Thank Goodness We Don't Need Gasoline to Blog

If you haven't heard, we're in the middle of a gasoline crisis in the entire metro-Atlanta area.

We're talking crisis as in "most places don't have gas and if they do the line to pump is a mile long."

Crisis as in "you may just be taking your life into your own hands because people without gasoline can get really nasty."

You don't really know how much you rely on something until it costs $4.97 per gallon and is as scarce as a Jerry Springer show without any yelling, cussing or chair-throwing.

And of course this gasoline crisis had to happen mere weeks after I got a gas-guzzling SUV that costs as much to fill each week as a good pair of running shoes.

Which leads me to say that I will not be running more and driving less.

Or running at all for that matter.

I have cut down on the number of errands I do on any given weekend, and any miscellaneous shopping has been stopped. Which has been good for my savings account and not so good for the gross national product of Target Stores, Inc. I am sure they are feeling the pinch since I've stopped dropping cash there.

I hope things are good for all of you - at the gasoline pump and everywhere else.

Fall @ Home - Library & Foyer

Today's the final day of my Fall Home Tour 2008. As I've posted and captioned the photos from around my house these past few days, I've realized many of the areas don't have fall decor. So, the case of missing pumpkins and candy corn, consider this a home tour taking place in the fall.

This is our foyer entering from the front door. That mirror is an antique from a Paris flea market. The mirror glass is split and lightly antiqued. The frame of the mirror is a bit beat-up and shows it age....I like mirrors like that. The scale of this mirror by today's standards is small - narrow and short - but it was considered full size in the 1800's.

Our next project (do they ever end in older homes?) is to rip out the carpet gradually and replace with hardwood. I'd like that carpet on the stairs to be the first to go. I'd love dark treads and maybe a zebra print stair runner, though my husband doesn't like that idea very well.

This little shelf (from HomeGoods) was the perfect solution for the wall that showcased the thermostat smack dab in the center. The shelf is only 4" wide, so we don't bump it when we walk by and that cow engraving covers the thermostat perfectly!

I love this little swag mirror, and would you believe I got it in a sale bin at HomeGoods for $3.99? It had a little chip out of it and it was bright, tacky, shiny gold. I took it to the shop and had them wax it down and put a little stipple on it (I call it "dust") and it looks antique!

This is our library, right off the foyer. The armoire belonged to my husband when we met and it was painted red.

I've scattered some pumpkins on the lower shelves...the pumpkin in the far lower left was made by my mom. Adam loves to take the lid off and "plant" it various places in this room. He's convinced another pumpkin will grow from that lid. I'm sure he also thinks there's candy under that lid!

This is a great reading and snuggling chair. I also collect drawings of lions and tigers... That little pillow says "Boo" - a nickname we have for Adam. That chair was my favorite place to hold him when he was a newborn.

Thanks for stopping by my home for Fall Tour 2008. This is a favorite time of year at our house. We've got lots of fall and winter birthdays to celebrate, and the holidays are so much fun for us.

If you are doing your own fall home tour, let me know. I'd love to stop by for a visit!

Fall @ Home - Kitchen & Keeping Room

The saying, "the kitchen is the heart of the home" certainly rings true for our family. We spend most of our time in the kitchen/keeping room area of our house.

Here's my kitchen. We refaced the cabinets about a year ago and added the dark hardwood flooring. We've gradually upgraded appliances and and added things throughout this year.

We hesitated about putting the plasma TV in (above the wine cabinet on the left), but I love being able to watch the news while I cook dinner and it will be great for college football parties this fall.

I recently bought the two floor rugs at HomeGoods, my favorite store for nearly all home decor! (Click on the photos to enlarge them)

A few little niches around the kitchen. This is the "traveling coffee maker"... it's the first to get moved to a new counter when the seasons and kitchen decor changes. My sweet husband just goes with the flow. He'll say, "Oh, the coffee maker moved again" and leave it at that.

Another one of my pastoral oil paintings. We sometimes call Adam "Boo" or "Booster", so when I saw that little pumpkin at Cracker Barrel, I snatched it up. And we must not forget the beloved candy corn.

These pilgrims were a gift from my mom, and she made the ceramic pumpkin plate many years ago. She used it at our house when I was growing up and often served her delicious pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting on it.


This niche is the former home of the coffee maker...now taken over by this turkey and bowl of pumpkins.

Now for the keeping room. This photo was taken from the kitchen, and you see the wine cabinet with the plasma over it on the right. This room was an addition the summer of 2007 and it's been great to have the extra space.

Just like my blue walls in the dining room (see the post below), this blue sofa was a bit of a design challenge. I like it now, but it's been a struggle trying to work with. A not-so-wise-but-turned-out-OK-design-decision.

The window treatments in the keeping room are new...Doug just hung them last weekend. I went a whole year without any and I think they warm up and finish off the room nicely.

These two rattan chairs (from Sam's Club) are right next to the sofa. They had black leather seats and my window treatment fabricator recovered them. The large cornice above the chairs used to be covered in chocolate velvet and hung in my living room. (Ooops! Another bad design choice!)

A different view of the armoire in the photo above. The doors to the left lead out to our deck.

This little nook is the corner opposite the armoire on the other side of the deck doors.

This table is across from the rattan chairs.

Tomorrow's the final day of the Tour....the library and foyer

Fall @ Home - Dining & Living Room

Since Fall's officially here, I thought I'd do my annual Fall Home Tour. I started decorating for fall the last week in August, because I took some vacation and thought it would be a good time to get started. Needless to say, I have just now finished Fall Decor 2008 and as I was taking these photos it seems like there are some rooms with not much fall at all.

Today I'll post the Dining Room and Living Room photos and proceed to other areas of the house in the coming days. You can enlarge all photos by clicking on them.

This is the little wine buffet in our dining room. I especially love this white pumpkin...one of my favorites.

The dining room table. My zebra dishes are from Ballard Design.

Wider shot of the dining room. I collect pastoral engravings and oil paintings and most are displayed here. They remind me of growing up in the Midwest.

Here are the bookcases and mantle in the living room. I did put some fall leaves and berries on the mantle and tried a collection of pumpkins up there, but I liked it better without them.

Next up is the sofa and coffee table. The room isn't wide enough to get a very good head-on shot. I also love those three white pumpkins on my coffee table. I got them at Hobby Lobby a couple years ago.

I am in the midst of getting window treatments in the living room, and I am also into decorative throw pillows, as you can see. The monogrammed pillow and the two blue ones were made by my window treatment fabricator. The two damask pillows are from HomeGoods.

As a side note since I mentioned window treatments... I have a wonderful fabricator here in Atlanta that comes to my house and brings dozens of fabric sample books with her. It saves me from running to fabric stores, getting samples, bringing them home to match, and then running back to buy the fabric. She's wonderful and has become a dear friend.

If you're in the Atlanta area and want her contact information, let me know.

I love this happy pumpkin kettle sitting on a zebra "suitcase" between the two leather recliners in the living room.

Tomorrow I'll show my keeping room (new window treatments in there) and kitchen decor.

Happy Fall, y'all!

Runnin' on Empty

We have no...

* night time diapers

* diet tonic

* apple juice

* child who wants to go to sleep

* gas in my car

* chocolate in the house

Thank goodness the season premier of Boston Legal is about to start, or I'd really be running on empty.

The Summer of My Discontent

The Summer of 2008.

From where I stand right now, I have to say it was very hard for me. Quite frankly, I just want to say it sucked.

It started with me sick in bed with a double ear infection, made worse by a bad reaction to the antibiotics I was given to cure it.

In the spring, my husband (along with about 1,000 others) was laid off from Earthlink. He’s fine now, doing lots of consulting work, but the worry from that spilled over into summer and weighed heavily upon me. I was blessed to witness his fortitude and creativity during the time after the layoff. And the man can network like nobody’s business.

The days of Summer 2008 were long, they were hot, and they loomed ahead of me like haze and humidity over a long road to nowhere. The weekends I once relished at the end of every workweek seemed daunting to me. How many times would I load and unload the dishwasher?

My once beloved pastime of going to the pool (sometimes the only thing that seemed logical on the hottest days) became unappealing. I shuddered to think of putting on a bathing suit, packing up the towels, lotion, cooler, food, snacks, drinks, floaties…

We took a family vacation to the beach, a place I loved so much. But this year it seemed like all we did was drive six hours and pay five figures so I could clean someone else’s house, cook, do laundry, and listen to the kids bicker about what to watch and where to sleep. I could have stayed home and done that for free. And the one day I did venture out on my own for some shopping, I got caught in a torrential down pour. My beloved beach lost its luster. When we pulled into the driveway after a very long week away, I told my husband I’d had my fill of the beach for a long time. I had no desire to go back.

At work sales were down, business was slow, the phone wasn’t ringing, the credit line was nearly maxed. And when the chips were down, I saw the people that were supposed to be supporting me betray me. Who cares for the boss? Who motivates the motivator? Who coaches the coach? I did not know.

I was a mama struggling. My friends and my family seemed far away. I wished I could just drive to my mom’s for a day, or invite my brother over for dinner. I wished for cousins to come over and play with my kids, and for nieces and nephews to hug. I wanted someone to say, “I can see you’re struggling. Let me take the kids for a day while you and Doug do something together, just the two of you.” I wanted someone to invite us over for an afternoon drink or for dinner… to reciprocate an invitation just one time.

I didn’t step foot in my church the whole summer. I was tired of volunteering to help and then being bossed around and shut out. I was tired of not volunteering but assumed to have signed up. I was tired of the business end of the church getting in the way of the worship side of church. I was tired of people only knowing my name when they needed me for something or wanted to call me out in front of others, while at the same time sitting through an entire Sunday School class without anyone saying a word to me unless I spoke first. I was tired of rushing out of the house to be with hypocrites.

The Summer of 2008 was a constant juggling act for me. On one had, there was this pity party. On the other, I constantly reminded myself how good I had it, how the blessings in my life far outweighed the bad things. As the floods raged across my beloved Midwest this summer, I knew that many people were struggling far worse than I. I had much to be thankful for.

I was reminded several this summer about God’s expectation for our life here. He wants us to be happy, but life is not supposed to be easy.

For it has been grated to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him. (Phil 1:29)
Many season of life are challenging. Many of us struggle for days, weeks, months and even years. Often times it’s low level stuff, nothing major. But that constant worry, stress, fear….it can wear a person down.

So that’s why I am writing about The Summer of 2008. I thought some of you might be struggling, too, and I just wanted to say, I understand.

Maybe your hard season is “three kids under five”, or “just got divorced”, or “how am I going to pay next month’s mortgage.” Maybe you dread the upcoming holiday season because it brings sad memories for you. And while everyone is partying and rejoicing and shopping, you are torn apart with grief. I understand.

It’s hard to lean in The Word and agree to suffer when it seems like today might never end or tomorrow might never come. When it seems as if all we want to do is go to bed, yell at someone, or drive away.

The long road to nowhere can be daunting. I know. I understand.

I’m doing much better. Fall has always been a favorite time of year for me. Fall festivals, cooler weather, a more scheduled routine…it’s good. Business has picked up. I will be going to visit my family soon. My boy will be turning 3 in a few months.

If things are hard for you right now, I am sorry.

And, I understand.

Cheese, Please

Last night we had pasta and red sauce for dinner. It's one of the few things Adam will eat.

I usually let him sprinkle a little shredded cheddar cheese on top because it makes it even more appealing.

"Eat, child! Please eat it all!" I say to myself.

So I was pleasantly surprised last night when Adam gobbled the bowl of pasta right up.

"Do you want more? You can sprinkle a little cheese on top again."

"Yes, mom. I want only a liddle more pasta but a BIGGER more cheese," he said, stretching his arms as wide as they would go.

"And I don't want 'da cheese on 'da pasta. I jus wanna sprinkle it in my mouff then throw away the liddle more pasta."

Polar Opposites

The other day my husband pointed out the juxtaposition laying on our night stands.

On my side lays the book Breakthrough: 8 Steps to Wellness by Suzanne Somers. It explores cutting-edge science and delivers smart, proactive advice on the newest treatments for breakthrough health and longevity (Amazon.com).

And Suzanne looks like this:


My husband is reading Willie Nelson: An Epic Life by Joe Nick Patoski. It's a chronicle of Willie Nelson's life replete with exactly what you'd expect: honky-tonk, long nights on the open road, whiskey, womanizing and weed. (Amazon.com)

And Willie looks like this:

Granted, Willie's about 13 years older than Suzanne, but there's quite a difference in the "landscape", wouldn't you say?
Willie's got all those long nights, honky-tonks and bottles of whiskey coming back to bite him now.
And he's probably not into vitamins, oxygen wraps or fruit smoothies.
Or the thigh master.
I'm just sayin'....

Cocktail Hour - The Day After

So.... okay...

Last night after cocktail hour, I put the bowl of sliced limes in the pantry and the margarita salt in the refrigerator.

And did not discover I'd done that until this morning.

But I am sure somewhere in this world warm, dried out lime and cold margarita salt is a delicacy.

And frazzled women with half a brain are iconic.

Thank goodness I put the chicken in the right place.

Cheers!

And the Lord God Made Them All

A few weeks ago Adam became enthralled, and a bit disgruntled, with the upper inside part of his ear.

He kept picking at it with his finger saying, "I got all dat wax in my ear and it won't come out."

And I kept telling him it was not wax. It was just part of his ear.

And he'd say, "Why my ear have dat part? It's weally, weally buggin' me."

And I told him that's just how God makes ears. They are made a special way so we can hear all the sounds around us, like music.

"And da bacuum cleaner? God made me to hear da bacuum? It's weally, weally scary."

So last night when I was settling him down into bed and snuggling him under the covers, the wheels were turning in that little mind that never forgets a thing.

"Did God make my ears, Mom?"

"Yes He did son. He did make your ears."

"And did He make my nose? And my hair? And da bubble?" (which is what he calls the ceiling fan)

"Yes, He did. He is responsible for making all kinds of things. Birds and grass and even the water in the swimming pool."

And then the little boy with the turning wheels inside his head said, "I wish He didn't make dis blanket. It's makin' me too hot."

A Man and His Son

There once was A Man and he had A Son.

The Son was 14 years old and The Man loved him immensely.

They shared a love of monsters, drawing, movies, the outdoors and all the critters God created.

They also shared a battle with The Son's OCD and ADHD that manifested themselves in things like compulsion about how clothes fit, how things are organized, and with struggles to fit in socially in a world that was already hard enough for a young teenage boy.

Like The Man, The Son loved to go to The River in the small town where they lived.

For one thing, there were critters galore. And The Son got along with the critters well. He didn't have to explain himself to them. They accepted him for who he was. Many critters came home with The Son.

Summertime allowed The Son many hours at The River and he even made himself a pseudo-tree house there. He was comfortable in that world, amongst the trees and the water and the critters.

And then one day A Bully came by. He knew The Son from school. It was a small town...no one was really a stranger.

And The Bully roughed up The Son and wrecked the tree house The Son had lovingly built over many days.

The Son was devastated. Not so much about what had happened to him, but about what had happened to his tree house. He could not understand why someone would do that. Didn't they know how much it meant to him?

And when The Man saw his son so devastated, he went to The River to find The Bully.

And when The Man saw The Bully there at The River, he went to him and grabbed him by the shirt and, in his face, told him what he thought about Bullies.

He didn't threaten The Bully, nor did he hit The Bully.

Perhaps it was the fact The Bully was still there at The River, circling the prey...

Perhaps it was the years and years of teasing and picking The Man knew his son endured. The Man felt every harsh word, taunt, and jeer ten-fold. He would have given anything to be able to take it for The Son.

And then The Man was arrested.

The Bully's dad didn't like it that The Man grabbed his son's shirt.

The Bully's dad pleaded the case that The Man was also a teacher and should not act that way.

The Bully's dad didn't like it that someone bigger than his son picked on his son.

Never mind it was another dad defending his son.

The Bully's dad didn't see the irony of his accusations.

So, The Man was fined. The Man was suspended from his job (with pay) for two days. The Man was questioned and judged and punished.

And The Bully...

Well, nothing happened to The Bully.

But someday something will happen to The Bully.

Maybe he'll pick on someone bigger or stronger than him.

Maybe he'll go from breaking down tree houses to breaking into houses.

Maybe he'll get arrested, and fined, and judged.

Maybe some day he'll have a son who gets teased.

Maybe some day when he's holding his own crying boy he'll remember that day at The River.

And The Man who stuck up for his son will no longer be the enemy.

The Man will be A Teacher. Which is what he was in the first place.

Wordless Wednesday - Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

...Not As I Do

I don't normally like to talk politics. In person or on this blog.

But....I'm sorry, but I just have to say this.

Isn't it ironic some of the people protesting the war outside the Republican National Convention were carrying weapons?

Weapons!

To protest a war!

Ha!