Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Here it is! The finished laundry room – yeeeaaaa! I still am wanting to do something about decorating – which I am having a bit of a problem finding what I like that others don’t have (ei “wash” or “laundry” plaques) Owning something that a trillion other people have doesn’t say “unique” to me. I also am wanting a folding table and am leaning towards having Mr. make me a cart like this one from Ikea - then I can use it for my gardening too.  Anyhow back to the room – we used Navaho Sand by Glidden on the walls and Ultra White base for the boards and cabinets (which were a horrendous pain – NOT at all as easy as people make it out to be!) You should have seen the HUGE stack of paint squares of green, blues, yellow and tans – I adore greens, blues and yellows – tan NOT so much – so we picked a tan with a yellow undertone (almost peachy).  The problem I have with tan is picking one that doesn’t have a purple undertone (most do) – I don’t mind so much the ones with the green (which is what I am thinking of changing it to for the great room but I might lose that battle *giggles* The floors are the new floating floors called Allure – these are the ones that stick together rather than snap - which went down like a breeze and it has been a dream so far – I wanted the look of tile but better up keep and if (let's be real ... when) I change my mind I can do it in a flash!!
Here is the before - the hodge podge room - I have used this place as the 'catch all room' for a very long time, so we thought that this little neglected room needed our attention so that it can be used more efficiently.
Here it is all cleared out and molding being removed WHAT A RECK!!  *o*  Deep breath *inhale-exhale* It's not going to stay like this forever - I think
EVERYYYYTHING is primmed and waiting for paint - then flooring and then molding. Repeat "it is all worth it - it is all worth it"

Ok ... here is the after. Sorry the pictures are not better - I had to use my phone since              my beloved camera died *o*
 Everything looks so pretty and clean. This is where I want to put the cart and above it a wall mounted drying rack. But I'm still figuring it out.

We even found this great light fixture for only $10 at Home Depot AND it matches the rest of house. 


Here you can see the floor better - we even painted the metal shelves (which are NOT staying - it's temporary) so that it looks tied together. The molding came out GREAT!!! My sweet Mr. did such a fantastic job on this room! I can't wait to start on the rest of the house.




Monday, August 22, 2011

"The Voice"

Everyone ... this is my amazing friend Amy
(or who is also known as - A.J.).

*I have tried writing this post like 1 trillion times since Saturday (some funny - some serious) and I just can not express how proud I am of her wonderful accomplishments - so this post is what it is and I hope I do her justice. I know some might say that might my over adulations are unwarranted but I know I could not do what she does and still stay centered - I would breakdown and whine constantly. She is like the God Father, calm and placid and one NOT to be trifled with, while I am Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, unstable and unpredictable - especially under extreme circumstances such as witnessing abuse. So if you have someone in your life that are civil servants, please give them a little credit for how hard their job is.*

I have known this fantastic person for about 11 years now and I can say that she is hands down one of the greatest people I have ever gotten the pleasure to meet. She is truely a genuinely nice person - inside and out.  A few years ago she started to volunteer a few hours a week at the local humane society, which led to working there, which led to a great opportunity to be part of the teams  for the shows 'Animal Planet Heroes: Phoenix' and 'Animal Cops Phoenix' and when Hurricane Katrina devestated New Orleans - Amy took her experience there to help those who were scarred and abandoned and when she returned home put those experiences in a book called Hurricane Katrina Animal Rescue: A Story Buried Deep. And WOW - she has an amazing way of capturing the moments there, some are a bit disturbing but at times you find yourself full of hope. I totally recommend reading this book and even to share it with your teens, also known as the "all about me stage". It can help remind us the dramatic power a few individuals have and how small choices we make now evolve to become the experiences we need in the future. Here are some excerpts:

     "Neighborhoods in Louisiana were transformed into giant science experiments gone terribly wrong. Dark green and black mold covered the inside of homes like Petri dishes labled "hazerdous". In the sunlight, these organisms appeared to be breathing, mating and multiplying right before my eyes."

     "Animals inside these flood zones were starving and struggling to find food, so we knew the smell of delicious meat hitting the air would snap his attention towards us. Normally in the city, we wouldn't have to be this aware of feeding an animal, but this wasn't the city. After almost a month of roaming the streets and being locked in houses, these neighborhoods became primal hunting grounds for animals."

     "So much time was spent in the field listening for any sound an animal might make. We drove down streets with our windows open, barking and meowing in hopes our cries would connect with theirs. At times, we couldn't locate where the sounds were coming from, so we'd jump out of the truck and place bags of food and bowls of water along the sidewalks; this was later known as a "Louisiana Food Drop."

Remember people - spay and neuter your pets - it's the responsible thing to do. For more information regarding volunteer work or being a foster parent contact your nearest animal shelter for list of legitimate places.






Friday, August 19, 2011

Shabbat Shalom


And he said to them: "Come after me, and I will
 make you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:19

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Xmen to Bad Teacher

In the theatre, we have only gotten to watch 2 movies this summer so far - lame I know *o* but we have been at Home Depot ALOT  ;p  Maybe we should buy stock (but at 33.85 I'm not too sure if I would want to) We have rented quite a bit though and I'll get those in the next movie post. For now just the two.


Xmen: First Class is to be the prequel to everything. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were each others nemesis, they were very close  friends but their opinions about how to co-exist with non-mutants tore them apart. I really really liked this movie as a movie but mind you I don't know about if it goes along with the comic books series, so my review is one sided. But I have some fun facts: 'The uniforms the X-Men wear are colored blue and yellow, in homage to the original blue/yellow suits the X-Men wore in the comics from 1963 (their debut) until (original artist and co-creator) Jack Kirby's departure from the book. After several costume changes throughout the years, the costumes used in X-Men inspired new black leather uniforms seen in the Grant Morrison written 2001 New X-Men comic).'--'A telepathic battle between Professor X and Emma Frost was going to be in the film, but upon the release of Inception the concept was scrapped.'--'During the Cerebro sequence, one of the mutants to be seen is Cyclops as a young boy playing with a glove and baseball, noticeable by his sunglasses.'


Bad Teacher is definitely not going to win any awards by no means but it delivers what it promises 90 lack luster minutes of entertainment in a a/c building. The premise of this flick is that Cameron D. LOVESSS money and her entire goal in life is to bag a rich husband so she doesn't have to teach (or work in any way) ever and she thinks the way to get 'ahead  of her competitions' would be to get a set of fake boobs. She meets a sub who is rich (Justin T) who is a complete .... dork - for lack of better words but he has eyes for a female version of himself (Lucy P). And I do have to add that I adore Jason Segal - he is adorable (he probably would rather have a different adjective though) Something about the mouthy language and crude scenes reminded us of Bad Santa - Cameron=Billy Bob, Lucy=John and Jason=Lauren so it is definitely NOT for the younger audience.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Movies For Labor Day

Labor Day, aaahhh, a day for relaxing, spending time with family, eating and of course ... movies. For those of you out of country it is celebrated on the first Monday in September, the creation of this labor movement was in 1882 and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. 

The following are movies about the hardworking American spirit.
Grapes of Wrath, this 1940 is a wonderful classic cinema showcasing common man Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) who leads his family on a harrowing journey from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to the promise of a better life in California. Based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and masterfully directed by John Ford and the novel's original ending was far too controversial to be even considered for a film in 1940. It involved Rose-of-Sharon Rivers (Dorris Bowdon) giving birth to a stillborn baby and then offering her milk-filled breasts to a starving man, dying in a barn. AND to top this off - the movie was shot in 7 (yes 7) weeks!

The Crowd,  this 1928 movie is made by acclaimed director King Vidor won an Oscar nominated for this silent film classic, which highlights the plight of working men and women in urban America. Born on July 4, 1900, John Sims (James Murray) always believed he was destined for greatness. But as his life unfolds, he faces mind-numbing work, difficult relationships, death and his own very ordinary life. Time magazine named this film one of its "All-Time 100 Movies."

The following movies reference the labor union movement.

Hoffa (a given) in this 1992 film Jack Nicholson's portrait of Union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro (Danny DeVito). The film follows Hoffa through his plethora assaults and includes with a "theory" of their disappearance in 1975.

Salt of the Earth is a 1954 B&W movie based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the film deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers, who struck to attain wages and safer working conditions like their Anglo workers in other mines. The film is an early treatment of feminism, because the wives of the miners play a pivotal role in the strike, against their husbands wishes. In the end, the greatest victory for the workers and their families is the realization that prejudice and poor treatment are conditions that are not always imposed by outside forces. This film was written, directed and produced by members of the original "Hollywood Ten," who were blacklisted for refusing to answer Congressional inquiries on First Amendment grounds. It was the only blacklisted film ever in American film history. It was blacklisted during the 1950s during the height of the Cold War scare, that is why this film wasn't shown in American theater until 1965.
Matewan this 1987 film was about Matewan, West Virginian coal miners in 1920 that were struggling to form a union, are up against company operators and hired guns. Union activist and ex-Wobbly Joe Kenehan, sent to help organize the union, determines to bring the local, Black, and Italian groups together. But his efforts to organize the coal company workers spark one of the most violent incidents in the history of the 1920-21 Coal Wars.