Instead of making a pillow, as previously planned, I used to to make gift wrap for a 1-year-old’s birthday party and one of my best friend’s birthday presents (belated because she’s in El Salvador working in an orphanage, how cool is that?). Instead of using a gem for the flower center, I made my own center out of rolled-up twine and hot glue.
Category / yet another project
Done
Day 22… We finished the house!
The progression of the home renovation project
Mr. Right and I currently own two houses – we had a “his” and “hers” before we got married, then combined into “ours” and after letting his old roommates rent “his” after we got married, we’re now ready to have just one. ONE.
Sand between our toes
Hodge-Podge… big time!
This is what happens when I take a break from writing for awhile. Everything starts churning in my head, bubbling up to the surface, and next thing I know there’s ten topics that I want to cover.
Ick, I look a little creepy in that photo. It was horribly humid, and I was a bit tired, and well, I could come up with many more excuses… but oh well, sometimes a gal just ends up taking a creepy photo… I guess that’s life. But I do love how excited both my parents look in that photo. I’m sure they’re breathing a huge sigh of relief that they finally got all three daughters through school.
I did it…
Well kids, I crossed over to the dark side. I joined Twitter. I didn’t want to… it was totally against my will. I don’t have time for yet another Web 2.0 program that will probably help me waste valuable time that I can never seem to find enough of anyway.
First quilt is finished!
My first quilt is complete! If this quilt were a dog, it would be a sad, scraggly mutt that walks with a limp and is so ugly, he’s cute. It would be a mutt with bristles and burs stuck in his fur, and feet that track in mud all over your white carpet. But the more you know that mutt, the more you love him and realize that he’s way better than any purebred. Because he’s yours.
My quilt is kind of like that. Sad, scraggly, a little lop-sided, but something made out of love. It was birthed through sacrifice (namely an unfortunate facial injury), but I’m proud of it, and I enjoyed making it. Here are some photos (if you squint, it almost looks good).
I have already bought the supplies for quilt #2. No old lady patterns for me, this one is going to be pink and brown and sparkley.
Back on the horse
Actually, it’s back on the treadmill.
For the past year or so, I’ve been too busy to think straight, so working out was pretty low on the priority list. But with a short (and wonderful!) break from grad school, and plans for a much quieter fall, I’ve decided to hit the gym again.
And since I don’t do ANYTHING half-way, I’ve decided to run a half-marathon in December. Maybe. Probably. We’ll see. I tried to train for one a few years back, and got bored at around 8 miles. I mean, 8 miles just takes so darn LONG to run! And I have so many other things to do that are more fun. Like eating ice cream. And getting pedicures. Or picking up my dry cleaning.
But maybe this time will be different. It helps that I have friends who want to do it, and I’m a sucker for some good peer pressure. Tonight I ran 4 miles on the elliptical, but I had a lot of resistance, so I’m sure those 4 miles were equal to 10 or 15 on the treadmill. See, I’m practically ready for that half marathon right now.
One of my favorite posts on my old blog was from the day, back in October 2005, when I finally got my first gym membership. Not much has changed since then. Only Brandan (with an “A”) is probably in prison by now. And here’s another retro workout post for good measure.
Weeds
Last night my roommate and I (Have I mentioned she’s the best roommate EVER! My other roommate, Spike, the sharpshooter with an anger problem, is the second best roommate ever) tackled my yard. I’ve been so busy lately with grad school (it’s over Monday… yea!) that I haven’t had a spare minute to do yardwork. It got so bad that I had to close my eyes each night as I pulled into my driveway because the sight of all those tall weeds made my eyes bleed.
Okay, now I’m just being mellodramatic, but it looked awful.
So roommate mowed and I edged, then we both swept. When we got done, I decided to pull a few of the big weeds. And all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop. Every time I thought I was finished, I would spot a new clump of those little suckers. I had fun social plans for the evening, but I couldn’t seem to tear myself away from pulling those weeds. I think it was because I could see immediate progress, and the night was pretty, and the ground was damp so they came out fairly easily. Whatever it was, my obsession grew and grew until I filled a full garbage bag. I wanted to keep going, but my friends were expecting me, so I finally gave in and quit.
But this morning, as I sit down to work on my research paper, I have this strange, burning desire to go pull more weeds! I think it may be a problem. Or maybe it’s my subconscious telling me it’s sick of working on this research paper.
Maybe I’ll go pull just one…
Painting party
My ever-growing home-improvement project continues. Yesterday two very sweet guys came over and helped me paint 64 feet of dental crown molding. The “dental” part of the crown molding meant we had to paint the intricate pieces with a TINY paint brush. It added about three hours to an otherwise simple project, but doing it with other people made it fun (and I learned all sorts of interesting “guy opinions” on various topics). As a thank-you, I treated them to Sonic milk shakes and a home-cooked dinner. I figure I came out ahead.
This afternoon I’m changing gears and will become a lean, mean cooking machine. I’m hosting our family’s Easter Lunch tomorrow after church, and I’m very excited. I had to resist the urge to go buy more dishes and decorations for my 10 guests (because all of my money has gone toward stone and crown molding), but I think it will still be nice with what I have. I’ll crank up my music, put on my cute-and-frilly apron (hand-made by sister Sarah!) and cook for the next few hours. I’ll feel just like Martha Stuart (except the vegetables for my vegetable casserole came from the frozen section of Target instead of from my organic beet farm in the backyard). Okay, maybe I’m more like Rachel Ray. Whatever. It will still be fun!