It’s been a happily busy couple of days around the homestead. No complaints. Mickey made it in Thursday evening and brought some of the Arizona sunshine and warmth with him. Friday was bright and beautiful. I was out the door early to run a few errands. The proof is in a text I sent to my sister.
Pardon the typo - I’m a terrible texter. There really is a story behind that message. Remember a few months ago when I received a worm factory? I had big plans to become a vermiculture magnate. Then I killed all my worms. I honestly don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the directions to the letter, but still had a gruesome result. However, Tyler’s sweet Jamie had given her mother a worm factory as well and her mom is having huge success. Their worms runneth over. Jamie sent me a text on Thursday and asked if I’d like some worms since they knew I’d murdered mine. Of course I said yes. She promised she’d bag some up and deliver them, to which I replied that I’d gladly save her a trip over here if she was going to be out and about. We agreed to meet Friday morning since she planned to go shopping with her grandmother. Well, I’d been in a purging mode all week and between Thursday night and Friday morning I cleaned out my “beauty cupboard” in the bathroom and discovered that I have way too many bottles of nail polish. In fact, I had many, many bottles of colors that I had no business owning…impulse purchases of purple, turquoise, neon pink, shimmers of every color. Most of those colors were for summer toenails, but honestly….a 48 year old woman should really rein it in. Since the polish was still perfectly good I figured that Jamie or her sister might enjoy them. So that is why I was waiting in a Walmart parking lot, ready to swap nail polish for worms. See? It all makes perfect sense.
From there I popped into the grocery store to pick up Diet Coke and a few other necessities, then headed home to enjoy the beautiful day. It really was beautiful.
See that white blob out in the yard? That’s my dawg’s belly. He was sleeping under sunny blue skies. I was tempted to join him. Notice the green patches….those are weeds, the only thing around here that stays green all winter. I’ve often thought we should just let them take over. Keep ‘em mowed in the summer and enjoy the color all winter. Or buy a goat. I’m always up for a goat.
Anyway, as tempting as it was to join Huck in a sunny yard nap, I had stuff to do. I fed the mister some lunch then zipped out the door to my hair appointment. I was feeling optimistic as I headed down Mt. Juliet Road to The Wild Strand. Any salon with a name like that should be able to help me, right? They DID! Rather, Ray did! He was truly a miracle worker. He took one look at the shrubbery on my head and said “We really need to take some of the bulk out…” Music to my ears! We chatted and he cut and we chatted some more and he cut some more and when the dust settled I had exactly the cut I’d asked for. That never happens! He left the length, added some layers, thinned it A LOT, and I’m pretty sure I left the salon five pounds lighter. He even had some great suggestions on the gray situation. It was such a miracle that the local paper covered the story!
Just kidding. That’s a fake newspaper article I created at www.fodey.com. But the fact that Ray made sense of the mess on my head deserves to be recognized. Braver men have died trying. Here’s Ray at work..
No, that’s not me in the chair. I swiped this from their website. I really should have taken a few photos of the salon - it’s gorgeous. It’s in an old house and the decor is a beautiful mix of glittering chandeliers and animal print with pops of color that come together perfectly. I wanted to live there. It certainly made me less enthusiastic about my laundry room makeover. Well, it was less a makeover and more a gutting. Our laundry room had become almost a second garage. Everything ended up there. I’d had enough and tackled it when Mickey left last Monday. I should post “before” pictures, but I’d be too embarrassed. After brutally ditching the vast majority of odds and ends collected there. I divided the remaining junk items into three baskets.
I imagine I’ll need a couple more baskets, but at least I have room now. I’ve since made pretty labels for those baskets and woe to the person who tries to dump anything in here that doesn’t belong in one of those containers. And yes, that’s our old set of Maytags, still chugging along perfectly and getting the job done. They’re part of the family.
The rest of the room looks like this..I know, boring.
I decided that I’d just pull stuff from other rooms to make it pretty. I haven’t done that yet. I did dig out two items that are dear to me that I may put in here. They’ve been tucked away in a drawer because they’re special, but I think seeing them on a daily basis is a far better plan.
This was from my Grandma Ethel-
Just a little something that she framed and wanted me to have. The most precious part of it is that she wrote my name on the back…I love seeing her handwriting.
A laundry room may seem like an odd place for something so dear, but I know I’ll smile every time I see it.
The other piece is similar. It was given to me by my lovely friend, PMHSPW (Patti Mae Howard Skondovitch, Pioneer Woman). Honestly, even her license plate reads PMHSPW. I’ve mentioned her here before and shared with you that she is one in a million and I thank my lucky stars that she counts me among her friends. Meeting her was a gift, a blessing, a stroke of luck, and a turning point for me. Her present to me when we left Alaska includes pressed forget-me-nots and other state wildflowers.
The back hides her sweet message of farewell and her autograph.
This is not a pricey room makeover. These are my treasures. They’ve been tucked away and I think it’s past time to bring them out. I can’t enjoy them if they’re wrapped up in the dark, can I? Sure, someday when I’m a millionaire and I have that breezy attic office/studio/craft room/library of my own they’ll sit on a shelf with souvenirs from my travels - but for now, a sunny laundry room will have to do. I think Ethel and Patti would agree.
I’ve rambled from worms to warm memories, and Mickey is walking around turning off lights. That’s probably a hint that it’s late and I should close the laptop. He’s right, it’s almost Sunday. I have a lot more to tell you, starting with what a wonderful husband he was today - but first I need to hightail it into the bedroom so I can put my cold feet on his legs before he gets too comfortable. Until tomorrow, my dears - sweet dreams.
