Mitchell Graduates!

The boy's got it going on----brains---his report card was all A's and one B+---he has his sights set on Vanderbilt, but will also apply to Notre Dame (his dad's alma mater)---athletic---he loves and excels at baseball and basketball. He's done with football and has no desire to play that in high school. He's starting to play golf. Butch says he definitely has potential---he's just a natural athelete. And handsome to boot. Plus, he's just really a nice kid.

 Mitchell is getting so tall. Greg is 6' 2". Looks like it won't be much longer and Mitchell will top that. He can already wear his dad's shoes.

The girls have not been all that happy about how many times they've had to go to Mass this week. I told them that I didn't feel sorry for them because I had to go EVERY DAY growing up. Saturday was our only day off, but since we lived so close to Church, on Monday mornings, the nuns would ask where we were. Thus we had to go on our only day off. Plus all the extra time spent in Church---stations of the Cross, the rosary, benedictions, confessions, etc. The girls weren't "buying" it. I guess it's the type of story our parents told us---"I had to walk 5 miles to school and then one day I forgot my lunch..." Those were the "olden" days kids don't relate to.  

All this Church has caused Elizabeth to say that she hates this school, "It's all about God." Kind of a sad commentary if the Church is already losing them at 5 years old.

Unfortunately for them, they have to go to the end of the school year Mass tomorrow and then Confirmation this weekend.

One interesting thing---while going through the graduation program, I noticed that one of Mitchell's classmates was named Jaqueline Rose---same as our Jackie---what a coincidence. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Have you ever googled yourself? Try it. There are lots of people who share your same name. 

During the graduation Mass, the eighth graders give flowers to their mothers. It reminded me of when Sandy brought me my flower when she was graduating. She remembered it too as she leaned over and said, "Mom, do you remember what happened when I gave you your rose?" How could I forget? Mindy was 17 months old and on my hip. As soon as I took the rose from Sandy, Mindy reached out and snapped the bud off. Sandy burst in to tears and said, "she ruins everything!" I wouldn't say she ruined everything, but she always wanted to be the center of attention! Luckily, everyone in the family loves Mindy---she can pretty much get away with anything.

One good looking kid.

Here you have to look really close to see the smudged fingerprints on the moldings over the doorways of the Lapps house. Sandy can't reach them to clean. She says that Mitchell and ALL of his friends cannot walk through the house without jumping up and touching the molding. They have 9ft. ceilings, so it's a challenge to these basketball playing boys who are all now towering over Sandy.

Mitchell says that his goal by the end of summer is to be able to reach the molding at the bottom of the upper rail---about 10 ft. He says that when he can reach that, that means he'll be able to dunk the ball in the basket. Although you can't tell by this picture, he's only about 2" short of reaching. I'm sure he'll make it by the end of summer. 

The amount of food he consumes is UNBELIEVABLE!! The t-bone steak he had for dinner last night filled his 10" dinner plate. It was a steak that would have served our whole family!

It's a whole different world with boys! Sandy is trying to adjust.

The End of the Decorating

Here are the last of the decorating photos. This one shows the other tablecloth from my grandma Zimmermann. It goes perfectly in my green and blue kitchen. I just love this one. Happy thoughts of my grandma---such a good cook---great food---icy soda's from her "real" soda cooler like the stores had back then---reach down into the icy water and pick one---frozen Heath bars---every kind of flower---4 o'clocks---planting portulaca/rose moss on her terrace---praying the Angelus at noon---praying the rosary at 3 p.m.---her "stories (code for soap operas)---the "reading" room full of National Enquirer and True Confessions and True Romance---holy water fonts in each room---and last but not least, that awesome glider on the front porch covered with a chenille bedspread---I can even remember the smell. So sad it's all gone now. The house was torn down years ago. 

 I wanted to put glass fronts on all of my cabinets, but this is the only one that it would really work without looking awkward.

What better way to house my new wine glass collection?

And last, the new "old" table I got at an antique store for the sun room.

And there you have it. When you put it all together, it doesn't seem like that much to have taken 11 weeks! The very last thing is the window treatments for my office. They should be ready in the next week or so. Then, the outside renovation work will begin---and more painting...oh yeah, now the trash compactor and dishwasher are acting up. When will it end?

Some Things are Worth the Money

Okay, I stole that title from Jeanne. But there was nothing that said it better. Check out my new "baby"!

I'm so excited that Butch has decided to become a Mac user too. The Lapps family is the only hold out. Mindy and Steph have been Mac users for a few years now. Little by little, my friends are converting too. Anyway, Butch's computer has been having issues for awhile. He said that when he was ready to replace it, I could have the new one and he'd take my old one. Well, here it is. Isn't it slick? So cool---and does such cool things. Do I drink near my computer? Well, sometimes, but that's not why I put the wine glass there. I did it so you could get an idea of how cute and little my new computer is. It weighs 2 lbs. and has an 11" screen. The best part is that it has a full keyboard---completely what I'm used to. I'm lovin' it. I'm also looking forward to giving Butch some one-on-one training this week. I'm sure he's looking forward to that too.

Another Work Day Together

This time it went pretty well. 

We are going to be traveling a lot for the next 4 weeks---Kalamazoo next week, home a few days and then off on our Alaskan cruise. When we get back from that, there are exactly 5 days before a few of my friends and I host a shower here. Soooo, that means we need to pretty much get all the outside work done this weekend. Not really how we'd like to spend a holiday weekend, but ya' gotta' do what ya' gotta' do. At least we have fun planned for tomorrow night---barbecue and poker with the Potters and Blacks. And the patio, furniture, flowers and pond will be all spiffed up.

So Saturday starts off with us having to pick up Mindy's car at the airport. She left for New Orleans yesterday and nobody could take her. She flies straight from there to Orlando for business next week and then on to Kalamazoo for Mitchell's Confirmation. We go to drop off her car at her apartment and realize that if we put her keys inside, she has no way of getting in. We ended up having to drive her car to our house. When she gets home---a week from Sunday, late, she'll have to come here and pick it up. Not well thought out---and just to avoid a $35.00 cab ride.

When we got home, I realized that we missed a Fed Ex delivery that requires a signature. Bummer, it would have been nice if they'd let me know it was coming. Now I have to go all the way to their office this afternoon to pick it up. The call came at 10 a.m. saying that the delivery would be before noon---a little late now. Not starting the day off well.

Butch was ready to start working outside while I finished up a few things inside. Another of the things we needed to do was clean the rug from under the kitchen table. It wasn't a very good idea to have a light colored rug custom made for the kitchen. You'd think that with just the two of us it would be okay. But it turns out that it's not the two of us that are the problem. The very first week the rug was down, one of the grandkids flipped a plate of barbecue on it. That was just the beginning of the spills---not to mention the ground in brownie!

I rolled the rug up and hauled it out. Butch started with the pressure hose. It was really getting the dirt out. I was like a little kid---biting at the bit to do it---it looked like so much fun---I could hardly contain myself---"is it my turn", "can I do it", "please let me have a turn!"---were all going through my mind, but I resisted the urge to actually say anything out loud. Finally, I said, "Why don't you let me take a turn so you can have a break?" He handed it over, but not before giving me a demonstration---as if I hadn't already been watching for 10 minutes. "Here, you do it like this----bring it up and pull it back, bring it up and pull it back." He said it like 6 times in a row. I think he thought he was dealing with his daughters. I mean, hey, when it comes to cleaning, this girl knows what to do. So I take over. I'm not 30 seconds "in" to it when he tells me I'm doing it wrong. He takes the sprayer back and gives me another demonstration. I take over again. Another 30 seconds and he takes it away again---"why are you wiggling it around? Just do it like this." I take another shot---again it doesn't suit him. After the 4th time---and by now, I've only handled the thing a total of 3 or 4 minutes, but my back it starting to hurt and I'm starting to sweat---a cicada landed on me and I screamed. That was it, he took over for good. I was okay with that. It wasn't fun after all. Plus, this does qualify as "outside" work---which is his responsibility. Here he is working hard. Can't you just feel his back aching?

 He didn't seem to care when the cicadas landed on him. I kept saying---"ooooh, there's one on you." He ignored me---and them.

This is me sitting down watching. He's doing ALL the hard work. Then I decided to go inside and get him a cold drink and wet towel to mop his sweaty brow---you know---trying to be all supportive-like. I came out with the drink and was waiting nearby to give it to him. It was hot and I was starting to sweat again. So I took a swig of his drink and mopped my own brow. Then I went inside and wrote this.

The Decorating Continues...

Here's the "before" shot---been this way for 16 years. Not bad, I was just  ready for a change.

The view upon entering the room from the family room.

 

My cousin, Julie gave me this tablecloth that belonged to my grandma Zimmermann. I was so thrilled to get it as I had nothing from her. She gave me another that goes perfectly in my kitchen. Also, the cardinal music box belonged to mom. I have to say, that even though this room is brand new, this has already changed. I replaced this table with an antique round wicker table. I'll have to take another picture.

Here's the old window table I won at the Trivia night raffle. I put about $30 worth of raffle tickets in the bag---remember---when I was being so "flashy" with my raffle tickets? What a bargain---I'd have easily paid $100 for this. I just plain love it---at least until the first person spills their drink by not paying attention when they put their glass down on top of one of the slats. That will either be Connie or one of the Zimmermann's.

This spice cabinet came from an antique shop---it's not old---a reproduction. I had planned to store all of my candles in it, but the tapers won't fit. I'm still thinking about it. I have so darn many candles---they take up two full cabinets in the kitchen.

This time, I was smart. When buying the furniture and re-upholstering the chairs, I picked more neutral fabrics. Next time---in another 16 years---when I want to change colors, it will be much simpler---paint, new windows, done.

I am planning on getting a new rug. I like the one here, but am getting a blue one to give the room a little punch of color and pull out the blue in the fabric.

Just a few more photos to come...

TSRCC

The Scrap Room Challenge Club met yesterday. The challenge this month was to use distressing on a layout or card. I have to say, I was "distressed" to have to do this. But, of course, that is what this club is all about---trying different things and being open to new possibilities. Personally, I've always thought distressing just looks dirty and messy. I like clean. Everyone rose to the challenge. Here are the results.

My distressing techniques included: crumpling, ripping, stapling, torn corrugated cardboard and journaling on masking tape. I'm happy with the results only because I used "old" pictures. Somehow, I don't think it works with "new", colorful pictures.

This was Kathy's layout from last month. The challenge then was stamping. She stamped the flowers.

This is Kathy's distressed page---stamped title---all inked up.

Karolyn did this title page for her sister's album. She inked and tore the edges.

Pam used an old kit from one of my Quickutz classes for a vintage look. Again, I think it looks great with the old photos.

Another of Kathy's layouts.

This is the "other" Barbara's layout. She is brand new to scrapbooking and does a fabulous job. I've been very impressed with her work! Besides the tearing, she inked the fabric flower. These were such cool pictures, but I didn't know what they were about. I suggested that she add the journaling which she plans to do by our next meeting.

I didn't change anything in the library except having another bookshelf made. Now that I'm not hauling shopping bags full of books to mom's (that ended up not being acceptable by her standards anyway---they couldn't be more than 2 or 3 years old), I needed more space. It's hard for me to get rid of books.

This picture didn't come out so well. The finish is definitely lighter, but not quite this bad. The guy came to pick up a shelf so he could match the stain. The shelf was light on one side and dark on the other. Butch suggested I give him a drawer. The finisher matched it perfectly. The only problem is in the scheme of things, the drawer didn't look so light when it was in line with the rest. The sun has bleached out the wood the lower you go. The upper shelves are dark and the lower are light.

At least now, I have a section of "must reads." Oftentimes, someone will ask me for a good book. Now I can say, "pick anything from these 4 shelves."

Bedroom before---red for 16 years. I did change the bedding and window treatments about 5 years ago, breaking my own rule---when re-decorating, change the color---you might think you still like it, but you'll get sick of it really soon---and I did. I have no idea what those spots on the photo are.

 Now the room is blue---such a drastic change, but I love it. I can live with this for the next 16 years.

 Waiting on the club chair and ottoman---arriving mid-June.

I swapped the paintings from here to the entry.

I'm still sick about the carpeting. There's nothing I can do about it---what an expensive mistake! There should be somewhere that shows what carpeting looks like AFTER it's been walked on. 

The master bath. I found those bird prints at an antique shop---long before I decided to do anything with my bedroom. I tried to get Nancy to buy them when I was decorating her bedroom. She was afraid it would be too much bird stuff and they were a little pricey. I just had to have them. The mat part is blue velvet. I guess you could say that those pictures are what I based the entire room around.

I love the trim on the window, but that was a scrap, so there wasn't enough to use it anywhere else. The small mirrors have been here for 16 years. 

More to come....