New Posting

Girls there is a new posting on my secret blog.

The Dawn Of A New Era

It's been a while so let's get right into it. Keri was so happy and surprised when she saw her new room. She actually had tears in her eyes when she hugged me and thanked me. We have been really busy getting into the new school year. There have been some changes with Keri going to middle school this year, and Melissa skipping a grade. Yes, I said she skipped a grade.

She enrolled herself in summer school and paid for it with her own money. This gave her enough credits to be a senior this year. I confess that I feel unprepared. There will senior pictures, prom, yearbook, senior trip and all that jazz. How we are going to pull this off I haven't figured out yet.

Keri made a few requests as she embarked on her middle school journey, which I will now list.

1. She would like permission to wear eyeliner.

2. She would like to be allowed to have boyfriends.

3. She would like her bedtime extended to 9:30.

I responded with the following proclamations:

1. She may not wear eyeliner, she only 11 years old.

2. She may not have a boyfriend, she is only 11 years old.

3. Her bedtime will not be extended to 9:30 because she has to get up 30 minutes earlier this year to catch the bus. That and I don't want my one hour of me time intruded upon.

On to other things. So have any of you heard of Fung Shei? Well I don't necessarily believe in it but I would like to make an observation. I listen to a radio show on my Ipod out of Charlotte, NC. Once a month they have a guest by the name of Ellen Whitehurt who provides a monthly Fung Shei report. One month, she was giving advise about how to bring men/women into your life. She said that if you are a woman and your bedroom is really girlie, it will repel men. I thought it was a lot hogwash.....until I moved Keri and all her girlie stuff out of my bedroom.

Ladies (and gentlemen if there are any left) the men have been coming out of the freakin' woodworks. Do you hear me? Now, I am not conceited, but I am here to tell you that I have been hit on more in the last couple of months than I have in..well a really long time. I don't know if it really has anything to do with the room change, but who am I to say? There have been men who are inappropriately old, there have been men who are inappropriately young. I swear I even got hit on by a father and son. It's really strange. I am going to post a more detailed account of some this stuff on my secret blog. This is all I really feel comfortable talking about here. I will say that I have made some new friends and I am enjoying my life more because of it. I find myself laughing......a lot.

Finally, one of the reasons for my prolonged absence boils down to this. Work has gotten really crazy. I pluck a computer all day at work, and frankly I have no use for sitting in front of a computer screen when I am home. I mean I don't get on the computer for ANYTHING. I am so lazy I even update my Facebook status from my phone. I have been reading other blogs, but I haven't been posting comments. It has been really great to hook up with some of you guys on Facebook. If anyone is not a Facebook friend, send an email to susiewrsthepants@aol.com and I will tell you how to find me. Good night all my little butt munches!

The Grand Finale

I think Keri's room is coming along nicely. I posted some pics on my Facebook, but I wanted to put some here also. You know, cuz all of you peeps aren't Facebook friends....yet.

 

Remember this hideous, pitiful excuse for a light?

                                                           Voila! New light fixture.

 

I almost wanted this table and lamp for myself. Too cute.

 

Only one of the pillows is new. I recycled some pillows that Keri already had. They just happen to match all the new stuff. 

 

What is a new room without pictures of your loving family?

 

This thing looked much better on the picture than it does unfolded. Maybe I should fill up with dirty clothes to fill it out. Nothing like a bin full of dirty laundry for a new room.

 

Keri's new dresser which I partially put together myself. Then I enjoyed a glass of wine and supervised my dad finishing the dresser. I made sure to instruct him on the proper way to tighten screws, since I'm such an expert now.

 

I include this final picture to demonstrate my extreme displeasure over the billions of push pins I found when cleaning all of her stuff out of the master bedroom. Push pins have therefore been permanently banned from this house. They pose a danger to my feet, fingers, and the well being of my vacuum cleaner. I hereby declare and decree that all push pins found in my home will immediately receive the death penalty.

Oops I Did It Again...And Again....And Again

This has definitely been a week of mishaps. Yesterday especially, but go back a few days ago when my sister and Taylor came over to work on the new room for Keri. When it was time for a diaper change, sis realized that she didn't have any diapers in the diaper bag. We all stood around staring stupidly at each other trying to figure out what to do. Since it was a poopy diaper, she cleaned him up. Taylor promptly stood up, walked a few feet, squatted and then did his business.....on my living room floor.

I talk about my brilliant mind all the time. Once again, my super smart self didn't let me down. I know, let's go to the store and buy some freakin' diapers. While I was gone, Taylor proceeded to "mark" his territory and I don't mean with urine. By the time Melissa and I got back with the diapers, my sister had moved him to the bathtub to prevent any further "marking".

This is the kind of thing that happens to all of us that we are ashamed of. I know I have mentioned instances where I forgot to send money for a field trip, or the time I forgot it was my day to send snacks for Keri's class. I heard an interesting segment on the radio a few days ago. The discussion was about what it takes to be a mom. The speaker was telling a story about being in a Starb*cks getting coffee. She saw a dad standing in line with one of those baby snuggly things. Of course there was a baby in the snuggly thing. A strange reached over and tapped him on the shoulder and told him what a good dad he was. Are you kidding me? All it takes to be a good dad is to hold your child while you stand in line waiting for a caffeine fix? Who knew.

I am NOT knocking on dads here OK. I am so lucky to have two wonderful dads in my life. I am a daughter to both of these men. I love them and they love me. Both are seemingly comfortable with my relationship with the other.

Dad-gummit I didn't mean to get sidetracked about that. Sorry. So last night I was trying to hang the curtain rod for Keri's room. It did not go well. I couldn't get the hole started with the screw. I dropped the screws too many times to count. I was a little irate. I mean, I single handedly put together that TV stand. Remember? The one that took me 8 friggin hours to put together. After that, I should be capable of assembling most anything.

Finally I got the curtain rod up. I mumbled under my breath as I worked. The curtain was the final nail in the coffin for yesterday. Hours before that, I was helping my sister activate a replacement cell phone. Somehow, I managed to cut the service off of my phone, and transfer it to her phone. I have NO IDEA how I managed to do that. I couldn't do it again if I tried.

I was very humiliated as I spoke to the customer service rep and told him what had happened. I made sure to point out that I had successfully activated MANY phones without needing assistance or having to go the actual store. Thankfully he was a very nice rep. I also made sure to point out how confusing it can be when you have FOUR cell phones under your account. He chuckled and agreed. Then he told me about how his daughter had done the same thing. Somehow, I wasn't very comforted.

I also managed to knock little Taylor on his butt. My sis invited me over for dinner. I had stepped outside to tell her man that dinner was ready. I went barging in the back door, completely unaware that little Taylor was right behind the door. Oh the shame. The guilt.

I know that none of these things are really a big deal. Put them all together and I am a bumbling idiot. I don't know how I manage to dress and feed myself some days. Any of you have days like that?

SSSHHHHHH.... It's A Surprise!

This is a post about Keri's new room




Really, I promise...but first, a pic of my adorable nephew Taylor. His mother is a painter. A professional one. Let me take a minute to tell you about his mother. She was in an emotionally abusive relationship for eight years.


That's hard to believe looking at her happy face. Eight years and two kids later, she got out. Around the same time, she started her own business. She had been painting for years as an hourly painter. She bravely decided to venture out on her own.....with two small children to care for. She secured a place to live for her and her two boys. Long story short, she made it. She began to heal from this terrible relationship, and moved on. Hence, adorable little Taylor

Her painting business is successful, and she is very good at it. Me being the thoughtful and considerate sister that I am, I am giving her a free plug. Which I should do anyway, seeing as how she painted Keri's new room for free

Now, on to Keri's room. We live in a three bedroom house. When we moved in, one of the bedrooms was already occupied. (Don't ask, it's a complicated story) Anyway, I had to share a room with Keri. It was only supposed to be temporary. Well, temporary turned in to four years. Four years of me having to share bedroom space with a total slob.

As Keri gets ready to embark on her journey through middle school, I feel that continuing to share a room with me would be, well emotionally debilitating to her. I had been trying to figure out what to do for quite a while.

Then suddenly a brilliant idea just popped right into my head. OK I got the idea from someone else We have an empty room. Why not turn it into a bedroom. The biggest problem with the room is that it has no doors. So, how do I close off a room with two entryways, with one of the entry ways being a double entryway?

Duh!!! Put up some doors. While this is not the best solution, it was economical, and it will get Keri out of my hair. I will have an adult bedroom again. Oh the joy, the happiness. With a solution in place, we commenced to the remodel project.




Taylor was very helpful as you can see. Did I mention that Keri is out of state visiting relatives? Did I mention that she has NO IDEA what we are up to while she is gone? I love a surprise! Incidentally, I did not steal my idea from HW's blog. Really, I promise. Although I confess I do believe we communicate telepathically as I mentioned to her.





See this hideous chandelier with only one bulb burning? Well, I have purchased a new fixture, I just haven't figured out who I am going to con into installing it for me.



Taylor continued to offer his support throughout the entire painting project. Here he is showing me the proper way to wear a bowl on your head. Very important details you know.


Here he is showing me how to avoid getting paint on the floor by holding the paint brush AWAY from the floor. Very educational.

Keri's bedspread pattern

Do you know how hard it is to hold up a pillow sham and take the picture yourself? Well, it's not easy.
I chose the blue and white shears because I didn't want to go overboard with the green and lavender.
This is where we are as of today. The room has been painted, two of the doors have been installed, the bed frame is up, and the curtain is hung. We still have to finish the bed, get a dresser, finish the trim paint, and install the final door. So far, this project has cost me about $265.00. Pretty good huh?

No Power Tools For Me

Happy Memorial Day......one day late. I took off Friday so that I could have a nice four day weekend,  and work on some projects around the house. Friday morning I got up promptly at 6 am. I took Keri to school and then headed out to buy some gardening tools. The three years in college and a six month stint at the DSJ left my yard in shambles. No weeds had been pulled, no bushes trimmed, nothing. For two years. It's shameful, I know, but I had to prioritize. You know, do school work or pull weeds. I picked the school work.

So I spent the ENTIRE day pulling weeds, clipping bushes, cleaning, and just generally trying to turn my yard into something semi acceptable. It took all day. I do mean ALL FRIGGIN DAY. It was dusk when I finally decided I had enough.

Saturday, a birthday party for my nephew. Which turned into an all day event.

Sunday was devoted to grocery shopping and cleaning the house.

(Bear with me I'm leading up to something here)

Yesterday was the big day.

 

I started with this.

 

And this. Sadly, per the instruction manual,  I was unable to use my power drill. Oh well, there is always next time.

 

I think it probably took me an hour just to get this done. Someone who shall remain nameless...Dejah Belit Jackson was SUPPOSED to come and help me but NNNNNOOOOO. I had to do this all alone.

Somehow I found the strength to go on.....ALLLL ALONE.

 

See that white edge directly above this print? I put the shelf on backwards then I had to take it apart and fix it.This is why I have no business doing these sort of  "projects".

Alas I plunged forward into the world of screws, do- hickeys and slabs of wood. This took a really long time. Really, I'm not being sarcastic.

 

I did this all by myself. I can't believe it. If someone who shall remain nameless Dejah Jackson would have showed up, I could have finished in half the time. (I think)

 

Let's stop and take a moment to observe what a disorganized heathen I am. Can you believe this came out my old one? I can't. I'm still sort of shocked.

 

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel by now. I am also getting very bored with the whole I-can-do-it-myself-independent-woman-who-needs-your-help-anyway syndrome.

 

Oh ye of little faith. Did you think I couldn't do it? Well I didn't think I could do it. As a matter of fact, this baby sat in my living room for a week before I was brave enough to attempt this. I did open the box once. When I saw the giant bag of screws, nails, and other metal thingys, I was so overwhelmed I put the bag of screws back in the box and didn't look at it again for a week.

 It was worth it. 

 

Eight hours later, it was worth it. Count them I said eight. As in one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. 

When I put my new 42 inch, LCD, flat screen TV on that baby, it was so worth it. 

Now when I can't afford to go out, I will at least have my TV. Yes, I said eight hours for me to put that thing together. I will say that the instructions were some of the best instructions I have ever read. There were even "actual size" pictures of the various screws, which came in handy cuz I am mechanically challenged. Still wish I could have used my power drill.....sigh

Going Blue (Instead of Green)

I have been meaning to get around to this post for a couple of weeks now. You know how that goes. A couple of weeks ago, in the checkout lane at Wally World, I noticed they are selling Earth friendly, reusable shopping bags. What the heck, I thought. Shamefully, I cant think of anything else I am doing to help the planet. I don't think our town offers a recycling service where they pick it up at the curb. I must interrupt and note that this is not a "brag on myself" post.

I bought four of these bags.




Let me tell you what I love about these bags. I bought four of them, and ALL my groceries fit into the four bags. Which means two things, one-the back of my Toyota is not nearly as packed when I load the groceries. Two-less trips to and from the car to get the groceries into house. Third-I am making a small contribution to help the planet. The bags only cost 50 cents a piece.

They also had this little number which I love also.


This is...well, a shopping bag in a bag. It fits neatly into your purse, and is very handy when you are just picking up a few things. I use mine when I go the drugstore.


This is what it looks like unfolded. It only takes a few seconds to fold it back.


Oh, I almost forgot. It also has one of those handy clips that attaches to your key ring.

If you are an impulse shopper (like I have been known to be) this is perfect. You know how you go into a store for one thing, and you end up with an armful of stuff. Come on, you know who you are. This bag is perfect for those trips. AAAANNNDDDD, you don't have to touch the germy, disgusting, God-knows-what-they-have-on-them baskets.

So, in conclusion, I urge you run out and buy yourself some of these wonderful bags posthaste and forthwith. So I won't be the only one surrounded by blue bags. So you too, can help our planet.