Bleak Week

The financial crisis has been dominating the airways and it has been a pretty depressing picture. Several months back, my husband was told by different reliable sources that it would be a good idea to get his retirement money out of stocks. He went ahead and took the advice and switched most of his 401K into bonds. I don't know if that was a safe move or not. This is one heck of a mess and I am hopping mad over it. How could this problem have gotten this big and this bad without anyone sounding the alarm or doing something about it? It just boggles my mind and I am afraid that we will be mortgaging our kids future because this is a problem that is going to have years and years of negative consequences. My husband and I are 10 years out from retirement and this really has impacted us as it has every other person in this country. I have no idea what the future will hold but right now it just doesn't look good.

I decided I needed to paint to get my mind off of this bleak week that we have had so this is my new painting called, "Reflective Eyes." I have a feeling I'm going to be painting a lot more than usual this fall.

What To Do Next?

Now that the remodel is for the most part done, I am trying to get back into gear with spending more time on my blogging and artwork. My in-laws are due to arrive in a couple of weeks so I am organizing things in preparation for their visit.

Friday, we went and saw the musical, "Chicago". They were doing only one show in our area so friends of ours asked us if we would like to go and of course we said yes. It was a very good show and a lot of fun. I am hoping to see more of these types of productions in the future.

I am looking into taking guitar lessons although I am having quite a time trying to find someone locally to teach me. I even advertised on craigslist.org with no luck so far. I may have to bite the bullet and drive 40 miles to take lessons.

I was able to sell some of my new boutique girls clothes on craigslist.

Another thing that I would like to learn is to speak Spanish. Through craigslist, I found someone that was willing to trade Spanish for English lessons. I contacted them but it wasn't going to work out which was disappointing.

We have a lot of old doors and a window that were leftover from the remodel so I will be advertising them on craigslist for nothing.

I highly recommend using this free online service. There are a ton of things on there and easy to find them locally too.

Bathroom Model Complete

I just took these pictures before my bathroom became a disaster area. Since my small bathroom is being remodeled, everyone has moved into the master bath and there are towels everywhere. With clear glass shower doors, we had to treat the glass with Rain-X to keep the water deposits from building up on it. It takes about 5 minutes to squeegee the glass and the tile, then wipe everything down. My family has been beating me into the shower first so they won't have to be the last person to wipe the shower down.

The shower looks nice but it will be more work to keep it looking that way.

This is the old bathroom:


The remodeled bathroom:


My studio is also complete. I still have to get more drawer space for it and for my walk-in closet but I am glad we are done!

Bedroom Remodel Almost Complete

It has been a looong 5 months and all I can say is that the bedroom remodel is almost complete. I really like it. It came out better than I thought despite all the headaches. One of the major problems amongst many that occurred during the process was that my cabinet maker did not use the right stain on my doors and the bathroom vanity. The bedroom door sits very close to one of the kitchen cabinets. Since the cabinet was a couple of feet from the door, it was really obvious that the stain did not match. One of the reasons I went with this cabinet maker was because he had done my kitchen cabinets and he said he would use the same stain.

My husband said, well there's nothing we can do about it now so just get over it. I guess never assume anything is what it has taught me.

Here's a picture of my room after installing the French doors:



And the new room:





My furniture that I repainted looks like all new furniture. Saved a lot of money by keeping the old set.

Bathroom remodel will be next. Stay tuned.

Summer is Almost Over

School starts again next week. Both of my boys will be starting on the same day. My college son is back on campus. We moved him in a week ago, Saturday. He started a university job this past Monday. He is going to have his hands full with classes and work. Good thing though as he is paying his last 2 years of school so he needs the income.

My other son starts high school this year. With all the challenges he has been through, I hope he has a smooth 4 years.

We went up to the mountains on Saturday and spent time together as a family. We hiked a really high ridge that had great views of all the mountains, then we drove to a small lake and rafted and fish. Didn't catch a lot of fish but it was fun to be together. I know these days are numbered. My oldest son may stay in his apartment and not come back next summer so this may be the last year that we will all be living under the same roof.

Flourish Boutique

Back in April, I was contacted by Vanessa Cooreman Smith to sell some of my artwork in her store. She sells on Etsy too and was going to open a boutique in South Bend, Indiana. The store is now open, their grand opening is slated for August 30th. The website looks fabulous and has quite a few things for sale including fine art, clothing,shoes, accessories, jewelry, maternity, home decor and even custom house portraits. I usually don't like to sell on consignment but in this situation I am really glad that I agreed to it. I just received my first check from Flourish Boutique. Vanessa's store is a very classy establishment and I am happy to be selling there.

The Sun is Shining

I made it back from the doctor's and everything is OK. What I had was harmless and of no consequence. What a relief! I also liked the doctor and he was very kind and put my mind at ease immediately.

I have to say that I learned a lot from this experience. It taught me that you cannot take your health for granted, ever.

Also it taught me that I should make an effort to be kinder to everyone, including those that try my patience or that are rude. They are the ones that need it the most and perhaps they are going through some difficult times, you just never know.

One of the books I was reading talked about how everything little thing that we do can make a difference in someone else's life. We may not think it is of any significance but to someone else, it could be their saving grace.

I am so thankful for my friends.I had friends that were going to drop everything to take me to my appointment. I had cyber friends who were thinking of me and all of that just meant so much. It showed me that the world is a beautiful place no matter how dire the circumstances.