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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Prom Night

My stepson's senior prom is tonight. Post prom runs until 6AM!
To wait up, or not to wait up? That is the question...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Happy Retirement!

My mother-in-law seeing her kitchen for the first time. She was very sad leaving work for the last time and so we were extra happy we went through the effort to do this today.

The room wasn't in tip top form yet as she returned home a couple hours earlier than we anticipated. But the painting was done and the table cleaned up and skirted. The paint needs to dry completely before I can hang the new curtains. Tomorrow I am going to clean the kitchen until it is a showroom. I'll post more pictures then, unless I can no longer move my arms, which may be a very real possibility judging how they feel right now.

Inspired by the blue and white table. I chose this paint combo from Walmart, which was the only place open for spontaneous evening paint purchases.  The material for the skirt and curtains is a twin sheet set that I bought for $9.50. I have to go back and get a few more for our actual beds.

This is what kept me busy this morning before MIL went to work. Measuring, figuring and sewing.


Ta Da! My little blue table. Big improvement over the rickety beast she had before. She has a big table in the dining room, so there was no reason for a large one in the kitchen. It is no more, and in its place... cuteness for under $10. Can't beat that!

Needs a good cleaning, but the color is much calmer :) I love how it makes the old linoleum countertop look nice again. 

Another shot for comparison with the 'before' pics in the previous post.
A long and emotional day! It probably wasn't one of my sanest ideas, but since a whole group of us joined into the crazy vision, we pretty much pulled it off. Yesterday the weather was so nice I spent the afternoon raking and today I did this. I hurt! But I am digging this transition from stagnant winter self, to the go, go, go, spring self. So yay, for the sun and the energy she brings! 

And congratulations to my mother-in-law for doing your job so well that people cried when you left. That is a sweet testament in this hardcore work world.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Our very own Extreme Home Makeover: the Cosmetic Kitchen Edition

See this awfulness?
This is my mother-in-law's kitchen. I am not making fun of her. It is my fault it looks like this. Well, not the clutter, that is her fault. But the color. The eye searing, gut heaving, horrid color. That is on me.

I was pregnant when I chose it and attempted the odd yellow blotchiness. I blame hormones.

These are sort of anxiety inducing walls, are they not? That could explain a lot...

I didn't do it to be mean. Honest. I was just over-confident in my ability to combine colors and to do faux finishing techniques. And this was the last project in a long line of projects that included tearing out old drywall in many rooms and laying carpet, etc. When this didn't turn out right, we had every intention of redoing it. But that was five years ago. Time flies when you are avoiding something.


This table isn't my fault though. And it is actually worse in real life than in these pictures. I really hate this table. It is not only ugly, but unstable and my boy likes to risk his life underneath it. I am always on the look out for a replacement for her. The table, not the person. Usually.

My mother-in-law retired today. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary for her but couldn't figure out what. But when I was doing laundry yesterday I noticed our little laundry table for the first time. My mind is obviously not often 'in the moment' when I do laundry.
It is dirty and ancient and just so full of potential. Last night around 9:00 p.m. It hit me that this little table would make the perfect kitchen table for my mother-in-law. So I hatched my plan to repaint her kitchen during her last evening of work and shared it with my husband thinking he would laugh me out of the room after our personal painting traumas this last year. Surprisingly, he thought it was an excellent idea, so I ran out and bought paint. Can you believe he trusted me?

So today, that is what we did. Luckily, my sister-in-law and niece came over and rescued me by grabbing some brushes and sharing the burden. It was a looooong day. But the results were so worth it!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Wise words

"May I a small house and large garden have;
And a few friends, and many books, both true,
Both wise, and both delightful too! "


- Abraham Cowley, poet
From the poem, The Wish

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Confessions

Can you guess what thing in this picture had to go?

Well, other than the Spongebob pillow. That is sort of a given, but the kids are attached. Not the guy on the computer either. Well, not today. Today he was a good boy. Give up? What is cold and white and still falling in my town? Yes, it was time for the snowflake lights to get packed away.


The kids were so upset with the lack of decoration however, that I splurged on these. I confess that I actually spent grocery money on fancy lights that look like stained glass flower buds. Sigh... It is pretty in that college dorm sort of way. And, no more snow. Honestly... I am not sold on them. I don't know. Were they worth passing over the pot roast for the hamburger helper? Or am I just hungry for pot roast now and it is clouding my ability to judge decorative lighting?

Another confession?


We aren't coloring regular eggs this year. Gasp!

The kids rebelled last year. The smell of the hard boiled eggs and the vinegar proved too much for their delicate selves. And well, we don't even eat them, so it seemed like such a waste. So we painted paper mache eggs instead. It was a hit. Over the past year I've picked up more whenever I found them on sale. Luckily, I ran across a couple the other day and realized I needed to find the stash. I figure we will each paint a couple each year and we'll sign and date them. Over the years the numbers will grow and we can use them to decorate the house.

These are pretty lame as far as confessions go, huh? Want more? Hmmm... Okay...
  • I bite my nails.
  • Sometimes my daughter makes a crazy screechy noise in the back of her throat that makes me come unglued in a crazed, frenzied, nails on chalkboard, locusts in head, sort of way.
  • I love to be up in middle of the night when everyone else in the house is asleep and google inane trivia.
  • I hate grocery shopping so much that I will put it off until we are literally stuck eating white rice and oatmeal for most meals. (Guess what we had for dinner tonight?) That's when my family decides to forcibly push me out the door with my grocery bags.
  • Yet, I won't let my husband grocery shop for me because I am too cheap and he splurges (hence the need to 'confess' my spring lights).
  • I sometimes drink the day old coffee left over in the coffee pot.
  • I was afraid of monsters in my closet and under my bed until college. I don't think I still am, however, I live in a house where the beds are on the ground, there is no 'underneath' and the bedrooms do not have actual closets. Closet organizers don't count, they are decidedly unscary. So who knows, maybe that fear still lurks within me...
  • I posted two blog posts today to make my mom happy. Hi, Mom! She's been bummed by my slow blogging lately.
Okay, enough confessions. Writing this post is cutting into my google time.

Things that sorta scare me....


She put down the yoga mat, handed me my camera and told me to take pictures. Then she started posing. What is this? Where did she even pick it up? I am a 35 year old that is finally learning how to do her eyebrows properly thanks to youtube and teenage girls who like to create makeup tutorials. (Wow, did I need those things a couple decades ago.) I don't think she's getting this fashion thing from me. Not that her outfit is 'fashion', but she sure thinks so. I personally think the striped socks complete the look.

Oh, and the laundry in the background scares me too. I hate laundry as much as I dislike catwalks and fashiony things of that nature. We don't watch fashion shows on TV and nothing resembling Hannah Montana at all. I have a low 'tween' threshold.

Check out her dad in the background. I don't think my daughter wants to know what he is thinking. I am guessing it is along the lines of not allowing her out of the house without a chaperone until 25 and maybe something about chastity belts. Or maybe he's wondering when I am going to attempt to do my eyebrows, and whether he should record the fun and put it on youtube? Who knows. Men are hard to read.



Not this one though, she's rather upfront with how she feels about things. Right, princess? But in all honesty, she is as sweet as she looks. I just laugh at what a little 'girl' she is. Surrounded by all the boys and with me as a hopelessly clumsy example of femininity. Maybe it is a sort of pink and fuzzy rebellion against the rest of us. :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Snow day... seriously, SNOW day...

This was taken a few weeks ago, but it could have been taken a few days ago. And it is coooold out there tonight too. I don't think winter has given up yet. Sigh... I see some lovely springtime pictures around the web, but we are not quite there yet.


But cute little snowfolk, anyway. They are 'galligoogoo' snow creatures. Part daughter's imagination, part Viva Piñata character. I love this little guys little beard thingy. I suppose this is the best snow time, since it is warm enough to enjoy playing, it packs well and it is usually gone by afternoon. I am talking myself into this, can you tell?


 But the little girl in the family loves the stuff. And that kind of happiness just sort of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?