Transform A Craig's List Find Into a Chess/Checkers Table

In my other life, I have lent a hand decorating numerous friends' and relatives' apartments and homes over the year, as well as decorating probably 20 apartments before I purchased my first home.  Then the House and Gardens phase started :) 

I'm not exactly sure when this interest in interior decorating first arose; perhaps it is an offshoot of a thwarted artist; my parents did not see the value in me taking art lessons when a second grade teacher told them I had talent; and in 3rd or 4th grade, I won a blue ribbon in a city-wide competition for a painting I did of two cardinals on a branch.  That was the end of my painting career, alas.  My parents were proud of that blue ribbon, of course, but I distinctly remember an element of faint disapproval, too, or maybe it was fear -- like, where on earth did that come from?  We're just hard working plain folks...

By the time I got to junior high school and took art class (the schools back then still offered art and music classes back then, before the days of endless rounds of child-punishing budget cuts and bashing teachers for the unmotivated, uninterested students that resulted) drawing was no longer the passion it had been when I was younger; I was good, but not good enough to pull A's with no effort.  I tried a few projects and when the A's didn't come I said the equivalent of "meh" in 1960's terminology and skated through the rest of the class with my B level drawing.  At that age, I was getting interested in boys in a shy sort of way, and I also fell in love with all things history.  However, I think that interest/talent -- whatever it was -- just went underground.

Anyway, these days I read lots of DIY and decorating blogs.  In the days before blogs I read (and still read) Traditional Home and House Beautiful; and who hasn't had a subscription at one time or other to Architectural Digest???  Would also routinely devour any articles in Women's Day, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, etc. etc. etc.  When specialty magazines came out, I would buy them -- on decorating.

Now, with so many wonderful things available online, my magazine subscriptions have been cut down, but not my interest.

So, it is a balancing act between my love for and interest in things chessly, archaeology, and writing (e.g., maintaining the blogs) and my interest in all things housely -- sewing, gardening, and especially decorating. 

This neat little remake of a table found on Craig's List caught my eye - simple but elegant :)

Before

After refinishing.

All of the details are at Pondered Primed Perfected {P3}from Sherry's August 17th post:

FREE TABLE TRANSFORMED TO GAME TABLE~ IC#12

(IC is for Inspiration Cafe, a neat feature of P3

Sunday, Sunday...

Hola darlings!  Here it is, already 11:17 a.m. and I've barely put a dent in my list of "THINGS I MUST ACCOMPLISH TODAY OR RECEIVE 20 LASHES...."  That's eyelashes, of course.  Must EXERCISE those eyelids and try to arrest the drooping and dropping.  Exercising one's eyelids and eyelashes is - torture - pure and simple.  I'll be sure to get those THINGS I MUST ACCOMPLISH TODAY done, even if I'm up all night.

That's not to say I haven't been busy since I moseyed out of bed at 7:45 a.m. EEK!  So late!  Then I made coffee and sipped it while I munched on a soft hard roll loaded with tons of butter (YUM!) and read the Sunday paper.  My Sunday ritual ever since I have started drinking coffee, I think I was about 24 at the time...

So, in-between bouts of paper reading I was up and down the ladder with the vinyl spackle, a knife, a sponge, and a sanding block.  Still in my bathrobe and PJs, eyeglasses firmly planted on my nose so I could actually see what I was doing, I tackled the areas where the paint had been removed by removal of the wallpaper border leaving behind these "depressions."  Fortunately, there were not too many of them, but before I can prime and then touch up the paint job to erase the yellow "ring around the wall" left behind by the wallpaper border, I had to patch up those depressions.  So, I went to work.  By the time I got to the last set of little depressions, I had given up sanding and wiping down, I was just mashing spackle into the depressions with my fingers and using my palms to press things flat, LOL!  So much for all my good intentions to do the job the way it should be done.  I want to make note, however, that I did start out on the first set of depressions - as well as a long narrow crack that appeared years ago above the patio door in the dinette that's been driving me crazy all this time but I'd never done anything about -- until this morning -- using the absolutely correct procedure of sanding, wiping, applying spackle in a thin layer and scraping it down, etc. etc. etc. 

The area above the patio door.  The patches and the now covered-up crack are barely visible -- and this is before final
sanding, wipe-down, priming and painting.  Can't wait to put up my new curtain rod, too!  Ugly cheap white thing, goodbye!

That takes too frigging long.  And you know what?  Unless someone literally gets up on a ladder and inspects those patches minutely, no one will ever know I didn't do all of them "by the book!"  And once they're sanded and wiped down (I'm relaxing right now while I'm letting go by to make sure the spackle is absolutely dry), and the walls from the ceiling down to just below where the border ended are primed and then painted, it will look just fine.

Just a small area of wall to paint along the opening to the family room.
Only one little lonely piece of wall stuff to remove in order to paint.

Now, I realize because I did not have the white color-matched -- an Anonymous pointed that out in a comment after I'd already bought the paint that I could have brought in a sample and had it analyzed and then color blended to match -- I may well end up taking the new paint I purchased all the way down the walls.  Fortunately, this room doesn't have all that many full walls - just one - and it's a small one at that.  The rest of the wall area in the dinette consists of the slices of wall on either side of a  6 foot wide patio door, the area above it, and about a foot of wall that forms the other end of a huge opening into the family room.  The area above that opening is the same size as the soffit that rings the 3 walls of the kitchen.  So, really, not much painting at all, since the ceiling looks just fine. 

This is the largest wall in the dinette.  Not much wall stuff to remove
to paint it.  Wonder if I could paint the thermostat in hammered bronze
with that Rustoleum spray paint I bought yesterday...  It would cost a lot to have
it relocated to a different wall, so for 21 years I've just "ignored" it, as if it wasn't even there.
This is the wall I want to turn into a gallery wall with pics of my travels & adventures.

So if it turns out the new paint at the top of the walls is glaringly obvious, I'll do the dirty and paint the dinette walls all the way to the floor (I'm going to paint the entire soffit area in the kitchen, anyway).  Yeah, that will be a major pain in the butt unless I just wing it and don't tape anything or put down any paper or anything, just throw a couple of old sheets over my dinette table.  Fortunately I don't have a lot of stuff on the walls that needs to be removed.  Over the years I have gone from a "homey" (cluttered Home Interiors addicted with tons of stuff on the walls) look to something much more streamlined (less dusting and way less frenetic!)

Okay, it's just about time to get the ladder back in position and smooth out those patches with the block sander.  I love those things!  I got the kind you can wash out - amazing!  Now, I have been thinking about starting the process to paint the kitchen cabinet handles, but I've got a ton of laundry to do and these days it seems I can only focus on one thing at a time (senility setting in?), or I'm just damn lazy.  I may save that project for next Saturday, when I don't have a half-day shopping trip planned. I wonder if the ladies from the Investment Club would even notice the changes, unless I inadvertently point them out...

Well, it's now 12:14 p.m. -- time to get a load of laundry in and get back up on that ladder and sand sand sand!

Getting Ready to Paint Kitchen Pulls - Gulp!

Hola darlings! I have been a shopping fool today!  But first, my buddy, Ann, and I headed out for sustenance to sustain ourselves during our upcoming shopping ordeal.  We visited our favorite restaurant, Olive Garden, and had a veritable feast!  Our waitress, Gina, was WONDERFUL!  She gave us free samples of a couple of different wines and we each bought a glass of the Roscato Rosso Dolce.  It was absolutely sweet, cold and delicious for our uneducated palattes.  In fact, nearly in unison, we each exclaimed "It tastes like Kool-aid!"  LOL!

So now you know what a low life I am, drinking kool-aid kinds of wine...  But it was gooooooood!

Salad, meal, dessert and coffee later, we were well-sustained and ready for either (1) a nap or (2) shopping.  We opted for shopping.  Off to Menard's (a Wisconsin tradition) to purchase whatever I could on my list of items.  We headed to Highway 100 north of National Avenue where there is a strip shopping center that contains a Menard's, a Kohl's (where I also wanted to stop), a Pick 'n Save supermarket, and a Home Goods/Marshall's that I have never visited - but mean to get to soon.  It's PERFECT!

Our weather was perfect today!  It's been unusually mild this winter and well below-normal snowfall too.  The last two days were mild (in the low 40's when it should be 20 degrees colder) but gloomy and foggy, too!  But today dawned sunny and bright and stayed that way all day. 

So, let me tell you about what I want to do.  I won't get it all done tomorrow but I will get a start on these projects:

(1) Repainting 31 cabinet and drawer handles from the kitchen. 
(2) Sanding and patch-painting areas around the top of the walls in the kitchen and dinette where the wallpaper border removal removed some paint.
(3) Priming and repainting entire border area around the top of the wall sin the kitchen and dinette to get rid of the "ring around the walls" syndrome that would NOT scrub off.

I purchased 23 items from Menard's for a total of - $129.68 before the addition of our 5.6% sales tax (total $136.94), and an additional 7 items from Kohl's right next store for a net of $36.92.  Many of the items I purchased were reduced 50% and I had a coupon for an extra 15% off.  My total bill would have been $63.08 but the net was, as I said, $36.92 for a savings of $29.00.  Plus, darlings, I paid for it with a GIFT CARD!  Oh Joy!

I will not bore you with all the (yawn) details of how I hemmed and hawed and had Ann looking too for just the perfect metallic finish spray paint, or how I went back and forth with the clerk about why -- when Dutch Boy Paint listed "white" as well as "ultra white" on its paint sample at the end of the shelf I could not find any plain white and had to purchase "ultra white" -- ach, as if any paint will match the white Dutch Boy semi-gloss I used in my kitchen and dinette area 21 years ago!  LOL!  But I had a fixation in my brain, what can I say...

Hello!  That's me (why do I look so sad?  Seriously, maybe I should start saving for that face-lift I vowed I would never ever do in a kazillion years) -- I was trying to take a photo of my latest hair color -- it's a gorgeous burgundy-red with dark brown undertones - and this is the 3/4 bath on the main floor that serves as a powder room and second bath (because it has a shower) for guests.  I suppose the olive green and purple color scheme is really dated but I LIKE IT.  Look at that - sponge painted accent walls above the border!  And another border at the ceiling!  Border overkill!  Eek!  Anyway - back to the point--

My haul!  Not shown is 20 pounds of premium birdseed :)  Yeah, that's a furnace filter, and five double-curtain rods that I scored for 40% off at Menards, two larger oiled bronze finish curtain rods to go over the patio door in the dinette and the large window in the adjoining family room; assorted sanding blocks and steel-wool substitute scrubbers, painters tape, a quart of "ultra white" semi-gloss Dutch Boy paint; touch-up pencil and touch-up pen for my dark furniture that always seems to acquire mysterious nicks and scratches; Old English dark finish oil furniture polish; and the bombs - Rustoleum Professional Primer (Fast Drying with High Output Tip/50% Faster Coverage) woo woo! and Rustomleum Hammered Finish in Oiled Bronze.  Oh, I also bought a little mini-roller and tray - it was so cute, I couldn't resist!  It's hiding in this photograph somewhere.

From Kohl's I purchased the "rug paid" (it works like rug tape but I have to cut it into my own strips - perfect!) -- greatly reduced I picked up 4 pads, and twelve pairs of socks.  Suddenly I noticed a day or two ago that just about every pair of socks I own has holes in them.  And not just small mini-type holes, but massive half the bottom of my foot holes.  I'm no darner but in any event I defy anyone to spend the time these days to mend those ginormous holes in my socks!  So I've been throwing my socks out, pair by pair.  And today I discovered I only had 1 pair of black, blue and grey socks left and they aren't in very good shape, either. How did this happen...  Well, whatever.  It was time to buy new socks.  Sigh.  So, that's what those sucking socks are doing in the photograph. 

Unfortunately, these photos didn't turn out so well -- a little blurry!  I was trying to do "brilliant" close-ups like the very best blogs do:

The can on the far right -- the cap shows the color my kitchen cabinet pulls will soon (I hope) be!  Maybe I should have stood this can of spray paint up on its own pedestal and photographed it from various angles to get the very best shot???

Oy!  My inspiration for attempting to paint my mostly still very bright brass kitchen cabinet handles (except the ones that have succumbed to rust and various stages of metal smut) came from DIY kinda gal (I hate you, by the way) who showed me, step by step how to paint those obnoxious 21 year old "silver" colored bathroom faucets and the shower/tub thingies (not even sure what they're called).  Being the cautious sort of femme I am, I am doing an "easy" project first.  If I have success with the cabinet handles, I will seriously think about spray painting my bathroom hardware and the bright brass 21 year old toilet-paper holders and towel racks I own...

By the way, if I do attempt the bathroom fixture paint job, I will not be removing the sink faucets! I know I'd probably give myself a concussion with a plyers if I even thought about it...  Nope, I will be taping, baby, taping, and taping, and taping, and hanging paper all over the second story, and taping some more...

Home Stuff

Well, this has been a lazy weekend.  Other than shoveling out the driveway yesterday (1 inch of snow fell overnight Friday) and today (2 inches of snow fell overnight Saturday) I've done nothing but look at blogs and decorating magazines, read the newspaper, drink lots of wine, and contemplate various projects I want to do but sure won't get done today :)

However, I am right this moment experimenting to see if vinegar really does remove rust from brass.  Some of my brass cabinet handles are corroded -- not sure if it will work.  Some of them still look brand-spanking new, even though they're all 21 years old!  It makes sense that the ones nearest the stove show the most corrosion, no doubt due to moisture from cooking, even though I have always used my fan.  Which itself is corroded!  I have a new one sitting in the garage for the past 2 years.  I can't install the sucker myself.  I really do need to find a new handyman!  Why do the good ones always get full-time jobs???

I read at a nifty decorating blog (Shabby Loco) that tarnish/gunk/rust (? -- not sure about rust) can be removed from hardware by soaking it in hot sauce.  What, said I?  Well, I will try it.  I thought I had hot sauce in my cabinet.  I did my trek to the Pick 'n Save earlier today to get essentials like milk, bread, wine (of course, wine!), cheapo mac 'n cheese, and my favorite frozen entrees, in addition to photo paper and, you know, essentials!  I get home, unpack everything.  Go to the cabinet -- no damn hot sauce!  Turns out I used it all up this summer to keep the squirrels and chippies out of my planted geraniums on the front porch.  I didn't remember that, either.  That's worrisome - am I getting Alzheimers?  Am I getting like Mr. Don???  Gulp!  The man can't remember how to open a paper bag anymore...

So, I'm trying vinegar right now.  Just plain old vinegar in a glass bowl, and I've got two brass handles from the cabinets above the stove sitting in it, stewing.  Not sure how long they're supposed to stew.  I hope this cleaning method works.  But more than likely, I will succumb to the sirens' call of "why don't you paint them, Jan...." that all of those budget decorating blogs have been telling me I should do.  Mind you, I've no idea what kind of paint I'm supposed to use.  Most of them don't ever get into that kind of detail!  They just show before pictures of really crappy looking stuff and after pictures of really wonderful looking stuff and describe how it hardly took any work or effort at all!  One would think these women (they're ALL women) don't have full-time jobs.  Hmmmm, well, maybe most of them don't!

That's not to say, of course, that being a homemaker and/or a mom isn't a full-time job, because I know it is.  It's just that I grew up with a superwoman who worked full-time and raised six children and despite both mom and dad working we weren't much above poverty level.  Or maybe we were at or even below poverty level (wonder what that was back in the 1950's???) and we kids just didn't realize it.  Kids don't think about things like that.  We just want to know if we're going to be fed -- we always were.  And we always got new shoes once a year.  And hand-me-down coats from all of our older female cousins.  Economically, things didn't start getting better until I was a teenager and mom and dad were able to buy their very first house for $8,000 with a mortgage from the Veterans' Administration.  Well, I'd much rather be working outside the home than inside the home!  LOL!  But that's me.  Strange that after being in hiatus for so many years, the urge to once again be Suzy Homemaker has attacked me full force!  Now, when I'm 60 and don't have any frigging energy for tearing apart rooms and building furniture from scratch...  I thought all that died off when I was 47 and found the internet!  Geez!  Is this the revenge of Hera or something???

For instance, I found the most incredible little thing on Friday at TJMaxx, where the last week I've sort of been hanging out.  Very strange, me hanging out at TJMaxx.  Here is a photo of it:

It doesn't look like much, does it?  But let me tell you, I am loving this little thing.  It's an over-the-cabinet towel rack and I got it for $3.99 at TJMaxx.  The mat black finish on it is perfect for my decor and, best of all, no more dish clothes draped over the sink and countertop!  Never, ever again!  I'm like in homemaker heaven, darlings!  It looks elegant and neat.  I'm doing my little chair happy dance right now, just thinking about it! 

There were several at the downtown mall TJMaxx so tomorrow during lunch I'm going to run over and get another one.  The second one will hold the "junk" rag that heretofore has been draped over the edge of the countertop of the peninsula until it dries and then tucked into a drawer handle until I need to mop something up (I used rags, er, dish cloths [actually, they are wash clothes because dish clothes just don't hold up to the abuse I put them through] rather than paper towels for mopping up spills and scrubbing windows and stuff like that). 

The most amazing thing is that - I never knew these existed.  Ever ever - until I stumbled across a reference to "over the cabinet door rack" a few days ago at some blog or other and I thought to myself "Self, what the hell is that?  And can You use one?"  Well, I sure as hell could use one!  Two, actually...

On a sad note, on Thursday I saw this really uniquely-styled horsey at TJMaxx that I should have bought.  Damn it, I knew I should have bought it then and there.  But I hemmed and hawed.  When I went back on Friday, horsey was gone!  Damn damn damn.  Yeah, like I need another horsey in the house.  I've already got horse-head bookends out of black marble, a bronze horse sculpture and a wooden faux-Tang dynasty horse that is actually quite well done and soothes and entertains my eye whenever I see it.  I said to myself as I was looking at this really cool horse  sculpture "why do you want to buy that?  Save yourself $12, you stupid woman!"  Well, now I feel really stupid for not buying it.  Damn damn damn.  There was no other horsey like it available.  There were a couple of other horseys, but they were run-of-the-mill.  I knew I should have bought that special horsey. 

Now - get ready for this -

YES!  A photo of cardboard boxes!  One is opened, one is not yet breached!  Darlings, the top one holds my battery-operated LED wall sconces for either side of the bathroom mirror upstairs!  Can't wait to install them, that's why they've only been sitting tucked behind the sofa for two days and counting...

The other box is my oiled-bronze finish stand alone towel holder.  That I will definitely tackle today, just as soon as I finish blogging, which may be about midnight or so...

My new bedroom lamp, my new oiled-bronze finish shower curtain rod and my new LED-lit oiled-bronze finish magnifying make-up mirror are en route even as I type this!  I am tres excited!  Can't wait for that new make-up mirror.  I need the larger magnification, 3x just isn't cutting it anymore...  Sigh.  I think I need to step up to 150x Walgreens readers, too.

Okay, I just took a walk over to the kitchen side of the room to check on how the vinegar is dealing with those corroded cabinet handles.  Hmmmm, they didn't look much different.  So I added some salt.  I think I read somewhere that salt and vinegar do - well, not exactly sure what, but the bowl didn't explode in my face and that's always a good thing.  On the other hand, it probably means it's not working, either.  I need another glass of wine...

Holy Hathor! Where'd The Time Go?

Hola darlings!  Normally this time of year I'm totally bonkers, scratching around the back 1/12th acre looking for grass and treasure underneath a couple feet of snow.  Except, this year, we never got any 60 below zero temperatures nor tons of snow either, so my brain is all confused. So far for January, a measley 12 inches or so, and that's on top of about ZERO measureable snow in December, 2011.  U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!  What's a woman to do? 
Guess it's NO WONDER I'm spending my bonkers time this winter looking at budget decorating blogs and doing stuff that - well, maybe I've got advanced Alzheimer's and I just don't know it yet, but you'd think my friends (or the people at work) would have told me?  But - maybe they did, or tried to, and I just don't remember...
OY!  What's an out of her mind woman to do? 

Nothing.  That's a fat lot of what I did today - about NOTHING!  Yeah yeah yeah, I finally got the remains of the Christmas Tree split apart, tied up in its special sheet and dragged (drug?) out to the garage and its own teensy weensy box that it never came in (it's the box my replacement microwave came in a few years ago).  Thus ends another season.  WHEW!

Except -- except, the living room looks bare naked now. And, it looks off-kilter.  Surely this cannot be the first time that it seems the fireplace is not exactly centered on the wall where it was installed in 2002?  Please tell me I'm not imagining it and it is perfectly centered!  Alas, I'm not happy with this room at all.

It never ceases to amaze me what a difference the angle of light can make in a photograph!
The Christmas Tree used to be in front of the window.  Sob, sob, sob... all naked now.

I shoved furniture this way and that way, but not - that way (if you know what I mean.  Darlings, it's just too damn provocative to put my furniture like that!)  Sucking-up vacuum close behind trying to eradicate the offspring-of-glitter. 

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????  This arrangement has made perfectly good sitting and situational sense for several reasons (I only use the front entrance which is just to the right of the photo, above, and I cannot put anything in the path from front door to kitchen at the back of the house, just beyond the stairs you see in the top photo.)  I have heretofore always been happy with it.  Why now, then, do l feel the urge to junk the entire room and start all over, when the budget just will NOT allow? 

I tell you, it's those insidious "budget" decorating blogs.  Ha!  They have sucked me in, lock stock and barrell-shaped waist line. 

Oh, I vacuumed, and vacuumed, and vacuumed (the insidious glitter is everywhere, breeding even as I'm typing this...), and I shoved things around this way and that, and shook out the rugs, and dusted and wiped and swiped.  With plenty of wine breaks in-between, naturally.  And while I was taking those wine breaks, I was looking at dozens and dozens of linked-in "projects-of-the-month", etc. etc. at budget decorating blogs and added several special blogs to my list of Favorites.

I mean, this was serious work (going through those blogs).  I spent nearly the entire day at it, from when I crawled out of bed in search of coffee at 7:15 a.m. until I began typing this.  That's why I haven't even attempted to make a blog entry until now, and it's nearly 7 p.m. local time.

Then I got sappy, and kept in the RED CHRISTMAS LIGHT BULB in the corner lamp, because it reminds me of VALENTINE'S DAY.  Right now, do you know darlings, there are actually online CONTESTS going on over who has the best-decorated Valentine's Day fireplace mantle?  I kid you not!  I think I have caught some kind of budget decorating blog virus...

But that cognizance didn't stop me one whit!  Nope!  I just kept on with the Valentine's Day decorating - ala Maison Newton style.  I dug out a really old old mop of silk roses and stuck them in a vase that is now on the dinette table - on top of the new RED tablecloth.  Yes, heart's-blood red, da-thump, da-thump...

I rationalized away this bit of insanity by saying to myself "Self, the ladies of the investment club will really appreciate this lovely token of remembrance of this ancient holiday with its truly pagan roots when you meet again on February 12th..."  AND, as if that wasn't enough, I created a "vignette" on the side table underneath the lamp with the RED LIGHT BULB.  I added a mini-bouquet of silk roses in a tarnished silver-plate vase that Mom gave to me years ago.  I did not polish the tarnish off the vase!  This is like a major breakthrough, as I'm given to believe that tarnish is part of the shabby-chick ethic. Shabby-chic ethic.  Whatever.  Then I tossed in an old photograph of Mr. Don and I taken when we were still madly in love with each other (in 2002, LOL!)  and - I cannot believe I actually did it, but I did it -- I lit a votive candle inside of a sentimental favorite glass votive holder that I bought at a Pottery Barn (no joke!) in downtown Chicago probably in 1993. 

I even attempted to take photographs, but I have no idea how to take photographs with this camera (or any other camera) in the dark!  But snapped away I did.

Mad, I tell you.  Mad.

I think the Devil took this particular shot with my camera...

Anyway, it's now 7:04 p.m. and darlings,  TODAY THE U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE ON COMMERCIAL TELEVISION!

And I had no idea they were on!  There I was, farting around all day with the Christmas Tree and sheets and vacuuming and putzing around and looking at all these blogs online, and then I just happened to look in the t.v. thingy that comes with the Sunday Journal/Sentinel about 4 p.m. and lo and behold - I see the skating championships  WERE ON COMMERCIAL T.V.!  Click click click got the recently established from upstairs to downstairs mini (19 incher) flat screen digital t.v. turned on and cursed the crappy reception (it was tres windy out there today, darlings, that's why I didn't venture out, not in 30-40 mph winds -- those blasted winds not only wreak havoc with my balance, they also wreak havoc with my t.v. reception, which I'm totally dependent upon since I'm too cheap to get cable).  So, I was able to watch the final hour of Ice Dancing, but I missed Davis and White, or is it White and Davis?  You know, he's really cute but has too much moppy blonde hair and her eyes are too far apart...  But they are smoking hot together when they hit the ice and who's looking at her eyes then, I ask you!  I've always wondered, though, if she isn't part alien-from-outerspace.  Well, have you never watched X-Files???

How could I have not possibly been aware that the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were taking place THIS WEEKEND?  Now, this is significant because normally this time of year, other than tearing up the turf in the backyard with my hoofs, er, gardening tools in a premature frenzy due entirely to Cabin Fever, I am counting down the days to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. I am fretting - who will be top woman?  Who will be top - well, okay, nothing else counts except who is the top female singles skater.  Except - not this year.  That, in and of itself, is just damn scary I wasn't even aware that it was this weekend and actually on commercial television! 

All is not lost, however!  The Great Event -- the Ladies' Free Skate -- will be televised tonight at 8:00 p.m.!  HOORAY!  So I have not missed the most important part after all...

Gasp!  I have no idea who even is in first place at this point.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?  I'm more interested in doing a Valentine's Day vignette than tracking the figure-skating championships which actually impact real people and real lives?  This is just so damn totally strange-O, people.  Strange-O!

Okay, it's 7:54 p.m. now and time to change the channel from PBS and Jacques Pepin old cooking shows to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on NBC.  Alas, things just are not the same since Michelle Kwan retired some years ago.  Mirai Nagasu, where are you???

Shopping for Bath Remodel

Hola! Not my bathroom - Ann's bathroom! We didn't make it to Kegel's for that drink that I thought we might be able to do, but we got everything else done! Mission successful and a well-satisfied Ann. Ann, if you ever read this, I am very proud of you, Girlfriend! She has more design sense than she gives herself credit for, she just doesn't enjoy shopping for house-stuff like I do. It's always more fun, though, to shop with a friend. Tonight as we braved the below-zero windchills after work. Our first stop was a higher-end tile place someone had recommended to Ann where, after wandering around unattended for a full 15 minutes just looking at stuff and admiring it (and I was goggling all the while at the prices, knowing this would never fly with Ann, who wasn't paying any attention to prices at all, she was just looking at the colors), we finally approached by a salesman. After Ann explained what she was looking for, he told us that Ann's plan (upon recommendation of Kevin the Super Handyman) to use 6 inch square tile for the walls was, shall we say, less than desirable because, to paraphrase, the Italians (tile makers) are driving the market in a different direction and everything is now rectangles! Six-inch tiles are going the way of the dinosaur. Most of those subway tiles were gigantic that would look - well - ridiculous in a bathroom the size of Ann's, to tell the truth. Those tiles would not fit the scale of millions of bathrooms of similar vintage across the country! But, of course, most Europeans (and the Italians, in particularly, who seem singularly insulated from how real Americans live) think we are all either millionaires or live on Welfare. Those designers, they design for the millionaires. Ann and I took one look at each other and exited as quickly and as gracefully as we could. Gee, he was willing to give us 25% off 6-inch tile costing $6.99 each! It was so ridiculous that other than a few terse comments and a few hearty laughs, we didn't bother to discuss it. We headed to Menards "your one stop shopping for ..." further south along Highway 100, a main Milwaukee drag filled with anyplace you might ever wish to shop, and there we hit paydirt. Ann had previously spent time visiting various home-improvement centers and had spent a long time looking before selecting three tile samples with colors she really liked. We didn't find a match to her favorite, which was a bit deeper in color, a lovely light taupe-family color, but we DID find a lovely cream color with a nice glaze called something like "Biscuit." It doesn't remind me of a biscuit color at all, by the way, but it is very pretty. It is soft, and warm, a true cream that, to our eyes, had no overt overtones but was very balanced among brown/orange/red/yellow. It is definitely not white or the dreaded "antique white," which is a major decorating jump for my ordinarily color-conservative friend. The tile Ann settled on is colored between her favorite and second favorite samples she had spent a lot of time zeroing in on the weekend before (without me, speed shopper extraordinaire). After checking to make sure there was enough in stock for her job, we piled up on the number of boxes we needed along with the necessary accessories. Two very nice and helpful Menards clerks loaded the requisite number of heavy boxes of tile to a trolly and wheeled it to the front of the store for check-out while we continued to shop (each box of field tile weighed between 30-40 pounds each; not too much for me, Me Strong Like Bull, but for the petite and delicate Ann - way too heavy!) They also checked a master computer inventory list and told Ann exactly at what other Menards locations she could pick up the three other corner shelves she wanted. Ann was now on a Mission from God. She turned to me and said okay, let's see if we can find some flooring to go with! We already knew where to go in the large warehouse style store because about a month ago we were there picking out resilient vinyl sheet flooring for my own bathroom redo, and Ann actually showed me the flooring I ultimately purchased for my own bath redo. Again we hit pay dirt! Wielding a sample tile, we painstakingly compared it against nearly all of the rolls of flooring and attempted to view the justaposition of colors from as many different angles as possible. We found several potential matches but eventually zeroed in on one natural field-stone pattern, the "grout lines" of which are nearly a perfect match for the wall tile color. It is varicolored (probably five different tints and tones), and a deeper color than I thought Ann would ever go for!, but neutral so she will have a wide range to play with paint color and accessories such as linens. Nice! It is the perfect flooring for the effect she is after. The most complicated part of the visit to Menards was the paint selection. We looked at many samples and generally agreed on what looked too yellowy or too orangey. We were looking for true neutrals with no overt undertones. Ann seriously thought about a light green for a time (green is her favorite color) but darker greens that provided the degree of contrast she wished for between tile and painted surfaces were too dark; the lighter greens, while lovely (I even found some that I liked, and green is not a favorite color), did not provide the necessary degree of contrast that she was aiming for. In the end, a medium "sand" color called something like Moonlit Sand, won the day. It is very pretty! I think the tile, flooring and paint colors that Ann picked out are outstanding, and will give her a splendid bathroom. She's going to love it! Here's the absolute best part: the tile is on unadvertised sale because it's on clearance, so to be safe Ann will probably pick up an extra box of 40 tiles. Kevin had advised her against buying anything on clearance, but I know that's because as a true professional, he is concerned with the ease of replacement tiles down the line, should that ever become necessary. I told Ann that because we could only buy the tiles in full boxes, she already had half a box of tile that owuld be left over that could be used for repairs/replacements in the future. Ann determined that at the extraordinary price of the tile, she could well afford to have Kevin pick up an extra box for "just in case." The resilient sheet vinyl flooring is also on sale! The Designing Goddess was sure smiling upon Ann tonight. What's more, we did it all in one store. I had thought we might be travelling from place to place tonight, picking up the tile here, and the flooring there, and the paint in yet another place. Ann also picked up a ceramic towel rod, two ceramic soap holders, and a ceramic corner shelf unit - tomorrow she will run to another Menards location to pick up the other three corner shelf units she wants. Kevin will pick up the flooring and take care of ordering the "inside and outside" corner tiles - he will know exactly what he needs to get much better than we do! Ann knew she had to get some of these inside/outside tiles, but she either didn't write it down or she wrote it down but on a different slip of paper than those she brought with us this evening for our shopping expedition. Rather than guess and buy the wrong thing that cannot be returned because it's on clearance, Ann wisely decided to let Kevin do that part of the shopping when he comes to pick up the flooring and the paint. All in all, we are very pleased with our great haul - and the cost! Ohmygoddess! The field tile cost 0.43 each! Quite a bit of difference between that and $6.99 (even with 25% off of that ridiculous price) at the high-end tile store. And frankly, looking at the tile we purchased tonight at Menards, side by side with the same color of tile from the fancy place, I would not be able to tell the difference. Paint has to be purchased, I think Ann can get by with two quarts. She won't need a gallon because most of the room is going to be tiled. Ann has the color info, so Kevin will pick up the paint soon. He begins work this Sunday - the demolition! I'm so excited for my friend! She's going to be without a bathroom tub/shower for some days, though and has a plan for how to deal with that, but Ann will have a new bathroom bef!ore Christmas, her present to herself! I can't wait to see it. Way to go Ann!

Photos of Maison Newton

(These are photos of the guest bedroom, which had been my temporary bedroom (north end of the house, upstairs). I had taken over this room, which had been the former guest room, earlier this year. This newly constituted guest bedroom (moved from the center bedroom), is a dummied-down version of what the room looked like while in the center bedroom, before I decided to move it lock stock and barrel into the north bedroom, and move what had been my room back into the "master bedrooom" on the south side of the house last week Friday, several days after Kevin the Handyman completed the painting. What a nightmare. But I got it done). The guest room is now "showing ready" - which means stripped of almost all personality, including anything other than generic "art work" on the walls. Bah. Humbug. I took down much, but not all, of my personal photographs and art work. It looks okay, generically speaking, but I think it sucks. It is a pretty sad state that America is in if potential buyers cannot possibly imagine what a room would look like if they "make it their own" without it being stripped of almost everything that makes a home comfortable for the present occupant.

Doing Almost Nothing (Except Shopping...)

Hola darlings! It's been an absolutely yucky two days here. We are in a nor'easter that just won't stop! We received at least an inch of rain yesterday and probably another inch today, with non-stop winds out of the northeast beating the rain against the house. It is unrelenting gloom, cold and wet. When I stepped out earlier today to shoot a couple of pics of my seasonal swimming pool in the back yard, the ground was squish squish squish, ick! I am grateful for the rain, though, because the counties just to the north and west are getting bombarded with ice and snow! This kind of weather makes one want to hibernate! I haven't felt like doing anything. I've taken long naps, looked at decorating magazines, snoozed while listening to smooth jazz and cooked lots of fattening things that are no good for me! Today after spending many previous hours over the past week or so looking online at bedspreads, lamps and throw rugs, I purchased new accent lamps for the New York guest bedroom, two throw rugs for my room, black pillow shams for my room, and a summer weight taupe/grey/ecru backround toile bedspread with matching pillow shams for my room. I'm so happy! I will move the "buffet lamp" off the New York guest room dresser into my room, where it will join its twin and make a more balanced look for the dresser. It's for pure looks - I don't put my make-up on in the bedroom, I do that in the bathroom where I now actually have enough light to see by since I had the new light fixture installed! Alas, the bath has still not been painted - and next weekend is a no-go, so it looks like I'm two weekends out for painting. The plan had been to walk to the Ace Hardware (or the Dollar Store) about a mile from where I live either yesterday or today and buy the painting equipment I need, but the nasty weather here nixed that plan. That's okay - at least I got my shopping done and I feel much better. It occurred to me today - duh - that there is no reason why I had to keep those lovely black and cream paisley pillow shams in the guest bedroom when I've wanted them all along in my room, so today I moved them. Here are a couple photos of my room as it currently stands. It's getting close, very close... I've also puttered around reframing some photographs - I am now happy with the new $5 each pre-matted dark-wood frames I have hanging in the New York guest bedroom with photos done in black/white from our 2005 New York trip. The frames that were in the guest room now grace one wall in the upstairs hallway and I added a third photo printed in black/white to add to the eclectic mixture. Today I reframed Vitruvian Man, who is also in the upstairs hall - too late to have regrets now since I cut off the top and bottom white "borders" on the poster, eek! I like the frame it's in but there is now about an inch wide white-ish border on either long side that just doesn't look good. Drat! So I think I will pull out my pens and water colors and go to making a nice scroll border on those sides. And if push comes to shove, I will craft-glue some ribbon along those 2 sides to add a little snazz. Drat - I spoke too soon! When I ran downstairs a few minutes ago to throw out another handfull of peanuts and mixed nuts for my squirrels, I saw it was sleeting/snowing! It has since turned mostly into wet heavy snow. Crap! I know if I can see it snowing through the lace under-curtains in the library/computer room it's got to be snowing very heavily.

Decorating...The Upstairs Bath

Some photos of the upstairs bathroom redo in progress. Okay, so I'm crazy undertaking all of these projects in the midst of the Second Coming of the Great Depression. The new toile shower curtain arrived yesterday; it's the "Antoinette" pattern that you can probably find by doing a search online. It's printed on a textured 100% cotton shower curtain in true black and creamy background - it's definitely not stark white, so now I can complete the rest of the decor; the goal is a sophisticated and yet comfortable black/white (cream) bathroom. I thought about taking "before" photos of the bath - too late! Darn! The old cheapo light fixture (it was basically a box that stuck out from the wall a good 9 inches with three half-light fixtures using those tiny base round "Hollywood" style bulbs) was taken down Monday and put out to the curb; it was gone Tuesday morning when I thought to pull out the digital camera and take a fare thee well snapshot. Oh well. The original shower curtain is still up, along with bits of the matching bordder along the ceiling line - also forgot to take photos of that before I started ripping it down! The original art work is in place. The mirror shot shows the new light fixture which throws off too much light! The electrician asked me for and installed three 60-watt bulbs which were blindingly bright in the small space. I later replaced them with three 40 watt bulbs, but they stick out too much below the line of the shades (I don't know if you can tell from the photo), and I am not used to so much brightness! I purchased some 40 watt appliance bulbs which are much shorter than a standard-size light bulb and are clear (so they will be transparent, hopefully), I will put them in tomorrow and retain the brightness, which is great for putting on make-up with these much older eyes. The third lamp in the old fixture had shorted out several years back, so the bath was lit by only two 25-watt bulbs. No wonder I couldn't see anything... Anyway, these photos give you an idea of what my 8 ft. long by 5 ft. wide bath upstairs (not including the tub width) is like. Pretty typical, I think. I will have to take a shot of the flooring - but not tonight, it's too yucky to contemplate tonight! So - the plan is to paint the walls medium tan, replace the artwork with black toned pieces and eventually redo the floor with black marble-look vinyl. I am also thinking about wallpaper or some decorative paint treatment once the walls are repainted. I am leaning toward a harlequin print wallpaper in black and tan on one or more walls, perhaps just on half-walls, or a varigated stripe in black and various shades of tan with a marbelized background... The dilemma is where to install such paper, if I go in that direction. Then - do I need a border if I decide to do only a half wall or two? What if I limit the wallpaper treatment to the little bit of wall that shows just above the shower, and on the opposite wall where the linen closet door is located? Oy, problems, problems... I also really like the idea of a lamp on the vanity - it's wide enough where water splash would probably not be a problem (since I do not have teenagers or children living in the house) - and I could shop for a tray to rest the base in to protect it from water splash-up. Then again, what kind of lamp would I get? And I'm considering several options regarding the overwhelming plate-glass mirror that takes up so much of the wall opposite the entrance. Framing it, perhaps? What about suspending a black wood-framed oval mirror by chains over the current mirror centered over the sink area? What about framing the current mirror into several different sections - perhaps a vaguely oriental motif? What about removing the current mirror altogether and going with the aforesaid black wood-framed oval mirror, flanked by two sconces on either side? Budget is, of course, always a consideration...

What Recession? More Redecorating...

Hola darlings! I was out and about shopping today. The streets were loaded with traffic and the two places I went to - Menard's (a locally-owned home improvement center) and Kohls (mid-price department store) - were packed with shoppers. You would not know there is a severe recession going on in the country by the number of people who were in those two stores. The checkout lines were busy. Perhaps there is a psychological component to my shopping sprees and urge to redo the house over the last few months, aside from the fact that the house will be 19 years old this August and other than the powder room downstairs which I repainted in 2003, very few things have changed since 1990. You know, spending in the face of all the bad things going on around me, pretending that everything is just fine, doing the classic shop and feel better (most women will understand this feeling). I don't know, and frankly, I don't know if it's important that I do know. I'm not spending a fortune (a good thing) and with such good bargains available these days, why not get what I want? To finally get this house looking just the way I've always wanted it to look, but was too cheap (or too busy with other things) to do before? Hell, I'm going for it. Maybe that means I'll have crown mouldings put up in every room!!! I was looking for area rugs for the New York (guest) bedroom and my room and a new light fixture for the upstairs bath. Yes, I have decided to redo the upstairs bathroom so that it is somewhat more color-coordinated with the New York room and my room and soon to be revamped pink bedroom. I found a perfect cream/black toile shower curtain on sale online, and had a certain style of light fixture in mind. I found one I liked today on sale at Menards, the price was right! I took the opportunity to pick up a drywall patch kit to patch the hole in my ceiling downstairs left by the plumber, and some painting supplies in preparation for when dondelion paints the pink room during his May visit. I looked at rugs at Menards but found nothing I liked (or even did not like) in my price range. Next it was on to Kohls, where I found one rug for the New York room on sale for 50% off, a cushion for my desk chair downstairs discounted 40%, and some new towels for the anticipated bath revamp at 50% off. I already have the perfect paint and my lovely black still life will finally have a new home - above the large towel rack. Now I must locate and retain a reasonably priced electrician to take down the old fixture and install the new one. Tomorrow after our investment club meeting I will take down the wallpaper border in the bath and give the walls a good scrub. I would like to install a new floor covering in the bath - I am leaning toward trying the job myself with peel and stick vinyl tile. In 1986 when I bought my first house I successfully laid a black and white vinyl tile floor in the kitchen, after studying the method in my Readers Digest manual of home improvements and repairs :) So, I am no stranger on the method to calculate the layout so all squares end up evenly spaced around the perimeter. The bathroom presents more challenges. First, there are no "hidden" corners so if I make a mistake in my layout calculations, it will be there for all to see; secondly, I need to take up the existing cheap vinyl flooring because it has shrunk away from the walls in two areas and a bubble has formed in one spot underneath the linen cabinet. I have nightmares of endless glue and months of scraping and sanding to try and get a smooth surface - not to mention working around and under the toilet! Yikes! But today while I was showing my sister around the improvements upstairs and explaining the changes I wanted to make in the bath, I tested a corner of the vinyl that has shrunk away from the wall by the vanity and lo and behold, it lifted up quite easily. I was able to pull it up a couple of feet and looked at the subfloor beneath. It appears as though whatever daubs of glue were once anchoring the floor have long-since dried up - at least in front of the vanity. However, there is no assurance it would be that easily removed from the remainder of the room. I would also have to buy or borrow the proper tools to remove the quarter-round trim (I do not want to break it if at all possible) around the perimeter of the room and figure out how to remove the metal divider between the carpet in the hall and the vinyl in the bath. Maybe it's a really easy thing, but it looks intimating to moi! And the toilet remains a problem. I sure ain't gonna attempt to shut off the water, unscrew and unseat the toilet myself just to lay vinyl tile around it. Plus I'd have to stuff the hole with rags so no sewer gas would escape (gag). This is not something I'm willing to undertake after the plumber went to such pains to shim the toilet so it is steady and firm and replaced the worn-out wax ring that had caused the leak in the downstairs ceiling which I now have to patch (that should be an adventure)... So... I think I need a nap. By the way, that photo above of the beautiful bedroom is from a blog, Bargain Hunting with Laurie (a woman after my own heart). It's HER bedroom, and it's gorgeous. And it's the color scheme I'm using in my bath. My walls will be a very similar color, just a wee bit lighter because there are no windows in my bath and I don't want it to be overwhelmingly darkish, also more tan/taupe and less mustard - but the color saturation is spot on. I have a dark cherry vanity with white (just a hint of cream) laminate top and dark cherry linen cabinet with similarly stained woodwork, comparable to Laurie's dark-stained furnishings. The cream and black toile shower curtain (en route from the merchant) and the black towels I purchased today will add just the right touch of sophistication. My current area rugs in the bath will remain - they are very neutral tan/taupe and in good shape. The vaguely French style of the new light fixture, which has a "waxed bronze" finish and three alabaster bell-shaped shades, will be the perfect compliment to the color scheme. Even without a new floor or "waxed bronze" finished towel holders (my shiny brass ones purchased 19 years ago when the house was built are still in near perfect condition and I just cannot justify the expense of replacing them), the room will be transformed. The floor I would eventually like to install in place of the sad, cheap cream and grey tile-pattern sheet vinyl I currently have will be a black and gold/tan marble look vinyl. Ahhhh, perfection. Future wish list includes replacing the large sheet mirror with a smaller framed mirror centered above the sink, light sconces added on either side, and possibly stencilling a suitable design around the ceiling perimeter, if I can fix upon the right color and design! New bath rugs and towel rods.

Yet More Decorating Redux!

Okay, okay, I know, I'm boring you all to tears with this never-ending stream of photos of my guest room and my room. Today it's my room - it's more finished than not, except for an area rug which I have not yet been successful in tracking down (at a reasonable price). I'm trying to remember the changes I've made since the last set of photos: (1) New print above headboard (2) Swapped out prints on wall between closet and window with old prints I had on hand (my little birds) (3) A sleek new slipcover on the wing chair (4) New lamp on dresser (not shown) (5) Addition of the eyelet embroidered bedskirt over the black ruffled bedskirt (6) One of my Christmas, 2008 photos of Mr. Don displayed above wing chair Changes for the summer season will be a swap-out of curtains (back to my star-spangled semi-sheers, with the red/black/white floral valances added), removal of the wonderfully warm comforter (would be too hot and heavy for summer) and replace it with a solid red spread. And maybe a lacy white top sheet and shams.

Decorating Redux...Etc.

Hola darlings! The guest room is almost complete! Changes since the last photos are: (1) The Central Park poster above the bed (2) The bedskirt (tailored stripe replaces embroidered white ruffled) (3) Tables swapped out - the table that I formerly had by the chair is now in the opposite corner, and the larger round skirted table is next to the chair (4) Lamps swapped out (5) Photos on the wall between the window and the closet have been switched around (6) A different curtain. I took down the black/white stripe and first put up my remaining toile panel that I didn't need for the second window in my bedroom. I loved how it looked, but decided I wanted something a bit "heavier" for this cold winter. (I don't get the same "light-weight" feeling with these curtains in my bedroom, because there are two panels on the larger window and the second window is so much narrower, one panel weights it down nicely). (I think the toile panel will look great for summer wear in the guest room with the black/white gingham sheet set.) I was ready to put the black/white striped curtain back up when I remembered some VERY old sheets I purchased years ago to make curtains for the patio door that I never got around to doing. They are black/cream houndstooth checked with gold corded trim and a gold leaf decoration along a 4 inch top black border. I dug one sheet out of storage, ironed it, and tossed it over the curtain rod, roughly "hand-pleating" it across the rod, and used the same shoe-string tied in a bow to pull the curtain back. The gold leaf/black border forms the bottom of the curtain. A totally no-sew curtain, and I do mean no sew - not even a stick-pin holding anything in place! I think the gold leaf border design and corded trim add a nice touch. The copyright on this design, "English Manor," by Echo for Revman, is 1995! This sheet (and 3 other identical twin sheets) have been in storage here at the house more than 13 years! I have a Times Square poster to put up - still pondering where I want to put that. At first I thought about putting it on the wall behind the door, where it would show to advantage when the room is actually being used (because the door would be closed and it would be seen from the chair and the bed). On the other hand, I'm not quite satisfied with the way the door wall looks (where the table, lamp and chair are). I do want the New York water color to be highlighted, and when sitting in the chair it's great having it at eye level in its present location. On the other hand, that wall looks somewhat plain in the photograph (although it doesn't "read" that way when actually in the room), or something isn't quite in balance. Not quite sure what, exactly, it off kilter. It will come to me eventually. I'm wondering what it would look like to hang the Times Square Poster on the door wall. I'm also wondering if I should hang a 5x7 New York photo on either side of the Central Park poster above the headboard. Or maybe some black finished metal candle sconces? Too frou frou? I want the guest room to be unisex comfortable, not too "girly" (my bedroom is girly enough for the house, even without a speck of pink in it).

Decorating Redux...Redux...Redux

I got my work-out last night rearranging the New York (guest) room one more time. I don't think the photos quite do it justice. I don't have the New York posters up - I'm thinking about the Central Park poster above the bed and the Times Square poster on the wall area that is mostly hidden by the door when open. I found those poster hangers for sale at the MoMA website, but they only come in silver tone and I don't like silver tone! So, I'm leaning toward a basic cheap plastic poster frame backed by cardboard. The water color on the wall next to the chair was purchased on Fifth Avenue not too far from the scene it depicts (the fountain outside of Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue at one corner of Central Park) on the way home from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when we visited New York in September, 2005. It hung in the former guest room, in a different frame. I reluctantly decided that my much loved black still life will be better off in the downstairs hall off the staircase. Although it added dynamic color to the guest room, I decided it wasn't quite gender-neutral - but I may bring it back; it depends on whether the posters "work". The other photographs are from New York and Las Vegas - and one squirrel pic (the top one by the window), chosen for their graphical content. The pics by the window I printed in black and white; the pics by the door are printed in color. Still to be done - the swap-out of the bed skirt for the tailored cream/black stripe. I'll do that later on (when I take a break from blogging). I think it will add a more dynamic touch than the current white piquet bed skirt, which tends toward the feminine.

Decorating Redux...Redux

Oy! I worked half a day at the office, got home at 2:30 and fed the squirrels. The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are on commercial t.v. at the moment. I saw parts of the Ladies' Short Program, the Pairs Free Skate and right now the Ice Dance Free Program is on. Let me put it this way - I have been less than impressed! There is no Michelle Kwan or Brian Boitano waiting in the wings, unfortunately. Our Olympic silver medal winners in Ice Dancing (Belbin and Agusto) had to withdraw from this year's nationals due to injury, and the couples trying to move up in the ranks were - well, boring. Tonight is the Ladies' Free Skate (Long Program) - the competition that used to engender so much excitement. Remember Tanya and Nancy? Remember the first time Michelle competed at the senior level, when she was a 13-year old jumping bean who looked about 4 feet tall? Remember Tara Lapinski (well, I don't either)... Of course, one never knows what may happen tonight at the free skate, so I will watch. I have to say, even if the ladies aren't the same calibre skaters as Michelle, Tara, et al., they are a very attractive group and for the short program were exquisitely costumed. Now - to the decorating, or I should say, back to the decorating. Arggghhh! I am glad to report that the second buffet lamp went together in a snap, unlike my experience with the Defective buffet lamp! The second lamp now rests on the dresser in the New York (guest) room, after I wrestled the triple dresser away from the wall, tightened the bolts on the mirror, and plugged the lamp in. It works! Oh, and I wrestled the triple dresser back into place, too. What a work-out! But - darlings, I know you won't believe that I could be this dense, but I was, so what can I say - it occurred to me a day or two ago that, since my new room (the former guest room) and the new guest room (the former den/library/computer room), are exactly the same depth, although not the same width (the new guest room has about 6 inches less width), I could quite possibly create a mirror image in the guest room of the set up in my room which works so well: triple dresser opposite the foot of the bed (and the print above the headboard reflected in the mirror of the triple dresser on the opposite wall, doubling its impact), the bed scooted over enough on the wall to leave room to position a wing chair and bookcase or table next to it, and still plenty of room on the closet side of the dresser to set a luggage rack and for a second person to utilize the opposite of the bed, if sharing, also freely accessing the closet (slider doors) and window. The question is: Do I really want to do that? There would be less space between the end of the bed and the start of the dresser in the guest room if I move the dresser to the wall opposite the headboard, although it would still be passable. But would it look squished? Right now, there is more than adequate space on either side of the bed and plenty of room to pass at the foot of the bed directly to the closet and to the other side of the bed and window, because the dresser in on the hallway wall parallel to the bed (this wall has the entry door and is opposite the window and closet wall). The wall that is currently opposite the headboard, most importantly, is totally bare and that is where I had planned on putting my beautiful (and large) New York posters. (Photo: inside wall, New York - guest - room. That lamp on the dresser is the second buffet lamp, I put it together earlier today. You see my favorite still life print now above this headboard, and on the wall next to the mirror is one of dondelion's photographs of the "optical illusion" floor at the Venetian in Las Vegas). However, by rearranging the guest room to mirror my room arrangement would free up space for a comfy wing chair in the corner - I love having a chair in my bedroom and I know that wing chair was used for reading and watching t.v. when it was the guest room! On the other hand, the nice bare wall perfect for hanging the posters would disappear, consumed by the triple dresser and tall mirror. I suppose I could put one poster on the closet side of the dresser, andput the other poster on the wall above the table next to the wing chair... Guess I'll just have to try it and see if it works. So, it seems more shoving, pushing and heaving of furniture is on the agenda for tonight. Ay yi yi. (Photo: outside wall, New York - guest room. The framed photographs in the space between the window and the closet will have a companion joining them and will be repositioned as needed to evenly fill out the space. One of the black and white striped curtains I had tried out in my room looks much better here. One of my water colors anchors the space next to the headboard; its frame matches the frame on the clock/photo on the table behind the lamp. It holds a picture of Michelle taken in Las Vegas during dondelion's and my November, 2003 visit. In front of the lamp, not really visible, are two couple of inch tall silver-tone plastic models of New York skyscrapers that dondelion found in a dollar store in Montreal. On the plus side, my room is approaching the perfect degree of doneness. Today I put up the new print I ordered (turns out I only ordered one, not a pair as I thought I had, but that worked out just fine because the one new print is LARGE and fills the space above the headboard quite nicely - two would have been too big for the space); the frame is lovely and the bird motif ties in quite nicely with two framed Christmas cards from years ago - bird motifs in matching cheapo plastic frames! They hold down the narrow area of wall between the closet door and the window on the wall opposite the entry. Hey - those for free bird prints work for me, I don't care if they're Christmas cards. They're pretty! One of the birds is a blue bird and is, therefore, that unexpected dash of oddness and/or color that turns the room human - it's my room, not a layout in a decorating magazine. Also, I think the freshly hung print above the headboard is just a wee bit off of center. Oh well. I'll be damned if I'm going to get back up on the mattress and bounce around trying to find perfect center, drive a new picture hanger and plug up the old nail hole with spackle! It can be an inch off center. Still lots to do: I want area rugs on the floors of both rooms, that will entail much shopping online to find the best price for the best rug. I want to switch-out the single rod curtain rods in my room for double rods and try out the red/black/white floral print valances over the toile curtains (entails yet more ironing) to see if they "work" in the room or are just too overwhelming for the small space, and move the white bedskirt from the New York (guest) room to my room, layered over my new 18 inch drop black bedskirt. I'll replace the guest room bedskirt with the cream and black stripe tailored bedskirt that came in the "bed in a bag" set with the paisley comforter and pillow shams, but I have to iron it first. It's going to be a busy weekend. On the plus side, when I'm finally finished I'll have two bedrooms that I absolutely love (about time, I've been in this house nearly 20 years) and I'll have had a great work-out! I am just a couple of pounds off my 2003 Las Vegas weight. I want to be down to my 2002 Madrid weight when we go to New York in May and I'm actually aiming for an even higher weight loss. I've resumed my nightly "dances" around the larger space in my former bedroom to my favorite Youtube videos (Sway; Smooth; old and new versions of Lady Marmalade, including the Mad T.V. take-off of same; the We Will Rock You Pepsi commercial featuring Pink who absolutely, totally ROCKS, Beyonce who sure can shake her booty, and a pre-Las Vegas marriage Britney Spears who almost actually sang; Keep Your Hands to Yourself; Wild Wild West, etc. Better than running three miles in below-zero temperatures...