Project Update #2

We weren't able to get a hold of a staple remover, but the owner of the furniture store where Dave used to work said that a flat-head screw driver and needle nose pliers work best. Yesterday evening after running an errand after work I had Dave find me a screw driver and needle nose pliers, then started destroying the couch! The screw driver was much easier than the hammer! There were still plenty of difficult staples though. I also found that it's easier to take out the skirt staples if the fabric above it isn't taught, so I sliced down the middle of the whole back! I got most of the back skirt off, the corners are going to be difficult since there are about a million staples. Here's a picture I took last night when my hands and arms were too tired to do any more:

I had to get a sheet to cover the back so Monkey doesn't get into the padding. I hope we have enough sheets to cover the couch while it's a work in progress. I've also decided that there's no way I'm going to be able to get all the staples out, so I'm just going to work on taking the skirt and ribbing off, then just cover the old fabric with the new if possible.

Project Update #1

I went back to the fabric store yesterday after running a few errands. (Poor Dave got dragged along with me and I'm pretty sure was bored out of his mind. That's what I call quality time together!) Turns out the fabric store is having another sale for 40% off instead of 50% off. The fabric I want is about $18/yard on sale. I started trying to measure the first couch yesterday. It sure is confusing. I've figured out how the fabric for the couch back is attached, but the arms and the front are going to be a little more difficult. I also started disassembling the fabric starting where the big rips are. There are a LOT of staples. Dave says there's a special tool to remove staples. I tried to get them out by using the back of a hammer and pliers. I didn't succeed. We may need to borrow that tool from someone.

My Next Project

There's one small problem about having a puppy. She misses us terribly if we sleep in or if we're in rooms she's not allowed to be in. When we're not home, we've learned to put her outside. The problem is that when she misses us, she gets a little distructive, as evidenced by some big dig holes in our back yard.

Here's even more evidence:

We bought these couches off of craigslist or something when we first got married. They're hideous, but very comfortable. The "short one" is a regular 3-seater couch length, and the long one is 4-seater couch length. It's only about a foot longer, but it has 4 cushions. Even better, I think we got both of them for $150-$200 total. One had some minor rips in the back like this:

One morning when she was unsupervised, monkey discovered that those rips, especially that there's yummy fluffy padding stuff inside. It now looks like this:

We have to cover it up with something or she'll keep ripping at it. Currently covering it is an ugly curtain that should be on its way to the thrift store.

One of the times I worked at Pizza Hut, the tables needed to have their tablecloths changed. The table cloths were stapled on. So I took the pliers and staplegun and went to work! It was a lot of fun, and they looked really good when I was done, if I do say so myself…and I do say so myself. The General Manager even asked me to do it again as contracted work one day when I was back in town to visit.

I've got it into my head to reupholster our couches. It shouldn't be too much harder than tables, right? I've been looking at fabrics. I was going to buy the fabric on Presidents' day when there was a 50% sale, but I forgot L. As soon as it goes on sale again, I'll snatch it up. I might not be patient enough though.

I'd like to do the back, sides and bottom in a striped fabric, and do the seat and back cushions in a pattern fabric. I saw a chair like that in a magazine while doing an assignment for my Interior Design class a few years ago. If I can find the picture, I'll post it.

I think I've decided to go with this combination:

It will match the rug and coffee table better than my second choice:

Spring Snow!

February is a hard month for me. Spring is so close, yet so far away. I wish the groundhog would see his shadow less often. My freshman year, my friends Lisa and Rikke, and I went on a trip to San Diego over President's Day weekend. Every year around President's Day, I long for the warmth of San Diego, and I'm reminded of that trip.

Apparently our yard thinks it's spring already. The daffodils started coming up about a week or two ago. The tulips are now starting to come up, and the little crocuses are coming up now, too.

I'm excited for them to bloom! I just wish I got around from stealing the Irises from the house next door last fall.

Even though it snowed today, in honor of spring coming early to my garden, I decided to do some spring cleaning. That decision was helped along by some technical difficulties with our task manager program at work.

I did my semi-annual desk cleaning! I only cleaned the one side. I'll probably get to the other side next week, and I might even clean out some of the drawers. Next, however, I need to attack my email inbox--literally thousands of emails.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get my hair shaped/trimmed. I'm thinking of doing it something like this:

What do you think? (No, I won't be dying it blonde.) I'm open to suggestions, but I'm getting it cut tomorrow at noon, so you have until tomorrow at 11am.

Cold Season Taken Care Of

It's cold season. I managed to last through flu season without getting H1N1 or any other flu. Alas, I have gotten a small cold this season.

It's not a bad cold, just annoying. I couldn't sleep last night because I took a medicine-induced 3 hour nap yesterday afternoon, and my nose would clog on one side if I slept on that side.

Being the nice, caring wife that I am, I spent my tossing/turning night on the couch (watching the olympics for some of the night) so that Dave could get a good night of sleep.

Last night, since I was on the couch, Monkey would come over throughout the night and check on me every once in a while and make sure I was feeling ok.

Ok, maybe she was just enjoying the head scratches she'd get when she'd come over, but I liked to pretend she was asking how I was feeling. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

We did our Valentine's Day celebrating yesterday. As we did last year, we went to Tucanos for dinner. The wait was 2 hours, so while we waited we checked out what movies were playing. So we found a movie at the dollar theater that started right then. It was Fantastic Mr. Fox. That was probably the weirdest movie I've ever seen. I wouldn't recommend seeing it. I don't think it'd even be a good kids movie.
At Tucanos we ate our fill of the delicious meat. (Didn't I consider being Vegetarian a few weeks ago after having yet another bad experience with meat!? Oh right, I did...but I like meat) Tucanos now has a free refills of their delicious lemonade! YUM!
We used Dave's free Birthday meal, and some of his birthday money, so it was partially a birthday dinner as well. That's probably all we'll do for Valentine's day. While we were there, a group of kids going to a high school dance came and so we were surrounded by formals. I felt under-dressed in my t-shirt and jeans. ;) It was fun to watch them though. (you can see them behind Dave and me in the pictures)

A Whole Lot of Nothing

I go to my blog daily and read all the newly updated blogs listed in the right hand column of this blog. I love reading how people that I care about are doing. Daily I feel bummed that some people don't update their blogs very often. (I won't mention any names, but they're the ones at the bottoms of each list.) Then I remember that I don't blog often either, so I think about what I could blog about.

I think, and I think, and I think, and I think…and really there isn't much to blog about.

There's a whole lot of nothing happening in our lives right now. I go to work every week day, and spend every Saturday doing chores that I don't have time to do during the week. Dave is kept busy by the I.T. business. Sunday is spent at church, meetings, and usually Dave's parents' house for dinner.

So I decided to just make a mention of the small events in our lives (in no particular order):

• We took Monkey on her first off-leash event a few weekends ago. She didn't take off, she loves playing fetch, and she's a super fast runner. Her attention span isn't very long though, so we have to keep treats in our pockets so she remembers to come back. I'm hoping to have her good enough off-leash to take her hiking when it gets warmer.


• I cleaned out junk in our bedroom and living room that had accumulated over time. It's now all sitting on the dining room table. One of these days I'll get around to going through it.


• Dave's birthday was on Monday. He turned _ _. ;-) Dave's parents took us out for dinner on Monday. I got him a box of 500 name brand Qtips and a bag of peanut M&Ms. (If you're thinking it's a lame present, you're wrong. It's awesome.)


• Last week I hosted a "Stampin' Up!" party. It was really fun. I invited 35 people and about 7 showed up, which bummed me out a bit. We made some really cute cards.


• I finally got my ring fixed. The people who resized it did a crappy job, so we talked to the owner of the place, and specifically said what was wrong with it, and he had it fixed for us. It's still not perfect, but it's a lot better.


• I'm reading a book about leadership at work in our work book club. It's very insightful. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. Book clubs frustrate me a little bit because I like to think what I think about books, not what other people think about it. J It's good to hear other viewpoints on some things though.

That's all I have right now!

Homesick

On Sunday we celebrated Dave's sister's 22^nd birthday. Her party was hosted at her in-laws' trailer park clubhouse. Dave played with all the kids while we were waiting for people to arrive, and the food to cook. They chased him all around the park, and clung to him when they caught him. Here are some fun pictures:

Notice in this one, Hannah is floating!

Ceightie's (Dave's sister) husband's grandma and mom made delicious home-made Mexican food. It. Was. De. Lish. Ous. I ate an over-full burrito, and a well-topped tostada, as well as many pieces of steak and green chili sauce. YUM! We were all super stuffed. The chili was exceptionally good. I'll be going to Mexican grocery stores from now on to buy mine, since the stuff in Smith's is hardly worth buying.

I knew that eating so much food like that wouldn't make my tummy very happy, but it did so much more than that. I woke up in the middle of the night so drenched in sweat I had to change my clothes. Apparently that happens when one eats a lot of meat at night. It has happened to me before, but I never "collect[ed] the dots." The rest of the night I tossed and turned as my digestive system told me exactly how angry it was at me.

Needless to say I stayed home from work yesterday. I watched 3 episodes of Heroes, 3 ½ movies, and 1 episode of Chuck. I'm back at work today, but I'm still only eating pancakes and juice. I'm considering becoming a vegetarian after that experience.