Woolly Mutts

All by myself

My lovely husband is having a tough work week.  It's some sort of group pow-wow in Deerfield and the 2 hour each way commute every day of the week has been exhausting.  He leaves around 6:15 am and arrives home between 7 and 8pm.  In a normal week he only goes in on Monday and Thursday, leaving me the car (remember we are now a 1 car family) to go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Since he needed the car all week, and because I know what side of the financial bread has the best butter, I took the week off.  So far, it's been one fantastic week.

I have cleaned my closet and dresser drawers.  I've walked around all week in leggings and a t-shirt without care that I'm having a bad hair day (and trust me, there have been some REALLY bad hair days).  I've caught up on television, listened to hours of the James Taylor station on Pandora, which is some great music for the over 50 crowd, while singing along with no one to hear me.  I've knit and napped and enjoyed the company of our furry family.

Good old Frank.  He is almost always somewhere close by.

I've done some writing, and some meditating, and some general musing on my life. I've also begun reading this book:

If you are an introvert, know an introvert, want to understand  introverts more clearly, you have to read this book.  REALLY good stuff.  Once I started I can hardly put it down.  Being an introvert, it has been somewhat heartening to see myself in the pages and realize that there is value in being the quiet one.

Today I am venturing back out into the world, via my sister, for a stroll through Target and then lunch.  (We always have lunch on Thursday and that is such a good thing because sisters are an extraordinary gift.)  Then I might tackle my bathroom cabinets and drawers.....or not. 

I feel a little guilty about how much I have been enjoying this week, but maybe I shouldn't.  Maybe we all need a week now and then to get reacquainted with ourselves. 

Staycation - day 2

Day 2 of the vacation, 44 degrees at 9:35.  It's going to be a beautiful day. 

So yesterday I promised kitchen pictures and today I deliver.  Just to keep a little perspective, a quick look at what we started with.

And now...the big reveal of the current progress, including, for those who have been impatient, THE COLOR....

...Lowes Valspar - Perfect Storm.  I have so much love for this color I can't even tell you. 

As you can see, we now have some upper cupboards with actual doors and new hardware.

The lowers got a fresh coat of paint and the same hardward.  I really love the drawer pulls.  (Also Lowes.)  There is still one more big cupboard that needs to be mounted above the microwave and then the upper portion will be done.  Yay! Backsplash tiling still needs to happen. 

We replaced the ugly and not very functional pop hanger light with these red pendants to add a pop of color and because we stood and looked at a ridiculous number of possible shades and both agreed that the red was the most fun.  The dining area wall-of-weird has been culled and rearranged a bit.  It still needs something red and I'll enjoy the hunt. :-)

The castle is still above the pantry, peeking through the imaginary ivy hedge.   Have I already posted about this castle?  Ages ago, when my kids were little, we had the daughters of my bff as babysitters.  One of them, Shannon, was artsy and one year she painted this castle and ivy on the pantry wall.  With each redecoration I just paint around it because I still love it so. 

Finally, my favorite new addition; this great tag art that was a kitchen warming gift from son Karl and his wife, Santa.  When I walk down the walk toward the dining/kitchen it is the first thing I see and it makes me SO happy.  Little, unexpected surprises are such a joy.

Time to head out to the work meeting that I scheduled because I'm an idiot.  Such is life.  Enjoy your day.

 

Walls and weddings.

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks here in Muttville.  Last weekend my friend Michelle got married in an incredible, multicultural wedding in which I got to wear a bindi.  In my world, where I am very easily entertained, the bindi wearing was awesome.  (for those who only follow on facebook, this is old news...sorry. Feel free to skim.)

See?  Awesome, right?  And look at Michelle:

...she was just glorious.  I mean, Nic was great, too, but Michelle, Michelle was breath taking. 

In other news; we are at it again, home improvement time!  One day I looked at the chipped red kitchen/dining room and decided it was time for a change.  These rooms were the first we tackled when AH and I were wed and almost 12 years later it was time to say goodbye to the red.

First up was to get rid of the super ugly, incredibly bad idea in the first place, wallpaper border and as any of you who have done battle with your own wallpaper demons knows, this is easier said than done.  Never again with the wallpaper.  Never.  You can quote me on this. 

Then we decided that it would be easier to paint if we took down the cupboards first.  Ha ha ha ha.  Ha ha.  Ha ha ha.  Really, it's ok to laugh.  The final one came down with the use of brute force and...well...sort of in pieces.  It was time for new cupboards anyway...on the top at least.  Last night Karl came with his work van and we paid another (I've lost count) visit to Lowes for the most basic of upper cupboards, this time with the added bonus of doors!  Afterward we enjoyed each others company with dinner at Chilis where he had a beer, I had a margarita (AH had a root beer) and we both teared up a bit over missing my mother, his grandmother.  It's good to be with those that understands when you miss a loved one.  All in all, it was a pretty darn good time, even the Lowe's part.  All the things that once lived in the old cabinets had to go somewhere...

...and what better place than the living room?  Luckily we are patient, zen sort of folks and don't mind this set up, especially because it's only temporary.  I think by October we might be back in business. :-) 

Adios red.  You were a darn good time.  What you see here is the blocking primer.  I'm not going to tell you what color yet.  I mean, you know us; it's gonna be COLOR cuz that's how we roll.  I will tell you that we are going to do the back splash in the kitchen using a combination of these:

Stone.  I LOVE these stones.  It's like looking at Lake Superior on the wall.  There will also be new pendant lighting over the L and some cheap, but what an improvement, flooring, though not right away.  Pulling up the flooring is going to be a chore that I'm not up to facing yet.

So, aside from starting physical therapy this week and stubbing my little toe so hard that the nail fell off, that about covers our last couple of weeks.  There are new videos of the Marvelous Miss C to share, but at the moment I can't find the flip camera.  It will turn up eventually. 

Autumn is coming!  All in favor say YEE HAW! 

Out with the old.

As I type this Amazing Husband is replacing the faucet in my bathroom.  The old faucet, circa 1979, had some flow issues.  When you turned it on the water came out in such a gushing torrent that, if you didn't remember to get out of the way, it  left you looking like you had a wee accident, which, to date, we have not yet come to.  I understand, here in my menopausal years, wee accidents are not completely out of the norm, but I, knock/wood, have yet to experience it.  Any damp amidst the area is all my stupid faucets fault.  There is also some confusion with hot and cold...on the part of the faucet, not me.  It's past time for it to go the way of all old faucets; the landfill. As Amazing Husband labors away I am typing this, and quickly depleting our inventory of double stuff Oreos.  It's important to know when to help and when to stay out of the way. And eat Oreos.

There is a great deal of banging and walking out of the bathroom and back in.  Some measuring and another trip to Lowes.  He is using my small Ott light from below to shine light on all the pipes and the light shines up through the holes like bathroom light sabers.  Impossible to photograph, but sort of hilarious to see. 

Doesn't that harvest gold counter top just take you back?  At least I resisted the urge to go with the avocado sink.  Gotta love the 70s.

There will be no before and after pics of this home improvement project. Consider it a kindness on my part.  My bathroom is not photo ready.  It's barely bathroom ready.  The shower doesn't work as a shower, though it does make for handy, behind curtain, storage.  I painted the walls red in a fit of RED LOVE and now have moved on and would welcome just a little beige love, or even sagey green love.  I had to take Cambria in there the other day to get some TP (stored behind the curtain) and I promised her that Grammie would never make her go in the ugly bathroom.  Who knows, maybe by the time she is ready to make pee pee in the potty there will have been a bathroom rebirth.  I'm not holding my breath.  There are so many other projects in this oldish house that need doing one ugly bathroom must wait her turn.  A faucet face-lift is the best she can hope for right now.

Rut ro....Amazing Husband just came out using words like "blow torch" and "hack saw".  I better go make sure he doesn't burn the house down.  Might be time to share the Oreos.

It is finished!

The glorious purple bedroom is (finally) done.  AH did a splendid job and I am beyond thrilled.  I want to sit in my new space all day long.  We tried had to decorate this room on a shoestring budget, but it wasn't easy.  The paint and rug were probably the biggest expense. Paint; Ralph Lauren, Nairobi Sunset.

I love this picture of our tree bed. It was the first piece of furniture we purchased together.  The bedspread, which I wanted to have an Indian feel, came from Overstock, $75. Not a great picture of it, but you'll have to trust me, it's exactly what I was looking for.  Bed throw pillows, Old Tyme Pottery, $3 a piece.  Rug on the floor also OTP, $79.

   

We found these frames on clearance at Target and used photos that Tom took to create a wall of good memories.  The glass candle is left over from Karl and Santa's wedding, the small lotus, from Kysa and Josh's wedding.

This is a view from the bathroom looking into the room.  The large pictures flanking the bed I found at Marshalls a couple of years ago on clearance.  Can't recall how much I spent, but they were a steal and really pop off of that purple wall.

This is the other side of the room where the TV lives.  The Buddha on top came from a import place in Richmond, IL called Ginger Blossom.

The cement square and metal wall piece were both from OTP, $2, and $12 respectively.  I'll tell you what, if you have an Old Tyme Pottery in your area it is worth your time to go looking for decor items.  Sometimes you have to spend a lot of time digging to find the perfect piece, but like I said, worth it.

I just can't tell you how happy I am with this room, and even happier to have my house back. 

On going chaos.

So, yes, we are still sleeping in the family room, and no, the bedroom is not done yet.  Including a painted floor to the list of redecorating substantially lengthens the time needed.  Poor Amazing Husband's work (the sort of work that pays for bedroom rehabs) load has increased this week so he has been required to spend more time at the computer and less time painting.  Yesterday the floor got the last coat (smelled SO bad) of sealant and, if all the stars align, we may begin putting things back to rights this evening.  Or not.  Time will tell. For those curious, here is a pic of the room so far.

No wait, first I must talk a minute about color.  (read: defend my color choice)  Different people are affected differently by color, which I love.  Working at the yarn store I learned that most people have a color comfort zone, or a group of colors that they naturally gravitate towards.  Mine is blue/green/purple.  There are also pastel people and anti pastel people.  I fall into the later category.  I like color rich and well saturated.  I don't do pink or lavendar or beige.  That is not to say that those colors are bad, they just make me twitchy.  Darker colors, when added to room walls, make me feel calm and comfortable.  Sort of cocooned.  So.......

......there it is.  The bedspread, which should be arriving today from Overstock (LOVE!) is an Asian/Indian pattern with reds and golds.  Fingers crossed on all colors playing nice together.

Since we had no place to host family dinner, Kysa graciously offered her home. 

Please take note that World's Cutest Baby is standing in this picture and got there on her own steam.  Also note adorable fountain ponytail on top of head.  Could you not just eat her up? 

Below is a prime example of how 5 adults (Santa was working and missed out on all the fun) spend their Wednesday evenings since the arrival of Miss Cambria.  Please be patient with camera man.  The screen will right itself in 7 seconds. 

 

Too much, right?  I know.  Such cuteness! 

Cool front coming through tonight and highs in the 60's tomorrow.  Yay!

 

Take that dust mites.

We live in a relatively older home.  It was built in the later months of 1979 and I have lived here each of those 30 something years.  As houses go it's a pretty boring ranch and I admit to not ever feeling much love for it.  It is, however, a roof (newly replaced 2 years ago) over our heads and comes with a kind of fantastic yard.  The amount of interior help it needs would take more characters than even typepad will allow so we shall suffice it to say that almost every surface needs an upgrade.  Upgrades are expensive.  We are taking it one little step at a time.  This latest redecoration began when I had a small meltdown over the hideous state of our carpeting and the dust mite population that lives within.

I am allergic to dust mites; nasty little buggers.  My allergist patiently asks me the same question at each visit, "have you ditched the carpet yet?".  Um.....no.  Some of it, yes, but there is plenty left.  Particularly in the bedroom.  Then came above mentioned meltdown and AH agreed that the bedroom carpet would go and we agreed, for now, to paint the sub-flooring and cover with a rug until we decide what to do with the rest of the house.  Not too expensive and really, nothing we did could be any uglier than the carpet.  Seriously. And, if we are going to pull up the carpet, what better time to paint, right?

The bedroom walls were the first we painted when AH came aboard ship Muttville and we thought we were being really radical to paint the walls two different colors.  Oh yeah, we were awesome.  Since then the kitchen got painted red, the living room chocolate brown and my office a deep gray green.  Never let it be said that I am a woman afraid of color.  So, what new color did we want?  At first I thought a deep nutmeg rust and then, on one of the buying trips last week I saw THE color.  It was on the walls of the SERRV store in Madison and she could only remember that it was a Ralph Lauren color.  I took it from there and painting has begun.

AH and I have vastly different painting styles.  He rolls the walls and I cut in.  He sees a wall, carefully fills his roller and systematically covers the wall with paint.  He has not a drop, a drop I tell you, of paint on himself or the floor.  I, on the other had, take my brush, see the paint, get all excited about the color and hastily slap it on the wall.  At this moment I have paint on my hands, legs, feet and shorts.  I prefer my style as I feel one with the paint. :-) 

What color, you ask?  Purple.  To be more specific, Nairobi Sunset.  Ok, I admit that the name did romance me a bit, but how could a woman who dreams of elephants not love Nairobi Sunset?  And I do.  A lot.  The fact that it matches not one thing that was previously in the room bothers me not a bit.  The pieces will come slowly and eventually we will have an African/zen bedroom.  And yes, I am aware that my husband is fantastic.  He loves it, too.  Floor, previously dust mite central, will be painted a walnut brown.  The trim a parchment cream.  I won't show pictures until it's finished, but here is a little preview:

 

Well....that pic makes it look a little more red than it is.  Ah well. As with all good redec projects the entire house is participating.  We are sleeping on the family room floor and all the bedroom furniture is in the living room.  There is dust from floor sanding on every.single.surface of this house.  Not even this can dampen my happiness over Nairobi Sunset so it's all good.  I'll keep you posted on the results. 

This is the time of the year I fall in love with my yard all over again.

**The new banner picture of the dandelion was taken by Amazing Husband.  I never knew all those little spirally tendrils were there, did you?

Never enough of a good thing.

I like feet.  More specifically, I like my feet.  That may seem an odd admission, creepy even, but for a person who can't find much positive to say about my body in general, to say I like my feet (well, except for that second toe on my right foot that is like an inch longer than the rest of my toes. What happened there?) is actually kind of a great thing.  I adore the pedicure (pictured polish is OPI DS Extravagance).  I mean I ADORE the pedicure.  I think every woman in the world should be given bi-weekly pedicures as part of a government mental health plan.  Maybe men, too.  There is no way you cannot feel fantastic after a pedicure. 

As one might imagine of a person who likes her feet, I have a tensy tinsy little shoe problem.  Not a problem, really, more of an appreciation.  Shoes are fascinating to me.  A cute pair of shoes can make for a happy day.  (Nifty sandals pictures from Target.)  I'm an equal opportunity shoe lover.  I buy them at Payless, or Target, or Nordstrom, or my absolute favorite place, Zappos.  Free shipping, both ways, one day delivery.  I ordered 2 pair on Tuesday afternoon and they arrived Wednesday.  Seriously.  I have a few pairs of heels, though only for special occasions and never for prolonged wear. It's hard to be a happy person when your feet hurt.  I have....ummm....several, yes, let's say several pairs of Keens.  If you want a shoe that will give you all day comfort and support, Keens all the way.  Latest shoe company find is Blowfish.  Adorable.

So, this weekend I faced the part of my closet that has become known to me as "The Shoe Monster" and decided it was time to organize.  I divided into warm weather/cold weather/special occasion/frequently worn/pitch.  The pitch part was a little painful at first, but once I got into the swing of it I could say goodbye with only minimal tearage.  Goodwill will be needing to make some space for this donation.  Since we are coming into warm weather, the cold weather bunch went into a plastic bin under our bed. The special occasion bunch I put in shoe boxes with photos of each shoe taped to the end.

 

They fit well on the top shelf of my closet. (This is less than half of them.) They stay clean and in good shape, yet are easy to find when I need them.  The frequently worn group hang on the back of my bathroom door in a cloth pouch thingy that I got at IKEA a couple of years ago.

I know the pic isn't great.  It's a small bathroom and I couldn't get a good angle.  You get the idea.  And, yes, I have a lot of pairs of black shoes, just like I have a lot of black clothes.  I'm not in mourning.  I just like black.  Shoe Monster under control and I am a happy camper.  There will be more shoes, of this we can be most confident, but now I have a plan! Yay me!

In fact, if I hurry, I might have time to browse the Zappos site right now.........

Levels of Misery

Yesterday, when I did my first morning log in to facebook, I learned that Forbes Magazine has declared Rockford, IL, (home of the sock monkey...I kid you not.) the town where I was born and still live today, to be #14 on the Most Miserable City to Live In list.  Technically, I live in Machesney Park, which is a northern suburb (village connected to the north end of Rockford...not sure it actually qualifies as a burb), which, to be honest, makes Rockford look damn good, so everything is relative in life and geography. At least we aren't #1.

The criteria Forbes used had to do with crime and unemployment, and there is no question that Rockford has more than its share of both.  The crime part isn't something that has ever been a big issue for me, and I work in an older, sadder part of town next door to the needle exchange program.  The crime is there, but I've managed to avoid it, though have witnessed the drug problem frequently.  The unemployment is horrible and has touched several people I know and love.  

For me, who has lived here for-ev-er, its problems are different than those Forbes touched on.  Rockford is stuck in a conservative box that I don't ever for-see it breaking out of.  I'm not sure it wants to.  Part of the problem is that we are located close enough to larger, or trendier cities that most of us make fine use of on a regular basis. I certainly do. Perhaps if better shopping/dining/museums/films/theater/education/art were not quite so close at hand Rockford would step up to the plate and provide for itself. Maybe not.  I've heard the powers-that-be talk about it since I was old enough to grasp the concept, and that's been several decades.

Now, I'm no authority to talk here, because my idea of a great evening involves my husband, a fireplace, knitting needles and Netflix, but I think most of us that have lived here a long time have stopped looking close to home for our entertainment/leisure time options.  It's the proverbial forest from the trees scenario.  Rockford does have some really great qualities, but my jaded eyes have lost the ability to see them. Perhaps it's time for me to become a tourist in my own town and rediscover the positives that Rockford has to offer.

Case in point: this photo is of Anderson Gardens.  It's located ten minutes from my house.  The only time I go there is if visitors come from out of state and we have to figure out how to entertain them.  

 

Jane resides at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford. Confession: I have never, ever, been inside this museum.  Ever.  What is up with that?

So, before I spend much time complaining about where I live, I guess I ought to take some time to really get to know her first.  The real her, and not just what I think I see.

Still, is a Trader Joe's too much to ask for?