Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Vested Interest

 All I can say is that I was in the mood to wear purple and grab whatever from the closet. It was just that kind of a day. We're within a day or 2 of completing the painting of our office and I'm beyond tired out. For some reason every day I have crushing fatigue. Could it be paint fumes? Or just being a contortionist all day? I really don't know.  Now that we're down 2 boys with 2 to go, I need to paint the downstairs, but it will be a while before I'm up for more painting. I know my blog has been suffering but, I'm soooooo tired. When I'm not painting and at home, I have been preparing our new flower bed and gathering firewood for this weekend's camping trip. Hmmm . . . I just can't figure out why I stay tired!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Messy Bun Day

I thought I wouldn't try the old sock bun way atop my head. Cute little young bloggers look cool and trendy. I know I would look nutty, or frumpy or just plain wrong. Mid-head bun like I used to do for ballet recitals, now that I think I can do. So I did a sock bun the night before. It was perfectly smooth and adorable. But this is how it turned out the next day when it counted and I would actually see other humans. Since it was a painting day, I decided to just go with it anyway.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Walking with my boys

Wowsers! I knew this was a wild print on this dress from Cato, but now I really see it in the photos. I have some kind of outfit blindness where mirrors just don't cut it for me. Nothing shows me reality like a photo. We took off after church for Chattanooga to look at a pop-up camper (yes, we bought it. Look for camping posts as summer continues).  I started out in the cutest gladiator sandals, but changed into my ugly blue sneakers. I've never been one to suffer for fashion to start with. Add RA to the mix and cute shoes move way down the priority list!














The hubster and I recently discovered the Riverwalk area and decided to try it out on the boys. I'm never sure if they will be all for a walk or whine the whole time. Fortunately, they are maturing and embraced the whole thing. We had a blast!






Monday, May 21, 2012

Backyard Blues


 It's really too warm for long sleeves at this point unless you're going to a restaurant with frosty air conditioning, and let's face it, all restaurants crank up the air. I'm running really short on inspiration right now, so I'll throw in a cute kitty pick of the ever-stylish Whiskas. While I'm finishing the painting of my office, my schedule will be full for a few more weeks.

Friday, May 18, 2012

My Back Yard

Something about the outfit seems to offend my dog. Padme looks like she's averting her eyes. It's more likely she was following me and then heard something interesting over there. On this particular day, I was attending a meeting where everyone is kind of conventional . . . or at least that's my excuse for wearing an outfit that's not terrible inspired.

Grey sweater-Thrifted
Black/White polka dot blouse-Walmart
Black jeans-Cato










And speaking of uninspired, here is a section of our yard that bugs me. It's under our very high back deck and it's a space just begging for landscaping. I can totally see a swing, maybe a hammock, a little table with chairs or bench. It gets morning sun and shade the rest of the day. This is exiting because almost everywhere else gets the full brunt of the Georgia harsh afternoon sun. I have a pot of tomatoes doing well and I'm thinking hostas in the more shady corners. I also purchased a hydrangea simply because it is named "Annabelle" just like my neice. Isn't she lovely?

A Weighty Subject and Middle School Boys


I was hanging with some middle school boys the other day.  After that experience I decided I have been wrong—men do grow up . . . somewhat.  If they stayed at middle school level completely, we would kill them! Men like my hubby maintain the enthusiasm for life and fun of kids while taking on adult responsibilities of job and family. When their hobbies include things that seem juvenile like paintball, we say they never grow up.  Some men do continue the emotional immaturity, but, wow, middle school boys can be quite surprising in packs! My boys can be such sweethearts, but I caught a glimpse of a "Lord of the Flies moment" recently.

Back to the middle schoolers I was hosting in my home. I was blogging silently and am sort of one of the boys because I fart and do tomboy stuff. So I was mostly invisible over here at the dining room table. Sometimes I think they forget I’m a woman and have certain things I don’t allow them to talk about.   They were talking smack about their classmates and the discussion almost exclusively focused on body weight for both boys and girls. Not that unusual unless you consider one of the kids talking smack would likely fall into the “morbidly obese” category and I know for a fact my own child falls into the “obese” category according to our teensy skinny pediatrician.  Ever the optimist, I had to speak up.  “Guys, can we focus our discussion on something other than peoples’ bodies for just one minute please?!”  Stunned, confused looks all around.   If you are “the fat kid” why would you join the madness by making fun other other kids for being overweight with your overweight friends? It just broke my heart for all kinds of reasons. First, that my kids and their friends were being callous.  Second, that this has to impact their self-esteem. And third, well . . . dang it, this just all seems so wrong somehow.  So I’m asking myself, how can we change society when I can’t seem to get through to my own kids and their friends about not judging people by their weight? But like I said, I'm an optimist and I keep trying 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Rainbow Bright

Tuesday was a rainy day, and you know I have to brighten the mood in my little part of the world. I was out in the yard dead-heading my roses when it started pouring rain. So I went to deliver my mom's Mother's Day planter since they were out of town Sunday. I looked like a drowned rat--a good bit more disheveled than when I took these photos early in the day! All the way I had glimpses of a double rainbow. By the time I got to their apartment and pulled out the camera, it was a single one but still very cool.
 

Gold blouse-Cato
Striped Tee-Walmart
Jeans-Cato
Sandals-Cato

You would never guess my small town offers about 2 places to buy new clothing--Walmart and Cato. Of course larger towns with better shopping are not far. I'm just lazy! There's a little consignment shop where I found lots of great pieces the first time I went in. Ever since then, I have not found one thing I like. I'm trying to save up and buy quality, but old habits die hard.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Chattanooga Date Day

 So it's Mother's Day weekend and my hubby wanted to do something special. He had big plans to wisk me away for a weekend in a hotel that was a former riverboat. Only one problem--he had a family reunion Saturday. So we put off our plans and made a appearance and a visit to his mom. Suddenly about 3:30 that afternoon he looked at me and said, "Want to go to Chattanooga?" Uh, now? Well, he figured we could still walk at the Riverwalk and go out to dinner. My hubby has not much sense of time and loves to be spontaneous!
 Metal doggies--We happened to get there just as WhoFest was ending. The vendors were packing up their artwork, but we managed to see about 1/2 of it anyway. I bought a couple of hummingbird garden stakes from this guy.

Looking at these outfit photos, I just had to think, "This is the face of the obesity epidemic." Yes, by the BMI charts, I am obese. Yes, obese. I prefer "sweetly curvy" but to each his own! See, the average person when they hear obesity epidemic probably thinks of people who are seriously morbidly obese. Not to put those people down either but I think there's a misunderstanding of what the increase in obesity actually means. Also, when I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis, I was a healthy weight or maybe slightly too thin. This "horrible obesity" I suffer with is partly a result of limitations from the arthritis. I am not less healthy because of the obesity but became obese partly because of the arthritis. Chicken and egg stuff that I think is totally messed up in the uproar over all this. And now for a lighter note--look a bridge!

 Of course walking that much burns so many calories we NEEDED ice cream. A quick stop at the Ice Cream Show was in order. I've never been there before but I really need to go back! They let you pick any additions and they blend it for you. Mine was chocolate with black cherries and brownies and my hubby added whoppers and almonds.

We walked across this . . . and all over! It was an awesome evening and we have now scouted out lots of things to do when we come back for a full weekend. I didn't get a picture of our pizza from Hill City Pizza but it was amazing. In order to feel good, we will return to better eating habits tomorrow, but it was fun for a day!

All of this only about an hour from us! We will be back.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Little Spot of Sunshine

I've never been real big on yellow clothing, but I have a long-standing habit of wearing it or other bright colors on rainy days. I can't be the only person who dresses to suit their mood or the weather, but I don't hear many people admit it. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Soft and Sweet

It's the florals and the lighting, isn't it? It makes me look so sweet and innocent. Yeah, O.K., we'll go with that. When I bought this at Talbots along with a blazer for Easter 2009 I spent the entire drive home second-guessing myself, but I have gotten a lot of wear out of both of them and they are still in great shape. As a cheap clothing addict, I'm really trying to change my ways.


Floral shell--Talbots
T-shirt--Old Navy
Crop Pants--Worthington, JCPenney
Shoes--Thom McCan, Kmart

You Zig While I Zag

I have been a little scarce this week in blogland. We are putting on the big push to finish our office painting. Since my husband volunteered to climb the scaffolding and paint the high areas, we stayed at my office till 11:00 last night. Not a lot of time left for blogging! I know I just wore this dress recently, but I decided to pair it with my black gladiator sandals and thin black belt this time. I promise to get creative again once the painting is done.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Stripes of Citrusy Goodness

 And the painting continues . . . and continues. It works well for me to wear a normal outfit and then change into painting clothes for the afternoon. Due to the RA, I can only paint so long. Therefore I am pacing myself. Even so I took a 3 hr nap Sunday night and still went to sleep at bedtime just fine.

Now look below for a feat of superhuman strength. Ta da! Well, O.K. to anyone with healthy joints, this would be a yawn, but if you have RA or another condition, you would know how amazing it is. First of all I am wearing dress shoes with a slight wedge heel. Death defying really when you have angry feet. Second I am climbing. So it's 2 feet off the ground, it's still climbing. And for the kicker--I'm holding myself up by my arm! I'm not stupid enough to hang by my hands and I actually am using my elbow and large muscles like biceps, triceps, etc. That keeps the pressure off of delicate wrists and fingers. There you have it folks--RA gymnastics. 

Finally for the feet. Yes, I am 44 and I painted my toenails pastel green. Either I'm really cool or crazy. The jury is still out. I know what my kids would say, but then one son also told me I don't have the feet for sandals. Considering the RA and all, I'd say they are still pretty cute.

You can't tell except in the last photo that the sandals (from Shoe Dept.) are navy blue. I still don't get why wedges work better than other heels for my crazy feet, but I'm really glad wedges are in style this summer. Not because I have to follow trends but because I can actually find them

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Science of Fashion

My children just completed science projects last week. We won't even talk about how all-consuming that is for the parents and no, we didn't do it for them, but we had to arrange the experiment, get materials, prod the kids into working on it, etc. Phew! I'm tired after all that. But it got me thinking along the lines of the scientific method.

                        Question:  Can I wear a blindingly bold print blouse and shorts to a meeting and look  work-appropriate?

Hypothesis:  I believe that most will not notice and any that do will respond positively.



 Data:   I observed that the others at the meeting wore everything from a dress/suit to jeans. The speaker wore  a sport coat, and a button down with no tie.  Most wore what I call “southern, hot weather business casual”. That basically means that anything not revealing or “poolside” looking will work as long as it keeps you cool in sweltering weather.











Conclusion:           The wild print allowed me to feel like I was expressing myself but I did not feel underdressed or out of place. Yes, a bold print blouse and walking shorts is appropriate for a casual meeting. If it was a more formal meeting or I felt the need to look super-professional, less casual clothing would be advised.


                        Additional findings:         Dogs are attracted to cameras   and tripods!

Can a bag make an outfit?

I'm hoping so. This crochet bag is one of my favorite projects so far and I'm very proud. It was fun to make and it's one of the few things I've made with squares and followed through to the end. I'm not a fan of sewing and joining things in crochet, but it turned out not so bad. I was driving past this field--part of my husband's grandfather's farm--and was caught by how great it would be for outfit photos. It would be cool anyway, but then it also has red clover which always reminds me of Tuscaloosa.

"Bummer", I thought, "There's a perfect photo spot and I'm wearing crap." I had on just a plain grey tee and my best mom jeans from where I had been cleaning house. Then I remembered the bag. So I'm placing my trust in this bag to make the outfit . . . or at least to be bright enough to distract everyone!


Thursday, May 3, 2012

I Think I'm Allergic

I don't know what this is, but I think I'm allergic to it. If anybody knows what it is, I'd love to know. See I have seasonal allergies and sinus issues like everyone on both sides of my family. My kids have asthma, but generally I just get the stuffy nose, sinus headaches, etc. if I'm around dust, pollen and whatever else.

I noticed this bush at Aldridge Gardens in Hoover. Both times I have been to this particular section of this garden in Birmingham I have had coughing and breathing problems. It's the closest I've come to knowing what my kids feel like with asthma. I've been all over the Birmingham Botanical Gardens with no issues, but both times I have been at Aldridge Gardens I had problems. It's possible it is not this plant but I noticed a strong weird odor from this plant. So I'm blaming it. Sorry plant.  I should probably email and ask what it is or ask when I return. I know where these bushes are in one particular section, and I definitely won't be going anywhere near them! However, I do plan to visit again because it is lovely and convenient when I'm picking up my kids. 

Enjoy this shot of me under this lovely arbor because I will not be in this section of this place again!


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Dressed for Painting ?

My husband saw this dress and asked, "Hey, I thought you were painting your office today!" Well, the temperatures have been in the high 80's all week and I was just in the mood to wear a floaty, pretty dress. So I figure I can keep painting clothes at the office. I spent about half the day doing paperwork and the rest painting. At the bottom of this post you can check out what I actually wore while painting and my progress so far. 
I'm loving the green in my office, but I'm trying to figure out how to give it some feminine touches. My first thought when I saw it on the walls was "man office". You know, with paintings of ducks, hunting dogs and horses all over the place. Yes, yes, it could easily be decorated all kinds of ways but for some reason that's what I thought of.  Still, it sure beats what our first counseling client to see our counseling room thought. She took one look and said, "Oh wow, it looks like baby poop!" Since I was not able to breastfeed, apparently I was spared that color of poo. Anyway, it looked like a wheat color on the card but I have declared it "honey mustard" and that's what it shall be called henceforth and forevermore. 
 Bracelets I made. The black/grey one is actually polymer clay beads I made. and one of the famous honey mustard rooms is on the right.
 
This is what I actually wore for painting, but it doesn't have a lot of style. I finished the darker green below the chairrail around the fireplace, but can't decide if I like it. It is sort of an algae, duck poopy color when wet, but once it dries I kinda like it. We'll see what others think before I paint the rest of the beadboard.