Sunday, January 16, 2011

Millie and Daddy Come To Visit: A True Story


On Sunday, Millie and her daddy, Justin, came for a visit to Granda & Poppa's house. Millie played with the miniature Radio Flyer wagon and Peachy Bear that Pops Ray sent over. I'm sure Millie's MawMaw Patsy was looking down from Heaven as her great granddaughter played with the little wagon and bear that had been stored away in MawMaw's closet for so long. 



Millie sat in the little red chair that her great granddaddy, Jerry, painted for her.  She liked to stand in it, but Granda & Poppa were afraid that she would fall and get hurt.  They had to watch her very closely.


Millie looked at books while sitting in her little red chair.  The Little Mermaid is one of her favorites.


Millie took a break from playing to sit with Uncle Chase and have some juice.

Later, Daddy returned from practicing with his band. He fed Millie some cereal.


Millie got caught putting Cheerios in Poppa's boot!  I wonder if Poppa will remember before he puts them on tomorrow!

Daddy tickled Millie, and she laughed and laughed.  Her Daddy loves her so much.

Millie got Poppa's cell phone. Maybe she was trying to call her mommy.  Mommy was ready for Millie and her daddy to come home.  She missed them very much.

Millie and Daddy went back home to get started on another week.  Hopefully they will be back to visit Granda, Poppa, Uncle Chase and Uncle Jordan very very soon.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I've Been Busy Today!



I finally got around to some of the little projects that I have been wanting to do.  I got my dining room decorated.  I still have a little bit of clutter to get rid of, but it looks 100% better.  The best way to explain it is just to show you some before and after pictures. 

BEFORE:  

This is what my dining room window looked like. Yes, that's a smoke detector right there smack dab in the middle.  I had taken it down when I painted my walls, and the only nail was right there.  I knew I would get it put back in it's proper place, eventually. 

AFTER:

Ahhh!  Much better!  I had had the curtain rod for awhile.  It was just waiting on me to do something with it.  And look!  No more smoke detector!  I replaced it with this cute little sign.  Look closer...

BEFORE:
My mantle has been looking a bit skimpy since I took all the Christmas decorations down.  It was seriously getting on my nerves.  All the clutter around it is a bonus. ;)

AFTER:
I may do a little bit more to this, but I think it's a good start.  The 2 small pics in the middle are my granddaughter, my son and his wife.  I had gotten them printed in black and white, and I spray painted the thrift store frames black.  I have more frames to spray paint, and I have more pictures to fill them with.

BEFORE:

This is a thrift store find. I loved the frame. The picture, which was just a page out of a magazine, was nicked. But, I bought it for the frame.  It was $1.99.

This is what was on the back of the picture. It was helping to hold the picture in.  It's an old 1966 Southern Bell telephone book cover.  Pretty neat, don't you think?  Well, it had to go in order for the plans I had for it...


This wall doesn't look too bad.  I actually just stuck this stuff up there until I could come up with something better.  That's my bookpage wreath on the right.  So, here's where the old frame comes into play...

AFTER:
I added a coat of spray paint to that frame & then I propped it up here with the rest of the items.  Don't look too closely or you will see the dust on the shelf. o_o


Here's another view. I wanted to get a good shot of the bookpage wreath that I made in here somewhere! :)

BEFORE:

I'm bearing my soul when I show you my cluttered dining room table. Sadly, it looks like this more often than it doesn't! Those chairs are at just the perfect spot for hanging stuff!  Does yours ever look like this?  Tell the truth!

AFTER:
Ahhh! Much better!  Yep, there's still stuff hanging on the chairs, but I'll get that cleared away, eventually. I pulled out my $4 thrift store table cloth. I had to iron it because it was recently washed.  I folded over another thrift store find: the toile fabric. I added the thrift store place mats that have been stored away for a couple of years just waiting on the perfect time.


The tablecloth was a little too long, so I tied up each corner with some pretty green ribbon.

 The centerpiece consists of a Dollar Tree tray, and some random vases with candles. I needed some "filler" for the candles, so I just used some rice.  It was the long-cooking kind, so I was never gonna cook it, anyway!  I think it turned out well!



Here's one more look.  I'm loving all the changes.  It acutally looks like a decent person lives here, now! :)  Even my son commented that it was lookin' pretty nice.  That's the best compliement I could've gotten. 



Thursday, January 13, 2011

Snowed In

I've been snowed in since Monday.  It's more icy roads keeping me in now.  I did venture out on Tuesday to go to the bank, but I made hubby drive.  The roads weren't too terribly bad as long as we rode in the tracks made by other vehicles.  The real problem came when everything froze over that night.  Temps have not gotten above freezing, so here I am.  School has been closed down all week.  I briefly thought about trying to go in and get some work done, but one of the other girls said that our parking lot was very dangerous.  I decided to wait it out. 

Today I plan to do some of those projects that have been sitting there just waiting for me to get around to.  Of course, I have to get off of this computer first!  I just haven't blogged in a few days, and I wanted to get a post out.  There is plenty at home to keep me busy if I can just get my butt into gear!  I have begun stripping paint off of my kitchen cabinets.  I want to redo my kitchen, so hopefully I can get that done before I get tired of it and want to do something different!  That's what happened with it up to this point.  I was going to decorate it in a coffee theme, but somewhere along the way I just stopped.  It's been in a state of unfinished paint & decor for quite awhile, and now I want to do something else.  Yes, I'm sure I have A.D.D.  As I've said before, I've diagnosed myself! 

I have several craft projects that I want to do.  My mind is in a million places!  FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!  Once thing at a time.  Just complete one thing.  That's what I'm striving for. 

So, I'm going to enjoy this unscheduled time off from work, and get some projects done.  I'm feeling inspired today.  Let's see if I can do something about it.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Beans in Noses

I know. I've seriously been lacking in the blogger interesting posts category. It seems I've lost my blogger mojo. I knew it. But I pressed on with my boring blog posts. I'm working on getting my mojo back.  So let's try this...

While having lunch with my co-workers today, I thought, "I could write about the funny stories we tell around our lunch table."  So, it just so happened that the topic of our conversation today turned to kids sticking stuff up their noses & then having to go to the emergency room.  We had a neighbor's kid who stuck a rock up his nose one time.  Someone told about sticking beans up their nose.  "Oh look! I have a bean. I wonder if it will fit up my nose...  Uh oh!  Oh no!  I can't get it out!  Mom!!!"  There is no telling how many emergency room visits each year are from foreign objects being stuck up a kid's nose!

We then got to talking about the TV show My Strange Addiction.  And while I failed to watch it when it came on, the ads for it showed a lady who eats Comet cleanser, and one who eats toilet paper.  Well, the ladies at the lunch table admitted to eating bits of paper back during their school days.  One lady said that she used to eat paste.  You remember those little paste bottles with the stick?  Someone even had had a college professor who had admitted to eating dirt...and liking it! It seems that there is a certain place in Alabama that she loves to pull over on the side of the road just to get a taste of that dirt!  Leave it to a college professor!  Most of them are a little strange, anyway. I interjected here how I had heard the saying, "Well, if he's eating dirt, then there must be something in there that he needs." (said in the voice of a little old lady)  lol  I can't say that I have eaten dirt willingly, maybe when I fell and accidentally gotten it in my mouth or something.  Just enough to know that I didn't find it tasty! I do faintly remember making mudpies and barely touching the top and putting it to my mouth.  After all, it was a pie. But, that's as far as it went! I didn't make it a regular meal. ;) 

So, what's the strangest thing that you have eaten?  Do you eat dirt?  Do you find it tasty?! Have you ever stuck beans up your nose?

Monday, January 3, 2011

A Daily Musing

Jordie made it in last night around 12:35 a.m. (technically this morning).  It's so good to have him back home. He has a cold. He said that most of the band members ended up being sick.  I guess that's what happens when you walk around Disneyland in the rain in cool temperatures. He was homesick. I figured that he would sleep all day today, but he got up at a decent hour. He's been chilling out at home.  The dogs are glad to have him home, too. :)

I have one more day off before I have to go back to work. Ugh. I have really been enjoying my Christmas vacation! I guess it's time to get back into a normal routine.  There's just so much to do around my house.  I had to put my house projects off while all the Christmas stuff was up. I have done quite a bit of decluttering. I have lots of painting to do. I also need to do something with my bathroom and my kitchen. I just haven't figured it all out yet.

~A goal without a plan is just a wish.
                                                         Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sunday, January 2, 2011

He's Almost Home!

Six hours left until Jordan gets home from his California trip! Yay! He's been gone for a week!  I know that he's homesick, and I'm ready for him to be home. He's such a good kid. I spoke to him today before he got to the airport. He sounded stuffed up. He said that he had lost his phone somewhere yesterday, probably on the bus when they went on the Hollywood tour. Maybe someone will find it and can figure out how to get it back to us.  (It's dead.)  I tried calling him last night, and it went straight to voicemail. Oh well, as long as I have my son back...that's all that counts.

I'm tracking his flight's status online right now.  AirTran Flight #1941 is over Texas & heading into Oklahoma.  It is 39,000 feet in the air and traveling at 617 mph. They are 902 miles from Atlanta where they will board buses to return to Albertville.  He should be in around midnight! 

Our chihuahua, Carnell, will be so excited, too.  He LOVES Jordan. He mopes around the house when Jordan is gone, and he howls at night when everyone goes to bed. He usually sleeps with Jordan, but this week he has had to sleep with Chase.  But, no doubt about it, Jordan is his pick of the whole litter family.  He will be ecstatic when Jordan comes in tonight.  Maybe I should record it on video.  We'll see...if I can keep myself awake until then! 

I'll leave now by wishing you a happy New Year!  May it be all that you dream it will be.

HAPPY 2011!!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Rose Parade! They did it!!

Way to go, Albertville High School band...my alma mater. I think that my son is the 3rd tuba from the right. I'm so proud of them! A float broke down right in front of them, so they got more airtime than normal.