Spring cleaning in August

Just about 4 years ago, a friend of mine was going through a nasty separation with her husband. She ended up living in our basement for almost a year while trying to get herself back on tracks. When she left for Texas, she only took what could fit in (and on) her truck. We just pack the rest the best we could and stuffed it in the attic. Fast forward 3 years, she is back in town to haul her things. With a trailer :).

Truth be told, we are not sorry to see all those things gone soon. We live in a townhouse that was built in the 70's (read "smallish" here). Sometimes we have been very close to just haul everything to goodwill so we could move along with our lives/projects. But we didn't. And even though it was somewhat inconvenient, I'm glad we held on. She is so happy to get all those things back. She can definitely use a bit more happy in her life. 

Bedroom overhaul

This weekend, my husband and I decided to tackle a couple of overdue projects in the house. 

First step was a trip to the local Ikea store to get some curtains and curtain rods. Once back home, we happily removed the ugly metal bifold doors from the closets in our master bedroom and installed the curtains instead. It looks so much better!! Total cost of the project came under $80. Definitely cheaper than new bifold doors and way more practical since the closet are facing each other.  

Then we also tackled the window treatments. Again new rods but we kept the existing curtains and sheers for now. It looks a lot better just with this small change. 

After that, I just decided I had it with the bookshelf on the second floor landing. Sooo...we packed the books in bins, moved the bookshelf to the office, which required other pieces of furniture to be reorganized there. We ended up working hard until 1am.  Two rooms tackled in the dat. Not bad.

There is still a bit of finishing touches that I will probably tackle by next weekend but we are both happy about the outcome. I will post before and after pictures soon. 

Next up, the guest bedroom: the plan is to turn it into a big girl room for our little  bug. I already have all kinds of decoration ideas for it. Unfortunately, the first step will have to be some demo since that room needs a bit of extra insulation. I'm not looking forward to the plaster mess but it has to be done.

100th entry -

Still following ? After 100 posts? Glad I haven't bored anyone to death yet. 

Not much on the house front. The monsters have definitely left our little bug's bedroom and there has been a lot more sleep. Unfortunately the growing pains are still there. Every night I massage those poor little feet before bedtime. Hoping the doctor is right and it won't last. 

Workwise, I confess I'm more than just a bit nervous about tomorrow. I am teaching. Yikes!!. I haven't taught a class in a VERY long time - 10 years as a matter of fact. Over the  past couple of days,  I've spent a lot of hours putting a lesson plan and a handout together. You'd think I would feel ready right ? Wrong !! It's almost 1AM and I'm s till wide awake and wondering how I am going to make a class about Oracle database 101 exciting. Very glad it's only a half day of torture !!

What am I doing ?

What I'm doing:
Cook utilitarian meals
What I'd like to do ?
Cook exciting meals everyday

What I'm doing:

Work from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday

What I'd like to do ? 

Work flex time so I don't have to race from 7am to 7pm and then cram all things household on weekends

What I'm doing:

Clean,  scrub, sweep, wash 

What I'd like to do ? 

Have enough energy to exercise regularly

What I'm doing:

Toss and turns hours every night

What I'd like to do ? 

S L E E P 

Monster update

Some progress in the monster issue: since the swap from a toddler bed to a twin sized bed we are able to lay down with our little bug at bedtime to avoid big panic. That and re-iterating the monsters are all gone did help us get some sleep. Only one bad night in the last 4 days! Yay! At least we all got some decent sleep.

Summer school is over. I'm a bit worried about possible setbacks in language skills over the next few weeks. I wish I could work part time for a bit just to keep on top of things in that area. Not something my employer offers so I'll settle for crossing my fingers and taking any possible opportunity to teach new words and insist on phrases instead of pointing and grunting at things. I guess it's a mommy thing to worry all the time about your little ones.

On the rant side of things, I am totally bummed about a local decking contractor. In april I asked for a quote to have the handrail to our back deck replaced. It took 3 weeks to get as response, and once we gave our OK, we agreed this would be done the week after memorial day. Still waiting. The contractor never even bothered to respond to my last email. Time for contractor shopping again. Such a waste of time and energy! I guess I won't be using my deck until next spring at this rate.

Things that grow

The pretty pink flowers in my front yard, greeting me every morning

The cherry tomatoes : this is the second time I get to pick the ripe ones and more to come

This little bug. 

According to the doctor, the "monsters" that gnaw on her feet are growing pains.

 Poor  little bug !!

4 years ago ...

We welcomed our little bug into the world

And my life changed forever for the better

Look at this bug turning into a pretty pink butterfly

Happy Birthday !!

Monsters attack - Mom and dad strike back

Still much monster fighting over the past few days but some progress to report. 

We had planned to upgrade our munchkin's sleeping accommodation from a toddler bed to a regular twin sized in the next few months. We decided it was time to switch. After another harrowing evening saturday, it was out with the toddler bed, in with the big girl bed. Bonus: Mom or dad can lay down with the little one to calm her down at bedtime. No monster big panic to report tonight. Yay. Hoping for some sleep. 

Good fun outing to a local farm today where we grabbed fresh veggies and picked tons of yummy peaches.  Our little one helped out and had a great time ... in style too! Hat, sunglasses, necklace and bangles: all necessary for a successful trip to the farm.

Monster potion number 9

So this is how you fight back monsters : Anti-monster spray. 

Squirt bottle ($1) , Verbena Extract, 1 drop of food coloring, water, a bit of Photoshop to put the label together. 

Not 100% effective but  definitely less tears and lower panic levels than yesterday. Se still ended up crashing in my bed but fell asleep much faster. So far the anti-monster spray gets 3 out of 5 for efficiency. We will give it a couple more days and hope it works better and better.

 Maybe I should get extra-strength Monster spray (red food dye and lavender extract). 

Monsters under the bed

Last night was rough. Nobody in the house got much sleep. Unbeknownst to us, monsters recently set camp under our daughter's bed. And last night, they attacked. Or so our little princess said. They were pulling her legs and gnawing on her feet. The poor thing!! She was terrified, shaking like a leaf. Big sobs, real tears, it took hours to calm her down and even then she woke up several times and had to stick her leg straight up ... Not much time left for any shuteye.

Apparently the monsters were still here tonight. No cajoling or coaxing from mom or dad could make our little one stay in her bed. So there she is... a little squatter in our bed. Tomorrow, I'm getting monster spray !!