Orange Crush!

Josh is graduating on Saturday. I put together a few gifts for some of his friends with Central's colors - blue and orange.

Sorry the picture is a little out of focus. They turned out really cute and his friends loved them!

Don't tell Josh, but I made him one too!

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day makes me feel sad and proud. I feel sad when I think of all the men and women in the armed forces who died defending our great country. I feel proud when I think of the men and women that serve making great sacrifices for all of us.

I feel especially proud when I think of my dad.

I decorated the wreath on the front door.

I put a small flag inside the wreath later, but forgot to get a photo. Just imagine if you will. Close your eyes if you have to.

Thanks Dad for being a great American soldier. I sure miss you today.

Sanding, Priming and Painting

I've been working on the TV stand Alexandra gave me a couple of months ago. I started out sanding the entire stand down just to get the slick off.

Then I wiped it down and primed it.

Jack totally photo-bombed that picture.

Jack likes to have his picture taken. Either that or he's just hungry and wants me to put food in his bowl.

Then I painted it white.

I changed the drawer pulls from metal to glass.

I think they look pretty and feminine. I thought I would distress the stand, but decided not to after I got the last coat of paint on it. I like the way it looks fresh and clean.

The drawers are a little wonky, but I think I can adjust them. I put the stand in my guest room. Maybe someday I'll have a television to put on it for my guests.



She's So Sexy.

Is it normal to think my new range is sexy? I think it is. After all men think new cars are sexy.

Here's a picture of my new range:

She's sexy isn't she? All clean and shiny.I think I love her. After all it's not every day a girl gets a new appliance. Bear with me as I stare.

She needs a name like Sophia or Simone. But she'd be even better if I never had to actually use her.

I expect Josh will want a cooked meal for dinner rather than a bowl of cereal. Sigh...

Mother's Day and Graffiti

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I started the day with a 3 mile walk with a friend. When I got home I discovered Josh had been busy setting out sweet little mother's day sentiments.Here's what I found on the kitchen counter:

Josh recycled an old trophy I received for running in a 5K many years ago and put his own spin on it with a sticky note. It says "Best Mom Award (and running something)". He has no idea why I have the trophy. I could tell him I got the trophy when I ran in the Boston Marathon years ago, but I hate to lie to him. I guess I'll just let him wonder.

He also put several sticky notes around my room that said nice things like "I love you" and "You deserve a bubble bath". It was adorable and I LOVE that it didn't cost him a cent! Woo Hoo!

Today my new stove will be delivered and Josh helped me move the old one out so I could clean behind it. It feels great to have that space clean and ready for the new one.

Here's what we saw when he got the old one out of the way:

It's some graffiti David drew in 2001 when he was 13. Here's a close-up:

Best I can determine is that he drew it when Mark was installing my tile floor and had the stove out. What a surprise!

Graffiti really has a negative connotation doesn't it, so let's just call it art instead. I love the art behind my stove. Just knowing it's there will make me smile. I wonder what the next homeowners with think when they see it?

Brian Brown Bookcase Re-Do Re-Do

Back to the bookcase. I went and bought enough sheets to re-do the bookcase. Here you go:

And a close-up shot:

                                       

What do you think?

Sybil's Garden

Sybil's garden is really struggling this spring.

Nothing a good rain wouldn't fix.

Sybil always had such nice spring flowers. Come on Mother Nature! We need some rain!

Bookcase Re-Do

I decided the Brian Brown Bookcase needed a little something. Either paint on the inside back of the bookcase or something. Painting is easy, but what color? And once I paint it I'm stuck with that color.

So I I decided I'd put colored paper  or wrapping paper inside and see how that looked. I went to Hobby Lobby and there in the clearance aisle was scrapbook paper. I found some I liked and it was priced six sheets for a dollar! WOO HOO! I grabbed six and then decided to just grab the last two sheets in case I needed extra. $1.37 later I'm on my way home to re-do the bookcase.

I taped the paper in the back of each shelf and it looks like this.

 It's cute and it adds a lot to the look of the bookcase.

Here's what it looked like before:

But wait...there's a problem. I didn't have enough paper to finish the cabinet so it now looks like this:

Darn! So back to Hobby Lobby I go to see if there is any possibility that there are three more sheets of matching paper in the clearance aisle.

Alas...there were not, so I grabbed three sheets of similar paper and hope it will be okay. So what if it's a bit different, right?

I'll post another picture tomorrow for all the see. What do you think so far? 

I Love Thee IRS

Josh got his first ever income tax return refund yesterday. Here he is opening the envelope:

Here he is after he saw the check:

Oh how I love thee IRS!

Forty two dollars.  It's not a lot, but it's better than owing the IRS.

How strange is it that I documented this moment. I never did with Alex or David. I guess I feel my parenting days are numbered and before I know it Josh will be off to college.

Jack will have to tolerate my photo shoots and blog posting about everyday happenings! Hope everyone wants to hear about what Jack does each day.