Hi Everyone! I hope you had a nice weekend! I guess I am just posting with your basic updates today. Since I started blogging because I thought it would be a good way to get things that are on my mind, out there, today I am going to vent and get somethings off my chest.
First and foremost, this week brings back some interesting emotions. It was a year ago today that Steve and the kids were packing up to head to the condo at Bretton Woods for the week. My Dad, Denise and Alex were in Florida, and I was preparing for a couple of days on my own, with plans to head to the condo on Wednesday that week. I had been suffering with some leg pain for a couple of months, but was under the impression that it was a pulled muscle and would get better. As the week progressed, the pain became increasingly worse, so I decided that I would go to the ER and get it taken care of before I head up North. Well, that's when my plans really took a turn. As it turned out, I had a significant Blood Clot (DVT) along with a Pulmonary Embolism (Clots in my Lungs). With everyone away, and dealing with this on my own, I was more than a little scared. My Mom is just about an hour away, and of course was there as soon as she could be. I was admitted, for the first time ever. As you know, everything turned out OK, but it left a mark that sometimes I am not sure that I will ever be able to erase. Since then, I have suffered from anxiety, but mostly anxiety about being alone. Steve travels quite a bit for his job, and I have managed to be OK with that, but for some reason, this vacation week has me pretty nervous. I will get through it, keep myself busy and try not to think about it. But it's hard to do that.
Anyway, on top of all that, my Washer AND Dryer busted yesterday! I swear, I can not even begin to imagine going to the laundromat, and seriously, buying a new Washer/Dryer, was not something I planned for! UGH!
When we got home yesterday, I was in the driveway, walking by my car and I could hear a "hissing" noise. And dontcha know it, I had a leak in my tire, once again..........something I didn't need or plan for.
Steve and I had a really nice weekend though, which I needed. Obviously, with the anticipation of this coming week, I needed a decent weekend! Mission accomplished!
I hate to use this blog as a way to complain, but today I had too!
Have a Good Week!
Kristine
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Valentine's Day
Hi Everyone,
I hope you all are well, and had a nice Valentine's Day! A couple of weeks back, Steve and I were discussing Valentine's Day and what we wanted to do. We had Mallory for the weekend, so we decided to ask her what she wanted to do that was special, her answer was simple. Here is how the conversation went:
Me: Mal, you are with us for Valentine's Day this year, if you could pick something special to do, what would it be?
Mal: Ummmm........I know, how about we go Sledding!
Me: Umm......Ya......No, I was thinking something "Special"?
Mal: Oh...........How about we just have a bunch of people over?
Me: Now we're talking, that sounds great!
And that my friends is how it all began! Nobody likes to plan a party like I do! Now that I had something to plan, I was moving full steam ahead. I decided to have a Fondue Party, for kids and Adults. The adults would enjoy a Lobster Fondue, while the kids had the obvious.......Chocolate Fondue. We didn't just eat junk though, each kid received a Valentine Bag put together by yours truly. Each bag contained, A package of Construction Paper, Stickers, Crayons, Activity Sheets like Mazes and Word Searches, and some other fun trinkets. Now mind you, while I had their best interest at heart, I also had my own. I knew if I gave them enough to do and keep them busy, the Adults could enjoy Valentine's Day too. And we really did! Everything worked out perfectly, and I think a great time was had by all!!
Love to All!
Kris
I hope you all are well, and had a nice Valentine's Day! A couple of weeks back, Steve and I were discussing Valentine's Day and what we wanted to do. We had Mallory for the weekend, so we decided to ask her what she wanted to do that was special, her answer was simple. Here is how the conversation went:
Me: Mal, you are with us for Valentine's Day this year, if you could pick something special to do, what would it be?
Mal: Ummmm........I know, how about we go Sledding!
Me: Umm......Ya......No, I was thinking something "Special"?
Mal: Oh...........How about we just have a bunch of people over?
Me: Now we're talking, that sounds great!
And that my friends is how it all began! Nobody likes to plan a party like I do! Now that I had something to plan, I was moving full steam ahead. I decided to have a Fondue Party, for kids and Adults. The adults would enjoy a Lobster Fondue, while the kids had the obvious.......Chocolate Fondue. We didn't just eat junk though, each kid received a Valentine Bag put together by yours truly. Each bag contained, A package of Construction Paper, Stickers, Crayons, Activity Sheets like Mazes and Word Searches, and some other fun trinkets. Now mind you, while I had their best interest at heart, I also had my own. I knew if I gave them enough to do and keep them busy, the Adults could enjoy Valentine's Day too. And we really did! Everything worked out perfectly, and I think a great time was had by all!!
Love to All!
Kris
Friday, February 6, 2009
PEACEFUL RETREAT!
We moved into our apartment at the beginning of December, when it came to decorating and furniture placement, I have been relatively happy with the way everything turned out, there are a few things here and there that I have wanted to change, but nothing major.
The one room I haven't been able to get a handle on was our bedroom, it never felt right to me, the color wasn't right, even though I had picked it out and had it painted before we moved in. It just felt so thrown together. I think of a bedroom as, your personal space, it is where I go for my quiet time, or where I like to read. I need a place for me to do these things, a room that I can walk into and love, and feel relaxed. I have never had a bedroom that I have felt that way about.
So I was on a mission, I began to think about what I wanted my bedroom to be, I looked through magazines, I looked at color swatches at the paint store, I thought about themes and what I really wanted to get out of decorating this room. All I knew was that I wanted a place for me, a place to relax and a place I could wind down in.
I decided on what I like to call, a "Peaceful Retreat". Our bedroom is small, with pitched ceilings, I needed to do something to make it feel a bit bigger. Some decisions had to be made, I sold my King Size Headboard and Foot board, and we went with just a King Size frame, no headboard, no foot board. This will give us an opportunity to move things around once in a while, we had absolutely no options before, and the bed was just too big for the room. I also knew that I needed to utilize my closet space a bit, and hide some of these larger pieces of furniture, like our bureaus, in doing that, it left absolutely no room for a TV in the room either, besides, do peaceful retreats have TVs anyway? No......at least that's what I told Steve, he was good with the change. Feng Sheu says, "the bedroom is meant for two things, and neither of them require a TV", I couldn't have said it any better.
Once the room was empty we could paint, I decided to go with a Dark Brown on the walls, a Benjamin Moore color called "Taupetone", the ceiling and the pitched walls are Linen White, along with the trim and all of the doors. The two tone gave the room and instantly larger feel. I must say that for two people that haven't done a ton of painting, we did AWESOME! We had no major mishaps or spills, all in all a very successful project.
After the paint, came the fun part, DECORATING! I had decided that I wanted to go with a Blue and Brown Duvet Set, I thought the lighter Blue with the Darker Brown would be a nice contrast. Now that I had the bedding, THANKS MOM, I could begin adding personal touches and shopping for the perfect items to compliment my room. On a budget of course, Steve, Mallory and I took a trip to Kohls. One stop shopping at its best, that's just my opinion, but I love their home section. I knew that I wanted some cream colored pillar candles, that was easy. I also knew I wanted some shelves, and I wanted them to be black. When I think of a peaceful retreat, I think of candles, and lots of them, I think of a small sitting area where I can read or just relax, without feeling like I am going to bed. I didn't want to over due it on the walls, so I bought some small wall sconces that hold 3 small tea light candles. One of my favorite things that I stumbled upon was a set of "stack able tables", basically it was two tables, one shorter than the other, meant to sit underneath the other when they weren't being used, perfect! I need a new night stand anyway, and I needed a table for my sitting area. As I browsed I also found a great, tall brown and tan ceramic floor vase. All of these items were the perfect finishing touches to my new room. Now all I had to do was put it together, that was the fun part!
After torturing Steve for the weekend between painting and shopping, I sent him off to play pool for a few hours, while I did some decorating. I wanted to surprise him, for him to see that all of his hard work over the weekend would really pay off, once he saw this room. Everything came together so perfectly, I never imagined that I would be as happy as I am with this room. All of the finishing touches were complete, all I was waiting for was for Steve to see this whole plan come to fruition. When he came home, I think he was truly shocked, he really did like it.
We have been in our room for a full week now, and every night before bed, I light every candle, and I read for a bit, and can honestly say, I haven't slept better in months. Not having a TV in our room makes a huge difference to me, it was such a distraction for me.
Now the moment you have all been waiting for, taaa daaa.............my new "Peaceful Retreat".................................
Paint: $45.00
Wall Sconces, set of 2: $8.99
Set of 2 Tables: $35.99
Set of 3 Shelves: $35.99
New Bedding: $69.00
Candles: $8.00
Ceramic Vase: $11.99
Pussy Willows in Vase: $4.00
New Bed Frame: $60.00
Total: $278.96
Plus, I sold my bed for $175.00 on Craigslist, and put that toward the decorating.
So Total cost of Makeover $103.96
How's that for decorating on a budget! Not bad if I say so myself!!
Love to All!
Kris
The one room I haven't been able to get a handle on was our bedroom, it never felt right to me, the color wasn't right, even though I had picked it out and had it painted before we moved in. It just felt so thrown together. I think of a bedroom as, your personal space, it is where I go for my quiet time, or where I like to read. I need a place for me to do these things, a room that I can walk into and love, and feel relaxed. I have never had a bedroom that I have felt that way about.
So I was on a mission, I began to think about what I wanted my bedroom to be, I looked through magazines, I looked at color swatches at the paint store, I thought about themes and what I really wanted to get out of decorating this room. All I knew was that I wanted a place for me, a place to relax and a place I could wind down in.
I decided on what I like to call, a "Peaceful Retreat". Our bedroom is small, with pitched ceilings, I needed to do something to make it feel a bit bigger. Some decisions had to be made, I sold my King Size Headboard and Foot board, and we went with just a King Size frame, no headboard, no foot board. This will give us an opportunity to move things around once in a while, we had absolutely no options before, and the bed was just too big for the room. I also knew that I needed to utilize my closet space a bit, and hide some of these larger pieces of furniture, like our bureaus, in doing that, it left absolutely no room for a TV in the room either, besides, do peaceful retreats have TVs anyway? No......at least that's what I told Steve, he was good with the change. Feng Sheu says, "the bedroom is meant for two things, and neither of them require a TV", I couldn't have said it any better.
Once the room was empty we could paint, I decided to go with a Dark Brown on the walls, a Benjamin Moore color called "Taupetone", the ceiling and the pitched walls are Linen White, along with the trim and all of the doors. The two tone gave the room and instantly larger feel. I must say that for two people that haven't done a ton of painting, we did AWESOME! We had no major mishaps or spills, all in all a very successful project.
After the paint, came the fun part, DECORATING! I had decided that I wanted to go with a Blue and Brown Duvet Set, I thought the lighter Blue with the Darker Brown would be a nice contrast. Now that I had the bedding, THANKS MOM, I could begin adding personal touches and shopping for the perfect items to compliment my room. On a budget of course, Steve, Mallory and I took a trip to Kohls. One stop shopping at its best, that's just my opinion, but I love their home section. I knew that I wanted some cream colored pillar candles, that was easy. I also knew I wanted some shelves, and I wanted them to be black. When I think of a peaceful retreat, I think of candles, and lots of them, I think of a small sitting area where I can read or just relax, without feeling like I am going to bed. I didn't want to over due it on the walls, so I bought some small wall sconces that hold 3 small tea light candles. One of my favorite things that I stumbled upon was a set of "stack able tables", basically it was two tables, one shorter than the other, meant to sit underneath the other when they weren't being used, perfect! I need a new night stand anyway, and I needed a table for my sitting area. As I browsed I also found a great, tall brown and tan ceramic floor vase. All of these items were the perfect finishing touches to my new room. Now all I had to do was put it together, that was the fun part!
After torturing Steve for the weekend between painting and shopping, I sent him off to play pool for a few hours, while I did some decorating. I wanted to surprise him, for him to see that all of his hard work over the weekend would really pay off, once he saw this room. Everything came together so perfectly, I never imagined that I would be as happy as I am with this room. All of the finishing touches were complete, all I was waiting for was for Steve to see this whole plan come to fruition. When he came home, I think he was truly shocked, he really did like it.
We have been in our room for a full week now, and every night before bed, I light every candle, and I read for a bit, and can honestly say, I haven't slept better in months. Not having a TV in our room makes a huge difference to me, it was such a distraction for me.
Now the moment you have all been waiting for, taaa daaa.............my new "Peaceful Retreat".................................
I hope you all love it as much as I do. I am not a person of clutter, open wall space, and lightly filled shelves make me happy. What makes me the happiest, and I feel a real sense of accomplishment, when I think about the price to make over this room.
Paint: $45.00
Wall Sconces, set of 2: $8.99
Set of 2 Tables: $35.99
Set of 3 Shelves: $35.99
New Bedding: $69.00
Candles: $8.00
Ceramic Vase: $11.99
Pussy Willows in Vase: $4.00
New Bed Frame: $60.00
Total: $278.96
Plus, I sold my bed for $175.00 on Craigslist, and put that toward the decorating.
So Total cost of Makeover $103.96
How's that for decorating on a budget! Not bad if I say so myself!!
Love to All!
Kris
9 Lives?? Try 8!!
It's Friday, February 6th, I am home with the worst flu, I have been battling it all week. I am in bed, I am "facebooking" naturally, Steve is doing some work in his office. Pretty quiet, both cats are on the bed. Steve has opened the top part of the window in his office, see picture below:
As you can see, there is no screen on the top part of this window, pretty much, nothing but nice cool air. Feels good to humans..........feels better to cats. My cats are indoor cats, if they have ever been out, it is because they have made a great escape at one point or another, but these excursions are never long ones, I notice they are gone pretty quickly. Anyway, it wasn't long before I realized that I was alone in my room, I no longer had the company of two cats, not uncommon, they probably went down for a nibble or something. I didn't think much of it. One thing I know about my cat, Phil, is that he LOVES fresh air, he will sit in any window that is available to him. Well today, he got a little more than he bargained for when he noticed the open window. There is no ledge for him to sit on, there is no screen for him to lean on, just air!
At one point, Steve goes to the window and looks out and sees a Black Cat walking in the road, he doesn't think much of it and heads down stairs, he looks out the window at the bottom of the stairs, and yells up to me "Have you seen Phil lately", I said "He was up here a little while ago, but he isn't now"...........Well, Phil was outside, once Steve was able to get him in, everything started to come together. Neither of us had been out of the house, the door had not been opened for him to sneak out of, it all became very clear....................Holy S#%&..............did he?? No way?? How else?? Seriously, no way!! As we approached the open window, and look directly below it, this is what we saw:
When we went outside to get a closer look, this is what we saw:
Phil must have tried to jump up onto the window, that had no ledge, no screen, nothing for him to rest himself on, he clearly over shot his landing, and found himself 3 stories lower in an instant. Thank God for deep snow, and that cats always land on their feet! Phil is a big cat, he weight approx. 18 lbs., I'm sure it wasn't a smooth landing, but it was a landing.
In the end, we are just glad he is OK.
Love to All,
Kris
As you can see, there is no screen on the top part of this window, pretty much, nothing but nice cool air. Feels good to humans..........feels better to cats. My cats are indoor cats, if they have ever been out, it is because they have made a great escape at one point or another, but these excursions are never long ones, I notice they are gone pretty quickly. Anyway, it wasn't long before I realized that I was alone in my room, I no longer had the company of two cats, not uncommon, they probably went down for a nibble or something. I didn't think much of it. One thing I know about my cat, Phil, is that he LOVES fresh air, he will sit in any window that is available to him. Well today, he got a little more than he bargained for when he noticed the open window. There is no ledge for him to sit on, there is no screen for him to lean on, just air!
At one point, Steve goes to the window and looks out and sees a Black Cat walking in the road, he doesn't think much of it and heads down stairs, he looks out the window at the bottom of the stairs, and yells up to me "Have you seen Phil lately", I said "He was up here a little while ago, but he isn't now"...........Well, Phil was outside, once Steve was able to get him in, everything started to come together. Neither of us had been out of the house, the door had not been opened for him to sneak out of, it all became very clear....................Holy S#%&..............did he?? No way?? How else?? Seriously, no way!! As we approached the open window, and look directly below it, this is what we saw:
When we went outside to get a closer look, this is what we saw:
Phil must have tried to jump up onto the window, that had no ledge, no screen, nothing for him to rest himself on, he clearly over shot his landing, and found himself 3 stories lower in an instant. Thank God for deep snow, and that cats always land on their feet! Phil is a big cat, he weight approx. 18 lbs., I'm sure it wasn't a smooth landing, but it was a landing.
In the end, we are just glad he is OK.
Love to All,
Kris
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