Paint

Oh, how I love paint...
Paint is wonderful, it is amazing.
It can "clean up" most anything.
Paint covers fingerprints, dead bug guts, unneeded graffiti, oopsies and uuh ooh's, scrapes and drags...
It makes things look fresh and clean, and after the smell is gone, there really isn't a smell. Paint can and does hold odors, you know.
New Paint smells fantastic. It wipes out the "musty, dusty smell" a basement can have. Washing a wall can do this as well, sometimes.
But, there really isn't anything quite as awesome as fresh paint.

The other thing about fresh paint is...
you usually have to move everything to paint.
We can't paint around things very well...so
an opportunity to clean and tidy and arrange and sort and discard presents itself while you are painting. I mean how fun is it to put things back exactly the way they were? It isn't.
Fresh paint gives a space a fresh start...and if the space is having a fresh start shouldn't the things in the space also have a good cleaning so they can have a fresh start as well?
Even when you paint something as boring and unimportant as a hallway...
Paint is just wonderful.
I really like fresh paint.

Wind...

Why does the wind blow?
Does the wind blow just to mess up plans?
Because it wants to?
I do realize there is a "weather" answer to this question...
but
does it have to blow every time something is planned...
have you ever noticed just as something is planned there is a small breeze...then before you know it everything has to change and really blow hard.
You are getting ready to light the bbq and there is a breeze, by the time the burgers are done everything and one has to be moved inside...
Let's go play "ball" before everyone is outside the light breeze has turned into a full blown blow...
Even watering the grass is not exempt from the "wind"...just as the sprinklers turn on, you got it...wind.
I do like "wind" when the house has gotten very hot...or I have burned something...and if the "wind" is coming from the North...
Then I can open some windows and blow out the hot air or the burning smoke...But most times, it would be nice if the wind would blow after I have gone to bed and before I get up. Then, the wind could do whatever it needed to (as a weather need), and it wouldn't mess up too many plans...
other than waking me up because it was blowing...

Memorial Day!

Hey everyone, it is Memorial Day!!!
Now, I know Memorial Day is about our armed services and soldiers and country and everyone who works to protect our way of life as well as our loved ones who have passed on. I know Memorial Day is the day we visit gravesides and remember...
But,
I like Memorial Day because...
it is a time for gathering with my family
barbequing
playing volleyball
and croquet
watching a great movie
telling "remember when" stories
getting ready for summer and water fights
ice cream
smiling and laughing and giggling
staying up late
enjoying the summer break
no working
just playing
I really, really like Memorial Day--
and usually it is right around my birthday!
I plan on having...
a fantastic Memorial Day!

Cheesecakes!

And can you believe it? The cheesecakes are finished, delivered and mostly cleaned up from. The last time I did a big batch of cheesecakes (50), I had myself, Air, Marlo, Cliff, Hubby, Hoperdoo, and many others helping in the kitchen, we started early and barely finished in time.
Needless to say, I was a bit worried about the time factor this time as well. However, I also know this is my project so I need to deal with it. I asked Marlo to help me ahead of time (thank goodness I was that smart), and then Air offered to step in and aid in the process as well. When Tink and Hoperdoo came home a bit later in the morning, they also pitched in and helped as well.
It was great not having to transport and they all turned out well. They definitely need to be kept cold, but they were pretty. We really got started about 7:30 and finished up sort of around 12:30. We learned to juggle the cakes coming out of the freezer a bit better, but they did look cool placed clear across the hearth side by side and two deep; Marlo is a "pro" at cutting and has a very smooth rhythm; I can was dishes and did two or three times; Air is wonderful at spinning the cakes while they are being topped, she is real smooth, she is fantastic at making cool name tags as well; Hoperdoo is the queen of the microwave, she rocks at stirring and melting; Tink can definitely stir a pan for at least 20 minutes and not let anything burn (thank goodness) and she did so more than once; and blessed be the Hubby who allowed Briceman to be his little shadow all morning, including the DQ visit.
It also was wonderful to spend the time with the "girls" and we did really finish things quickly, 40 cakes. Done. Finished. Gone.
Thanks for all of the help and support and please let your tummy grumble when you check out all of these pix!

Two extra hours...

Yesterday was an amazing day...
Can you guess why?
That is right...
The cheesecakes are all baked!
Yipee!!! Whoot, whoot!, Hurray!!!
I'm so excited...
A morning without cheesecakes is like a morning with at least 2 extra hours in it.
Kinda like the extra hours you have with daylight savings time, for a while, you can be very productive. Then we adjust and things become the same.
So for now, I have a few extra hours every morning.
This is an example:
It is barely 6 a.m. and already I have started a load of laundry, gone over my Etsy happenings, and made this post.
So please....
put your hands together and clap!!!

In Becca's Closet: Best Birthday Ever!!!

In Becca's Closet: Best Birthday Ever!!!

Best Birthday Ever!!!

How can anyone begin to describe the best birthday ever?
I can.
I can begin by saying,
"my children listened to what I said!"
this is wonderful and fantastic...makes me happy...
Someday, I may become perfect, but right now...I am sadly lacking.
My focus is rarely on my home...
meaning the things in it, not the people.
I am most always focused on "the people of my home".
When asked,
"what do you want for your birthday?"
I responded (as I have in years past)
"My house clean and tidy".
Usually, my family doesn't listen very well.
This year they did!
Gives me big, big smiles...
I made cheesecakes in the morning with Marlo's help,
then Mom and I went to George for some Mom/Daughter time. I had a bunch of fun. We went to Ross, the dollar store, and Costco (we were going to go to a very nice lunch, but we ran out of time). Whoop, Whoop. Ross, looking for what I wanted to look for...
Smiles again.
I came home wiped out and exhausted and HOT. The very first thing I noticed was the dratted flower bed had been weeded and raked and the Mother's Day Zinnias had been planted in it and
I know that took many hours (Hope has the burn to prove it, I haven't seen Air to see how she is).
And the front porch looked as if someone actually liked to be there.
Into the kitchen for a drink of water and every single counter was cleaned and scrubbed, smiles again, all of the dishes were put away.
When I reached into the freezer for a chunk of ice, there was all of this room in it...someone had cleaned it out and washed the shelves and organized and thrown out all of the gross nasty stuff that likes to hide in there, Thanks Kater, (yes, I noticed).
I slipped off my shoes, (they were new, thanks to my Hubby), and the floor was smooth, no crumblies on it anywhere.
I think Tink was responsible for the smooth, freshly mopped floors.
A sigh of pleasure at the cleaned and vacuumed and straightened front room. Into the bathroom 'cause when you gotta go you gotta go,
for the moment while I was there...obviously Marlo had been to work.
Scrubbed out and polished shower, stain free toilet, and gleaming sink. A smooth floor and a sparkling mirror. She does bathroom really, really well.
Upstairs and Downstairs tidied and vacuumed. Oh what a heavenly sight, the vacuumer had taken the time to use the "sword" and get around all of the edges. I could actually see where the laundry room is supposed to be and there was a huge pile of folded towels just finished from the dryer.
Someone was even brave enough to attempt to vacuum the "vintage" mustard green shag carpet in my room.
The trash had been taken out.
And, I am still discovering things my children did for me yesterday.
I also know an attempt was made to repair the cooler so I could have a cool home when I came home, but parts can be difficult to find.
Thanks for a wonderful surprise.
Making this one of the "best Birthdays ever" I have experienced.
A few minutes to cool down and relax and off to dinner with my Hubby and
a show I have very much been anticipating watching.
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Oh, how much I love and appreciate my family and all they do for me.
Thank you so very much for a wonderful day.