Savannah Scrapbooking

Lookin' for me?

I'm subbing for the next couple o' days (yay paycheck!) So if you hear of a teacher being duct taped and bound under a desk or in a closet at a Savannah Chatham County public school,  you'll know who to look for on the news.  I'll be the blonde with the duct tape stuck to her hair.  ;)

Now that my sub card is valid, and I'm sportin' this fancy degree I can finally book sub jobs... hopefully four or five days a week.  However, I know what students do to subs so I'm expecting to have a pretty crazy experience with it. It's so hard to go into a school where you know nobody's name and have to try to keep kids under control, but I'm hoping (actually I'm KNOWING) that my time at Hubert has got me ready for just about anything (with the exception of duct tape.)

So wish me luck, I'll let you know how it goes!

A man of many mugs...

... Nope, not coffee mugs.  Mugs, like photos... looks... styles.

This man is my beloved Big Dave. 

 
Depending on his hair, beard/goatee, or hat he is always getting told that he looks like somebody or other.

Like Larry the Cable Guy...

or Guy Fieri...

or perhaps (my fave) David Morse...

 
 

 

However...

Until a couple of days ago he was lookin' a lot like this guy...

 
Which is why I finally had to whine, protest, and nag until...

Don't get me wrong... I totally dig good ol' Yukon Cornelius, but not in my bedroom, know what I mean?

Thanks Boonkie for being a good sport... love you!

Hee hee...

;)  
   

Kitchen show and tell!

Oh yay me!!  We finished the first phase of the kitchen redo! By first phase I mean, the walls and first set of cabinets.  Ready? Okay we went from the Mango madness (ie, I dream of Velveeta) to this...

Yum Yum YUMMY!!! 

Even got me a fancy new light fixture so we could send Droopy the broken ceiling fan to the trashola.  

 
 

Big Dave dove right in and helped me through the project, or else I'd probably still be sanding... and speaking of sanding, we did a LOT of it...

And of course we waited until the COLDEST weekend so far to do it... lots of bundling was involved...

So after we did the doors outside we had to go in and take care of the boxes inside... yup, more sanding, but this time we wore snazzy masks...

 (By the way, I find that sanding while wearing camo really  helps me get a jump on the cabinet before it sees me approaching.)

Big Dave, on the other hand shaved his head for his own stealthy approach. 

 Now, just in case you need a refresher, we bought this house from its original owner Ms. Eloise Steinbeck.  So there are a lot of personal touches of hers that still linger around here.  One of them being the inside of this cabinet door...

It's got growing charts, an advertisement for some vitamins, and a good deal of scribbles documenting grocery items that she would repeatedly shop for.  We decided it was too cool to paint over, so the inside of one cabinet will bring us smiles for years. 

But we sure did paint over everything else.

And now I am SOOOO happy!  I can't wait to get some window treatments, a new floor (um, yeah that's gonna be a while) and oh yeah, the rest of the other cabinets painted.  (Not looking forward to that at all.)   

Now I've got to decide if I'm going to paint all of the cabinets green, or do 'em in white (well actually it would be some sort of tinted white because nothing in here is really white white.) Hmmm... what to do, what to do...

So what do you think?  Like 'em?  Think I should do the rest in green? Help!
 

 

Fun collage on Facebook...

...pant... sniffle... grunt... STILL painting!

I'm still in the throes of this kitchen paint makeover, and on day three I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (temporarily.)

The walls are complete, the rust colored backsplash is complete (luv it) and the the cabinet door backs and boxes are done.  Now just two more coats on the fronts of the cabinets and they too will be finished. Then it's new knobs, paint the old hinges black, and install the light fixture. 

And then... then... I can return to the land of the living!

Happy NEW YEAR!

So it's 6:46pm on New Years Day and I'm just now posting my New Year greeting, but I've been busy cleaning up (yes the entire day) from our party last night.  Phew!

I also had to throw together a big ol' pot of deer chili and some cheesy crab spread for tomorrow night's get together at a friend's house.  I know, you're like "Huh?  What's got into Jamie?"  And I'm like, "I have NO idea, but I'm lovin' the recent burst of energy."
Sorry, momentary bit of improvisional dialogue. 

Anyhoo...

Happy New Year!

Yes, that's what this post is about... our New Years Eve celebration.

It was SOOOOO fun! We ate like kings...

... well kings with plasticwear...

Classy right?  Uh huh, that's how I roll baby.

Oh, looky at Mendy's yummilicious cupcake cake...

(I ate my share for breakfast this morning.)

And of course lots of my favorite people came...

   (Mendy, Kristine, Me, Mom)

 
(Mom and Tom)

And what would a party at my house be without a group huddled around the firepit...

 


My sweet boy... love him. 

There was a good sized gaggle of tweens running around in the dark. (Not much longer until we're gonna have to chaperone a little more diligently, but for now we're okay.)

Did you know it was a blue moon last night?
     
One of the couples at the party met on New Year's Eve 19 years ago... and it just so happens that it was on that night 19 years ago that the last blue moon appeared on New Year's Eve.  Fun huh?

So we celebrated in our own special way...

I love that my bff thinks of the details... like purchasing Blue Moon beer for the blue moon night. She's so cool.

Once everyone got here we walked down to the bridge to shoot off Karl's $200 worth of fireworks... I love that I have a neighbor who's an overachiever, it's very beneficial.  ;)

 

Check out the crowd...

(Yeah, that's a Green Machine... jealous?)

Mendy took it for a spin...

I thought about it, but decided that I can barely drive with a steering wheel, and this thing steers with handles... a very bad idea for someone as coordinationally challenged as myself.

Lynn W's dog, Mack showed up and kept trying to charge the fireworks (did you know your dog has such animosity toward explosives Lynn?) So Teddy surrendered his belt, and Big Dave leashed the beast and kept him safe and sound.  (Note: Lynn was approximately 30 miles away spending the night at Tybee, but it was still  nice partying with her dog.)

We might have even fed him a smore or three (minus the chocolate)

Such a shiny coat... uh, Mack too.

It was my favorite New Year's Eve ever... but I always say that don't I?  I know, but I really mean it! Can't wait to do it again next year... Yay 2010~

The colors have been chosen, dun dun dunnnnnn....

After an hour and a half at the Home Depot where I'm pretty sure I met the NICEST paint consultant/employee EVER, I've finally come to some conclusions about my kitchen paint scheme. 

I've adopted a 'less is more' approach and have chosen 'Buttered Sweet Corn' which is a light buttery yellow for the walls, 'Grass Cloth Green' for my cabinets (yep, I'm biting the ol' proverbial bullet and redoing my cabinets, God help me) and a smidgen of 'Crisp Autumn Leaves' for my backsplash to give a little pop of color. 

Here's Scooter modeling the paint swatches... you can also see how much lighter the wall color is in the background, although it doesn't look as greenish in real life...

It's pretty much totally opposite of the mango madness I had going on in here. 

I worked all day yesterday prepping, priming and painting the walls, but I won't have the cabinets finished for a few days so we'll have to wait for the big reveal.  So far so good though... Big Dave came home last night and said he LOVES the wall color.  Yay me! And he thinks the green's gonna rock too.  Double Yay me!

Alrighty, I've got to finish the trim, then get started on our New Years Eve celebration prep.  I've got seven pounds of sirloin and two gallons of chopped veggies to put on skewers for kabobs (yum) and cheese dip to whip up, along with a corn casserole of some sort.  Party's at 7:30 so I think I'm good to go. 

Have a SAFE and FUN New Year's Eve celebration as we say bye bye to this crazy decade and hello to double digits!

New Moon, new kitty... well sort of...

I'm pretty sure that thirty seven year old moms shouldn't be this excited about winning at the board game 'New Moon' should they?

Oh but I am.

Mwahahahaaaaaaaaa!

Miss Priss' pal K ...

got the game for Christmas and challenged us to some friendly competition this morning (hence the bed heads and fuzzy pink bathrobe.)

Oh yeah, I kicked butt. It's a fun game for Twilight fans, and after the initial shock of learning the rules and regulations it was easy to follow.  Even for a bed head in a fuzzy pink bathrobe.

Oh, and by the way... did you notice the cat going into the fireplace in the first photo? Well that would be Scooter.

Remember him?

Well he's back.  Yep, after a trip to the allergist it seems his adoptive mommy, who's had him for nearly three months, found out she's allergic.  She's always had allergy issues, but never to cats.  However, times change, she's older, and Scooter must have an excessive amount of kitty dander or something, because she was having to use her inhaler. 

So back home came little Mr. Scooter pants. yay. Because everybody needs five cats. Geez.   

Check him out... handsome isn't he?

He's a little insane, but I'm guessing anybody might be after the trauma of leaving behind siblings and a mama... especially when they seem to hate your guts upon your return. (Hence the scratch on his nose and the small rip in his ear.) Yes... insanity is understandable, but I think he's getting better.   They're starting to cuddle with each other, but not the mama (she turns into a rabid puma every time he comes near...vicious.)

See how cute...

They're like the gargoyles that sat atop the tower/building in Ghostbusters.  My very own precious little furry gargoyles.  How lovely.

And January 13th is spay and neuter day... just thought I'd let you know... NO MORE KITTENS!!!  (Geez, could you imagine?)

Alrighty, I'm going to find something productive to do because I'm all sugared up from a giant cup of hot chocolate... woohoo!
 

and it begins...

Apparently I have some sort of genetic mutation that makes me crave paint during the holidays.  Yes, I said paint.  No, I'm not eating it.  (Big relief right?)

Or maybe it's the Home Depot gift cards that I get for Christmas each year. 

(I kinda like the mutation theory myself.)

Whatever the case may be, I've decided to repaint the kitchen (again) this week, which I happen to find funny because when I went back through my blog archives I realized that I was painting the kitchen at this time last year.

Remember Tropical Mango?

Yes well I think it's got to go go.  After a year of looking at it, all I can think of is Velveeta cheese. 

So now I'm back in the 'what do I paint my kitchen' quandry.  I bought some rustish-terra cotta type color, splashed it on the walls...

... and when Big Dave came home he asked, "Who crapped on the walls in the kitchen?"  So I kind of figure that this isn't the right color for us.  I mean heck to go from Velveeta cheese to poop would just be wrong.

I think I'm thinkin' a green this time around.  Something paler than screaming school bus yellow.  I'm really into orange, but I think the darker colors will accentuate the (many) flaws in the walls.  Hmmm....

Guess I'm gonna head on over to the Depot and see what inspires me.  Wish me luck!

What a beautiful holiday!

Did you have a wonderful Christmas?  I sure did. 

Here's a list of my favorite things about it:

1. Helping Mom get ready for the big party at her house

 

and seeing her finally get to relax and enjoy herself...

(lovebirds)

2. My cousin C.J getting to come home from Ft. Benning to be with his family ( don't have a photo of him, but he's the bald guy in the background of one of the photos above. ha ha)

3. Hanging out with my sister and my nephew Andrew

(Somebody's a little camera-shy.) 

4. Being with my bestie on Christmas Eve... we haven't seen each other in THREE weeks.

5. The look on my kid's face when she realized the Fed Ex truck really DID bring her new phone... (Thank  you Fed Ex and your magnificent Christmas Eve delivery)

6. Taking the traditional Christmas photo with Mom and Lori

Okay it might have taken a couple of tries...

but we finally got it...

 
 7. Christmas morning at my house... love a sleepy eyed girl opening presents...

 
Santa treated her well this year, of course her favorite gift was her new phone (imagine that.) She also got a pull up bar (weird but true), tons of art supplies, a pile of fuzzy socks, new clothes, games, you name it.  She thinks she's the queen of sheba around here. ;)

8. Our traditional 3 generation photo on Christmas Day...

 
9. Celebrating my favorite boy's 42nd birthday, Yay Big Dave!

He got a beautiful rifle, some birthday cashola, a mess of funny t-shirts, and of course my sis made him his favorite Cherry Delight... plus Aunt Joyce made his day even better by making her unbelievable banana pudding.  He was a HAPPY boy!

10. Playing this...

with our neighbors Christmas night.  Cute game... you should get it.

Yep, we've made a lot of good memories this year, and I am super grateful to have all the people I love around me to enjoy it.  Yay Christmas!  Now, I guess I better get started scrapbooking all the photos...yikes.
 But first I'm gonna dig up some leftovers and stuff my face, yum!