Archive January 27, 2014

furniture for fun

I love to do up-cycled furniture for fun…..especially chairs. Life on a budget means my excursions are scoping out resale shops and getting old chairs to make fun. I now have a storage Unit full of decorated chairs. I am always looking for places to donate them.

My sister's friend Linda wanted a chair for her granddaughter to use when they cook. This is her stepping chair with hooks for her apron.

My sister’s friend Linda wanted a chair for her granddaughter to use when they cook. This is her stepping chair with hooks for her apron.front

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Boo to you

Have you ever seen Boo the world cutest dog? I love him and his friend Buddy. But I have my babies whome I miss more than words can say. THEY WERE THE BEST FRIEND THROUGH THE HARDEST OF TIMES. they were there when I needed them. They lived long happy lives but I miss them so much. We could have given Boo a run for his money.

CUPCAKE, COOKIE AND CHOCOLATE CHIP
By Glamour shots photos

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Daily inspiration

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I love this sign. I took a photo of it in the store. It’s wonderful. I have always been the safe person with my life and did what my family wanted me to do. I was more adventurous as a teacher. I have been privileged to do so much more than what most teachers got to do. 88 awards in excellence of teaching and science teaching. Local, stat, and national. I just wish my life had more then teaching. Hind sight 20/20.

Daily inspiration

I am trying acupuncture on my headaches. Hopefully I will see some improvements. It’s been a bad week for a lot of reasons. This was on the wall and I loved it.

WE MUST BE WILLING TO LET GO OF THE LIFE WE HAVE PLANNED, SO AS TO HAVE THE LIFE THAT IS WAITING FOR US.

I loved this. I grew up on a dairy farm in Port Wahington Wisconsin. I thought I would always be a on a farm with cows, pigs, horses and land. Instead I spent 30 years of my life teaching inner city children from low socioeconomic, high poverty families. Then my schools population changed and while I still had many African American students, I learned about newcomers. Children from war, poverty, camps……many survivors that were new to the USA. I was privileged to learn about many cultures, many countries and many different ways of life. Some of it Hmong but Congo, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Chinese, Sudan, Russia, Iran, and Lebanon just to name some of them. Each child and family added something special to my life, not just as a teacher but as a person.

So, No we don’t always go to what we have planned but we must grab on and enjoy and learn from the life we do live.

My rainbow, swavorski crystal chair

My rainbow, swavorski crystal chair

Daily Inspiration

Few people have the courage to seek out change. It’s for. the Total Money Makeover”. I am working on debt free. This is because I thought I had all the bases covered when I left teaching and could not teach anymore. I had all the doctors in agreement with my disability and my brain injury. I didn’t realize it was tied up in workmanship comp negotiations. I went for a years with no money coming in and $800 a month in health insurance payments going out. Not good. So now I rebuild and I pay off debt. I would have been better off I ha the house paid off once, but four years ago it flooded with the rest of the state. Every time I went to fix something, I couldn’t just fix it, I had to fix it and bring it up to code from the 1950s and as one thing got done another cropped up. What a mess and a new mortgage on the house…….luckily with help I never was in danger of losing the house. I had the payments payed up six months in advance. A little preplanning luck.
I didn’t seek out this change but a lot of things in the duplex go updated, and yes I had insurance even extra insurance. It paid nothing. So change is good even if it’s not sought out.

The chairs I made my grand niece Abby

The rocking chair I made my grand niece Abby

daily inspiration

I find things in all sorts of places that inspire me or assist me in moving one. When I find those things I am going to start posting them here under ” daily inspirations ” look for this heading if you need to think, moray, meditate, or inspire yourself. I will try to tell you where I found it but some are so,d old the source is unknown.
This one came from Weight Watchers Magazine 2014
Apply the 98% rule.
When it comes to putting shame in its place, a slight shift in focus can make a huge difference. “It’s human nature to obsess about the 2% of things in life that go wrong” says Albers. instead focus on the 98 percent that are truly worthy of celebration. Make a list of positive things in your life and revisit it often. Fight the shame game.
My list
I have a great support system in my friends.
I have a great immediate family who loves me.
I have a wonderful though challenging house rescued animals.
I have a roof over my head, food in the house, and I am not behind on any bills.
I am working on being debt free.
When I ask for help someone will always be there, but I have to ask. No shame in being dependent.

My yellow garden chair

My yellow garden chair

Keep trying

Even though I get tired and have to rest a lot, I keep trying to go on, keep busy, stay active….but sometimes it is so hard…..

I am in the process of giving way my children’s library. I loved every book in it, I really did. It makes me sad. I kept some of my favorites…..sometimes it leaves this big empty hole.

My royal blue chair

My royal blue chair

Kitchen cabinets

I took the old metal cabinets and painted them too. They were done with one of those old fake staining kits. I couldn’t clean them anymore so I painted them. I also did the counters with one of those counter transformation kits. It’s didn’t turn out as nice as I had hoped. Since I did it the counter has yellowed in places and I should have sanded it more. But it looks ok. Then I painted the brick backslash.

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Kitchen walls

I had to figure out what to do with the kitchen. It needed new flooring. So being on a major budget and being that I stick with “a coat of paint goes a long way” I went to the hardware store and bought floor paint. Then I had them mix paint to match the cabinets I painted. (the cabinets were old metal cabinets from the 50’s). The only thing I would do different is I would make the floor darker. I used a French vanilla and when I polyurethaned over it yellowed in spots. A darker color wouldn’t show the yellowing so much.

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Living room

I had a pipe clogged and water would not come out of the tub faucet. To fix it the plumber has to cut a whole in the wall. This is beyond my fixing ability, but he put the pieces back as much as possible. One thing I learned when I bought this house, you can cover anything with wallpaper. I cannot even tell you what I found when I peeled the wallpaper the summer after Dad died. So I papered over it. When the budget is stable again it will get fixed right but until then the living room does not have a hole in the wall you can see. Lifelong learning. I am a teacher, always learning something

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