Project Updates

I started painting around 1 PM on Saturday. Around 1:30 PM Saturday I really wished I had hired painters. Haha. I may have slightly underestimated how long this small project of mine would take.

It wouldn't be so bad, except that it's my bedroom and bathroom, which have become non-functioning at the moment. As it turns out, these two rooms are quite essential to the work week. We knew we were getting rid of some of our old bedroom furniture, and since we had to move it to paint anyway, we went ahead and moved it out Saturday. We gave our dresser to my brother, and sold our armoire, which was picked up yesterday (although we had moved it to the foyer Saturday when my brother was here). That means that everything that was in those items is now sitting on our dining room table. Everything else that has been sitting in the bedroom is also in the dining room (which reminds me, I really need a bookcase...) We moved the bed to the center of the bedroom, and that's pretty much the only thing in there.

Our bathroom is completely tarped, so we have had to temporarily move upstairs to the guest bathroom with a shower. I know it's not the end of the world, but here is how this morning went: Wake up, collect my shower stuff, and drag my sleepy self upstairs to the bathroom. Turn on the water, realize I forgot my facewash. Walk back downstairs, grab facewash, walk back upstairs. Finish shower, walk back downstairs, realize I left my phone upstairs. Walk back upstairs, grab phone, back down. Wade through tarps, and paint craziness to find clothes. Dig through stuff on dining room table to find a bra.

Yeah. Super fun.

It's coming along though. It's going to be tough through the week, because obviously I can't devote as much time to painting since I get home at 6ish, and then have to figure out food. But I'm confident I'll be 100% finished after this weekend.

Can't WAIT to share some pictures!

Holy Moly!

I'm feeling slightly panicked since receiving notification that my new bedroom furniture has shipped. I have a bedroom full of stuff that needs to be organized and moved out. I am painting before the furniture gets here, which means I have to be completely finished painting this weekend since the furniture will most likely be delivered next week. I have tonight and tomorrow night, then two days to clean out an armoire and find it a home, clean out a very large dresser so it's new owner can come pick it up Saturday morning, clean out a nightstand (the junk drawer...) and move it upstairs, tape, fill holes in the walls, purchase paint and accessories, and paint stripes (because I couldn't make this a quick and easy process...). I'm going to let that process for a moment..... now do you understand?!

 I am thinking it may be time to bribe some friends :-)

Despite wondering how I will finish, I'm really excited about the new stripes I'm painting! I've been dying to use this technique since I saw it on TV years ago. The walls will look like this if all goes well:

The paint color is the same, but it's purchased in a flat and a high gloss. That's what gives the stripe effect, but it's very subtle. The stripes should be fairly easy to do, although it will take a couple of people. They are made using a chalk line, and then taped from there.

I actually haven't decided what color I'm painting yet (I know, right?!) Right now pretty much our entire house is a cappachino color. The previous owners were all about some brown. Needless to say, I'm pretty much over it. I need some color! Our furniture is mahogany, so it will go with almost anything. I'm still looking, but I am thinking it's between yellow and blue. I really want blue, but I'm kindof scared of it to be honest. In the past, I've been a very neutral girl, so although I love blue and it makes me happy, it's definitely out of my comfort zone. Plus, I'll always have to pick out bedding to coordinate with it. And what kindof curtains go with blue?! See, all these concerns and questions. Yellow, on the other hand, is still sortof neutral, but still happy. Then, I could go with a very light, almost beige color, which would allow me to add color via bedding and curtains. I just don't know. I've been scouring the internet for pictures and paint colors, so hopefully I'll find the right inspiration soon!

New Layout and Kitty Update

Don't you just love the new layout?! Faith, whose link is on the right, designed it for me, and it's absolutely perfect and exactly what I was looking for!

Yesterday I stayed home from work, which was quite fabulous. Why, you ask? Just because I wanted to! I haven't really had any time off since the beginning of the year, and I was beginning to get a little stressed out, so I decided to take a day with no obligations whatsoever. I ended up getting quite a bit of stuff done though. I went grocery shopping, went to visit with the kitty who is still at the vet, organized some stuff in our bonus room that I'm embarrassed to say has been sitting up there since Christmas, cleaned out some drawers in preparation for our new bedroom furniture, made 3 loaves of poppy seed bread (YUM!), and beat a few levels on Angry Birds, haha  ;-)

Of course, I didn't want to get up and go to work this morning though....

So update on Huck. The vet called Monday evening and said they did end up having to put him to sleep to catheterize him, and they did find that he was completely blocked. Obviously this would have been fatal, so it's a really good thing I got him there on Monday when I did. They were able to remove the blockage, but they had to keep him Monday night to make sure he was able to pee by himself on Tuesday. His vet called me first thing Tuesday morning and said he did go overnight, which she was very happy about, but since he is on anti-inflammatory meds and an antibiotic, she wanted to keep him another day just to make sure he was doing well. They asked me to bring some of his food by yesterday, and when I got there they let me go back to visit. He immediately started purring and trying to crawl on me, but I could tell he was sore. He ate quite a bit, which was good. He's still there today, but I'm hoping he will be able to come home either today or tomorrow at the latest. I miss my little guy!

Trip to the Vet = No Fun

So I called the vet first thing this morning and had them squeeze in Huck today. Between last night and this morning he developed some blood in his urine, and seemed to be in more pain than he was Saturday/Sunday morning. We got there, and the vet said she could fill that his bladder was full, so she tried to squeeze it but nothing happened. She feels like there is a blockage of some sort, and seemed really concerned. They made me leave him there, and she said if he doesn't pee on his own, she is going to knock him out so she can manually empty his bladder, and then depending on what she sees, she may need to put in a catheter for a day or two. At this point, she isn't really sure what the cause is, but hopefully, once she is able to get a good sample she will know more.

Poor kitty.

Weekend Activites

I'm a little sad that it's already Sunday evening, but this weekend has been quite eventful!

Friday night we went out for dinner with another couple. I work with the husband of the other couple - we were actually hired at the same time 5+ years ago at the company I work for. He and I meshed immediately, and although we work in different locations now, we chat almost daily. I was really excited to get together, but I was nervous about all the spouses meeting, because it's just hard to anticipate how it will go when you throw together a bunch of people that don't know each other. Forunately, it went great! The conversation flowed easily, and we ended up staying at the restaurant for almost 3 hours! We'll probably try to get together again at some point, hopefully soon!

Saturday we got some work done in the garden. We spread out all the compost onto the area where we will plant, and then added a mixture of peat moss and manure. We tilled it all together, so we'll be ready to plant next week. Woo hoo!

In other, not so fun, news...I have a very sick kitty  :-(

Huckleberry started feeling bad on Saturday, and I noticed he had a couple of accidents on the floor, which never happens (fortunately, we have tile, so no big worries there). I also noticed that before he had to go, he would cry. He's been pretty lethargic, and hasn't really been eating either. Sunday night, he started having a LOT of leaking issues. He was just sortof walking around and peeing - again, totally out of the norm. I ended up buying some puppy pads, covering the entire laundry room with them, and locking him in there. It's been so sad though. He never, ever gets locked up, and he is used to following us around everywhere, so he doesn't understand. He's been pawing at the door and crying every time we walk by. I've been going in there pretty frequently and giving him some attention though, so hopefully that's helping. I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning to take him - I hope he feels better very soon!

Friday Randomness

T.G.I.F. Seriously.

• Today on my way to work I saw a biker. Not unusual, except that this biker had on a neon green windsuit, and (as if that wasn't enough) a neon orange safety vest. At first I got a good chuckle, and then I started wondering why in the world he would wear that in public. I bet someone took him out. Yep. That's my conclusion. The only reason anyone in his right mind would wear that is if he had been hit before. Obviously this is not funny, but for whatever reason, when I came to that conclusion, it made me laugh a little more.... (and seriously, if this was a movie, you would totally laugh, too)
• I ordered new bedroom furniture last night from Pottery Barn! I'm SO SO SOOOO excited! It's the Valencia collection. This weekend I'm hoping to paint the bedroom, and figure out what to do with our old furniture. I can't wait to post some before and after pics. It's a long overdue upgrade!
• I'm reading a new book, Adopted for Life. It's really quite good. It's draws comparisons between the adoption of orphans and our adoption into God's family as Christians. It challenges that the church should be known for adoption, because we are the very example of it. I had heard it recommended by several people, but still didn't think it would be a read worth talking about. I was totally wrong. I had a highlighter out because there were statements that were so profound that I wanted to be able to find them quickly. In certain places, I was reading so fast because it was so good that I was unintentionally skipping things; I had to force myself to slow down. Once I finish it, it deserves an entire post, so I'll review it completely. I have a feeling I'll finish it this weekend.
• I'm tilling up the backyard this weekend for garden prep! Can't wait to plant next weekend!

There you have it. A collection of total randomness.

Final Garden Design

I've been working on a garden design for a few weeks now, and I've finally completed it! I love our garden, and I am super excited to start planting! We actually have quite a bit of work to do before we're ready to plant, so we'll get started this weekend. We have two compost bins that Josh built. One has turned into gorgeous dirt, so I'll spread it over the ground with some additional fertilizer before Josh tills everything up. Once it's emptied, we'll start using that one, and let the other one compost away in peace. It'll be ready to spread before winter hopefully!

I planned the design based on past experiences, and what we love and use all the time. There are a couple of newbies in there as well.

Here is what the finished product will look like:

A) large tomatoes
B) cherry tomatoes
C) a. sugar snap peas; b. blueberries; c. blackberries
D) bush beans
E) cucumbers
F) bell peppers
G) spaghetti squash
H) a. basil; b. rosemary; c. cilantro
I) marigolds
J) spinach
K) kale
L) red leaf lettuce
M) green leaf lettuce
N) onion

The spinach, kale, and lettuce will have very spread out plantings - that way we don't end up with an entire row of everything all at once. What we don't use, I'll freeze in ziplock bags and add to my morning green smoothies (sounds gross, but you can't taste the greens even a little!)

Marigolds probably seem random, right? We garden organically, and they keep away lots of unwanted bugs. Planting them in with the veggies is called companion planting, and it's a great way to start an organic garden! You can also group together certain kinds of veggies to produce better results, both in production as well as decreased insects/disease. I'm relatively new to gardening, so I'm definitely still learning all about it! I read the other day that anyone who grows any type of plant should keep a journal. You should record things like the name of the seeds you planted, your production results, what types of problems you had, weather, etc. This way you can research solutions over the winter and hopefully avoid some of the same issues the following year. I will be starting one this year for sure!