How Was Your Weekend?

What a great weekend it was! My sister Karen is here visiting from Tennessee and we met up for breakfast yesterday. We were joined by my nephew and his darling kids.

This is Gabriel. He is just a riot. He sat there while we chatted and entertained himself with a straw and a toothpick!

This is Alivia. She's going to be in first grade this fall and she's really excited that she is going to have her own desk at school.

This is my nephew Jason. He's a police officer. I really enjoyed watching him with his kids. He's a great Dad.

Last but not least.....yours truly and my sister Karen. It was so good to see her. We don't see each other often enough and it was great to just sit and chat for a couple of hours.


Besides the nice breakfast, I finished painting our bedroom! It's a small room, but still a lot of work. On Sunday I ran errands and then started to put the room back together again. We decided to switch out dressers and move a book shelf and paint a dresser. I also opted to take sandpaper to a vanity and chair rather than paint it again. The distressed look turned out great.

As soon as I have the room finished, I'll take some pictures to show you. I love the new look. I also started cleaning out my workshop. Right after the showers I will be back to creating things for my etsy shop, FourDogDay. I have some wonderful patterns for aprons and tote bags, and I also want to try my hand at some other ideas....so it should be a busy fall!

Off topic.....I made an appointment to get my hair cut really short on the 18th and I can't wait. This is too much hair for me. Also, I see the doctor Tuesday to see what my treatment options are for my not so happy uterus. I'll let you know what she says.

I hope your weekend was a good one. Have a wonderful day tomorrow and do something nice for yourself and for someone else too!

Shop and Paint

Bernadette and I had such a great time baby shower shopping yesterday. We started out at Starbucks to have a treat and go over the registry to see what we might want to look at. Since Tresa and Chris occasionally read my blog, I can't really tell you what we bought...but let's just say we had a blast! I will take pictures and then after the showers I'll show you.

After shopping I came home and sweet Irv had painted the ceiling in the bedroom for me. That meant I could dig right in on the walls. Have you ever painted a room and immediately hated it? That is how I felt about our bedroom the last time I painted it. I hated everything about it....the colors, the bedspread, the valance, the lamp......ugh....here is what it looked like. A couple of the walls were a deep gold color and a couple were that brick whatever it is color. Man, I must have been in one heck of a funk when I picked those.

The bedspread was a sort of mossy green and it was okay, but I didn't love it. Then I made a valance, a lamp shade and pillows out of this fabric that was just not "me" and I still to this day have no idea what I was thinking!

So, here we go.....the transformation to an awesome light blue that will go with the bedding that Bernadette gave me. She decided she didn't like it for the room she was redoing and gave it to me. It's almost brand new. I think I showed it to you a long time ago, but I think those pictures are on my old hard drive. Once I'm done I'll take some new pictures and show you again.

I didn't have much light when I took these so it's hard to see the blue....it's more of a gray blue than a baby blue. It matches the bedding really well.

I got the first coat on today, and I'll put the next coat on when I get off work half day on Friday. Then I will have the weekend to work on the closet and trim. I am sooooo thrilled with the color. I makes the room look so much bigger than the dark colors. Lovin' it already!

Make it a good one and do something nice for yourself today....and maybe for someone else too!

Office Painting

They are painting our office next week. That means that we all have to find other places to be and other things to do. I decided to save all of my filing and reorganizing in our Archive room for next week. I have boxes and boxes of files that need to be refiled into the correct boxes on the shelves. It's so much fun.........I'm kidding of course.

I really can't be near where they are painting though. When we paint at home, we open windows and use fans to keep the smell down....at work...because the rooms they paint are so large, the smell is really overwhelming to me.

Last year they were painting downstairs with a really potent kind of paint, the smell came up into our office and I had to leave a couple of days because my lungs felt like they were on fire. This paint won't be like that, but I'm going to stay as far away from it as I can next week.

We are going from beige to a light blue. Should be a big improvement.I'll try to post some before and after pictures. Can't wait until it's done! Do you like to paint? I love it and as soon as I find some free time I am going to paint our bedroom....and then the bathroom.....and then the guest room....and then the kitchen. By then it will be time to start all over with the living room. :)

What Do You Think?

My daughter-in-law, Bernadette sent me a text last week and asked if I would like the comforter set from their spare bedroom. I was a little confused because she had just bought it recently. I thought maybe she meant a different set, but nope, that was the one she meant. She decided it was darker than what she wanted.

I had planned to paint our bedroom this spring and was debating what look I wanted to go for this time around. I was thinking something blue, or yellow or green or a mix. Well here is the comforter and sheets!

I will be going with blue and green! How awesome is that? She gave them to me Saturday. They are just so perfect....now I can't wait to start painting. Not sure what color to do the walls....I'll need to drag out my hundreds and hundreds of color charts again! What do you think? Mossy green? Light blue? White? Your thoughts?

I'm Here

I'm still here. I had a tough time this morning. I could barely walk. It took a while to loosen up enough so I could get ready to go to work. I went into work....I know....silly me. My boss had a big training thing going on today and I wanted to be sure everything was ready. I managed to stay until 11:30 and then headed home. I just couldn't sit for more than a couple of minutes at a time. I had to keep going for walks down the hall.

I rested for a little bit when I got home, but then I had to get up and walk. Irv was home, so we took a ride to Menard's. We would love to complete our bathroom redo before Christmas, so we wrote down what we needed and what it cost. Our list consisted of things like a pedestal sink, faucet, toilet, wainscot, flooring, exhaust fan and light fixture. We found a sink and faucet we liked, and Irv looked at the toilets. I couldn't care less what kind of toilet we have. As long as it works, I'm happy. We found an exhaust fan and went back and forth between tile and vinyl flooring and ended up bringing some tile samples home to see if we like them.

I went over to look at the price of the wainscot and the packages were buy one get one free through the 15th. I tried to figure out how much we would need and grabbed four packages for $20 total!! That was a big Chee Hoo! We measured when we got home and I was right on!!

Next we bought a quart of the awesome yellow paint for our little wood toy box turned coffee table. When we got home, Irv covered the kitchen table with a tarp and set me up so I could sit or stand to paint it. I got one coat on and oh my gosh, do I love it! I will try to put the second coat on tomorrow if my back will allow it and I will show it to you once the hinges are back on. It is just so darn cute!

Since I have to do some walking tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can get Irv to go over to the resale shop. I need an old wood t.v. stand that I can paint. Maybe we will get lucky.

Well, my back is saying I have been sitting for long enough so I need to close. Sorry no pictures, but I'll make it up to you if I find anything awesome at the resale shop tomorrow. Have a wonderful evening and we will chat soon!

Painting, Coasters, Coffee Tables and Another Guest

Irv and I are moving at full speed on our living room painting/redecorating project. We are washing, patching and sanding all of the trim after work each day in the hopes that we will be ready to paint it over the weekend. That would be so awesome.

When we are not washing, patching and sanding trim we are doing other things. I am making holiday coasters. I have 18 sets made and I am in the process of sealing them today. Then I just need to put the cork on the back and they will be ready to list. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, but I have the shakiest hands sometimes!


When Irv isn't washing, patching and sanding trim, he has been working on what is going to be our new little coffee table. Remember this little old wooden toy box I showed you a while ago? It had two loose legs and a broken hinge. Here it is before Irv started working on it.

And this is how it looks in the garage right now. It's been repaired, sanded and primed. It's just waiting for me to decide what color I want it.

The top is very warped, but I am going to leave it like that. I like the funkiness of it. Great non-word.....funkiness!

It's either going to be the dark yellow or the dark blue. I'm undecided. What do you think?

Oh....different topic. We MIGHT be having a little four legged visitor stop by Friday evening to meet Wrigley and Sparky. Her name is Georgia and she is a one year old Border Collie/Lab mix. She is in a foster home right now waiting for her "forever" family and we are going to see if we might be it. She is being fostered about an hour south of us, but her foster family is going to be passing through our area on their to a town north of us and they offered to stop by so we can see her. Our application has already been approved, so now we just need to see if she is the right fit for our little "pack". I'll take some pictures and share them with you if she visits. Could this be Wrigley's new playmate? We shall see.....

Quaking Grass Green

We went to give blood yesterday, and for the first time ever, my iron was too low to donate. I was SO very bummed. To make me feel better I went over to Caribou and got a chai....all better. I made an appointment for next Saturday and absolutely have to eat better this week. Broccoli, spinach and all that high iron good stuff!

Remember how I was so set on the mossy Sassafrass Green for the living room? Well I had all my color swatches with me in the car on the way to get the paint, and just kept looking at them. I entered the store still undecided. I looked at the greens separately and with all of the accent colors that went with them....and guess what....I didn't end up getting Sassafrass! I ended up with Quaking Grass instead. The accent colors are all so awesome...brown, blue, yellow....I can have so much fun with it.

I got the first coat done!! Chee hoo!! The pictures aren't great, but you'll get the idea. It's such a HUGE change! Here is the hallway when it was the khaki color....

And here it is in Quaking Grass Green!!

I might do the second coat today if my hands will let me. Man, I forgot how much work painting is. About three quarters of the way through I was ready to throw in the towel for the day....but I didn't and I'm glad. Just one coat to go, then trim and it will be time to decorate!

I am off to the grocery store and then I'll decide if it's going to be a painting day or an etsy day. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Roller Coaster....

Wow! I feel like I'm on a roller coaster and they won't let me off!

First...I am busy at work making those 6 Halloween costumes, plus keeping up with my regular work. I made good progress today on the Hand Sanitizers. Story and photos here. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow so I can show you.

Second...I am busy at home listing, and listing, and listing in etsy, all of the things I made during the spring and summer that are sitting here and never made it into MyOtherShop. I am having trouble getting good pictures of the tote bags and that is always so frustrating. I'll try again when I get some good light. I've probably listed over 50 new things in the past few days. It's good because I have even sold a few of them too. Remember....you can't sell what you don't have listed!

Third...we plan to start painting this weekend. Irv has to patch a recurring crack in the ceiling and then we will be ready to go. I think I am going to go with the Sassafrass Green. It's a bit on the mossy side and I like that. Then I can accent with brown, yellow and of course a touch of blue.

Fourth...we are looking for another dog. (See yesterday's post) We aren't in any hurry. We're just perusing Petfinder.com and seeing if any little face pops up that says, "Here I am!" Actually, they all say that, but we are looking for a particular mix, size, sex and age...so it might take us a while. Still, I think about it daily...not with worry, just thinking.

One nice thing is that I don't get too worked up, even when I have a lot on my plate. I'm working to stay centered and only focus on whatever it is I am working on at that moment, and not get distracted by what's waiting in the wings. That usually works well for me.

The only thing with a true deadline is the costumes and they will get done....somehow.

So, how does your fall look? Anything fun and exciting going on or anything that causes you to burst into tears when you think about it? Feel free to share!

The Missing Paint Swatches

Last week I talked about picking a color to paint my living room. I had the little booklets with the tiny little color samples in them, but once I started to narrow it down, I knew I needed more.

I went to Menards and picked out a bunch of the nice big 4 X 5 color swatches they have in the colors I liked. I brought them home and I taped about 6 different greens to two different walls in my living room. Then I took the accent color swatches and I tucked them in around the back of the green they went with...kind of like this.

Each time I was in the living room, I would notice the color swatches and slowly I was starting to eliminate the ones I didn't like. Then it happened....

We got home Friday night from the craft show set up, and as I walked through the living room I noticed that Wrigley's little bed had something all over it. I walked over to take a closer look. I bent down to see what it was, and it turned out to be what was left of a lovely yellow accent color swatch. I looked up at the wall and one whole set of swatches was missing! I knew where the yellow was, but what happened to the green, the blue and the brown? Obviously they fell off the wall, and I was hoping the rest of them had slid under the couch when they fell.

Uh, no!

The colors looked really nice on the wall....I did not check to see how they looked in the back yard.