Weekend Warrior, Pt. 5

Friday night, Bobby spent the night with Michael’s parents and his cousin. This was the first time that he has done that since Michael died. It is kind of weird being home by myself. The good news is that I was able to drive the Cruiser home finally! It had been parked at my in-laws house for over two weeks. Michael’s best friend came and checked out the clutch and discovered a leaking clutch master cylinder. Evidently Michael knew about it because he had extra fluid inside the Cruiser.

Saturday I had to work longer than usual so I didn’t get much done. Bobby had a Boy Scouts Pack Meet at the football field. So we didn’t get home until almost 5 o’clock! I had a list of things to do that didn’t get done at all! Which means that all had to be moved to Sunday plus church. WOW! Weekends like this remind you of how difficult it is to be alone in this experience. I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to take B to Boy Scouts. That would have been the first time that being alone would have truly interfered with my ability to be there for Bobby. But God has a plan and He has control so I was able to leave work in time to eat lunch, change clothes, and take a breather before heading back to town! AWESOME!!! (BTW – in case you were wondering about the size of the trunk in a Mustang – yes, it is big enough for a large cooler but no, the opening isn’t large enough for the cooler to get in the space!) 

Sunday after church, we ran our errands and returned home to begin the Weekend Warrior projects. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough hours left in the weekend! I was determined to get one fun project accomplished though. I saw the best idea for storing shoes on Pinterest and knew this would be the best way for me. Here is the before picture:

Pretty scary, huh? The funny thing is there was an unmatched shoe! You would think I would find it after all the cleaning up but nope! I have no idea where it is or what happened to it!

1. Clean out shoes
2. Hang rod
3. Bend wire hangers to correct shape
4. Hang shoes on rod

Easy right? WRONG! First of all, I bought PVC pipe assuming my shoes wouldn’t be heavy enough to justify needing a metal pole but it turns out I was wrong, as you might be able to see from the after pictures. (For future reference, a 10’ pole will fit in a Mustang with the back seat folded down.)

I would also recommend extra care when you are bending the clothes hangers because I stabbed my thumb with one.

And so I leave with you this week with another picture of the goofy dog named Radar. This time he tried to find some food in a Sonic bag but couldn’t get his head out! DUH!! He’s just not the brightest dog I’ve ever known!

Weekend Warrior Part 4

Friday night, Bobby and I had a pizza, movie, popcorn night. Well, actually when we got home I realized that we had no pizza! That’s extremely unusual for our house because we always have pizza night on Friday! Oops! But we had fun anyway. We watched Space Jam and Bobby ate spaghetti (his 2^nd favorite food) followed by popcorn. I introduced Bobby to the Hot Tamales/popcorn combination. If you have never had this combo, I highly recommend it! It’s fabulous because the hot cinnamon flavor tones down the saltiness of the popcorn and the saltiness of the popcorn tones down the hotness of the Hot Tamales.

Saturday morning was Bobby’s last basketball game. He scored twice! I’m a proud Momma!

A picture taken by one proud Mom of one proud boy!

After the game, we headed for Cici’s for lunch with Bobby’s best friend and then to watch Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace in 3D. It was weird being there knowing that just two months ago it would have been Michael taking him. They would have had a great time. I found myself looking over at him many times during the movie just to make sure that he was still enjoying himself. The Star Wars Saga was always something they had in common. There were many, many light saber fights around here!

A picture of one of the many light saber fights

On the way home, Bobby was invited to hang out with our neighbor’s grandson so while he played I began the painting project in my bathroom. Painting in my family has a bad reputation. (I’ll post the story of my mother’s painting at a later date. It’s a classic!) Actually, I think it’s more that the women in my family have a bad reputation when it comes to painting. My mother asked me if I bought an extra gallon for the amount that I would be wearing! No, I only bought one gallon – it’s a small bathroom. Here is a picture of during the painting:

Bathtub area with one coat of paint

 

And now for the finished ceiling!

The finished bathroom ceiling

Impressive? I think so too! It’s pretty exciting to know that I did that! Now to figure out how to use some kind of power tool to cut a 1 x 10” painted piece of wood to make shelves in B’s bathroom.

Weekend Warrior Pt. 3

Another weekend of lots of projects and very little time! My parents were here again. I had to work Saturday morning while Bobby had another basketball game. He only scored one time this week. One more game next week and then we are done until baseball season after school is out for the summer.

Dad had big plans for the house while Mom and I headed to Home Depot and Wal-Mart. A couple of hours later...we arrived back home to find Dad in the bathroom and Bobby playing Wii. Luckily, I had taken pictures before we left the house!

Bathroom Ceiling Before

Bathroom Ceiling Before

 

This is how my bathroom ceiling has been for several months. The original ceiling was falling in so Michael removed it and we hung up mold resistant drywall up but we never made the time to go back and finish the job. (If you look carefully you can see the screws and the joints between each piece.) And now for the “after” pictures…

Bathroom Ceiling Part 2

Bathroom Ceiling Part 2

Bathroom Ceiling Part 2

 

These pictures show the mud that now covers the screws and joints. But there is still one more important task ahead and that is mine, all mine! PAINTING!!! That’s for this weekend.

Here are a couple of before pictures of my pantry which has been driving me crazy! 

Pantry Before

Pantry Before

 

You couldn’t hardly walk in there because there was so much stuff on the floor. The shelves on the left are only about 7” deep which is just enough room for two cans of veggies or soup. The back shelves are about a foot deep but not very long. I used to think it was a huge pantry and there was plenty of room until I tried to actually start using the space. Now for the reveal:

 

 

Didn’t my mom do a wonderful job! My job was to throw away boxes and hand her new items from the Wal-Mart trip. (Basically, staying out of the way!) But it was so worth it because now we know where everything is and can find it!

I bought a new thermostat for our living room heater at Home Depot and Dad installed that too!

Old Thermostat

New Thermostat

But that’s not the end of our Weekend Warrior projects. I signed up to be the party chairman for B’s Valentine party at the beginning of the school year when I thought I was going to be a stay-at-home mom and we would be allowed to bring homemade goods to the party/class. But no such luck! Things change on a dime and we just learn to go with the flow! The school decided to no longer allow home baked goods and my dear husband died suddenly! I bought $12 worth of cupcakes at Wal-Mart but I know that there’s usually way too much food so I borrowed a Pinterest idea and wrapped the cupcakes up so they could take them home for another time and not have to waste them.

  

While I was wrapping cupcakes, B was writing his Valentine’s cards. Unfortunately, he sealed them all up inside out and you couldn’t see the names! Mom to the rescue! I sat at work Tuesday morning pulling each one apart and refolding them so he could see the names to pass them out. A mom’s work is never done!

And so I leave you with one more picture of the two cutest dogs! They are not brothers as a matter of fact, one is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi and the other is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi! They do look a lot alike except for tail vs. no tail! They fight like brothers but can also love like brothers like this last picture shows!

Buster & Radar

What would you do different? Do you see something weird in my pantry that can be done differently? (Yes, I know we eat too much packaged foods but one hurdle at a time!)


Please share this post with other women that you know who have recently lost their spouse. Maybe they need some encouragement to jump their next hurdle. I want to be an inspiration to them!

Esther 4:14b NIV And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Weekend Warrior Pt. 2

I made my list last week of projects to accomplish over the weekend - Weekend Warrior time! Of course, there’s the weekly household chores – laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. But this weekend included some extras:

1.       B’s basketball game @ 9:30

2.      Get the Cruiser inspected

3.      Finally put away the Christmas boxes

4.      Organize B’s Lego & Transformer instructions

5.      Reorganize the pantry

Saturday morning started off with B scoring TWO baskets for the THIRD week in a row! My mom called him our ‘two basket guy.’ He’s extremely proud of himself!

Off I went to get the Cruiser inspected. Michael’s favorite toy was his 1975 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40.

My only concern was that it had not been inspected since June 2010. It passed with flying colors! Off I headed to do some quick grocery shopping and a quick Dollar General Store stop.
Now, to work I go! (Yeah for me because I remembered to take before pictures!)

And now the reveal of my newly regained dining room…

Ahhh, now that’s much better! Dinner anyone?

Next project would have to wait for the evening. I really needed a nap after all that work! LOL!
But, at least I did get it done! There is just no good way to store all of those instructions. Or I’m still looking for the best way to store all of those instructions! Looking at Pinterest has really inspired me and so here is what I came up with…

I combined Lego books that were multiple books from the same set. I also combined Transformers that were essentially the same. For example, all versions of Optimus Prime are in one sheet protector and Bumblebee is in its own pocket. B has a few Mini-Cons that are very small directions so those are combined into one protector. I created a cover sheet and a label for the spine. I also spent some time explaining to B how the system should work. (Take one out and use it then replace it as soon as you are finished.) The best part of this is that all of the directions are in one place. I realized that B really doesn’t use the directions very much but it was important that they all be kept together.

So, now you would expect to see some before pictures of the pantry, right! Well, you can keep looking and you won’t find them. Sunday morning we went to church and I was officially done for the day and weekend! I just couldn’t make myself do anything else! I don’t know what the problem was for sure but I have some theories.

1.       Monday was my 42^nd birthday. It was the first one without my dear sweet husband. Maybe I was mentally preparing myself for the sadness that I knew the day would bring.

2.      Maybe I was just tired.

3.      Maybe I just needed a break.

4.      Maybe I just didn’t care.

5.      Maybe I was just resting up for the Super Bowl.

6.      Maybe I was starting to get sick because I feel awful today.

7.      Maybe it was overwhelming to think about starting such a large project on my own even though I had already purchased baskets to organize the shelves.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t get done. But the good news is there is still food in there, organizing the pantry doesn’t prevent the outflow of food! So that project will remain on the Weekend Warrior list. My parents are coming again this weekend so we will see what exciting projects we can come up with. B has another basketball game Saturday. How about a 4^th game in a row of 2 baskets?

Weekend Warrior - Ask Anna

  So while surfing around today and clicking on any and every blog I come on, I found INSPIRATION! (Not Pinspiration.) I'd like to introduce my very first Link-Up! Ask Anna: Weekend Warrior Link Up has inspired me to start blogging weekly on my accomplishments as a new widow.

  Since Michael died, I have had lots of help from my wonderful parents but their lives go on and they must return to their home. So I'm learning to do things that would shock my dear husband! We have had a door issue around the house - actually a few door issues. 

      1. Locking the storage building - fixed easily with a combination lock
     2. Locking the shop which actually has 2 doors - I bought some supplies to fix one door but wasn't able to make it work. :(
     3. Locking the utility room door which had 2 screws holding the door closed (a little redneck engineering!)

  Also, we had more redneck engineering covering up our broken attic fan. Michael had taken 2 strips of insulation and hung them from the ceiling with some strapping rope. Yes, that would be the Pink Panther insulation hanging from my ceiling. He had intentions of fixing the attic fan and recaulking but life got in the way.

  So, Dad and I headed to Home Depot while Mom and Bobby headed to Wal-Mart. With a new door knob and latch in hand, we headed to the insulation. Dad showed me some Thinsulate that could be easily cut to fit over the attic fan and we got some caulking replacement to fill any possible gaps. (Thinsulate is like an insulated drywall and comes in various thicknesses) We had it cut in half so that it would fit in their Mountaineer. (BTW – in case you are wondering, a 4’x4’ piece of anything will not fit comfortably in a Mountaineer if you have backseat passengers!)

  Now the Thinsulate is cut and attached to the ceiling (not hanging) which is so much better! We chose to hang it with the silver side down so that I wouldn't have to paint the other side that was white with a HUGE letter R. Now you wouldn’t even notice the difference if it wasn’t pointed out. Next project, please…

Ahh yes, that silly utility room screw lock problem. That’s easy, just take out the old doorknob and insert the new one! Done! Oops, wait a minute the door still didn’t stay shut. A strong wind could blow it open. The latch was misaligned with the strike plate which meant moving the strike plate. Dad taught me how to fill the old holes with toothpicks and wood glue. Then we waited for the glue to dry. Once the glue was dry, I drilled two new holes and replaced the strike plate. Voila – one locking door please.

  So that was the end of my exciting Weekend Warrior Roundup, Week 1. And now for my newest theme song... I Am Woman by Helen Reddy

To celebrate our Weekend Warrior-ness, Bobby and I drove the 1975 Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 that was Michael’s favorite toy of all to church!

P.S. If you are wondering about the shop doors, Dad did that. He figured out a different way to attach the hasp I bought and attached the latch on the screen door so that it too could lock.

P.P.S Sorry no before pictures! I'll try to do better next weekend.