Catching Up is Hard to Do

I'm backtracking a little since I seem to have lost over a week's worth of entries. I first have to acknowledge the kid's 15th birthday last Sunday, the 16th.

Hard to believe our baby is this old! Sniffle. What a precious child he was.

Almost set the smoke alarms off, for sure!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I had the teenager's carpet torn up and replaced with hard-wood floors. It looks gorgeous. (It's still wet here.)

Thursday, as you know, was another day in kitchen hell. After they installed the countertops, I noticed the one on the bar is cracked. They have to cut another slab and replace it. (This picture is about how I felt about having the idiots back in my house.)

Then, Friday morning, I went to clean my sink out (after they told me to wait 24 hours until I use the water because of the caulking), and I notice they have cracked it! This is my all-time favorite soapstone sink! Whaaaaaa. I am just beside myself, needless to say.

Saturday, I went out to Beth's house to meet up with some ATC group friends who were in town. Jane showed us how to make mermaids, Lottie showed us how to do tea bag folding and Beth taught us how to do Irish folding. It was the best time. Beth is just the bestest ever.

Here we all are with Jane and Beth doing the "chin cover up" in the back. Lottie, myself and Charlotte are the smiley ones in front. Thank you Bethy for a wonderful day.

I'll leave you with some of my gorgeous birthday flowers which have all but died now. And, I am jumping into bed. My brother and his family arrive tomorrow! Yay!

Just Shoot Me Now

The kitchen buffoons are here, along with the countertop buffoons, replacing the countertop after being court ordered.

Can someone please come and hold my hand?

Alive!

Sorry to not being able to post, but our internet has been down due to having the hard wood floors put into the teenager's room which is where the connection is. Well, actually, it is NOT there any longer. (The kid told me tonight, I could jump on someone else's wireless internet for a short time--so here I am!)

Will be back soon, promise!

(The above photo is Atlanta under construction--kinda like my house, always!)

PS Johnny is well and I am back home, btw.

Good Morning Atlanta

Yawn.

I have so much to do so I won't go into much detail other than I LOVE W Hotels!! I will allow the pictures to do my 'splainin."

Good morning!

Beautiful foggy night!

Which got even foggier at bedtime!












My favorite spots in the room.

Johnny is good and was surprised to see me. I have errands to run for him as soon as I choke down this coffee and head out. Looks like the sun is trying to peek through the beautiful clouds.

Hope all is well on your end!

Champagne for Everyone!

Yes, today is my birthday, a big ol' 48 I am! I have been overwhelmed with all the love arriving via email, telephone, post and in person. It has literally been non stop. Yay! I love it!! I am so fortunate to have all of you in my life. A big birthday hug to you all!

First I awoke to my favorite weather--foggy, cool and damp.

All the leaves are piled under our little tree and it's so pretty.

In between all the door bells ringing, phone calls and errands, I actually set up a date for the countertops to be replaced. Finally! This truly IS a good day. (Ask me next Thursday, and I'm bound to tell you differently.) Even the rug for the new room arrived. It sits on the front porch waiting for the kid to help me get it in. I'll have to wait to open it until the floors are done next week.

And, on top of that, some really good news. But at first, it wasn't so good. We awoke to a 4 a.m. phone call yesterday morning from the Shepherd Center where my brother Johnny is. He became unresponsive and had to have a breathing tube put in, much like what happened to him in January. I was ready to go down but by 8 a.m., he was stable. The ICU nurse said not to come down but to call this morning. Well, of course I did and he is awake, alert and off the breathing tube! Yay! I am therefore heading down to Atlanta in the morning to stay for a night or two and make sure he is doing better. It's nice having him only three hours' drive away. Wish he lived here. Sniffle. The kid's 15th birthday is Sunday, so I will come back home either Saturday night or Sunday morning. I have a cake to bake, by golly!

These came in this afternoon from the hub. He also gave me a day at the spa. Yum. The perfect gift.

But look at all the other goodies that have been arriving all week! I waited until this morning to open them. Oh my. A big thank you to Jaime, Linda, Natalie, Pammy, Val and my parents-in-law. Is this not booty-liscious?

This great hippie bracelet (as I have named it) is from Val. I have been wearing it all day! She sent an array of other goodies too.

Natalie Sarabella made the lovely card at the top for me. How precious.

In the middle of everything, I was able to finally get the tea in the mail to Rosa in Switzerland who's name was picked. I also got a bunch of lavender to Peggy. I was waiting for a flower box to mail it in. Pammy sent me a beautiful bouquet and so the lavender went straight out. I'm getting ready to go up and get a bag packed for the trip to Atlanta. The hub is taking the kid and I to dinner so I better hop in the shower and get cleaned up while I'm up there.

Thank you all so much for every wish. I send well wishes right back atchya!

Wisdom

The new book, Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman should be at the top of everyone's wish list.

Stop and take a moment to watch the video. And may we never stop searching for more wisdom in our lives.

Bountiful Harvest

I decided to cut back my lavender today. For the very first time. Like EVER! This basket full is only a few of the plants. I couldn't get to them all today.

I admit to being a poor gardener. I brought these French lavenders back from Virginia and planted them way back in say 2004. They have done quite well as you can see (July 4th photo). But they have been neglected and are now splitting because they are so top heavy. Bad me. The "wood" is quite tall and you're not supposed to cut down to it. So I was only able to cute about 12 inches off this year. Oy.

I wish we had scratch-n-sniff computer screens. It is amazing, the smell. My allergies will probably be giving me fits tonight, but it was well worth it. I put the abundance of lavender in my Aunt Ollie's old clothes' basket that we have had in the family for many years. I remember it in out hall closet, for dirty clothes, growing up. I put the basket at the bottom of the garage stairs. As soon as you open the door, the smell is just heavenly. I believe lavender to be my all-time favorite smell in all the world. So fresh and clean.

Tomorrow, I'll go back out and finish up the rest of the plants. Then it's time to cut my rosemary back also. That aroma comes in a close second.

Ideas?

Ok, I'm definitely feeling more like myself now. I am in decorating mode. Like pre-Thanksgiving decorating mode. I've been saving my pennies because I knew this day was coming. But, now I have to act quick to get it done in two weeks' time. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

Since I have a blank canvass to work with in the teenager's room, I'm kind of in a tizzy. I doubt he will ever "live" here again, so I'm free to do as I please. Therefore, I kind of want to make it a little on the funky side. The only piece I have to work with is the old dresser. I'm pulling the carpet out and having hard wood floors put down. Therefore, I'm going to have to get a rug to put in there. Thus comes my tizzy.

But, before I go there, I'm looking at this iron bed--cheap from Overstock.com. What do you think? Perhaps I should find some bedclothes for it before I go ahead and purchase a rug? That would probably make more sense; but since I don't have any sense, I normally go at things a little backwards.

So, these are the rugs I'm looking at. They are all wool and are slightly smaller than 8X10 which will fit nicely under a full-sized bed (and all under $300!). This one is a little more traditional than the next ones, but I like it.

I love the color of this one.

And I like the motif here.

But you should always have some black in every room! I could have some fun with this one!

The walls will be a neutral, creamy off white, so I do want to jazz it up a bit somewhere. But perhaps I should go a little more neutral/classic on the floor and spice up the bedding? I love the shape of this one. Too traditional?

Remember, most of the design will be hidden under the bed. Too dull?

Oh, deary me. What do you think?

PS I'm moving the bed to the right wall and will probably put some type of cute desk between the windows. Perhaps even a big comfy chair since the view is lovely.

PSS Since we are such kindred spirits, I too liked the b&w rug best. So without too much hand ringing, I ordered it with the bed! Yay. Now I have to hurry up and get the room in order!