One Part Inspiration...

One night, it was late.  I was in the middle of doing a hundred million things (no exxaggerashun).  I was tired.  Actually, I was very OVErtired.  There were things on my list that were not being accomplished.  I sat in front of the computer staring.  And then, my eye caught a website that boasted the most BeautifuL clothes for very leeetol muny.  I allowed myself to be distracted.  I browsed.  I scrolled.  I clicked.  And before I knew it, I had talked myself into buying a dress for 'the wedding'. Perhaps it was the way the dress was flowing with the gentle breeze in this picture. Or perhaps, I suddenly imagined myself being able to pull of this statuesque pose at the wedding. Or it could have been the jewelry that she sported that I could see myself wearing - floating into the ceremony with a gentle wave to all the attendees. Most likely, it was the overwhelming fatigue.  However, by the end of the night, I had...

I have been looking at this bench for several years. My husband bought it for me as a Mother's Day gift a decade ago.  Over time, the sheen has become dull and there were bite marks from teething puppies on the handles.  It is much loved, but worn looking. I decided to bring the bench back to life. One summer day, my daughter and I went to the paint store.  She had some projects too.  After much discussion, I bought "onyx" stain (at a great discount) and armed myself with some new paint brushes. One of the reasons I felt free to start the project was an afternoon I had spent with a flap sander that someone had given to me.  I was able to sand down the handles enough to smooth out the puppy bites.   The bench was  paint-ready.   As you can see, Kitty was a good supervisor throughout the task. It was a messy job.  I had enough forethought to wear gloves. Otherwise, people might have thought I was born in Africa. I decided to take a...

I am particularly pleased with this picture because it took me three hours to create it.  When the kitchen and dining room were torn apart, I had to take everything out of the pantry cupboard and move it into the mudroom.  When it was time to put it back,  I decided to design a cupboard with super-functional order. First, I re-purposed some metal shelves I had originally put in the dining area.  This essentially gave me two shelves in one, as you can see on the bottom shelves. This way, I had room to put the mixing bowls higher and storage items on the 'lower' shelf. The flour and sugar containers were the biggest, so they had to occupy the only shelf that would accommodate them height-wise. On the third shelf down from the top you will see that all the spices are alphabetically ordered.  (Good job there's only 8 of them).  The baking spices are on the left.  The baking condiments (like chocolate chips) are on the righ...

I like to watch home shows where the guests show off their skill sets.  I especially like watching how people decorate.  One of the shows I watched recently was very timely.    One of the guests on the show demonstrated four different ways of folding napkins.  I was hosting a birthday party. I had napkins. I watched carefully and then tried it out on my own.  I was very impressed with the results.  The table looked very festive.  The guests seemed to like the effect - despite a few comments about how impractical it was to try and eat dinner with the decorations in the way.  Silly people.  One day they will be socialized. On Christmas morning, my #2 son helped me decorate the table for our brunch.  Again, I was very impressed.  It was festive, and very functional. And then there was my husband, who had good-naturedly suffered through watching one of the many shows I have recorded.  The host was ...

Every Christmas I make a little game of trying to find the present that has a 'wow' factor. This is what fuels my gift-giving. I love wrapping up the gift, knowing that the person will totally love what I am giving. I can hardly wait for them to open it up and see it. I have enough experience to know I cannot possibly find the perfect gift for everyone on the list, but if I have at least one person to whom I can give the most wonderful present, I am happy. This year, it was a co-worker of mine. We always draw names amongst the staff for an exchange we have sometime in December. When I saw her name on the paper I drew, I clapped my hands in excitement. She is a person whom I have come to love and respect. We share a common province of origin, a common workplace, a common faith, and we both have children. Over the years I have come to admire her ability to see the bottom line, and define it in a most logical, no-nonsense-mixed-with-compassion, sort of way. One year, I was lament...

One can't help but notice the daisies growing spontaneously around our area. They grow everywhere: along the freeway, in fields, and in ditches. They don't spend a lot of time thinking about where they grow. They just grow. They don't concern themselves about standing straight and tall. They bloom in wild abandon. And when they are cut and brought home, they don't apologize for the odd spider they carry with them. They just let their happy faces smile into the eye of the beholder. They don't care if they live in a fancy bouquet, or are grabbed by the handful and put in the first vase available. Sometimes I wish I had the wisdom of daisies.

I am told that if you press "Shift" + Control + Right Arrow Key, and then the Delete Key it will Highlight ...delete....delete....delete.... a ll you shouldn't say . . For the purposes of this post, I'll just call it the Highlight ...delete....delete....delete . .. .button. This happens to be my most favorite computer trick of all. It saves time. It saves face. It goes like this: typing, typing typing, asdjflkas;dfjask;ldjk ..... oh man, that's not right........... Highlight ...delete....delete....delete.... typing, typing typing, asdjflkas;dfjask;ldjk...no that's not good either ......... Highlight ...delete....delete....delete.... try, try again. What would be even better is if I could use this in conversations that go bad. How much nicer would life be if this button was available when" AWKward " conversations happen. I could just think: "Wow. That went badly. Highlight ...delete....delete....delete.... ". and the...