The travel mug that does not travel

One of my weird shopping obsessions is travel coffee mugs. It could be because I love coffee, but I'm not sure why it's all about the travel mug. I always walk by the travel mug section of the store and see if any are on sale. I never end up buying one. But anyway . . .

A few months ago at the local Meijer store, I happened to notice a new mug on the block. It was a Starbucks travel mug of the Christmas variety. A very strange thing to see at a Meijer, and in July. Knowing that Meijer doesn't sell Starbucks travel mugs, I was curious. So I picked it up and looked inside. There was the remains of what looked like dried brown coffee all around the inside. So I put the lid back on and set it back on the shelf. I guess someone lost it and an employee put it there on the shelf, thinking it was for sale.

Well, as I said....this was months ago. I can't believe not one employee has realized that it doesn't belong there . . . that it's not for sale! Have they not looked inside it? It's hilarious.

So a few days ago, it was still there. I took a picture of it, just for you.

One of these days, I think I'm going to try to buy it. I wonder how much they'll actually charge me.

Finished!

We're finally done :-) We still have some trim work to do, and we're still deciding if we should paint the plug covers. One day I'd like to have all black appliances. Also you must ignore the country blue roman shade in the kitchen. I ordered new blinds today to replace them.

Sorry...no before pictures. I'd have to dig through some old pictures to find some. That could take a lonnng time :-)

Ta da!

Don't mind Craig. He's obviously hard at work and couldn't be bothered to move.

I could have waited til morning, when there was more light in the room. But I'm afraid by the time that happens, my three little toy-tornadoes will have already come through and distributed toys everywhere.

This concludes the paint blog series. I hope you've enjoyed it. Tune in tomorrow for the story of the mysterious coffee mug . . .

Day four, five, six, seventeen, twenty five . . .

This is never going to end. Burned OUT.




I haven't updated because I'm just too stinking tired. But, Craig had to run off for a few so I'm taking a break. We're done priming the kitchen, and one half has one coat of paint. I'm thinking it will need a gazillion more, because red has got to be the worst color to paint with. The blue was easy. Red is very difficult.

My house is a mess, but here's a pic of all colors together.

I really wanted to have the red done by tonight, but I'm not sure that's happening. I have to leave at 4:30 to sing at church.

So, maybe tomorrow I'll have the final pics :-)

Day THREE

I haven't had a chance to post about blue day. We were only able to do one coat because we had a family party to attend, so today we will do the 2nd coat of blue in the living room, and hopefully start priming the kitchen for red.

Pictures:

I had the best paint crew ever :-)

Day TWO

The kitchen and dining room ceilings are done, and we're almost done with the living room's first coat. Craig will be leaving me in a few hours and I'll be alone to finish up. Here's what it looks like so far:






Craig, the happy painter.

Xavier does not like being trapped in his bedroom and hallway for 1/2 the day.

Tomorrow we start painting the walls red and blue. Mandy said she'd come over and help me, and that makes me happy :-) If anyone else is inclined to help, I won't turn you away!

If you're wondering what's up with my color choices, here is a sample of the color scheme:

Can't wait until this is over!

Ohnoz!

I did it. It's really going to be a purple ceiling!

This has been a nightmare so far! First of all, if you have kids and you decide it's time to paint, get rid of them temporarily. Or, buy a dozen donuts and send them off with one when they come to bother you.

Second, I must be the incredible hulk, because I keep breaking paint rollers! I even broke my extender pole! After 10 minutes of painting!

Ok, so Craig went to buy a new pole. My shoulder is out. Help.

Oh, quote of the day today is "I should make them sand their own boogers."

Gross! My kids are gross!

More to come . . .

Sports

I like sports now. I like baseball and football. A year ago, I did not care for sports. In fact, I hated football season because it meant losing my husband all day Sunday and Monday nights. I used to watch hockey religiously. Then I stopped. I used to watch baseball as a kid. I stopped that too. Suddenly I had other interests, I suppose. But anyway, thanks to the excitement of fantasy football and several trips to Comerica Park with my friends, I'm enjoying sports again.

Last night the Tigers had a very exciting last inning. I was there! It was fun.

Also last night, I was in 1st place in our Fantasy Football league, and then at the last minute, my opponent's wide receiver caught a touchdown pass, and just like that I was knocked down to 7th place. Grumble grumble. But I still have the 2nd highest points in the league, so I'm not too upset. I'm not as upset as Craig, anyway. He's in last place. Hee hee. Craig is the most competitive person I know. I once made him cry when I beat him at Connect Four. Seriously. He was undefeated until I came along. Poor guy. Last night he looked at the standings and said "I hate this game." and walked out.

My friends and I at the game last night . . .

Little Reminders

Today I worked at church most of the day, tearing down the set from our last series, getting ready to put a new one for the new series starting on Sunday. Our task today was to get on this scary lift thing on the stage, go all the way to the ceiling, and cut down the big styrofoam words we had hanging up. They were random words that had to do with suffering.....like lost jobs, famine, death, etc.

I had my mp3 player hooked up to some speakers and it was shuffling through the songs while we worked. My friend Ann Marie was up on the lift, cutting down one of the words, when suddenly one of my favorite songs came on. (It should have started playing as soon as you clicked on to this blog.....isn't it pretty?) It's called "I Need You" by The Swift. Up until today, it had been a long time since I heard it.

This is a very special song to me, because around the time it was popular, I was in the midst of a depression. Not your basic blues, but a depression that was real, and painful. I had never experienced anything like it before. This song always came on, and the words gave me some comfort, especially when I was alone in my car, driving to where ever. I made a CD and played it over and over again, I guess in hopes that it would somehow miraculously cure me of the darkness I felt.

Well, one day I hit the bottom. I was driving down the road, when suddenly I just started to sob. I felt like dying, like there was no hope. I knew I needed help and I was scared. I cried hard as I drove, and then finally began to cry out to God, out loud. I prayed that he would just take it all from me. I remember saying that over and over, take this from me.....take this from me.....and then telling Him that I had faith that HE could.

When I was finished, and the sobbing subsided, I heard that still, small voice you always hear about. Only it wasn't small. It was pretty loud :-) Long story short, that day God released me from that depression. Just like that. Gone. Upon returning home an hour later, I had that joy I had been missing....the joy I had known all my life that suddenly left for no reason. I nearly raced home to be with my family. I wanted nothing more than to walk through my door, hug and kiss the kids, and tell them that the mommy they once knew was back. I actually giggled while driving. I must have looked crazy. I didn't care. I had just witnessed a miracle, inside of me.

Ok, so back to today. The song came on as Ann Marie handed me the styrofoam word she had just cut down. I said "Oooooh, I just love this song." and took the word over to the pile of other words that had been cut down. As I layed the word down, it hit me that the word I was holding was "depression." It took my breath away, with that song playing...oh my goodness. I couldn't help but smile and just laugh to myself, while remembering again how miraculous He is.

Drum Corps. A blast from the past.

I guess the DCI finals were on yesterday on ESPN and I missed it. The good news is, they're replaying it, so I'll set my DVR.

DCI stands for Drum Corps International. I participated in corps for 4 years. We were discussing it on a message board today and I scanned this pic I found in my drawer yesterday:

Ah, the memories. We had to polish our shoes before every competition. Or whenever needed, I guess. I can't beleive I was that brown. My hair was fried. I had bangy bangs. Maybe some day I'll get a bunch of my corps pics together and do a blog series on my life in corps. It really was a crazy time.

At the dinner table

Xavier (to Craig): Why you lookin' at me?

Craig: Because I feel like it.

Xavier: No. Because you love me and I'm cute.