Saturday Yard Sale Recap

Yard Sale season is here! I went to my first yard sales of 2011 yesterday. One was at a local high school and one was at my son’s middle school. I found some awesome goodies at the high school yard sale, the middle school – not so much. So, what did I get? Here are 2 pictures of my finds!! They have already found their homes too:

• Four (4) Crate and Barrel white bowls (great for cereal, ice cream or small bowls to use when cooking)


• A great big basket that currently is holding my children’s school snacks


• A wire basket that looks almost like it could hold milk bottles of sorts. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with this yet.


• A Pyrex 13X9 glass pan (mine broke last year) – after a good cleaning through the dishwasher, I’m hoping it will be good as new.


• Another small basket with mini-handle, could hold cutlery or other small items.


• A small glass bottle, perfect for holding a small bunch of fresh cut flowers.


• Two (2) SAT study guides. My son will be taking the SAT in about 2 years. They publishing date on these were 2009 so I figure, they’ll help to some degree. One book was originally $18.99 and the other one was $23.99 (wait till you see how much I got ALL of my stuff for).


• Handkerchiefs for my ex-FIL (who I am still close to). He still uses the original handkerchiefs. These were new (LOL – of course) in the box and had the monogram B on them which is perfect since his last name starts with B!


• Pretty branch garland with white and lavender colored beads on them.


• Wine glass markers – autumn themed.


• Small framed picture for my bathroom.


• Small duck/swan figurine, it has a worn look to it and it fits perfectly on one of my side tables


• Glass lamp base. This may go in my room or in the kitchen once I find a nice lamp shade for it.

So, how much did I pay for all of the above – Are you ready? $10.00! Yep, $10.00. I LOVE YARD SALES!!

Monday Musings

I have been away for a bit. Lots going on in the homestead. I (my father, really) am redoing my kitchen. We're repainting the cabinets, will replace the countertop and eventually, some of the appliances. After perusing many of my favorite blogs, I decided to repaint my cabinet doors. It's inexpensive and can really be beautiful. After checking out one of my favorite blogs, http://erinmccall.blogspot.com/2010/10/before-and-after-kitchen.html , I decided to go for it. (check out the before and after kitchen pictures - amazing!) It just took me forever to decide what color to paint the cabinets. There are 1,000 different shades of off-white/yellow! My father is the man. He has fixed some of the broken drawers, primed and painted the cabinets. He also cleaned off the hardware (I was going to buy new hardware for the cabinets but was amazed at how my father made the ones from 1986 look brand new!) and spray prainted them black. The kitchen is starting to look a little French Country (and I'm a little Rock n' Roll - couldn't resist). Anyway, pictures to come soon. Monday Musings, hoping to start this on Mondays. Some of my favorite inspirational quotes. I am currently reading "Conversations with God" by Robert Neale Walsch. It's inspirational and it's starting to change how I feel about myself (self-esteem wise). So, here we go:

It's not what you go through that defines you; you can't help that. It's what you do AFTER you've gone through it that really tests who you are.

- Kwame Floyd I've been through hell and back in the past 7 years and will not go into detail here about it. I'm a divorced, single mom of 2 wonderful boys so I think that's all you really need to know. This quote really hit home for me. There are many others out there who have been through much tougher times than I have so I am grateful for what I have. I am a stronger person because of what I have gone through and like who I am today. And, for that, I am grateful.

Have a great Monday!

My "Pig Pen"

These were taken in the Summer of 2010 but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I wish I was more like him. He SO enjoys life. It doesn't matter if you're dirty, roll up the sleeves and dig in.

As I'm typing this, he's showing me his teeth that he had cleaned today at the dentist. I, of course, as a Mom, notice the leftover smears of fudgsicle on his cheeks. I wuv him.

One of my favorite things (food wise)

Basil, Mozzarella, Tomatoes (The Holy Trinity in my world)

Winter is really starting to suck

It is snowing, again. I was born and raised in New Hampshire and I can honestly say, this has been the suckiest winter, ever. I officially hate snow. I thought I'd post some of my favorite springy pictures so I can start looking forward to the Spring and warmer weather. Some inspiration:

I feel a little better. Spring will be here March 20, 2011, less than a month away!

-Joanna

Baseball

It's almost baseball season. Even though there's still about 2 feet, 3 feet in some areas, of snow outside, I can’t wait. . My boys play baseball and I LOVE watching them play.

It means Summer is closer than we think.

It means the Red Sox are getting ready…. (as I write this - - they just won Game #1 in Spring Training).

It means Little League is starting soon. My oldest just finished his Little League stint this past Spring. Bittersweet. I still have 5 more years with the big “O”. Babe Ruth is on the horizon as well for T. The Big Leagues.

It means another crazy mother will be sitting in the bleachers, or in my case pacing back and forth, screaming, "Come on baby, come on, keep your eye on the ball, you've done it before, you can do it again, line drive, line drive, we need a hit, come on baby!”

Then I get the evil eye for calling him, “baby”.

Inspiration for the week

Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson