Lawn Bags

While cleaning up my garden for the fall, I have come to the conclusion that you can tell a lot about a man (or woman) by his lawn bags.

Walmart:  “My wife only lets me have them when she deems it a necessary expense on her shopping trip”

This man is cheap, his wife is a coupon extraordinaire, and unbeknownst to them they are going to spend twice as much after 50% of the bags rip while trying to over stuff them to save 10 cents.  Don’t stop to chat, he will ask to borrow a tool or your hand or your truck.  He may never give them back, at least until his wife says so.

Sam’s Club or Costco:  “It was such a great deal!”

These bags are old, I’m talking 2 or 3 or 4 years.  He doesn’t use them, hell he probably has a grass cutting company and never plants an annual flower (I’ll wait, go look).  But he had to buy them, because, well, it was a hell of a deal!  Stop on by, he may have other treasures sitting around, unopened, waiting for you to take them home.  Be sure to grab a few lawn bags on your way out, but use them as a test area for spray paint first.

Lowe's:  “I picked them up while I was there, had to get a new light fixture”

This guy is pretty.  He may be manly, but he is pretty.  He knows how choose the perfect accent and save a few bucks by installing it himself, but never, ever, ever ask him to install anything that has to do with plumbing, electrical, or hardware that requires more than 1 power tool.  He folds his clothes, showers every day and enjoys a beer as much as a glass of wine.  When you see him outside using his Lowes lawn bags, stop and say hello, he will be happy for a man to man chat and likely offer you a beer.

Home Depot:  “I’m doing something, leave me the $#!& alone!”

He is a man’s man.  He can use any power, hand or air tool you throw at him.  This guy does something hands on for a living and is not likely to admit when he cannot do something of any other manly sort.  He is dirty, smells, hardly clean shaven and quite often his wife has to remind him to shower.  His clothes always seem to miss the hamper, but his tools are perfectly nested in the thousands of dollars worth of tool chests he proudly boasts about.  If you see him stuffing his Home Depot lawn bags to the perfect amount, without rips, and with just enough weight to make it annoying, DO NOT APPROACH HIM…… He is DOING something DAMN IT, and he is not in the mood to gossip with the likes of you!

So, which ones are we you might ask.......

Yep, we are doing something.  So unless you grab a pair of gloves, shut up and get to work, just wave and keep walking to the next Lowe's bag you see.  Happy fall clean up!

Ps, at least give me credit if you copy this, it is after all my strange mind you wandered into.

Sucker

My dog looked at me with her eyeballs bugging out of her head when I rolled up her blankets, removed them from her place of everyday slumber and pushed the couch out of the room.  This was followed by her actually trying to block the way from the "seen better days" old couch being sent downstairs.  She stopped in front of us, tried to trip me, laid down on the ground... whatever she could do.  It is after all HER couch!

Of course this was only until the bigger, softer, so much more comfier couch arrived in all it's glory and then she stood with her head resting, pushing against me to hurry as I arranged her blankets back onto the new prize possession.  She's been snoring ever since, with her tongue hanging out, taking up the entire space.

Once again, I'm on the floor... still amazed that a dog can actually manage to bug her eyeballs in utter disdain... excuse me while I go wash the word "sucker" off my forehead,                 again.

R.I.P. Craft Cave

Well, it happened sooner than I thought!  The calling of the Craftsman workbench was stronger than a siren to the male testosterone in the house.  He couldn't resist.

As I ventured downstairs in the wee hours of the morning to gather my fabulous uniform for work, I didn't even need to turn the lights on, I knew.  The laughter emanating off of a workbench that would prefer to hold manly items rang in my ears.  Not only did my lovely husband have his old CPU torn apart on the bench, but his tools where everywhere too.  But that is not the worst of it.... my glue gun was out!  Oh... IT IS ON! 

Now to be fair, he IS upgrading the CPU so I can put it to good use down there as a strictly die cutting only computer.  Not to mention, I am not even finished setting everything up for optimal creative genius.  But.... but.... but......  I am all to familiar with this slow manly take over of a shared space. 

I will allow him the rest of this week to finish up, but please don't tell him its because I'm still gathering storage solutions for all of my supplies in that room.  He is lucky the Jetmax storage system is not on sale this week.  hahaha

Okay, okay.... I will let him leave this crap here as long as he wants.  *sigh*

Can't complain too much about the best hubby a gal could ask for!

And if you are reading this, dear husband, thanks a million-trillion for the Black Cat Die Cutter... can't wait for it to arrive!! xoxox  (This is why I let him get away with touching my glue gun)

The Craft Cave

My latest endeavor, with the blessing of my husband, is to convert the "man cave"  into a craft cave.  I have been attempting to do so while still maintaining the integrity of an area where the boys can play poker.  This has proven to be easier than I thought.  Minus the zebra pattern carpet, everything in there is still manly, yet useful for crafting.  Of course it helps that I'm not exactly a girlie type girl to begin with.

First things first was a table that I could bang on, scratch on, glue on, write on, basically destroy while I attempt to create.  What better answer to this than a workbench!?! And ladies, what husband wouldn't grab the keys and run to the car if you said: "honey, I would like to go to Sears and buy a Craftsman workbench".  KEY TERMS: SEARS, CRAFTSMAN, WORKBENCH.  Using these words, it is long after the bench is in the house and ready for use before he even has a second thought as to why in the world YOU would want one.

*Mandom: There is a Craftsman workbench in the house, THE HOUSE.  Inside, yes, in the house.  She let me buy a workbench and put it IN THE HOUSE.

Easy.  It worked.  And when he snivels his nose at the word "crafts", I give a sweet reply of: well if you ever need it just ask.  hehehehehe (yeah right.)


* Mandoms are my interpretation of what a man is thinking.  I find I am usually pretty close to the real thing. Consider this free advice :)


 Well, workbench aside, my first item for this room was a dog bed.  My adopted Staffordshire Terrier is glued to my hip.  Wherever I am she must be right there with me and I'm not going to deny that I quite prefer her company to most others. Technically her name is Ziva, but we lovingly call her Boogie.  This will be touched upon in another blog about my wild kingdom.  Anyway, Boogie is old, we adopted her as a senior and I go to great lengths to ensure her all the comforts required for a senior citizen. 

As there is no way she will let me sit in the craft cave without her, it was a necessary requirement to provide her a bed.  Now she is strange about beds, she does not like regular dog beds and will not lay on them for any reason.  Hence my dilemma.  So, my oh so creative solution was to up-cycle an old toddler bed.  I chose one that had long since been used up (I didn't really want to take one out of circulation that had plenty of toddler years left in it, the Lord knows some moms struggle as it is).  I removed one of the side rails and placed it next to the rail on the other side to create more of a daybed look.  Scrubbed it with one my favorite natural cleaning products, scuffed it with sandpaper, and finally spray painted it black.  (Notice the S cubed: Scrub, Scuff, Spray) I could not find any toddler sheets in red (go figure), so I used a twin sheet and pinned it down underneath.  I also used some foam therapeutic padding for the sake of Boogie's old bones.

The result is a super chic, modern doggy daybed.
I have seen similar ones for sale on the internet for $150+ dollars.  Mine cost a total of $65.  GO ME!!!!  Here she is in her new bed:

Sorry for the quality of photo, my phone was all I had near me when she made the discovery.

The Beginning

I've always wanted to try a blog... what time is better than right now, while waiting for my devoted husband to come home?
Where to begin?  What an interesting, question.  How about with a quote from one of my favorite movies: "Great Uncle Alfons used to say, if you don't know where to start go back to the beginning," (Escanaba in da Moonlight).  


Please, bear with me as I begin this new adventure.  I usually pick things up fairly fast and should be a pro in no time, but for now, I ask only for your eyes, laughter, thoughts and patience.  


How about an introduction!


I'm Brenda.


How was that?  hahaha


Just kidding!


No really, I am Brenda.  A 32 year old mostly housewife.  I say mostly because I am employed part-time for some extra pocket change, but my primary role is caretaker of the all things "house".  This is a lifestyle, like any other lifestyle, and one that my husband and I have found works best for us.  We have not been blessed with children, yet, but wherever the road leads we will go.  As my genius mother once told me: "Not having kids is just another way of living, not a bad way, just different.  You can be happy either way, life gives you exactly what you need" (isn't she smart!).
I do have the best dog ever known to man, a kitty who never lets you forget to feed her, and an aquatic turtle that only eats the fish I would prefer he left alone. Good thing my favorite fish is a Pleco, or in other words: a total turtle dominator! 


First rule of this blog:
                                    
                                            Don't judge me, as I won't judge you. 




I will be blogging about my life as a wife, pet mom, repairman, chef, crafter, and anything else domestic.  Have kids?  Never fear, with the world's best niece & nephew I will touch on that too.  Anything goes here, from my experiences with home fixes & updates, being a wife of a 2nd shift worker, cooking & baking, family, art & craft items, and just plain goofiness, I would hope something will tickle your fancy!