Opinion.

Okay, here it is. This is what happens when I pick up a sample of paint and don't have TV to distract me.

What do you think? Seriously, I can take it. Is it weird?

(we are planning on tiling the slate to look a bit darker. The gray isn't working for us)

TV.

After a year of talking about it, we finally did it. We cancelled the cable. It was scary.
I had lived without TV for a year or so back in 2003. Well, almost without TV. The PBS station came in just fine...most of the time. I actually liked the lack of TV because it forced me to do other things.
Beau and I have been debating about cancelling for well over a year. It was costing us over $80 a month and we knew we were wasting HOURS a day watching crap. Despite these two very valid reasons, we were still hesitant to do anything. I swear it felt like taking the training wheels off a bike! What if we couldn't find anything to do? What if Nonie cried all the time because she couldn't watch Dora? What is something cataclysmic happened and we didn't k now about it because we DIDN'T HAVE TV?

Then logic kicked in...
We ALWAYS have things to do. Painting, knitting, woodworking, cleaning, reading. The list goes on forever.
Nonie has DVDs and an entire room of toys. I am sure we can find something to entertain her.
We don't' watch the news. Both of us get all our information form the Internet.

So we did it.

And we LOVE it.

We are getting so much done around the house. things that we have been putting off for years. Surprisingly, the other thing that has happened is that Nonie is so much more focused and less whiny. It might be the age/developmental stage she is in, but there is a noticeable difference.

Who would have guessed?

Butterfly.

Yesterday we went to the Butterfly exhibit at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. For those of you who haven't been to DSBG, it is beautiful and a perfect place to pretend you are a "real" photographer. Here are some of the pictures I took...

Ribbon.

Here is another project that cost $2 for a spool of ribbon. I used an old shirt of mine that I loved but didn't wear anymore. I cut it into the shape of the lamshade, retrimmed it with ribbon and now I have a whole new lampshade! I am so proud of this becasue I had been searching high and low for a funky lamshade.

Hooray for repurposing old stuff!

Accents.

This is my latest decorating project. It was a really fast and easy way to add some fun little accents to the room. The picture is actually hanging from the wall, but I taped the ribbon to the back and hung it over a nail to make it look like it was holding up the picture. I used an old rhinestone brooch to cover the nail (it is just hanging off the nail so if I want, I can swap it out). This took me maybe 10 minutes and only cost $2 for the ribbon.

I love it!

Obsessed.

The other day while flipping through the channels (this was before we cancelled our cable) I can across a show called "Obsessed". Apparently, the title refers both to the people on the show and the people watching the show because I watched it for 5 STRAIGHT HOURS. I seriously couldn't tear myself away.

The show follows people who suffer from OCD as they go through therapy. It was fascinating to see all the different manifestation of OCD....exercise, hand washing, verbal tics, sound aversions, and some of them I can't even begin to explain.

The weird thing was I realized that most of the people I know have a touch of the OCD in one form or another. The difference is for the average person their compulsions don't get in the way of life. We may prefer something one way or another, but it doesn't HAVE TO be that way in order for us to function.

For example, this is how I PREFER M&Ms....

but, I would eat these even if they were not in color order.

Result?

Me = weird, but not OCD.

Fashion.

I caught this fashion "don't" a couple of days ago.

Mr Blackwell would not be pleased.

Project.

My latest sewing adventure was creating curtains for Nonie's school. They have a "giving tree" painted in the front hallway. On it, the teachers put up paper leaves with things they need for the classrooms written on them. At parent' orientation I noticed that this was on the wish list. I made the curtains and then Lori made matching cushions for the floor (the ribbons can be removed and the shade rolls down. You can also tied the ribbon across the middle of the curtain vertically....it makes a neat hourglass shape.). I think they turned out pretty well considering I made the pattern up and have never sewed curtains. Now I might have to do some for my house!