This Tuesday is Really a Monday

So my short vacation went well. It was after we got back it crashed. As in really crashed! Monday My 18 month old almost $800 laptop warned me my internal battery was bad. No biggie it is almost always plugged in. Then it wont turn on. :( Colin says it might have erased my hard drive, so I flipped out. His tech friend calmed me down and said I should just need to get a new battery, at this point I think it is just the battery.

So today (Tuesday) I take it into the geek squad....apparently it is also my charger in addition to the port the charger goes into. Great! Just what I wanted to hear, he told me flat out it will cost more to fix than me buying a new one! So he suggested me buying a charger ($86 with tax), taking it home and backing up my files so I can figure out what I want to do. I have 30 days to return the charger, 30 days to figure this out because my port will go out and then I wont be able to use it as all, I will just have an expensive paperweight. So tomorrow I am taking it to my dads tech guy at work, he said he will see what he can do for some beer. My dad says he rebuilds computers so I can hope. I can definitely give him some beer, lots of it! Either way I am never buying the nicer model with more memory because if your computer wont turn on what good does it do you.

I have my old desktop (about 7 yrs old) and it has no issues other than none of our newer programs work on it because it's version of windows is too old. :( I can't even input my business files on it. Right now I am stressed and we have furnace people coming this week for estimates on a new furnace....poof there goes all our money! What an awful month!

I also have to add that the dog threw up on me when I got home from hearing this bad news! I can't wait for November! At least my ballot just showed up so at least I can vote!

I need a Backbone, I lost Mine :(

Disappointment in others is never good or healthy. We are all who we are. I just wish that I had been given the skills to speak my mind with those I love more than just keep my mouth shut. There have been many times I let people use and abuse me or walk all over me and I say nothing. All of us are guilty about that, we figure it's easier to say nothing than cause problems. But it's not, all it does is reinforce that behavior.

I am in turmoil due to others choices that effect myself and my family past, present, and future. I can't find the right words or enough backbone to say what needs to be said. It's a beautiful thing how complex humans are and a terrible thing as well. Please pray that I get the strength to turn an issue into a positive story and to speak up.

*Thank you to my mom for understanding as she has the same issue (she takes blame for my sisters and I having this problem) and for finally starting to speak up for herself and for us. I struggled with this as a kid because she never stood up for me and I stood up for myself too much, right now I miss that angry kid and want it to come out of hiding and voice "my" opinions.

I am jumping off my soapbox as I am not ready to leave and I still don't have my supplies to ship out some orders sitting on my worktable. That is not helping the turmoil going on in my head.

Enjoy your weekend, hopefully mine goes better than I think it is going to. Positive events happening: see both my sisters, shopping with my mom and them, seeing my best friend. Those should be enough to fix a black cloud overhead any day.

Clicking my Heels

I am headed to Kansas for a few days with my parents and one of my sisters/fiance. Unfortunately Colin has very few vacation days left and wants to save them for the holidays so he can't go. At least I didn't need to find a puppy sitter for the dogs as we can't board Gunther anymore. I wish he could come though.

So instead of getting thing done I am sitting here typing on this silly blog. I need to finish laundry, pack my bag, vacuum, pick up my ornament supplies, go pick up a rocking chair for my cousins wedding gift....I know I have other things that I can't remember. :( I also am waiting for supplies for purity bracelets, they are LATE and I need them before I head out the door tomorrow afternoon. I hope they show up earlier today, that would make me breath much easier.

Either way I am psyched to see my best friend. :) I haven't seen her since last October for her wedding and reception. We are celebrating again! She got cancer when we were in college and has not gotten a clean cell count in over 6 years. Last week she finally did, so we are celebrating just the two of us. :) She also needs a pick me up as she has about a 15% chance of having kids and her sister just found out she is pregnant. Its killing her and she needs real life hugs. Every time someone asks her why she doesn't have kids its like they punched her in the stomach. I am so glad I have the opportunity to let her cry not on the phone. I wish people thought about the potential pain they cause people that can't have kids when they ask them that loaded question. All I can say is cheers for friends when you need them!

Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!

Look a-like Curtains

Today has been a long day....I finished my curtains in the dining room and office/den and Colin hung my recycled curtain rods (free from my grandma, I just painted them). Thanks Grandma!


I loved some curtains at Ethan Allen that I saw window shopping with my sister. They were $79 per panel! So I bought some at Walmart and added some ribbon to make them look similar, that cost $9.50 per panel total. Much better and exactly what I wanted. :)

(Inspiration photo, it has ribbon on the bottom as well)

Cross one item off my want list! :) Lots of other work was completed at our house, this was just the project that the finished project is better. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Kerrie=Ornament Maker

No photos today folks. :( Currently I am working on ornaments, I am sold out of all the popular colors at the moment. I love selling things but being sold out shortly before Christmas is freaking me out. So from now on I am making ornaments at night while watching TV. I need to make a lot!

I really would like to have three times the amount of ornaments than normal because my mom was asked to participate in the Christmas tour in my home town. We decided that her Christmas tree shall be all my ornaments with a sign that they are for sale. She has a HUGE tree so I better get to work.

In other news I am also sold out of purity bracelets at the moment! It has been a good last few weeks but running out of items also means that I had to make a supply order that really hurt my pocketbook. At least I payed my order and payed myself this month, after new licenses etc. and moving again I am glad to be out of the red. THANK YOU TO ALL THAT SUPPORT ME! I love you!!!!

Wish Wish Wish

So I am slacking....I couldn't sleep so I worked until 2 am this morning. Right now I don't think my brain is at full capacity to deal with numbers (taxes). So I am on here dreaming of things I would like, it's a long list.

-New furnace, since ours is not long for this world.
-Shed for back yard so my husband is happier with the size of his garage.
-New fridge that doesn't have a crack in it. Preferably one with a freezer drawer.
-Gas Stove
-Microwave over the stove so I have more counter space.
-One larger cooking pot for the kitchen, I only have one and I always need another one (mine is too big).
-New jeans from the gap, how about an entire shopping spree while I'm at it.
-A folding stool with three steps, my old wooden ladder is not safe.
-A shelf hung in my studio to store supplies....I already have the shelf and brackets though. :)
-Curtains in the dining room so it doesn't echo.
-Rugs for the dining room/den/entry from Ballard Designs.
-Bedding for my studio/craft room.

and the biggest wish is a new couch and love seat for the family room.

Figures after I finish the kitchen cabinets this is what my brain does. Unfortunately all of my wishes are pretty large. :( We have to have dreams though!

I have lots more wishes but these are the ones on the front page of my brain at the moment. Check out Handmade Obsessions for some new items before they dissapear, the new items don't last long so it looks like I am not adding any. Catch twenty two! :)

*I am updating my wish list when I have actually gotten the items, by changing them into italics.

Messy is Me

I thought I would give a quick update on life at the Ratliff house. It is a HUGE mess! One week of painting the entire kitchen does that. We had unexpected guests Tuesday that I still haven't cleaned up from, I haven't vacuumed or dusted on top of the kitchen mess in a week.So today I am still painting and have done 5 loads of laundry. Sigh, I should never listen to the ideas in my head. Right now all I want to do is start a fire in the fireplace and read some of the new books my sister gave me. Reading sounds MUCH better than painting.

It is drizzling at the moment which makes me happy since its helping my grass seed grow. That and it seconds me wanting to have a fire. We can burn every night if we want to until the 31st of this month and then we have restrictions due to pollution and the mountains. Having a fireplace so far is everything I hoped it would be. I love fires at night!

My goal after I get off my computer is to get the rest of the cabinet doors put back up and the kitchen clean so I can make a real dinner. I am tired of leftovers and pizza. Then I am going to read a book and enjoy the fireplace. :)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Kitchen Cabinet Update

Thought I would say hello while I am waiting for my paint to dry....:) I bought a paint sprayer, as of right now it is tied with my electric staple gun for favorite tool. I am loving it!I decided if I didn't start now painting the kitchen I would never get around to it. Spur of the moment ideas might not be that great of an idea. Anyways I primed the crappy laminate sides of the cupboards and am painting them with my roller but the worn oak drawers and cabinets are getting treated to my sprayer! :)

I only have room to work on about 1/4 of the kitchen at a time so right now I have one door and and 5 drawers in my makeshift paint booth. Tomorrow I will do more doors, they take longer though since the front and backs need done. What a mess! My goal is to be done with at least one side of the kitchen by Friday. I am not sure I can get away with the kitchen being this messy much longer than that.

Next week I may tackle adding the crown molding around the top that I wanted to add. :) Hope you are having a productive week as well!

Blah

I haven't been writing on here because I haven't taken any photos lately. Blog posts without photos are not much fun. I have not been very productive this week is all I can say.

-I met with my accountant to straighten out my filing issues, everything is much clearer and makes me breath easier. :)

-I bought some fake pumpkins and carved a cool ghost into one. I most likely will still buy a few real ones but the fake ones wont rot on the front porch. Besides that I wont have wasted 30-45minutes carving my difficult design.

-Did a mountain of laundry, all folded but it has been sitting on the dryer not put away.....why is that always the hardest part?

-Painted the damaged metal fireplace surround. I ran out of paint though so it's a work in progress. Note to self, get another can of high heat paint at Home Depot.

Honestly other than keeping the kitchen clean I don't feel like I have done much at all. My goal today is finish laundry, wash all sheets (we had guests), clean bathrooms, dust, mop kitchen, and vacuum. Not a bad list at all but since I don't feel motivated it might take all day.

I will share photos of the fireplace and my pumpkins as soon as I get the camera charged up. My dad is coming this weekend to help Colin put in some motion sensor lights outside and a light fixture in our guest bedroom. On top of that he is bringing us a newer stove which at least should work consistently unlike my current one.

Have a wonderful weekend!