Etsy Likes

(Due to the horrible, unspeakable crime of plagiarism I will only be posting links to things I like that do not belong to me, not photos with a link back to the sorce; therefore, click the word in blue.)

If I was rich......I'd wear this for Halloween.

Have I shared these before?  If I have, my apologies, I love them!

If I was a man (or wore French-cuff shirts)......I'd wear these.

This reminds me of a book I read once about a girl who lived behind the walls in her own house for years and came out as a luna moth at a party.  What was that book?

In other news, my washing machine is broken (the spinner spins no more!) and I wore this to church last night.

(And don't say just buy a new washer because I'm not doing that!)

Dear Martha,

(Can I call you Martha?  I feel like I should be able to be on a first name basis with you since I've known you for years.)

I want to apologize.  Yesterday I got pretty upset with you and gave you quite the silent rundown in my head after using your green dishwashing liquid  and then pulling a dirty-looking fork out to eat my breakfast and reaching back in for a slightly cleaner one.  I stepped off the hippie train, telling myself I'd go back to the hard stuff because this crap. doesn't. work.

Last night, when I was fixing my supper, it hit me like a ton of bricks-- the forks were dirty, everything in the dishwasher was dirty!  I hadn't finished filling up the dishwasher and therefore the forks had never been washed!

Arrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

(Next time use the ones in the drawer, right?)

13 Months + 1 Day = Us

Ain't it funny how you always realize things about yourself when you're driving down the road?  Just me?

This weekend, driving down the road, duh!, I got a glimpse of just how weird and mixed up inside I am.  For instance, if you tell me some random fact that I did not previously have stored in my brain I will take it as that's all she wrote, Amen!, and there'll be no telling me any different from then on.  Absorbent as a super sponge!

However, if you are to tell me some random fact that I might have had previously stored in my brain and or already heard conflicting evidence of the same fact, I will question you to no end on its validity and ask a million different questions, "Why?  Why?  Why?" over and over again until you either crumple on the floor in agony from brain-question-overload or I'm satisfied with your answer, whichever comes first.

The second part of this realization drives my husband nuts.  He's really very sweet and patient with me most of the time (he's the good one of the two of us), but when I start on the whys he gets kinda testy.  I've been trying to work on the whys (my mother says I've done that since I was a wee tot), but its really a hard habit to break.

Boots gets particularly aggravated when Realization #1 and Realization #2 collide.  I can tell he reeeeeally wants to wring my neck when I take other people's peoples' the words of others at face value and question him for every. little. detail.


They even tell you not to do that in all the marriage books I've read!  (I'm not the only one?)  "Don't question your husband!!!!!!"  There goes my marriage.  But seriously, we've got a great thing going on.  (if I could just learn to shut my mouth)

Thanksgiving for Christmas!

My anger against Christmas grows every year.  It's not Christmas that I'm so unhappy with, it's the fact that Christmas (like Easter) is just another commercialized holiday (like Halloween and don't get me started on the V-day that is for lovers) and I hate it.  Thanksgiving has won the coveted spot of being my favorite holiday the past few years in a row.  Simply put, I love Thanksgiving.  All your family gets together, everyone cooks and visits and has the best time catching up.  Christmas is all that plus decorating a tree, stressing over buying presents, the perfect present, junk that never gets used, all the commercials on TV, waiting in line everywhere you go, bratty kids making mile-long lists.

It's too much.  The hype is killing me.  No more.  This year will be different.  This year I'm having Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving for Christmas.  I will still put up the tree but there will be no exchange of presents like last year and the years before.  We're all broke anyway so why are we doing this to ourselves?

Dear Family,

You've been put on notice.  No commercialization at my house.  It's Thanksgiving, plus a tree.  Maybe we'll start new traditions like reading Luke 2 instead of opening presents.  Not to be cheesy, but your "presence" will be the "present".

Love, Rachel

P.S. NO presents!!

Slapsticks

The Scene: Dark living room, television on, middle of the day
The Characters: Boots, Rachel, and Frank
And......action!

(Frank walks through the living room, down the hall.)

Boots: What's he got?
Rachel: (barely looking up from her iPad) A toy.
Boots: When did you buy toys?
Rachel: A while back.
Boots: Squeaky toys?

(Cue Frank, dropping the "toy", "toy" runs across living room floor, Rachel screams and jumps on the couch, Boots clicks on the light revealing a chipmunk)

Boots: Hahahahaha! Where did he get a chipmunk? Hahahahaha!!!
Rachel: HOW DID A CHIPMUNK GET IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!! MUWHAAAA!!!!!!
Boots: Hahahahaha!!!

(Frank chases chipmunk in circles in living room, Boots throws blanket over chipmunk while continuing to laugh maniacally.)

Rachel: OK OK OK OK OK! I'LL OPEN THE DOOR AND YOU THROW THE BLANKET OUTSIDE!!!

(Rachel struggles to catch Frank who in turn thanks her with a scratch on the neck.)

(Boots throws the blanket out the door and slams it.)

Rachel: HOW DID A CHIPMUNK GET IN THE HOUSE?

(Rachel walks around, looking for obvious chipmunk sized holes that mysteriously appeared.)

Rachel: I LEFT THE BACK DOOR OPEN!! NIKKI!!!!

(Cue cricket sounds in the middle of day, no Nikki.)

(Frank runs out the gaping back door, probably to catch another chipmunk.)

Rachel: FRANK!!! COME BACK!!!

(Frank hunkers down obligingly, Rachel scoops him back up, all the while screaming for Nikki who has been inside hiding the whole time.)





The neighbors think we're idiots.

Yesterday I saw a little house with a big patch of fluffy white cotton in the backyard. The bright white against the green grass was so pretty it made me want my own cotton field. Do people grow cotton purely for aesthetics?

I've decided that one of my favorite feelings in the world, besides a big hug from Boots, is the feeling of total relaxation right before drifting off to sleep.  That's pretty much the best part of my whole day right there.

I like that whole falling in the mattress feeling and just letting the cares of the day go, until I focus on how good it feels to just relax and all the things I didn't do start crowding in my head then things start getting really crazy.  I try to calm my brain down and get out of that argument,

"You relax!"

 "No!  Don't tell me to relax!  You need to get a grip and stop forgetting stuff before bedtime!"

Things like that.  Anyone else?  Just me?

Boots says that I jump when I'm falling asleep.  You've heard of hypnic jumps before, right?  Seems I've got a bad case of them.  And I talk in my sleep.  And I require lots of sleep.  Last night I slept 10 hours and woke up this morning feeling like a movie star  like I'd slept 10 hours.  Now that's a great feeling.

Cheese Love

I recently discovered Fontina and I love it so much I want to name my first baby after it. That's right, Boots, the kid's name is Mayhem Bruchetta Fontina. Like it?

Bad Kid

Do you ever wonder how you would have reacted if you were your parents when you misbehaved?  I have and I don't know that I would have done any better.  Take this situation for instance--

I was little, maybe three or four, I can't remember what I did, but obviously it was enough to warrant a bit of corporal punishment.  I remember running from my dad around the car and squatting down to stick my rear end in the hubcap of his old Thunderbird.  Ha!  Did I really think he couldn't peel me out of there? (He did.)

I can imagine how silly I would feel chasing a kid around a car so I could discipline them.  I would probably lose my cool and scream.  I can't see my dad just standing there and calmly saying, "Rachel, come here," and me complying.  I probably would have ran off into the woods, laughing.  Then, would he have yelled for me to come back or chased after me?

He probably did the right/easiet route, but really--what do you do when your kid does something embarrassing?

What I'm Cooking......

Salmon with Green Beans and Carrots

I could not find Bok Choy anywhere (What is Bok Choy?) and I don't really like ginger so I didn't use them.  Boots and I liked this pretty well,  I'd give it a 3.

(P.S. Two days after I made this, I found Bok Choy.  They were hiding it out at the farmers' market!)

Tomato Soup with Roast Beef Panini

#1.  Not exactly tomato-y enough, too much onion

#2. Horseradish is weird to me, it gives me the shivers

#3. Arugula.  No.

#4.  Apparently I think "panini" is French or something for "burn the smashed flat sandwich".  Geez Louise.

Boots said he liked it, but I'm not sure I believe him.  I give it a weak 2.  Like I said, I had the shivers and not in a good way.

(Click the links for recipes!)

Flying

A few weeks ago,  Boots and I were riding in the car on the way home from his dentist appointment when a jet flew low over the highway, preparing to land at the airstrip.  I thought about myself, back in high school when I wanted to be a flight attendant.  Wouldn't that have been hilarious?

For Mindless Fun

Remember when faceb00k and my5pace used to pass around all those silly quizzes?  Jasi posted this quiz and I just had to take it......just because!

Age: 23

Bed size: reality- Queen, in my dreams- California King

Chores that you hate: Scrubbing the toilet 63782 times a week!

Dogs: 1

Essential to start your day: Potty break!

Favorite color: Currently- teal or grey, Past-black, red, blue, green, orange, yellow, purple

Gold or silver: White gold

Height: 5'5"

Instruments you play: I used to play the trombone and tuba

Job title: Funeral Director/Embalmer

Kids: One day

Live: Bait

Mothers name: Mama

Nicknames: Rach

Overnight hospital stays: When I was born?

Pet peeves: Oh, I've got a lot!  I'd like to think that I've weeded out my peeves in the past few years though, although I may have added to them.

Quote from a movie or TV show: "Oh, Ashley!  Ashley, I love you, I do!"

Right or lefty: Right, but I'm ambidextrous when it comes to sweeping or playing putt putt golf.

Siblings: 2

Time you wake up: 5:20-6:00 depends on what day it is

Underwear: Got 'em on!

Vegetable you hate: Carrots!  BLECH!!!

What makes you run late: Catching up on blogs and playing games on the iPad

X-rays you've had: teeth, back, and right elbow

Yummy food you make: Boots likes my scrambled eggs

Zoo animal: Where was that stinkin' anteater hiding?

Door Makeover Day 2

After I worked my magic on the door hardware, I started tackling the door himself herself itself. Basically, I started painting.

Start with one (1) door.

Remove hardware. Check!

And sand!

Sand vigorously! I mean really sand the heck out of that old splintery, unloved, nasty, boogery door!

My apologies, sanding gets me all worked up for lost causes.

Oh, let me introduce you to our bedroom's closet shelf. Welcome to the paint party!

More sanding, ay yi yi!

Previous paint splotchies.

Is that dirt or is it something growing? Let's pretend it's just dirt.

Check out this paint bucket. It has a magnet for holding your paint brush up out of the paint. Pretty nifty, huh?

This is a comparison of new (right side) versus old (left side).

This bug dive-bombed himself herself itself into my fresh paint.

4 out of 6 legs ain't bad, right? (Unless you're the bug!) Plus, a smudge!

Somewhat streaky, in need of a second coat.

Bubble wrap for protection.

And that's how you paint a door. Layer after layer after hand-cramping layer, et cetera ad nauseum.

Don't Go To Sleep

Lately the past year or so when I'm home alone, or Boots is asleep, or if I'm just plain ol' bored I start thinking about things I can do to our house that I've read about online.  Since we are in the middle of a home renovation I get lots of crazy ideas.  Like this.

This is the knob on our bedroom door.  Nothing fancy or spectacular, but that's ok.

It's sad to think about somebody just carelessly slopping paint all over the button latch thingy parts.

I'll skip the boring part-- taking off the hardware, sanding, buying spray paint, buying deglosser (forgot it the first trip)-- and get to the fun stuff!

You know what, poking all those holes in the cardboard with the screws really wasn't that fun.  Kinda hurt my fingers.

Initially, this project started out in the front yard; however, due to a fashion mishap that is holey low-rise jeans that are my "work" pants that I do "work" stuff in, like paint, that tend to show my flashy backside, I moved inside the that's-why-they-call-it-privacy fence to the back yard so no one except the squirrels could see me.

The squirrels dropped acorns at me while I was taking these pictures.

This is one coat.

Ain't they pretty?

Boots is going to die! when he realizes there's glitter in the paint!

My instructions said wait about 20 minutes between coats, but I just don't listen so I gave it at least 30 minutes (sometimes 45, once an hour!) just to be sure they weren't sticky.

Lots of checking to make sure leaves weren't piling up on them.

And Frank, just sunning.

Brownies

Believe it or not, that's the first time I've ever made brownies.

The Hunt for a Rug in October

Ya'll, this past week has been nothing but rugs in my head- sisal, cotton, chenille, indoor, outdoor, and then the patterns and designs!  The patterns, oh!, the patterns!  Stripes?  I've been measuring, sticking tape down, and rearranging furniture in my head too.  The perfect rug will make a room and I'm not settling, although Boots may resort to desperate measures to get me to shut up about all this rug business.

Target

This rug is surprisingly soft.

Target, no link to a better photo.  These guys are kinda plain in a good way.

This is an outdoor rug, with four different borders to choose from, at a local rug shop.  The great thing about this rug is that it can be washed with dish soap and water.

At that rug shop, I learned that natural rugs are not good for wet areas such as kitchens because they were once living (sisal & jute- plants, wool- animals) and tend to be affected by water and heat more so than synthetic fibers.  I really like the way wool feels.  Bedroom, perhaps?

Pier 1

Ok, so this is a curtain and not a rug, but I love it!

Pier 1

This one too!

Pier 1

Nice, but expensive.

Pier 1, no link.  Didn't really like this anyways.

Hello, pretty!  Pier 1, no link.

Just when I almost lost hope of ever finding the perfect rug, Boots and I went out to dinner with some friends and I convinced him to stop at Kirkland's before we went home.

(This is the good part.)

Love!

This beeeeutiful paisley rug screamed at me, "Take me home, lay me down, and love me forever!"  So I did. Or I am.  It just felt right.  I knew that this was the rug I've been waiting for.

Regular $80, marked down to $60, I paid $55 tax included.  Don't ask where that extra $5 discount came from, I didn't either.  The price was comparable to other rugs that size I'd been checking out.

I can't decide.  This way......

......or this way?

The kids like it too.

We have a winner!  

Happy Birthday to Me! (Yesterday!)

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday.  Check out these beautiful cupcakes Boots gave me!  AND-- chicken swirls for dinner plus a late night movie.  (Courageous, it was great!)

Words I Don't "Get"

Do you ever hear words spoken in very formal settings (like radio shows the whole country listens to) that make you scratch your head on the inside of your brain and think, "Is that correct?"  Just me?  Hmmp!

Words I Don't "Get":

1. Disconnect

I always thought this was a verb- Disconnect the electricity before I get electrocuted wouldja?!


Apparently its also a noun- We're experiencing a huge disconnect in communication!  


2. Journal 

Previously, I believed that "journal" was a noun, a noun that meant a bound notebook used for private writing.  These days folks are using it as a verb also.  What's up with all the nouns masquerading as verbage these days?  Is verbage a legit word?  Merriam-Webster says, "No, but verbiage is."  So its a word, but I can't spell.

I'll use it in a sentence.

I think its good for you to journal, it helps get your feelings out.


Add -ing and its a......what're -ing words?  It's been a long time since 8th grade grammar.  Moving on!

Journaling is a stress reliever.  (Spell check and Merriam-Webster say "journaling" is not a word.

Vacation To Done List!

Before our vacation started I wrote out five major goals that I wanted to get done on our house.  We got most of them done that are on the list and even dabbled in a few other things that weren't on the list.  One night, I made a huge master list of all the things I could think of that needed to be done, printed it out, and slapped it on our fridge only to realize since then I've left at least three things off.  So here's our vacation list scratched mostly off with pictures to illustrate.  4 out of 5 ain't bad right?

(Sarah, check out those pink arrows!)

1. Polyurethane select parts of kitchen

2. Restain kitchen cabinets

3. Get all dishes, utensils and various other kitchen accoutrements washed and put up in their new homes

4. Paint trim and quarter-round in bedroom

5. Paint mini bathroom (Didn't get to it, still a vacuum closet)