5 thing Friday - easy meals, painting, tired me, new couch, moving decor around

I've been doing fairly well at feeding myself reasonable meals lately. 

One night this week I made a noodle bowl with bowtie pasta, broccoli, lemon pesto, and a sauteed tilapia filet.  Easy, quick, and filling, with no leftovers.

Another fairly easy meal was smash burger quesadillas.  Not low cal by any means, but super delicious.

Bubbie has gotten into the swing of meal prepping again, now that he has his own kitchen.  Looks like he is focusing on veggies!  This makes my heart happy.  I know he was so ready to be out of my house and into his own space and I don't blame him one bit.  I should have him cook for me!

On Wednesday I tackled cleaning and painting the closet in the bonus room.  I also took all the switchplate covers off, removed the shelving system, patched nail holes, and bought the paint.

The color I picked is called Misty Surf and is a dusty greenish blue.

Once I painted the inside of the closet, I realized I needed to touch up the door frame and door.  (of course, because one project always spawns a few more)  I took loads of command hooks down and I may not replace them.  With 4 kids, I have purchased enough Command hooks to keep that company in business.

I felt so out of gas the first half of Thursday and I will admit, I was laying on my couch for most of the morning.  However, after lunch I rallied and painted the bonus room in record time - 2 hours.  It helps that I had already done all of the prep.  The color doesn't look all that different in this photo, but in person is so pretty and soothing.

I also made plans to paint this wall in the den  in the color "Blue Blood", which is from that same paint palette.  Because guess who bought herself a new couch?

It is being made now, in a gorgeous deep soft navy.  I am so looking forward to getting cozy on that chaise and read to my heart's content.  I'm going to look for a neutral rug and I have already moved some things around in the room.

Like a signed Pena print from 1988 (that I cannot part with), and these sconces which went to live in my bedroom temporarily (which will also get painted!).  I am shopping my house to change things up. But I am getting ahead of myself - got to work on the bonus room today and get ready for the work weekend.  Lots of plans, but all in good time.  I am definitely going to rest today!

Gina

Bonus room plans

Well, the day arrived for Bubbie to move out and into his own apartment.  While I am happy for him to gain his independence, I am feeling the Empty Nest thing hard!  Time for a big project - I already have a home office and sewing room, so this is now a bonus room.

As of Friday morning there were still things in here that needed to be dealt with.  So I moved it all out into the garage for him to make decisions and deal with the pile. (including that desk which is a beast!)  I carefully peeled those posters off and removed all of the tacks and nails in the walls.

I emptied the shelves and closet, too.  I want a completely empty space so I can decide how to reimagine this space.  Plus, oh my goodness its dirty in here!  Everything needs cleaning and dusting. 

The carpet for the entire house will be replaced, but in the meantime, I vacuumed and steam cleaned in here, and made a plan for refreshing the space:

*use Magic Eraser on the doors, clean the fan

*replace the mini blind, one of the outlet covers, the switchplate cover, and the ceiling fan pull

*repaint the closet and the trim

*paint the room a soothing color.  A green/gray blue?

*remove the shelving system and patch the holes

But, how to use this space?  I don't really want to just leave it empty and close the door - I'm not selling the house anytime soon.  And someone warned me that a guest room would mean its available for someone to come back home...but what about having a day bed in here, with a table and lamp, possibly a chair.  I may very well have a guest one day!  Originally, I was going to make a reading room, but I have found a different solution for a place to read.  I know I will use the closet space for storage, though. I'm taking it step by step until I figure it out.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Gina

5 thing Friday - work anniversary, summer heat, moving Bubbie, refreshing my spaces, easy dinner

What a week it has been. 

I started off by celebrating my 31 years as an X-Ray tech with my weekend co-workers.  A nice group of people, no drama and usually a smile on their faces.  I think this is the most peaceful group I have yet to work with!  It makes Monday seem very loud...

The neighbor that lost half of the tree when it unexpectedly fell, just went ahead and cut the rest of the tree down. It had some weird looking places on it - was most likely dying.  But man, this makes the view different in my backyard. The grass is really suffering back here and I have had zero time or energy to water it. Its just too hot out.

I work at my puzzle table a few times a week and it helps to make me feel calmer.  This one was given to me by a friend, but I also find them at Half Price Books and Goodwill.  The Girl says she has some I can do, too.  That puzzle table was a good idea!

Moving day dawned.  Once the office was opened, Bubbie paid his deposit, got his keys, and we were in business. Between he, The Girl, Scout, and myself we got most of his things loaded into our cars and up a flight of stairs to his new place, which is very nice. I am doing my best not to worry.

 

On Thursday, I unloaded the rest of the room right out into the garage. I wore myself out, but it made me feel productive.  It's decision time: either take it with you or donate/recycle/trash it.  I already have plans for that room.

Moving during the hottest time of the year is a Cannary family tradition, I guess.  So is getting a cold beer afterwards.  I treated myself to an apricot Belgian white while I sat and journaled.  Incidentally, this is the place where I discovered I had a very flat tire after meeting up with a friend.  Returning to the scene of the crime, ha ha.

I also thoroughly cleaned and restocked my fridge and freezer.  I know it just looks like a lot of bevvies in there, but I also cooked taco meat and chicken breasts to freeze, along with portions of ground beef and some frozen veggies.  I should be able to feed myself pretty easily and now all of the space in here is MINE.

I gave the guest bathroom a refresh and deep cleaning, hung a new shower curtain and liner, hung those plaques I had found at Goodwill months ago, swapped out the outlet cover, put the new towels in the linen closet, put some tub appliques down, washed the rug, added a plug-in air freshener.

Its not fancy, but it is clean and useable once more.

The only cooking I did this week was very easy and should last me at least three days - Suddenly Salad pasta mix with added sauteed shrimp, extra peas, and quartered cherry tomatoes.  Quite good.  After we finish up moving the rest of the stuff out of my garage I will get myself ready for the weekend then plop myself down and read until bedtime because I am TIRED.  

Happy weekend!

Gina

Christmas 2024, in brief

Christmas was everything I wanted it to be.

Luminarias lining the walkway to the front of the church

A beautiful service that filled me with hope

The tree ready to welcome my peeps

Time spent together as a family

Scout

Firstborn

Bubbie

The Girl and Teddy

A peaceful, loving day full of relaxation, good food, time together.

A beautiful ending to the year!

Gina

5 thing Friday - gardening, bricks, Boomer, Mark's birthday, cuttings

 I have quite a few projects for my landscaping that I want to work on. Exhibit A:

Every winter the lantana "dies" and I cut it back, then it returns full force in the spring.  But for some reason the last couple of years its been super wimpy and is trying to completely die off.  So I'm going to start over with this area by emptying the bed, reconditioning the soil, adding mature lantana plants.  Here is the goal:

So beautiful!

Lantana loves the heat and doesn't need to be watered daily, so I am assuming that something else caused the issue.  Speaking of issues:

This fuzzy mold roars into life every time the weather gets cool.  You can sweep it off and it practically grows before your eyes.  (its not efflorescence)  I have scrubbed the bricks with bleach, with a vinegar solution, with masonry cleaner...it always comes back. I ordered a spray fungicide and disinfectant from Home Depot and we will see if that helps.

The therapy doggo came by to see us on Monday.  He is huge and very calm and left behind a whole lotta hair.  We might have petted him for 30 minutes - he got a LOT of attention.  Every workplace should have some sort of therapy animal program.  Its nice to pause an pet an animal that you know you aren't responsible for, ha ha.

Happy 63rd birthday in heaven, Mark.  I drank a pint in your honor and enjoyed it with chips and guacamole.  I sat outside and had a lengthy text convo over the state of mom's house.  Note to self: do not mix a fun thing with an un-fun thing and expect the fun thing not to lose its fun.

I re-potted Bubbie's sansevieria, harvesting a small amount of it.  Somewhere recently I read that dirt is not crucial to growing houseplants and I will test that theory using two spaghetti jars and these cuttings.  Wouldn't a whole row of houseplants in various jars look pretty in my office window?

Happy Weekend!

Gina

5 thing Friday - water works, sewing cabinet, warm cookies, home thoughts, travel

 Plumbing issues: low water pressure all around and especially so at the kitchen sink.

So I got a plumber to replace the property and irrigation shut off valves, and replace the pressure reducing valve, all out at the curb. (now to see if City of Austin will cover any of that)

Increased water pressure is a very good thing, and now I'm going to have the plumber check the water heater and replace the entire kitchen faucet. Meanwhile, Moen is sending me an aerator installation kit with a new aerator - for free.

I moved that big worktable out of the craft room/office and moved the small sewing cabinet back in.  Since I could trim down the backs of the screws with my new handy metal saw, I also swapped out the hardware.  

These are from a bag of pulls The Girl bought at Hob Lob.

Now I think I want to paint allll of the furniture in here.

Is there anything better than warm from the oven cookies and a cup of tea while you read?  These are from a Betty Crocker mix with extra added cinnamon, sugar, and ground walnuts - 10/10.  I added another couple bags to my grocery order.

I am mostly OK with paring down some of my decor and distractions around the house, but I don't want it to look sterile.  I am gradually thinking more and more about what I want to keep/use/display.  Less about minimalism, more about aesthetic.  Case in point is this bookcase, and by extension the mantel next to it.  Right off the bat I think the black speaker can go, more books can be added, the DVDs can go away, and some family portraits added. 

Maybe including this lady, among others - Muriel Ellen, my paternal grandmother.

We seem to have a lot Cannary history represented around this house.  But I have a family history of my own that I would like to acknowledge.

 Whatcha think?

Google reminded me of my path last year.  It was mainly central Texas.  Taking care of repairs and sale of Highlands, visiting Mom in Brenham/Bryan/Caldwell/Georgetown/Pflugerville, then more travel to Brenham to take care of Mom's home and finances, packing and moving Bubbie back home from San Marcos, and finally to Leona and Madisonville for funeral arrangements, etc.  I put an extra 10K of mileage on Subie. I would love for this timeline to represent something different in 2024.  Maybe some travel to places for relaxation, fun, learning, adventure.  Far less of that other stuff.

Gina

5 thing Friday - moving day, charms, cactus, snacks, stress

The end of July was a BEAST.

Every time I turned around there was something hitting the fan.

Not that its unhappy, but Bubbie is back home for his last college class and hopefully after that he will be off living his life.  But OMG moving him out of the dorm/apartment was a mess.  I don't remember it being this disorganized and all around terrible moving The Girl, but then again, that was years ago.

James Avery is having another of those buy two charms, get a bracelet or chain free promotions, so I bought one charm for me, two charms for The Girl's birthday, and got her a charm necklace.  I added this sweet cross to my bracelet, plus the armadillo I got for my 61st birthday and had the whole thing polished up.  My charm bracelet has become my "fidget" toy and I wear it often lately.

It turns out that the barrel cactus I got from Highlands is a hedgehog cactus.  I know pretty much nothing about growing cacti or succulents, but she seems happy on the deck in full sun.  I'm hoping to keep her alive - the tiny prickly pear I had in the kitchen window mysteriously withered and fell over.

At work, my boss and the charge nurse love to keep us fat and happy, as evidenced by the tiered tray of snacks positioned at the information board.  After I weighed myself last Saturday and had a Moment of Truth, I vowed never again to touch it.  Its easy just to pop a mini rice krispy treat in your mouth as you walk by.  I mean really, there are always snacks and food out at this new hospital.

Instead of that,  I am drinking more iced water and getting up to move around more often, as well as pack enough healthy food from home to keep me satisfied for 12 hours.  Often I find that I "eat" my feelings without paying much attention to what goes in my mouth.  I see co-workers doing the same so I know its not just me, feeling life's stresses.  Still, I am determined to get back on track with my general health!

Gina