Organizing the organization

I picked my vacation time this morning.  Christmas week was still open, so I took it. Maybe Christmas in New York City?? I remember being in Louisville KY for Christmas and there is just something really neat about a city with Christmas lights and decorations.  I like that I have 11 months to plan too!

Planning....
       List-making...
               Organizing....

I like doing these things. Maybe a little too much actually. I saw a book today when I was at Lowe's and it was a week-by-week organizer with hints and ideas to get your household and life in order. I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. I ended up putting it back on the rack; after all, I already have a shelf full of books along the same vein of thought. Maybe I'll go alphabetize them....

I was at Lowe's picking out even more paint colors for Heather's room. You see, I ordered her wallpaper border and when it came, the colors we initially thought would match didn't.

New color scheme, in some way or another:

       Main color:

                     Chilled Wine

                     Wild Geranium    

                     Keepsake Rose

       Accent color:

                      Cavern Moss

                      Dark Sage

        2nd Accent color:

                      Stone Gray

                      Gravel

                      Stonington

We aren't using every one of these colors, but at least elements of them. I don't think I'm going to post the pictures of the actual colors yet...they will be revealed later....

Now, I think I'm going to go organize something...anything...

Til tomorrow

Dianne

                     

Time To Pick Vacation

I am next on the vacation schedule. Oooohhh, sounds ominous doesn't it?

At work, the vacation schedule comes out, usually in January, and then based on seniority everyone picks their desired weeks. Being about 2/3rd of the way to the bottom, sometimes I get the perfect week, sometimes I don't. Tonight when I go to work, I will pick my time.

Two years ago when I went to choose "the week" I ended up with August. I wasn't too sure about it because I'd always picked June before. This year was different though. We, as a family, were actually going to go on an honest-to-goodness vacation!

Vacations don't happen much when you have a farm. Those cows just seem to think they can't survive a week without the farmer. Not only do you have to be able to find someone who can milk the cows, but you need to be able to trust them, so when you are away, you aren't worrying too much abut the farm.

But....two years ago, in the Spring, we sold the milking herd and Leo was free to actually have a vacation! So, for the first time since we moved here (April 1, 1997), our family went somewhere where it didn't involve a family reunion, a wedding, or a funeral. We saved our money, we searched online for vacation houses, and we planned.


The Leonard Maust family was headed for ...

            Rhode Island!

I am not sure words can even capture what it felt like to do this. So much anticipation and excitement. So much craziness with all of us in a minivan again for hours. So many memories made...

Early mornings on the beach...

     Sand, shells, and stones...

          Cold waves and warm sunshine...

                Clam chowder and corn on the cob....

                       Reading a book for hours on the beach...

                              Eight mile Cliff Walk in Newport...

                                     Stinky Horseshoe Crab......

                                           Sunsets over fishing villages......

                                                 Quaint shops and antiques....

                                                       Point Judith Lighthouse...

                                                             Being Together....


Just a few random photos...

Too many hrs in the van!

Cliff Walk, Newport RI

Only 67 Days Til Spring...

I am snuggled under the covers right now.  Completely, like I am in an igloo, with everything under the blankets, because it is as cold as The North Pole out there.  I feel like a kid trying to read in bed with a flashlight thinking no one can see the glow radiating through the blankets.

Something is not quite working with our furnace and naturally, the time to find that out is when it is cold outside.  Sigh.

As I am thinking of climbing out of my warm cocoon, I am thankful for a house to shelter me from the wind. I am grateful for as many warm blankets as I could possibly want to keep me warm. I am thankful that winter weather is only around about 4 or so months a year. Just think, in 2 1/2 to 3 months, there will be new shoots of green poking through the cold earth in search of the sun. I can't wait!

But since I have to wait, I will enjoy (or at least try to enjoy) the cold days where your breath freezes into little clouds, and hot chocolate tastes better than at any other time. I am going to be thankful for this cinnamon hazelnut coffee and a cinnamon roll from Springs Store.

Oh, I am out of bed now, sitting in the kitchen; I am not under the covers drinking coffee.  The radiators are warm, the kids are off school and are in the family room watching Tangled together. All 5 of them plus a girlfriend. I am thankful for that too.

I am not sure yet about being thankful for the drive to work tonight....
....cause, Baby It's Cold Outside!

Be Blessed Today!
Dianne

Purple, Purple, Purple (Say that 3x fast)

I love all the names they come up with for paint colors.
Coffee Rose,
    Ballerina,
        Crocodile Tears,
            Thyme Green,
                Morning Breeze,
                   Ship's Harbor,
                       Sundrenched White Plum,
                            Serene Shade Tree,
                                Cinnamon Bear,
                                    Antique Lace.
They names put an image, a feeling into your head. They make you think of food, of places you'd like to visit, of gardens you'd like to wander through. They make you dream. 


I like to take a winter vacation every year. I like being housebound with a project. Over the years I've painted the living room and staircase, the family room, Adrienne's room, and Amy's room. This year I'd like to tackle Heather's room.

Heather's current bedspread

Last night we were looking at paint chips. We knew a little what direction we wanted to go in, so we laid out the piles of colorful cards. I almost started drooling.

We have been thinking purples and greens

Sooooo many purples, and these are just a few!

And more purples!

We finally decided to go with purples and grey with some green thrown in here and there. Maybe.
Now we need to decide on painting technique. I'd like to try some color washing; she'd like to just paint it plain. We're still thinking. To wallpaper border or not? That is the question. (Or at least one of them.)

Vacation starts January 21, so I have a little more time to prepare. I'll keep you posted.

So what were the paint colors we went with? Or at least the ones in the final running?
          Violet Blusher
                     Romantic Purple
                               Regal Purple
                                          Defense Armory Gray or New Zealand Fossil

Drool. I can't wait to start!

The Milkman, The Feed Guy, and a Stranger

Just because you live down a country lane doesn't mean you should be careless about what you wear, or don't wear, around the house. The same applies for outside the house.

When Adrienne and Aaron were little, soon after we had moved here, they were playing in a huge mud puddle out by the machine shed. I was in the shower and had just gotten out and thrown on a large t-shirt when these two mud-covered, dripping children tried to enter the house. I promptly stopped them from coming in and the 3 of us went out to the milkhouse so I could hose them down. Leo saw me and warned me that I shouldn't come outside with so little clothing on.

My response: "Why, no one ever comes down here! Who's going to see me anyhow?"

Famous last words.

No sooner did I send my now naked, but clean children scampering to the house, but a car comes past the barn into the driveway. Leo looked at me and I looked at him. He was going to go talk to them, right?
With a smile (or a smirk), he indicated that I should go. Now remember, I had nothing on but a t-shirt. But I knew that somehow, I was going to learn a lesson here.

So, as the kids made for the front door with the car now coming to a stop on that side of the house, I made for the basement door on the other side. Throwing clothes on as I dashed through the basement and up the stairs, I made it to the front door and calmly opened it.

The man standing there is laughing and he says, "Why, that was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!"
I hope he meant Adrienne and Aaron. I'll never know cause I sure wasn't going to ask.

You probably thinking that I learned my lesson that day. I didn't.

A few years later, the milkman knocked on the porch door (no curtain to block the view) and caught me in the kitchen with jeans and a bra on. Now, I was holding Heather (my baby at the time), so I am pretty sure he didn't see much, but still....

Now I learned my lesson?

A few years after that incident, I was in the kitchen after just getting up. I was in the process of getting dressed and had a pair of jeans on. That's it. The kitchen door was open and I was standing by it. Maybe I thought I'd get some sun. Maybe I was just stupid.

When I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned to fully face the door. It took a moment, but then it registered that the Feed Guy (for the cows) was standing there. Looking at me. Without a shirt. I turned around and much like the runner in "Chariots of Fire" I left the kitchen.

Poor Leo had to go outside then and talk to the Feed Guy who couldn't even look him in the eye. I am not sure, but I don't think that particular salesman ever came back to the house again. At least, if he did, he only ever stopped at the barn and didn't venture close to the house.

Have I learned my lesson?
Maybe. I'll wait a few years and see.

Two of My Favorite Things

Doing dishes and laundry are two of my most favorite ways to spend a day off from work. The smell of laundry detergent is delightful and the aroma of Palmolive is divine.

Oh wait, that wasn't me talking; that was my evil twin. Or is she evil? I mean, after all, she loves dirty dishes and stinky wet laundry.

What I would really like to know is how dishes and mounds of linen can multiply like they do. I can do up all the dishes, go to work, come home again, and the sink is overflowing (with dishes, not water). The same thing happens with laundry. I do a load of towels, restock the bathroom, and a day later the piles of neatly folded brown, green, and white towels are gone.


I thought I had solved the towel mystery once when I went into Amy's room to collect 1 or 2 dirty towels and came out with 13.  Yeah, 13 towels. I don't think she collects them like that anymore though.

Socks are another mystery. Everyone it seems, has a pile of mismatched socks in their home. Of all sizes and colors. I tried buying all white socks once, but that was just as hard to match because you may have had the same sock, but in two or three different sizes. Or someone made the bottom of their socks dirtier than the other person and so, even when clean, the whites didn't quite match.

I now buy socks in whatever color I like or think the child wearing them would like. Then they are easy to match, but I sometimes have a hard time remembering which pair belongs to which person.  For the most part, the older four do their own laundry and so their socks just get tossed in with their clothing. This has made my life easier, although I still find miscellaneous odd socks here and there.

It's like they have a mind of their own.

Actually, I don't mind folding clothes and towels too much. I can even watch a movie while doing the chore. It's the putting away of the clothes that I don't like. If I open a drawer to put something away and I see that Ryan has everything else in there unfolded, I end up folding all those too. And I get frustrated because I really wonder what the point is; it's all going to get unfolded again anyhow.

As for the dishes, I sometimes feels pointless too. We're just going to eat again and make them dirty all over again. But I just can't go to using all paper products. (We actually knew a family that did this.) I like pretty dishes, holiday dishes, dishes that are fun, dishes that fit the mood and decor. So I will wash them.
Or my kids will wash them. (I like that even better!)

 For a day, if I really wanted to feel caught up, we could all be naked and eat off the table.

Or not.

That is not a pretty picture in my head right now.

Maybe, to erase that image, you'd like to see the view from my kitchen window by the sink.

Ahh, now that's better! 

Til tomorrow....fold some laundry, do some dishes....it's not pointless. It's taking care of my family!

Love, Dianne

Oscar The Grouch or Big Bird?

I could be a grump today. I don't want to be, but I am afraid that the Oscar The Grouch that resides somewhere inside of me is trying diligently to get out.

What makes me grumpy, not just today, but any given day? The big one, like for many people, is lack of sleep. Sometimes it's just the huge pile of "to-do" things that I let overwhelm and engulf me. Throw in a little fear of the future, lack of finances (or the poor management thereof), too many demands, and a woman's favorite time of the month (sorry if you're a guy reading this, but it's true).

When I let the worries of today, yesterday and tomorrow build up, or I let them take over, I become just like the olive green, grungy, grimy, garbage-can residing monster.

Good Ol' Oscar

Days like today make me feel ugly inside and out. I need to pause, take a breath, put on some music, put a positive thought in my head and focus on one or two things, not everything. 

Ahhh, I am already feeling better.  

Even writing this blog helps me put my swirling thoughts into perspective and keeps me in check.

This is the day the Lord the has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalms 118:24