A rollicking good time...

Mama Mia!
This movie is a hoot...
We enjoyed every bit of silliness!
Meryl Streep sings...
Who knew!

I am the tortoise, not the hare...

I started the wallpaper project in the bathroom on Friday at the tripping point, the window. It took several hours and lots of sweat equity. Even though the castle is fairly new, nothing is level. Because the pattern is so busy, it took lots of creative paperhanging ingenuity to get the job done at the window and a tub enclosure. Also, it took about three wrong cuts before I figured out the repeat. Now I'm not sure I have enough paper to finish the project without ordering more. Sheesh!

In a small space such as this bathroom there's lots of measuring and cutting around windows and fixtures. It gets more and more difficult for me to go up and down and up and down on the ladder. Scrunching my body into tight spaces, like behind the toilet, is no fun at all... my knees hate it! Large rooms with lots of straight walls are so much easier to paper.

My littlest cub called on Saturday to say she was bored and ended up coming over to help. We've tackled many similar projects together and her help was a godsend. It took us nearly three hours to hang two tricky pieces at the juncture of the door and vanity. We had to cut around the light switch, electrical outlet, door jamb, and vanity. And wouldn't you just know it, one piece ended and the next began right in the middle of the three-inch space between the door jamb and vanity. Who planned this project anyway!

Today I'm on my own and creeping right along. If I've cut it correctly, the piece booking on top of the water tray in the tub will go above the tub to the left of the window. Progress is slow, that's for sure but what's on the wall looks good. I am so the tortoise, never the hare. Slow and steady will win the race.

Fly Lady strikes again...

So, okay, I'll admit it... I'm lost without my little sidekick! I thought I'd enjoy the break while Lil Dragon spent the week with her cousins and Grandma Wanda. But no, I'm moping and walking around the castle like a little lost puppy.

I thought I'd get a lot of projects done around the castle that have been on the waiting list for practically forever. First off, I was planning to wallpaper my bathroom. No problem, right? I've wallpapered a gajillion rooms and know how to do it blindfolded. But again with the no, I'm stuck! The window has me reeling. I just can't figure out how to handle wrapping the paper for window without wood trim. All week long, my need to to it just so has kept me from even starting!

Then today, I opened an e-mail and FlyLady hit me upside the head.

FLYLADY: Afternoon Musing:
Perfectionism + Procrastination = Guilt

Our perfectionism causes us to procrastinate! That procrastination creates clutter and chaos in our lives. Then we look around at all the mess and the guilt comes crashing down on our heads. Why do we do this to ourselves? We don't have to live this way! The problem is our perfectionism will not allow us to jump in where we are and just do something. We think we have to have all our ducks in a row and understand everything fully to take the first step toward a peaceful life. After all, Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family.

I want to eliminate the guilt from your life because guilt is another form of piling on. We don't need any more stress in our lives. When we get overwhelmed we shut down. I am taking my feather duster and absolving you of all guilt. Today is all we have. Do what you can, with what you have, and Do it now! Don't wait, Get things done in 2008!

Thanks, FlyLady, I needed that! Ummmmm... is there any chance you know Jeanine???

A visit from the wizard...

The Wizard pulled out huge wads of lint and even a few dryer sheets.
The whole mess was jammed at the small vent hood on the roof.
He recommends installing a Deflect-O Undereve vent hood to optimize
vent efficiency, reduce lint build-up, and decrease dry time.
That will eliminate one elbow, which has the same effect as 5 feet of vent tube,
and 2.5 feet of tubing, for a total reduction of 7.5 feet.
The new hood will even allow dryer sheets that get sucked up to exit the building.
Maybe I'll find socks and panties on the grass, too!

Jadiepie is bored...

Lil Dragon isn't here to play with her this week!

Words to live by...

A GENTLE REMINDER
POSTED BY TRACEY BUXTON

"Notes from A Cottage Industry"

Happy Fourth of July...

An afternoon at Long's Park...

Play Park
Petting Zoo
Lots of Grass for Running
And Sticks to Pick Up
Lil Dragon Loved It

The Land of Little Horses Farm...

Lil Dragon rode a pony, drove a tractor,
and fed lots of animal friends at the farm.
We had such a good time!

Another movie...

Good v. Evil...
A totally testosterone action flick!

An urban fairy tale...

Much to my surprise, this movie was a delight!

A Day Out with Thomas...

Pa, Lil Dragon, and I had such a good time
when we rode on Thomas the Train!

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

Right now I'm reading "The Simple Truth" by David Baldacci.
Chapter Two begins with this intriguing paragraph:

The steps leading up to the United States Supreme Court building were wide and seemingly endless. Trudging up them was akin to laboring toward Mount Olympus to request an audience of Zeus, which in a real sense you were. Engraved in the facade above the main doorway were the words EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW. The phrase came from no significant document or court ruling but from Cass Gilbert, the architect who had designed and built the courthouse. It was a matter of spacing: The words fit perfectly into the area designated by Gilbert for a memorable legal phrase.

Who knew! I decided to check it out.

This is what our friends at Wikipedia have to say:

Equal Justice Under Law is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. This phrase was apparently first written in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired.^[1] The architectural firm that authored the phrase was headed by Cass Gilbert.^[2]

The words "Equal Justice Under Law" apparently paraphrase an earlier expression coined by Chief Justice Melville Fuller.^[3] In the case of Caldwell v. Texas in 1891, Fuller wrote about the Fourteenth Amendment as follows:

By the Fourteenth Amendment the powers of the States in dealing with crime within their borders are not limited, but no State can deprive particular persons or classes of persons of equal and impartial justice under the law.^[4]

Neither this entire sentence, nor even the last seven words, would have fit on a pediment or architrave of the U.S. Supreme Court building, which explains why the architects would have wanted to shorten them. In the years since Fuller wrote these words, the Supreme Court has decided that the Fourteenth Amendment, and especially its Due Process Clause, do limit the powers of the states in dealing with crime.

The Greatest Show on Earth...

Grandpa, Lao-Lao, and Lil Dragon went to the circus.
Lil Dragon was spellbound.
The "eldiefants" were her favorite!

Oh, yeah! I remember wearing one of those...

Sumbunny is three today...

Happy Birthday, Lil Dragon!!!

omigosh, i think he means moi...

"One should never trust a woman
who tells one her real age.
A woman who would tell one that
would tell one anything."
-- Oscar Wilde


I'm 59 going on 60 and proud of it!
In Oscar's opinion,
I'm an untrustworthy female.
Who knew!
What about you?
Are you trustworthy?
Do you tell your age?
I do!

Happy Easter everyone...

Who tells the bunny?

The dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that the Hebrews use to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. According to the formula, the earliest date for Easter to occur is March 22, a rare event that none of us will experience. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see!

The next time Easter will be this early is March 23, 2228.
The last time Easter was this early was March 23, 1913, 95 years ago.
The next time Easter will be on March 22, will be in the year 2285.

The formula for calculating the day upon which Easter falls in any given year has always been a mystery to me. I've just never understood how it worked. Until now, that is!

Simply said, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. That's easy! I get it! Now I just need to know who tells the Bunny!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

MAY GOOD LUCK BE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO,

AND YOUR BLESSINGS OUTNUMBER THE SHAMROCKS THAT GROW!