Cut to the Quick

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Jennie told me of a scrapbooking class she will be teaching. Five minutes later, after a round of SQUEEEE!!!– I confirmed my spot to take her class. Five minutes after that, I was taking inventory of everything I would need for it.

This is where I noticed some of my stuff was *ahem* out of commission.

Apparently, one of my kids needed to use some of my paints and tools for a project. Normally that would be fine, since I am of the opinion that things are there to be used. But it hurt to see the sorry state of my scissors. My beautiful, magnetized, do-everything scissors, which someone thought meant “do-everything-including-use-as-pliers”. I am not at a loss for scissors, not by a long shot. But these are special!! They cut through chipboard and wire and short of doing dishes, they make me happy. Now I have to make do with regular, run-of-the-mill scissors, and that’s going to take a bit of adjusting to do.

But enough wailing about that. Some of y’all may remember this.

Well, I finally found some paper mache pumpkins!!

So today, I am working on altering these for the Great Pumpkin Mantlescape of 2012™, without my scissors. But no matter. I can do just fine with a knife and a ballpoint pen.

Trust me. I’m a professional 😉

Weekends Should Start on Mondays

I just do NOT understand why everything piles up on Fridays.

One kid has Sign Language Club, another has German Club. Then we have high school football, and tonight Little One’s band gets to play with the High School band, which means she gets to sit with them all through the game, which also means she has to stay until the end of the game, which translates to traffic jam afterwards. Tomorrow, the other two get to enjoy an ROTC trip to the USS Lexington for the weekend, and that means that Little One will enjoy having a sleepover for her birthday.

From Roamy, who knows me well 🙂

Just what I need: a bunch of screaming teens in the house, eating sweets and chocolate and drinking sodas and gossiping about the cutest boys in school. And I will be serving and cleaning up and praying the earplugs hold up.

Hope y’all’s weekend is far quieter 😉

Guest DIY Post!!!

My sister, Reno Queen, puts my DIY skills to shame. Actually, compared to her, I have no skills. I am a total and complete n00b. In my family, we all agree she is Bob Vila’s fraternal twin, only prettier and far younger. You need new screens? She builds them for you. New backsplash? She will cut tiles to fit and make a mosaic that would rival those of Pompeii. I’m telling y’all: the gal can do almost anything.

And I say “almost” because she never got around to working for SpaceX™.

Anyway, she was gracious enough to write a tutorial on making a beautiful work of art for your home. So without further ado, here you go!

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How I Planned to Paint Furniture and It Turned Into Some Other Craft 🙂

Supplies: Cabinet door, sander with 60 grit sand paper, Krylon™ Fusion paint in Satin Black, Paper towels, 180 Grit Sanding block, Stencil, Precious Metals liquid leafing, sponge paint applicator, E6000 and a Cross.

First you take your piece (in my case it was a sample cabinet door) and using 60 grit sand paper you sand off the original finish. (Image 1) I used my mouse because it is easier and faster, but if you don’t have one you can do it by hand (but it will take forever). Make sure you sand the grooves well. (Image 2) Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area because dust will be everywhere!

Image 1

Image 2

Ugh….Starduay

There’s football today.

I can’t escape….

Wine? Check.

Beer? Check.

Cold cuts? Check.

Rosary? Double Check.

Y’all have a great Starduay!!! 😉

Gutterballs

Our first day at the lake, I was greeted with a beautiful sunrise, waves lapping gently against the rocks, and herons flying overhead. The morning was tranquil, and made perfect by my cup of coffee.

But good things don’t last forever, and so we woke the kids and asked them what they would like to do on such a beautiful day.

BOWLING!!

Uh, ok. We drove 250 miles and rented a condo ON the lake so that we could do…. what we can do at home. But the point of vacation is to have fun, and so we headed out to the bowling alley. And I must admit, it sure was fun. I had a record-breaking 42 gutterballs in three games. But I also scored some pins, and apparently I was very creative about it.

Son: (after I scored ONE pin) Hey, Mom! Now if you score another pin, and then score two, and then score three, and then score five, you’ll be on your way to doing the Fibonacci Sequence!

Me: So, my plan to establish a pattern is working.

Son: Yep.

Me: Uh huh.

Hey, it was a great excuse to explain my lack of prowess 😉

My Name is Aggie, and I Remember EVERYTHING

It’s a gift, and a curse.

I was blessed with a very good memory. Well, some call it a blessing. I call it The Curse of a Thousand Gnats. Why? Because that’s what it feels like, to have so much stuff floating around in my grey matter. Seriously, who cares if actress Jennifer Tilly is a poker champion? Or that there are 119 grooves in a U.S. quarter? Or that there are 20 kisses described in the Kama Sutra?

Ok, that last one may be helpful. Don’t ask how I know.

The other day, we were visiting my sister’s and Hubby remarked that the only other people he personally knew to have owned boxer dogs were his grandparents.

Hubby: She was a very nice dog. Gypsy.

Me: No, her name was Queenie.

Hubby: Are you sure?

Me: Yep. I never met Gypsy, only Queenie.

Hubby: Crap, I’m losing it.

And it’s not just useless trivia and random memories. It’s remembering what my 23 year old niece was wearing the last time I saw her, when she was a toddler. It’s remembering the last view of my grandmother as we drove away. It’s remembering the scent of the flowers at a friend’s grave.

But it’s also remembering the first time Hubby kissed me. And it’s also remembering the nail polish I wore on my wedding day as Hubby slipped the ring on my finger. And it’s remembering the joy at holding each of my babies in my arms for the first time. Sometimes memories serve to remind us of the wonderful successes and even the tragic failures we have experienced so that we may better appreciate the paths we have chosen.

I just wish sometimes I could stop remembering that the shoelace tip is called an aglet 😉

Guess What???

I’m still busy. I know. Y’all are just SHOCKED. I can tell.

Today I was up before 6 AM to take the older two kidlets to the ROTC Fish Camp. Then I drove through traffic so congested it needed Nyquil™ in order to drop off my BIL at the barracks in time for his appointment today. I raced home, only to remember to stop to get some groceries, because dishes need dishwashing liquid in order to get clean. Also I was out of coffee creamer, and I was actually doing the kids a favor by getting some. That way they wouldn’t have to deal with a cranky mom tomorrow, when I have to do this all over again, only with a trip to the mall included. Oh, and school registrations are this week, along with prep days and school portraits and my appointment at the hospital, and packing for our vacation.

Hopefully a week at the lake will relax me.

I get the funny feeling I’ll be doing pretty much the same stuff I do here, only with a lake attached. Whatever…as long as there’s wine and the noise is lower than 1200 decibels 😉

Sunday Sithy

Today I am travelling. I’m taking my mom back to her home, and it will be an all day affair. So, here’s a Sithy for y’all.

I’ve always wondered how they bend 😀

Have a great Sunday!!

Wednesday Sithy, Because My Mom is in Town and I Have No Time

We are going to the outlet mall today. Pray for me, because I can’t be spending any money.

GAH!!!

Never, ever “friend” your boss on a social site!!

Have a great day!! 🙂

Working for the Weekend

It’s Friday, and time to start winding down!

There was a time when we would make plans to party hard and stay up until dawn, but that was in our youth…in our youth… Sigh…

Ok, truthfully, the only time I stayed up until dawn was when I gave birth to Eldest. I was never one for partying or clubbing much. In fact, most Fridays I recall sitting in front of the TV to watch Remington Steele in my high school years, and whatever Sci Fi (I refuse to use the new spelling) had on in my later years. But the one thing I look forward to on Fridays is Hubby being home and relaxing.

It’s nice to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Until one kid yells at him that the new level has been reached and he runs to give guidance in navigating through some dungeon. Then it’s just nice to hear the “Wait, wait!! Go that way!!”, smiling at the intense look on their faces. At least until they go down the wrong passage and are accosted by evil lurking things and consequently get killed before saving the game.

Well, it’s still fun for me, anyway 😉