Words to Live By-Wednesday

"March comes in with an adder's head, and goes out with a peacock's tail."
Richard Lawson Gales,Old-World Essays

The Rest of the Story

So did you figure out what it's made of yet? It's an embroidery hoop with three sheer curtain panels, a little string and a very difficult hook.
I took a larger embroidery hoop and threaded the curtains on upside down. I installed the center hoop too just to make it more stable. I could go back and paint the hoop but it's fine for now.
Next I used string and tried to tie it as even as possible. Then I had to hang it up....
The white ceiling you see is styrofoam. Up above that is a type of wood sheeting called luan. It's like unfinished paneling without the shiny veneer. So I'm thinking I can screw a cup hook into paneling no problem. I didn't exactly consider that I would be doing this over my head, that I wouldn't exactly have good leverage , and didn't stop and think about my height and the fact I keep getting shorter sinking into the mattress. So... I need a pilot hole to start this hook. I get down and locate the hammer and a few nails. The first nail I try is a paneling nail because I didn't want the hole too big. But going through the foam to get to the wood didn't leave any room for my fingers to hold the nail. So I need a longer nail but a skinny nail. The only nail I had in the house that fit that description was a finishing nail. A finishing nail is long and skinny and doesn't have a head on it, you know the flat part of the nail that actually gives you a target to hit at? Yea well imagine that gone...
Now I have hit a lot of nails in my time. But I don't think I have ever tried to drive a nail over my head in my entire life. This revelation hits me just before I swing. But, I say to myself, your husband does this all the time and makes it look easy. Uh huh.. (inserted with sarcasm) So here I am not the right height to be doing this and a first time overhead nailer aiming to hit a headless nail. Sounds like a recipe for success doesn't it? I draw back and take a whack at it. The first swing glances off the nail and zeros in on my thumb. Now much, much later I'm actually thinking that was a good thing because it protected the foam from getting dented by that demonic hammer. But like I say that was much later in the day. Meanwhile I'm dancing on the bed holding my thumb between my legs and turning red in the face and close to blue in the mouth. I'm not sure what the proper word is to say at such a moment but believe me fudge brownies just seemed a little empty. But the hook got installed and the canopy looks good.
It hasn't been any trouble so far. I put the side panels behind the headboard at night while sleeping so we don't get tangled up in it and spread them out when I make the bed in the mornings.
I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it up or not. I'll give it a few weeks and see. It's simple to hang up or take down which ever I decide. I know one thing for sure, canopy or no canopy that hook stays right where it is!!! Until next time.....Kristi

To Canopy or Not to Canopy, That is the Question...

There used to be a picture above the bed. Then we bought a bigger bed with a taller headboard and I just never got around to putting a picture up there. Nothing seemed right. Then I got to noticing canopies and how decorators were using them as focal points instead of pictures. But canopies are quite expensive unless you make your own. With a larger bed such as ours most use a square or rectangle design and build a frame from anything as simple as curtain rods to more elaborate wood frames. I didn't want to invest a lot of time and money into something I may or may not like. So what could I do but come up with a temporary,(see how it's gonna look and am I gonna like it), canopy. Below is the before and after so let me know what you think.

I'll be posting a step by step later in the week and explain how this uber simple canopy was not uber simple to install because of a very stubborn hook! Until later....Kristi

Picture Thought

Of all the places he could lay down, he chose on the deck by the pool in the sunshine. Now that's my kind of dog!!

Words to Live By-Wednesday

"We have so much time, and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it."
Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory


Love that movie, but then again I'm a sucker for a musical.

Update

I started this blog to share with you my life, no matter how chaotic. Seems all I have published lately are very wordy posts about thoughts. (But I did warn you there would be those too.) I have been working on projects, too many at one time I believe, because I no more than finish one when I dive into the next one. But I am accomplishing a few things on my list.
The first thing I did this year was back up all my photos on to jump drives and place in the safety deposit box at the bank. I have wanted to do this for many years and this year it finally happened. I not only backed up digital, I scanned in all photos from albums and portraits hanging on the walls. I even borrowed an album from my mom and scanned my baby pics. when I was through I had scanned 490 pictures. And yes I could have found ten more to make it an even 500 but 490 was enough scanning for me.

The latest project I worked on was cds. I have cds and dvds that we created and we titled but didn't list individually what was on each one. So I have went back over them and made labels for them. Our computer has a labeler in which you buy a special disc and flip it over then it labels the top so you don't have to worry about applying a sticker. But they are pretty expensive and considering the discs are already made I didn't want to have to go back and reburn them all. A sticker is fine by me. Plus I downloaded pretty wallpapers and funky wallpapers to use as cd cover backgrounds. Some I have used actual pictures of us to personalize a few of them. They have turned out rather well. So far I had made sixty labels, but there are a few more to do.

I completed my new filing system, in which I use binders instead of filing cabinets.These are working out though they could use a little tweaking. I want to detail these in another post complete with pictures.

Then there are the decorating projects around the house that I will post pics of these next few weeks in hopes of your comments as to whether they should go or stay.

All in all not to bad. Like I said I'm getting things done. Ok, ok, the truth?..... I'm suppose to be painting my cabinets, but I keep coming up with these projects instead. As long as there are other projects keeping me busy I don't have time to mess up ur... I mean paint my cabinets. So do you have anymore project ideas or need help with your projects? I'm running out over here. ;)

Spring is here!!

So how did you celebrate the arrival of spring? We blew bubbles out in the yard. The dog chased them and popped them with his mouth and that was funny. The boy chased them and popped them with his mouth and that was... rather odd. Granny oohed and aahed over the bubbles and the pretty colors. Then we worked on the pool and a few flower beds. For the most part we just played outside. I did a lot of sitting and soaking up the sun.
The next day we went and watched a stunt rider perform on a street bike and that was interesting. The rider would do wheelies and ride on the gas tank things like that to entertain the crowd. The thing that impressed me the most was his attitude. Every time he seen a kid he went over and talked to them just to say hi and hang out with them for a few minutes in between shows. When he finished one of his twenty minute shows he walked around and talked to each of the kids and gave them high fives and the like. We got to talk to him for a few minutes on one of his breaks and he told me he was nineteen. He started out in motocross and then went into street bikes and enters stunt competitions. He told the kids that motorcycles kept him out of a lot of trouble when he was younger and although the stunts he performs look dangerous they are actually pretty safe. According to him this is a lot safer than those just riding on the highways. They are in a controlled environment, a marked off parking lot, and going at low speeds. This young man was not too cool to talk to the kids and encourage them and not to cool to answer a mom's questions about his sport. All in all a very nice young man.
When we arrived home it was still early and the weather was so nice, we got out the dirt bikes and rode for awhile. Good thing we took advantage of the opportunity, for it is raining today and suppose to rain for the next few days. But alas that is spring! We wish and hope and wait for spring and with it comes the rain. We will soon reap the rewards of all the sogginess with the beautiful blooms still yet to come. Hope you enjoyed the arrival of this glorious season. Until next time......Kristi

Words to Live By

Two quotes today, I think they say the same thing.

"Spring is God's way of saying 'One more time.' " -Robert Orben

"Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!' " -Robin Williams

Holiday Mischief

So yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and the mischievous leprechauns visited us overnight. We awoke to things like baskets and pictures turned upside down. The good part about cleaning up after them is the fact that they lost gold out of their pockets while being little meanies. Now I know why they guard their gold so well. It's delicious!!! Chocolate gold is the best!!! Hope you had a great St. Patty's Day. Next up, Spring!!! How do you plan to welcome it back?

Wearing of the Green

Don't forget to wear green today or you'll get pinched by a little leprechaun. They love making mischief and I love to help them! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Just a Number

Since turning thirty-two, I've been feeling my age more so than any other year. There's a few gray hairs that mysteriously appeared, and a lot of fine lines have crept in. But every time I mention that I'm getting older, it seems someone is there with the line "it's just a number". That got me to thinking the other day. True it is a number but what if it was more than that? What if it was an important time in history? Instead of "On this date in history"what if it was "While I was this age in history"? So I decided to have a little fun and use the women in my family, or rather their ages, and see what was going on when they were my age.

When We Were Thirty-Two

My Paternal Grandmother:
(born 1910)
1942
Cost of gas per gallon: 15 cents
Women's Coast Guard Auxiliary established
Car makers switch from making cars to making war materials
26 countries agree to create the United Nations
The minimum draft age is lowered from 21 to 18
US gas rationing goes into effect 3 gallons per week

My Maternal Grandmother:
(born 1919)
1951
Cost of gas per gallon: 19 cents
22nd Amendment is ratified which limits Presidential office terms to 8 years (2 terms)
First nuclear bomb tests at Nevada test site
The term "Rock n Roll" is coined
The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears across the US in newspapers for the first time
First oral contraceptive is invented
Direct dial coast to coast telephone service begins in the US
First color television pictures broadcasts from the Empire State Building


My Mother:
(born 1935)
1967
Cost of gas per gallon 33 cents
The federal minimum wage is increased to $1.40 per hour
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black justice on the Supreme Court
Muhammad Ali is stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing induction into US army
Elvis Presley marries Priscilla
The first Rolling Stone Magazine is published
Interracial Marriage is declared constitutional by the Supreme Court and barred states including Virginia from making interracial marriage a crime
Worlds first heart transplant operation in South Africa


My Sister:
(born 1964)
1996
Cost of gas per gallon: 1.22
Minimum hourly wage raised to $5.15
Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced
Mad Cow Disease hits Britain
The summer Olympics are held in Atlanta, Georgia in the US and a nail bomb is exploded in Centennial Olympic Park
In 12 Months number of Internet host computers goes from 1 million to 10 million
Ebay started the online auction and shopping website, where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide
Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned


Me:
(born 1977)
2009

Cost of gas: buy a horse and buggy it'd be cheaper!
The first African American is elected President of the United States
Michael Jackson's death shocks millions and spurs worldwide mourning
Panic over the lethal swine flu or H1N1 pandemic caused at least one nation to eradicate pigs and others to stock pile vaccines
Nintendo launches new version of the DS with the DSi



And this just in:

Kristi turned 32! But hey, who cares?! It's just a number!







All facts provided by thepeoplehistory.com

Picture Thought

Need I say more?

Words to Live By -Wednesday

"Autumn arrives in the early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day." Elizabeth Bowen

Downsizing: The Beginning

Not too long ago I introduced you to my little cubbyhole office. This is still working out well. It's a little messier now but I digress. One thing I would like you to note is there's no printer in here and I have a reason for that, but first things first.

This is the upstairs office, complete with a monstrosity of a desk we like to call the beast. This desk has two file drawers on the left side and one file drawer on the bottom right side. There are file folders and files in all three of these drawers. Some are important papers and some are simply things printed off the web to be read later. I tend to be a person who has to be able to touch a piece of paper to know that it actually exists, and feel secure that no one can question whether a bill was paid or not if I can magically pull it from one of those drawers. Neurotic right? Are you beginning to realize why I don't have a printer in the pantry office? Yea, give me a couple of months and there would be no room for the food that we store in there.



My plan is to back up the things that I would have printed and place on to jump drives or external hard drives. That is the first step, the second is to go paperless. I have to be honest here, that scares the fudge brownies out of me. Even so, I've begun the process. I have made copies of account numbers and customer service numbers in case something happens to all three of our computers at once, because it COULD happen! You just never know!



We already receive our bank statements online, and I pay our bills there too. So the only thing that would change would be the bill not actually coming in the mail....., to our house, to my hands, to be stored in my desk. Phew! Scary! Can I open my eyes yet?



I've promised myself I'm going to do this. And I will. I just didn't give myself a deadline to get it done. A promise is a promise and a loophole is a loophole.



I hope to have a post ready in a few days/weeks to show you what I'm doing in place of the filing drawers. And maybe I can report that I have indeed went paperless. Onward and upwards! Only the strong shall survive! (Am I the only one hearing the Rocky theme music playing?)

;)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Yes, I'm really on the phone. Yes, there's chaos happening right behind me. No, they didn't even realize I set up the camera. Welcome to my world!

Words to Live By-Wednesday

"Loving is, after all, an adventure into another personality. And love cannot survive once we give up exploring." Gladys Tabor, Harvest of Yesterdays