main hallway. And in order to paint the dining room I am going to have to remove wallpaper. I am also starting to think crown molding. Or is it moulding? So I am thinking this will be a great project for those first few weeks of fall when I am dealing with an empty nest and wondering what to do with myself.

I will start posting pictures when I start getting my furniture back. I can't wait!

Reading Memories

I was feeling a little crafty today! I love when that happens. I was recently inspired by this post to create and keep track of the books I read so I created this:

Now I know that Shelfari is a great resource and I still plan on keeping track there as well, but there is something satisfying about actually writing down the name of a book that you have read and when you read it. I am planning on also writing down the books that I begin but don't finish because I am a big believer in the fact that there are way too many books in the world that I WILL like to force myself to read something I am having a hard time getting into.

I chose the paper for the cover of this notebook because it reminds me, for some reason, of my childhood. Probably the colors and flowers since I was a child of the 70's. I'm surprised it's not paisley since that is what my mom always insisted on dressing me in. It was not until about eight years ago that I could look at paisley without whining about it. Now I like it again, go figure.

While I was creating the book for my books, my childhood reading and book memories came flooding back to me so I figured I might was well write them down!

I was a very early reader. What I think happened is that my older sisters would read to me and I started following along and recognized words that kept showing up. It's the same way my daughter learned to read at age 3.

Anyway, I remember that I would walk to the library with my sisters. It was a little over half a mile from our house. A lot of people wouldn't let their kids do that now. But off we would go, with books to return and hopes of what new books we might find. We probably made that trip once every two or three weeks. Sometimes our mom would take us, but most of the time if it was nice out we would just walk.

Once when I was about five, the three of us went and I was looking through the card catalog to see what I might want to read about. One of the librarians came over to me and said "All the books for children your age are over here.", and led me to the picture books. I waited until she turned away and then went back to the catalog. She came back over again and told me to quit playing around with the cards. I mustered up as much courage as I could, put my hand on my hip and told her "Those are BABY books and WAY to easy for me!". Luckily, about this time Kathi came over and told the lady to leave me alone and that I knew what kind of books I wanted and that if I needed any help I would certainly ask for it. Then she went with me to pick out some not-too-easy books. (Thanks, Kath for having my back even then!).

Walking home from the library was the worst because I would have a huge stack of books (wow, nothing has changed in 35 years!)tucked up under my chin and would have to walk home like that! I imagine it was probably only ten or so books but holy cats! Not moving your head or your arms for a half mile walk was torture! I don't know why we didn't bring a book bag with us. And I don't remember walking TO the library like that so I have no idea how that all went down. I mean if I brought them all HOME with me I must have had to take them all BACK too, right?

I also remembered trying to teach my friend Aleah to read. We were just in kindergarten and back then they didn't start teaching reading until first grade if I remember correctly. But since I already knew how I thought I would teach her. Everything went great on some words like dad, mom, tot, etc. But all the other words she was getting WRONG! I couldn't figure out what was going on until I realized that she was reading from right to left and not left to right. She was Pakistani and that was the way she was taught at home. It was one of my first cultural lessons,(the first being when my neighbor said something about my "little black friend" and I told her that Tonya wasn't black, she was brown.)

So it was an afternoon on memory lane for me. And now I am going to go try to fill that book up. I am reading "The Third Angel" right now and so far it's really good!

I Need a Maid

OK guys, I am trying to get organized here. I always feel so much better and calmer when my house is organized. And I love the way things look when they are tidied up. The problem is that I don't like to spend all my time cleaning. And face it - - it is NEVER ENDING! Gah! I wish we could just all go naked one day so that I could say that every. stitch. of. laundry. was. clean. And I wish that my family (including myself) did not feel the need to sully every flat surface in the house with junk. And I wish that my 17 year old did not use my dining room as the receptacle of her coat(s). And shoes. And flute. And backpack. If I could train her father to hang his jacket up in the closet instead of on the back of the chair, it would be a miracle. But it's so FAR to walk to the closet! It's a whole six feet away from the chair! Did I mention that he actually needs to PASS the closet on his way to the dining room chair? Deep breaths. . .

I have been trying to follow the Motivated Moms chore system. For only $8 you get a download of daily chores with nice little checkboxes (love those!) to check when you have completed an item. It's a good system because eventually you will get to some of the tasks that never seem to get done. Like vacuuming your curtains or furniture and cleaning off the top of your refrigerator.

I struggle with some of the daily chores though. "Make the bed" is tough because there is usually either a sleeping human or two sleeping dogs (or both!) there when I leave in the morning. And I just don't really think about it again until it's time to go to bed. And when I try to "read to children" she rolls her eyes at me at tells me that I have issues. When "clip children's nails" comes up on the list, she tells me, "That's gross!"

Oh well, at least my trash cans will get washed out at least every six months or so and my stress levels should start to go down a bit as things get neater. Speaking of which, I better get off the computer and start tackling some of those flat surfaces!

Back to Square One

So you know the slipcovers that I am having made for my couch and chair? Remember how excited I was to have found fabrics that I liked and that were in my budget? Okay, well maybe you don't ALL know because I neglected to actually blog about that part. But if you know me in real life you know that I chose three coordinating fabrics, super cute and that I was excited! I bought eleven yards of the seat fabric already and then ordered the other two fabrics from an online store.

*********grinding halt******** Um, yeah. About that? The main fabric that was to be used on my couch and chair for the main pieces? The store only has nine yards. And I need at least twelve. And it is no longer being milled so they cannot re-order it. Dang!

So it is back to square one. But the hard part now is that I already have the cushion fabric so I am sort of penned in to making it work. I think I found a perfect solution from another online store so I have ordered up a sample. And at the time I ordered the sample they had 50 yards of the fabric in stock. Keeping my fingers crossed for a perfect match!

I Can't Believe I Did That (Again!)

Note to self: When you buy the huge bottles of shampoo and conditioner from Costco to re-fill the smaller bottles you already have PLEASE remember to check to make sure you are putting conditioner in the conditioner bottle and shampoo in the shampoo bottle! And if you think you checked - - check again! There is no money saved when you make this kind of mistake. That is all.

(Yes, that is TWO, I repeat, TWO times I have done that now! Geesh!)