Thursday, August 18, 2016

A Post of Olympic Proportion

This should probably be about four blog posts, but instead I'm jamming a whole bunch of things into one. 'They' say you should have a niche when blogging, and I'm pretty sure that's mine.

My daughter2 and I were talking the other night about the back stories of some of these Olympic athletes. She mentioned one in med school and we both kind of decided we must be underachievers. I need some bigger goals y'all. I can't do two things at once anymore and I'm not talking saving lives and winning medals. I'm talking simultaneously pouring a cup of coffee while talking to my mom about nothing in particular on the telephone. I've also pretty much concluded I cannot build a house and do anything else period.

I'm not really building, but have mercy will the decision making ne-ver come to an end? I thought we'd made all of our selections, but in recent weeks we've moved into a whole 'nother layer of choosing. We picked cabinets several months ago, but more recently needed to look through 54 pages of hardware options to go with. We chose stone for the fireplaces back in the spring, but now what about those corbels? Turns out there's an entire catalog of corbel options.

Do I even know what sort of corbels were attached to the fireplace in my previous home?

No. No I do not. They were pretty though. And on it goes.

Some people are completely energized by the home build process. They get all jazzed about whether or not the garage door should have a V or an X (hi hubs!), but I'm more like for the love, just pick one. Which is why I'm so thankful hubs is a detail guy and our builder's wife is a decorator. Some people do this kind of thing for a living, bless their hearts.

I do have opinions and a look I'm hoping to achieve, but there are just far, far, too many choices about absolutely everything. When I begin debating whether we should have an ogee, extreme bevel, or half bullnose edge on our countertops I know it's past time for more people, less things in my life.

So how about we do that Thursday Thirteen thing today, 'cuz that's pretty much all I've got. And random is likely all I'm going to have here until we move because I cannot coalesce enough brain cells to come up with something profound unrelated to home building. See paragraph #1.

1. NEEDTOBREATHE's new album (Hard Love) is so good. I love it, and was excited to see they're coming to our town. Also hugely disappointed to discover it's a date we're away. Why is our calendar so full three months out?

2. Speaking of three months out, can we just make a pact not to go full on fall-wild in August? It's summer people! Get a grip! There will be plenty of time for apple-pumpkin-cool weather talk in another month, but it's the middle of August so let's stay on task. Bare feet- sun on my face-lots of daylight. Why do we have to rush everything?

3. For the record fall is my favorite season. I felt I needed to clarify.

4. My Daughter1 wrote a post recently that was chockablock full of wonderful wisdom. If you know a young married, newlywed, soon-to-be married or anyone married read this.

5. I bought new bedroom furniture this week. Our bedroom furniture is over 20 years old and has been moved from pillar to post, so it was time. I know people who change out their furniture fairly regularly, but we are not those people. We buy good furniture and keep it for-evah. Or at least for 20+ years.

6. My cabinets are in-


7. And they've got hardware-


The lighting (or bad photography) make them look almost white or gray, but they are not white and they are not gray. They're a slightly distressed creamy color which I call oatmeal and I'm positively over the moon with how they've turned out.

8.  Hubs dad celebrated a birthday on Saturday so we trekked over to Tennessee to celebrate with him. Daughter2 came with us, which made Grandpa's day just about perfect.


9. When my girls were little and we'd visit the Tennessee grandparents, the first thing they'd do upon exiting the car was make a bee line for Grandma's jewelry box.


Time marches on, but thankfully the sweetness remains.

10. Many many years ago, I baked an Italian Cream Cake for my father-in-law's birthday, and he loved it so much a tradition was born. That tradition lasted for many, many birthdays, then I had two disaster years in a row, decided something was off in the recipe (it couldn't possibly be me???) and declared it the end of an era.

Hubs suggested this year I bake the cake as a surprise for his dad and-

Surprise!

11. I was not going to Tennessee without that cake, and managed to work a minor miracle with the icing. Voila! Trés delicieux! French makes even an imperfect cake sound fabulous, don't you think?


12. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate fine china? I have a theory that much of the rudeness-ugliness-impatience in the world today stems from that moment we started drinking coffee on the run in ginormous disposable cups.


Something so soothing and civilized about a china cup, a cloth napkin, and a slice of cake on a pretty plate. If you visit me in the lake house I'm going to serve you tea in a china cup.

Unless we're on the dock and then it's all plastic all the time.

13. Finally...hubs and I walk pretty often at the nearby university, and on Monday we passed a mass of yellow flowers in bloom. They were absolutely covered in butterflies. Covered! There must have been fifty butterflies on these plants.


I neglected to snap a photo of the entire garden because I was walking, and if you'll remember I can't do two things at once, but you should know it was amazing.

'If nothing ever changed there'd be no butterflies.' Author Unknown 
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15 comments:

  1. When I first read Shannon's post that you linked here, I sent the link to my niece, who just married a doctor who began his residency right after they returned from their honeymoon. She loved reading it and identified. Shannon is such a good writer (like her mom).

    Your kitchen cabinets are lovely! I would love to get new bedroom furniture...ours is now over 30 years old and I really don't like it at all. Times have changed!! It is too ornate and I now prefer less embellishment and straighter lines. Perhaps when we get ready to move....

    The Italian Cream Cake looks wonderful, but my husband's Italian family has a totally different version that includes custards and cherry liqueur. It would not travel well and takes hours to make. I've done it three times.

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  2. Oh, my goodness, I just had to chuckle as you talked of the process of building a house. Have mercy, all the cabinet hardware. I had forgotten about all of it. I think I finally left that up to my decorator, it was so overwhelming. Way too many choices and I loved everything she chose. Your cabinets are beautiful. I want to see it in the flesh when it is finished, guess that would mean a trip. But, hey, I have relatives in Virginia so we could probably arrange it at some point. Enjoyable post!

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  3. Fabulous update, I'm giving you a 10! Or Gold Medal whichever is greater. Love, love, love your cabinets and 'jewelry' too. I can't imagine the stress of making all those choices. When the Hubby remotely suggests we build 'something smaller' I get hives. That means budget and I don't typically do 'budget' well. Ha.

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  4. Joyce, this "thrown together" multi-topic post was delightful. You should do it more often. I haven't built a house but have lived through two major remodels (lived through as in actually living in the midst of) and one that lasted six months with an infant in the house and the kitchen in the living room. So, I can identify a tiny bit with your frustration.

    I cannot agree more with the fine china and cloth napkins statements. The picture of grandmother and granddaughter around the jewelry was reminiscent of one of my granddaughters last visit. I was able to give her the bracelet that Hubby gave me when her mother was born and a pair of antique earrings that were a gift from a dear, dear friend many years ago. These are special moments for us grandmothers.

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  5. Icing can save the day, that's for sure. I've never been involved in the new house selection project. Not sure I could deal with all the choices. Just from reading your blog posts, you appear to be a person who juggles a busy life. I think it looks like you're doing a great job and your home is going to be perfect.

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  6. I have never had anything close to building a house of my own. And listening to your descriptions I don't want to. I have trouble just deciding on a paint color now. Too many decisions for me. I am not good at decisions. My granddaughters used to love playing with my jewelry too! Now they have most of it in their own boxes. Loved reading your randomness!!

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  7. Those cabinets are gorgeous!! Can't wait to see the whole kitchen!! Have a good weekend!

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  8. The cabinets are beautiful! I am not fancy most of the time, but agree there is something special about coffee and cake served on china with cloth napkins :)

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  9. I felt exactly the same as you when we built our home about 18 years ago!!! TOO.MANY.DECISIONS!!
    Your kitchen looks loverly, looking forward to a virtual tour when you move in!
    Sometimes I think pretty dishes, cloth napkins and homemade cake are lost arts. Hope not.
    Have a good weekend!

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  10. Let me start by saying I LOVE LOVE LOVE your cabinets! Sooo pretty. I can only just imagine (as we have never built...though remodeled twice) how much goes into it and how frustrating and time consuming it's got to be, but it WILL pass and just think of what you'll have, lol. I too used to be able to multi task and it just seems anymore if I can walk and talk at the same time I am doing well. I certainly can't talk on the phone AND even prepare my breakfast at the same time much to my daughters horror. I refrained from pointing out it would be her some day. Cake looks great, and I soooo agree on the China cups. Have a good weekend!

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  11. Hi Joyce,
    I just LOVED this post. You had me smiling and laughing and nodding my head Yes!
    I am excited for the house too. :-) I know it will be beautiful.

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  12. I enjoyed catching up with you through this post. You crammed a lot in a little space :)
    I'm not a multi tasker either, can hardly walk and chew gum.
    Your kitchen cabinets are beautiful, by the way.
    Kathy (Reflections)

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  13. Crazy to say, but I'm tearing up at your post. The beauty that you find in life prompts me to do the same. I've been feeling very unthankful lately. You've reminded me that there is much to be thankful for. Thanks, Joyce.

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  14. What a great post (from someone else having trouble doing two things at once!). I love your cabinets. They look very much like some I had chosen for a house that I wanted, but the house was sold out from under us. Oh well. From the photos you've shared so far, your new home is absolutely beautiful. :)

    I bet your father-in-law loved his cake. How sweet of you to give it a go again. A belated happy birthday to him. :)

    Have a blessed night!

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  15. I love buying new furniture. I look forward to that when we downsize. Love your cabinets! Cake looks pretty. Love the butterfly, always enjoy seeing them.

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