bragging

I feel very accomplished, domestically, this week.

I made a skirt for myself and another for Naysha, then supervised Taryn while she made one.

Then, I helped Bob "do" the boys' room.
This started with Bob feeling destructive. I suggested he tear out the wall in the closet, which is one of the initial home improvement projects we planned. See, it used to look like this:

Bob tore out the wall on the closet side, thus making all the space useable. But with this move came organization that left the boys without a private space of their own. So we decided to put up a shelf or two in their room. But first, we paint.

2 coats on the ceiling. Primer on the walls. Tape around fixtures. Two coats on the walls. Tape around edging. Two  coats on door and window frames and crown molding while pulling carpet. See why:

Then tape around floor, then two coats on the baseboards.

I did most of the painting; Bob did most of the taping and heavy lifting.

End result (before hanging shelves, new curtains, or light fixture):

A few notes: the room is about 10x12 and has 2 sets of bunk beds that we didn't take down. It's hard to paint while touching the wall you're working on. Placing sliced onion around the room really helps with the paint odor, but it also makes you hungry. We'll get new switch and outlet covers next time we're in town.

introversion

A few days ago I saw this on Face book - you're going to have to go read it for the rest of this post to make sense.  I'll wait.

Not being a particularly introspective person, I didn't immediately recognize myself in the Guide. I did, however, realize that the Guide describes how I tend to treat other people. I mentioned this to Bob, suggesting that maybe I do this because that's what I'd prefer done to me, and some interesting conversation followed.

First, Bob confirmed that I am a true introvert. Then we reminisced a little. My habit was displayed quite well at our first meeting. I was the first one in the Sunday School room, so I sat to read the church bulletin and wait. Bob was the next one in; he sat directly across from me, so I looked up and said "hi" (I was trying to be nice, because I knew he wasn't a regular), and then went back to my reading (I didn't want to flirt, and anyway, I had nothing to say). He said something, I answered him, but went right back to the bulletin. Repeat.

When I was a youngster I had a motto: I don't talk to anyone unless I know them. This doesn't make sense to extroverted people, because they get to know someone by talking to them. But for me, I required time to become comfortable with a person's presence before I would expend some of my precious energy on them. Why bother if it was a one-time encounter?

This information sheds light on our daily activities as well. Every evening after the children are in bed, Bob watches a TV show on the computer. Not willing to waste my precious energy juices on unwanted contact, I don't interrupt. So any bottled-up conversations that accumulate throughout the day wait a little longer.  Bob, however, doesn't have the inner "how to treat an introvert guide," so whatever I am doing, he doesn't hesitate to interrupt me to initiate conversation.  Now, if I told you this in a vacuum, you might suspect that I am cold and Bob is rude. But since we have the insight gleaned from this little Guide, we all know that Bob and I are both just practicing self-preservation.

more Elijahisms

Edited to add:

Wanting to sit in Bob's recliner and put up the footrest, he asked, "Can I rest my foot?" 

Fussing with Naysha in the car, he said in a very grumpy voice, "I'm mad at you for no reason!"

Coming in from outside he said, "I need to use the restroom. Should I put my hands on my bottom?"

Green Eggs and Ham

You know the story, right? Sam-I-am tries to get the other guy to eat green eggs and ham, but he doesn't like them. Maybe in a box, with a fox, on a train, in the rain.... Yeah?

I finally figured it out. Dr. Suess had a time machine, and he has met Elijah.

Yep, I'm pretty convinced that Elijah is the original Sam-I-am. At the very least they are related.

Today he was non-stop.                      For example, consider the following fictionalized account:
Elijah wanted to put water in Naysha's bicycle water bottle, and I said no.
He: Can I get hot water?
Me: No water in the bottle.
He: Can I get cold water?
Me: No water in the bottle!
He: I'm thirsty.
Me: You may drink from a glass.
He: Can I drink from the bottle?
Me: No, you may not put water in the bottle.
He: Can I drink water?
Me: You may drink from this glass (indicating glass with water in it).
He: Can I put the water in the bottle?
Me: No. That bottle is for when you are playing outside. We are inside. You may drink from the glass.
He: Can we go outside?
Me: no.
He: Can I take the bottle outside?
Me: No. You may NOT go outside.
He: Can I drink from the bottle?

and it keeps going forever.

couple pictures

Naysha's new dress, and Daniel growing up.

bad blogger

Not Blogspot; ME!

We have had a run or two with cough and cold, but other than last Monday, no fevers. I've treated with EmergenC and lots of fruits, and we are basically still healthy and avoiding the flu.

We haven't even tried to diet this week. I made chocolate caramels yesterday, which were good but burnt. But we have invented a new exercise, dubbed "the Daniel" because it's what he does all the time. We lie on the floor with arms and legs straight (arms above the head), and simultaneously lift all 4 limbs up and point them at the ceiling, then gently lower back to the floor. Do this 10 times and you'll feel a twinge in the lower abdomen.

Daniel isn't content to lie on the floor, however, and tries with increasing determination and skill to pull himself up on various items (such as the sofa, my body, folding chairs, his toys...).

We went shopping Thursday, and ran into Michelle Duggar (and 3 of her girls) in Sam's. It took us a minute to recognize them, but the girls insisted on saying hi, so I and Taryn and Naysha caught up with the Duggars and I introduced myself. She gave me a card with a family photo and I saw the violins in the photo and asked about music lessons, so we talked about that for a while and she gave me the phone number of two people they know who give lessons. They were really nice and personable, and I tried to not gush because really, I'm not a "fan" - I don't know if I've ever watched a whole episode of the show - but I've heard good things about the family and my experience this week confirmed that.

I made a dress for Naysha. I might have mentioned that I started it 2 weeks ago. It got tabled, but I pulled it back out Friday and finished it. It's not professional, but the pattern of the fabric is forgiving. One stop on Thursday was at Hobby Lobby, where Simplicity patterns were on sale for 99cents. The girls and I picked out a few (and left one of those), and material for one item each. Taryn has almost finished her skirt. I'm proud of her for doing it herself.

We finally got some rain!  Like twice this month!!! We don't have a rain gauge, but Jesse who lives just over the hill reported 3 1/2 inches the first rain. It is a welcome relief. We look at pictures from 2 years ago and are amazed at how green things were.

Surely there's more, but NCIS is getting interesting.

snack time

Today we tried a new recipe. I'd seen the pictures on Facebook (you can see them here), and I thought it looked interesting if not impressive, but today we bought some Oreos and I had some time...

You've heard the saying, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," and while I've never been "skinny," I did approach it once when I was 16-17 and had a dog that I walked daily. From what I remember it did feel good to step on the scales and see the numbers going down, or to walk past a mirror and see that I wasn't revolting, but now that I'm on the other side (an inch taller and 100+ lbs heavier) I can say that while I do have moments of feeling fat (like when I see a full length mirror - especially the ones in Bob Evans restaurant {which seems like a really dumb idea, to have wide angle mirrors in a restaurant, because then people will see themselves and not want to eat as much, or maybe order water instead of soda, and so the place loses money by losing sales} - or if I have trouble getting up off the floor), for the most part I "feel" the same on the inside: when I'm talking with my friends I'm not thinking, "I'm fat," I'm thinking, "stand up straight, don't cross your arms, keep eye contact," and that hasn't changed my whole life, so I can say that skinny doesn't feel exceptional. However, when I bit into that brownie/cupcake (which we frosted with a chocolate/peanut butter ganache) I wasn't feeling "fat" or "skinny" - I just tasted. And it tasted GOOD.

For the record, skinny me (with my inspiration):

Annnnd... there is no picture of "fat me" on my computer. Lucky you. :-)