Insult to Injury

So, the Broncos lost the big game on Sunday. I think the above photo of Maren accurately sums up the general sentiment around here on THAT subject.

To really pour salt in the wound, however, my Grandpa (who holds the season tickets that my brothers used for the game on Sunday) received a letter on Monday from the Broncos, stating that he'd been chosen in the lottery such that if the Broncos had won their game on Sunday, he'd have the option of buying 2 tickets TO THE SUPERBOWL.

Oh, that just sucks.

You're in Bronco Country

There's definitely some Bronco Fever going on at my house in preparation for the big game today! My brothers flew in from Salt Lake yesterday to go to the game, and it's so much fun to have them here visiting. Sadly for us, the game is at the exact same time we have church. I was thinking that maybe we could say we're going to learn about the Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil, and as an object lesson, we could watch the game. I doubt that will happen, though, so I'm hoping someone can at least give us score updates throughout Sunday School.




GO BRONCOS!!!!!!

Last night we had breakfast for dinner, so Maren got her first taste of pancake, and she loved it! She snarfed that and the scrambled egg down without hesitation. I love having breakfast for dinner--it seems so cozy, which was perfect for yesterday since it was snowy and cold all day. I made pancakes on my big griddle and fried bacon in my big cast iron skillet, then scrambled the eggs in the bacon grease. YUM! I love how it makes the house smell when I cook breakfast, specifically the bacon. It smells like Denny's, only without the additional and markedly less appetizing aromas of stale cigarettes and burnt coffee.

Tonight I'm tired and so I've just called in to order a pizza. We checked out a DVD from the library that is due back tomorrow, so we'll have a pizza and movie night. The movie is "The Great Raid", which is based on an event that happened in WWII when Rangers were called in to rescue American POWs from Cabanatuan in the Philippenes. The story is pretty amazing, so I hope the movie does it justice. If nothing else, it has Joseph Fiennes in it, and he's yummy.

In the clink

This is a sight I saw far, far too many times last week. Maren shocked us all by learning to crawl up the stairs on Christmas Day at my parents' house. She just crawled over to them and headed up like she'd done it a million times before. Since we've been home, she's been up our stairs many times each day. If it got at all quiet, the first place I checked was the stairs, and 9 times out of 10, I found a sight much like these pictures. She hasn't fallen once, and she's very confident and fast, but I worried that she might get distracted and fall--and it's a long way down with a hardwood floor to land on, and I was tired of chasing her up the stairs. So this is the sight I see now:

Oh, that's just sad, isn't it? Poor Bronco has to suffer too, and he didn't even do anything wrong! Even though it makes me feel a little guilty to cage my kid, it's been so nice not to have to worry about her going up (or more specifically, down) the stairs. It's also made loading the dishwasher much easier as well, since I'm not fighting Maren for the silverware. I do half wonder if one of these days, she'll plot with Bronco, and he'll lift her up and over the wall to freedom. I'll be keeping an eye on those two....

Love and a wet pink nose

One year ago this weekend, Bronco came to live with us. Quin had made two appointments for us for Saturday to meet 2 labs. I still wasn't 100% on board with the whole getting a dog (and a big one, at that) thing, but I went along anyway and tried to have an open mind.

The first lab we met had a body more like a greyhound--long legs, skinny hindquarters--and long hair. We spent a couple of hours on that unusually warm and sunny January day walking around the park with him and his foster dad, but I knew I didn't like him. Didn't like the long hair and didn't think he looked "labbish" enough. I knew he wasn't the dog for us.

The next interview was at a doggie day care place across town. We drove over and told the girl at the desk that we were there to see Santos, and she disappeared into the back to retrieve him. She opened the Dutch door that separated the waiting area from the doggie area, and out he ran, going full-speed. He sniffed and snorted his way around the tiny room while we filled out the paperwork that would allow us to take him home for a trial weekend.

It was a little surreal, driving back home with a big, strange dog in the backseat. He was almost white, with a pale pink nose and the square head I associate with labradors. He looked exactly like what I thought a lab should look like.

I will admit it. I loved him immediately.

It didn't take the full weekend for us to figure out that he was the dog we wanted. In fact, on the way home with him we stopped at PetSmart and bought food, bowls, and a leash--that was how fast we knew! He just fit. From the minute we brought him home and let him out to explore, he acted like it was his house, and he'd known it all along. The people that fostered him had named him Santos, but we gave him a new name--Bronco.

We honestly couldn't have asked for a better dog. Bronco ended up at Safe Harbor Lab Rescue because he was picked up by Animal Control and put in the pound. He didn't have any tags, and his owners never came for him, so Safe Harbor took him. He came to us already house-trained, which was SUCH a blessing. I was 7 months pregnant and in no mood to have a dog peeing all over the house. He didn't chew, dig, or bark--three bad habits labs are notorious for having. He was healthy and friendly with the neighbor kids. We took him to obedience classes and he learned quickly. We were a little nervous about how he'd react to a new baby, but once he figured out she was here to stay he adjusted quickly and painlessly.

Now, Bronco and Maren are buddies. He is so patient and easy-going with her. She climbs all over him, pulls his whiskers, and generally mauls him, and he doesn't seem to care. The other night he was on the floor sleeping and Maren was using her two hands to pry apart his lips and poke at his teeth and gums, and he never even twitched. Maren loves to play Tug with him and I know that as she gets bigger and learns to walk and to run and throw a ball, they'll become the best of friends.

We love Bronco--he's part of the family now, and I'm so thankful that we were blessed to find him. I hope he lives a long and happy life, and that our kids will have fond memories of him when they are grown.

And now, I think it's time someone had a little Happy Anniversary Milk Bone! (No, not me. I prefer Beggin' Strips, anyway.)

UFO sightings

I killed two UFOs today. UFO in this instance stands for UnFinished Object, or more specifically, any of the seemingly zillions of unfinished projects I've got hanging around, weighing down my To Do lists. I've been feeling really energized by the new year, and have been trying hard to tackle some of the things I've had hanging over my head for a while now. Today I completed two UFOs, and I am proud! Feels so good to accomplish something--I should try it more often! This afternoon I finally hung the hook rail I ordered back in oh, Novemberish. I also hung the paper lantern (that I can't even remember when I bought) in Maren's room. Both of these things were really very easy, when it got down to it. Makes me wonder why I let them sit for so long!

The next big project I'm going to tackle from my UFO list is fixing my duvet cover. Now that I finally got my sewing machine out and wound a bobbin of the correct color of thread, I just have to actually DO IT. It will be trickier than today's projects, but I know that it will feel SO good to have it done and actually be able to use my duvet cover and really make my bed with matching pillows and everything, which will in turn make my whole bedroom look better.

Because I am a compulsive list-maker, I made a list for every single room in this house with the UFOs and yet-to-be-starteds for each. I'm going to try to cross a lot of them off in the next couple of months. Will 2006 be The Year I Stop Procrastinating? We'll see.

Ten Things I Like About Me

I fear that lately I've been spending too much time concentrating on the things I'm not so thrilled with about myself, so I thought it might be a good idea to balance out all that negativity by taking Sophia's challenge and post 10 things I like about myself. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. I have pretty hair
2. I'm organized
3. I'm a good cook
4. I'm creative
5. I have a good memory
6. I'm even-tempered
7. I'm positive
8. I'm tall
9. I'm dependable
10. I have a fun sense of humor

Too Much Information

You were warned.

If you've ever bought baby formula, then you know that it is unbelievably expensive. Honestly, the only drawback so far to weaning Maren has been the expense. In an effort to save a little moola, we decided to try the generic brand of formula sold at the BX (the military store), but the only kind they had at the time was the soy formula. I don't know if it's the soy or if it's the brand of formula itself, but I'm telling you, it gives Maren THE STINKIEST diapers. Now, I'm not saying that baby poop smells like roses to begin with, but seriously--the stank off these diapers could strip the paint off the walls of Hell, it's so bad. It's astonishing that such a vile stench could come out of a little creature who doesn't even weigh 16 lbs and whose diet consists almost entirely of fruits, veggies, and Cheerios.

You get what you pay for, indeed. It's back to shelling out the big bucks for Enfamil for us. The Diaper Champ can only take so much, and wearing Quin's protective gear while changing Maren's diapers is getting a bit unwieldy.

'Zat you, Santy Claus?

Everybody now:
"Awwwwwwwww"

Picture taken at our church Christmas party a couple of weeks ago. Maren's first encounter with Santa, and she was fascinated. I love the look on her face here--in true Maren fashion, she seems intrigued, but not a bit fearful. Cheeky little monkey.

Thrifting on the road

This past week Q got to go to Steamboat Springs for 'work' and Maren and I joined him for a couple of days. The weather was snowy and cold, but otherwise it is a cute little town. Tuesday we went downtown to go to a store that Q had his eye on, and I noticed a thrift store across the street. I'm telling you, I can positively sniff them out at this point, I'm so trained. Unfortunately, most of it was junk, but I did find this cute fabric for a buck. The colors are quite bright and the graphics are fun--various storybook types of illustrations. There's not quite a yard, but I thought I could make a cute pillow or something. Or, I could just stuff it into my closet for about 10 years until I figure out what to do with it. I'm guessing the latter is probably what will happen. Couldn't pass it up, though!

Someday I'll learn to stop procrastinating. Not right now, though. Maybe later.

Despite my best efforts at procrastination, it looks like I actually got everything done that I wanted to before we leave tomorrow to spend Christmas with our families in Utah. Oh, I still have to go to the grocery store, the post office, take around our neighbor gifts, wrap presents, and pack, but I really think I might be able to get it all done without becoming a shrieking banshee and being up all night long. Well, I hope, anyway. Better make this a short post!

The photo at left is a display sitting on my kitchen island. It's a series of three stacked glass cake pedestals, and clustered on it are my 'special' ornaments. These are the very best of my vintage ornaments; the ones that are anything besides just a plain, shiny glass ball. I actually changed it after I took this photo, and the reddish-pink indent ornament on the second tier is now displayed atop an upended glass candlestick that I placed on the top layer to make one more tier. It's probably my favorite ornament, so it gets the place of honor. All of these ornaments came from thrift stores or garage sales over the past couple of years. They've been hard to find, so that is why they are special to me.

I don't know why, but this year I have found almost NO vintage ornaments at all, with the exception of the pink and silver centerpiece and the 2 Shiny Brite boxes from my Thrift Store Extravaganz a couple weeks ago. I don't know if it's just not out there, if I cleaned them all out last year (which I find hard to believe) or if everyone else is just beating me to the good stuff. Oh well, my plastic boxes are about full anyway, and I didn't even get them all out this year because I didn't have a place to put them. Must work on that for next Christmas.

And now, off to turn my TO DO list into a TA DA list!

Serendipi-tree

I mentioned in an earlier post that I decided to forego ornaments on my small tree this year, as they would most definitely be fodder for Destruction by Baby And/Or Hound. The tree looked so forlorn and naked though, that I had to do something. I found some leftover torn fabric strips that I had been using in this cute little garland we made at Enrichment Night. I was going to throw them out, but in a moment of serendipity, I realized they'd make great, non-lethal tree decorations!

I tied the little strips here and there on the tree and used the remaining larger piece of the fabric to make a tree 'skirt'. The fabric is a cranberry and cream plaid, and works perfectly with the other reds in the room. I grabbed a handful of raffia from my craft closet, tied a quick bow, and -voila!- a cute, country tree that I really like. Plus, if Maren pulls it on top of herself again, the fabric and raffia won't hurt her. I've never heard of anyone losing an eye from fabric strips or raffia. Well, not yet anyway.

Bathing beauty

Somebody get those Johnson & Johnson people on the phone...I've found their next model! (photo taken by my brother Kristjan)

Thrift Store Thursday

I know it's Saturday, but "Thrift Store Saturday" just doesn't have the same alliterative ring to it, now does it? I did do the majority of my shopping on Thursday, so I think it fits. I hit the thrift stores with a vengeance this week. A month ago, when Q had his surgery, I had to drive back and forth from the hospital a couple of times in an area where I don't normally go. On my drives, I noticed a large number of thrift stores all on one street within a couple miles of each other, and ever since then I have been eager to go check them out.

Tuesday night I ran across this blog: http://tagsaletales.blogspot.com/ It got me so excited that I laid in bed unable to sleep until well after midnight because my mind was just racing with possibilities and inspirations. Finally, people who look at thrifting the way I do--as the ultimate treasure hunt, a way to be creative and to save money. They thrift for the thrill of finding a treasure among all the crap. I was all jazzed up and inspired and was dying to go thrifting on Wednesday, but the daytime temperature of +3 degrees kept me in. I couldn't justify taking my baby out in that kind of cold, even for killer deals. Finally, I was able to go on Thursday, and my patience was rewarded!

In all, between Thursday and Friday, I visited 7 thrift stores and frittered away a quarter of a tank of gas and about 6 hours of time. It was much fun, though, and although I probably won't go all the way over to the "new" stores very often, I may go once a month or whenever I'm feeling in need of an adventure.

So, do you want to see what I bought?


Vintage apron, Goodwill, $1.99. It's in good condition and has the cutest little pleat in front that conceals a contrasting fabric and a heart-shaped pocket. Great bright colors!










Vintage Bing Crosby Christmas record, ARC, $1.99. This is interesting because although it is a 33 1/3 record, it's much smaller than any I've ever seen. The colors are great; pink and green, which is so in right now! The downsides: the price sticker on the front, which I hope I can carefully get off with a liberal application of Un-Du, and the pencil marks on the front and back. I'm hoping that I can use a good eraser and some time and get them off or at least lighten them up. I thought this would be fun to display with my other Christmas decorations.


Vintage nightie, St. Vincent de Paul, $3.59 (40% off $5.99).
The photo doesn't really do this justice. It's really quite sweet and floaty and lovely. It's a pale ice blue, with spaghetti straps and a full skirt. The bodice has kind of 'smocking' (for lack of the correct sewing term) and little silver beads all along the pleats. It's in perfect condition! No stains, holes or missing beads, even. I'm going to hang it on a fancy velvet hanger in one of my guest bedrooms that has a blue quilt on the bed and a very feminine theme. I adore this and was so thrilled to find it!









Vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and boxes, St. Vincent de Paul, $1.19 each (40% off $1.99).
I bought these for the boxes, which are in pretty good condition. I can't imagine why ornaments were ever sold like this, as it seems pretty inefficient--you really can't stack the boxes, and the ornaments themselves aren't very protected.






Vintage sewing patterns, ARC, $.49 each. The three childrens' patterns are in rough shape, but I loved the illustrations on front. I'd say they are maybe from the early 1950s, but I'm not certain. Maybe even the 1940s. The pattern on the bottom right is actually for a woman's 4-H uniform! Must be for a leader or something. It makes me giggle, as it seems like such a fancy outfit to wear to 4-H. This pattern is in good shape and was never even cut apart. I think that one might go on eBay.










Fill-a-bowl, ARC, $1.99 (50% off $3.99). This is nothing too special, but I remember seeing these on QVC a couple of years ago and thinking they were cool. It is a plastic bowl with two layers and separations all along the 'longitude' lines of the bowl. The bottom is removable and the idea is that you can fill the little compartments with different things to match the holiday or occasion you're using the bowl for. It's not something I'd display, but it would be fun and festive for taking to parties or church functions.



Crazy centerpiece, Savers, $2.99. This appears to be some misguided attempt to make a classy, festive centerpiece. It's a block of styrofoam covered with metallic leaves, glittery white bells, pink balls, and the silver glass bead picks. The border is attached with straight pins, and is some sort of silver fringed mylar. Oh, and there's a hole in the middle of the styrofoam that I assume is for a taper candle. Really, it's bizarre. I bought it to cannibalize the parts. You can't find the blass bead picks any more, and the white bells have definite kitsch value. This once graced someone's holiday table. Yikes.
Wool afghan, Savers, $4.99. This is actually much prettier in real life; the colors didn't photograph well. This is a small blanket done in 4 shades each of green and an orangey coral. I'm not sure if it's knitted or crocheted, but the stitches are nice and tight. It looks to be well-made. It appears a little felted, which only tightened the stitches. Not sure where I'll put this as it matches NOTHING in my house, but I liked it. I think the colors are pretty.





Vintage Christmas tablecloth, Unique Thrift Store, $2.45. I say vintage because I think it is--it has the right style, graphics, and edging. Not 100% sure, but even if it's not, it's close enough for me. It's a little busy, but I think it's big enough for my kitchen table, so I'll probably use it rather than just display it.












Santa quilt, Goodwill, $2.99. This is a throw-sized quilt with Santas appliqued on the front. It's not old, but I thought it was cute. The bright colors and the graphic Santa shapes appealed to me.















Old spool, Goodwill, $1.49. I'm not sure what kind of spools these are, but I've seen them before. I actually have a slightly smaller one already, so this makes a nice companion. I've seen them used as candlesticks or even as hat stands.

Christmas plates, Goodwill, $3.99. This is a set of 4 salad plates from one of last year's Target Christmas lines. (Target gives its leftover clearance stuff to Goodwill.) They're in perfect condition and I plan to use them when I give holiday goodies to the neighbors this year.


Quilt/Blanket rack, ARC, $7.99. I actually saw this on Thursday, and didn't buy it. Friday morning when I was up at 5:30 am feeding Maren I thought of it again and decided I must have it, so I went back and luckily, it was still there! It's not super high-quality and it's a little wobbly, but I think I can fix that. Maybe someday I'll sand and repaint it, but for now it's fine as it is. Not sure where I'll put this; it will probably end up in one of the guest rooms until I can figure out what else to do with it.










Wicker arm chair, Goodwill, $1.99. Yes, you read that right--$1.99! This is another item I went back for on Friday morning after thinking about it at 5:30 am. As far as I can tell it's in perfect shape, no broken wicker anywhere. It's hard to tell scale from the photo, but it's actually quite tall. I'm going to have to find some pillows for the seat, but this is going in my guest bedroom where I've been needing a chair. What a steal!









Still with me? Your eyes haven't glazed over yet? Whew! You can see why it took 6 hours. Total damage? $49.40. I got about 20 items for that amount though, so that's not too bad. Hopefully I can sell the 4-H pattern on eBay for a couple bucks, so that will offset a little bit. I've definitely spent my junk store allowance for the month, however, so I think that will be it until January!

Brrrrr!

It is cold here. Not just cold, but what I believe the incomparable Dr. Evil would refer to as, "frickin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth." About 5 minutes ago I came inside from getting the mail and scraping the driveway, and I'm just now able to feel my face again, although my cheeks are still very, very cold.

When I went outside about 25 minutes ago, the temperature was -1. Now, it is +1. Wow, the temperature has tripled in 25 minutes! Normally such a drastic increase would be cause for much alarm, and possibly be the premise behind a really crappy movie-of-the-week on network television, but today, well, it's no big deal. + 1 doesn't really feel much different than -1. It's still frickin' freezing.

The real spirit of Christmas

"It is a desire to sacrifice for others, to render service, and to possess a feeling of universal brotherhood. It consists of a willingness to forget what you have done for others, and to remember only what others have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and think only of...your duties in the middle distance, and your chance to do good and aid your fellow-men in the foreground--to see that your fellow-men are just as good as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts--to close your book of grievances against the universe, and look about you for a place to sow a few seeds of happiness and go your way unobserved."

(Improvement Era, Dec. 1919, 155)

NEW!! For 2005

I tried a few new things this year with my decorating. First (apologies for the lousy photo) is the chandelier over my kitchen table. Earlier this fall, I successfully changed it from the icky brass to a much nicer faux-wrought iron and added the beaded shades. I was looking for a way to show off the pretty teardrop shape of the vintage red glass ornaments I bought last year, as you can't really appreciate the shape when they are clustered in a bowl. I used three different types of red ribbon from my stash and suspended the ornaments over the kitchen table. I like that you can see the shape of the ornaments now, and the red goes well with my kitchen. I have this feeling that it needs something more, but I'm not sure what. Maybe if I live with it for a few days it will come to me.

Second is a new piece of furniture for the front room: my antique wood greeting card holder. I wanted to show off some of the old Christmas cards I've collected, so I mounted them on red and green scrapbook paper and put them in simple glass frames. As I receive Christmas cards in the mail, I plan to display them on the shelves amid the frames. For the spaces in the front, I have a few of my boxes of vintage ornaments displayed. The boxes have great graphics, and I wanted to show them off. It's not perfect, but it will do for this year.

I decorated all day, and I am exhausted! I feel creatively wiped out. I tried hard to think of new ways to display the things I love. I'm happy with the way my house looks. Now, to get all the boxes back in the basement and enjoy!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, how shiny are your branches

The tree is up! I'm hoping it stays that way, but with a big, doofy dog and a daredevil 8-month-old, I have my worries. So far, neither Maren nor Bronco have shown even the slightest bit of interest in it, which is a good thing. I debated whether to put ornaments on it, since I decorate my vintage aluminum tree with--what else?--vintage glass Shiny Brite ornaments that I've scavenged from thrift stores and yard sales, and are therefore pretty difficult to replace should they meet an unfortunate, splintery end on the hardwood floors. I threw caution to the wind however, and hung a few dozen ornaments starting from about three feet off the ground. Hopefully that is high enough to escape waggy, out-of-control tails and curious little fingers.

I do love my aluminum tree, and don't miss having a green tree one bit! I love the way the afternoon sun comes in the window and makes the tree just sparkle--it's quite lovely, and I never get tired of it. It does have a tendency to make the room look a little like a disco, but hey--it's festive. My only regret is that you can't see my tree from the outside of the house at night, as it is unlit. I do have a vintage light wheel that goes with the tree, but because it rests on the floor and is quite fragile, I didn't want to chance it getting destroyed. Maybe next year.

We do actually have a small, 4 ft. green tree in the family room.0 As Maren has pulled it over on herself once already, I'm thinking we'll be going for the extremely minimalist look this year. It is pre-wired with white lights, and I threw a length of silver tinsel on it, and that will probably be it. Even if I put non-breakable ornaments on it, I know they would be too much of a temptation for Maren to resisit. Even with just the white lights and the sparkly tinsel, it is still quite pretty. I love the white lights; they add such warmth to the room.

It's beginning to look a lot like....well, you know.....

Casualty count: 1

What you are seeing to the left is the remains of one of my cherished vintage Christmas ball ornaments, smashed into a zillion little pieces when I dropped it today. Delicate glass ball, meet Hardwood floor. Ouch. I did find out thatthose sticky lint rollers are good for more than just taking the dog hair off my black coat; they do a darn good job of picking up infintesimal shards of glass from the floor, thereby keeping them from embedding in my baby's hands or Bronco's pads. Hope this is the first and the last ornament casualty of the year.

FangS?

This morning, Q sighted Maren's second tooth! It's on the top, also on the left side (right above the one she has now). It's just barely through the skin. The pediatrician said she thought Maren would get another tooth soon, and she was right! Maren hasn't shown any more signs of teething (runny nose, crabbiness) lately, so I'm a little surprised. I'm thinking the days of breastfeeding Maren are definitely numbered, now. There are parts of my body that I just do not wish to have gnawed.

In other news, this morning Maren learned how to climb OUT of the bathtub. Fabulous. She already knows how to stand up against the side, and loves to do it so much that I spend most of the time sitting her down again, lest she slip and smack her face on the side of the tub. Today, she stood up and leaned as far over the side as she could, then just sort of slithered over the edge, helped along by her wet, slippery belly. Now I fear bathtime is not only going to be a struggle to keep her sitting down, but IN the tub at all! Too bad it's not summer so I could just take her out in the back and hose her down. That's generally frowned-upon when there's snow on the ground.