procrastination central

 I didn't sleep well last night. I went to bed late because I wanted to finish reading

a book. And then I was wide awake at 5:30. I think it's the slant of the light coming

in through my blinds this time of year. I need total darkness to sleep. I think I'm

going to look into getting some room darkening shades. Then I went and looked

out the front door and saw this. Another few inches of snow. Really, Mother Nature?

Look how high the snow is now in my front yard. Two feet, at least. The drifts

are even higher.

 I had an acupuncture appointment at 10:00 a.m. but I rescheduled it for later this

afternoon. I usually don't mind driving in a little bit of snow, but this place is a 1/2

hour drive in normal traffic and I heard the roads were terrible. There are so many

important things I could've been getting done at home today, but I just feel so blah

and tired. I guess it's the combination of a lack of sleep and being tired of this

yucky weather. So in-between doing the usual cleaning and laundry, I did what

I do best: I puttered and rearranged. I took all the plants out of Tim's room, since

he'll be home next week and I need to get that room cleared out. At first it was hard

to find room for more plants in the rest of the house, but I figured it out.

 I moved this print from the bathroom into the living room...

Took the brown basket off the bottom shelf...

And put a cheery, springy splash of yellow there instead.

Added monogrammed vintage hankies to the top of the secretary desk

in my bedroom and made a new vignette...

I really must go shovel the porch and front sidewalk before I leave for

my appointment. The snow is not going to go away by itself. And it's not fair
 for Brian to have to do all the shoveling when he gets home from work. I can

at least help out a bit with that. I promised a friend a phone call too, so off

I go. Please tell me you sometimes have "off" days, too. Do you give in

to them or do you fight it?

monday morning at comfy house

 It's one of those cleaning and organizing days today. Guess that's fitting, seeing

it's Monday. I've already cleaned the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned

bathrooms and washed one of the floors, vacuumed, did a load of laundry (one

more to go), scooped cat boxes, made the bed, and rearranged a few things.

I still need to plan dinners for this week, find another handyman, and call another

guy found on Angie's List to put in a new bathroom vent fan. 

 

I'm not happy with the first handyman I found through Angie's List. All I wanted him

 to do was come out here to give me an estimate on replacing the rotted

 floorboard underneath the kitchen sink. The floorboard rotted due to all the sink pipe

 leaks we had last year. Well, this guy went back and forth on several dates to come

 to my house. We finally decided on this past Saturday. He then emailed me last Thursday

to say that he was expecting a repairman at his house anywhere from 9-12. He

wanted to know if he could call me when his repairman was done, to see if he 

could come then. I said sure. On Friday I received another email from him saying

he couldn't come out after all - that he had to be home by 1:00 for something else

that came up. He wanted to know if perhaps he could come out the next Saturday.

I'd had it. I told him no, that I had other plans - and "thanks, anyway". I figure

if someone is so wishy-washy about nailing down a date to merely come and give

an estimate, then imagine how they would be when it came down to doing the

actual work? I'll give the business to someone more dependable.

I was also cleaning out old bread and crackers from the freezer this morning and instead

 of throwing them away (they were old-smelling - past usage for us), I tossed the

 goods outside for the birds and squirrels. I looked out the window a little while later

 and saw this guy enjoying a snack. He had previously been digging a tunnel with his 

face through the snow in order to find food on the  ground - that's why his little furry face

 is still dotted with snow.

 Remember those cat bookends I got at Goodwill last week? I put them in the 

bookcase in my office. Perfect (purrfect) with my cat figurine collection that sits

on top of the bookcase.

 Tim is coming home this weekend for spring break and we were really hoping

to have his room ready, as far as the hardwood flooring being installed and

the bed and furniture set up. Turns out the flooring still won't be in for 1-1/2

more weeks. So in the meantime, we're going to at least clear out the room,

set up the bed, put the TV from my office in this room, and put a big rug

over the plywood floor. That way at least Tim has a semi-decent room to sleep
 in all week instead of having to sleep on the family room couch.

My plants have loved it in Tim's room. Even the Christmas cactus is finally

blooming. I hadn't been able to get it to bloom in the nine months that I've had it.

Other little putterings around the house...I added the hanger underneath the

mirror in my office. The white knob is an old one from my desk. I just used

a little 3M sticky strip to put up both the hanger and the knob.

Remember the gold table that I had found at Goodwill? It was brand-new,

originally from Target. I moved it into my office in front of the window, right

beside my red chair.

Clementine loves to lie on the heat vent underneath the table. She actually

loves to lie on any heat vent in the house. Her body is just the perfect size

to fully fit over the vent. ;-)

I have to share with you a delicious dinner we had one night last week.

Jane from Blondie's Journal had shared in this post that she enjoyed scrambled

eggs with a bunch of add-ins for breakfast a few times a week. We sometimes

like a breakfast-dinner, so I decided to make this for dinner one night. It's a 

great way to clean out the veggie bin or even last bits of meat scraps. For our

meal, I sauteed chopped onions, peppers, and tomatoes, then added the

whisked eggs. As they were setting, I added handfuls of baby spinach and some

feta cheese. When the eggs were done, I topped with a drizzle of salsa verde

and sliced avocado. The bacon is nitrate and nitrite-free. Healthy, quick dinner!

 Happy Monday, friends. It is still very cold here, with wind chills below zero

again - after another weekend snowfall. I'm starting to hear more birds chirping

outside though, so I'm hoping that's a sign of warmer weather on its way.

thrifting treasures and friday chat

 During my outings the past couple of weeks, I've popped into Goodwill a few

times and came home with not only two pairs of Champion yoga pants

that look brand-new ($3 each!), but a summer top and these things for my home ~

This silver container is very heavy. Has a little sticker on the bottom that says

it's made in India. I filled it with cotton balls and it's in the hallway bath.

I love this bowl. Aren't the colors beautiful? This bowl has a sticker on the

bottom that says Design Guild, made in Thailand. I can't find anything online

like this.  I'd love to know more about this bowl, if anyone has any insight. 

I'm using it as a fruit bowl in my kitchen.

Found this small mirror - cool design, ugly color. Will be easy to spray

paint and make it pretty.

Of course, couldn't resist these cat bookends!

I love this cubed shelf ~ I'm hoping to use it in Tim's room, AKA the the guest

room when I decorate it. You can hang it either this way...

or, this way. I think I'm going to hang it this way because what could you put in

a diagonal cube except small books or CDs? (Which I hardly have anymore of,

anyway. Most of my music is digital.)

This was a brand-new lampshade, still wrapped in its original cellophane, from

Target. I thought I'd try it out on a lamp base in the living room, but nope.

Not right. Darn.

It definitely needs a white lamp base and I'm not sure if I want to paint

this one.

Here's the original lamp shade to that base, which looks much better.

Well, I scheduled that root canal. It'll be next Friday morning. I go between

feeling calm about it, to being very nervous. I hate any dental procedures

and have never had a root canal, so I suppose some of it is the fear of

the unknown. I did go online to read about it and that helped. I'm at the point

where I just want it to be over.

I went for my second acupuncture treatment for my shoulder a couple

of days ago and so far, so good. It has really diminished the pain, but I

still have a ways to go with range of motion. We're hoping just two more

treatments does the trick.

We think we've found a used car for Tim. There's just a few questions that

we had where we're waiting for the answers, then the possible negotiation

begins. Tim recently had two job interviews and we're hoping he gets hired

at one of them since he lost his job last Christmas. He's a full-time college

student but still needs that part-time job for living expenses. We're hoping

and praying this all comes together soon: employment and a car - which he'll

need to get to his job!

Brian got some good news the other day at work. His supervisor is taking an

early retirement and they automatically appointed Brian to take the position

temporarily until they officially hire someone. He was very honored to be

chosen - even if it's just temporary - plus it comes with a 8% increase in salary. 

Will he officially go for this new job? He's not sure. The positives are the salary

increase and that the job is Monday - Friday, 7-3. He has never had a M-F

job. He's always been in the field where he's worked rotating shifts. It's rare

that he has a weekend off. The negatives? He's not sure at this stage of his

life if he wants the responsibility of being a supervisor. Like he said, sometimes

that's nothing more than being a glorified babysitter. But the biggest negative

is that he could easily lose his job as a supervisor. The field he's in (sorry I

can't be more specific - I'd rather keep these things private on social media)

has been consolidating with other towns, making one big department. One 

department only needs one supervisor. Sooo...lots to think and pray about.

Have a good weekend, everyone. I still don't have any good weather news

for you in my neck of the woods. It's been frigidly cold all week again, with 

temperatures in the single digits during the day and below zero at night.

And guess what's coming this weekend? Yep, more of that nasty white stuff.

new vignettes in the living room ~ and other "fun" stuff

 Do you ever take a good look at some arrangement you've done and think

maybe it looks too cluttered? Maybe it was also because I was looking through

a decorating magazine and saw a feature on a home focusing on minimalism

(that would never be me with decorating, that's for sure). I sometimes have to

remind myself that "less is more". I also wanted to lighten things up a bit for spring.

Even though spring seems like a long way off around here. We're going down

to below zero temps again tonight. Can't even talk about it.

Anyway, first I decided to tackle this area of the living room.

This is the before.

And here's the after. I took out most of the heavy, gold accessories and 

added a couple of white ones. I also removed the brown birds and brown 

candle that was in the narrow basket.

 Made a new vignette on the buffet with clear bottles. There had also been

a wooden bowl filled with books and pine cones on the right, and I changed

that out for a stack of books with a framed mirror and my grandma's clock.

 I added some white accessories to the table in the entryway.

The fun stuff is over. Now I'm off to make a call to an endodontist (need

a root canal), fold laundry, clean cat puke out of the vent (Clementine has

great aim), and research natural ways to get rid of ants (tried the cinnamon

thing I found online earlier - doesn't work). And then tonight, we get to go out

in the bitter cold to a car dealer and look at a couple of used cars for Tim!

Still haven't found one and we are sick and tired of dealing with people we've

found on Craigslist. We've been looking for six weeks and Tim needs a car

ASAP as it looks like he might be getting a new job and needs transportation.

Happy Tuesday.

Sharing with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

my happy place

 I love this room. It's my quiet, happy place. This is where I blog,

read and write email, work on scrapbooking or card making,

read, or sometimes watch a little TV in the evening.

I was never a fan of yellow until we had the room painted this color.

With two windows, this room gets a lot of natural light and is so cheery.

Depending on the time of day and how sunny (or cloudy) it is, the wall

color looks different...from soft yellow to a brighter hue.

I know I need curtains - and I do have a couple of pairs from IKEA sitting

in the closet - but I'm not sure if they're the right ones for this room.

 

I am surrounded by things that make me smile - our family portrait on canvas,

 books, my cat figurine collection, a pretty quilt, and plants.

 

 It sounds wonderful to have a room of my own, but how this  room came to be

 mine isn't a pretty story. This used to be Phil's bedroom. If he were still alive, would 

he still be living here? Who knows. He'd be 25-1/2 years old now. All that's left of him 

in this room is his memory shelf. Even though I say this is "my" room, we still

call it Phil's room.

Phil obviously left his quiet, gentle, sweet spirit in this room.

Zippo seems to agree.

Do you have a room of your own? Or even just a quiet little niche that

is all yours?

 

coffee talk

 I love my cup of coffee first thing in the morning. It's what I go for the minute

I get out of bed. And I'm a bit of a coffee snob. I like to grind my own beans

fresh every morning. And only two certain kinds will do: Either Dunkin' Donuts

or Trader Joes Breakfast Blend. I've also discovered the beauty of making
coffee via the french press. It makes the most delicious, deep-tasting cup of
coffee I've ever had. I was lucky enough to find this personal french press at
 Goodwill last year. Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house, this single-
serving press is perfect for me.

 When Brenda of Cozy Little House was talking about home coffee bars

a few days ago and is talking about coffee again today on her blog, I thought

I'd jump on the coffee bandwagon. I do have a coffee/tea/hot chocolate bar
in my kitchen, but not on my counter top. There's not enough room. But I
found a wire shelf in my stash of home decor and put it on the counter to
hold my two favorite winter mugs and some creamers.

The beverage bar is across the kitchen on the butler's table. You'll see a larger

french press. I found that one at Goodwill just a couple of weeks ago. It'll

come in handy when I have company. I do have an automatic drip coffee maker,

but like I said, I'm hooked on the french press right now. The coffee tastes

so much better. Once in awhile, I'll have a cup of tea in the afternoon or

evening (I usually just drink water all day after my morning coffee) -

plus Brian's a tea drinker - so I have an assortment of teas in a

vintage glass jar. And if anyone prefers hot chocolate, I have a homemade

mix - as well as peppermint sticks.

Here's the whole look on that side of the kitchen. As usual, I have a photo-

bombing kitty. That's Clementine under the butler's table.

In other non-coffee news, these past couple of days have brought sunshine

and 40+ degree temps. It not only feels wonderful, but it's melting some of 

that snow. However, tonight into tomorrow we're supposed to get a lot of rain

on top of all that melting snow. And you know what the means: flooding! I'm worried

about our basement. Brian's going to work on shoveling the snow away from the

foundation when he gets home from work today.

I had my first acupuncture appointment this morning for my rotator cuff

impingement. I went through a month of physical therapy in December and

it didn't do much good. It felt good during the therapy, but once therapy was

over, the pain and limited movement came right back. I do the prescribed PT

exercises at home every single day, too. Plus yoga class and yoga at home.

I will not get a cortisone shot unless absolutely necessary. I would like to say

never, but you know how that goes...never say never. I'm a natural health person

and have read a lot of information on the dangers and risks of cortisone - not

only to your soft tissues, but the effect it has on your heart. No, thank you. I will

go the natural route first. I've done acupuncture in the past - for my back. And it

helped tremendously. I have to say that just after today's treatment, I'm a little

sore but my range of motion is already much better. I also had a headache when

I went in and she was able to take that away immediately with appropriately-

placed needles. Amazing!

Linking up to: Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday and
Green Willow Pond What We Accomplished Wednesday