Pondering my many blessings

Nearly finished laundry room.





Some vintage prints and magazine ads.


My enamelware collection.






The washboard was in bad shape so I painted
and distressed it. Gotta have some fresh flowers
in an old coffee pot to make me enjoy the scenery.


Perhaps I'm feeling a bit melancholy. Blame it on PMS. Blame it on a funeral. Blame it on a lack of sleep. I dunno... but I'm feeling so blessed.
I'm thankful for my health, the fact that I have 5 healthy kids, and a healthy husband. I'm thankful that my kids all go to church, that they listen to us when we care enough to discipline and correct them. I'm thankful that we could all meet at Timber's after 5:30 mass for pizzas and burgers and laugh together, enjoying each other's company. What a cool, crazy bunch we are and what a gift-laughter. I could blather on and on about how my heart swells with pride when we all get together, but I won't. Because they know it. they feel it. they live it.

So I stayed up until 4:00 am finishing the final coat of paint and putting the laundry room back together. It looks great. I couldn't wait to get Jordy in there to take some pics. (Even though it still has some final things that need to be done. Like finishing my curtains.) Now to get her to post the pics for all blogland to see. Then I can feel like I'm really blogging. Such a novice blogger I am.

I don't know what is wrong with me...why I can't sleep without turning on the tv. I just talked to my mom tonight and she has the same problem and she said it started around my age. Is this hormone related? (I hardly doubt my mom is having hormonal issues at 65. ) I know I'm exhausted but the minute I lay in bed my mind starts racing. ugh.

Mary Lou called and left a message on my cell that she wants to start walking tomorrow morning. Wow, she's amazing considering they just buried her husband on Friday. I know I sure need to walk, I bet she feels the same way after the past few weeks she's had.

Maybe it's a good day to stop for a cappuccino.

no time for chit-chat

I guess I was productive yesterday...so productive that I didn't even get on the computer to make a post.

I cracked open the paint cans first thing yesterday morning. I painted until around 11:30. This is taking forever because of all the edging around cupboards, ceiling, window, doorway, countertops, pulling out the washer and dryer, etc. Not only am I a pokey painter, I'm a picky, pokey painter.

At 11:30, I jumped in the shower, ran over to pay my water bill, then drove out to Auburn to pick up a St. Francis statue do drop off at the funeral home. I was home an hour later, back in my paint clothes and worked until it was time to pick up the boys. So many interruptions. If I had to wait for an entire day free, I'd never get anything accomplished. So this is my life interrupted. No wonder I have such random thoughts.

I was fearful that Pat was going to get stranded in Texas another day with the American Airlines wiring problems and all the flight cancellations. I guess they ended switching flights through another airline and he made it home safely last night. It's so nice to have him back home.

So... I'm trying to get life back to a state of normalcy around here. I'm tired of having my ironing board in the kitchen and bins of laundry room stuff in my bedroom. I swear I can still see spots of primer through the coats of paint. Gee, I hope I have enough paint... I'm hoping to finish it up this afternoon. After the funeral, the luncheon, my 2:00 haircut appointment, and picking up my boys up from school at 3:00. Then I'll paint. (taking a break of course to whip up some dinner.) *mental note to go pull something out of the freezer.

Ya gotta love my life.

Stayed up late, got up early

Sheesh, can't a girl get any sleep around here? The first night dh was in Mexico, I slept on the loveseat.all.night... Well, actually I woke up at 3 am to go crawl in bed but my son Ryan was sleeping there, so I shuffled back onto the loveseat. (why didn't I flop on the couch?) He was too tired to drive home so he figured since I wasn't using it...

So last night I stayed up until around 2:30 am finishing the primer in my laundry room. Afterwards took a soak in the hot tub to rest my achy joints and slipped into my cozy bed at 3 am. I could not fall asleep, so I cracked open the murder mystery I've been too busy to finish. Instant sleep aid. My eyes couldn't stay focused much after the first page.

My alarm buzzed off 3 hours later at 6 am, 6:30, then 7:00. I finally woke the boys up for school and crawled back in bed once I heard the shower running. I got up 20 minutes later to give them some lunch money and made sure they left the house at 7:30. Then the phone rang. Apparently dh won't be coming home until tomorrow now because of landing gear problems at American Airlines. Maybe I can get the laundry room finished and put back together before then. Time for a cup of coffee. Sleep is overrated.

Uh...Sidetracked again?

Well today is the day. Well, at least this time I hope it's the day... I got sidetracked again yesterday and I got as far as putting the paint and primer cans in the laundry room- that's it. I'm so ashamed to admit how easily I allow myself to get sidetracked. I can proudly profess that I am a "S.H.E." (sidetracked home executive.)

In all seriousness, my mind was a million miles away yesterday because my very dear friend and walking partner, Mary Lou, just lost her husband. Rob was only 45. Life just baffles me sometimes. 43 is too young to be a widow and 45 is too young to die. My heart hurts for her and her children and I feel helpless. I cannot imagine wearing her shoes. I felt sick to my stomach all day. It just makes you cherish your own life in all its craziness.
In the big scheme of things...how important is it really to paint my laundry room?
When it gets done, it gets done.

Jumping in with both feet

Sheesh. You'd think I was agonizing over something big, not just painting my silly little laundry room. You have to realize I've been thinking about doing this room for over a year. I mean, actually had the paint and the vision for what I wanted it to look like. Easy for me to say I've had roadblocks along the way...but the bottom line is that I'm a major procrastinator. My kids come by it honestly.
So this morning my husband boarded a plane for Mexico (work related) and I'm going to crack open the paint can and JUMP IN WITH BOTH FEET! (not literally, silly!)
I haven't figured out how to take a picture off the camera and load it on here yet...I will have to get one of my dd's (dear daughters) to assist me since they are both photography majors. I just haven't gotten around to getting my own digital camera yet. (do ya hear me kids? Mother's Day is coming up soon?)
Yeah, so anyway...
I'm having my cup of coffee right now (how I procrastinate the morning away) and then I'm waking dd Jen up to go for my morning walk... Then it's gonna happen. The moment I've been waiting for. Doggone it if I don't have hair appointments coming at 3:30 today! This is the story of my life. I get going on something and I have to stop and cook dinner, or do a haircut, or run to pick up a kid. And they think SAHM's have a boring life? There's never enough dull moments around here.

Committed

This is the area above the doorway that dh patched and sanded.


Laundry sink and basket storage.



This was one of the best things we added in here to hang
clothes out of the dryer.


Laundry room devoid of all it's character.
This didn't look as bad as it does now.

Well, I did it. I emptied out the laundry room and washed down the walls. Then dh decided he needed to sand those recently mudded drywall areas. (after he just told me to sponge the high spots and it would be fine.) Oh.my.God. What a mess. He comes out of the laundry room and proudly declares, "It's all ready for you to wash down the walls!"
But- wait a minute! (didn't I just do that?) Well, needless to say I spent the next hour washing down everything all over again, sweeping and vacuuming the finest drywall dust off every square foot of that 6x14 laundry room. (with a vaulted ceiling.)
By that time, I was too crabby and tired to tape and prep, not to mention mentally unprepared to prime and paint. So I planned on getting up early this morning to start the process but dh is sick in bed with a bad case of the "ughs".
I know I should be taking care of his needs, like making a typical Sunday morning breakfast with a pot of freshly percolated coffee. Sigh. I somehow knew this was going to happen. (Not him getting sick, but me getting sidetracked.) It's my middle name.
I'll be sure to take a before and after photo and load it on here if I can figure it out.

Well, it's about time!

The day after I started my long awaited blog, I get a notice saying my blog was flagged as a possible spam blog and it was going to be "under review" for a few days. Sheesh. I finally get to play in the big sandbox only to discover there was cat poop in it !

So after all my patient waiting, I'm thinking I would have many days worth of "stuff" to blog about. Um...that would be a resounding NO. I just can't think of a thing noteworthy to mention.

(wracking my brain)...Okay...here's something:
I just found out last night that dh is going to Mexico (for sure) on Tuesday. I guess it's going to be for a couple of days. I'm hoping that we can get that laundry room painted this weekend. We were on such a roll with our little weekend projects. Maybe while he's gone I'll get really productive and surprise him with an accomplished task. Hmm...what can I do start to finish in 3 days?