Tuesday's Tribute-being settled

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What is it?
Well, we'll tell you what it is NOT... It's Not About YOU. It's about SOMEONE ELSE. It's our chance, each of us, to shine our light on someone else.

Huh? Whaddya mean?
We each spend a lot of time talking about ourselves and our lives, but we are also fairly GIVING people too...Tuesday's Tribute is a chance to talk about OTHER people, OTHER blogs, OTHER lives.

Now's your chance to shine your light on someone else.

Or something else, as the case may be.

This week I chose to Tribute the state of being settled.

It's one of those things that I know I take for granted until I'm un-settled. And let me tell you, this move has been, well, unsettling. Jeff and I have worked our hind ends off, and it's all finally come together.

We are offically moved in, and all that is left to do are finishing touches......a lot of finishing touches. But still.

So, by popular request, I present to you MY state of settled:

(I thought I was being pretty snazzy by putting text on my pictures......I just didn't realize it was such small text. So, you might have to double click the images to read my commentary.)

See, lots of proof that I adore brown.

AND

Being Settled.

Some good news, some bad news.

Let's just dive right in with the bad news, shall we? Or, should I say, "shall I?"

I found out some seriously TERRIBLE news today.

I need to back-track a bit though.

I've been spoiled. Very, very spoiled.

I've never had to do the drop-off/pick-up thing for my kids once they started elementary school. When Grace entered kindergarten, I was hospitalized with the twins and a wonderful friend dropped her off and picked her up; every. single. day. Then we moved to Oregon and the girls rode the bus, getting picked up and dropped off at the end of my driveway. Just as they should. A parents convenience is of utmost importance, right? When we moved back to CA we moved to an area with where my girls got bused to school. AMAZING bonus.

It pains me to say this, but when we bought our new house, I knew that there were NO BUSES. But not until we were in escrow. It was almost a deal breaker. For real.

I've thought about this. A lot. I've wished fervently that this school district had buses. I had talked myself into thinking that dropping off my children was going to be do-able. That picking them up at TWO different times was manageable. I've really been trying, because honestly, I can think of much better uses of my time than sitting around waiting for my children to be released from school. It just makes more sense to have them delivered right. to. me.

Doesn't it?

I've been de-railed though. I recieved some terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad news today.

I won't have TWO pick-up times.

I'll have THREE (they stagger the dismissal times-kindergarten, lower grades and upper grades-so that there isn't so much conjestion at one time).

I haven't fully wrapped my mind around this yet.

THREE pick up times?

Oh, the good news?

Moved in.
Pretty much.
LOVED my new church ward/congregation.

Wordful Wednesday-A WHOLE lot'a work goin' on

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left or simply hyperlink to my site, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

I would have liked to have shown you a house that's totally renovated and moved in and decorated.

Alas, I can't so this will have to do. There's been a WHOLE lot'a work goin' on, and I'm plum tuckered out. We're getting there. Slowly, but surely.

BEFORE

The twins room used to be a girls room.

AFTER

That section in the middle is a toy box. All we need to do now is cover that "K" with a "J".
BEFORE

The kids bathroom was pretty darn white. Well, white covered in dirt. So not so very white. Jeff wanted a blue bathroom, so blue it is. Only took me FOUR laborious hours to do, too.

AFTER

Since I have a love affair with brown (and all things beige or taupe), I threw some in. I couldn't resist.
BEFORE

The girls room was this terrible shade of blue, and I'm pretty sure the former owners housed a dog in the room. The first thing that had to go was the carpet. ... And everything else for that matter.

AFTER

BEFORE

And lastly, the formal livingroom and dining room. The dining room was the darkest shade of forest green you can imagine, so it appeared black. Covering that up took a few coats of paint. And that, my friends, is an understatement.

The chandelier had to go, and in it's place we did recessed lighting.

AFTER

Whew. Any takers on the rest of the house for next week? Or are you as tired of this whole process as I am?

Tuesday's Tribute-My Peeps

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What is it?
Well, we'll tell you what it is NOT... It's Not About YOU. It's about SOMEONE ELSE. It's our chance, each of us, to shine our light on someone else.

Huh? Whaddya mean?
We each spend a lot of time talking about ourselves and our lives, but we are also fairly GIVING people too...Tuesday's Tribute is a chance to talk about OTHER people, OTHER blogs, OTHER lives.

Now's your chance to shine your light on someone else.

It's all about YOU today.

Yes, You.

My readers. My peeps. My commenters. My loyal friends.

I appreciate you all so much.

Even though I've disappeared into the remodeling abyss, you've stood by me.

I appreciate it so much.

Thank you.

I'll be around for a visit soon.

Photostory Friday-Momo Twin Meeting

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
A few months ago I had the chance to meet a long-time friend and her twins. She and I "met" in a forum for parents of monoamniotic twins. Momo twins are really rare, so having a connection with someone that had experienced what I had was really special......vital, really.We decide a few years ago that our twins would be PERFECT for each other. You know, long term. As in marriage. I was so excited for my boys to meet their future brides.Although I didn't see any signs of budding romances, they did play together. When we bribed them.

And I got to finally meet Jenny in real life, which was such a treat. It's a good thing I adore her. Since she'll be my sons mother-in-law and all.

You can read about monoamniotic twins here.

Writer's Workshop-Interview with a child(ren)

It's never too soon to start thinking about the future. Or so I've been told.

With that in mind, I thought it would be prudent to interview the twins and find out what they are planning on doing long term. Just so I'm prepared.

It's quite fitting that John (pictured above), my ladies man, wants to be a daddy. He is still unclear about legal laws concerning marriage within the family, though. He doesn't believe me when I tell him he can't marry his cousin (even though she is beautiful and sweet) insisting it'll be OK when they are both big. Good thing I have a few years to get him to understand.




I wasn't sure what Jacob's (above) long term goals were, but a Power Ranger it is.

I asked him what he'll do as a Power Ranger and he said, "I don't know, mom". I guess his job description is yet to be determined in his mind. And, he has years to work on it.

Wordful Wednesday-more of the new house

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left or simply hyperlink to my site, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

BEFORE

AFTER

New baseboards, wainscotting, window trim, carpet, lighting, closet doors (and closet organizers). Oh, and new paint. I think Garrett is one lucky kid. This is one of my favorite rooms in the whole house. Possibly because it's actually done (we just have to move him in), but mostly because it just looks nice. And I SO love the brown. My husband is a woodworking genius. For real.

Tuesday's Tribute-Musical Education

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What is it?
Well, we'll tell you what it is NOT... It's Not About YOU. It's about SOMEONE ELSE. It's our chance, each of us, to shine our light on someone else.

Huh? Whaddya mean?
We each spend a lot of time talking about ourselves and our lives, but we are also fairly GIVING people too...Tuesday's Tribute is a chance to talk about OTHER people, OTHER blogs, OTHER lives.

Now's your chance to shine your light on someone else.

Musical Education.

Since the inception of Munchkins and Music, I've have a fantastic education........on a subject that I didn't realize I was so lacking. Don't get me wrong. I knew I couldn't sing, and I knew I wasn't musically inclined, but I didn't realize JUST how much I wasn't even aware of.

I don't want my children to have a deficit in this area just because I lack the talent and/or inclination to teach them in ways I would never think of.

That's why Munchkins and Music is such a great site, and one that definitely deserves a tribute today.

I would recommend bookmarking the blog, and browsing around when you have the time. QUALITY content, great ideas, expert information........your time will be well spent there.

For a recap of a post she wrote for me, go here.

Twitter?

I've been a Twitter member for some time.......but I still don't "get" it.

Explain it to me please!

I "get" that Twitter is a great way to interact and get whatever message you'd like out (if you know how to use it)......I've been told that having a million and one followers is a big deal (big deal to whom?). I just don't "get" why. I realize it can't all be about popularity.

I've been told that I have dismal Twitter stats. Sadly, it's true.

The question is: will increasing my Twitter Followers help me in any way besides making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

What do I need to do to make Twitter "work" for me?

What exactly do you Tweet about?

Is Twitter mostly about "I'll Follow you if you Follow me?" for you? Or is it more?

I really want to know.

Under Construction

Since remodeling my new house wasn't enough chaos in my life, I felt compelled to add another project. Of course, this didn't take much effort on my part (Blogilicious Designs created my make-over), and I'm LOVING the results. It's just the clean-up I needed......:)

Wordful Wednesday-the new house

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left to link back to me, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

Just in case you didn't believe me when I told you that we had some work to do on our new house.......here's proof.

We've made some great progress........I can't wait to show you what we've done.........starting next week.