OHHHH NINE!

Farewell 2008, I will not miss you for I am looking forward to another year...a better year!

I asked DH this morning what his New Year's Resolution will be. He said to "do more art". I think that's a good one, he draws and paints well and hasn't done it in years. Maybe I'll add that one to my list as well...something we can do together. :)

I suppose I could make a list like I usually do and it would sound much like most people's resolutions...eat better, excercise more, get up earlier, save money...blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is, that every year I keep making and breaking the same resolutions. I have some successes, some failures...but in general writing the same things down every year is starting to lose it's meaning. I know I need to do those things and why should I need New Year's day to remind me? Once, a couple of years ago I had a "mantra" instead of the usual giant list of resolutions. Though there was truly only a few weeks of thinking about that mantra every day, I still found it to be more effective in general then the big list.

Resolutions are hard to keep. A year's time frame is a long time for the human mind...research shows that habits are more often made and broken in about a months time.

With all this in mind, below are my "New Year's" resolutions...

1. Be less hasty. I need to slow down! I try to do everything at once...I rush impatiently through things, whether they be menial tasks or supposedly enjoyable hobbies. Consequently I am either dissapointed with the results or I don't enjoy things I should. I resolve to try and take more time and care when doing things, and be less focused on wanting results and wanting them yesterday!

2. Be a tourist in my own town. I love to travel. It's been a couple of years now since we've done any traveling and I am missing it terribly. I long for new vistas, new cultures, magical places (like the lovely Vernazza, pictured in my header...on the west coast of Italy). On our travels both abroad and in the USA, we have noticed that when people ask where we are from and we say the SF Bay Area, we often get comments like "OH! I've always wanted to visit San Francisco...you are so lucky to live there!". People come from all over to visit the bay area, and California. We have some of the most beautiful scenery, richest culture, and greatest diversity of anywhere in the world. I resolve to take better advantage of where we live and seek out adventures in my home town/state with the appreciative eyes of a visitor.

3. Make monthly resolutions. I think I'll have more success trying to build better habits on a monthly basis. Every month I resolve to think of a couple of small things that I can work on every day that month to improve the quality of life for me and my family and to be a better person in general. Build good habits, break bad ones! I strongly believe that small steps count. You cannot walk a mile without first taking a single step.

That said...my my January resolutions are:

1. Drink two more glasses of water every day then I do now. I am freakin' thirsty, already!
2. Buy or make a scrap pail for the kitchen and start using it!! We need to start composting our food scraps (or at the very least putting them in the green can instead of the trash).
3. Decide on and prepare what I am wearing to work the evening before. Frequently in the morning I waste time and get stressed out because I can't find the socks I want, or the shirt I was thinking about wearing is wrinkled and I don't have time to iron it etc. I think, especially considering the upcoming change in my office attire, that if I prepare thoroughly the night before that it will save me alot of time and stress in the mornings and allow for a better start to my day.

Happy New Year to you all! May you carry all the positive experiences from 2008 with you forever in your hearts, and may you cast off all the negative experiences from this past year and never look back.

Best!

Umm...not sure...

We have been talking about how our very bright, very white kitchen needed some color. So I figured curtains would be good. Found this cute fabric that ties in the yellow tile with all our decorations (mostly red, yellow, black) very well. But now that I've bought, washed and cut it...I stuck it up there in it's approximate position and wonder if it's too dark. Thoughts?

Much Improved

It may be difficult to even tell from these pictures, but the master bathroom is indeed much improved. The only thing that makes this bathroom a "master" is that it's attached to our bedroom....it's actually the size of a powder room. It has a shower of mint green 1950 era tile, which is actually in pristine condition. For that reason, and because we have a bit of an appreciation for all thing retro, we are keeping it, but we do not wish to keep much else.

The walls were super dingy and maybe used to be off white a long time ago.



The appliances are original "Standard". The toilet will be replaced for certain. We might leave the sink, as it will be hard to even find a pedestal sink that will fit in here. We did take the icky legs off, and I think I'll make a little skirt for it to hide the plumbing and make some storage underneath.


The 1950's linoleum actually wouldn't be half bad (it's certainly "period") if it wasn't rotten, crumbling in spots and filthy beyond getting clean with any amount of scrubbing. This floor will be replaced eventually. We are going to tile it...maybe with white octagon tiles...and add baseboard. We are thinking of doing subway tiles up the wall...but not sure about that. We are also considering adding some kind of accent tile to the white that will play on the mint green of the shower. They make old ceramic shaped tiles nowadays in clear glass in a variety of colors.

Generally we only use the "master" bathroom for peeing in the middle of the night, or if someone is occupying the bigger bathroom in the hall. We have started prepping that bathroom in earnest for it's little face lift (more on that later). But in the meantime, I simply had to make the little bathroom more presentable, and more pleasurable to use. So until we get around to new floor/toilet, I settled for a nice fresh coat of paint, scrubbing the floor, and some new linens.

I primed it first with mold resistant primer, and here you can see the cut in of the paint against the dingy primed walls:



And here is the mostly finished product:


This bathroom was a pain in the ass to paint, because of it's small size and awkward angles. I managed to get paint all over me and my pajamas, lol. I'd bend over to paint some corner and boom...my butt would hit some freshly painted section.

Still to do is to paint the door trim, a new shower head, some hooks behind the door for robes/towels, and maybe a small touch of art. But we already are much, much happier. If you don't look too close at the floor...it's actually a nice fresh little bathroom now! Hooray!

On to the main bathroom....

Winter Garden

The garden is enjoying the rains we just had. It's mucky out there, but green. Aside from what I posted in my sidebar, here are some shots.


Huckleberry:


Sweet Broom (this was very unhappy originally in this spot, but has recently decided to start thriving):

Sweet peas, fava beans, carrots, beets and onions:


My new garden buddy, a xmas pressie from DH:


It felt good to get outside today for some raking, trimming etc. I don't like the cold and rain much, so I've been getting lazy and avoiding my early morning walks....which has been giving me cabin fever. I need to suck it up and put a jacket on in the mornings. Otherwise the poor doggies and I will both start getting fatter, and quickly.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday.

My, how time flies

Well, it's only a few days now until christmas. I can 't believe how near this year is to it's close. I have a new computer finally, which ROCKS. I've been very busy at work and doing random things at home. I don't have a lot to say today, but here are some flicks:

The spread at the baby shower for Gypsy Junk:


Our house lit up with some pretty lights:


And possibly best of all, the shelves that DH built for us in the garage. This really opens things up for us, creating a ton of storage:


I love being able to get to all my sewing, craft and canning supplies easily rather then having to pull everything out of a dark closet to go through. We've been slacking on the home improvement lately, as we've wanted to do little else but sit with blankies and hot beverages watching Lost (into season 3 now). But I think I might continue on the little bathroom today amidst shopping etc.

Cheers, all. And Happy Holidays

Distractions

There have been many. Time is flitting away. I haven't been accomplishing what I need to accomplish. Work has been the primary distraction...I know for sure that I have a job, which is nice. But my days just got very very busy...which is nice, albeit problematic - longer hours, and not enough time for xmas shopping on lunch breaks. /sigh.

Then there are the more pleasant distractions. Turkey day being one of course. Then I've developed some new addictions. Then there is "Twilight" (the books, which I haven't been able to put down until I finally finished them) and "Lost", which DH and I have decided to get hooked on, 4 years late. We are trying to motor through 4 seasons on DVD before season 5 starts in January.

And now at long last, the new computer has arrived and I'm sure that the juicier graphics and lag free playing will make WoW a refreshed vice for me. So what time does this leave for painting and other household endeavors? Not much.

It hasn't been a total waste of a couple of weeks though! I did some gardening which was nice. And I made curtains for our bedroom which turned out cool (they have yet to be hemmed though). DH calls my fabric choice "space age" and he likes it. And DH built shelves in our garage! I'll have pics soon. But for now, unfortunately, work is calling.