This weekend I was belssed to work with our tech team at church. We sit through 3 services and pay close attention so that the sermon slides come up at the right time, the lights look right, etc.
By the 3rd service I get a little punchy up there and my mind begins to wander a bit. I know what you are thinking, and YES, my mind is always wandering but yesterday more than usual.
As the sermon was complete the pastor wanted to share a few things in the bulitin with us. I think if I were to point something out, it would have to be 1. Turn off your cell phone and 2. We have child care and childrens programs.
It seems every service I sit in, there is a cell ringing (usually at the quietest point of the service) and there are kids sitting around who are obviously bored to tears. What gets me is there are kids their own age in a class playing pool or ski ball & having a great time. But these kids are stuck with their parents in "big people church". It never ceises to amaze me. When Jagger graduated from the preschoolers class to the k-2nd class he didn't want to go because like most people he didn't like change. I wasn't about to give in and spend my time in church making sure he sat quitely and take him to potty every 15 minutes. Jag loved the new big kid class after the first visit and realized he had nothing to be affraid of. Sometimes kids have to try new things against their will.
That's life.

I am blessed with boys that do not leave the seat up. Instead they leave it down which means I often feel the need to put caution tape across the bathroom doors.
Today was one of those days when I should have used the restroom before I left work but I was so anxious to get home I decided to tough it out.
I finally pulled in the driveway and bolt to the bathroom to find SOMEONE has apparently been multi-tasking while peeing.
Maybe I should have kept him in a diaper till he could clean a toilet!

Friday morning I was getting the boys lunches out for school and I noticed a bag of carrots and celery I had bought earlier in the week. I always forget about the things in the crisper and usually I cannot recognize them by the time I pull them out.
The carrots and celery reminded me of a recipe I used to make all the time when Stephen was little before Josh and I got married. It's chicken with carrots & celery over white rice with a sour cream gravy. Sounds like a good fattening, comfort food kind of meal right? It is perfect for a chilly fall dinner and not too hard to make.
As I begin cooking, all the boys start asking what I'm making. I've been in a cooking rut lately so they were cautiously optimistic about this new and exciting dinner.
Dinner was finally served and it was gone in 60 seconds! The crowds roared! They were begging for more (ok...slight exaggeration). I had a June Cleaver moment minus the pearls and heals.
This left Josh asking if there are any other dinners I have been keeping from him. I replied with a wink "never ask a lady to reveal her secrets"

My grandmother (known as Mema to most) is 84 and recently discovered she has a tumor in her lung and a broken pelvis. Needless to say she's not feeling well.
Mom and I decided to go visit her in Apple Valley on Tuesday. I am a busy person by nature and rarely sit around doing nothing. I always have supplies for a project at the ready. Mema's days on the other hand are filled with movies on Lifetime, Dr. Phil, her favorite soap operas and infomercials. Since I'm not one to sit around watching T.V. all day, I decided to bring some fabric I had bought about 6 months ago so we could sew together.
I'm probably the most domesticated of Mema's grand children or children for that matter. Mema taught me to sew in High School and I would always come over with a patern or idea in my head. Mema was usually rooked into helping me out and she would always help me correct mistakes I had made due to my youthful impatience.
Ever since I moved to Orange County she mentions from time to time that we don't do projects together like we used to. When we visit the High Desert we are usually rushing to see both my husbands family and my family which doesn't leave much time for arts and crafts.
The curtains I made with Mema are beautiful and now hang in my living room. They are beautiful not for the color, fabric or design but for the love of a grandmother that taught me to sew at the age of 15.
Love you Mema!

Last night's wind kept me up all night. Aparenty we have a tree branch that hits our bedroom wall when the wind blows. Half the night I was trying to figure out where that sound was coming from. Immediatly I assumed Stephen was trying to run away or Jagger was getting kidnapped in his sleep...Yeah Josh! Thanks for watching those kidnapping shows late on Sunday night! Now freak with every noise outside!
So this morning I drive in terrible traffic, thanks to the wind storm which Californians cannot navigate AT ALL. What do I find when I pull into the office driveway but the landscaping crew using a LEAF BLOWER!
The worst part is, I don't know enough spanish to ask "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

So I went to an AMAZING estate sale and picked up a couple treasures!
I usually have to sneak out at around 7:30 AM because my husband hates the idea of me spending money on other peoples junk. His feeling is, if they want to get rid of it why are we paying money to have it? I understand his point however I find joy in transforming trash into a treasure.

This particular treasure hunt brought me to a set of table lamps and a club chair I picked up for $28 TOTAL. The club chair was up in a spare bedroom of an elderly woman's home and had never been used from the looks of it. The lamps on the other hand were pretty ugly. The lamps were painted a strange combination of green and yellow. Most people would have passed them by, but not Handy Mandy!

With a $5 can of dark brown metallic spray paint and new shades I was able to transform them into lamps worthy of my living room.

Remember, though ugly on the outside, anything can be made tolerable with a coat of paint.

That does it for this episode of Handy Mandy!