Housewife, 54

Okay, as per my last post, I have been busy. I have painted my kitchen and family room, and have all the furniture replaced and most of the decorating done.  Not quite ready for it's pictures yet, but here is a sneak peek: Breakfast area This area of the kitchen, the breakfast area, was all wallpapered.  Now the wallpaper is gone, the walls were scrubbed clean of wallpaper paste, and the walls and ceiling painted.  I have just finished installing the new Roman shade which replaces the hand-me-down red checked curtains.  Since these shades are fully adjustable, Aaron can now sit at the kitchen table for dinner and NOT have the sun in his eyes!  I had originally thought to paint the walls a creamy yellow, but since the family room has to be the same color, I decided on a white-to-suggest-grey instead of cream.  It really took on a blue tinge with all of the blue-grey cabinets, but I think the multi-colored shades will tone down the blue.  The res...

HOT- HOT- HOT - the weather, that is. Last week we had several days over 100F and the rest were in the upper 90's.  BLAH.  All week there were "chances for thunderstorms" but even though we could see the storm clouds coming close, they always faded away or passed us without leaving a drop.  I have been watering my gardens at least once a day - flowers, berry canes, and vegetables.  Now I am beginning to water the trees!  The lawn was gone weeks ago.  There is not a single green lawn to be found in our neighborhood, and that is odd for Illinois! Another storm, passing us by, but what a show! Not only is the weather outside miserable, being inside is more comfortable but still oppressive.  I have so many things that I had planned to do this summer, and I am not making much progress..... However, I have done a few things.  In my last edition, I shared an excellent experience with showing Elvis.  We have continued to show and had som...