neffy noodle

Farewell blog

2010-07-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
As you can see, I haven't exactly kept this blog up to date. I'm officially closing it down. If you want to keep up with my happenings, go here.
These links will take you to my current website & blog. Hope to see you there!
Steph

www.stephaniewiley.com
www.stephwileyblog.com

a new look

2010-03-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

I've been working so hard trying to get my new website & blog up and running and finally, today is the day. It's a new, cleaner look, for a new year. I know, we're almost in April already, but it's never to late for fresh starts. I've decided to incorporate personal & work over at the new blog, so you may want to check it out.

xoxo
Steph

www.stephaniewiley.com
www.stephwileyblog.com

March 2010

2010-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!!

2009-11-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had a great opportunity! I had a photo shoot with LunchboxMagazine.com which will be in their December issue. It was so fun & the kids were great. It was for the holiday gift guide so there were lots of cool products to incorporate with the kids having a great time. Here's a video preview of the shoot...

Stephanie Wiley photoshoot for LunchboxMagazine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvxL7-a-4Y

One of my favorite stores ... check it out.

2009-10-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

If you've never seen this store's site, it's worth checking out. The clothes are so unique and beautiful - quality & looks. Once you go once, you'll find yourself there over & over.

October

2009-10-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last month was the first time that Peter went to Cotillion! I took 1 picture of him on the way out the door but forgot to bring my camera to the actual event. Such a bummer! But this week was the second one and I made sure to get photos & video (Peter was not happy about this). Once I figure out how to upload video, I will put it up too.

Summer vacation

2009-09-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time to turn to something more positive. Peter, Tommy & I spent quite a bit of time at the beach together this August. We had fantastic weather, friends & cousins came to visit and the kids found some wildlife while we were there...

Our new view :(

2009-09-02T11:35:00.001-07:00

Our old view

2009-09-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

The Fire

2009-09-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Publish Post

These were the view from my sunroom & driveway on Sunday morning when I got home. Very scary. The noise from the fire was sooo loud and every once in a while a tree would go up and I could feel the heat. The air has been so yellow & smoky every day since and it still seems to be raining ash.

This helicopter was blocked by one of the trees in my yard. I was sitting out in the backyard when I took this.
Brett being very helpful to both my house and my neighbors.
This tree went up and immediately the ground crews attacked it. The flames went out and then erupted again. This time, 2 helicopters came in and doused it. The biggest danger in my area are the deodor pine trees, so if they hadn't gotten this one under control it could've been a different outcome.

The helicopter pilots had amazing accuracy. We watched them for a couple of hours straight on Saturday and they are really unbelievable.

We have had quite a week here in La Canada. The fire started here last week and it was an exhausting, frightening experience. Thankfully Peter & Tommy left here on Friday evening to spend the weekend with John - so good for them to be out of the smoke and away from the scary situation.
Thursday night was a tense night, Friday was even worse. I was officially notified of mandatory evacuation on Saturday morning but finally left here to go to my parents to sleep on Sunday am around 2;30. Friday night was the night that the fire was closest to my parents house and they were issued a mandatory evacuation phone call around 3am. I had my dog and 3 of my parents dogs here until Saturday morning when we took them to a friends' who lived further down the hill.
Early Saturday am, I took a walk around the block to check out the situation. About 1/4 mile from my house, I heard this loud sound and thought, "oh, finally the helicopters are dropping water again." Well once the thought passed, I looked to my left to see a raging fire on the hillside - that was the noise - the trees going up. I immediately went back home and the rest of the day was sort of a blur.
Luckily my brother was with me as well as my dad who had me set up with a high pressure pump which sucks water from the pool and shoots it through a fire hose at the same pressure as an actual fire hose. Brett watered down the house, yard and trees a few times through the day and then one last time at 2am just before we left. On Sunday morning I came home to see the hillside right across from my house on fire. It seemed pretty controlled but lasted throughout the day.
I was so relieved to finally not see flames from my house! I met lots of neighbors, which is always a positive and we're all ok.

update

2009-08-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

Peter & Tommy took their first surf lesson today!!! We came back to the beach last night after a few days at home. Although the day started out with lots of apprehension and some tears, they both really had a great time and Tommy even wants more lessons!

Brett

2009-06-09T11:55:00.001-07:00

Brett turned 30 last week! It's hard to believe. Someone asked me recently how old he is - their guess was 25. Time flies.

Alot of smoke comes from 30 candles.

one more...

2009-05-14T14:18:00.001-07:00

For Sarah

2009-05-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

An update on the Wiley's California visit for spring break...

such a trooper

2009-05-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, Peter took a big fall. I went to pick him up from a friend's on Saturday night and he had banged up his leg, both knees & his chin. For some reason he didn't want the friend's mom to know he'd done it there, so she thought that I sent him off to play with these horribly banged up legs! Well, we got home and called grandpa to come over and help clean up the wounds. That is definitely one of my lacking qualities - cleaning wounds. Here he is - he never cried until... we brought out the hydrogen peroxide. They look much worse today - all scabbed over and frankly... gross.

2009-05-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

I'm all about the pictures right now - more to come.

Happy Birthday Peter! xoxo

2009-04-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

I don't get it...

2009-04-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

So, since I've started this blog, it's been pretty light - mostly about kids & activities. I wonder sometimes how much I really am willing to share online, for all to see? But today I have to get this off my chest - and I would love your thoughts. Especially, but not limited to, single people.

I recently met a guy (who I'll qualify with - not interested in), but anyway he's been calling, facebooking and texting me. I have to say, this is part of why I'm not interested. Is it just my age or is it ok now to ask someone out via texting?@! I didn't even respond to his latest date proposal via text. I think texting is fine - quick messages to friends, etc. But really?! Asking someone out on a date? So, since I never responded, I haven't heard from him again but I feel like calling him to let him know that in the future, if he's interested in someone, he should

ASK THEM OUT VIA VOICE!!!

Thoughts anyone??

btw, he's in his 40's and newish to dating again after years of marriage.

We're bored!

2009-04-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Can you tell? At least he's got a smile on his face...

Descanso Gardens

2009-04-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Trying to be a good mom, I took Peter & Tommy to Descanso Gardens this last weekend. It was such a beautiful day and the flowers there right now are stunning. I don't know why I didn't wait until mid-week, since we're on spring break, as it was pretty crowded. I loved it and am considering a membership?? but P & T were done in about 10 minutes. I attempted to take some pics of them and Peter is pretty cooperative, but Tommy is definitely not. I told him that he's going to be sorry when I have to find a picture for this year's Christmas card. I really do get it when people say - I just can never get a good picture of my kids...

Birthday party 1 of 2

2009-03-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we celebrated Peter's birthday. I took Peter, Tommy & 3 of Peter's friends to the beach house for an overnight. What was I thinking you might ask? Well, I really didn't think much beforehand. We got there on Saturday afternoon and the kids went straight out on the beach, which is what I expected. But I didn't expect them to actually go in the water. Yes, that's right - Tommy and one other boy were out there rolling around in the surf, fully dressed. I let them play out there for a while - finally at about 6pm I told them it was time to come in - through the side directly into the shower. The amount of sand was astonishing. It took those 2 boys 1.5 hours until their lips weren't blue anymore.
We made pizza, watched a movie and then they finally went to sleep around 1:30!!! What!!!??? I was a little cranky by that time. The next morning they went outside until it started raining when they came in. It rained for a while but turned into a beautiful day. Clear skies and very windy. The kids had a fantastic time. And one bday party down...

without the lows...

2009-03-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

I saw Scott Hamilton on Oprah yesterday and he said "without the lows, the highs mean nothing." Just some food for thought.

Tommy is 7!

2009-03-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tommy turned 7 yesterday! I can't believe it. He had a great day - cupcakes at school, cupcakes at his baseball game, followed by cake after a great dinner at his favorite place - Panda Express. Just the start of a month long celebration.

Peter

2009-03-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I had the news on quietly in the kitchen while Peter & Tommy were sitting in the other room. There was a news story coming up about Michael Phelps and Peter heard some of it. He said across the room

"I think Michael Phelps smoked Marinara"

I didn't correct him - I mean it's so great that he's that innocent and I just want it to last as long as possible.

Homework

2009-03-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

Did any of you make a leprauchan (sp?) trap for homework in 1st grade? Well, Tommy and I made one today. I've heard lots of the moms complaining - exactly what are we teaching? That leprauchans are real? That they love gold? I'm not sure I get the exact concept, but we had fun doing the project together & were both pretty proud of the final product. I think we'll catch at least 1!

Desperate Plea

2009-03-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Is there any way that I might get someone, somewhere, to sign up as a follower of my photog. blog??? I think to strangers I may look a bit like a loser with no friends. So, here's the link:
www.stephaniewileyphotography.blogspot.com. I'm begging you.
thx
xoxo

Some new things at our house

2009-03-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

So, my blogging is seriously lacking these days, as well as my picture taking just for fun. I thought I'd just let you know a few recent developments at our house.

Tommy is now making his own lunches! Including sandwich. It's really quite impressive - although some days I'm not exactly sure what's going in that lunchbox. But he gets up early, makes himself a ham sandwich (on Hawaiian roll- it's a hit), gets the lunch all done, puts it in his backpack and then goes on to make himself chocolate milk.

Peter, on the other hand, waits for me to do it all.

Peter's 3rd grade class went on a field trip this week to the Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks. It is a Native American tribe who resided in Thousand Oaks and from them, we got the words for Pismo, Malibu, and Simi. Interesting day... beautiful location.

Baseball has begun in full force. Both of the kids have 1-2 games per week on top of Peter's 2 practices per week. Secretly I'm so glad that it's back in swing. It gives me a reason to sit and chat with friends for 1+ hours at a time! And thankfully we've got lots of fun families on both teams.

I've got my new website up and running - still making some changes, but so far the feedback has been great. I've also started a blog for my work. I'm really trying to get current.

Oh, and for you Scott, I FINALLY got a new phone and now am officially in 2009! So very exciting! Although I didn't splurge for the iphone, it's all good.

On an emotional note, we said goodbye to Natalie this week. It's an exciting move for her but it's always sad to say goodbye. I am going to miss her.

So, that's the latest. I know that the lack of pictures makes this not as fun, but next time I'll have some pics.

Is this normal?

2009-02-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

While Peter, Tommy and I were driving yesterday, Peter spotted this sign. We all thought it was pretty funny. I mean, don't they usually say bumps?

first try

2009-02-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

Today I picked up my first roll of film taken with the new Holga camera that Scott & Sarah gave me for Christmas. I am hopeful that it can only get better...

I mean, really, could it be much worse? Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll keep you posted.

Devastating

2009-01-28T17:41:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how sad this news is...

Domino Magazine is ceasing publication in March. What will we do? Where will we go for their amazing design inspiration?

Finally back...

2008-12-31T07:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that almost a month has passed since blogging even crossed my mind. December is such a hectic month, I'll use it as my excuse. We are now in Utah for a few days to celebrate Christmas with Scott & Sarah and fam and then back to reality and school back in session (yeah!)

Yesterday, Peter, Tommy, my mom and I set out on our longgggg drive to Utah. We left La Canada at 4:15 am and arrived here in Provo in about 11.5 hours. The drive started out smooth. So nice to be able to pull into Vegas by 8am. And once we left Vegas, the fun began. I have to admit that the backseat of our car is not the best for roadtrips. The rear windows are small and don't open and the seat isn't too big. Tommy was watching Speed Racer and about 5 miles from Mesquite insisted that I pull over right away, he wasn't feeling well. I pulled over as soon as I could and proceeded to have one sick child. He felt much better soon after that stop, but unfortunately, my shoes are much worse for the wear.

We didn't stop in Mesquite for gas - which is where this story starts to take a frightning turn. We were approaching a 25 mile stretch to the next services and I realized that we were running really low on fuel. There was one small town before the canyon, so we got off the highway, hoping to find gas. This is what we found instead:

driving this:
and it felt like this:
So, after being run out of that small town - literally these 2 other cars gave us hand signals to get out. Tommy is convinced that the hand gestures were those of guns. I really felt like we were in the middle of a 60 minutes expose, being run out of town. We got on the highway to enter the canyon. We had been driving about 5 miles when this happened:

To say the least, it was a stressful drive. We made it to St. George, pulled into the first gas station and literally had .5 gallons left in the tank. Believe me, that is never going to happen again.

We're here now, safe and sound. No more driving long distances for a few days. Happy New Year to all!

I forget

2008-12-01T23:05:00.000-08:00

how lucky my kids are that they actually still have a great grandma and great grandpa! I think since my own lived so long, I just took it for granted. So here they are relaxing on the couch.

2008-12-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

This is a very popular game in our house. I'm always just waiting until we end up at the er - but this hasn't been the cause yet...

Our Long Weekend

2008-12-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

This is how we started our day on Thanksgiving - a one mile run for the hungry for the kiddos!

Our Latest Cub Scout Outing

2008-11-23T21:32:00.001-08:00

Today, we went with Tommy's Cub Scout troop to have a tour of Dodger Stadium. Unfortunately, they had a Kings hockey event going on, so we'll have to return once more to get our dugout and field tour. It was really very interesting to learn a little bit about the stadium and see some of the cool things that most people don't get to see first hand. The kids all had a great time. And with the exception of just 2 boys, were really well behaved.

On our way home, we saw this interesting and random statue outside of someone's house.

I feel blue

2008-11-21T21:12:00.001-08:00

Cottage Living is no longer.

art

2008-11-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

I am on the daily painters email list and get new listings of artists work constantly. Most of it is not exactly my taste, but I'm sure that each artist has a reason for doing what they do. Anyway, lately I've been noticing art by Kimberly Applegate. She does really fantastic paintings - mostly small scale and the subject is almost always chairs. Her style reminds me a little of Ann Harwell over at Annechovie who also does lots of paintings that feature beautiful chairs which are listed on her etsy shop. Another art driven site to see is UGallery. It features art by emerging artists at schools all over the country. You can even do state specific searches. The humming bird painting is done by Jerald Zivic at the University of Arizona.

Kimberly Applegate

Anne Harwell

Jerald Zivic

Cambria

2008-11-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Although I didn't take many pictures while I was there, here are a few more pictures from Cambria. It really was absolutely beautiful there. My friend Kelly drove from San Jose and we met there on Friday afternoon. We had some good bbq that night. Saturday we walked for miles and then shopped - lots of cute, small stores. There were 2 stores that I fell in love with. The first was Sweet Offerings - the cutest candy store I've ever been in and the second was called Paper Omelette - filled with fantastically unique things. On Saturday evening, at sunset, we discovered the tide pools directly across from our minn. There were all sorts of sea creatures from seals to star fish. Sunday morning we said goodbye and drove our own ways. I stopped in San Luis Obispo to visit family and had a relaxing day in yet another fantastic place. It was nice to come back home on Sunday to see Peter & Tommy who proclaimed that this was one of the longest weekends of their lives and oh how they missed me! That never hurts.

2008-11-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

I just got home from a really relaxing girls' weekend in Cambria. This was the sunset that we saw last night from the min (glorified motel turned inn). I'll post more later.

Unfortunate

2008-11-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

I started out on my trip to the post office with such a great attitude. Yes, it was 6pm by then because John was an hour late to pick up the kids, but nonetheless, I was doing something good for someone else. I had to go to the main Pasadena branch because of the late hour and the holiday tomorrow. Well, as I was driving by, I saw all sorts of people milling about inside. I sort of wondered 'what in the world', but parked the car, in the one available space and went in. The line to see a window clerk was almost 40 minutes long! But, I had baked goods that could not wait until Wednesday to be sent. I was the last in line for about 10 minutes. That was a good 10 minutes - no one in my personal space.
And then, SHE showed up. One of the sickest sounding people I've ever heard. I felt her looming over my shoulder. I hadn't even turned around to see her yet, but every time I took 1 step forward, she took 2. You know the type - very invasive. Her phone rang and finally I turned around. She answered it through the surgical mask she was wearing! Oh, and did I mention, her constant cough and clearing her throat. The first sentence out of her mouth to the phone caller was "Oh, you can't imagine how sick I've been." Well, then really, please don't come to the post office and invade people's personal space. For the next 30 minutes all I could think was where was that damn antibacterial lotion when I really needed it.

Operation Baking Gals completed!

2008-11-10T17:16:00.001-08:00

Last night Peter, Tommy and I did some baking. We decided to make chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin chocolate chip bread for our soldier. On the Baking Gals website, there was a very complete FAQ section on how to ship - including packaging the cookies and filling out the customs form, which was really helpful. I never would have known that including apple peels in the paper towel layers between cookie layers helps to keep the cookies fresh. I have no idea how the bread will travel. Hopefully it won't be moldy before it gets there but I really don't know.

It was a fun project for us to do together as well as a good way to get them involved in doing a small thing for all of the men & women who are protecting us. For the last few months, years... who knows how long, Tommy has been drawing pictures which seem to be inspired by soldiers. His teacher has a son who is in the Air Force and I think this must be influencing him. He draws pictures and writes letters thanking the soldiers for keeping us safe, and for fighting for us. We included 2 of his art pieces with our goodies. You can see that he wrote out most of the Star Spangled Banner on a picture of the flag. The other picture says something about thanks to the soldiers for fighting for us. I hope that our soldier, Rian, appreciates the pictures more than anything. Turns out that he had a pastry business that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. I'm not sure our baked goods will be up to par, especially after how long it may take to get there, but hopefully he'll like them anyway!

Thanks again to the Baking Gals for making it possible to show our gratitude in a small way. I'm sure that there will be info on Round 5 soon for any of you bakers out there who may be interested. Depending on whether I get feedback from all of you people reading this, I may even volunteer to head up a team. Are you in?

Days with my Father

2008-11-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

I went to a new blog today, coveiter, where I found a link to this amazingly touching online journal about a man and his father called Days with my Father.

good night

2008-11-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well, today was a busy day, full of photo shoots and soccer games. This was by far my favorite picture of the day. Both the subjects and the setting - our driveway at sunset. Looks like we're on some fancy vacation, doesn't it??

Operation Baking Gals

2008-11-07T20:17:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I came across this blog - Operation Baking Gals. I bookmarked it and periodically checked back. Well, it's such a fabulous idea and a great way for me to get my kids involved in doing a little something for all of those who spend their lives protecting us. This is how they sum it up:
Baking GALS (GALS stands for Give A Little Support) is a group of volunteer bakers who bake and ship homemade goodies to our heroic troops that are currently deployed. Each soldier is "Hosted" by a blogger, and potential bakers are "recruited" from the bloggers own site as well as the GALS site. Each Host recruits between 20-25 bakers, meaning LOTS of goodies get delivered to our soldier...so many, in fact that he or she has plenty to share with their fellow troops!
So, we've signed up for round 4 through their website. The goodies are being sent out this week. Our soldier is named Rian and this is his 2nd overseas deployment in 2 years. We've been told he loves chocolate chip cookies and bread! So, Peter, Tommy & I have a project for this weekend - a little more baking.
We're also going to include some home-made art from Tommy and a couple of letters.
It just feels like a good way to head into this holiday season. We're definitely going to get in there in round 5 as well. I'll post some pictures once we're done baking!

Recent photo shoot

2008-11-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Recently, I've cut way back on the number of photo shoots I'm doing, but this is the kind of picture that makes me want to continue. How cute is this family?

So Adorable

2008-11-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Kids, you've just got to appreciate how darn sweet they are. And they don't even try to hide the bat.

I have issues

2008-11-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Although I love electronics, I just can't seem to figure some things out. Why oh why is this wireless system not working??? It's so frustrating. Notice the high tech phone / internet connection area along with the lovely blue cable strung across the house. Also - the 2 wireless modems that I can't get to work with my computer. Please Santa, just give me a wireless connection.

Good Morning

2008-11-02T07:23:00.001-08:00

This is the view that we had from our dining room yesterday morning. It didn't last long but...

Almost there!

2008-11-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

The painters are finally gone! And although the progress is slow, plans are coming together to get the sunroom finished. Here's what it looks like today. It's by far my favorite part of the house.

Wednesday

2008-10-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

We went to visit the Pasadena Police Dept. heliport where we learned some interesting info about helicopters with Tommy's cub scout troop.
We did some pumpkin carving.

Our cousin from San Luis Obispo came to have breakfast with us in the morning.

Peter & Tommy didn't have school yesterday - a teacher "buy back" day. Not sure what that means but here' are a few of the things that we did.

another cool photo trick

2008-10-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

Check out this website. http://www.poladroid.net/

old pics fast

2008-10-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Last night I stumbled across a blog that had a link to this Japanese website. I'm sorry I can't remember the source, but this is very cool. Be sure to click the English version. It instantly ages your photos and then gives you the option to save them to your computer. It's easy to get carried away!

baking bonanza

2008-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a little emotionally drained lately and have channeled my drain into baking. One of my favorite blogs is The Recipe Girl. So far, I haven't gone wrong with any of the recipes that I've made. The most recent were the maple pecan bars - a hit. Like a truly decadent pecan pie, only bite size. Next on my list is the Apple Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust. Luckily I have plenty of people around who can appreciate a little treat dropped on their doorstep early in the morning! I also made the pumpkin chili recently - I added more meat, onion & 1 extra can of tomatoes, the pumpkin cornbread, the dulce de leche apple bars with brown butter icing, and the pumpkin chocolate chip bars with cream cheese frosting. All were delicious! I wasn't kidding about channeling my emotions!

tommy

2008-10-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

When Tommy was about 3, he started dictating how he liked to have his back rubbed. In the middle of doing it, he would stop you and say "no, can you go up and down" or "no, can you do it like this?" and then proceed to show you how it should be done. Well, I should have seen what was coming. Like with all things, Tommy seems to be a little past his age in years. About a year ago, I offered to give Tommy a foot or hand massage. That was a big mistake. Now, he requests a foot massage almost every night - dirty feet and all (but I do have my limits). Well, recently I was lucky enough to have a massage at the Four Seasons Hotel. It really was fabulous. That night when I was tucking Tommy in, I rubbed his back and gave him a little back massage. We talked about what I'd done that day and now for the last month or so, while I'm putting Tommy to bed, he says "Mom, can you do a massage like at the hotel? And do it your very best this time." I really shouldn't be surprised, but still, I have to laugh.

2008-10-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a cool table? Almost something you could do yourself...

halloween is on it's way

2008-10-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

This morning, after a very hectic Thursday, I was awaken by Tommy. I had vaguely heard my door close while it was still dark, but rolled over and fell asleep again. But, at 6am (while it was still dark) Tommy decided that it was time to put on the Halloween costume. Last night when he took it off for bed, it got all tangled up and was inside out in ways I didn't know could occur. Reluctantly, I got up and got his costume ready for him. At 8:45 I happened to glance his way to see that he was still ready for Halloween. After that, it was a mad rush to get ready for school and into the car. We made it in time. This is just the beginning of the next 3 weeks of constant costume usage in our house. And, oh what a costume!

wallpaper options

2008-10-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

So, now that I'm looking at wallpapers, besides the 2 I already love, I found these nature inspired beauties at FermLiving.

this project is coming along

2008-10-07T22:31:00.001-07:00

So, this is the sunroom in my house. There is a view from the outside, the original decor inside and the more recent empty picture. Since these pictures have been taken, the stained glass has been removed and now we have clear glass in it's place. Woodwork has been installed, but not yet painted and the floors are still slate. So, now that it's almost time for the painter to come! I have to decide on the wall treatment in this room. These are the options that I'm considering. Wallpaper? Or possibly someone to come and paint a mural? I'm leaning toward the blackbird wallpaper. I think that it would really play in to the view from the room.

yeah !!!

2008-09-27T20:01:00.001-07:00

Peter got a haircut.

new chairs!

2008-09-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, despite being sick, I made my way to Ikea because after weeks of checking back... these chairs were finally in stock. The room is finally coming together! What do you think?

sad news

2008-09-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sad to report that the skunk didn't make it. We saw him laying on the neighbor's bench this morning and passed animal control on our way to school. So, farewell skunk...

*the garage is actually starting to smell a little less, which means you don't have to actually hold your breath now.

the saga continues

2008-09-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

It started this morning. We were on our way to school when Tommy spotted the skunk. He was sitting at the top of the driveway and didn't seem to be bothered at all by the car. So, off we went. It's almost 4:00 now and he's still there. Animal control is on the way. I think he must be injured and according to the woman on the phone "please keep an eye on him so that he can get the medical treatment that he needs." Here I sit... keeping an eye on the skunk.

what a week

2008-09-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday night and I'm sitting up, sort of watching the emmy's, mostly just because I love to see the dresses. Anyway, I've been sick all weekend and am just feeling lousy. I just let Sequoia (our dog) outside because he was acting nuts in the house. Well, last week, he went and was groomed on Monday - oh so clean! and so happy! all of that attention that he really doesn't get at home. So... on Thursday night I forgot to close the garage door. Sequoia was pacing the hallway around 11pm so since I can't sleep with him pacing, I let him out. I had a horrible surprise waiting for me on Friday morning. He must have surprised the neighborhood skunk while it was in our garage. He reeked and still has raw spots on his nose and mouth. The skunk really got him good. But dogs can be bathed... garages really can't. And now, I'm afraid that everything that I own and store in my garage is bathed in skunk smell. Hopefully this week will be a little better.