A Classic Housewife in a Modern World

I think,..I have realized how it is that a room which has been completely de-cluttered, re-organized and spiffy-fied can (right under your very nose!) suddenly find itself in a very cluttered, unorganized, sad state of very un-spiffy-ness.

WE COLLECT MORE STUFF.

I mean,.. it happens. Ya know? Someone gives you a shirt they don’t like, you get a new pair of shoes, you buy more books to collect on your nightstand and voila!!- where’s the bed? The dresser? The bottom of the closet?

Ok, ok, so it probably has a little to do with cleaning habits, also, am I right? But still, if you collect too much stuff for your space, your cleaning job is GOING to be more difficult than it has to be. Conversely, if you don’t pick up and put everything back in its place, it doesn’t matter if you have exactly the right amount of stuff.

It’s a very delicate relationship.

One that I have recently failed at. Again.

You may or may not recall our Master Bedroom makeover a few years ago. Oh, the purging, purging, purging!! (And the painting, painting, painting!!) Our new space was so lovely that I really did keep it clean (or mostly clean) for a very long time. I’m not exactly sure where I got off track.. I think perhaps it began last summer when I broke my toe and I got out of the habit and it was all down hill from there.

I can certainly say that it doesn’t help to “hide” stuff in your master bedroom when company comes over! Been there – done that – stop hiding stuff in your master bedroom, people! Take it from me!

So last weekend I’d finally had enough and I did it all over again. Well, minus the painting part. But this time I threw in some re-arranging. And over the last few years I’ve collected some more decorations for our room (largely through GIFTS & HAND-ME-DOWNS,..THANK YOU beautiful lovely people!) so our room is even more lovely than it was before. And the new arrangement of the furniture (and leaving off the footboard) makes the room more open I think.

I couldn’t resist taking a few (or 15) pictures of my favorite things about our “new again” bedroom! I mean, really, it’s ME, what else did you expect??

{The photo quality is a little low in some pictures because the lighting in our room is very ambient & soft, and if I open the curtains the sunlight is very bright. I’ve always had a difficult time balancing the lighting when taking pictures in here….any pointers? Moving on…}

This is my view from the bed now – ever so MUCH more lovely than the view we had before. There are so many little things over here that I love, and I’m definitely thinking that this is the way to do it – making sure that there’s more visual interest for you at the foot of your bed, rather than spending all your efforts at the head of your bed (which looks lovely when you walk over to your bed but then you turn around and you can’t see it!) Just a side note – I do have the glass votive holders for the candle sconce on the wall, I took them off to wash them. Here, let me show you more!

My little basket of books. I have two of these baskets, I love them! I got them with a gift certificate that my mom got me for my birthday or Mother’s Day or something, and so even though they’re not priceless treasures, they’re special to me. I did have a bunch of magazines in this basket – magazines that I never got around to reading! So I decided to put a selection of my books in it instead– books that I need to read, am reading or need to re-read. And I’ve already pulled a book out a time or to. I like having it here.

What you see here is our marriage license, which I framed and put up for display last Valentine’s Day. I like having it just leaning up against the wall behind some candles in a little arrangement, rather than hanging it on the wall – I think it makes it more inviting and less formal – don’t you? The candle holders are two remaining of a set of four that my close friend gave me. They look metal. Turns out, they’re glass. They break. =( The candle sconces on the wall?? I haven’t decided if I still like those anymore, if I want to keep them. I do, but do I like them ENOUGH? Are they me? I don’t know. The jury is still out on those sconces…

Ooh! Look at the pretties on top of the linens dresser!! I’m pretty sure my mom gave me the hummingbird candle lantern. I think. Didn’t she? Yeah, I think so. I’ve had it for AGES. And my sister-in-law brought that mask from Italy. I love it! The Easter lilies probably look better tucked behind this arrangement (hiding cables & cords) than they ever did in the vases. And I just really enjoy all the little touches of red around my room to accent the chocolate brown and soft green. It works! It really works!

My peacock feathers!! One of the newest additions to my room – my Mother-in-law passed on some extra feathers she had leftover from an arrangement. After seeing how well they work with my color scheme and seeing what they add to the feel & atmosphere of the room – I want more!! This arrangement stands in a vase (matching the green vase on the dresser) on the floor which hides the power strip all the electronics plug into. Hiding power cords — the only hiding you’re allowed to do!!

This lamp & the matching lamp on the other dresser, were passed on to me from my grandmother. I don’t think they’re very old, I think she bought them new, but I have always loved the look and style of them – and I also love that they came from my grandmother. Almost all of the special things in my room have been given to me by family members, or belonged to them at one point, like the green vase to the left, which was my great-grandmothers. My grandma let me have it when we got married and I’ve always taken special care of it.

Just a thought – I think I love these flowers in this arrangement more than I ever have in any other arrangement that I’ve tried. You can see many of them in previous bedroom pictures, in which they’ve always been divided between two other vases with a variety of other grasses or flowers I’ve tried. Combining these all into this one vase is the best it has ever looked. The purple flowers are flowers I bought early on after we got married, the blue flowers are some that we used to decorate the arch in my brother’s wedding several years ago, and the three white roses are my very own wedding bouquet! (More sentimental mush-mush.)

This bench/chest used to be in the bottom of Hubs’ half of the closet – it was supposed to hold all the throw pillows at night, but well, that never really worked. Can you guess why? Because things got piled on it! And then I couldn’t get into it. Imagine that. I actually REALLY LOVE it here. There’s still plenty of room to walk past the end of the bed. It’s really easy to get the throw pillows in and out and the kids like sitting on it when we all pile in here to watch a movie. (One of my shams is the perfect size to sit on the bench as a cushion!) This chest is one of the few things I have left from my early childhood, a toybox I received when I was about 4. The little brown picture on the wall (kinda hard to see) is a green hummingbird on a brown background, a birthday gift from the same friend as the silver candle pillars – I love hummingbirds!!

And a view of the other wall, just to prove that I did take a little effort in decorating over there, but clearly not as much as on the other side. The 4 tier stand now serves as my night stand (BOY that thing has had a lot of jobs over the years, hasn’t it??) which really helps to move the bed closer to the door, leaving more room on the other side of the bed than before. Which helps to make the room feel more open. It’s all good. Would you like to see that feather wreath up close? Of course you would!

Don’t you just love it?! My mother in law bought it on clearance after Christmas and then decided that it probably didn’t go as well with her stuff and she knew that I wanted to do a turquoise Christmas this year (I DO!) so she LET ME HAVE IT. She is so nice! I love it. Just love it. So yeah, it WILL be making an appearance with our Christmas decor this year, and the rest of the year — RIGHT HERE BABY. Where I can enjoy it the other 11 months of the year. I’m thinking about hanging it up with a wide satiny ribbon, though, kinda like this. What do you think? But definitely in a green/turquoise, not purple. =P

The curtain valance is the another thing in our room that I just love, that really takes everything up a notch. The beaded brocade valance and the brown velvet curtains were a Christmas gift from my Mother-in-law several years ago. She knew that I desperately needed to do some decorating in our room (at that point there was NONE) so she bought these for us. AGAIN – my mother-in-law is so nice to me!! I love the beads. I think I have a thing for beaded valances.

The green color in the valance plays off the walls perfectly, and the purplish red goes well with our red accents. And the brocade just makes everything in here look a little bit fancier. Love! Also, I still have the roses that my MIL painted on the closet doors, I just didn’t take new pictures of them (since they didn’t change) – I still love them, too. It all comes together so nicely!

So this is our new again sanctuary. I’m so very happy with it. The kids are amazed and I’m trying to convince them that our whole house should look this good – ALL THE TIME! I really do wish that it did. Thing is, it has taken me several years to collect up all these special gifts and decorations and find the right combinations for them. So, I figure, in about 3 more years I may be able to get my living room to the same point – right?

I think the biggest thing I learned from this, that I have to pass on to you today, is this: Be selective in your decorations, surround yourself with things you love, purge them if you don’t, take your time (it’s ok it if takes 2 or 3 years), and remember to purge regularly and clean frequently so you don’t lose your space you love so much under a mound of clutter you hate! Wouldn’t you agree?

This week’s Curr-Click freebie is a ebook called “Organize Your Homeschool” by LeBedz Publishing. Their summary:

“Does it take you half an hour to find the grammar book each morning? Do the kids take five minutes to find and sharpen a pencil? Many people ask, “Why bother to organize? It is too much work!” That has an easy answer: organization equals peace and consistency! In addition, I think that it is much less work to teach in an organized space than to try to find space and tools to teach every day. You reap what you sow: sow peace and efficiency into your homeschool to reap peace and effectiveness. This e-book shows you how to set up an organized homeschool space, even if it’s your kitchen table. You’ll discover the top ten tools and how to use them. You’ll finally be able to tackle the mountain of art projects and math papers. You’ll learn how planning ahead can save you time and energy without being restrictive, and more.”

I’m getting more and more organized with our homeschool anyway, but the title certainly caught my eye so I downloaded it. (I have a weakness for freebies!) There are pages and pages of tips and suggestions in this ebook – from organizing your thoughts, to organizing your supplies to organizing your paperwork for the state (if you need to do that.) I’ve scanned it over and I’m already sure that I’m going to find at least a tip or two that I can implement right away.

Ordinarily $5.95, this ebook is free for the rest of this week — Check it out here.

I’ve got something exciting coming next week!! I just thought I’d give you that little tease.

Just one little hint: It will appeal to Moms with kids with spelling words. =D *waggles eyebrows*

Check back Monday to see what it is!!

My birthday is coming up. Not that it bothers me. Or that we’re going to do something fabulous. It will probably come sweetly and softly and leave just as quietly as always. I’ll be 32.

My "birthday" cupcakes from a friend. Vanilla bean with Mocha frosting. The frosting was SO. DELICIOUS.!!

I remember thinking recently about how when we were in high school, 32 seemed SO. MUCH. OLDER. Not “old” I would never say that. I wouldn’t have then, either. I think as long as my parents and grandmother continue to age well they will continue to push “old” far away from me. Because right now? They’re not old. So “old” must be older than that.”

Anyway, thirty two was really ever so much older to me back then. At 17, it was nearly twice my age! We had several teachers in their 30s and WOW, were they so much older than we were. But now??

Thirty two is not that old. Not at all.

Sure, sometimes I’m guilty of talking about how old I feel. But I never mean that I’m old because of my age. But it is true that I often FEEL old, creaky, out of shape. That has more to do with health than anything else. So that’s neither here nor there. So please understand, if you hear me say “Gosh I’m getting old!” .. I’m talking about my knees! ; )

Today I’m sitting and thinking specifically of all the things I thought I’d do (or wouldn’t do) by now. Life turns out surprisingly a lot like you think it will, but never at all like you thought. You know?

At 17:

I never thought I’d ending up living in this town. I thought I’d move away and stay away, but I was wrong. And I’m okay with that.

I didn’t know I was about to meet the man that I would marry, because I was sworn off dating and guys when I graduated high school, but I gave that up when I met James.

I figured I’d have kids at some point after getting married and that I’d probably stay home with them — but I had no idea that it would happen so quickly! (Blame that on a family emergency and running off to west Texas without packing The Pill in my hastily packed bag – oops!)

I did think I was going to finish college. I didn’t think I was going to DO anything with the degree but I thought I’d have one. Kinda had to drop out the semester I had morning sickness. Um, that was the last semester. I’m okay with that, too. (If I did have a degree and needed to get a job it would probably be useless by this point anyway because I haven’t been working and using it and it would give me no credibility. At the very least I would need to take refresher courses or something to be able to use it.)

In 8th grade I wanted to be a hair stylist. I actually DO kinda wish I’d stuck with that one. It would be awesome if I knew how to cut hair well (instead of faking it) and could cut my family’s hair ALL the time and never have to spend money at the barber shop! Just sayin.

I had NO idea that I would end up homeschooling!

I really did think I was going to do something with my music and singing, probably before having kids. I had no idea that I’d learn to play guitar, or that I’d use my music in a more intimate setting, for ladies bible study at church instead of a big flashy stage. (Sometimes I still “miss” the idea of the big flashy stage. Ah, vanity and pride…)

I had no idea that we’d have seen as much and gone through as much in our marriage as we did within our 1st ten years. And YET – it was still so little, and we are so very blessed. Things could have been so much worse.

I sure thought I’d feel a lot more grown up by this point than I do most of the time. Or at least wiser and more responsible. I still don’t feel it. On the other hand, I sometimes feel like I’m “too grown up” and need to live a little and have a little more spur of the moment fun.

Oh, I’m sure I could keep going.. it’s just funny how NOT old 32 is, that’s all. I have a suspicion I’ll say the same about 42, and 52 and.. ;0)

I can say this though: at 32 I don’t yet get up before sunrise, or watch the news everyday… so I can’t be THAT old. =)

A hard winter makes for a smaller insect population in the summer, or so the old adage says… HA! says I. HA!
This past winter was a GOOD COLD WINTER. Well, as far as Texans can HAVE good cold winter. We had more snow than we’ve seen in years, and yet here we are creepy crawling with bugs all over! So much for the old saying.

At first I thought that I was simply noticing more bugs, paying more attention thanks to my little boy who is really into bugs right now. But as we have found more and more and MORE bugs inside our house and on our back porch I started thinking: “This isn’t normal!” And guess what? It’s not.

We’re having a bug surge this summer.

Oh, goody.

We have seen more grasshoppers than I care to count. They. Are. Everywhere. It makes me think of the plague of locusts, just sayin. Fortunately, grasshoppers don’t sting or bite. Though they CAN be quite annoying when one finds its way into your adjoining master bath and SINGS. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Ask me how I know.

We have found (and killed) 7, or 8, or 9 (I’ve lost track) wolf spiders in our house this year. In the previous 5 years we’ve been here, we may have found 2 or 3? At the most. Normally the rule is “Outside: You’re not my problem; Inside: You’re toast.” This year I’ve even squashed a few on the back porch. I figure, there’s obviously plenty. And the back porch is too close to “In the house.” The creepiest one –aside from the one on my bed IN MY BLANKETS– was a few nights ago when I saw something like this (see video below) on the back porch, only it was dark and the yellow porch light didn’t illuminate it too well. It just looked like a funny looking spider until I squished it — and hundreds of teeny spiders started WOOSHING away from the dead Mommy spider and spreading out across my porch. EEEP!!!

WARNING: This video may give you the heebiejeebies!!!

SHE HELD IT! SHE TOUCHED IT! EEEEEP!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!

Ok, I’m better now. Except I keep feeling like things are crawling on me..

SCORPIONS. Need I say more? I’m so creeped out by scorpions I really just want to move on. We’ve killed at least half a dozen inside and outside the house. STILL…that’s not our highest scorpion record. Once a few years ago, with a sudden rash of rain storms chasing bugs inside in the middle of the summer, we found five in our house in a week! That’s one record I don’t want to beat.

Flies. Maggots. No pictures of maggots for you. I will spare you. The beginning of our summer was AWFUL with flies and we had a horrible fly/maggot problem in our kitchen. I had to take my trash out Every. Single. Day. Or they’d lay eggs in the trash can (even with hardly any food trash in it!) and two days later we’d have maggots crawling across the floor in our kitchen. I wanted to cry. Believe it or not, a trash can with a lid and a sticky mouse trap got that problem under control. The flies would land on top of the lid and get stuck to the sticky trap. Yay for sticky traps!

You probably already know that we have found (and tried to feed and grow) several caterpillars this summer. But what you may not know is that before this summer, I never really noticed any! I was amazed when we went to my Mother-In-Law’s house and saw this sunflower “weed” COVERED in tiny caterpillars. On top of and under every huge leaf, devouring the entire thing! I don’t know if they were going to be butterflies or moths, but I bet when they all grew up she had a ton of one or the other buzzing around her yard.

Beetles? Okay, the beetles are new. We just saw these. Maybe I can’t include them because I haven’t seen TONS and TONS. But I’ve never seen any in our yard before. And then I find two on the porch. So that counts, right?

Oh my word the dragonflies! They have always been big swarmers on summer evenings, but the air above our yard has just been FULL of them every sunset. They circle and circle around. One flew in our house and I tried to shoo it back out, but it landed between our washer and the wall! I finally did get it to crawl onto the broom and I released it outside. What? It’s a dragonfly, it doesn’t harm anything right?

We have also had wasps, bees, yellow jackets and muddobbers coming out of our ears. And when it rains: mosquitos. And also, ants. Good grief.

The only “good” thing that comes out of our bug surge is that we get to look things up and learn about them. My little boy is FASCINATED by the grasshoppers and dragonflies. I’m just ready for the wasps, scorpions and spiders to go away. Because this? This is definitely not normal!

This week’s Popinjay photo prompt was “Abnormal.” I have several! For more Abnormal, visit Michelle. No, wait, that didn’t sound right….