Miscellaneous Monday
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Since it's Monday and it's cloudy here and it's cold--way too cold for this time of year--and because, well, it's Monday, I thought I'd just share some miscellaneous things that have been on my mind.
My weekend was busy with house/homemaking projects. We all know I don't have the crafty gene, but I was kind of proud of the fact that this dress (which Maggie wore to her piano recital on Sunday) used to be long (well, too long for her taste).
And now it's shorter. By about 3 inches, thanks to my iron and the handy-dandy sewing machine my mom gave us a few years back which doesn't get nearly enough use.
And looky here! I actually made a curtain! In about a half an hour.
Seriously. In the time it took to watch Giada on Friday afternoon I installed the curtain rod and hung the valence. Can you tell what I used?
And finally, look what B and I did . . . together!
Let's just say that we're not one of those married couples who can tackle house projects together. Like, ever. Without fighting. But for some reason the stars aligned this weekend and we actually went to Costco together (always an expensive proposition when B comes along, which is why he's only allowed in the store under the most dire of circumstances), bought three arbor vitae trees (bushes? what are they?), shoved them in the back of my mini-van, brought them home, and planted them.
And the best part is that we did it without a single argument. About anything. Amazing.
(Now, don't get us started about the one that seems to be leaning a bit toward the driveway. We know, we know. We may have to fix that, but knowing us it probably won't get done.)
*****
Speaking of house projects . . . here's one I didn't do myself. At all. I left this one to the professional (our friend, Drew).
But I'm so happy with the tile work that I just had to show you.
It's only taken five years to get a backsplash. I think my kitchen is finally done.
*****
Happy birthday to my mom today!
(Aren't they cute?!)
Now, if you don't know my mom, you have surely not met the friendliest woman on the planet. When I was growing up she would bring home people she met in the most random of places . . . like the post office or Tastee Freeze or Marshall Field's. She always had a place for everyone at our table, and she always made people feel welcome in our home.
One quick story about Karen. Once, when I was a kid, I woke up in the middle of the night to hear voices downstairs. We were having a terrible snowstorm and, since Dad was the road commissioner (which meant that he was the guy with the snow plow), I knew that he would be out plowing the roads. I couldn't imagine who my mom was talking to, so I crept downstairs to find her sitting at the table with a neighbor, an older man who liked to drink a little bit too much every now and then. He had driven his car into the ditch near our home and walked to our house to use the phone. My mom made him some coffee and sat with him until his daughter came to collect him.
So that's our Karen. Beloved by neighbors, strangers, and drunks alike.
And beloved by her family the most. Happy birthday, Mom!!
My weekend was busy with house/homemaking projects. We all know I don't have the crafty gene, but I was kind of proud of the fact that this dress (which Maggie wore to her piano recital on Sunday) used to be long (well, too long for her taste).
And now it's shorter. By about 3 inches, thanks to my iron and the handy-dandy sewing machine my mom gave us a few years back which doesn't get nearly enough use.
And looky here! I actually made a curtain! In about a half an hour.
Seriously. In the time it took to watch Giada on Friday afternoon I installed the curtain rod and hung the valence. Can you tell what I used?
And finally, look what B and I did . . . together!
Let's just say that we're not one of those married couples who can tackle house projects together. Like, ever. Without fighting. But for some reason the stars aligned this weekend and we actually went to Costco together (always an expensive proposition when B comes along, which is why he's only allowed in the store under the most dire of circumstances), bought three arbor vitae trees (bushes? what are they?), shoved them in the back of my mini-van, brought them home, and planted them.
And the best part is that we did it without a single argument. About anything. Amazing.
(Now, don't get us started about the one that seems to be leaning a bit toward the driveway. We know, we know. We may have to fix that, but knowing us it probably won't get done.)
Speaking of house projects . . . here's one I didn't do myself. At all. I left this one to the professional (our friend, Drew).
But I'm so happy with the tile work that I just had to show you.
It's only taken five years to get a backsplash. I think my kitchen is finally done.
Happy birthday to my mom today!
(Aren't they cute?!)
Now, if you don't know my mom, you have surely not met the friendliest woman on the planet. When I was growing up she would bring home people she met in the most random of places . . . like the post office or Tastee Freeze or Marshall Field's. She always had a place for everyone at our table, and she always made people feel welcome in our home.
One quick story about Karen. Once, when I was a kid, I woke up in the middle of the night to hear voices downstairs. We were having a terrible snowstorm and, since Dad was the road commissioner (which meant that he was the guy with the snow plow), I knew that he would be out plowing the roads. I couldn't imagine who my mom was talking to, so I crept downstairs to find her sitting at the table with a neighbor, an older man who liked to drink a little bit too much every now and then. He had driven his car into the ditch near our home and walked to our house to use the phone. My mom made him some coffee and sat with him until his daughter came to collect him.
So that's our Karen. Beloved by neighbors, strangers, and drunks alike.
And beloved by her family the most. Happy birthday, Mom!!
