My husband canned greenbeans last night. Why does that make me nervous?

Dining Room Transformation continued

Wow, an empty bookcase!!!! How exciting is that? It's a built-in case on the dining room wall and previously was filled with cookbooks and chotskies, but today will get repainted to match the buffet.

Below are two pics, one of the pile of books on top of the buffet (still can't find handles with 4 1/4 inch spread between screws, so will keep looking) and a full pic of the entire room. I won't even apologize for the mess because we're in transition, but you can catch a glimpse of our "new" used dining room set and wine rack.

You can't really see the wine rack because that light is drowning out the colors. I'll take better pics when all is said and done and things are put back where they belong. Maybe we'll even buy some wine to put in the rack! Great way to celebrate the completion of our dining room... err, at least until it's time to paint the walls! Oh yeah I forgot to mention that those roosters and sunflowers are coming down off the wall on the right. Turns out they make me feel a bit too, hmm what IS the right word? Tacky, fake, unorganized, crowded... you get the picture, right? I want clean lines and organization. Wish me luck!

Sunday is Grand Opening Day for our Etsy Shop!!!

We're finally going to do it! Tomorrow Emily and I will do a photo shoot (sounds kinda glamorous doesn't it?) of  the items to be sold in our new Etsy Shop and will have our Grand Opening on Sunday. This is going to be such an exciting adventure to be in business with my VERY talented daughter. She is the inspiration behind it and the artist for our awesome logo




I am constantly amazed at her talent and want so much for her to be able to branch out and gain the recognition that she deserves. You've GOT to visit her blog and see some of her animal paintings!

Our shop is focusing on recycled and repurposed items. The initial offerings will be paper products like envelopes and notecards made out of things like calendars, magazine pages and cereal boxes. We got the idea to open a shop after creating invitations and Thank You notes along with envelopes for her sister-in-law's baby shower. Seems there were a few women in attendance who suggested we open up shop, so we're doing it! Have you ever had a dream, even during waking hours, that just kind of felt right? Well this is one of those dreams. What could be better than running a business from home with your very own daughter??? I am so in love with this girl-turned-woman and soooooo awestruck by her talent that I just can't wait to see what comes next! Please join us on Sunday for the big celebration. We'll have lots of grand opening specials!

We just did Shawnee County's Largest Workout!

http://www.wibw.com/localnews/headlines/98476074.html?storySection=comments

There should be news coverage tonight and pictures in tomorrow's paper, so I'll post more when they're available. I just wanted to send a big THANK YOU to my daughter for inviting Mike and I to go with her! It was very hot, but the hundreds who attended managed to squeeze in to the shady spots on the astroturf of the college football stadium. We all looked rather funny as we stood up and were all speckled with the black charcoal or whatever it was. The instructors made it fun and there was even a couple of them demonstrating how  folks like me with somewhat limited mobility could participate. I even ran in to an old friend of mine who uses a wheelchair and was able to participate. That girl has some awesome arm muscles! Anyway, now it's on to the shower....

Do I have a sign on my back???

Ok, so this isn't going to be a very positive post, but hey, a girl's gotta be honest once in awhile, right? On my way home from work after about the thousandth car either pulled in front of me cutting me off only to drive ten miles under the speed limit I wondered if someone had put a sign on my back, or in this case on my bumper, that said something like this:

I am a very forgiving driver so go ahead, speed around me and then cut me off causing me to put my brakes on, then slow waaaaay down and never use your turn signal throughout the whole process, then ride your brakes all the while you are in front of me because hey, I love those pretty red lights anyway, speaking of which, make sure you slow down enough so I have to stop at that light after you've gone through the yellow light as it turns to red.

Or even before leaving work I think someone stuck this sign on my back:

When asked a question by this person make sure that you answer in perfect English, but in a language that is totally foreign to her, you know, like all acronyms and jargon only understood by someone in your line of work. This will surely incite her to ask more questions to which you can honestly reply that you have already answered them in a previous message.

Now that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I thought of all the stuff I could write about my Monday. Oh things aren't all that bad, just seemed to be a red light Monday when the day started out with things going wrong, but ended... well it's not over yet so I'll reserve judgement. I did coin a new phrase today when the email system wasn't working properly.... ready? I tell ya it's quite original..... Electronic Montezuma's Revenge!!! What'dya think about that?

Refinishing the buffet

Now that the buffet is empty and I have a new floor in the dining room I decided to paint it. First I had to strip the top which was cracked and bubbled paint over what turned out to be a gorgeous, although stained beyond repair wood. Yes I probably could have sanded the stain out, stripped the whole thing and ended up with a beautiful piece of furniture, but 1) why show up the rest of the furniture, and 2) where would I get the energy???

Here it is before:

JC had to check out that opening.

and after painting, before touch-up

For some odd reason I have a faint recollection (or could just be an overactive imagination) of this sort of color scheme being antique-ish. Maybe it's really a memory from the 60's? Anyway, the color chips looked like they'd coordinate well with the new floor, so we'll see what it looks like after the drop cloth and papers are removed once it's all done. Stay tuned!