Project 52 Update

Well, glory be, believe it or not, I'm finally getting around to Project 52. Here it is, closing in on March, and this is only the second or third update. Oh well, the year is still young.


For some reason, setting goals seems to be much more difficult blah uninteresting uninspired unimportant ...as you can see, I'm having a difficult time just coming up with the right word. Not sure what it is exactly, maybe it's just all due to moving, and my goal list has been put on the back-burner.


With that being said however, there are a few goals which can be crossed off the list! And, after all, that is the whole point of making a goal, being able to cross it off the list, and being able to look back on the year's accomplishments.


#1. Find my (rough draft) list. It has been found. I thought it might have been  lost forever during the move, but it appeared almost out of nowhere. 


#2. Finish the list - as you can clearly see, this has not been accomplished!


#3. Reach my goal weight. This has been accomplished, for the first time in my life. I finished my second round of the Hcg diet in mid-January, so now the test   will be to keep it off.


#7. Move into a new house. This has been accomplished, although it is far from being completed. We are making progress, and the rooms are actually starting to look like rooms and not a storage warehouse. The washer and dryer are hooked up and running. We have a working toilet and a small sink. And we have access to a shower in the basement. Hubby is diligintly working on plumbing today so we will have water in the utility sink in the basement. (Please God, let this be true!) There aren't too many things that he hates working on more than plumbing. Currently, I don't have water or a sink in the kitchen. Let me correct myself, I do have a sink in the kitchen, but it is not hooked up. Hubby bought me a farmhouse-style sink, but it can't be installed or hooked up until the rest of the lower cupboards have all been installed. Oh, it's all quite a frustrating mess, and we find ourselves going round and round in a vicious cycle, trying to get the top priority things finished first, but there's always something else that needs to be completed before that one thing can be done. And, on top of all that, there is the usual "where the heck is _______? I know I saw it somewhere, but where that is, I do not know!" I hope that I will still have my sanity when all is said and done! If you are wondering why we have moved into this sad state of affairs, the short explanation is that we were forced into it. It was not our plan. 


I will be posting some pictures soon, (or later!), but first I have to locate the camera wires for downloading onto the computer. Actually, I may have already downloaded some pictures. Hold on while I check... 

Living room - Before

Living Room - After

Other end of Living Room. I ended up painting the
bookshelves brown. They look much better.

Dining Room - After
I always have to have a yellow room somewhere!

Our Bedroom - After
Blue and planning to have yellow accents.
My favorite color combination.

Jennee's room

Kitchen - It looks much more put together now.
The cupboards are actually against the walls
and not in the middle of the room!

Shared office space with Hubby.
(Hopefully, he won't regret it!)
My area is in the back by the window. He gave
me all the extra kitchen cupboards for my crap
craft and card making supplies.

When everything is put in its place, I'll give you another update. And, now I must get back to work, and start putting things away! Have a happy Monday.

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If Things Go As Planned?

I believe that those were the famous last words of my last blog. Really and truly I need to strike those words from my vocabulary, because things never, ever, no matter how hard we try, ev-er go as planned.


We had planned to have a nice, stress-free, organized move. However, that was not to be the case. I'm going to try not to turn this into a rant, but, we have just gone through a week of ...well, "hell" is the only word to describe it.


Without going into all the gory details, my niece and "gracious" SIL unleashed a tsunami of hateful words on us for not having the house in spotless condition two days before a supposed showing of the house, in the midst of moving. The showing did not happen until yesterday. So, we have spent the last week, getting everything out of her house, and piling it into ours. We are ever so slowly finding a place for everything, but most of our stuff is piled up on both sides of a pathway throughout the house. We do know where our underwear and toothbrushes are located, so it's not all bad!


But the thing that is so bothersome through all this is that now we know what my SIL (Hubby's Sis) really thinks of us. The things that spilled out of her mouth came so fast and furious that we know she had been keeping them bottled up. I know some of it had to do with the stress of getting her house sold. And, I can forgive her for that. But her low opinion of us, will take longer to forget. Hubby kept asking if the house was worth the cost of a friendship. Apparently it was, because she did not even stop to consider. I'm pretty sure she will eventually feel bad for the things she said, because I have never in all my life seen her act this way. But, the damage has been done, and I don't know how long it will take to repair.


I'm sorry that this is kind of a downer-blog, but I wanted to explain that it may be a little while longer until I get back to blogging. Thank you for all your lovely comments, most of which I haven't had time to respond to! I have signed up for the A-Z blogging in April, so I really hope that things will be back to normal (LOL!) by then.


The good news is that Papa Smurf has been found! Sweetie Pie stashed him away in Jennee's clost, and forgot about him. And, I did find my Project 52 list.  Sadly, there weren't as many things on my list as I thought, so I still have to come up with more! 


P.S. Don't be too hard on SIL in your comments. Oh, my gosh! You should see Hubby right now! He is sitting on top of the gazebo while it is being moved to its new location! I wish I had my camera to show you!!! 


Life can be a chairful of bowlies!

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Origins Blogfest

Welcome to "Origins" blog hop. Today's post is to be about how we became writers. I have to say, I feel like I'm crashing the party, and someone will be asking me to leave very shortly. I don't consider myself a "Writer" at all, but here's the story of how I got here.


Way back in 1955 I was born, and there was no pencil in my hand. (Don't worry, this won't be a long story!) Fast forward to the 70's and high school English and expository writing classes. Yuck. Pure torture. We would be given a topic and told to start writing. Pencils flying on papers all around me, while I stared at a blank sheet of paper, trying to conjure up one creative thought.


However, I did like to journal, or as we used to call it, write in our diary...Dear Diary, and I was an avid letter writer. People always enjoyed my letters because "you write like you talk". Ohh Kay. But doesn't everybody? My mom tried to encourage me to write, and used to say that I could be the next Erma Bombeck. Blush. Thank you, Mom. But, I always brushed it off saying, there was nothing to write about.


Then, maybe 15 or 20 years ago (my gosh does time fly!!) I started writing  Christmas letters. The recipients always seemed to love them. I almost gave it up because of the bad press of the dreaded Christmas letter. But, I was assured that my letters were "fun".


Now, here I am blogging about this pitiful little journey. My Amazing Daughter sat me down at the computer two years ago (or was it three?) no, I think it was two, and said, "You are going to blog."  
"What's there to blog about? And, why do I want to?"


"Just do it. It's like writing a diary. And, since your memory is so bad, it might help you to remember things that happen." 


So, here I am, just plugging away, attempting to find and share humor in our little hum-drum lives.  An added plus is all the wonderful friends I have made through blogging. Yes, I am talking about YOU! 


Next week, I promise (fingers crossed & if things go according to plan!) to give a Project 52 report. I've been a terrible slacker so far this year, as far as blogging and goals go, but my excuse is that we are getting ready to move.

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The Snow Diary

We have been having such a mild winter, that I almost forgot about posting my annual "I hate winter" story. I did not write this. I wish I had. I'm not even sure where it came from. I have one copy with no identification on who might have written it. But, it has gotten an annual reading for many years. And, no matter how many times we've read it, we still laugh all the way through it. I hope you enjoy it and laugh your socks off!

December 8: 

6:00 PM. It started to snow.The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

December 9:

We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the Whole World? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.

December 12:

The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry, we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice man. I'm glad he's our neighbor.

December 14:

Snow lovely snow! 8" last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold  makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn't huff and puff so.

December 15:

20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and two extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.

December 16:

Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like crazy. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

December 17:

Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should have bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. I hate it when she's right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20:

Electricity is back on, but had another 14" of the darn stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Darn snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I thing they're lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he's lying.

December22:

Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white stuff fell today, and it's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to go to the bathroom. By the time I got undressed, went to the bathroom and dressed again, I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter, but he says he's too busy. I think the idiot is lying.

December 23:

Only 2" of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she nuts!!! Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she's lying.

December 24:

6". Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the idiot who drives that snowplow, I'll drag him through the snow by his hair. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was busy watching for the darn snowplow.

December 25:

Merry Christmas. 20 more inches of the slop tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's an idiot. If I have to watch "It's a wonderful life" one more time, I'm going to kill her.

December 26:

Still snowed in. Why the heck did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.

December 27:

Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze.

December 28:

Warmed up to above -25. Still snowed in. THE WIFE is driving me crazy!!!!!!!

December 29:

10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30:

Roof caved in. The snow plow driver is suing me for a million dollars for the bump on his head. The wife went home to her mother. 9" predicted.

December 31:

Set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.

January 8:

I feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?

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Inch by Inch

Inch by inch it's a cinch, or so I've heard. I'm inching along, making progress on our house. I've had a paint brush in my hand for what seems like eternity. And, if painting my house wasn't enough, I took a break and did some painting for friend yesterday.


I have a few "before" pictures to share. I'm not sure how they are going to work. My new camera has a photo booth thing-a-ma-jiggy (can't think of the word), and I thought it would be brilliant to have the entire room on one photo. 


But first, for your viewing pleasure, this is our first attempt at the photo booth.

Me and Jennee

Jennee's bedroom

The bathroom - which has to be totally
redone. Pink and purple! Really?

Living Room
(Today's project)

Dining Room

Kitchen

 As you can see, only the bathroom is in bad shape. The kitchen was also in good shape, and usable. However, we bought new kitchen cupboards when we lived in North Carolina, intending to remodel our kitchen there. But, we found ourselves moving back to Ohio instead, so we've been dragging and storing these cupboards along with us for three years. They have now found their permanant home. Unfortunately, the upper cupboards are much longer than the original cupboards, and the only way they can be used is to tear out the header, which we are NOT going to do. The finishes don't match, but we're hoping to get new doors made, eventually. (We discovered that although we bought our cupboards in NC, they were made about 30 miles from where we live in Ohio!) The upper cupboards are going into my craft room, so I will have a place to store all my crap treasures and keep them out of Hubby's sight.

I hope to have my "after" pictures next week. There's only one more room to paint, then the moving can begin!

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