I am an Army brat and I can do ANYTHING!

That has been my mantra for the day.  This morning I moved the deadbolt strike plate at the front door and now my door closes tightly up against the weather stripping.  No more drafts!  I am one happy woman.

I did have to get out the drill, power screwdriver, regular screwdriver, measuring tape and a pencil.  I love tools. Yesterday I cut dowel rods to use to bunk the twin beds in the guest room.  I used my power finish sander to just take a little off the rods as they were a little too snug in the holes.  To cut the rods I used a little hacksaw only because it was too small a job to bring out the jigsaw.

I covet other people's power tools.  It's a character flaw.  Don't hate me for it!

Staining wood

I am attempting to stain one of the pocket doors in my house.  It was an unfinished door that I have been trying to ignore.  I got out my power sander, sanded it thoroughly, wiped down the dust and started to stain.  There are several places where the stain is "taking" in a blotchy manor.  Some places are too light and some are too dark.  This is not the first time I have stained something so I do have some experience.  I just can't figure out what is going wrong.  I am going to let it dry for 24 hours and then hit it again just in the spots that are noticeably too light.  My fear is that the door may be poplar and it will never take the stain correctly.  If I try another coat and it still doesn't work, I am going to just paint the darn thing.  That will mean it will need sanding again and a coat of stain blocking primer BEFORE I can paint.  I am going to be really cranky if this door ends up having to be painted!

Found it!

I went shopping this weekend and found the fabric for my kitchen.  I wanted something with a "country French" feel to it.  Looky!

My kitchen is large enough for the dark print and I love this little chicken vignette.  I may need to go to a lighter shade of olive for the paint but with vaulted ceilings and so much light, I think this fabric is perfect.  Now, do I do a cafe' style or just use this fabric for the valence and keep off white ones on the bottom?  Maybe this on the valence, off white on the bottom with a band of this at the bottom of the curtain?  I haven't purchased the fabric yet and I need some help making this decision!

New profile photo

So - I updated my profile photo.  It was time to get real.  The other photo was 4 years old, taken in Hawaii and I was tan and very blonde.  My son was sitting across the table when he took the shot.  He is a pretty decent photographer and I love that photo.  Brian referred to it as "Mom's money shot".  (I am not exactly sure what that means!)  This one is me at 57, hair definitely graying and I now have squinchy lines around my eyes when I smile.  I thought I should post one before my face starts sliding down to my chest...

Mama was right!

You DO get what you paid for.  I bought two cans of white paint (one is flat and one is glossy but in this regard it doesn’t make a difference).  I paid a dollar for the can on the left and roughly $3 for the can on the right.  

I have been trying to paint a couple of small faux pumpkins to go in an arrangement for my dining room table.  I have painted them 4 times with the paint on the left which I will now refer to as “Crap Paint” (or CP) from WalMart.  I used the Krylon which was left over from another project to paint a larger craft pumpkin.  Two coats and it is perfect.  With the CP I can still see orange coming through.  I tried to put a coat of the Krylon over the CP but it bubbled up so I am guessing they are not compatible.  I have 3 cans of CP and I don’t know what to do with them.  I guess I can save them for freshening up my white wicker porch chairs next year. 

This is what happens when you try to take the “cheap” route.   Next time I will just pick up the Rustoleum which I already know I love and use that exclusively.  Live and learn.  (Why do I seem to learn EVERYTHING the hard way?!)

Life is good!

I am making a mushroom and onion quesadilla for supper, have a large glass of a very nice cabernet sauvignon in front of me and a new book to read.  Nothing in the house is broken.  I am one happy gal!

9/11 Remembered

I was living in Seattle. We were sleeping soundly when the phone rang. He jumped out of bed to answer the phone. He listened for a moment, had a very strange look on his face and then handed me the phone. "It's your mother." I said hello and my mother's first words were "It's bad out here. We are under attack. Turn on the television." I quickly hung up, grabbed a robe and headed downstairs. He had turned on the tv and was sitting in front of it with that same strange look he had when he talked to my mother. We watched, barely comprehending what we were seeing. It was surreal. It was confusing and frightening.


And then we saw the towers fall. The horror took my breath away.

We watched for hours and then he went to the Southcenter Mall as it was reported the Red Cross was there taking donations. Originally he was going to give blood but they said they didn't need that. They needed money. So we gave. And we prayed. It was all we could do.

I am remembering those today who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones. I continue to pray for our nation and our leaders.