I [heart] Davids It helps me to say these things aloud, I think.

October 26, 2007

Project 1: Kitchen Redo

Filed under: Decorating,Household — JeniQ @ 9:01 am

There are two parts to our mini kitchen makeover. One is to tile the backsplash, and the other is to paint the walls. I’m contracting someone to do the tile work but we’re going to paint the walls ourselves. We’re only painting two of the walls. It’s a fairly small project so that’s why I’m calling it a mini-makeover.

Here are the kitchen walls at the beginning of the project.
Kitchen Project - Before Left

 Kitchen Project - Before Right

 And here are the color tests I painted last night. One is called Soul Chocolate and the other is Gardener’s Soil – I got them both in Satin finish. Because we haven’t seen the sun for the last three days, it’s impossible to photograph this with any natural light. I’ve had to rely on the light in the kitchen, and even with all the lights turned on, the flash is still going off. So the colors you see aren’t very true.
Kitchen Project: Paint Swatch Left

Kitchen Project: Paint Swatch Right

October 25, 2007

Caught You!

Filed under: Animals — JeniQ @ 10:08 pm

I used Will’s great idea for a humane mousetrap after finding a mouse in our garage recently. They love the bird seed so I put an inch of birdseed at the bottom of a straight-sided bucket and left it out for them, buffet style.

It worked!

Mousetrap

This little guy was quite active and very close to jumping over the sides, but couldn’t quite make it. I took the bucket up the street and let him go in a natural area away from the houses. I am so happy with this solution!

Meh. It’s only a Labryinth.

Filed under: Books,Cristin,David Bowie,Movies — JeniQ @ 11:41 am

Labyrinth Manga 1
Currently reading Labryinth manga, courtesy of Cristin.

It’s really lovely. You know how you want to read more Harry Potter, but you don’t want to read fanfic or some lame substitute for the real thing? Well, Labyrinth is sacred ground. You wouldn’t want to see a Labyrinth II so much, would you? OK, if we’re being honest here what you really want to see is if what should have happened did happen, but that’ll never happen so… meh.
My point is that this is really good! It’s a lovely continuation from the perfect point of view and with all the little added touches that long-time fans will want to see. I finished Vol. 1 last night and I’m reading Vol. 2 now. Thanks, Cristin!
Labyrinth Manga 2

Yeek

Filed under: Uncategorized — JeniQ @ 11:22 am

Last night I stopped at AutoZone to get a replacement headlamp. The Silver Stars I use burn out awfully quickly, but I love the way they look and their brightness. Though now I’m having second thoughts

Anyway, I borrowed some tools from the AutoZone folks because it requires a decent pair of pliers to get the electrical connector off the old bulb before you can switch it out. I have never had such a difficult time prying the socket off the bulb before. And the pliers they gave me were crap so that made the job even more difficult.

Look what I did to the bulb before finally working it free. I am so very lucky I didn’t cause any damage to the shroud or the electrical connector.
Headlight1

When I left, however, I was pleased to see this before I drove away.
Dude

October 23, 2007

It’s a boy!

Filed under: Babies,Blogging — JeniQ @ 1:49 pm

Did you hear? We’re having a boy!

Read more about it at my pregnancy journal.

October 21, 2007

Labyrinth

Filed under: Cristin,David Bowie,Movies — JeniQ @ 9:48 pm

Members of the “David Bowie’s spandex in Labyrinth shaped my childhood” Facebook group know what it’s all about. As do Cristin’s boobs! 🙂

Labyrinth Boobs

Fun Jenny came over to Cristin’s tonight to watch Labryinth for the first time ever! It was fun to watch with Cristin, who has watched this movie more times than she can count. Cristin made yummy dip which we devoured, and had some fabulous cookies that were reminiscent of cupcakes.

Cristin and I geeked out and loved every minute of it. Jenny liked it, too, but I think that she was also having a good time chuckling at us.
Labyrinth Evidence

Babymoon

Filed under: Vacation — JeniQ @ 8:00 pm

We went camping at Jordan Lake Saturday night as a little getaway just for the two of us.

Here’s Simon all loaded up with gear. The entire cargo area was full!
Camp0

A very large area of dried-up lake.
Camp1

We saw lots of uncovered old stumps and these huge clams left half-buried in the sand. Poor bi-valves.
Camp2

A box turtle greeted us at our campsite!
Camp3

Our campsite, with Simon half-emptied and the tent already set up.
Camp4

Dave finishing up the tent deployment.
Camp5

Our tent, all ready for sleepy time!
Camp7

The view from within our tent.
Camp6

Our tent in the dark of night.
Camp8

Breakfast – bacon, eggs and hashbrowns.
Camp9

October 18, 2007

Kitchen Habits

Filed under: Household — JeniQ @ 8:00 am

Some time ago I realized that every woman (and man?) has a habit in the kitchen that’s a little quirky, typically based on a need or desire for frugality. Here are the ones in my family.

My great-grandmother used to wash out her paper towels, dry them, and re-use them. Granted, great-granma was around during the depression so she had no clue just how wasteful people could be. I imagine she’d be horrified by the amount of stuff the average person throws away. (If you ever feel similarly horrified, check out Freecycle.)

My grandmother used to wash out her ziploc bags and reuse them. Those things were expensive when they first came out, I think. Yay for granma for seeing the senselessness in throwing them away after just one use.

My mom would cut napkins in half. They are folded twice and she’d cut along the second fold to make two two-ply napkins rather than one four-ply napkin. If you’re not that messy, you don’t notice the difference and it doubles the life of a package of napkins.

I re-use my ziploc and fold-over sandwich baggies for the same items for several days in a row. If i take brownies to work in a baggie today, I’ll bring it home with me and refill it for the next day.

What about you? What little odd thrifty habit have you adopted in the kitchen? Enquiring minds want to know!
Frugal

October 17, 2007

Oh Noes!

Filed under: While Driving — JeniQ @ 10:08 am

Oh Noes!!

OhNoes

 Though I was trying to work, I was inspired this morning by Cristin’s post.

October 16, 2007

Eek-a-Mouse!

Filed under: Animals — JeniQ @ 11:46 am

Look what we found in the garage this weekend!

Mouse

We knew something had gotten into the birdseed a while back, but never found one of the little guys until this past weekend. Dave found him in a pot of dirt as we were cleaning up the garage.

We released him into the woods on the other side of the street. I had some indecision about this because the mouse was obviously quite young – it never opened its eyes. I hope that it managed to get along without momma or poppa mouse, but it more than likely ended up as a snack for some woodland creature. The cycle of life.

Unfortunately, we know there’s still a momma or poppa mouse in the garage. I saw it scurrying Sunday night. I debated letting the cats into the garage to find and kill the mouse(s). For some reason, that seemed more humane than setting out a trap. Then I decided I didn’t want the cats to catch any funk, what with me being preggo and all.

So, now I’m left with figuring out how to rid the garage of the mouse(s) that still lives there. Any “humane” solutions? I’d gladly release him into the woods on the other side of the street, if I could just get ahold of him.

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