Friday, October 24, 2008

39 and holding...

Happy Birthday, love!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

You know me and lists....

8 favorite TV shows:
1. ER
2. LOST
3. Project Runway
4. The Office
5. Brothers and Sisters
6. Friday Night Lights
7. The Sopranos
8. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Chipotle
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Hong Thai
4. The King and I
5. Granite City
6. Big Bowl
7. Biaggi’s
8. Subway

8 things I did yesterday:
1. cleaned my closet :)
2. spent a record $300+ at Costco
3. went to the Post Office
4. watched Sweeney Todd
5. actually made dinner
6. talked to my sister Gina
7. made a catapult out of cardboard, pencils and rubber bands
8. cuddled my kiddos

8 things I love about fall:
1. the cool, crisp air.
2. "back to school" spirit.
3. changing colors
4. decorating my front door with corn stalks, hay bales, mums and pumpkins
5. wearing sweaters
6. gathering around the firepit in our backyard with neighbors and a couple bottles of wine
7. apples
8. football

8 things I look forward to:
1. Going to Seattle for Thanksgiving
2. The kids’ first swim meet this season in a couple weeks
3. This Trauma Class I’m teaching at work to be over with
4. The election being over
5. Christmas
6. Watching an episode of Sopranos before bed every night (is that pathetic?)
7. A trip to an apple orchard this fall
8. Big, mature trees in our yard

8 things on my wish list:
1. a long, long autumn and warm winter
2. a mid-winter vacation to somewhere warm
3. new car
4. Obama to be the next president
5. to win the lottery
6. weekly maid service
7. a shopping trip with Tim Gunn
8. health and happiness for everyone I love!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

I love my closet!!

The project is complete!

This picture is actually a photo of Bill's closet. I was so anxious to deconstruct mine this past weekend, I forgot to take a "before" picture. But this gives you an idea of what it looked like. It is the exact same dimensions - just a mirror image.

All you have to do is imagine more clothes crammed in, five 2-ft piles of sweaters on the top shelf, and waaaaay more shoes piled on the floor.

Here is the finished hardware:

And here is the "after" picture:
In a fit of glory and organization last night, I even traded out all my hangers to coordinate (notice the all-white???)

Yeah, I'm giving that plan about a week...

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

4th grade is so much better

The following insight into 4th grade is courtesy of my son:

"This year, in 4th grade, the teachers say Oh my God a lot. Last year they never said that. That's why it's a lot more fun this year. Oh, and we can say crap, too. Last year we'd get in trouble. This year is so much better."

Monday, October 06, 2008

Meet my Neuroses...

I’m tired today.

Last night I slept about 3 ½ hours.

“Why?” you may ask. Well, to be honest, it’s because I’m neurotic.

If any of you have read this little “journal” of mine over the past several years, you’ll know that I’m a little neurotic about a few different things including toilet paper placement, thoroughly bathing after coming in contact with animals, and the position of the throw pillows on my couch. But last night, it was not one of those familiar issues that was haunting me.

The cause of my stress, anxiety and insomnia was simply an unfinished project (gasp!!)

I know that this may not horrify you as it does me. But…well, it does. I’m someone who will pull an all-nighter and skip eating for 16 straight hours just to get a room painted.

Unfinished projects gnaw at my soul.

In fact, I know that in a few brief hours I’ll have to coax my dear husband into some assistance with this project if there is any hope of sleep for me tonight.

The cause: a simple closet organization. A closet organization gone a bit extreme, actually. I started yesterday morning by taking every single item out of my over-stuffed closet. When I got done, it literally looked like the bedroom blew up. I sorted my clothes into fall/winter, spring/summer, and Goodwill. And I’m proud to say, each pile was equal in size.

So after all the textile-purging, I figured that it was the perfect time to jump on that closet remodel project that I’ve been thinking about for the past 4 years.

Never mind that it was Sunday afternoon at 2:30.

After a quick trip to Lowe’s and removal of the existing generic closet shelving and hardware, I stared at the 16 huge holes in the wall and the extensive scuff marks on the lower walls, and I knew that this project was going to be a bigger deal than I initially thought.

Aside from the holes and the scuff marks, it was really the response I got from Bill when I asked him to help me remove the baseboards, take off the closet door, and start up the miter saw. That’s when I knew that baby wasn’t going to be finished in one night.

And that’s why there were clothes lying all over the bedroom floor.

And that’s why my closet was filled the contents of a toolbox

And that’s why the disheveled clothes, the tools on the floor, the gaping holes in the wall, and the unassembled rods, brackets and shelves were calling my name at 1:27 am.

And that’s why I couldn’t sleep.


So, stay tuned for pictures.

No, silly. Not pictures of the dark circles and huge bags under my eyes…pictures of my newly renovated closet.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

What the...?

This is what I found when I came home from work:

Hmmm... a big box on the counter.

Wow. There sure is a lot of packaging.

Oh. And there is a big red warning label. What the...?

Biological substances category B ????????

Sh*t.

Will!?! Maddie?!? Who opened this big box with all the newspaper AND THE BIG RED HAZARD LABEL THAT WARNS OF BIOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES?

My dear son reassuringly says, "It's OK Mom. I was really careful to take the big red label off the top and not cut through it with the scissors before I opened it."

What the...?




And as a side note, we're all fine. It was just a bunch of rockets that Bill ordered from Tower Hobbies.

Since when did rockets become a "Biological Substance"??