Keeping busy...

This strike time has been interesting to say the least.  I have been given a glimpse into what life may look like when Travis retires, and all I can say is that we are going to need a Reader's Digest sized calender and a clock.  We go to bed when we are tired and wake up when the light comes into our room each morning.  We yawn, kiss good morning and then inevitably one of us asks the other what day/date it is.  It's very surreal not living on a real work schedule.  It's also weird not keeping track of what time it is as the day goes on.  We eat when we are hungry, not when our "lunch" time is, and the result is that we have both lost weight.

Travis and I are keeping busy with a steady stream of handyman and woodworking projects.  I do the design consult/painting and then Travis does his woodworking magic.  It's not our usual paycheck, but it's enough for us to get by.  We are very lucky to have some skills to fall back on, not everyone affected by this strike can say the same.

This is one of our neighbor's kitchens- they had a HUGE microwave over the stove, but wanted a shelf for spices...

Painted this piece for a client in ASCP Coco...

Client piece painted in ASCP Paris Grey and Graphite...

Stair rails in ASCP Graphite- I love these painted!

 Travis is also working on our laundry room build.  He finished up all of the trim this morning, so now it's time to pooky, sand and paint...

It is nice having Travis around to work on math with Hunter.  He is neck deep into fractions and Travis is using his woodworking projects to let Hunter use his fraction knowledge in a real life way...

We live in home improvement stores...

Hunter is doing okay- if he's worried about his upcoming GI tests he doesn't let on.  He will turn 14 next Thursday and I keep thinking that at any moment he will outgrow the "I love you mom"'s and the "Your the best mom ever"'s, but he's not.  This guy is such a love bug...

 Gets it from his dad...

Yes, that is a five week strike beard.  I am married to a mountain man.  Or a Yeti...

This is one of his best friends, Dustin.  Also sporting the strike beard...

My older sister, Beverly, and her husband Mike came down from NJ to visit.   They brought their 7 month old puppy, Millie.  I fell in love with that dog on my last trip to NJ.  She is such a sweet heart...

We also had a lengthy discussion about the science behind this dress...

I'm kidding.  We all pretty much agreed it was ugly.


SO proud of our Anne, she was hired on by a high end salon and is headed to State Cosmetology competition at the end of the month.  Goal driven and very passionate about what she does...

So that has been our past few weeks.  Staying busy and trying to stay positive.  It is so true about the "when it rains it pours" saying.  My bank account was hacked into and Travis' truck is having issues- but we are going to be okay.  The sun is going to peek out soon and we will be better for it.

Have a great weekend!

This and that and so much more...

hello.

Sorry for the extended absence.  It's been crazy around here.  Travis started turnaround schedule, and having a resident vampire among us has been an adjustment to say the least.  75 nights straight of working sounds daunting, and in reality it is, but we are adjusting.  I am cooking a lot so that he has hot homecooked meals to take each night, and the kids are adjusting to moving quietly through the house during the day.  We spend a lot of time reading, studying and quietly talking.  It's actually kind of nice in an Anne Frank kind of way.

Doctor appointments are the bulk of my week- they are ruling out any heart issues, and now the focus is on my lungs.  That makes sense to me since I grew up with a dad who smoked, and am an asthmatic who has taken more than her fair share of Albuterol.  I have scar tissue on my lungs and there may be something else going on.  We shall see.

I've been tweaking the house a bit, moving things around, editing down more, and rethinking rooms- especially Sara's.  It is not quite as functional as I'd like it to be, and there are some things that need to be cleared out still.  I'm going to work on that this weekend.

Still waiting on the bedskirt and sham...

Homeschooling is chugging along- I love our structured classes through CLA, but also our more relaxed style of learning at home.  Hunter is a changed kid because of it.  I know in my heart that we saved him when we pulled him out of public school.

Voluntarily reading Animal Farm on a Sunday morning...

Impromptu math lesson before dad leaves for work...

One of the joys of older homes is older plumbing.  We had already had issues with the French drain that runs to the storm sewer, and last week we had a MAJOR block under the house back up into the house.  Yeah, good times are had by all when sewer water starts pouring up through the toilet and into your home and over your newly installed hardwood floors.  (Notice please that ALL bad things happen at night while your husband is on shift...)

He griped, but I know that secretly he was having fun.  Boys and mud...

Anne has started her cosmetology program and is as happy as a clam at high tide.  This is her niche, her passion- her THING...

Up do entered into a contest with signature eye liner, nose ring and blue lips...

Could not be more proud of this girl...

Travis managed to squeeze in a few small projects before his crazy schedule kicked in.  Hunter's room needed shelves, and I wanted something with a bit of an industrial feel.  Plumbing bits and old weathered/stained wood did the trick...

Next up was the little coat closet next to the kitchen.  This is Texas, most of us don't even own a coat, so this closet was fitted out with shelves so that I could store the small appliances and cookbooks...

We also managed to get our flag hung.  This flag belonged to my Grandpa Myers and it is very special to me...

The kid's bathroom roman shades finally came in.  They have a top down/bottom up feature that is perfect for a room that needs light, but requires privacy...

JCP Roman shades...

This tv console was found on Etsy from aTICOfurniture and we love the piece.  It is just the right mix of industrial with the warmth of stained wood.

Lea, from Elegant Remodeling and Design, was the lovely lady who helped us tweak the design and order our kitchen cabinets.  She did such a fantastic job of listening to my vision and adding her know how so that we didn't end up with a kitchen that didn't have a trash bin pullout!   Last week she showed up to photograph our kitchen and brought me this lovely vintage lunch pail...

Perfect as our new/old breadbox!

I lived without a rug in the living room for about a week.  I just couldn't do it.  It needed something to anchor the room, and that coffee table clanks LOUDLY when anyone hits it.  Table needed a muffler...

So enter the Dash & Albert rug Tattersol in black.  I am loving the lodgy feel of this room and the pattern is one of my all time favourites...

I always design around my dogs...

Well, that's about it for me.  I am teaching today- so I am off to enlighten and engage young learners.  Follow me on Instagram if you want to keep up with my day to day doings.  Finding the time to sit down and blog is becoming a bit more difficult.

Love, kisses, and paw prints...

Flooring and kitchen plans...

We are three weeks away from closing on our current home, moving out and closing on the town house.

Three weeks.

My day-planner squares are not big enough to accommodate all the things I have to do each day!

I do want to share some exciting news our daughter received last week- Anne has been accepted into the cosmetology program at school.  She is over the moon excited since this is what she has wanted to do since she was a little kid.  I am so proud of how responsible she is, and how she just jumps in and goes for what she wants out of life.

Yesterday Travis and I went shopping for the flooring for the town house.  We love all wood floors and have had them in our last two homes.  With me having asthma it has been a life saver.  I cannot handle carpet and dust- so wood floors were our choice for the next home.  The place we are shopping at is not  a big box DIY store- so they carried some high dollar wood flooring choices...

This particular brand is 18 dollars a sq. ft.  It would have cost 30,000 to do our home!!  Aptly named "Baroque" since it would have left us "broke"  ;)

In the end we ended up going with this choice:

You want to know the craziest thing about it?  It's not wood.  It's laminate.  Yep, laminate floors have come a long way!  I love the rusticness of it along with the low price point.  It's perfect and just what this house is going to need to lighten it up.  Plus, it's great with having kids and especially two little doxies and very sharp nails whose names shall remain unspoken...

We also shopped for a new front door.  We had our traditional "glass or no glass" discussion, with Travis voting for privacy, and me winning out on "LIGHT"...

The door will be stained in a dark walnut with a simple handle.  I am going for clean lines and simple design.  This town house will reflect that in our new lifestyle.  Low maintenance and no fuss!

Friday we are meeting with a kitchen designer to choose our cabinets and countertops.  I have designs sketched out, very European in it's simplicity and no upper cabinets.  I want this kitchen to be super efficient and uncluttered since it is a 12 x 9 space.

Here is what the kitchen looks like now...

The new fridge is much smaller so that it doesn't take up half the room!

We are gutting the entire space.  Think white cabinets, farmhouse sink, marble countertops, subway tile, and open shelving.  I know it's hard for some to see past the 1970's kitchen, but I can see it!  It's going to be tiny, but lovely.

Hope y'all are having a great week and enjoying the warmer temps.  So nice to finally see spring, although here in Texas we seem to go from a few days of spring to scorching heat : (

Dear Miley...

Dear Miley,

From a mom of a 16 year old who pretty much thinks you hung the moon, I want to thank you.  Yes, you read that right- thank you.

Anne attended a Hannah Montana concert back in the days when you were sporting your blonde wig and singing about having fun and being a part of the in crowd.  She was around eight or nine, and we laughed at how excited she was to see you on stage.

Us telling the girls they were going to see Hannah Montana...

Eight years later....you've changed a bit.  And that is totally okay, you are supposed to change as you grow up.  You are 20 and I find myself marveling at how you have found a way to use that amazing voice while changing up your image as an "adult artist" so uniquely.  I imagine if I had been in your situation, and everything I did during that "let's figure out who the hell I am as a grown up" phase had been documented and I'd had access to the stage as you do, well, it wouldn't have always been pretty.

You are growing as a woman, an artist- a person, and you are figuring it out.  I get that because as a mom of a 16 year old girl who is trying to do the exact same thing- it's just plain 'ol hard.  Just like yourself, Anne doesn't always get it right- and there are times where I have to correct her and she cannot even begin to see my reasoning.  And that's okay too, because right now she's not supposed to.

Last night you gave Anne one of her best memories as a teenager.  She stood in a sold-out stadium, wearing a shirt she made just for you to see, and sang right along with you about growing up and changing.  She could relate.   And for that I thank you.   Keep doing what you are doing.  I am confident that just like my own "little" girl you will go on to do amazing things, and just like all of us "grown ups" you will shake your head at some of the crazier things you did.  Just as it's supposed to be.

Signed,

A Mom