I love when my Birthday rolls around.  Because it is so close to Valentine’s Day, the whole week becomes special.  Sure, I can admit that I am a little greedy this time of year.  I love getting presents… but who doesn’t?  And really, the gifts don’t matter as much as the people who give them.  I am thankful that my family and friends remind me about kindness and giving.

Valentine’s day was wonderful too.  Chinese take-out and a movie at home.  It really isn’t different from every other day and I think that was why it was special.  I love that Stephen and I are happiest when we are together.

One gift I received from my family was The Fundamental Technique of Classic Pastry Arts.  This book is massive and extremely comprehensive.  And intimidating!  Lately, I have had a strong desire to learn more about pastries.  French desserts fascinate me.  There are so many layers, colors, and shapes, it is all very enticing!  The book, though complicated, is supposed be an introduction.  We will see if I have any success!  I think the first recipe I attempt will be Macaroons.  *clears throat* I’m sorry, let me clarify… Macarons Gerbet.  Looks like I may be forced to learn French as well!

I have finished my curtains… well, sort of.  I would like to tweak them, but not now.  I am just happy that they are done and hanging up!

I had plenty of “uh-oh” and “duh” moments throughout the project.  Regardless of how simple they were, it was still monumentally complicated to me.  Being a creative person, I like to create as I go and see what happens.  Thankfully, I did plan out the design for the curtains, but that alone was a slow process.  I must need to exercise the left side of my brain more!

When I do go back to “refine” the curtains, I plan to adjust the length and add a horizontal band of fabric to the bottom so they will have a little color or pattern on them.

So what’s next?  Hmm… not another sewing project.  I will be dusting off Photoshop and working on icons.  Stephen has asked me to help him make icons for a web site he is working on.  After he has wrapped up work on that site, he will be helping me with the Super Laurie site.  Yay!  So of course, that means I will be spending a lot of time making cartoons.

After two days of planning, measuring, estimating, and debating, I finally purchased fabric to make curtains.  I had to be certain that making them myself would be the most cost effective solution.  I was previously under the assumption that it is always cheaper to do the work yourself.  Cooking is cheaper than eating out, ripping up tile yourself is cheaper than hiring someone, and making curtains is cheaper than buying them.  Er… not so much.  Fabric is not that cheap.  Decorator fabric is even more ‘not that cheap’!

Luckily for me, the fabric store had an amazing sale.  50% off pretty much everything, including decorator fabric.  Some of that stuff costs $29 per yard!  But I went with a plain white fabric with no print and no frills, the most affordable choice.  There will be nothing special about my curtains, but they will still look nice… I hope.

Now, for those of you who are experienced in the sewing department, plain white curtains must sound rather boring and simple.  And to that I say… GOOD!  I have no clue what I am doing and this will be my Mt. Everest.  Straight hems and a tab top, that’s all I can handle!  Tomorrow, it will be me and my scissors.  Who knows what will happen!  Dun-dun-dun!

Feeling bad feels… well… bad!

Today I worked on my photo journal, diligently trying to get caught up.  Even though all the pictures were taken today, I feel as if they should count for the days I missed.  I hated that I fell behind so early in the project, but I was honestly unable to function during that time.  I couldn’t even remember my phone number… on more than one occasion!

Me leaving a message: Hello, I need to make an appointment.  I feel like death– only greener and more deathly.  I have a fever and chills, and I haven’t showered because I am buried beneath three feet of blankets.  My name is Laurie and you can reach me at….  Uh… Hold on………………. *silence*……………… Um… I will call you back with my number. *click*

The only drawback to feeling better is now I can’t get out of doing chores!  Stephen was a big help and very sweet, it wouldn’t be fair for me to continue to complain.  I’d better get to it then… on to the laundry!

Blah

Ug

Argh

Blech

Ooo

Ick

Ew

WHINE!!!!!!!

Recovering, re-hydrating, recouping, revolting, reblahblahblah.

I think you get the picture.  Got some antibiotics now so I will be ok.  I am behind on my photo journal, naturally.  I will make up for the pictures missed, though… just not today.  G’night!

Sunday's Snow

Everyone around here is complaining about the snow and cold, including me.  The weather has really thrown me off ever since the first storm hit in early December.  I don’t mind snow, and I can cope with a blizzard every winter, but this is too much to handle.

We have one shovel… and we told ourselves that we don’t need a snow blower.  We’re young and can easily shovel a few inches of snow here and there.  Er… but we can’t easily shovel when we get a foot of snow every two weeks!

I am thankful that Stephen works from home when the weather gets bad.  I don’t have to worry about him on the roads and we can both be snowbound together.  Having a home helps, it is a sanctuary at times.

Also, we luckily live across from someone who works with the city plows… I have seen a plow come by three times today.  Location, location, location!!

On another note, I have started a photo journal for 2010.  My goal is to take a picture every day that depicts what I might write about in a journal.  I will use pictures instead of words!  At the end of the year, I want to compile all of them into a photo book.  In the mean time, I will upload them to Flickr.  So far it is going ok, but this project would be easier with a better camera.  Getting pictures to turn out can be difficult and time consuming.  I will enjoy doing this despite the low-quality camera, it will force me to be creative about what I do!

I figured it was about time for me to get back to blogging.  This blog, as in the past, will not have any valuable content to it.  It is just me and my jabber!  Don’t be surprised if my header keeps changing.  I plan to tweak it some more!

This year, I am scrapping my New Year’s resolution list… (I always end up writing the same resolutions every year anyway)… I will instead focus on projects and organization.  Projects I want to tackle are making curtains, painting, and finishing my  Super Laurie site.  And as far as organization goes, I think we needed one year of living in our house for us to really know how it needs to be organized.  Last year, we lacked furniture, and therefore, we had spaces and rooms that we never “lived in”.  Now that those places are furnished, and we have been able to use them, we can better understand what we need to do to keep things organized.

We do have a list of improvements that we want to make in our house.  That list is a long-term list and we will focus on one home project each year.  The kitchen is where we will make the biggest changes (a little at a time).  We want to reface the cabinets and add new hardware to them, install pull-out shelving inside our pantry cabinets, have a custom-built island made where the table is now, and replace the counter.  The island and counter will be the most expensive and we will probably not do that for a few years.

Other home projects include updating the main floor bathroom, replacing our patio with a deck, replacing the fence, adding a bar area in our basement, and finishing our sub-basement.  Oi!  Yes, maybe all of that is a little ambitious, but we have planted ourselves in this house and do not intend to move for a very long time.  We love it here!

That is all I will write for now… I must get ready.  We are finally having our Christmas today!

Just when you thought I was long gone…

Dun-dun-duuun!