Money pads...

I thought I'd show how I dressed up the boys' gifts this year.  Money is the same old, same old Christmas gift for them...but it's easy for me, and always happily received by them.  But just so it's not completely boring, I like for there to be some element of surprise as to how it's presented.  There was the year of the origame 'candy' box.  And last year I tucked Chandler's into a box of beef jerky, and Bobby's into a jar of candy.  

This year I thought I'd make a pad of money that they can peel a few bills from as needed.  I actually thought about it early, and went by the bank a couple of months ago for crisp, uncirculated $1 bills.  I also ordered padding compound...not sure the link is the one I bought, but it had a nice photo that shows the process, so I linked it.  The amount used is miniscule, so I'm going to have to make a lot of notepads or something.

I used some chipboard cut to the size of the bills to give it a firm back.  I just stacked the bills and the chipboard and clamped them with binder clips.  Then I painted the padding compound on the left end.  

After it dried, I cut some patterned paper a little longer so that it would wrap around the bound end, and I used double-sided tape to adhere the patterned paper to the back.  That way none of the bills were damaged, and the cover will stay on even after bills are peeled off.

 I designed the cover labels on the computer and printed them out in Christmas colors.  Chandler got his license this year, so I labeled his 'Ga$ Money.'  I cut an oval out of one cover so that George Washington's face from the top bill showed through.

I also knit each of the boys a cap.  I tucked their money pads into the appropriate kid's cap and wrapped them up.  

When they opened them, they were gratifyingly impressed with the concept of a pad of money.  They weren't sure it was real money.  I assured them that it was and that it would be accepted anywhere they chose to spend it.  

And they were all gracious enough to pose in their knit caps for a quick photo.  Uncle Jared (far right) got in the photo too since he was wearing the same cap which I made for him a couple of months ago.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas...

The kids asked for my Chicken and Dumplings for Christmas Dinner.  Sounded fine with me.  It's something I can actually accomplish in my makeshift kitchen set up.  At least the prep work.  I'll finish it up tomorrow at Kasey's on her stove top.

 There will be ten of us (three of whom are teenage boys), so I thought I'd use three chickens.  I put two in the slow cooker before I went to bed last night.  When I got up this morning I took them out to cool and strained the stock.  Then I put in the last chicken to cook and make another batch of stock.  That should give us plenty to feed the crowd. 

 Boning chicken is not my favorite job, especially when there's a lot of it to do.  By the end my back and shoulders are cramping.  I've tried letting my husband and son help, but they aren't as particular about picking out every last bit of the skin and gristle. Drives me crazy, so I do it myself. 

 Doing it in two batches today wasn't so bad.  It let my back relax and recover between batches.  I'm always so happy to see the bones and skin (left) separated from the meat (right).  

Now the meat and stock are in the refrigerator waiting for tomorrow.  I'll assemble the dumpling's dry ingredients tonight.  Finishing up tomorrow should be a breeze.

I still have wrapping to do.  ...sigh...  Why do I always leave it till Christmas Eve?  I also have to finish assembling the 'packaging' of the boys' money gifts.

I hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas!

Kitchen remodel progress...

I apologize for the rotten photos.  The kitchen window makes it very difficult to get a decently lit shot.

Before...

Dark brown painted cabinets and a GINORMOUS island.  It seems like such a long time ago that it looked like this.  Baby steps.

After deconstruction complete...

This is what the kitchen has looked like for the past several weeks...empty...hollow...cavernous.  The white walls are areas that were covered with cabinets before, and the horizontal stripe around the room is where Carey had to rip off the slate backsplash.  On the far left you can see there is no horizontal stripe.  That's where removal of the backsplash was so difficult that the drywall had to be replaced in that section.

Top cabinets in...

Yesterday morning the lone installer (I thought there would be two or three at least) arrived and began work on the upper cabinets.  By evening they were all in place, except for the one over the refrigerator space which was the wrong size.  We'll have to wait for a replacement, but over the fridge is not an inconvenient one to do without for awhile.

After the installer left for the day, Carey and I painted the walls on either side of the window.  There will be open shelving from the window to the cabinets on the left and right.  It was such a small area, that I figured it would be quicker and easier to paint before the bottom cabinets went in.

Bottom cabinets in...

This morning the installer was back on the job, and by five o'clock he was done.  At long last...tangible progress!

Now that all the bottom cabinets are in place, the counter top guy can come to measure; he will be here in the morning.  Yea!

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

Seven random thoughts on the 7th...

1.  I overworked the other day (yeah, I know, hard to believe) and paid for it.  But my master bath is really clean...mirrors, sinks, shower, tub, toilet, floors, baseboards, window sills.  I consolidated the almost empty shower gel into another open one and placed the last of the giant shampoo container into a smaller bottle.  I applied non-slip strips to the shower floor just inside the door, where I always get a flutter after a few near misses when stepping out.  And I laundered the bath mats.  If anyone comes to visit, I may have to entertain them in there, because goodness knows the rest of the house is a disaster.

2.  I had a lunch date with three handsome young men today.  They listened to their grandmother rant about the widespread ignorance of flag etiquette.  I happen to think that if you are going to fly the national flag, you should know the annual half-staff dates and flag rules...it's as easy as signing up for email alerts for crying out loud.  The rant was initiated by the flag inconsistencies we saw between home and the restaurant.  (Today is a half-staff day in observance of Pearl Harbor remembrance.)

3.  I decided to work on Christmas cards today.  Of course, I haven't bought or made any cards yet, and I'm not really feeling like doing a full-blown 'Christmas letter' this year.  So I designed a really simple card that I could mostly print out and assemble.  Unfortunately I couldn't cut the separate elements in the correct size to save my life and so wasted a lot of paper, the printer ran out of ink, and my self-stick embellishments left their stickum on the packaging and so slid right off of the card.  Ugh.  Looks like I'll have to make another trip to town to get printer cartridges...and/or store-bought cards.

4.  I have another quilting day at the library tomorrow.  I haven't gotten the supplies together yet.

5.  We've been in this house for four years now, and are still getting mail for former residents.  Yesterday we received a notice that the postman tried to deliver a certified letter from the Sheriff's Department for one of them.  Ruh-roh.

6.  The kitchen is still bare walls.  The cabinet installation is scheduled for the 22nd and 23rd.  Merry Christmas!  

7.  Christmas is coming so fast!  I still have three hats to knit, presents to wrap, and some still to buy...and, oh yeah, a tree to put up.  sigh.

Last closet post...I promise...

Well, at least till the next time it needs a major clean out.  :)  These posts are mainly for me; so I can refer back as needed as to what worked and what didn't.

Before:

 Half way there...before moving the hanging rods:

 After:

I love having the rods on the back wall of the closet.  Work clothes, long items (dresses and robes), and jackets on the right.  Casual tops hang on the top left, slacks and jeans hang on the bottom left.

 Right side:

 These cubbies were moved from the back wall to side wall at front of the closet.  I stacked them for vertical efficiency.  I ordered some bins online so I can use them as a dresser and they look neater than having the contents on view.  I still need to add labels so I can remember what is in each 'drawer.'

Left side:

The jury is still out on the shoe cubbies.  The openings are a little too small for a pair to slide in easily.  If they don't go in easy, I'm likely to leave them on the floor in a jumble, so it will take some self-discipline to keep them put away properly.

Its top makes a nice location for my jewelry box.  The hooks (top left) that were there when we bought the house make a good spot for necklaces to hang tangle free, and handy to see and grab.  I also had Carey leave the rod in place on this side of the closet, specifically to hang damp 'delicates' till they are dry and can be put away...no more leaving them hanging above the dryer in the laundry room where a drop-in guest would see them on entering and exiting the house.

It feels so good to have the wardrobe culled of things I never wear.  And I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to actually walk in to my walk-in closet.  It doesn't feel like a scary dark tunnel anymore.  :)

What I'm reading Wednesday...

We had a chance to go to the movies last weekend.  As I was looking to see what new movies were out, I came across this one.  It was produced and directed by Tommy Lee Jones.  He also stars in it as does Hilary Swank.  

The topic:  life for pioneer women in the Nebraska territory proves too hard for many...storms, poverty, hunger, never-ending work, sickness, childbirth, child mortality, loneliness.  When four women in a community succumb to madness, someone has to be found to transport them back east to family.

Since I descend from Nebraska pioneers, the stories of the real-life trials and madness that I heard or read of made a big impression on me from childhood.  I remember driving down a dirt road near my mother's childhood home when she pointed out a house and tree where a friend's mother hung herself...that occurred after pioneer times, but it really drove home the point for me of hard times of farming the area.  A visit to relatives often included a visit to the cemetery where paying respect at family graves always included my mother sadly remarking on a group of small headstones of babies and young children, all belonging to just one of our predecessor families who lost many of their offspring to childhood disease.

The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout

I couldn't resist buying the book for my Kindle, and I am reading it now.  But when I saw how few theaters were showing the movie, I didn't want to put off seeing it for fear it would be out of theaters before we got the chance to go.  I hope seeing the movie first doesn't ruin the book for me.

The Man Hat...

I just took this knitted cap off the needles.  The pattern is by Haven Leavitt and can be found here.  (The pattern is knit all in one color; I added the stripes.)  I started looking for a pattern after it got cold and Jared realized his knit cap--that he usually lives in all winter--had gone missing.  When I came across a free knitting pattern called The Man Hat, I had to try it out on the basis of the straight-forward name alone.

I really like the pattern.  I knit Jared's in a lighter color and on straight needles (I couldn't find my double-pointed ones), so I had to sew a seam, but the seam is impossible to see or feel.  I thought I would knit a few more for the boys for Christmas.  Since it is getting close to the end of the year, and one of my 2014 goals was to master knitting on double-pointed needles, I went on the hunt for knitting-in-the-round tools.

Here's where I made a mis-step.  The only round needles I had in the size called for were too long, and the store didn't have the length I needed either.  So I bought a set of interchangeable tips with a separate cable in the required length.  I cast on and knit a row.  All was fine.  But then the screw-on tips kept backing out of the connection and snagging the yarn.  I spent a lot of time and patience screwing those darn tips on tight many, many times (multiple times per row!)  I'm applying Super Glue to them before using them again...defeats the purpose of interchangeable, but so be it. 

And will someone please remind me never to knit with black yarn again?  The only time that  I've had to knit lately is at night, and it is so hard to see if you drop a stitch (or three).

But I successfully completed the decrease rows on the double-pointed needles...not without some frustration, but I got better.  So that's another goal ticked off the list.

Closet clean out progress...

Last week I said I was going to be cleaning out my closet...again.

Straight off, let me tell you that this first photo was the 'before' photo from a couple of years ago when I did a previous closet clean out.  One of the things that drove me the craziest was the little cubby type shelves on the back wall...the ones the big white arrows are pointing to.  Uh-huh...didn't see them back there did ya?  The tall one in the center is built in and it's okay, but the little ones I brought with me from another room in another house, and they just were never accessible due to clothing hanging in front of them.  

 In fact, they weren't really even visible except when the closet was empty.  LOL

Work has been slow on the closet.  I had a headache all weekend.  And I had a little girl come spend the afternoon with me on Saturday.

This is the closet so far.  I have moved the four small shelves off of the back wall, and they now are installed just inside the right-hand door.  I also stacked them, so now they make two tall shelves instead of four short ones.

On the left, just inside the other door, I stacked two shoe cubbies.

When Carey gets home, I'm hoping that he will relocate the hanging rods for me.  He has promised awhile back that he would, he's just been waiting for me to make some working room for him.  

Instead of the rods hanging parallel to the side walls, I want them to hang across the back wall on either side of the tall shelf unit.   I think I have reduced my wardrobe enough to fit on shorter rods across the back, and I think **hope** that with the clothes hanging at the back I won't get that claustrophobic tunnel-like effect that I abhor.

While taking a break from my closet clean out, I was viewing an article on closet organization where I found a link to Project 333.  It is a minimalist fashion challenge to limit your wardrobe to 33 items or less for 3 months.  Apparently the 33 items do not include workout clothing, underwear, sleepwear, or outerwear; though I would imagine anyone participating in the challenge would cut back on those items as well.  Interesting concept.  I don't think I'm down that far, but I do think I donated about as much as I kept.

In the same article, I found a link to an interesting read on The Science of Simplicity which discusses decision fatigue.  Apparently when repeatedly faced with making numerous, albeit irrelevant, decisions, one's productivity suffers.  You may or may not have noticed that some very successful people have taken the decision of what to wear out of their day-to-day routine and simplified their everyday wardrobes to somewhat of a uniform.  Some of these include President Obama (he wears only blue or gray suits), Mark Zuckerberg (gray t-shirt, black hoodie, and jeans), Vera Wang (black top and jeans), and the late Steve Jobs (black turtleneck and jeans) and Albert Einstein (gray suits).

Maybe a properly simplified wardrobe/closet will spur me on to greater productivity!  One can only hope.

Chaos here, chaos there, chaos, chaos everywhere...

As if my entire house were not in enough chaos, what with the kitchen remodel and having to cook in the laundry room, it now looks like my closet has exploded all over my bedroom.

My closet has been beyond insanity inducing for way too long.  I never have found an adequate arrangement.  You can see my last clean out here.  I was happy with it for awhile, but still it just wasn't a comfortable fit.

I had to work today, but when I got home I decided to take advantage of Carey being gone for a few days, and I just started emptying it out.  I'll finish clearing it out after work tomorrow.  Then on the weekend I will sort through everything before putting a drastically reduced inventory back in.  I am going to donate the majority of my 'work' clothes.  Now that I'm only working sporadically, usually never more than 2 or 3 days in any given week, I do not need to have as many different outfits as when I was full time.  

And of my casual clothes, I am only going to keep what I really like.

There.  It's written down.  Hold me to it.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

I haven't been reading much.  Too many other things to keep me busy at the present.  And I also had myself believing that I should finish the few remaining of my 2014 goal books before I moved on to others.  I gave a couple of them a shot, but didn't enjoy them, and have given myself permission to skip them.

The Journey by John A Heldt

I finished The Journey a few days ago.  Just okay.  Won't read any others in series.

New Mercies by Sandra Dallas

Just started New Mercies.  I wanted to read something I could count on liking, so I searched my Kindle list and found this one by an author that hasn't let me down yet.  

Today I am...

Writing down my list of goals and to-do's for the week.

Listening to my husband in the other room completing chores that he just does...without ever writing them down.

Knitting a hat to replace son's favorite one that is misplaced.

Smelling the wonderful scent of a curry coming from the slow cooker.

Feeling my stomach growling.

Patting myself on the back for having all the meals planned and mostly prepped while the kitchen is out of service.

Thinking about Christmas preparations.

Putting the flag up on my mailbox.

Kicking myself that I am late getting several cards mailed.

Thinking about cleaning off my desk.

Family fun...

So I saw the above image on Pinterest.  It is from a post from thedatingdivas of creative Christmas card ideas.  I couldn't track down who the original image belonged to, so I want to apologize for using it without proper credit.  LOVE the idea!  I wanted to try it so bad, because a) we have plenty of people in the family, and b) Kasey's house has the perfect vantage point to get an overhead shot like it.

Tonight was the family Sunday dinner, so I managed to talk them into giving it a trial run.  Chandler wasn't home, so we will have to do another session when we can get them all together.  I wanted to see if it would work out with the dark background of their stained-concrete floors.  If it hadn't been in the least workable, we wouldn't have to try to schedule a time when everyone could be in the same place at the same time...call-out work schedules and shared parenting can make this a challenge.

I talked them into all throwing on white t-shirts, and most were in blue jeans already.  Now we can think about what clothing we want to use for a finish photo.  And I will take my good camera, as tonight's photos turned out a little blurry with the phone.  

Even if we don't do it again, it was a fun experiment...lots of laughs and general hilarity.  Bobby was very brave and a good sport to lie there, as he was the one who would have been hit by the camera if I had dropped it.  He brought it up, so I know he was thinking it.  :)

Oh, and Diego wanted to be the one from the inspiration photo with the 'B' over his face, so I Photoshopped it in especially for him.

Demolition men...

This is how it was left when Carey went back to work a week ago.

Carey and Jared back at it yesterday morning.

The last upper cabinet coming down.

Clean slate...or rather it will be when the horrid slate backsplash comes down...which is proving difficult.  The plumber was here yesterday and did some necessary work.  The electrician will be here tomorrow to give it a look, then will come back to do the work on another day soon.  THEN we can schedule the cabinet installation (they were delivered this week, and are waiting in the garage).

Now I have to choose a countertop material.  Today I narrowed it down to these two.  One of the above is laminate, and one is granite...can you guess which is which?  I really thought I wanted laminate, because: it can look very similar; we have never been hard on countertops as far as burns, scratches, etc.; it's less expensive; and just seems less...snobby?  But after looking at the edge options today, I didn't like any of the laminate edge choices.  Also, I would really like an undermount sink, and those are not really suited to be paired with laminate countertops.  So I'm going to think about it for a few days.  Any thoughts or advice?

The kitchen work begins...

This was the kitchen before we moved in.  Love the size.  Love the high ceilings.  Love the fireplace.  The color...not so much.

Shortly after we moved in we painted the whole house a sort of khaki color.  I'm not a fan of dark cabinets, but I was willing to live with their color.  

But for four years, what I continued to struggle with was the work layout.  The island was TOO big, and we removed it last year to re-purpose as cabinets in the garage apartment.

Lots of other things made this the most frustrating kitchen work space I've ever had.

This is the second house where I've had a built-in desk in the kitchen, and I've hated them both as space wasters.  I just pile things on them, and they always look awful and inefficient.

I like the luxury of the double oven, but do you want to know how often I needed to use them both at the same time?  Maybe once...twice?

 Now the desk and the ovens are gone.  

 Along with all the upper cabinets on the left side of the kitchen.  The rest of the deconstruction is going to have to wait till Carey gets back from working out of town.

 Here is my temporary kitchen space in the laundry room.  It worked very well for making most of tonight's dinner.  For now the stove top in the kitchen still works, so I used it to make rice...

...which we topped with Crockpot Creole Chicken and Sausage from Pinch of Yum.  It was easy and really, REALLY good!

I'll be showing more kitchen reno as we make progress.