The things I have done, and the things I have left undone

So it's official: my last day of work until 11 August was on Friday so I'm on vacation, wooohoooo!

Last summer after my vacation started I was all about the home improvement projects, the crowning jewel of which was my bathroom ceiling's makeover. It was covered in that popcorn stuff, and was molded on the part above the shower, eeewwww :( All attempts at cleaning the mold had failed miserably, so my only choice was to re-do the whole thing. You can read more about the saga here http://tallulahhouse.blogspot.com/2007/07/ohhhh-pain.html and here http://tallulahhouse.blogspot.com/2007/07/bathroom-ceiling-project-finished.html , if you're so inclined.

So my plans for this summer (I began plotting them last fall) included adding crown molding-- painted a glossy black to complement the colour scheme-- to the bathroom; patching, sanding, and painting the kitchen ceiling; and painting our bedroom (sorry, sweetie, but I'm tired of the lavender).

Well... after Liam made his presence known (http://tallulahhouse.blogspot.com/2008/03/surprise.html), my plans obviously had to change, as being on ladders, etc, is not so much a good idea when one is seven months along.

So I've scaled back. Here's is my revised to-do list:

*Finish the nursery. I know, I know, it ought to have been finished quite a while back, but between converting it from my sitting room to packing up some of my things to make room for Liam's, the whole process has taken longer than expected.

*Re-organize the pantry. Honestly, it's out of control! Everytime I walk in there the clutter freaks me out and I run out again. However, it's just going to keep bothering me (and getting worse) until I fix it, so fix it I shall!

*Continue to de-clutter. This is an ongoing project. Funnily enough, I just finished Judith Levine's book Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (overall, I enjoyed it, although it did feel at times that the author was trying too hard to prove her left wing cred). Many times I found myself saying, "Yeah, that's absolutely true. Right on! I'm not shopping anymore!"
Of course, in the middle of the book, my friend Frances and I headed up to the Premium Outlets in Dawsonville and, well... Let's just put it this way: I got a lot of Christmas shopping done ;)

*Clean the hardwood floors. This is the iffiest of my projects, as I don't find it as easy to get up and down as I used to. Chris and I sweep and vacuum on a regular basis, of course, but as we all know the only way to properly clean a floor is on your hands and knees with a cloth and cleaner.

That's it. It's certainly not as ambitious as last year, but if I get them all done I'll be quite proud of myself.

What projects are YOU working on?
Kimberley

Who minds handwashing...

when the results are this pretty?





And of course you have to see a closeup ;)




Isn't it funny how, when you only buy stuff you love, it all works together? It wasn't until I was through washing these things and put them out on the towel to dry that I noticed how the jadeite cake stand and pink candle tied in nicely :)

This episode of handwashing was brought about by the fact that Chris and I had friends over on Saturday night for a belated July 4th cookout. It was a lot of fun. And when I write "a lot" I mean both in terms of the fun-ness of our friends and the fact that they were at Tallulah House for six and a half hours!

Yes, the guys were doing their Neanderthal thing around the grill (us women are still not sure what that entailed besides standing around and pointing at the various meats, but whatever), and it was almost 9:00 pm before we ate! When we finally sat down it was to a potluck meal of spiced potato wedges, roasted corn, baked beans, roasted Brussel sprouts, watermelon, and of course the meat. For dessert, I offered the option of strawberry shortcake (with blueberries to make it fit the 4th) or chocolate ice cream. After dinner we played Taboo, with teams of men vs. women. Of course we women triumphed ;)

Chris and I plan to extend the barbeques into the fall-- they're too fun not to, and having potlucks means that everyone gets all the fun without a lot of work.

I hope that you had a great weekend, whatever your plans were.
Kimberley

This made my day!

Many thanks to Sandy, over at Curly's Corner for giving me this lovely award :) Not only am I pleased to hear that my blog is fun to read (I do wonder sometimes, especially when I rant), but could the award banner be any cuter? I think not!

In the spirit of sharing, I'd like to pass this award on to the ladies of Tea With Mrs. Fox and The Philosophy of Lists. I enjoy both of their blogs so much, and think you will, too. Go check them out!

Kimberley

Proof positive that I have lost my mind

Here is a picture of Happy, my espresso maker:



Ok, so this isn't a picture of my ACTUAL espresso maker. I'm too lazy to go and drag out the camera, ok? Geez. It's the same model and company, but mine is a lovely, pale vintage shade of blue, which they don't appear to make anymore-- oh, and the price on this model has shot up about $200.00 since Chris bought me mine for my birthday/Christmas present!

Anyway, none of that is the point. The point is that just about every day in the summer, Happy and I concoct a favourite summertime beverage before I go to work: the iced latte, mmmmmm. The recipe is this:

*Two teaspoons of agave nectar
*One Starbucks decaffeinated espresso pod
*Enough ice cold, 1% organic milk to fill up my National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame travel mug (if you ever have a chance to visit this museum, then go, go, go! It is extremely well done, and a lot of fun).
*Ice

Add the agave nectar to the travel mug first. Then, make a cup of espresso and pour it into the travel mug. Add milk, and then ice cubes. Voila! Delicious summertime treaty goodness!

So. I make this practically everyday in the summer... every summer day for the PAST TWO YEARS.

Well, not so on Monday. Nay, gentle reader, not last Monday. Instead, here's what happened:

I made two cups of espresso and added them to my travel mug. Then I filled the milk frothing cup with water and heated it until it was boiling, and added it to the mug. THEN I started adding ice cubes to it, and wondered why they were melting. I also wondered why it tasted so bad...

I blame this and all other similar, spacey, inexplicable mistakes (such as putting in the completely wrong pin number THREE TIMES-- seriously it was something that my brain just completely made up on the spot) on Liam :)

Is there anyone out there who can reassure me that I'll get my mind back... eventually? Anyone?