HELP NEEDED

ok with the paint barely dry and the trim yet to be started, I "wisely" move onto my next project which will hopefully only involve purchasing and only limited assembly. I need new curtains for the windows in our living room aka parlor. as of everything in our house it is a random collection of furniture etc but our only 'nice' room where we have our christmas tree etc. the couch is old but comfy and has a slightly floral flair. there are two nice rose chairs and the furniture is mainly a light wood color. this room also needs a rug to help tie it together. so maybe i need the rug before the curtains? the walls are rose in color. one wall is the crosses and one wall is sports memorbalia mainly hawkeye stuff and bill's electric football is also in there. it is never going to be a formal area. i think i will use the chairs with the rocking chair to enclose one side of it with a rug to make a more sitting area. i don't think i'll paint these walls now/ever because the rose color is slight and with all the colored crosses it will be hard to anything else unless i went more neutral like cream or light beige. we never close the curtains in that room and it gets plenty of light. i was thinking maybe a decorative curtain rod and then maybe just straight panels or maybe a 'swoop' of cloth in the middle of bay window like how catholics hang the purple cloth on cross at easter. what about the double window on the far wall. can i just do two straight panels? i am also toying with getting a piece of stained glass/patterned glass to use in the top of the central bay window. here are before pictures to help you get your creative juices flowing. i should probably go to some stores to look at stuff to get ideas but I don't even know where to start... help....

the AFTER shots

They are, for sure, worth waiting for!

finally BEFORE pictures

Puerto Rico

Here are some pictures from our trip to Puerto Rico. I am finally get caught up. This is us in the rainforest and could be the best picture the two of us have ever taken together!
We took a night kayaking trip and here is us on the way out. It was really dark but we went to a bay with 'glow in the dark' plankton in it which were really cool to see.
We had a great day exploring the old forts in San Juan. I love this view.

gremlins

The gremlins in my computer will not let me load the pictures of the done, super delicious red bathroom. I have spent over 2 hours trying to get these downloaded. I have adjusted file size, tried to import them like a 100 different ways and no luck. UGH! I want to show off my work. I am going to walk away, let the gremlins think I have won and will try again later. Any advice?

finally my day improves...

Criminal football players aside; Bill, Nile and I along with our friends, the Boelks, had something Hawkeye to cheer about tonight at the womens gymnastic meet. They beat intrastate rivals Iowa State handily and it was really exciting to watch. Admission was free, Carver Hawkeye Arena has the BEST soft icecream ever and the Gym-Hawks were dominant. You know you are a Hawk fan when you not so quietly do a fist pump when a cyclone falls off the beam (no one got hurt) but that was just what the Hawks needed to ensure a victory. I felt guilty, at first, to delight in that, but is it any different than hoping an opposing wide receiver drops the ball or a running back fumbles?

Highlights:
seeing Nile get into it after we 'dragged him'... "that should have been a 10, what were they thinking?" everytime a Hawkeye stuck her landing.
2-3 college guys who have to be boyfriends or wanna be boyfriends all painted (face and chest) cheering and running up and down the floor with Iowa flag after each routine
did i mention the ice cream?

Go Hawks!

and it is all my fault!

I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (and it is all my fault).
First of all, I slipped down the stairs two nights ago wearing the slippers my husband warns me are too slippery for the stairs and I have grand daddy of all bruises on my thigh so every time I step I am reminded that I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (and it is all my fault for wearing slippy slippers)

Then I had to go to the dentist and not only did the hygenist have to scrape for like an hour because I just "have more tartar than the average, but that's ok dear" but I have TWO cavities and 'hole in my dentin' where strawberry seeds gets stuck. I have to have them all filled. Oh yeah I was told I may have early gingivitis because my back teeth are neglicted from my brushing. No one asked me if it makes me gag to brush way back there, but it does. I haven't had cavity in 25 years, I'd rather throw up (which is saying a lot) than hear the dentist drill. He reassures me that technology has progessed a lot in 25 years and it won't hurt that bad, but I don't believe him. I can still remember almost every detail from Dr Egan's office where I have my first and only traumatic cavity filling. They had this cool oil/water toy in the waiting room and plenty of Highlights magazines to read as I sat pondering my own doom which were the only redeeming memories from that day. So even though I can bring my Ipod to drown out the noise of the drill, I can't believe I have cavities. I am for sure having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (and it is all my fault for not brushing enough in the back though it makes me gag)

Pleasant interlude to my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day-- I had lunch with my dear friend Fran and we planned a shopping date tomorrow. She did sympathize with my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and said that even though the dentist says it won't hurt, it does. See I knew not to believe him!

Back to my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I want our downstairs 1/2 bath to be red. Not too much to ask, right. I picked out the paint color, got the supplies and decided with 5 days off this is a project I can tackle. Not to mention I have scores of friends who can parent multiple small children, make homemade meals, hem clothes, paint a bathroom, run some errands, help with homework, pay the bills and make a homemade fork recipe holder (you know who you are) all in one day and I am hoping to paint like 2 x 2 itty bity bathroom in 5 days. Back to my tale... this bathroom has a hideous floral border along the top. So I'll just take it down, easy right? Most of it peels off with no trouble. My project savvy friend Shonna says get DIF- this great blue gel spray stuff to get wallpaper glue off-- so I get it. It says on the front, "no drip, no mess". Ok so why do I have the stuff everywhere and blue globs of goo covering the entire floor making an entire every large mess? Taking down wallpaper is a nightmare and I am starting to think I'd rather get my cavities filled then take down anymore wallpaper. My husband says he told me so and that is why he paid to have our bedroom paper stripped (3 layers) and painted. I thought it was a waste of perfectly good shoppping money at the time but now that I have almost been beat by a little border in an itty bity bathroom, I am thankful for his decision. So as I am balanced one foot on the counter and one on the step stool, scraping until my bicep burns, goop stuck in my hair and all over I realize I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (and it is all my fault because I wanted my bathroom to be red).

** before and after pictures of the bathroom to come-- I'll spare you pictures of the bruise or the cavities**

P.S. My mom says somedays are like this even in Australia.

Jake year 2 with no one to catch the ball

Another year of our quarterback being Jake. A.N, the hope of glory for the Hawkeyes to take over the quarterback position, was arrested, suspended and kicked off the team today. I am so irritated. What was he thinking a. smoking marijuana and b. leaving it out on his desk for the cops to see while living in the dorms.

A.N.'s roommate, the talented wide receiver J.C, also arrested of even more stupid and irritiating charges and kicked off the team.

Looks to be another year of Jake with no one to pass to. yippeeeddooo! One of my New Year's resolutions is to cheer for other Hawkeyes not just the football team. This Friday I will attend my first full gymnastic meet and I am thinking of buying softball season tickets. There are more things to cheer about in Iowa City than our criminal football team.