House update

My mom has been here this week, and she gave me the shot in the arm I needed to start dealing with hundreds some of the boxes that have been haunting me for over a month now.

We rearranged some things. Funny how a different house makes you look at your furniture in a different way (even if yours isn't 90% estate sale finds, like mine is). I have a built in china hutch here so I didn't need my buffet. It's now in the entry.

This armoire used to house our stereo. I like it in the family room now (Ruthie-4 isn't quite awake yet. Another cup of pink milk and she might be ready to say good morning).Our Big Project (still unfinished, but underway) is the sun room, which is going to be Dennis's home office. This week (as if we haven't had enough changes around here) we are entering the world of the self-employed. This is a huge step for me, the girl who's been accustomed to a regular paycheck, paid vacations and paid benefits.

But if I've learned anything in 23 years of marriage, there is no underestimating the importance of two things to my man (and probably yours, too). One thing ends in "x," and the other is his work. (There are some posts perking in my head on this subject - hopefully I'll get them written down sometime in this decade). I'm learning how to be supportive, which is a good thing, since he named me a director in the company. Love that feeling of power....

ANYHOO, the sunroom will be half his office and half kids' stuff - years of homeschooling books I can't part with (which bring back fond memories for the older kids, and make the younger ones want to read them), toys (fewer than there were just a few years ago, amazingly), and craft stuff.

This is the one room I did not pay to have painted ("I can do this one!" Yeah, right.). I'm deeply regretting it, seeing as how it's going to take several coats just to cover the good ol' 80s shades of Hunter Green, Dutch Blue and Ruby. But whatever. Put it on the list.
Yesterday (while Mom fixed lunch and dinner, folded my laundry, and colored with the little girls) I unloaded dozens of boxes into the bookshelves and reinvented the hodgepodge of leftover gameroom furniture to try to make it look "officey." My ideal would be to take a trip to IKEA and get everything all professional-looking, but we'll have to stick with the redneck look for now. At least I know Dennis will appreciate the pics on his little teeny student desk when he gets back from his trip tomorrow night.Before you get too impressed with my progress, here's the wide angle view. Like all good procrastinators, I left the consolidated junk boxes for last. Ugh.In the landscape department:

My $27 in clearance Encore azaleas has already begun to pay off. The poor shrubs were wilty and pitiful at the store, but look how they are already rewarding my bit of TLC.
And you'll be proud to note that I am "under" my $50 landscaping budget this month. I bought a skinny little live oak for $16 and plunked it in my front yard (my dad put up my flag for me - yea!). It will be fun to watch it grow, and maybe in 20 years it will shade the house. I have $7 left. Hmm. This is a great time of year to buy perennials on clearance. They look like pathetic pots of dried up grass, but next year they will make up for lost time.