Before

Before you judge me too harshly, bear in mind that I don't do attics. For years, the only person going up and down out of the attic has been Shameka, and while she has tried hard, we've just been sending her up with way too much just to get it out of our sight.

After

It maybe doesn't look all that different, but a) it's all contained, b) like things are stacked with like things, and c) every box has a number and I have a file that tells me what is in each numbered box! We took a HUGE load to Goodwill, recycled a mountain, and threw out what couldn't go any other way. What on earth were we thinking, saving all of those clothes that we hoped would fit someday, all of those idgits and widgits that I was afraid we "might need someday"? And what good are the headlines from the day JFK was killed and September 11 and the end of the Viet Nam war if they are all in random boxes and can never be found?

The girls did the lions share of the work, and all of us together spent a good five hours on it!

And for those keeping count, we are checking this off our list and yesterday we went to Ollies Trolly and did a photo shoot day at Cave Hill Cemetary.

Glue+Scissors+Cloth+Old Miniblind=Roman Shade!

Took about 45 minutes total, but Shawn was a big help. He was able to visualize the whole thing a little better than I was. This is our back door which never gets used, at the bottom of a very crowded little staircase. The blind on that door had gotten caught in the door at some point leaving a big square where all of the slats were out and someone could easily see in. (If they came behind our gate to do so!) Saw this idea and figured I would give it a shot. Directions can be found here.

Has to be true.....

I mean, would Mary Ann lie to us? I just wish I had a potato in the house to give it a try.

Loved and cared for

So, I got a new quilt for my bed. We had not had a new one since we got married 15 years ago, so I had given myself plenty of time to make my selection. I actually had another one that I've been watching for a long long time, but when the tax return came this one was marked down over half off and it sort of grew on me and it matches our gold walls. I love it. I mean, I really love it. And not just how it looks, but how it feels. I love the weight of a quilt- there's nothing like it. We had been using a silky very light coverlet that I had gotten at Family Dollar that Shawn hated and that brought me neither joy nor warmth.

A few nights ago I had gotten up in the night and when I crawled back into bed, I just loved the feeling of that heavy quilt settling on me. My friend Gwen Phillips told me that when she and her siblings were babies (back in the era when folks put babies to sleep in their cribs on their tummies!) her mother would lay a Baptist hymnal on their bottoms which felt like a mama's hand on them as they fell asleep. I've always loved that image. And in the middle of the night as I was settling under my quilt I thought for a minute that laying under that quilt I feel loved. So I decided that when I am under that quilt and can't sleep that I will meditate on knowing that I am loved by God, covered and lovingly tended to. Did I mention that I love this quilt?!!

Bossy Bathroom

Just added these to my bathroom. Am I too controlling?!!!