Naughty Boy

Kendra sent this message to me on my cell phone today, along with the following picture:

"I started to panic a bit because all of a sudden I couldn't find Charlie while we were shopping at Sam's Club. I was pushing the cart and didn't see him! I started searching everywhere...

...then he said, "Here I am, Mommy."

Tables

Oh my - so many wonderful new tables in our home!

 Here's the steel table set up in the kitchen nook area. I love having a craft/project table of my very own! I can set up a (messy) project, and it's not in the way on the dining room table.

 I know you saw a glimpse of the Holman table in my post about reupholstering the chairs, but I wanted to highlight it again. It is so perfect in this corner of the living room.

 Did you notice our beautiful new Portland Temple drawing on the table? And that black shadow box in the background has dried flowers from Craig's memorial service. Too fragile to mail - next time Mark and I make a trip to Shelton, we'll give it to Linda and Maury.

 The typing table...with the typewriter, of course! Now that we don't have grandchildren living here, I can finally bring it out to enjoy. It's set up in the corner of the dining room. I made a cute little tablecloth for it with cherry print fabric and green rickrack.

And I moved some of the vintage family plates to be an arrangement above the typewriter/typing table.

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU for all the beautiful furniture! I feel like such a lucky girl. This is the way I have hoped to furnish my home for years. I will love and care for these special pieces for many years. Thank you again for sharing them with Mark and me and our family.

Sofa, Reupholstered

The upholstery job on the sofa was finally finished a couple of weeks ago. The woman (Dee) we hired to do the upholstering did a beautiful job on the furniture. The cushions were another story. It took 4 different tries before she finally got them right.

On top of that, she is an awful communicator. I think she really does know what she's doing, but she doesn't communicate what she's doing to the customer...at least not to me.

The cushions are still a little puffier than I want them to be, but she has assured me that the feather inserts will settle down over the first 3-4 months of use. She said to sit on them a lot! After that, the feathers will stay put.

Anyway, we love our furniture! We get so many compliments on these beautiful family heirlooms. Thank you for sharing them with us.

On my "to do" list - get brave and reupholster the occasional chair from Nana & Granddad Holman's house.

Piñata

Mark successfully removed the electronic device that someone had thrown over our phone line during the night. He said it appeared to be a little fan/blower device...like the neighbors might use for inflating their front yard population of plastic Christmas folks (snowman, Santa, etc.). It's quite the yard.

I was going to label the photo "old man with ladder and stick," but Mark said it should be called "piñata," and I think his title is better.

Things Come in Threes

Yesterday brought some big changes!

1. I went to the last class of my last class. After 6 years of night classes at PSU, I am finished. I'll still have meetings with my thesis advisor in winter and spring terms, but no more 4-hour night classes every week. No more driving to and from Portland every week.

2. David got the job in Wisconsin! He heard late yesterday afternoon. Originally they had planned for him to begin work in early January, but he offered to begin on Monday, and they said yes. He will fly out on Sunday. Holly and the kids will stay here until he has housing and some furniture secured. I am excited for David and his family, but I already know how much I will miss them...

3. I have a new calling. I have been serving in the Church nursery--and loving it--since June. It is a sweet, happy place to be on Sundays, even when a little one is sad and missing mommy. I figured I'd be there for a long time. Last night when I got home from class, the bishop was at the house. He chatted with Mark and me for a bit, and then he turned and looked at me... He asked me to serve as the Young Women's President. I'll be over all of the activities for the teenage girls in our ward. What a change! There's no way that I could have done this while I was still taking night classes. Isn't it interesting that God knew that I was on my way home from my last class when the bishop went to the house? Isn't it interesting that the bishop didn't even know I had been taking night classes? Isn't it interesting that the bishop and his counselors just made that decision the night before? Hmmm...

This bear is my life....

 Hang in there, little bear! Don't look down, and don't think about all the things about to pile up on you!

 How do bears get into these predicaments? Why don't they think ahead about all the things there are to do? What was the bear thinking, to get so close to the edge?

You can do it, little bear! Somehow, you'll figure out how to get back on top of things again...maybe...

Hahahahaha! Just want to point out that the bear is Mark's messy side of the room, not mine. When I looked over toward Mark's dresser this morning, I noticed the predicament of the poor little bear, hanging over the crevasse. Can you say, "end of term"?

We have our last finals today, with grading time in the afternoon and all day tomorrow. Can't wait for the weekend!

Andie's Apron

I wanted to show you the apron I made for Andie's birthday.

It didn't cost me anything! I was able to make it from fabric pieces and scraps that I already had at home.

I bought her a $.99 box of brownie mix to go with the apron.

Haha - her card cost more than her gift! But I think she'll like it.