Got 'Em Hung

Of course, it's hot.  It's July.  It's supposed to be hot.

How hot has it been?  Yesterday in the plant, it was make-you-sick hot.  There were a couple of times I thought I was going to show my coworkers everything I'd eaten all day.  It was so hot, I got one of the shop rags from maintenance and didn't care if it was clean or not.  I soaked it in cold water and wiped my face down with it.  Grease and all. 

When we finally got off, all I wanted to do was come home and sit in the freezer.  Alas, the cat was out of food, so off to Wal-mart I went, grumbling all the while because I really didn't want to go.  I was sitting there at the 4-way stop on Papermill road and Hwy 51, for those of you familiar with the area, and spotted the new Dollar General they'd built in the cotton field across from Mr. Monroe's, for those of you familiar with the area.  I said to myself, "Self, I'll bet that there Dollar General store has cat food.  You ought to pull in there so you don't have to drive all the way in to town."

That's exactly what I did.  I felt so sorry for the cashier.  I picked out a couple of cans of cat food, just enough to last until I did go to Wal-mart, but when I pulled the cash out of my pocket to pay for it, the dollar bills were soaking wet -- with sweat.  Yes, that's how hot it was at work yesterday. 

My first thought was, "At least it's not boob sweat."  Then it occurred to me, it's butt sweat, and that's worse.  Sigh...

And we still have August to go...

The only other thing I did was to hang my little light house pictures on my wall.

I was a little worried that the colors wouldn't work with the rest of the decor, but it all ties in together.  See, the blue in the clock matches the blue in my curtains.

The map in the clock ties in with the map on the wall.

The color of the map matches the colors in the curtain hanging over my closet door.  If you could see it in person, they really would match better than they show here.

Then, of course, the light house prints also match the colors in the curtain, so it all works. 

Now I just need to add some stuff to that big space between the map and the corner, and do the crown molding and baseboards, and my bedroom will be done, at least until it's time to completely remodel. 

I still want to move back to Texas, but if Cody does get the job and moves to Memphis, I won't be in quite as big a hurry to go.  That takes some of the pressure off as far as getting the house fixed up to sell.  Now I can really think about which options increase the resale value.  My next project is to get someone to replace the rotten siding and paint the outside of the house.  I also want to add decorative shutters to my front windows. 

I think they'll make the house really cute. 

They're Here

I had a nice little surprise waiting for me when I got home.  Cody was sitting in my driveway.  Sitting in his car.  In my driveway.  He wasn't just plunked down in the gravel.  I told him he could have come inside the house, and he just shrugged.  I reminded him that this is his house, too, and I want him to feel at home here.

But enough about that.  The reason he is here to begin with is that he has applied for a job with Fed Ex in Memphis.  He has to go in person to do a drug test and all.  So, he made a flying trip from Texas.  He had to work yesterday at the Home Depot, then drove in to Jackson when he got off.  He stayed there with friends last night, and is driving on up to Memphis today.  He stopped by to visit with me for about 45 minutes after I got home from work.   He'll go for his interview and stuff tomorrow, then will drive back to Texas Saturday, because he has to work Sunday morning.  He's going to be one tired puppy after all that.  I told him he could stop here and take a breather if he wanted to, but I don't know if he will. 

I asked him what he would be doing for Fed Ex -- provided he gets the job.  He is going to start off in package handling, and is thinking about maybe going for his CDL license and becoming a truck driver.  I'm not sure if he means long haul or local delivery.  I don't think he knows himself, yet.  I hope he gets the job.  I've heard Fed Ex is a good place to work.  I checked, and if he gets the job, Cody will start off making almost as much per hour as I do after 23 years in that hell hole I work for.  Heck, maybe I should apply...

I said it will be nice to have him closer, and he replied that was a factor in him doing this.  See, my brother's recent heart attack and subsequent surgery kind of scared Cody.  He got to thinking about his Mama being so far away from family -- now that they've all moved back to Texas -- and wanted to be closer, just in case something happened.   Awww, my baby wants to take care of me.

Those of you so inclined, please pray that he gets that job.  It'll be a great start to a great career if he chooses to go that route. 

I mentioned the other day about ordering something else for my bedroom, and it arrived today.  Here it is:

But wait, you say.  Didn't you already have those?  Sort of.  My sister had sent me these in the form of paper posters, but I'd never hung them.  Since they're an odd size, I'd have to have them custom framed, and that can get expensive.  I even tried to hang them with poster tape, but they just fell off the wall.

I was on Amazon a week or so ago, looking for stuff with which to decorate, when I ran across the same three prints, only this time on stretched canvas, already mounted and ready to hang!  I hesitated to buy them at first, because it felt like I was rejecting the ones my sis sent.  After consideration, though, I realized she'd want me to have the prints on my wall, even if it meant buying another set.  So, I did. 

Now, they are here, and I can finally finish decorating my bedroom -- well, almost.  I still have one corner that needs something in it.  I want to find a brass sextant and maybe an old fashioned telescope to put there. 

It'll go with my theme, which seems to be finding my direction in life.  Maps, lighthouses, compass roses...all point to safety.

Or adventure.  Depends on which way you are headed. 

More New Things

This'll be quick, because I found out PBS will be livestreaming the National Memorial Day concert on their YouTube channel, so Yay!  I didn't need that stupid antenna after all.  But I did want to show you the new things I got, since I was too lazy to post yesterday.

I debated all day at work whether to run up to Lowe's in Batesville when I got off.  They have their mulch on sale for $2 bag.  I kind of wanted to go, but I kind of wanted to come home and take a nap.  As soon as I got into my car, it started raining.  I took that as a sign and just came on home.

Where I found this waiting on me.

It's the world map I'd ordered for my bedroom, and get this, it's stretched canvas, not just a poster print!  I love it!  Now, to figure out where to hang it.  The choices are here between the door and the closet. 

or here on this wall. 

 My only hesitation in hanging it there is that the clock is a map, too, and I don't want two maps so close together.  The solution would be to hang the big map closer to that window (which will eventually have a curtain over it), and put a few other things closer to the corner.  A compass rose, or a lighthouse or something.

I still have these lighthouse posters my sister sent me for Christmas in '16.  I want to hang them in the space between the door and the closet, but I need to get them framed or mounted somehow. 

They are such an odd size that it'll have to be a custom job, and that can run into some money.  The plan is to hang them diagonally in that space, then put maybe a small compass rose -- like the one I bought last week -- in the corner, so to speak. 

Well, only 8 minutes until the concert.

Gotta go!

New Things

Well, I second guessed myself all day today.  I thought, "Maybe I just need to get a digital converter box, then my antenna will work."  But no, my new TV in the bedroom isn't supposed to need a box, so that wasn't it.  Still, I went back and forth -- should I or shouldn't I try a converter box?  In the end, I took my antenna back to the store, and despite Wal-Mart's so called hassle free return policy, the lady behind the counter sure acted like it was a hassle for me to return something.  I remained polite and calm, reminding myself that she had probably had a rough day and was just as tired and frustrated as I was, and we got the deal done.

I was going to pick up a couple of bags of mulch while I was there, but by the time I finally got through at the customer service desk, storms were starting to roll in, and I just wanted to come home.  I really do need to finish mulching my flower beds.  I also need to mow, but that ain't happening either.  At least, not today.  Storms, remember? 

A couple of days ago, I was looking for something on Amazon -- I can't even remember what -- and found a new Billy and Blaze book that I didn't know existed.   I was so excited, I didn't even hesitate.  I hit the one click button right away.

I loved the Billy and Blaze books when I was a kid, and have all of them -- except this one.  As soon as I'd ordered it, I thought, "Hmmm, I'll bet when I get it and read it, I'll remember it."  The book arrived today, and sure enough, once I started reading, I thought, "Oh, yeah, I do remember this one."  At least now my collection is complete, even though most of them are paperback versions.  And since that I'm no longer a struggling single mom trying to raise a child with no help from his father, I'll gradually be replacing them with hard back versions.  If you want dibs on the paperbacks, speak now or forever hold your peace.  OK, not necessarily forever.  Still, if you're interested, just let me know, and I'll be happy to pass them along to a fellow book and horse lover.

I also found this while in Wal-mart.

I've kind of changed my decorating theme for my bedroom.  Instead of lighthouses and sailboats, it's going to be lighthouses, compass roses, and old maps.  I've found an antique looking world map on Amazon that I want to buy.  A couple of them, actually.  I just need to decide which one to get.  Then figure out where to hang all this stuff. 

That's the fun part.

Time Marches On

Time marches on, but for me, the search for clocks has finally come to an end.  Well, mostly.  I still need to get one for Cody's room, but it can wait.

Back when I bought the rooster clock for my living room,

I also ordered this one.

I bought it for my bedroom, but when I got it hung, I found it didn't look as good as I'd thought it would.  It was too light, and disappeared into the walls.  I wanted something that would pop a bit more. 

Since the frame kind of looked like distressed wood and reminded me a bit of a porthole, I decided to try it in the bathroom.

It stands out better against the blue walls.  It's a bit big for such a small room, but the more I look at it, the more I like it there.

I really need to get busy decorating those walls.  I'm thinking anchors and ship's wheels and may be ropes and nets and things like that.   Decorating has never been my strong suit. 

Anyway, that left me with a conundrum of what to get for my bedroom.  I'd found a lighthouse clock on Amazon that I really liked, but the reviews weren't that good.  You have to sift through the planted reviews to find the real ones.  Upon doing that, I decided the price was too high for the quality of clock I would be getting. 

Back to searching...

Then I found it.  The perfect clock.  I absolutely loved it, even though it was more money that I had wanted to spend.  I took a bit of financial advise, put the clock into my shopping cart, and waited 10 days.  I went back and looked at it again, and loved it even more than the first time. 

It arrived Friday, and I love it even more in person than I do on the website.

It fits perfectly with the theme I'm going for in my bedroom, and even matches my curtains.  And it has a pendulum!  I love clocks with pendulums!  Unlike pits with pendulums.

If you get that, we can be friends.  If you don't, we can still be friends, but you will be confused a lot. 

It's still in its new phase, and I keep running in to look at it. 

Now, I just need to get stuff hung on the rest of the walls...Seems to be a recurring theme, doesn't it? 

Stuff and Nonsense

Last Sunday, I got out my paint cans and did my touch-ups on my walls.  You would not believe how much better it looks with those spots cleaned up, even though they were small.  I did smear the paint just a bit on this door frame,

but it's barely noticeable.  I'll touch that up when I paint the closet door -- whenever I get around to that.

So, now that the painting is all done, it's time to start decorating the place. 

When I first moved into this house, my friend Sue sent me this picture, which she drew.

Right now, it's hanging in my bedroom, but the intention has always been to hang it in either the living room or kitchen.  The debate was whether to hang it in this spot

between the entertainment center and the doorway.  Or this one,

between the entertainment center and the window.  I was really leaning towards the former, but I just wasn't sure it would look right.  Naturally, I did what any 21st century red-blooded American would do.  I posed the question to my internet friends.  Some of them suggested a long narrow picture would fit better in that space instead.  Since they have much better design sense than I do, I deferred to their opinions and began searching Amazon for ideas.

It didn't take me long to find the absolute most perfect thing ever, and I immediately ordered it.

When I went to hang it up, I found the tag on the back.  It just added to its perfection.

It fits with my rustic, barnyard theme very well, and is, of course, a quote from one of my very favorite hymns.

While I was online, I also ordered a couple of clocks.  I was waiting for them to arrive, so I could post about all of it at once.  However, when I got the one I'd ordered for the living room, it wasn't at all what I thought it was.

This is the only picture that was on the website, and the description said wall clock, so I was thinking it was one of those round, flat clocks you hang on the wall.

The rooster fit with my decorating theme, and I thought it was just gorgeous.  When it arrived, though, it what I thought it was.  It was what I'd call a station clock, as it had an iron bracket thing and stuck out into the room like this:

What's more, the actual clock part is very small -- like maybe 5" across.  I'll be taking that back to the store tomorrow after work.  Fortunately, I bought it from Wal-mart, so it'll be easy to return.  Won't have to bother mailing it or anything.  I've found some other clocks I like.  The hard part is choosing which one to get.

Oh, and I did get this one for my bedroom.

As soon as it arrived, I found one on Amazon that has a lighthouse on it, which goes with my bedroom theme.  Only the one I got kind of looks like a porthole, and matches my colors...so I like it too. 

Now, about Sue's picture...I've decided to hang it in the second spot.  My fear there was that it would get kind of lost in that big old space, but I have an idea.

I want to try to find some decorative metal or resin vines to kind of frame it.  You know, kind of a John 5:15 kind of thing -- I am the vine, ye are the branches.  Goes well with the As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord quote on Sue's drawing.

Now that the living room is pretty much done (except for decorating), I've started back to working on my fireplace bricks.  I like to listen to music while I work, and have some playlists set up on YouTube.  You know how when you get to the end of your playlist, YouTube will pick out random songs related to the one you just listened to?  This morning, it gave me this one.



I think it may be my new favorite song.