Job Hunting, Home Remodling & Graduation, Oh My!

Thaaat's pretty much my life!

...and 99% of the reason you haven't seen me on HERE in a while.  

But I sure have missed blog land.

However, readers, you would not believe some of the transformation that's been taking place in our home since we've last talked!

Our main level (dining room, living room, entry, stairwell and upstairs landing) are all painted with "Spice Delight" now (a pale yellow), we have the beginnings of our garden growing on a table under the window in the guest bedroom and the rock wall to form our garden was built in the back yard by my hubby (with the unexpected help from my cousin-in-law, Ryan) a couple of weekends back. 

The fabric I showed you here has arrived and I picked that up this week, along with the paint to do our kitchen (Seascape, aka: robin's egg blue) and the interior sides of our exterior doors as well as an accent wall at the top of our stairs (English Saddle, aka: mocha brown).  

Wednesday I began work on a new project/gift for my soon-to-arrive niece, Baby Kinley Reece.  I can't wait to show it to you, but that will have to wait until after the shower next weekend, lest the surprise be ruined!  

Oh yes, did I mention that in the midst of our painting and home renovations I'm hosting a shower for my sister next weekend?  I realize this must sound insane to some of you... but I'm looking at it as a way to give myself a painting deadline... and boy has it helped to kick me in gear!  I don't regret it one bit... so far.  ;)  Juuust kidding.  I truly am a person in need of a deadline to get me moving, so this was the perfect excuse.

Speaking of deadlines...

I (we) have accomplished a few and are nearing the accomplishment of a few more items from my "101 in 1001" list!  I'll be posting an update soon!  =)

Lucky Number 10?

Day Ten of the Plague:

Life is looking up, folks!

As of right now I've been fever free for about 14 hours and, though that has happened a few times before, what hasn't happened in conjunction with that is that all of my other symptoms are definitely waning.  

There is a light at the end of the plague tunnel and, by george, I think I see it!  

Praise the Lord.

Good timing too because, though I like to think I have been a pretty good sport, the past 48 hours have really tested my attitude.  I admit, I was becoming quite the grumpy patient.  It's hard not to be when you just don't feel well for such a long amount of time.

Not to get aaall philosophical on you or anything... but it did get me thinking.

Isn't our health such a blessing?

Something we take for granted each and every day until it's snatched away from us {usually only for a few days at a time} and we feel like we're being denied what we have some right to.

It's interesting to come to grips with the reality that I have no right to my own health.  

My body is not my own.  

Every day I live in good health is a blessing; a gift from the Lord I do not deserve.

Well that puts things in a different perspective...

ShamWoW?

Arriving home this evening from our fifth and final family Christmas celebration, Mark and I started unloading, unpacking and attempting to find places for our new gifts and trinkets.  Though we've already done some major sorting followed by some significant Goodwill trips this year with all of our moving about, we did of course find a few more things that we no longer needed as new Christmas items replace the old.  One of these "old" items, happened to be my pile of ShamWow's.

You have to understand... when we registered for wedding gifts, I was SOOO excited about the ShamWow's!!!  I wanted them bad, and some dear friends of ours bought them for us.  I was thrilled!!!

Of course, as many of those things go, once I got them home I didn't have much use for them... you know, waiting around for spills to happen.  So my first reaction when Mark finds the pile of ShamWow's is excitement, let's clean some messes!  Then I think about it and say, well... I really don't use them that often... I guess maybe we could give them away?

...Then I falter again...

So my hysterically logical hubby takes the stack inside, picks up the water pitcher and proceeds in pouring it all over our kitchen floor!!! 

I stand AGHAST. 

Then -- just like in the infomercial -- Mark takes a large ShamWow, lays it over the puddle, pats it on one side, flips it over, pats it on the other side and picks it up.  Of course the ShamWow is fairly filled with water as any towel would be but um... the floor is still preeetty soaked.

Needless to say, he won and the ShamWow's went to the Goodwill box.

*sigh*

I feel I may regret this... perhaps I'll buy a new box in the spring?

So... anyone else have experience with the famous ShamWow?  

Do share!  

I'd like to know if others have found them useful... then maybe I could convince Mark to rescue them from the Goodwill box...  ;)