I'm Still Around ...

Reports of my alien abduction have been greatly exaggerated. I'm really still on this Earth, struggling to balance all the people and pets in my life, becoming more and more convinced that there is simply not a way to achieve a balanced life while working full-time. It just cannot be done. Everybody wants a piece of my time and attention, there are literally dozens of things that need to be done around the house that just never get done, and I'm hating the way that feels. I'm at a point where I'm mentally throwing up my hands and saying "I quit!" and I acknowledge that I cannot be everything to everybody, and I cannot do everything for everybody, and I can barely keep myself going day after day. So there. I said, I mean it. Something's gotta give because I have no time for me, for the things I love to do and the things that are truly important in this life. What's the answer? Anyone who knows, please respond!

On a brighter note, we leave for a vacation in Maine tomorrow morning, most likely at the crack of dawn. My husband tends to be a restless sleeper even on a good night, and when he's anticipating a long day of driving and exicited about going to Maine .... well, he'll probably wake up a 4 or 5 a.m. and not be able to go back to sleep. Which means we'll all wake up long enough to load into the van and be on our way in the wee hours of the morning. Kelly has invited her best friend and partner in crime to come with us - Shannon is much like Kelly, very creative, has a great sense of humor and is quite happy-go-lucky. They're going to have a blast!

While in Maine we'll go to friend Kevin's surprise birthday part, vist Great-Uncle George and cousin Rick in Westbrook. Then off to do lots of other fun things - old Portland, Freeport, a day trip out to Monhegan Island to visit the lighthouse and museum (where Chris' name is on a display that's a tribute to the Coast Guard Fog Signal keepers of the past) ... we'll visit Acadia National Park for a day, and drive over to New Hampshire to ride the Cog Railway up to Mt. Washington. Yahoo! I can't wait to get there! We're way overdue for a good long getaway and I hope it's as fun as it promises to be.

You'll hear from me when we return on July 1st - I swear I'm going to get caught up on news in July. Honest.

Before and After

The arrival of Spring marks the beginning of Yard Sale Season - one of my favorite seasons. I don't know what it is about other people's leftover stuff that's so fascinating to me, but I can't resist checking out a driveway full of household items, books, knick-knacks, toys, you-name-it. I've always been a bit of a bargain hunter and a yard sale is the perfect place to pick up some really good deals. My favorite day of the entire summer is the day our community has its Community-Wide Yard Sale to benefit the Historical Society. We can go from house to house to house, spending hours in the heat trying to make $10 or $20 last as long as possible.

A couple of weekends ago, Kelly and I hit a yard sale that featured some sorry looking old furniture, nothing expensive or high-quality but quite appealing because of the prices. We purchased 3 pieces for all of $7 - what a deal! Here are the before pictures: (Can you see the faux area rug I painted on the deck a couple of years ago? It's dog-proof ....)




The cube-shaped table with storage was the item that I grabbed (hey, it was marked "FREE" so I couldn't just walk away from it) and Kelly nabbed the small chest of drawers and the side table (or is it an end table?) with a single drawer. She's been wanting to make some changes in her bedroom (aimed at giving her more storage for all her clothes) so the chest of drawers, marked $5 was a no-brainer. The little end table was one of those things where we just figured we'd find a place for it somewhere after we re-finished it. For $2 - no big deal!

I sanded and painted the storage cube thingie knowing I'd just use it out on our back deck for flower pots - and I found that our big canvas grill cover fits inside perfectly once it's all folded up. Here's how it looks now that I've freshened it up with some happy yellow paint with a crackle finish (it's supposed to look weathered, you know ...):



Kelly bought a quart of black paint for the undercoat of the dresser, then applied the crackle glaze to the drawer fronts and finished them off with a blue shade that's called Morning Glory. She removed all the hardware before she started and sprayed the drawer pulls silver so they'd be a better match. It looks terrific! Here's the almost finished product (she still hadn't put the hardware back on) - and we realized that the divided-looking drawer needed to be moved up to the top spot, so we re-arranged the drawers after the fact:

We haven't done anything with the little end table yet - who knows what that'll end up looking like? She and I have joked around about starting a business called "Found Furniture" so that we can keep doing this and make some money in the process. Imagine the possibilities! It would be a great creative outlet for crafty people like us.