Society for the Preservation of My Sanity

So...about that mixing of paint...

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Remember when we painted the family room? That wall down the center? That runs into the kitchen, that doesn't have a breaking point upon which to stop with one color and start with another? Which means that center wall has to be the same color in both rooms? Even if one is a nice creamy color and the other is a strange green?

Well, I had planned all along to SOMETIME just do the entire kitchen with the creamy color. I have a chair rail height wallpaper border with clapboard-style paper underneath right now. Well, I always have had that kinda setup, just with different styles. After The Horrid Pink (which, yeah, I admit to loving at the time *sigh*) with a roses border, I went to This Green with a strawberries and blossoms on white lattice border and white clapboard with green shadowing beneath.

The reason I picked the color green that I did is because Mom offered to buy the paint for the kitchen. I was TRYING to pick paint that would match the rose border!!!! I didn't KNOW she was gonna turn around AFTER THE FACT and wanna buy new border too. GAAAH!

Anyhow...it is a very odd color green...it works okay, but I would never really choose it on its own mertis, ya know? Even me, the green lover that I am. This just isn't my kinda green. Too teal and bold to suit me, I guess.

Okay...so now Mom's bought me this border (you'll see in a sec). She EVEN let me pick it out! *GASP!* So I'M buying the paint, the top will be the same creamy color and below the gorgeous border will be another color instead of more paper.

This is what I'd started to put into another post....
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The house is looking pretty awful what with everyone sick. I had, for some unknown reason, decided to see how easy it'd be to tear off the chair rail border and wallpaper beneath it in my kitchen, so I spied a loose spot and....well, .....I tore it. Thankfully, it was a small and contained area of wall. But sadly, it's the first thing you see as you come in the door. So now, beneath my cool newish cream paint is this awful pink color. That's the color I painted the kitchen and family room when we first moved up here almost 12 years ago!!! It was the medium rose color in the border I used then...heavens, I can't believe I ever painted ANYTHING that color!

*shrugs* Oh well...that was then, right? Urgh.

Anyhows...now the plan is this...

That's just a PSP rendition of how it's SUPPOSED to look...although, the yellow paint isn't quite that bold, I don't think. It was hard to get the colors just right...but once I get the small section done, I'll post an ACTUAL pic, okay??

Lord willing, I'll start to feel a bit more energetic. The past couple of days, I just feel like a slug. SO TIRED!!!

Have a good day, ya'll...

Posted by subject G~ at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Gah. The So Sick I'd Rather Die Syndrome is going around my house right now.

So far, Corey's had it, he being The Carrier and The One To Blame for all the doom and despair around here. He came home Friday tired after having worked hard all week in the heat and humidity. He showered and laid down for a nap.

Promptly upon waking and getting online to talk to The Girl, he gave her a quick BRB and ran to the bathroom where he quickly and unceremoniously emptied the contents of his entire digestive system. Guh!

He was sick til Sunday afternoon and he still didn't feel completely up to par Monday, which he had off too since Dad was out of town. Tommy probably had a touch of The SSIRD Syndrome Sunday, so he took a sick day Monday which put all four of us at home and mostly lazying around napping and such. Monday evening, Tommy and Casey went to town for a few supplies whereat Casey suddenly had The SSIRD Syndrome set upon him with full force.

Since Tommy was waiting for paint to be mixed (more on that in a later post, perhaps) Casey ran to the back bathroom where Tommy kept up with him via the handy-dandy N3x+els. He beeped Case when he was at the checkouts when Case promptly ran from the back bathrooms to the front bathrooms where he threw up again and waited til his dad, armed with extra bags for upchuckance, was ready to leave and had pulled up to the doors to get him.

They made it about 3/4 of the way home, where Tommy had to stop again to let Casey toss his innards, which were getting to be pretty nil by now. Once they made it home, Case went directly to the bathroom to hurl yet again, he sponged himself off (since he'd been cold-sweating it ever since the first heave) and asked for some pajamas. I had his bed made and the obligatory pan, clear soda pop and cool wash rag on a low table and a popsicle at the ready.

So after sitting up most of Friday and Saturday nights with Corey, I sat up Monday night with Case. His last hourly mad dash to puke was at about 5am this morning. I got up around 7am since Tommy woke me getting ready for work. I had a chiro appointment at 10am anyhow and Corey's application for the EMTee-bee class to drop off, so I colored my gray head and got myself ready.

Casey's already gone through the fever stage of this thing. Corey didn't get that til Saturday night. Corey had started with the...ah...erm...other-end involvement of The Syndrome by early Saturday morning, but I'm thinking/praying/hoping Casey might bypass that altogether because he's already to the point of going 5+ hours without puking and his fever has already broken plus he's keeping down the saltines he ate for lunch (miracle that he even wanted them!) It's looking really good.

Now, Lord willing and it doesn't go rampaging through me and Tommy too. I usually am the last to get something like this and the one to get the worst of it. Sheesh...after what Corey went through, I wonder if it could really BE any worse! I was ready to take him to the hospital!

But really, on the flip side? This is the worst either of the boys have been sick since they were little. I KNOW this is the worst thing Corey's had since he was about five years old! No wonder he thought he was dying, huh? Going 12 years without much more than a runny nose and slightly sore throat and suddenly having this nasty thing?!? Um..yeah, no wonder!

So anyhows.....that's what we've been up to around here. Hope you are all viro- and heave-free where you are!

Urgh.

Posted by subject G~ at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Yeah, I'm here.

Same ol' same going on, I guess. Except for a couple of excursions out to The Lindas'. I guess maybe Mr. The Linda might not appreciate that, huh? Well, tell him to come up with a name or I'll just refer to hm as Studley D, although I am totally and woefully frightened that he'd enjoy that name way too much.

*sigh* Men. *hmph!*

I feel like I've been tied behind a slop truck and dragged all over town today. Just absolutely worn out!! And not just now, at the end of the day. People, I've felt this way ALL DAY LONG!

Gah. I don't like it.

I think mayhaps I need to work on getting to bed earlier. Um, yeah. I'm sure that would be a very good idea. I hope that will help. In the past? I could sleep all day and all night too and STILL feel like I'd been deprived. Sheesh. Chronic fatigue-ish stuff just stinks!

What else? Well, nothing really. I finally got most all those books in that I'd ordered. Corey ordered a body kit for his car. Don't know what that is? Go here. Note: It's not the paint job, but like sticky-on pieces that change the shape of the car...look at the bottom part of the car, the front and back bumpers, etc.... body kits (sometimes) make the things look like they have about 1/8" clearance, y'know...that kinda (weird) thing.) Sheesh.

So, anyhow...he found this one on the ebuy. It didn't meet its reserve, so he immediately emailed the lady to ask how much she had to have out of the kit, which was brand new (as in never been put on, but was a couple years old) and a top brand-name. She told him and he offered her $100 less. She took it, without hesitation!

So, he got a $1,200 body kit for half price!! I must say, even I couldn't be too displeased with that, even though I STILL think it's silly! (he still has paint to buy, y'know!!) But the boy's deal-making skills are quite impressive!

Casey ruined his phone. Apparently while his pal was here week before last, and they were playing with water guns, Friend decided to one-up Case and use the water hose...and soaked Case pretty good...including his phone. Thankfully (for Friend!!) it was an old phone, but STILL! If you recall, Casey just got what was left of Tommy's contract after work furnished him a phone, so the contract will be up in August. We had another even older phone he could use, but you know how kids can be....especially in a houseful of phone-iacs!

He was dying to get him a "new" (model) phone! I try to reason with him, telling him about his expiring contract. He tells me he might keep it going. How? I ask him. He's not sure, but maybe he can.

Gah, but that kid wanted another phone!! I had the newer phone Casey had been using after mine fell off in the parking lot one night (when we had cheap clips for them. ugh!) and it has seen better days. I have a hard time reading the screen for scratches, etc. Anyhow, so we find a couple who's carrier has switched to another company so they're getting rid of their phones, plus the accessories for a little less than half what they are new.

We bought both of them. Well, I bought mine, Case bought his, but together. Anyhow, so here's what we got:::

Went to the chiro Monday and my neck was holding. I am thankful, but finding it hard to holler PTL about it. Why? Because I still hurt. I'm starting to have a few headaches too. Nothing at all like I had before, but more than I'd been having lately. Guh. And these shoulders!!! Doc's tried about three times to manually manipulate them to loosen things up in there. I swear, once I'm pretty sure his feet came off the ground while trying to get a pop outta me, but nada. Thankfully, he CAN get my neck to pop when it's hurting so bad and won't pop on its own. Which was the case Monday. He always pats me on the back and says he's not giving up on me. LOL!.

Whatever. It's a good thing he's so likable and the office is easy to deal with (no long waits, etc) or I'd have given up by now, I think. It really is getting awfully discouraging. I'm so tired of all this hurting! Even though it's SO much better than before! It still wears on me. *sigh*

Always something, eh?

My house is a sty and is getting on my nerves SO BAD! I can get things STARTED, but that's about it. Seems I can't finish anything. A couple of my fingers are stiffening up on me really bad...hurting, etc. I'm hoping it will pass with this stormy, rainy weather. For now, though, I'm popping the "Sellebrex" to keep from locking up altogether.

Which reminds me. I need to git. Just wanted to sit down and post an update of sorts before my page went blank. Blah!

I guess I'd better go. It's looking stormy again!

Have a beautiful evening!

Posted by subject G~ at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

...what I wouldn't give for one RIGHT NOW!!

Man, these tired spells hit me so suddenly these days.

And HARD!!!

Have a great weekend, ya'll...oh, and Happy Father's Day!

Posted by subject G~ at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Seriously.

Where DOES it go?! Y'know, when I was a kid, I remember people stopping my mom in town or something and declaring My, but they've grown so much! Where does the time go? (they being me and my sis) Back then, I just thought it was all stupid and wanted to get the whole ordeal overwith asap!

But now? I AM THEM! Wandering around, looking at kids who it seems just yesterday were in diapers and slobber bibs...and now they're grown!! WHERE DID THE TIME GO!?!?

What's more preposterous is that I'm not the career woman who was busy working and didn't notice. I'm the SAHM who was at the grocery every week, who was making play dates and meeting at the library for reading circle. HOW DID I MISS IT?!?!

Well, to be totally fair to myself and honest with you, I wasn't that mom (as referenced above) so much with my second child as I was with my first. With Casey, I was sick. A LOT. And after I was done being sick, there was a long hard recovery, so I was definitely NOT the go-here-and-there mom during that time. But by the time Casey was about 5, we'd met Karen and her three boys and were back to doing things like that again. Trail hiking, campground programs, swimming at the lake, paintball games (not us, but taking the boys to!) yadda, yadda....

WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!?!

Karen was here for a bit yesterday evening and we got to talking about all the fun stuff we used to do with the kids "back in the day".... Once we took them all to the lake to swim. We were going to a place where you had to walk way down to get to the shore, past a picnic area a little ways back in the woods.

There was a solitary car in the lot when we got there in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. Neither one of us thought much of it. We figured some people had been fishing and for whatever reason, they left one car behind. *shrugs*

We passed a 20-something fella at the picnic tables as we headed deeper into the woods and on down the steep hillside. Why? Well, to swim in this waterhole, of course!

At the time, we kinda got uneasy, but not enough to turn back. The boys had a blast that day. They found a huge log, they did. And they rode it and threw each other off of it and let one wrap himself around the middle of it while the others spun him around.... you've never seen five kids have so much fun with a piece of naturally-occurring dead wood. :)

Then there were all the trips to the nursing home doing all those hilarious and fun skits. Of course, Karen and I had to help with the refining of the things or else they'd be 8 hours long in some cases or they'd be nothing but a series of cardboard sword fights, which tended to disturb the residents. We made costumes, posterboard campfires, pirate costumes, pilgrim and Indian costumes, we made beaded candy canes and attached Bible verses, construction paper flowers with pompom faces, paper windmills, etc, etc, etc... to give to the residents.

And there are a million other times when they all just goofed off a either our house or theirs. I guess that's why Karen's split affected not just her boys, but mine as well, y'know? Their best friends, for the most part, have become people they don't know. People they can't relate to.

*sigh* Great. Now I'm not only melancholy. I'm sad.

Um...well, anyhow, whatever the point of this post was supposed to be....I just feel a little overwhelmed with how fast life it flying past me right now.

Corey has the opportunity to take a class or course at the @mbul@nce service as prep to take the state boards. The cost for the course is $450, but as a cadet, he can take it free. It seems like an awfully good opportunity and I feel like he should jump at it even though he's not really leaning towards a career in that field anymore.

The course will span 6 months from July thru February, two nights a week, four hours a night. To me it seems like something he should persue, but I think he's torn on whether or not to do it.

Actually he's torn about a lot of things these days. What career does he wanna persue? And perhaps, How is he going to get all his credits finished by the end of the year while still saving up the money needed to do what he really wants to his car? And what after that? If he goes to college approximately 50 miles away, how will he work, where will he live? WAIL!!!

See? He's really stressing out about this stuff. Um....heh. *weak grin*

Okay! Gah! I have GOT to go get something done around here today. Been to the chiro this morning and he had to adjust me again. It always makes me feel so wiped out, but enough laying around here! Got TONS to do!!

The Sty awaits! Guh.

Blessings~~

Posted by subject G~ at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is that famous Bird House That Casey Built. Did I not TELL you it was stunning? :)

These babies are blooming in a pot on my front porch. I just love this color combination!

This is the Barn Swallow nest on the eave of our front porch. I couldn't get a shot of Mama Swallow sitting the nest...but we see her up there lots. :)

There's a story behind this shot....
I was all poised to shoot a pic of another Goldie sitting in this very spot when this little stinker swoops down and knocks him off!! So he's sitting here looking down going, "Ha, ha, ha!! Got you, suckah!" LOL!!!

These are my dahliah (which has now been set out in the shrubbery) and petunias.

Here is my li'l boy, standing guard over my Knock-Out rose. He's listening for flower foulers! Heh.

This is our backyard bird station. Yep, that's Chubby's house back there.

These are the flowers I could never find online. They are NOT full-sun flowers, that is for certain! But I DID find some just like them WITH a card at L0w<'s the other day...which confirmed as much...but I forget the name!
Do YOU know it?

This is a closer shot of the dahlia still in the pot.

Here's an updated pic of the patio, almost a year later! So, does it look any better? ;) Notice the shrubs in the background. They're from a job Dad had where he had to dig them up to put in a wall or something. So -- woo-hoo!!! -- I got me some free shrubbery!! Yay!

This is a recent shot of Casey. I'm trying to get a good "headshot" of him to send to Who's Who Among Middle School Students...yeah, he was invited and accepted! Whodda thunk it? ;) Not sure I'll use this one though. He looks kinda like he's up to somthin'... LOL!

Here's a recent one of Corey, too. Proof postive he can tie his own shoes!! :)

Here's Casey cutting the wood to fix a broken step to the fort out back. He's using a square here.

Here? Yep...he's using a power saw.

This is my Chubsy, The Sweet. :)

THIS, is the table Tommy made for me!! From an antique metal C@rn@tion milk can and scraps from our wood flooring in the house! Awesome, huh?

A shot showing the top and shape of the table. My honey is a real woodworking craftsman when he takes a notion!

The table hasn't been sanded and sealed yet, but this is a close-up of the oak grain.

This is a pic of Sis, during the wedding ceremony. Doesn't she look happy, though? *sigh* :)

Here's the first shot taken after the ceremony when BIL's mother hurried up to be in the shot. I thought she was going to knock me over! LOL!

And here's a shot of the couple with BIL's mother outside after the ceremony. You can deduce for yourself the sentiments of the photo's subjects. Hee, hee.

That's all I've got for now, folks.

Things are kinda nuts around here. The Explorer is giving us trouble again, but Lord willing, it could be fixed now. Time will tell, but pray!

I've been shopping for used school books for the past week or two. What a headache!! I've been looking on about three different boards and eB@y, so it's been a bit difficult to keep up with it all! But I've found s few really good deals. I've been hunting for mostly math stuff. The next level of algebra for Corey and had to get a newer edition of math for Case so I could get the cd-rom (like a virtual tutor that goes along w/each lesson) to go with. Gah. The edition I had was so old, they didn't make a cd-rom for it. Poo. I also found the cd-rom for the chemistry book I have and the next level of algebra after the one I just bought for Corey. Gah!

After it's all said and done, I'll have spent a little over $300 on all this (I didn't even mention the college prep, term paper and SAT books, the language arts and spelling books I've bought besides all the math stuff) But really, it's not so bad for all that I'm getting, so I'm satisfied....but BOY! has it been a lot of work! But finally, I've gotten all the money orders and checks sent, all the p@yp@l's sent and contact with all sellers made. and all the tracking numbers recieved. WHEW!!

Now...I'm just sitting back and waiting for the packages to start rolling in...oh, and trying to wean myself off the curriculum boards!! WAH!

Doc O took new xrays and is now doing a little different adjustments on my neck. It must be working because my neck was actually holding this last ltime...for the first time in over three weeks!!! Praise the LORD!!!

But my shoulders are SO SORE!!! Muscles are SO TIGHT!!!! I'm going to try, TRY that is, to get someone to use a therapy massager on them everyday or at least rub some heat stuff on them. SOMETHING has to loosen them up or I am going to DIE!! It cannot be good to live days, weeks, months with muscles in this shape, tight as banjo strings. There's NO WAY it can be good. I can't relax them no matter how hard I try!!!

Tommy and the guys are working on getting the last hopeful Trep in operational condition as soon as possible. Either to have as back up or to DRIVE (depending on how the Exploder (new name for the Explorer, ya see) does in the next few days) or to sell. Then...well, still saving up the do-re-mi to get busy on this daggone 'stang! GAH!

Okay...it's way late. I'm whooped. So I'm off to hit the hay and sleep like a ROCK!!!

Blessings and good weekend to you all!

Posted by subject G~ at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

I got this from Linda awhile back, but I don't know where it is originally from....but hope you enjoyed it!! (and yeah, if you know where it's from, tell me and I'll link it!)

Soon, my dahlings, an actual post...soon.

Posted by subject G~ at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)