My First Craft Idea - 1

What can you do with a piece of cardboard, scrapbook paper, embellishments, mod podge, wire and a sponge brush? I still need to buy the embellishments. Photos to come...

New Blog Friends

I have found so many new and interesting blogs to read. But, ya’ll I have to admit, are cutting in on my sleep. I can’t – I don’t want to go to bed until I finish reading the entire blog. I can’t help it – it’s my OCD. Some of ya’ll have been blogging for years – do ya know what that does to me? I have to force myself to fold you up in my laptop and make myself fall into bed at like 3am. I kid you not – that’s the latest I’ve passed out. It’s a good thing I actually don’t have a job – yet. LOL I have really enjoyed getting to know a lot of ya’ll on my list over there – and don’t worry I’m still reading and adding and reading. It is my new found addiction.

Thank you ~ D

Part of the Family - 2

So, this is just one side of my dining room here in the rental. God, I want to paint badly – but I also have a practical side of me saying don’t spend money for paint in a rental – save it for garage sales, Michaels, thrift stores, etc. See – practical! Anyway, the table belonged to my great grandparents; it sat in their home a few blocks from the Chattahoochee River. I have photos of my dad and his parents spending the day on the river. There was no air condition in my great grandparent’s home. They lived in Phenix City, AL. It was HOT! And we visited quite often when I was little. And it was HOT! The lamp came from Overstock.com (said it was a Tiffany lamp – honestly I have no clue), the stained glass windows are from a local antique store here in Austin – they were a birthday gift quite a few years back. Yes, those are Longaberger baskets – bought when I lived in FL and that was about 12 years ago. The ferns are there just to hide the plug and the cord for the lamp. I have issues with wires – see blog about – crap in the corner. LOL I have a huge collection of old antique bottles and thought the little ones brought out the color in the stained glass window. The huge white thing is just from Hobby Lobby and the little angels are from a friend or family member – I’ve had them for a while, too. Oh yeah, the crock – I almost forgot – that was my grandmothers, she actually made a lamp out of it. The lamp was ugly, but I saw the beauty in the crock.

 

Part of the Family - 1

I was saving this photo to blog for a cold and rainy day. Yes, I know it is now spring, almost summer for us Texans. Then tonight I was blog surfing and came across Junkologie – AND there was the twin to my grandfather’s telephone table. I guess that is what it’s called; it always had a telephone sitting on the top shelf and the telephone book sitting underneath at my grandparent’s house. I never thought I would have it, I mean; it wasn’t on my list of antiques I wanted from their home when they died. However, I think I ended up with the best of everything. I have several pieces from their house, my dad probably thought my requests were strange but nonetheless, I wanted the cookie jar that my grandmother kept not only cookies but gum in it, the crock that I hit my head on and ended up with stitches and her melmac dishes. As I dig through my boxes, I’ll snap photos and share my family history.

 

Buh Bye Crap in the Corner

This sweet pile of crap is going upstairs to a child’s room today! Good bye crap! I’m taking my family room back! And just because it will be placed upstairs in a child’s room, does not give them freedom. Silly of them to think that! I still control the video monitor that they will be allowed to play said games and watch said movies. I’m evil like that –

 

Heaven - I'm in Heaven

No words are needed to describe the deliciousness of the peanut butter cookie.

 

More Fireplace

I give up; I’m throwing in my towel. I cannot come up with something that looks natural and that will cover the TV wires. I told a lie a few posts back when I said I didn’t care if it balanced or not. Yep, I lied. I do care! It is driving me crazy and there’s nothing I can do. I do like the stack of books there. The thing is, I need something on the heavy side and on the non-breakable side, because the kids need access to the wires, why I will never know. I mean, I know why…I just choose not to pay attention! LOL So…this is what I came up with today. Now remember this is a rental and I don’t want to drill a hole in the wall and drop the wires. I actually don’t care for the TV above the fireplace, I wish it was on another wall. The TV is too small for the fireplace and I think that is what drives me nuts! Oh well.

 

 

Delicious Meatless Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was brought to you by none other than The Pioneer Woman herself, no don’t be silly – she didn’t come to my house and cook and I haven’t been invited to the ranch yet. So until I get that special – very special invite, I have to make do on my own. I have tested several of her recipes, cinnamon rolls (heaven in my tummy), peach crisp with maple cream sauce (heaven on a plate), bbq meatballs, French breakfast puffs, beans and cornbread (I used Jiffy – shh), ginger steak salad, olive cheese bread, delicious chocolate pie, roasted beef, spicy shrimp, creamed spinach and potato wedges. All I can say – Mmmm. I made the cinnamon rolls for Christmas and gave them away – do you know how hard that was? I made the peach crisp for the fourth of July – do you know how hard that was to share? All I can say is - when you make something you double it, so you can have one at home. There’s no since sharing if you can’t have any! Trust me, it could turn ugly and your family will turn against you! THEY.WILL!

Tonight’s dinner was with my favorite vegetarian – actually he’s my only vegetarian. Justin loved the wedged potatoes and the creamed spinach and asked for it again. I think tonight’s dinner cost maybe $5. I don’t claim to be a cook by any means, but when my children ask me to make it again – that’s two thumbs up! Go Forth and Conquer!


Potato Wedges and Creamed Spinach

 

Thank You

Finally some positive energy flowing my way, it’s not a job – which I still need. It’s not a new house – or a puppy or Matthew McConaughey. Uh huh, don’t sit there and sip your glass of vino and act like you wouldn’t enter to win him! If you’re a friend of mine – you’d enter and you would give him to me! So, back to what I won. “What’s for Dinner Gift Basket” - Romano’s Macaroni Grill.
I saw it at Julie’s Journal, she blogged that I could either print a $1 coupon or I could enter to win the whole “What’s For Dinner Gift Baskets”, hmm tough choice – NOT! I entered. I won! Thank you Julie and Romano’s Macaroni Grill!

 

Finally in the dryer

Oh dear – I don’t usually forget to move the wash to the dryer. But today was just one of those days. I did not sleep last night, not at all. Raye was up coughing ALL.NIGHT! And she spiked a fever, so this morning I decided the cough had gone on far too long and it was time to have it checked out. Not to mention, I heard on the news there was several confirmed cases of whooping cough in our county. Well, not only was it confirmed in our county – We have a confirmed case of whooping cough in our elementary school. That’s right, whooping cough - highly contagious – confirmed – in Raye’s school! Joy! Raye has all of the symptoms. I sent her to school – yeah, I did…we don’t have 100% proof that she has whooping cough – so to school she went. I did drug her up; she needed to make it till at least 9am. Don’t shake your finger at me; if she has whooping cough, she picked it up from school. AND besides it is too late to worry about sharing it at school, she’s past the point of no return. And besides, I taught my kids to share. I am kidding – sorta. So, back to the doctor visit, the nurse came in and asked her questions, took Raye’s temperature and left us to wait for the doctor. The doctor arrived and asked her questions and checked Raye out. She could not confirm whooping cough either because whooping cough can disguise itself into bronchitis and asthma. It can mimic symptoms. Great, so the doctor wrote out two scripts and sent the nurse back in to swab Raye’s nose…results in a week.

Beautiful Frame

I am really sad, see that beautiful frame? I threw one in the trash not too long ago. The glass was broken and I honestly had no idea what to use it for. I.AM.DEPRESSED! LOL!

 

PS. I found this pic on a blog - let me dig through my folders to find the person. I apologize for not giving credit at the moment. bbs

PSS. Found it - Little Green Notebook! I flipped all the way through Jenny's blog and found a ton of ideas. I just need to find myself employment now! LOL

The Ugly

I’ve been playing around with hiding the TV wires hanging down – we’re in a rental. And short of drilling a hole in the wall and dropping them, we don’t have much choice. So, I took the high road and decided to disguise them or at least try. I'm still digging through all of my goodies. I'm thinking a live plant is about my only large choice - I don't care if the sides balance. I'm just really tired of looking at the ugly wires.

 

Our Fireplace

I keep moving things around and decided I like this grouping on the right side. The little painting in the background was painted by my daughter. The plant was from my grandmother’s yard, yes the same deceased grandmother the other plant came from. I dug several of these cacti up from her yard in Georgia and brought them back to Austin. The other stuff I just picked up over the years.

 

EDITED 4-28-09 - I've moved things around - again! Sigh

Our Foyer

See that off white churn on the floor? We became fast friends when I was younger; I earned my first set of stitches from that thing. Needless to say when my grandmother passed away that was the first thing I asked for. The oversized candle sticks were found at Big Lots and World Market on sale of course. The white picture frame came from an antique mall here in Austin. The hope chest is circa 1986 - every girl that graduated back then was given a hope chest. What I'm now wondering is - what in the hell was I suppose to hope for? LOL! The plant in the corner is a desert rose. It will be so pretty when it blooms! Google it - trust me!

Dumpster Diving

I just noticed - the green tint on the bottom of the photo...that belongs to my stretched out phone cover. LOL!!

So, during one of my private phone conversations – I took in the front yard. Yeah, so much for privacy, but while I was out there I spied this cute little end table. I walked across the street and touched it and then came back to my house. I sat here and thought about how cute it was and made the decision that I did in fact need it. It was free. So there it was sitting out there on the side of the road, just waiting for someone to come by and take it. It needed a home; it was not ready for the dump. I gathered up the boys and headed back across the street. I don’t know why but I felt the need to let them know I was taking their trash. I didn’t want them staring down at me from their living room window. I rang the doorbell – nothing. I knocked on the door – nothing. I yelled for Justin to go ahead and grab it. I’m not going to sit here and tell you he was excited about dumpster diving, he was a little bit embarrassed, so much so that he actually stood in our driveway while I rang the bell and knocked on the door. When he knew the coast was clear he crossed the road and grabbed the table for me. Sitting on the table is a plant from my grandmother’s house. My grandmother has been deceased for quite a few years now. Look how healthy her plant is…doesn’t it look great on my free table?

Cha Cha - Changes

You’ll notice I’m working on picking the place up and since I’m in a rental house and can’t technically decorate it…I’m going to inflict that pain here on you. Trust me, it will be painful, it has been a long time since I decorated a blog. So…take my word for it – don’t be hateful, just be honest and tell me the colors are on your last nerve. Tell me you LOVE it…L O V E it!

I’m also working on moving my old blog files over…that should be painless. HA! So – you’ve been warned.

Edited - I made my decorating changes and I'm really digging them. Hope you dig them as well! Enjoy!

Carnival Liberty Mediterranean Cruise

I'm missing my digital scrapbooking stuff...so I can't give it a fun shadow. I just love this photo. I wasn't allowed inside because my shoulders were showing and I didn't want to wear the paper tissues to cover my shoulders. It's ok, I really enjoyed the outside. Anyway...this was taken on our last day in Rome - July 5, 2006.

Oh My - Oops I did it again

Yes, I did let you all down. I said I'd be back and in fact I was not. I totally dropped the ball here again.

So, now that my life issues are settling down - somewhat.

I’m searching, applying and, yes, I have actually had a few interviews…very few. There are jobs out there, and I’ve been applying for said jobs…I’m just not said friend of a friend (thought I was, but her co-worker had a friend that needed a job, too) who needs a job, too! I’m trying not to become a deranged lunatic, but the fact is I am qualified for every job I have applied for. It is becoming harder and harder moving on when you fill out the application, turn it in on time, attach your resume…and then you wait and wait for the call for the interview…and then you notice the job has been removed from the website and you were not called. That’s right, no call, no interview, removed from the website is how you figure out the position was filled. Like I said, it is becoming harder and harder for me to move on, I need a job! Sigh