I snoop in thrift stores and cheapy stores and in these environments, creativity just oozes out of every pore. Take, for example, my pink dress. I found a long flouncy lace pink dress at the thrift store, and it took my breath away. I guess it spoke to my inner 60's flower child, but, ugly and outdated, I had to have it. First of all I cut off all those multicolored lace roses that served as buttons, because even with out the buttons, this dress is ridiculous. Then I took about five inches out of the sleeves, which made them more snug and and appropriate for this decade, if that is possible. Since then, whenever I shop, which is often, I have finding accessories to go with this dress in the back or front of my mind at all times. I have found some fabulous things. A Tommy Hilfiger denim vest that will lower the gook and raise the funky quotient of the dress. A muted pink and grey plaid cowboy shirt to wear under the vest. I found, get this, a pink sparkly animal print belt that looks absolutely stunning with the garb. Two scarves, and a grey sweatshirt for less formal occasions. I have been into the pink-dress-zone so deeply I forgot to notice that it didn't come with an under slip, so I shopped for something creative to wear underneath to make it modest. Actually you would have to be somewhat of a show off to wear this get-up, but not wearing anything under the dress would be crossing the line even for me. I settled on a long black slip. Sizzle. I'm having a more difficult time with shoes. If I were really brave I would wear high-topped Converses, but maybe I will just settle for some glitzy flip flops.
Once when Miriam had just come home from Spain, we went to the library together. We each went our way. I found a book about dogs and something funny made me want to laugh out loud. But, dang it, I was in the library so I tried to stifle it. That made it worse. It was so hilarious that my stifled laugh came out sounding a lot like a pig snorting. Which made me laugh and snort so hard, tears started streaming down my cheeks. Of course, I wanted to share all this hilarity with my daughter so I stood up and started walking toward her, snorting all the way. It was so funny that I had to cross my legs and bend over to keep from peeing my pants. Miriam said she heard the strangest loud noise in the library, and when she looked up to see what it was, to her alarm, it was her mother walking toward her, bent over, cross-legged and snorting like a pig with tears running down her face. She paused. She couldn't decide if there was something wrong with me and that she should get me to a hospital, or if I had completely gone off my rocker and she should get me to a hospital. She thought about calmly getting up and walking out of the library, not acknowledging any relationship with the snorting, contorted, crying woman. But, bless her heart, she accepted the humiliation of being my daughter to see if I was OK. I showed her the joke. "It's not funny, mom."
I think if I wore the pink dress in public, it would cause a similar reaction from my loved ones.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Mental Health Day
Every once in a while, maybe three times a year, I have to take a mental health day. Last night I went to bed at 9:00 and still couldn't get out of bed this morning. I couldn't face the oppositional defiant kids at school. I couldn't face the paperwork, and the responsibility of managing about 6 Behavior Plans, all while seeing about 60 students today and tomorrow. I couldn't face the fact that I had to go early to team meeting at one school during my other school's time, then run over to the other school. And yesterday I remembered I was the chair of the Anti-Bullying Committee at one of my schools. It was The Straw! I got out of bed, yes I did, got dressed.......and then crawled back in bed, fully clothed. I slept until 11:00.
So if I am going to take a mental health day I should do things that will make me feel more mentally healthy. I'll Brainstorm. Sleep. Exercise. Go outdoors. Meditate. Clean. Make bread. Why am I making list of things to do on mental health day?
I did go outside today to throw away some rotten tomatoes and heard some geese trumpeting their way South for the winter. I stood there until they came into sight, then watched about 100 beautiful birds flying in V-formation and cheering each other on as they flew into the South wind, a sure sign of a storm. The sound of geese isn't particularly pleasant, so then why is it so calming and healing to hear them honking at each other? It is one of the things I love about my home; it is in the path of migrating geese. They look and sound beautiful to me. And they make me want to fly south for the winter.
So if I am going to take a mental health day I should do things that will make me feel more mentally healthy. I'll Brainstorm. Sleep. Exercise. Go outdoors. Meditate. Clean. Make bread. Why am I making list of things to do on mental health day?
I did go outside today to throw away some rotten tomatoes and heard some geese trumpeting their way South for the winter. I stood there until they came into sight, then watched about 100 beautiful birds flying in V-formation and cheering each other on as they flew into the South wind, a sure sign of a storm. The sound of geese isn't particularly pleasant, so then why is it so calming and healing to hear them honking at each other? It is one of the things I love about my home; it is in the path of migrating geese. They look and sound beautiful to me. And they make me want to fly south for the winter.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Art of Massacring a Joke
There once was a guy named Artie. Artie needed money so desprately that he decided to rob a bank. He went to the first teller and demanded all her cash. "I don't have any" she said. He choked her and went to the next teller and demanded all his cash. "I don't have any" he said so he choked him and went to third one. "I don't have any," said the teller. He choked her and went to the last teller. "All I have is a dollar," he said. So Artie took the dollar and ran out of the bank. Newspaper headline that night: ARTIE CHOKES THREE FOR A DOLLAR!
Very clever, don't you think? I loved this joke so I wanted to tell it to my neighbor.
" There was this guy named Artie who went into the bank and asked the teller for all her cash. She said she didn't have any, so he conked her on the head and went to the next one." "Mom," little Miriam tugged on my sleeve, "You are telling it wrong!" "Miriam, don't interrupt!" "When he asked the next teller for the cash, he didn't have any either, so he conked him on the head and went to the next one." "Mom, that's not what Artie does!" "Miriam! Leave me alone! I'm telling the joke." "When Artie conks the last teller and leaves the bank, the newspaper printed the following headline: ARTIE CONKS THREE FOR A DOLLAR. Oops. I mean he choked all those tellers.
That was years ago. The other day I thought I would give it another try.
"A guy named Artie goes to the grocery store and buys three artichokes for a dollar." HHHHmmmmmmm. I'm getting worse.
Very clever, don't you think? I loved this joke so I wanted to tell it to my neighbor.
" There was this guy named Artie who went into the bank and asked the teller for all her cash. She said she didn't have any, so he conked her on the head and went to the next one." "Mom," little Miriam tugged on my sleeve, "You are telling it wrong!" "Miriam, don't interrupt!" "When he asked the next teller for the cash, he didn't have any either, so he conked him on the head and went to the next one." "Mom, that's not what Artie does!" "Miriam! Leave me alone! I'm telling the joke." "When Artie conks the last teller and leaves the bank, the newspaper printed the following headline: ARTIE CONKS THREE FOR A DOLLAR. Oops. I mean he choked all those tellers.
That was years ago. The other day I thought I would give it another try.
"A guy named Artie goes to the grocery store and buys three artichokes for a dollar." HHHHmmmmmmm. I'm getting worse.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
For the First time in my Life, I have Time
I killed half the grass in the front yard with Roundup just because I didn't have anything to do. I have seen some yards in downtown SLC that have no grass, just native plants and it's unique and attractive. And I decided to make the square garden in the front a white only garden so I'm digging out all the yellow and purple. In the front I'm putting Russian Sage, Valerian, Agastache, Blanket flower, Pentsemon, Cone Flower, Salvia, and Aster. And daylily, of course. There is room for 14 plants. In the white garden I have white iris, white salvia, Joan Senior daylily, daisies, Snow on the Mountain, Blue Fescue, Peonie, and today I planted some white tulips. I also ordered 3 white plants from High Country Gardens. Listened to LDS Conference today. Cleaned kitchen during morning conference and bedroom/bathroom during afternoon conference. Talked to Noelle, who is also bored. Maybe I should join a bookclub, or do something active, or anything. Since I quit dance, I've had time on my hands. Oh, yes, I'll be babysitting Stella on Tuesdays, going to the movie on Thursday with Noelle. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Cool Old Ladies
1) Know themselves really well and confidently create themselves and their environment with this as the basis.
2) Listen instead of judge, do not give advice or top everyone's stories
3) Care about what they wear and how they look
a. wear good support bras
b. have good posture
c. aren't too overweight
4) Are happy
5) Have lots of friends
6) Play
7) Have multiple interests
8) Read
9) Are reasonably up with technology
10) Are good natured
11) Take care of themselves
12) Have a different hairstyle than they did in high school
13) Have a nice resting face
14) Laugh
15) Are funny
2) Listen instead of judge, do not give advice or top everyone's stories
3) Care about what they wear and how they look
a. wear good support bras
b. have good posture
c. aren't too overweight
4) Are happy
5) Have lots of friends
6) Play
7) Have multiple interests
8) Read
9) Are reasonably up with technology
10) Are good natured
11) Take care of themselves
12) Have a different hairstyle than they did in high school
13) Have a nice resting face
14) Laugh
15) Are funny
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Security Question Continued
We rented for five years when we moved to Sandy. It was a very cool house but added to my list of things I wanted in a house, such as a coat room. My kids would walk in the front door after school, drop book bags and coats right there and run to the bathroom and then go to their rooms. I wanted a coat room in the front of the house that was two steps from a bathroom and closer to their rooms than the front door.
For three years I drove around the valley looking for the perfect location. The criteria for perfect being, 1) affordable, 2)mountain views (we do live in Utah, you know) , 3)East sloping lot for walk-out basement so it would be light downstairs, and so the deck would be shaded in the afternoon for barbecues, 4) neighborhood and schools, not necessarily in that order. Three years after we moved to Utah I found it at 12069 Hidden Valley Club Drive. The Hidden Valley Country Club had sold lots only to members, so each house that was built looked unique, not a cookie cutter subdivision. I loved it. The house would face West and sloped to the East, so I would have my walk-out basement and shaded family barbecues on the deck. The Jensens, members of the Country Club, wanted $25,000 for the lot and I am ashamed to say I offered them 24,000. They smiled at each other and accepted. The house design odyssey and obsession began anew.
For the next year and a half, I drew and researched and thought and imagined, until I had the house I knew I could live in forever. We had been married 15 years and moved 10 times, but I knew I had a house for the long-term. I had somehow acquired my dream lot. Here are some of the thoughts I had regarding The Carey Home structure. George wanted it just to be a simple, square house, which would be economical to build. I studied where the foot traffic in the house would be and planned accordingly. I wanted big windows along the back of the house, for the gorgeous views that we were lucky enough to have, so kitchen, dining, living room and master bedroom were on the east of the house all with big windows. In the front were garage, den, stairs, closets, shower and tub, which don't require big windows. We wanted a 3-car garage this time, a walk-in pantry, huge kitchen and utility room, and master bathroom with walk-in closet. We added a den, a sauna, and I wanted a fireplace between living and dining rooms. With all these changes, our plan ended up being a few hundred square feet smaller than the Meridian house. After drawing the plans, which this time included heating and electrical plans, getting them approved by Sandy City and subcontracting the house myself, the final cost of the house was $97,000 plus $24,000 for the lot for a total of $119,000. We framed in for the fireplace, decks, sauna and large bathtub and added them later along with central air conditioning.
We had a row of five dormitory bedrooms along the east wall of the basement, a boys bathroom, a girls bathroom, a small library, a storage room and a family room. The family room dream never really happened, but recently some of our forward thinking has paid off. We plumbed the downstairs for an eventual kitchen, and our son and daughter-in-law came after graduation and made a beautiful three bedroom apartment and stayed there for two years. Now we have renters which brings in a little extra money. Eventually mom can live down there if she wants to.
We moved in just as school was starting in 1990. But not before the next door neighbor invited us over and asked if he could hire an architect to redraw our house. He said some very hurtful things like our house didn't belong in this subdivision, it belonged up in Oakley. He thought our simple house would bring down property values and he had gone to all the neighbors with 22 of them signing a petition to redesign our house. We declined and proceeded with our plans. Our house had met all criteria for the neighborhood covenants. However, I knew the house was plain and was deeply hurt. It eventually blew over and the neighbor moved to an upscale neighborhood a couple of years later.
Our home has been a work in progress. George has worked hard to put in the fireplace, bathtub, sauna, fences, landscaping. He has bought more property in the back so that our lot is now almost an acre, I think. Before his mission, Michael and George built two huge decks, one off the kitchen and one from the basement, which was a major undertaking. Michael came home from his mission and terraced our backyard and made a beautiful, huge stairway going down the hill.
I decorated the house from my heart. I like a more eclectic style than is ever in fashion. My kitchen cabinets are all white laminate, my floors are black and white checkered tile and marble and I don't have window coverings. I have had the same kitchen table that George's mother raised her family around, since we got married. George worked hard to strip the white paint off and refinish it. Now I have my grandmother's white kitchen cupboard that I am refinishing for my white kitchen. I have original art from June and my mom, and little wooden birds and animals that George's Dad made. I like oriental looking rugs and not a lot of knick-knacks or pictures.
Our big three-car garage was just kind of pasted on the front of the house making our house L-shaped. I would have had to make too many sacrifices to the floor plan to set it back into the house. This was one of Joel's points of contention. A few years later I had George make a fenced in courtyard with trellis extending from the front of the garage, which improved the looks of the house and made a hidden garden as a front entrance into the house. My garden is quite attractive. Janice, my friend loves my garden because she said it looks cared for, but natural and beautifully imperfect. I have between 60 and 70 varieties of daylilies that I have acquired throughout my garden. One year George had staked labels made for each of them that says their name, hybridizer and year, which adds to my enjoyment and the uniqueness of the garden. It has not been an easy garden. The soil is awful and so my strategy has been, if it stays alive, it was meant to be there. I have spent more money on dead plants than I care to add up.
This week we are getting our roof reshingled. Shingles blow off all the time and they tell me it wasn't shingled very well. But I almost hate to have them covered up. You see, George and the kids put the original shingles on, and I have a lasting image of my entire family working on the roof to finish our house. Everyone worked on the house. On the roof is a detail that I was somewhat stubborn about including in the house. Silly, but it is a cupola. I love cupolas. Mine is a country doctor with horse and carriage. It is a quaint and charming detail of the Carey Home.
Anyway, we love our home. We worked hard for it and it has worked hard for us. Lately there has been a new movement called the Not-So-Big-House movement. Sarah Susanka wrote a book with that title, about planning a house that fits your lifestyle and has just enough room for your needs. If feel that I intuitively followed this philosophy from the time this home was first conceived. I dreamed it, I planned it, I built it, I am paying for it, I raised my family in it, I decorated it, I change it frequently, I live hard in it. I love it. My bank has me answer some security questions to access my account. One of them is "What is your favorite vacation spot?" My answer is "Home."
For three years I drove around the valley looking for the perfect location. The criteria for perfect being, 1) affordable, 2)mountain views (we do live in Utah, you know) , 3)East sloping lot for walk-out basement so it would be light downstairs, and so the deck would be shaded in the afternoon for barbecues, 4) neighborhood and schools, not necessarily in that order. Three years after we moved to Utah I found it at 12069 Hidden Valley Club Drive. The Hidden Valley Country Club had sold lots only to members, so each house that was built looked unique, not a cookie cutter subdivision. I loved it. The house would face West and sloped to the East, so I would have my walk-out basement and shaded family barbecues on the deck. The Jensens, members of the Country Club, wanted $25,000 for the lot and I am ashamed to say I offered them 24,000. They smiled at each other and accepted. The house design odyssey and obsession began anew.
For the next year and a half, I drew and researched and thought and imagined, until I had the house I knew I could live in forever. We had been married 15 years and moved 10 times, but I knew I had a house for the long-term. I had somehow acquired my dream lot. Here are some of the thoughts I had regarding The Carey Home structure. George wanted it just to be a simple, square house, which would be economical to build. I studied where the foot traffic in the house would be and planned accordingly. I wanted big windows along the back of the house, for the gorgeous views that we were lucky enough to have, so kitchen, dining, living room and master bedroom were on the east of the house all with big windows. In the front were garage, den, stairs, closets, shower and tub, which don't require big windows. We wanted a 3-car garage this time, a walk-in pantry, huge kitchen and utility room, and master bathroom with walk-in closet. We added a den, a sauna, and I wanted a fireplace between living and dining rooms. With all these changes, our plan ended up being a few hundred square feet smaller than the Meridian house. After drawing the plans, which this time included heating and electrical plans, getting them approved by Sandy City and subcontracting the house myself, the final cost of the house was $97,000 plus $24,000 for the lot for a total of $119,000. We framed in for the fireplace, decks, sauna and large bathtub and added them later along with central air conditioning.
We had a row of five dormitory bedrooms along the east wall of the basement, a boys bathroom, a girls bathroom, a small library, a storage room and a family room. The family room dream never really happened, but recently some of our forward thinking has paid off. We plumbed the downstairs for an eventual kitchen, and our son and daughter-in-law came after graduation and made a beautiful three bedroom apartment and stayed there for two years. Now we have renters which brings in a little extra money. Eventually mom can live down there if she wants to.
We moved in just as school was starting in 1990. But not before the next door neighbor invited us over and asked if he could hire an architect to redraw our house. He said some very hurtful things like our house didn't belong in this subdivision, it belonged up in Oakley. He thought our simple house would bring down property values and he had gone to all the neighbors with 22 of them signing a petition to redesign our house. We declined and proceeded with our plans. Our house had met all criteria for the neighborhood covenants. However, I knew the house was plain and was deeply hurt. It eventually blew over and the neighbor moved to an upscale neighborhood a couple of years later.
Our home has been a work in progress. George has worked hard to put in the fireplace, bathtub, sauna, fences, landscaping. He has bought more property in the back so that our lot is now almost an acre, I think. Before his mission, Michael and George built two huge decks, one off the kitchen and one from the basement, which was a major undertaking. Michael came home from his mission and terraced our backyard and made a beautiful, huge stairway going down the hill.
I decorated the house from my heart. I like a more eclectic style than is ever in fashion. My kitchen cabinets are all white laminate, my floors are black and white checkered tile and marble and I don't have window coverings. I have had the same kitchen table that George's mother raised her family around, since we got married. George worked hard to strip the white paint off and refinish it. Now I have my grandmother's white kitchen cupboard that I am refinishing for my white kitchen. I have original art from June and my mom, and little wooden birds and animals that George's Dad made. I like oriental looking rugs and not a lot of knick-knacks or pictures.
Our big three-car garage was just kind of pasted on the front of the house making our house L-shaped. I would have had to make too many sacrifices to the floor plan to set it back into the house. This was one of Joel's points of contention. A few years later I had George make a fenced in courtyard with trellis extending from the front of the garage, which improved the looks of the house and made a hidden garden as a front entrance into the house. My garden is quite attractive. Janice, my friend loves my garden because she said it looks cared for, but natural and beautifully imperfect. I have between 60 and 70 varieties of daylilies that I have acquired throughout my garden. One year George had staked labels made for each of them that says their name, hybridizer and year, which adds to my enjoyment and the uniqueness of the garden. It has not been an easy garden. The soil is awful and so my strategy has been, if it stays alive, it was meant to be there. I have spent more money on dead plants than I care to add up.
This week we are getting our roof reshingled. Shingles blow off all the time and they tell me it wasn't shingled very well. But I almost hate to have them covered up. You see, George and the kids put the original shingles on, and I have a lasting image of my entire family working on the roof to finish our house. Everyone worked on the house. On the roof is a detail that I was somewhat stubborn about including in the house. Silly, but it is a cupola. I love cupolas. Mine is a country doctor with horse and carriage. It is a quaint and charming detail of the Carey Home.
Anyway, we love our home. We worked hard for it and it has worked hard for us. Lately there has been a new movement called the Not-So-Big-House movement. Sarah Susanka wrote a book with that title, about planning a house that fits your lifestyle and has just enough room for your needs. If feel that I intuitively followed this philosophy from the time this home was first conceived. I dreamed it, I planned it, I built it, I am paying for it, I raised my family in it, I decorated it, I change it frequently, I live hard in it. I love it. My bank has me answer some security questions to access my account. One of them is "What is your favorite vacation spot?" My answer is "Home."
Answer to Security Question, "What is your favorite vacation spot?"
In 1984, we bought a wonderful half acre lot in Meridian, Idaho. George bought me a huge pad of erasable graph paper and I went to town drawing and erasing, and crumbling and throwing away, and drawing and erasing my dream home. It had to be practical, fit our needs, be aesthetically pleasing, and fit into our budget. My favorite pastime for the entire year, was looking at pictures of houses in magazines, driving around looking at houses, reading about houses, and of course, designing the house. However my best information came from living in houses. We had lived in Idaho for 10 years at that time and had lived in 5 houses. I knew what I did and didn't like in those houses.
My 6 children received only the most basic of care while I was obsessed with this project. And by the time we started building, I was expecting our seventh. I got the plans approved by Meridian City, got bids from subcontractors and nagged them until the house was done. It was completed in 3 months and we moved in two weeks before our last child, Stephanie was born. I really loved that house but that year the bottom fell out of real estate and George was offered a job in Salt Lake so we sold the house and moved to Utah. Emotionally, I didn't think I could move out of the home I had created, so I just loaded up the kids and left George to do the packing, moving and cleaning.
My 6 children received only the most basic of care while I was obsessed with this project. And by the time we started building, I was expecting our seventh. I got the plans approved by Meridian City, got bids from subcontractors and nagged them until the house was done. It was completed in 3 months and we moved in two weeks before our last child, Stephanie was born. I really loved that house but that year the bottom fell out of real estate and George was offered a job in Salt Lake so we sold the house and moved to Utah. Emotionally, I didn't think I could move out of the home I had created, so I just loaded up the kids and left George to do the packing, moving and cleaning.
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