Renewing Me

I’m in one of those seasons where all the planets align, the things stack up and despite my best efforts I’m totally over committed. It’s frustrating since I’ve been very intentional this year (it is my word for the  year after all) about where I choose to spend my time and energy. I’ve been selective about what I commit to and turned away opportunities. And yet, I find myself, right now, in an icky place. It seems everywhere I turn someone wants a piece of me.

I think some of it is a convergence activities ramping up in anticipation of school starting, end of summer rush, work commitments and a thriving photography business. Right now I am coordinating a family reunion, lead on two major programs at work, preparing for the back to school rush and editing thousands of photos from recent shoots. It’s all good stuff and I’m glad for each of them. It’s just unfortunate that they all come to a head in a months time. There isn’t much breathing room.

Which leads to the feeling of everyone wanting a piece of me. I can manage it for a while, taking things in stride, making decisions on the fly and putting out fires (although I would really rather they not erupt to begin with). But then I reach the tipping point. When I know I need to step away or I might be incredibly, obnoxiously, inappropriate to the next person who asks me for something. Thank goodness I can usually feel this total loss of filter coming on!

I felt it last week. Dreaming of a vacation I can’t take – because I don’t have the cash {2 words: Disney vacation and College tuition. Ok that was 4, but you get it.} or the time. There simply isn’t a time to get away.

So I booked my own mental vacation.

Yesterday I spent the entire day working in my yard. Like from 8 am to 8 pm. And boy can I feel it today! I’m walking like a 90-year-old woman with arthritis; pain with every step. And it feels amazing! There is something about working til your bones are weary. About focusing on one thing and one thing only. Tuning out the rhetoric, the demands, the requests and to do lists. Just doing physical labor. Today I can tackle my projects with a renewed energy and a much better attitude. I’m ready to give things the attention and care they need.

Taking a little time for me, a break from all the demands, even if it was for hard physical labor, renewed me. And my yard looks amazing! It should after 19 bags of mulch, 8 new plants, 12 hours and 1880 pounds of rock moved. Enjoy some pictures of the fruits of my labor.

Those rocks are so much heavier than they appear!

They may look random, but it’s really hard to make things look random!

Really it is.

I now have wild raspberry. I think that’s a good thing.

Why, yes we are ISU fans!

A combo of nursery plants and splits from others – my favorite way to get and give plants!

The wall is still holding up a year later. Guess we did that right so far.

Finally got the front beds mulched. Looks so much more finished this way.

Coral Belles are my friend!

And a couple shots of some great foliage. Love the intensity of the colors.

I am definitely partial to the deep purple, but love the contrast of the bright green.   And I ended the day with a fire in the pit. Peace.

Sideboard

I made my first Craig’s List purchase  a month ago. Middle Son went with me to check it out. It is a really solid piece of furniture! So he and the seller loaded it in our van, I paid the man and we headed home. I have to say I was a bit creeped out by the idea of going to a stranger’s house to buy something. But we survived just fine.

I had been searching for a while for something to use in my dining room. I had a shelf I had purchased and painted when we first moved into this house. It worked, but all the shelves were open and I really wanted a cleaner look; something with doors or drawers. I’ve seen some great repurposed mid-century hutches that I really like, but I have this awesome mantel on the wall. So I really needed a sideboard rather than a hutch.

I knew I wanted to paint it, although when I stripped it I did hesitate for a minute. The wood looked so good! But I already have two shades of wood with my floor and table. I don’t want to throw another in the mix. So on went the primer.

As a side note, I found a great no-odor stripper that I could use in the house. Good thing since it was getting cold outside.

We picked a yellow a few shades darker than our living room. It was actually paint I already had and it really pops against the red-orange walls.

I really  love how it turned out!

I love the clean lines.

Since it was such a simple design, I added quirk with the drawer pulls.

Each drawer has a different pull.

Love them all! And the best part of the whole thing?

Ok, there are two best parts.

1. I only spent $100 on the entire project! Perfect for a frugal girl like me:).
2. I started and finished this project in the same month! {I would have been done more quickly, but I had a weekend out-of-town for work in the middle.} I never finish a project that quickly!

I also have lots of free space in the hall closet where I used to keep many of the things that are now in my sideboard.

Yay for upcycled furniture! Yay for storage space! Yay for finished projects! And Yay for getting to be creative!

Mantel

I’ve been drooling over the mantels I’ve seen on Pinterest. I just love the options they give for decorating. There are so many cute ideas and I wanted one of my own. We have a fire-place in the family room that I love, but we really don’t hang out there very often. I needed a place for seasonal decor in my dining room. Two needs (ok, wants); one solution. I thought about searching flea markets for the perfect one – an old one to repurpose. But, then graduation was fast approaching and I wanted it done before that. I knew who to call.

I sent 3 pictures and some dimensions to my dad along with a request from his only daughter. Please, Dad, can you make me one of these…before graduation?

He had a few questions.

And then when they came to visit, I had a mantel! I just needed to do the finish paint. Dad had put a base coat of flat latex in dark brown over the whole mantel. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of it in process or painted brown. I was, after all, trying to complete a ridiculously long to-do-before-graduation list. I didn’t even take any pictures in the process. I did the painting between finishing the concrete patio and laying the sod. I had a narrow window of time to get it done. I painted it on Thursday and the party was Saturday! Thank goodness, the technique I found on Pinterest worked BEAUTIFULLY!

Thanks to Ann at Make the Best of Things for the great information and ideas on painting with Elmer’s glue. It was so fun to do! I tried it out first on a stool I had base painted forever ago. I laid the glue on thick, really thick, then painted over it. I’m glad I tried it out on this first, because I didn’t like the effect I got. It was more streaky than crackled. I read through Ann’s notes again and decided to water the glue down for a second try. That was the key!

For my finished product I watered the glue down – about 2 parts glue to 1 part water – and brushed that on the mantel a section at a time. I did the top, then the crown moulding, then the straight parts, then the bottom. I was working outside and it was a pretty windy day. I pretty much put the paint over the glue as soon as I finished the glue coat. Then I watched it work. And it worked great! As the paint and glue dry, it crackles and looks aged.

I couldn’t be happier with the finished product! It is exactly what I pictured. How often does that happen!! And it was hung on the wall and decorated before the graduation party! Yay!

Holes

We’ve got plenty! One of the many projects on our “before graduation” list is a new deck and patio. We are well on our way and have a plan to get it done in plenty of time. Let’s just hope it isn’t the old “best laid plans.” The retaining wall was built over spring break. Now we are on to the deck. Hubby has been digging holes. Every night after work he comes home and digs, and digs, and digs.

The first hole was the hardest. It looked like it would be right over the main power line to the house. That meant digging very carefully. Like with a hand trowel.

The hole has to be 16″ in diameter 36″ deep.

Dug with a hand trowel. It took a LONG time. But the careful digging paid off when Hubby came across the conduit with the power line inside. Lucky us it was right on the very edge of the hole. Dodged a bullet on that one!

After finding that he was good to go on the other three holes. They were much easier to dig with a shovel and post hole digger! Duh.

Do you know how deep a 36″ deep hole is?

That’s my 6′ tall hubby in the hole. And this is the pile of dirt left behind.

 

Our yard is full of roots from a huge white maple. Like huge roots. Like 4″ in diameter. I thought I took pictures before they cut the biggest one out, but apparently I was so in awe I forgot to snap a pic. So here it is out of the hole. Crazy I say.

Right smack through the middle of the first hole. But it’s out! And the hole inspector is coming today!

 

I hope he likes our work. Then we pour concrete this afternoon. Oh my!

Should be fun?! Right?

Senior Year – Life in Fast Forward

Wow! Where did March go? In fact, where did February go? I feel like someone pushed the fast forward button on our lives and we are whizzing at break neck speed. It’s all a blur – only able to see snipits at a time. By the time I’ve figured out what I’m seeing, we’re on to the next event. I knew this year would go by fast, but honestly I had no idea. The fall semester seemed like any other year. I think it lulled me into a false sense of security. Spring semester has gone super fast!

It seems like once WPA hit there is no slowing down. And now we are into the home stretch with party planning, elementary school reunions, spring concerts, and finals. The calendar is filling quickly. It doesn’t help that this is a notoriously busy time of year at work and this year there are lots of staffing changes to manage as well. Throw in tennis season and a few doctors appointments for the boys and you have a highly scheduled life.

Fortunately, a friend shared her graduation timeline with me last fall. I spent some time then looking it over and thinking about what we will need to do. We have a plan and we’re ticking through it now. Tops on our list has been work in the backyard. It’s going super slowly, but we did make progress over spring break.

Three boys worked really hard! (And so did Hubby & I)

They dug this seriously long trench. And hauled lots of dirt!

Then we leveled it out and put down paver sand and the first row of blocks for our retaining wall. I was the one putting the blocks in place; carefully adjusting each one, turning the level both ways to make sure I created a perfect base for the wall. It was tedious. And not very comfortable sitting in there …there is a good reason there are no pictures of that part!

Our contractor friend who is helping us with the rest of our project came over when we had the first row on. He looked at my handiwork…and proceeded to step on the back of the blocks to make them tilt backwards! Apparently they need a little lean in them. All that leveling….for naught. The bright side? We only had one level in – can you imagine if the whole wall was built. We may have had a mutiny on our hands!

With our solid footing we moved on to the rest of the wall.

*Some boys definitely worked harder than others. I’m not mentioning any names, just sayin’ a picture’s worth a thousand words.

Coming together quite nicely.

That may or may not be a supervisor’s chair.

Contemplating the work.

You know I had to include one pic with a fun perspective!

Next it’s on to the deck and patio! And we have 36 days until the graduation party…no problem…

Live in the moment, let go of the ideal, keep it simple and laugh.

It’s all good and we are blessed.

Project Graduation Preparation – Senior Year

Well, it finally happened. I knew it would. Frankly I couldn’t figure out why it hadn’t already. I had a bit of a panic attack this week. I was looking at the calendar for spring and planning some weekend activities trying to be realistic about what I could do. Then I started to count and realized how little time there is between now and graduation.

Less than 4 months!

Mind you I’m not freaking out about him graduating {yet!}. I’m freaking out about all the things we were going to do around the house that we haven’t even started. Or – if you know me- we’ve started but not finished. The good news {for me} is this happened during a week when Hubby was home on vacation! I gave him a short list. Short as in less than 100 items long:).

We hit the ground running. Crown moulding in the family room, living room, dining room and kitchen. Strip wallpaper and paint in the dining room and kitchen. Replace the handle on the door to the garage. Fix the cable on the overhead garage door. And on, and on.

Hubby and Oldest Son started on the crown moulding. That stuff could destroy a marriage! Do you have any idea how much geometry is involved in putting up crown moulding? I may have mentioned, math is not my subject. Everything is at angles! It’s yucky! I walked away from that project. I’d like to say I’m practicing letting go of control. Really, I just don’t understand! Oldest Son is in heaven on this one. He has figured out the degree of every angle he’s cutting. It’s pretty cute actually. Love that kid. Hubby is dusting off his geometry skills too. It’s been a few years:).

I spent the weekend painting. I LOVE to paint. Not being sarcastic at all. It’s therapy. There is nothing like transforming a room with a can of paint. I have a brush I love – don’t make me paint without it.

And no one else is allowed to use it. They mess up the bristles and don’t clean it out well enough. Then I have crusty paint in it. Not cool!

And I picked up this super cool paint cup. Just the right size for when I’m cutting in.

And it has a cool magnet on the side to hook my paint brush on.

So cool! The only thing missing is a place to hang my rag for wiping up messes.

I love cutting in around the trim, with my awesome brush. I don’t tape anything. That makes me crazy. I hate spending hours prepping to do the job that takes me no time at all. I painted the whole kitchen in 90 minutes. No taping involved! How fun is that ! It’s therapy – only way cheaper!

Stripping the wallpaper in the dining room did not go quite as quickly. Fortunately this is paper we put up ourselves so we sized it properly. It’s still a pain to take off. Thanks goodness it was only up to the chair rail. It took most of Saturday to get it off. Then we painted like crazy people. But I am excited to say….it’s done! 

We just put on the last of the switch plates and outlet covers. Done. And I LOVE the color!

Can you tell I took this pic when the paint was still wet? So anxious! The paint is Valspar – from Lowe’s. We used their paint and primer in one and loved it! We were able to get by with just two coats. The color is Brick Facade. Kind of orange, with touch of red. Love it! And so happy to have it done. Check one thing off of the long, long list.

Just a little more crown moulding, shoe moulding and hanging some things on the newly painted walls and the inside could be done!

And then there is the back yard. It’s a huge eye sore! I wish Backyard Crashers or someone else from TLC or HGTV would come make it lovely. It really needs help. As soon as we finish inside we’ll tackle the nightmare that is our backyard.

Summer of Plumbers

One of our kids needs to become a plumber. That’s all there is to it. We’re on our 3rd plumbing related incident of the summer. Today’s has been the most frustrating.

The first is the shower that won’t quit leaking. Three of us have tried to tighten the screw in the hot water knob to no avail. It appears fixed…for a minute. Then the dripping begins a gain. And each time I think it drips a little harder afterwards. I shudder to think what our water bill will be this month!

The second was a leaking gasket between the stool and tank in our bathroom. I discovered this one when I stepped on the wet bathroom rug. It took some investigation to figure out what was going on. Then I discovered the floor tiles were mushy. Thank goodness they are the peel and stick kind so an easy fix. For now there is a bowl under the leak until we can take it all apart and replace the rubber washers. I think that will fix it anyway. I hope.

Last night when I reached in the ice maker for some ice, my hand hit a solid cube. Apparently the ice maker is just making water. The tub that catches the ice was full of water that had frozen. But not before it ran over the edge and onto the bottom shelf of the freezer. Fortunately, the freezer is still freezing. So we cleaned it out and turned off the icemaker and went to bed. When Oldest Son came home I had him double check it. Thank goodness for that!

The water was flowing at a steady stream out of the ice maker and the tub was full and flowing onto the bottom of the freezer again. So, at midnight we emptied the upstairs freezer and put everything in the chest freezer downstairs. Oldest Son shut the valve to the ice maker and we put two tubs under there just to be sure. And we went to bed.

This morning we woke to water running from the freezer and all over the floor! Such a mess. Clearly the shut off valve is worn out. So now we have a valve to replace and an ice maker to fix.

Which takes me back to the need for one of our sons to be a plumber. And it would probably be good if one was a mechanic as well. We could probably save a fortune in repair costs with just those two!

I have a secret…

You can’t tell anyone. I’ve seen some friends post about it on facebook. Making fun of those who do it. I almost admitted, I’m one of them. Just a little bit. And I liked it! A LOT! I wanted to do some more, but I ran out of time. It was kind of thrilling. And a little bit embarrassing. Not too embarrassing, or I wouldn’t have done it. 

Tomorrow is Tidy Town day in our neighborhood. That’s the day when the garbage truck will pick up all the huge pieces they normally refuse. So everyone in the neighborhood has piles by the street. Piles of their junk. But you know the saying…One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I love recycled crafts! I find it challenging to take something old and seemingly garbage, and repurpose it into something beautiful. Something creative and personal. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve even blogged about a couple projects. And I have lots more to share with you. Maybe when you see the finished products you won’t judge me quite so harshly. Or maybe you still will.

So here’s my secret…I picked up things people had piled along the street! Several things. And I wanted to look for more! I kind of wanted to stay ahead of all the pickups that were casing the neighborhood. I might miss something good. Problem is, we were in the Camery. There isn’t a lot of room for great finds when you already have four people in a Camery. We put down the windows and let things stick out! And then, when we got home, I sent Oldest Son and Youngest Son back with the van for some things that didn’t fit in the Camery. Can you believe that?! 

You want to know what I got don’t you? I know you do. You’re thinking, “There’s nothing cool enough to make me stop along the road, get out of my car and load it up.”

Well, I disagree. And I didn’t have to get out of the car. Remeber I had three family members with me. The ones who are obligated to do as I ask. But they did go willingly. I didn’t even have to threaten them. They kind of got into it too. 

You’re gonna be jealous when you see what I got. If you have a creative eye. If you can see the potential. If not, I feel bad for you – you’re missing out. It’s so fun to look at something and imagine what it might become.

So you want to see? Here they are. My amazing finds!

The coolest ladders. There are three of them here. It was one big wooden extension ladder. The person who put it by the curb cut it into pieces. Bummer. But they fit in my flower bed perfectly. So, yay! They are old and worn and used. And I can only imagine what they have been through.

Isnt’ it awesome?! I love it. I have one more piece that is just two or three rungs long. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Something will come to me.

Then there is this one.

Look at the paint spatters. They’re real. This ladder has been used by someone…for a long time. It’s pink! And Blue! Do you see the potential? I do!

It’s going to become something cool. I just don’t know what quite yet.

I do have a plan for these though. {No, I did not drink all this wine. Like I very emfatically told Middle Son’s study partner that saw them tonight. And there are more bottles…lots more!}

   

It involves removing the labels and painting them. It’s going to be a great centerpiece when I’m done. But, I needed something to put them on when I spray paint them. I was thinking about poking sticks in the yard so I could put the bottles upside down on them and paint the whole bottle. I was thinking it might look quite odd. That’s when I drove by these.

It’s PERFECT! I can spray 16 bottles at once! And it was laying by the street.

One man’s garbage…exactly what I was looking for.

I’m going to mark my calendar for the next Tidy Town and make sure I’m driving the van!

All that and a White Picket Fence

When we were first married we moved around a lot. Hubby’s company has lots of locations and moving up meant moving around. We lived in four cities in the first six years we were married. And the beginning of the seventh year found us in a new state. Because of all these moves, we chose not to buy a house. We rented apartments, duplexes and houses in each new town. I grew to detest white walls and dreamed of some day buying a house that we could make our home. I redecorated in my mind a thousand times. I couldn’t wait until we could have a house of our own. Isn’t that everyone’s dream; a house wit a white picket fence?”

Nine years ago, we finally took the plunge. We bought our first home. It’s not a big house and its not new by any means. But we’ve spent the last nine years making it our own. We’ve learned so much! We’ve added walls; from the studs up. Framing, sheet rocking, taping, mudding, texturizing, priming and painting. We replaced flooring; pulling up the vinyl that was glued to the underlayment and laying a floating laminate floor. We took out a wall {not the one we put in} moving an outlet and closing an air vent. We tore out a tub surround and replaced it with subway tiles. We painted kitchen cabinets and put in oak stairs. So many projects! We have become quite handy over the years. Doing everything ourselves has saved us a ton of money! I can’t imagine what it would have cost to hire someone to do all the work. Doing it ourselves was thanks in no small part to my Dad. The hands-down-all-time-best handyman I know. We joke that he could build anything with green treated lumber and angle iron. He should have been an engineer. He can design anything in his head and 9 times out of 10 he will build it and it works! He has helped on nearly every project we have done. And those he hasn’t been physically present for, he provided the expertise, encouragement and confidence. It’s been a lot of fun! We’ve done things neither Hubby or I thought we could.

But its also been a lot of work! We spend a lot of time taking care of the house. Besides just the redecorating stuff, there’s the maintenance and upkeep. Mowing the lawn, trimming the trees, painting the garage doors. It goes on and on.  And then in a big rainstorm, you notice a drip. A pretty steady drip. Through the ceiling into the shower.

At 9:30 pm.

On a Thursday.

Ugh! It would be fun to pretend like I didn’t see it. If I was a renter and it wasn’t my house getting damaged by the rain. Actually, if I was a renter I would just call the landlord and it would be his problem. I wouldn’t have to figure out who to call or pay for it when they come. It would be so simple. And then I’d be done. Problem solved. But instead, I dreamed of my own home. Where I could paint the walls and make it my own. So, it’s my own. My own leak in the ceiling.

At 9:30 pm.

On a Thursday.

So into the attic we go. Except I have to empty everything out of my closet before I can get to the attic door. Convenient location if you ask me. Oldest Son was nice enough to go first; he has his grandpa’s engineering genes. And he’s pretty good at fixing things. {Hubby has strange hours at work and so was sleeping at 9:30 pm.} We climbed through the attic, balancing like a surfer on the boards that straddle the ceiling joists. We find the leak. While we’re looking at it and surveying our options, I feel a drop on my back. Another leak. It’s gonna be a long night.

So, in the midst of an uber-busy weekend we will figure out who to call and get our roof fixed. And we will probably drop a wad of money. Is it worth it? To be able to paint my walls and make a place our own?

Ask me after I get the bill…

The Closer

I’d like a closer. I’m great at getting new projects going- especially home improvement projects. I love the creative process and figuring out the solution to each decorating challenge. And I’m quite good through about 3/4 of the process. Then…slowly…I mentally move on. This is where I need a closer; the one who will come in and finish the job. Bring my vision to fruition. Like the salesman who can finish the sale and close the deal. It’s not my husband. He humors me with the projects, but in reality he’d rather I not make any changes. He doesn’t crave change the way I do. I think he prefers consistency. Don’t rock the boat.

Thus the dilema; projects get started, but rarely finished. Sometimes they are very, very close to done. The bathroom for instance. Everything is done except a switch plate for the outlet. It needs to be trimmed down to fit over the trim around the sink tile. This bathroom project took us a year to complete (yes, I’m being a little generous with the word complete since I’ve just confessed its not actually done.). In our defense, it was a pretty big job. We took out a tile surround and replaced the sheet rock, put in new fixtures, did a gorgeous tile job, patched some drywall, retiled behind the sink, new contertop, put up bead board, painted and tiled the floor. We had never tiled before. And we both work full time. But still. If we would just put that switch plate on, it would actually be finished. Well, that and the transition piece between the tile and the laminant floor in the hallway. But we’re so close. Then there’s the crown moulding in the family room. And the counter top for the kitchen island. And the carpet in the living room. And replacing the deck we tore off three or four years ago. My blood pressure is rising as I type. I really want things finished. I just don’t get excited about finishing them.

Just yesterday I was talking with one of my sons’ friend’s mom. She said her son told her how our house is so cool because we are totally remodeling everything in it! I had to come clean and tell her – we’ve had projects going non-stop since we moved in 8 years ago. Not all that glamorous. But it’s nice to know it didn’t scare him away.

I have relatives who do finish things. So it must not be completely hereditary. Of course, the people I’m thinking of are my sister-in-

Ironic that when I went to find a picture of the (almost) finished product...I couldn't find one!

law’s, doesn’t help the heredity arguement. My mom and I are a lot alike. We are creative souls. We love dreaming up the project and figuring out how to make it happen. The excitement is in the possibilities that lie before us. So many different choices.  

So I’m not good at finishing projects. Is it wrong or is it just how I am wired? I mean maybe that is part of the Master plan. What if there was no one who wanted to start a project, no one to dream up the ideas and get everyone pumped about them. That would be sad. No change, nothing new, just the same old same old. So maybe it’s a gift. A gift to be cherished and used. Something not everyone has.

I guess my job is to come to terms with the fact that I’m not the closer. I’m the visionary; the creator; the idea man. I’m good at that and I’m good at figuring out how to make things happen. I’m gonna embrace my creativity and love the starter that I am!