Bye 2008

What a year. So many ups and downs. I always get sentimental on the last day of the year. Am I better than I was 12 months ago? Where have I slipped? Have I learned anything?


If nothing else, we are ending the year on a productive note! Having Strider home for two weeks has been amazing. He has been Mr. Project.

I am not bad at day-to-day keeping things rolling and routines, etc. But he is a master at tackling big things. In the past week he has mudded and painted two colors in the family room, reorganized and switched all the family room furniture (putting the entertainment center on the other side of the room and moving all the connections and cords), shoveled the driveway about 10 times, put away mountains of Christmas stuff, helped organize game and toy closet, and every other bizarre job and request I have thrown his way. I'm a slow mover these days, and he has willingly picked up all the slack and more.

I have enjoyed redecorating a bit, making the new family room couch fit in by putting up new curtains and pillows:



I got the fabric at Ikea, and it's just funky enough to be fun but not over the top. I don't sew, so the bottom is finished with iron-on hem tape and the top is just folded over and hung with curtain clips. Easy-peasy.

I also took the chance to spruce up the living room with the Christmas stuff now out of the way. I bought this wine box at a thrift store for $1 and loved it, but knew I wanted to change the label... Hello Mod Podge and scrapbook paper.








And yes, I know the candlesticks don't match. But I love them. And when you're picking up almost every item for $1 it's just fine to live with a little mismatch.