Help me, Nate!

Beautiful rainbarrel

I did it. I wrote into a TV show requesting help decorating my apartment in NYC. Granted, I don't HAVE an apartment in NYC yet but I thought I should be prepared when I DO have an apartment in NYC.

I figure what the heck? I mean c'mon, I won a beautiful rain barrel at the Spring Fair I attended this past weekend and considering I never win anything I figure this is time to make this pitch, buy lottery tickets, and have a colonoscopy because my luck is running in the right direction!

I enjoy watching The Nate Berkus Show. Nate hosts a design show and he is really good about helping people with redesigning spaces, buying old furniture and making it new, and complete room makeovers. He is based in NYC and I figure he can help me downsize from our big, traditional Midwestern home to a small, urban one bedroom apartment and make it look hip. Right?

The thing is, there was no direct way to contact Mr. Berkus to make my request so I had to take a more subtle approach. I pitched my garden as something I would just LOVE to share on his show. Since I could only upload three pictures I did my best to give his producers something they would have to stop and say, "Well of course, it would be a great idea to feature a four season Kansas garden on our show! Have we ever had a Kansas garden on our show? No? Well, we need to remedy that omission right now. Today!"

Yeah well maybe not, but I felt I just had to try. It would be great to have someone else go out and peruse the city for furniture and art and decide what color of paint would be the perfect backdrop for an apartment with a cityscape view. I'll even be happy to work with Mr. Goodwill, the guy on his show that goes to second hand shops, finds quality furniture, waves his wand and voila(!) you have a museum worthy piece for pennies. I NEED that kind of help. Sleeping on an air mattress and using a cardboard box for a TV stand just isn't going to cut it in the Big Apple.



Mmmm, I'm still waiting for the phone to ring and I hit the SEND button over a half hour ago. Anyone else had any experience with this? Does it take them this long to call?

 Help me, Nate!!

Visiting a Friend

A couple of weeks ago we stayed with a high school friend of mine on our way home from Utah. She lives in Denver and I e-mailed her on Saturday saying we would be passing through on Tuesday. Would it be alright if we spent the night? Her response was immediate and enthusiastic. "Yes!"

Honestly, I have never much enjoyed staying in people's homes. I feel I am imposing, intruding, and being an inconvenience. My friend eliminated all of those feelings with her welcome response and generous spirit. I felt happy to see her and be in her home. Despite recent knee replacement surgery she took us on a tour of her landscaping. Inside her cozy home it was nice to re-visit art pieces I have admired in trips past, see that she still had the butter yellow leather couch and confirm that Cousin Benny's "napping couch" has gone by the wayside. (Best nap I've EVER had was on Cousin Benny's couch while visiting her a few years ago.)

Her home is set up perfectly for hosting overnight guests. One bedroom and bath are at the front of the house, another in the back. Sort of an East Wing/West Wing set up. We had lots of privacy but it was perfect to also have a big kitchen to gather in and sit around the big table. Her grandmother's quilt was on the bed in the front bedroom we used and
we were greeted at breakfast with homemade Oatmeal Spice muffins, fresh strawberries, and hot tea. My husband enjoyed pointing to items strategically placed around her house and asking what the significance of it is to her, and since "everything has a story" we heard about the Blue Ribbon won for Best Cookies at the 1971 Mitchell County Fair, the beautiful rug bought on a reservation, and rocks picked up on her hikes of Colorado mountains peaking at over 14,000 feet.

This overnight stop was a wonderful way to break up a trip and reconnect with an old friend. I really must rethink my aversion to contacting friends, knowing that they make lovely, generous hosts. Thank you, Karen.

Hang in there, Gracie!

Okay. I ask you. Have you ever seen anything as cute, pathetic, and funny as this? Gracie is my grand-puppy. (Yes, I've turned into one of those people.) She lives in an apartment in NYC and has a pretty darn good life. Until now.

On Wednesday her family will be expanded by one bouncing baby boy. Not a good thing from her perspective. New toys are being delivered to her apartment and they are not for her nor do they squeek. The crib, the car seat, and the changing mat are off limits. I do believe there is a space at the bottom of the stroller that will work great for tagging along on walks but the "money seat" is already reserved for the wee one that will be taking up attention previously lavished on "moi".

I saw you were caught (on video no less!) emptying the new baby clothes out of a storage basket this past week but the new guy will have his share of videotaped gaffs also. Trust me on this. You have a fun, new playmate coming. You just don't know it yet. Eventually he will love you just like your parents do and I'm guessing he will share his toys, bottles, pacifiers, and buggy rides with you too.

If you can just hang in there a little longer........

It's Friday So It Must Be Movie Day

Oh, we do love our Fridays! Mr Y. is ready to take a break from work and I'm ready for some movie popcorn (no butter, please). I used to save the  movie stubs (see pic left) but I finally gave that up when I mentally calculated that I could be getting frequent massages and spa treatments for what we were spending on the movies.

When we first moved to College Town we would drive 45 minutes to a big movie complex every weekend just because we didn't like sitting with our knees under our chins at the local theater. Now we've decided gas prices on top of movie ticket prices is just too much of an extravagance, so we tuck our legs up and make the best of it. My recent favorite movie theatre experience was when we were in Houston, had some downtime on a rainy weekday afternoon, and watched a movie by ourselves in a 600 seat theatre. I am not kidding. A private screening. Awesome.

The last couple of years it has turned into our Friday late afternoon date. What better way to transition into the weekend than sitting in a dark theater and shutting the rest of the world out? You have to turn your cell phones off (personal AND business) so no texting and no sneaking peeks at e-mail. Given the hours Mr Y puts in on Sunday evening writing up his Monday agenda and his travel schedule it's pretty much two hours of guilt free "trade time" late on Friday afternoons. Besides we wouldn't want to miss the matinee prices! (And there IS a small senior discount that starts at 55 but I won't say which one of us gets to capitalize on that.)

I would say I've never been to a movie that I haven't liked but that would not be true. There are movies I have hated (as in "I want those two hours back WITH popcorn and Mild Duds, please) and movies I have loved. Rarely is there a movie I won't go to unless it's the horror genre. Count me out. If I'm going to pay for a movie it is sort of pointless to have my hands over my eyes the whole time. I enjoy animation, 3-D, and romantic comedies. When it comes to chick flicks I have a dear friend that will accompany me. Both of our husbands give us "The Look" during movie preview trailers which tells us we'd better be calling each other because our husbands will not be going to THOSE movies.

Today it is The Hunger Games if we can score a ticket. I have no idea if the theatre will be full or half empty given that it's spring break AND the College Town teams (girls and boys) are playing in the Sweet 16 this weekend. We are certainly going to give it a shot. How else would we get a great start to our weekend?

DOWNSIZING TALLY - The lawn furniture is sold and being picked up tonight. We will get more items posted on Craigslist this weekend. I've even recommended we start packing so we don't have a mad scramble when the house sells. We will see how that pans out.

A Cup of Tea and Three Squares A Day

You would think three squares a day would mean three balanced meals a day. That would not be the case with me. To me three squares a day means three pieces of chocolate. Every day. Add those to a freshly brewed cup of tea and you have the perfect storm of comfort and relaxation.

In the evening I brew up a pot of tea. My favorite tea this past winter has been Harney & Son's Organic Peppermint. Harney and Son's have a wonderful store in NYC's Soho area and I love to go there. They will brew up a small sample cup of any tea flavor you want. I would take tea tasting over a wine tasting any day. Swirling the different teas around in your mouth you see if you can taste the cinnamon, chicory, chamomile, or mint. You inhale and try to smell the vanilla, caramel, cardamon, or lemongrass.Taking a sip you feel the warm liquid spread from your mouth, down your throat and through you body. Ahhhhhh. I could definitely become a tea snob.

Once the water has boiled I put loose tea in my diffuser and set it in my favorite tea pot. The boiling water pours over the tea and I set a timer for five minutes to steep. Now it's time to start perusing my cabinet for the favored cup of the night. (I suppose if I were really going to hone my tea snob skills I would have to use much smaller cups with a saucer and throw a pinky finger in the air. Very Downton Abby-ish.)

Typically my cup - okay I'll just call it what it is - my tea MUG will usually have NY theme but every once in awhile I opt for a destination mug. Into the mug goes about a teaspoon of Blue Agave syrup. (I used to use honey but supposedly it makes your sugar spike higher than agave, so agave it is. It adds just the right amount of sweet.)


When the timer dings I am ready to pour. A nice pepperminty aroma wafts up and I can feel myself relaxing already. I break off three squares of dark chocolate that has a little bit of crystallized ginger in each piece and head for the easy chair. Into my mouth goes a square of chocolate followed by a slow sip of piping hot peppermint tea. The chocolate slowly melts in my mouth as the tea warms me up.

 Ahhhhhh. Does it get any better than this? A cup of tea and three squares a day.





DOWNSIZING TALLY - Have had some interest in the house but no contract yet. I was told today the reason the last couple deferred was because the Mrs. didn't want to bend over to use the oven. Bad back. Okay then. The dish sets we put on Craigslist both sold and the outdoor furniture and sewing machine are next up.

Cookies to Qatar

My husband wears a blue star service pin on his business suit. He is always asked what it represents. What is represents is very important to him because he wears it to honor the 22 year old son, Scott, who is serving in the United States Air Force.  My husband wears the pin with great pride because Scott is carrying on his dad's family tradition of serving in the Armed Forces.

Scott is stationed in Germany but since last October he has been deployed to Qatar. On our Skype call at Christmas we were able to get a small view of the base he is making his home for six months. It didn't look like anywhere I would want to be, considering the barracks look like cinderblock fraternity dorm rooms, but I'm very thankful there are kids out there who are willing to make the sacrafice to live like that in service to our country.

This week a phone arrived on our doorstep. Scott had ordered it for himself but the company he purchased it from would not mail it to his military APO address so he had it sent to us. I remailed his phone along with some beef jerky sticks his dad wanted  him to have and a few dozen of our favorite Chewy Ginger cookies. Thank you for serving, Scott. Enjoy the cookies!



Link to Chewy Ginger cookie recipe:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/feb/11/homemade_cookies_can/

Up at 2 A.M.

ZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh lawd. I hate the nights when I am wide awake anytime after midnight. The experts tell you not to fight it. They recommend you just get out of bed and embrace that you are awake. Read. Drink a glass of milk. Listen to soothing music. 


Random thoughts had been popping into my head as I tried to sleep. What if the house sells this week? What if it doesn't? Will we enjoy living in NYC? How nice was that to enjoy the outdoor room tonight? How much am I going to miss watching Kansas sunsets? Who would have guessed it would be in the 80's on St. Patrick's Day? Why have I never really enjoyed celebrating St. Patrick's Day all that much? Will those pansies live that I just planted? How sore am I going to be tomorrow after cleaning out the garden today (er yesterday)? What is going to be the new grandbaby's name? And on and on and on.....


After huffing, puffing,tossing and turning I slipped out of bed without my husband even stirring. (Note to self. Remember to start setting the security system at night because clearly Mr Y. is not going to notice unwanted nocturnal visitors.) His shallow, peaceful breathing is making me crazy because I am tired of squinching (yes, I made that word up because that it what you do at 2 in the morning) my eyes shut trying to get to that peaceful place too. I figured if I pretend to be asleep then I will actually fall asleep. It did not happen. So. Here I sit at 2 a.m. NOT embracing being awake but sitting with my glass of milk waiting for the Sleep Fairy to sprinkle me with sleep dust.

Please tell me there is a Sleep Fairy.

For Sale. Now What?

The house has been touched up, scrubbed, repaired, and inspected. The pictures have been take, the video posted, and a For Sale sign plunked in the front yard. Now what do we do? Well, go on vacation of course.

Last Thursday morning we loaded up our bags, bike (singular you notice), binoculars, and snacks. The house was going to be shown a couple of times that day so I scrubbed my way to the garage door as we prepared to leave. You know how those natives cover their tracks with tree branches so no one knows which way they went? That's how I felt cleaning my way to the back door. If I could have raked our footprints off the carpet I would have but at that point we were ready to just get out of Dodge. 

Scrubbing floors then sitting in a car for several hours is not a good idea. I nearly had to duck walk into our first rest stop. My knees and hips were not going to straighten out until they were good and ready. Hopefully fellow travelers were sympathetic to my odd gait. It did get better by our first night's stop but I'll think twice before I do that again. 

Friday we arrived in Moab, Utah. It's a beautiful area. Perfect for Mr Y to bike his little heart out in The Skinny Tire Festival and for me to enjoy some down time at our B&B. I'm trying to get a grip on my new found habit of jumping out of bed, making the bed, vacuuming the floor, rinsing out the tub, and cleaning the windows. No need for that here. I am going to just to relax and enjoy the scenery. I could get used to this. 

Hopefully back home my house is selling itself.

Cheers!

2012 is a Significant Wedding Anniversary Year bonanza in my family.

 My parents would have celebrated their 60th this year. Unfortunately my dad passed away after going out to dinner to celebrate his and my mom's 37th wedding anniversary. We've missed having him around the last 20+ years and I know he would have enjoyed all of our anniversary celebrations as long as it involved the grand kids.

My older, younger brother and his wife will celebrate their 30th in early May. Three athletic daughters (including a set of twins) have kept them at sporting events most of their wedded bliss years but I don't think they would have it any other way.






My younger sister and her husband just celebrated their 25th last month. None of us kids attended their small wedding in our little country church and my older, younger brother has always contended that "if we didn't see it, it didn't happen". I'm going to take them at their word that they really are married. Why go to all that trouble to dress up if there's not a ceremony taking place?

My youngest brother and his cowgirl bride will celebrate their 20th in September. The youngest of the grand kids belongs to them and I guarantee he will keep them on their toes for many years to come.







And then there is us. Another wedding that my older, younger brother will swear didn't take place. But it did. I brought my sister along to Carmel, CA just so I would have a family witness. Well, that wasn't the only reason. It just so happens I like having her around. The fact that she and her husband wanted to tag along on the honeymoon is a whole other story.

We will toast our 15th anniversary in early June. Even though it was a second marriage for both of us the years are adding up fast.

Cheers Everyone!

Dear Diary

Ah, yes. It is all coming back to me now. The reason why I had at least 15 diaries to read through as I cleaned out my bedroom chest of drawers. In junior high and high school I would buy a new diary in December, pour my heart out in January and February, and to an outsider I must have died on a bitter cold, winter day because the rest of my diary is blank. Oh, but wait, here's the next year's diary! She's alive for two more months this year too.

No, I wasn't very good at keeping diaries. Pouring my heart out is not really what I did. What I did record would make you weep with boredom. 
January 22, 1967 "Went to church. Charlie smiled at me. It was a good day."
February 16, 1969 "Babysat for the Kadel's last night until 2:30am. Went to church today. Smiled at Charlie. It was a good day."
March 10, 1969 "Can't remember what I've done since February 16th. Must not be much going on."

One year I actually kept my diary during the summer.
July 24, 1970 "Meet Carol at the pool today. Laid in the sun for 2 hours. Burned. It was a good day."
August 5, 1971 "Rode around with Regina tonight. Saw Joe at The Banner. It was a good night."

I kept diaries during my working girl, single parent days too. Mostly it consisted of "Went to work. It was a not such a good day." Or my 8 year old son revealing that he was in a gang. "What do you do in your gang?' I wrote. "We ride our bicycles, look at girls, and hang out" he said. (Smile). I could never get the jest of recording the weather, or admitting and documenting faults and failures, or telling other peoples secrets, or my own for that matter. There was a little bit of that but not nearly all that I remember experiencing. Always, always, it was in the back of my mind that someone would find that diary.

So, now I have the blog. I almost fell back into that bad habit of recording the first two months and then letting it go. Nope, not this year. I've made it to March! There are places to go, things to do, people to see. I will keep it up. I will keep it up. I will keep it up.

March 3rd, 2012 Woke up, smiled at my husband, wrote on my blog. It's a good day.

Downsizing Tally - I realized I haven't updated thise for awhile either. The messiness of downsizing has now been confined to two spaces. Anything that doesn't belong in the "show" spaces of our house now sits in the third bay of the garage and a large, unfinished room in the basement. Hey! At least I know where all my junk is.