Life Lesson -- Getting Dressed

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I learned a valuable life lesson this afternoon.

You should always get dressed in the mornings.  No matter how tempting it is to stay in your pajamas until you get dressed for work [a place you don't have to be until 3PM], don't do it.  Just put on some clothes.  Or at least a bra.  And pants.

Otherwise, you may find yourself in your backyard wearing a long t-shirt, short shorts [I need to do laundry!], and no bra.

Oh, and did I mention that you're outside because your three chihuahuas are barking ferociously at the two pit bulls that live next door?  And that their owner is in the back yard cleaning up dog feces?

I didn't?

Well in that case, take a lesson from my afternoon -- get dressed!

Fun at Work

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Me: "Jose, all of the residents love you, especially the ladies.  I think it's because you look so exotic."

Nurse: "Speaking of that, Jose, where are you from?"

Jose [who works in physical therapy]: "Oh, I'm from Guam."

Nurse: "Oh, cool!  So do you know any other languages?"

Jose: "I know a little bit of French and Spanish."

Nurse: "Really?  They speak French there?"

Me: "Guam is an American territory, so don't they speak English?"

Jose: "Bingo!  I only know French and Spanish because of my parents."

Nurse: "Oooooh!  That makes sense."

Me: "Sooo... I'm from the United States, so I'm American.  If you're from Guam, does that make you.... Guamish?"

[at this point we're all nearly in tears from laughing so hard]

Jose: "I'm Guamanian."

Me: "Ooh... if you had a beard we could call you Jose Yoder and you'd really be Guamish."

There's never a dull moment at work.

Help Me -- Shoes

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So I posted several dresses a couple of weeks ago that I was considering purchasing for my cousin's wedding.  I didn't end up buying any of those dresses, but only because my local store didn't have any of them in stock and I'm not a huge fan of buying things like that online [mostly because I hate the hassle of returning things].

I did end up buying this dress, though.

Ignore the strange look on my face.  Isn't the dress cute?  I like it.  It's a little shorter than I would normally buy, but on this dress I like the length.

So here's my dilemma.

I need shoes.

I like this pair in general, but am not sure how I feel about it with this dress.

I think I just need that pair of shoes, don't you?

Anyway, moving on.

I am at a loss as to what to buy.  This is where you come in.  HELP ME!!!  What style and color shoe would you wear with this dress?

I Need This

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Let me just start off by saying that as I typed the title for this blog, it showed that I had used it once before.  It also occurred to me that I don't actually need what I am about to show you, but merely, I just really want it.  All I really need in life is oxygen, food, water, shelter, the Mr, and my iPhone.

But I digress.

I like to sew.  You wouldn't know it from the sheer lack of chatter about it here on my blog [which I plan to change, by the way.], but I do.  I like to sew.  I also like to quilt.  I subscribe to a few crafting blogs and love getting ideas from other people.

The other day I ran across this quilt on Moda Bake Shop's blog...

Two things -- is this not the cutest quilt ever and two, where on earth did someone find ric rac that large??  It is astounding, really, just how wide it is.  [for those of you who aren't familiar with it, ric rac is that white squiggle in the bands of color.]

So I've decided I need to make this quilt.  I love the colors the crafter used.  Hopefully if I make it mine will be just as nice!  Not so sure about the ruffle, though.  While it is charming, it may be out of my league.

Perfect Timing

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My job is never the same from day to day.  There are always new people with new problems.  Some days are easier than others.

Sunday, was not one of those easy days.

There were people going to the hospital, people coming from the hospital.  There were people leaving with their families and returning with their families.  There were people who needed a lot of attention and those who just wanted to be left alone.

I was on the go from the minute I clocked in just before 3PM.  I found myself becoming frustrated with things but knew that I needed to keep going [not only because people depended on me, but because if I walked out I'd be fired. Not that it was ever to that point.].

A short time after dinner, I was going around making sure my vitals were completed.  I went into one room and the resident said to me, 'Here, this is for you,' and shoved a piece of paper into my hand.  I thanked him, but didn't really look at the paper.  When I went back out into the hallway, I decided to take a quick look at what he had handed me.  Here's what I saw:

How nice is that?  It stopped me in my tracks.  My day may have been frustrating to the point that I wanted to rip out my hair, but this note brought me back down to earth.  It felt like God was speaking to me through that resident.  I could hear Him saying, "Take a deep breath, it'll all be all right.  No matter how crazy this evening is, there's still a bottle of wine in your refrigerator.  11PM will be here before you know it!"  It brings me comfort to know that He's there for me even when I feel like I'm drowning.

Survival Kit

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In your survival kit for life you should carry a toothpick, rubber band, band-aid, pencil, eraser, chewing gum, mints, candy kisses, and a tea bag.

A toothpick to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others.

A rubber band to remind you to be flexible and bounce back from stress.

A band-aid to remind you to heal hurt feelings, whether yours or someone else's.

A pencil to remind you to list your blessings every day.

An eraser to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it's okay, you can fix them.

A stick of chewing gum to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything.

A mint to remind you that you are worth a mint.

Candy kisses to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug every day.

An herbal tea bag to remind you to relax and take a moment to unwind.

Ketchup

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Sorry I've been such a bad blogger this last week or so!  Life has been a little busy, hence the lack of posts.  To make up for it, here's a Ketchup post for your reading enjoyment.

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I've been making some headway on my goal to read 50 books in 2010.  I am 25% of the way to my goal.  If you do the math, we are less than 25% of the way through 2010, which means I am ahead of schedule!  Go, me!  Check out the link to see the updated list.

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We are still working on our bathroom remodel.  We have made quite a bit of progress, though we have yet to lay tile, which means we haven't reinstalled the toilet.  So yes, we have to go from our bedroom on the second story of the house all the way to the basement in order to go to the bathroom.  Inconvenient?  A bit.  Worth it in the end?  You bet.  I have photos to share of the progress, but I'll save those for another day.

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I got a new computer well over a month ago and still have yet to move my photos from my old computer to the new one, which is why I haven't been posting as many photos lately.  I promise that I'll be making that move soon.  How soon?  Eh.... just keep watching for photos.

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Remember all of your great comments on this post?  I bought a dress for my cousin's wedding the next day.  I know you're dying to know what I bought.  I'm dying to show you!  I need help with things like shoes and accessories, so it will be showing up sooner rather than later... especially since the wedding is three weeks from today.  In Missouri.

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The in-laws were up last weekend so that the Mr's dad could help with the bathroom floor.  My nephew -- who is four -- also came up.  I have plenty of pictures and stories to share about him, not to mention my new-found feelings on having children.

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I have a scanner now!  I know, you don't really care.  You should, though!  I'm thinking that Flashback Friday is going to become a weekly thing, especially considering the large quantity of photos I took while I was in high school.  I loved my disposable cameras.  You'll love the photos.  I'm not above embarrassing myself.

Spring Cleaning -- Week #2

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You made it through week one!  How do you feel?  How are your living room and dining room looking?

Mine were looking pretty nice, but then we had company for the weekend.  I still have a bit of picking up to do from that, but then it'll look great.

So onto Week #2!

This week's focus area is --- The Kitchen.

I know, I know, the kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house and is probably one that needs the most attention.  I know mine does.  Sure, I wipe the counters and sweep the floors, but I don't often take the vegetable drawers out of my refrigerator to scrub underneath.

Here's the plan of attack:

Clean out that refrigerator!  Throw away expired products and scrub both the inside and outside.

Clean the cabinets!  I know, I hate this one, too.  Get a bucket of water, Murphy's Oil Soap, and some rags.  Wash the inside and outside of each one.

Organize the pantry!  Ours is a complete disaster.  It really needs some TLC.  The previous owner used it as a coat closet, so there's only one shelf.  We have this plastic shelving unit in there, but it doesn't hold a lot of food.  One of these days, we'll put up wire shelving so that we can buy more things in bulk and be able to see them.  

Don't forget to tackle the range hood if you have one.

So there you have it.  Week #2.  If you participated in Week #1, I'd love to hear how things went for you, just leave a comment.

Good Morning?

Pin It Now! I am writing this at 4:21AM from my iPhone. I have been tossing and turning for the last five hours. As of right this minute, I am not tired.

Of course, I can't do anything but wait. My house is filled with sleeping family and I don't want to wake anyone up. But boy, could I use a snack! My tummy is growling. We are having IHOP for breakfast, but that won't be for a few hours.

I hope that everyone has a lovely weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed that mine stays dry!

Do They Look Alike?

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Do you see a resemblance in these two photos?  The first photo is from 1945 and the second is from around 1987.

Help!

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I am in a pickle.  

I need help.

Not that kind of help [I know what you're thinking!].

My cousin is getting married in April.  A month from tomorrow, actually.

My problem is the same as any other woman -- I have nothing to wear!

This is actually kind of true.  I purged my closet before we moved to Illinois.  The stuff I got rid of didn't fit anyway, so the stuff I got rid of wouldn't help me now anyway.  I have a collection of summer dresses, but they're more suited for wearing over a swimsuit when going to the beach, not to a wedding.  Off the top of my head, I can think of three dresses that I could possibly wear.  Dress #1 is a greenish/yellow color and has polka dots all over it.  It's cute, but the top is a little tight at this time, so it's out.  Dress #2 is black.  I've worn it to two different wedding rehearsals.  I don't want to wear it for two reasons -- one, it's black, this is not a funeral... and two, it's a huge pain in the butt and needs ironed.  Dress #3 is one that I wore to a wedding back in June.  It's cute, but I had to wear magic underwear with it and breathing was a bit of a challenge.

So I need a new dress.  The problem?  I feel like a cow, so dress shopping isn't fun.  That's where you come in.  Help me!  No stripes.  No white.  Nothing over $50.  Any suggestions?  Here are a few dresses that I've found, but I'm not sure how they'll look on me.  What do you think?

Dress #1.  Very spring-like.  This could also be my Easter dress.  Okay, who am I kidding? I'll be spending Easter in my sweatpants until a few minutes before I leave for work.  Anyway, I like the length.  Worried my hips and butt will look huge in it.

Dress #2.  L-O-V-E the color, but could I pull it off?  Would the high neck make my chest look huge?  I like the detail at the waist.  It'd be good to emphasize the smaller part of my waist, maybe it'll distract from my big butt???

Dress #3.  This is dark blue, not black.  It looks kind of short in this picture.  I'm a tall girl.  I have long legs.  This would probably hit me higher than I want it to, so all you'd see are hips.  The top is cute, though.  It wouldn't be too tight on my plump arms.  Okay, this dress probably wouldn't be very flattering.  I'm just being honest.  If I weighed 47 lbs like the girl in the photo, I'd totally rock this look.

Dress #4.  This one is actually my favorite.  I'm thinking that tomorrow I'm going to have to go and try it on at the store.  Perhaps I'll be nice and post a photo?  Annnnyway... what I like -- the color/pattern... the pockets [I heart pockets!]... the length is decent.

If I were to go with dress #4, what shoes would I wear?

Great.  Now I have two problems!

Spring Cleaning -- Week #1

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Welcome, welcome, welcome!

As promised, here is Week #1 of my five week plan to get my house in tip-top shape.  Now, bear in mind that not all of you have the same needs as far as housekeeping goes.  This list is simply a guideline, a starting-off point for those of you who need that extra little boost to get you going.

Feel free to post about The Plan on your own blogs.  All I ask is that you give credit where credit is due and link back to me.

So today is Monday.  I will try and take a few before and after photos as I go along to share with you later in the week.  I'd love to see some of your photos!

Week #1 -- March 8th through March 14th

Focus Areas: Living Room & Dining Room

For my house, this includes a coat closet in the living room, the stairway to the upstairs, and a little home office area that we have set up in our living room.

We don't have a lot of stuff in our dining room, so cleaning will be rather limited for me.  I'll be scrubbing the floors, wiping down windowsills, and cleaning the light fixture.  For those of you with hutches or buffets, this would be a good opportunity to reorganize things that you have stored.

On the staircase, I am simply planning on vacuuming the runner and washing the banister and uncovered wood with Murphy's Oil Soap.  Easy enough, right?

The coat closet in our living room is a mess.  It isn't very large, but it has been a catch-all for junk since day one.  I am fairly certain that there is an old television in there that had no where else to go.

In my living room itself, I am just going to give it a thorough, deep-clean.  I am undecided on the carpets right now.  The hubs and I have talked about tearing the carpet out later this spring, so it seems like kind of a waste to spend time shampooing the carpets.

So here's the basic plan of attack for the week:

-- Living Room

-- Dining Room

Branch out from there and decide what needs done at your house.  Check back this time next week to see where we're working next!

Spring Cleaning

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It's that time of year again -- SPRING CLEANING!!!

It's time to clean out those closets and wash those windows.  Who else is excited?

Feeling overwhelmed?  Don't worry, I've got you covered.  I've planned out my spring cleaning to take place over the next five weeks.  Every Sunday morning, I will post the cleaning list for the week and you can feel free to clean along with me.

Until then, here's a cute spring cleaning video from my youth.  Rocko's Modern Life, a kid's show on Nickelodeon.  I have this song stuck in my head!

Scrubs

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At work, I am incredibly limited on what I can wear.  My uniform is a red scrub top and khaki scrub pants.  Fancy, right?  I'm getting tired of my unisex scrub tops that make me look like a hippo, so I've been doing some online window shopping.

I didn't find very many red, girly tops, but I found plenty of other ones that I would love to wear to work.  Here are a few that I like:

Who doesn't love polka dots?  I love the yellow.  I look at this and imagine that the sun is always shining and the flowers are in bloom.

You know that gal is singing, 'Man, I feel like a woman...' Just look at her.  That adorable bow!  The cute colors!  I'm jealous of a photo.  Way to go.

 

I almost want this scrub top just to wear as a regular shirt.  Seriously.  It's so vibrant, so fun.

How great are these colors?  It's a similar cut to the shirt above.

 

This one is my favorite.  I really like my job, but definitely wish that I could wear cute tops like these!

The Bathroom

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We have been talking for a while about what projects we want to do on the house this year.  Since spring is hopefully just around the corner, we have decided to go ahead and start one.  From the title of this post, it is obvious which room we decided to go with.

If you remember this post, you know that our bathroom isn't that bad.  You can see little pieces of the bad part in a few of the photos.  Can you guess what it is?  Need a hint?

The floor.  [notice my little helper there in the picture?]

In case you can't tell, that is navy blue outdoor carpet on the floor.  It is something you might see on a screened-in porch or... well... anywhere but a bathroom.  The bathroom is not the place for outdoor carpet.  It's old, it's grimy, and it is not a suitable water barrier for the subfloor.

Here's what I mean:

I'm not 100% sure what the dark black spot is.  It's grainy.  I didn't touch it.  the dark spots on the top of the photo [the white on the left is the wall, the white on the top is our bathtub] is water damage and quite possibly mold.  Thankfully, there isn't a lot and we were already planning on replacing the subfloor.

 

Here's my handsome husband.  This is after the quarter-round was taken off and the carpet thrown in the garbage.  Look how happy he seems.  He has a power tool in his hand.  Boys + Power Tools = Happy.

Here he is removing the first piece of subfloor with a couple of our furry helpers.  That first piece of subfloor was a huge pain to get out.  We learned a lot of interesting things just by removing that one piece.

Why is our bathroom so creaky?  

Because underneath the OSB subfloor, there are three layers of hardwood stacked on top of one another so that the bathroom floor would be the same level as the floor in the hallway.  The hardwoods didn't cover the entire floor.  Oh, no.  The two-inch slats were spaced every twelve inches or so, leaving hollow areas over most of our floor.  Sooooooo, when you step on one of those hollow areas, the floor makes a very loud creaking noise.  

In pulling out just this one little area, we learned how not to remodel a bathroom floor.  This project is going to take a while to finish, but I will definitely keep y'all up-to-date on what's going on!