Lessons Learned

As much as I’ve learned in the last two years—

-being married isn’t easy.
-the trashcan won’t empty itself.
-two Coach purses are better than none.
-the laundry fairy doesn’t make a stop at this house.
-watching golf on TV and hiking in 100+ weather will never be fun.

I’ve learned so much more the last 41 days. 

For starters:

If your English Bulldog seems to be terrified of the fireworks on the 4th of July DO NOT force him to go outside.  This might result in a late night visit to the emergency vet.  That isn’t fun. 

Thanks to Dr. Dave, Bully was restored to his normal, smiling self.  Thanks to Dr. Frankie, we have a supply of meds to keep him calm, cool and collected!

 

Don’t attempt to start too many projects at once—especially when it is ridiculously hot outside.  What in the world was I thinking?!?!

If you do, your garage might begin to look like this:

At this rate, I’ll be lucky to have dining chairs for Thanksgiving.

 

If you cook like you’re part Mexican, you should use a large planter for Cilantro… otherwise you’ll still be buying it in the grocery store.  Who needs that much parsley anyway?!

 

It is IMPOSSIBLE to keep your floors clean when you have three shredding dogs… no matter how many different cleaning products you buy.  Aren’t they sweet?

 

Sitting at a desk for approximately 261 hours or 15,660 minutes over the last 29 work days I’ve had nothing but time to think about the other lessons I’ve learned.

So many of life’s lessons are learned the hard way—here lately they have left a trail of unwanted outcomes.  What can you do?     

Oh, lessons learned
And they sure run deep.
They don't go away
And they don't come cheap.
Oh, there's no way around it,
This world turns
On lessons learned.

Here Lately…

Summer kicked off with a blast (or with a crash?)!   

The 2nd Annual End of School Party did not disappoint.  I am glad to report that I will remember the details of this one.

  I already miss my friends MUCHO.

Then I started my new job…

I had to conquer my fear of this--
(my extension is 5006, btw)

I use a lot of these: 

This cooler-purse was one of my first
projects for a “mini-event”:

“Gift-baskets are... the essence of class and fanciness. They are the ultimate present that a person can receive.” 
–Angela
I <3  the Office.

And I’ve only cried once—that was day two.

I have to dress up every day.  I am a huge fan of:

(I have Stephanie Beaty to thank for that!)  The sales are incredible and they have loyalty programs and amazing savings passes.  If you know me (and you do…otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this) you know that I don’t like to pay full price—ever. 

The summer season was going well until…

CRASH! 
Thanks Jesse.
(TRUST ME—this is causing more of a headache than it appears)

I do laundry aaaaall the time. It is getting old.  Bully doesn’t even like it.  He would rather nap.

I sanded down the painters tray that I bought a few weeks ago.  Believe it or not, I even mounted the picture hanger and put it on the wall all by myself.  I have a few printers blocks on it and I am hunting for more (that aren’t ridiculously expensive)!  This is my “easy” weekend project.  I started sanding down my dining chairs yesterday … NOT fun!!! 

And those are the not-so-exciting events that have taken place over the last month! ¡hasta lugeo!

(Sure wish I were going to Mexico—or anywhere—this summer!)

Waiting… or perhaps Bargain Shopping?

We found a table in the attic when we moved into our house.  It wasn’t anything special. Jesse moved the table to the garage where it waited patiently for a new purpose in life.  In the meantime it became a resting place for  random items in the garage… and then I bought a sander.  In 10 minutes the random splotches of  pink nail polish and the pale white paint were gone.  All I needed was…

CRACKLE PAINT!!!  The “free table” suddenly became known as the $100 table.  I have been known to go overboard on these things. (On an unrelated note: don’t you love those wheels?)

I used Victorian Chinese for the base coat…

Then you wait…

and wait…. and wait…

The next day you add the antique crackle glaze and wait… but not more than four hours!

I used an ivory color for the top coat—but I don’t remember the name and I’m too lazy to go look. When you brush this layer of paint on, it begins to crack almost instantly. 

I was quite amused with the cracking.  In fact, I was so entertained by the process that I didn’t paint fast enough and made a few mistakes.  It didn’t look right. I had to let the table dry, sand those two areas and repeat the paint and wait process.

Here is the  finished product complete with accessories.  The pan is old.  Andrew and Papaw used it to clean fish.  I bought it at auction for $2.  True story. 
Clay pot $5 (TJ Maxx)
Lantern $5 (WalMart)

Here are some pictures of this weekend’s gardening endeavor:

Yes, that’s a Razorback bucket. We added orange gerbera daisies and a purple African daisy for more color this year.

 

 

I found this plant stand ($10) at a flea market last year and painted it with a trusty can of Rustoleum ($3).   It smelled delicious.
Don’t worry; I’m not finished with the front porch transformation project—yet! 

I just noticed that I haven’t posted any pictures of the children.

Bully loves his TJ Maxx bed ($20) unless it’s storming.  When it storms he sleeps in my room.  Jesse said the bed is too “girlie” for such a manly dog.

Lo que sea.

Also, I have waited long enough to announce this:  I am retiring from teaching effective June 2011.  Am I excited? Heck yes!

Melt

Yesterday I wore a pair of pants from way back in my high school days (I know, right!?).  There’s something to be said for the timeless nature of Abercrombie; remember when that was all that mattered?  Ha!  The pants spurred  a few nostalgic feelings, but  I think Jessalyn beat me to the punch on that topic!

After a multiple days of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-sixties, the snow has all melted and it is finally safe to post these pictures without encouraging death threats or thoughts of ill will.

Everyone hates the white stuff, but the blanket of snow at Big Cedar was simply breathtaking!  It also afforded me the chance to “help” The Jesse.  The Z was impossible to drive in the snow, forcing me to go to work with Jesse—reaaaally early.

I polished stacks of plates and got to light the fire under the “food holders.”  Amazingly fun… just try not to inhale when you’re lighting matches. It’s gross.

They always set up a buffet in the bar for associates who get snowed in at work. You should know that one of those containers is FILLED with the most delicious bacon EVER.  Mmm…

 

 

 

The room service person didn’t make it in to work, so Jesse delivered all of the orders… naturally I was his assistant.

We traversed the snow-covered roads; I took pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the delivery adventures, I graded papers and enjoyed an incredible breakfast!!! Hmm… when a plate of bacon is involved grading papers isn’t so terrible!

For the last month I’ve been spending my weekends working at Big Cedar.  Snow, rain or sunshine it’s always b-e-a-utiful.

It’s right where I
want to be.

Even the worst week at school seems to melt away when I’m working for the  weekend. 

This is procrastination at its finest!

Even after FOUR snow days I still think the site of fresh, falling snow is b-e-a-utiful!  Honestly, I’m just hoping that today’s snowfall dilutes the amount of STANKY yellow snow around the back porch.  Ga-ross! 

I’m on my last stack of papers to grade, but I’m lacking all motivation.  I gave the “advanced” kiddos a project where they had to interview their friends, write a report en español and create two graphs to illustrate the results.  Apparently these kids can’t follow a set of 3-step directions (complete with illustrated examples) or they just chose not to! Grr…

Instead of grading these lackluster papers, I’ll post the official Winterfest photo instead:

Hmm… someone’s looking chubby and it’s actually not me! HA!

Where in the world did I get the hand-on-the-hip trick?  It looks much better in a full-length (appropriately centered) shot… or so I read.  I kid. I kid.  I have a friend that pulls it off like a PRO, but she’s simply gorgeous. According to this picture, I’m the KING and Jesse is the QUEEN!  That explains so much.

Word on the street is that my dad is a little upset because he hasn’t made an appearance on the blog.  How’s this:  yesterday I had a free sample of the dental-flosser-stick thingy in my mailbox and it made me think of my daddy.  He LOVES those things!

I watched two episodes of Friday Night Lights today.  I am not in the emotional state to watch the series finale on Wednesday.  How will life go on?!  I’m really torn up about it.

Texas forever, Six.

Snowcation 2011

Saturday night we added a new, old dog to the crazy mix at the Courtney house.  Meet Bully the 5 year old English Bulldog.

I think he is quite the charmer.  Jesse would tell you that I fell in love with Bully right away.  To be totally honest, I was apprehensive.  Toby barked incessantly and Percy was cautious. Bully wormed his way into my heart.  Although at a whopping weight of 53 pounds it was more of a steamroller effect.  It’s safe to say: I love him! 

Jesse says that he “likes” Bully, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.  Percy has been avoiding my camera since we brought the big lug nut home.  Maybe that’s his way of silently protesting the addition.  Percy should know that he will ALWAYS be my número uno.  The two snow days have been great.  All three of the boys (Percy, Toby and Bully) are getting along really well.  For this I am incredibly thankful.

I got a good start on my dining room project today.  Now I’ll be at another standstill until I get warmer weather (and time) to do the sanding, stripping, and staining/painting. 

 I owe many, many thanks to my Momma for the table, chairs and sideboard.  This set is from 1928 and still has the original shipping label attached to several of the pieces.    I love, love, love old stuff!   This is especially fun because it’s been in the family since it was purchased nearly 80 years ago.  I’m excited to see the finished product sometime this year!!!  Baby steps…

Today I recovered all 6 of the dining chairs.  I’ve never done anything like this, but I think they turned out really well—all things considered. Ha! 

When I was shopping at Lowe’s for the staple gun and ammo Drew told me about an amazing fabric store in Springfield.  Jesse was a good sport and went “shopping” with me.  I really liked the red in this fabric.  The price was pretty amazing too.  I bought extra fabric “just in case.”  Now I need to find another project to use the rest of the material. Hmm…

Original Fabric

(and furniture models)

Dismantled Chair

 

The one on the left was my first attempt.  The top looked great—the underside?  Not so much!  Don’t worry.  I had the opportunity to redo the seat because I messed up on my pattern repeat and ended up with two different looks. 

I emailed Jesse this picture and he side the one of the left looked like a “landing strip for your butt” and said that I should go with the pattern on the right.  I couldn’t believe he had an opinion.

After a snow-shoveling break and lunch I finished recovering the chairs.  I owe Norm a huge thanks.  Without these AMAZING snow days I wouldn’t have been able to get started.  Oh—and a special thanks to Lindsay—the subconscious inspiration for my fabric choice! Ha!

I really enjoyed working on these chairs.  My thumbs are a little sore, but I could definitely recover old dining chairs for a living… or at least during SNOWCATIONS!

Seven

Seven years ago Jesse and I went to Winterfest together for the first-and only- time.  My sleazebag boyfriend and I had broken up (again) right before Christmas.  I needed a date to a stupid dance… or so my friends insisted. 

I was still friends with Sleazebag’s (I almost abbreviated that term of un-endearment as ‘SB’ but that abbreviation is just too close to home) best friend.  I asked said friend what he knew about this guy at my school.  He did not offer his endorsement, but he did say something to the effect of, “What about my brother?”

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  The last time I talked to best friend’s brother Sleazebag came out of the locker room in quite a disturbed rage.  PERFECT. 

Long story short, Jesse agreed to go to the dance with me IF I would go to Winterfest with him.  INSANE.  Our first date was at Chateau on the Lake and was incredibly awkward.  Our tablemates were Sleazebag’s best friend/Jesse’s little brother (aka Billy), Billy’s date, and their parents.  AWESOME.  Unfortunately, there are no pictures to document this event.

Billy was dating Miss Newton County at the time.  I distinctly remember Jessalyn texting me to ask if the reigning county queen had all of her teeth.  She did.  I actually liked that girl. Oh well.

Despite the awkwardness of the first date, we still went to the dance together.  I guess you could say that the rest is history.

So I was dating a pseudo-Mexican.  I had to fix that.  I was RIDICULOUSLY shallow back in the day.  A zero-entry kiddie pool had nothing on me.

NOW who’s wearing the button up Polo with the sleeves rolled up and the shirt unbuttoned too far?!  At least don’t have a Confederate flag necklace (to be fair, in HS I had one hanging from my rearview mirror) and my face isn’t gaunt any more.

For the second time in SEVEN years, we’ll be going to Winterfest together tonight.  Hopefully we’ll both be dressed decently.  Hopefully it isn’t awkward.   Maybe I’ll even manage to get a picture this time.