Links & Goodbye

  Possibly my favorite version of art imitating life- the wedding my Barbies only dreamed of!  P.S.  It's written in French, just scroll through the pictures!

A necklace for me!

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  Technology is supposed to work for us, but instead we've made ourselves its slave.  Or rather I have.  My to-do list is miles long and things aren't getting done with me sitting around.

  Facebook is an issue I've been dealing with for two years and it's time for me to say good-bye to that time waster.  I've had nothing to write about the past three months and lately what I do write feels forced and stupid.  I've had a lot of fun with this blog the past two years, but I think it has run its course.   I'm taking a complete break from the Internet for an indefinite amount of time with the exception of email.

1:17

  Last week I showed you how to repair holes in your wall.  This week I'll show you how to put holes in your wall!  It's a weird world, ain't it?

  First, you'll need a wall.

  Like this one!  You'll also need a hammer and a nail (not pictured.)

  Step #9 3/4- figure out where you want the nail and hammer it in the wall.  (Also not pictured, I only have two hands people!)

  Take your art or clock or what ever you want to hang on that nail......

  (This is the part my handsome assistant decided to assist with.)

  ......and hang it up!

  "You said hang it, not set the time first."  

  Verbatim, ya'll.

  Then step back and tell yourself how nice it looks.


***Dear friends that gave us this clock as a wedding gift, please don't be offended it took us this long to use it!***

This is the most random blog in the world, isn't it?

  I didn't get into wearing makeup until I was almost 17.  I was in the band and sweating like a goat a lot and to me makeup was just too much work for the no maintenance kind of girl that I was.  Am.

  "She's high maintenance of the worst kind, she thinks she's low maintenance."


  But one day, for whatever reason, I decided I wanted to start fixing myself up so my mother took me to the store (remember that?) and we picked out my colors.  A couple of eyeshadows later and I was in business (Oh, that sounds terrible!) wearing makeup.  I still have that same makeup bag that I bought that day.  One thing I don't have that I did have, up until yesterday morning, was the the blush that we'd bought.  Iced Cappuccino. 

  The same blush for six years?  Get out of town!  No, really, it was the very same one.  For a while, I'd say 5.5 of those 6 years I was scared to use it.  Terrified of making myself into a clown I pushed it to the back until I finally figured out less is more literally.

  Yesterday morning I dropped the little plastic box and it shattered into a million pink dusty pieces on the floor.      So now I have to buy a new one.

  I'm thinking Vintage Peach.  It's close to the same color, but nowhere near the price tag.  I'm thinking quality this time.  The price is definitely a drawback, but I have Christmas money plus I've been thinking about replacing my stuff with better stuff and now is a good time to start.

Would You Ask a Lawyer That?

  One of the cool things about my job is always meeting new people.  I meet somebody new practically every day.  Sometimes more than one person, practically everyday!    

  With my young (a lady guessed 17) looks, people are usually drawn to me, interested in how (better yet, why) I do what I do.  Besides the usual questions like,  "How long have you been doing this?"  and  "What made you get in the funeral business?" my favorite question of all is,  "Do you like doing this?"    

  I laugh inside my head every time!  One day, I'm really going to shock someone and say, "No!  I'm forced and I hate it!"  I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that and how many times I've thought about being sarcastic.    

  One day I'll do it and it will be great.  
 
  Oh, the hilarity.

How Can I Make This Happen?

  Three years ago, my TV broke.  I posted funeral arrangements for it on Facebook and everybody laughed.  I went almost four months without buying a new one and honestly it was one of the best times of my life.

  I felt like I accomplished so much without being zoned into the TV and imaginarily tied down to the couch by the remote.  I loved that little bit of freedom from the rest of the world and I've been dying to get back to that ever since.

  Boots thinks I'm absolutely psychotic and I can hear him roll his eyes every time I bring it up.  He thinks I'm seriously mad.  Read this- perhaps her post can explain it better.

  We could save some big bucks if we weren't paying for TV.  Serious money that I could think of about five ways right off the top of my head that would appreciate those dollars more than our current television providers do.  If we didn't have TV I bet we'd get our house finished a lot faster, our house would probably be a whoooole lot cleaner, we'd probably get into exercising, and I could read that mountain of books sitting beside my bed.

  I'm not saying completely give up the TV, I think Netflix is a great idea, but a definite tube-intervention is needed in my life.

Links to Etsy

For Haley: a coin purse, a bag to make you laugh, a sold-out necklace, and a phone cover for a phone you don't have.

For Peacock Lovers Attending the Next Royal Wedding: this hat!

For Eclectic Wood Lovers: these drawers.

Fixing the Hole in the Wall

Have you ever had a nasty hole in your walls that needed repairing?  No?  Then you're lucky.  If you have and you haven't fixed it yet, watch me as I attempt to fix the holes in my wall.  If you have had a hole in your wall and you have fixed it, tell me if I'm doing this right.

First, imagine a hole in your wall.

There was a hole here, as you can sort of see, but my overzealous husband started my project for me before I got home so I missed a couple of steps.  If you really need to see what a real hole in the wall looks like, pick up the biggest, heaviest picture frame you have and ram the corner of it into the wall.  Happy?

Anyways, there were some obvious holes here and they were covered up by wall putty.

This wall putty.

And here is a very blurry picture of a typical, basic, run-of-the-mill putty knife.

Basically, the instructions say to just slob it on the wall and let it dry (cure) for twenty-four hours before you start sanding on it.  The instructions also say that when you do go to town sanding on that wall, you be sure and wear a NIOSH-approved face mask because that dust will give you cancer!

So you sand.

Until it's all nice and smooth.

Old t-shirts can be quite handy as damp rags to wipe away dust.

Your holes may still be a little holey and you may have to putty some more, as I did.

Just slob it on, I promise it doesn't have to be perfect.

Slob it on!

Sand again.

Tiny holes = more putty.

Slob, sand, wipe, and repeat. 

Repeat.

Repeat until either you lose your mind or the wall becomes smooth as......smooth.  Real smooth.

What I'm Cooking

Bell pepper surprise?  What is that?

Chinese Beef and Broccoli!  Recipe from here, I used deer steak instead of beef, omitted the rice, and drizzled a little honey and a splash of soy sauce before serving.  Fantastic!  (I don't even like Chinese food!)

2012

This is the year our house gets whipped into shape!  Here's my lengthy, off-the-top-of-my-head to do list:

House To Do List

Master Bedroom
Buy, trim, and hang curtains
Touch up paint
Crown molding
Paint closet shelf
Hang bar in closet
New closet doors
Change light switches and plugs
Paint bedroom door
Paint door and window hardware

Mini Bathroom
Paint walls
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Install toilet and converter kit
Buy and install sink and cabinet
Buy and install light fixture, donate old fixture to Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Hang mirror/medicine cabinet
Buy, trim, and hang curtains
Change light switches and plugs

Office
Pick out color and paint office
Paint closet, paint shelf, and hang bar
Install new closet doors
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Change light switches and plugs
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Wood putty chair legs, sand, paint chair, hot glue faux fur
Paint office desk
Paint office door
Paint door and window hardware
New light

Hall
Patch holes
Paint
Change light switches and plugs
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Attic pull-down chain
Hang pictures

Bathroom
Paint tub
Pick out color and paint
Paint ceiling
Pick out, buy, and lay tile
Pick out, buy, and hook up new sink cabinet
Mirror
New light, donate old light
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Paint door and door hardware

Blue Bedroom
Touch up ceiling
Touch up paint
Quarter-round
Touch up trim
Paint closet shelf
New closet doors
New light, donate old light
Paint door and door hardware
Change light switch and plugs

Living Room
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Touch up paint
Crown molding
Paint doors and door hardware
Paint closet shelf
Change light switches and plugs
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains

Kitchen
Pull up and put down floor again
Quarter-round
Touch up paint
Paint trim
Backsplash
Top of cabinets
Cabinet hardware
Paint door and door hardware
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Paint laundry room shelf
Change light switches and plugs
Threshold
Light over sink

Dining Room
Put down floor
Pick out color and paint walls
Paint ceiling
Quarter-round
Paint trim
Change light switches and plugs
Add AC vent
Pick out, buy, and hang curtains
Paint doors and door hardware

Oy, vey! Here's hoping I don't lose my motivation anytime soon!