Inconvenient

I have discovered that the only place my stray gray eyebrow hairs can be seen - is under the flourescent lights in the bathroom at work.  Unfortunately that is not where I tweeze my eyebrows.

And of course it is only me that cannot see them unless in front of the bathroom mirror at work, I'm convinced everyone else can see them wherever I happen to be.

Figures.

Working on it!

I've had 2 of these chairs for a very long time.  They have always looked like they came from a waiting room, and for all I know, they could have!

Yes, that is a cat bed underneath.  Attractive, I know.

This is a drop cloth.  I stenciled it.

And here is the finished product.

Cat bed is still there, and oh look - a Wii thing!  

And - I rearranged my bookcase.  I like it better now.  Question though - how do all the gals on all the cool blogs have such picture perfect rooms?  I never see any video games or power strips or things that make them look like they are in a real house with real people.  Mine will never be even close to that, so I will need to be happy with what I manage.

Happy with what I have, happy with what I have, happy .. I am!  Really!

Some people get excited about diamonds ..

.
I on the other hand, am excited about paint.  Yes, paint.  And I ordered some online.  It comes in quarts and probably costs as much for a quart as a cheap gallon of regular paint costs.

I didn't say I was smart.

But this is magic paint, or so I'm told.  It is Annie Sloan's Chalk paint.  Not chalkboard paint, just "chalk paint. This paint can go over wood, metal, varnish, wallboard, whatever - no priming or preparing.  I am giddy.  Painting furniture involves sanding or removing whatever finish is on the wood, first.  Messy, but I'll do it on something small.  But I have a china hutch I want to paint and I don't want to sand the whole damn thing.

Humor me, I'm giddy!

.

Some days I get it right ..

.
.. and some days I don't.  Unfortunately most days - I don't know which is which.

I really want to change the way things look around here but from day to day I have such little energy to get things done.  I have come to love painted wood, lace and vintage things.  But there are some things I cannot part with and I cannot paint.  So I guess my house will always be an eclectic mix of well .. this and that.

This is a piece I cannot paint.  Just can't.  So I shabby it up with lace on the shelves and on top with white and floral accents and satisfy my urge for pastels that way.

It will have to do.

.

By comparison

.
I tend to be geographically challenged, however I do know that Mt. Fuji is in Japan.  Took this picture yesterday through my phone - from a webcam I was viewing.  Hard to believe that this calm and tranquil location is also the place there has been so much disaster and continuing tragedy.

Really is amazing by comparison, isn't it?  My heart goes out to all the Japanese people, it is an unspeakable catastrophe and people there are handling it with as much grace and dignity as is humanly possibly.  That's pretty amazing too.
.

Gray

Today was one of those mornings so dull and dark that I thought my clock was wrong and it wasn't really morning.  When I got up and looked out it was gray.  Just gray, the way a winter in Chicago sky can look and will look many times throughout the season.  It's not raining, not snowing, no storms rolling in, just overcast and oppressive and gray.

I cannot tell you how badly I wished this was one of those days where I didn't have to get up early and get ready for work.

Just sayin'

I find it particularly offensive when people like Russell Simmons of hip-hop fame writes a book about being super-rich and a guide to having it all - and delves into the spiritual side of life talking about how having money will not make you happy.  No, duh!  Money alone will not make you happy.  But I don't see him giving away his millions to reach his spiritual bliss.  It's condescending and out of touch to reach those heights of success and then to turn around and tell the rest of us how money doesn't matter.

Again, no - money alone won't make you happy.  But it sure does help when you don't have to worry about meeting your obligations, or not being able to give your kids everything you would like.  Nope, money alone cannot make you happy but I wouldn't mind trying it for a while.

.