It's a Girls' Weekend

A short post for this Saturday morning.  LOTS to do......four of my favorite girls are hanging out with us this weekend.  We have a full agenda and I have a minute to type this up while they are getting ready for shopping.

I ran to Fort Dodge after work and picked up Kiona and Marissa.  Thanks Jack (their dad) for meeting me there.  We then headed to Ankeny to see if we could beat Curtis as he was picking up Quinn and Hannah from Perry.  Alas, we didn't make it.

The night commenced with birthday cake, birthday brownies and ice cream.  SUGAR!!!!!  Then to burn off that energy there was Just Dance 2 and 3 and a bit of Karaoke.  Except the only video I got was Curtis singing.....with a weird reverb!

But as every one was getting used to each other, we started to have fun.  Of course Kiona didn't want her picture taken.

And Marissa was trying to figure it all out.  

Anticipate a great rest of the weekend of shopping, craft projects and all around WOO HOO times!

Stay tuned.

Mindfulness

When I say mindfulness I think that most people will have at least a little bit of thought about what I am talking about.  Some people refer to it as "being intentional" or "spiritually focused" or just "paying attention".


When we are not mindful, we can become physically sick, use terrible coping skills, and it can take a tremendous toll on our bodies, our spirits and our relationships.


I was fortunate enough to go to a Women In America speaker series at Simpson College last night.  The speaker was Cheri Maples.  Cheri is a former police officer who has her law degree and a master's in social work.  That was impressive enough to  me, but she also has traveled around the world teaching, learning and sharing the "mindfulness" philosophy.  Her spiritual and mindfulness awakening happened when she decided to attend a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh.  I encourage you to click on the link and check out his teachings.  I will be getting a couple of his books and slowly start my mindfulness journey.  


Her thoughts and wisdom last night were perfect timing for the place my heart is right now.  It seemed I couldn't write down fast enough what she was saying.  My pen was smoking it was moving so fast.  But more importantly she was speaking to my heart.  As she puts it, my "numb heart" or the "numbing of my heart".  


I consider myself an activist.  I care about the things that happen to people.  The things that happen in spite of the good work that people do to try to prevent them.  But what do we do when our "hearts quiver for social injustice"?  It is really hard NOT to have vicarious sorrow for the suffering.  Her take on that activism was very necessary for me to hear.  Hardheartedness (or is it numb-heartedness) is a symptom of vicarious trauma.  I some times refer to it as being "jaded".  But as she explained trauma takes its toll - physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually.    


When we are not practicing mindfulness we are:

• addicted to overworking
• living in fast-forward
• on a biological roller coaster
• use dysfunctional coping mechanism that sap the ENERGY OF THE HEART

Check, Check, Check and CHECK!!!!!
The CRAP in your life is the COMPOST of your enlightenment.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that!!!!!!


So the journey begins to practice Mindfulness.  Beginning with "relationship is the litmus test of spirituality".  That if we don't nurture our relationships mindfully, then the rest of our spirit is out of balance.  


So with that:

• I will develop the art of pausing and refraining - thru meditation
• I will notice all the ways I perpetuate violence in myself - doing away with negative self talk
• I will learn to let go - began that process regarding expectations and changing my worry and control patterns all ready.

Her quote that stuck with me regarding how we talk to each other in all of our relationships:  "It is the most important peace work we do.  When I hold on to my opinions with aggression, I contribute to violent energy on the planet."  I KNOW!!!   RIGHT????


So the very most important last thing is SEED WATERING.  What seeds do I water in my self and others.  Are my actions watering........

• the seeds of kindness?
• the seeds of doubt?
• the seeds of trust?
• the seeds of blame?
• the seeds of_________?

Watering seeds is about energy flow.  She said - "the energy of the present makes a difference regarding the energy of the past.


So LIFE is LIFE -- it is joyful and challenging; bitter and sweet.  There is nothing to achieve (cause we will never get there) it is just a consistency in our lives.  We have to get away from the discontent of what simply IS!  We offer life signatures that have ripple effects daily.


My goal (and I don't promise that I will achieve it every day, but I will try) is to be MINDFUL.  I will slow down and find JOY.  I will water SEEDS of kindness, trust and joy.


What are you going to do?


Resources she listed:
Real Happiness by Sharon Salzberg


Books and CDs by Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh


Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Services by Thich Nhat Hanh

Back to Saturday Morning Coffee Pondering....

Happy Coffee Drinking Friends!

I have a school work weekend planned.  Curtis starts his dance season and has a few more dances to do in Northwest Iowa.  He is slowly making the transition to Central Iowa but there will be a few trips back.  If any of you know any one getting married, having a big anniversary party or just want to have fun, don't forget to get in touch with him.  Or better yet, check out the website at www.musicmaniowa.com.  He has  assembled a pretty rocking team of DJs that cover NW Iowa, Central Iowa and parts of Eastern Iowa.

The most exciting news EVER happened this week.  April 28, I will have been in central Iowa for one year.  It has FLOWN faster than I would have even thought.

This week my bestie, sista girl in the whole wide world, Keetah, got a job in Central Iowa.  She and her family will be moving closer!

My heart is a flutter.  She will begin her job almost exactly one year after I started mine.  I know the stress of a FAMILY move, but they will work through it, their house will sell FAST, and all will be well in the world.  I can't wait for the kids to be closer, to see them more often and hang out and the most important part -- watch them grow into the most amazing people!

Another girlfriend visit happens tomorrow.  I get to see Joanie Nelson!  She and Wade are going to meet us in Audubon to PLAN OUR IRELAND TRIP!   YEP, we are pulling the trigger and going to Ireland with them this late fall, early winter.  So the itinerary and details will be organized tomorrow.  So very exciting!

 On another front, it has been unseasonably warm this week.  Curtis had to mow last night and it is still March.  Because we are now in a different planting zone, I feel like it is always like this, but people are telling me no that we usually still have snow on the ground.  We had about an entire week of moisture and unfortunately could still use some more I think.  Note the brown patches in our yard still.  But I have put my houseplants outside risking overnight chances of freezing.  And they are loving the sun.





The trees are budding or flowering, daffodils are up and blooming and the folks in Pella are worried that the tulips will be bloomed way ahead of the Pella Tulip Festival coming up.  Mother Nature decided to get an early start.  I am no way complaining, I love the bird songs in the morning, the sun comes up earlier and earlier and it has moved way to the North and not directly shining in my patio door any more in the mornings.

I am so excited to have this tree off to the side of our driveway.  It is beautiful right now.  And I am getting the itch to put my fingers in some dirt.  Been walking through garden centers doing some planning.  Gotta be a little bit patient I think.

All the outside pictures were taken by my husband.  He took my phone and snapped a few when I said "I don't have any pictures for my blog this week".  THANK YOU Curtie!

Well, I am off to see The Hunger Games this morning.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the books so can't wait to see the movie.  Mixed reviews by viewers who went late Thursday night or yesterday.  I am going this morning at 10:00 am.  I am hoping that it will just be me and a couple other people since that is way to early for teenagers and their disruptive and rude movie going ways.  But that is a topic for another blog.  So watch for a "What I am Watching, What I am Reading, and What I am Listening To" blog later today.  Have some new music that I am kind of obsessed with.......

Til next week when I will have 4 young ladies (12 and under) here for a girls' weekend.  Have great plans for shopping, and getting our nails done, and sugar overload.  Check back!

Til then, Bailey and Curtis were entertaining me at Old Chicago last night and I apparently embarrassed her in front of our favorite server last night.  Sorry Bailey -- mom is awkward.......how come you don't know that by now?

Speaking of awkward....

Today is about transformation

This post won't be about some magical spiritual transformation, it is about a couple rooms.  I worked on them Saturday and part of this morning.  If I planned it properly, you will all see the "before", "during" and "after" pictures.

Woke up with a sinus headache Saturday morning.  Is good to know that even with the early Spring/Summer I still am not able to sleep with windows open.  ALL CLOGGED UP!  So as soon as I got that moving from my head, I got started on my project.

Painting a room is not one of my favorite projects and this won't be an exception.  However, I LOVE the finished project usually, so here we go.

We are starting with the spare/guest bedroom.  The previous owner had this room as a little girls room.  I love the periwinkle color and there were some "fairy princess" curtains in here.  (I am giving them to my favorite girl ROO - they look like her).  But I think it needs to be lighter.  So going with a grayish-green.  

As you can see it is currently a Purplish Periwinkle color.  Too dark for this small room.  So I picked a greenish gray color.

It seemed to be covering very well.

Then I started to put on the final color and OOPS!  WRONG color!  It was very baby blue (Forgot to take a picture because I was in a panic).  So off to Menards to try again.  This is not a color that I would normally pick anywhere so I was worried that I was going to have an ENTIRE gallon of paint.  I suppose I could use it as a shower gift for someone, but that might not be appropriate gift giving.

The paint tech at Menards gave me the gray that I wanted, told me to bring the wrong one back and they would refund even if I made the mistake.  Yeah!

I had hoped to get a little green in that gray, but I think I like the plain gray better.

So Bailey and I kicked it out and did two more coats and finished up with that room about 9:30.  Been painting for 12 and half hours.  Ibuprofen and a hot shower please!

Here is the finished room.

I am borrowing these lamps.  Now I think I know what I want so a trip to Gordman's is in my future.

Inspired by this print that I won at a church auction many years ago. Now to find some curtains and a few other colorful items for the room.  We are set! 

My next project was a BIG one.  We have a very large family room in the basement.  It is currently "painter primer white".  It is a dark room because there are only a couple small windows in there.  We picked a taupe/beige color and as you can see this room is BIG!  Lots of corners and crooks and crannies and a small bathroom off the side.

We started adding this color called Prairie Dust.  I am very pleased!!!  It warms up this room so much.  Makes it feel less stark. It is still a bit echoey but that is only going to get better when I get items on the walls.

We quickly discover that we think we will only have to apply one coat and maybe do some touch ups.  So I bought too much paint.  BUT.....love this color so we will be using it again in another room somewhere later -- maybe the hallway as well.  But I was not ready to tackle that this week.

Finished bathroom

Zoe finally glad to have HER couch back

Still have that DAMN pole in the middle of the room -- I am thinking a person that knows wood craft *cough* EUGENE *cough* is going to be able to make me a box for that thing.

Still don't have the TV back together but that is on Curtis' list when he gets back from Spencer.

I don't have the wall hangings for this room yet.  We are going to order reprints of pieces that were done for the lobby of SCT by Chad Elliott.  I also am looking for a sofa table to put behind the couch that will have a lamp on it.  So still a work in progress but the BIG stuff is done.  The theme for this room is THEATER.  Those great pieces plus some memorabilia from our days at SCT will complete this room.

Tired, sore, and hands are a mess from this weekend.  A good kind of tired, but I just want to NAP.  But after I take 800 mg Ibuprofen.  But I want to thank Kristin McHugh and Bailey Dean.  I could not have finished this project without their help!  THANK YOU SO MUCH and I owe you!  Kristin call me when you are ready to paint modeling.  I will be there.

Yeah - Sunday afternoon -- REST - that is your purpose today!

Expecting certain things.....

Expectations.  We all have them.  We have them when we purchase something.  We have them when we get to work each day.  We have them in our families and friends.

But what happens when expectations are different for each person in those relationships?  For example, if you have an expectation of behavior from your child and that behavior is completely different than you think it will be.  Conflict ensues!

My biggest disappointments are not in the fact that the people I have relationships with have different expectations.  It is that I have set expectations that are unrealistic.  If I think that a person should act a certain way or do a certain task, why is that their expectation as well.  It has been a hard thing to wrap my brain around.  I usually just get pissed off and away we go with a fight.  But after processing this last event, it isn't fair that I put those expectations on other people.  I can only put expectations on myself.

I can only speak from a point of my experience and my feelings surrounding those experiences.  What I think is communicated and expected (expectations?), is not the same thing that is in my brain.  It is frustrating beyond belief.  And it has led to many, many a foul mood.  SO I can choose to continue down the path of frustration or I can try a different path.  I choose a different path.

Not so fun Sunday - feeling OLD today

As I sit here, working on learning the ins and outs of my computer.  I am learning a ton.  In spite of that I feel OLD today.

It could be because of the whole "losing an hour of sleep" thing.  Even when I get to "gain an hour" I always feel like I am catching up for two or three weeks after.  I know that we will enjoy the extended evening sunshine and that eventually it won't be dark in the morning; but it always wrecks my schedule and I have to adjust.

Or it could be because I have to have an "old people" test tomorrow.  That's what I call it even though I know many people my age and younger have had it done, it just feels like an "old people" test.  "What the heck are you having done Rhonda?" you might be saying.

Well, I am gearing up to start my prep for my colonoscopy tomorrow.  Yep, that's right.  It is true.  Gotta have that screening procedure that at some point we all must do.  I am really not old enough to have the regular screening but having some issues, so doc thought it was a great idea.  It isn't my first rodeo with the prep and the process, but none the less I still dread the day before and then the evening prep.  There has to be a better way with our modern technology for this to proceed.  I have been googling "making the prep easier" and there are really no better suggestions other than bear down (no pun intended) and get it done.

So many people don't want to have to deal with the prep so they don't get the procedure done when they are supposed to.  I don't understand that.  I hear the same thing about the mammogram screening.  It can be unpleasant but on a continuum versus breast cancer - I will take a FLAT BOOB any day.

The colonoscopy screening tool is the best way to detect colorectal cancer.  And once it is over it really isn't that bad.  As I tell many people, the drugs they give you during the procedure are my favorite.  I go to sleep, wake up a bit later and it is all over.  I have a BRILLIANT idea -- maybe they should have those drugs available for the prep?  No...wait....not a good idea......visions of unpleasant messes in my head now.  Sorry for that visual everyone.

But leaving for Downtown Des Moines tomorrow at the John Stoddard Cancer Center.  Wish me luck everyone and keep fingers crossed that all is well.  Maybe I will share my pictures on my Saturday morning blog - won't that be exciting?

Don't forget to get your own screenings done - a colonoscopy (if you are in the age bracket), a mammogram, and of course your annual pap smear as well.  Don't put it off.  Maybe I will just take a nap today.  Isn't that what old people do???

Saturday night......sitting trying to figure things out

Well I missed my normal blog time this morning.  Curtis and I were in Iowa City after a concert night with The Fez and our friends Kristin and Eugene Johnston.  So here I am at 930 on Saturday night, writing this post.  Don't forget to Spring Forward with your clocks tonight.  I have set mine, let's see if the phone will do it by its self.

First off, I had a BIG surprise this week.  Curtis and I have been talking about me getting my own laptop so I don't have to steal one of his business laptops to do my school work.  But I hadn't really looked at any thing seriously because it has worked so far for me to use his.  But dance season is starting and he will have them out of the house every weekend so I really needed to get serious about this.  I LOVE my iPhone and I LOVE my iPad so I have been saying that I want to go all in and get an Apple computer.  I have looked at the MacBook at the Apple store and love it, but didn't think I could justify the expense.  Well, my resourceful hubby (Mr. Tech even though we had a struggle with that today) found a refurbished one on line for less than what we would likely have purchased a PC laptop.  SO.....I GOT A MACBOOK AIR.  I forgot how different the operating system was than a PC and it is taking me a bit to get used to it.  A friend suggested I get the book MacBook Air for Dummies and get to reading, but so far I am stumbling my way through it.  All that is important to me right now is word (got that loaded), Skype (got that going), Facebook (that was easy), and my blog (and here we are).  So this is the first post with the Mac.  YEAH!  And THANK YOU Mr. Tech (aka - HUBBY) for getting me this amazing present.  You are awesome.

This week was amazingly beautiful weather wise.  I saw many big fat Robins and the grass by our deck I swear is turning green.  We had a our first 70 degree day this week and I, as you can see, attempted to take a picture of the thermometer in the van on Wednesday,  Not something I would recommend doing when traveling 70 on the interstate on the way home.  As you can tell, my photographer skills are not good this way.   But keep that weather coming.

Last night we ventured to Iowa City after work with our friends Kristin and Eugene.  Thanks to Eugene for chauffeuring us in his brand new car.  It is a beautiful ride and I could get in a lot of trouble with law enforcement with that nice little Benzie.  That's why God makes me drive a little Cobalt I think.

Any way ... The Fez is the band that our friend Saul Lubaroff plays saxophone in.  They are a Steely Dan tribute band and Mr. Lubaroff has assembled the most talented musicians and vocalists I have ever seen.  They are amazing.  I was impressed when we saw them at People's Court here in Des Moines and I am even more impressed last night.  They are a 16 member band and each person has such talent.  I can't even begin to tell you.  Check out Fez Facebook Page at that link.

You can also go to YouTube and do a search for The Fez Iowa City and you can watch a couple of their songs.  I tried to upload some video that I took, but NO LUCK -- still learning remember?

After the concert we needed to find some food.  The band started at 8:00 and didn't finish until 10:45.  We didn't have time between checking in to our hotel and getting to the show to eat....so we hoped to find someplace open.  Lucky for us the kitchen at Bo James closed at 11:00 -- we just made it under the wire for Burger Baskets at 11:00 at night.  They were good, but I don't like to eat that late.  So....was preparing for a few weird dreams with cooked cow in my stomach.  By that time we old folks were getting tired.  You couldn't tell it by the "posing" boys, but we were.



After our late night meal, we headed back to the Sheraton (MOST COMFORTABLE BED EVER!! - Seriously IT WAS) and about 5:30 am this morning, the alarm in the hall way starts going off.  We are not sure if it is a fire or what, but the "recorded" voice is calmly telling us their is a "guest safety alert" and that we need to vacate immediately.  It is in the hallway so it is muffled and confusing.  Curtis was getting ready to get dressed in street clothes and make me leave the comfort of our room.  I was hesitant as you might guess.  So then, another "recorded" voice comes on.  This time in a speaker in our room.  It tells us that there is a "guest safety alert" and to stand by for further instructions (or something to that affect).  Thank God we didn't have to leave our rooms.  This repeated about three or four times and then yet another "recorded" voice tells us that it is "all clear" and that we should "resume our previous activities".  This made me giggle a bit before I fell back to sleep.  Hopefully most every one's previous activities at 5:30 in the morning were sleeping, but it is a hotel and it is Iowa City.   So who knows?

After we woke up (again) it was time to pack up and head back to Ankeny.  But not before we stopped at the Blue Bird Diner.   This place has now become a landmark on Market street in Iowa City and it was well worth the 20ish minute wait.  It is a very small hole in the wall type place with many great reviews on FourSquare and Yelp raving about the food.  I ordered the Huevos Rancheros.  And what sold me was the Polenta base and smothered in Green Verde sauce with Smoked Pork all on the top.  It was so very yummy!  This picture will not convince you of that, but trust me.  YUMMOOOO!!!!!  I will be eating there AGAIN.

So back to Ankeny.  Home by 1:00 pm.  Was an eventful weekend so far, but not over yet.  As soon as we dumped our stuff, we loaded up the van to head back to Des Moines for some errands and things that we needed (groceries, etc).  Our first stop was going to be Home Makers Furniture.  I needed to order the table that was going to go in the entry way.  Last time I checked it was on back order until end of April, so wanted to get a deposit down so I could get one of the first ones when it came in.  I walk to it and there is a CLEARANCE tag on the silly thing - about 40% off.  The clerk looks it up in their trusty computer and what do you know:  They are not going to get it any more.  It is discontinued.  I can have the floor model for that clearance price.  So....I snatched it up.  Needs a bit of scratch repair, but I can do that with some Old English Furniture Polish.  So they wrapped it up and I took it home.  Now garage sales this Spring for some colorful vases, bowls, and other assorted decor for this room.

Our next project was trying to get a television signal from an antenna to the "new" spot for the television in the family room.  Went to Lowes to pick up an exterior antenna and the supplies needed to get it going.    Got all that, headed to CostCo (BUSY AS HECK TODAY) and back home.  Started working on the antenna project.  BIG FAIL!  It works when we have the TV connected to it directly, but when we try to run the signal through the existing coax cable NADA.  Was very frustrating for my techie hubby.  We will try again tomorrow with maybe a different plan.  We will have to see.  I can't imagine what the neighbors were saying when I had the small flat screen TV sitting on the A/C unit flipping through channels while Curtis is not he ladder trying to adjust the antenna.  I am sure we are topic of conversation.  They are probably saying things like -- Why don't they just get a dish????  Great question!

All in all a great week and weekend so far:  Live Music, an early morning confusion at the hotel, an amazing breakfast, and GREAT FRIENDS!

Have a great week all and stay tuned.  PAINTING NEXT WEEKEND!

Home decorating Phase 1

This has been a great weekend!  I am not very good at decorating my house.  I kind of have an idea what I want to do, but it is always hard to explain and I never want to take the chance on how it will look if I proceed.  That is why I had GREAT help this weekend.  We began the day eating (of course) and discussing the itinerary.  I them gave Julie a tour of the house and some ideas that I had plus discussed a color change for the basement.  Also pulled out some old pictures and art work that I have accumulated and was sitting in boxes in the storage area of the basement.


We then ventured off to a little consignment decor store here in Ankeny called "The Attic".  Kara and I had gone in there a couple weeks ago just to check it out and honestly, I thought it was a bit expensive.  It is a pretty sprawling space that is very organized and decorated nicely.  Julie my GO-TO for COLOR person spotted this striped piece of art.  The inspiration is a painting that I received from the crew that started Love Takes Root - a non-profit from Spencer that is working in Haiti right now to start a new orphanage for about 60 kids.  This is a beautiful painting (you will see it later) and the colors are vibrant.  The picture below pops many colors and this will allow me to change vases, pillows (note the pillow colors we got), etc out as I get bored with them.

Living Room wall BEFORE

Living Room wall AFTER

The next place we went was Homemakers.  This is the most fantabulous furniture store in the LAND!  That isn't their slogan, but maybe I should suggest that.  Hmmm.........

Julie and Dawn had not been there before.  After the first half hour of being overwhelmed regarding the sheer quantity of items there, we buckled down and began our quest for decor and a small console table to put inside the front door and any other items that would work in various parts of the house.

I have a wine theme in the kitchen.  This theme is not overwhelming and the main focus is rich colors like rusts and greens and browns.  As we are going throughout the store, I find a very large print for a very small price that I (okay Julie and Dawn) knew would look great on the opposite wall of the dining area in the kitchen.  And it does.

Dining Room Wall AFTER

Dining Room Wall BEFORE

Also for the kitchen, we found these wine trays.  They were a little weird not because they were in the clearance room - I LOVE clearance - but because they were on these very strange legs and weren't very sturdy.  Julie had the idea to take the legs off and use them as wall hangings.  She is so smart!  We did and this is what they look like.  

Kitchen above cabinets BEFORE

Kitchen above cabinets AFTER

Note the wine bottles are the start of a collection so that I can put lights in them.  This project I think I can complete.  Yep - me crafty - I am trying.  I am going to add some grape vine and hanging grapes between the bottles to hide the cords.  What a great way to recycle icicle lights and they create a bit of ambiance to the kitchen.  Check back periodically for those, but here is what they look like so far.  And if I don't get them done, Dawn said she would come back and help me "finish" the project.  We both know it is an excuse to drink wine because we need a LOT more bottles.

The last project in the kitchen/dining room was a craft project inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.  This is a work in progress project as well, but I am trying to find a couple corner shelves that are big enough for a hurricane lamp and my wine cork barrel.  That was a task yesterday that didn't get completed so I am still on the look out.  But Dawn took care of organizing and creating this little baby and I LOVE it!  She even brought a garbage bag full of corks so we could do it.  We didn't need an entire garbage bag, but it is impressive to see none the less.

And as you can see we were contributing to the project by drinking wine as we (okay she) was working on it.



After Homemakers, we headed to Kirklands.  If you have never been there I suggest it because Kirklands is like Gordmans without the clothes.  Many decor items that are inexpensive.  I liked it a lot.  We found some accessory things there along with a very cool print for the bathroom downstairs.  I won't be putting that up yet, as Curtis and I need to paint the walls down there and do some re-arranging of furniture.  There will be BEFORE and AFTER as that project progresses.

Kirklands had some prints for our bathrooms too.  They are small and not a big deal as I just needed a couple things in there.  But the bathrooms are now DONE!

From Kirklands, we fought the crowd at Trader Joes for some flowers and wine and hummus.  Busy, busy place but every body was happy to get a few items and bounce off the shoulders of the rest of the crazy shoppers there.






Bailey decided we all needed to go into T.J. Maxx.  And good thing we did.  We found some panels for the living room that were really inexpensive and a couple pillows.  Now I have a hard time buying accent pillows.  So Julie had an intervention with me.  Julie's words of wisdom:  "Pillows and curtains are like the jewelry for your outfit."  She is correct, but I don't wear much jewelry so not sure that analogy was a good one.  We were looking for green and blue and think we came up with pretty great pillow accessories.





Julie is very detailed when she is on a decorating mission.  She decided that the panels would be better if the hem was out.  So she and Bailey worked to get them done and Bailey will come back with gray thread and take care of finishing them off.

The last piece of this puzzle today was putting together the painting that I "found" in my items that were in the closet.  The centerpiece of this room.  Like I said I have been looking for a table for this room to go by the door for months.  No luck!  Things are either too expensive or don't really match.  Curtis and I had looked at this piece of furniture at Homemakers a few months ago, but didn't pull the trigger on it.  So the decorating team was in the store on Saturday and out of the acres and acres of items in that store, the crew is drawn to the same table.  I was a little astonished that they picked it because we had looked at it once before and didn't buy it.  And of course it is on back order until the end of April, but I think we may have found the item for the space.

The painting from Haiti will go above the table and I will add colorful bowls, vases, etc.

Entry way BEFORE phase 1

Entry way AFTER phase 1

Keep in mind this painting has only been on the wall for less than 24 hours but every time I walk by it or glance that way, my heart skips a little beat.  It is beautiful.  I am so glad that I opened that storage room door in the basement and pulled this rolled up piece of art out of the closet.  It is so very inspirational and the memories that go with it are forever in my brain.

Thank you my dear friends Dawn and Julie.  They helped tremendously and I owe them such gratitude.

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help."  Epicurus 

Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings......

Good morning.  Lift your cup of warm liquid this morning for a cheer.  To friends, life and health!  HUZZAH!

Not sure why I needed to do that this morning, it just felt like a cheers kind of moment.

So I woke up this morning, without my alarm (?) and the first thought in my head was my friends Joy Williams and John Paul White from The Civil Wars singing Barton Hollow in my head.  Yeah....I said it......I think of them as friends.  I am not sure that it is a reciprocated friendship however my fingers are crossed.  Okay.....at this point, I just want them to come to the Midwest somewhere........I am once again groupie obsessed with a band and I MUST SEE THEM!!!!

Any way, they were in my head and I had to get up, put breakfast in the oven and listen to their CD again.  If you don't know who I am talking about (and if you read my blog regularly - and I know you do - you are as obsessed as I am) check them out at their website.

I always start these posts out with "how busy I am", "lots going on", "school", blah, blah......decided I am not doing that this morning.  It has been a great week.  Emotional but GREAT!

For the last few months, I have been chairing the organization of our staff retreat.  Each year, the staff of 25 try to do some sort of retreat, bonding, and/or in-service to refresh and rejuvenate.  We had a great day planned of games, prizes, team spirit.  It worked out well and I think every body enjoyed their participation.  Congrats ORANGE team on their win.







Our organizational team was the Pink Party Planners.  We all dressed in costume.  Thanks "Bacon" and "Hugger" for all your support!






This weekend have friends in town to help me finally tackle the decorating portion.  We went to the Japanese Steakhouse and sat at the Hibachi.  This was the first time for some eating sushi.  Was really good and a ton of fun.  Once again I am struggling with picture technology.  So here are pictures from the restaurant last night, but they are all upside down.

Eric being brave with chopsticks and sushi

WHY CAN'T I FIGURE THIS OUT??????

Curtis, Julie and Amanda watching chef

SHRIMP!!!!!!!

Okay -- EGG BAKE is done, coffee is warm, Dawn is awake and I am awaiting Julie.  Begin the shopping day!!!!!

I will have pictures next week of our shopping and decorating adventures.

Have a great week all and see you soon!