Week #8

Where does the time go? You know that I spent the last week waist high in home and craft projects and now it is the eighth week of my wait. The courts are scheduled to open today so hopefully that means we are turning an important corner.


I hang my head because it also seems that as I turn eight I am also turning the corner heading towards that awkward stage. So, here are this weeks pictures. Robbin, I promise you will start feeling a lot better if I have to post a few more weeks.

But first here is a picture of my mother and father just because I thought it was a cool throwback picture. I don't know where my dad got that jacket but I think it is very dapper and the dress...

Well, finally Easter 1974 they gave "us us free." We were able to leave the house and pose in the front yard. I guess the sun is bright when you don't get out often. Michael is almost 17 with a J-5 and Bryan is 14. Oh yea, my mother made all three of our outfits so that is where I get the whole "Susie Homemaker thing."

Another thing I realized with this project is that every school picture (5x7 and 8x10) for my brothers from kindergarten to high school graduation are there. Uh...where are my pictures? I did find this one from third grade. I remember this was a deep purple and ORANGE ensemble.

This is me and another one of my cousins, I just had to show you the shiny shirt and crocheted vest. Today is she is a great mom of three teens and tweens.

Some People are Just A Little too Crafty

When one small project turns into ten, I fear that the somebody might just be me. For your enjoyment, comment, laughter, and sympathy... Can you say intervention?

For All My Hard Work

A recent conversation with my sweet other.

Him: Hey how was your day?

Me: Good but I'm exhausted. I painted the rooms today and everything hurts and I need a massage.

Him: You painted? That's interesting, I thought you were waiting for Luke. What kind of painting did you do that requires a massage?

Me: I am 5 feet tall painting 9 foot ceilings. That's a lot of work.

Him: Are you sure you're that tall? You know what the old folks would tell you to do.

Me: What's that find a new honey?

Him: No. Get in a tub of hot water and Epsom salt.

For Kristine and Kerri

I admit that I am a color virgin, not a colored virgin but putting color on my walls has always scared me . I painted a big family room when I moved into my house and the color came out pink instead of brown. I am creative and like pretty things so instead of painting my mid-floor bathroom, I hung a shower curtain up against the blank white wall. It's a nice illusion.

The kids room project was a big leap for me and now I am feeling a little more brave. Thanks for the encouragement.

The Room With a View

I finished the room all except hanging pictures on the walls. That will come a little later. I really like traditional Ethiopian art and I'm sure some of that will make it into the room.

Haze you were right, I feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment. My nails are a wreck and every muscle hurts but I look at it and still can't believe I did all this work.


I was so inspired by the early pictures of Gracie's room, Robbin's mom and the bamboo flooring, Celeste and her pretty two tone room, and Marcia who paints amazing freehand designs.

Take a look and let me know what you think. The colors look off in the pictures but the comforter and red trim are the same color the yellow is a warm gold yellow.

You may want to adjust the SOUND.



I am going to chose five pictures from this group (there are a lot to chose from) are going in the bathroom over the tub/shower.

Red Hot...Maybe Not!

One of you should have warned me about red paint.

You know I've been working on the kids room. It started off easy, I scoured the web for a cute unisex comforter set -- found. I looked for furniture -- found at a bargain, first order denied, second set finally arrived. I chose primary colors with a modern twist then to my surprise I couldn't find a simple dark red shower curtain. Terri tried to help me out even offered up one of her own. Thank you Terri. By that time I had decided that if I could find a nice print I'd make a shower curtain. How hard could that be? It wasn't hard at all. I found the pattern at IKEA and once I realized that I'd have some fabric left over I decided why not make curtains for the windows in the bedroom. Two valance later I had a few more scraps so why not go out buy some fabric, use the scraps and make a valance for the bathroom window too. I won't tell you how far I drove to get a few more yards of this trim I fell in love with.

I never set out to make a shower curtain or window treatments and I definitely never thought about painting. I don't even paint my nails, I go to the salon for that. Well, I called my friendly contract who always fits me in and he said it would take almost two weeks before he could paint. Uh...that just won't work. The furniture was due to arrive Monday morning at 10am. I sat around on Sunday and kept thinking to myself, "Self...I said, don't even think about it you don't know how to paint." I lay on the floor in the kids room looking at the white walls and remembered what my mother always said, "Nothing beats a failure but a try."

I went to Home Depot and met the AlD (for short) the female paint guru. OMG! I took samples of the fabric and knew what I wanted to match. She went on and on and on and on and...well you get it. She went on about paint and drying time. She questioned my color choices and why I was so insistent on painting. She impressed herself with her ability to use to the color match machine to match my color so perfectly. Then she said, "You know with RED paint you have to have a blocking primer." At this point I just wanted my paint but she had to show me the color chart about what happens when you put red paint on white walls, how you have to wait hours between coats. Whatever, I just got up the nerve to paint and she is now trying to rob me of my right to completely mess it up.

I did it! By the time I finished painting the room it was really late at night and I only hoped that it would look reasonably could in the sunlight. Well, I finished the yellow part of the room and bathroom before the furniture was delivered. Today I have to tackle the RED that requires a coat of stinky gray primer and two coats. Thank goodness it is only the trim.

Here is a picture. More to follow.

Week #7

Could it be I'm more than half-way there? Looks like I turn seven this week and this will go down in history as my all-time favorite childhood picture. I had just danced the Nutcracker Suite with my friend Julie standing next to me. Look at the picture closely you will see that I danced my socks off, my bow off, and my hat and sparkler off! That's me. The blue hair balls and lopsided ponytails are all my mother's doings.

Shirley Temple curls, what more is there to say about that? I'm looking a little knock-kneed too...later we found out my knee caps are tilted the wrong way.

Check Out Week# 6

Go West...Then Come Home

One of the great things about my work is the flexibility that I have. The second is the many places that I get see on somebody else's dime. Well, second is probably all of the different types of people that I meet and the challenge of communicating the same message in a multitude of ways. Third is the travel and the places that I get to see. When I think West, I think about my client groups in Monterrey, LA, or San Francisco.

But I can remember landing in Missoula, MT and having a real sense of, "Where am I and am I suppose to be here?" I had the same reaction in Medford, OR but not so much in Clackamas. That's nothing against those places I had amazing trips but I did feel like I was in an area of the country that just didn't feel like a natural fit. It's added pressure to know that hours after landing I will have to face room of 30-40 strangers in a strange (as in unfamiliar) place and hold their attention for two or three days.


This week I made another trek out west and took these pictures after landing in Salt Lake City, UT. It was my first trip to SLC, another good trip and I found a really good Indian restaurant.


Since my trip to Wichita, KS just got canceled I guess I will attempt to paint my children's bedroom. I am crafty but I'm no painter. I am overwhelmed by the thought of it but inspired by some of the work I've seen the other mom's do.

Chica Boom! Chica Boom, Boom, Boom!

Okay, so the Temptations movie was on when I got in from Salt Lake City. Love the movie and the music. My favorite scene is David Ruffin (Leon) in his apartment singing, "Ain't to Proud to Beg." Even though that would seem fitting, the DJ had no choice but to send out the Temptation classic, "Can't Get Next to You."

I can turn the grayest sky blue. I can make it rain whenever I want it to. Oh, I can build a castle from a single grain of sand. I can make a ship sail on dry land. But, my life is incomplete and I'm so blue because I can't get next to you.

Some Come Early Some Come Late

I got a surprise call this morning. It had nothing to do with my referral and a little to do with the kids. Their beds have come in from the manufacture and will be delivered next Monday. I wasn't expected them for another 3-4 weeks.

These are the second set of beds that I ordered. With the first beds I waited six weeks and then received a call that the beds were discontinued. That was just before the courts closed, so, maybe the early arrival of the beds is a signal of things to come. We can hope and pray -- right?


Here are the beds that I chose no one else seems to like them but then they don't have to sleep in them. I chose them for the high headboards 58 inches. I think it is a regal look -- princess in the pea and Tom Thumb on a throne.


I was able to get the other pieces at a furniture store that was going out of buisness. Those pieces came a few weeks ago. I can't wait to see it all together but now I have to try to paint before the beds get here.

Week #6

This is week #6 and I wish that I had something witty or clever to say. Let me think about it for a minute. Mmmmm....six is half of twelve and that's what I'm hoping for. That would mean that I'm halfway there. Here are the pictures for your enjoyment and amusement.

It seems the family has stopped hovering around the front door, so here is me at my sixth birthday party. My mother was very big on celebrations like ALL holidays and birthdays. The boys are my cousins and their sister Yolanda is across from me (Of course I am the one with my head tilted back to the sky. The little girl looking over her shoulder is still one of very best friends. Her sister has on the blue dress and our families lived across the street from each other for about 35 years.











This would be sitting on Santa's lap but I cut him out of the picture.

Oh. A couple of people have asked if I straighten my hair. In the pictures I think it looks fuzzy but it is just really just tons of hair to straighten it meant putting water on it and pulling a brush through it or braiding it. Back then my mother used no products (grease for a minute) so that was it. The trick I know today is that if you don't let it COMPLETELY dry you get big frizz. This was before the day of blow dryers but they do the same thing to my hair -- not straighten but frizz.


Here is me with my famous go-go boots. I had them in red, black, blue, and white! Uh...what time is it? It's time to get this court thing moving!

I've Been Making Stuff

I'm not ready for the big reveal but I've been busy in the kid's room making stuff! Well, I made two valances for the bedroom windows, one for the bathroom window and a shower curtain. I do intend to show them off but you know I have to put everything together first. That way I can show the before and after.

This is just a teaser.

Children are the Future - Oops!

Let me introduce you to one of America's future leaders (party affiliation aside). I'll add this with only these questions for parents who think there will be no issues.

• Who are his parents and what do they believe or what did they teach him?
  
• What community was he raised in that allowed him to feel comfortable in his boldness?
• Since he feels the issue is that it should not have been said in public does that mean it is still appropriate in private?
• When your child comes home from school and tells you this was said to him, what will you say?

The leader of a statewide group of college Republicans has been forced to resign after posting racially insensitive comments about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on the Internet. Adam LaDuca, 21, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans, wrote on his Facebook page in late July that Obama has "a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)"

LaDuca, who previously had called Martin Luther King Jr. a "pariah" and a "fraud," also wrote: "And man, if sayin' someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we're ALL in trouble."

LaDuca said Monday that he regrets posting the comments and understands how they can be construed as racist. "In hindsight, when you read it a second time, it's like, 'oops,'" he said. "It was just a dumb move on my part to make a statement like that public."

Week #5

Give me five on the black-hand side. I think that was the name of a movie. Anyway, it is the fifth week of waiting and you know what that means. It is picture time. Doing this little project I've discovered a few things. There are many more pictures of my brothers than there are of me. The other thing I've been wondering is if I ever sat still. I was at my fathers in Indianapolis last week and he has old pictures all along the walls. I asked him if I was really that happy as a kid and he said the pictures don't lie and it was hard keeping up with me.

Well here you go. December 1971 we got to stand on the other side of our living room. Not much new with the family. I remember getting those pants for Christmas and loving them. I had to put the hand on the hip for emphasis.

I was so in love with my oldest brother. I used to follow him around and imitate everything that he did. That might be why he's always looking so happy. We were at my aunt's house in Detroit -- we were ALL dressed alike. My mother was kind of into that. Who's that on the phone? It's the EMBASSY!

DJ Dedication: Get to Where You Are

Have you ever just started humming a song and had to catch yourself. This week I was humming a song and the only words I could think of were, "Get to where you are...I'll take a bus, plane, train, or car. All I know is that I must find a way to get to where you are." The kids are obviously on my mind and it was bugging me because I couldn't think of what the song was from. It finally clicked. It was a song from a very old CD by Rahsaan Patterson. Who...? Yea, exactly, I haven't heard the song in years. If you look at the words I guess it's obvious why this obscure song has been playing in my head.

I think it had to have been written for waiting parents so I made it the DJ pick of the week.

Baby, forgive me for making you wait so long. Believe that it's due to my lack of funds. I swear I'm going to find away to get out of here because I want to be where you are.

I got to get to where you are, 'cause I can't stand being apart from you. Just to think of your smile soothes my soul for awhile this is true. I've got to get to where you are, I'll take a bus, plane, train, or car. All I know is that I must find a way to get to where you are.

Oh what a feeling. Oh what a sweet surprise when I am finally starring into your eyes. Maybe tonight I'll hitch a ride and leave everything behind because I want to be where you are.