One of the things that I've started working on are some of the small projects that I've been wanting to do since I moved in, but have not taken the time to do. Some of them are just time consuming, and some of them require both time and a bit of money. So, I am using a portion of my tax return to begin knocking out a few of these. It is kind of exciting to see how things are working out. :-)
Pretty
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| Are you sure that there is room for you, mom? |
I'm currently dog-sitting for my niece, and that means that I'm responsible for 4 rather than 2 dogs. They get along really well, but it makes for a kind of crowded bed. Most nights, one of the dogs decides that it is too crowded and sleeps in his/her own bed. I just find it a pretty sight that they like to sleep together.
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| My parish's Adoration Chapel |
One of the things I have been doing since I moved here has been to commit to a slot for Adoration weekly. It means planning my sleep time before and after in order to get enough sleep, but I find it totally worth it. I love being able to spend time with Jesus in the middle of the night, and going is the highlight of my week.
Even so, occasionally the person after me doesn't show up, and I end up losing 2 rather than one hour of sleep. While I figure that I probably need the extra prayer time when it happens, one thing I have noticed is that my weight fluctuates more based on the amount of sleep I get than because of any other factor (at least as far as I can tell)--on nights that I get less than 7 hours of sleep, I can almost guarantee that my weight will be higher by a pound or more. Weighing yourself daily leads to such interesting correlations!
Another side-effect that I'm noticing about getting less sleep is that I tend to have less will-power on those days when I have less sleep the night before. It is amazing how much a lack of sleep effects me.
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| My desk in it's new home |
I love that I now have a place to keep my desk where I can keep my sewing machine out for when I need it. Even though my desk has all of my writing stuff, I never use it to actually write at, so turning it into a sewing area is perfect. I've been putting my machine back in its original box whenever I'm not using it, but I'm really wanting to spend more time quilting this year. Having my machine out will hopefully motivate me to do more quilting--I really need to make bedspreads for both this room and my room. I should probably think about upgrading to a better machine eventually, but this basic model will probably last me for a year or two....It probably isn't worth it to service the machine again more than once or twice, though.
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| Mysti-girl enjoying the new place for the bed and the sunlight from the window. |
Without a roommate, I now have a spare bedroom, which is really nice.
Happy
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| The room from the back corner--don't mind the two skirts that are drying on the door. |
Just as I thought it would, the love-seat works perfectly in this room. Now, all I have to do is find something to put on the walls. For sure, I need a Crucifix, but I'm not sure what else yet. It will probably depend on what the eventual quilt for this room will look like.
Last Saturday, I spent the whole day tearing out the carpet from this room. As I suspected, there is a really nice, if badly stained, hard wood floor underneath. Removing the carpet wasn't actually the part that took so long--it was removing the tack board around the edges. I spent all day using my hammer and a chisel to pry them up, and I'm pretty proud of my work!
Depending on whether I try to refinish it myself or if I get it professionally done, it is probably not going to happen until Summer sometime to resurface it. I found a product called "Goof Off," though, and I'm going to see if I can get some of the worst stains out rather than having to sand all of them off. Part of me is really leaning toward doing the work myself, since I can do the floors one room at a time and finish it for about 1/10 of the price.
The things holding me back are:
- Can I sand the floors evenly?
- Will it look good when I'm done?
I'm seriously thinking about making the spare bedroom a test bed--if I can make it look good, then I know that I can do my bedroom and the living room, no problem. If I can't then it isn't that much money wasted, and I can bring in a professional.
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| Most of the room |
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| The entryway. |
Another of my projects has been to get some shelves made for a built-in bookcase in my kitchen so that I can use it as a spice rack. Earlier this week while I as at lowe's I found some really pretty wood, and had them cut the wood into the size I needed. I had to check to see if it would work, so as soon as I got home, I put the shelves up, even though they aren't finished or sanded yet. The end result makes me very happy!
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| I have now switched the contents on the bottom and top shelves--having non-food items seemed safer on the shelf the dogs can reach. |
Funny
This is what I saw when I woke up this morning. At first, I thought, "Aaww, how cute!" Then Sassy stretched a little, and it was like she was trying to push Bubba put of the way. Now I'm just not sure.
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| I'm not sure whether they are cuddling, or if Sassy is trying to take up Bubba's space on the bed. |
While I was pounding away on the floors, the animals pretty much avoided the noise like the plague. However, as soon as I was done and started putting the furniture in place, they became very curious. I'm not sure they knew what to make of this room without the yucky, stained carpet.
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| Mom, is it ok to get on the floor now? Are the "bang-bangs" done??? |
This coming weekend means finishing the shelves for the spice rack, painting the patch on the wall in the Bathroom (I had it fixed right before Christmas, and just haven't gotten around to painting it--it is partially hidden by the toilet, so I just don't think of it that often), and trying the Goof-Off on the stains in the spare bedroom. I never realized how much work owning a house can be!
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| My to-do list for this weekend |
Real
In the process of moving my desk, I had to clear it off. The smart thing to do would have been to take all of the stuff that had been on my desk and put it where they belonged. What did I do instead? Move it to the top of my dresser. In my defense, I was really tired after close to seven hours of tearing up tack-board...
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| Why clean when you can just move the stack somewhere else??? |
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| Battle Scars--proof that you survived! |
And, while I was working on the Tack-board, I ended up somehow (I'm still not sure how) getting a nail stuck between my finger and the fingernail. The nail actually ended up poking through the fingernail about midway. It hurt like a booger, but really didn't bleed that much. Now, I have a pretty bruise underneath my nail, even though it doesn't really hurt anymore. I keep forgetting to call my Dr. and schedule a tetanus shot, but will try to do so later today.
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