• I have two new foster rabbits: Willa and Spencer, and I recently inherited our oldest living foster rabbit, Honey.
• I spent 45 minutes on Friday evening cutting mats out of the hair on my cat’s back – he’s so fat that he just can’t groom himself well, and all of the saliva just ends up gluing the hair together. It’s gross, and now he looks ridiculous. I hope he’s more comfortable.
• I’m moving forward with dog adoption – I’m working with a local rescue group, and went to an adoption event last Saturday to meet some of the dogs. I think I met “the one”, but am still waiting for the home visit to find out if I’m approved. I have a good feeling, but you never can tell…
• I’m psyching myself up this week for the big MEMORIAL SERVICE this Saturday. This thing has taken on a life of its own, and it’s more than my mom would have wanted. As far as I’m concerned, the only people that should be there are people that knew Mom, that loved her (or at least liked her), and have been supportive of our family. Those people will all be there, along with several others who haven’t had a presence in the lives of our family for years. The planning was sort of taken out of my hands – not unwillingly – so I’m just going to sit back and watch it unfold. It’s interesting to hear Dad’s perspective, because I think he’s looking for a different experience than I am. I’m pretty well over it, at this point, and am trying to figure out how I’m going to hold it together in front of all these people. I know I don’t have to hold it together, but I’m not really into sharing my grief at this point. Except in writing.
• I painted the spare bedroom this weekend – it’s a lovely shade of blue now, and while it needs another coat before it’s officially done, I’m ready to start filling it up with furniture. I’d like to get this daybed and thisbookcase from IKEA; I’d also like to get this lampshade to hang from a pendant cord. I think I’d like a glider, like this one to put in the corner for reading, but I’ll be checking Craigslist for one of those. I would also like to get a drafting table to use as a hobby station, but I’m not sure if that’s practical, since I also need to squeeze the sewing machine cabinet in there somewhere. Oh, and my grandmother’s cedar chest will be moving into that room, though I may refinish it and paint it red. I’m planning to hang the Sunbonnet Sue quilt that my Gammy made me when I was a little girl – it’s bordered with red and white gingham, and I think it’ll look great against the blue walls. Once that room is done, it’s on to the living room – I’m beginning to be in dire need of a new couch.

I think that’s about it. I’m ready to go to bed – I have an early day tomorrow, and then another night with the girls. It seems Pawpaw is playing “roadie” this week doing security for some kind of tour, so I’m pulling double babysitting duty. It’s a good thing the girls are so cute.

Electra OM 3i, $530.00


Madsen kg271/BUCKET, $1299.00

The folks at Madsen are actually giving away one of their bikes in July; I think if I won, I’d actually give this to my sister-in-law. They’ve been desperately looking for a used bike trailer for the girls, to no avail. I know she’d love to be able to get out of the house in style!

I was thinking earlier this week about my resolution to be more financially responsible, and I kind of decided that for this month, that would mean not buying anything new. I hadn’t really put it into practice, and now I’ve blown it. After a bloody nose every morning this week thanks to the dry, winter air, I broke down and bought a humidifier. It was on sale for $29.99, and it came with three additional filters, so it was a pretty good deal. I could have ordered replacement filters for the ancient humidifier I have in the closet, but I’m not sure it would still hold water since it’s been several years since I last used it. Not to mention that it would cost more for shipping than it would for the filters, and I just can’t deal with that! I figure I’ll either sell it in a garage sale this spring or donate it to Goodwill.

On top of the humidifier, my toaster died this week. I don’t eat a lot of toast, but I need it frequently enough that I needed to replace it pretty quickly. Hey, I have a whole package of english muffins languishing uneaten in the cabinet! I can’t let those go bad, can I? I didn’t buy a fancy-schmancy model… I don’t need more than 2 slices at a time, and I don’t toast a lot of frozen items, so I didn’t need anything with multiple settings.

In addition to those things, I bought a new planner for my purse, and these really cool new Post-It Pockets. I always get the urge to get organized at the beginning of the year, and I’m sure these will work for a while, but eventually I’ll neglect them entirely. I figured I could at least stuff receipts in one of them – I’ve got to keep better track of what I spend on the foster bunnies this year. I almost always have a pile of things that need to be filed, and I can use one of the others for that. The third… I don’t know yet what I’ll use it for, but for now it’s stuck to the side of the kitchen cabinet.

I think I’m done… maybe I’ll just start not buying anything new on Monday? I’m just so tempted… Target has a bunch of new home decor stuff, I’d like to buy some more Wild Thangs, and I’m really wishing for some new houseplants. But for the sake of financial stability and home improvement, I’ll suck it up.

Since I’ve spent so much time at home this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about what changes I might like to make to the house this year. I don’t know how much of it I’ll be able to accomplish – some of it is going to require financing of some kind, which I totally dread. I think I can do a lot of the work myself, or with assistance from RC, which will help with the financial part.

• To start, I want to paint and re-floor the living room, hallway, and foyer. I ultimately want hardwood floors throughout the house, but I’m okay to start with just the main living area. The living room is actually a combination living and dining room, but I don’t have dining room furniture. It’s about 15′ wide and 24′ long, but it’s a big rectangle, so I think I could install the flooring without too much trouble. Painting will require some help since I have cathedral ceilings, but I think RC can help with that. I’m also thinking about wallpapering half the foyer and the dining room wall, but I have to find just the right wallpaper.
• In the kitchen, I’m going to put beadboard paneling and a chair rail along the two walls that don’t have cabinets. I’m also going to paint above the paneling, which will require RC’s help, again. I’d love to put in a tile floor or a stained concrete floor, and I’d also like to install a concrete countertop to replace the existing laminate and reface the existing cabinetry, but I don’t know how feasible that really is for this year. I don’t have a lot of issues with the kitchen as it is, so I’m hesitant to put a lot of money into it.
• Paint and new flooring in the master bedroom. Paint is definitely doable this year, flooring is more of a maybe. Like I said, I’d really like to do hardwood throughout the house, but we’ll see.
• Paint and new flooring in the guest bedroom. Again, not sure if flooring will happen, but paint is going to happen for sure. I would also like to furnish this room – I’m going to have to start watching Craigslist to see if I can find some furniture bargains. I’d really like to put a daybed with a trundle in here for when the girls spend the night, but it also needs to have space for crafting, and potentially a very big dog crate…
• In the bathrooms and the laundry room I’d REALLY love to put down tile flooring, and I think that’s something I could handle on my own (with a little help cutting the curved and angled tiles). I’d also love to install a new tankless water heater, but I can’t justify doing that until my existing water heater dies. It’s a fairly energy efficient model, and I don’t think it makes sense to replace it yet.

Short list, eh? Who knows how much of this will actually get done… the paint I can do easily, but the flooring is going to cost a lot. I don’t want to finance any of it if I can avoid it, which means paying cash. It’s times like these I think it would really be nice to have two incomes.

• Chooka Happy Skull Slipper
  
• woolenstocks Woogo Slipper Boot
  
• Simple Underlay Slipper
  
• Woolrich Chalet Slipper Sock
  
• Haflinger Dot Flower Boiled Wool Mules
  

I love the woolenstocks, but then I found out they use real fur… probably bunny fur. Obviously that won’t fly here. Nevermind the fact they cost $106. Nope, that has NOTHING to do with why they aren’t an option. Who knew slippers were so expensive?

• Creamy White Shawl from Las Lopez:
  
• Sage Green Shawl/Scarf from Irregular Expressions:
  
• Gray Anatolia Mohair Shawl from Trendy Knitting:
  
• Mohair Fairytale Shawl from Pia K Stockholm:
  
• Rococo Shawl II from Tickled Pink Knits:
  

I guess I need to learn how to knit or crochet… these certainly don’t come cheap. Maybe the utility bill would actually be lower?