Raisin-a-ruckus One Day at a Time

What I added.....

Per my mother's request, here are some photos of the finished kitchen......

so, this is what i see from the living room......note the flowers on the dining room table! A sweet gift from Aaron! Also note how horrid that gold dining room paint is.....I think that will finally have to be painted a different color. Maybe this fall.

I added some color!! Red, my favorite.

red stool for the island.....found at Pier 1!

a red pot for a plant.....found at Home Depot! and a couple red items that I all ready had! I went junking in my own house!! I had no idea what picture I wanted to hang in that spot so I took that one off the front porch. It fits perfectly! Yay! I didn't even notice that stupid KU cooler this morning. Evidently, Aaron didn't pack his lunch today. I usually make him keep that hidden. I found the white curtains at WalMart. I thought white would be fresh and clean. I could do without the lace but I think it tones down the hardness of the room now that I got them up. The will have to do for now because I am tired of this project!

How about a yellow pitcher?? We reused the hardware off the old cabinets.....well the knobs.....not the handles. I purchased them after I moved in trying to help those sorry old cabinets. It didn't do much for them....but they look great now!!

One of the things that a friend said this weekend about my kitchen is "I love it. I love every color. Every texture. Everything." And I feel the same way!! It turned out pretty good for not having any idea when we started. I had no clue how it would turn out. No vision at all of what I wanted. I just wanted something different. It's pretty amazing how perfectly it turned out!

What I love most about the kitchen is that it is done......and this view from the window.......

Remember this post  or this one about this little space? Some of the plants have changed since I killed a lot of them by not watering but I love looking out the window this year. It's just nice.....and look at that grass!!! Have you ever planted grass? If not, you should try it. it's been a very satisfying and fun project for us! 

I love you all! It's a great day!! Enjoy!

Sunday

It's 3:19 and I am enjoying a satisfying day of rest. I slept until 11:30 and we went out to breakfast and I am content......in all areas of my life. We had company over last night for the big kitchen reveal. Everyone loved it. The transformation really is quite amazing. We ate good food. We played games. Have you ever played Cranium?? It's a fun board game. It was a delightful evening . Friends are awesome to have! Friday, I went to Bern and visited with Joyce. Max had a pole vaulting camp at her next door neighbors house which was weird since it's in the middle of nowhere but it worked out great for me!! The day before, I went to town and picked up a few things to complete the kitchen and got it all put back together and then the boys played baseball game that night. I love watching those boys.....even when they lose. The parents are all a bunch of amazing people who I love to spend my summers with. We always have fun at the ball games. Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked.....pulling weeds....and I loved it.....very much. Monday night, Aaron and Emily and I went to Starlight Theater to see James Taylor in concert. It was my third time. I love him and Starlight is my favorite venue. Life is just moving along wonderfully over here. This week the boys want me to take them swimming.....so I will see Mel who I have not seen in a while.  Then they have a few baseball games scheduled. I guess the fourth of July is next weekend. We have a few things planned...... nothing big or fancy. After we ate breakfast today, I was just cleaning my room a bit. I made a list of things I need to do but really I was just thinking about how happy I am and how good life is and really....how I wouldn't change a thing......well, except maybe I would get a little more exercise on a more consistent basis....but other than that. I am good. It's a great feeling. I hope you are feeling it too.

Peace and Love

Done!

He's basically done! One more coat of gloss on the countertops and some touch up paint. He said he will be done today! Yippee!!

The hammock

Max went to a concert a few weeks ago. He came back with a hammock! Evidently, hammocks are the new tents for camping! They work well in the backyard, too!! How fun! He loves it!!

Progress....

Still not done BUT I love it! Shouldn't be too much longer now. I guess it's pizza for dinner tonight. Again.

and I'm off!!!!

This morning I am taking a road trip..... alone...... to see my friend, Amy.  She's one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school. I'm pretty excited! She loves to kayak and has been asking me to come visit her and go on the river with her for a couple years. So a few days ago, I decided I would go. I'm giddy! I can't remember the last time I spent one on one time with a girlfriend for any length of time. I see lots of laughs in my near future......the deep belly laughs that are good for the soul. WooHoo!! I have to admit I am a little nervous about leaving the boys. But guess what they said when I told them I was going? They said,  "bye!!"  I kind of got the impression they couldn't care less. They will be fine and I will be back Thursday.....refreshed. So here is to the open road......loud music.....and a good friend!! Yay!! If you are on instagram, you can follow me as I document this outing!! My user name is raisinaruckus .I have to admit I haven't used instagram that much because I forget that it's there. I enjoyed seeing Max's pics from his trip to ireland so I have been on it a lot more lately. I'll try to post more interesting pictures that what I am eating. Do you post pictures to instagram?? What's your user name?? I will follow you! Ok. I need to run. I'm debating on whether or not to shower. I guess since I haven't seen Amy in a couple years, I will.

For your enjoyment today, here is a picture I took over the weekend of my mom and me. I think she is the cutest little lady. I love her.

We went to Sam's ball game. One of the mom's there said, "My god. You two look exactly alike. You could be twins. You're beautiful!!" I like her. What beautiful words to hear.  Love you MOM!!!

Peace and love to you. It's a great day!!!!

p.s. After rereading this post, it seems like I used the word instagram severavl times in a row......I thought I would just use it one more time, here at the end. INSTAGRAM. hehe.

I am feeling it......

Happy Monday!!!

peace and love to you!!

Busy as a bee.....

I like bees. Do you?? I planted a bee balm this summer and I think it is beautiful and also the bees it attracts.They are just always busy. Doing. I've heard somewhere that it should be impossible for a bee to fly because their wings are so small and there bodies are so big but still they fly. It's a good lesson in hope! All Things possible....even when it doesn't look so good. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking I planted a butterfly bush too. Aren't butterflies beautiful? I'm excited to see which ones come to my garden. I think the butterfly is an example of Love. Truly, have you ever seen a butterfly battle? I can't say I have. Love is patient and kind. never jealous or envious......I Corinthians 13:4. The garden is a sacred ground! Faith!...plant a seed, watch it grow. How amazing is that??  That bee picture just took me to church, People! God is good!! He really is! Aren't we all so Blessed?

Since my last post, this is what has happened in my wonderful life......we have been busy! I got my hair colored. That's exciting, huh? In true Julie form, we gabbed for 4 hours during the process. I also got a pedicure this week. We have a wedding to go to this afternoon and now my feet are ready for an opened toed shoe. The lady practically had to get out her Dremel to file the callous off the side of my big toe. It was gross. I think she started to sweat. I told her I always feel I look about ten years younger after a pedicure. I do! I mean really, other people will be looking at my face and stuff, all I will see is my feet.... if I happen to look down. They look better polished.  It's an act of self kindness! A gift to myself.

Emily came and got Taylor. I love that dog and enjoyed taking her for walks and all but I was not sad to see her go. Man, She sheds. I spent the entire morning yesterday sweeping up hair. I have no idea how we lived with all the dogs in the house for so many years. I must have moved past that stage of my life because now i find it quite pleasant in the house with no dog hair. Emily sure does LOVE that dog. It's a good thing. Taylor is a great dog. Fun fact: When Emily was in high school she listened to a James Taylor CD every night while going to sleep. She named her dog after him. We bought tickets to see him at Starlight next Monday. it's my favorite concert. I've seen him 3 times and he never gets old. LOVE JAMES TAYLOR!!

Sam finally had a baseball game that wasn't rained out! It was up north so Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dale got to come watch! I enjoyed gabbing with them for a few hours. It was cold and there were a lot of bugs so we bundled up and laughed and laughed! I took this pic and Joyce said, "Now, that is what you would call a selfie, right?" She's cute.

And look! Sam is taller than her. He's just been busy growing.

On the way home, we ate at Sonic. Since the kitchen is down, we have ate out way too much. Our diets are disgusting....but we are happy......

Aaron has been busy.....replacing rotting fence posts.....

and painting the railing.......

He has a big ol list of things to get done that I never even noticed that they needed doing! It's nice! Actually, I thought we just needed a new fence. Who knew you could replace a couple posts and make it look like new?? Genius!!

Also, I had a lipoma removed from my shoulder this week. I had a growth develop a few years ago and since my bra strap rubbed on it, it was annoying. I used to watch Kevin remove fat globs off of fat old dogs. Funny that I would get one. I saw it after they took it out. It looked like a dead baby bird only yellow. I asked the nurse if she could pull out a couple pounds of fat and she said no. I asked her if I need to be on bed-rest for a few weeks and she said no to that also. She wasn't very cooperative. It was Aaron's sister. She's awesome but not very accommodating while she is at work,  I guess. So Now I will have to stay busy. today?? Baseball game this morning. Wedding this afternoon. My mom is coming over to go to the game with me. It should be a lot of fun!! Life is good....and hairless over here. Hurray!!

 

I sunk.....

.....to a new personal low today. So......my kitchen is coming together pretty nicely. Don't ya think??

It's been 7 days. 7 days of mess and no sink with running water. I feel like I've handled it pretty good. Looking patiently at the big picture. Knowing that the wait will have an amazing pay off. This morning, the guy was like, "I think I can pretty much finish up today!" and I was all like, "YAY!!" I was so happy. One thing did come up while he was working and that was the subject of the countertops. I ordered a formica type one from Home Depot. I don't live in a castle. It's an old house. I thought granite would just be over the top so I ordered a nice counter top that I thought would be durable and pleasing to the eye. When you place the order for one, you have to get the cabinets installed and then a guy comes out and makes templates so they can custom make them. It takes like 3 weeks to get the countertops once they have been measured so I knew the kitchen wouldn't be completely finished today but I was hoping it would be mostly finished and I would have a temporary sink and water so I could do the dishes which are stacked up all over the house.....and in my car. We had a change of plans this morning as we decided to cancel the original countertops and go with a DIY concrete countertop. They are kind of the rage these days. I'm super excited about that decision. It was kind of a tough decision but I like new things which are different so I agreed to let the guy make the countertops. I google searched them and talked to a few people that have them all ready and was really happy and excited. The boys asked me to take them to the movies this afternoon and I was in such a great mood that I said, "YES"! We skipped out the door and saw the new Adam Sandler movie, Blended, which was Laugh out loud great. After the movie, I went to Home depot and cancelled my original order and got my money back and I was feeling so good! I raced home prepared and excited  to wash every dish in the house. When I got home, Aaron and Asa were in the garage making a work station out of the old cabinets which I have to say is quite nice. They organised all the tools on it and were cleaning off the shelves and being men so I decided to leave them be and go inside and tend to my much anticipated tasks. Guess what? NO flipping sink. No water and my dreams for this evening were crushed. I couldn't even tell if the guy had even came back from lunch. I was pissed. I tried to act like I wasn't but gosh darnit....I was. And I pouted.....practically threw a damn fit.....I did throw one silently....in my head. I was thinking, "who in the hell starts a job and leaves a family wth no water for 7 damn days." and "What an inconsiderate bastard for not at the very least giving me my sink. I can't stand this." I huffed around here for awhile then went outside and walked Taylor hoping all her hair would blow off in the cool air. I wondered while I was walking if a walk counts or has any meaning if it's not being mapped on the "Map my Walk" app. I concluded that it indeed does still count. As I walked I decided that I was being a spoiled brat letting the no kitchen water situation ruin my day. There are lots of people who never have any water or a sink or a home. I decided I was acting as the epitomy of an ungrateful bafoon for cussing the guy who is helping me out by redoing the kitchen when nobody in their right mind would have taken the job because their is a 2 inch slant in the floor from one side of the room to the other....especially not as cheaply as he agreed to....and actually he has done really good work so far in compensating for it and making things look not slanted. I wasn't here this afternoon for him to say exactly what the plan was now that we changed the plan. I left and went to the movies. There is probably a perfectly good explanation. The guy isn't a giant asshole. He's a pretty nice guy. AND you know really....I didn't even research what the process was before we started the remodel as to the timeframe I would be without running water for doing dishes. Maybe this is typical. Hell, I don't know. What I do know is I have a LOT to be thankful for and to appreciate and it's unbecoming to myself to act like I am entitled to being able to do the dishes in my kitchen sink with warm soapy water. It's something I take for granted everyday. I kind of felt a little ashamed of myself for reacting the way I did. So after the walk, I let it go...... And sat down in front of my giant TV and flipped through 500 channels looking for something to amuse myself with this evening.....with a large bowl of chocolate ice cream with brownie bites in it......and no, the spoon wasn't actually silver...thankfully, I never once thought it should have been. Good Lord. I'm soiled rotten.

Ode to Aaron

One of the things that Aaron and I like to do is work around the yard and house together. Putter. Make things orderly and nice. It's awesome to have someone who is like minded and actually, he pushes me to stay on task. This weekend was the city wide clean up. He jumped on that and we got a lot done! First we started off cleaning the garage!

I am so happy that Aaron suggested we work on that this weekend. What a drag to not be able to get the car in when it is storming. It was a mess!! He hauled 3 truckloads of crap to the city dumpsters. It was awesome. We set stuff by the curb and people hauled it away, too! There were a lot of garage sales going on but we freely gave our junk and I found it funner. Once the guy installs all those cabinets.....which hopefully is today.....I will go wash my car and park in in the garage...... every day. Parking under the trees is a drag. Bird poop. Falling tree debris. It just doesn't allow the car to stay clean.....which I like. Plus a clean garage is nice to look at. A nice welcome home.  That was time well spent. I am grateful. After we cleaned the garage, we celebrated by picking up this kid from the airport......

I missed him so much but he had a great time and I am happy for that. We got to hear a bunch of stories and took him to eat at Red Lobster for dinner which was delicious. After living a week with no kitchen, I am getting tired of eating out BUT that dinner was amazing. I like to eat fish and shrimp when I go out.  It's my favorite!! When we got home, Max went to straight to bed. He had a slight case of jet lag. Aaron watched the fights with Asa and when it was over? I went downstairs and watched the second showing of the same fight. I was wired from accomplishing so much that day. Plus I realized I had missed Season's birthday so I had to text her at midnight and tell her that I love her and I was sorry. Dammit. I deactivated my facebook account and while I do not miss it one bit, I don't know when it is anyones birthday. I have to say, I have been back on a few times to see if I am missing anything and I am not so I think I made a good decision for myself in walking away. I can hardly manage my own life let alone peering in on 500 other people's lives. It was draining my energy. So Hurray for being socially silent on the internet for awhile. On Sunday, Aaron was gung ho on tearing apart a old dog house that had been sitting in the corner f the yard and taking it to the dumpster. There was an old wagon sitting back there too and he thought it would be a good idea to make a planter out of it. I had asked my dad for that wagon for Christmas one year when the kids were little and we used it a lot! I think the kids tore it up when we lived on the hill by riding it down like a sled. Anyway, the front wheels are bent but I coouldn't bear to throw it out so I thought that was a great idea....to make it into a planter.

Cute, huh? I know it's not an original idea. My neighbor has one in her yard but still.....I love it. Plus ours is hidden behind the fence so she doesn't know we are copycats. By the way, remember last summer when Aaron made the flower bed so I could have something beautiful to look at while I do the dishes?? check it out......

 and check out that grass!! Not long ago, it was mud. We are pretty pleased with the backyard!!

The other day, I noticed a clematis that had started growing. I thought it had died last year. It was entangled on the ground. I told Aaron that I needed a trellis so he made one. Right then. He took some broken lattis from under the steps and got out his saw and 10 minutes later, I had this.....

I love it! Not only for it's aethetic value but for the fact that I stated a desire and Aaron proceded to fullfill it without hesitation. He does that and I think he enjoys it.  and notice....I did not get my garden tilled but I did get some tomatoes in the ground! And if you look to the right?? That's the hose all wound up and in it's place. Neat and tidy.....where it belongs. Aaron does that. I tend to leave it laying in the yard for days. I like it better picked up. Notice the broken piece of fence. We had big limbs fall last week. One fell and broke that fence piece. It took us several hours to pick up all the limbs that had fallen. They sat in the back of Old Blue for a couple days. She had a flat tire. Aaron changed it on Sunday......

 Then we hauled all the limbs to the dump and when we got back, he swept the limbs off the street just like the old man across the street does. After we had everything in order, Aaron took the boys to baseball practice while I swept and vaccumed dog hair out of the house. Then we went and gabbed with the neighbors who were sitting outside and came home and grilled burgers and ate chips with dip and felt accomplished for what we had done this weekend. We had a great time!! I just felt a desire to toot a horn for Aaron today because he does a lot for me and often I probably take those things for granted quite often. He's pretty fabulous. I think we inspire each other to get things done. Another great thing?? When we sit? We really sit..... and relax. That's nice too. I like him.

Peace and Love to you.