Have you seen the changes?

In case you didn't notice, I've added a couple new elements to my blog page. On the right hand side, I've decided to put in a photo of the week. Starting today...

And also, you will be able to see just what kind of weather Omaha is having. Or what elements Mother Nature is forcing us to deal with! ;-)

What color do you feel like today?

My painting yesterday and the impending other paint jobs that I'll soon be working on, has gotten me to think about something. If you've ever watched HGTV, especially the redecorating shows, you know how much they stress using the proper color. For people that are trying to sell a home, for instance, a neutral color, such as white or beige, is best because potential buyers can move in and not have the walls clash with their own belongings. And it makes a room feel larger than it actually is. Darker colors tend to make a room seem small and dismal.
People look at homes while thinking about how much work they will have to put into each room to make it work for them. That includes how much painting they will want to do.

But moods are often affected by the colors they either wear or by the color of the room they happen to be in, or even the color of the sky! How many times have you gotten out of bed and realized it was cloudy? Don't you feel like just going back to bed? How about if it's sunny and warm? Do you feel like going to a lake or taking a walk just to be in the sunshine? Here is something that you may find interesting. It's pretty self explanatory. I'm sure you have all heard the standard rules on what the colors all mean but in case you haven't, now you now.

Color is also used to make a statement in a room. If you want to have a particular item or area stand out, paint can do that. A fireplace (ahem, Cathy. Do you remember what we talked about in your living room?) is almost always the focal point of the room it is in. If it's the same texture or color as the walls, it gets lost amongst the wall decor. It should stand out alone from the walls. These pictures show just what I'm talking about. Whether you use ceramic tile, rocks, a wood mantel, or a simple paint job, the fireplace will look beautiful! And it won't disappear into the wall.

The room I painted yesterday has the color of Taupe. Not only does it match my furniture, but there is a feeling of being in a nice cozy family room! The walls were pure white prior to my handy work. BORING! Now all that's left to really spruce it up is to find some nice Roman shades and get a few accent pillows to bring out the other colors in my couches. I can't wait!

Let's not forget the different colors for each month of the year. Birthstones! What color is yours? Now you can read up and see just what your color stands for. Does it represent you fairly? How about correctly? Here is a list:

1. January-Garnet
2. February-Amethyst
3. March-Aquamarine
4. April-Diamond
5. May-Emerald
6. June-Pearl...(purplish/clear)
7. July-Ruby
8. August-Peridot
9. September-Sapphire
10. October-Opal
11. November-Topaz
12. December-Turquoise

That's as close as I can come to the real thing.

And we can't forget that teachers (Kevin and Susan) use a special color for correcting papers. That's right.....RED! I'm sure you know what that would be. I know I do! ( I saw a lot of it!) I think you get the idea....are you bored yet? There it is in a brown nutshell!

A new coat!

Today I went to Home Depot and bought the paint of which I already had samples for. I decided to first paint my family room down stairs. I will eventually be painting 2 of my bedrooms as well. I thought I had pictures of the walls when they were white. However, after looking through my pictures, I DON'T! Anyway, here are some photos after the painting was done.
The color is Taupe. The third picture is the truest color. The others look different and the pictures were taken during the day. You might also notice the purple tape I used around the door frames and floor boards. Now all I have to do is hang everything back up on the walls.
Everything is still a bit of a mess but at least the painting is done.

Out with the old........

Back in June when I knew I would be owning this house, I knew as well, that I would be making some changes to the landscaping. As you can see from these photos, it's too much green......no color except green. The ground cover you see is called Juniper-Blue Rug. It spreads out and the branches grow along the ground. Personally, I don't care for it. So I checked with one of the local nursery's in town, Mulhall's, and asked them how hard it would be to remove it. The guy I spoke with put his hand out and shook mine. He told me, "good luck." Alllriigghhtyy then.....

That wasn't what I wanted to hear! Here is what I'm talking about:

Juniper plants....

More of the ugly things....

......and more..........

and lastly, the close up of them. Ish!

I went home from there and proceeded to cut the branches down to the root stalk. It took an hour and 1/2 just to do the area next to the bushes. It was all I could handle for one day. My back was practically yelling at me once I finished! Once again I discovered that the former owners had let another project fall by the wayside. I found many dead branches under the top layer. And the branches themselves were very thick. My neighbor loaned me his pruning shears (the kind with the long handles and a moon-shaped cutter) and I went to town trying to remove the thicker branches.

Once that was done, I got my shovel and started digging around the main root stalk. At this point, my inner voice was cussing myself out for even starting this project in the first place! But the angel on my shoulder told me I was smart to do it myself as it is less expensive. So now, I have two out of three roots dug out, and one more to go. I will have to pull it out of the ground using a chain or rope, etc., as I can't get it dug out. But I have to say, it already looks 10 times better than before. Next week, I hope to get some flower bulbs planted to bring more color to the area in the spring. And eventually, I will remove the bushes as well. I would like to plant a lower profile plant in front of the railing. It will dress up the front of the house a little better as well as provide better security in front of the windows. The ground is covered with landscape rock that will be going away too. I will leave it just soil so that I can plant flowers there next spring.

It pays to watch HG TV and see the many ideas they have for things like this!

Here is what I ended up with after all the tedious work:

One of the small piles of the removed branches.

The last root section to be removed.

Is this better or what?!

A day for Dee!

Today is Dee's birthday! Happy Birthday girlfriend...

Because it falls on a Thursday, we all worked today. But Dee knew where she wanted to go out to eat in honor of her day. She chose Wheatfield's. Omaha has been growing so much and along with growth comes the new shopping areas. One of them is called Shadow Lake Towne Center.

It's adding more stores and restaurants all the time. And because it's nearby, it's convenient too! Wheatfield's has one other location in Omaha but this particular one had just opened up less than 2 weeks prior to Dee's birthday!

So my friends, Trisa, Tammy, Dee and myself (Lisa was unable to attend), met there for dinner and gift giving. We sat and ate huge meals and afterwards, we went shopping!

We drove to another location of the shopping mall and went into a couple other stores. But it was soon closing time so we were forced to leave.......what a bummer! I have to say and I'm sure the ladies will agree......there is never enough time for shopping!

We all had a great time!

Me and Dee

Trisa and Tammy

P.S.
I just noticed that we were all wearing different jewelry from the Lia Sophia line. I think we make great models. Incidently, Lisa, whom was absent is a consultant and Tammy has just started with it as well. We have all been to many jewelry parties!

New look for the pearly whites!

Monday was an exciting day for me. I had an orthodontist appointment. But it wasn't just any appointment! Oh no....not one like the others before it. No new wires to tighten things up, no new bands, no more rubber bands, etc. It was the day my braces came off! For those of you that don't remember, last year on August 14Th (happy Anniversary Kevin and Susan!) the braces were put on the top teeth. Then a couple months later in October, the bottom teeth got braces. Yes, it's only been a year but as anyone that's ever had them says, "it seems like it was longer!" And this was the second time around for me to have them. I had them once before from 1991-1993. Just shy of a two year stint back then. And can I say that the methods of wearing braces have certainly changed since back then as well. This time the brackets were glued to the front of the teeth. Ceramic braces on my top teeth and metal braces on the bottom. The first time around, I had to have spacers inserted between the teeth in order to make room for the brackets that fit around each tooth. That was a painful experience.

The removal process took about an hour. First, however, the orthodontist fitted my lower teeth with a permanent retainer. A small wire that was glued to the back of my lower, front 4 teeth. If the lower teeth stay in place, the rest should as well. Then it was time for the brackets to come off. They were literally snapped off by some tool that only an orthodontist or dentist is allowed to use on teeth. (Remember how much preaching is done by oral doctors not to use sharp objects on your teeth?) Anyway, my teeth were more sensitive to that than I anticipated. Then they actually used a grinder (miniature by normal grinder standards) and removed the glue left behind. Just envision this if you would: The assistant to the orthodontist hands you protective eye wear that a carpenter might wear. Then the orthodontist himself begins grinding away while the assistant holds a tool that blows air on the teeth and a suction tube in your mouth so that you don't drool all over. The air was almost the worst feeling. Seeing the white residue flying around over my face and smelling the odor from the grinding was enough to make me cringe! It made me feel the same as when someone scratches their fingernails over a chalkboard! Blah!!!!

Finally the grinding was over and I was allowed to rinse with mouthwash. Then they took impressions of my teeth, both top and bottom, and then over to the ex-ray machine. After ex-rays, the assistant took pictures of my teeth. They did this before the braces were put on as well. Before and after shots, literally. Then another assistant brought out a retainer for my top teeth. I was expecting a wire attached to a crimson colored piece that fits under your gums. Nope! It was a clear tray (similar to this) made from the impressions of my top teeth. It fits right over my top teeth and unless you look for it, it's hard to see that it's there! Another very dramatic change from years back. I only have to wear it for 12 hours a day for now. Then it will be reduced to just over night hours. And the best part is that I won't have another appointment for 4 months! My teeth look great and even better, they feel so smooth!

I took some pictures of myself with the aid of my tripod. I hope you can tell the difference in the two photos.




Before......


......and after!

Unwanted Visitors

Question: How much attention do you actually give your lawn? Do you notice when a new weed has sprouted? Or do you notice when the grass has started to brown in any one given area? What about little tiny holes.....maybe the size of a quarter?
Well, because I mow my own grass, I notice some irregularities on occasion. But the other day I saw something that was strange and I wasn't even mowing! I saw these unusual aspects while walking to my mailbox! For instance, the holes. Scattered throughout the grass on the west side of my driveway, were the said holes. No pattern but there were many! And the grass seemed to be turning brown in the area around them. Now I'm not real picky but I do like GREEN grass.......not brown. So I was a little concerned. I had heard about many things that could cause this to happen but I didn't know for sure. Some people told me that garden snakes could be doing it, or squirrels or moles or hornets or......(ish) white grub worms. So I decided to call a lawn care professional. They were here yesterday while I was at work. They wrote down the results for me to look over and put them in my door. NOT A GOOD RESULT!!! Not only does my lawn have mild "summer patch disease", it has white grub worms! How gross! I would rather have the hornets! So I called them and gave them the thumbs up to come back and apply the proper applications to get rid of these nasty looking creatures. And also to get rid of the pesky dandelions and other such weeds. The summer patch disease will cure itself....and hopefully no small critters will dig into my grass looking for a feast of grub worms!!! The grass would eventually die from these worms eating the roots if left untreated. And moles would dig through as well and create small trenches in search of these gross insects. Needless to say, I'm having the grass treated by a doctor!
Just a word of advice......inspect your lawn....I believe it's worth the time to do so.

Christmas in September!

Today I received the "huge" shipment of Pampered Chef items that my wonderful guests all ordered! 5 very large boxes were sitting on my front porch when I arrived home from work. I myself ordered a dozen or more pieces, so my own kitchen has lots of new goodies in their respective boxes sitting on the floor until I am able to find a space for each thing. But I was so excited to sort through the many things and organize orders. Tonight I will be able to deliver many of them as I play volleyball and will see some of the people that have ordered. I have 2 boxes in my van filled with shopping bags and 2 other boxes in my garage: one goes to work and another is filled with orders of people in various places around Omaha. So I will be making a few stops around town this weekend.
But I feel like a small child whom has awoke on Christmas morning and discovered presents under the tree from Santa Claus! The best part will be trying out the new products that I aquired next time I cook or bake. So you all need to stop in for a visit...and I'll cook something with my new toys!
I think my sister-in-law, Susan, can attest to the excitement of new Pampered Chef stuff!

Anyone remember this?

Today at work, for some unknown reason, someone brought up old children-generated television programs from the late 70's to early 80's. The word "sleestak"came up. Ok, who can name the program it came from? My bet is that my brother Kevin will figure it out the quickest. We used to watch this program every week! Other characters from this particular show include, but not limited to: Rick, Will and Holly Marshall, Ta and Sa, and one of my favorites, Cha-Ka. Get it yet?....

If you haven't figured it out yet, this might be the clincher clue. Dinosaurs! A couple of the dino names were "Grumpy" and "Big Alice." Do you remember now? How about where the Marshall family lived? ....a cave. They had special stones that gave them visions of things. If you haven't gotten it yet, I'll help you out............

"Land of the Lost." Have I aged myself enough yet?

Here is a website for you to peruse.....rather humerous! And here are the infamous Sleestak.