Monday Mystery

Okay, this is a bit of a lame Monday Mystery. 

While I was out on my walk in the neighborhood I noticed this:

It's pretty obvious that this is a mailbox--it is embossed "US Mail". I don't really think you need anything else--especially since ALL of our boxes in the neighborhood are the same--obviously mailboxes. But this neighbor must have decided that the fact that it is, indeed a mailbox isn't enough. I guess they want to make sure the mailman doesn't put the mail in the newspaper slot below the actual box. 

Or, maybe they just liked the little pop of red as a decor accent. Okay, I can get on board with that. But then, why couldn't they at least put it on straight? Or for that matter, why would you want to call attention to your crappy, rusty mailbox. How about getting a new one?

I have many questions--a mystery for sure!

Monday Mystery

Butch told me about the bird living under our mailbox. I hadn't seen it and, frankly could not imagine how it could possibly fit under there. Then, a couple days ago when I went out for my early morning walk, I rounded the corner where the driveway meets the street--which is where the mailbox is. 

Out flew the bird, scaring the living daylights out of me!! How in the world can that bird fit under there? 

It's a half inch gap. I tried to look in there to see if there was a nest, but it's so narrow, I couldn't see. It's a mystery for sure!

Speaking of mailboxes, I have always hated this one. I know that seems pretty strong language for a mailbox. But, it's true. Not only is it a hideous color, but it's so random. The h ouse doesn't have yellow shutters or front door, so I just don't understand it. Plus, it's beat up and needs replacing. I guess they thought if they painted it, no one would notice that its beat up. 

Anyway, I get it now! It matches the roses planted there. 

Now I actually like it. I like this picture too. Well, except for the utility poles n the background. Now if I had the awesome editing tools that Butch has on his computer, I could remove them The best I can do is this:

I guess it's better than nothing.

A Busy Week

We had a great week with the family. Even Mindy came in on her days off---Thursday and Friday. We did everything on the list We clothes shopped, we school shoe shopped, we ate, we swam, we played games, we watched a movie, we went to the club, we went to Cheesecake Factory, we had a swim party with all our friends, we went to a birthday party, we went through my jewelry and scrapbook supplies and had a fashion show. Steph and Sandy took the kids to Nashville Shores. And of course, there was our expensive movie day. After everybody left, I realized there was one thing I forgot to put on the list---so therefore we didn't do it. I bought an ice cream maker. We haven't had an ice cream maker since the 70's! I think the kids would love it. Next year.

We had a little excitement on Thursday morning. I was taking Morgan to cheerleading camp in the Solstice. She was in a foul mood because her mom had forgotten to put her cheerleading tee shirt in the dryer. I suggested that since we were in the convertible and she had on a sports bra, that she could take the shirt off and just hold it over her head to flap in the wind. It was dry long before we reached school.

Back to the excitement part. When we pulled out of the drive-way we discovered that our brick mailbox had been smashed to smitherines. The kids wanted to drive around the neighborhood to find out who had hit it---they had to have serious damage. Surely it was a kid. I'd love to know what they told their folks. Anyway, I couldn't believe that we didn't hear it. Finally, Steph said that she actually did hear something around 11:30 p.m. She was still up reading. When she heard it, she said that she thought it was a really big bug hitting the window. For crying out loud---that bug would have had to have been a Volkswagen beetle for all that damage.

When I got home from dropping Morgan off, I started calling around to find someone to build a new mailbox. No luck. I tried again on Friday morning and had two appointments set for Saturday. In the meantime, I had propped the box on top of the rubble. Later that day, I got a note from my mailman that he would not be delivering my mail because he was not "required" to get out of his car! I was sooo mad! There was a phone number to call. I called. I was fired up. I asked the woman who answered to explain to me why he was able to get out of his car to put the note in my box, but couldn't leave the MAIL!!! She said, "well, maybe he didn't have your mail with him". I lost it then. I said, "Why the hell would he be at my box then?" She started to say something else and I rudely cut her off and said, "Never mind. Just tell me how I'm going to get my mail."

She proceeded to tell me that I could pick 2 days to have my mail "sent up" to my post office so that I could pick it up. I couldn't believe that I wasn't able to get my mail everyday. I picked Tuesdays and Fridays. As soon as I got off the phone, I went online to the USPS to file a complaint. I hit the "contact us" button. My "problem" was not on the list, so I selected "other". I went into a rant about "whatever happened to 'through dark and snow, sleet or pouring rain', blah, blah, blah and how we don't have a choice when it comes to our mail service---service that we don't actually get". When I finished, at the bottom, it said "continue here..." Oh my gosh, I about stroked out---it was NOT clickable!!!! There was no place I could file a complaint! No wonder they think they have 100% satisfaction!!! My blood pressure went through the roof---in fact, I'm getting worked up right now all over again!!! Uuuuuhhhhmmmm! Serenity now...

Then to top it all off, the 2 different guys that were supposed to come on Saturday to give me an estimate, didn't show up or even bother to call. I started making calls again on Monday after sending an email "help" to my friends. They were no help either. I finally called the Jones Stone Company where I had purchased brick for my flower beds. They recommended a guy who showed up, did the work for a reasonable price $590. (Butch and I were speculating that it would be $1000, so we were happy). He finished the job today---it looks better than it did before. But wouldn't you know, when I called the number to have my mail delivered again---no one answered. No telling how long it will take to get my service (or lack there of) started up again.

Here's the note I plan to leave my mail carrier this Christmas:
To my most considerate mail carrier. I realize that you are expecting your usual gift card. However, I had to use your Christmas bonus to purchase GAS to pick up my own mail because you were too frickin' lazy to get out of your frickin' car when I had my little mailbox problem last summer and was totally inconvenienced by you! Merry---frickin'---Christmas!!! There goes the blood pressure again----uuuuuhhhhmmmmm!

On to more pleasant stuff.

Friday night was designated our family game night. The Lapps family had given me a kareoke machine for Christmas. This was our first time using it. What a blast. Even Elizabeth got in on the act. We just gave her the mike, so she sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and On Top of Spaghetti (Mindy had never even heard that one).

About midnight, I looked around and asked, "what's wrong with this picture"? All of the kids had gone to bed (except Morgan) and we adults were still singing! It was so much fun. Greg didn't want to do it at all, but after a few drinks, he did. He sang "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" while facing away from the screen---basically showing off that he knew all the fast words without looking. And to top it off, he actually had the best voice of the bunch. He just doesn't like the performing. The first time we took him on a family trip with us (he and Sandy were in high school), we played charades. Also, Steph and her friend, Malinda sang. After the weekend, Greg asked Sandy if our family always performed. He might not like it, but he's a good sport---and we're still performing.

I "wowed" the gang with my rendition of "At Last" by Etta James. Sooo very much fun!

Mindy left on Saturday, and everyone else left on Sunday (except the little girls---who aren't so little anymore---12 and 13). Then the reconstruction began. When Margarita came in on Monday morning, I just looked at her and shook my head and said, "I'm sorry"! She worked hard---pretty much every room in the house needed attention! I didn't really feel too bad as she doesn't have to work too hard for me. Half the time, I don't even make her go upstairs. And I give her vacation pay when we're out-of-town. Actually, she totally loves me. Of course she doesn't know how to say it, or maybe she is and I'm not understanding it. But she does hug me a lot!!!

Yesterday, I had a great time with my friends in my day group. I'm lucky that they are always so willing to go along with whatever crazy things I want to do. I got us involved in a mystery bus trip. We had no idea where we were going (unlike the time a couple months ago that I took them to the Duncan Hines exhibit in Bowling Green, KY. It was sort of cool, but very small---we were done in 5 minutes---still it was very interesting).

The cost of the trip was $80.00 and billed as something that they were 99% sure we had never been to. We arrived in Hendersonville (about 40 minutes from Nashville) at 7:15 to catch the bus. 4 hours later, we were near Chattanooga (normally only a 2 hr. drive)---our bus driver went the wrong way. We had to change our plans and do the lunch and show part first. We went to Whitwell, TN to the Buttonwillow Church. It's no longer a church, but had been turned into a 19th century performance hall. The dinner was made from recipes that came from the Confederate White House Cookbook---from the 1800's. Everything was delicious---chicken, copper pennies, green beans, cornbread dressing, biscuits, sweet tea, followed by blackberry cobbler. Just FAB!!

Then the show started---consisting of 2 people (the husband and wife that owned the place). It really wasn't a play at all, just a historical oratory---2 FRIGGIN' hours long! What a snoozer! I ended up reading all the brochures that I had picked up, the People magazine I had in my purse for the bus and even worked the cross word puzzle (I was in the back). My friends were jealous that I had something to do. You know me, I can't stand to waste time. I was thankful that at least the best was yet to come. Had we arrived on time, we would have done the "main event" and ended with this lousy presentation. Okay, parts were interesting, but it was just too long. I swore that if the guy said "there ya' go" one more time, I might actually throw something at him!!

If you've never heard of Whitwell, you might have heard about the Paperclip Project. The principal and 8th grade teachers of the Whitwell Middle School were trying to figure out how to teach their students about tolerance. They are a very poor community with only 4 black students and 1 hispanic student in their school. So the 8th grade teachers started teaching about the Holocaust. The students couldn't imagine what 6,000,000 looked like, so they started collecting paper clips. Paper clips were used during the Nazi regime to symoblize that Jews were welcome by anyone that had a paper clip on their lapel. To make a long story short, it is incomprehensible to see 6,000,000 of anything. You wouldn't think that 6,000,000 paper clips would look like much---but it was incredible---and to translate that to Jews---unbelievable. This project grew---they have had concentration camp survivors come to talk to them, 10's of thousands of letters accompanying the paper clips and German correspondents from Washington doing the documentary. They even spear-headed a project to purchase an actual rail car from Germany that was used to take the Jews to the camps. The old rail car houses the exhibit. Just fascinating. I bought the dvd documentary and plan to take the family next summer when they are all here. I just wish we could go to Buttonwillow for the meal and skip the show!

However, my friends and I decided that we don't want to do anymore of the "blue-haired" bus tours. The gal in the seat in front of us got car sick and started vomiting. Of course we have so much fun---and all the laughter, that some of the old gals behind us kept butting in to our conversations which was driving my friend, Nancy crazy. We didn't get home until 9 p.m. I was exhausted!

We're done with the bus. I'm planning our mystery trip for next year. It'll be good!
Later...

Five Things Thursday

This craft desk was made from an old piano. What a clever idea. I love old things that have been repurposed in to something unusual. This definitely fits the bill. I pulled this photo from my blog friend, Susanne's blog, Snaps and Snippets. Check her out!

Oh, yeah. I remember running around the outside to take my turn at spinning everyone and then jumping on for a 5 second ride! It slowed down so fast. The fun part was then jumping off and stumbling around---all dizzy. Funny thing is, I don't have to be spinning at all to be stumbling around---all dizzy these days! Just a little "old age" will do. it!

OMGosh! I pretty much HATE this. I don't think it's clever at all. It's sort of sickening. Okay, I'll admit, it's unusual. Not for me.

This could not be truer!! Books definitely "spark joy" for me--even if they are electronic these days. I'm sure Marie would condone hundreds of electronic books--they take up so little space! Still, I have many, many, many, many books. Just NONE on the nightstand!

And then there's this. I love the flowers---and the bike used as a mailbox holder. But, I'm not crazy about the little wooden fence. I'd prefer that it just be a little flower bed or a little wrought iron fencing so the plants could wander and trail through. Plus I would paint the mailbox something that blends in a little better. 

The Ultimate in Recycling

You would think that Butch would be all over this. Instead, he just shakes his head. He just couldn't understand this---but let me explain. Connie showed me a picture about a year or so ago. It was a fall decoration with old graters on a tray surrounded by pine cones and acorns. Pretty cute. It took me a year to collect these. All along, Butch kept asking about them---"why are you collecting all these graters?" When I told him it was for something I was making for Connie, he didn't get it. Even when I finished it---since it's spring I went with an Easter theme---he still didn't get it. She was thrilled. She's using it as a centerpiece on her table. She says she's going to change it out for the season---yeah, right, that's going to happen! See her email to me below the picture.

I just want you to know how much I appreciate your making me the grater centerpiece.  I absolutely  love it and will enjoy for years to come.  I can’t believe you took the time to do it with everything else you have to do.  I don’t want to sound too “sappy”, but I don’t know what I did right in my life to deserve a friend like you.  You are so special to me, and make life so much more fun.  (Even if I did have to wear a sombrero and have the waiter feed me!)  Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you.  Every time I look at the graters I will think of you and cherish our friendship.

Connie

And while we're on the subject, a few other ultimate recycling projects:

I made this flower arrangement this weekend in this old mailbox I bought in St. Louis. This is what I had in mind for it:

But because of this, I couldn't:

Somewhere along the line, Mindy burned the top of her vanity with a curling iron, so now I have to have the hand towel to cover it up. Kids! I can't have anything nice!

And just a few other things:

This is an old floor grate I just hung on the wall.

Old swing frame with the Pagella family, old camera, books and scale---right side of mantle.

Old binoculars, more books---you can never have too many books---a staple of my decorating, Venus de Milo, old clock and "new" Lenox plate---left side of mantle.

And this is why I have a multiples problem...

There is nothing I was looking more forward to today (Wednesday) than getting in my scrapbook room. Other than putting class kits together, I haven't been in there creatively for over a month. I started with about an hour of getting the room in order. Then I put a couple of layouts on album pages and sorted others to figure out what albums they need to go in. For my family album, I needed a title page. I had the poem I wanted to use, but now I just needed a photo. I checked my "oversize photo" folders and came up empty. I decided I just need to print one.

When I found what I wanted, sized it and hit print, I got the message that the cyan ink cartridge is out. No problem, you will never find me without an extra ink cartridge. I always have at least two of every color on hand. Weeelllll, turns out, that the boxes that I thought were the cartridges, were only black ones. OMG! I definitely had an FTS moment. I give everyone a hard time about not having extra ink/paper on hand. It never runs out at a "good" time. It's always when you are in a hurry or need something right away. I can't say how many times my granddaughters call me to say they are emailing their homework for printing because their ink is out. There's nothing I hate more than an interruption to my carefully laid plans. "Barb, you need to be flexible"---you say. Well, that's not it. I work hard. I play hard---and that's the reward of my hard work---that I get to play at all. I'm very strict with myself. This was my play day. I pride myself in always being on top of things---annoyingly so---to family and friends, I'm sure. But you can always rely on me. I think it's that oldest child thing.

Just yesterday, Pam said she just can't figure out how I get all the stuff done that I do. Besides the fact that I move fast, I confessed that, really, I think I have A.D.D. I start something and before that's finished, I've flit to 25 other things. You've all seen those emails, you head to the mailbox to mail a letter, get side tracked and 4 hours later you realize you forgot to mail the letter. That's me exactly---except I get a ton of stuff done along the way.

Case in point: when faced with the ink situation today, I sat for a moment to revise my plan for the day. It's 10 a.m. I could continue in my scrapbook room, organize photos and plan a couple projects. Or, I noticed that when I went to pick the picture I wanted to print, this would be a good time to create my 2012 dvd of photos and get them off my computer. I started with that. I have 5000 photos on my computer. Probably 2000 of them are from 2012. I started scrolling through and trashing anything I know I would NEVER need again. In 20 minutes time, I discarded 1000 photos. Just saying--- I preach in my organizational classes about how quickly this can be done, I prove it to myself over and over again.

I stopped and did not finish with the photos right then because I realized if I waited much longer to get that ink cartridge, I would hit the heavy lunch traffic. On my way out the door, I remembered that I need to stop by the needlepoint shop and pay for a fiber that I took last night and forgot to pay for. That reminded me that I needed something else, so I went to my stitching supplies for the fiber card. I realized that I forgot to put my socks in the laundry room, so off I went. Once there, I thought, "well, I might as well run a load." Then I saw the folded napkins from Christmas and figured I might as well put those away. And on it goes. By the time I got out the door, I did hit all the traffic and had a hard time parking.

Now I'm ready for a nap.

Oh, and PS, Office Depot didn't have the cartridges individually, so I had to get another box. You can bet, I'll be ordering some individual color ones this afternoon. Right now, I have about 6 extra black cartridges. Really, I might have a multiples problem with ink too.

Okay, I'm Tired of Waiting...

...for the plumbing fixtures! Now we've been informed that they are due to ship on February 18th. That's about the third date we've been given. I'm tired of waiting. So, I'm going to go ahead with the "big" reveal--everything except the guest bathroom. Here goes:

Mindy's Bedroom and Bathroom (for lack of a better name--I guess we could call it "guest room #1):

With Mindy's room, I broke my own rule. I always say that when you re-do a room, you need to do everything so you get the "wow" factor--and don't get tried of what you have too soon after. 

Everything here is as it was prior to the remodel---just new paint, light fixture (it's a retractable fan), new carpet, a few new decorations and new artwork. Window treatments, bedding and furniture remain the same.

I had those two colorful throw pillows in the closet in my office from about 15 years ago when the room was black and fuchsia. I was going to get rid of them, but decided to use them here for a pop of color. You have to really blow up this picture to see them. Side note: that black and white afghan was the last one mom made before she died. She wasn't even making it for me, that was just a coincidence that it worked for me. I finished it and knew I'd use it here.

Changing the paint color and the fact that it goes smoothly in to the new bathroom makes all the difference. This room really seems new and fresh.

The view you are seeing here once was the linen closet. We took that out and opened up the entire space. Christy's guy, Wilder, did the most fabulous job with all of those angled walls. Basically, when you entered the bathroom, the linen closet was on the left with a door next to that to the bathroom. The double vanity was on the same wall as the new one is now.

The linen closet was relocated to where the shower used to be. It was Christy's idea to use the same bi-fold door from the original linen closet. She always tries to save us $25 or $30 whenever she can!

All of the pictures were taken with my iPhone. All the ones here are from our trip to France. The small photo above the sink is from Monet's garden. 

That little floral on the left is left from before the remodel. It's actually an old, antique mailbox that I bought at the flea market years ago. I made the floral arrangement in it. I still like it!

You can see better where the linen closet was. It's made a huge difference by opening up the entire space. It looks so much larger now. Actually, it is a pretty good size bathroom.

I would probably never have used black tile, but Christy suggested it. I agreed with her that it's nice to tone down all of the white. Y'all know how I feel about white!! It's kind of hard to tell, but there is a bath tub here. 

Next is the hallway.

As you can see, it's a long hallway. We had everything painted including the 2 story entry. It's amazing how paint just brightens and cleans everything up. We also replaced the ceiling fixtures. There are three of them.

I removed quite a few of the pictures. I kept all of the girls wedding pictures and our 25th wedding anniversary picture. It just dawned on me as I'm looking at this. I need to get our 50th wedding anniversary picture framed too. I think I'll put that on my list!

Now on to my office. I didn't change anything here except the carpet. I didn't even take anything off the walls (I am thinking about getting rid of a few things--just haven't done it yet). I did get the closets cleaned out and got rid of all kinds of stuff. I cleaned every nook and cranny including all the files in my desk. I moved some of the decorative items around to freshen it up and got rid of quite a few--like my Aunt Jemima cookie jar. That's just too politically incorrect these days. But, I still love pancakes!

This is one of my favorite needlepoint pictures. It's called "Kaleidescope" and is a counted piece. Connie and I both did one.

The window treatments are the same as what's in Mindy's room. Christy had them done for me--identically about 10-12 years ago. She didn't balk when I said I wanted to keep them, so I guess that means she still likes them too! She's not one bit afraid to give me her opinion! I'm fine with that. I need her to make sure that I don't make some terrible mistake! Plus I like that she oversees and handles everything! 

I don't really use my office much at all anymore. Basically, the printer is here and I file stuff. That's about it. The computer still works, but is so old, it can't support the printer. The only reason I'm keeping it is because, hello, it's a computer hutch! About the only thing I use it for is to transfer photos to my laptop. They are all in the cloud anyway. They are just easier to access on the computer.

When we started this remodeling, we thought about changing this room back to a bedroom. Since we already have two guest rooms and a queen size futon in Butch's office, we just left it as it is. This furniture is just that cheap pressed wood, but it weighs a ton. I was concerned that the carpet layers would not be able to move it. Christy said it was their problem. I guess they deal with really heavy stuff all the time, because, apparently, it wasn't a problem! They moved it all out on the balcony.

Yeah, as I'm looking at this picture, those giant safety pins are going. 

I had planned to get a couple of new, more updated lamps. But these are really old. It was sort of bothering Butch---all of the things that had value that we were literally taking to Goodwill. In the end, it was his idea to just keep them. I'm fine with them. Since I got them from my "adopted" grandmother back around 1990, they will continue to be a reminder of her.

When I cleaned out my desk, I decided to take the file that had cards from Butch and the girls through the years and turn them into table decor. I just tied them all up with a blue ribbon. 

Now for the guest room. Let's start with a couple "before" pictures:

We donated all of the furniture and bedding. 

We didn't need a dresser and chest of drawers. 

Plus, I was just ready for a change. The room just looked so tired to me.

Now for the "after" pictures. It barely looks like the same room!

I bought the chairs from my friend, Nancy. 

I didn't want to put anything in front of the window this time. I just wanted the room to feel more open without a lot of furniture. I kept the matchstick blinds and curtain rod. The window treatment is custom with the natural linen fabric that I used downstairs in the family room. But, I had these made to match what the other window treatment was. I like the top part--maybe it's called a "flange"? I'm not sure. The lady that made them added buttons to it which I love. Christy handled all of that for me. There will be a Roman shade in the bathroom made out of the same fabric. That's the other great thing about Christy. She has all the records. So if I want something I had her do 10 years ago, she knows exactly the color or fabric. 

All of this bedding and the pillows on the bed came from Walmart. Sandy introduced me to a blog called "My Big Texas House." I've already told you about that girl and how I've become a Walmart shopper now because of her. Uh oh, I don't think Christy knows about my new Walmart obsession! Actually, I've said it before, I hate Walmart. I just really like this line. Plus, remember my cute Christmas pillows? You can't beat the prices, that's for sure. I'm not that worried about how well all of this might hold up as this room will only get used a few times a year.

The pictures over the bed used to be in our master (or should I say, "primary") bathroom years ago. I liked them, so saved them. I'm so glad I did. I have to give Butch credit for using them. He was the one to suggest it. I love how they work here. 

The little vintage chair came out of my scrapbook room. When I was starting to plan this room, this chair was probably one of the first things I knew I wanted to use with my French farmhouse feel. Stephanie thinks it's kind of goofy, but I like to have something on both sides of a bed so there's a place to put your phone, glasses, drink etc. It's just practical. 

One last thing, the pillows on the chairs were also something I'd saved from about 15 years ago when our bedroom was red. They are needlepoint, but not done by me. If you go back to the first picture, you can see the cream and tobacco colored one. I needlepointed that one--actually, that was my very first pillow. It's about 25 years old. The whole room is kind of a hodgepodge with a little of this and a little of that. I think it all works together just fine! I'm really happy with how it came out.

So, the last thing is the bathroom. You can see just a little sneak in one of the pictures. I have everything waiting to be placed and decorated. That will be after the plumbing goes in. Whenever that happens! Christy is on top of it. We couldn't have done any of this without her! Or, rather, I should say, I don't want to do it without her. It's so nice to just have someone handle everything. I love that girl!

Here We Go Again

Let's start this post again. Last weekend was Mindy's 30th birthday. A couple of her friends fro New Orleans came in to surprise her. 

 Justin arranged for a nice dinner at Bob's Steak House---they even personalized the menu for Mindy.
 Mindy like any type of head-wear! A tiara with "30" on it is just the thing.

 Our tree is decorated and lined with presents. It's almost Christmas

There is nothing more exciting than seeing a foreign stamp in your mailbox! I got a cute card from my friend, Miriam all the way from England! Thanks, Miriam!!

 Mindy wearing her new pearls we gave her for her birthday.

 On Tuesday, Stephanie, Morgan, Mindy and I went to our first gingerbread decorating workshop. We had a fun time. It was held at a tea room---Crumb de la Crumb. They provided apple cider and an assortment of appetizers. 

When we were finished, the girls texted pictures to Butch and Nicky to decide whose was best. Everything is a competition!!

This was the winner----mine and Mindy's.

This was Stephanie and Morgan's. I love how they used the mini wheats on the roof and made the pretzel shutters stand open.

After the gingerbread event, I was sick the rest of the week. I'm still not 100 per cent, but I'll get there. I have a busy week ahead of me. The work on the house is schedule to finish this week. So far everything looks good. 

I hope your holiday festivities are well under way. It won't be long now...