Weekend Update

If your weekend did not feature a mountain lion, you might want to try a little harder to get a game warden to be your friend.
My favorite GW quote:  I'm just going to go in there and release the trap... and we'll see how that works.

Strip Tease

Just a peek at the latest project.

The irony is not lost on me that in one corner I am layering paint onto wooden items, while in the opposite corner I am stripping layers of paint off of wooden items.

Cowboy Town

Usually in January the STP and I have a one night get-a-way.  We do a little planning and organizing and take a break from the ordinary.  This year we reserved a suite in a swanky downtown hotel.    In the historic section of the downtown.  Downtown Dodge City.

 

This place is quaint.  And cute.  And fun.

 Like maybe Miss Kitty and the Marshall slept here.



And got mail here.

The STP and I got a rock in our mailbox.  Perfect. 

Because we had a suite, we did not have to wait in line behind any desperadoes to use the water closet.

And there were no shoot outs on the roof while we were there.  Just a quiet relaxing overnight.

Marshal Matt Dillon: You're looking pretty tonight, Kitty. 
Kitty Russell: How is it you never tell me that in the daytime? 

We had lunch downstairs before we headed home.  The advantage of staying three blocks from home?  Minimum travel time.

43

Everyone Should Have A Birthday

The STP helped me celebrate my birthday.  By helping me cross something off the nonresolutionlist.  Last week he traveled to the big city and returned with a paint sprayer.  I will have to wait until the weather gets nicer to try it out.  I think the first project could be the fence that did not get painted in the summer of '12.  And then the possibilities are endless.

31

 Today the STP helped me move some furniture.  I promised you this big reveal last summer.  The Slovakian Princess helped me paint a garage sale find peg board for my sewing craft area.

I paid three dollars for this.  I thought the STP could use it above his workbench in the garage.  It leaned on the workbench for a year.  The STP did not find it useful.

So the Princess and I re appropriated it.




And, of course re painted it.  Like a giant paint chip.
(Naming my own paint colors--priceless.)

Later last summer the STP bought a little desk/table.  Which I just recently repainted using the same quart of imperial yellow paint.  Sorry there are no before pictures of this table.  It was a stained a dark brown.
Here is a 'during' picture.  Yellow paint requires a lot of coats.

And  before and after pictures of the sewing craft area.

Some details:

Happy green chair.  I am on the look out for the perfect paper or fabric to decoupage into the bottom of the table drawer.  Just for fun.

This one's for me.  (Always good to have Barry Manilow in your corner.)  Sing it, Barry.

A few wall lizards, and a little chalkboard.  The green clock was a gift from a friend.  I keep it set one hour ahead.  That way I gain an hour whenever I come upstairs.  One of my most genius crafting ideas to date, 

So to the STP for helping me out today I just want to say:

As an aside, the STP moved the drafting table to the attic.  As he came back down and was turning around, the invisible Santa was sitting there looking at him.  Guess Santa will be around a while longer.

A Right Jolly Old Elf

Several days after the Goob carried all the Christmas things back to the attic, I turned around to find this two and a half foot tall wooden Santa with the stump of a pipe held tight in his teeth standing in my dining room.  (Clearly he has some kind of magic since he was able to make himself invisible when I was gathering all the Christmas things together and checking the place twice to make sure I didn't miss anything.)  Truly, I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.  Chances that the Goob is planning another trip to the attic anytime soon are slim, so I am thinking of letting Santa hang around till next Christmas. Do you think anyone will notice?

DIY

You haven't heard much about our bathroom/bedroom redo, because I have been trying to control my tongue (which as James says is a restless evil, full of deadly poison).  Plus, because it is the slowest redo in the world, there is not much to report.  And because we just might qualify for an episode of Do it Yourself Disasters, we can't reveal much before the episode airs.

The STP, ever the optimist, really believed we could do this ourselves.  And he has held to that belief for six months.  I believe the optimism gene may be closely linked to the procrastination gene.

 I am married to man who endeavors to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  Clearly, though, he is more theologian than carpenter.

Still, I have learned new things.  Like how to replace an electrical socket.   I was wearing a head lamp (which is as flattering to me as a hat, thus I had to edit it out of the picture). I used a pliers and a screwdriver.  
TA DA!!







I also cheered the STP on while we mitered things.  With our miter saw.

This is our last corner. 

 We were pretty much pros at this point.

Now I'm thinking that we don't have enough material for an episode of DIY Disasters. 

I believe we have the makings of an entire season.

Number 22

Ah, the baby afghan.

When I worked at the slightly bigger than itty bitty health care facility, I had a lot of down time that I filled with mindless knitting projects.  Baby afghans were the perfect thing.  Not too big. Not a lot of counting.  Easy to get rid of.  Then two things happened.  #1.  I started this baby afghan with a pattern that I hated.  #2.  I got a new job that did not involve long hours of down time.  Thus this half finished baby afghan languished in a blue bag for nearly two years.

Until I rediscovered it, added it to the non-resolution list, and FINISHED IT!  Sadly, I did not have a baby available to try it on, so I had to settle for trying it on a chair.

I still am not in love with this afghan.  But I am loving having it DONE. And loving crossing the first thing off the 2013 non resolution list.  (I have added number 48 to the list:  Enter something in the county fair, so this might be the proverbial two bird afghan.)

22

If Refrigerators Could Sing

Some Flu for You

Right after I become a big game wildlife photographer, I will perfect my microscopy photography skills.
Until then, here is another peek into the (fluorescent) microscope through the point and shoot.







While the press has just joined the 'flu is newsworthy, epidemic, deadly scary' bandwagon, I have known for weeks.  Because I have seen it up close.
The red cells are normal.  The green fluorescent ones are infected with Influenza B virus.

Should'a got your flu shot.

Little Boxes, Little Victories

Came home from work to find Christmas boxes in the big room.  (And the Goob is still speaking to me.)

And now there is an empty spot where the tree has been for almost a month.

What used to be there?

This week in the newspaper there was an ad placed by the 'meanest mom in Wyoming' who was selling her 16 yr old son's truck because he had been picked up for underage drinking.  I pointed it out to the Goob, so he would know I am not the meanest mom in Wyoming.  Pretty sure he just thought I am worse than that--he doesn't even have a truck.

O Christmas Tree,

O Christmas tree,
You must go back in boxes.

Asked the Goob a couple of times to bring the boxes back down from the attic so Christmas can be packed away.  He has not complied.
Today before I go to work, I will carry his laptop to the attic.
I tell you this for two reasons.
1.  If the Goob asks you where his computer may be, go ahead and tell him.  Where. And why.
2.  If I forget that I put the Goob's computer in the attic with the Christmas boxes, someone should have this information. Thanks for looking out for me.

2013 Non-Resolutions

2010   2011   2012 New year's resolutions:
1. Lose weight
2.  Organize photos
For the past several years I have not needed to make any New Year's Resolutions.  I just change the date at the top of the list.

But this year, buoyed by Amidala's success and inspired by Meg's list, I decided to make my own list of non-resolutions.  Things I would like to do in 2013.  And since their lists were as long as their years, I will likewise list 54 things I would like to do in 2013.  While this may seem daunting at first, I think it will work well, since I might actually accomplish something on the list.

1.  List 54 things to do in 2013.
2.  Finish the bathroom redo.
3.  Put the bedroom back together.
4.  Paint the kitchen.
5.  Read 12 books.
6.  Take a multivitamin daily.
7.  Finish memorizing James.
8.  Paint the little dresser.
9.  Kayak with the STP.
10.  Kayak with friends.
11.  Sister's weekend.
12.  Glacier Nat'l Park
13.  Jackson
14.  Get a mammogram.
15.  Visit the gynecologist.
16.  Eat 5 fruits/vegetables a day.
17.  Call my Mom and Dad once a week.
18.  Organize my recipes.
19.  Organize my addresses.
20.  Organize the photos.  (Bwah ha ha)
21.  Spend time with Nick and Claire.
22.  Finish the baby afghan.
23.  Buy something on eBay.
24.  Yard sale an awesome piece of furniture.
25.  Make at least one big red deer moose.
26.  Make new pine cone Christmas decorations.
27.  Plan a trip to Hawaii.
28.  Give to the Tarahumara.
29.  Have a party on the patio.
30.  Ride my bike 100 miles.
31.  Get a paint sprayer.
32.  Run a 5k.
33.  Crochet around a rock.
34.  Make some Christmas gifts.
35.  Reread Harry Potter series.
36.  Rewatch Ann of Green Gables.
37.  Go ice fishing at night.
38.  Tie some flies.
39.  See big horn sheep.
40.  Try something new.
41.  Finish the north rock bed.
42.  Grow something exotic in the SFG.
43.  Spend a night at the Historic Greybull Hotel.
44.  Have dinner guests once a month.
45.  Put music on my  ipod.
46.  Take pictures off my camera.
47.  Think of eight more things.
48.  Spend a weekend with my BFF from highschool
49.  Hang out with my Maid-of-Honor
50.  Cowboy boots
51.  Montana Women's Run
52.  Finish painting fence
53.  Make a treacle tart
54.  Photo with a road side wonder

Kindred Spirit

I was going to do something constructive today but then I happened upon this.   Am I going to do this?  You know I am.
Crocheted snowflake-themed wrapped rocks.  This woman and I must have been separated at birth.

Pure Joy and Two Quarts of Happiness

Happiness is owning your own fandeck.
Pure joy is living across the street from the Dodge City Building Center.
Various trials is making a decision.
Today I picked up two quarts.  Emerald and Hurricane.

Composting for Fun and Profit

Did I make a salad and clean out the vegetable crisper just so I could fill my new compost container?

Maybe.

Nice House

Got any food in this nice house?  Just wanted to mention that I still have some of Mom's chocolate candy left. Since Thanksgiving!!  And I did not keep it all for myself.   Record for me.  WIN!!  This could be the year...