A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Today marks the last day of summer vacation with my children. Bro Man starts 4th grade tomorrow and Emmy starts K-5 tomorrow. That leaves me with Baby K, and a little peace and quiet. When asked what she is going to do here with just Mama all day she replied, "Be good." Now, wouldn't that be nice? But while I would love to think that I will have all the time in the world to sew or craft or clean, I am a realist. My husband calls it a pessimist. I'm not negative, just real. The start of school leaves me with only 2 more weeks before I return to the pursuit of a master's degree. Counting this semester, only 7 classes left! Woo-hoo! (Insert booty bump!)

On another note, why do vitamins make me sick to my stomach? I take them with food as instructed, but yet I still get the chills and the dry heaving. I take them because I want to be less tired, but after several days of taking them with this result, I stop.

Sorry about screaming at you the other day. I have a million and one things running through my mind, all of which are frustrating me to no end. I look for things to do that allow me no time to think, but those are few and far between.

I am totally addicted to Facebook. I don't really chat with anyone, no one helps me with my Mafia Wars requests, no one comments on my status, but yet I check it 759 million times a day. Maybe its a bit like blogging...if I comment, they will comment. But I do not need to spend all day on facebook. So I don't know if I want people to start commenting because that might compel me to check it more often.

Okay, so that's it for this totally random post. I'm sure I can think of a million more random things that I could talk about, but I'll stop for now. Peace. Love. Change.

ahhh....change

Are any of you like me in that you love change? I don't mean change that dramatically impacts your life, but change within your home? I love to paint. That is one of the easiest transformations that a person can make. But more than paint. Like getting bold and rearranging the furniture. O.M.G., people! Did you realize that there are some people who don't even think of moving furniture as a means of making your house more pleasant? Those people are called MEN. Why are men against change? Unless it is an increase in your income or a drop in your weight, men are against change. No paint. No moving. No rearranging. Why? Because they might have to lay at a slightly different angle to watch baseball. And that, my friends, is unacceptable.

Since we are soon returning to just one income, and I love change, I am trying to do a little remixing instead of decorating. That is, I am trying to be thrifty and use things that I have already bought or things from other parts of my house to give the house a different look. And yes, I moved furniture. But first thing this morning, I moved it back. Why you ask? Because Mr. Wonderful hated it so much that he did not even want to be in the living room. And since he chooses to watch Baseball Tonight every night when I want to sleep, it is better for him to go to the living room. But I took a few pictures of some changes that I have made over the last 24 hours. Keep in mind, nothing drastic. Just beautifying. Fluffing. And when the rooms are finalized, I'll post them. Oh, okay. Stop twisting my arm. I'll post some now. Gosh, you're so pushy! But I'll save some for later.
This is the newly paired down mantle. The before picture was too embarrassing, so we'll just go with an after. The huge mirror was a bargain at $17, and the only thing new is the flower arrangement which is not complete. Everything else was already in my possession.

In the kitchen, to add a little flair beside the free hutch, I added this cast iron (super heavy) fork and spoon. I got this on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $2.49 about 2 months ago. I don't know what took so long for me to finally put it up.
While this picture is a little dark, you should still be able to see the little shelf above the toilet. This has been in my possession for a good four months now. The white fleur-de-lis I bought at hobby lobby last year for $5.00. The candlestick, bird, seagrass box, the small glass jars and fillings I've had for quite some time now. The curtain and shower curtian (not shown) are from the other bathroom because I did something new in there that I did not take pictures of yet. Those will come later. I am putting the finishing touches on the dining room that I have struggled with for so long, and then I will post pictures of that, along with the new lamps in the living room.

So, until next time, Peace. Love. Change.

Scream

AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Boredom

OMG, I am bored! I have decided to start selling jewelry and I can't start for another month, but I am anxious and ready to get started. The house is mostly clean, except for the bedrooms and about two loads of laundry, but I don't want to clean anymore. That is all I have done all week. But I love it being clean. But when I clean bedrooms, it is not just picking stuff up out of the floors. That is straightening. When I clean bedrooms, I mean pull everything out of the closets, out from under beds, dusting, cleaning out drawers, getting rid of clothes that don't fit, shoes that I never wear. Each room is at least a day long. So tomorrow, I'll keep the main rooms straightened, and if I can find the motivation, I'll start on my room. I am so ready for my room to be cleaned to my standards of clean. Not just straightened. Right now, I am heading into the craft/sewing room to get lost hopefully in something brilliant.

So Screwed

I have to get organized. I am driving myself crazy!! And I really screwed up the finances this time. I scheduled an online payment for my house before payday. Well, when payday rolled around, I forgot that was scheduled and I paid other bills. Now, if and when that house payment clears, I will be screwed. And I know it is coming. It is what I deserve for my lack of organization. If we can just make it through until next Friday.... I've told Mr. Wonderful who claims that he is not going to worry about it and that there is no point in being mad at me because that won't change anything either. So he says.

I do make a promise to myself and my God that I will be a better steward of money. I have promised myself that before, and I never kept my promise. But this time, I am making the promise to God. From this day forward, I will be a better money tracker, a better bill payer. Not just for my sanity, but for my hardworking husband who is allowing me to stay home again with our last child. Things have to be different. We are going back to one pay check and have to get back in that frame of mind. No more eating out, no more shopping.

With the purchase of our washing machine last week, I have totally embraced the cleaning thing that I have always hated. I love having a clean kitchen, clean dining room, laundry being done, etc. I can't wait to clean. As a matter of fact, I am off of here to do just that.

surgery?

I have surgery scheduled for the 30th of this month to fix a deviated septum and turbinate reduction. I am totally terrified. I don't know why. I have asked God for peace about the surgery. I have asked others to pray. But still no peace. Only today, I read about the unsuccessful side of this surgery. If any of you have had this surgery, please let me know your experiences with it, whether positive or negative. This will help me decide if I want to go through with the surgery.

Also, please be in prayer for two family members. My nephew, Spencer, has what seems to be staph but maybe just an infection from an ant bite. Doctors have given them conflicting information about what needs to be done. He put a bandaid on it today and the bandaid actually pulled part of the sore off and so it was drained at the doctor, but that is what one doctor said did not need to happen. Please pray that he will have some relief from this and that the procedures that the doctors are doing are successful.

My sister, Brenda, aka Mom on the Go, is also having health issues. She has been for quite a while. But just lately, they have begun looking at MS as a diagnosis. Please pray that this is not the case. While I would love a diagnosis of what is going on with her, I would love for that diagnosis to be something treatable. I also pray that her symptoms do not increase or amplify.

Thanks for your support.

The Juices are Flowing

The creative juices are flowing again. It feels so good to be behind the sewing machine again. I have instituted a schedule for the kids for the remainder of the summer which enables me to have time to do what I enjoy. It also gives me specific times to be creative, to be domestic (including cleaning which I hate to do!), but also makes the kids responsible for the messes they make. There are two scheduled pick up times for them. At those times, they must pick up any messes they have made that morning and that afternoon. If they finish with what they dragged out, then they move on to their rooms. But since it can all be overwhelming to kids, I am starting small. I set a timer for 10 minutes for pickup, and then 10 minutes in their rooms cleaning up. Today, they had one task--to put away toys. Tomorrow their one task is to put away clothes and shoes. While they are doing their pickup, I have time to get lunch fixed. It is working out much better for me than them. I love knowing I only have to clean for a specified amount of time before I am on to something better.

One of the creations from this week may just be the most unnecessary makeover ever--my mailbox. But it was so drab and dreary, I decided to give it a facelift. I hit it with a shot of black spray paint and some adhesive vinyl and voila. I love the way it turned out.
I have been sewing baby shower gifts, but wanted them to be something personal. I am so tired of the pinks and whites of store bought gifts. Yes, they are beautiful. But I wanted something with some zing. So, I stepped behind the sewing machine. It's been months since I have sewn, and I love the sense of accomplishment that I feel every time I complete something. These are the shower gifts I completed today.