Monday, June 29, 2009

Two More Days

It always seems that everyone is looking forward to something. Vacation, a visit from a friend, getting married, having a baby, starting a new job, quitting a job, when the economy turns around, etc. 

I have two days left during which I will still have all of my internal organs. This Wednesday, I'm going in to get rid of a faulty gallbladder

Personally, while I'm not nervous about it yet, I am really looking forward to not feeling sick anymore. My fingers are crossed and I am praying that this will fix the problem. They haven't given me a time yet, but if you can pray on Wednesday that it's quick and I recover relatively easily, I would greatly appreciate it!

Besides, who needs a silly gallbladder anyway?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Little Things

Some days I feel like the to-do list grows while I'm not looking and even when I can check most things off, there is a whole other list somewhere that I wasn't paying attention to. Anyone else, or is it just me? 

Anyway, the past few days have felt like that. I have bills to pay and laundry to do. Dishes to wash. But then I discover a mouse (in a house with a cat, no less!) has been living in one of my cupboards so there are things to be thrown away and everything on those shelves must be washed. Ick. So this means three or four loads of dishes along with regular dishes and things all over my counters in the meanwhile. 

I'm not the most tidy of people, but I hate a cluttered countertop. It seemed as though every time I would get one part finished, something else would come up. Like eating. And feeding my family. Sheesh. 

Then there is the garden which is getting choked out by weeds. But the sun is so blazing hot I can hardly fathom going out there for longer than it takes to water the plants. At least when I'm watering, I can spritz myself a little bit. 

Yesterday I was able to get a couple little sewing projects done. Hemmed some pants for a friend, made a tiny diaper for my girlie's baby doll and then shortened a pair of pants so I could have cute, knee-length shorts. I have been ogling this length of short until I realized I had an extra pair of brown pants that would be perfect. 

This morning I got the bills paid and the checkbook balanced. No more shopping until next week. Thankfully, we are pretty well stocked up and can root in the freezer for several days. Baby girl just needs milk. 

Now I'd better head down to wash the diapers and get started on some more dishes. And probably a pot of coffee while I'm at it. 

What's your to-do list for today?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Gender Neutral

Cars are a big favorite right now. I picked up a bag of five little cars at a garage sale last week for .50 and she has been playing with them every day since. 

(Also, while I'm on the topic, can I just reiterate how much I love garage sales? Because I really do. We got new-in-the-box Pottery Barn curtain rods that we needed for the attic, two lattices for my plants for $2, a fabulous backyard playset (like this, but different), a baby doll stroller and swing, ($1 each!) books and a bunch of clothing for winter and for Randi's soon-to-be-seen cousin. Whew. The only bummer is that there is nothing I need to get at sales for the rest of the summer. Not that that will keep me from stopping. Who knows what gems are to be found!)



Fortunately, while baby girl loves playing with her trucks, she also likes rooting through mama's purse and toting around her baby doll. The new doll stroller was a smash hit, to the point that when she has friends over she will not share this toy. Any other toy can be shared with no problem, but she will literally shove a kid out of her way to get the stroller back. We're working on that...

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Here's to a Lifetime

This is seriously one of the best things that I have seen in a long time. It's a few minutes long, but well worth the watch. I literally teared up from how fabulous it was. I love that there are groups out there doing this kind of thing. 



I think this is going to keep me smiling for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Project Central

It has been busy around here. Since we decided last week that it would be in everyone's best interests to stay home from travel this week, we have been getting some work done around the house. Not too much, mind you it's still our vacation, but some. 

In an older home, there are always weird quirks that one must accommodate. Old, questionable wiring shouldn't be one of those things. Therefore, my handy dandy man redid all of the electrical for the first floor in preparation for finishing the rest of the basement. I can now plug in a three-pronged plug without having to use one of those annoying adapters. I can't tell you how irritating that has been and how thankful I am now that there is no fear of blowing the house up. At least not from the first floor electrical. 




Frankly, this is going to be a very long process. The Studio is moving to the basement once it is  finished. The Playroom (currently the living room, dining room, porch and kitchen) will be the former studio once it is painted and storage installed. Our Bedroom will move up into the Master Suite of the attic once that is re-insulated, drywalled, painted, built-in cabinets installed, closets walled in and carpet laid. The current sewing room will move one room over to where our bedroom is now and that room will become the next Nursery. (No. I am not announcing anything. Do you see how long that list is? Do you also see how this is the last item on the list? Yeah, no announcements anytime soon, believe me.)

But I'm so excited about this process. While I, as much as anyone, hate the mess and the chaos and the expense and the fatigue and the stress that a huge (HUGE) home project creates, I look forward to how much more practical the set up will be and how much more organized it will be as well. We're taking it relatively slow and easy as our budget and time allows. We've been saving for a while and scrimping the extra bits that come along to make this thing happen. 


It will be so nice to be able to shut all the dang toys away in one room. Right now the Farm and the Zoo and the Circus train are taking up residence in the play Kitchen right next to two wheeled wagons full of blocks and stuffed animals. 


At any rate, now that the electrical is done, the next steps are the walls of the basement. He is already kicking it into gear. Here you see the before shot. Pretty much just some blue walls and a lot of mess. Basements are like that. 





And here you will see some framing. Along with a bit more mess. I'm told it will only get worse before it gets any better. This week we buy some insulated, sound-reducing doors. We'll see how much of that noise we can contain down there. 





 My main job is pretty much just occupying the kiddo whilst the sawing and drilling and hammering go on. And a bit of gardening on the side. Ok, a lot of gardening. The weather has been perfect for it. Not too hot, not too cold. Goldilocks weather. Here's hoping my tummy stays in decent enough shape to finish what I have to do. 

What have you been up to lately?