Well, we survived.
The end of the year is always so busy. It's like I hit an oil slick at Halloween and then rush through New year's out of control.
House guests, parties, deadlines, gifts. It's always so crazy! And on top of it, we (meaning me) am the host for both Thanksgiving and Christmas (there's no one else to do it), and have to have houseguests staying with us (in-laws. Yay) during that time. It's very stressful.
This year, we added a 6 day trip to New Orleans to visit friends into the mix. I'm super glad we did, but boy , now that we're home I finally feel like I can breathe. It's nice to be back to real life, back to a schedule, kids in school.
Except...There's still so much to do!
It's January, so I have to wrangle the bills and the money and think about how we're going to get where we need to be financially for the year. I haven't been so good at that this year. Maybe because I'm waiting to see if the bonus and tax refunds materialize, and if they do, if we will be able to pay off the house. (Squee.)
So far, I did manage to take down most of the Xmas decorations, tackle the giant mound of holiday recycling, clear out the jillion shipping boxes, pay the car insurance and renew the plates for both cars. Fun, I know.
Now for the tikis....
Something weird always happens to me in winter. I guess it's because I'm stuck inside a lot more with the cold and snow. I always feel the urge to deep clean and redecorate the house. This year, that has meant finishing house and decorating projects I've been meaning to do forever and probably already have most of the supplies for. (I'm trying to look for cheap and free ways to improve the house).
I finally finally after four years of never getting around to it, finished one wall in the tiki den. I have lots of tiki/ Hawaii albums, so I framed a few of my favorites for an art accent wall. I've attached a pic below. I think it's cute! It was reasonably cheap, too. I had four frames, and when I went to Michael's to get more, they were 50 percent off. I paid about $3.25 each for really nice album frames with real glass. I've been picking up the albums at thrift stores and yard sales for 20 years now, so they were all 25 or 50 cent albums, and the total for framing was less than $40.
I also removed some clunky old shutters from the windows in the tiki den and replaced them with rice paper shades. I had one shade already, from our old house in New Orleans, and I had to buy one new one to match it. It lets in so much more light. I am planning to make curtains from some sort of tiki barkcloth fabric, but haven't gotten than far yet.
I also have some supplies for a few random repairs, like replacing the wonky dimmer switch in the dining room. Hopefully I'll be able to do them soon. Next week, it's time for my annual rug steam clean, so I'll have to rent a machine from the store.
I guess I'm winter nesting. Weird huh? It's garden in the summer and inside the house in the winter, I guess that's my seasonal schedule!
And, this one is for Laura, to get her thinking about using her tiki furniture! I took down some clunky old shutters and replaced them with rice paper blinds. I also stacked my tikis and hung shelves to display part of my tiki mug collection. (The shelves go all around the room.) Forgive me for posting a pic of a project that isn't done. We have yet to make tiki curtains for the windows!
Back to real life, and tiki wall project
January 5th, 2016 at 02:35 pm
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You inspire me! I have vintage tiki (like a couch, chair, two swivel chairs, one glass circular table, a table lamp, and display shelf). We are going to set up the basement as a rec room for the kids since they're getting older and having more friends over. I thought of moving the old couch that we hope to replace from family room down there - now what if I were to just use the tiki set? New cushions are in order (though I have two original set cushions). If I don't use it for this, I might as well get rid of it. Right?
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I notice on your sidebar your plan to write a Will. I hope it's ok to encourage you to likewise take quick action on term life insurance if there is none as well as preparing a personal directive. [Sorry, the San Bernardino incident has really upset my sense of priority]. To fend off Murphy's Law, it's important for the children to give these tasks high priority.
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January 6th, 2016 at 12:52 am 1452041569
Thanks! Love the pictures. I am now thinking - the girls used some of the furniture in their bedroom when they were about 6 and 7 until about 10 and 11 - I have remnants of red hula girl bedding that might be able to be recycled to pillows for at least a pop of color. Oh well .... I should just post a picture of what I got and solicit suggestions!
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