Apr 16, 2012

Closet Update!

I was going to wait to do a big reveal once all the finishing work was done, but I really don't know when that is going to happen.  So let's just look at it now.  Richard put the light fixtures in and I am just too excited not to share.  No doubt you get as excited about light fixtures as I do.

If you want to add a little pizzazz to the moment you could close your eyes for a minute, then make an exciting noise, like "Bum Bum" (which could sound like drums if you say it right, but if you say it wrong sounds more like an insult by a 4-year-old ) and open your eyes really fast.  Go ahead and sprinkle all the magic on the moment that you want to.  

BUM BUM!


The lights came from Lowe's and they take fluorescent light bulbs with these really funky bases.  I don't know why.  There are as many different light bulbs in the world as there are fish in the sea.  I do not understand it.  Sure, they may want to encourage people to use CFL bulbs, but since regular incandescent bulbs are going to be illegal eventually anyway, can't they just make all the CFL bulbs with regular bases so I can buy all my light bulbs at Walmart?

Anyway, he hooked the lights up, and switched on the power and the lights started flashing like strobe lights at a rave and that is when we realized those bulbs can't be used with a dimmer switch, which is what we were using in the closet.

You might now be thinking "Dimmer switch in the closet?  What the tarnation do you need mood lightin' in there fur?"    And while, yes, I do like to pick out my clothes in the half dark, it is not for mood lighting.  It is because those dimmer switches come with remotes, and being able to turn off the closet light without getting out of my bed?  THAT is not a luxury we had any intention of compromising on.  Richard said "We'll just have to change it so that it takes a regular light bulb."  I said, "Is that possible?"  And he said, "It is if you're an engineer."  He was only a little smug when he said it.

So he fixed it.  He spent an evening and changed out the port the lights plug into and we only tripped the circuit breaker a few times, and only blew out one light switch and Richard only got one small electric shock and I only screamed and fell on the floor one time and now my pretty light fixtures take bulbs with regular bases.  Awesome.


So I've still got to put up trim around the window, but first the window and the window frame has to be replaced, and that takes time.  It does.  You don't know.  And we've talked about maybe moving the window a little, because it is so low and off center.  So, yeah.  Time.  I also need to put a shelf above the window for my boots to go on, but first we've got to put something in this little section on Richard's side of the closet.  There are pipes back there,


so the closet couldn't go all the way to the back wall.

I'm so glad we went with the Ikea closet system in here.  We had planned to build it from scratch, but I can't even fathom how long that would have taken, whereas this we put together in a few evenings.  And lots of it I did by myself.  And it really was pretty easy to custom fit to our angled walls.  Using Math!  (oh, and notice how the walls behind the closet are not finished or painted?  Yep,  that is called "LAZINESS" and that is how I roll.)


First we made a cardboard template that fit just right and then traced the angle right onto the closet pieces.  We just cut them with a skill saw.  Then we put the sides and bottom together, measured exactly where the angle was, and scored the back piece and carefully bent it on the score mark.   That sort of worked.  It really wanted to break.


See?  It was kind of a pain, but not nearly as much pain as building it all from the ground up would have been.

I can't believe how much room there is.  We did purge a little when we cleaned the whole thing out, but mostly the system just seems to be utilizing space so well that the whole thing feels roomy. It feels twice as big as it did before. It is awesome.  



I painted the room white, because we have lots of white paint.  I don't mind white, but I really don't like it in there.  Maybe because the finish is "Eggshell".  It is so flat, it just looks like drywall mud on the wall with no paint.  I also don't really like that shaggy blue carpet, but it is technically temporary, so Whatever.

1 nice feature is this drawer where I can keep my scarves and belts.  And also all the extra hardware and junk that came with the closet system that I figure I will keep for a couple of years, then throw away, and then the next day realize we need another screw and plastic doohicky that I just threw out.


Richard's finally got a spiffy drawer for all his ties.  And a shelf for his sweater.


And let's not forget the most important part, somewhere to keep Legos.


And just to refresh your memory, lets see the before and after shots again:



I even labeled them for you.  Lest ye get the two confused.  And that is it!  As good as it is ever gonna get!

Apr 9, 2012

February and March

Life went on, as it always does.


And then we had Valentine's Day.  Harrison gave out smarties disguised as sticks of dynamite.


And he wanted to dress nice, so I let him.


He would happily wear his suit to school everyday if I would let him, but I don't.

Later, Indiana Jones Stopped by for a visit:



And then Colin's hand turned into a shoe:


 Tragic.

Harrison stuck a hat on top of the vacuum and told me it was his friend.  Here are the two chums together:


BFF's, I'm sure.

Colin likes to hold things.  He is always carrying toys and books downstairs that belong upstairs, and carrying dishes that belong downstairs upstairs and he almost always has something in his hands.  The sadder he is, the more he likes to carry.  Last time he was sick, he walked around like this most of the day:


He likes to have the following conversations with me:
Colin: Daddy.
Me: Where is Daddy?
Colin: I don't know. (which sounds like one word "Ieeknow")
Me: He's at work!

And then we do it again and again and again.  It is usually accompanied by lots of giggling.  And sometimes after a while Harrison will holler from the other room, "He's at work!"

The other conversation we have goes like this:
Colin: Bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus, bus
Me: Bus?
Colin: Uh huh.

The other day Harrison came up to me carrying an armload of socks, and suddenly threw them up in the air, shouting, "Hooray for socks!"

I asked him where he gets that stuff, and he said, "Jesus."

Apr 2, 2012

The Best Thing to Read on April Fool's Day

If you've been here a while, you might remember that today, April 1st, is my Birthday.  My birthday posts (1, 2, & 3) are always wildly controversial and full of vivid and colorful imagery.  And now I am 34.  I am even older and even smarter.  So this post is sure to be a doozy.  (it is probably a good idea to get your hopes up at this point.)  I wanted to title it  "34 Unrelated Things" but then I thought no one would read it.  34 things is a lot to expect people to get through, especially for some of my 3rd Grade Readers.  I'm not sure I can even WRITE 34 things, but you've got to have goals, right?

I have 34 years, and soon my blog will have a list with 34 things on it.  That is birthday symmetry.  Here We Go!


1.  I don't really get into April Fool's Day.  I think it is because April Fool's Day has been stealing the thunder from my birthday since  the day I was born.  Is it too much to ask to have ME be the center of the universe for just one day?  All I want are gifts and grand overtures of affection, and all I get are jokes and tricks.  You have incurred my wrath, April Fool's Day, and you will pay!

2.  HOWEVER, Harrison caught on to the fun of April Fool's day today after his cousin tricked him a couple times, and he started saying things like "There is a spider on your back." or "Look outside!  There is a police man with no shoes on.  Never Fools!"  And that was pretty darn fun.

3. Recently, I was in charge of a Relief Society Program that involved lots of singing.  And I needed Soloists.  Which was no easy task. And even after begging and bribing I was still one singer short.  And I finally realized I was either going to have to cut out a song, or sing it myself.  But the song was one of my favorites, and mostly in my range, and so I decided to just do it.  Because I believe in the church it is willingness, and not ability, that is important.  I'm an ok singer.  I'm a good Alto.  But I'm not a soloist.  I just don't have the voice for it.  But I did it anyway. I practiced and practiced--mostly in the shower--and I got to the point where I started to think "What was I worrying about?  I'm a great singer!"   So imagine my surprise when I just didn't sound the same once I was singing in front of an audience.   I really didn't feel that nervous.  Especially considering how terrifying it was to sing in front of all those people all by myself.   And so I was also surprised when my hands went numb. Completely numb. I stood there, singing away, while my hands sort of formed themselves into these claws and I couldn't move them or feel them or anything, and they just lay there like disembodied stumped on the pulpit in front of me.  Thank goodness my song didn't have any hand motions to go with it.

4.  If all of my 34 things are as long as that last one, you will all fall asleep before you reach the end.

5. I have a blister on my middle finger.  It is a hot glue injury.  I get a lot of those.  Which is why I never operate a hot glue gun without safety glasses on!

6. I find that I prefer reading blogs that include lots of pictures.  I also understand that looking at pictures does not really constitute "reading".

7. Did you hear that David Tennant got married?  At the beginning of the year I think.  To the girl who played Jenny, the Doctor's daughter on "The Doctor's Daughter." from season 4.


 And, if you can believe the awesomeness of it, she also happens to be the daughter of Peter Davison, who played the 5th Doctor.


I hope their love doesn't rip open the fabric of Space.

8.  What is the #1 concern of all people on their way to their High School Reunion?    No, not the music that will be played.  Or whether there will be enough finger food (those are concern #3 and #2 respectively.)
The #1 concern is this:
"Boy, I hope I look even better now than I did in Highschool!"
Cuz nobody wants to age badly.  We are smarter and richer and less annoying, and it only makes sense that we would want to look better too.  But how?  How can it be done?  If you are at the height of your physical health and beauty at 18, what hope is there for the future?
The answer, my friends, is obvious.  Look Bad in High School. If you had stupid hair and dumb clothes, then you are just a haircut and a change of clothes away from significant improvement.  Easy!

9.  I'm not a germaphobe, but I am always annoyed when I got into those public restrooms that seem to be all set up so that you don't have to touch anything; i.e. automatic flush, automatic soap, automatic faucet, automatic hand dryers or automatic paper towels, and then you STILL have to pull the doors open when you leave the room.  It drives me crazy!

10.  In honor of my birthday I'd like to giveaway some stuff to a few lucky people!  Here is a list of the prizes!
  1. a half used box of fake nails.
  2. one of those cheapy glasses cases, complete with glasses, the prescription of which is unknown.
  3. a 12 year old bottle of multivitamins
  4. an unused Q-Tip
  5. 3 bottles of conditioner, 15% full
  6. a 32 mb CF card.
This winners will be chosen at random and in secret, so keep your fingers crossed!

11.  Yesterday I cleaned out my bathroom cabinet, so that is great.

12.  Someday my husband and I are going to make a movie called Nerd Fighters of the Waste, about a post apocalyptic world where the nerds ban together and fashion makeshift technology out of the wire from their braces and the extra thick glass from their spectacles.

13.   You know, I want to be just as healthy as the next guy - assuming the next guy is a three year old or something.  That is why I eat trail mix.  Yes, that right there is the one and only reason.  Walmart sells this trail mix that I think is pretty good.  It doesn't have any crap like grasshoppers or dried papaya in it or anything like that.  Just peanuts, cashews, raisins, almonds and M&M's.  Good stuff, all except the almonds.  Nothing personal, I just think they are too hard.  If I have to work that hard to bite through a nut I'd like there to be a pearl inside.  So yeah, this is a good, basic trail mix for most snacking and hiking needs but still, I can't help thinking there is room for some improvement.  Because, and let's all be honest here and admit that the best part is the M&M's. And there are never enough.   So now when I buy it I like to also buy a bag of M&M's and mix those right in.   And then I buy some Peanut M&M's and maybe some Peanut Butter M&M's too cuz those are delicious and mix it all together until I've finally got my ratio's right and I am just eating a bag of candy and calling it Trailmix. Woohoo!

14.  Have I mentioned that we bought an old Motorhome that my husband is rebuilding?  I have lots of plans to tell you all about it once there are lots of interesting things to tell.  I'm sure we'll get back around to it someday.  Because when we retire we have every intention of seeing the world in our Motorhome.  We can drive around, visit all of our Grandchildren, eat at Mom & Pop diners and solve crimes.  Sounds pretty great, huh?

15.  I am so happy about Catherine Tate being on The Office.  I was just about to quit watching.  I decided to just try watching ONE more, to be sure, and they went down to Florida and Dwight got appendicitis and Nellie was there in all her Red Headed Glory and suddenly it was all funny again.  I'm laughing inside right now.

16. There is no way I'm going to be able to come up with 34 things.   I'm going to bed.