This week has been hijacked from me -- I have had somewhere to go every day so far! And by the time I get back home, there isn't enough time to get into a project!! And for some NEW reason, my internet gets terribly spotty again at night.....can anyone explain THAT??? So I lost most of a really long post two nights ago (pics and all! :-P), and I just didn't have the energy to start over!
And my title of "Busy Little Bee" is NOT referring to me getting any painting done, or any other projects! LOL Nope.....what happened was I found the "Cleaning/Organization" boards on Pinterest (of course! LOL).....and it just totally inspired and motivated me to get going around here!!
So I have been scurrying around here, doing all sorts of little jobs, and it feels great!
See, I've been a little nervous finishing up my huge jobs in the main living area, and thinking about how I don't have any more excuses for having a dusty, cluttered home. I'm NOT a great housekeeper....."great"???....I'm not even GOOD! I have a tendency to gather, acquire, collect STUFF, and most of the time I don't put it away, I just have it! And I have a real paper problem -- mail, flyers, receipts, lists, recipes, notes-to-myself, etc, etc -- I can never find a way to deal with it all!! I love BEING organized, I just can never figure out how to get there!! :-D
So I made some goals for myself -- I want to get the dishes DONE every night (instead of saving them until the next day), and I want to wipe down the bathrooms every night, and I want to wash the sheets and towels every WEEK (instead of whenever they are overflowing the laundry baskets!), and finally, I want to conquer my PAPER....!!
I'll let you know how I do.....so far, so good, but the real test for me is in two to three weeks -- if I am still doing good THEN, I'll probably be able to stick with it! :-D
Here are some of the pinterest boards that have inspired me with really good ideas....
http://pinterest.com/tcusso/clean-and-organize/
http://pinterest.com/ammladybug/homemade-for-the-home/
http://pinterest.com/nurse_lb/cleaning/
There are TONS more (just check out which other board each pin came from....!!), and lots of great blogs about cleaning and organization, so I'm hoping I can finally get control of my procrastination and clutter!!! :-D
Yesterday, after getting home, I DID get the thresholds painted!!! I LOVE how they look......
This is the big one between the kitchen and library room!
This one is on the other side of the library room, in the entryway!
And here is the one for the laundry room!
That laundry room floor has been scrubbed!! I decided not to paint it, and just leave it "distressed" -- I mean, that's the look I'm going for, right? Why ruin it by making everything look new again??
I used stain to help match the new paint on the thresholds to the 5-6 year old paint on the floors! I am VERY happy with how they look!! :-D
I wanted to paint the "cross-beams" from my last post, but I ran into a little snag.....
No problem, though, because I just had my favorite Lowes paint guy (Daniel) color-match me up a sample size. He calls me the Sample Lady!!! :-D I do love my samples!
So I will be able to paint those "beams" next.....I'm actually just waiting for my arm to feel better. I pulled a muscle in my forearm last week, and it really hurts! And I never told you all about what happened to it the week before Brian's vacation.....NOT a good story, but I'll tell anyway.....
You all remember last fall when we were finding homes for the puppies across the street, and we kept one of them, our sweet little
Minnie-mins......
Things have been great with her until she got to be about a year old, around the end of April. Our other dog, Puppy, who adores me, never really warmed up to Minnie. She played with her for a little while, but as Minnie got older, Puppy would growl at her alot when she was acting too excited and bouncy, and Minnie would be submissive to her......until the end of April, when Minnie snapped back at Puppy, and they started fighting. We managed to pull them apart, but that was IT -- Puppy decided Minnie needed to be dead. Now they cannot be together AT ALL. We've been doing ok with keeping them apart - they stay in different rooms with the kids, and they take turns being out in the kitchen with me, and they stay on leashes when they get walked, etc. But if they ever get together, Minnie goes right over to Puppy (not viciously), and Puppy jumps on her, snarling and biting.
It's HORRIBLE. I can't say that enough! Even my son said, how do people actually enjoy dog-fighting??? It's SOOOO upsetting to see and hear!!
Brian wanted us to find another home for Minnie, since she is younger, and Puppy is totally attached to us/me. And for a week or so, I agreed with him and was looking around for a home for her, but I just started to cry every time I thought about really doing it -- driving her to a new home and leaving her there. She would be looking for me! She would be wanting to come back home with me! She is nervous around strangers, and doesn't even leave the yard anymore.....how could I do that to her???
Besides, neither of them are one bit aggressive to us - actually, they are very submissive to us because we've trained them that way. So Brian relented, and we just play musical dogs all day. And it's been working great.
Until the week before Brian's vacation.
My poor Adam, who at 17 is so protective of me and caring about me, went in to the room where his brother was with Minnie.....and without thinking, left the door open. Out came Minnie, making a bee-line for Puppy, who was laying next to me. The boys came rushing out after her, but they were never going to make it in time, so I leaned over to grab Puppy's collar and block her from Minnie, and Puppy (in the confusion, and getting riled up and ready to kill Minnie) BIT ME.
It was only a quick bite, a quick reaction that was meant for Minnie's leg or preferably, neck, but it was just above my wrist, and it was a BAD one. It gave the boys enough time to grab Minnie before Puppy could get her, so at least a fight was averted, but my arm was a wreck. Poor Adam, as I was bleeding profusely, and rinsing it off, and realizing how deep it was (and shaking!), he felt AWFUL. After I bandaged myself up, I found him sitting outside away from the house, alone, trying not to cry! :-( Poor kid!! Hey, any one of us could have done that! And I was fine, albeit a little damaged, but OK!
Of course, that's why I stopped painting in the beginning of this month! It hurt ALOT for a few weeks......
And now it's nearly gone.....
I was surprised that the pain and bruising went up to the knuckles of my hand! It's still sore and a little swollen around the bite! But at least I had the movement of my arm and hand back.....until I pulled the muscle in my forearm that goes up to my elbow!! :-P UGH! Too many arm issues!!!
So while I couldn't paint or anything like that, I got really excited about.....Garlands and weeds!!! :-D
I started trying to dry anything...hahaha!!! I'll share pictures of them all in my next post!
NOW I am trying to find a substitute for tobacco leaves! I LOVE how they look!! But I can't find them anywhere! I did buy some seeds online to grow my own....LOL....but that is going to take awhile. So I walked around the yard today and found these from a tree out back......
(the fork is for scale) They aren't big enough, and they will probably dry and crumble, but I'm going to TRY and see what happens!! :-D And maybe I can find a way to preserve them if they aren't too crumbly when they first turn brown -- like maybe wax or varnish or something. It's worth a try!! And then maybe next year I'll have real tobacco leaves to hang!!!! :-D
Before I go, I want to show you a picture I found (while moving things around my library room, you know, "organizing"! LOL).......
Now here is an updated picture, well, it was taken last year when my sister came down for a visit and took the kids to the mountains over night.....
The funny thing is that no matter how old they look or get, when I look at them, I still see their sweet little faces from the first picture! :-) And sheesh!.....how did they grow so fast???
So that's my week so far!! I'm going to try to post again by the weekend, but we'll see. I have the AT&T guy coming tomorrow or Friday to check the wiring again, and he said it will take one or two more weeks before they can get started on the main wire. They must really want to keep us as customers! But it had better WORK after all this -- they will have no more excuses!!
Enjoy the rest of your week!!! ^-^
Sweet Lisadiane:
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say that your boys are so handsome, and you niece is so pretty!
But now to serious business: Minnie and Puppy. I am not a canine expert, at all. But I would strong advise you to talk to a Vet, or a dog trainer. This situation will only cause tension not only for the dogs, but most importantly for every member in your family. Just not worth it. I'd see what could be done to eliminate this problem.
So much to comment on, but will just send along my sympathy for the continued computer problems, and to confess to you that I have a horrible paper problem as well. Enjoy what is left of Summer. Rejoice in Fall. Bask in the warm of Christmas. Leave the paper mess for Winter!
Primitive Blessing to you,
Cheryl (allthingscolonial)