i got my fabric in the mail. the red was so not what the computer image had me believeing it would be. it was very dark, a maroon, while i was expecting a fruit punch. i know, i could have ordered a sample, but the fabric was very cheap so i just went with it, oops. luckily, i ordered some back-up. what do you think? i am still waiting for some more supplies in the mail. this is going to take me awhile!

my daughter loves doing her homework. and i love that she loves it. she takes kindergarten very seriously. it is evident. i drop her off every morning with her hair neatly pulled back, her face scrubbed, her clothes washed. and when i go to pick her up, i don't always recognize her in the carpool line. her hair is all over the place, she has a chocolate pudding mustache, and her shirt is polka dotted with magic marker and fruit juice. i try not to let her see my jaw drop at times, it is truly a remarkable metamorphosis. i have asked other mothers if they are having similar experiences with their children and they don't seem to understand. so why is my child such a big mess? i just have to believe it's her effort. a+, wouldn't you say?

1. sometimes, i am not afraid to wear white socks with brown crocs. sure, i like fashion, but i am a comfort first kind of girl, so accessories can really bug me. i won't wear a watch or pantyhose or hairspray.
2. i have a great memory when it comes to not very important stuff. i remember elementary school in surprising detail. i remember every teacher i ever had, what they wore, where i sat, what we did, what i brought for show and tell, the kids in my class, their names, their lunchboxes....i could go on and on :) but don't ask me about real history.
3. i do not like going to the movies. i think the chairs are sticky and gross, it is too dark, and i can't sit still that long.
4. some days, i just eat cookies. and that is all. just lots and lots of cookies.
5. i have a bionic nose. one time i went into target and as soon as i walked in, i could smell a friend of mine because she wears a certain perfume. i found her in line at the pharmacy. seriously, that is pretty silence of the lambs, isn't it?
6. i am really, really cautious. i never drive over the speed limit, i wouldn't even consider being unbuckled, i don't like to take left turns...when it comes to driving, i am an old lady already. i also "watch my back" wherever i go, especially at the atm. oh, and here's another good example...we go to eat at this restaurant at the lake about twice a year. it is near a nuclear power plant. i went on-line and bought these nuclear reactor safety pills that you take just in case of an incident so that your thyroid won't absorb any of the radiation. yup, we only go about twice a year for dinner, so i got some pills.

i made this for my heidi swapp class. this is my first scrap book page this decade and i am telling you this because it is a little crooked! i will improve in time, i hope:) i am just amazed what people can do on a piece of paper these days(if i only i could show you the class gallery)! and i am so loving all the products you can buy - fun, fun! our assignment was to scrap our goal and to list why we have this as a goal. we were also to make a target with the center being our completion or "due" date. i made my target a flower :) and in case you were wondering, if i ever really have a business, i am going to call it 'cottage bethy,' cuz i have gotten pretty attached to that name.
happy weekend! :) bethy

oh, how i love them. see for yourself on sugarboodesigns.com. go to the photobox gallery. which quote is your favorite? because i cannot decide. but when i do, i want a blue frame.

i know i have been a lousy blogger lately. please don't give up on me! i am actually working on something that i am totally excited about. i will give you two clues: it has to do with my "goal" and this fabric swatch. so i can't promise i will have much to write about in the coming days, but BIG things are happening and i will share with you as soon as i can! have a great week!
:)bethy

our golden retriever, kennedy, got a new set of dishes from santa this christmas. he really likes them. my children wondered if kennedy asked for new dishes, i told them sometimes santa just knows what's best. and in case you are interested, i think santa got them at target.

Labels: home decor

we went to the mountains to ring in the new year. we drove through ashville, nc, on new year's day. i took two pictures. this one, and one of a lady dancing in the park alone with her ipod. i don't know what this building is, but i sure love the windows. blogging has opened my eyes to things like this. i know that may seem strange, but reading other people's blogs has taught me to pay attention in a different way. maybe so that i have something unique to share. or maybe because i read someone else's post that inspired me to look at things through another's perspective. or maybe both. anyway, i am grateful that lately i have been enjoying things that before i might have missed somehow.

i don't want to offend anyone here. but i am going to use a strong word. i hate granite countertops. i have them, so i can say that, right? i have always hated them. in two previous houses where we got to choose our kitchen countertops, i chose a tan corian. i think corian is softer on the eyes because it isn't so busy. maybe granite is just a masculine thing, my husband loves it. but it reminds me of petrified jungle animals. my preference would be marble (like in the bath above) with a butcher block island. from what i hear and read though, both marble and block are very impractical. so back to corian. i just had to get that off my chest.

i have a blog, two children, a great husband, some friends, and i want to flip houses. i have a happy, full life. but today i found out a guy from my high school class is a multi-billionaire because he co-founded google. yup, frickin GOOGLE! why didn't i ever put this together? i had read about these guys many times before, i even talked to my husband about them once when we discussed where to send my son to preschool. "the google guys were educated in montessori schools," i said. little did i know, i sat next to one of them in english class! hmmmm. i guess it isn't about the school after all. sergey even said himself it was more luck than anything. but come on, he's a smart cookie. congratulations, fellow raider!

suburban mom sent out a plea to see everyone's star. and of course, mine is blue :) it hangs in my laundry room, which is really my other foyer since we enter through it daily from the garage. so where's yours? we know you've got one. play along!

i hung this in my office this morning. the perfect place for these words to be. i like peaceful surroundings and people seem to think my decor reflects that. but you should see my office, my "creative space." whoa, nellie. i type next to one very ripe banana my son was using as a telephone, a clock that fell off the wall, papers, papers, papers, two hair bows, a pack of baby wipes...i could go on and on, but you get the point :) i believe a mess is not really a mess if it has a purpose. a true mess is disorder that has no purpose - and i have piles of both around here. i am trying to clean up the true messes today so that i can focus on making more good messes. when i am feeling defeated, i will look at my new sign.

this is the place we are thinking of buying at the beach. okay, i am just kidding. this is a house we went to see a few weeks ago for ideas. it is up at the lake. they are making a whole village of new england style homes there. yum yum. i love the gray shake with the blue shutters. and that fence. oh boy! the interior is done to my liking as well with all white kitchens and bathrooms and tons of built-ins and beadboard. anyone looking to relocate? :)

we had a successful trip to the beach and we are hoping to negotiate something this week to buy our first flip! the place was built in the early 1970's. the good news: some updating has already been done, it doesn't have popcorn ceilings, and this is the view! the bad news: it needs two total bathroom renovations, and it is very little. but you know what they say - location is everything. i think it has a lot of potential:)

other updates: i've tried pulling up the carpet here and it is holding on for dear life. i have never known a carpet to be this stubborn. i wonder if my husband is paying it off?

the summer cottage that my mom purchased this past summer had been totally painted when i was there for christmas. all of the carpet had been removed as well. i should have taken some pictures, but it was really dark in there. lighting should be the next task!

Posted at 06:50 PM | Permalink

okay, so i have not ripped up the carpet. but i am going to. once something gets in my crawl like that, i can rarely let it go. i also have to admit the only reason why i haven't yet is because i have to wait until my husband goes out of town. he cannot see me in action, he will freak out! he does not understand such things. so i wait.
by the way, i am still tired. i think i am in holiday recovery mode, or maybe i am getting sick? ugh. that reminds me, i need to take some airborne.
i started my class. did i tell you about it? it is heidi swapp's "year to remember" by big picture scrapbooking. it is an on-line class with 1,000 members! the class has message boards and a chat room and a place to display your work. each week we listen to an audio or video clip of heidi giving us an assignment. the idea is that we "design a life we love." (i just love that.) we are encouraged to set a goal, achieve it, and make a book about the journey. this week we had to set our goal. so here is my goal: i want to start my own business by january 2008. i don't know exactly what my "business" will be, but i want one :) i know that i want to flip a house, i have wanted to do that for a long time. my husband and i are going to the beach tomorrow in hopes of acquiring our first potential flipper. a condo. we are starting small, of course! i have had my real estate license for several years. i need to update it - step 1. so somehow this business of mine will involve flipping. i mean, when one is passionate about ripping up carpet, this does make sense doesn't it?

today was "back to school day," so we have all fallen back into our normal routines here. with all of the traveling we had done this holiday, i declared yesterday cartoon day and we stayed in bed ALL day. don't you just love noggin? it was wonderful. but today, we were all back in gear and i was in the mood to get cracking. it was the kind of day i wanted to rip up some carpet. i didn't. but i was in the mood. the above picture was from the last time i was in this kind of mood, today i had more self control. but what i can't tell you is how i will do tomorrow.