The Flowers Are Confused

Last week, the weather was in the 70's and 80's for several days and my daffodils obviously thought spring had sprung because they bloomed. This week, the weather has been in the 30's and my daffodils were bent over and sad looking. I decided to save them plus bring some spring inside so now they are living on my dining room table and they look much happier.

Sick Boy

It's hard to make him out but Declan is that lump on the couch under those blankets and moose pillow. He went off to bed last night just fine and woke up an hour later puking. This went on most of the night but it's only happened once since the sun came up. I stayed home from work and Declan mostly stayed on the couch watching the Disney Channel. I'm hoping he will be much better in the morning but now Tim is telling me that his stomach hurts too...

My Diary

My birthday present this year was another volume of my blog turned into a book. Tim got me the first volume a couple Christmases ago from SharedBook and I was always meaning to do it again. As hard as it is to come up with things to write about, I'm glad we have a record of what goes on around here. We now have 2008-2012 in writing and I think the kids might appreciate this when they grow up.

If I didn't document it, how would I remember that in February 2008, Declan wrote all over himself in permanent marker after I fell asleep on the couch?

Or what Carly's first few weeks around here were like? When she was tiny and liked to chew on things. She's not tiny anymore and now she mostly just likes to chew on the mail.

Or when we had the minivan accident back in 2008? We still have her and now shes paid off.

Declan thinks the books are cool and doesn't understand why we don't sell them on Amazon and make millions.

Lunch On A Boat

Tim & I were supposed to go out tonight for my late birthday celebration. Unfortunately, my niece couldn't babysit so we went onto Plan B. We usually go out to eat on someones birthday and it's always an ordeal trying to decide on a place that makes everyone happy. Declan and I had walked past DiMillo's at the parade and he was fascinated by the thought of eating on a boat.

It might be Portlands biggest tourist trap but we went anyway. Sometimes touristy stuff around here is fun. I'm just happy to have someone else cook the food and clean up afterwards. My mother loves this place and we had last eaten here for my college graduation in 1994. We were due a trip back.

Declan was very excited to find out they had baked haddock on the kids menu. They make it at his school and he is always asking me to make it but I'm a bad mother who always forgets.

Grace brought along Patches because she was nervous to be on a boat even if it was tied to the dock. She only allowed pictures of him to be taken but that's her right behind him.

We were one of the first people there and we should have asked to sit next to a window. We still had a good view though. Fishing boats were coming in and out of the marina and we told Declan they were bringing his haddock in.

I never order salad but I saw they had a Wedge salad on the menu and I had to order it thanks to the Pioneer Woman. I know iceberg lettuce isn't the fanciest lettuce but this was the best salad I ever had. I think I can even reproduce it at home and it might be the excuse I need to buy a salad spinner. It was just the wedge of lettuce, lots of bacon, blue cheese, hard boiled eggs and ranch dressing. I ignored the tomatoes. I want another one now.

I was a little undecided and rushed about ordering the main entree so I just ordered what Tim got-crab stuffed haddock. It was good but I could have just eaten 2 more of those salads.

While we were eating, Grace decided she was a person who won't eat fish anymore. She was coloring her menu and all those little lobster banners say things like-"Save the fish" and "Don't eat my friends. "

As we were leaving, I had to get a picture of Declan standing next to this Titanic looking thingy. I forget what it's called but Declan is pretty sure its the same one that was on the Titanic and I agreed with him.

St. Patricks Day Parade With Cookies

Today was the annual St. Patrick's Day parade event for Declan and me. We have been going to this for a few years now just the two of us. It's our thing.

We were a foursome this year because the Girl Scouts were having a cookie booth sale during the parade. We helped Tim and Grace set up the table hoping we would bag all the drunk people that had been in the Old Port since the bars opened at 6AM. I think we need to work on presentation for the next sale. A tablecloth maybe? Free Guinness?

There was even a peanut butter cookie costume for them to all take turns wearing. Declan liked to put it on but hide his head inside and make himself the Headless Cookie. This didn't give us the sales boost we wanted.

Declan and I wandered off down Commercial St. when it was time for the parade. I am a sucker for bagpipes.

I am also a sucker for men in kilts. I'll have to wait until next year to get my fill of them. Unless I go to the Highland Games this year. I'll have to remember that.

It's Starting Again

Remember this? It's beginning to look like I'm starting another collection. There's more that's not in this picture either.

Adventures In Spray Paint

Last weekend, Grace had a Girl Scout cookie booth sale at the local Goodwill superstore. Goodwill has always sort of grossed me out. It's mostly the smell and the thought of all those bedbugs under one roof. It was a 4 hour long sale though so I had to make a few trips inside. I decided to buy some things to redo because I spend too much time on Pinterest. I bought 2 things to spray paint and I would show you what bad shape they were in but I totally forgot to take "before" pictures so you'll just have to use your imagination.

This started out as a light orange terracotta jar. It's stamped "wine cooler" on it so I'm guessing it held a bottle of wine at some time. I bought dark red spray paint and, 5 coats later, turned it into my new vase.

I first sealed it inside and out with a waterproof sealant but I am still hesitant to fill it with water and flowers. I think it still might leach through and bubble up the paint. I bought some pussy willows and it looks great to me for 99 cents.

I also bought this white medal candle holder. It was sort of grimy so I put it through the dishwasher first. I had seen a similar project to this on Young House Love where they used a simple trick to spray paint it two different colors. I had to do a little bit of touch up to it because I got impatient and didn't give the coats enough time to dry. I sprayed the outside white and the inside a light green.

I just added a green candle and it was done. Again, it looks good to me for 99 cents. My only problem now is finding a spot for it.

Forty

I don't know how I allowed this to happen but I turned 40 today. I know I'm expected to be really positive and in a good place about this but I'm really not. 40 is not the new 30. 40 is the tipping point into old age. There is no going back now or pretending to be 29. The scariest part is I still feel 12 years old but I know I'm not. I also still think I weigh 110 pounds but I know I very much don't. But I digress...

Tim surprised me on Monday with flowers delivered to me at work. As much as getting flowers at work sort of embarrasses me, I also love it. I gave myself a present by taking today off work. The kids went off to school and Tim had to sleep during the day because of work. I started off my morning with cake and Mad Men then I went shopping. It was a quiet day which is always nice. We are doing the family celebration of my birthday this Sunday. I hear there is a babysitter coming that night and everything.

My oldest brother, Bob, also surprised me with a basket of wine and nibbly things all the way from Alaska. I have a lot of wine and chocolate now so that's a good thing.

My wonderful friend Heather also surprised me with a bunch of British candy and whoopie pie mix. She knows me too well. Spotted Dick is a great present to send anyone.

I got another delivery of flowers too. These are from the kids. Grace tells me I'm 40,000 million years old and Declan asked if I'm old enough to retire. My bad feeling about 40 aren't entirely my fault. I love my flowers though.

Pinterest Challenge

I have a couple of new addictions. One is Pinterest and one is Young House Love. Isn't it fun when your worlds collide? YHL announced they were holding another Pinterest challenge and I decided to join in. I have a spotty history with Pinterest. I am very good at pinning things and very bad at actually making them or making them well. Anyone remember the glitter Xmas ornaments or the paint chip coasters? The ornaments were good but the coasters...not so much.

Basically, the point of the challenge is to take something you pinned on Pinterest and interpret it for yourself. I found this frame I had pinned from TheHouse Of Smiths blog. I loved the color and the shapes and I figured I could make this quite easily.

I gathered up my coupons and went to the craft store where I bought 2 wooden mirror frames and brought them home. I spray painted them white and waited for them to dry. I have pictures of all of this but Blogger doesn't want to let me post them. I"m sure you can imagine it because its pretty self explanatory.

I also knew I would have to buy my design. A more talented person would have just painted one onto the frames but thats not me. I discovered all sorts of possibilities in the scrap booking aisles where I don't usually hang out. I bought a few options but ended up going with these felt stickers in green and black. I wanted red but they didn't have them in a design I liked.

Here are the finished products. I decided to go horizontal instead of vertical with the stripes but I can hang them either way once I find a spot for them. The good thing about these is that they are adjustable because I can see the top green stripe needs some help.

My Imaginary Friend

I watch a lot of TV. I don't think this is a big secret. I even spend my days helping to make TV. When I was little I watched a lot of reruns that I didn't understand yet were reruns. I loved the Brady Brunch, The Banana Splits, Gilligans Island, Bewitched and The Partridge Family. I didn't know they were all from the 1960's and I wasn't. When I was 4 years old, my favorite show was The Monkees. Right around that same time, I developed an imaginary friend. Of course I didn't go to the bother of using my imagination and making one up myself. I just picked Davy Jones. After that, he was with me all the time but he always walked behind me. I was always turning around to make sure he was there though. I don't remember how long this relationship lasted but it was fun while it did. Nobody else had a tiny British guy following them around and I will miss him.