Autumn, In The Midst Of Living At My Desk

"My ideas usually come not at my desk writing

 but in the midst of living."

~Anais Nin

Here is what my old desk looked like...

When we still lived in the cottage, but since we moved my office space has changed, like all other parts of my life, completely. First of all, I have my own office, rather than using an extra large space off the kitchen that I think was meant for a pantry, but which fit my needs as an office much better. Now, my office has a door! LOL. And it looks out over the swimming pool, which is nice, because it casts a soft blue/green glow in the room early in the morning. It's on the east side of the house, which means I also get the gentle morning light of early morning. It's pretty early in the day, I just love that golden color. 

It's all white on the walls, but I have hung some posters and put up some simple shelves I got from IKEA. I have a new TV on the opposite wall, so I can watch my favorite shows while editing photos and posting to my blog. The biggest change might be my new desk, also from IKEA. I had a big desk, as you can see in the above photo, but Alan didn't want to move it, and it was kinda on it's last legs, so he took a hammer to it. My goodness my heart broke. I had a lot of good times at that desk, but it was time to move on I suppose. Sigh. Well, anyway, my office isn't quite finished, but it will be soon. Until then I will leave you with this brief glimpse.

 There is more to come, so stay tuned!

Leaf Of The Day

November 20th 2015

Mood: Happy/Nostalgic

~Me :)

Something...

"A home should be a distillation of your interests, of who you really are. If you're happy with your life, your space will reflect that."

~Rafael de Cardenas, Designer

I am feeling restless. I need for autumn to be here already! I miss football, and I am looking forward to the new crop of shows that appear each fall, and the return of old favorites as well! I woke up this morning with autumn recipes in my head, and the familiar feeling of autumn and the holidays being just around the corner. I know, it's two weeks away from the mid-point of summer, but God help me, it's here for me all the same. 

I wish I could explain it.

Mood: Anxious

~Me :) 

Afterthought... Maybe I should go to IKEA and let myself be inspired to do some redecorating!

Hauntings

"What we believe spirit visitors to be influences how they affect our lives. What we believe ourselves to be dictates how we react to them."

~S. Kelly Harrell, Real Wyrd - A Modern Shaman's Roots In The Middle World


The Man Upstairs...

I thought it would be fun, since it's been almost a year since the ghost moved in, to give an update on the ghostly happenings next door. Mr. Ghost, as Alan and I call him, is still keeping the same schedule of leaving his apartment at 4:30 AM and returning at 8:00 PM. A brutal schedule for a man half his age, let alone a man of 60-ish! For that reason alone he has my respect, just thinking about his schedule makes me tired! And did I mention he maintains that schedule 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year?! By all practical considerations he is an ideal neighbor. Quiet. Keeps to himself. Respectful of the common areas between the houses... but... there is one other thing curious about the man that h does that gives me pause. Just one thing.

He NEVER seems to produce any garbage!

For a full year now, well, almost a full year, no garbage! Well, wait, that's not all together true now that I think about it. Mr. Ghost did take his garbage down to the street on New Year's eve, and then the next day he brought the can back up to his house, rolled it around the corner of the building, and no one has seen it since! Out of sight... out of mind? Maybe, but a month ago I was up early one morning and I heard him stomp down his upper stairwell, walk around the corner of his house, kinda growl, and then I heard the lid to his garbage can slam... once... loudly. It was like his was personally pissed off at the can!

Otherwise... same old, same old.

Oh, except I did find someone on a message board who has a similar mystery going on. Message Board's neighbor keeps the exact some hours as my Mr. Ghost but instead of leaving the house every day during those hours, his neighbor gets up during those hours but doesn't leave! Otherwise the two men could be exactly the same person! Same hours. Same quiet demeanor. Same aversion to the garbage can! It's a mystery! And with the rainstorm that just started outside, it's easy for my imagination to wander to all kinds of dark places. Places where alien hybrids live. Places where one day a quiet unassuming neighbor just floats away as quietly as they came. Did I mention he moved in so fast no one saw any furniture move in with him?

Newly divorced? Alien Hybrid? Or Ghost? Hmmmm



Hey Dylan, Wanna Tell Ghost Stories?

The Easter Bunny brought Dylan and Hendrix a special gift for Easter this year, a new IKEA tent shaped like a  Big Top circus tent, and some new assorted stuffed animals for under the big top! The boys have been having a blast in the tent, and it also makes a pretty good place for a time out when someone (Hendrix) gets a little to bitey, if you know what I mean! LOL. Anyway, while the boys were playing with their new toy the other night, and while I was considering my own adventures with Mr. Ghost, I saw the boys live out a real spooky moment of their own. They reminded me of two human brothers playing spooky camping trip. Here have a look at the fun...

Hey Dylan, Want To Tell Ghost Stories?


Wait! Did You Hear Something?


Yikes...Hendrix... Could It Be A Real Ghost?
  Yes... Dylan... I think I Is A REAL GHOST! RUN!


Whew Hendrix! It Was Just Donald Trump On A Macy's Commercial!
Yes, WHEW! But Just In Case, Can We Have The Light On Mommy?


My The Boys Went To Bed Without A Fuss Tonight! Hmmm!


Little boy humans, little boy cats... there's not a lot of difference! LOL.

Love is love and fun is fun, and I am happy with my boys! :)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Duvets Sets... Are They The New Beanie Babies?

"Instead of a Lemonade Stand, I should open up a "You know what I can't stand?" stand. I'll sell rants in small, medium, and large."

~Jarod Kintz, This Book Title Is Invisible

Does my hubby rock or what? He worked a 9 hour shift from 10:00 PM Sunday night 7:00 AM Monday morning, and still took me to IKEA anyway! You see, IKEA had a very special sale on a certain duvet set that I have been eyeing for the better part of a year! It's called Ransby. I have the same duvet set in green, and it looks lovely in the bedroom, especially against the cornflower colored walls, but I really lusted after the purple set. I have some deep purple and lavender splashes throughout the room. So, $9.99 for the purple set, priced down from $39.99 was something I couldn't pass up, and Alan kinda liked the idea as well!

Have you ever shopped at an IKEA on a holiday? LOL. Have you ever shopped at an IKEA on a holiday that falls on a Monday? LOL. It's an experience! The very first time I ever shopped at an IKEA was, coincidentally, on President's Day, 2011. Alan and I were in the process of packing, and moving to a new cottage that fell into our laps, which was a little way down HWY 580 in Hayward, Ca. We were needing some new curtains, and some rugs, and it was time to get a new bed, so off to IKEA we went! We fell in love with the place at first purchase! The new cottage opportunity fell through, amid some really bizarre circumstances, but our love of IKEA goes on! LOL. Anyway if you ever vist us, you will notice right away that we are pretty much an IKEA showroom, from one end of the cottage to the other!

Okay, so, the good part about shopping at IKEA is the awesome sales, the good and the bad part is that the place is usually packed with... wait for it... consumers. But, as you know, the best part about being packed into a big box retailer on a holiday, is watching the consumers around you share the experience of a good sale! Being a people watching person, I am always happy to see what I can see. And what did I see? Let me tell you... plenty.

As I walked into the downstairs showroom, I found that IKEA had recently decided to move their showroom sections around! Yikes! Where were the Textiles? Somebody moved the TEXTILES! OMG! Okay, no time to whine about it, it was time to face the scavenger hunt for what it was... FUN! Alan had an item he was wanting to pick up, so we divided and conquered! "Alan... you go find the kitchenware's and grab your steak knives, and I am going to find the duvet sets, and I will meet you by the checkout! Okay... I was a girl on a mission!

As I navigated through the sections, I saw multiple women pass me with multiple purple Ransby duvet sets! OMG... WILL THERE BE ANY LEFT? Well, I wasn't ready to just give up! I found a lady carrying 3 duvet sets, and asked her where they could be found. "They are near the checkout lines, hurry... there is a long line. I am a 50 year old woman, with 90 year old knees, but I am pretty sure I took flight at one point! Finally arriving at the back of the line, I made eye contact with a formidable woman who wanted the place in line I was about to claim. I wasn't having any of it! "I got here first, you have to get behind me in line! "I KNOW I WAS HERE FIRST!" said she. To which I replied with a quiet, deep, long stare. Guess who won? Yep... I didn't budge. I might be 3 ft 17 but I am no pushover!



The line moved pretty fast, it was a comfortable endeavor. Less than 10 minutes total, but in that 10 minutes I saw plenty of interesting sights. One woman had her 4 children with her, and she and the 4 children each had two sets, which was the limit per consumer. It was in the rules, and children are consumers, so no harm done, but the scene reminded me of the old Beanie Babies days when I would see ladies, with bugged out eyes, purchasing multiples of the cloth toy, and getting so addicted to the whole proposition that they resembled cocaine addicts, rather than collectors of that certain novelty toy, and it wasn't unusual to see those ladies buck the system by bringing not just their own children, but whatever children they could bribe in order to get more than their share on the babies!

Don't get me wrong, I purchased some Beanie Babies back then, and one of my best gal pals worked for a toy store, and when she found out I was looking for one of the deer babies, even saved one for me because I found it so cute. I still have that little guy, sitting on my cedar chest. I gave a couple of the bears to my mother after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was prone to violence on and off, and when she threw the toy at me, it didn't hurt. It was a busy, sad time in my life, but those little toys made her happy, and in turn, they made my life easier. I have a special place in my heart for Beanie Babies, but I don't think about that time in my life much. Just today I did I couldn't help but think about it a little bit today.

I kinda doubt those purchasing the duvet sets today because it hurts less when thrown at you, but what in the world did the lady buying 10 sets plan to do with them? Was she going to sell them out of the back of her car, just as some Beanie Baby profiteers did? Did she have 10 different relatives that never had contact with each other, that she was going to gift the sets to? Who knows? Personally, when I finally reached the front of the line, and they still had one set left in Queen/Full size, I didn't give it all another thought. And while an IKEA duvet set will probably never reach the cult status that Beanie Babies did, today proved that a bargain is a bargain, and when possible some are still willing to push the limits and rules, and there will still be folks like me, happy to observe the trends, shopping habits, and values of her fellow consumers.

Life... you gotta love it!

 

I found a great article about the Beanie Baby phenominom. Go take a look!

Wall Street Journal: How I Got Burned By Beanie Babies
By Karen Blumenthal

"I'm not a consumer, because consumers are consumed with shopping. No, I prefer shoplifiting."

~Jerod Kintz

Mood: Happy But Tired

~Me :)

Probably, Maybe, Almost Certainly Big Changes

From For Ellipsis

"I ran up the door, closed the stairs, said my pajamas, put on my prayers, turned off the bed and hopped in the light, all because you kissed me goodnight."

-Unknown

It's time. Alan and I have been married nearly 19 years, and it is time for a change. It's time for a new bed, and maybe, a new apartment. But let's discuss the bed first. When we got married, we bought a really gorgeous frame and headboard in a cherry wood traditional style and finish. It was a gorgeous piece of furniture, and it came with a beautiful dresser and mirror with pretty scroll work along the top and sides. Beautiful. The set has served us well, but it's time for something new. Something different. But it will have to be something on a budget. Enter IKEA.

Yesterday, in an effort to get new ideas for decorating on a budget, Alan and I drove down to Emeryville, to our local IKEA and we came out with a lot of plans for the future, beginning with the bed frame you see above, it's called Leirvik. It's very pretty, and I am already getting ideas for how it will look with my existing knickknacks. Fun. As we shopped, we also checked out the chairs and sofas and futons, just in case we move to the cute little apartment/house we have had our eyes on for a while.

There is a lot to consider. The yard is not nearly as big as the one we have now. The cats wouldn't have as much area outside to play in, but there is a sizable, fenced in patio area and a big area we could put a nice garden in. Growing our own vegetables is important to both our budget and our health, so that has to be taken into consideration. The new place is slightly bigger then where we are now, which would be fabulous, and the bonus is that the rent is only a little more then we are paying now. If we give up a few bad habits, like Starbuck's, we could swing the cost... probably. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

I am ready for a change. It's feels strange to say that, but it's true. I am a stubborn person, who when she finds something, usually digs her heels in and waits for roots to form, but I have been here 8 years, and I have done my best with my little cottage, and now it's time to move on methinks. Can you tell I am still mulling it over a bit? We'll see. In the meantime I have a new bed coming pretty soon, and then it will be time to talk dressers. Jeepers... all this shopping and planning is a little like playing the SIMS only without the repetitive music and diamond indicator above my head.

:)

Although, it there was a diamond indicator above my head, it would be white!

I'm Happy.

-Carly