I've Been Busy

I have completed quite a few projects in the last week or so.  (Granted, I had some help...)

As soon as I finish getting some "before"s together, I'll take some "after"s and show ya'll what all I've done!

Also, have I sent ya'll to this hilarious blog yet?  Because, really, Eli makes me laugh.  A lot. 

Today, I (almost) finished my cabinet project (teasers below, R still has to make the drawer handle fit and one of us has got to put the hinges on), continued with my plate project (to be revealed in the "after"s), cleaned the kitchen (which is, of course, dirty again, just makes me mad), did a load of laundry, wasted a lot of time, listened to lots of Christmas music on Pandora, and got ready for the trip to the Big City.

Yup, it's that time again.  Once a month I make a pilgrimage to the Big City to stock up for the month since here in Podunk, West Texas we have limited shopping opportunities.  I can't go alone on this excursion because it's just too much.  (OK, I could, but I don't want to.) So last week, when R said he didn't think he'd be able to go, I asked my new friend C if she wanted to go.  She said she wanted to, but she was having her wisdom teeth out on Wednesday so she didn't think she'd be up for it.  Then, R changed his min or his plans or whatever it was and decided he wanted to go.  THEN, C texted me just a few minutes ago and said she was feeling pretty good and needed to go to town and she'd like to go tomorrow.  I'm just so popular. : )

So I spent a couple hours cleaning out the fridge, loading the car with various bags, boxes, and coolers, plus the stuff I need to take to town (a music book to be re-bound, and shelf supporter thingies I need to buy a shelf for), organizing the money (in a way reminiscent of Dave Ramsey), and making a list.  Or rather, lists.  One list for each money category.  And I saved the lists to my Google Drive and shared it with R (because his Android lets him edit spreadsheets, my iPhone does not) so now we are ready to get up and spend all day in the Big City! 

It truly takes me a few hours to prepare and then all day shopping at different stores (groceries last) and putting away but it's nice to do it an be done.  We might run to the local store for eggs or medicines later this month, but we shouldn't have to go for anything else. (Not even milk because I said I was buying 6 gallons tomorrow and if R couldn't make that last for a month, including me using some for baking, he could buy more with his own spending money because that is ridiculous! I did the math and even if I used up 2 whole gallons, he'd still get to drink just over 2 cups a day!)

I'm pretty sure only one of you is even reading at this point, so I'm just going to stop. 

Here are the cabinet teasers, as promised, plus a bonus:

This is the front of the cabinet, sans hardware and door a little saggy as the catch is holding it and not hinges.  We found the cabinet outside here when we moved in,  R rebuilt parts, sanded others, added wheels, Mom and I kind of whitewashed the top (but with paint), and I painted the rest.  It was too rough to ever get a perfect finish, so I went with a distressed finish.

The side.

The back.

The other side.  It's going to go in my kitchen.  My mixer, bread machine, and some baking stuff will go in/on it.

 And the bonus...

This started life as a light in our dining room.  Then some mean men took it out because it was old.  But they left it in the storeroom and I found it again!  I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together (so I wouldn't forget how it went).  Momma brought some other lamp bits and pieces when she came and we put it all together to get...

 

 

This!

 

 

Tada!  It even works!  (And Daddy only had to make one tweak and then add the turner offer thingy on the cord because you couldn't get to the other part to do that and I would've just had to plug and unplug it.  Once I get a table for it, it's going in my living room!

Branalyn

I Cannot Tell You How Many Of These I've Written...

Seriously.  How many posts have centered around all the things I haven't gotten done today?  I did pretty much read all of this hilarious blog.  Pay special attention to these gems. Seriously, they could've been written by my brother.  Except I'm not sure he would've had the patience/audacity/gumption to continue past the first few texts, much less into a second day! 

I originally planned to do nothing today, because that is how most of my Sundays go.  BUT I did nothing yesterday, so I felt the need to transfer the goals.  It didn't work.  I do need to go take the clothes out of the dryer and move the clothes from the washer to the dryer so they don't mildew.  Mostly because that would just equal more effort later.  Also, I'm not quite sure why, but R has been completely incapable of using a cup for more than two swallows so all of our cups are either (clean) in the dishwasher or in the sink or randomly placed around the house where he has left them even more than he usually does.  So I should probably go empty the dishwasher and attempt to re-load it. 

Also, because I cannot seem to get anything done without impending doom type goal setting, I decided that, since I've been completely focused on unpacking and decorating and getting rid of all the crap vintage items the woman who used to live here left (actually, a lot of it has been really cool or come in handy.  And by "a lot" I mean somewhere around 1/2.  Which is really not such a bad ratio if you think about it.) so we can actually us the storeroom as a storeroom and the middle bedroom as a bedroom (it still is about half full of stuff, but it's stuff I want to find a home for inside so...), etc., I should now focus on cleaning for a few days.  I decided (like 2 or 3 days ago) that if I cleaned 2 rooms a day for the next few days (skipping Sunday), I would be done by the time people came for Thanksgiving.  The problem, though, is that I don't feel an overwhelming need for my house to be spotless for the family that is coming (because of how much I love them, not because I don't).  But I do want to show off how different the house is since they were last here, so it'd be nice for it to be a little cleaner for that.  Especially since our puppy Starbuck has discovered a new love of sneaking into the little trashcan that basically has nothing but used tissues in it and then proceeding to MAKE IT SNOW (say that in a really excited part-lab puppy voice) in the living and dining room.  (Also, she destroyed her stuffed duck, Donald.  Part of the snow is his guts.)

 

 Here is a better picture of her (see the bits of puppy snow?):



And, yes, she is named Starbuck not StarbuckS.  It's after Lt. Kara Thrace, call sign "Starbuck," from Battlestar Galactica.  Because we are that kind of geek.

I'm off to keep laundry from mildewing and hunt down cups.  We'll see if I accomplish my goals in typical down-to-the-wire fashion...

(Also, I'm really excited my Momma and Daddy and brother are coming for Thanksgiving!  I cannot tell you how many things we have discovered that we have wanted their opinions on.  Like if the wiring in this house will kill us.  Or what color to paint these square metal things.  Or how exactly we should hang the chandalier Mom found for THIRTY AMERICAN DOLLARS!!!!! in my craft room/guest room/black and white toile haven.)

Love to you all (unless you are a lurker I've never met, then I don't know if I love you),

 Branalyn

A New Leaf

OK, so for two years I lived in the boondocks with no real internet access and gave up blogging.  Now, we have moved to West Texas and have internet at home!  So, I'm (maybe) going to take up blogging again.  I made a list before we moved of things I want to do after we moved (since I don't have a full-time job here, I've applied to sub, but they haven't called me yet).  Here it is:
Crafting
Sewing
Decorating
Creating trainings to teach childcare teachers
Taking hours needed to be qualified director
Blogging
Writing
Selling sewn and crafted items

So far, all I've done is decorating and blogging.  

Eventually, I'll edit some video I've done of "befores" of the house.  Or maybe even take some stills from the videos.  I've got some pictures of the "after" so far as I've already done.

Also, I've given up my Etsy shop.  I may try to start it again, or I may just ignore the last item on my list.

I'm excited to say that my craft room is finally set up!  I still need some shelves for both decoration and storage, but otherwise I'm pretty well done.  The only two rooms we haven't really touched yet are the middle bedroom and bathroom.  The middle bedroom has been a catch-all for us.  It still has several things in it that I need to move so we can put furniture in there.  R's parents have furniture in his room at home that is supposed to be his.  It's family heirloom furniture.  I'm not really in a big hurry to get it because, at this point, it'd be a pain to get it cleared out.  We also haven't touched the bathroom.  The plan is to try to level the house this winter and then work on the bathroom in the spring.  It de-sperately needs a new sink, new floor, and new walls.  You'll see when I get the pictures up.

OK, I'm done for today.  Maybe when I get back in the swing of things I'll have a less disjointed post! : )

Branalyn