"Action Shots" of My Cats on the Couch

In response to Melanie's posting of action shots of her dog on the beach, I give you "action shots" of my cats on the couch! Okay, not quite as nice as Melanie's pictures of Montana, but it is all I've got.

I would love to join Doofus and Nut Job, because it is rather cold here today and it would be a good day to just sit on the couch under a cat all day, but no can do. We're going to a wedding tonight, so I've got to get clothes ready and pack up The Girl and get her to Grandma's for a sleepover.

This is the first wedding that we're going to that we're friends of the PARENTS. How old am I that my friends' kids are going to start getting married?

ACK! Is it Tuesday already?

I love the Monday holidays, I really do, but it sure does mess me up for the whole week. I know, it doesn't take much.

I just took a swig of my coffee, which was almost gone, and got a mouthful of coffee grounds, which I will now be picking out of my mouth for the next hour. Does that count as unprofessional office behavior?

The Mailman, The Girl and I went toilet shopping over the weekend, as part of the Great Emergency Bathroom Renovation. Nothing says "Big Friday Night" like toilet shopping. The toilet we bought is advertised as being able to flush a bucket of golf balls. I'm sending The Mailman back today to buy another one for the downstairs bathroom, since we now have a plumber in residence to install it, and you just never know when you might need to flush two buckets of golf balls. I'm thinking this might be a good way to get rid of some crappy (ha!) Happy Meal toys that just so happen to be about golf ball sized.

Swing by Keeley's place for more random stuff. She might still be recovering from her turkey coma, but she's got a friend house sitting and they've got the keys.

Dear So-And-So

Dear Three Guys Destroying My Bathroom -
Do you know that it freaks me out when I hear you say "Okay, I think we need the sledgehammer"? I know I'm paying you to destroy the bathroom before you fix the bathroom, but a sledgehammer? Really?
Wow, that's really loud, Mary Anne

Dear Same Three Guys Destroying my Bathroom -
Are you just trying to make me feel bad about myself? The stairs and the floors in the hallways are cleaner now than they were before you started. I may just hire you to clean every so often once the bathroom is done.
It isn't supposed to work this way (not that I'm complaining), Mary Anne


Got something to say? Go tell Kat. She cares, she really does.

Spin Cycle - I'm a crafty starter, not so much finisher

So, here I was all ready to jump into the Spin Cycle with my room full of unfinished projects, and what to my wondering eyes should appear at the Sushi Bar, but Jan's entry on the very same topic. Oh well, I guess I'll jump in anyway. I'm sure there's plenty of room for all of us non-finishers.

Our house has an extra bedroom on the first floor. I claimed this as my Craft Room. It is also know as the Crap Room. It is where unfinished projects go to die . . . Unfortunately, it is also where all the crap goes when we don't feel like looking at it in the rest of the house anymore.

The Mailman recently straightened up the Crap part of the Craft Room, so currently we have:
On the table -

• partially finished scrapbook from Disney trip in 2005.
• partially started scrapbook from Florida/Disney trip in 2007.
• mostly taken apart old PC and its HUGE monitor (The Mailman's project, he hopes to bring it back to life. It died a horrible death in January of 2008 and was replaced with my beloved iMac)
• lots and lots of envelopes with pictures of who knows what in them

On shelves #1 -

• boxes of old photos, photo albums
• plastic container with stamping supplies
• more envelopes of pictures
• The Girl's barely started baby album (which I really, truly do regret not doing)
• various and sundry pieces of old photo and/or video equipment
• another box with pictures in it

On shelves #2 -

• many, many craft project kits that The Girl has received over the years. Many of them have been started, never finished (I guess it is hereditary, eh?)
• various other crafting supplies belonging to The Girl
• packages of scrapbooking paper
• sewing supplies, fabric, etc.
• a mystery box on the bottom shelf that I'm not going to open today . . .
• two bags with yarn and a Knifty Knitter (love that thing! I did actually finish a bunch of scarves at one point, trying to keep myself busy - not eating - while watching TV)
• some Christmas stuff on the top shelf.

I'm not even going to go into the contents of the floor or the other surfaces in the room . . . it is just too depressing.

I have had some completions.
The Mailman and I had very nice needlepoint stockings by the time we got married.
The Girl's stocking? The one I started when I was pregnant? The Girl was either five or six when I finished. I do have to say, though, it is beautiful!
The window toppers in the family room? Yup, I made those.
Various pairs of shorts made out of obnoxiously patterned fabric for The Mailman for Jimmy Buffett concerts? Check!
Pillow cases for kids? Yup, made a bunch of those over the years.
Last year's Christmas cards met with rave reviews, but they took FOREVER to make and I don't know if I've got that in me again this year.

So I'm not a total non-finisher. I do enjoy being crafty, but I work, I try to keep the house and family running and I guess I'm just tired.

I always think of my Mom as a finisher. I'm the youngest of four, I'm five and a half years younger than my closest sibling. My Mom isn't so much into the "crafty," but man, can that woman sew! She sewed for me when I was young. The Girl now has some beautiful dolls that my Mom made for me. She's been making beautiful things for The Girl her whole life and for The Girl's cousins, too. Smocked dresses, christening gowns, sundresses, jumpers, and two years ago for The Girl, the most perfect First Communion dress and a First Communion dress for her American Girl doll. When I think back, I remember my Mom sewing when I was young, when she was a stay at home mom. She went to work when I was just about The Girls age because my oldest sibling was going to be heading to college. She mostly stopped sewing then, I guess, and really didn't pick it up again until she had grandchildren, or more specifically, granddaughters. I guess she was tired, too.

I've recently started sewing again myself. I got a project into my head for my friend's baby that is due in February (actually, I've had this project in my head for this friend's baby since before there was a baby). I've started on this project, and I'm really happy with the progress. I've got a deadline, so I'm confident that I'll finish (I can't guarantee that the finish won't be on the night before the baby shower, though!) The Girl wants to learn, too, so I gave her a project a few weeks ago, and she did a great job. We'll move up to a pillowcase for her next.

While working on my project two weekends ago, my low-end sewing machine gave up it's last proper stitch, so I found myself what I think is a pretty good deal on a nice, shiny, new sewing machine on Amazon. It came last week, and now I'm feeling extra motivated. It is going to rain on Saturday, so it might turn into a good project weekend. I got The Girl some flannel fabric with cupcakes on it, so I'm sure there will at least be a pillowcase made. Wish us luck!

For more crafty spins, whirl on over to see Sprite's Keeper.

My bathroom is getting me back

We've lived in our house for seven years, and I have always hated our upstairs bathroom. I haven't even tried to disguise my hatred from the bathroom and it is now paying me back . . .

When we moved in, the tub was disgusting. In an effort to "pretty it up," the previous owner* had attempted a DIY refinishing, which peeled off in big chunks. The Girl was just about 3 at the time, so disgusting peely tub was a big bad. Because we had just bought the house and money was a bit tight (to say the least!), we went the path of least resistance and got a tub liner put in. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't anywhere near what it would cost for full renovation. We figured we'd wait a couple of years and then do the bathroom over.

Fast forward seven years to me scrubbing the tub and realizing that there is water, lots of water, between the tub liner and the old tub. Hmmmm, that can't be good. Call the tub liner people. Our warranty has (not surprisingly) expired, but they can come out and take a look and drain the water for $130. Okay, they come, they drain, they say, "it could be this" or "it could be that" and "we recaulked so you should be okay for a while." I'm happy with my ugly bathroom again. Until I realize a couple of days later that the water is back. And that the water is leaking through the floor to the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom. ACK!

I issue a cease and desist order to The Girl and The Mailman relative to use of the upstairs shower. Thankfully, we have another shower, so we begin the slow deliberation process - do we attempt a fix or do we just rip out the old bathroom and start fresh. I vote for total re-do. The Mailman votes for fix attempt. I tell Mailman that fix attempt will involve removal of tub tiles and walls (a good number of tiles are cracked and may be our issue) and that any "fix" may end up being an issue with the tile floor, the other walls, etc. We're doing a total re-do. We call a couple of guys and a friend of a friend that is a plumber

So, starting tomorrow, the Sunshine household will be in more than its usual amount of disarray. Now I've got to get rid of seven years of accumulated bathroom crap from the shelves and under the sink. *sigh*

On a side note, Doofus cat is quite happy. He has a deep love of boxes and cardboard. Right now, there is a large box in the living room with our new vanity in it. He is king of the mountain!Did I mention that he's a Tub of Goo? Yeah, I think I did.


* The previous owner bought our house at foreclosure, never lived in it and "re-did" a lot of it himself. He was NOT a craftsman, but on the surface, things looked fine. A lot of what he'd done very badly we have had to fix. He also caused us to have the closing from HELL. Two days, me crying in the lawyers office (without tissues, because who brings tissues to a real estate closing?), all of my worldly possessions on a truck with nowhere to go, our other house already sold and people living in it . . . He is not popular around here.

RTT - Because of the Moon

We have two cats, Doofus and Nut Job (names have been changed to protect their anonymity, except that we actually call them these name, too). Doofus is almost seven and is, well, fat and a doofus. His other nickname is Tub of Goo. Nut Job is one and a half and is, well, crazy. The full moon this weekend? Yeah, he was running around like the Nut Job that he is all night. To anyone that says the full moon doesn't affect animal behaviour, I extend an invitation to take Nut Job for a couple of nights some full moon.

Not sure what I was thinking, but Doofus is mostly white and Nut Job is all black. Now every piece of clothing that I have, no matter what the color, is obviously covered in cat fur. Before Nut Job, I could at least get away with the whites.


Moving On to Moving On
I went to a "Moving On" meeting at The Girl's school last night. Yes, they finally scheduled something that the working moms could attend! They were talking fundraisers, and someone finally said, "Why don't we figure out what the cost would be and consider just asking the parents for the donation instead of all of the fundraisers?" Alleluia! If this means that I don't need to sell/buy any more overpriced wrapping paper or candles, I am all for it! Of course, because none of the students will be excluded from the "Moving On" events, there will, as always, be those who chose not to make the donations and whose slack will need to be picked up by the rest of us . . . I'm not talking about those who CAN'T make the donations, I'm talking about those who WON'T make the donations. (I'm sure some of those who CAN'T will often scrape together the money somehow.) Totally irks me.

For some good randomness, go see Keeley:

Friday Foto Finish 10/2/2009

I've been working on a super secret sewing project for my friend's baby that's due in February, (as the queen of the unfinished project, I need to start things EARLY) and The Girl decided that she wanted to learn to sew.
Below, I give you THE BIRTHDAY BANNER, made (mostly) by The Girl and used to decorate the kitchen for her 10th Birthday celebration.


Perfect project for her first attempt, from THIS cool book by Amanda Soule, who also has this blog.

Go see Candid Carrie for more photo phun.