Against my better judgement!

I can't believe I'm doing this! I'm thinking this will be motivation for me to actually complete and post pics when I am done. This is our basement before Curtis and I started on it! It is a finished basement but we mainly use it for laundry, working out (Curtis...not me!), storage and overflow from the rest of the house! This is the worst it has ever been! It's just crazy!!!




Have Fun and I'll post the after pics later! Pin It

Vacation...Simplify...Declutter...Relax!

Today is the first official day of my vacation! Yippee!!! I have 9 days off from my paying job! However, I have a plan! In the next nine days, I plan to SIMPLIFY our lives by DECLUTTERING this house so we can RELAX in our home! Where does all this stuff come from? This place seemed so big when we moved in but now it is wall to wall stuff! I think there are little fairies that enter while we are sleeping and dump stuff everywhere! Okay, okay, truth be told, I am a packrat! There! I've said it! Are you happy? I have a hard time getting rid of things. My Mom once called me her sentimental Cindi and boy is she right! I love things that have a history to them and tells a story, things that have been owned by loved ones, things that can instantly take me to a special memory or things that will help Allison have wonderful memories of her life. I know most of them are just "things" but they make me happy. I guess that's why I scrapbook...because I'm sentimental and it's my job to pass our legacy onto my daughter and my future generations.

Here are a few of those things around my home that are special to me:

This was my Ba Ba's (grandma) lamp that she had in her bedroom when I was a child. She passed away in 1978 and years later, I inherited it without a shade. It has been in my daughter's room since we brought her home from the hospital. Allison's middle name is Victoria which was my Ba Ba's first name.
The are pictures of Curtis and I when we where little. My friend, Nancy, and I were looking through some old pictures I had when we came across the one of me in the raspberry patch picking raspberries. She insisted that I do something with it. I ended up having one framed for my Mom as well for Mother's Day one year. A couple of years later when Curtis brought some pictures home from his Mom's, I saw this one of him and knew it would be perfect along side mine. It's fun to look at now and see who Allison resembles more. I think it's me!
I recently inherited this donkey planter. It was my Ba Ba's and I remember as a little girl, it was sitting on a shelf by her kitchen window with a plant in it.
This rooster was my Aunt Carole's. She passed away about 2 1/2 years ago. We were very close and I miss her terribly. She loved roosters. My Ba Ba loved roosters. My Mom loves roosters. Curtis' Mom loves roosters. I never got the whole rooster thing but my Aunt Carole always said that every kitchen should have at least one rooster. I hunted and she hunted and we could never find just the right rooster for my kitchen. After she passed away, my Aunt Lee gave me this ceramic rooster basket tureen. My Aunt Carole had made it in ceramics in the late 70's and it is the perfect rooster for my kitchen. He sits safely in the corner above my sink. I love my rooster and now I get the whole rooster thing!

Okay, that enough of my rambling on! Curtis and I are going to clean and organize the basement! Wooo Hoooo! This is the first step in my decluttering of this house!

Have Fun!

Pin It

Happy Birthday America!

I wanted to share just a few pictures of how we spend our 4th of July. We really don't do a lot of celebrating. It's really a low key sort of day for us but we end it with going to watch the fireworks that the Big Butler Fair puts off. We actually have never been to the fair. We watch the fireworks from a field that is quite a distance behind the fair. We park along side a country road with dozens of other firework seekers. We take a blanket, lawn chairs and drinks and wait for show. I don't know who owns the field that we all sit in but whoever it is, thank you for being so kind to allow us to enjoy this family tradition. This was our sixth year. The first time we went there I was 12 days away from giving birth to Allison. Allison loves to hear the story of how she was in my belly the first year and now she runs around in the field catching fireflies before the fireworks. Did you know that the firefly is the state insect of Pennsylvania? Well, there's a little bit of trivia for you!




Have Fun! Pin It

Howdy Partners!

Allison's birthday and party is just about 2 weeks away! This is my crunch time. It is the one time a year that we have our family and friends over for a get together. I wish our place was bigger because I would do it more frequently. I love to entertain!

A few months before Allison's birthday, we receive the Birthday Express catalog in the mail. Allison is sure to wear the pages out by turning the pages hundreds of times. Each year she picks the theme that seems to be her current interest. However, this year she surprised me! She picked horses! I don't know where that came from but that is what we are going with. We are having a Western party! I didn't care for the invitations they offered so I made my own. The images look a little blurry...sorry! You can click on each image to enlarge it.



This has been fun planning and I can't wait for the day to come! I'll post more pics of the planning stages as I get things done.

Have Fun! Pin It

Women over 40!

I received this in an email and it's just too good not to share!

Woman over 40

I always said something happens to a woman once she's 40.. Here is a
piece written by Andy Rooney - CBS 60 Minutes.

As I grow in age, I value women who are over 40 most of all. Here are
just a few reasons why.

A woman over 40 will not lay next to you in bed and ask, "What are you
thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit
around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's
usually something more interesting.

A woman over 40 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is,
what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 40
give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with
you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of
course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they
think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what
it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 40 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women
friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best
friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women.

Women over 40 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends
because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a
woman over 40. They already know.

A woman over 40 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not
true of younger women or drag queens.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than
her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if
you are a jerk if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to
wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately,
it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman
of 40+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of
himself with some 18-year-old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk
for free." Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against
marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire
Pig, just to get a little sausage. Pin It

Da da da Daaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

"Mom's Oasis" is almost done! I still have 2 things to do to it...maybe 3. Here are the pics of what it looks like today. Allison and I spent 5 hours out there today and boy was it relaxing. It's just how I imagined it. The only thing that would make it better would be if there was a cleaning fairy in the house doing my cleaning and chores while I am out there relaxing! By the way, you can click on any picture to see it larger.

The before: As you can see it's nothing special and we really never did anything with it since we've lived here.



The current state of Mom's Oasis:



This is the sitting area with a great shot of the umbrella. I love that the umbrella stand is behind us and it reaches over to shield us. The umbrella is 9 1/2 feet wide so it covers a good portion of the patio.



A shot of the sitting area from the other side. You can see how the patio mat defines the area. It's awesome because it's waterproof and you just hose it off if it gets dirty.



This pic is of the other side of the patio where we have our picnic table. I LOVE our picnic table. I found the instructions online and Curtis made if for me for Allison's first birthday party. I had to have redwood and it was perfect timing because you can't even buy redwood in our area anymore.



This is from the other side. I love the tablecloth. Originally I thought it would be too bright but it balances the colors of the flowers which are mainly on the other side of the patio.



A close up of my new patio furniture that is so comfortable and perfect for my oasis. I sat out there today with a Pepsi and a couple of magazines and wished I was on vacation so I didn't have to leave.




Here is a close up of my planters. There are that bright pink geraniums in all the pots but I picked off the dead ones today so the new buds could bloom.



The cat birdhouse. Allison picked it out at the store and told me that she wanted me to have this for my patio. She was so sweet about it that I couldn't say no and now it's one of my favorite features.



I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my patio. I'll post more pics when I get the last couple of things done and when the flowers get bigger.

By the way, if you can't find me...just check "Mom's Oasis" because I'm hoping to be there most of the summer. Pin It

YUM!!!!!!!!

TOTAL impulse buy today at Giant Eagle!

Thinking I should have bought more than one pack of 6!

GO BUY THEM NOW!

You'll LOVE them!

Pin It

Ughhhh!

I stopped on my way home from work today at Bed, Bath & Beyond. My goal was to purchase a couple of patio chairs and a cute little matching table for my back deck. It's my last big purchase for my oasis to come together and I finally decided these would be the perfect chairs. I was very excited to find out that they would accept both my 20% off coupons at the same time. So, I carefully picked out my chairs and table, paid the cashier and took them to my car. This where the "Ughhh" comes in. I couldn't get them in my car! If someone had a camcorder with them today, they would be in the running for big money on "America's Funniest Home Videos"! I tried and tried but no way were they going in my Taurus! I did get one in on the front passenger side and YES, it got stuck! I would have left it there and had Curtis get it out but I couldn't drive WITH A CHAIR LEG IN MY RIB! After almost 30 minutes, I gave up and returned them to the store. I don't know what I am going to do to get those chairs to my patio but I WILL find a way! I thought I could get my Dad's truck but that's not possible right now. Hmm, I'll have to think on that and get back to you all later.

Have Fun! Pin It

"Pink! Pink is my favorite color!"

That is the answer you will receive if you ask Allison what her favorite color is. So, of course, I let Allison's favorite color dictate my color palette when choosing my flowers for my patio. Okay, it wasn't really all for her. I love pink too!

My goal this year is to make our patio a relaxing, comfortable oasis. A place where we can just enjoy each others company and escape a bit from the busy, hectic world. I don't know if I'll be able to achieve exactly what I have in mind, but I am going to try my best.

I've started with container gardening and used "Hot Pink Sensation" geraniums as my main flower and built around them with shades of purple and white with a few green plants thrown in as well. I like how my pots don't look perfect. I like the haphazardness of them. Here are a couple pictures of my planted containers. You can click on the pictures to see them larger.



This is my favorite one.



That's all I have time for now! I'll keep post pictures of the whole patio when I am done.

Have Fun! Pin It

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!

It has been forever since I've blogged! I don't want to go into the details why so I am just going to jump in as if I never left blogland!

So, here it goes!

Tonight's the night!

The 2 hour season finale of Desperate Housewives! I know this show is a stretch from reality but I LOVE it! I love that it totally takes my thoughts away from cleaning, work, laundry, bills, etc. for an hour every Sunday night for some laughs and mindless entertainment! This season went too quickly!

Let's take the housewife quiz: Which Desperate Housewife
Are You?

I am: Lynette.

It makes perfect sense to me. The working mother just trying to keep everything together!

I've got to run and get some things done before my show!

Have Fun!

Pin It