In the Meantime...

*Taps on monitor* Hello? Anyone still there?

So, I know it's been a little while almost two months since I've blogged. I just haven't been feeling very inspired lately.

I don't know what it is. We've had a good summer. The house is coming together. (If I could just get my arse in gear and PAINT some...)

We've had our first guests ~ Jon's parents came for a visit over Labor Day. We had a wonderful time.

My folks are coming in October; and my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are coming for Thanksgiving. So, excited for that.

We went to visit my aunt and uncle near Chicago last weekend and had so. much. fun. Now I'm struggling to get over my missing-my-family-melancholy.

Which I need to do tout de suite since we are in the midst of a stretch of glorious autumn weather that is too nice to miss by feeling blue.

I think part of my problem is the ugly nature of the national "discussion" about health care reform. It's too bad that the wackadoodle minority is so damn loud that they drown out the sensible majorities in both parties. Let's hope that reason will prevail and a quality reform bill will get through congress.

I hope you enjoy the photos. Next time we go to Chicago, I plan to be armed with more than just my iphone camera.

I will try to get some photos of the house posted, as the unsubtle pressure from my brother is mounting. (You're coming in November, C. You can just see it then, can't you? Oh, alright! I'll do it soon.)

TTFN peeps!

Of Poppies & Unpacking.

 

Poppies in a field near Oberstaufenbach, Germany

I know this photo has nothing to do with our new house, But I haven't blogged in a week and I haven't posted any more pictures from our Germany trip, so two for the price of one, so to speak.

So, it's been one week since we closed on our house. Seven days ~ LOTS of boxes, lots of trips in the van and rented truck, lots of trips up and down stairs, lots of sore muscles and bruises, lots of sweat and just a few tears. Aside from a few small things still at the other house, all of our stuff is here.

I'm trying to not get totally overwhelmed by all I want and need to do to the house, yard, and garden. My family and friends all tell me to make a list. Tackle one thing at a time. A couple of things are needed immediately (leaky toilet ~ ewww, a/c issues) but most are just to make this house into our home (paint and window coverings).

I'd love to get everything we need from Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, but alas, that is not in the budget. Oh, how I wish for a nearby Ikea! So, that is my challenge. I'll be trolling the internet for thrifty DIY home-improvement ideas. Any great blogs or sites out there that I need to know about?

Our first overnight guests, Jon's parents, will be visiting in September. How's that for motivation?

BTW, we've had our first homeowners' expense. On the day we closed, when we brought the first load over in the truck, we found that one of the young trees in the back yard was down and could not be saved. So sad. A quick call to a tree guy (and $120) and it was taken care of.

The day we brought the dogs over for the first time, Leo decided to try to give me a heart attack. He scooted out the garage door behind me and wouldn't come when I called him. He continued around the side of the house and I heard a great crash. Turns out the big dufus went right for the cover over one of the basement window wells and fell right through. Jon came running to my panicked cries, jumped down in and boosted Leo out. Thank goodness he was just scared. Dumb dog.

That's all for now. I suppose I need to tackle some of these boxes. Putting things in their place and putting some things in a Goodwill pile. Nothing like a DitY (that's do it yourself in AF-speak ~ pronounced ditty) move that makes one realize how much unnecessary crap one has, right?

I'll post photos later. I want to get rid of some more boxes and get some things on the walls. Then I'll let you see :-)

Post vacation blues.

We're back.

We've been back for a week.

And we're both blue.

We had such a wonderful time with wonderful friends.

But now we're back in the sweltering weather of the American Midwest.

No more of this:

 

or this:

or this:

or this:

*Sigh*

Oh well. We have awesome memories.

And, we are soon to be distracted from our melancholy. We close on the house on Wednesday! Only a few more days in our crappy military housing! Wheeeeeee!

(Hopefully our marriage will survive moving while PMS...)

I promise to post more photos of the trip and of the move / new house. I've been a lazy blogger and I apologize!

BTW ~ How did we like the wide-angle lens, you ask? 

It

was

totally

awesome!

We will be saving our pennies to purchase one of those babies!

Hi! and Goodbye!

Yes, yes. I know I haven't been posting lately. I'll get back on that horse soon, I hope, with fresh inspiration and creative energy.

We leave tomorrow to visit our friends in Germany and we are sooooo psyched for the trip. As long as I can contain my anxiety about being thousands of miles away from my dogs for ten days, everything should be fine. Actually, more than fine. Rachel has every minute planned and I know that we are in for a fabulous time.

Jon rented a wide-angle lens for us to take so that will be super fun to play with as we are tromping around the German countryside. We figured it was a good way to try out the lens before we plunk down the hefty $$$ to buy it!

But, I'm still loving my macro lens...

So, hasta la vista, babies! Catch ya' on the flip side!

Art Appreciation.

Edgar Degas PETITE DANSEUSE DE QUATORZE ANS is up for auction at Sotheby's today.

I lived many years in a city a short distance from St. Louis. My friends and I used to spend a lot of time in Forest Park, because we were constantly short on cash and we could go to the art museum and the zoo for free. FREE. I don't know of too many art museums or zoos that are free.

On Fridays, the museum stays open late, so it was a good, inexpensive date destination - dinner at one of many affordable restaurants in the city, and then free admission to the museum. We would wander for hours.

I didn't know, first time I went to the museum, that they had in their collection a brass casting of the original. The first time I saw her, I couldn't believe it. I had seen pictures of the original, of course, but never expected to see a cast of it in person.

Hang on! HUGE aside ahead!
I love moments like that in art museums.

Like the first time I saw A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago. I walked around a corner into another room and there it was.

Huge and glorious. I was mesmerized.

Or the first time I saw this at The Louvre.

 

It took my breath away.
(I wanted to do the Audrey Hepburn thing from Funny Face. You know...

but I didn't think I could pull it off.)
(Yes, I am a dork.)

Anyway, I was enchanted by little Marie, the ballerina. I walked around her, looking at every detail and falling in love. I was fascinated by the combination of brass, with her cotton skirt and fabric hair ribbon. The angle of her chin, the position of her feet, her little hands clasped behind her back. I visited her every time I went to the museum. She was beautiful. 

I rarely wish that I was disgustingly, fabulously, unimaginably rich. But, if I had an extra $17 million, I'd be bidding on her. I wouldn't even ask Jon.

Well, maybe I would ask Jon.

I wonder if the person who buys her will love her. If they will put her in a place where they could see and appreciate her every day.

Maybe they will loan her to a museum, so ordinary people can see her and fall in love.

That's what I would do.

All images from Google.

love thursday - heart from a friend

I received this utterly beautiful glass heart ornament from my dear friend Rachel shortly after she and her family moved to Germany. There's a bit of a story behind this gift.

It was November 2007 and Jon was coming home from his deployment. The trip home took Jon through Ramstein AFB, which is where our friends are stationed. The whole family met Jon at the flight terminal - Pete, Rachel, both kids and their dog, Levi! Jon was exhausted, but happy to see our friends.

Before Jon got back on the plane, Rachel gave Jon a wrapped package for him to give to me. He put it in his bag and headed off for the flight to America.

When he arrived home and started to unpack, he brought me the package from Rachel. I couldn't wait to unwrap it. As I started to, I heard rattling. Like broken glass. As I got the package completely opened, I saw the most beautiful glass heart ornament - broken in a dozen pieces. I felt my heart break too.

I tried to glue it, but there were too many small pieces. I debated what to do. Do I pretend that it arrived in one piece or do I admit the truth? In the end, I decided to just tell Rachel what had happened. (I'm a terrible liar. Even over the phone.)

Well, Rachel found another and mailed it to me (refusing payment, of course). That is the one you see above.

I think it is just too pretty to bring out only at Christmas, but I don't have an idea of the best way to display it. So, for now, it sits out in my sewing room where I see it and think of my friend. And count the days until we visit them in June.

Go here to feel the love.

Wordless Wednesday - Columns and Curves

Jefferson Memorial. Photo taken by my husband several (10?) years ago.
Wordless Wednesday

Holiday Hangover.

We got home from my brother's house yesterday afternoon, after a wonderful, too-short visit.

Today, I've been wandering around our house, not knowing why I'm so blah. So blue.

Then it hit me. I miss my family.

I've lived this nomadic, military life for many, many years. And I always listened with fascination to the stories of my civilian friends as they described their frequent family gatherings. What must that be like? To be able to go to your grandmother's house after school? To hang out with your cousins on a regular basis? To gather with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and parents for any occasion?

I didn't think I needed that.

But I've just spent another Christmas without my parents (who spent the holidays with their friends in Florida). And I've left my brother, sister-in-law, and sweet, sweet nephew in St. Louis, not sure when we'll get together again.

I miss them.
A lot.
(Though, my brother is probably glad to have his house back from the two shedding, drooling creatures we brought with us!)

There is an adorable house for sale across the street from my brother's house. Jon and I have been fantasizing about how fun it would be to live so close to them. And my parents would surely consider braving mid-western winters if both of their kids lived in the same place, right?

Oh, well. We have five more years of the Air Force life. I guess we'll just be putting a few more miles on the mini-van in the meantime.

I'll post pictures of Jack tomorrow and you'll see why I'm missing him so.

Wordless Wednesday - Dungeness Spit, Sequim, WA

More Wordless Wednesday.

Paradise - for some.

My uncle took this photo on his and my aunt's vacation in Saugatuk last week. Beautiful, huh?

I could see a place like this competing with my dream of retiring in the Pacific Northwest.