Projects

I ordered one of these last fall with our last name (um, duh) and recently decided to get all decorator-y and hang up family pictures around it (combining what Paul says are two of my favorite things--pictures and putting holes in the walls). There are two single-matted frames, two double-matted frames and one triple-matted frame. It was hard to narrow it down to just nine photos--I'd still like pictures of us as children, ones of our nephews since we selected some with our nieces, maybe one with Paul's brother. Paul said we could always rotate these pictures out. I thought we could just add a few more frames (you know, to put a few more holes in the wall). I'm thinking two or three more on either side of the ones I now have hanging. Maybe do 5x7's or even go crazy with the 8x10's. Dunno.... Anywho, these were copied into 4x6 black and whites and framed in black with white mats. For family/those who have been to the house, I've hung these on the hallway wall just opposite the kitchen. (It's a hard place to get a decent photo because of the angle--just use your imagination).

A "classic"--Paul and Jeff ham it up after Alan and Julie's wedding. This picture is totally staged--neither of them sing or play a musical instrument.
From our trip to CA last March. This is one of my favorite pictures of Paul because he's really smiling which is hard to get him to do when there is a camera around.
I like this picture from Abigail's first birthday because it's the women in my family--from left it's Grandmother, cousin Emily, me, Mom, Gran, Donna, and Amy. The birthday girl (who's 4th birthday was Wednesday) is on the table, sticking her foot in the cake. Yum.
In Lubbock on the Texas Tech campus--in front of the statue of Will Rogers and Soapsuds on a football game day. (For those non-Techsans, the statue is always wrapped in red crepe paper before every home football game. And the rear-end of the statue supposedly angles toward Texas A&M. Because we hate the Aggies.)
Of course I had to include a picture of this guy.
A favorite picture of an 8-month-old Abigail--it always makes me laugh.
My parents at the 2000 Balloon Fiesta--the hat over my Dad's shoulder belongs to Paul. (I think I'm going to trade this picture out for one take more recently--the one of you and Dad on the cruise, Mom.)
Paul's grandmother and our niece Sarah at the 70th wedding anniversary celebration last June (we could also call this one "what Sarah will look like in 87 years").
Paul's parents in Austria with the church choir a few years ago. Paul asked them to bring him back a boomerang--I think they thought he was seriously confusing Australia and Austria.

My other project (well, one of many but the one started today) is taking down the doors on the cabinets above the stove/microwave to create a bookshelf for my cookbooks. We'll have to get Paul's dad over to help us, though. The center bar was both screwed in and glued in. We don't want to damage it in case we need/want to put it all back together some day. So, it's FIL to the rescue.

Next up, finally put on the knobs and pulls we bought for the cabinets, oh, two years ago. We definitely cannot be accused of getting in a hurry about projects. Also in the queue, I had enough fabric leftover from the dining room chair project so I'm going to sew a cushion for the bench by the front door. And maybe, finally, do the window covering project I've been mulling over for a while. I'm also on the lookout for new bedding for the guest room, which I've been updating a bit because that repainting project I did when Paul was out of town? Yeah, it didn't work. It was a cheap, cheap, cheap side table I was painting so it's not a real loss. Last weekend, I bought a new side table, which lead to some new accessories, which eventually result in new bedding.

After my recent guest room shopping spree (which really wasn't a "spree"--more like a "sp"), Paul asked if I'm OK--I think he's worried that this recent burst of activity is because I'm feeling blue again. I'm not. Although the recent worry/stress in life has caused interesting dreams, I'm actually feeling good. I'm happy. Some days are better than others for Paul and me but I think that's typical for any marriage (heck, any relationship). But I'm not needing to keep busy because I've got the overwhelmed feelings of last fall. It's just a burst of energy to get some stuff done around the house. I could probably sit on the couch for a few minutes and it would completely pass. But, darn it, I finally want to get those knobs on my cabinet doors.