I've been Pin-spired!!!

Ladies and gentlemen:

My name is Lesley, and I'm an addict. 

Yes, I'll stand up here in front of the the entire internet population and say it.

I'm addicted to Pinterest.

*At this point in time, all the women are nodding their heads in agreement saying "I know what you mean!!!" and all the men are sitting there with confused looks on their faces, making that noise that Tim the Tool-man made on the show Home Improvement going "Euggh?"

For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is the absolute greatest thing since sliced bread an internet "pinboard" where (mainly women) post pictures of interesting, pretty things, recipe and DIY ideas, decorating tips, and other estrogen fueled subject matter.  What that leaves is a giant internet database of all kinds of wonderful ideas and goodies to browse through, all in one place, using as little effort as possible from me.  That is just how I like it, you see.

It really is a neat site in my opinion, and it has inspired me to do quite a bit over the past couple months.  I have started trying to dress better when I go places.  Instead of sweats and a t-shirt, I'll wear a sweater and jeans, or take a couple seconds to make myself presentable.  Now mind you, I still have to be comfortable, and I literally mean I only take a few seconds to do that, because any more time would be a waste in my opinion.  (On a random side note, I cannot force myself to wear skinny jeans, no matter how cute or how in style they are.  I own one pair, and everytime I get dressed to go somewhere and want to look nice, I plan to wear them.  So I lay them out with my brown boots, and the second I put them on I feel like I have just zipped my bottom half inside a ridiculously uncomfortable latex wetsuit 3 sizes too small.  So, I  immediately take them off, go back to my old faithful comfortable jeans, and go about my business.  Anyways, I digress...)  And it's not like dressing better is a great accomplishment either, but I like to look like a girl occasionally.

I have also started to decorate my house using inexpensive ideas I saw on the site.  Here are a few pictures of what I have done so far.

Retro desk I got at the Peddler's Mall, it had been painted and I've since roughed it up a little.

I'm kind of proud of my decorating if you can't tell.  Almost everything has been picked up at flea markets or dollar stores, and then repainted or repurposed.  Or I've made it myself!

Which leads me to one of the downsides of Pinterest.  It makes me want to make EVERYTHING.  I imagine myself being the MacGyver of the crafting world and make all of these beautiful things out of nothing at all.  In case you need a little clarification about what I mean by that, here you go...

So, crafting things is all fine and dandy, except crafting takes A LOT of time and effort, and my crafts NEVER look like what I invisioned them turning out like.  So I guess my lesson here is, don't quit my dayjob and take up crafting full time.  I am way too unorganized and have way too little willpower for that!

Another downside of Pinterest is that it makes me want all this awesome, expensive, unnecessary stuff I know I really don't need.  I don't need a bunch of nice dressy clothes!  Because I'd still probably wear my jeans and t-shirts and Old Navy fleece pullovers.  And all that pretty jewelry I've pinned since I've become a member?  I NEVER wear jewelry (though maybe that's because I don't own any? Hint Hint...)  And I don't need to completely redecorate and repaint our bedroom.  It is ok the way it is, even though that grey chevron patterned comforter I saw on Pinterest would look awesome in there... If I painted.  And added chair rail.  And made some really cool pillows to accent it.  See what I mean?

So maybe the site isn't as great as I first thought that it was.  I guess, as with anything else, if it is done in moderation it is ok, as long as you can control the urge to need to have everything you see on there.  And I think we as humans spend a lot of time feeling like we need things.  We covet, covet, covet.  We want what the Jone's have (and no sister I'm not referring to you lol) because their's is better than ours.  The grass is always greener, etc etc.

So take a little time today and appreciate what you do have.  I've realized I have a lot.  I've got a good job, a healthy happy son, a soldier that loves me even when we're worlds apart, a home that I am proud of.  And I can't take any of these things with me when I leave this world, so I will enjoy them while I have them!

   

Bah-Humbug

Well, here it is, two days before Christmas, and guess what?  Jar's not home, even though our president stood in front of America and said "ALL" of our troops in Iraq would be home in time for Christmas.  As much as I try not to, I am a little embittered about this.  Apparently, the benefit of the president saying that statement in a speech means that you couldn't see the little asterisk at the end of the word ALL*. 

*Except for certain Aviation Support Battilions and other units which we deem it necessary to keep in Kuwait "just in case."

Don't get me wrong, I really didn't think they would be sent home in time for Christmas.  After all, they have only been deployed since August, and had only partially been in Iraq for a month or so.  But I did let myself get my hopes up that since the mission in Iraq was closing, they would get to come home early.  And apparently that's not the case either, their mission will at least last through the summer.

I apologize for this rant, it just seems that once again I am at the bottom of one of the deployment roller coaster hills.  The fact that it's Christmas plus the numerous happy reunion videos being shown all over by various media outlets plus the fact he has crappy internet and nothing to do right now in Kuwait just multiplies my grumpiness.  And this bottom is different from all the past ones, because this is the first time all I feel is just an achy sadness, no anger or worry or anything else.  It is just depressing, I just feel like wallowing in my own grey puddle of blahness or throwing a temper tantrum crying "it's not fair."

The good thing is, I now know that this too shall pass.  I am really genuinely happy for my friends whose husbands have come home (even if their reunions make me a little jealous), I mean they have all been gone much longer than Jar.  Once the homecomings aren't such big news, and the Christmas trees come down, and Jar's unit begins doing whatever they will be doing in Kuwait, life will go back to normal AGAIN.

And before too long, Jar will get his mid-tour leave and I will get to SEE him and HUG him, and I absolutely cannot wait.  I can't remember if I have mentioned this or not, but he is keeping his leave date secret from me and is going to surprise me when he comes home.  I have no idea when he is coming (though I've guessed about 15 different times) or what he has planned.  Other than being really excited, my only worry is that I won't want to let him go when the time comes, though I know I really don't have a choice!     

Now see, in the time it took me to write this down, I already feel better.  This blog has been so helpful when I need to vent, even though I think the blog title should have been something about "Listening to Me B&M for the Entire Duration of Jar's Deployment!" :) But if that's the case, you only have 280 or less days to listen to my rants!

To Danville from Danville and Back Again

This past week I traveled for work, again.  I like the traveling, it breaks things up and adds a little variety to things.  This past trip took me from my home in Danville, KY to Danville, IL.  Ironic, don't ya think?

Anyways, like on all my other trips, Avajar came with me.  I had to tone down his Christmas decorations to make him more mobile, which reminds me, I need to post pics of his Christmas decorations anyways!  He looks quite fantastic with them all on.

 So we hit the road in the rain and headed to Illinois.  It was POURING rain, and it continued to do so the entire way there. 

We finally made it into IL, which made me realized that AJ is one well traveled tree.  So far he has traveled from NY to KY when we purchased him, then to TN, then through IN to IL.  He really gets around!

When we got into town, we decided to do a quick drive around.  Well, I decided should I say, AJ keeps his opinions to himself.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I can tell you that Danville, IL was not what I had in mind.  When I picture a town hit hard by a recession, that town is that exactly.  It was so run down, delapidated and gray, and just plain sad looking. 

It made me really happy to live in Danville, KY, where we have a thriving little downtown that is pretty well taken care of, not run into the ground like this place.  It also made me realize that I live in a little happy bubble sometimes where I tend to forget that everything isn't all rainbows and sunshine.  Even though we humans are passionate, empathetic beings (well, some of us), it is still so much easier not to face things sometimes. 

And this town isn't even the worst of it, most people still had homes, and junk food, and electricity, and water, and cable tv.  What about the people throughout the world that don't have that?  My little brain can hardly wrap it's neural pathways around that one. 

So be thankful this Christmas season, for what you have and where you live.  Remember, you are where you are for a reason, good times and bad times included, for if you never had the bad times, how would you ever really appreciate the good?   



Ewwww!!!!

What do you do when you find a black widow spider on one of your flower pots in your yard? 

Kill it would probably be the logical answer.  But no, I sat Avajar on top of the pot and took pictures, because if Jar was here, he would be the one left with killing it!

Then I killed it!