Day Thirty One--Outtakes

Considering I didn't follow the rules of the photo challenge, I have no outtakes to provide for today.  However, I will give the link to the top 75 pictures (so far) of the year 2012:  http://twistedsifter.com/2012/10/top-75-pictures-of-the-day-for-2012/

Some of the pics are absolutely amazing and worth the short amount of time involved to look at each one.  I will leave you with one of the top 50 of 2011 because it really, really, really made me smile.

Such joy!  :D

Day Thirty--Blackout

Several summers ago, the lights went out.  We experienced something called a 'wind shear,' which took down a number of power poles and put us in the dark.  Frankly, I would have called it a small tornado, but I'm not a meteorologist.  ;)  Anyway, we were without power for a few days--thank goodness it was during the summer or we would have REALLY been S.O.L.

Twelve hours or so after the lights went out, we realized that our freezer and refrigerator were warming--NOT a good thing for the food we had stored.  When it was all said and done, we had to toss more than $600 worth of food.  We would never have thought of it on our own, but someone mentioned that our homeowners insurance should reimburse us for the spoiled food--and it did!  There ARE times when that insurance payment that we make is well worth it!

Day Twenty Nine--The City

The majority of people in the US would laugh if they understood what I meant when I say I live in a city.  While I DO live in the biggest city in the UP, the population is only around 21,000 people.  QUITE laughable to call a place this small a city.  But when you realize that the town I grew up in only had 900 or so people, this place is BIG to me.

As far as amenities that you might find in a bigger city, this one does quite well for itself.  It has small, but very pleasant museums:  history, maritime, children's.  We have some art galleries and theaters.  Our hospital is one of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals in  the US and is a regional medical center.  It is also the region's Level II Trauma Center.  We are a great area for tourists:  anyone who loves the outdoors will find something to do all year long.  Our university offers many fields of study and has--at times--a top-rated hockey team.  We have a rich history, wonderful scenery, and much to offer.  CBS Money Watch also named this city as one of the 10 best places to retire in the US.  This city might be small, but it certainly is mighty!  And I enjoy living here.

Day Twenty Eight--Autumn

Autumn has been my favorite season for many, many years.  It has always had a lot going on for it--for me, at least.  Living where we do, the colors are usually quite gorgeous and it is a pleasure to drive around and look at the turning leaves.  With autumn comes a respite from the warm/hot temperatures of summer.  Hockey season begins in the fall.  And with the cold/er temps, the bugs are 'taken care of' and I don't have to be concerned about them anymore.  This year shot all this to hell.

First, the temps haven't been nearly cold enough for me.  Regularly, we have had temps in the high 50s, low 60s.  This has kept the bugs living much longer than is comfortable for me.  Also, we have had a very bad year for yellow jackets/wasps.  But it seems as if it has been a bad year for the entire mid-west--almost everyone I've talked to has had problems.  And even the cooler temps haven't done what they've done in the past.  To top it all off, I am not getting my hockey fix as I should be--thank you so much, NHL owners, for locking out the players during contract negotiations!

Even though I didn't get further north again this year, I still found a picture that shows the glory that is the UP during the fall color season:

via Neil Harri Photos

It's All About Me--ME, ME, ME

For the most part, I haven't paid much attention to Hurricane Sandy.  I did make note of it, simply because our good friends are going on a cruise in a couple of weeks, but any threat to their vacation has passed.  Usually weather that takes place anywhere in the east has no impact on my life at all.  Until now...

It was just announced today that Google's big meeting/announcement/media event that was supposed to take place on Monday has been canceled because of the hurricane/Frankenstorm that the northeast is supposed to experience the early part of next week.  So what does this have to do with me?  Well, it is assumed that a new 32gb Nexus 7 tablet will be unveiled.

I WANT!  At 1/2 the cost of an iPad mini, it looks like it will be a winner--AND it is Android!  YAY!  I was hoping that they would be on store shelves by the time we go on our next road trip (11/5) and I could buy one.  With the announcement postponed, I may have to wait.  I have a sad.  :(

The delay of the Nexus announcement isn't the only way that this storm might be impacting me.  It looks as if this just may affect our weather and cause some snow.  The winds on the edge of the storm front will be blowing from the northwest and these winds will blow across the Lake, causing moisture to meet the cold air, which in turn will produce snow, probably wet and heavy.  (The worst storms we get come out of the northeast--this could possibly be a doozy.)  Depending on just where the eastern storm front is will decide whether we get much snow in the central part of the peninsula or not.  Snow for Halloween--sounds about right for us.  :D

Day Twenty Seven--Kafkaesque

I have no idea what this means.  I'm not a dumb person, but this is very perplexing to me.  I looked the term up and it STILL has no meaning for me.  However, I DID find a meaning in the Urban Dictionary that I absolutely LOVED:

3.    Kafkaesque

       adjective

       Something people say to sound really smart.

This would describe me if I EVER used the term.  :D

Day Twenty Six--Heart

These days I have been thinking a lot about hearts and heart health.  The Mother had a TIA a couple of months back--that is a 'mini' stroke.  The Father had a 'spell' of some kind a couple of weeks ago and they were afraid he had another heart attack.*  Both of them are fine, but it brought home to me the fact that I need to watch MY heart health a little more closely than I do.

I have high blood pressure, but have kept it under control with medication for many years.  Lately, my pressures have been a bit erratic--some time it is quite low and at other times it is higher than it should be.  While I'm not obsessing, I figure I need to go in and talk to the doctor or PA and make sure all is fine**--so that I can be sure my heart is going to sustain me for many, many more years.

*The Father had another spell on Sunday and is now waiting to see his doctor.  Hopefully he'll need to be seen by a specialist.

**I have an appointment with the PA to talk about my blood pressure.  I have no worries, but we may need to tweak my meds.

Day Twenty Five--Video

I haven't really gotten in to filming any videos, despite the fact I have a video camera, phone, and 'still' camera that will do videos.  I suppose if I started, I would have fun, but right now I find I don't even remember to take still pictures nearly as often as I should.  So, for today, I will post a video from another source:

Anyone who ever has been owned by a cat will find much to relate to at Simon's Cat videos.

Day Twenty Four--M&M's

Did you know that there are at least 11 different kinds of M&M's you can buy?  PLUS, there is M&M ice cream.  You can have personalized M&M's--for a price, of course.  Anything you might want, in terms of M&M's, can be found here.

I actually have purchased some things from that site.  I got K special M&M's for Valentine's Day once and I got him an M&M dispenser for Father's Day this past year.  While I REALLY like to eat M&M's, having them in the house all of the time actually keeps me from eating too many.  Just the fact that they are there makes me know I will never run out, so I don't have to overeat.  If only that would be the same with ALL of the foods I like too much.  ;)

(Honestly, this is another picture I actually took.)

Day Twenty Three--Underwater

I am afraid of the water--but I love being near it.  I couldn't imagine living anywhere that wasn't close to a lake.  At the most, I have ever lived ten minutes from a substantial body of water.  These days, we live less than a half mile from Lake Superior--and I take it for granted too much of the time.  I'm afraid the time will come when the 'common' people won't be able to walk the shores of the Lake freely--too much of the lake shore is being bought to put up condos for out-of-towners as second, vacation homes.  This gives me a sad. :(

So, I digressed.  I WISH I could go on cruises or go snorkeling but that isn't something I can even imagine.  Sitting here at the computer, if I think about it too much, I could make myself have a full-fledged panic attack.  Looking into deep water causes me to imagine being underwater, not being able to breathe and, ultimately, drowning.  Needless to say, I'm not going to be underwater any time soon.

Lake Superior from Presque Isle

Day Twenty Two--Neutral

When we first moved into this house, all of the walls were primed in a beige-y color.  Of course, that didn't meet with my sensibilities, as I wanted to do the whole interior decorating thing that you CAN do when you actually own the property where you live.  So, for the first few years, I did a lot of painting.  At the time it must have been a big thing that I had seen somewhere, so the painting that I did was kind of the 'reverse' of what had been considered 'proper' for so many years:  I painted walls a lighter color and the trim and ceiling a darker shade.  It was kind of cool and I lived with it for many years--and even re-painted some rooms the same way with different colors.  After a while, I realized how much easier it would be if I didn't have to change wall colors every time I got new furniture or accessories for a room, so I changed the way I felt about room colors.  These days, I tend to favor this:

My color of choice is boring and neutral:  Navajo white.

Day Twenty One--Broken

We had a hot summer--at least I thought it was.  I don't do 'heat' well, so I was miserable most of the summer.  And to make myself feel even worse, I would look at the thermometer when I woke up just to see how hot it was--and then I would complain to anyone who would listen.  That someone was usually K.  (Yes, I'm an annoying bitch a lot of the time.)  Day after day after day I would look out the front window and see that the temp was 85*.  One day it occurred to me that the temp hadn't changed in quite some time--even at night.  Slowly it dawned on me that the thermometer just might not be working right.  K disagreed, but I WAS proven right.  (YAY!)

The broken thermometer today (10/20)***:

The actual, correct temp today (10/20):

(If it isn't easily seen, the outside temp is shown at the top--and it is 55* today.)

We do have a new thermometer, but it hasn't been hung yet.  I'm sure K will do so sometime in December or January--during a blizzard.  ;D

***This is the first--and probably last--picture/s I will post for this challenge that I have actually taken.  I was bound and determined to not follow the rules AT ALL, but today I just had to post my own pics.  :D

Day Twenty--Nails

I was diagnosed with psoriasis quite a few years before it started to affect my fingernails.  Now, I won't get into the particulars about how terrible my nails reacted to the disease, but I will tell you about the BENEFITS I have experienced.  First, my nails are nicely thick.  NOT gross, but thick enough that they don't break easily.  Also, they are STRONG.  I swear I could use my nails as screwdrivers.  And they grow fast--almost unnaturally fast.  I could grow my nails as long as I would want them to be, but these days I keep them at a reasonable length.  Years ago, I gave Dolly Parton a run for her money in terms of nail length.  However, I am much more comfortable with shorter nails these days.

While I will have manicures at times, I find that NO ONE does my nails as well as I do.  I really wish I could be happy with how my nails look when someone else does them, but there always seems to be SOMETHING wrong with the way they are done.  And because I have to have my nails polished at all times to cover up the psoriasis damage, I spend far too much time doing manicures.  Believe me, I wish I could go without polished nails many times.  But even being on Enbrel hasn't completely made my nails look normal.  :(

Day Nineteen--Steel

We live in the UP, on Michigan's Iron Range.  Years ago, mining was quite possibly the largest industry here, but it is diminishing.  Some say that mining will completely die out in the near future, whereas others say it might make a comeback.  It is very hard to say.

The iron ore mines here are the biggest consumers of electrical power in the area.  Because of this, The Husband has a job, as the power the plant makes mostly goes to operate the mines.  And I certainly hope the mines don't close down before he retires...

So, for anyone who doesn't know, iron ore is used to make steel.  Steel is used in most all structures built, so as long as the demand is there, I should think the iron ore mines here will be in operation.

(One of two open pit mines in operation in the UP.)

Day Eighteen--Qwerty

When I was in high school, I took college prep courses.  The other track for girls would have been the office/secretarial/business courses, such as shorthand, typing, filing, and bookkeeping.  I had no interest in any of those classes, except for shorthand, as I felt  that would help me with note taking in college.  So, I took shorthand in my Junior year.  The trouble is, part of the class involved transcribing shorthand and typing it up--usually as a letter.  As everyone else in the class was in it for the 'secretarial' aspect, some of the girls felt as if they were at a disadvantage if I was allowed to hand write the transcribed letters.*  So, I was forced to take a typing class.**

Our school offered two types of typing classes:  regular, office typing or a 'personal' typing class.  I enrolled in the 'personal' typing just so I would get the fundamentals for college and my shorthand class.  I HATED it.  I NEVER became a 'touch' typist--I ALWAYS had to look at the keyboard, which, of course, kept my 'words per minute' count very low.  My OCD kept me from 'just typing' to get my speed up--I NEEDED to get everything perfect and couldn't type just anything to be fast.  I passed the class, but not at a level I ever was happy with.  To this day, whenever I type, I need to watch the keyboard.  But at least I'm not getting graded on it anymore.  :D

*As it turned out, I was one of the top students in the class DESPITE my not being able to type that well.  I guess the girls who thought they could derail me by having me type didn't count on my perfectionism, which helped my letters be exactly what the teacher wanted.

**For those too young to know, typing was done on a machine called a 'typewriter.'  This was what we used back in the day before computers.  ;D

Day Seventeen--Coins

While K was in the Navy, he traveled to far and away places.  And he brought currency--both paper and coins--home with him.  We have money from the coastal countries of Europe and quite a bit from the Middle East, as well.  The most interesting thing is, the money we have from the Middle East--at least most of it--is no longer relevant.  For example, the money we have from Iran has the old Shah of Iran on it.  DEFINITELY not relevant in today's world.  One of these days the money will be passed to the grandchildren--or maybe I'll wait and give it to the GREAT-grandchildren, whenever that may be.  :)

Day Sixteen--Bullshit

Day Fifteen--My Favorite Food

Pretty much all of my life I have had food issues.  I love to eat.  Period.  I have come to the conclusion that my biggest downfall is carbs--I love most carbs WAY too much.  But the other day I explored that a little more.  I'm at the point in my life where I can take or leave chocolate.  {GASP!}  Cookies aren't a big deal to me.  Cake/cupcakes are a little better than cookies, but MEH!  Donuts are STILL one of my favs, especially if they happen to be Krispy Kremes.  YUM!  But the one thing that gives me the most trouble is pizza.  If there is pizza in the house, I won't stop eating until it is all gone--literally.  I will continually stuff my face with the food all evening long, no matter how full I am.  I am completely powerless when it comes to pizza.  So, I declare it my favorite food!

Day Fourteen--Secret

I haven't told anyone this yet.  And I'm not sure anyone is going to believe me.  But here goes:

This is supposed to be the first weekend of the the 2012-13 NHL season.  The Wings were supposed to have played their first game on Thursday night.  I should be so excited and happy about having hockey back, that I shouldn't be able to contain myself.  But, this is not the way it is right now.  There is a labor dispute between the players and owners and a lockout has been imposed.  All of the pre-season games and all of the October games have been canceled.  There is a very, very, very good chance that there will be NO NHL season this year--again.  And I will be left with no hockey to watch.

And my secret is this:  right at this moment, I'm not really all that sad that there may be no hockey this year!*

*Of course, this may change at any time.  :D

Trying Something New

I probably am the only person left in the world to allow only Blogger comments on a blog, but today I decided to add Disqus here.  Is it going to work?  Who knows.  After a few days I will see what is what and whether I can tweak things to the way I like, soooooo...  For now, Disqus is enabled--I hope this makes everyone's life a little easier.  :)

Day Thirteen--Calm

I SO wish this was a word that described my life at this moment, but, alas, it does not.  Usually at this time of year, I am a very happy person:  the weather has cooled, the bugs are gone, and life is slower.  This year, I have two of the three and the one I REALLY wait for is not happening.

For some reason, we have been plagued with wasps in our house for the past month.  I am close to paralyzed with fear whenever I see one of the buggers, so life hasn't been too easy for me lately.  After every day/night of 40* or below temps, I think we're done with the damn things.  After we get snow, I think we're done with the damn things.  After not seeing any for a few days, I think we're done with the damn things.  And I have been wrong every.  single.  time.  Today I had another one in the breakfast nook.  To say I am NOT CALM, is putting it mildly.

This is NOT what my life is like right now:

Day Twelve--Five

As time is wearing on and the NHL is no closer to starting the season than they were a few weeks ago, I'm trying my hardest to forget that there just may not be a hockey season this year.  Thankfully, the Tigers have extended THEIR season by making the playoffs, so I can continue to live in my little ignorant cocoon for a while longer and pretend we WILL see hockey.

Actually, I'm not too sure I WANT to see what the Red Wings will/would be like this year because of the retirement Nick Lidstrom.  He is arguably the best European to ever play in the NHL and (depending on who you talk to) is the first or second best defenseman to ever play the game.  (The other number one or two is Bobby Orr.)  Watching Lidstrom play, one would get the impression that his position was an easy one to have because the man was so smart and was so good that it didn't look like he put any effort into what he was doing.  If another comes along that is as good or better than Lidstrom, I don't think I will be alive if it happens--he was that good.  So, for today, I give you FIVE (the number he wore):

(Lidstrom became the first European captain of a Stanley Cup winning team--in 2008.)

Day Eleven--Heavy

During the sixties, many times someone would comment on something by saying 'Heavy.'  Of course, it had nothing to do with the 'weight' of the statement, but referred to the seriousness or importance of what was said.  The other word that was (over)used was 'Groovy.'  But we won't go THERE.  ;)

I have several quotes that I consider 'heavy'--and they give a lot of bang for the buck in terms of being able to sit and ponder what really is being said.  I now give you, 'Heavy':

--"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.'

--"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"--John Lennon

HEAVY...

Day Ten--Stalker

Anyone who has ever lived with, or been owned by one, knows that the very definition of the word stalker is 'cat.'  I have spent endless hours through the years watching cats stalk whatever they find fascinating at the time:  flies, birds, chipmunks, little pieces of lint on the floor.  Sadly, our cat is no longer inclined to stalk anything.  At her age (20 in April), she just wants to sleep, drink water, and eat--and that's okay with me.  When she goes to 'cat heaven,' she'll have all eternity to stalk whatever she wants.

***ADDED BONUS!  Here is the ultimate 'stalker song.'

Day Nine--Rules

I always wanted to be a bit of a 'bad girl,' but I was too afraid to break the rules.  I guess I never wanted to disappoint my parents, so I kind of stayed 'good' for most of my childhood/teenage years.  I never gave The Parents much to worry about.  But, little did they know...

One of the ways I stayed more of a good girl was by having a boyfriend throughout high school.  This kept me from running around like some of the other girls in my class.  It also was good that he was only a year older than me, because the 'wild' girls in my class all had boyfriends at least four years older than us--and that was trouble from the get-go.  They most definitely were the ones that experimented with drugs and sex way before the rest of us did.

While my parents weren't worrying about me, I was drinking to excess with The Boyfriend.  I honestly think I was well on the way to becoming an alcoholic and would have if we would have continued together after high school.  The underage drinking is about the only big-time rule-breaking I think I have ever done.

Now, whether or not it is rule-breaking, I have a very hard time if someone tells me I CAN'T do something or that I MUST do something.  Both of those things will make me rebel and do all I can to go against what I've been told.  And sometimes that's not a BAD thing--it certainly has made me go beyond my comfort zone at different times.

***And obviously, I didn't follow any of the rules when it came to this photo challenge--so, I guess I CAN be a 'bad girl' when I want to be.  :D

Day Eight--Hair

Hmmm.  I talked about my hair in the last post.  What to do, what to do.  I guess I will start with my hair, anyway...

When I was younger, I had the thickest head of hair you can imagine.  Sadly, with age, psoriasis, and thyroid problems, my hair is now on the thinner side.  Actually, I now am much closer to the 'fine, Finnish, fairy fur' that is quite common among Finns than what I used to have.  And I am very sad about this.  While I don't really have thin, stringy hair, it just isn't that nice, thick hair that you want to bury your fingers in.

The Oldest, however, has inherited my old hair--and then some.  When she goes to get a permanent--which is extremely rare--the stylist has to use one and a half kits just to have enough solution for all of her hair.  Her hair is so thick that there really isn't anything that she can use comfortably to put her hair up--such as clips, barrettes, etc.  That is, until I got her a barrette from the Renaissance Fair.  It is quite amazing that she actually can use something nice to keep her hair off of her neck and not just something that she is 'making do' with.  It's a secret, but I got her another one as a Christmas present--I think she'll like it!  And it looks just like the big one in this picture:

The Youngest is 'blessed' with K's hair--very fine and 'can't do a thing with it' limp.  She wears her hair long, too, so the fact that there isn't anything she can do with her hair isn't really a hindrance.  Last year she bought herself a barrette for the first time at the Fair and loved it so much she got a new one this year.  Her new barrette is like this, only in two (silver and gold) colors:

Day Seven--Craftsman

One of the reasons I like going to the Renaissance Fair every year is to shop.  And there is a lot to buy, if you are so inclined.

A few years ago I stopped at the booth of the Bronze Jewelers.  My hair was getting quite long and they had some really neat hair barrettes and combs, so I went shopping.  I now own two barrettes and a comb and couldn't possibly be any happier than I am--the crafstmanship is amazing!  And the best thing is, they keep my hair where I want it!  This year I bought a barrette that is very much like this one:

I love this so much that I can't wait to go back next year and buy another!

Another booth that amazes me is Wondrous Works in Wood.  They make mugs, cups, bowls, etc out of wood that you can actually USE!  A couple of years ago, K bought a mug very similar to this:

While he has never drank from this mug, it is perfectly safe to drink from--even coffee can be put in these!  Amazing.  Even though the prices are a bit high, I think we need to get at least one more piece next year.

Day Six--Vibration

Good grief.  I have pretty much NOTHING for this.  What are my thoughts?

--At one time, K was in charge of the 'vibration program' where he works.  I have no idea what that involves, or what he did.

--Our front loading washer vibrates so much that I can't imagine having it in a first floor laundry room.  It would have to be anchored to the floor joists somehow.

--A couple of years ago, we saw road crews on the highways cutting 'grooves' into the edge of the shoulders and the middle of the roads.  Whenever you drove over these grooves, your vehicle would vibrate and you'd get a sound that would wake the dead.  With the kind of weather we have here, we thought the roads would begin to crumble from water freezing and thawing in the grooves.  This doesn't seem to have happened and I think having the rumble strips isn't a bad idea:  they most certainly will wake you up if you happen to be daydreaming too much and drift where you shouldn't be!

Day Five--Lotion

First thought, of course, is "it rubs the lotion on its skin..." from 'Silence of the Lambs.'  But, I'm not going to be that obvious.  :)

All of the years that I have had psoriasis has led me to use hundreds of different skin lotions.  There have been times when I have had two dozen different ones in the house at any given time.  And my conclusion?  None of them have been over-the-top great.

One thing that I had to do because of my sensitive skin is look for products with little/no scent OR natural 'essential' oils in them.  It isn't all that easy--or it wasn't--to find products on the shelf (and I'm talking at Walmart, etc) that had no scent.  Of course, it was next to impossible to find anything with only essential oils until I discovered Lush.  The internet kept me supplied with my lotions for many, many years.  Since being on Enbrel, however, I find myself able to expand what I use a bit more than I used to AND it is a bit easier to find non-scented stuff in stores these days.  I still wonder what we ever did without the internet!

Day Four--Sour

Wow, what a topic.  I could go the food way and talk about sour foods, but I think I'll go in another direction.

When we first moved into this house, we had only been in this town for a couple of years.  We really didn't know anyone and with a toddler in the house, we didn't get to go to many places to meet people.  It didn't help much that we moved in on the first of March:  definitely NOT meet-the-new-neighbors weather here.  So, we didn't have much contact at all with any of our neighbors until the later part of the spring/early summer when we would be outside with The Oldest.  And that led me to know two of the sourest-looking people I have ever met in my entire life.

The M's lived almost directly across the street from us.  At the time, their youngest was a junior or senior in high school.  Mr and Mrs M were the grouchiest, crotchety-est people I had ever seen.  We would acknowledge each other and nod whenever we happened to catch each other's eye, but that was it.  As the summer wore on, and windows were being opened, I would hear the two of them screaming at each other whenever I was outside.  I never was too sure that I wanted to know these people any better than I did at the time because, frankly, they scared the crap out of me!

Gradually, we got to be very close to the M's.  They turned out to be two of the nicest people I have ever met--despite their 'sour' demeanors.  After several years, their son and his wife--K's and my age--had a daughter about the same time we had The Youngest, and the two girls became very good friends.  Mr & Mrs M came very close to being surrogate grandparents to The Youngest.  Sadly, both of them passed on several years ago and I still miss them.

Oh, and the reason they would scream at each other all of the time?  They both were a bit hard of hearing.  :D

(This is the best example of a 'sour' old man I could ever possibly find--too bad Jeff Dunham hasn't made a 'Mrs Walter' puppet yet.)

Day Three--Above My Head

I honestly can't think of a topic that can be funnier for me than this one, because, due to my height, most everything is 'above my head.'  :D  However, here goes:

As I've said many, many times, this house is quite old and has needed/is in need of a number of repairs.  One of the things we had to fix quite a few years ago, was the living room ceiling.  At some point, there had been a leak in the living room and the ceiling was actually falling down in several places.  We hmm'ed and haa'ed about what we were going to do for a long time.  I didn't want to put ceiling panels/tiles up, as there wasn't --at that time--anything that I liked.  Replacing the ceiling with drywall was too big of a task for do-it-yourselfers such as us, so we decided to go a different route:  tongue-in-groove pine paneling.  I must say, it was one of the better decisions we have made for this house.  The living room is very warm and cozy with the wood ceiling and it NEVER has to be painted!  And it looks just like this:

(neither of these is a picture of my ceiling ;))

Comments

My inbox has been so very stuffed full of spam comments that I had to change the settings for comments.  No longer will anonymous comments be accepted--and I hope this keeps my inbox clear.  You must be a registered user in order to comment.  I hope this isn't going to be a problem for anyone.  If it is, please let me know.  Thank you!  :)

Day Two--Fast

For the longest time, it was one of my biggest wishes:  to own a Corvette Stingray.  I'm not exactly sure WHY I wanted one, but I did.  It isn't so much that I wanted to drive the thing as fast as it would go--and around here, we don't have enough straight highway to get a real good speed going--I just wanted one because they are so darn cool looking.  I had this wish on my 'bucket list' until about a year ago.  It occurred to me that it would be just pathetic for a 70-year-old lady (if it took me that long to get one) to drive such a car as this.  Besides, I'm not even sure I could get into a Stingray anymore--the knees just might not cooperate.  :)

30 Days of 'Not MY Photos'--Shiny

***A couple of the blogs that I follow (and some of their followers)--'Momma Mia, Mea Culpa' and 'Ziva's Inferno'--are participating in a photo challenge for the month of October.  As I really have no energy to try and take 30 pictures in 30 days, I will, instead, use the list of topics and write a post a day for the month.  We'll see how that goes.  ;)***

Today's topic is 'shiny.'  Wow.  So here goes:

My OCD tendencies really get a workout with shiny stuff.  If the article*--refrigerator, TV, range, mirror, etc--is supposed to be 'shiny,' you can bet I'll be after the thing CONSTANTLY to make sure there are no smudges, fingerprints, dirt, grim, dust on it.  I cannot stand a supposedly shiny object that doesn't sparkle.  And, of course, this doesn't make for a calm household--especially for children.  I regret the time I spent 'polishing' while my kids were growing up and am SO happy that I'm not nearly as obsessive these days as I once was.  The only thing that really saved my sanity was the fact that all of my appliances were 'harvest gold' in color, so the fingerprints were not as noticeable as they could have been.  (I could NEVER own stainless steel appliances because they take so much work to look nice.  I shudder to think of the time needed to keep them clean and smudge-free.)

For the past 10 years or so, stainless steel has been the color choice for a big percentage of appliances, but some are predicting the possibility of change coming.  One of the possible 'trends' in the future is a 'matte' finish on appliances--and some manufacturers are already showing gunmetal grey/matte finish appliances to match the stainless steel people already have in their homes.  It will be interesting to see if this would replace stainless steel as a first choice for people.  I, however, will continue with my boring white--I never will have to worry about the color not matching everything else in my kitchen.  :D

(not sure, but this certainly looks 'matte' to me)

*For some reason, non-sparkling windows don't send me over the edge.  I don't know how I can live with the way our windows look, at times, but I don't freak out about 'dirty windows' like I do other things.