A little bit of blogcleaning...

Today I spent some time thinking about blogs and content.

I follow a lot of blogs, and up until about five minutes ago I had them all on my blog roll sidebar like the dutiful little blogger that I am. However, I realized that of the almost forty blogs I follow, only a handful provide interesting, well written content. I like pretty photoshopped pictures and extravagent giveaways as much as the next person, but what I really love in a blog are honesty, humor and vulnerability.

With this is mind I have updated my blog roll. The links are somewhat random. Some reflect my interest in home design and decor. Several feature homeschooling and at least one features a fiddler. Each has something which brings me back to their site again and again. I urge you to check them out.

Dooce is a rock star in the blog world and she deserves it. She writes with clarity and humor and knock you in the gut awesome.

Angry Chicken is who I would want to be if I could sew. She homeschools and sews and makes her own deodorant and yet is still completely cool. So worth a read.

Motherhood is Not for Wimps is fantastic. Read about her baby who shrank and then grew. You will cry, you will cheer, you will read into the night.

Derfwad Manor features Mrs. G who is my homeschool hero. She's funny and irreverent and I adore her.

Belgium Waffle and Irretrievably Broken are the co-joined twins of the internet separated by an ocean. One lives in Belgium. One in the US. They write about parenting, divorce and small mammals. Most importantly, they write very, very well and very, very honestly.

There are a handful of blogs I read not just because they are interesting and well written, but also because I love the writers. Julie Rants, Deckside Thoughts, Pom Pom's Ponderings, Verbatim and The Left Handed Housewife are wonderful. They are funny and smart and they answer my emails. I love them.

My goal for this blog is to write well, to write honestly and to make you laugh. If I miss my mark then read one of these other blogs which will surely satisfy you.

Recent junk treasures and a Shiny Red Giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who delurked and introduced themselves! It was great fun to get to know you all. I responded in the comments and have decided that I will continue to reply directly in the comment section to my readers. Resolved!

Before I announce the Shiny Red Giveaway, I wanted to show you a few things that I have found in my junk wanderings lately. For some reason I have been coming across a lot of textiles which I cannot seem to resist.

I found this blanket back in October when we visited Arizona. It lives on the couch and often has at least one dog sleeping on it.

I think this piece is a throw rug of some kind but it seems like it would be very slippery. The colors thrill me. What would  you do with it?

This is a crazy little bit of an afghan that I found yesterday while out junking with Amy. I love how some of the yarn has felted in the wash.

I found this crate yesterday at Urban Renewals for 2.99. You can't tell from the picture, but it is a beautiful pale blue. It is already on my porch holding winter boots.

This fun basket is all of my favorite things- vintage inspired, colorful and useful!

 

Are you guys ready for a giveaway?

I am offering some of my very best junk to you, my most beloved readers.

One red and white canister perfect for hiding chocolate from loved ones...
One pretty bird ornament...

 

One shiny red and white creamer...

One long white shabby chic mirror...

One red and white chicken feed pillow envelope...

And one black, yellow and white apron, stylish enough to make every housewife look like a queen!
 

To enter, leave a comment here. Tell me who you are and your favorite flavor of ice cream. That's it! I'll randomly select a winner in one week on Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 6pm EST.

Good luck!

Homeschool thoughts, updates and miscellaneous whatnot...

Before I get too far into my incoherent ramblings post I want to share a fun activity with my homeschooling and traditional schooling friends. Eryn from Hearth2heart is running a wonderful Valentine Exchange. If you are interested in participating just head on over to her site and fill out the survey.  This is a great way for your family to enjoy making and receiving lots of Valentines!

I really love Valentines Day. It's fun and romantic and involves lots of chocolate! This weekend I am going to stock up on Valentine craft supplies so that the girlies and I can get busy making cards. I also love to check out kid friendly magazines and websites for Valentine craft ideas. I got my copy of Family Fun which has some really cute ideas for making Valentine's at home. Where do you go for new holiday craft ideas?

In other homeschooling news, I have been following #homeschool on Twitter. This is an extraordinary way to find other homeschoolers and find out about what they are doing and how they are doing it. It was from someone on Twitter that I learned about homeschooling from January to December instead of September to June. I'm thinking of giving this schedule a try because it would allow us to stretch out our studies better and allot more time to projects and field trips. Do any of my homeschool readers employ this method? I'd love to hear from you!

Speaking of hearing from readers, today is Delurking Day! I have to tell you that I love to hear from you in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter or email. It is a lovely feeling to put words out into the world and know that someone has enjoyed them. I try to respond to people when they leave comments, but I can only do that if you include your email address. Another thought I have is to start replying to folks directly in the comments. Would readers think to go back and check for a response there?

Finally, I am putting some items from my scary basement treasure stash together for a giveaway which I will post some time this weekend. I also have some new junk treasures to share with you this weekend!

For now, please leave a comment! Tell me who you are and a little bit about yourself and I will respond, I swear on my best box of chocolate!

Preparing for snow...

Here in my little suburb of Boston, the news around town is all about the big old Nor' Easter we are expecting to come during the night and kill us all dead. Weather drama is my very favorite kind of drama. I start storm tracking days in advance of the first hint of snow and have my snow provisions stocked and ready.

My snow provisions include, but are in no way limited to:

1. Husband who will snow blow and shovel. This is a critical provision and critical to my enjoyment of a blizzard.

2. Ice cream. I don't think I really need to explain this.

3. One raw chicken. Chicken roasts beautifully on snowy days.

4. Murder mystery. I am reading Lie Down With The Devil by Linda Barnes and am enjoying it very much.

In addition to planning for the snow, I am thinking about culling some of my prized junk and having a junk giveaway at the end of the week. What do you guys think? Do you want my junk?

Tiger Math!

We began school again this week, after what felt like a months long hiatus. Actually, it was a months long hiatus. Somehow between our Arizona trip, David's 40th birthday and the holidays we never really got back into a good school groove. That all changed this week when I sat the children down at the table and cracked the whip.

We began a review of fractions for my big girl who hates math. I understand hating math. I hate math too, so I bring a lot of sympathy to the table.

When Rebecca was moaning about fractions, I reminded her of her dream of working with big cats someday.

"Honey, the day will come when you will need to know how much medicine to give a tiger. You will need to be able to add and subtract these fractions so that he can be given the life saving dosage of antibiotics or heart medicine. The tigers are counting on you!" I said.

Apparently, this was all the motivation she needed.

She likes visual aids so she fetched a few tiger stuffed animals and approached each problem as an opportunity to save a feline life.

"This kitty needs tapeworm medicine!" she declared.

 

This is one of the reasons I love to homeschool. We are able to take an abstract concept and make it relevant and worthwhile.  Homeschool readers, how do you make difficult subject matter go more smoothly?

Crazy, crazy and more crazy...

Dear Internet,

I have a tale to tell, a cautionary tale of home improvement, borderline obsessive compulsiveness and hands deformed and misshapen from nine hours of sanding and scraping.

It all began when my husband took my children to the mountains to partake in any number of horrors outdoor winter sports. Three days of quiet and relaxation. Ahhhhh. So lovely.

At least it was for about three minutes until I decided that I should do all of the home improvement projects which have been vexing me for months. I had this idea, this notion, that if only I got everything organized and properly cataloged I would never waste another moment of my life looking for anything again.

I could see my home recreated as the love child of Ikea and The Container Store. The perfect combination of tidy and chic.

It seemed very logical in my addled mind that I should begin by repainting Rebecca's floor. I removed the contents of her room and put them into my room, the hallway and Lily's room and began to scrape and sand.

This took many, many, many, more hours than I imagined it would. To pass the time I listened to Jim Dale read aloud the seventh Harry Potter book, and even though I have read this book several times, I still sobbed great saw dusty tears into my face mask when Harry walks to Voldemort, ready to die.

There was no one to stop me from from my crazy so I went ahead and sanded in a tank top and underwear. I cannot recommend this outfit for sanding unless a butt full of saw dust is a desired outcome for you and if it is, please do not tell me about it.

I finished the sanding at about 10pm on Tuesday night and got the first coat of paint on by 10:30. It was going very well until just as I was finishing the floor, I stepped in some paint. I hadn't the foresight to have some paper towels handy so I was forced to crawl through the hallway on my hands and knees and then flip myself into the tub so I could properly clean myself of paint and sawdust.

Day Two began with me realizing that my hands had taken on the appearance of crone's hands, or perhaps those of a very evil witch. They were in a permanent clutch from so many hours spent scraping the floor. In addition to my deformed hands, every other body part hurt as well from being hunched upon the floor alternately cursing my inferior tools and crying for poor Fred Weasley.

Not one to let good sense get the better of me, I plunged into the day anew. Four motrin and a hot shower gave me the strength to put two more coats of paint on Rebecca's floor. While the floor was  drying it was time to tackle Lily's room. I sorted all four hundred and fifty seven Littlest Pet Shop animals, Polly Pockets and Monster High Dolls into separate buckets and as long as Lily never actually plays with her toys, her room will stay nice and tidy.

It was by midday Wednesday that I began to have some nagging doubts about my master plan. I could see that achieving the organizationgasm which I desired would prove elusive as long as I had other people living with me. Plus, handling all of these objects was making me very tired. All the bins, the toys, the books- I could feel my dream crumbling.

I'd be lucky if it stayed tidy for ten minutes once my family came home.

Nonetheless, this project had become too big to simply abandon it. I could only go forward and hope that there was chocolate on the other side.

I began putting Rebecca's stuff back in her room which helped clear out the hallway and my bedroom a bit.

Meanwhile, I had "borrowed" two bookcases from the master bedroom for Lily's room which meant that I needed to sort through all of the books which I had dumped on my bed.

This is when a miracle happened. It was the miracle of "Law and Order" on television for four hours straight. I don't watch much television, so this was a revelation and it got me through the mind numbing boredom of book sorting. Once the books where sorted into the boxes of giveaways and the keepers, I had to find new homes for the keepers. These I brought downstairs and put on the shelves.

By the time I was done with the books it was time for me to clean out my closet. By now it was evening. I ate some nachos and by then "Bones" was on. It turns out that I love that show! Who knew?

By the time I was done with the closet and the nachos, I had solved two murders and was almost done for the night. I swept and vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms and washed the kitchen floor.

I declared myself done.

As I lay in bed last night I tried to reconcile the death of my dream. My basement is still a mess, worse than ever really since I hauled two bookcases and a dresser down there yesterday. I had wanted to begin the new year completely organized- everything in its place and a system for everything. The fall and winter felt so chaotic to me- like I was always trying to catch up.

I think I have caught up a bit, but it will never live up to my dream. Happy families, it turns out, are not tidy things.

Love often leaves its toys out and forgets to hang up its towel.

Today I took it easy. Ran a few errands, but mostly I rested. I made peace with reality and found contentment in lying in bed with the dogs and watching Law and Order.

So, I am ready to begin 2011 with a slightly more organized home and all of the love my crazy heart can hold.

Still an idiot...

This post is going to be short because my hands are cramping.

Oh? Why are my hands cramping?

Well, David took the children out to the Berkshires to see cousins and grandparents and I stayed home so that I could undertake any number of completely stupid household projects which have been plaguing my fragile psyche for the last year.

Remember about a year and a half ago I blogged about how I had just painted the upstairs floors white, but that I hadn't sanded the girls rooms first?

Well, that paint job looked terrible. The painted really hadn't grabbed, which meant that it was peeling and scratched and just looked awful, especially compared to the hallway which I did sand and has held up very well.

Today, armed only with a dull putty knife and a small finish sander I scraped and sanded the hell out of that floor. I had thought that I would just be able to sand the paint right off.

I have rarely been so wrong.

Maybe if I had an actual floor sander and not some dinky four inch sander which loses its paper every ten minutes the paint would have come off. Instead, I spent nine hours scraping and sanding and washing and then scraping and sanding again before I was finally able to get the floor prepped for paint and get a coat on it.

My house has never been so squalid ever in the history of my life.

Do not stop by. I will hide under my bed and pretend not to be home until you go away.

Yours in stupidity,

Shiny Red Idiot