the mud

Ironically last year at this exact time I posted "Kitchen Corner Office."  This year I've updated it again.  After the debacle with the contact paper in Annie's room , you would think I would never use it again.  But I decided to take on a small project in the kitchen.  This time it was about removing contact paper.  How hard could it be?  Well, did you know that when you pull off the contact paper and all that is behind it is linoleum wallboard, the wall board will actually pull away from the WALL?  It was a little crazy, so I had to slowly peeeeelll the paper as gently as possible and this was between the counter top and the bottom of the cabinets.  And once you start the process, you just can't stop.  You can't.  Not easy. Here is the before: I think I'm taking that poem down one of these days too.  Too many people just really don't like it! So a close up of the before: And after: I added a lamp.  I put co...

Charlie got a new video game called Minecraft.  It is a rare innocent game where players can build worlds and houses and other fun stuff by 'mining' their way to crafting and building houses.  You can also play in two modes: Survival or Creative.  Not to go all philosophical, but I feel like this is such an analogy on life.  Right now I am definitely operating in Survival mode.  (I can't even think of the word that I should be using for analogy - my brain just isn't working.)  No matter how many buttons I hit, I can't get out of the Survival mode.  As desperate as I am to be in Creative mode, it just won't let me in.  But I know it will come around again and I'll be ready. The good news is that a few weeks back I was in Creative mode and I captured it in pictures.  Here is a project that Annie and I worked on December 26.  It took about all day and I don't know why I underestimated the power of contact paper to really work me out. ...

Forgive me.  My typing will be slow and weak this morning.  I just walked a half mile carrying a jug of milk and my fingers are frozen.  But while I walked I was writing... Top ____ Things to do to Beat the Winter Blahs: all for free! 1.  Go for a walk.  It is a beautiful sunny day despite the 20 degree temperatures.  It made me feel better. 2.  Buy milk while you're out on your walk.  It will make you feel productive. 3.  Write something.  Write a poem or a blog or a Valentine to someone you would never send it to.  Or someone who is due a Valentine from you. 4.  Light a fire.  Especially when your husband, who doesn't like fires, is out.  It will warm your soul.  Or at least light a candle, especially if your husband, who is out, is on his way home.  It almost works the same way. 5.  Read a book.  Or collect a bunch of books you have no intention of reading.  It will make yo...

Somehow we can't let go of Christmas.  Despite the fact that over the last three weekends I cleaned and put away a lot of stuff, there is still a small pile of bags in the dining room that is untouched and I really don't know what to do with it.  There are old gift tags and maybe a return in there that I just can't bring myself to do right now.  There is a stack of Christmas cards on the piano that I carefully punched and put on a binder ring but now they sit.  (Hanging them on garland with clothespins was a great thing I found this year, too!) There are four ornaments whose rightful box is nowhere to be found.  But even when I drive home at night I see so many lit trees still standing in the windows, wreaths on doors, and Santa flags hanging outside.  The dull days of January are here, but we don't want to let go of Christmas.  In our house we are doing Christmas lite.  We still have snowflake lights hanging in the window of the kitchen and ...

So many blogs I wish I had written, so little time. So what have I been doing?  Well mostly wishing I kept in touch.  But every blog I read mentions the fact that the author has been away from blogging and is sorry.  I am sorry too.  It's not hard to wonder why this is.  January days seem made for sleeping in, wrapped up in a blanket, drinking hot chocolate.  It is hibernation season.  At the same time, it is rather depressing.  The sun isn't out much, everyone is sick or knows someone who is, and spring seems so far away.  New Year's resolutions, broken or forgotten, seem to have failed us.  The days drag on diligently but we've lost our spirit, we've fallen behind in the race.  It's the Christmas hangover, the gifting-coma.  It makes me want to pack my bags and move to Massachusetts, and start a maple syrup farm.  But then the report about toxic sugar surfaced, and maybe it's not a good time to get into that busin...

There is a children's book that I read to all my students called Frederick, by Leo Lionni.  It is the tale of a mouse who does not seem to be preparing for winter like all his other mice friends and it becomes rather frustrating for them.  However, just when the winter has gotten to its worst point, when the bitter winds blow, and the food is almost gone, and summer is a distant memory, Frederick shares his supplies, the words and poetry and COLORS he has collected while basking in the sun.  I love this story.  Well, just when we need it most we have Pantone, who is sharing with us the color of the year and this year's color is... Emerald Green.  Ireland, here I come!   So I've begun a collection of color:   I want to sit here every winter day! What a wonderful way to welcome winter. The funny thing is that I was talking to JJ about high school anxiety (he'll be a freshman next year, or this year!) and I told him the story o...

We have been relaxing the past few days.  Sitting in pajamas, playing games, enjoying the light of the tree.  I am savoring every moment of Christmas bliss.  We have created an insular world of joy and peace and it feels good.  I won't check emails, I won't think about work, I won't think about the countless tasks that I put off and planned to get done over the Christmas break.  They don't seem so significant now.  I won't think about sad.  We are cocooning.  I remember after 9/11 having the same feeling.  My family had rented a house down the shore at the end of September, not knowing how much we would need it.  It was just before my brother's kidney transplant and we all needed to be together.  I remember feeling so safe and insulated against what had happened and what was to come.  Everything was happy there, the calm ocean, the quiet of a fall sun, and the lone squawk of seagulls no longer confused by the crowds of the be...