Waking up on the Right Side ...

I have been short on sleep since before we moved. So I guess that would be close to a month now. Granted, there have been a couple good nights sleep over weekends, but I just haven't gotten into the habit of going to bed soon enough during the week. There is still so much to do!

Last night was a PRIME example of this! I told Matt I was going up to bed around 10.30 so I could get some sleep. He agreed this was a good plan and stayed in the kitchen to wash up and run a second load of dishes so we would be ready for hosting (our first!) BBQ tonight.

But did I go to bed? No, of course not. I got to the top of the stairs and saw Matt's new-old dresser in its semi-perm spot under the front windows and just started to drool. The guys had carried it up there earlier that night but I had been in the kitchen cooking and hadn't gotten a chance to see it. Stunning. Seriously! I'm so happy I found it and then bought it.

Needless to say I needed to put pics along the top and move a few things around in the hallway so as to make room in the study where friends will be staying tonight. And then I tidied up our bedroom, closing curtains, turning on lights, moving the laundry hamper - puttering! - is what Matt calls it. I did the same then in the study and the hallway. Not that everything looks perfect now - far from it! - but there's room to walk around and get from room to room and people can see where the house will be going.

So when I finally got to bed I was so tired I was reaching the silly - giggling stage. But I couldn't focus or get myself to sleep. Hence my - maybe - 5 hrs sleep last night. BUT! Here's the kicker (and the reason for telling you all this) I woke up and I've been happy, alert, singing in the car and dancing along with the singing in the car all morning. All morning. With NO coffee or juice. This is a miracle!

The only thing I can figure is that the 5 hrs somehow made a perfect REM cycle of sleep and/or I am going to crash at some point today and be completely dead to the world.

I do have to say though, that while I spent most of my life living on the outskirts of cities and my summers in the woods of Maine, that living in the country - sort of in between - has been wonderful thus far! There is a gentle morning fog that rolls across the farmlands and roads, the sun is peeking through the trees lighting the dew on the grass and the sound of the birds (that you can actually hear!).

So as I sang and danced my way down the 2-lane road 32 miles to the main highway, it was a beautiful spring morning (53 degrees) and everything seemed right.

Matt's New-Old Dresser

I have been a fan of old furniture my entire life. It has more character, more life and better built that most of the modern furniture built now. That being said, sometimes you just have to get new.

We purchased our bed frame and mattress from Jordan's about 2 years ago now. We still love it! But they have a matching 9-drawer dresser that we loved too. We couldn't afford to get it at the time, so occasionally it becomes a topic again. I have a dresser set given to me by my mother who found hers at a family's yard sale when she graduated college. Needless to say, they are OLD, but wonderful! I wouldn't want any other dressers - EVER.

So the new 9-drawer that matches the bed frame would be for Matt - my husband. He was using one of mine for a long time, but now we are down that one as its being re-furbished. So with the two of us, our 2 smaller closets and 1 dresser we are hurting for space. The poor guy has been living out of clothes boxes because there is no where to put them if he unpacked - aside from the floor - which is one of the fastest ways to bug me :-)

I was browsing through Craigslist (Tues), on the advice of a dear friend of mine, and happened to find a dresser that was almost identical to the Jordan's one. I was startled, excited and generally in shock. The measurements are right on, it has the same 9-drawers, the short legs so it doesn't sit directly on the floor. It was incredible. So I emailed the person selling it - turns out she has been the only owner since she purchased and she doesn't want to move it again. First come first serve she said and she had 3 couples coming Wednesday to look at it. I told her I would come to see that night.

My brother was awesome and came with me bringing his truck just in case it worked out. Which it did! It needs new handles on all the drawers and I will most likely paint it to match our furniture - but not immediately. Right now it's sitting in the garage waiting for both guys to be home at the same time so it can be taken upstairs for use! Yay for not living out of boxes anymore!!!

When its up and in place I will take a picture and post it for you all. I'm so excited it worked out and that we now have a great older piece for less than half the price of the new one!

I will totally be scoping out more of craigslist for other items like floor lamps, a sideboard for the dining room, etc. What a great find! I'm still so excited about it :-)

Happy Thursday!

It's Been a While....

I know it's been a while since I've posted. My sincere apologies. We've been trying to get the house in live-able shape all the while working, commuting, etc. This past week we were able to get our car plates changed. (See pic below for our little Town Hall!) Now we are in the 'race' of 10 days to get the cars inspected for the State, get my new license in the works, etc.

I also got my new library card! woo hoo! They have one of the BEST children's rooms I have ever seen. Not only is it large and has books, chilrens movies and games, but they do childrens hour for reading aloud as well as a writing workshop for middle schoolers. How awesome is that?! I LOVE it!

Aside from the library, but on the same topic as books, I went to B&N to get my little second grader (I'll call her B here) a book for the end of the year celebration. (I read to a 2cd grader every Wed during my lunch hr as part of the Power Lunch program.)

Well, the book I really wanted is now out of print! I was heartbroken. Who takes AVI out of print?? Well, he's not really out of print but the book I wanted, Something Upstairs (a bit on the scary side as B loves to be scared). So, with the help of the wonderful retired librarian and teacher who now runs the childrens section - we found a gently used one online and I got it yesterday in the mail. I love it! It even has the old cover that is on mine which is somewhere at my parents house.

However, while I was there, I happened to see a few books in a series I ADORE and they begged to come with me, so home they came!

This book is co-written and walks the reader through what makes a landscape work WITH a house to make it not just an extension but a whole package. I'm sure you have driven by a house or two and it just took your breath away. It was a complete look. Heck! My brother and I did just that Tuesday night on our way back from picking up a dresser for my husband (more on that in a later post).
I am still on the first chapters, even though I did cheat to look through all the pictures! But I'm so excited to get my hands in the dirt and get going on creating a backyard that matches our house on the inside!

This was the original book that started it all for the author. It's still one of my favorite books and I always would look through my Dad's copy when at home. Now I have my own copy and it has yet to be put on a book shelf!!!!

What are some of your favorite books on houses and gardens?

The Importance of Home

It hit me today...while in the car commuting. A song came on the radio and I started to cry. Maybe it was the contemplative mood I was in or the lack of sleep due to unpacking. I'm not sure. But there it was.

Home.

What makes a home? Why are we so attached to them? Why do we feel like they are more than just wood, plaster, paint and stuff? Do homes have memories? Do they remember the people who once lived in them?


I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Sung by Miranda Lambert

The house that built me is an old one. The floorboards creak sometimes. The stairs 'talk' to you as you go up or down. The sun warms the kitchen from the inside out..... that house feels like the safest place in the world. When I was little I told my parents I wanted to live there when I grew up.... thinking of it still makes me smile and I will always love that house.