Woo! Look at them clean closests

Isn't funny that bloggers take pictures of stuff like this? Cracks me up.

I am steadily working on de-junking the house. I started with these closets, then moved to the laundry room, followed by the main bathroom. Now I am in the my bedroom. It's taking a long time, but I've gotten rid of tons of stuff so far.

My do bedrooms have so much more dust than the other rooms? I know I don't vacuum as much in here as th other rooms, but, my goodness!

It's going to feel so good to have everything done. I can't wait. Now, I will stop procrastinating and get back to work.

Blowing in the wind

Yesterday, as I was riding my bike uphill, a little piece of paper blew across the street.

The paper seemed familiar, so I stopped to see what it was.

It was a five dollar bill! Mine, all mine!

I spent it on Chinese take-out just a little bit ago.

I do wonder who lost it. I hope it wasn't a little kid who wanted to come spend it all at my lovely little swimming pool snack bar. In order to keep myself from feeling guilty about it, I'm thinking that it came from someone who could afford to lose it. Or a mean person. :P

Anything good and unexpected happen to you lately?

Cleaning up

Well, I don' t have a picture of it, but my garage is clean!

I am preparing for that garage sale, and step one was clean up the garage. Oy.

I have reduced three bins of sports equipment down to one, gone through the tools and organized the supplies. I hosed down all the bikes and lawn equipment. Actually, pretty much everything got hosed down and laid out in the sun to dry.

I swept, and swept, and swept. And really, there is still more dust, but I began to feel like Pigpen, so I called it good enough.

Now, I will go through the house, one room and closet at a time and try to get rid of at least 1/4 of what's there. We have too many piles and stuff we never touch. I will de-sensitize my tendency toward nostalgia and just get rid of it.

Let the purge begin. It's time to make some cash!

My family...

likes a little bit of food to go with their ketchup.

would rather do something or go somewhere rather than buy stuff. Except when the destination is the mall or Target. Then they want to buy stuff.

enjoys being outside, the pool and nice weather.

thinks they are always hungry.

generates a lot of laundry.

is funny. We have a lot of hams and cards in this bunch.

is awesome!

New Feature

So. I have a new little button on my sidebar. It's a fascinating little button. Alice C. suggested it.

Now I can see all the people who come around but don't comment. (You are welcome to comment, by the way). I didn't realize I had so many visitors.

It's interesting to see the channels that lead people here. I'm linked places that I didn't know about. It's all very unique and interesting.

I'm not sure I like it.

And I'm also a little paranoid. Sometimes I go to YOUR site and don't comment. Maybe I look at your archives and you wonder who this freak is who is spending 45 minutes on your site.

Well, surprise! It's me! I just want to assure you that I'm a very nice person. :) I promise I'm only trolling for recipes, craft projects and apron patterns. And occassionally a good laugh.

Can you tell I'm just a little bit weirded out? I'll just let the button sit awhile and decide if I want to go the 'ignorance is bliss' route or keep it.

Go read Alice C's advice to new and/or clueless bloggers (I'm in the clueless category) and see if you want a cute little button, too.

Pool fun

I'm not sure if this is going to work, but I'm testing out my ability to download video to the blog.

It seems like a lot of work for a little, tiny, few second blip. But we'll see.

While I wait, I will tell you what's been happening.

Today I worked, layed out in the sun, started a new book, swam laps, worked, and will go for a walk and go to a meeting later tonight.

Tomorrow looks like more of the same. With a baseball game thrown in for good measure.

My daughter has passed her driver's education course. Yay.

I'm thinking of throwing the grand mother of all garage sales, but it just seems like so much work. If it happens, we will have a lot to talk about on my shiny little blog.

(The download is complete, but now we are processing)

More small talk... I need a pedicure. I think I might do that later tonight. If you hear a raspy sound, that will be me taking off the top layer of the skin on my feet. Gross, eh?

I also need a facial. And a million dollars. Ha!

Okay, enough of this chit-chat. I'll try to post and see if this video takes. If not, I'll just delete this and none of you will be the wiser.

Off to eat dinner!

Markings

This is me with my yearly henna tatto. Before the goop flecks off and leaves a nice brownish design. Last year I got a cute little flower.

Next year, who knows!

I am not a person who would ever decide to get a real tattoo. I think I would change my mind about what I liked. I do think it's cool when someone has a tattoo that is personal and meaningful and is about who they really are. But I also don't have my ears pierced. There's just something about doing a permanent thing to my body that doesn't sit right with me. I do admire other people's body art, though.

I'm sticking with the henna and clip ons.

Here are some other reasons I won't get a tattoo.

Does this mean something? Does it mean what she thinks it means? I hope it means, I'm a beautiful, smart, important person. If I had a word, it would have to be in a language I speak.

Too faded. Do you think she's trying to remove it, or do they just fade over time?

I like the little blue butterfly, but this is just too big. For me. She may love it. I didn't ask. I was sneaky with the camera.

My grandpa had a naked lady on his arm from when he was in the service. My grandma finally had him cover it over with a big red rose. I really liked it, but when you looked just right, you could see where there was still a little bit of, um, bosom, showing. Cracks me up.

I have three girlfriends who all got a small design on their hips when one of them moved away. A remembrance. I did like that, but if I had been there, I probably would have said no.

What about you? Are you yea or nay? I'm no for me, but yes for you if you want to do it. If you have one, I'd like to see it.

Another locks of love

All three of my girls have now donated their hair to the Locks of Love program.

It's always a special day when we get the ruler out and find that there is enough there to cut. This little one was very excited to be free of the tangles and snarls that she is often plagued with. She would have cut it long ago, but wanted to participate in the Locks of Love program, like her big sisters.

I'm so proud.

Pinkified

So we needed a little project and some summer fun. What could be more fun than pink hair?

Here are the supplies. I'm not sure if Reynolds is the best choice, but that's what we had.

We painted it on and waited 30 minutes...

And voila! Pink!

I even have the eensiest, teeniest pink stripe in my hair. Very subtle. For pink.

Library happenings

You just never know who is going to blow into the library. Or what.

These guys made a surprise visit and made a hasty exit. I think they came back in their street clothes later because they said they heard someone took pictures of their 'friends' while they were dressed up. Yeah, right.

Kind of nice to have something unexpected and out of the ordinary. Maybe next time they will come back with snacks. That'd be nice.

The meme

So this meme is about 10 specific things. Except I only have eight. Because I can't decide on the perfect vacation and I don't have a favorite room at this moment.

This first picture it the bathroom. I think technically it's supposed to be the toilet. I just grabbed the shot and ran. Not much to comment on there. I need to get in there and spruce it up a bit.

Here is my kitchen sink. I need to throw the dead plant away. Actually, this could double as my favorite room, because I love the color I painted it. Go here to see it better.


My closet. Totally inadequate and messy. Notice I didn't show you the floor. It's terrible.

My self portrait. I never thought I would use this picture. I took it in a museum on the day my daughter got stung on the ear by a wasp a couple of weeks ago. Weird, eh.

Okay, now we have to go to a whole other post, because for some reason, I can only put four pictures in a post at a time. If you know how to adjust this, please educate me.

the meme

I'm thinking these are my favorite shoes of the moment. They're okay. They go with a lot of skirts. They are good for work because they don't make that flip flop sound.

My laundry pile, which is totally AWESOME right now. My mother in law is here and she is doing all of the laundry. It's amazing. She IS the laundry fairy.

What my kids are doing. At 11:45 they were still in jammies laying on the couch. I love summer.


My fridge.

That big blue bowl is filled with the yummiest potato salad ever. Courtesy of the M-I-L.

Okay, I guess that concludes the meme. Make sure you leave a note if you decide to do it, too. I'll come see!

How to eat a S'more

Build a fire and toast a marshmallow.

Prepare the graham and chocolate so that you can slide the marshmallow right of the skewer.

Squish it all together.

Enjoy. Repeat as needed.

The pool emsembles

I went for mix and match. A green skirt to go with the green top, or the striped top. I like them because they aren't black. I've done the black for a long time now.

I had a black skirt from last year, and now I have two tops. The flowery one was only $4.98 at Target. Not really my thing, but it covered all the parts and the price was right. The black top is adjustable and hopefully slimmimg.

We had the most luck at Sears. I didn't go for the Land's End, because they are just too spendy. I was very surprised because I don't typically shop at Sears. I'm more of a Kohl's girl, and they had NOTHING there!

My mother-in-law is here and she treated me to these new suits. Isn't she sweet?

"Why so much swim wear" you ask? Because we are the official snack bar at our local pool. We will be spending a lot of time there this summer, hopefully selling a lot of snacks! So far, we can tell what kind of sales we will get by the temperature. The hotter it is, the more we sell. We are hoping the rest of the season is sweltering!

But mostly, I'll be doing this. Wearing the blue thing that covers up my new swim wear.

Don't you just love the pool?

Oh, ladies...

Men, just look away now and save yourselves.

It's that dreaded time of year again for me. The annual 'what will I wear at the pool' decision.

Alas, there will be no pics for this post. It was too, too terrible a sight. The shopping session highly amused my teenage daughter, who looks great in everything. She laughs now, but her day is coming.

There is not a swim suit out there that will fully constrain the sisters that are my bosoms. They will not be constrained, I tell ya.

I'm not small, I've lost some poundage and could stand to lose a few more, but I'm not too large, either. But in order to get adequate chestal region coverage, I have to try on the 2x and then it's just big all over.

I have fired the entire swimsuit manufacturing industry. Except maybe the Lands End people, but they are expensive and you know how I feel about mail order. And, you can't try it on unless you mail order and then ship back the rejects. It's just too much work.

So I will continue my hunt and wear last year's stretched out, thread-bare suit for now. It's unsightly, but it's something at least. If you see something good in a national department store, be sure to let me know!

Dutch for a Day

My children have participated in a Dutch Festival for the past couple of years. We are not Dutch, but that doesn't seem to stop them.

They have authentic Dutch dress, all the way down to the wooden shoes. They have learned authentic dances and have eaten authentic Dutch food. If you've never have a pofferjte, you are missing out. They are little tiny pancakes soaked in buttered rum. Covered in powdered sugar. YUM.

The parades in these festivals are something else. Thousands of wooden shoes clomp together in rhythm. Our local high school band even marches in wooden shoes and it really adds to their performance.

It's funny to see my girls willingly hold hands with boys. Not a peep out of them about boy germs. Same goes for the boys. They get out there and do their job, and save the cooties for the playground.

I'm glad the weekend is over. The schedule was grueling. School in the morning, lunch, dance at 1:00, ride floats at 2:00, eat bad food until 4:00, get my littlest to take a nap til 6:00, hair and makeup for Sound of Music at 6:30, show starts at 8:00, home by 11:30. Wash, rinse, repeat. Sunday was very welcome!

I wish we knew a little better about our own heritage. The Dutch people around here are very proud of their heritage and the festival is fun. I do get a little tired of hearing "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much", but other than that, it's neat to be part of a celebration like this.
My grandma always told me our family was part cowboy and part Indian. I'll settle for being strong stock of some hardy pioneer woman.

My little boy is growing up

Would you just look at the back of that head... ;)

When he got all dressed up, I had to find 'Buffalo Stance' on Youtube. (Yes, I am a total child of the '80's). I didn't remember that song being so risque. Yikes. I think I'll play him 'Sharp Dressed Man' instead.

My son received his certificate of achievement for surviving the middle school years. I was a little ambivalant about the whole thing, but it was actually pretty special, and I could see that it was meaningful for my son.

The boys in this grade had a wonderful coach who attended the graduation party and brought each of the boys gifts. I think it's awesome when a young man has an older man who is a good influence in his life. My son has an awesome dad, but I am always grateful for other men who make an effort on behalf of my son, too.

My heart literally squeezes when I think about my guy in high school next year. It doesn't seem possible. This looks like it will be the summer of the growth spurt, so maybe by August I will be feeling that he is a little more ready.

So glad that school is out for the year! Yay. I'm so happy that pool season is here. I will put off thinking about high school for awhile and just enjoy my family for a couple of months.

This morning I have...

snitched some pizza from the office fridge. But I know who it belongs to and she doesn't eat cold pizza, so I'm clear. I owe her a dinner out, anyway, so I'll make amends soon.

I am currently eating mini chocolate quaker rice cakes. Yum. But it's only 8:11 am. I have my iced tea ready so I think with the pizza and rice cakes, I'm covered until lunch.

But my lunch will actually be lunch-less. I'm going to set up for my son's 8th grade graduation party. It's a big hoo-ha, here. I'm not so sure it's such an achievement, except for that fact that they will all be in high school next year. Maybe it's more of a mourning than a celebration? But EVERYONE is doing it, so we are sharing a party with 12 other boys. I see lots of chips and punch in my future.

I am dressed so that I can go straight from work to the graduation party. I have new slacks that are actually knee-length, with a tank and a cardigan and ballet flats. Okay for work, dressy-ish for 8th graders. Should be covered, unless I spill my tea, then it's back to the drawing board.

Festival pictures coming soon.

Happy weekend everyone!