julialainephotography

A NEW blog - It's here!

Come over and see me HERE.  This is the last post from Typepad, but this blog will stay up for another month or so...

Blog Issues...

I'm debating...

I don't love my blog, and I think I've decided this one is going to be a long term thing, but I'm thinking about a change of venue.

My #1 dislike is that I don't get to show my photos as I'd like to.  They're like little miniature versions of themselves and that's not how I want to see them.  Plus if/when I do re-energize my photography business, this blog isn't how I want to do it.  So I'm contemplating a few changes.  No worries - if I do change, I'll keep this blog up for another month with a link to the new locale.

By the way - she says "Howdy!"

How do you spell RELIEF?

BLUE!

The announcements were made tonight - L made the Blue (Elite, the best of the best, future state champions) soccer squad tonight for the 2008/2009 season.  It was only the 2nd night of a 4 day tryout schedule and the coach (yes, Coach McDreamy) decided to put our girls - ok, and the parents - out of our collective misery.

I just can't go in to the detail that I'd like to.  I've tried to write it out, but I end up sounding like one of those spastic sports parents.  So I've just got one thing to say - she made the team because she deserved it.  She works her butt off out there and I can't wait to see her and the rest of this incredibly Awesome team develop over the next year.  I'm just so glad they're staying together, I so love these girls.... this one in particular.

Arriba Arriba! Andela Andela!

Speedy Gonzales fans will recognize that credo... and show their age at the same time apparently.

About a month ago M had her soccer awards ceremony, which consisted of the girls hanging out in a goal after their last game while the coach expounded on each of their virtues and talents as beginning soccer stars.  Not surprisingly, he talked about M's speed on the field, and gave her the nickname Speedy Gonzales.

Still today, M wants me to remind her (and this is a kid with a memory like none other) WHO Speedy Gonzales is.  Oh how I miss the old cartoon days, when Mice looked like, um... mice, and Road Runners tried to escape wild coyotes and waskily wabbits and stuttering pigs were hunted by someone named Elmer Fudd and his pop gun.  Ah, the good old days.  They're not like today's cartoons which are just... stupid.  Yes my dearest daughters, mommy said a bad word.  But they are... they're just stupid!  And violent!  And people don't look like people - cartoonists must have a challenge out there on who can make the creepiest looking kid.

Well, I found this pictures of Speedy, and will have to show it to M tonight.  I also discovered a couple of short clips from Speedy's adventures on YouTube that I'll share.  Now that's real entertainment!

Busy weekend...

I can't believe that I have lived in our house for almost 6 years and never painted my bedroom.  In fact, with the exception of our foyer, it is the only room in the entire house (basement included) that I had not painted.  I just always thought of a reason I couldn't paint it yet... I didn't like my bedspread, I wanted the ceiling scraped (I have a popcorn ceiling in there), I want to wait till I get new carpet so I wouldn't care if I spilled paint on the existing carpet, I needed window treatments... there was just always something.

Last week I wandered into Restoration Hardware one day at lunch and fell in love with some drapes that were 60% off - which is about the only way I can afford something in that store.  Unfortunately they didn't have them in stock, so I walked out empty handed, but at least now with the knowledge of exactly what color I needed; they were a kind of a light Tuscany gold - the drapes were a heavy velvety texture and the shade would be perfect with my existing bedroom set.  So I headed across the street to Pottery Barn, and they had some light sheer linen drapes that were PERFECT!  Exactly the right color and much lighter in texture and feel.  Though they were not on sale, the regular price was still cheaper than the 60% sale price drapes at Restoration Hardware.

Next step was to get the paint matched at Home Depot and I set up shop in my bedroom Saturday morning and got it done in about 4 hours.  There are two windows and three doors and crown molding, so all the trim work took awhile, but by lunchtime I was cleaning up.  It looks SO good. I was thinking a few weeks ago that I wanted to replace my comforter, but now with the new walls and drapes it looks made for the room.

If only the whole weekend had gone that well...  I was hanging the curtain rods and standing on a metal step stool, on the second step up when one of the legs gave way.  The stool went one way and I went the other, landing on my back and hitting my head (hard) against the side of my bedside table.  My back is fine, but two days later and my head is still ringing and my neck feels like I have whiplash.  Come to think of it, I probably suffered a minor concussion but there's not much to do about it now other than to keep taking the Excedrin.  After all my Saturday activities, I thought I would sleep great that night, but after only two hours I woke up with some pretty severe heartburn.  At about 1am I was debating whether to call 911 or my parents.  It ended up being neither, Daisy and I just roamed the house moaning for the next couple of hours, and by about 3am I was able to get back to sleep.  Other than 5 loads of laundry and making chocolate chip cookies with M, Sunday existed of nothing more than trying to get rid of a headache and the remaining aches from heartburn.  The girls were bored out of their minds with no friends in town but some weekends, they just need to figure out how to entertain themselves (or at least that's what my mom always said to me when I was their age and bored too).

But - hey, at least I got the bedroom done!

Speaking of whiplash - on a completely unrelated note - I was just catching up on Ree and have GOT TO TRY THESE!  Man, I am so sick of rice around here - and these look equal parts of yummy and easy.  Gotta love that combo!