Desert Magnolia

I don't mean to be boring with this whole project thing. I realize you probably don't really care that we chose Sensational Sand as the paint color for the bedroom and hall, or that we've opted for brushed nickel outlet and switch covers and knobs and hinges, but this is what I've been living--details like this are consuming me right now. Bedroom and Hall This weekend we painted the bedroom and the hall, and they look awesome. I am craving chocolate cake though, since the color of the paint very closely resembles very light milk chocolate frosting...and the texture style we're using is very very similar to that of a low profile frosting. I may have to get some cake at lunch. This craving started Saturday, and has not been fulfilled yet, which could actually rupture something inside my Princess self if allowed to continue without satisfaction. I'm just sayin'... The light on my dash right now, which prompted visit to Carl the mechanic Oh wait

Remember this book? It was so fun to read to the kids..and the illustrations were amazing! Some things stick, and endure the test of time. This morning, on the way in to work, I looked up at the sky and thought, 'Pancakes and butter and warm syrup falling out of the sky onto my plate, now wouldn't that be cool??!!' Clearly, it's been a long week. And now I'm starving. Again.

You would not know that there is a full on ton of work for me to accomplish at the office the way my stupid chattering monkey brain is carrying on. So far today the topics that have drifted across my consciousness include but certainly aren't limited to: Upcoming NY trip. What to pack. To shop or not to shop. Creating full agenda.  Should I do a pedi? And if so, what color? Tangerine? Deep brown? Red? Neutral? And is this important? Who will see it besides me at night or when I'm in the shower? Carpet. How much is it really going to cost? Should we do our bedroom too while we're at it? Where in the heck will we put the entire contents of our house while they're laying the new carpet? How does this work? Work deadlines. Beating them, pre-planning to avoid any 'reminder' emails (with smiley faces everywhere) from the home office while in NY. House project...should we texture more walls? Will we have time/energy to do that and paint them before the carpet

...I will not be contributing to your [enter name of any worthwhile but passionate and endlessly needy] cause at this time. I realize you are working feverishly to raise funds for your cause, and that the circumstances are more dire than they have ever been ever in the history of your cause, and that your failing to bring in big sums of cash will mark you forever as a loser in the fund raising realm. For this I apologize. The cause I am currently funding is the cause of daughter.in.college.endless.home.repairs.spin.off.much-needed.improvement.projects.paying.down/off.all.accumulated.debt.related.to.same.and.prior.causes. In short? The cash, in short supply. But I am happy to help write compelling literature to hand out to the universe. I am happy to volunteer some time to the very worthwhile effort you represent.  Just tell me when and where. I can lick envelopes, fold letters, answer phones, you name it. I want to help. I'm sorry? You don't want my expertise or ser

Bamboo floors? Not gonna happen now. Picture lots of deep conversations about warmth and noise and such, followed by opting for an equally cool but very different option. Carpet. Lambswool is the color, and I think it will look fabulous in our casa. It's going in son's bedroom, the hallway...and now the living room and dining room. Not kidding here. How we shifted from bamboo in one part of the house to carpet in more parts is kind of a mystery but has to do with 'while you're already upside down and at it anyway....' Oh, and we retextured the walls..ourselves. Contractor came back with a very strange and large quote which made us rock back on our heels and say what the fuck are you trying to pull here dude? reconsider our plan. My body, today, is feeling beat up, but we did it. The walls look cool, and will look even cooler once we paint next weekend. And hubby installed the new kitchen sink faucet which is awesome! For all the reasons we thought it wo

Remember last week when I talked about the latest pipe debacle? And how I made a list about the projects we've decided to undertake as a result of having the room cleaned out? Well, we're making some progress. Probably the most difficult phase of any project is agreeing upon/deciding what to tackle this time. And we've done that. Our list now includes, in addition to the original: Replace kitchen faucet. (ours started leaking two days after the pipe debacle..wtf???) But this is cool because we're installing a better one anyway. That has separate hot and cold water handles and a higher arch on the faucet itself so we can get big pots and pans under it more easily. Yay! Remove carpet from hallway. Lay bamboo flooring in hallway. Refinish hall walls. Paint hall walls. Replace old, large, cumbersome queen sized bed with ours. Buy a new bed for us. (Unexpected in the scheme, but it will be cool and ours will look pretty against the bamboo floor which ha

Yesterday was lunch with Grandma and her retirement home cronies. The restaurant was East Ocean, a Chinese restaurant I've driven by probably a thousand times but I've never visited because the parking lot has always been almost empty which made me think not many people go there, which may be a mistake since I drive by at odd times and that's probably not a fair way to judge a restaurant but there you have it. Ah, the inner workings of my mind boggle, don't they? Anyway, one of the residents recommended this place, and sang its praises the entire time we were there, which was awhile because it takes that group awhile to sit down (at a table that was originally set up as one big one then broken down because big tables are a pain to pay out since usually one check is required), review menus/choose, then eat, then, OMG, pay out. So at least an hour and a half. During which my Grandma Gin burned her mouth on her spicy spicy scallops (that she'd ordered because

Our friend William Shakespeare said it best... Love is merely madness. Can you imagine a world without the glorious, breathtaking, soul shaking, earth moving capacity of love? I, for one, cannot. And would not, for one moment, trade the madness for sanity of any kind. Happy Valentine's Day my friends! 

When you hear a sound like water running in your house, and water isn't running in your house, it is actually probably running in your house, just not in your pipes. Where it should be. I know this to be true from waaaay too much first hand experience with pipes and water and such. Eleven months ago, just four days before Daughter's 18th birthday for which we were hosting a dinner party, a hot water pipe burst. Right under our living room floor. Which required a leak locator (aka plumber with a divining rod). And a jackhammer, for cutting a ginormous hole in our living room floor once the leak had been found. And shovels and welding and all of that. Which made me cry. Well, it didn't all make me cry, just the part where the burly guy with the jackhammer made a precious family portrait fall, and shatter on the hearth. I don't usually cry easily. But that did it. So this time, this time hubby and I, who are way too familiar with hearing the sound of water running

It's contract renewal time with our cell phone provider, and the conversations leading up to final decisions have been ridiculous. There's always the gadget talk..which phone to get, who says which ones are good/bad/reliable/cheesy, etc. Daughter wants an iPhone. Of course. So, we've got that going for us. Hubby can't decide what he wants, but he thinks he wants something easier to text on than the phone he's been using which is a nice 'regular' cell phone. I want another BlackBerry. I don't want an iPhone for many reasons, including that I use my phone primarily to stay in touch when I'm on the road/out and about. Which is often. So I email a lot. I text a lot. But I'm not one who likes apps all that much, or syncs up with an iPod (don't have one..in fact I have a little Sensa MP3 player that's just fine for my needs, minimal buzzers and bells but delivers good music which is what I want), or impresses my friends. Most of my co

Cheesy poetry, just for you. No charge. Which is good, because, really??? These last weeks have been interesting, and full of drama (unwanted) and relief (embraced) and the awareness of distance. Serious distance. Daughter is on the other side of our continent. That's a long way away. At a minimum it takes 8 hours travel to get to her. And that's with all flights leaving on schedule, etc. That means that if something unthinkable happened to her and she was rushed to a hospital and we were called it would take an entire day to get to her. 8 of the longest hours ever. Son, well, he's halfway around the world. That's a really long way. At a minimum, it takes 28 hours travel to get to him. And that's with all flights leaving on schedule and no unplanned revolutions occurring en route. That means if something unthinkable happened to him and he was rushed to a hospital and we were were called it would take almost two complete days to get to him. And there is c

There's cold, and then there's the cold that takes your breath away when you breathe in too deeply. We've got that right now. Clear, blue skies, and frigid cold temps. There's just enough warmth in the sun to cause the enormous icicles that have formed along our roof to break off, sort of a mini calving like you'd see in the Antarctic when an iceberg cleaves. And loud, a big CRACK! happens, and then Whump! it hits the ground. The governor just issued a state of emergency for the entire state. And asked all of us to lower our thermostats ten degrees! Right. So, if we're having issues keeping pipes unfrozen with normal range furnace use, what's going to happen when/if we drop that range ten degrees? That's the difference between liquid and frozen water. Ten degrees doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. And I'm pretty sure she's not going to have her staff lower her thermostat by the ten degrees she's proposed, then put on her silk long