On hair

So I'm at the salon sitting waiting for the color on my head to finish doing what it does. 
I love coming to the salon.  I like the smell and enjoy watching the ladies do their magic on peoples heads.  Its fascinating and I'm a bit jealous..  I wish I could make hair look fantastic.

So as I sit here I also get a little sad.  I see all these lovely people in here doing hair, getting their hair done and I sit here and wonder what it is like to not have a skin disorder on my scalp.  It's tough.. a girls hair is a huge part of what makes her feel pretty or attractive.  At least for me it is...

I see mine as this mess of hair with areas where it is so thin from where a lot of hair has fallen out. And damage from the medicated oils and shampoos I use.  I want to love my hair again. I want to enjoy playing with different looks and styling my hair. 

I recently came upon an old photo where I had my long hair. It looked healthy and even a bit thick.

I have very thin and fine hair which can make matters worse when my scalp gets bad.
I hope that some day this skin issue will just disappear and one day this feeling of not liking how I look because I hate my skin and I only see the flaws and problems fades away.
Some day I hope to feel pretty again.

A little afternoon sun at work

< demo > complete < /demo >

we finished taking down the walls!  demo is complete!



Here is eric preparing to take down the last of the remaining wall..



not exactly sure what we were listening to.. but apparently it had some awesome air guitar





As we were taking down the last bit we found another relic on the wall..



Perhaps this one isn't as old as the other...  :)

Here we go!





And it's done!!







HI RUDY!


Now we need to do some electrical work as we need to add a couple of outlets.

I will also be calling about some windows for the room.

And then there is this...



Not sure what this is from.. but i will need to call a plumber to have them check it out and see if it can be cut and put back together below the floor.

after admiring our work.. if you stand in the corner by the two outside walls and look down it feels like you are standing on a floating floor..



Just a bit freaky....

maybe i'm weird.. but lathe & plaster can be pretty at times..



we got all this done on saturday.. sunday we worked on cleaning up the dust trail from carrying all the mess out of the house.   It was such a beautiful day so we also spent some time with erics lovely mom and jerry and had funhouse pizza for dinner.  This evening eric and I and all 5 of our pet kids climbed onto the couch and watched a couple of episodes of Dr. Who.. wish i had a picture of that.  Eric, me, 2 dogs & 3 cats on the couch.  This weekend was a success.

once we get more done on the room i'll give you an update!

now off to bed for me and the fam..

signing off..   -d

Annihilation

We were in demo mode again tonight.  However tonight we started on the real messy stuff.. Lathe & Plaster.  Otherwise known as dusty.as.shit.and.a.pain.in.my.ass.

But i think it went well.  It really isn't all that hard to take down and Eric can take down large sections of the walls really fast.. but i can't clean it up faster then he can take it down. So i gave up and left a mess for this weekend when we can bring the lawnmower with the trailer to haul down to the dumpster.

Some photos of the progress...

Assessing the job at hand..  otherwise known as taking a break


Eric Smash!


The mess


Where we left it for the night


rubble..


I mentioned in the last post about the ceiling being wallpapered.. but what i didn't mention was the weird placement of the light fixture in there..


Never mind the wires hanging from the ceiling.. i think that went to the motion sensors that used to be in the living room directly beneath the room.  We didn't use them (we have cats and dogs) so we removed them from downstairs but never took the awkward wiring out from this room.

At this point i think i'm going to leave the ceiling in place and i might just leave the electrical in the ceiling where it is too.  I have a chandelier i am putting in this room so i might just do the decorative chain/cord and hook in order to get the light in the middle of the room.  Only time will tell.

We got the most part of 1 1/2 walls done.  We should have the room completely gutted by this weekend!!  And we can thank tonights fast work of ripping down the walls to THE ANNIHILATOR by Dead on Tools.



This tool is pretty awesome..
And it has a skull on it!  So you know.. that makes it work better.



Your parting gift for this evening isn't a picture of one of my pets.. but of my fantastic face:



Hot!

meaning it's time to go take a Hot! shower and go the heck to bed.
over and out...

Demolition (wo)Man!

Here we go again!  Another project to add to the list.. 

Remember that front porch project?

  You can read about it here:  Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

umm.. yeah.. that still isn't done..

I never even wrote about the bathroom!  Which we have mostly done but the front of the tub is still unfinished.. window needs to be painted, along with the shelving unit and doors.  Not to mention we already have repairs that need to be done..  faucet needs replacing already and breaker blew on the light fixtures above the sink.. Oh Joy!

Anyway.. i can spend all day listing all the stuff that we have and have not started yet.. but i'm not going to as that makes my head and my wallet hurt.

What i do want to talk about is the little bedroom off the office.  I call it the dressing room.

This room will become a very large closet!  I'm super excited about it as we have a 4 bedroom house 1 1/2 bath, eat in kitchen, formal dining room (we use as a library), living room and entry way and 2... wait... lets do that again..  ONE.. TWO.. closets!!  

One in the office which is for Erics stuff.. 

The other in the room we are currently using as our bedroom which we use for our clothes and other storage.  I have a rubbermaid tub with my shoes in it.. not fun finding shoes when you are in a hurry which is me 99.999% of the time.

So we are now working on the Spare Oom..  (tell me you got that reference?) (wait.. who am i talking to.. does anyone read this blog??   .....   ..)

Isn't she lovely

a little passive agressive are we?  

An old relic from the days when Eric's family lived here.  His uncle wrote that on the wall.

Can you see the light?  that is the front porch you can see through that hole.

So tonight we began working on it.  I took one wall down to the studs and Eric removed the molding around the windows.  The wall i worked on tonight was particle board which was easy to remove.  The other three walls are lathe and plaster.. it's gonna get messy!

After looking at the windows once the molding was removed I think i'm going to look into vinyl windows.  Yeah they won't match the rest of the house.. but i figure one room at a time is better than leaving these since i can't afford to do them all at once!

If you look closely at the window you can see the old pulley mechanism.

Isn't the wallpaper devine!  What you probably can't tell by these photos is that the ceiling is papered also.  We haven't decided if we are taking the ceiling down yet.  only time will tell.

The list for tomorrow is removal of the trash we now have all over the floor.. or i should say.. figuring out how we are going to remove all this down our steep narrow stairs.  

Fortunately we rented a dumpster for Erics rental 2 houses down so we have a place to put this trash but getting it there might be an adventure on it's own.

Then we work on the lathe & plaster walls!

I'll try and keep you posted on the progress!

On a side note..   I still need to write a post about T & B's wedding cake that i made!  I'm pretty darn proud of myself for that one so i'll try and get something done soon.  

Also.. apparently it's time to upgrade my flickr account to pro..  granted it's not really expensive but i was hoping to wait it out a bit longer.. no such luck.  

One more pic for the road:

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl.  She turned 12 today!

I think she's not interested...

a mess i don't know how to clean up..

...then again i probably do.

ugg.. my life is a mess.. actually it's not my life so much as it is my house!! which then makes my life feel like a mess..

This place is a disaster. I'm really not sure what to do with it.

I want to simplify. I want to purge. I want to make this easier on myself. I want to walk into my house and feel relaxed not stressed about the mess.

I've been reading a couple of blogs lately about people simplifying their lives. out of necessity (saving money), out of just wanting to, out of the fact that they are about to embark on a year long journey in an RV. (now that really sounds fun) So they all have limited amounts of clothing and things. They choose the things that are necessary for day to day living and then a few things they just can't live without. all the other stuff .... they sell or give away.

To me that sounds liberating. just let a lot of it go. I want to do that! I don't know how to do that...

I don't think i could pair down my clothes to only one or two weeks worth. it would however make laundry easier. Eric and I did just go through all of our clothes and I now have 9 paper grocery bags of clothes sitting in my entry that we need to give away. I think all in all we did good there. but I still have a lot of clothes. Lets not even talk about shoes! Though i'm doing better. I did pair down because I found a laundry basket of shoes in the closet that I haven't even looked at for a year. I looked at them thinking.. oohh.. shoes... then said screw it.. and they are now in the pile to give away. I could probably even get rid of a few more... which i think i will probably do around summer.


we also recently went through all the books in the library. We pulled a lot that we don't want any more and we need to take them up to the half price book store and see how many they will take. The money we make off those will go toward a new mattress.


But it's really all the other stuff around the house... i look around and all i see is stuff i have to clean or dust. And if you know me.. i don't really do either of those things. ugg.. I don't mind cleaning but there is SO MUCH STUFF that I have to dust, vacuum, clean off, move and clean under.. blah.

I really want to just go room to room and just start tossing things. but i don't just want to toss them in the trash. though I'd do it just to get them out of my house!! But really... that isn't the best thing to do. But then I have all this crap sitting around my house in boxes, bags, piles that i need to give, sell, take somewhere.. and as I have mentioned before. LAZY...

Those bags of clothes.. they have already been there for almost a week. the books.. a couple of weeks. there is crap on the front porch that has been there for months that i need to give away.

a garage/yard sale is out of the questions (lazy). I have NO patients for them. Ebay.. yeah right. Eric is constantly talking about selling the crap we want to get rid of on ebay.. umm that was years ago. hasn't sold one thing on there yet! Actually have 3 boxes of Magic cards sitting right beside me now in the office that he needs to get rid of. ugg.. all that makes the dumpster look lovely. (but I won't do it)

Pairing down is such a hard thing to do for me with some things. I also think it is even harder for Eric. Though he is not as bad has his grandfather (thanks bob.. we still have some of your crap in our basement, and under the carport and floating around in our house) but he likes his stuff.

Another problem of ours.. mail.. oh the dreaded mail. if I ever don't make it into work someday it's probably because a pile of mail and papers of some sort have fallen on top of me an I am pinned under it.. probably dead by the shear mass of it all. I have gone to paperless billing on any of my bills that will let me.. so my contribution to this mess has dwindled.. but it still comes. and I try to throw things away.. it's the stuff we need to keep and organize that we have problems with. I probably already have a kid and just don't know it because it is shoved somewhere in one of the many stacks of papers we have around the house.


I have too much of everything.. to many dishes and silverware and tupperware.. it sure would make doing dishes easier if I didn't have all that crap! I would still definitely keep all my really nice stuff that I only get out on special occasions but really.. why do I need like 50 forks!!! that is insane! And because I hate doing dishes.. i will use ALL of them before I do dishes.. then it takes me a week to get caught up.. again INSANE!

simplify.. my home.. my life..

I really want to be able to buy the things I really like but not burden myself with the clutter. don't they always say less is more. everything in moderation..

granted I will never get rid of all my books.. i love books. I'd rather go down to 5... no 4.. maybe even 3 pairs of shoes before I got rid of my books.

I just need to figure out how i'm going to do it and how i'm going to convince my husband to go along with it when I say I want to get rid of the statues on top of the TV armoire. I think i will win on somethings.. and lose big time on others..

I want to try.. i need to. I need to lighten my load and my house. get my ass off the couch/computer chair and get to gettin.

wish me luck!

I cooked!

Today I cooked! I haven't actually cooked for a while unless you call throwing a frozen pizza in the oven or a frozen burrito in the microwave. We haven't been eating out quite as often but still I haven't had the cooking bug. (i hate my kitchen.. but that's a story for another day)

So Eric and I had gone to one of our favorite restaurants, The Vineyards Restaurant, in Weston a few weeks ago and had this most wonderful appetizer that I still can't get over. It was a rice & sausage stuffed acorn squash. It was savory and sweet and absolutely to die for. The last time I ate there was this weekend for Valentines day.. and I exclaimed how I would totally make out with the cook (Love you Becky!!), the food is that good. I had duck for the first time and damn.. that is pretty much all i can say.. Oh-Ma-Gah! Go there, Eat! Anyway.. back to the acorn squash.

So I completely fell head over heals for this squash. So I talked to Becky/cook/co-owner/sweet friend about a few of the ingredients.. so I only remember a few but I had a basic idea because I really wanted to try and make it.. So tonight I winged it!

She used wild rice.. i used jasmine rice.
She used cranberry compote... i used crasins (dried cranberries) I'm lazy what can i say!
She also mentioned something about molasses.. i have that!
and maple syrup... i have some fat free stuff.. works for me but pure maple syrup is heaven but currently not in my pantry!
and sausage.. so I picked up some sage sausage.. thought it sounded good.

Here is an absolutely awful picture of my end result.

This is half of the squash as eric and i shared it for dinner..
It was GOOD! I did GOOD! Damn Look at me GO!!

So this is what I did.. and mind you I didn't measure anything..

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut a small portion of the bottom of the acorn off so that it stands up straight on a pan.
Cut the cap off the top of the squash(keep) and spoon out all the seeds and stuff.. (I had to make eric smell the inside of the squash.. i love freshly cut squash.. smells delish!) Set aside.
In skillet brown a small portion of sausage.. i think i used about 1/4lb.. I was only making one squash and there was enough stuffing for two.. like i said i didn't measure anything.
Remove sausage from skillet into a bowl.
In same skillet i added just a bit of chicken broth to deglaze (you can use white wine but i didn't have any on me)
Add diced onions.. about 1/4 c. or however much you want. Cook till softened.
Add a handful of crazins or however many you want.
Add a some chopped walnuts.. yummy
Add rice.. i had steamed 1 cup dry rice.. about 3 cups after cooked while i was browning the sausage. ADD IT!
Then I added rosemary, thyme, more sage.. cause you really can never have enough sage! salt and pepper.
THEN.. i drizzled some molasses on top and then some of the syrup.
Mix'er up!
This is when you taste away.. check it out.. i had to add a bit more syrup and some salt. you want to get the sweet and savory at just the right level. YUM.
Take off heat. Grab a pan to cook your squash on. put a piece of parchment down, so it's easy cleanup!
Set your pretty squash on tray and drop a dollop of butter in the bottom of that sucker.
Fill up that squash with your rice mixture. Don't stuff it in there though.. just fill'er up and place that cute little top back on. Don't go for perfection or anything.. a little extra won't kill anyone! my cap did not fit back on perfectly..
Stick it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until you can stick it with a fork and it goes in easily.
I checked at 45 minutes and it was ready to come out.. but i burnt my hand like an idiot so it cooked about 5 minutes longer because I had to stick my hand under cold running water for a minute... anyway!
I pulled the squash out.. and it smelled sooo good.

I cut it down the center and split it with my husb... but not before I heated up more of the left over rice mixture and added it on top! Also.. scrap all that squashy goodness out of the cap because YUM!

and enjoy!

I sure did!

(sorry i don't have more pictures.. i took that ugly one with my phone. plus i wasn't sure how this would turn out. when i make again i'll post better pictures!)

Yogurt... bust.

So recently I went to Whole Foods to buy a few groceries. I saw this yogurt and loved the design of the label and thought I'd give it a try. I really like the consistency. Its very thick like a custard and it is very pretty. You can see the specks of the vanilla bean and can smell the vanilla also. However this yogurt is too bitter for me. I'm kinda sad that it was a bust. It's so pretty and I wanted to like it so much. I might try one of their fruit yogurts in hopes it is sweeter. I think I'm going to keep the label.

randomness

Check out this little girl!!!   So Freaking Cute!!!

Tash.. Jas..  you guys make some beautiful babies!

So I posted about music recently.. thanks for everyone that has given me some suggestions.. I am checking them all out and we'll see how many albums I end up buying on iTunes.  Michelle.. Thanks for the invite to Pandora.   I really like it!  I've been listening to it all day today and have found an artist I really like.  Kate Nash..  beautiful songs, beautiful voice!  

It's a couple of days away from Christmas..  so to you all that celebrate it!  Merry Christmas..  and to you that don't.   Merry Hanukkah, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Birthday to Mithra and what ever else is out there!

I want.. #2

Was out today viewing blogs and a friend of mine found this (Thanks Jocelyn!):

The Original Ruler Cuff $49.00
A fashion statement that really measures up! Seriously hip bracelet made out of high grade stainless steel. Inches (English) are etched on the outside and metric markings are on the inside. This stainless steel ruler is one size fits most. 3/4" tall and 6"/19mm long with an inch gap so that you can slide it on and adjust to any size.
http://shanalogic.com

Something else to add to the list of stuff that I want and will let other people buy me!!

inspiration..

I love this dress... I want.. but can't find anything like it..























Gonna have to start working out if I'm gonna look anything like that when I get married!

Holy crap.. I'm getting married... again

Eureka!

The trip to Eureka was nice. I think it was just nice to take the week off really. We drove down to Eureka Springs on Wednesday and stayed at the Bavarian Inn. We mostly picked that place because they also have a restaurant that makes German style and Czech style food.
While the place wasn't fancy it was clean and our room was huge. Also the people there were very nice. (Thanks Michelle for all your help!)
Wednesday night after we got settled in our room we ate at their restaurant and the food was amazing! I would totally stay and eat there again and again. After dinner we went into the shopping district and had drinks at the Pied Piper. Pretty neat place. Almost got to see the bartender beat down some white trash that was yelling at her because the building was a non-smoking building. Needless to say we had a good time!
Thursday we got up and the Inn had something like blueberry coffee cake that was delicious and we had some hot tea with that. We then headed out to see all the springs we could find. I think we found all but one (Magnetic Springs to the right). We also went up to see the great big Jesus on the hill. That was fun. We walked over 2 miles that morning before lunch. We then stopped in the Whale & Squid for the best chicken nachos I have ever had! After that we were exhausted and decided to go back to the Inn to take a nap.
After our nap we got up and went for a drink at the Basin Inn Hotel. They have a balcony bar that overlooks the shopping area and is very pretty. We then headed down to the Grand Tavern in for dinner. It was pretty damn good. Especially because I got some goat cheese! We had steak and potatoes and it was so very good. Afterward we hopped into the car and Eric decided he wanted to take a scenic route back to where we were staying. He stopped at the Magnetic Springs and we walked up and sat up there and listened to the woods and watched the stars. It was a beautiful night. A little chilly but not too bad. We sat for a while and talked about nothing much. We then stood up and looked the other way at the stars. Eric was talking about how we both seem to always hunt out the quiet secluded places when we go on vacations. We like our solitude so long as we have someone to share it with. He asked me if I could do this forever with him and I said of course I could. He then looked down at his hand and I followed his gaze and there he held an open ring box that sparkled in the moonlight. At this moment I started bawling.... and bawling... and bawling. I think I had been waiting for so long and had been wishing and hoping that he would ask that I almost expected it to never happen. After I calmed down he was then able to ask "Will you marry me?" and I said Yes... of course! I have the beautiful diamond ring now and I also get to marry my best friend in the world! I am sooo very excited and I almost don't know where to start! Here is a picture of us at Magnetic Springs on Friday. We decided to go back and get a few more pictures. We didn't say anything to anyone until we got back into town and was able to tell his mom and my mom in person. By the end of Friday we were were so very exhausted, emotionally and physically.
Eureka Springs was so beautiful and will always be a place that I remember. Someday it will be nice to be able to take our kids back there and show them the place where he proposed.

So the question that everyone is asking... No we don't have a date picked out yet. We have only spoken a little bit about it. I can tell you this much.. it will be sometime next year. We are so very short on cash right now that we will have to wait and save up so we can do what we want. I know you all want to know and we will tell you when we have it all figured out.

Here is a picture of my ring!