Home Time

With the help of my mom, I've been tackling our house since our renter moved out. We painted and cleaned the extra bedroom to turn it into a toy room. We invited a couple of friends over to lend their kids' hands to the rainbow mural created with finger paints. It turned out really nice. New sheer curtains finished off the room after adding a table and chairs we've had for a long time. Total cost included $10 curtains, $5 finger paints, and $20 wall paint. However, there is a closet project to make cubbies in half with mdf which hasn't been bought.

Next came the living room/study. We've never used it as a living room. It's always been a computer/piano room. So it got a coat of paint. We moved the desk and had to buy extension cables. I also bought folders and binders to help organize the tons of mail I don't want to throw away. We found the desk lamp that matched the floor lamp we got years ago. So total cost included $40 lamp, $20 paint, $50 cables, and $30 folders/binders.

Finally the family room. We used paint that I bought for the computer room years ago when we painted the entry room. We also had to use primer to cover the yellow venetian plaster that never turned out the way we imagined and haven't really liked. It was supposed to be a dark golden and turned out to be more mustardy. I also mentioned to Phil that I wanted to replace the curtains which we bought the fabric when we first moved. It was cheap and I was able to sew some really nice curtains. They were dark green with golden fleur-de-lis (small). After painting, they no longer went with the room and so today we were off to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick out drapes. While there I found curtains that would work well with our dining room and picked up three different ones to try with the living room. After settling on some that we thought looked nice but wanted in a lighter color. I called around to find five panels since I knew the one we had been at only had two left. So we returned the curtains and picked up those two from one store and then drove across town to another BB&B and picked up the other three (also their last ones in stock). Total cost $15 primer and $130 curtains (on clearance). Still needed is a new sofa and new throw pillows.

Dining room needs painting and stenciling finished, but the new curtains and the new chandelier look good (old one was moved to our bedroom, the only room big enough to carry it off). I still need to pick up new chairs for the dining room table and currently the dining room is the storage place for our new closet for our bedroom while we wait for the flooring to come in. We also need a new office chair.

Man, I need to go on Design on a Dime. I'm revamping my house on the cheap. I'm loving how it's all coming together and it feels good to have a house that looks good. As soon as we clear out the closet stuff, we're definitely going to have a party to see all our friends. We've been putting it off since our renter was still living here and all his furniture was packed in with ours. But as soon as we put on the finishing touches look in your inbox for an invite.

What Could Be Worse?

So I went to my doctor with my tummy ache which is really freaking annoying and causing all sorts of problems. He finally gave me an anti-nausea medication. Now last night I said that I was willing to try anything even if it made all my hair fall out. Seriously this sucks, I can't eat, I can't not eat, I feel ill all the time, I can't sleep well. So I get the prescription and the list of side effects are interesting. Here it goes:

Possible are drowsiness, dizziness, nasal congestion, blurred vision, dry mouth, or constipation.
Hmmm. I could live with that. Take it at night, have a box of Kleenex and a glass of water nearby and eat more fruit. Oh, but that's just the stuff you don't have to ask your doctor about. Here comes the fun. Changes in vision, changes in breasts, changes in menstrual period, prolonged or painful erection, sore throat (oh, God, what kind of weird searches am I going to get with this stuff), inability to move eyes, muscle spasms of face, neck or back, difficulty swallowing, mask-like face, tremors of hands, restlessness, tension in legs, shuffling walk or stiff arms or legs, puffing of cheeks, lip smacking or puckering, twitching or twisting movements, or weakness of arms or legs. Yeah. Well, at least it doesn't cause nausea.

I did a little research on line and found out it can also be used for schizophrenia. But I like the voices in my head. :) Regardless, here's hoping that will calm down the symptoms and keep me okay until I can get in to see the specialist in 3 weeks. First opening they had between 2 doctors. If I still feel like this is three weeks, I might be begging for something with worse side effects than listed above.

(Really how many weird hits am I going to get by listing strange side effects. For those of you that know how to see what searches pull you up, e-mail me.)

Who Feels Guilty?

So what's the first thing you ask the woman who left you high and dry a year and a half ago at the beginning of a two year term as treasurer of the PTO? So you want to be treasurer. That's right I've already been nominated to be next term's treasurer. Elections are tomorrow but it looks like I have it in the bag. So go figure. Now all I need is for Phil to come home and say, Hey, you want to go to [insert foreign destination here] for [insert length of time here], so I can go in and say, Umm, yeah, so you know how you thought I'd be here for 2 years...

Though I really can't see us going anywhere soon. We need to get reestablished or I think the only member of my PTO would be me, because bouncing in and out of schools is not very conducive to learning. But seriously we aren't going anywhere. Nothing is in the works. We're here for the rest of our lives as far as we know at this moment in time.

Oh, and Little Man lost a tooth tonight at the Y. So now he's missing both bottom front teeth.

Falling Into Place

The kids are currently playing in the entry way. The only place not cluttered with furniture right now. They were playing outside, but it got a bit cold. Phil is up taking a nap. He doesn't feel well. So that leaves me on the computer writing to you because I realized I hadn't written in a while. I'm hung up on what to write about. Nothing major is happening in our lives. We're not visiting some foreign country or exploring old ruins. Life is easing back into life. I had a discussion while taking a friend home about changes. I know that life moved on while we were away for a year, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. We stepped right back into our lives without missing a beat. England seems surreal now. I miss it. I miss the consistency of the weather. We didn't get these strange periods where it's cold one day and hot the next. You were almost guaranteed rain at some point or at least cloudy days. I enjoy having a backyard again for the kids to play in and appreciate the sunny days here. We're dealing with the conversion back as it comes. Sometimes it's little like where to flush the toilets (we had buttons on top that you depressed) or big like remembering to wear sunscreen.