TDG: Crash

I could blame myself.

I put it on the counter.  I should have put it away in its case on the buffet shelf where it belongs.

I could blame the cat.

He jumped into the cat carrier that was resting on the cords that were on top of the bar stools next to the counter, causing the whole thing to crash loudly to the floor.

I could blame the boy.

He’s the one who put the carrier on top of the cords after I had already moved it from the stools earlier in the day because I thought it was in a dangerous place.  Though, admittedly, I should have walked the extra 25 feet to put it back into the garage where it belonged.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter who is to blame.

I’ve learned my lesson.

I’m going to go cry now.

TDG: Where Things Stand

The Pollen struck me with miserable sinus crippling force this past week.  Sinus infections are evil.  They are really, truly evil.  The itchy sore throat pain that creeps up until it hits the sinus cavity where the tingling begins.  The tingling that whispers cruelly to you, “Don’t bother trying to do anything.  Every muscle and bone in your body, every hair follicle, every fingernail will ache very, very soon.  Just give in now.”  And it’s right.  They do, and it’s miserable.  I don’t think I moved for four days.  Truly, it was the worst one I’ve had since I left teaching in my chalk encrusted classroom behind.

What it meant, aside from hours of boredom from laying in a mind-numbing stupor, was that I couldn’t actually do anything of real use.  You see, the simple act of taking a shower or trying to climb the stairs left me fully exhausted for hours.  Stupid freaking sinus infections.

Fortunately, since Monday, I’ve only been living with the itchy, watery eyes, and my sneezing fits have mostly subsided.  This, of course, of course means that I can now resume normal….hahahahahahaha….activities, like mowing the lawn, which makes me sneeze.

In any event, things are still standing where they were, only a little taller and slightly straighter.

My Sewing Escapades

I’m still working on that quilt for the boy.  I have most of the pieces cut, and (as you can see) I’ve changed my design a few times, but it’s going.

I think the biggest problem is that I don’t exactly know what I’m doing, so I’ll be heading to the library to pick up some books.  When in doubt, read it out.  Right?  Sure.  (EDIT: After finally visiting our local library– it’s only taken a whole year for us to get library cards after the move– I’m was sad to discover that living in a small town in a small county means a severe lack of selection.  Seven books on sewing at our branch.  Only seven.  I didn’t realize how spoiled we were at our previous library.)

Home Decorating

Boy’s room is done, and it is, remarkably, still clean.  Kudos to him.  Girl’s room is getting there.  It’s painted and there are some of my photographs on the wall.  There’s still so much more I’d like to do with it, but it’ll get there eventually.

The Kids’ Rooms Before & After:

Viv’s Room Before:

Viv’s Room In-Progress:

Viv’s Room After:

We selected a handful of my photographs to have printed, including these. three

This one (along with a shot of Viv and Jake) is in the dining room now.

This one (also one of a toy farm and a shot of some crayons) is in Viv’s room.  You can probably see them up above in the photograph of her crib.

 

This is one of my favorites.  It’s hanging in the library/office.

After days of contemplation, I finally framed them and we hung them around the house.  I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out.  I have a few more that I’d like to do, but they’ll have to wait.  Framing is pricy.

Soccer

Boy’s soccer season is coming to a close.  It’s been a very short season– only 7 games this time.  Very unusual.  At least I’ve nailed most of the details for the end of season party.

Of course, no more soccer season means no more opportunities to watch boy pretend to be a kung-fu, tae-kwon-do, karate-chopping, major league soccer star in the arena of all things cartoony.

Entertaining

In addition to putting together the team party, I’ve been planning our 10th anniversary dinner.   Nothing special or over the top– well, except maybe dessert.  I have some seriously yummy ideas there– I’m thinking 8-layer chocolate cake .

We’re just going to break out the grill with some yummy marinated flank steak and extra huge shrimp.  And, now that the local farmers’ markets are open again, I’m hoping we can savor the season.

In the Kitchen and on the Computer

I’ve been working on recipes for

Apple-Pecan Stuffed Pork Chops

Classic Lasagna

and a Breakfast Sandwich that I have no catchy name for yet.

Everything Else

For the most part, I’m just happy to be upright and mobile once again.  And I’m really looking forward to our 10th wedding / 15th dating anniversaries.

H&G: Domestic Goddess I Am Not

The kids’ rooms have been among the last to undergo any type of transformation.  When we bought the house, their rooms were fairly unremarkable.  In fact, the Boy’s room was probably one of the most boring of all: plain walls, plain carpet, plain window.  Blah.

Then when we moved in, decorating his room went onto the back burner.  In fact, the only room further back is the kids’ bathroom.  Sadly, it’s only half painted right now.  Even more sadly, it’s been half painted for a few weeks.  It taunts me in the same way the last foot at the top of the stairwell taunts me.  In any event, we put Jake’s furniture and toys in his room, then moved on to other projects.

Don’t ask about the square on the wall.  Just one of my weird ideas.

Over the course of the last year, Jake’s job was to pick a paint color.  As you can see above, he had a hard time choosing.  He really wanted the red, but his Mean, Old Mama shot that idea down before it had barely taken flight.  Have you ever painted over a red wall?  I have.  Never again.

Jake eventually picked a color…orange.  Eeech.

We compromised.

Then we moved furniture and toys.  A lot of furniture and toys.  Those white bookshelves are heavier than they look.

We taped, edged, and painted.  Painting with an 8-year-old is an adventure and a lesson in patience.  Oh, and painting over all of those little paint swatches–not fun.  I highly recommend paint with the primer already mixed in.  I don’t want to think about how many coats it would’ve taken otherwise.

Like I said, we compromised a bit on the color.  It’s not orange or red, but a sort of warm yellow–kind of a mustard.  It works.

Not too shabby, I think.  Poor boy; his posters hadn’t seen the light of day in a very long time.

The current project is to make a new quilt that I designed for his bed.

Did I mention that I just recently–this last week–have been reteaching myself how to sew?   Heaven help me.  I was never good at starting small.

Domestic Goddess I am not, but I play one on tv.