Picnik, and borrowing reading glasses.

I spent a lot of time last week at picnik.com, the photo-editing site I love to visit.  It takes time for me, because I have so overloaded this poor old computer, that it must stop and take a breather now and then.

At Mini-co-op (still in search of a better name)  last week, Mom Keisuzi thought I had hand-painted my reading glasses.  She thought I looked like a real art teacher. 

Nope, they came this way from Dollar Tree.  I own about $8-worth of reading glasses, most of them plain.  I used to own some with flowers painted on them (also from Dollar tree), and one day my favorite Sunday School teacher (the one I married) arrived at Sunday School with no reading glasses and no large-print Bible.  He borrowed mine, much to the merriment of the class.

I worked 3 tax seasons at H&R Block, evenings, part time.  (loved it!)  It was not unusual for a customer to go through their whole tax return input with me, then at the end be unable to read their copy - "forgot my glasses" - so I have lent my little skinny metal-frame pair to maybe 1-2 dozen customers.  Ya' gotta see what you're signing, on penalty of law and all that, ya' know.

 I really like Picnik's 'blemish-fix' feature - you can't even see that I have healed-but-not-gone-yet fever blister right above my lip, can you?Just a little necessary improvement, or I won't post a picture.

Marble Math

Todd Wilson, AKA The Familyman, shared Marble Math in a way that has stopped me in my tracks. 

He has reminded me that every decision I make about how I use my time affects my family.  Every wasted moment is gone.  I cannot add much to what he says, except to say click on the link and read, then, if you are like me, think before wasting another moment.

Dream Job

The other day, Earthgirl asked me what my dream job would be.  Then she said, "I think I know.".

She was right.

I have my dream job.  I'm a wife and homeschooling mama.  I get to do some crafty artsy sewing-y things, and sometimes do a little technical work, self-employed.  That's what I want to do.  That's what I AM doing. 

Sometimes, though, I forget that I am in my dream job.  Sometimes I forget to thank God for my dream job, and for the husband and daughter who make it possible.  Sometimes I act grumpy.  I murmur and complain.

Mary Engelbreit did a piece of artwork years ago that has stuck with me.  It says, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  She attributes the quote to the very quotable Abraham Lincoln.  The quote is double-edged, isn't it?  There is the sunshiny, positive outlook of a woman who finds a way to take joy in  whatever place she finds herself.  Then there is the outlook that can grump even while living  her own dream.  I don't want to be viewpoint number 2 - I want to look around me and remember that I am in my dream job.

 At her Birthday Pajama Party: Though she is 10 now, Mama can still pick her up

B4 and After

I found this counter-height metal chair at a local church's yard sale.  It was so sturdy and sat so well that I circled back around to it.  I could so easily envision it in a bright shiny color, so I plunked down $5 for it and hauled it out to the minivan. 

 

It's sitting in my newly-repainted laundry room, next to my newly-spray-painted rolling cart.  The laundry room paint is a darker khaki color than it appears in the picture.

It said "Art Department" on the back in Magic Marker.  I'd love to sit in it while creating art.  


Now look at it!  It was the favorite counter stool for Earthgirl and her friends at her birthday sleepover Friday night.

I might be...laboring on Labor Day

We seem to have developed a tradition of laboring on Labor Day.  Years ago, when we lived elsewhere, friends dropped by to see us on Labor Day, while they were out house-shopping.  We had spent the day pulling muscadine vines out of  trees, sawing overgrown limbs, trimming hedges, raking and mowing our 1/2-acre lot. They took one look at us and decided to narrow their search to houses with a postage-stamp sized yard.

Our last week was a bit disrupted by a flood in the laundry room.

I thought I'd have to buy a washer, the old one being maybe 10-12 years old, but Pluto Boy saved the day.  He stayed home Friday so he could haul appliances if needed, but first he pulled the old one out to the driveway, hooked it to the hose, and tried to recreate the flood.  As long as he was running water, I tossed in detergent and clothes (after all, who knew how long it would be before I'd have a working machine?), and we looked like the answer to, "You might be a redneck if...your laundry room floods, so you haul the warshin' machine out to the front yard, hook up the hose, and do your warsh as usual."

I have misplaced my camera (left it somewhere?),  so I don't have a picture (Mama is probably relieved to hear that), though I'm sure it was an entertaining sight. 

After 3 loads of laundry, we had no flood, so in went the machine, where it promptly flooded.  PB, though, figured this one out - a hose had a split that only manifested itself when the hose was curved  - YAY!  Way less than $400 later, the floor is clean (6 moppings-worth of clean!) and dry, and so is all the laundry.

Well, as long as we had pulled both appliances away from the wall, it seemed like a good time to paint behind them.  I have had paint for a while, just waiting for a good time.  Since we were painting Earthgirl's room over the weekend, we even had brushes and rollers out. 

So as long as I had already painted behind the appliances, we decided it was a good time to take the wire shelving down (and, of course, everything on the shelves) and paint the whole laundry room. 

And as long as we were moving the little rolling cart out, it seemed like a good time to sweep it off and spray paint it - red!

And as long as we were painting the laundry room, it seemed like a good time to paint the base of the island in the kitchen the same color as the laundry room...

Now, mind you, the project of the Labor Day weekend was supposed to be ONLY Earthgirl's room. 

Do you relax or labor on Labor Day?