Floored!

For the last couple of months we’ve been seriously considering putting our house on the market. When we started looking at our house through the eyes of a potential buyer, however, we found a LOT that needed updating. Project #1: The hardwood floors in the kitchen & dining area. I know better than to attempt this project myself – a large sander in an enclose space just doesn’t sound like a good combination to me. Last week we jumped right in and had our floors redone. Goodbye orangey-yellow “honey oak” (left half of pictures) and hello new, scratch-free red oak (right half of pictures)! Now our main floor matches the wood in our downstairs family room. It’s so much better…except now the cabinets don’t match. I guess I know what Project #2 is going to be!

Stairs before/after

 

Dining area before/after

Kitchen before/after

 

Orange You A Little Sad?

When I was little and took “cold lunch” to school, I remember my mom packing a peeled orange in it for me. Sometimes the outside would be a little dry from the exposure to ai,r but it was still okay. Last week I asked Audrey if she wanted me to peel a clementine for her to take in her lunch. She said, “No thanks. You know it’s hard for me to chew the white stuff on the outside.” I tried to explain to her that the “white stuff” on a clementine isn’t as tough as on an orange and how my mom used to always pack me peeled oranges in my lunch. She still refused. I have to admit it made me a little sad.

Car Seat Makeover

Audrey’s been on a baby doll kick for a while. Probably since July but it seems much longer than that. All she wants for Christmas is this realistic baby doll and all kinds of baby stuff. Real-sized baby stuff: a Pack ‘n Play, a stroller, a play gym, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, clothes, you name it. If they make it for a human baby, she wants it for this baby doll she thinks Santa is getting her. During a complaint about all of this to my hair dresser (Brooke) just over a week ago she offered up a car seat to me…for free! It was a hand-me-down to her and she offered to hand it down to me! I was going to give it to Audrey for Christmas but Mike said I couldn’t give her a hand-me-down as a present. So I just told her about it, which I immediately regretted since I didn’t know how long it would be until Brooke would be able to dig it out of her basement and give it a quick clean-up.

Well, ladies & gentlemen, yesterday was the big day. Audrey was super excited about it but about 3 minutes after we picked it up asked if we could get a new cover for it. We went to Jo-Ann’s to see if a pattern to make it was available (and on sale). We found a pattern but it was NOT on sale. I then turned to Pinterest where I found a custom made one available for $98. No thank you. However, I also found a blog that had instructions on how to tackle this project. Her’s was much more elaborate than mine but hey…this is for a doll for crying out loud. So after a trip to the quilt shoppe for some fabric and about 10 hours of ripping out seams, cutting fabric & sewing pieces back together, Audrey now has a cute car seat anxiously awaiting her new baby doll. And I still have more Christmas cookies to bake.

Before: blue & green plaid car seat. Okay, but not cute.

After: cute little bunnies and stars!

Thankful: Day 30

My last Thankful post goes to my friends. I don’t have that many, but I truly cherish the ones I have. We’ve seen each other through happy & sad times, good jobs & bad jobs, drank lots of drinks and eaten lots of food together! It’s the best counseling I could ever ask for. Cheers!

Thankful: Day 29

I’m thankful I didn’t win the $550 million PowerBall jackpot last night. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do with all that money. After all, money doesn’t buy happiness…but it sure could’ve bought a lot of fabric!

Thankful: Day 28

Only 3 more Thankful posts left. It’s only fitting that I leave one of the last for my twin sissy, right? How can you put into words how thankful you are for someone you’ve known your ENTIRE life? How many people can say they’ve actually known someone that long? She was there to show me the way out of the womb one Halloween morning 41 years ago and has been telling me what to do ever since! Actually, we do our fair share of trying to tell each other what to do as often as we can…and trying to do the exact opposite of each other! Our mom dressed us the same until we were in 3rd grade and then made the big leap to the same item in different colors.

Our Boxer, Goldie, Andrea, and me!

No matter how hard we tried to NOT be like the other, it still is funny to me sometimes how alike we are. I used to be the crafty one but now Andrea is crafting & sewing up a storm herself! She used to be the big foodie (and took me to see Anthony Bourdain speak even) and now I’m in my very own cooking club, too. I used to be the one all in love with Keith Urban but I distinctly remember her dragging me to the front of the stage at more than 1 of his concerts!

8 months before we moved from Milwaukee to Iowa, she and her husband moved from the Minneapolis area to Milwaukee. I know, not really good timing. And though we don’t get to visit her as often as I’d like to, now that she’s lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom (who should really be called “running-around-always-doing-something mom”) she did find time to come down and visit us here in Iowa a few times this year. We’re going back to Milwaukee for an early Christmas in a few weeks and you can bet she’ll have a drink ready for us upon our arrival (or Bill will have a Brandy Old-Fashioned all mixed up)! Thanks, Sissy!

Thankful: Day 27

To make up for the customers that made me thankful for my “thick skin” earlier this month, two customers said “Thank you…what you did looks great” today. I guess maybe I should say “good job” a little more often, too.