Ramona's Radiant Life

Still Alive

2010-09-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

Well, I am still alive . . . mostly. The last two months have been pretty crazy. First was my wonderful trip to St. Thomas with my mom. I hope to do a post about that, with pictures, later this week. Unfortunately, I haven't really felt well since coming home from that trip. Travel always tires me out and the travel day coming home was horrendous. Completely exhausting. I felt like a zombie for the next week. Then, let's see . . . Mr. M. C. went out of town for a week; the day after he got home, I went to Missouri to see Kevin for the weekend. He was there for 2 weeks of training. I got home late Monday night and Wednesday afternoon my mom flew in for my graduation. So we had house cleaning and party prep to do. It was fun to see my mom again so soon, though.

The graduation and party were lovely. Lots of people came to share my special day and I got lots of nice gifts, too. Mr. M. C. smoked 4 briskets, my mom made her delicious potato salad, Laura made her famous chopped salad, and we had way too much yummy food. It was all topped off with an almond cake with buttercream frosting. Yum yum yum! We played a mad game of Apples to Apples that night and my mom took us all to the cleaners.

Then Mr. M. C. went out of town again, I think. It's all kind of a blur now. I tried to recover from the party and started making rounds of doctor visits to try and find out why I'm having so much trouble breathing. As usual, all the doctor visits have just made me sicker. Sigh. I've also been seeing the podiatrist because I've had a lot of foot pain, so now I have a cast on my right foot and I start physical therapy for it on Tuesday.

So there's the long, sordid tale of why I feel crappy and have no energy. And it's fall here, so beautiful every day, and I can't even get enthused about decorating. That is just sad. I'm hoping to do some this week.

In other news, we have started our box-a-day packing routine that we did when moving from Tucson to here. Our house is on the market and we have no idea when it will sell. It could take a year or more, but we have to be prepared. We are packing up things we can live without for several months and will just keep going until we are down to the necessities. We are also concentrating on decluttering as much as possible, getting rid of things we don't use or don't love. If we're lucky, the house won't sell for long enough that we will be ready to buy a house when it's time to move. But we'll see what happens.

And I've been sending out resumes, but no interviews yet. If I don't find something soon, I will probably start doing temp work just to bring in some money and get back into the working lifestyle. That will also bring job opportunities my way.

Last, but not least, I am test driving cars. So far I've driven a Hyundai Elantra, a Mazda3, a Scion xB, and a Toyota Yaris and Corolla. The Scion xB was my favorite, the Mazda3 and Corolla were about even seconds. I still have 4 cars I want to try, then we will sit down with the short list and make some decisions. I'm not even sure how we will do it, but I don't see how I can get to a job without a second car. Trying to do it with just the truck will be crazy. Plus, driving the truck really hurts my foot and ankle, so I need to quit doing it.

So there's my news for now. No fun pictures in this post, unfortunately, although I did get a couple of goodies at Wizard of Odds when my mom was here. I also got some fun Halloween things at Cracker Barrel and TJ Maxx a few weeks ago. Maybe I'll get a chance to post those later this week, too, as I'm digging out all my decorations.

Where the heck is Ramona? - 7/14/10

2010-07-15T11:08:00.002-04:00

Paradise Point, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands

Where the Heck is Ramona? 7/13/10

2010-07-13T20:51:00.000-04:00

Sapphire Beach, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Where the heck is Ramona? - 7/12/10

2010-07-13T20:49:00.000-04:00

Cinnamon Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Finally!

2010-07-05T23:34:00.002-04:00

I’ve been working on these chairs for a month. Sheesh! I thought they’d never be done. There were some paint issues, then there were some more paint issues, then there were some clear coat issues, and some more clear coat issues. They still have clear coat issues, but I’m calling them done, because I want chairs for my dining area. So, here’s the before pictures:

I got all four of these chairs from one seller on Craigslist. They were $10 each. The top two are allegedly from Crate and Barrel. I liked the basic shapes and three of the four were good and sturdy. One of the Crate and Barrel chairs was rickety, so I learned how to take it apart and reglue the joints. Now it’s solid, too. I’m excited at being able to do that. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of rickety chairs that I liked over the years, because I didn’t know how to fix them. Now I won’t have to do that anymore. I also won’t have to pass up used chairs that I like because they aren’t sturdy. Coolness!
Here are my new dining chairs:

(You can see that Treat approves of them.) I’ve been thinking a lot about color schemes. I like changing my decor out for the seasons, and I like lots of different colors, so I thought for the big pieces I’d go for classic neutral finishes and colors. That should allow me to change things out as much as I want.
The fabric on these is a luscious linen. Right after I recovered the seats, I found another fabric at Joann ETC that I liked even better, maybe. I had to buy that, too, so I might make chair skirts out of it. Or use it for a bench cushion. I’m not sure yet. I will be redoing the bench to match the chairs.
And here’s the before and after of my dining area:

Yuck, those folding chairs. So uncomfortable! We’ve been sitting on them for about 5 years. I’m so glad they’re going.

So much better. I heart my new chairs.

Oh, yeah. I'm hoping to put this one on BNotP's Metamorphosis Monday, so don't forget to check out the other cool metamorphoses. Is that the plural of metamorphosis?

Stuff and Things

2010-06-28T22:25:00.003-04:00

When Mike and Laura came to see Kevin last month, Laura and I had a very successful shopping trip at our favorite new place, Wizard of Odds. We found too much good stuff there and couldn’t get all of it, but what we got was pretty cool. I don’t have pictures of everything yet, but here is one thing I bought with my birthday money:

It’s a gorgeous corner unit made out of an old door. You can see the old hardware in this close-up:

I had to use my flash to take the picture, since it’s in a dark corner, so you can’t see the pretty blue color. Staging things is not one of my natural talents, so I will be asking Laura to help me figure out what to put on this the next time she visits.
In the close-up, you can see the really cool lab flask she got me for my birthday.
I also bought this sign at Hobby Lobby that weekend:

Laura and I have also taken to working on projects whenever we get together, rather than just buying more. The weekend of their visit, we made chalkboards. Here’s the before of mine:

I loved the old barn wood frame, but the brass corner pieces were pretty awful, as was the too glossy picture which had a clock in it. We forgot to take before pictures, so this is not the picture that was in my frame, but it’s close.
Here’s my after:

I used an old scrabble letter holder to hold chalk. I like it a lot. Making chalkboards is pretty easy and I think I’ll be making lots more of them, since I have plenty of paint left.

Edited to Add: I'm trying a linky party for the first time, so hopefully this will show up on Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to click over there and see lots of great befores and afters. Now let's hope this works . . . .

I'm Done!

2010-06-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm . . .

You get the point.

Happy Kittens

2010-06-13T15:40:00.001-04:00

Look what Mr. MC made for our lucky kitties!

We put it upstairs in the new craft room, which TNT have already decided is their room. After he brought it upstairs, Mr. MC put catnip all over it to entice the dynamic duo to get on it. I didn’t think they would need the encouragement, but he wanted to be sure they had positive feelings about it.

They headed right to it as soon as we let them in the room.

Within a minute or two, they were both stoned.

Then Treat found the secret passage to the third level.

And he just kept going up.

Soon Trick discovered the upper levels, too.

It didn’t take long for them to figure out it would add to their fun during the hour of scampering.

Pretty soon they were all mellow.

Later this afternoon, when I came inside after putting the first coat of paint on my new chairs, I went looking for the kittens and found this:

I suspect we’ll never see them downstairs anymore, except when they want to be fed.

Sims 3: Zombie Apocalypse

2010-05-27T07:33:00.001-04:00

The apocalypse came suddenly, as apocalypses usually do, but there were those who said it’d been a long time growing. Growing was the right word for it, although the religious extremists and radical survivalists didn’t know it. They spoke of the arrogance of scientists and multibillion dollar conglomerates, the evils of cloning and stem cell research, the greed of politicians and CEOs. They prophesied doom at the turn of the new millennium and again in 2012. But binary code and ancient Mayan calendars had nothing to do with the end of the world when it came in 2036. And none of them had ever heard of the experiments taking place deep underground, where thousands of human clones slept in suspended animation, walking, breathing delivery systems for the deadliest chemical weapons ever developed. Everyone knew bioengineering was the new frontier. No one knew it would be the last.

Dawn Taylor counted her stock of canned food one more time, somehow hoping the first three counts had been mistakes. “Two hundred and four,” she finished. Nope, not a mistake. She sighed. Three people, each eating two cans a day, that gave them . . . thirty-four days. Just over a month. The weavelly flour and rice would give out before that. They needed to cut back their rations, but how could they continue to forage for supplies if they were weak from hunger?

More needed to be done. Nickey was working feverishly on ways to clean up the water. He’d found a more or less intact chemistry set on one of his foraging missions and spent most of his days muttering over it, testing various compounds on water from their pond. Maybe she could use her prewar hobby to help with the food shortage. She’d never tried to garden in ground covered with ash and most likely filled with dangerous biochemical residue, but maybe she could find a way to protect the plants. She knew a bit about chemistry herself, after all.

“Where can we find more chemistry supplies,” she asked David as he walked past her with a book in hand. He thought for a minute. “The old military base probably has all kinds of useful supplies. If we can get in and if it isn’t infested with Zs and if we don’t run into any looters.”

Thank Goodness for Skype!

2010-05-18T17:23:00.001-04:00

Kevin began his trip to Germany at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, when we got up to drive him to the Cleveland airport. We said goodbye to him at about 7 a.m. Boy, did that day suck.

Yesterday I got to talk to him on Skype for a while. He’d traveled for about 27 hours, then spent the afternoon in processing at the base in Germany. He was pretty tired when we talked, but happy to be there and hanging out with his friends. He has posted pictures on his Facebook page. Anyone who might want to Skype with him, email me and I’ll give you his Skype name. Or, you know, check Facebook. Apparently my son has no worries about privacy.

Here’s some pictures from his graduation and month at home:

Kevin in his class As, which were clearly too big for him by that time.

On family day. My god, he’s tall!

At graduation. I’ve decided he’s joined the Ministry of Silly Hats.

Wearing his cool new shades.

Mike and Laura came to see him.

Yeah, yeah, we all know I’m short.

I miss him dreadfully. I’m so thankful for technology that allows us to talk face to face from halfway around the world. I can’t wait to hear about all of his adventures.

A sleepily joyful homecoming

2010-04-17T19:41:00.001-04:00

I’m sorry these are blurry. My camera was (is still) buried in the piles of luggage, so my phone was all I had handy for these pictures, taken at 3 a.m. this morning.

My son is home, living here for the next month until he heads to Germany. I am happy and occasionally overwhelmed by grief. How does anyone survive their children leaving home? I think it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

My first sight of Kevin on Thursday was a huge grin before being enveloped in a hug. We had a nice low-key day. We took Kevin to a restaurant he’d heard about from his drill sergeants and wanted to try. It was delicious. We hung out in the air-conditioned hotel room, watched TV, napped, and talked. We went shopping at the Exchange. On Friday, the graduation was at 9 a.m. The ceremony was rousing and funny and just the right length. A nice rite of passage with no boring parts. Apparently the Army knows what it’s doing. Afterward Kevin did a little more shopping on post, we had lunch, changed clothes, and got on the road about 2 p.m. It was a very long ride home.

My son is impossibly beautiful. I don’t know why the girls don’t swoon everywhere he goes. He’s full of stories and swear words. He’s calm and confident and has a new level of self-awareness. He calls waitresses and cashiers ma’am. He has ambitious plans for his future. He drinks Monster energy drinks like water. He eats fast but healthy and less than he used to. He sang cadences for us in the car. I didn’t even know he could carry a tune. He missed music most during his training. He made good friends, some of whom he will miss and many of whom will be waiting for him in Germany. He probably won’t be deployed until late next year. He still wants to be a mechanic. Or a weapons specialist. Yes, that sounds like my son.

He’s still Kevin, but he’s grown. He’s bigger and smaller all at the same time. It’s good to have him home.

Birthdays and Miracles

2010-04-07T18:26:00.001-04:00

Firstly, look what my mom sent me for my birthday:

It’s a pendant and earring set. She said it made her think of Halloween when she saw it and of course, that made her think of me. Isn’t it awesome?!!! I have to get a chain so I can wear it soon. It will look great with the new black pants and jackets I’ve been buying for work.

Here’s a lovely birthday week story:

I planned a get together with a friend for this week so that I wouldn’t spend the whole week alone. We were going to watch the first two Twilight movies on dvd, plus all the special features. I got New Moon as soon as it was released, so it’s been sitting here for a couple of weeks, still in the shrink wrap, waiting for tonight. Today my friend texted me and said something came up and she couldn’t make it tonight. No go for tomorrow night, either. So I was here feeling a bit sorry for myself and thinking that I need to do something to make more friends who actually live in the same town as me, when I look out my window to see a car pulling into my driveway. It was my classmate, Shelley, who is taking the Careers in Psychology class with me. She came over this past Sunday and we did our collages for The Artist’s Way together. On Sunday she admired some of my vintage pieces and we talked about our mutual love of home renovation and vintage decorating. Today, she was just stopping by to bring me two old windows that she’d had for a long time. She’s getting rid of stuff in preparation for a move and wanted me to have them. For free. For my birthday. She even brought a birthday card with them. Here’s the windows:

They’re so beautiful! I got weepy and gave her a big hug and said I’d been feeling sorry for myself and she made me feel so good. Then she invited me to Red Lobster for dinner tonight. Apparently someone’s listening up there.

And finally, a picture of the new me, taken with great difficulty after many somber and silly tries:

V-Day Tablescape

2010-04-03T21:59:00.001-04:00

As must be obvious to the most casual observer by now, school and blog posting are not mixing well for me. The last 3 weeks have been pretty rough. However, this next week is not looking too bad, which is nice, since it’s my birthday week. Mr. MC will be out of town all week, so I am planning fun things to do for myself.

For fun, here’s a tablescape I did for Valentine’s Day:

It was fun to use my new table runner. I got it here. It is red and white striped ticking with a pretty white ruffle. It was listed as a Christmas item originally, but it will be handy for all sorts of occasions. The pretty gift bag, heart shaped bowl, and red and clear glass hearts were all gifts from my mother-in-law. She likes to give us fun little Valentine’s Day care packages every year. I put the glass hearts and some tea lights on my ironstone platter and they looked very pretty lit. Unfortunately, I’m not a skilled enough photographer for those sorts of pictures. Maybe eventually I’ll learn to use my camera well enough to do that. For placemats, I just used some pink tissue paper I’ve had for years. It was fun to do a festive table. I’d like to do more.

2010-03-21T12:15:00.000-04:00

Monday's discussion in my capstone class was about a potential new therapy to treat people with depression. Unfortunately, most of the discussion consisted of various students (and at one point, even the professor) making such statements as depressed people need to "suck it up," "make do," and my favorite, "man up." Most of the students believed that people suffering from depression could just make up their minds to get over it and function. They just want to pop pills or they're just using it as a crutch were some typical comments. I left the classroom feeling angry and frustrated. These are senior psychology students, the future of the profession! Some of them will be working with depressed clients or studying therapies and drugs to treat depression. I think our psychology program has failed if it is graduating students with these attitudes.

In other news, Kevin has finally received his first posting. After graduating in April, he will be going to join the 18th Engineering Brigade which is stationed near Schwetzingen, Germany. He thinks they will be deployed to Afghanistan after the first of next year.

Anyone up for Christmas in Germany?

Hobgoblins

2010-02-20T10:28:00.001-05:00

Probably my favorite find of our thrifting weekend was these glasses I got at the Goodwill store.

A close-up:

(Loving my new camera.)

Aren’t they awesome?! They’re tall and have a nice heft to them, which is important to me. I like my dishes to feel as good as they look. I found five of them.

Laura and I looked them up on the internet when we got home and discovered that they come from the Hobgoblin Pub in Japan. I don’t know why someone wanted to get rid of them, but I’m sure glad I was there to find them. Now I want a whole collection of pub glasses for Halloween! Anyone know any other appropriately named pubs I should seek out?

Boxes

2010-02-13T20:18:00.001-05:00

Shopping while visiting Mike and Laura a couple of weeks ago was especially fruitful. There were many vintage scores that had me cackling with glee. Now that Mr. MC has gifted me with a new camera for Valentine’s Day (thank you, Honey!), I will post my new goodies for all to see.

First, we went to university salvage and scored a great vintage lab floor lamp. It has a sticker on it that declares it the property of Penn State College. Penn State changed its name from that to Penn State University in 1953. <cackle> We also got several library card catalog drawers and some other vintage boxes, 9 in all, for $1 each. <cackle> The salvage trip started off a weekend of good luck with thrifty finds, especially vintage finds. I’ll share more in later posts.

For now, I’ll show you a couple of the card catalog drawers I got and what I did with them. There are 4 of these drawers. I’m using 2 and I have some ideas for the other two, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with them yet.

This first one I’m using as a tea box. It’s a perfect fit for the bigger tea bags I usually buy, like Yogi Teas. I like all the colors lined up in the gray box. I may paint the boxes at some point, but for now I don’t mind the gray. This box still has the metal compressor in the back, so as I use up tea I can keep them propped up. I like the way it looks. It’s so industrial.

Here’s a picture of it fitting perfectly in the pull out drawer in our kitchen where I keep my tea:

I wish two of them fit side by side in that drawer, but it’s just a little too narrow. You can see that I still have 3 unopened boxes of tea waiting their turn. I probably won’t leave this box in this drawer forever (I have big plans for the kitchen), but for now, it’s nice that it fits and it’s much neater and easier to find things this way.

The second box:

This is something I tried out to see if I’d like it. I’ve been wanting to get my crayons out of their box for a while. They don’t all fit in the box and the box is just not very appealing. I’d like to see all the colors. Right now they’re sitting in little votive holders.

I’ve decided I definitely do like this idea. I need to get slightly bigger cups for the crayons. I also need to put a piece of board in the bottom of the box, as the cups won’t sit evenly on the compressor tracks. This box no longer has the compressor. Only two of them did. I think what I might want to hold the crayons is small lab beakers. I think they might look cool. On the other hand, maybe I will look for pretty little glasses, as I think delicate glasses will look awesome inside the industrial box. Yes, I think I like that idea better. Bonus, there are lots of pretty little glasses at thrift stores. I’ll just have to take some measurements and get a feel for what size I need.

Here’s another picture of the crayon box, straight on:

I want the crayons to show more over the edge, so I’ll probably put a somewhat thick piece of board in the bottom to prop them up a bit. Maybe a piece of plywood. This looks really cool sitting on our bookshelves. I couldn’t get a picture of it there because it was too dark in the corner. Just take my word for it.

There are more goodies to come. Patience . . . .

Of Dragons, Electronics, and Sons

2010-02-02T15:26:00.001-05:00

As requested, here are more pictures of my Halloween dragon. His name is Sam Hain. <snicker>

Here’s an extremely blurry close-up:

I heard a rumor that I might be getting a new camera soon. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m also looking at laptops. Having one would make some of my course work much easier. I went and tried some at Best Buy this weekend. Of course, I want the Sony Vaio, which is expensive. But I really liked the Vaio’s keyboard and touchpad buttons, as well as the shape and size. The Vaio would be my intermediate choice. In a perfect world, I’d get a MacBook Air. I heart those. But if I get anything, it’ll be a Dell, because they are affordable. Bonus: I can get a purple one!

Kevin is doing really well in Basic. He’s having fun, even. He gets longer phone calls now, so we get to have real conversation. Sunday he was talking about how he got to try rappelling and climbing down a rope from the top of a 60’ tower last week. Yikes!

He’s sick with bronchitis and pink eye, both of which are running rampant through the barracks. At least he gets free medical care.

I can’t wait to see him again. I wonder how different he’ll be?

Downstairs Bathroom

2010-01-10T14:57:00.001-05:00

I’ve decided that this year I want to go through each room in the house, decluttering, deep cleaning, and decorating. It’s something I’ve wanted to do before, but I always get caught up in wanting the rooms to be perfect and being unable to afford perfection. Now that perfectionism and I are parting ways, I’m looking forward to trying it. I started last week with the downstairs bathroom, as it’s tiny and didn’t need much. It looks so sparkly clean now. I cleaned both light fixtures and I think it’s actually brighter in there. Although I replaced the overhead bulb with a CFL and it seems really dim, even though it’s the same apparent wattage. I don’t know what that’s about.

Anyway, I also did a couple of little makeovers that I’ve been wanting to do. I painted the little rack that hangs on the wall over the towel bar with black spray paint. I’m not even showing it here because it really doesn’t look much different. It was dark mottled green before. Truth is, I’d like to replace it with something I like better. I found a couple things I like on Etsy:

Something like this would be cool, although not this color. Maybe just a distressed white. I found this here.

I really like this, too, which I found here. Of course I would want it distressed a bit. Although in my house, that’s usually not a problem.

I may order something, or I may keep my eyes open at the thrift stores for something I could turn into one of these.

I also want some funky hooks from which to hang the rack that’s there for the moment, plus the bicycle basket above the toilet. They’re both hanging from picture hooks right now, but I’d like something that looks more appealing. Maybe some hand made iron hooks, or some old rusty hooks. Again, I’ll be looking around, or I may just give in and get something from Etsy. Don’t you just love Etsy?!

The other makeover is one I’m really happy with. I painted the old stepladder that stands in the corner! I’ve wanted to do it for a while and I finally did. I knew just what color I wanted to paint it, a bright turquoise, so off I went to Lowe’s. Then I got completely overwhelmed by all the paint chips. Is this one too blue? Or maybe this one’s too green? Is this one bright enough, or too bright? I almost decided to take a bunch of paint chips home and try them, and then I said, “No way! I’m going home with some paint!” So I just picked one and got a little sample pot. I figure, worst case scenario, I don’t like the first color, or even the first few, and I end up with a bunch of chippy paint layers on it. Now wouldn’t that be a shame?!

Here’s the ladder before. (You know the cats have to inspect everything that gets moved.) I really like this ladder, the rough old wood and rusty hardware. I tried not to get too much paint on the hardware, although of course I couldn’t avoid it completely. But I like the way it looks with some oops paint on it.

After I was done with the first coat of paint, I stood up, turned around, and found this on the floor behind me:

Little devils! I don’t even know how they managed that. They must have stepped on the paint can lid, although it was right next to me the whole time. Fortunately, I was able to get the paint out of the carpet.

The after:

It makes that little corner much brighter. I smile every time I walk in there.

My first before and after!

I Heart TJ Maxx

2010-01-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I went to TJ Maxx to see if they still had a couple of things I saw when my mom and I were there right before Christmas. They did and I was happy/sad because I could still have them, right after paying for them. Then I saw another thing that I absolutely loved (damn you, TJ Maxx!) and I had to buy that, too. I tried so hard to talk myself out of it, but it didn’t work. Here’s my goodies:

Aren’t these candlesticks gorgeous?! Blue glass. I tried to convince myself I only needed one, but they belong together, don’t you think? And I’m 102% certain one of my friends would happily take one off my hands if I (unlikely) decide two is overkill. Also, two words: Beach House!

Do these even need an explanation? Rusty wire baskets. Plus rustic wood handles. Now who would be surprised that I had to have these?

And the new thing I fell in love with:

I have been wanting one of these for a while now. More rusty wire. Tiers. Sigh. I can’t wait to fill it with something wonderful. It may just hold produce in our kitchen for now. Or not, depending on whether Trick decides that garlic is fun to bat around. What should I put in it for Halloween? That is the real question. Ideas, please.

I didn’t even go through the rest of the store, I was too afraid. But I caught glimpses of cute Valentine’s dishes, so I might have to go back later. Damn you, TJ Maxx!

Big Rocks

2010-01-03T16:09:00.000-05:00

Although I'm not a big fan of Stephen Covey's writing style, I think The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has some good stuff in it. Probably my favorite idea of his has to do with rocks. When talking about prioritizing our lives, he uses an analogy about putting big and little rocks into a container. If we pour in all the little rocks first, he says, there's no room for the big rocks. But if we put the big rocks in first, then we can pour the little rocks into the extra spaces and fit in everything. Well, I'm not sure that we can, or should, put in everything, but that's another point entirely.

Last semester I spent a lot of time focusing on what I didn't want. I didn't want to be a perfectionist about school, I didn't want to spend all my time on school work, and I didn't want to be stressed and overwhelmed all semester. I worked hard on those goals and I learned a lot. Now, however, I'm seeing that I want to shift my focus to what I do want.

So now I'm focusing on putting in the big rocks first, every day. Using the Law of 3s I have identified three areas which profoundly impact the quality of my life. These are food, movement, and finances. Each day I make sure that I do my planned nanosteps in these three areas and I check in with someone when they're done.

It feels good. I feel proud of myself in a way I never have before. I feel hopeful. I feel, "yes, I can do this!" Focusing on what I want puts a positive spin on my days that is new and exciting. To quote a favorite old song by Boston, I think I like it.

Grief and compassion

2009-12-31T10:12:00.000-05:00

Tuesday evening, we had dinner with Kevin at House of Blues in Cleveland. Then we took him back to his hotel and said goodbye.

There should be more ceremony when your child moves out. It was so anti-climactic. I think humans aren't meant to live in this society. It probably made a lot more sense when there was a big wedding celebration and then your child moved to another house in the same village.

This is hard. It's so much harder than I expected it to be. People talk about moms having trouble with the "empty nest." Society needs to have more compassion for moms. I was never compassionate toward those women. "They just need to have a life apart from their children," I said arrogantly, with a complete lack of understanding.

It's like getting a divorce from someone you still love and don't want to be divorced from. Mr. MC said it's like losing an arm. For 21 years this person has been one of the most important people in my life and I've been one of the most important people in his life. Now he's off to build a whole other life that doesn't include me except in the most peripheral sense.

I can't describe the grief, the loss. I thought I would feel sad, relieved, and guilty for feeling relieved. I don't feel any of that. Just overwhelming, crippling grief. I officially apologize to every mother for my lack of compassion.

I survived

2009-12-04T22:03:00.001-05:00

I wasn't sure I'd survive this week, but I did. Yay! I had my last class today, one final exam and my English final paper due. Got it all done. Next week is still crazy, one huge and one smallish paper and a final exam. So I'm still busy and won't have much time for posting for a few more days. But at least this week is over. I can see a teeny bit of daylight.

Edited to add: Oh! I added a music playlist to my blog. You'll have to press the play button if you want to hear some of my favorite Christmas music.

HomeGoods StyleScope - I'm an Earthy Casual

2009-11-26T00:42:00.000-05:00

This was a fun little quiz and I think the result was pretty accurate, for a change. Usually these quizzes don't get me, because they can't handle a mix of styles. But I think this one sounded about right.

HomeGoods StyleScope - I'm an Earthy Casual

Ramona, you are an Earthy Casual

You're interested in creating a welcoming home where people feel comfortable and happiness flourishes. You appreciate the warmth and individuality of natural materials and handcrafted things and are inspired by colors and forms from nature. You love mixing up different textures and are sensitive to the tactile qualities of objects. Your style is grounded and solid, not flighty or frilly. And you are never taken in by the trend of the moment.

You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.

Putting Your Style to Work!

With your style and needs in mind, here are a few tips that will help you make your home a little happier.

1. Your Design Challenge: ORGANIZE The front hall sets the mood for your entire home. Consider how to accommodate all the room's functions as beautifully as possible. At the very least you need a console, and if you're short on storage, consider a dresser. Outfit the surface with nice trays and bowls for mail, keys and sunglasses. Keep a trash can for immediately tossing the junk mail. Closet-door or wall hooks encourage coat and bag hanging rather than dumping. If you have children, try to give each a basket in the closet for hats and gloves. It's nice to have a chair or bench for changing shoes, a mirror for last-minute lipstick checks, and a lamp or sconces for warm light.

2. Your Happy Place You can make your bath like your own private spa, an escape from the world—even if you share it! Consider making every useful thing beautiful—from the soap dish and toothbrush cup to a pretty jar for cotton balls and a plush, new set of matching towels (white is the most calming and spa-like). You deserve this! Using trays for corralling perfumes and bowls or cups for makeup will make things look organized and attractive. A really lovely idea, if you have space, is to include some real furniture like a little lamp or a stool for setting towels or even a comfy chair by the tub!

3. Be Party-Ready All the Time! Scent: The first thing you notice about a home is how it smells. Use naturally fragrant cleaning products. If you find a scented candle or fresh potpourri you love, stock up on it. Any scent you like, whether perfume or linen spray, can be used on upholstery, bedding or just spritzed into the air.

Mood: Nice, flattering light makes us feel good. So nix the harsh, direct light from overhead fixtures in favor of the softer glow from floor and table lamps. Also, stock up on some votive candles and a couple of hurricane lanterns for setting around the room.

Food: Devote space in your pantry or on a shelf for go-to party essentials: crackers, dip, chips, nuts—whatever you like to serve. Keep on hand a collection of attractive bowls and cocktail napkins, and you'll be able to set a spread—instantly!

Drink: The simplest and chicest thing is to have a drinks tray or table always set up. Include a mix of pretty glasses, an ice bucket, a lovely pitcher, and bottles of soda and water. When the bell rings, just add ice and limes.

Posted using ShareThis

Cracker Barrel Goodies

2009-11-23T22:42:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday when we had brunch at Cracker Barrel, I found a few Halloween goodies on sale in the store. They were 60 or 70% off, I forget which. They were a bargain, anyway. Here they are:

A jack-o-lantern plate

A bat plate

An orange satin pumpkin covered in black lace. Trick likes it!

Just a few new goodies to get the new year’s collection started.

A Mini-Vacation

2009-11-19T22:42:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday I didn’t have classes because of Veteran’s Day. Mr. MC decided to take the day off, too (shock and awe), so we spent the day together. We went to Cracker Barrel for brunch and then we went to Mill Creek Park. First we went to Lanterman’s Mill. It was built in 1845 and it still operates as a mill. It wasn’t open, but we walked down to it and took in the scenery.

The mill:

Alongside the mill was a bird feeder with at least a dozen birds fluttering around it. I think they were all sparrows. I tried to get a picture of them, but you can’t really see them:

It was a beautiful sunny day, although windy and cold:

Looking south from the mill was a pretty covered bridge:

Looking north was an arched bridge for cars:

After we spent some time at the mill, we drove down the park further and found a bench overlooking a lake:

There were lots of geese in the lake and some obligingly swam right past us. I tried to get a picture of them, too, but again you couldn’t see them. Too bad my phone camera doesn’t have a telephoto lens.

We sat on the bench for a while, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting quietly soaking up the sun. It was lovely. Eventually I could no longer feel my face because it was cold, so we got in the car and went home for a nap.

It felt like a real vacation.

Creation Myth

2009-11-18T16:22:00.000-05:00

In my mythology class, we had to write our own creation myth. I thought I'd share mine, because I'm really happy with it. We talk a lot in the class about how myths shape culture, so I started mine with the idea of writing a myth that would shape the kind of culture I'd want to live in. Here's my attempt:

Before everything, there was the great ocean, vast and dark. Its depths were still and silent. Countless ages passed. Then the waters began to stir, a great turbulence from which arose a being, neither male nor female. This being was the First One. The First One looked around and saw that there was nothing but the great ocean. "I will make something," said the First One to itself. It stretched out its hands and tried to take hold of the water, but the water slipped through its fingers. The more it tried to hold the water, the faster the water slipped through its fingers. The First One thought for a while. Countless ages passed. Then the First One began to spin and spun itself apart into two distinct beings. One being was male and the other being was female. The male and the female looked at themselves and at each other and saw that they were beautiful. "I name myself, Wisdom," said the female. "I name myself, Love," said the male.

Wisdom and Love embraced and where their bodies touched, light shone. The light grew so bright that they could not bear to look at it, so they gathered it into their hands and hung it far above themselves. Once the light was shining down on them, they bent to their work. Together they cupped their hands in the water, collecting it with gentle strokes. They shaped the water carefully and then they breathed on it. Where their breath mingled, the shape grew firm and the water flowed away from it, so that became land. Love and Wisdom walked upon the land, delighting in the feel of it under their feet. Where their feet touched, plants sprang from the soil. Some plants grew tall, reaching for the light hanging far above. Wisdom and Love named these "trees." Other plants grew to cushion their feet as they walked and these were named "grass." Many plants grew, flowering plants, plants for food, even thorny plants to remind Love and Wisdom to be grateful for the soft grasses and to pay attention to where they walked. All the plants rejoiced in the bright light shining down on them, and so Wisdom and Love named that light "sun."

After a time, Love and Wisdom tired of walking. They lay on the soft ground and embraced each other. Countless ages passed. Their desire grew and they coupled. From their union, twins were born, neither male nor female. The twins embraced and where their bodies touched, light shone. The light grew bright and hurt their eyes, so they gathered it into their hands and hung it far above them. But they could not see their light hanging in the sky for the brightness of the sun, so they separated the sky. In one part, which they called "day," the sun shone, and in the other part, which they called "night," they hung their light and called it "moon."

The twins knew that to honor the First One, whose name was Balance, one of them must take the name, "Joy," while the other would take the name "Sorrow." They could not choose which would bear the greater burden; each volunteered to take it on and spare the other. They went to their parents and asked Wisdom and Love how to make such a choice. "Walk through the meadows," their parents told them, "and that one of you who is first to find a thorn shall be called Sorrow." So the twins walked hand in hand through the meadows until one cried out, for a thorn had pierced its foot. The injured twin, now named "Sorrow," reached down to pick up the thorn, tears of pain in its eyes. To comfort its twin, the other, now named "Joy," touched the thorn, and from its branches grew a new flower, loveliest and most fragrant of all the flowers. This is why the most beautiful flowers always have thorns.

Sorrow and Joy looked around at the earth. Joy cried tears of happiness at its beauty and where the tears fell, animals appeared, horses and dogs, seals and dolphins, all manner of animals which live on the earth and in the seas. Sorrow cried tears of grief at the earth's emptiness and where the tears fell, creeping, crawling, slithering creatures appeared, snakes and spiders, sharks and eels, all manner of creatures which hide in darkness. In some places, Joy's and Sorrow's tears mingled, and in these places, humans appeared, the most balanced of earthly beings, carrying both sorrow and joy in their souls.

The humans saw Love and Wisdom standing in the distance and were dazzled by their beauty. Many of the humans longed to be in the presence of that beauty and throughout their days, they looked frequently to the horizon to gaze upon Wisdom and Love. But other humans could not bear to see such beauty, for their hearts held more sorrow than joy, and so they turned away to look only at what lay in their path. And to this day, seeking Love and Wisdom brings joy to our hearts, while those who turn away find only sorrow.

In the presence of bravery

2009-11-16T22:57:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, Mr. MC and I went to a wedding reception for some friends of ours. They got married at the end of October in Connecticut, where it is now legal for same sex couples to be married. The party was their opportunity to share their joy with friends and family back home in Ohio.

It was a nice party. The grooms were giddy, like newlyweds should be. They both looked so happy, it was impossible not to feel happy in their presence. Someone toasted their bravery in making a public statement of their love for each other. He was right, it was brave of them.

But I was even more impressed at how many of their friends brought their children to the party, from toddlers to teens. They were brave, too. How wonderful that they are willing to show their children that marriage is a beautiful, wonderful, normal thing, regardless of the sex of the partners. Those people are truly changing the world. Their children will grow up wondering why gay marriage isn't legal everywhere. "What's the big deal?" they'll say.

In a society where some people might accuse those parents of mistreating their children, I applaud their bravery and loyalty to their friends. I can look forward with hope to a future where such children grow up to be leaders.

Eating the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

2009-11-09T10:18:00.002-05:00

Today in my mythology class we talked about the Genesis creation story and I suddenly understood more about "Belonging" and Topher. It was like Topher ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As Adele said, Topher didn't have any morals at first. He was like a child. Now he's beginning to develop a conscience, to know and feel the difference between right and wrong. He ate the fruit and now he can never go back.

So he really was innocent. And, he was evil. Does that mean Adam and Eve were evil? Of course, we never think of them that way. At least, I've never thought of them that way before. They were "without sin", right? They didn't know the difference between good and evil. Don't we call those psychopaths these days?

Does that make Whiskey/Dr. Saunders Eve? Or maybe she's the Serpent?

Dollhouse: Belonging

2009-11-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

We just caught up on our Dollhouse episodes, as we were a couple of weeks behind. Now, after seeing "Belonging" I'm having trouble settling to anything, so I figured I'd come try to write my thoughts about it.

I cried through the last third of it, I guess. It was an extremely powerful episode. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it, other than disturbed. It was supposed to be disturbing, of course. Having been in an abusive relationship with a man who made me think I was crazy at times, I'm not surprised I'm having such a strong reaction to it. Yet, surprisingly, even more than what happened with Sierra, it's Topher that I'm reacting to the most.

Topher. I've said all along he's the most evil person in the dollhouse. That arrogant brilliance. Adele stated it perfectly in the episode: he had no morals, humans were toys to him. We saw the first real crack in him in the first episode of this season, during the fabulously written and acted scene with him and Whisky/Dr. Saunders. Now, in "Belonging", he's turned into an entirely new person, at least in my eyes. His facial expressions all the way through, beautifully acted by Fran Kranz, just ripped my heart open. I think what I'm reacting to is a loss of innocence. Yes, it was an evil, arrogant innocence. Still.

After saying all that, what I have to say is I still have no words for what I'm feeling about that episode. I don't know if I could bear to watch it again. I know I won't be able to stop thinking about it. It must be a Joss Whedon show.

A Few Pictures

2009-11-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

Here are just a couple of pictures from our Halloween party. These are either from my phone or Laura’s phone, so the quality is not great. Laura is sending me a CD with all 57! of her pictures on it, so I will be able to share those soon.
The napkins I bought for the party (you wouldn’t believe how many napkins I looked through before finding ones I liked!):

Trick sleeping with the Halloween dragon that Laura, Becky, Michele and Mike bought me. (Halloween dragon! two of my favorite things combined):

A ghostly peep melting in a mug of hot chocolate:

Laura came as Kaylee, from Firefly. Her costume was great, but you can only see a little bit of it here. I hope she got better pictures with her camera. She wore a military jumpsuit and had “grease” smeared on her face. Inspired!

Kevin playing Rummy at the party after he got off work:

Becky as a slightly scary, kinda sexy witch. Her hat was great, it had a little spider dangling off the pointed tip.

Michele as a pirate. She and Rajib had matching pirate costumes which she sewed, because she is talented like that. She’s holding Trick, who was brought down to socialize with the party guests against his will. He has a mean mom!

And here’s Miss Fiona, who also came to the party. This is her back at home and happy to be away from all the chaos.

More pictures to follow. Meanwhile, I’m already thinking about next year’s invitations. . . .

Halloween Party

2009-11-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

The party was great! We had lots of fun, several people came, but not so many that I felt completely overwhelmed. Almost everyone wore a costume, which I didn't expect. I didn't have a costume. Doh! But I'm already looking forward to next year and I know exactly what my costume will be. I'm already finding pieces for it online.

Laura and Michele took pictures, so hopefully they'll send me copies soon and I can share them. I, of course, took none, because taking pictures with my phone is not much fun.

Halloween IV: Spooky Schooner

2009-10-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

Each year, Mr. MC buys me a new piece for my Halloween village. This year I got my new piece on Ebay, used, for half the price of a new one. It's in perfect condition, all it needed was a new light bulb. This piece is discontinued and I've been wanting it for a while, so I was thrilled to get it. It's called the Spooky Schooner.

Isn't it great! I'll have to start working on a landscape for my village, now, so there's a little bit of ocean, maybe a haunted cove, to put the Schooner on. Maybe Santa will bring some of the village-scaping books on my Amazon wish list this year. :-)

Fall on Campus

2009-10-29T22:12:00.000-04:00

This is what campus looks like right outside the building where most of my classes are:

Halloween Garden Lights

2009-10-25T18:34:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, I was complaining to Mr. MC that I couldn't use my jack-o-lantern outdoor lights because we have no electrical outlets on the outside of our house. He replied that he'd recently found a great alternative on one of his favorite new websites, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. We took a look at these and immediately ordered some LEDs and coin batteries to make our own. Right now I'm soaking labels off old glass jars we have laying around. We have white LEDs and orange ones, so we'll see which we like best.

I can hardly wait to try them out. We may have to make a couple tonight and see how they look. I'm hoping that one of my friends can get a picture of them next weekend. The nice thing is, they last for several days, so we can just put them up on Friday and leave them until Sunday night. I hope they're cool!

Edited to add: OMG! They are so cool! The orange lights are perfect. I can't wait to put them all out on Friday night. I can't stop chortling to myself. :-)

Caturday: Brotherly Luv

2009-10-24T11:01:00.002-04:00

Halloween is just ducky!

2009-10-24T00:02:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I received a fun little package from Laura. After the 20-ish minutes it took to unwrap the multiple layers of wrapping :-), I found the cutest little witch rubber ducky. Here's a picture of it sitting in our bathroom next to our regular ducky:

Isn't she adorable?! I was very cranky that day, too, so unwrapping her was a nice bright spot in my day.

In other news, I apologize for the picture being so blurry. I had to take it with my camera phone, because I broke my digital camera! A few days ago, I was taking pictures of Halloween decor at the top of our stairs, and I lost my balance and almost fell down the stairs. Luckily, I caught myself with a hand on the wall; unfortunately, that was the hand with the camera in it, which slammed against the wall.

So for the next while, my pictures will be substandard, until we can afford to replace our camera. :-(

I'm so excited!

2009-10-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

I submitted my Halloween posts to www.shelterrific.com for their Halloween giveaway. They said nice things about my decorations. Apparently the readers will vote for their favorites to win the giveaway, so please check it out and vote for me when voting begins. And check out the other participants' decorations, too, they are some clever people.

Halloween Party? Terrifying!

2009-10-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

My dream of a radiant life includes a huge Halloween party every year. The kind that brings my friends from all over the country to visit. I envision the various rooms of my house (definitely not my current house!) holding different fun activities - a room for dancing, a fortune-telling room, a room for watching spooky movies, etc. It's a big dream with big plans.

The reality? I haven't had a Halloween party since I was 19 and I haven't had any parties for about 15 years. The last few didn't go so well and the very last one was a disaster. I can host a casual group of friends coming over for pizza and movies or even to stay for the weekend, but anything more formal than that terrifies me. You know, formal, as in, I send out invitations and people R.S.V.P. If I just send out invites and I don't plan everything with everyone in advance, no one will come, right? Gulp! Not that I'm a control freak or anything. :-)

So, yeah, I decided maybe this year was the time to start taking steps in the direction of my dream. I combined the type of get-togethers I'm used to with the formal invitation thing. I invited all my out-of-town friends to come stay for the weekend. I actually mailed out invitations. I'm planning activities and food.

We're also inviting some in-town friends over on Halloween night as an open house kind of thing. Stop by, have some yummies, stay or don't according to your other plans. With actual invitations again, although these may be by email.

I'm terrified. I think no one will come. I'm determined to have fun doing the activities I've planned and make it a great Halloween, anyway. But this is way out on the limb for me. I hope it doesn't break.

Halloween: IV

2009-10-13T18:17:00.001-04:00

Here are my living room decorations:

The back corner of the living room. You can see the "Boo" sign on the office door. The little lamp on the end table stands on a pile of Halloween-appropriate books. On the bookcases are 3 black cat tealight holders I got at a yard sale this summer. They have flameless tea lights in them. I used flameless tealights almost everywhere this year, so that I could put lights in places that I couldn't put candles, like the corner cabinet, and for fear the kittens would burn down the house.

The other side of the couch. I draped a fun scarf that my mother-in-law gave me over the lampshade, just like I did the little lamp on the other side. On the end table are a Halloween tin from Goodwill that holds the remotes, a great black ceramic tray I bought at a craft show last year, and a wonderful box which is covered in orange velvet and has a big spider on top. It was a gift from Laura and holds potpourri.

The top of the entertainment center. Please ignore the general dippiness of the entertainment center, it did not fare well in our last two moves. There are a couple of snow globes from HomeGoods last year, one given to me by my friend, Beth, two brass candelabras that I bought at a rummage sale for $1 and painted black (I still need to get tapers for them), two coffee table books that are great for Halloween - Nightmares in the Sky (gargoyles) and Disney Villains, a monster tin, an animated ghost and Scooby Doo, a haunted house candle, a wonderful WoodWick candle sitting in a cemetery fence enclosure that I bought at a yard sale, and a big jar filled with candy corn and pumpkins and holding my Halloween magic wand. Propped on the speaker above is a great metal sign my husband scored for me at a store in Jim Thorpe, PA this summer.

This is the front corner of the living room, to the right of the entertainment center, looking into the entry way and front door. The tall bookcase holds my collection of paranormal fiction, which soon will need another bookcase. On it also sits the Halloween drawing book Laura gave me, the Vampire Haiku book I bought in Florida this summer, and my vampire Angel puppet, who lives there all year. On the chair is a pillow with a beautiful Halloween pillow cover I bought on Etsy last month, from Shana at asmushomeinteriors. The DVD bookcase has an electric jack-o-lantern on top, along with an Amy Brown Halloween fairy print, a Happy Halloween sign I bought in Jim Thorpe, and a moon and stars Scentsy wax warmer that I got from my friend, Jeri. It makes my house smell great.

And one of my favorite Halloween things, my Department 56 Halloween Snow Village. I've only been collecting these pieces for the last few years, so it's still very small. I love my village, the buildings are gorgeously detailed. My husband buys me a new piece every year and my mom has started giving me pieces for Christmas, so my collection continues to grow. The village sits on my library table, which is draped with a piece of black fabric with glittery spiderwebs on it. The bottom shelf of the table holds some new Halloween boxes from my mother-in-law, plus a fabulous Halloween ribbon spool album I got from sarahsdesigns78 on Etsy. Underneath the table is a basket with a bunch of Halloween magazine issues in it. I particularly like "Country Living" Halloween issues, and I've bought quite a few at yard sales.

So there's my living room. I tried to get some dark, candlelit pictures, but either my skill or my camera are not up to the task. I might have some friends visiting for Halloween (more on that later) and a couple of them are talented photographers, so I thought I'd see if they could do it.

Caturday: Halloween III

2009-10-10T17:10:00.000-04:00

In honor of Caturday, here are my very favorite Halloween decorations:

The black one is Treat and the orange one is Trick. :-)

The kittens (I still call them that, even though they're a year old now and ginormous) came to live with us September of last year, when they were just 5 weeks old. Their mom was a feral cat who lived in the fields near my son's school. Originally each of the guys in his class was going to adopt one of the kittens, but when the time came to take them, nobody did. My son brought these two home so that we could take them to the animal rescue at which we were volunteering. However, the rescue wouldn't take them until they were 8 weeks old, so we had to foster them for 3 weeks. Yeah, you know how that goes. We hoped to catch the mom and her other babies and take them to the rescue for neutering, but the next day she had taken the others away and my son couldn't find her.

I did some learning about how to care for kittens that young. They were able to eat dry food soaked in water, so no bottle feeding was necessary. I learned that we had to handle them a lot to get them used to people. It was a good thing we got them at 5 weeks, because from what I read, you have to start handling them before they are 6 weeks old, or they will be much more likely to stay feral. They lived in our dog crate for the first week or so, which had plenty of room for a small litter box, their food and water, and a bed for both of them. Of course we brought them out of the crate lots to play and cuddle. Then they graduated to staying in our office, plenty big enough for them to roam around a bit without getting into too much trouble. Except when they wanted to chew on the electrical cords, which fortunately wasn't too often.

Now they are huge monsters, obviously well nourished. And so cuddly and sweet. They look completely different from each other, not just markings, but the shape of their bodies and faces. And their personalities are different. But they are both very affectionate. They love each other very much and often cuddle together and clean each other. Sometimes they fight and chase each other around the house. They are good for hours of entertainment. They still pursue their kitteny mission of destroying the house, but they have begun to take on their adult cat mission of not allowing us to work too hard. About 10 minutes after I start studying, one or the other of them is on my book or in my face, demanding pets.

I do love my Halloween babies. :-)

Halloween II

2009-10-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

Here are pictures of the Halloween decorations in my kitchen: (all pictures are clickable for larger views)

The window over the sink:

The cool spiderweb tray I got at a yard sale this summer, with napkins and an awesome rusty wire cloche from HomeGoods in it:

The corner bookcase:

Looking into the dining area:

The candles on the dining table:

The corner cabinet in the dining area, which has most of my lab glass collection and other fun things in it:

The open shelf in the corner cabinet, with my Halloween black cat bowl on it:

The sconces in the dining area:

I just realized I forgot to take one picture, which has one of my favorite Halloween decorations in it. I'll post that later, with the living room decorations. I'm going to work on learning how to take pictures without flash this weekend, too, so hopefully I can get some pictures of everything lit up.

Halloween

2009-10-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

So here's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm still tweaking the main rooms of the house, hopefully I'll be ready to post those pictures this weekend. Assuming the kittens quit destroying my decorations. So far they've chewed apart the wiring on my Halloween village street lights and knocked over a lamp, thereby breaking the bulb and the lampshade. Doh!

First, the upstairs/main bathroom, which just has a couple of Halloween touches:

The sink area, with a Crabtree and Evelyn black cat soap I scored at a yard sale this summer, and two fun fingertip towels given to me by my friend, Laura:

My vanity has this Disney villains Kleenex box on it:

The downstairs bathroom, with a few more Halloween bits:

The sink area, with a haunted house soap dispenser Laura, gave me years ago, and a witch votive holder, and a holographic Halloween Kleenex box on the tank:

The wall rack, which Laura and I found on the "tree lawn" in Cleveland several years ago, with a black cauldron/jack o' lantern tealight holder, a witch's boot towel, and an old See's Candy black cat container, which now holds potpourri:

This cute little felt bag (a recent gift from aforementioned friend, Laura) hangs on the hook on the inside of the bathroom door:

I tried to get some pictures of the downstairs bathroom at night, with the candles lit, but that isn't going to work until I dig out my camera manual and figure out how to turn off the darn flash. So those will have to wait.

Last Weekend's Loot

2009-09-25T00:11:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I visited friends and joined in their yard sale. Of course, I brought home several things from that yard sale (my friend has great taste). Plus, they have a great Goodwill store in their town, which we managed to check out on Sunday. My friend also gave me some presents she'd bought while yard sale-ing over the summer. Here's my loot (click on pictures for larger view):

Halloween goodies:

Glass dishes and pretty casserole in silver stand:

Cool London Landmarks box and handy travel organizer:

Pretty vintage table topper, bracelet, and windowed box for a future project:

Teak tray and plant holder with pretty glass sun:

Nifty metal hanging rack thingie (that's a technical term) with etched mirror:

Big glass tray (ashtray?) and beautiful glass ceiling mounted light cover:

Ugly birdhouse and cute little sconce, both just waiting for some paint:

Bottles:

And last, but most definitely not least, this geee-orgeous vintage enameled cast iron dutch oven which my friend bought at a yard sale a couple of years ago and I have been lusting after ever since:

That's a lot of stuff, isn't it? I can't wait to see how it all ends up. Not that I really needed more projects, but all those paint-happy bloggers out there have got me hooked.

Jumping Right In

2009-09-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Since I've discovered the wonderful world of blogs, I've been contemplating starting my own. It looks like fun. This is my favorite time of year and I'm about to start doing one of my favorite things, which is decorating for Halloween, so it seemed like a good time to give it a try. Here goes!