While the husband is away...

Well, Jim went to Hungary for a few days. Our car is still registered there and the motor inspection was due to be renewed. He loves going there and seeing all the people in Baja and it's a treat for him to be able to teach on Sunday while he is there. Baja will always have a special place in his heart. As for me, well, finding myself with no schedule and two cats, I was planning out what to do. That usually means furniture will be moved around and surprises await him when he gets home. Of course bruising and cuts and a few "I know I should have waited for you to do it because you are so much stronger than me but I couldn't help it". Sad to say, but the last time Jim was gone I decided to put together a wardrobe someone gave us...shall we say the whole thing collapsed on my legs and left swollen sores that took atleast a month to heal! I think I learned my lesson. The small guest/craft room really needs a going through. Stuff is all over the place-on the bed, on the floor, etc, etc. Empty jars and cans that I decided to save because-well, ya never know, I might need to use them for something find themselves sprawled in various spots of dressers and desks. It was a project I thought I would tackle this weekend......until.....I started looking online for ideas on how to organize the room. HA HA....and then I found myself in dreamland with all the options there are to this thing called organizing. I was tickled pink to find an idea for putting all your little odds and ends in-buttons, clips, etc. I had been using the jars, but this idea is even better. Take an old spice rack (which I happened to have in the cupboard) and clean out all the jars, pain the lids and glue cute little things on top of the lids: TADA: This was so much more fun than cleaning. I do think I should get some credit though because it is sort of organizing and all these jars are nicely arranged. The cool thing is that it swivels too :)

After patting myself on the back I decided I was in much too much of a creative mood to have to be dragged down with organizing and putting things away! That my friends will be saved for another day. Instead I wanted to make Spring come into my house. We have wanted to get some kind of entry table for the entryway. When you walk up the steps to our flat there is a big piece of wall there. We had a small bookshelf there but it never looked right. Well, in Jan, Jim was at a Pastor's Conf so I did a little more creating. I had two bottoms of a desk that were my sister's and mine when we were younger!!

Oh notice the sanded part-yeah, that was done when we lived in Vista and I had the idea that I was going to sand them and restain in another color. Ten years later guess what??!! I had the same idea! Put side by side these would make a great entry table. Jim even decided he liked the idea. Better than spending money on something new right now. Well, I waited and waited for the enthusiasm to overwhelm him and go to the paint store to get some stain and it just wasn't happening. A lightbulb went off in my head (yes that does happen every now and then) and I tore into the linen closet to find something to cover it. I found about 3yds of burgandy damask material I bought years ago at Walmart at their $1.00 a yard section and draped it over and pinned the excess to the back. It was very elegant looking, but too elegant for Spring. Today I found a light green tablecloth that either Sandy or Leona gave me a few years back and decided it would be perfect for now. "Is that all?" you may be asking yourself...of course not! I wanted to find things to put on the Springy table but was having a hard time finding the right things. Down to the garage I went....Oh my...what's that??? Pieces of wood and parts of cupboards tucked behind other pieces of things I have no clue what they are. Alas, I contourted my body in ways I never knew I could to reach these newly discovered jewels and smiled all the way up the stairs as I thought of how I could use them. This is what I came up with:

There were two little holes where the hinges or whatever would go so I thread some ribbon through it and put a flower in the center. I really like it!! Rose is going to bring some chalkboard paint for me so I am going to paint the inside part with that and write a verse on it. It's cool because with chalk we can erase it and put up new ones any time we want. I then found some clear vases and a candy jar and put them on the table-I want to go to the market and get some flowers next week and fill them with fresh ones. I found this wire frame a few months ago-just added some yellow ribbon to fit in with the decor. There are a few brown cupboards like this and I want to put one in our kitchen above the coffee area and hang a few cups on the end. I think it would also be neat to put a piece of cork in the middle and put pictures too....oh the possibilites are endless. If you went to the hardware store you can get pretty metal door pulls, put one on each side and you have a nice serving tray!!! Here's the finished look for now. I am not thrilled about it but it's much more inviting than before:

I attached some paper flowers to some sticks to spruce up the spare room too. It's our red, white and blue room. We have to keep our patriotism you know!! It's neat how just a little something can make a difference:

The sticks have been in the room since the holidays. I had it decorated for Christmas and then just decided to keep the white lights on it. I like sticks-they are free and you can do a lot with them!!

It was a little difficult at first as I was trying to think about moving things around and changing things to look like Spring. I realized I miss Ross soooooo much!!! Target too! I got a wee bit depressed as I looked around at my furniture I was a bit sad seeing that most everything is dented, scratched and mis-matched. I remember finding some things at Ikea in the 'slightly damaged' section and bringing them home. I sat there with all these pieces on the floor, instructions that might as well have been in Greek, and something that is supposed to be a screwdriver, a wrench or whatever you want to call it. So many people love Ikea!! It is a great store, but at the moment I just wanted to cry. All that came to my mind was that at 50 yrs old I didn't ever dream that I would be putting together my furniture in pieces. I never thought I would have mis-matched furniture or even live in an apartment, having to be careful that we don't make too much noise as to disturb the downstairs neighbors. Nope, that wasn't the life I had planned out for myself. But God knew what He had planned for us and it is oh so much better than I would have picked for myself. So, I don't have Ross or Target-but He has given me so much more. The people I have met, the lives that have touched mine and hopefully in return I have made a difference in others, the places God has allowed me to see-way beyond my wildest dreams. My parents have a timeshare and they would let us kids use it at times. When it was our turn I remember looking through the book of places to choose and didn't dare look at Europe because to me that was only a place where 'rich people' traveled. Oh how wrong I was!!! I remember watching The Sound of Music and never dreamed it possible that I would frolic those same hills..(do you like that word frolic lol) as the Van Trapp kids. What a privilege it is to be a child of God and live in the life He has planned out for us-all the while knowing that this place is not our permanent home-it's only temporary. And with that, I poured a glass of diet pepsi, went over to the computer, listened to this song and had a good cry. All better now :)