28 July 2015

Roll with it

When your husband accidentally glutens the burgers, you make lunch meat wraps with the bomb ass Costco cheese you just bought and get over it.

My new goal, inspired 100% by new tennis shoes, is to work out once a week. I set my alarm for 3 days a week but most of the time it gets turned off. But once a week= So far, so good. On week 2.

Which is when my hair goes into a high bun for work bc it's wet and I'm not about to try blow drying it after my shower bc summer. Oddly enough, everyone at work loves it. Evidence:

Do I really look like that? I suppose I probably do. I look tired.

My pants fit better but I dunno maybe they just fit better  because I basically spent the months of May and June walking around at work. SO. MUCH. TRAINING.

Anyway I forgot what else I was going to say.


21 July 2015

Knob.

You know you're old when things like fancy new doorknobs are exciting. Behold, the last new doorknob in all its fancy glory!


20 July 2015

some things never change

2013: My Craft Room

2015: Today.

Kitty loves a good windowsill.

19 July 2015

shopping highlights

When it's your sister's birthday, sometimes you spend the day hitting up garage sales and thrift stores and stuffing tamales in your face while walking between stores in 100-degree heat, and having a ridiculous blast.

I scored some fantastic deals. Do you wanna see? Of course you do.

Plate rack- $1

Moustachioed sun- $2


 Metal (ice) bucket- $2


Neat old oiler can for the hubs, peace offering for staying out allll day spending money :o)- $8


And, my most exciting find, this chair, $20
Coincidentally, my mom and sister found fantastic pieces at that same store, and we all walked out giddy on serious shopping highs, with our purchases slung over our shoulders.

Hey, Roomba

About the chair. I've been wanting a cute little chair to put in that corner for two reasons:

1. Our living room is an awkward mismatch of one sectional + a bunch of little tables. SO MANY TABLES. ONE AWKWARD COUCH. Sure, the karaoke stage offers seating when we have guests, but that's ghetto. Since the price was right the girly little chair came home!

2. My nightly dilemma. The lamp light doesn't quite reach the couch when Chris is watching TV at night and I'm trying to read, so I've been needing a reading spot. A side table is necessary to hold the lamp (and a glass of wine, duh). The smallest table (okay, cabinet that used to be my pantry that now holds dvds that we can't watch because we don't have a dvd player) is a tad too wide, but it will do for now.

That tiny change required a bit of rearranging. I dragged a bunch of tables around while Chris was napping and here's how things ended up:

 BEFORE

The giant useful coffee table that always got in the way and spontaneously gathered clutter was moved to the karaoke stage. In its spot went grandma's round side table and now the couch is so much more accessible.

The other side table that was hidden behind the couch got moved to the other side of the fireplace. It still sticks out but at least now it's got a function until we find a better place for it.

AFTER

Still kind of awkward because the couch blocks the windows and severely restricts the creativity, but the flow is a bit better.

Where did the giant useful coffee table go?

BEFORE

He moved moved to the karoke stage to hold the tv since the temporary shelf we were using was starting to bow and we haven't made much effort to find a table that fits the space. Plus it hides the obnoxious cords better.

AFTER

Funny how an afternoon of shopping ends up with the room being rearranged. Chris is such a good sport and pretty much rolls with all of my random redecorating. I wonder if he even notices the small things I move around simply to see if they look better in a different spot? I should start to keep a record.

13 July 2015

The little things that are actually big

I could not wake up today.
I haven't been sleeping particularly well, and for some reason today it seemed to catch up with me.
I snoozed on the couch this morning after waking up, which I never do.
I napped in the parking garage when I got to work.
I chugged coffee and tried to concentrate at work but struggled to keep my eyes open.

Of course I didn't suffer in silence; I must have told toot about 10 times how tired I was today. And when I got home he not only helped me make dinner but offered to rub my feet. With his sore hand (he started physical therapy on his wrist today).

Needless to say I forced myself to stay up until the sun went down and niw I'm half-awake in bed typing this on my phone. This phone-blogging thing rules. Especially with the only slightly glitchy voice to text feature.

Also hubs is awesome on days like this.

12 July 2015

dog situation

On a daily basis, I wish I could like the dog. It would make everyone's life so incredibly easier.

But I don't, and I've stopped pretending like I do. In this whole process, I've tried very hard to accept the dog. Very hard. With an incredible amount of optimism.

However, it seems my wholehearted "fake it till you make it" attitude eventually made it much worse. I felt like I was living a lie and I hated having to pretend. It got to the point where I dreaded coming home, I couldn't relax in my home, and my resentment and anxiety only grew.

I would like to clarify that I haven't completely stopped trying to accept the dog. But I've stopped pretending because honestly it got to the point where Chris had no idea how much I felt like I was making a daily sacrifice. Which of course made me tense and angry and resentful and ultimately was a giant misunderstanding. How was he supposed to know how much I was struggling with it if I didn't say anything?

I learned that biting my tongue can give the impression that I'm at ease with the situation. I now have to learn how to communicate my intense dislike of the situation while respecting it.

It's not the dog's fault that she's a dog and does dog things. I don't hate her. I absolutely don't mistreat her or put her in any danger. She's a good dog and she's given good care. I hate that she lives in my house. If she were an outside dog or someone else's dog, I probably would not have a problem with her. I think.

Not that trying to explain myself makes a difference. Dog people are dog people and simply don't understand how someone could possibly not like dogs. It's like they're mentally incapable of understanding why someone wouldn't love those creatures.

I'm not just being a brat. I've spent my entire life recoiling from dogs and holy shit now I have to live with one of them.
Being firmly in the "get that dog away from me" camp my whole life, it's been a huge adjustment to attempt and it's honestly been a little traumatic for me. But it's not socially acceptable to dislike dogs so I kept those anxieties masked and went along with it the best I could.
Like I said, in hindsight that was not the best idea.

Perhaps if the dog had any positive impact on my life at this point I'd feel different. I have no idea why people love dogs so much. I have yet to identify any redeeming quality in this animal. There's nothing fun about her. There's no bonding. She's nothing but another chore to me and I don't like to be around her, or any dog.

I take that back. There is one redeeming quality: She makes Chris happy. He wants this, so I'll continue trying. If this was any other situation or any other person, I'd have already done something about it. Because I'm not one to sit idly by and be unhappy. But I love him and he has every right to have a dog if he wants and I am fully capable of adjusting.

At this point it's time to be realistic and let this process unfold how it will. The more I tried, the more it backfired. I'm taking a step back, we've identified new boundaries, and perhaps as time goes on I can become more comfortable with the situation. I'm already much more comfortable with some of the changes we've made and hopefully these compromises will result in a happier situation for everyone.

11 July 2015

knob

I just finished installing/replacing 8 doorknobs. I feel like such a badass PLUS that tarnished brassy gold hardware is all gone. Well, not counting some of the light fixtures.

Apparently spray-painting all the old doorknobs was too ghetto for Chris, because when I started the project he was very quick to suggest we buy all new ones. Another last-minute trip to home depot because that's how we roll. Probably a good call because when we got home some of the knobs were so old they literally broke when I tried to remove them. Plus we got a towel rod for the guest bathroom because I hijacked the original one for the Laundry Room project.

Except we didn't get one doorknob because it wasn't in stock. I really want this one for the front entry closet door, because in my head, when we open the front door the first thing people will see is our classy closet doorknob. I tried to scrap the idea in the store and buy a normal doorknob to finish the project, but Chris insisted we get the fancy one. So we've got to order that one. I'm probably way too excited about that.

The only bummer is that these new doorknobs are slightly smaller than the old ones, so the paint needs to be touched up on all the doors. Except they're not exactly stark white so matching the color is going to be fun and we'll probably end up having to paint all the doors. Which involves removing all the doorknobs again. Because that's how projects in this house go.

07 July 2015

observations

Spontaneous trips to the dollar store are a million times more fun after a few glasses of wine. GLITTER NOTEBOOKS?? MOTH BALLS?? HOT PINK PLASTIC DRAWER ORGANIZERS?? AJAX?? NAIL BRUSHES?? YEAH!! Bomb-ass to hubs for putting up with it all.

Jalapeno cheetos (or the generic Aldi brand) are really hitting the spot right now. Goes great with Aldi moscato. Saving money on groceries FTW.

I discovered how ridiculously easy and gourmet it is to make whipped cream in the dreamy kitchen aid, and I've made it twice this week. Berries and cream for dinner, yo. (and wine and jalapeno cheese curls) I'm never buying that nasty delicious chemical concoction of canned whipped cream again.

Did I mention that I don't have to wake up early for work tomorrow? The one perk of night shift. (and practically no traffic, another perk.) The oil change will have to wait because I'm sleeping in tomorrow for sho. Eye dr. appt tomorrow though. It's time to trade in these little kid glasses that I've had for like 8 years. But... I kind of like them. I need someone to come with me to pick out new glasses because it gives me anxiety. Which is why I've worn these little kid glasses for 8 years now. (Ash? Anyone?)

P.S. I think I'm going back to buy my sisters and my mom and Andrea and everyone I know glitter notebooks.

P.P.S. I don't know why I've taken to drinking and blogging so much lately. Makes for so many typos and crappy sentence structure. Plus I tend to try to get a little ghetto. Word.