new red chair

short story - a red micro-fiber chair and a 1/2 recliner for $50 at thrift shop

long story - good neighbors of ours were moving. they had a garage sale one saturday morning. when it was over i went down to help clean up. they didn't want to put anything back in the house, so they contacted a local thrift shop and had a truck brought to the house. they planned on loading up everything left into the truck and donating it. as we began loading the truck i noticed a plush red arm chair at the back of the truck. i wasn't sure if it was my neighbors, as i had never seen it in their house before. granted, i had not been in every room of their house, but it had not been out at the garage sale and it was all the way in the back...so i didn't think it was theirs, but i liked what i could see of it. i made sure i looked at the side of the truck to remember which thrift shop it was going to and then kept packing.
a few days later i looked up the thrift shop to find out where it was. there wasn't a whole lot of information about it, but i had a general direction.
another week went by before i could get out and try to find it. with rachel's help of google maps navigating me through the small streets of down town buford i found it, only to discover they were closed. only open three weekdays for 5 hours, and no saturdays.
another week went by and i was out having lunch with rachel and the flc teachers. the kids had started back to school so i was by myself. i had the time, so i went back to the thrift shop.
as i walked in the door there was the chair right in front of me. with a piece of paper taped to it that said $75. i walked into the building spoke with the lady behind the counter as she explained to me what they were and where the money went to. i started to browse, in awe of the crazy amount of stuff that they had, and the things that they would accept as donations and try to re-sell. but i found a few good things while looking, and knew that i would have to check back every so often for items to use for altering.
as i walked i started a text conversation with todd. i told him the chair was there and how much they were asking for it. we decided that we really didn't have the money to get it, but it made me sick and i knew i would regret it. so i called him. he asked if we had the money, and i laughed because we had been saving money to buy new phones (see future post!) and i had it in my wallet. he asked if i could talk them down. so i went to the counter feeling badly about talking them down, because i knew the money went to help in the community. i dold her that i was really interested in the chair, but didn't have the $75 to spend on it, and wanted to know if she would take lower. she asked how much i could offer. my response was $50 and she said SOLD! one brief moment of elation...and then i panicked a little. what if todd didn't like it? what if i didn't have a place for it? what if i didn't like it? what if the red clashed with the red in the kitchen, the red curtains and the red pillows we already have in the house? what if it was broken or dirty? i hadn't even taken one look at it long enough to see anything but the price. then the lady started talking about what i deal i had gotten and how it was a a chair and a 1/2 and a recliner...seriously? i really hadn't even looked at it, no idea it was that big or that it was a recliner.
i went ahead and handed my money over. and two gentlemen there helped get it out to the trailblazer. it wouldn't fit in the back. so they shoved it in as far as they could (now dripping with sweat because it was 98 degrees!) and then took a rope and tied the back door down over it. i promised that i would drive slowly and keep my hazards on...and off i went.
when i got home i backed the car into the drive (not even something i would do if i could see out the back window) and then i immediately went into the house and started cleaning the living room floor. because, in in the midst of all this scheming to get the chair home i had forgotten that i had unloaded my office in an effort to declutter and clean, and it was sitting all over my living room floor in crazy piles! yup, here is a picture to prove it.
but i did it! i got the floor cleaned up, lowered the chair from the back of the trailblazer, then waited for todd to come home and see it sitting in the driveway.
now, two weeks later, the kids have climbed all over it, todd has fallen asleep in it, and i have been dying to curl up with a book and sit and read for hours (i haven't done that yet!). it ended up being surprisingly clean, very comfortable (although the right side of the seat sags a little more than the left. must have been the favorite side to sit on), and it fits into the living room perfectly. it is almost the exact shade of the curtains, pillows and kitchen paint. i was able to move the book cases so they stand side-by-side now. we may have to re-think where the christmas tree will go, but for now, i am happy that my living room has grown up a little bit.


and that is my story.

what am i doing now that i'm not working???

what i have learned by decluttering my house & my life:

*i was way too busy, but i may have liked it that way (?)
*i have always made lists. i found lists i made when i was 8, and then more from high school and college
*i have started WAY more projects than i have finished
*i am terrible about sending letters, cards and presents!
*i keep way more than i need
*i have a terrible memory - i'm finding stuff that i did or received that i had completely forgotten about! (stalled out for a bit reading old letters and cards)
*it feels great to carry bags of trash to the curb
*i love opening cupboards and finding exactly what i need and being able to put it away just as easily without shifting and moving other things out of the way
*i knew i could do it!

as of wed 8/17 i have done every cupboard in the kitchen, the fridge, my office and the closet in the office. a few clean up stuff to do to call it completed...but the trash is gone! or at least in the garage to try to sell it or give it away.

dancing without pictures

so many missed photo opportunities!

todd and i have been involved with some amazing youth, dancing to celebrate the rededication of the atlanta temple...and i didn't take a single picture!
i am hoping to steal some from other people, and create a scrapbook page or mini-book.
it was incredible.

xander's games lately, i haven't taken nearly as many pictures... (i know, not dancing, but in a way it could be!?!)

cassidy and xander are dancing with allstars performing academy in their spring recital but i didn't even get pictures of them dressed in costume, cause i was so busy dressing them and sending them to the stage!

xander came off the stage dressed as the Sultan from Aladdin and said "that was great, can i do it again?" then he danced and he said he held his end pose longer than he ever had before.

cassidy was so brave and confident. she had never been on that stage before, and was the first one in her group to go out for their part. she was supposed to line up in the middle and dance (2) counts of 8, and then the other girls would come out and line up behind her. someone from the audience said that when she went out and danced by herself there were murmurs around them of how wonderful she did, how brave she was...! overall, and incredible experience!

next year i'll do better with the pictures!

busy busy times...but hopefully memorable.

spring break 2011

we spent spring break in Helen
i think the kids were a little spoiled...i got a little scrapbooking done (very little...but something!)

Babyland General - home of the Cabbage Patch Dolls

hiking to Anna Ruby Falls
visit to Betty's Old Country Store
old soda fountin

miniature golfing at Pirate Adventure

Candy from Hansel & Gretel's Candy Shoppe
(this was a 2 ft long gummy snake)

playground on the walk home (yes, we walked to town!)
if you look carefully, cassidy is on the top platform counting and xander is underneath hiding
they were playing hide-n-seek

they got along for a few minutes while they colored!

gem mining
this was an experience.... expected to see a few more teeth from the people who worked there.
that and cassidy knocked over a vase, that was as big as she was, and we had to pay for it. seems the guy gave me a deal, cause he was trying to sell it for $100. ha! who would go into his place planning on spending $100! so, the adage is true... you break it you buy it.
in our case we bought it and left it there in the shop. no use for a vase.
but the kids liked the "gems" we found.

funnel cake at "granny's best" in downtown Helen. it was my second of the week...

as promised, ice cream cones!

there was a wooden toy shop. the guy that owns it makes all the toys there in a little shop inside the store. xander got a zapper - shoots ping pong balls with the help of a wooden clothes pin and elastics. cassidy wanted the fishing pole with the "gold" fish.
here she is posing on the walk home with it.

we did have a trip to the ER first thing on Sunday
xander had an awful allergic reaction to pollen (at least that is what we think)
his eyeball swelled up. i've never seen anything like it
it freaked me out a little bit, so off to the ER we went.
blessing, steroids, claritin, and allergy drops and he was much better
this is what the condo looks like. ours was the upstairs
here is the inside. upstairs is a loft.
kids love being up there, looking over the edge and sleeping up there

this is the view from the back porch.

and this is the indoor swimming pool. we spent at least an hour there every morning.
kids say it was the best part of the trip (oh sure... that was the free part!)

bye Helen...see you next year.
thanks for a good time

potd 2/6-2/12

sunday 2/6
so this week started out with the superbowl! do you watch it for the commercials or the game. me, game, even if i don't really care who is winning. i'd rather get the low down on the commercials after and then watch the good ones. however, this year i saw some previews before the big day. the one that i saw and was excited for everyone else to see was a VW commercial with the cutest darth vadar trying to use the force on anything and everything around his house. loved it. reminded me of xander trying to be an air bender and water bender after watching the movie "the last airbender" this past summer. (he went with my mom and rachel when we were in boston).
we watched the game (and commercials) down the street at a neighbors house. they were so kind to invite us, and we were glad we joined them. here is a picture of all the kiddos together. the boys actually watched a good bit, as they ran in and out of the room.

monday 2/7


tuesday 2/8


wednesday 2/9


thursday 2/10


friday 2/11
rach and i went shopping tonight. i don't get to go very often without kids to drive me crazy while i'm in the dressing room. nor do i get to go to spend money very often. this time i had gift cards from my birthday! i actually liked most of what i tried on. yeah! very happy with my purchases as of late. (i included two items i've found at h&m over the last month.)

saturday 2/12
went scrapbooking tonight. but no picture today. if i had taken one it would have been xander coming to me in the house, with his hands behind his back, asking me if i knew how to make homemade bread from wheat. "cause i just picked you some outside." and out from behind his back he pulls a handful of weeds that are light brown/tan in color with stalk-like looking tops to them. what a riot!

potd 1/31-2/5

i'm going to change things up a bit...after this week i'm going to post sunday through saturday. i don't usually have sunday's picture uploaded yet when i work on my blog post. so, i'll start with the sunday before and go from there. (did anyone really care about that?)

before i start the potd, there is other news that does not have a picture.
we are out two cars right now. and truly it is tough. thanks to rachel, george & pam we've made it to everything that we've needed to be at. and even had their cars to run a few errands. my escape has $4000 worth of repairs that need to be done to it. evidentaly the trailer hitch that hit the front part of the car in the accident that happened in october did quite a bit of damage to the inside. so much that had we had collision insurance they would have totalled the car. radiator, engine mounts, the hood, bumper and grill, transmission hose, another hose....
so, now i have to decide what to do with it. i loved my car. and i know we don't have the money to get another one. i'm being slightly selfish, pardon me.
then there is the old buick that we are driving. the kids call it the hot car, because it doesn't have air conditioning. but it also doesn't have great heat. but, still it is the hot car. well it didn't pass emissions. so todd brought it in. the same day i find out the damage to the escape, todd gets a call from the mechanic and says there are too many things wrong with the buick to try to fix it. it won't be worth it.
well, that was last thursday. then this monday, we pick up the buick and bring it home. hoping to find a place to donate it to and take the write off. we get a call, from someone who wants to help us fix the buick. both todd and i were in tears. thank you.
so as of now, we are still down both cars. waiting on news of the buick and trying to decide what to do with the escape, and most likely looking for another car. we are definitely a two car family.

so, onto the week...

monday 1/31
100 days of school! such a milestone to reach each year. that means only 80 more days left. is it sad that i like to countdown as much as the kids do?
xander's 100thday stuff was on friday, but they didn't ask for anything from home.
cassidy was asked to bring 100 of a food item to add to a 100th day trail mix. she chose lucky charms cereal. but once she started counting them all out, the marshmallows were sticking to her fingers. so she ate the marshmallows and counted out the crunchy cereal pieces instead. (yes, she washed her hands first!)
she also had to wear 100 of something.
we choose sticker foam dots/circles. we counted out 100 of them and stuck them to a white shirt. i got a picture with my cell phone. i'll put it on here when i grab it off there.


tuesday 2/1
we had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. i knew i wanted a potd, but i didn't want the missionaries to feel weird about me taking their pictures and posting it on my blog. well, as usual the evening was never void of conversation or entertainment from the children. and just when we were winding down, xander (who had disappeared upstairs) comes running into the kitchen with his star wars: clone wars helmet on. it sent us all into a fit of hysterics! and then, the elders wanted to try it on. it fit one of them. so, i grabbed my camera and got my potd!
good times with the elders (at least until cassidy can flirt!)wednesday 2/2
yes, i took this picture of myself. yes, i used a self-timer. no, i was not really asleep.
i have been getting so tired at night! i'm not in a master's class right now, but i start a new 8 week class in a week. i'm a little nervous. if i am so tired so early in the evening, how am i going to stay up to get my school work, pre-k work and scrapbook work done? PRIORITIZE! yup. i'll make it work. this will not be me!


thursday 2/3
embarrassing? maybe.
this is all the laundry that made it's way to my bedroom floor.
got it all sorted out tonight. got all mine folded.
will fold the kids stuff tomorrow, or the next day. but at least my floor is cleared and i can see it.friday 2/4
my wonderful friend bought we a very unique gift and i love it!
a necklace with a charm shaped like the state of massachusetts. there is a heart engraved/stamped where maynard should be. is my heart in massachusetts? not too sure, but i do miss it sometimes. don't get me wrong. georgia is great and i have really enjoyed living here. but i still call massachusetts home, and would like to try and live there again someday. (picture is on my cell phone. will post later)

saturday 2/5
a busy day today.
but it started off with a fun birthday party for a boy in the neighborhood, at skate country.
took lots of pictures for the family, but love this one. cute little skates. and a little girl standing all by herself while wearing them. i'm amazed at how well she is doing only her second time trying to skate. she even made it a few steps before falling. but she was determined. after falling one time she told todd she didn't need any help because she wanted to be tough like xander.
x, your little sister is watching you!

saturday date night

daddy daughter date night to chick-fil-a
when she poses i can't keep a straight face


while they were out xander and i had a date - chinese style
he was so excited, and then confessed that he had eaten two hot dogs at a friends house just before. it's alright, the conversation was great.