Behind in Life, Ahead in Love

Whoa.  My husband and I just kept our nieces from Friday after work until Monday before work.  My parents were the bookends of the weekend: picking them up from school on Friday and taking care of them on Monday before my brother and his wife returned from a long weekend away.

I loved every minute of my time with our nieces. They are smart, demanding, creative, and funny.  I am just amazed at the amount of energy it takes to care for an almost 4 year old and a 6 year old.  Every waking hour my husband and I were completely focused on the girls: playing, feeding, caring.  It's hard work.  How do people do this full time?

I am now behind in my household chores.  I spent last night whipping my household into shape: picking up, cleaning, grocery store shopping.  Oh my goodness.  I have so much respect for my brother, his wife, and my parents.

Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin

The painting in our dinning room is a replica (copy) of Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin's 1855 work titled Jeune homme nu assis sur le bord de la mer  (naked young man sitting at the seaside).

Don't Forget About Georgia

The world is taking notice now that Russia's military is occupying Ukraine's Crimea region.  Putin is claiming he's protecting the Russian citizens that are threatened in that independent nation, which is the exact same fictional narrative he asserted when Russia invaded and occupied areas of Georgia.  Russia still occupies two areas within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia.

Finally, I found an article that remembers Georgia:

Russia-Georgia War in 2008 Told the West -- and Putin -- What Was Coming

"Events in Georgia in 2008 presaged what was to come in Ukraine. After Georgia elected a pro-Western government, Russia intervened militarily -- ostensibly to protect the ethnic Russian populations within the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Vice President Dick Cheney decried Putin's action, declaring that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community.""

Magnolia Bush

I love this little magnolia bush (I don't remember it's real name) that's in our back yard.  It always blooms before it leafs out; it's the earliest bloomer. I hope the buyers of our home love it as much as we do.

Another Life

For years I passionately collected vintage metal chairs.  I would willingly "stop the car!" if I saw an opportunity to purchase a vintage metal chair- antique store, estate sale, flea market.  I never liked to re-paint the chairs.  I just liked to enjoy their aged beauty.  The vintage metal chairs that bounced are the best, but each one has appeal; I always wonder what they looked like when they were first purchased.  I also always wonder (and liked to guess) what kind of person purchased them initially?

Yes, at one time I passionately collected vintage metal chairs, and I was excited when I finally, achieved my goal of getting 8 vintage metal chairs! Our dinning room table holds 8 seats, and I envisioned drinks on the patio and then dinner in the house- a seat for all!

But time changes, and my vintage metal chairs no longer seemed at place in our more polished house.  They seemed disorderly and junky.  I couldn't make them work.  I replaced all 8 chairs with new uniformed bouncy chairs.  But I couldn't part with my vintage beauties.  I hid them around the house in the bushes and in the attic.  

As we prepare to move down the street to a larger home with a smaller yard (less attic space and bushes to hid things) I realized I had to re-home my 8 chairs.  While my husband was away at Philly, I gathered up all chairs, loaded them in my husband's father's farm truck and drove them to my parent's house.  This summer I plan to take them to the Reunion camp in an attempt to give them another life.

It's always good to begin again.

I do, you do, we all fondue!

It's that time of year...we're celebrating the birth of my husband and his father, which means my husband's mother is firing up her fondue pots and we're feasting fondue style.  It also means my husband's mother is baking "Granny's Chocolate Cake," which is a chocolate cake with a spectacular amount of Mexican vanilla and just enough cinnamon to make you guess- what's that other flavor in this chocolate cake?

I celebrate my husband's father's birth, because he created one half of the man I love!  I celebrate my husband's birth, because he is the man I love!

The One Thing

Before our house hit MLS, we had a professional photographer stop over to take photos of the place.  (Photo shoot!)  And do you know the one item our agent wanted to remove for the photo shoot?  Of all the crazy items in my possession, there was only one item the agent didn't want in the photos.

No, it's wasn't the original Dana Malcolm oil painting of the ideal masculine beauty...

No, it wasn't the large scale print of the famous painting (I can't remember the artists right now) in the dinning room...

No, it wasn't the cake topper from our second wedding or the 1940's Las Vegas city ordinance sign...

No, it wasn't the black sheep...(baaaah!)

No, our agent didn't have me remove the twin Buddhas for the photo shoot... 

And she didn't have me remove the koi sculpture on the dinning room for the photo shoot...

The one item our agent wanted removed for the photo shoot was one of the two animal candelabras.  I loved my candelabra so much I received them as back-to-back birthday presents in 2011 and 2012.

My father never understood high drama candelabras: "When they sold the first one I bet they thought they'd never sell a second one- were they surprised when you came back a year later?" was the first thing he asked.

My husband started calling it "an animal orgy" instead of an "animal taper holder" or "animal candelabra;" I think he likes to belittle the purchases.

And so, the agent said two animal ceramic sculpture things would be too dramatic for most buyers.  She said  one would work just fine, and she asked me to remove one for the photo shoot.

See:

We did get four offers in two days.  I guess my agent knows what she's doing, but of all the crazy items under my roof it's the animal candelabra that's too much?  My father laughed when I told him.