No More Chocolate...Sniffle Sniffle :-(

You know you are being put on a restrictive diet when you are almost 5 months pregnant and your doctor tells you that you can't have chocolate for the rest of your pregnancy! Really?? You are going to tell a pregnant girl she can't have CHOCOLATE??! Well, yes... along with a bunch of other random stuff! Since we found out my kidney stones are made of calcium oxalate (because what everyone wants to do is stroll into the doctor's office with one of their own kidney stones in a sandwich bag... it's about as awesome as sitting in a waiting room full of people carrying an enormous jug full of 24 hours worth of your own pee... did that on Monday... boy have the past few weeks been extra fun!)... but I digress... at least we know what my stones are made of, so I'm now on a low oxalate diet.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had no clue what oxalates were. Turns out they are naturally occurring in lots of fruits and vegetables, so a low oxalate diet is kind of weird. There are a lot of healthy things that I can't eat... like whole grains, legumes, spinach, potatoes and sweet potatoes just to name a few. There are plenty of fruits and vegetables that I can eat, however, so it's just a matter of getting used to some new standards. Oh, ya, and chocolate. It's loaded with oxalates. Of course.

So, the low oxalate thing is a little tricky just trying to come up with meals that don't contain anything on my forbidden list... but it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also coupled with being told I need to be on a very low sodium diet. Hmmm. Okay. What's low you ask? I need to stay around 1500 mg of sodium per day. The recommended daily allowance is 2000 and I would hazard a guess that the average person eats between 3000 and 4000 mg per day... easily! There is sodium in everything! I had no clue just how many foods contained sodium and how much!!! Good grief! So, that knocked a bunch of foods off my list that are low in oxalates... because I have to really watch my sodium.

And last, but not least, I have to reduce the amount of meat that I eat. I can't have more than one serving of meat per day. Alright, so... in addition to the low oxalate, low sodium, reduced meat diet, I have to also make sure I'm meeting my caloric needs for being pregnant and making sure I'm getting enough protein during the day. This would be easier if all the plant based proteins weren't on the HIGH OXALATE LIST! (yes, I'm yelling now!) It's been like one giant jigsaw puzzle! Slightly maddening, but a good challenge.

I'm slowly working out meals that I can eat. I also ordered a low oxalate cook book that came today and looks awesome! So, I'm slowly getting where I need to be. I think the hardest part about all of this is that I feel like I can't eat out at all. Any meal that I could get at a restaurant will have way more sodium than I can fit into the confines of my 1500 mg allowance. It's weird to think that for the next four and a half months, if I want to eat, I need to cook it myself (or have my husband cook it for me... tee hee) but if we are both tired and want to order a pizza, we can't do that. Sigh.

So, where is the upside you might ask? Well, the number one big thing that BETTER be the upside is that I will hopefully be preventing myself from secreting oxalate in my urine and thus not form any more large stones, or make that 6 mm one that's already there any bigger. But some other nice little bonuses have been losing weight ... which I know is not recommended during pregnancy, but I was overweight to start and my doctor is well aware that this will be a side effect and the baby is growing just fine and will continue to be monitored. Also, my blood pressure has dropped. It was always normal, but now it's fantastic! I couldn't believe how fast that happened after reducing my sodium intake. And it's also going to save us money on eating out. I ate out more than I should have anyway, so this is forcing me to plan ahead a lot more and start developing some better habits.

Oh, ya, and my cookbook says I can have white chocolate!!! :-) That might become my new indulgence!

New Motivation

Well, let me just say... nothing will motivate you like the threat of a 6 mm kidney stone getting stuck while you are pregnant... and knowing that the only thing the doctor can do for you is put in a stent. Sounds fun, right? Uggh! I'm having a little bit of a hard time knowing that I might have something super painful and uncomfortable happen and that I'd have to deal with it for the duration of my pregnancy. The bright side? I'm super motivated to get the things done that I need to while I'm feeling good, because I know that could change at any second.

I had one kidney stone before this pregnancy. It came a few months after Andy was born. That one got stuck. That was THE WORST pain I've ever been in... EVER! I'd never been so happy to have an IV of morphine flowing into my arm. The worst part was that it happened so fast! I went from thinking something isn't right here... maybe I'm getting a bladder infection to OH MY GOD! I THINK I'M DYING! In about an hour. Yes, an hour. I think that is the only time I've ever called my husband at work and said I need you to come home and take me to the ER... NOW!

So, now I have the threat of that happening again hanging over my head. It's not something I'm constantly worrying about, but I am also trying to be realistic. I have awesome friends here, and my brother and sister-in-law, who I know would pitch in and help out if I need it... but I also don't want my house to be a disaster, or for there to be things that I need to take care of and have them go untouched for months. Paperwork is totally disorganized around here. It would be a nightmare to have my husband sifting through things to find tax paperwork, etc. I really need to sort through everything so that it's easy for him to find what he's looking for if need be.

I know my Mom is going to read this and worry that I'm going to wear myself out and run myself down trying to take care of things... and I'm not going to go to that extreme :-)
But... I do need to make myself a little list of the things I want to get done before the baby comes and then prioritize. I want to tackle one task a week, starting with some of the most important things. I will feel like I'm being smart about preparing myself for the worst, while hoping for the best.

I guess maybe I'll be making a list again after all! But instead of something daily...I'll try and tackle something weekly!

My Break From Blogging

Well, the end of the year has come and gone. The whole point of this blog was to try and accomplish one thing per day for 365 days. It was a pretty ambitious new year's resolution last January... and I came close, but didn't quite make it. All in all, I was able to cross 271 things off my list, but I kind of fell off the wagon somewhere around September.

In November I took on the Thirty Days of Giving Challenge and loved it... but only got through blogging about half of the giving I did for the month. I suppose it's time to finally fess up to the blog world that I found out in September that I'm PREGNANT!!! Yippee!! Tomorrow I will be 18 weeks along. Since I have PCOS, I needed to take Metformin and 50 mg of Clomid in order to conceive. I was beyond shocked when it worked on the first try!!

The first 10 weeks of my pregnancy were pretty rough with morning sickness. That came on top of a month of feeling sick from the Metformin and having crazy hot flashes from the Clomid. I was super excited when I finally started feeling better, but then was thrown for a little bit of a loop...

While on vacation visiting family over Thanksgiving, I thought I was starting to get a urinary tract infection. My doctor started me on an antibiotic, but I noticed I wasn't feeling any better. The day after we got home, I passed a 3 mm kidney stone. I ended up passing 3 more over the next three weeks. All were between 3 and 4 mm. I was able to pass them all at home, with great discomfort, but without needing to go to the emergency room.

I was referred to a urologist and put on a low oxalate, low sodium diet after finding out my stones were calcium oxalate stones. That in and of itself has been a challenging lifestyle change that I'll reserve for another post. I also found out today after a renal ultrasound that I have a 6mm stone in my right kidney. As of right now, it's not causing any blockage. It's too big for me to pass and I'm terrified of it starting to move and blocking my ureter. I'm terrified of having to have stents put in and being uncomfortable and in pain for the remainder of my pregnancy. I'm just praying that it stays put in there as long as possible!!

It's been incredibly frustrating that there aren't a lot of resources or recipes online for a low oxalate diet. It's hard to only read horror stories online from other people who have experienced kidney stones during pregnancy. I am not feeling bad. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I'm doing everything I need to do diet wise to try and prevent more large stones from forming and I'm viewing this new diet as a challenge to come up with different, but still yummy meals. It's just discouraging to feel like there isn't enough information out there for those who are experiencing kidney stones during pregnancy.

So, that's what has been going on with me over the past three months! I'm starting to feel like I want to blog again, but I'm not really sure what direction to take my blog. Do I make it more of a personal blog and just kind of blog about anything and everything? I know I will have plenty to write about with this pregnancy, but does anyone really want to read about that? I've also thought about blogging about projects you can do to make a cookie cutter home feel a little more individual and personalized, but I don't know how often I could do blog posts because I'm not sure how often we could afford to finish the projects we want to in our cookie cutter house! Hmmmmm.... something to think about! So, I'm not ready to change my blog page yet, but I think I will need a place to post while I'm working it all through, so for now I'm just going to keep things as they are.

I'm so grateful for this journey over the past year. I've accomplished more than I thought possible. I've noticed that my priorities have changed over the past year. I've become more mindful of others. I've realized that I can always be a work in progress, but there are some things I will probably never change about myself and I'm learning to accept myself more for who I am. I'm so excited to be starting a new year by creating and growing this new life. Keeping this baby healthy and safe until I reach my due date will be my big project this year...

And I'm not making any new year's resolutions... I'm going to tackle challenges as they come...one day at a time :-)

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 11

Today is day eleven of the 30 Day Giving Challenge and it's also Veteran's Day. I really wanted to do something that would give back to our troops and their families. At first I looked into organizations that I could send a care package through, but honestly, I needed a project that was free, or as close to free as possible! Then I came across this website and learned that US Military bases overseas will accept manufacturer's coupons up to SIX MONTHS past their expiration date at their commissaries!

Since I've been completely slack in the couponing department lately and my coupon binder was in dire need of being cleaned out and I already had stamps and envelopes.... well... this was just the perfect project! After ridding my binder of all my recently expired coupons, I separated all THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY (yes that's right!) of them into seven piles. I wrote a note on an sheet of paper thanking the recipients for their service and sacrifice and then folded the piles of coupons inside. Then I picked seven bases off of the list provided and dropped them in the mail box. I know there is no mail today, but at least they will be ready to go first thing tomorrow morning!

I have to say, that this felt SO much better than putting all those coupons in the recycling bin.. which is what would have happened whenever I finally got around to cleaning out my binder. I will always be slack in this department, and always have expired coupons, so in the future I plan to mail my coupons off to service men and women who can still use them.

Thank you to all of our men and women serving in the armed services. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices and the and never ending support of your families. It is not a sacrifice that my immediate family has ever known, but I am constantly in awe of the strength that military families possess. I'm blessed to call many of them friends and they are friends I look up to with the utmost respect!

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 10

I'm really excited about this 30 Day Giving Challenge project! This week, I recruited the girls in my Stitch n' Bitch group to help me make blankets for an organization called Project Linus. It's an organization that provides handmade blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.

I wanted to do a blanket project that could be started and finished in an evening. A few years ago I had made a simple fleece tie blanket as a baby gift and remembered that it didn't take much time at all to put together. So, each of the girls in my group, along with myself and my Mom who is visiting chipped in $10 a piece. I went over my total by $12 (oops!... this is what happens when you go to the fabric store w/ a toddler in your tiny shopping cart and have to go up to the counter to have fabric cut four different times because you can't fit it all in your cart in one trip! Ha ha... you lose count!) Anyway... I spent $82.19 including tax for 14 yards of fleece... and we were able to make NINE blankets! So, that works out to just under $10 piece. Five are larger size and four are smaller, but there weren't any requirements on size of the blankets to donate... the only requirement is that they be handmade.

It really meant a lot to me that my friends were so willing and eager to chip in their money and their time to help me with this project. It was a lot of fun. It also felt great to accomplish something from start to finish in one evening! That is certainly not the case with our crocheting projects! I really enjoyed working on this so much, I'm hoping to continue to give to this organization in the future. It was such a simple and easy project that will bring warmth and comfort to someone in need.

30 Day Giving Challenge: Days 6 ~ 9

The past few days were spent doing little things for friends that I hoped would brighten their day. I'm trying to have a good mix of ways to give during this 30 Day Giving Challenge... doing small things for friends and family, taking on some larger projects, donating financially and donating my time. So far it's been challenging, rewarding and also... FUN!

So, on Saturday I stopped at Panera and picked up a bagel pack on my way to work. It was a box full of 13 yummy bagels and 2 tubs of cream cheese and left them on the break room table. I thought that it would be a nice treat for all of my co-workers on a Saturday morning.

On Sunday I mailed a nice card to a long time friend that I don't get to see very often. After going through a difficult patch for a while, I was so happy that things were really looking up for her. I found a card that conveyed the sentiment that I wanted it to and added a little note. I just wanted her to know how much I value our friendship and how happy I am that her life is moving in the direction that she wanted.

On Monday I delivered a vase full of fall flowers to a friend at her office. She was pretty surprised to see me come in! She's been having several rough weeks and I thought that maybe some flowers on a Monday would give a better start to the new week. I also filled out a little card. It was nice because I got to stay and catch up with her for a little bit. Even though she's just getting over being sick and I had to stand on the other side of the conference room and not give her a big hug! ha ha.... but it was still a nice little visit. I value our friendship a lot and I just wanted her to know that I'm always here for her.

And finally, on Saturday at work, I left two boxes of Cheez-it's in my sister-in-law's desk cabinet for her to find today when she got back to work. We work at the same place (she is full time and I am VERY part time). I had to work last Wednesday night. When I was leaving I took a handful of Cheez-its (her favorite snack) out of the box in her desk... but they were really stale! So, I bought her 2 fresh boxes to have on hand and stuck a little sticky note on the box. I think it will be a small gesture that she'll really appreciate.

Tonight I've recruited the girl's in my Stitch n' Bitch group to help me work on a bigger project for my 10th day of giving. I can't wait to blog about it in the morning!!!

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 5

I'm really excited today because after seven long weeks, my neighbors are FINALLY coming home!!! When we moved into this neighborhood we got really lucky to live by some wonderful neighbors... but my neighbor across the street and I became fast friends. She's also my only stay at home mom friend that I have here in Charleston.

Well, her hubby is a pilot in the Air Force, and for the past seven weeks they have been half way across the country for some flight training. It's been super lonely for me here on our little cul-d-sac!!! I've missed them terribly! I'm not sure exactly what time they are getting home today, but I figured that after being gone for so long they would probably enjoy a home cooked meal... that they didn't have to cook themselves!

Today I made some easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. This is my go-to dish if I need to make a meal to freeze for someone. They are really easy to make and since the chicken is already cooked, I can completely assemble the dish and all that the recipient has to do is thaw and bake for 15 minutes! Easy peasy!

For this recipe you need:
1 pkg of chicken (I like to use the chicken tenders)
1 six count pkg of flour tortillas
2 cans of Old El Paso enchilada sauce (I use mild)
1 pkg of shredded taco or Mexican blend cheese

Directions:
Boil the chicken until fully cooked. Let cool. Pour a small amount of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of your pan until it's completely coated. Next, lay a tortilla on a dinner plate and spoon some enchilada sauce onto the tortilla and coat one side. Shred some chicken in a line down the middle of the tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and roll. Place seam side down in the pan. Continue for all six tortillas. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas in the pan. Make sure all surfaces of the tortillas are fully coated. Sprinkle cheese over the top of all.

If you are freezing this dish to give to a friend, then cover & freeze! If not, bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Garnish with sour cream and enjoy!

Ready to freeze!

Include instructions and a note!

Make some extra for yourself for dinner... yummy melted cheesy goodness!

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 4

Today was day four of the 30 Day Giving Challenge and this evening I participated in the Light The Night Walk to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Last month when I first decided that I was going participate in this 30 day challenge, I almost immediately received an e-mail from my old co-worker, Tara. She was asking if anyone else wanted to join her team and participate in the Light The Night Walk. I honestly thought it was a sign that I was making the right choice to tackle this challenge. Even though at the time I couldn't come up with 30 ways to give, I realized that I didn't have to know ahead of time all the ways I could make a difference. I knew that opportunities would present themselves... and this was a great one!

I signed up, set up my web site and put a post on my Facebook page asking for ten people to each contribute ten dollars to get me to my fundraising goal of one hundred dollars. I wasn't sure if people would want to sponsor me again after I had just fundraised my little heart out for the half marathon I completed with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training in June. But, honestly, after raising $3,100 for the race, I figured $100 would be no big deal. And I was right. Friends and family opened their hearts right away and I raised $106! It was such a great feeling to be able to donate again to an organization that has made a difference in so many people's lives.

Tonight's event was really neat. Each participant got a balloon that had a little flickering light inside. Dawn and I had red balloons to show support, and Tara had a white balloon because she is a leukemia survivor. I felt very proud to be there supporting her.

It was also great to catch up with my old co-workers as we completed the walk. I was really glad that I took the time during a very busy and over scheduled week to take part in something so important. I felt very content on my drive home. I know it's only the fourth day of this challenge, but already I feel like I'm reaping the benefits of giving more than those on the receiving end.... it just does a soul good!

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 3

Today is day three of the 30 Day Giving Challenge. Originally, I had something else planned for today... but after having what I thought was going to be an hour and a half long errand yesterday turned into a FOUR HOUR adventure... I decided I wasn't going to leave the house today until I needed to leave for work at 5:00 p.m.! Ha! That errand by the way was picking up some patio furniture that I found for a steal on Craig's List...FINALLY!!!!! I've been searching for something in our budget since the spring. I'll be doing a before and after post on that later... because of course I want to change mostly everything about the set... except for the shape! ha ha

Anyway... Day Three! I decided to pack my husband's lunch today and include a little note inside. Packing his lunch is not something that I ever do. He rarely packs his lunch either. He has a cafeteria where he works and he'll generally go down there and get a salad for a few dollars for lunch, so I just don't worry about it. But... I'm sure that eating at the work cafeteria gets old.

So, last night, I packed him up a container of the cream of tomato & basil soup from Day Two, a bottle of water, some rosemary bread sticks and a few pieces of Halloween candy. I was shocked to get a call from him at 11:00 a.m.! He NEVER calls me from work! Emails, yes... phone calls, no! But he called to thank me for his lunch and let me know how thoughtful of me it was. It made me want to do this for him more often. We have been on such opposite schedules lately and haven't had much time together, so it felt good to be able to show him how much I care with a small gesture that he appreciated so much.

Of course, he actually had a work lunch out of the office today... figures... ha ha... but he'll have an enjoyable lunch tomorrow now instead!

30 Day Giving Challenge: Day 2

Today was day 2 of my 30 Day Giving Challenge. Since I get together every Tuesday night with a small group of girlfriends to have dinner, crochet and chat .... otherwise known as "Stitch n' Bitch"... hee hee... I thought today would be the perfect time to do something thoughtful for them! I wanted to do something that could make their lives easier and show them how much their friendships mean to me.

Since they all work full time jobs, I decided to make them something they could bring for lunch tomorrow! Since we are always out late on Tuesday night's at the hostess' house... I figured lunch might be an after thought on Wednesday mornings. This afternoon, I made a really easy crock pot soup to give to the girls. I filled a container for each one and tied on some rosemary bread sticks with a piece of ribbon. It was so easy and inexpensive to make and so fun to give them to the girls tonight! It made me sad that I don't think to do random kind things like this for the people closest to me more often! I think that everyone gets so wrapped up in their own lives, that we only give gifts when we are "supposed" to... like birthdays or holidays. I'm hoping that this 30 day challenge will change my perspective on giving and make it more of a part of my every day life!

Easy Crock Pot Cream of Tomato & Basil Soup

Ingredients:

3 Cans of peeled tomatoes

1 32 oz. container of chicken broth

1 Tablespoon of garlic powder

10 Fresh basil leaves

1 Cup of cream

Directions:

Pour the cans of tomatoes, chicken broth and garlic powder into the crock pot. Cook on High setting for 3 hours or Low setting for 5-6 hours. Add basil leaves to the pot for the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Use an immersion blender to blend soup thoroughly. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can pour soup in batches into a food processor or blender. Add cream and blend.

Serve with croutons, bread sticks or a grilled cheese sandwich! YUMMMMM!!!!!

Thirty Day Giving Challenge

As I'm sure you've noticed (or not if you've stopped reading my blog altogether) I've kind of taken a step back from blogging lately. There have been a few reasons for that.... some I will blog about a little later... but the main reason? I just haven't been motivated to write! I've been getting things done on my list, although admittedly, at a snail's pace! But, mostly, nothing has felt that interesting that I've wanted to write about it. Like, why would anyone want to read a post about how I sent out my son's birthday thank you notes (a full month late) or how I had to call the Children's Museum for never sending our membership cards (this happens with EVERY membership we sign up for... no matter where the venue!). Eh... just seems kind of boring.

I know that the very nature of a lot of blogs (and especially this one) is writing about yourself, but after a while it starts to feel kind of self indulgent. Just very me, me, me... if you know what I mean! So, I've been struggling with that aspect of it. I've also just still been struggling with the whole soul searching thing. I've been feeling really blah about things in my life in general.

SOOOOO.... for November I've decided to shake things up. While I still trudge though all my resolutions that I'm painfully behind on (I am convinced I'm just a perpetual procrastinator to my very core!) I'm not going to blog about most things. Instead, while I'm working on them and crossing them off my list, I'm going to participate in the 30 Day Giving Challenge.

I'm hoping to accomplish a few things with this challenge:

1) Inspire others to do the same
2) Find that part of myself that I seem to have lost ... through giving to others
3) Get creative in my giving. Obviously I can't make 30 days worth of monetary donations!

This challenge has me excited about blogging again and is a great way to tackle thirty days of resolutions!!!! I'm excited to share each days way of giving through blog posts.

Once I get my giving calendar completed I will post it. For day one, I sorted through all of Andy's toys this morning. I sorted through everything in the play room and in the cabinets in the living room. First of all... all of it was A MESS and I've realized I need to add "organize toys" to my list of resolutions... and second of all, I realized we have a lot of STUFF!!! I don't even know where a lot of it came from!!! But I sure do know that it doesn't get played with and we don't need it in this house. Andy is pretty much focused on ONE thing these days as far as playing goes.... TRAINS. It's all trains, all the time. So why keep the other stuff around?? Everything was in great condition, so I brought a giant trash bag filled with toys to Goodwill this morning and I'm hoping they will make another child's holiday a little brighter!!!!

A Perfect Wedding

photo credit Liz Duren Photography Blog

After much anticipation, my brother's wedding came and went... much too quickly! Everything was SO beautiful! The day could not have been any more perfect. Jaime had planned every last little detail, making sure that there were special touches strewn throughout the event. It was so much fun to spend time with friends and family that I don't see often enough. It was amazing to watch my brother marry my best friend... and know how truly happy they are. It was wonderful to spend time with my sister-in-law's family and get to know them all a little bit better. Thinking of that day now still makes me tear up. I feel very lucky to be blessed with such wonderful family and friends. The bride and groom are enjoying the tail end of their TWO WEEK (ummm... yes... I'm jealous!) honeymoon in Hawaii and the rest of us have gotten back to life as usual.

I'm officially crossing the last two wedding related things off my list: 1) I survived the wedding weekend. This was ONLY an item on the list because of our two year old. Since my husband and I were both in the wedding and all of my family and 99% of my friends were AT the wedding, that left a great deal of worry about who was going to take care of our son in the ceremony and what we were going to do with him that night so that Matt and I could stay and enjoy the reception. My wonderful friend Katie had offered to pick him up from the reception and bring him home to our house and spend the night with him so that Matt and I could stay at the hotel downtown. God bless her, because she was a savior. She even showed up with a new Thomas the Train Engine for Andy so he didn't even notice they were driving away without his Mama. The bigger issue came when we quickly realized at the rehearsal that there was no way he could even be in the sanctuary during the ceremony, let alone walk down the isle. So, I was completely panicked the night before trying to find someone to come keep him in the nursery during the ceremony. When my friend Michelle called on Saturday morning about something unrelated and I told her how the rehearsal went, all she said was "just tell me where you need me to be and what time, and I'll be there!". I started crying because it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could finally just relax.


Although, I have to say, it was really strange not to see Andy AT ALL on Saturday until after the ceremony. It was so hard for me to just trust that my husband had everything under control, that my friend Leslie had gotten to the church early to keep Andy occupied while the groomsmen were having their pictures done, that my friend Beth had found my husband and been introduced to Leslie so she could show her where the church nursery was... so that Leslie could show Michelle where to go when she got there... and finally, that Michelle hadn't gotten stuck in traffic or had trouble finding parking and had made it there in time, gotten Andy from Leslie and gone to the nursery! I thought I was going to start crying again after the ceremony when I went into the nursery and there was Andy in his little dress pants, ivory shirt with cuff links, dress shoes and tie, playing happily with Michelle, her husband Matt and their little boy Owen. In there he also had a gift bag from Leslie with some new matchbox cars and a farm puzzle. I really am just blessed, blessed, blessed to have such awesome and amazing friends!


And number 2) I wrote my Matron of Honor speech. I had been composing this in my head for a few weeks before the wedding, but I finally sat down and wrote it all out a few hours before we had to head to the church. I felt very emotional honoring both my brother and a friend I have known for almost 12 years. I promised my brother I wouldn't embarrass him. I figured I'd leave that up to the best man, so I took the sappy route. The last time I had to give a Maid of Honor speech was nine years ago. I definitely didn't have the poise to carry that out without having something written, so I cried and spoke awkwardly through the whole thing. I was determined NOT to do that this time! It was really hard not to cry, so I just focused on reading the words on the paper and not actually feeling the words on the paper at that particular time.... otherwise I never would have made it through.


So now that it's all over... it's time to get back to real life. I finally and officially feel like I'm out of my slump. I've been more productive at home and feel ready to tackle lots of projects. I have something fun and different planned for my November resolutions, so I'm going to have to work my behind off to finish up my list by the end of October!

When It's Not All About You

Weddings are a funny thing. They can bring out the very best and the very worst in people. Lately I have seen both. I am reminded in each situation, that weddings are the one time it's not all about you, and this time, I couldn't be happier! On Saturday, my brother will marry my best friend. I am filled with emotion just thinking about it. I feel lucky and privileged to have the honor of being Jaime's Matron of Honor. Jaime is one of those hyper organized, super crafty, non-procrastinating people with an enviously clean house. In short, she is the complete opposite of me on all of those levels! Ha ha! But, on the other hand, I know that she can finish my sentences, she is almost always thinking the same things I am, she is the first person I want to hang out with for "girl time," she will drop everything to help a friend and she always puts her family first. We have been friends for over 11 years and I am thrilled to finally be able to call her my sister-in-law on Saturday.

So, being the hyper organized person that she is, Jaime has made it hard to be a bridesmaid. She has thought of everything, taken care of everything, every single little detail ... even the typical "last minute" things were done MONTHS ago! So, there isn't a whole lot left to help with! Me on the other hand??? Well, I waited until the final few weeks to take care of everything I need to before Saturday.... why? Because, no matter how hard I try... I just can't seem to change that side of me!

This past week I have ordered Jaime's wedding gift (which I had a last minute change of plans on), I have purchased undergarments for my bridesmaid dress and a back up (still looking for something better) pair of shoes and I have made my appointments for my brow wax and my hair. Yes, I'm getting my hair trimmed and blown out on Friday so that it can be straight for the rehearsal dinner. The future me will thank the present me when I see pictures!

And then there was the rehearsal dinner DRESS! After a particularly rough couple of days around here, Jaime and I headed out last Friday night in search of a rehearsal dinner dress for me. (She, of course, has had her dress for MONTHS) We started at Marshalls. I tried on 4 dresses. Liked 2 of them. Loved 1 of them. And so, I bought it! Done! Couldn't believe we didn't have to go to 800 stores. Went to the mall. Tried on undergarments at the department stores. (Ended up finding what I needed on clearance at the Maidenform outlet for $5! Whoop!) Had to exit the mall at closing time on the OPPOSITE end as our car. Hoofed it at least 5 miles around the mall. Went home. Hung dress up in my closet and about fell over laughing.

Why? Because I had the almost as close to identical dress possible hanging in my closet already... in navy blue instead of green. That's right. Me... who barely has any clothes, let alone DRESSES... forgot that I even had this dress! In a current size that fits me. With navy blue pumps to match. I have never felt so dumb! (well, okay, so that might not be true)

Bu-ut.... happy ending, right?! I could return my $40 Marshalls dress!! (would like it if that credit would hit my bank account sometime soon, but whatever...)

Okay, so on to clothing/shoe hunt #2! Black dress pants and dress shoes for my 2 year old son who is supposed to walk down the isle. We'll see how that goes! I think there's just as much of a chance of that happening as there is of him sitting quietly through the entire 45 minute service. But, we'll see....

Okay, so I went to the outlet mall... went to all the standard kid stores... no dress pants. Went to Goodwill... no dress pants or shoes. Went to Once Upon A Child... BINGO!!! Dress pants $3.50 and dress shoes $3.00!!!! I couldn't beat that unless they were free! We are renting his ivory shirt and lapis tie from Men's Warehouse. This should all be very interesting! I've already asked Jaime if it is okay to let him eat lollipops in the church during the whole service. As of right now, that is literally my only game plan. Failproof! Right? I have a friend on stand by to take him out of the sanctuary if needed. I'll be standing up with the bride and groom and my husband is a groomsman, so he can't just walk out.... could get tricky!

I also went and purchased a bridal shower gift for our friend Liz who is getting married in two months. Jaime, Liz and I used to all be roomies back in the day! She had a beautiful bridal shower on Saturday and I was so happy to be a part of it.

Tis the season around here!... For weddings that is! I think I'll wear my rehearsal dinner dress to Liz's wedding... so no need for last minute shopping there! So, this post turned out to mostly be all about me, but this weekend most assuredly will not! I am so excited to be there for Jeff and Jaime on their wedding weekend. I am excited to take care of Jaime as much as she will let us! But mostly I'm excited to spend much needed time with all my family and friends. (If I could do that little heart emoticon like on Facebook here, I would)

How To Make Custom Beverage Bins

For a wedding shower gift, I made my friend Jaime and my brother Jeff some personalized beverage bins to use at their rehearsal dinner. I had so much fun making them, that I think I'm going to make one for myself! They really were very easy, and the possibilities are endless as far as design and personalization! Here is the step by step for how I made them.

First I purchased two 15 gallon galvanized metal tubs from Lowes for $15 a piece.

Next, I used painters tape to tape off any parts of the bin that I wanted to keep the original galvanized finish. I chose to do that for the handles and the insides of the bin, including the upper lip. I wrapped tape around the handles, and then I cut two trash bags open and used painters tape over the top lip of the bins to secure the plastic.

Then, I sprayed each bin with two coats of a metal primer. I used the Rustoleum Professional Primer that specified it was for use on bare metal.

After the primer dried, I used a brush to paint each bin with two coats of my base color. I chose to use a white semi-gloss interior latex paint. After letting it dry for 24 hours, I used painter's tape to tape along the ridges on the bins where I wanted my stripes to be. I brushed on my stripes using turquoise and coral colored interior latex semi-gloss. After after two coats of paint, I removed the painters tape and used an artist's brush to touch up any areas of imperfection where the paint leaked behind the tape.

After letting the paint dry for 24 hours, I sprayed both bins with two good coats of a crystal clear varnish.

After letting the clear coat dry thoroughly overnight, I again used the painters tape to mask off a rectangle on each bin. I then applied two coats of chalkboard paint... and voila!

Each bin can be labeled however they want! I think it makes for a fun way to customize their beverage bins. All in all, this was a relatively inexpensive way to customize large beverage tubs for the bride and groom.

Soul Searching

I'm sure that many of you reading this had begun to think I had given up on my blog and finishing my resolutions.... I don't blame you... I did too. I have been procrastinating writing this post because I wasn't really sure what I was going to say. I've just been doing some soul searching for a little while. You know when you know you have something simmering just under the surface, but you're not really sure what it is? Well, this was going on for me ... for weeks. I couldn't put my finger on it and I had my suspicions that maybe it wasn't just one thing. I felt like I couldn't focus on anything. I didn't log on to my blog for quite a while. I didn't want to look at my list until I could decide why I was feeling the way I was feeling. My husband and I seemed to be on COMPLETELY opposite schedules for several weeks in a row and our relationship was suffering from the lack of time spent together. When everything finally came to a head in basically one big explosion of emotions, I realized that I needed to do what I could do to clear my schedule and make time to spend with my husband. If it wasn't necessary (like work) I wasn't doing it. Including my blog.

I deleted my blog's Facebook page (so, sorry if you were a Facebook fan) ... and then went to delete my blog... and found that I wasn't ready to do that yet. My husband pointed out that my blog was a positive and effective tool for me when I was actually doing what I set out to do.... which was one thing every day. What I had gotten in the bad habit of doing was leaving several things to the end of the month and then cramming them all in. I was also seriously neglecting my daily chores in favor of one time projects around the house. Our house was constantly cluttered... to the point where it was starting to have a negative effect on Matt and on me. Matt felt like I was creating an illusion on here that I was very productive and on the ball because I was neglecting to point out that while I was accomplishing all of these things every month, I wasn't keeping up with anything around the house. So, I'm sorry if that is the impression I was giving, because that is not the case around here... IN THE LEAST!

I have a hard time balancing because we literally have 5+ years of un-started or un-finished projects.... bins of stuff that need to be sorted through and dealt with.... a house that we want to paint walls in, and add character to, and furnish .... with second hand furniture that I am usually re-finishing.... so, I feel like sometimes I use all of my energy trying to take care of those projects and I always think I'll clean later... or I'll do laundry later... or I don't have time to put this stuff away now.... I'll do it later... and of course, you can guess what happens next... I'm too TIRED later to take care of all the other stuff.

So, I've taken some down time while I've been re-evaluating. Here is what I have decided:

1) I am going to keep up with my blog again. I'm also going to be ambitious and combine my unfinished list from August and add it to my September list and get back on track. BUT...

2) My monthly resolution for September is to do 30 minutes of cleaning per day. Here's the thing... when my house was a completely cluttered mess, I didn't feel like I had time to clean because it would take FOREVER to get things cleaned, so I just kept putting it off. I should have realized that if I just tackled a little bit at a time it would get done. So, now, the downstairs of our house is clean (thanks to major help from Matt) and the upstairs is mostly clean. I'm intending to keep it that way with 30 minutes of cleaning a day. It doesn't even have to be continuous. I think just 15 minutes after lunch and 15 minutes in the evening would do wonders!

3) I'm going to be more aware of my schedule. I'm going to try to be hyper aware of not letting too many things get scheduled for several days in a row. Matt and I need that time together throughout the week to stay connected. I don't want any members of my family to feel that I'm not putting my family first. I am truly working on NOT feeling like I need to meet other people's expectations. I need to do what is best for my family and myself.

Deep breath...

So, there it is. I'm so glad I didn't delete my blog. I think I'm going to need a place to get my thoughts out in the coming months! I'm going to get my September list together tonight and get it posted tomorrow. Thanks for sticking around through my lapse in posting. I'm glad I took a step back though, and worked through all the things that were bothering me. I felt paralyzed from doing any blog posts when I couldn't get my head straight.

Instant Streaming Netflix is Evil

I don't really have any good excuse for why I haven't been blogging. I have gotten things done off my list and I did start my new job and I have been really busy. But, truth be told... I've been spending all of my free time and a good chunk of time that should have been spent taking care of things around the house... watching all three seasons of Veronica Mars on instant streaming Netflix. That's right... the UPN channel's hit show about a teenage detective. I'd say I'm ashamed to admit it, but really, I'm not. I thought it was a great show! The problem? I have ZERO willpower when it comes to turning off the television if the next episode is readily available for me to watch! I mean, if every single show ends in a cliff hanger, and all I have to do is select to 'watch next episode' to see how it turns out, then how can I NOT watch just one more? (and then one more... and then one more) It's a vicious cycle! I have the same exact problem with books... which is why I hardly ever read. I LOVE reading, but if it's a really good book (or God forbid... a SERIES...) then I can't do anything BUT finish reading. I forget that anything else exists in my life. It's bad. I'm pretty sure I get this personality trait from my Mom. Actually, I know I do.

Ah... so... thankfully I've made it through all three seasons and can finally take my life back! No joke! My house is cleaner since I wrapped up that series, I've stayed more on task and I've spent more time with my husband. I've also instructed him NOT to get me hooked on any more series of shows on Netflix. I am a person who NEEDS to stay within the confines of normal television ... where I can watch a show one week, and (gasp!) have to wait a whole week to watch the next episode! ha ha!

Moving on.... I decided not to have a daily resolution for the month of August. Why set myself up to fail? There was just no way I could take on anything daily this month. So instead, this month is going to focus on my future sister-in laws' wedding shower tasks, yard work, and debt. I'm moving right along on the shower projects. I have to... considering the shower is next weekend! I'm going to do a post when it's over about all the little projects on my list (including making the favors, which I did tonight... check!)

The other day I weeded the yard... so that is one yard work item down! Yaye! Tomorrow I'm going to work on cleaning up the back yard. We have had some CRAZY thunderstorms this summer! Like... almost every other day! Our yard is a mess with small tree limbs down everywhere, camping chairs blown over and half way across the yard, etc. Not to mention the whole yard is like a swamp with all the rain we've been getting! But, we have family and friends coming in to town several weekends in a row and we're hosting a little cook out here at the house for Andy's second birthday. I definitely want the yard cleaned up before all that, so I figure I'd better start soon.

And last, but certainly not least.... I called Shark about my stick vacuum battery. Let me start by saying that I have hardwood floors throughout the whole downstairs of my house and I am in love with my Shark steam mop. I used to use a Swiffer Wet Jet, but it always left a film on the floors, not to mention the EXPENSE of buying the pads and the solution. I eventually bought a steam mop and never looked back. Then I bought a Shark cordless stick vacuum. It had enough power to get through the whole downstairs and I didn't have to mess with a cord. I really truly did heart Shark. Then my re-chargeable battery started to last shorter and shorter and shorter amounts of time, until most recently I only get about 30 seconds of good power out of it. I've only had my stick vac for about six months, so I called Shark. Guess what? It turns out that the battery is the only part NOT under warranty! Huh! Imagine that! But, wait, what's that you say?! I can BUY a replacement battery?! Awesome! How much? Oh, FORTY DOLLARS???!!! Really? FORTY DOLLARS???!!! Hmmmm.... let me think that over... the whole vacuum costs $60 and if I buy it at Bed, Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon, it's only $52... but you want me to pay FORTY DOLLARS for a battery???!!! That's okay, I'll look around and find the battery from somewhere else. Oh, wait, what's that?? YOU are the only ones that sell it? FANTASTIC! Then, instead of buying a FORTY DOLLAR battery, I will now be buying a $30 Dirt Devil stick vac that plugs in ... because, honestly, is moving the plug THAT big of a deal??!! It just so happens that it's NOT! This new stick vac also has a gazillion times more suction and guess what... I don't have to charge it. So, thanks, Shark for making such a quality product. I still heart my steam mop, but I'm super disappointed in the $52 I wasted for 6 months of use from your vacuum.

July Wrap Up... Five Days Late

Well, this is officially the most behind I've been at the start of a month. I feel like I'm going to do much better keeping up with things in August than I did in July. I think I'm over my half way through the year hump. I'm getting back on track. Although, I have to say, I can waste time like nobody's business! I have to get better about that. Here's the thing... and I know you are going to read this and think...uhhh DUH!!!!... but the more disorganized I am, the more time I waste. That seems SOOOOO simple, right? So, if I was actually let's say... more organized then it would take me less time to get things done and then I would ACTUALLY HAVE more time to "waste" online or watching TV or reading a magazine... big sigh... if I could only get my act together...

Seriously though, I'm going to put more of an effort into the organizational thing this month. (my husband is totally reading this and thinking ya RIGHT! right about now... aren't you honey!) But really, I am. I need to be. In addition to taking care of Andy all day (which becomes increasingly more FUN and FRUSTRATING everyday as we approach the big TWO YEARS OLD), my Thirty~One business is starting to take off... AND... I got a job! Yeah! BIG YEAH!! Remember at the beginning of July when it was on my list to apply to five jobs? Well, it paid off... and the best part??!!! I didn't have to settle for something I didn't want to do. I got the exact job I wanted... the job I was waiting to open... and on Saturday I start work back at the same place I landed my very first job out of college... ten years ago! Yes... my life is already coming full circle and I'm only 32. Ha ha! Seriously though, it's the perfect schedule for me, it's the perfect mix of job duties, and since several of my old co-workers still work there, and many new friends, I already know I'll fit right in. It's the place I met my husband ten years ago... so it will always be special. And now I'll have one to two shifts per week... only nights and weekends, so I can still stay home with Andy, but not have EVERY night or weekend away from Matt. I'm really excited to start. Tonight I finished filling out the 10 pages of pre-employment paperwork to take to my orientation tomorrow.... so that is getting crossed off the list.... although what I should have put on the list was keeping Andy entertained for 45 minutes in the waiting room while waiting for my drug test a few days ago... THAT was an accomplishment! Ha!

Okay, what else did I do? I set up an appointment for a tree removal company to go give me a quote on removing some branches that are overhanging the roof of our rental house in North Carolina. I actually already did do this about a month ago. I called three companies... no one ever called back with a quote. So, this time I got a recommendation from a friend of a friend and I think these guys will actually show up... let's hope... in the mean time I'm knocking on wood that branches don't crash down on our roof in a storm... because that would totally be something that would happen to that house!

I also returned two Netflix movies that we have had out for almost two months. The only problem? I forgot to update our cue, so two new movies we didn't really want are headed our way. I'll have to get a quick turn around on those so that we can get the ones we really want in.

I also finally framed a 12x12 picture of Andy and me from his six month photo shoot.... yes... as in a YEAR AND A HALF ago. It turns out that 12x12 frames (or frames matted to 12x12) are hard to come by. Couldn't find any at the big box retailers... not going to pay for custom framing... looked at ordering online but didn't want to pay the high price plus shipping... Enter a very ill advised stop at Ikea on our way back from camping last weekend... You know when you know a decision is a really bad idea, but you do it anyway? Like when your kid hasn't napped in three days, has spent some part of three days in a row strapped in the car seat of his car and is SUPER over tired and has TONS of pent up energy... and it's a rainy Saturday... and it's IKEA... but you think, Sure! Let's stop! He'll be FINE for like 45 minutes in a cart! Ummmmm.... try ZERO minutes! So, we tried opening a package of $2 stacking cups for him to play with, he wanted no part of it. After 10 minutes, we realized that yes, we were those parents, and cut our losses. Matt took Andy to the back of the building to run around in the empty parking lot in the rain while I walked approximately 2 miles through the ENTIRE store to get to the check out line to pay for the stupid $2 stacking cups... when something stopped me in my tracks!

Ah ha!!!!!!!!!!! All is not lost after all!!!!! A frame. Matted to 12x12. For only $19!!!!! Whoo hoo! Who cares that it's black/brown and not black! Not me! Yaye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But seriously, with the black and white photo, the frame really looked brown... so, no biggie, I spray painted it black... and... viola!

Now my biggest issue with this picture is deciding where to hang it! Hmmmmm..... And LAST... but not LEAST... uggghhhh this month felt like it would never ever end... I made a chore chart. I think we'll eventually upgrade to a bigger dry erase board, but we already had this one... who knows for what... but we did. So, I used it.




Chores are on the left separated by day and by "C" and "M" (for Colleen and Matt) and then basic stuff is plugged in on the calendar to the right. We'll see if we can make any sort of effort to stick to it. If we do it 70% of the time, that would still be an improvement over how often things get done now, so I like our odds.

Goodbye July! Welcome August! Month of my future sister in-law's shower AND bachelorette party weekend... my FIVE YEAR wedding anniversary... and my not-a-baby-anymore's TWO year birthday! It will be a good month... I can feel it. If I could only get organized!

Planning Sessions

This past month I tried out something new. Every week, on either Sunday or Monday, I spent some time planning my week. I clipped coupons, planned grocery lists and meals and thought about errands that needed to be run. I felt a little more centered and a little more organized doing this. I think that I'm going to try and make it a habit.

I had felt pretty scatter brained by not planning out my weeks. I felt like I was running errands almost every day (I still do feel this way... although I'm improving). Errands that could definitely be combined with just the smallest amount of planning. I know I'm wasting gas, and wasting time. The other issue that this causes is that I'm dragging Andy with me to run errands. He usually does fine, but what two year old wants to spend 3-4 mornings a week running errands? It was just so easy when he was a baby to take him with me while he napped in his infant car seat. I guess that two years later I just haven't gotten out of that habit.

Well, I'm working on it now. Better late than never I guess... right? One of the other problems I seem to have is thinking of things to do with him during the day. It was a little easier in the spring, because we just played outside a lot, but now... it's SOOOOOOOOOOO SO SO SO hot and humid out. He doesn't even want to be outside! So, a lot of the time, when I can't think of something to do, it's easier to think of an errand I need to run. Sigh. I know that's not really good, but I suspect I'm not the only person out there like this. So, I spent some time finding fun activities to do with a two year old online and I printed them all out. I'm going to put them in a binder and flip through it when I have my weekly planning sessions. As long as I am better planning my shopping and running errands, I need to start planning activities to do with Andy in the mornings.

I know it will get a little easier in the fall when the weather cools down, but since we aren't ready to send him to any kind of pre-school yet, I want to make sure I'm providing a good environment for learning AND having fun! :-)

How To Organize Earrings

I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time keeping my earrings organized. I have little square compartments in my jewelry box for earrings, but they are all taken up with the studs. Any long earrings seem to be ALL over the place! So, the other day, I worked on a little solution to this problem. Actually putting this together took all of 10 minutes... if that! It took me more time to collect the things I would need for this project!

First, I purchased this old picture at Goodwill for $1.80. I picked it because I liked the look of the frame and didn't feel like I had to alter it in any way.


Then I stopped at Lowe's and picked up a roll of window screen for around $4. When I got home, I took the glass and the picture and mat out of the frame. Then I cut a piece of screen to fit the back of the frame and I used a staple gun to secure it to the back. I hung it up in my closet above my jewelry box, and hung all of my earrings on it!

I love the way it turned out!!!! The rest of my jewelry was also a mess....

So, I straightened everything up and now it looks much nicer. I use two velor covered neck tie hangers that I found at Walmart to hang my necklaces from. It works out well for me.

Now, all that I have left to add is a small mirror on the adjacent wall so that I don't have to carry various necklaces and earrings into the bathroom to try on with an outfit. They usually get left in the bathroom and not put away, so it would be nice to be able to try things on right in my closet!

Getting Out Of A Slump

So, it's probably been pretty obvious by my lack of blogging lately that I've been in a little bit of a slump. I know I blogged a little bit about it during July, but honestly, I feel like I'm just now starting to come out of it. Going on a little one night camping trip to the mountains with Matt and Andy definitely helped. I'm hoping we can do that more often! I still can't really pin point what has been causing me to feel this way, so that makes me think that maybe it's just a whole bunch of different things. I kind of just took a mental break for most of the month of July. I stopped letting things stress me out and I stopped keeping up with things I normally take care of. I had absolutely no motivation. For anything. Well, now, the not keeping up with things is starting to stress me out. I'm feeling ready to get back to my normal pace. I probably won't get my August list up until Wednesday, but that's okay.

I've realized over the past month that I actually feel worse when I don't hold myself accountable for getting things done, and then that makes me feel less motivated, and then I feel worse... and it's just a vicious cycle. I've been starting to remember why I started this list in the first place. It's to make me feel LESS stressed by actually getting things done. Although it's been nice to lay on the couch with my husband at night watching back to back episodes of old shows on Netflix... I'm realizing that I can't do that every night! I think I'm starting to find a balance between getting things done on my list, and keeping up with the day to day... or at least I hope so!

Okay... SOOOOO... what have I accomplished during my little blogging hiatus? Well, let's see... (and PLEASE ignore the really terrible photos... I left my camera on vacation and had to take all of these with my cell phone!!! Uggggghhhhh!)

First of all, I got the hall closet finished up. Back in April, my husband created a little storage area under the stairs in our house. It's where I am keeping all of our Christmas containers. We haven't done anything to the closet since. It's a pretty deep closet, and the coat rack used to be at the back of the closet. We had to take it down when we put in the door to the storage area, but also, it just wasn't that practical. We decided to install a coat rod closer to the front of the closet instead. This puts our coats within reach, and still leaves storage space behind them. I'm using that space to store our vacuum and carpet cleaner.

I also put an old hanging shoe holder that I had previously thought was destined to go to Goodwill, on the inside of the closet door. This way we can keep our "everyday" shoes neatly organized instead of piled in a heap on the closet floor.

All in all, I'm much happier with this closet now!!!! Okay, project number 2... touch up painting Andy's room. Andy decided to nap one day with two painted wooden blocks from this shape sorting box that was my husband's when he was a toddler. I didn't think anything of it until I went to get him up from his nap and saw that he'd used the red and green blocks to "color" his wall!!!! And of course his room is still the flat paint that our whole house was painted, so.... I couldn't wipe it off.

It stayed like this for a few months.

Finally, yesterday I bought a mini roller and paint tray and took some of the wall paint and got the whole thing touched up... then I spent a good 30 minutes going around the rest of the house and touching up the walls that still have that beige flat paint. I am beginning to think that I should really do that every couple of months!

I also refinished two bedside table lamps that I have had for five years. They were perfectly nice looking brushed nickle lamps.... but I wanted them to be more of an oil rubbed bronze finish so that I could use them in our master bedroom.

Nothing that a can of spray paint won't fix!

I haven't decided yet what to do for lamp shades because I haven't found any bedding for our bedroom that 1) I like and 2) can afford... sigh... so that is on hold!

Also in our master bedroom we FINALLY installed a ceiling fan!!!!! This is also our overhead light... our ONLY light. Yes, we lived in our house for THIRTEEN MONTHS with no light in our master bedroom. So, finally, yesterday I splurged and bought the ceiling fan that I had my eye on at Lowe's. After some mild frustration, Matt got it installed! Hooray! And the best part??!! Tonight when I was back at Lowe's for some black spray paint, I noticed the SAME FAN was on clearance for $30 less! So I brought my receipt to customer service, and now have $38.30 (with tax) back in my wallet! Whoo hoo!

Over the course of the month I've been stock piling things to get rid of. Yesterday I removed thirty items from our house. Taking a cue from 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge, I decided that it would be pretty easy to get rid of thirty things. The following have left (or are leaving) my house:

Pair of curtains

Thermal lunch box

Package of underwear (the wrong size)

One pair of men's dress pants

Eleven men's t-shirts

Tea pot

Bathroom light fixture

Four glass canisters

Outdoor baby swing

Baby gate

Cardboard guitar box

One men's dress shirt

Five tools

Other than the tools (which are going to my brother) and the cardboard box (which is going in the trash), and one of the glass canisters (which I dropped and smashed on the front porch) everything went to Goodwill.

Okay, I'm almost done... on Tuesday night I started crocheting a baby blanket for my friend Heather. She's due with her second child, a little girl, in September. I'm DETERMINED to a) finish this and b) not screw it up. Even though I go to our weekly Stitch n' Bitch group, I'm not what you would call, good at crocheting! I tried to make a baby blanket once before, but it ended up looking like a trapezoid... no kidding. Then another time, we were making "friendship scarfs"... each person adds a section to everyones scarf in their own yarn and pattern.... well, I added my section in the wrong direction to my friend Amy's scarf. We decided it could be made into a pocket.... because seriously... how practical is a pocket on a scarf?? Right??!!

The only thing I've made successfully is a dish cloth. I've actually made three. So, my friend Megan, who is an uhhhhh-mazing knitter and crocheter is teaching me a pattern for a blanket that she swears I can do... we shall seeeeeee-eeeeee.....

And last, but not least (for this post anyway), I mailed the bridal shower invitations for my future sister-in-law's shower in (yikes!) THREE weeks!!! This was a challenge in and of itself because for the past three times that I've gone to the post office, my wonderful, sweet, loving, adorable child has pitched some kind of fit... for no apparent reason. THIS TIME, I was prepared! I'm totally not above bribing. I went to Walmart and bought a package of Goldfish (his favorite... but he hasn't had them in about a month) and I let him eat right out of the package (gasp!) while he was in the stroller. THEN... I gave him a juice box. Forget the sippy cup! Straight juice ... not watered down... out of a REAL straw!!!! That kept him quiet long enough for me to buy 3 books of stamps and stamp all the envelopes... and get the heck out of there!

Whew! Are you still reading? Probably not! This was ridiculously long! I promise to get better about posting! I am, after all, coming out of my slump!