Nine years together.
Nine jobs between us in that time.
Eight moves.
Seven years of marriage today.
Six cars.
Five metric tons of toys in our house.
Four international vacations.
Three kids.
Two hearts.
One love.
I love you so much.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Happy Anniversary!
Nine years together.
Nine jobs between us in that time.
Eight moves.
Seven years of marriage today.
Six cars.
Five metric tons of toys in our house.
Four international vacations.
Three kids.
Two hearts.
One love.
I love you so much.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Back of the bookshelves
I will be getting those PB Audrey curtains for the dining room, oh yes I will, someday soon....I have my eye on some on ebay but I keep getting outbid. Regardless, I will have them.
I'm actually really happy with the Audrey curtains in the living room. They pull together the red chair, the stupid purple sofa, the meh blue rug. With the chevron pillows and trellis chair seat it looks....dare I say...not like a kindergartener designed it.
A little bit of self-indulgent navel-gazing here...I love bright punches of color. All the fabrics and accessories I pick up in stores are bright and colorful. But I feel when I decorate using lots of bright color, things are just TOO BRIGHT. (Downstairs foyer, anyone? Its burning my eyeballs every time I open the door. I really should just listen to the Mister. He is always right, but I always say no, no, you're not the decorating boss of me! I do it mySELF! And then I have to say, a little help here?)
Upon reflection, the reason I like the living room so much right now? There's lots of color, but its more muted, and almost all of the big pieces are neutral. So! New decorating formula! Neutral large pieces and paint colors. Bright cheerful pieces limited to accessories and easily changed things. Try to use color but less intensity. Limit the BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT stuff to one or two pieces.
Ironically, I had already figured that formula out when it comes to paint colors....I rarely paint anything other than beige or white on the walls, because I tend to get tired of it in six months and then have to repaint. (I once painted our powder room orange...my father said it reminded him of being on the inside of a cigarette. It glowed.) I am not afraid of painting furniture bright colors, but our last two houses have been painted Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige on the interior. (I have a spare gallon in the basement, and the blue downstairs foyer will soon be Kilim Beige as well.)
So...that brings me to fixing the dining room.
I plan on getting the Audrey curtains (the ones hanging in the picture are the ones currently hanging in the living room; I only scored two off craigslist, but I needed four). I'm probably going to recover the dining chairs in brown vinyl --maybe the one with a crocodile print? (I know, I know, I just did these chairs, but the red is TOO BRIGHT. Its like a pizzeria.)
And then there's the back of the bookshelves. I want a pattern in the back. I luuuurrve me this stencil:
But its $42!!!! Forty-two dollars seems like a lot for a stencil. Plus its a reverse stencil so I'd have to paint the back of the shelves white, then use the blue over the stencil.
Also, there is a hole in the bottom back part of the bookshelf, seeing as the shelves were originally part of my mother in law's entertainment center. I'd have to patch that somehow.
I could re-wrap my foamboard with a different material, perhaps this one?
That would take care of patching the hole, since no one could see it.
Alternatively, I have seen some quatrefoil designs on other people's blogs, and everyone says "oh, I freehanded this! It only took 400 weekends!" or "I made my own stencil!" How do you make your own stencil?? I am not crafty. Things that require small, detail-oriented work rarely turn out well for me.
And I have to get all this done in the next two weeks before my son's birthday party.
Decisions, decisions.
I'm actually really happy with the Audrey curtains in the living room. They pull together the red chair, the stupid purple sofa, the meh blue rug. With the chevron pillows and trellis chair seat it looks....dare I say...not like a kindergartener designed it.
A little bit of self-indulgent navel-gazing here...I love bright punches of color. All the fabrics and accessories I pick up in stores are bright and colorful. But I feel when I decorate using lots of bright color, things are just TOO BRIGHT. (Downstairs foyer, anyone? Its burning my eyeballs every time I open the door. I really should just listen to the Mister. He is always right, but I always say no, no, you're not the decorating boss of me! I do it mySELF! And then I have to say, a little help here?)
Upon reflection, the reason I like the living room so much right now? There's lots of color, but its more muted, and almost all of the big pieces are neutral. So! New decorating formula! Neutral large pieces and paint colors. Bright cheerful pieces limited to accessories and easily changed things. Try to use color but less intensity. Limit the BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT stuff to one or two pieces.
Ironically, I had already figured that formula out when it comes to paint colors....I rarely paint anything other than beige or white on the walls, because I tend to get tired of it in six months and then have to repaint. (I once painted our powder room orange...my father said it reminded him of being on the inside of a cigarette. It glowed.) I am not afraid of painting furniture bright colors, but our last two houses have been painted Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige on the interior. (I have a spare gallon in the basement, and the blue downstairs foyer will soon be Kilim Beige as well.)
So...that brings me to fixing the dining room.
I plan on getting the Audrey curtains (the ones hanging in the picture are the ones currently hanging in the living room; I only scored two off craigslist, but I needed four). I'm probably going to recover the dining chairs in brown vinyl --maybe the one with a crocodile print? (I know, I know, I just did these chairs, but the red is TOO BRIGHT. Its like a pizzeria.)
And then there's the back of the bookshelves. I want a pattern in the back. I luuuurrve me this stencil:
But its $42!!!! Forty-two dollars seems like a lot for a stencil. Plus its a reverse stencil so I'd have to paint the back of the shelves white, then use the blue over the stencil.
Also, there is a hole in the bottom back part of the bookshelf, seeing as the shelves were originally part of my mother in law's entertainment center. I'd have to patch that somehow.
I could re-wrap my foamboard with a different material, perhaps this one?
That would take care of patching the hole, since no one could see it.
Alternatively, I have seen some quatrefoil designs on other people's blogs, and everyone says "oh, I freehanded this! It only took 400 weekends!" or "I made my own stencil!" How do you make your own stencil?? I am not crafty. Things that require small, detail-oriented work rarely turn out well for me.
And I have to get all this done in the next two weeks before my son's birthday party.
Decisions, decisions.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Rainbows and Unicorns
This morning I laid awake at 4 am, thinking about what would happen to my kids if something happened to me and the Mister.
A few years ago, the Mister and I bought a new car. The salesman was a personable, chatty little guy, and about halfway through our protracted negotations, his family stopped by the dealership. There was his wife, two boys of about 10 and 12, and a little girl, about 6. The little girl was very cute and talkative, and I chatted with her for a bit. I remember saying something along the lines of "oh, your daddy gave you money for soda, how nice!" or something like that.
The next day we went back to the dealer to pick up the car, and while we were waiting the salesman told me that the little girl was actually his niece. That night when he got home, the little girl had said to him "I wish you were my real daddy." Then he told us how his sister, the girl's mom, was on drugs and in jail, her real daddy was also and addict and had died, and that DYFS was pushing him to adopt the little girl permanently.
However, he and his wife were unsure they wanted to adopt the little girl, because his boys didn't want to share a room or their mother, and the little girl had been sleeping on a cot at the end of their bed for the past six months, and they were thinking of relinquishing her to foster care.
SAY WHAT????????
Had I heard this tale of woe 24 hours earlier I would NOT have bought a car from this douchebag.
When we left, the Mister and I agreed that we don't care how many dozens of children our siblings have, there will always be a place for them in our home. I've thought of that little girl over the years, now and again, wondering if they gave her up, wondering if she's been living with them for the past 7 years knowing that she isn't wanted by anyone. Wondering if his two boys have absorbed the lesson that family is disposable, that being selfish gets you your own bedroom.
Its highly unlikely that anything like that would happen to my kids; the Mister and I have four siblings between us, and no matter who took in my kids, they would not only have food and shelter, but also be loved and cherished. And that's what keeps you up at night, right? Not that your child will be foraging for dinner in a garbage can, but that somebody will love them.
What brought all this on, you ask? Why am I worrying about my kids being loved after I'm gone?
I stumbled across this blog called The Aftermath of Rainbows and Unicorns. Its written by Sam, a girl who lost her mother and brother in 9/11. I think she was about 9, and her younger sisters were about 6 and 4. She started her blog when she was fifteen, at the behest of her therapist, who appears to be the only adult in her life that gives a damn. At first its written as a diary of sorts, in the form of letters to her mother.
She and her two sisters live with her crazy Aunt Elaine, who provides a roof over their heads but not much else. Aunt Elaine actually sounds like she is in the grip of a clinical depression, but even so, Aunt Elaine is not much of a nurturer. Sam is the cook, maid, and de facto parent of her sisters. Signing homework, taking the little ones to afterschool activities, cooking dinner....these are all activities that Aunt Elaine says are Sam's problem. The three girls share two beds, and Aunt Elaine doesn't even buy new beds when the old ones break.
Reading this blog is....well, I'm riveted. Its such compelling reading. She's a fifteen year old kid who has to be an adult. And she makes good choices, even though all of her choices are difficult ones. Not to spoil the story, but she seems to have been gotten away from Aunt Elaine (I haven't reached the middle yet), and is now 18-ish(?) and raising her two sisters on her own. She is smart, resourceful, strong, insightful, and pissed at the world.
I started reading about two weeks ago, so I've been reading her more recent stuff, but last night I started reading the archives, starting at the very beginning. One thing she says that made me tear up (I'm paraphrasing here) was that doing anything fun takes a car, an adult, money and time, and they don't have any of those. The thing thing that made me weep? Another family offers to take her and her sisters out to a movie, and she wants to stay behind at their house with their kitten, alone, all by herself for a few hours, and not be responsible for anyone else.
So yeah, that's why my brain was worrying about who will love my kids at 4 am.
Its an amazing read. Start at the beginning here, or the current day here.
A few years ago, the Mister and I bought a new car. The salesman was a personable, chatty little guy, and about halfway through our protracted negotations, his family stopped by the dealership. There was his wife, two boys of about 10 and 12, and a little girl, about 6. The little girl was very cute and talkative, and I chatted with her for a bit. I remember saying something along the lines of "oh, your daddy gave you money for soda, how nice!" or something like that.
The next day we went back to the dealer to pick up the car, and while we were waiting the salesman told me that the little girl was actually his niece. That night when he got home, the little girl had said to him "I wish you were my real daddy." Then he told us how his sister, the girl's mom, was on drugs and in jail, her real daddy was also and addict and had died, and that DYFS was pushing him to adopt the little girl permanently.
However, he and his wife were unsure they wanted to adopt the little girl, because his boys didn't want to share a room or their mother, and the little girl had been sleeping on a cot at the end of their bed for the past six months, and they were thinking of relinquishing her to foster care.
SAY WHAT????????
Had I heard this tale of woe 24 hours earlier I would NOT have bought a car from this douchebag.
When we left, the Mister and I agreed that we don't care how many dozens of children our siblings have, there will always be a place for them in our home. I've thought of that little girl over the years, now and again, wondering if they gave her up, wondering if she's been living with them for the past 7 years knowing that she isn't wanted by anyone. Wondering if his two boys have absorbed the lesson that family is disposable, that being selfish gets you your own bedroom.
Its highly unlikely that anything like that would happen to my kids; the Mister and I have four siblings between us, and no matter who took in my kids, they would not only have food and shelter, but also be loved and cherished. And that's what keeps you up at night, right? Not that your child will be foraging for dinner in a garbage can, but that somebody will love them.
What brought all this on, you ask? Why am I worrying about my kids being loved after I'm gone?
I stumbled across this blog called The Aftermath of Rainbows and Unicorns. Its written by Sam, a girl who lost her mother and brother in 9/11. I think she was about 9, and her younger sisters were about 6 and 4. She started her blog when she was fifteen, at the behest of her therapist, who appears to be the only adult in her life that gives a damn. At first its written as a diary of sorts, in the form of letters to her mother.
She and her two sisters live with her crazy Aunt Elaine, who provides a roof over their heads but not much else. Aunt Elaine actually sounds like she is in the grip of a clinical depression, but even so, Aunt Elaine is not much of a nurturer. Sam is the cook, maid, and de facto parent of her sisters. Signing homework, taking the little ones to afterschool activities, cooking dinner....these are all activities that Aunt Elaine says are Sam's problem. The three girls share two beds, and Aunt Elaine doesn't even buy new beds when the old ones break.
Reading this blog is....well, I'm riveted. Its such compelling reading. She's a fifteen year old kid who has to be an adult. And she makes good choices, even though all of her choices are difficult ones. Not to spoil the story, but she seems to have been gotten away from Aunt Elaine (I haven't reached the middle yet), and is now 18-ish(?) and raising her two sisters on her own. She is smart, resourceful, strong, insightful, and pissed at the world.
I started reading about two weeks ago, so I've been reading her more recent stuff, but last night I started reading the archives, starting at the very beginning. One thing she says that made me tear up (I'm paraphrasing here) was that doing anything fun takes a car, an adult, money and time, and they don't have any of those. The thing thing that made me weep? Another family offers to take her and her sisters out to a movie, and she wants to stay behind at their house with their kitten, alone, all by herself for a few hours, and not be responsible for anyone else.
So yeah, that's why my brain was worrying about who will love my kids at 4 am.
Its an amazing read. Start at the beginning here, or the current day here.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Comparisons
I want to be the kind of mom who whips up awesome homemade costumes from scratch, but I'm the mom muttering "f*ck, f*ck, f*ck" in the costume aisle of Target a few days before Halloween.
I want to be the person who uses Envirosax recycled bags at the grocery, but I'm the person who leaves her Envirosax bags in the back of the car every. single. time.
I want to be the kind of mom who uses cloth diapers, but I'm the person who ordered a ton of cloth diapers, used them for two days, and decided the 15+ loads of laundry a week I already did was enough without adding washing hazmat materials to my weekly duties.
I want to be a better writer, but I recognize when someone takes the thoughts out of my head and says them better than me. So I'll just say go read Lawyerish's Pass the Cheez-Its. Its what I've been thinking lately. And she uses the word quotidian--how can you resist?
I want to be the person who uses Envirosax recycled bags at the grocery, but I'm the person who leaves her Envirosax bags in the back of the car every. single. time.
I want to be the kind of mom who uses cloth diapers, but I'm the person who ordered a ton of cloth diapers, used them for two days, and decided the 15+ loads of laundry a week I already did was enough without adding washing hazmat materials to my weekly duties.
I want to be a better writer, but I recognize when someone takes the thoughts out of my head and says them better than me. So I'll just say go read Lawyerish's Pass the Cheez-Its. Its what I've been thinking lately. And she uses the word quotidian--how can you resist?
Monday, October 4, 2010
I don't feel like repainting it
Today I painted the downstairs foyer. My inlaws have a two family house, and we rent the upstairs apartment. The downstairs foyer leads to both apartments and to the basement, so its a shared space. I didn't remember to take good "before" pictures, although I got a few. (I took these after I had already started painting.)
The paint color we started with was a mustard-ish tan. It was not a horrible color, but when the previous tenant moved out, the movers did a terrible job and ripped giants gouges in the stairwell wall and broke the bannister.(You can kind of see the gouges in the right side wall above.) My inlaws also had the front door replaced, but the installers also did not such a great job, leaving behind multiple scratches and gouges around the door, and left lots of spackle spots in the molding.
My mother in law has a beautiful seascape painting hanging in the foyer, and the tiles are a very 70s crosshatch brown, so I thought I'd pull some light blue from the painting and use that as our paint color. I did not do a sample (dumb!) because I used the BM Teardrop Blue that I used on the interior of my bookshelves in my dining room. Its a pale, pretty aqua. At least, it is in my bookshelves.
In the foyer, however, Teardrop Blue is BRIGHT AQUA BLUE. Not soft, pretty blue. No, its waaaay brighter than anticipated.
It may not look heinously bright in this picture, but trust me, it is. It also looks garishly bright against the red oriental rug and stair runner.
I told my mother in law I would just repaint it a softer tan color, because, wow, it is bright, but she said no, she likes it. I think she is just being kind. She is always trying to get me to sit down and take a rest when I paint things. I think that the walls certainly look better with the gouges filled in and all the spackle covered up, but I am really not excited about this paint color.
I am not excited about repainting because painting the stairwell was not that easy. Especially at the top, I had to stand on a stool and lean out into the stairwell, holding onto the door molding, in order to reach above the door. This looks safe, does it not?
I'm in no rush to do that again.
I have thought of ripping up the stair runner and painting the stairs, but these are the only stairs into the apartment, and that seems time consuming and would mean I could not leave the house (or get into it) for a few days and that seems like more effort than I want to commit to.
Or I could just live with it. :-/
The paint color we started with was a mustard-ish tan. It was not a horrible color, but when the previous tenant moved out, the movers did a terrible job and ripped giants gouges in the stairwell wall and broke the bannister.(You can kind of see the gouges in the right side wall above.) My inlaws also had the front door replaced, but the installers also did not such a great job, leaving behind multiple scratches and gouges around the door, and left lots of spackle spots in the molding.
My mother in law has a beautiful seascape painting hanging in the foyer, and the tiles are a very 70s crosshatch brown, so I thought I'd pull some light blue from the painting and use that as our paint color. I did not do a sample (dumb!) because I used the BM Teardrop Blue that I used on the interior of my bookshelves in my dining room. Its a pale, pretty aqua. At least, it is in my bookshelves.
In the foyer, however, Teardrop Blue is BRIGHT AQUA BLUE. Not soft, pretty blue. No, its waaaay brighter than anticipated.
It may not look heinously bright in this picture, but trust me, it is. It also looks garishly bright against the red oriental rug and stair runner.
I told my mother in law I would just repaint it a softer tan color, because, wow, it is bright, but she said no, she likes it. I think she is just being kind. She is always trying to get me to sit down and take a rest when I paint things. I think that the walls certainly look better with the gouges filled in and all the spackle covered up, but I am really not excited about this paint color.
I am not excited about repainting because painting the stairwell was not that easy. Especially at the top, I had to stand on a stool and lean out into the stairwell, holding onto the door molding, in order to reach above the door. This looks safe, does it not?
I'm in no rush to do that again.
I have thought of ripping up the stair runner and painting the stairs, but these are the only stairs into the apartment, and that seems time consuming and would mean I could not leave the house (or get into it) for a few days and that seems like more effort than I want to commit to.
Or I could just live with it. :-/
Friday, October 1, 2010
its the weekend!
And I am going to the Shore. Yes, the Jersey Shore! Most exciting of all, I am meeting up with my friends and I am leaving the Mister and ALL OF MY ADORABLE CHILDREN AT HOME.
Woot woot!
I am especially looking forward to Saturday evening, between the hours of midnight and 8 am Sunday morning. Why? Because I plan to be asleep. THE WHOLE TIME. Say a prayer for the Mister. As he will likely be up during that period. More than once. Or seventeen times.
But I? Will be asleep. (I've pretty much just jinxed that, right?) Even if my friends want to go out to bars and party, I will be taking a taxi back to the house, and going to bed. By myself. Alone. No one jammed up in my armpit, or with their leg over my neck, or laying on my head, or telling me to move over, that I am taking up too much room in my own bed, and please stop kicking me in the kidney. Since I have had two peaceful nights of sleep in the last five years (a weekend away taken while pregnant with the Princess two years ago), I feel that I have earned it.
The anticipation is killing me.
Woot woot!
I am especially looking forward to Saturday evening, between the hours of midnight and 8 am Sunday morning. Why? Because I plan to be asleep. THE WHOLE TIME. Say a prayer for the Mister. As he will likely be up during that period. More than once. Or seventeen times.
But I? Will be asleep. (I've pretty much just jinxed that, right?) Even if my friends want to go out to bars and party, I will be taking a taxi back to the house, and going to bed. By myself. Alone. No one jammed up in my armpit, or with their leg over my neck, or laying on my head, or telling me to move over, that I am taking up too much room in my own bed, and please stop kicking me in the kidney. Since I have had two peaceful nights of sleep in the last five years (a weekend away taken while pregnant with the Princess two years ago), I feel that I have earned it.
The anticipation is killing me.
31 Days to a Better Photo
You may have seen that during the month of October, a bunch of blogs are doing a "31 Days to.. [insert a topic here]". Some topics include Doing More With Less, Stress Free Entertaining, a Less Messy Nest, and so on. The one I'm really looking forward to is 31 Days to a Better Photo, over at Life with my 3 Boybarians.
As you may have guessed for yourself from looking at my blog, taking pictures is not one of my advanced skills. I'm really looking forward to learning how to better use my camera. Check it out with me.
There's a full list of all the different topics at the bottom of the post here.
As you may have guessed for yourself from looking at my blog, taking pictures is not one of my advanced skills. I'm really looking forward to learning how to better use my camera. Check it out with me.
There's a full list of all the different topics at the bottom of the post here.
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