This goal blindsided me out of nowhere. Bam! Tonight it hit me though.
I will start by saying that I am not a people person. A friend recently told me that he built a cabin and (since he is single) spent 4 days there by himself. This friend is a social person, so it kind of made sense that he said he started to lose it four days disconnected. I admitted to him that I crave that. And AB and I fully plan to have a cabin in the woods to disappear to in the future. I look forward to experiencing that alone-ness. Of course, I have AB, so it would probably be easier than complete solo. Anyways, the fact that I find myself sitting there rolling my eyes half the time about people, doesn't surprise me. It's more the frequency with which I am feeling it lately. My lack of patience with people. And I am tired of feeling this.
I want to think it isn't just me. I had some level of validation last week that it wasn't just me. A high school friend posted about her frustration with social media. The feeling of never measuring up. And I nodded and thought about my life. The toddler who hits and pinches all.the.freaking.time. The dog who drives me insane. My kids ate Top Ramen for dinner. Not getting my daughter to her tutor on time (and yes, my daughter sees a tutor for her reading). The tween boy who is, well, behaving like a tween boy. The house that is never picked up. Feeling dead tired after a day of work. Not getting the exercise I want to get.
And everyone else is perfect. My friend challenged us to keep it real and post what it is really like under her hashtag. And I did. And it was fun and nice to see that someone else burnt the bacon. I like to think that I keep it real and that not all my posts are of perfection. But I am probably as annoying to others as many people on my Friends list are annoying me right now. But it isn't just people who are "friends". It is articles I see that challenge whether I am a good mom. It is the people shaming for dumb ass stuff like parking poorly, or disciplining a child in a store, or not disciplining a child in a store. The list goes on. I believe I am a good mom. But being inundated by it all is just taking a toll.
I thought about deactivating my Facebook account, but I am not quite there yet. I get a lot of information through there like what fruit French's has for picking, my kid's schools PTO, my school district. And even coworkers. I use Facebook messenger at work because I can't have my cell phone at my desk. So I can't cut the cord.
But I can cut my fingers off.
Ok. Seriously. I can't cut my fingers off. I can't even do that thing where you take a needle and put it through your first layer of skin and make it look like you have needles in your fingers. Eww. Can't do it.
But I can quit posting. Instagram I like. I follow a few organizations there (Smithsonian... you must do it) and I enjoy it. My close family members who care if I post the obligatory first day of school pictures are on there and they will get to see those pictures. I will post to Instagram. But I tend to be way more selective with what I post there and everything has to be associated with a picture. I like that.
I also have this page. My blog. The nice thing about a blog is that a person has to actively decide they want to see what you write and go there. Instead of passively showing up on everyone's feeds and annoying people.
I am not going to be absent on Facebook. You may see a Like from me or a stray response. But I need to silence myself before I go in to full on back up behavior on Facebook. I am an Amiable, I can feel my back up Driver emerging. And who all really likes a Driver on Facebook? Yeah, no.
I have Blogger on my phone and I will post here when I feel the need to share. I have been meaning to post more here because I have so much history recorded here. This new goal should serve to get me back here and maybe break that Facebook addiction.
Showing posts with label September goal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label September goal. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
On goals
I have too much stuff I want to do. Way too much.
I want to redecorate my house. I want to do my cross stitching. I want to cook fabulous meals on a nightly basis. I want to sew adorable little clothes for my daughter. I want to plant more roses. I want to get back to quilting. I want to work through my stacks of books. I want to organize all my recipes. I want to (well more like I need to) purge the kids’ toy boxes of all the toys that they don’t play with. I want to exercise more. I want to work on photography and editing photos. I want to maintain my website and keep my blog more active. I want to volunteer with organizations that I find important. And lately… don’t tell my husband… but I want to write a book. AB would reply, “you’ve done that, twice now, right? Your dissertation and that 250 page deliverable this past February counts too!” Nope, this one is fiction, I would love to write a fictional novel and I even have an idea stirring around in my head. But don’t tell AB.
Motivation? I have it in abundance. What I don’t have is time.
My lists can often times seem daunting. The purpose of my monthly goals that I started 2.5 years ago was to take a month to focus on one thing at a time. It has done a world of good for me. Things get accomplished. AB has been quite supportive of my monthly goals, particularly the ones that don’t involve tasks for him. But even he gets into the groove with the monthly tasks and asks on occasion, “what’s next month?”
My goal for July, knowing how busy the month was shaping up to be was to choose paint for the dining room. AB got on board and we have a front runner and a few runner up selections. The final decision has been postponed however because the lighting in the dining room sucks. Sucks royally.
Hence the August goals.
The first of the August goals is to get a chandelier selected. We have selected three chandelier options. We need to pick one and order it. August Goal #1 – select, order, receive and install chandelier.
August Goal #2 – Select paint colors.
I know ourselves well enough to know that it may take the entire month of August to get Goal #1 completed. Yes, I know. It shouldn’t take that long. But it will. Give me a week for a decision, a week or two for it to arrive and a week or two to get the thing hung and we are at the end of August. Blammo. August is gone. My plan is to shorten this critical path in order to enable task #2 to take hold and deliver at the end of August, thus enabling a long weekend of painting over Labor Day. We never do anything for Labor Day anyway. That would make the September Goal a complete and painted redecorated dining room that includes a little reorg, some new linens and draperies. (I can wish all I want for new flooring in there… but that will be a goal for another time.)
But let’s jump back to August…
August is a pretty open month for us without much on the schedule. A lot of the August goal, while critical path, includes down time for me. Me actually doing anything short of making a decision and hitting click? Not much there for the first 2/3 of the month.
So I need August Goal #3.
What I really should do is to declutter the kids’ toys. But that isn’t a fun goal. I need a fun goal.
Yesterday I got a little huffy at work and I needed some downtime. So I flipped open a Pottery Barn catalog that somehow made its way into my purse. I normally go straight to the trash can with such items lest our credit card inflate itself.
And I fell in love.
Isn’t it pretty?
The thing about PB stuff – at least a lot of it – is that many of the items can easily be made. As a quilter… err… umm… former quilter, I looked at this and said “easy peasy”.
I started quilting back about 1997. I did a quilt completely by hand and backed it with a sheet. Mostly just to say I could do it. Then I bought a book of quilting patterns. Then I bought a nice sewing machine since I was nowhere near my mom and her sewing machine anymore and started quilting with a vengeance. I made wall hanging quilts, I made a large queen sized quilt that became AB’s and my summer bed cover for years. Maybe even nearly a decade. I still have it but the poor thing has seen better days. It is worn in beautifully at this point, but a bit fragile for a bed that kids crawl onto. I made each of the kids quilts for their births.
Then reality hit. And the reason that I have the “I want” list above. Kids take up time. And my sewing machine went to the back of the closet and I started avoiding fabric stores at all costs. (That whole inflatable credit card thingy again.)
I want a new quilt. I could never spend the $250 on that quilt because I look at it and see how so very easy it would be to make that quilt.
Think I can do it in three weekends?
Ready… set… GO!
I want to redecorate my house. I want to do my cross stitching. I want to cook fabulous meals on a nightly basis. I want to sew adorable little clothes for my daughter. I want to plant more roses. I want to get back to quilting. I want to work through my stacks of books. I want to organize all my recipes. I want to (well more like I need to) purge the kids’ toy boxes of all the toys that they don’t play with. I want to exercise more. I want to work on photography and editing photos. I want to maintain my website and keep my blog more active. I want to volunteer with organizations that I find important. And lately… don’t tell my husband… but I want to write a book. AB would reply, “you’ve done that, twice now, right? Your dissertation and that 250 page deliverable this past February counts too!” Nope, this one is fiction, I would love to write a fictional novel and I even have an idea stirring around in my head. But don’t tell AB.
Motivation? I have it in abundance. What I don’t have is time.
My lists can often times seem daunting. The purpose of my monthly goals that I started 2.5 years ago was to take a month to focus on one thing at a time. It has done a world of good for me. Things get accomplished. AB has been quite supportive of my monthly goals, particularly the ones that don’t involve tasks for him. But even he gets into the groove with the monthly tasks and asks on occasion, “what’s next month?”
My goal for July, knowing how busy the month was shaping up to be was to choose paint for the dining room. AB got on board and we have a front runner and a few runner up selections. The final decision has been postponed however because the lighting in the dining room sucks. Sucks royally.
Hence the August goals.
The first of the August goals is to get a chandelier selected. We have selected three chandelier options. We need to pick one and order it. August Goal #1 – select, order, receive and install chandelier.
August Goal #2 – Select paint colors.
I know ourselves well enough to know that it may take the entire month of August to get Goal #1 completed. Yes, I know. It shouldn’t take that long. But it will. Give me a week for a decision, a week or two for it to arrive and a week or two to get the thing hung and we are at the end of August. Blammo. August is gone. My plan is to shorten this critical path in order to enable task #2 to take hold and deliver at the end of August, thus enabling a long weekend of painting over Labor Day. We never do anything for Labor Day anyway. That would make the September Goal a complete and painted redecorated dining room that includes a little reorg, some new linens and draperies. (I can wish all I want for new flooring in there… but that will be a goal for another time.)
But let’s jump back to August…
August is a pretty open month for us without much on the schedule. A lot of the August goal, while critical path, includes down time for me. Me actually doing anything short of making a decision and hitting click? Not much there for the first 2/3 of the month.
So I need August Goal #3.
What I really should do is to declutter the kids’ toys. But that isn’t a fun goal. I need a fun goal.
Yesterday I got a little huffy at work and I needed some downtime. So I flipped open a Pottery Barn catalog that somehow made its way into my purse. I normally go straight to the trash can with such items lest our credit card inflate itself.
And I fell in love.
Isn’t it pretty?
The thing about PB stuff – at least a lot of it – is that many of the items can easily be made. As a quilter… err… umm… former quilter, I looked at this and said “easy peasy”.
I started quilting back about 1997. I did a quilt completely by hand and backed it with a sheet. Mostly just to say I could do it. Then I bought a book of quilting patterns. Then I bought a nice sewing machine since I was nowhere near my mom and her sewing machine anymore and started quilting with a vengeance. I made wall hanging quilts, I made a large queen sized quilt that became AB’s and my summer bed cover for years. Maybe even nearly a decade. I still have it but the poor thing has seen better days. It is worn in beautifully at this point, but a bit fragile for a bed that kids crawl onto. I made each of the kids quilts for their births.
Then reality hit. And the reason that I have the “I want” list above. Kids take up time. And my sewing machine went to the back of the closet and I started avoiding fabric stores at all costs. (That whole inflatable credit card thingy again.)
I want a new quilt. I could never spend the $250 on that quilt because I look at it and see how so very easy it would be to make that quilt.
Think I can do it in three weekends?
Ready… set… GO!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
September Goals
Since finishing (mostly) with Leif’s room I have been debating the path forward in our new house. There is so much I want to do that my decision has not been easy. Unfortunately none of them seem inexpensive. I am resisting the urge, now that our house has sold, to start buying everything at once. And truly, I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. I want to take it a month at a time and really bring a room together with elements that I really want.
Instead of immediately jumping on one of the two rooms that *I* want to see done (formal dining room or bonus room) I am going to bend to the will of other people in my house.
I dream of a luxurious formal dining room with a table that seats 8, rich paint, new drapes and a new chandelier.
I also dream of an updated playroom/bonus room that has a wall unit for toy storage, media center to house a new TV and seating.
Both of these room updates require more cash outflow than I can justify right now. Though AB may give me the bitty shove I need in justifying the bonus room updates simply due to his “want” for a new TV. However he tends to look at me sideways whenever I start mentioning the formal dining room.
I have asked AB a few times which room we should tackle next and his answer tends to alternate between “nothing” and “the garage”.
How boring.
How uninspiring.
Then there is one other person who lately has been quite vocal on her needs.
Skadi.
The only person silent on the issue is Leif. Leif loves his mommy.
Skadi is still harping on needing her room painted. And she has BIG plans for her room!
A few common themes have been emerging in her décor choices. Some combination of purple, pink, yellow, green and blue are preferred and life would be grand if there were rainbows and dolphins.
When I was in 5th grade or so my mom redid my sisters and my bedrooms – we did lavender with rainbow wallpaper and so I am finding it a touch freakish that purple and rainbows are topping my daughters list. She would have been in heaven in my bedroom as a kid.
The September goal is twofold. I can’t put off the need to organize the garage any longer. Once the garage is organized we can bring the rest of our belongings from the storage unit and close out that account, thus saving a little money each month. So blah blah blah… the first goal is the garage.
But since I NEED a fun goal, a decorating goal, I will add in there Skadi’s room. It shouldn’t take more than a weekend to paint her bedroom. And her bedroom has everything it needs – I don’t need to spend money on her room aside from the cost of paint. AND I would like to get paint on her walls before we start bringing in boxes of stuff from storage to fill the kids’ rooms.
So there it is… my dual goals for the month of September – Skadi’s bedroom painted and the garage organized.
I need ideas for Skadi’s bedroom. I am not making the “error” I made with Leif’s bedroom at this age – I need Skadi’s room design to be appropriate not only for a toddler but through age 8 or so. (It wasn’t an error necessarily, and it worked out fine since we moved, but Leif was tiring of his “little kid” room.) I am leaning towards purple and yellow walls (if I can get that past AB – he is still buying into that statement he read 6 years ago that said a yellow bedroom will cause anxiety in babies). If I can’t fly with the yellow we will explore purple and green with maybe a pale blue ceiling. (I just don’t think I can do pink. Sorry Skadi.) I am thinking about maybe some big flowers painted on the wall… but that doesn’t have to be done immediately either.
Also on the list are little things from the prior two months:
-Touch up white paint in the foyer – requires matching the white color of the walls.-Buy a bench for the foyer. (I like this one .)
-Hang the mirror in the foyer. (Something AB has been avoiding like the plague. He even at one point mentioned LEAVING the mirror at the other house.)
-Stars on Leif’s ceiling.
-Paint lightsabers on Leif’s wall.
Instead of immediately jumping on one of the two rooms that *I* want to see done (formal dining room or bonus room) I am going to bend to the will of other people in my house.
I dream of a luxurious formal dining room with a table that seats 8, rich paint, new drapes and a new chandelier.
I also dream of an updated playroom/bonus room that has a wall unit for toy storage, media center to house a new TV and seating.
Both of these room updates require more cash outflow than I can justify right now. Though AB may give me the bitty shove I need in justifying the bonus room updates simply due to his “want” for a new TV. However he tends to look at me sideways whenever I start mentioning the formal dining room.
I have asked AB a few times which room we should tackle next and his answer tends to alternate between “nothing” and “the garage”.
How boring.
How uninspiring.
Then there is one other person who lately has been quite vocal on her needs.
Skadi.
The only person silent on the issue is Leif. Leif loves his mommy.
Skadi is still harping on needing her room painted. And she has BIG plans for her room!
A few common themes have been emerging in her décor choices. Some combination of purple, pink, yellow, green and blue are preferred and life would be grand if there were rainbows and dolphins.
When I was in 5th grade or so my mom redid my sisters and my bedrooms – we did lavender with rainbow wallpaper and so I am finding it a touch freakish that purple and rainbows are topping my daughters list. She would have been in heaven in my bedroom as a kid.
The September goal is twofold. I can’t put off the need to organize the garage any longer. Once the garage is organized we can bring the rest of our belongings from the storage unit and close out that account, thus saving a little money each month. So blah blah blah… the first goal is the garage.
But since I NEED a fun goal, a decorating goal, I will add in there Skadi’s room. It shouldn’t take more than a weekend to paint her bedroom. And her bedroom has everything it needs – I don’t need to spend money on her room aside from the cost of paint. AND I would like to get paint on her walls before we start bringing in boxes of stuff from storage to fill the kids’ rooms.
So there it is… my dual goals for the month of September – Skadi’s bedroom painted and the garage organized.
I need ideas for Skadi’s bedroom. I am not making the “error” I made with Leif’s bedroom at this age – I need Skadi’s room design to be appropriate not only for a toddler but through age 8 or so. (It wasn’t an error necessarily, and it worked out fine since we moved, but Leif was tiring of his “little kid” room.) I am leaning towards purple and yellow walls (if I can get that past AB – he is still buying into that statement he read 6 years ago that said a yellow bedroom will cause anxiety in babies). If I can’t fly with the yellow we will explore purple and green with maybe a pale blue ceiling. (I just don’t think I can do pink. Sorry Skadi.) I am thinking about maybe some big flowers painted on the wall… but that doesn’t have to be done immediately either.
Also on the list are little things from the prior two months:
-Touch up white paint in the foyer – requires matching the white color of the walls.-Buy a bench for the foyer. (I like this one .)
-Hang the mirror in the foyer. (Something AB has been avoiding like the plague. He even at one point mentioned LEAVING the mirror at the other house.)
-Stars on Leif’s ceiling.
-Paint lightsabers on Leif’s wall.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Catching Up
It seems as though a lot has been happening recently, then I go to blog about it and I might have a hill of beans, but only if I tried really hard. So here is a hodge podge post of all that stuff that hangs there, fleeting thoughts really, but aren't really malleable into blog posts of their own.
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AB has just hired a company to come in and tackle our back patio. We started with a narrow wave of concrete back there, then enlisted the help of some really awesome friends to come out and poor a huge patio area for us. It has been nice (particularly with the pergola), but the concrete isn't in great shape. So during the Parade of Homes this year we kept an eye open for concrete treatments.
On Friday AB had a guy specializing in epoxy treatments come and look at the patio. It isn't cheap, but they start on October 22nd and our patio will be out of commission for 3-4 days while they repair the concrete and epoxy coat it. Looking something like this when finished (photo pirated from their webpage):
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AB has just hired a company to come in and tackle our back patio. We started with a narrow wave of concrete back there, then enlisted the help of some really awesome friends to come out and poor a huge patio area for us. It has been nice (particularly with the pergola), but the concrete isn't in great shape. So during the Parade of Homes this year we kept an eye open for concrete treatments.
On Friday AB had a guy specializing in epoxy treatments come and look at the patio. It isn't cheap, but they start on October 22nd and our patio will be out of commission for 3-4 days while they repair the concrete and epoxy coat it. Looking something like this when finished (photo pirated from their webpage):
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I am working towards finishing off my Master bedroom organization goal. I seem to just make it a touch further each weekend either because we are busy, or in the case of this past weekend, because I wasn't feeling great. At this point I need to plow through AB's dresser, clean off the top of it and apply the (likely) faux leather organizers I bought at Target to corral some of his odds and ends. Then I need to tackle the corner where things go to be stacked and ignored. VCR tapes... toss? Garage sale? I hate to just toss them, but they seem pretty worthless. Let me know if you are interested in the titles we have.
Then I need to think about painting. I would love to get it done, but have to admit I am a touch hesitant. I need some thoughts on finishes. I did our bathroom in semi-gloss because I like the sheen in bathrooms. It really lightens it up a lot and I like the way it looks. However, I am not so sure I like the idea of semi-gloss for the Master bedroom. Can I mix the finishes in adjacent rooms connected by a larger archway if I keep the same colors?
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Today I spent money. I am really good at doing this. Up until four years ago I would say my technical savvy level was about 8 out of 10. I wasn't a pro, but I could do most anything from whip up a webpage to program in a few languages (now likely obsolete) and had a lot of the new gadgets. Then well... children put a cramp in my techno ways.
This weekend though AB and I realized that 18 hours on the Tivo hard drive just isn't enough. We were in that first wave of Tivo users. I had thought previously about just getting a hard drive to help the storage issues. But there were other issues... like the phone cord (tripping hazard) running down a hall and across a room. And hating the fact we couldn't record two shows at once. (The only two shows we were really interested in the premiers for were the 2 hour openers of Survivor and Grey's Anatomy and they overlapped by an hour.) Issues like this are just silly in the technology era!
I got with the program and upgraded our DVR to an 80 hour one capable of recording 2 shows and then I bought the wireless adaptor AND a router. I would say we have caught up with the rest of the general public though I noticed when I bought this one it was the lesser of three options and since we don't have HD in our immediate future I will just have to accept being a step or three behind.
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Skadi has become Miss Chatty. She now has a number of words though her favorite is still "no". She says it so quickly and with such determination you KNOW she knows exactly what she wants. And that look in her eyes also says that if you don't comply, a meltdown will ensue. Among her new words are "nana" (banana), "juice", "coat", "socks", "brother" (isn't it easier to say Leif??), "hair", "bug", "bird", "fruit" and "meat" among others I am likely forgetting.
Leif has learned that Skadi can repeat what you say and is taking it upon himself to teach her to talk.
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I have always bought Leif's clothes ahead of time. In the spring I buy clearance for the following winter. Fall I buy summer clearance for next spring. Leif has (knock on wood) so far never deviated from his growth curve and has always been dead on for size.
Skadi... nothing can be easy with her! Last spring I was sure she was on her growth curve and bought a number of 2T outfits for this fall. Appears she will be wearing most of those next fall. I was happy last week when I finally got to use my Gymbucks to buy her a few cute new outfits for this year. Otherwise she is solidly back in 12-18 month clothes again and should get two years out of most of her outfits from last year. I did buy her Gymborree clothes in 18-24 months being optimistic that it is only October and that by December they will fit her. Except for the red tulle skirt... that I bought in a 2T knowing that I can cinch it in this year and she can (and will) wear it next year as well.
My biggest issue there is going to be keeping it off my son. His best girlfriends are projecting the love of princesses onto him and his little sponge of a brain appears to have soaked it all up.
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Work is good for both AB and I. I had an "informal" lunch meeting last week where I was offered another major project to manage. With the addition of this project my umbrella over this client will be complete. This one wasn't a big surprise or a coup, it was offered up by the current PM to me and it was truly just a matter of time before it scootched over as she moves on.
At my informal lunch meeting last week I was also asked if I would consider taking over management of a project that is pissing off most of the upper management due to its lack of management.
This one will be the major coup. I know enough about it that I qualified my yes answer pretty heavily. I know the project well enough to know that one person in particular may walk off the project if I jump rank. A few others will just be hostile. The program manager didn't seem to have a problem with this and said that he may walk, but he will likely only do the talk since he has nothing else to fall upon. And if he does find something than more power to him and they will have underestimated his resourcefulness.
My saving grace in this regard is that if this comes down, it will come down from up way high and outside of the program. Which should provide me a little bubble to cushion myself when they start storming the gates.
Scared? Me? Damn right I am. But more terrified of being a wuss and not even trying to bring the project back onto the straight and narrow.
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Then the last topic is moving. It is still looming out there. We want a new house. We need a new house. We think.
There are the days we remind ourselves that MANY families live in houses much smaller than ours with no problem. We look around and see all the things we love about our house and our yard (our soon to be gorgeous patio) and wonder what our hurry is. Particularly if I get new floors in the kitchen this winter. And wow we need new carpet. With just a little injection of cash into the house, it would be a really pretty house.
Then we see other homes out there that would give us so much more of what we want and need in a home. And we remember how little storage we have and that we have no real guest room right now. And we complain about the depths of our closet pantry. And needing a three car garage. Then we start looking again.
Basically the update is that we are going forward with preparing our house to either go on the market or possible rent next spring depending on the market. It may happen, or we may decide to build at that point. But hopefully this spring we will have a clearly defined path forward.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Goals
I made a little progress on the goals this weekend. I am currently working on my Master Bedroom. The two nightstands arrived the weekend we went to the water park (where our friends were kind enough to haul them inside for us). Truly, had I known they would be shipped and arrive from Overstock within 2 days for $2.99 I would have put off the purchase!
(Ok, explain to me how Overstock can ship items of furniture for $2.99 and Ikea - owned by the richest man in the world - can't ship nearly anything for less than the price of the item. And in the case of a cute dresser? For nearly twice as much as the item.)
Anyways... the nightstands were assembled. One by me on Saturday afternoon while Skadi slept and AB and Leif were at a birthday party. Two hours and twenty minutes with the tools the instructions stated, a phillips screwdriver and a 4mm hex key. And I was sore afterwards! It was hard work!
AB laughed at me when he got home. Why didn't I use the drill? Because it said screwdriver, not drill. Though I do admit that a quarter of the way through I was wondering why it said screwdriver and not drill.
So he set to putting the other together today. With the drill. And logged in at 2 hours and 6 minutes. He wasn't laughing much then. Though his hand is probably nowhere near as sore as mine still is.
I finally ditched the decade old open top ugly hamper and bought a nice hamper at Target today. We organized the bedside tables (love them) and the bedroom is starting to look snazzy. Leif got my bedside table. It was headed to the garage for the eventual garage sale when it dawned on me how much he needs something to put a cup of water, his glasses and the current favorite books (Halloween books right now). I don't think he even noticed it appeared in there.
I have a fair amount more organizing and I really would like to go through AB's dresser. But then we need to at least think about painting.
(Ok, explain to me how Overstock can ship items of furniture for $2.99 and Ikea - owned by the richest man in the world - can't ship nearly anything for less than the price of the item. And in the case of a cute dresser? For nearly twice as much as the item.)
Anyways... the nightstands were assembled. One by me on Saturday afternoon while Skadi slept and AB and Leif were at a birthday party. Two hours and twenty minutes with the tools the instructions stated, a phillips screwdriver and a 4mm hex key. And I was sore afterwards! It was hard work!
AB laughed at me when he got home. Why didn't I use the drill? Because it said screwdriver, not drill. Though I do admit that a quarter of the way through I was wondering why it said screwdriver and not drill.
So he set to putting the other together today. With the drill. And logged in at 2 hours and 6 minutes. He wasn't laughing much then. Though his hand is probably nowhere near as sore as mine still is.
I finally ditched the decade old open top ugly hamper and bought a nice hamper at Target today. We organized the bedside tables (love them) and the bedroom is starting to look snazzy. Leif got my bedside table. It was headed to the garage for the eventual garage sale when it dawned on me how much he needs something to put a cup of water, his glasses and the current favorite books (Halloween books right now). I don't think he even noticed it appeared in there.
I have a fair amount more organizing and I really would like to go through AB's dresser. But then we need to at least think about painting.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Holding steady with the goals
I would like to say that the Master bathroom is finished. But we haven't gotten around to the touch-up painting. Of course this is mostly because my attempts at spray painting the cheap shelves I had hanging up in the bathroom failed. AB suggested I just buy new shelves - which is fine. Fine except that I have anchors and screws in the walls to hang these ones.
Anyways, what that means is that I need to yank out the anchors, patch the walls and paint over them. Not really a big deal, but time consuming enough that I haven't gotten to it yet. Might as well do all the touch up painting at once.
I had intended to be done with the Master Bath by the end of Labor Day, but I keep finding little things in the bathroom to work on. I need to recaulk the shower, work on one of the light switches and AB needs to reattach the trim.
So switching gears to my September goal - the Master Bedroom.
Our Master Bedroom needs serious attention. It is just a sorely neglected room as far as decorating and furniture. We don't like our dressers, but don't want to spend the money on a new bedroom set now.
What I did do was to buy new nightstands. We have never had nightstands and instead have some random small tables next to each of our sides of the bed. So I have ordered new nightstands and they should arrive next week!
They were inexpensive (though solid wood - AB might have strung me up by my toes if I bought anymore laminate particle board stuff) - Overstock.com stuff. But they should match the dressers reasonably well - at least in color if not hardware. They will work for now to help organize our bedside areas. Then after we buy a house, move and buy a new bedroom set (with a king sized bed), we can relegate these nightstands to the guest bedroom.
The things I still need for the Master bedroom are a new hamper system. Badly need this. Anyone see any nice, inexpensive hampers out there? And we could also use two matching bedside lamps or sconces. Probably lamps to put on our new nightstands since I have mounted shelves where sconces would go. AB hates the shelves for some reason... truly not sure why. He would trash them and put up lamps. But my shelves hold my huge stack of books to be read.
Since I am so good at plowing through books lately.
Not.
The last thing that needs to be done in the Master bedroom is a coat of paint. It isn't a must, but it would be really nice (and AB agrees in theory) to have the paint color in the bathroom extend into the bedroom.
No way am I finishing all this in September. My summer turned September goals have now become my October goals. Oh well. I am making progress!
I am really looking forward to the kitchen in November. Probably good I am procrastinating that though... because it is going to get pricey. (New floor, pull outs...)
Anyways, what that means is that I need to yank out the anchors, patch the walls and paint over them. Not really a big deal, but time consuming enough that I haven't gotten to it yet. Might as well do all the touch up painting at once.
I had intended to be done with the Master Bath by the end of Labor Day, but I keep finding little things in the bathroom to work on. I need to recaulk the shower, work on one of the light switches and AB needs to reattach the trim.
So switching gears to my September goal - the Master Bedroom.
Our Master Bedroom needs serious attention. It is just a sorely neglected room as far as decorating and furniture. We don't like our dressers, but don't want to spend the money on a new bedroom set now.
What I did do was to buy new nightstands. We have never had nightstands and instead have some random small tables next to each of our sides of the bed. So I have ordered new nightstands and they should arrive next week!
They were inexpensive (though solid wood - AB might have strung me up by my toes if I bought anymore laminate particle board stuff) - Overstock.com stuff. But they should match the dressers reasonably well - at least in color if not hardware. They will work for now to help organize our bedside areas. Then after we buy a house, move and buy a new bedroom set (with a king sized bed), we can relegate these nightstands to the guest bedroom.
The things I still need for the Master bedroom are a new hamper system. Badly need this. Anyone see any nice, inexpensive hampers out there? And we could also use two matching bedside lamps or sconces. Probably lamps to put on our new nightstands since I have mounted shelves where sconces would go. AB hates the shelves for some reason... truly not sure why. He would trash them and put up lamps. But my shelves hold my huge stack of books to be read.
Since I am so good at plowing through books lately.
Not.
The last thing that needs to be done in the Master bedroom is a coat of paint. It isn't a must, but it would be really nice (and AB agrees in theory) to have the paint color in the bathroom extend into the bedroom.
No way am I finishing all this in September. My summer turned September goals have now become my October goals. Oh well. I am making progress!
I am really looking forward to the kitchen in November. Probably good I am procrastinating that though... because it is going to get pricey. (New floor, pull outs...)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Samblich Pie
"Time for bed honey pie!" I called to Leif.
"Why did you call me that?" he asked.
"I always call you that, I like it," I said.
"Well I think you should call me 'samblich pie' instead, okay!" he tells me.
....
Leif lived in his cape the entire weekend. Seriously I am not sure it was off of him for more than an hour for a bike ride. On Saturday Leif went to answer the door as one of his friends was visiting. We opened the door to see the other little boy standing there... also wearing a cape. The caped crusaders played hard.
It was a busy weekend. Skadi and I went to swimming, then we all hit some Parade Homes. We went home for nap and I cooked dinner in preparation for guests.
Sunday our doorbell rang at 9am while we were finishing up breakfast (pumpkin waffles) and it was our babysitter. Only three hours early for her babysitting stint.
"NOON, not NINE!"
AB pointed her towards home and asked her to be back in a few hours.
AB and I had nine homes to finish up on the Parade of Homes route and we decided to tackle that last day sans children. They would rather stay home and play anyways.
Our sitter came back at noon and we chit chatted while AB finished showering. I asked how her trip to the cabin was and she told me she confused the weekends and she is going next weekend.
"Next weekend?" I asked her.
"Mmm hmmm!" she nodded with a mouthful of macaroni and cheese.
"So you aren't going to be able to housesit for me then?" I asked her.
She had that characterizeable blank look on her face for about 20 seconds. Then the bell dinged and she stammered trying to figure it out.
I made her promise that she get back to me asap. In the meantime AB has put plans in motion to just bring Winny along to the condo, which is probably a better option anyways.
I think she has the ding dong, ditzy teenager thing going on. It has been something with every single of the last three scheduled sitting jobs. Her mom is super and I am trying to be uber understanding. But this flightiness has me concerned and unimpressed.
Not to mention the fact that when we got home four hours later she was on the couch with Leif (while Skadi played on the floor) and he exclaimed, "we watched Tarzan, Mulan 2 [which I had put aside unopened in reserve as a reward] AND the Spiderman movie?"
"Spiderman movie?" I inquired with my eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," he wanted to watch it she said.
"It's rated PG I think," I told her.
She looked at me.
"He's four," I reminded her.
Ok, so I remember a babysitter letting my sister and I watch Friday the 13th all the while we declared, "it won't scare me". (HA HA HA HA HA.)
Yeah... our neighbor girl has been put on hold for babysitting pending a little growing up, or something.
So anyways... Parade of Homes. Mediocre. It's a Parade. I want to be wow'd. I wasn't wow'd very often. Only a few houses wow'd me. One we want to buy. Though there are enough little things I would change that I have trouble pulling the trigger. AB a little less so. I am thinking building the same house with a few modifications is more likely.
There were too many homes that were seriously just "open houses" with no decor. That's just a waste of my time.
So anyways. Weekend was good. Busy, but good. I cleaned out my dresser and threw away clothes, made another stack for keep (but not here) and a bigger stack for Goodwill. It was my effort to at least *try* and get started on my September goal before the end of the month. AB rolled his eyes at me when I mentioned the word "paint" this afternoon.
SO maybe my kitchen will be in November...
"Why did you call me that?" he asked.
"I always call you that, I like it," I said.
"Well I think you should call me 'samblich pie' instead, okay!" he tells me.
....
Leif lived in his cape the entire weekend. Seriously I am not sure it was off of him for more than an hour for a bike ride. On Saturday Leif went to answer the door as one of his friends was visiting. We opened the door to see the other little boy standing there... also wearing a cape. The caped crusaders played hard.
It was a busy weekend. Skadi and I went to swimming, then we all hit some Parade Homes. We went home for nap and I cooked dinner in preparation for guests.
Sunday our doorbell rang at 9am while we were finishing up breakfast (pumpkin waffles) and it was our babysitter. Only three hours early for her babysitting stint.
"NOON, not NINE!"
AB pointed her towards home and asked her to be back in a few hours.
AB and I had nine homes to finish up on the Parade of Homes route and we decided to tackle that last day sans children. They would rather stay home and play anyways.
Our sitter came back at noon and we chit chatted while AB finished showering. I asked how her trip to the cabin was and she told me she confused the weekends and she is going next weekend.
"Next weekend?" I asked her.
"Mmm hmmm!" she nodded with a mouthful of macaroni and cheese.
"So you aren't going to be able to housesit for me then?" I asked her.
She had that characterizeable blank look on her face for about 20 seconds. Then the bell dinged and she stammered trying to figure it out.
I made her promise that she get back to me asap. In the meantime AB has put plans in motion to just bring Winny along to the condo, which is probably a better option anyways.
I think she has the ding dong, ditzy teenager thing going on. It has been something with every single of the last three scheduled sitting jobs. Her mom is super and I am trying to be uber understanding. But this flightiness has me concerned and unimpressed.
Not to mention the fact that when we got home four hours later she was on the couch with Leif (while Skadi played on the floor) and he exclaimed, "we watched Tarzan, Mulan 2 [which I had put aside unopened in reserve as a reward] AND the Spiderman movie?"
"Spiderman movie?" I inquired with my eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," he wanted to watch it she said.
"It's rated PG I think," I told her.
She looked at me.
"He's four," I reminded her.
Ok, so I remember a babysitter letting my sister and I watch Friday the 13th all the while we declared, "it won't scare me". (HA HA HA HA HA.)
Yeah... our neighbor girl has been put on hold for babysitting pending a little growing up, or something.
So anyways... Parade of Homes. Mediocre. It's a Parade. I want to be wow'd. I wasn't wow'd very often. Only a few houses wow'd me. One we want to buy. Though there are enough little things I would change that I have trouble pulling the trigger. AB a little less so. I am thinking building the same house with a few modifications is more likely.
There were too many homes that were seriously just "open houses" with no decor. That's just a waste of my time.
So anyways. Weekend was good. Busy, but good. I cleaned out my dresser and threw away clothes, made another stack for keep (but not here) and a bigger stack for Goodwill. It was my effort to at least *try* and get started on my September goal before the end of the month. AB rolled his eyes at me when I mentioned the word "paint" this afternoon.
SO maybe my kitchen will be in November...
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Weekend Wrap Up
AB and I enjoyed four full days off. The poor kids only got three days off, but both were ready to get back by last night. I asked Skadi if she wanted to go to school this morning and she nodded her head wildly. Let's just hope her teacher isn't about ready to boot her by the end of the day - she is trying to push through her last two teeth (as opposed to molars - she still has four of those left to go for a full mouthful) and is a little bear. Her nights have been misery and AB and I have resigned ourselves to one of us just jumping in the extra queen sized bed (currently residing in her nursery) with her to get her back to bed. Sucky habit I know, but we all (including Leif) get more sleep that way. Oh and she IS a cuddler.
After four days off, AB and I were both ready to get back to work. AB started a new position within his same company today. He passed his EIT/FE exam awhile back, his manager braggardly opened his mouth to some of the other managers and shortly after AB was invited to float around a few other groups and find a place where he is happy (not that he isn't) and feels like he will fit long, long term. His manager is the meantime left regretting having bragged about him passing his exam.
Me? I am ready to have a day at work where I don't have 24 lbs hanging around my neck that screams wildly when put down. It's no wonder when I jump on my treadmill to run lately I surprise myself how far I can go before panting and dropping to the ground. She really has been giving me a workout.
So the big news of the weekend is finishing my Master Bath off. For the most part at least. Little details remain like recaulking the shower, sticking the trim back on, figuring out how awful my spray paint job on the shelves went and whether or not I am going to put them back on the wall or not (AB votes for not) and buying new rugs. My bathroom rugs are old and I want some pretty ones, but AB suggests that I wait until we are ready to list the house since my son's aim is pitiful.
I am starting to look towards my Master bedroom planning out my attack. Storage, I need lots of it. Ideally I want to sell our two dressers and put the money towards a new bedroom set. Realistically I need to purge the dresser contents, replace the hardware that has fallen off and deal with it until we move. The walls will need to be painted. It shouldn't (in theory) be a big job. Now October when I hit the kitchen? THAT will be a big job. Maybe I should save the money that would go towards a bedroom set for a new kitchen floor instead.
AB and I started our fall ritual of dealing with food. Leif and AB put what seemed like hundreds of tomatoes through our food mill (it was horribly entertaining for a four year old) and then AB cooked down the purree to about 3 gallons. Then froze it so we can tackle spaghetti sauce another weekend.
I cooked down our Merlot grapes to about 2 gallons of ridiculously sweet juice. Cabernet grapes will be in a few weeks - and I am scared. I took a look at the vine last night and I estimate that I have at least two to three times as many Cab grapes than I did Merlot. AB asked me what I am going to do with the juice other than take up valuable freezer space. Jelly maybe? Sorbet? Sherbet? Maybe all three. My MIL, however, was disappointed to hear that I have no plans to make wine. I don't know... maybe I should try? Maybe it would be a good experiment and a quick way to use up all the juice. Though I am with Andy on this one... why should I make wine when I have the stuff the pros make in my backyard?
I made a big double batch of pumpkin, chocolate chip bread. Recipe courtesy of VG... (who I really wish would start blogging again... she cracks me up and I could use the athletic motivation). Anyways, I ended up with two large loaves and four minis. Though it was good I got it into the freezer (yes another thing in the freezer) quickly. Both my kids will devour the stuff. (I am blaming them 100%, they aren't here to defend themselves or point fingers.)
I had every intention of making and freezing a few nectarine pies - but our freezer is full of grape and tomato stuff. And the kids were starting to look a little pale and neglected like they had seen one too many movie. So instead we jumped in the car with the dog and headed to the park for a play and a short hike in the foothills. It was good for us all as opposed to nectarine pie that only tastes really good.
After four days off, AB and I were both ready to get back to work. AB started a new position within his same company today. He passed his EIT/FE exam awhile back, his manager braggardly opened his mouth to some of the other managers and shortly after AB was invited to float around a few other groups and find a place where he is happy (not that he isn't) and feels like he will fit long, long term. His manager is the meantime left regretting having bragged about him passing his exam.
Me? I am ready to have a day at work where I don't have 24 lbs hanging around my neck that screams wildly when put down. It's no wonder when I jump on my treadmill to run lately I surprise myself how far I can go before panting and dropping to the ground. She really has been giving me a workout.
So the big news of the weekend is finishing my Master Bath off. For the most part at least. Little details remain like recaulking the shower, sticking the trim back on, figuring out how awful my spray paint job on the shelves went and whether or not I am going to put them back on the wall or not (AB votes for not) and buying new rugs. My bathroom rugs are old and I want some pretty ones, but AB suggests that I wait until we are ready to list the house since my son's aim is pitiful.
I am starting to look towards my Master bedroom planning out my attack. Storage, I need lots of it. Ideally I want to sell our two dressers and put the money towards a new bedroom set. Realistically I need to purge the dresser contents, replace the hardware that has fallen off and deal with it until we move. The walls will need to be painted. It shouldn't (in theory) be a big job. Now October when I hit the kitchen? THAT will be a big job. Maybe I should save the money that would go towards a bedroom set for a new kitchen floor instead.
AB and I started our fall ritual of dealing with food. Leif and AB put what seemed like hundreds of tomatoes through our food mill (it was horribly entertaining for a four year old) and then AB cooked down the purree to about 3 gallons. Then froze it so we can tackle spaghetti sauce another weekend.
I cooked down our Merlot grapes to about 2 gallons of ridiculously sweet juice. Cabernet grapes will be in a few weeks - and I am scared. I took a look at the vine last night and I estimate that I have at least two to three times as many Cab grapes than I did Merlot. AB asked me what I am going to do with the juice other than take up valuable freezer space. Jelly maybe? Sorbet? Sherbet? Maybe all three. My MIL, however, was disappointed to hear that I have no plans to make wine. I don't know... maybe I should try? Maybe it would be a good experiment and a quick way to use up all the juice. Though I am with Andy on this one... why should I make wine when I have the stuff the pros make in my backyard?
I made a big double batch of pumpkin, chocolate chip bread. Recipe courtesy of VG... (who I really wish would start blogging again... she cracks me up and I could use the athletic motivation). Anyways, I ended up with two large loaves and four minis. Though it was good I got it into the freezer (yes another thing in the freezer) quickly. Both my kids will devour the stuff. (I am blaming them 100%, they aren't here to defend themselves or point fingers.)
I had every intention of making and freezing a few nectarine pies - but our freezer is full of grape and tomato stuff. And the kids were starting to look a little pale and neglected like they had seen one too many movie. So instead we jumped in the car with the dog and headed to the park for a play and a short hike in the foothills. It was good for us all as opposed to nectarine pie that only tastes really good.
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