New Wicker Set

We have this blank spot on our rather large deck. I have always wanted a very small wicker set to put there as a little conversation area. Unfortunately I simply couldn’t find one! Well, let me clarify – I couldn’t find one that wasn’t a lot of money. And I simply wasn’t willing to spend a lot of money. Oh, I’d find them on Craig's List – and they’d be gone as soon as they were posted. I was seriously frustrated.

Until I was over at Beth’s one day and was talking to her cousin who was lamenting the fact that she had this wicker set stuffed in the storage closet of her apartment and she wanted to just get rid of it.

I’m sorry, WHAT DID YOU SAY?

I quickly said “I’ll buy it”.

She delivered it this evening. The cushions (which aren't the originals, but are still nice) have the TAGS still one them. And she wouldn’t let me pay her. WHAT??????

It’s really wicker – not the resin stuff my other set is (which while manmade, does stand up to the elements better).

Here it is…..

There’s a love seat, two chairs and a cute little table.

So, now. What do you think? Should I leave it “as is”?

It eventually may make its way to the front porch, which looks like this:

If that happens, I’d like to paint them white.

But in the meantime? What to do?

I’m not sure – maybe I should just leave them alone?

Here’s our bigger set.

Please ignore the beer bottles on the table. Brian and I were enjoying our “Holy crap that P90X is hard core and we can barely move, so we should sit and have a drink and discuss how much this is kicking our asses” after workout drink. Cuz that's how we roll.

So, tell me what you think. Leave it alone? Paint it? New cushions? Move it to the front porch?

Inquiring minds want to know......

Day One.

As I sit here typing this today, my arms feel leaden, my chest muscles hurt and my back is achy.

I am not sick. I was not in some sort of freak accident which effected only my upper torso.

No, I feel this way because last night, Brian and I chose to do this:

An hour of self induced pain and torture.

A friend at work ordered the entire series and is letting us do a "trial run" before we fork out a crap load of money and buy it ourselves.

We have been talking about how we are both getting chubby and need to do something about it (usually discussed over a dinner of pasta and steak, while we thoughtfully sip our alcoholic drinks).

Now, we are not necessarily "fat" (I can still fit in some of my size 6 clothes, thank you very much. I just prefer not to wear them in public...), but I, personally, would like my clothes to fit better and feel more comfortable wearing a bathing suit.

Since I'll be 40 in.... um, let's just say "soon" (a-hem).....I figured we needed to get our bulbous butts in gear.

Last night was Chest and Back - which consisted of 54 minutes of push ups, pulls ups and lots of funky exercises involving a giant rubber band.

The band only snapped and hit me in the face like, two or three times, so you know, that's good.

I managed to make it through the exercises, with a fairly passable push up, while Olivia lounged on the couch watching us strain, red faced, to do One More Push Up, and telling me that I wasn't doing it right.

(Thanks. Way to be supportive, kid).

I'm glad we haven't actually spent the money on this, because it is hard core and is kicking our asses. We may decide by Friday that we actually don't mind being chubby, out of shape, middle aged parents.

There's a lot to be said for pasta, steak and alcohol. It's certainly better than an hour of someone telling me to BRING IT as I pant and lay on the floor in exhaustion, while the dogs whine and sniff every inch of me trying to determine whether or not I am still in the land of the living.

Tonight is "Plyometrics".

I have no idea what that means, but I'm pretty sure I'll be begging someone to kill me in the first 15 minutes.

Re-Store

A few weeks ago Liv and I went to the local Habitat Re-Store to see if we could find anything good to bring home and play with.

I was looking for an old chandelier –I had seen one used outside with candles and thought it was a VERY cool idea. I figured my best bet for finding one would be the Re-Store.

I wasn’t disappointed. They had more than 30 builder grade brass chandeliers. I picked up the one below for $12.

When I brought it to the counter, the gentleman at the register and I had a conversation.

(him) “I think you need two of these”

(me) “Um, no that’s OK – one is fine”

(him) “Really. You should get another one. I think you need two”

(me) “Huh. Well, since you have so many back there, I’ll be happy to take another off your hands. So long as you give them BOTH to me for the price of one”

(him) “Deal”

Yup. It was that easy. They had so many I think he was just ready to unload some of them!! So I picked up two for $12 - SCORE!

Liv and I brought them home and washed them down.

I tore them apart and pulled out most of the electrical wiring inside.

We sanded (just a tad) and primed them.

They look like one of those rides in an amusement park or something….

Or something out of Star Wars….

Then we painted them black.

I hung it up under the canopy by the wicker set, put in some viotive candles and we enjoyed some nice candleight the other evening.

But they kept going out (it was windy) so I found some fake"Candles" and will use those instead from now on.

It was hard to get a picture - since, you know, it's DARK when the candles are lit, but this should give you an idea....

And just because I thought this picture was cool....

The title goes here.

I always hate thinking of a title for my posts. I have no problem writing an entry that’s witty, charming, full of pictures, sarcastic, award winning and funny (Ok – not really, but anyway)

I STRUGGLE with the titles!

For instance, the title of this post. Should it be “Deep Thoughts”? “Drama by Deb”? “Transitions”?

“Shut the hell up and just get on with it already”?

I have no idea.

For the past ten plus years, I have been:

A Mom
A Wife
A Student
An Employee

I definitely struggled with the guilt of being a working wife and mom and throwing school into that only added to my anxiety. But, let me set the record straight – I went to school for ME and I don’t really have regrets (unless you count the tens of thousands of dollars I now owe to someone named “Sallie Mae”, but whatever).
I loved school. I loved the challenge. I love to learn new things, meet new people, and experience new experiences.

I also love the fact that I’m done.

But here’s the rub. After juggling it all for so long, I now find that one of my proverbial balls in the air is missing and it’s totally throwing off my rhythm.

I am accustomed to scheduling my time down to the SECOND to get it all done. Many things fell through the cracks.

(Like cleaning my house, doing a load of laundry and actually folding it and getting it put away, and regrettably, time with my kids and husband)

Now that I’m done, everyone seems to expect that I will suddenly morph into Mrs. Cleaver and become the perfect wife and mother, who devotes every single second of her free time to housekeeping, cooking, playing with her children, smiling and walking around in an apron with pearls and having sex with her husband every night.
(Um, have you MET me?)

As much as I WANT to be (at least a shadow of) that person, I’m having a hard time getting there. I’ve asked for patience from my family to allow me time to get into “Mommy and Wife ONLY” mode, but really – they’ve been patient for a very long time, and I can’t ask for anything more.

School was my “Me time”.

And now it’s gone.

Eventually I will find something that engages my mind and keeps me as busy as I was before.
But until that time, I’ll walk around in jeans and pearls, cook a few nights a week, be a little more attentive to my husband and children and maybe – just MAYBE – actually get the laundry done and put away.

I need a hobby.

Quick.