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......