The Week in Brief

Sunday morning I woke up s.i.c.k. Lucky for me, it only stayed for a day. But, when I finally scraped myself out of bed, this is the sweet note that was waiting for me, from my sweet husband.

Nate has been happily hammering for most of the week. The chair, above, is complete now, with about 200 nails in it. I don't know if you want to sit in this chair, it's a little, um, prickly. But, my Nate is happy with a hammer in hand and it seems like a natural project for a boy, don't you think. Send your scrap wood our way.

I think this taping job in Eli's room took me all day Saturday. It was a job! I was regretting committing myself to two stripes. I usually had company though, a sweet boy of some size on the top bunk of the bed visiting me.

1. Paint the entire room with the base color

2. Add a coat, or 2 for yellow. What is that?

3. After the base cures a day or two, measure twice & tape the walls to border the stripe.

4. Paint along the inside stripe with the base coat color to seal the tape, so the contrasting color doesn't seep under the tape.

5. Let that color cure.

6. Paint the final stripe color & Let it dry.

7. Carefully pull off the tape, put all the furniture and stand back and enjoy your work.

Yes, I finished the room and the colors are lovely & bright. Maybe a little brighter than I expected, but I'm sticking with it for now. This large-ish bedroom has only one little window (the other wall has a chimney inside) so it needed the light.

I'll post a pic...sometime, of the finished room. Eli loves it & it's done. That's all that matters.

Last swim for the summer....the pool is drained. Right after Eli's discovery of mosquito larvae. We'll be keeping these for observation for awhile. Don't worry, they will never make it out into the world.

Squirrel prances over our backyard, taunting doggy and hunting Walnuts.

And now I'm off to pack my bags for Seattle. We're heading over there for all the fun touristy stuff my family has never done there. Truthfully, it's been about 20 years for me, too. Of course, you'll see pics.

In the car:

1. doggy going to a doggy-friend house
2. clothes, sweatshirts included
3. camera
4. books & magazines for kiddos (a novel for me...no school!)
5. book on tape (Adventures in Oddyssey)
6. snacks, breakfasts & lunches
7. maps
8. a grand sense of adventure...Space Needle or Bust.

Hunt out yourself some beauty this weekend, ok?