Year 2 - Day 187 - July 7

Today was a less productive day, but we were in a lot of stores. We were on the hunt for a new foyer light. However, our foyer is regular room height, and lots of foyer lights these days are made for taller foyers. The main difference is that they’re all on poles now instead of chains. That leaves less room for size changing. Even on the 12” poles, the lights hung down 24” from the ceiling. We bought and returned one, measured others, and did a lot of hunting. (2 Home Depots & a Lowes, plus 2 Walmarts – all of which had different selections of everything we were looking for!) In the end, we bought a can of dark aged bronze spray paint and we’re going to change the look of the light we already have. In my journey, I saw this hanging in Home Depot. Really? You’d label your key hider “KEY HIDER?” Look in here! Here’s the house or car key you’re hunting for so you can break in! Right here! Labeled for easy finding!! ☺

Year 2 - Day 186 - July 6

More than a year ago, we bought our new house. The first week, maybe even before our furniture was here, we picked a nice green to do the kitchen/family room area. Even before it was done drying, I decided I did not like the color. The light in these rooms varies so much throughout the day, and the angles make lots of shadows. I liked the green in the shadows, but not the light. I decided recently to change just the family room. We went with gray (grey? I can never remember which one to use. It’s one of my serious grammar issues.)  walls and white trim. I like the gray on the chip, but it of course changes a lot with light too. At first, the only place it looked not-white was on the ceiling where we smudged a little. Then it changed colors several times throughout the day as it dried and the sun moved and went down. In the evening it’s almost purple. It definitely shows its tint next to the white switch plate covers! Oh well, it works. It is at least a nice calming color!

Year 2 - Day 185 - July 5

I read this book over the weekend, right after I read “What Alice Forgot.” It was mentioned in the same NYTimes article about summer reading, I guess because they had a similar amnesia theme. In this one, when the story begins, Christine already has amnesia. She wakes up confused in bed, and the guy seems to be unconcerned with her condition. He just reminds her that he’s her husband Ben and gives her a tour of the house. This is the daily routine for Ben because Christine loses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. Christine’s doctor encourages her to keep a journal of her days, but when stories in the journal conflict with what someone tells her, Christine doesn’t know who to believe or trust. I personally thought this book was much better than What Alice Forgot, however, they’re different genres. The other one was more “Chic Lit” and this one is more a mystery. I wanted to renew it so my mom could read it, but there was a waiting list at the library so it wasn’t possible. I decided to just pay the 25 cents and keep it an extra day so she could read it last night and tonight. ☺

Year 2 - Day 184 - July 4

 Our crazy 4th of July weekend finished today, at our friends’ house. We are very excited that people are starting to move this way. We have 2 sets of friends that live (or are getting ready to live) nearby! How nice to drive 15 minutes to a party. Of course I forgot to take any pictures while we were there (which is probably good, because we were in the pool most of the afternoon, and my phone isn’t waterproof) but these are pictures of a card I made. A friend of ours has a friend doing a dual degree program, so it’s kind of a two part graduation. So the first card is for now, and then when she finishes the second degree she gets the second card! If I had it to do over again, I'd put something between the blue and the letters. I had difficulty making the puzzle pieces a shape I liked, so when I got there, I forgot about my original plan. But I think it's fun.

Year 2 - Day 183 - July 3

We went to the most unique wedding ever today. Our friends created their entire ceremony themselves, and did it in rhyme like Dr. Seuss. It had all the important parts of your standard ceremony, just moved some words around and inserted a few sentiments here and there to help with the rhyming and personalization. It was wonderful! This is the card I made for them. Had I known about the theme, I might have been even more creative with the design, but I liked how this one came out. Totally borrowed the idea from a person on splitcoast, but gave it my own touch. I love having a chance to use the sticky pearls!

On the way to the wedding, we stopped at LL Bean so I could get some boots. It seemed silly to drive all the way to Columbia next week when we were going for the wedding. I’m pretty sure that not many people show up dressed for a wedding holding socks and wanting to try on boots. ;) But hey – they almost match color wise!!

Year 2 - Day 182 - July 2

Our 4th of July weekend is a busy one this year, but I’ve been looking forward to it. Today we started the celebration at our friend’s house in PA. They are lucky enough to live down the street from their town fireworks location, so we could pop up chairs in the driveway and watch without the crowds. No traffic, no crowds, no crazy boaters trying to run us over, and a bathroom right inside the door. Definitely a leg up on previous fireworks excursions!

Year 2 - Day 181 - July 1

It's Friday! I had one small thing on the calendar this morning for a couple hours, and then the rest of the day was mine, mine, mine. I actually think I enjoy the free time more when there's a little bit of something scheduled. I am too good at wasting time when there's nothing to do and nowhere to go.


This is the book of the day. I thought it was going to be long because the print was really tiny, but it went quickly. I started it just before Mike got home from work and finished it before he got home from the gym & driving range. I think I read about the book in an article in the NYTimes about summer reading, but I'm not positive. I put things on my wish list at the library and then I get emails when they're in...but by that point I've forgotten why I requested them! It makes every book a surprise, I suppose.


In the first chapter of this book, Alice is having a dream about floating in a pool. She dreams of her husband, and he sounds like a pretty nice guy, and thinks of how excited they are for their first kid to be born. When she opens her eyes, she is confused. The people around her tell her she fainted during spin class and hit her head. Her friends & the gym people are asking all the silly questions people ask when you hit your head...what day is it, what year is it, who's the president, that kind of stuff. It's then that you realize it's actually 10 years later. Alice isn't pregnant, she has a 10 year old. She isn't 29, she's getting ready to turn 40. It's pretty much a "chick lit" book, but it's interesting. What if you woke up tomorrow with today's brain and memories but everyone around you had lived 10 more years of life? I liked it, but it definitely didn't qualify as serious reading. :)