Purging and packing and painting and primping . . . . OH MY!

Wow! What a busy week so far. We've been getting the house ready to show, which means more packing and painting and primping and purging. My "office/original master bedroom/guest room/place to put things you can't find anywhere else to put" finally looks like a bedroom again.

I'd like to give a special award to the person who invented the inflatible bed! One minute it looks like a sleeping bag . . . five minutes later it's a queen sized bed! Throw on a creamy colored chenille bedspread and matching shams that were a $10 Goodwill find, hang some springy looking curtains (another thrift store score) and the room looks better than it has in years! I've been delaying packing up some of my girly bling from my dresser, but I knew it had to be done. I had just gotten a package in the mail from Laurie at Charming Design. I had purchased one of her beautiful little pincushions from her E-Bay store. It matches my moss rose collection so beautifully! I hated to pack it all away . . . . but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Can you see the beautiful little bird perched in its tulle nest on top of the vase? Isn't she adorable? As much as I hate to pack all the pretties away, I guess it will be like Christmas when I get to unpack everything again and have fun finding homes for everything at Goldens Creek! We actually showed our house for the first time this morning. The woman who came to see the house is actually a friend of the secretary who works in the office of the man who did our appraisal. When she described to him what she was looking for he immediately though of us! I was a little apprehensive (oh c'mon let's be honest here girl!) OK! I was a LOT apprehensive! Hubby had his share of apprehension too! The lady seemed to be quite pleased with what she saw. She is specifically looking for a home with two "master suites", which we have. She wants something in a quiet neighborhood, away from town. Fortunately the birds and the breeze cooperated. As if on cue, when the lady walked out on to the back porch the birds started to sing and the breeze began to blow through the pine trees in the woods behind the house. A symphony of peace and tranquility accompanied by the wind chimes hanging from the corner of the porch - all under the direction of the Master! She stood there and listened for a while and then took a stroll through the house for the second time. Now we wait . . . and pack and primp and paint and purge some more!

"The Witnesses"

With so much work to do and so much going on this past week I completely forgot that we had tickets to see a production called "The Witnesses" last night with a group from our church. A very big part of me wanted to give the tickets away, but that little part of me that had seen "The Rock and the Rabbi" several weeks ago (for the second time) REALLY wanted to see the sequel. Fortunately, that little part of me won out! Handsome, talented son was supposed to go with us, but had forgotten about a paper he has due on Monday. So, I called my friend Peggy at the last minute. She jumped at the chance! So, MWHITW got to accompany two of his favorite ladies to the production. It was AMAZING! AWESOME! Spellbinding! Touching! If you EVER have the opportunity to see either production (preferably both), GO! It's an amazing mix of storytelling, music and the Gospel. Needless to say, we were blessed beyond measure. We came away with our "tanks" filled up! Ready to start another week with our "blessing meter" on full!

Check out my Slide Show!

let there be light!

I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't THINK it's a freight train racing towards me this time. By the looks of my office, you wouldn't think I had accomplished anything at all for the past couple of days. However I have the spare bedroom (formerly the rats nest) finished except for painting the new closet doors and hanging the curtains. somewhere along the way I misplaced the curtain rod that goes in there. Oh well, the blinds are back up, the floor is clean, the bed is back together and made.

This is what the room looked like on Tuesday.

This is what it looked like on Wednesday.

And THIS is what it looks like today!

I have an old type setters tray I think I'll hang above the bed in lieu of climbing into the attic and bringing down the headboard and footboard.

I also got the guest bathroom done today. Scrubbed from top to bottom, new shower curtain hung (I actually forgot to buy shower curtain rings when I bought the curtain so my future DIL and I got creative with some satin ribbon I had laying around the house.I'm totally amazed I actually had some thing that matched the shower curtain! And of course I had to add a little bit of vintage bling while I was at it. Hey! It matched!

I rearranged the master bedroom yesterday too. Still have a little tweeking to do there, but for the most part it's done. Just a good cleaning and some sprucing up in the master bath then it will be off to the office/big guest bedroom/new rats nest (hey I had to put the stuff somewhere!). Fortunately for me and my tired old bones, The lady who was supposed to come this afternoon to look at the house cancelled until Monday! So, I think I'll take a nice long, hot shower and relax for a few minutes before I start on round 2 for the day.

Kind words are never wasted. Like scattered seeds, they spring up in unexpected places

a tICkLE fRom tHe Father

Have you ever been in a situation where you're running ragged and everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong . . . . when all of a sudden something strikes you as incredibly funny? It's like the Good Lord has reached down and tickled you. That's me today! I have so much to do and so little time to do it. We have someone coming to look at the house on Friday. The "rats nest" and bathroom still need a coat of paint. There are no closet doors on the closet. I had an appointment in town this morning along with 3 or 4 stops I HAD to make. A carpenter friend of ours said he'd come out and put the doors up for us and help us with a few little things so I needed to be home. I've got people clamoring for STAT reports that I sent them yesterday. MWHITW locked his keys in his truck (back in town) . . .well you get the picture. I was sitting at my desk trying to decide whether to work work or to house work when I spun around and looked at one of the many piles of things I have sitting here waiting to be either packed to move or packed to take to the booth or packed to take to the thrift store. That's when the Good Lord reached down and tickled me. Sitting on the floor were some things I had taken out of our bathroom, my son's (aka "the rat") bathroom and a chamber pot that we had picked up on one of our treasure hunts. So what's so funny about that? It was the sign that had fallen out of one of the boxes that clinched it for me. What do you get when you put a bowl, a pitcher, an old gas heater and a chamber pot together? As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Now I have the energy to get some of this stuff done!

They're comin' to take me away aha!

You know, there are some days when I really doubt my sanity. I have a semi-full time job. Granted I work from home, but all the same, it's a job. We have just purchased a house and property in Kentucky. We are trying to get this house ready to put on the market. (F.Y.I. All you procrastinators out there! If you have one of those "roundtuit" lists . . . DO NOT - I REPEAT - DO NOT wait until you are ready to put your house on the market to start that list). We have boxes stacked all over the place in an attempt to "declutter" the house but nowhere to put the boxes of declutter! We have projects started or ready to start in nearly every room of the house. MWHITW and I are having uh - artistic differences about color choices and I really hate to disagree with him on anything because he has been working so hard trying to keep his business running, trying to get this house ready and suffering all the while from injuries he susatined in an auto accident nearly 10 months ago. Now I have committed myself to setting up a booth in a new craft/antique mall-type store. Am I crazy? Well, yes, that is partially the reason. But the major reason I have gotten myself into this last prediciment is because I was born without the "NO" gene. Be honest now! How many of you were born "NO" deficient? Now I'm not talking about the "mommy NO" gene. Once our children are born that little sucker kicks in and ususally doesn't calm down for about eighteen years. I'm talking about the plain old "NO" gene. The "now you have time to teach a Sunday school class, don't you?" or "we need a chairman for the PTA" or "I really want to do one of these booths, but I don't want to do it all by my little old self so YOU'LL split it with me, won't you?". You are thinking "NO!". Your mouth is forming the word "NO!". But because you are "NO" deficient, what comes out of your mouth is "why sure!". Who said that? Is there someone standing behind me? Static in the phone lines? Those darned Gremlins again? Nope! That "NO" deficiency done got me into a pickle once again! So . . . I have enlisted help in chosing colors (which is no small feat in itself because along with being "NO" deficient I am also extremely deficient in the gene which allows us to ask for help). I will get the booth set up when I get the booth set up. I WILL clear a path to the washing machine. I WILL finish one project before the weekend is over. I WILL survive! After all . . . I am WOMAN! W-O-M-A-N! Oh, and by the way, I WILL gladly accept a very fashionable white jacket with extra-extra long sleeves provided by those nice young men who have promised to give me a ride in their cute little custom van with the pretty flashing lights on top! They have told me about this wonderful vacation spot that has lovely padded walls. Must be one of those wall treatments like Vern Yip does on the decorating shows!

cURe fOr tHe cOMmOn cOld

The best remedy in the world for a winter cold? A husband who brings you a fresh supply of Puffs with lotion and some Vicks Vapor Rub and lets you nap to your hearts content

AND a friend (aka Vintage Girl At Heart) who brings you a basket filled with homemade chicken soup, french bread, yummy muffins and a pile of magazines to read while you're recovering! Really warms a girl's heart and makes her feel loved!