The BAD thing about Chinese food is that the lowfat alternatives are YUKKY! Steamed vegetables... YUK....

A flowering shrub MAYBE....

Good Morning to all -

I decided to stay home and eat left-over chicken strips instead.

Also, I went out and cleaned / painted a planter that I'm going to put on my new window mirror. I planted ivy in it (my back yard is an ivy farm). I hope to be able to cultivate ivy growing around the big mirror.

Here's a few pictures of the things I've been working on. As you can see, a long time ago the garage had been turned into a storage building by closing in the front and adding a standard size door. I tore that out and trimmed it in and painted it to match the house. I can't put a standard garage door on it because the garage is too short, so I used a roll up plastic (bamboo-like) blind as a psuedo-door.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mb_georgiaguy/album?.dir=99a9&.src=ph

And, I tackled the basket of wrinkled shirts last night. I guess it's really not that bad, I ironed 9 shirts in just under 30 minutes. I may try the local laundry place on a few of my favorite one just to see how they turn out, and I may also get some of the Downy stuff SHMI recommended.

Tonight is CASA training.

Georgia

Georgia, your house is looking great! Do keep putting pictures so we can follow your progress.

Good Morning, cc -

I appreciate that, I like sharing my little projects with other folks.

My next project is a small one. The little pantry in the bathroom doesn't have any shelves in it, so this weekend I plan on adding shelves so I can use it as a linen / towel pantry. There is very, very limited storage space in this house so every storage opportunity must be maximized.

Plus, I spent some time surveying (visually) my back yard last night and thinking "pond". I've kinda gotten a vision of dual ponds connected by a couple of cascading waterfalls over rocks. I watched some landscaping on HGTV last night and they were showing a small "water feature" that gave me the bug to get started on it.

I'll finish the pantry, then get started on my major back yard project. When I finish, I'll have a grand MB social on the back deck overlooking the ponds.

Actually, I was thinking of a goal of having the whole thing finished by fall so I can cook / entertain in the back yard by the time cooler weather arrives. I love eating outdoors on nice evenings.

Georgia

great ideas. I don't have a backyard so I can enjoy yours!

I have too much storage/closet space which means that everything is full of stuff. My project should be getting rid of things, but I hate doing that

I certainly have overcome the problem of needing to get rid of things.

Moving out of my house on January 28 in about 3 hours only allowed me to take the most necessary of items. I am constantly needing things I don't have (at my new house at least).

Georgia

EDITED - OH NO!!! I FORGOT TO SAY GOOD MORNING MIMI!!!!!

Hi, G.G.

I like what you're doing with your house, too!

For your bathroom closet, may I suggest that you go to Home Depot and get those wire shelves? They are GREAT! A lil' bit pricey, but IMHO, well worth the money. You buy the wall standards and the brackets, and the shelving comes in various lengths, but you can cut them to fit the space. I like them because you can easily adjust them as your storage needs change, you can see what's on the top shelf without having to get a step-stool, and the big plus is that they're almost dust-free.

The blind idea is nice for your garage, if you're not going to keep anything worth stealing in there. However, you can get overhead doors to fit almost any space. Look in the phone book for overhead garage door companies, give them your measurements and see what they can do for you. From the looks of the pic, I'd be willing to bet that the overhead doors that are used on commercial storage units would probably fit your space.

Hi Lady -

Thanks for the comments on the closet. However, I'm way ahead of you. I've already got those wire shelf things you're talking about and now just need to make the time to install them. I like them too because they don't collect dust and you can see through them. I'm hoping to "create" enough space in there to store not only normal toiletries, but also towels as well as extra sheets. Incredibly enough, there is only one closet in this 3 br house. However, there is enormous amounts of kitchen cabinets which comes in very nicely.

On the garage issue, the problem is that if I drive my car all the way in (a Honda Accord), the back bumper is just about flush with the door opening. That is the reason that I hung the blinds outside instead of inside. If I had hung them inside, they would have been laying on the trunk of my car when I lowered them. (Perhaps I need a Mini Cooper?)

I was only able to find them in a 6' or 8' width. As you can see, the 8' is too wide, but the 6' is way too narrow. I'm seriously considering rolling them up nice and tight, taping them with some strong tape, then attempting to cut them using my circular saw to the exact width of the door. I think that would look much better. Plus, I could them hang them inside the door frame instead of on the outside.

What do you think?

Georgia

Well, I think the blind looks OK as it is. If you do decide to cut them to fit inside the door opening, make sure the opening is squared, or your blind might not look like it's hanging straight, with gaps on the sides. Also, be sure your saw blade is really sharp, so it won't mangle the ends of the blind. Personally, I'd just leave it as it is.

Here's a storage idea that I use in our vacation home (a 14' x 50' mobile home). I bought some plastic 30-gal. garbage cans and a 4' x 8' sheet of MDF board. I cut out circles that were about 6 inches bigger than the outside top of the garbage cans. I then took a 2x4, laid it across the top of the garbage can, marked it to fit the inside of the top of the garbage can, and cut it where I marked. I then screwed the 2x4 to the bottom of the circle, put it on top of the garbage can, and VOILA! I had a bedside table with STORAGE (great for the grandkids' floats and extra blankets and things)!

I used sheets to make floor-length tableskirts. You could make those, too..without any sewing!

Measure the height of your garbage can, double it, and then add the diameter of the top. Divide this figure in half.

Buy a flat sheet that is at least as wide as the doubled height and diameter of your table. Also, buy a few yards of fringe or braid to trim the edges.

On a yardstick, drill a small hole at the 1" mark. Then, mark off that measurement you got by dividing the height/diameter of your table and add 1". Drill another small hole there.

Fold your sheet into quarters, put pins in to hold it together, and place on the floor or other firm, flat surface. Place the 1" mark at the inside corner of the sheet. Put a pin or something inside the hole to hold the corner down. Use a pencil or pen to put inside the other hole you marked, and going from one side to the next, mark your 1/4 circle. Without moving the sheet, cut along your lines through all thicknesses. Now, you have your basic circular tablecloth. Don't be upset if the circle isn't perfect.

Put the tablecloth on your table. There is a fabric glue called "Liquid Stitch" that you can use to attach your fringe or braid. Just put the glue onto the back of the trim and press it onto the fabric so that the trim meets the floor. Oh, and if you use fringe, you can then trim off the sheet fabric behind the fringe after the glue dries. To prevent raveling, there is also a product called "Fray Check" that you can apply to the cut edges of fabric.

Maybe you didn't want to know all this, but I figured that you might be interested in a cheap way to make a nice round table that provides excellent, dust-proof storage.

Humm....I don't think you're Clueless at all.

Just about 2 weeks ago I bought one of those round put-it-together yourself 3 legged tables along with a skirt for a bedside table. If I'd have heard your idea first, I'd probably have done that, sounds like a great idea for storage. I will definitely keep it in mind and possible use the concept elsewhere.

Good point on checking the square of the garage door. I can measure from the edge of the blinds (as they hang now) to the door opening to see if it would be square if I cut the blinds.

Interesting tidbit....in cleaning out the garage, I found lots of old radio parts...resistors, capacitors, vacuum tube sockets, etc....(Does anybody remember the movie "A Beautiful Mind"?)

Georgia

LADY CLUELESS is such a DOMESTIC GODDESS... I LOVE IT!!!

I just popped in to say "HEY"!

BTW, I had a FOW sighting this morning. She didn't see me.

It hasn't really troubled me at all today. I just kicked her right out of my mind.

It helped to note that it looked like she had a rough night last nignt. She was "sucking" on her cigarette... YUKKY! Looked like she was out "HOing" around. Hopefully not with someone's husband.... ENOUGH OF THAT!.... <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

I couldn't watch "A BEAUTIFUL MIND". I had a hard time figuring out what was real and what was delusional. I was already half-crazy myself at the time, though... <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

LATER....

Hey Mimi...

Good report on your response to FOW sighting. Keep the pink shades on!!

Georgia

(Keep this HUSH-HUSH! Just between YOU AND ME and any other GODDESSES who may comprehend this):

I actually did have my pink shades on at the time of the FOW sighting.

I promptly looked in the rearview mirror and said to myself:
"Girl, you sure are looking pretty this morning"(compared to her, that is) Not only that, I'm "pretty" inside and out. Because like my Grandmother used to say: "Pretty IS as Pretty DOES."

<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I think it is symbolically significant that you had to look in your REARVIEW mirror to see her. You're WAY ahead of her, she'll never be able to catch up to where you are.

I remember when you PASSED her a couple of months ago...

Mimi, Domestic Goddess? ME? ROFLMBO!! Hardly! I'm just pretty good at figuring out how to do stuff when I either can't afford the real thing or can't find what I've visualized. Our vacation trailer has only 2 closets, so I had to come up with some storage ideas for stuff that we might need, but don't use all that much. But, thank you for the compliment!

G.G., I absolutely HATE those little 3 legged tables. For one thing, they tend to be kinda wobbly. For another, they're not big enough to actually hold much. I think they're only 19" across, which is just about big enough to hold a lamp and an alarm clock...and maybe you can crowd a small telephone onto it, too. The tables I made are perfect to hold a lamp, clock, telephone, a book, a vase of flowers or a framed picture, a box of tissues, and maybe a trinket or two. It's nice to have everything you need at hand!

I suppose you could measure from the sides of the blinds as they hang, but if you decide to hang the blind from inside the doorframe, your measurements might be off...especially if the top of the doorframe isn't level. I suppose that if you leave the blind hanging where it is, you could mark off the edges with masking tape and cut the ends off with some good utility scissors while the blind is hanging. I think it looks fine like it is. Bear in mind that even if you cut it so that it fits exactly within the doorway, wind movement would create gaps between the blind and the door frame. If you must trim it, I would suggest leaving it hanging as it is, and trim only to the outside edge of the door facing (which would be a good guide to cut by).

Oh, and I forgot to mention...I know I'm not really all that "clueless". I chose that name because I'm married to "Lord Clueless"! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

Good Morning to all -

Thanks, Lady, for the tips. Sounds like you're handy around the house. If I'm going to cut the blinds, I may do that tomorrow. But the top priority is getting the shelves installed in the bathroom. I'll attach before and after pictures.

Last night at CASA training we discussed actual cases that were brought to court yesterday. Some of the trainees in class were there as a part of the training.

One of the cases involved a girl who just turned 18 and has a one year old baby. She had the baby taken from her due to her crack addiction. At the court appearance yesterday, she gave up her parental rights to an aunt. She is still addicted to crack and hangs out every night at a local club in the "bad" part of town (not too far from my house, actually). The folks who were there talked about how she was out in the hall crying uncontrollable after her court appearance. She was all alone, there was no one there to console her. The subject of the father didn't even come up, she apparently doesn't know who he is.

Another case involved a child that was taken from a family due to the fact that both the mother and father used meth. The case workers reported that they could not find ANY relative in the family who didn't use meth. The child has been placed with a non-relative.

There are 4 more court cases at 9:00 this morning. I'm planning on leaving work for a while to go witness these.

GOOD MORNING, MIMI....

Georgia

'Morning, G.G.

That is so sad. I can only hope that the 18-yr-old will go beyond sobbing in the hall and get help, but I'm not optomistic. Our ExSiL is a crack/crank addict, and I also think he uses whatever he can get his hands on. Imagine being 35 years old, and not having anything good or expecting to have anything good in life. He has 4 children that we know of, with no parental rights to 2 of them, and DD is taking him back to court for CS. I'm sure that his mother will bail him out aqain. Fine, in that our DGS will get the CS that is due him, but bad that his mother continues to enable him. ExSiL's current wife, from whom he is separated, called DD the other day to tell her that ExSiL is still doing drugs and has never quit doing them. DD told her, "Well, tell me something I don't already know!"

It's a horrible commentary on our times when so many people care more about their drugs than they do their kids! Makes me sick!

I think you will do well as a CASA volunteer. Just protect yourself from getting too emotionally involved, OK? I would imagine that dealing with these poor kids could wrench your heart out.

BTW, I made an upholstered headboard for my guest room. If you want to see it, it's at:

Upholstered Headboard Pic

LC

Georgia:

Bless you for being able to handle those child abuse situations. It hurts my heart to hear those stories....

Talk to you later.....

I'm back....

Well, kick me hard if I EVER complain about my life again.

There were 4 of us trainees present, along with the 2 CASA coordinators. The judge called us to his office before beginning and thanked us for volunteering and asked that we try to involve any of our friends that might be interested as the need is so overwhelming.

I'm not going to recap all of these cases, but I heard about crack, meth, ice, thc (?), etc.

All the cases were bad, but here is the that got to me the most.

A lone, very thin and scared "minority" woman came in and sat at the front of the courtroom. No one was with her. Same case, the female county sheriff's investigator came in and both were sworn in.

Seems the lady has a 16 and a 14 y.o. daughter. Both are pregnant, both say their stepfather molested them. The 16 y.o. ways he has been molesting her since 1999 (do the math....like since 10 y.o.). Also, both say their Mom (the lady present) was aware of it and didn't tell anyone.

Yesterday the investigator arrested the step-dad and his in jail now. Both girls were taken to a shelter. The mom said she knew about it but her H (step-dad) told her that he would kill her if she told anyone. She looked so sad, like a scared animal just standing there, alone, crying.

CASA was appointed to the case and DFCS will work on a case plan to try to reunite the girls and their mom.

I don't think this is what God intended for families to be like.

I'm all at once anxious and nervous about getting a case.

Georgia

Oh....let me add.

Lady, that headboard is beautiful. You are obviously very talented.

In "our" home we had (WW still has) an upholstered head borad that matched the drapes and was color coordinated with the spread. It was very nice.

I will send pix of the closet (assuming I get it done) on Monday for your critique.

Georgia