Fall mantle

I love fall....

{...and I'm linking up to The Nesting Place today for their Fall Mantel (a.k.a. "Fantel") Party.}

Third time's the charm, right?

If you can't tell from the ridiculously non-matching blog page, I am in the process of redoing it. One day I might invest a little moolah in having someone who has a clue what they are doing, do it for me and make it look RI-DONK-U-LOUS, but for now, I will just have to do it on my own and deal with it's non-perfect, non-custom and non-designer look. It kills me, but then so does the fact that my camera takes pictures just one step above a disposable. So, in order for me to take the plunge and get someone to design on for me, I must one or several of the following:

1. Have someone donate it to me because of my lack of blog design skills.


2. Blog more than once every couple of weeks.


3. Have pictures that don't look like they were taken by a 5-year-old, or by someone who is visually impaired, or by a very slow monkey.


4. Have something exciting to blog about. The extent of my days includes lots of picking up the toy trail that follows my 2 little ones everywhere, burning multiple batches of brownies, cleaning various body fluids off of the bathroom floor, sweeping under my kitchen table 13 times a day, and an occasional bandaid application to an imaginary boo-boo.

So, in conclusion, this blog, as well as my life, and every room in my house is a work in progress. Stay tuned...Oh yeah, and I painted my laundry room again...stripes!!! Here's a sneak peek...

Please ignore the fact that it isn't completely finished...I ran out of painter's tape right at the end.

Do you like how the stripes match my new blog background? Yeah, I am kind of going through a stripe phase. Also, this is the third time I have painted this room. It is my experimentation room. I like to try things out in here that I am not sure I want to do anywhere else. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Not sure if I am 100% sold on the blue...might like it better khaki and cream. Hmmmm, we'll see how it goes, but I definitely like it better than the retina burning aqua that it once was. Anywho....have a great weekend!

In the ingenious words of Dr.Seuss...

Hi y'all.
I sit here at well after midnight contemplating important issues like life, motherhood, time management, the pizza I ate for dinner tonight and how it is going to make me swell up like a big toad in the morning...you know, things like that, and I have decided many things:

1. There should be about 2 more of me to get the things done that I believe that I should get done on a daily basis. I can't decide if I am just too hard on myself and my expectations are ridiculous, or whether I have horrible time management. I would tend to think more of the first one, since I am notorious for beating myself up on a minute-to-minute basis and constantly feeling like I don't compare to other moms/wives/Christians out there (I am fairly certain it has something to do with my childhood and repressed memories and the fact that I ate peanut butter and miracle whip sandwiches growing up, but that is a moot point), but I am hoping it is the latter. I am bound and determined to get myself more organized, and it has to start now. Now, mind you, I am a fairly organized person already. The thought of baskets and pretty little tags tied onto those baskets, and clear glass jars with little stick on labels, and The Container Store and more baskets, and label makers, and more baskets makes my knees weak. The thought of making a list really gets my engine running. However, my follow through is rather lame. I have ideas of grandeur when it comes to my perfectly functioning home, with children who actually pick up what they get out and return it to their labelled bin, and a hubby (love you Babe!) who makes the long & tedious 15 foot trek to the hamper to put his dirty socks there, rather that the floor, and countertops that don't look like Office Depot threw up on them. However, I will be defeated no more! Hell hath no fury like a woman on a mission to organize her life! (Or maybe it is acutally "a woman scorned". Oh well, whatever.)

2. Oh wait, what was I listing...be right back...scrolling up...Okay, I'm back. So, I have also taken on some new responsibilites. I am helping a dear friend with her business. Yes, I am kinda working. I am her "assistant". You have to know that I am taking full liberty in making this as fun as possible, such as calling her "Boss", and texting her if I need to pick up her dry cleaning, or her half-caff-upside down-soy-latte with 2 Splenda with a shot of espresso. I have thought about getting her a "World's Best Boss" mug and wearing my hair in a bun and calling everyone "Toots". Hmmmm. Maybe not. Anyway, it is a small gig (only a couple of hours a week...for now) but it has given me something, other than mommyhood or wifehood (that IS a technical term, thankyouverymuch) or house related, to have pride in. I have also started helping my hubby with his business. So, needless to say, I have packed on even more things to keep me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Just what I needed, right?

3. I am on a spending freeze. Seriously...a freeze. I have to make do with what I have. Repurpose...rearrange...remove...rewind..oh wait, that doesn't really make sense, does it?

All of that being said, I am taking a sabbatical from blogging here. I love blogging, but unless I am up at an unGodly hour, I can't make the time. Honestly, I can't say that I have a lot to blog about anyway. I am not doing some amazing craft or painting my living room or baking from scratch or redoing my mantle everyday, so if I did blog, you would sleep through most of it, until I make some self-deprecating remark and then you might chuckle a bit and nod back off again while I show you the millionth picture I took of my daughter at her first soccer game. Oh yeah, I should have posted those before I vowed to take a sabbatical...crap!
Simply stated, I have to work on being a mom, wife and homemaker right now. I have to dedicate myself to those things, then when I get it all figured out, I'll be back. Then I'll write a book on how I did all these things, and make a million dollars, and have my own doll, and my own talk show and ...just kidding. I will get it figured out. I am too hard-headed and determined not to. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, in my freetime, which I don't foresee having too much of...I will be watching you and YOUR blogs...watching and waiting..MWAHAHAHA!!! Just kidding...I will be popping in on my favorites here and there to get a little inspiration and trying not to feel totally inadequate that I didn't go to the FLEA and refinish some amazing piece of "junk" to look like something out of a Parisian boutique, or reupholster my $5 thrifting treasure into something that even Ethan Allen himself would weep at, or whip up the most delictible meal that will later be shared on my blog with 20 beautiful and artful pictures that I took with my amazing thrifted antique camera. I will TRY not to feel inadequate, I didn't promise anything.
So, I will leave you a quote from one of my favorite poets...Dr. Seuss (seriously, he is a hoot)...

...when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun,
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done...
(from "Oh, The Places You'll Go)

My friends, I am in a Slump, and I am off to Un-slump myself. In the meantime, I will be charting my "self"progress on my Skinny Girl blog if you just miss me that much. If you do...I am so sorry for you.

See you on the other side!

Blessings,
Jenn