Rock Painting 101

Today felt more like summer than any day yet in June or July. This year has been unseasonably cool and spring-like, but today was HOT and HUMID. A good afternoon to paint rocks. (#44 on the 101 list). So, I took the dogs for a walk and collected pretty rocks along the way.

About 9:30am, I woke Sarah Clay with the exciting offer of swimming with mommy. We spent some quality pool time, racing (free style and backstroke), diving for torpedos, tossing the Splashball, sitting cross-legged on the bottom, and practicing hand stands. For a smidge (a favorite Sarah Clay word), I thought I might even be able to cross #70 (swim 50 laps in a day) off my list. Though math isn't my strong point, I do know that 13 laps stops fairly short of 50.

After lunch, we headed to Michael's for some paint and brushes. I'm terribly obsessed with NOT making a mess, which is odd because, by nature, I AM a messy gal. Mostly with my clothes. Anyhoo...blankets, paper plates, paper towels, paper cups, paint, brushes, and VOILA!

Some of our rock art is still in progress, but the completed masterpieces include a Golden Retriever with glow-in-the-dark eyes (SC), a baseball-flip-to-football (SC), a blue friend named Buddy (SC), a Disney rock (SC),a ladybug (S), a bee (S), and an ice cream cone (with sprinkles!) (S).

Best-ever yard sale score

One of my very favorite past-times is searching for treasure. Whether in obscure flea markets and consignment shops or local antique haunts (and even Goodwill on occasion; OK, RARE occasion), I get a thrill out of what might be discovered.

With Ricky on call today, I knew I'd have to wake Sarah Clay up early to 'drag' her with me. She's not as fond of yard sales, or ANY sales, for that matter. So, I waited until 7:30 and then woke her up with a back scratch and promise of a yummy doughnut from a coffee shop.

45 minutes later, she's happily spreading cream cheese on a bagel (no doughnut, but a minor catastrophe averted with the bagel offering), and I'm sipping a cup of House Blend. Sitting out front of The Daily Grind, we met a great couple with a sweet rescue dog named Sadie. We chatted a bit and they told me all about the coffee shop and its owner, the local artist whose paintings hang about the place, and the daily 'breakfast club' they enjoy. Soon enough, another fella joined them and it happened to be Trevor Dickerson, Short Pump connoisseur and Twitter friend. Before leaving, the 'breakfast club' even gave us a tip about another member's yard sale going on just up the street.

The day's booty was quite small. Total spent: .25 cents. On what? A paperback 2nd/3rd grader reading book about the legends of Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster. Just to be clear, I do ADORE shopping for treasure. However, I am also EASILY creeped out by what I see. Some things that wig me out include: dirty toys (vintage or not), clowns, wizards, and fairies. There are others too, I assure you.

So what's the best-ever score at a yard sale? No doubt, my church pew. A couple of years ago on an unsuspecting Saturday morning, I stumbled upon an unmarked yard sale where a cute young couple was selling a few modest goods. Immediately spotting the bench, I braced myself for the response as I quietly inquired about the price. I had seen these things go for hundreds in local antique shops. The young girl looked shyly at her husband and then back at me: "Um.... $25?" she said hesitantly. "SOLD!"

My mother still thinks the pew is a bit nuts, and she laughed out loud when I brought it home that day (she was visiting us) and proudly exclaimed that I had "always wanted a church pew!"

According to the couple, the pew came out of a little church in Williamsburg, Virginia. The couple kept the pew outside, and it weathered quickly. And while I've thought about having it redone, it's really the aged look and beautiful gray patina that speak to me. It feels good too to simply have it in our house.

My 101 List - Starting 6/30/09

What exactly IS a 101 list you ask? Well it's a totally cool idea to get me off my duff and doing some fun (and fact-finding) events. And while I consider myself quite clever, I totally stole the idea from my Twitter friend @SarahInMI. As a matter of fact, she does an exceptional job of explaining the 101 list and rules on her blog: http://the101list.wordpress.com/about/

Follow me, if you will, as I blog my progress. And now (without any further procrastination), I present:

My 101 List

1. Make bagels from scratch (politely borrowed from @SarahInMI)
2. Memorize a famous poem
3. Attend an outdoor concert
4. Tour a new town
5. Read a classic
6. Write a letter
7. Make a photo album online
8. Take an art class
9. Learn to use a sewing machine
10. Take my daughter to New York
11. Go to an art museum
✓ 12. Make a birthday cake from scratch

My first accomplishment! I made a birthday cake (including the frosting) from scratch for Ricky's birthday 6/30/09. Sarah Clay chose a beach theme and decorated the sides of the cake with the sugar decorations AND she drew the icing exclamation points w/smiley face.

13. Take my daughter to a baseball game
14. Volunteer (the non-profit kind)
15. Go fishing
16. Blog (minimum 20 entries)
17. Build something
18. Plant a tree
19. Read a biography
20. Frame my daughter's artwork
21. Discover 3 new restaurants (good ones)

1. Eurasia (Gayton Crossing Shoppng Center)

22. Make a new good friend
23. Bake a pie from scratch
24. Learn how to mow the lawn
25. Sleep in a tent
26. Learn to hoola-hoop
27. Go birdwatching
28. Have a picnic
29. Surprise a friend
30. Grow a vegetable
31. Plant 100 bulbs
32. Make homemade ice cream
33. Host an out-of-town guest
34. Go to the zoo
35. Eat lunch with my daughter at school
36. Write a personal thank you note (non-teacher)
37. See a play
38. Belly-ride on a board in the ocean
39. Watch for falling stars
40. Visit Monticello
41. Make homemade lemonade
42. Go to church
43. Give a homemade gift
✓ 44. Paint rocks with my kid

July 12, 2009 - Today felt more like summer than any day yet in June or July. This year has been unseasonably cool and spring-like, but today was HOT and HUMID. A good afternoon to paint rocks. (#44 on the 101 list). So, I took the dogs for a walk and collected pretty rocks along the way.

About 9:30am, I woke Sarah Clay with the exciting offer of swimming with mommy. We spent some quality pool time, racing (free style and backstroke), diving for torpedos, tossing the Splashball, sitting cross-legged on the bottom, and practicing hand stands. For a smidge (a favorite Sarah Clay word), I thought I might even be able to cross #70 (swim 50 laps in a day) off my list. Though math isn't my strong point, I do know that 13 laps stops fairly short of 50.

After lunch, we headed to Michael's for some paint and brushes. I'm terribly obsessed with NOT making a mess, which is odd because, by nature, I AM a messy gal. Mostly with my clothes. Anyhoo...blankets, paper plates, paper towels, paper cups, paint, brushes, and VOILA!

Some of our rock art is still in progress, but the completed masterpieces include a Golden Retriever with glow-in-the-dark eyes (SC), a baseball-flip-to-football (SC), a blue friend named Buddy (SC), a Disney rock (SC),a ladybug (S), a bee (S), and an ice cream cone (with sprinkles!) (S).

45. Go ice skating
46. Inspire a friend to make a 101 list
47. Take a family portrait
48. Tie dye something
49. Memorize the presidents
50. Fly a kite
51. Write a poem
52. Host a croquet tournament
53. Make a list of 50 things I like about myself
54. Invest in a new stock
55. Thoroughly clean my dresser drawers
56. Sew on a button
57. Organize my linens
58. Paint a canvas
59. Draw a portrait
60. Visit a new park
61. Go 24 hours without TV
62. Visit a sick friend
63. Plan a swim party for my daughter
64. Grill something new
65. Learn the planets
66. Take my daughter on a train ride
67. Jump rope
68. Send someone a care package
69. Go treasure hunting with a metal detector
70. Swim 50 laps in a day
71. Try a new hobby
72. Study great blue herons (my fav bird!)
73. Grow plant(s) from seeds
74. Chaperone a school event
75. Knit a scarf
76. Learn my blood type
77. Invite a friend to lunch (sounds simple, I know)
78. Organize my recipes
79. Try a new vegetable
80. Try a new fruit
81. Repurpose something old
82. Go to the dermatologist
83. Make a pinecone birdfeeder
84. Plan a family game night
85. Make chicken salad
86. Light sparklers just for fun
87. Discover the origin of 'Richmod'
88. Learn a new car trick
89. Attempt free-lance publication (again)
90. Make a full breakfast for my family
91. Build a giant fort with my daughter in her room
92. Handwrite a thank you note to a teacher
93. Pick fresh flowers for my daughter's room
94. Try a new cocktail
95. Blog about my dad
96. Go apple picking
97. Make caramel apples
98. Re-learn the continents and oceans
99. Blog about a funny (past) family moment
100. Teach my daughter how to make a gum wrapper chain
101. Make a new list

Easter

Where DOES the time go? Call me slack. It's Thursday after Easter and mom just left to return to Augusta after a week's stay. All-in-all, Easter went off without a hitch, a few family moments but nothing too terrible. This year, we hosted 22 family members for Easter lunch and our traditional egg hunt.

My niece Lauren (7) was here for a long weekend and the cousins had a terrific time together. As expected, Landen (10) gathered the most eggs at the hunt; Leah (3) showed great improvement over last year; Sarah Clay (8) prefers to run behind the others rather than head in a new direction so she gets less eggs in the end; Cambell (5) didn't even flinch when we hid the plastic roach in one of her eggs; Shayna (12)has graudated from egg-finder to egg-hider; and Virginia (15) kicked off her 5-inch Saks 5th pumps to help hide the eggs. For simplicity sake, all guests bring a dish on Easter...here's what we had this year:

Menu:

*Wine
*Mimosas

*Vegetable Tray
*Pretzels & Mustard Dip (Sallie)
*Baked Parmesan Spinah Dip w/toast rounds (Sallie)
*Salted Baked Pecans (Mom)
*Ham (Honey Baked Ham)
*Mango Salsa (Mom)
*Asiago Cheese Bread (Panera Bread)
*Baked Cheese Grits (Sallie)
*Sweet Potato Pudding (Karen)
*Baked Carrots (Bonnie)
*Corn Pudding (Donnie)
*Mac-N-Cheese (Sylvia)
*Potato Salad (Cynthia)

*Lemon Squares (The Fresh Market)
*Chocolate Ganache Tarts (Whole Foods)
*Sour Cream Pound Cake w/Strawberries & Cream (Mom)
*CANDY

And now, a couple of pics that show a bit of the new hall wall color, Taupe 4:

Paint color coming soon ...

OK, almost done painting and will then be able to think of something else, such as updating my blog. (Complete with photos, mind you!)

I may have made a painting mistake

I may have made a painting mistake. So, what I'd like to know is ... what's the trick to picking the RIGHT wall color from a teeny tiny paint chip. I was adamant that today I'd actually do something while looking and not getting a job, that actually gives me a feeling of accomplishment. The plan was to (1) cook a new recipe (using the slow cooker, of course) and (2) begin painting the upstairs hallway as a precursor to the downstairs foyer.

The Meal? Penne Italiano. The paint color? Taupe 4. Only when I began painting, it looked more like 'Basketball 3' than 'Taupe 4'. After tomorrow's painting, I'll post a pic. Did I mention I HATE painting? I seem to forget that every time I go to paint again.

The meal was OK - though I'm not too much of a fan of Italian sausage, so I sorta swept the meat aside and ate the penne & sauce. Hubby said it was OK too, though he said he 'wouldn't want to eat it twice a week or anything'. Not quite as harsh as yesterday's 'I believe this is the worst pork chop I've ever had' critique. This comment sounds mean but really, we were both laughing so hard we could barely breathe.

Sarah Clay insists that she doesn't like 'pasta', though she loves spaghetti. No matter how I try to draw a similarity with, say, Goldfish - "Sweetie, cheddar goldfish still taste the same if they're shaped like fish or like whales - it's simply a different shape made of the same ingredients" - I get no where.

"No, mom, it's not. Goldfish are not made from pasta." So dinner included a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal, grapes, and a piece of garlic bread. I love that kid.

Very sleepy and looking forward to sleeping till at least 6:30am! 'Night.

St. Patty's Day

St. Patty's Day began with the traditional race-to-build-a-quality-leprechaun-trap before 7:30am, the official leave for school time. The prized trap includes one Tortino's single pepperoni pizza box (top cut to bend upward), double-sided tape (inside the box), 3 shiny pennies (attached to the tape), and various kitchen chotzkes (barriers encircling the trap).

Next, off to school...back home to check email and scan job postings....and then out to "run errands". The mission? Find fun egg fillers for our annual Easter egg hunt.

First stop, Party City. A couple of cute things - teeny tiny cameras that you can look through and rotate pics, similar to the old-timey View Master, a few necklaces, some furry chicks, etc. I skip the idea of going to Target 'cause we're there all the time anyway, so where else might I find some obscure cutie booty? K-Mart.

Not to offend anyone, but I am always totally grossed out at K-Mart. It starts in the parking lot where I swear there's more gum in more colors than any Wrigley's plant could hope to produce in a lifetime. Naturally, it's all ABC gum, so I hop-scotch through the parking lot and search out the automatic door entrance so I don't have to touch any handles.

I browse the candy displays and head for the toy dept. for a quick look-see. By this time, I've been in the store about 4 minutes and surviving OK. And then, the creep-out.

Somewhere toward the back of the store, this loud voice begins to bellow "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurls n' Peeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaarls". What??? And again, loud like a Carnie, "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurls n' Peeeeaaaaaaarls". OMG - why can't people in K-Mart just be normal?!

The 'Girls n' Pearls' chant continued about every 10 seconds as I hurried my Dansko-ed feet through the store and to the first available checkout. I never saw the guy, but I can describe him easy: greasy slicked back hair, tobacco-ed teeth, creepy slits for eyes that never blink, and skin that's way dirtier than it should be. Sorry, Martha.

Back home, sufficiently safe and anti-bacterialized, I'm off now to the carpool line.

Happy St. Patty's Day!