The World I know

Holy Crapolas, Batman! The muscles in my arms are just shaking!
I just spent the past two hours moving the old bed out of my room and assembling my new bed.
It looks beautiful now that it's all together. I'm glad I let loose and spent the money on it.
I've never had a new bed in my entire life. It's time to spoil myself a little.

Not that there was anything wrong with the former bed. It was wonderful. Just a little big for the small room it was living in. I'm not looking forward to disassembling it tomorrow. It's all wood with a million screws in it. And my wrists are toast from my marathon necklace-making sessions this week (That's another story and it was a labor of love, so it was worth it).

And I did all this whilst wearing a cute girly summer dress. I rule!

I have severe ADD these days. There are so many projects to complete around here. I am trying to focus on one room in the house at a time and get it finished before moving on to the next. But I am just too easily distracted. I have paint for the living room, and I'm tempted to get started on that, but I really ought to finish the bedroom first.... maybe.

Meanwhile, the new kitten is wrongly named. I think Satan would have been a better choice! He is just plain EVIL!!!! I sure hope he grows out of this mean stage he is in! He has started tormenting Octavia and she's dumb enough to let him! If she would just side-swipe the little bastage, she'd be back to alpha status!

I've got three hours worth of Garbage playing tonight. I went to my eldest son's birthday party last month and he was playing Garbage. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed Shirley! It's great music to work to. And great music to surf to as well.

I think I've finally stopped sweating now. Time for a nice cool shower and a chapter of Harry Potter in my nice new bed!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I stepped into a time machine!

So Hubby and I were talking the other day.
I love the way the dining room looks now, except that there is no door for the closet in there.
I asked him if he had any ideas. Me, I woulda just bought a curtain rod and a bed sheet to sew into a curtain (much cheaper than curtains!) and left it at that.

Hubby's suggestion was hanging beads.

"You know? That would be cool! But where does one find hanging door beads in 2008?"
"I'll bet Satori has them."

So, I wake up this morning and see that it is snowing. One of my favouritest things in the world to do is to walk outside while it is snowing. It is so gorgeous and peaceful!
I brought along the digital camera, but just as I found something picture-worthy, I turned it on and got nothing. No energy. Hmmm.

I wandered down town on my walk, and hoped to stop in to Satori to see of they did indeed have said bead door thingies. But, alas, they were closed until noon. So I had to wander back home with no door beads and no groovy pictures of the gorgeous snowfall.

I changed the batteries in the camera, and still no power. Which really makes me want to sob. I LOVE that old camera! Jim has a new one that is supposed to do everything but wipe your ass, but I can't even get the freakin thing to turn on! And the pictures I have taken with it never turn out good. This ancient dinosaur, however, has always been trusty and easy to use. I'll never find another one like it. Wah!

But, back to the door beads. So, after lunch, I say to Hubby, "Want come with me to buy the bead door thingie?"
He sighs and asks "Do I have a choice?"
Well, no, not really.
"Come on! It'll be fun!"

So, we jump in the van and head down town to Satori Imports.
I've only been in there once or twice since high school, and both Hubby and I immediately turn into teenagers when we step through the doors. They have the coolest stuff!

I was going to just wander about, hoping to run into the door beads, but Hubby suggested I ask the clerk. Sure enough, they had a huge display of them. And I instantly burst into laughter.
"Should we buy the one with the giant pot leaf on it?"
"Whatever." Hubby rolled his eyes.
"Well, does any one of them catch your eye?" I asked him, as I browsed through them all.
"I dunno." he was so helpful.
Of course, the one I liked was on the more expensive shelf of them. But, hey! I bought it with my Quit Smoking Money, so I'm worth it!

We got it home, and I got it hung up, and we stood back to admire it. The Kitten of course got up close to admire it. She thinks it's awesome!

"I love it." I declared. "And it makes me giggle. Buying it made me giggle, and having it in our house makes me giggle. Fuck decor. If it makes you giggle, buy it!"

I just may have to return for some of those Peacock Feathers they had there. Way retro!

By the way, I'd post a picture of the new beaded door thingie, but, well, you know...

My Hero!

Hubby scrubbed the wall behind the stove! I didn't even say a word!
Halleluia!

Now the big question: can we get it back in order before we have to start with the Thanksgiving Preparations?

I can't wait to start making pies.

I've been extra good with my diet this week so that I can splurge on Thursday.
I don't think I'm going to meet my goal by next Tuesday, but I do have a good dent into my goal.

Much as I would love to win this challenge, I'm not going to starve myself to do it.
My health comes first. But, hey! We'll see what the outcome is next week Tuesday.
I may not lose 11 pounds, but I still may be the Biggest Loser.

A Hunting We Will Go

I'm a little disappointed in myself.
Normally when Hubby goes off on Hunting Weekend, I have some big project planned around the house that I get started on that Friday Night and have completed just as he pulls in the drive way.

That's how our Orange Living Room came about.

That's how my Faux Snake Skin Rocker came about.

That's how my custom made spice rack came about.

But this year, I have so darn many projects already in the works that I'm like a Merry Maid with A.D.H.D!

I didn't get a darned thing accomplished last night other than all the dishes in the sink - including dishes that Hubby had in his Hunting Box which were still dirty since last year. Ahem. Gross!

But my #1 son came to visit last night as well. That was nice. I don't get to see him often. We had a lot of catching up to do. He and his Lady of 5 years have decided to call it quits, which is a big adjustment in itself, but he has also taken it a step further and quit his job where they worked together, so that he could make a clean break. Very smart, my boy!

So this morning, I've been trying to finish scrubbing my kitchen walls and am just feeling discouraged. That room just looks like hell no matter how much I scrub. It needs painting. But why paint the walls if the ceiling and floor look so damaged and disgusting?

And the deeper I dive into it, I know that I really ought to just be focusing on Jerry's ceiling.
The main reason I decided to start on that one to begin with was to challenge myself. I want to see just how difficult it is going to be to actually remove that fake ceiling and repair the original ceiling. If I can hack it, then, we'll tackle the kitchen ceiling - which I know is in so much worse condition. But the Betty Crocker in me just won't leave it be. The walls in there need washing.
And I want it done before the Thanksmas party. And I'm making progress. All the walls are washed except the worst one. Behind the stove. Cue Horror theme music.

A few years ago, my darling Hubby decided that he wanted a rack above the stove where he could store the pots and pans he uses most often. It is really more of a haven for grease. Blech! Reality is far more disgusting than imagination could ever be when it comes to kitchen grease. I don't really want to go there. It would be awesome if Hubby were to get up on a chair and scrub down that rack, wall and all the pots and pans. My hair is still grubby from last weekend's scrubbing session.

I'm sure I'll shift gears this afternoon and get back into Jerry's room. A trip to the hardware store is necessary for that task as well. But it's a whopping 17 degrees outside today. I don't relish going out in the cold.

I would have loved to already be at the painting stages in Jerry's room by now. I'm sort of looking forward to that. There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make a room sparkle. Maybe by Christmas? We'll see how this Merry Maid with A.D.H.D. progresses.

Where the heck did the weekend go?

Jim and I have been talking about repairing our front steps before the snow starts flying.
They were in such bad shape that we've been starting to live in fear of everyone slipping on them this winter. And it's a real fear because some of our friends HAVE taken a ride down those steps in the winter! So has Jim for that matter. Ouch.

As usual, what looked like a simple task has turned into a huge ordeal.
After Jim removed the old warped and badly cracked treads, he saw that the risers also had to be replaced thanks to carpenter ants having a great meal. So, it was yet another trip to Lowes for some ready cut risers. One problem with the new risers was that they were made to be a 5 step and ours was a 4 step.

Our Mr. Fix- It pal Doug came over Sunday morning to help get the construction under way.
I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee and he there, was all ready to get to work on those steps!

Jim and Doug decided it would be easier to go with 5 steps instead of trimming off a step on the risers and attaching them to an apron like it was. This of course meant Jim had to run back to Lowes for a 5th tread and a bunch of hardware.

Meanwhile, Marty scootered over to provide moral support... and to have a cup of coffee.
The two of us got out lawn chairs and cheered on Jim and Doug.

Then came the decision "Do you want a vertical board between each step or do you want to leave them open?" Well, of course I want it closed to keep out the leaves and critters. So that meant another trip to Lowes for vertical boards.

They made great progress, and the steps are looking really pretty. Except now, since they went with 5 steps, we can't use the old railings because they won't match up!

Even though we're going to submit the entire bill to the land lady, it is frustrating that it went from being a $50 project to a $150 project.

The railings will have to wait until Thursday when Jim gets paid. As will the before and after pictures. Can you believe it? I actually remembered to take Before Pictures of a project!

Stay tuned Thursday for the latest update on that. They really are looking quite pretty!


On a related note, I was sitting in Jerry's room the other night watching television while he and Daddy were watching something I didn't want to watch on the Living Room Television. As my mind wandered, I looked up at his ceiling and got to thinking. It's a dropped ceiling. That fake foam insulated type. And it looks like hell. And I got to wondering just how bad does that ceiling look underneath? So I started pulling out ceiling tiles, and seriously, it's not as bad as I had feared! That's real plaster and lath on his ceiling - as are all the rooms in our house. It's mind boggling that the old land lord felt it was easier to put up an entire false ceiling instead of repairing two bad stretches of broken plaster. I don't know what a dropped ceiling cost in the 90's, but I'm sure the cost of one sheet of dry wall was a mere $10. And that ought to be all it will take to fix that ceiling. That, and a few tubs of plaster. But first, I need Jim to move the light fixture and reattach it to the real ceiling so that I can start taking down all the metal parts of the dropped ceiling.

I'm sure this will be yet another one of those tasks that starts out simple but ends up costing more than I bargained. I know I'll need another gallon of paint as well, because the yellow walls end at the false ceiling. But, Jerry's room needs a little love any way. And I really like doing this sort of thing!

I'll have to remember to take some... well.... almost before pictures (I've already torn out the tiles! Ha ha!). And I'll keep you posted on my progress.