Happy New Year!

Adios 2009 ...

Hello 2010!

Giving ... Giving .. Gone!

Since Christmas is over now I can finally post about some gifts I gave to people for the holiday. The Hubs and I always struggle to find the perfect gifts for our parents because let's face it, they're at a point in their lives where they can buy pretty much whatever they want. And they have. So that leaves little room for us to work with.

Enter: The Sentimental Gift.

Since we can't wow anyone with big pricey gifts (our wallets are woefully thin), we try to do the trick with gifts that show how much we care (awwwww!). Since we're also lazy we find such great gifts, we sometimes end up giving each set of parents the same gift.

This year's choice was a 7" Sony Digital Photo Frame.

This thing is awesome. I did a ton of research before buying and had some hefty requirements. It had to have great resolution (no pixelated photos here!), reasonably priced (we're not made of money), and I didn't want the thing to break in a month (duh!).

I was a little leery of buying it online before I could see it in person, but I took a chance after reading all of the reviews. The picture quality is great. I have absolutely no complaints there. All we were looking for was a frame that you could plug in and go. This definitely fits that bill (it does other fancy shmancy stuff too but I didn't mess with that).

I also ordered a couple memory cards and filled them up with photos I knew our parents would love so they wouldn't have to mess with finding photos before they could enjoy their new frames. 

The result?  They were a hit!  Once they were opened up everyone stood around and watch as the 100+ photos I loaded scrolled through.  It was fun to watch as everyone commented on the photos they liked the most and how great such-and-such day was.  Plus, it's the gift that keeps on giving because you can keep adding photos that you love.  Now the only problem is that we're going to have figure out a way to top this next year ...

I was in no way compensated for this post. I just bought the frame and really liked it!

Reading: Under The Dome

Over the holiday break I finished reading Under the Dome by Stephen King. I feel like it was a special marker of some sort because I've never read a Stephen King novel before (I'm a real reader now!). Despite his incredibly prolific works, I never actually picked one up.

This book is about what happens in a town when it is suddenly trapped inside a giant dome. The dome is impenetrable. Missiles don't crack it and air barely moves through it. At over 1000 pages long, the book gives you a lot of time to get to know the town's residents. King provides a map of the town at the beginning of the book and it was a useful reference while reading along.

It always takes me a bit to get into a book (and for a book this length, that meant it took me about 200 pages) but once I was into it I really couldn't wait to see what happened. And then the last 100 pages came about ... The ending certainly wasn't my favorite.

*****SPOILER*****
HIGHLIGHT THE WHITE TEXT BELOW IF YOU WANT TO READ
*****SPOILER*****

The ending was aliens! ALIENS?! I mean, ok, fine. Yes, aliens are a good way to explain the dome's existence. But the way it was flushed out was ridiculous. It did not need to be so explicitly stated. The people definitely did not have to the appeal to the aliens' "humanity" in order to be released. It was ridiculous. The book would have been better if a) the dome had just inexplicably disappeared or b) the dome DIDN'T disappear and the people in the town died or c) it turned out to be some crazy government experiment gone wrong afterall and a or b happened instead.

Aside from the last 75-100 pages, I really liked the book. I've heard from friends that Stephen King novels have a tendency to fall off the deep end at the end so maybe this was just an example of that. I also think the book could have been half as long and still as good but, again, I hear that Stephen King likes his descriptive phrases.

It's definitely worth picking up at the library if you're into Sci-Fi or mob-psychology.

Dueling Dressers Unveiled

Remember these from forever ago?





Well now, they look like this!

Oh what a difference a dozen cans of spray paint can make!

Yes, I spray painted them.  No, I would not do it that way again.  One quart of glossy white paint would have been easier and cheaper but I’m new at this painting thing and didn’t do that.  Sosumi.

They still turned out pretty well though and they’re getting moved into our bedroom.  That makes these the final project for 2009!  Hurray!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I had a GREAT Christmas this year.  I raked in some seriously good loot!

A food processor ... for all my food processing needs ...
A sewing machine … so I can create fabulous projects … even though I’ve never sewn before … A new hand sander!  Wishes do come true!
And lots of great new tools … because a gal can never have enough!
My friends and family know me all too well.  Did you get great gifts this year? 

I can’t wait to put these gifts to good use! 

That’s A Wrap!

The gifts are wrapped and ready to go and that means it’s time for me to check out for the holiday. 
I’ll see you all back here on Monday.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Festivus For The Rest Of Us!

Air your grievances.  Exhibit feats of strength.  Don’t decorate your pole. 

Enjoy the holiday.

Happy Festivus!!

New Year, New Blog

Since it’s the end of the year I’m going to take the opportunity to fancy-up the blog.  I’ve already added the “reactions” tool, and now I have a brand new header and my Picasa photos are on display at the top of the screen.*

I’m going to spend some of my holiday down time sprucing up the place so keep an eye out for the new stuff.

Also watch out for some upgraded posts in 2010.  I’ve been reading up on potential blog improvements and how to make my posting a little more gripping (!) so big things are coming.

Oh … and I have another before and after for you.  Stay tuned! 

*If you want to see how I did it, check out this post over at Centsational Girl.

Snowed In!

If you live along the east coast you already know what I'm about to show you - we're snowed in!

The snow started late on Friday and didn't let up for a good 24 hours. Our area officially got 18" of the fluffy white stuff.

We actually had to dig trenches (it's like a war zone!) so the dogs could get around the backyard. But I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Below are some of the shots that I got, you can see more in my picasa photostream in the sidebar.

I hope you all are warmer than us!

New Little Feature

I've added a new little feature to the old blog. It's called "reactions" and you can find it below every blog post.

If you love something - let me know! If you hate it - let it show! If you don't feel like leaving a comment but want to give a little feedback this is a great tool. I'd love to know your thoughts on what I'm posting about!

Plus it's anonymous and quick. No signing in, just click.

With that, I'm going to go join the other frenzied people of the area. We're supposed to get a crazy winter storm here this weekend so if you don't hear from me on Monday it's because 1) I have no power and/or 2) I've been reduced to a human sized ice cube.

Introduction To Clicker Training

Or: How To Have A Great Time Training Your Dog!




Petsmart Clicker

Last weekend we took Nemo to his (and our!) very first obedience class. Lucky for us, we were the only ones who signed up for the class! The trainer was very cool and since the class is now essentially 1:1 training time, we get to teach Nemo whatever we want and we can go right at his pace!

Right away the trainer, Doug, introduced us to Clicker Training. Now, I don't know if Nemo was clicker trained before, but he took to it very quickly. As soon as he heard that click he was all attention.

We worked on 4 basic things:

1. Charging the clicker. This involves getting your dog to recognize the clicker sound as a good thing. Just click the clicker, and give the dog a treat. Ten times later and Nemo couldn't keep his eyes off of the clicker.

2. Watch me. This was the first command that we taught. Using a small treat as a lure, say "Watch me!" and bring the treat to your face so your dog looks up at you. As soon as he does, click and treat! As he gets better at this try to focus his attention on you for longer periods of time (working up to about 30 seconds). Say "Watch Me!", count to 5/10/20/30, click and then treat.

3. Shake. This trick is just plain cute - but beware, once your dog gets it he will be shaking all the time! Even though I was able to teach our dogs shake at home, Nemo just wasn't quite getting it so I asked the trainer to help me out. First we put Nemo in a Sit (which he already knows very well). Then I put a small treat in the palm of my non-clicker hand (I keep the clicker in my left hand if that matters to you) and make a claw/basket shape with my fingers around the treat. Keep it pretty open so your dog can see/smell it, but just closed enough that he can't get it out with his nose. Then lower your hand down to where you would have him shake it, say "Shake!", and wait. Just say "Shake!" the one time. It may take a few seconds in the beginning, but if the dog wants the treat enough, eventually he'll paw at your hand to get to it. As soon as he does, click and treat!

4. Reinforcing Sit and Down. I don't know about your dog, but mine have a tendency to skip the whole "sit" and go straight "down" sometimes. Likewise, if they're already in a "down", it can be difficult to get them to come back up in a "sit". I used the opportunity to reinforce "sit" and "down" with hand gestures to let Nemo know that even when he was already "down", he needed to come up into a "sit" for me. We also started using a higher point for "down", so we don't actually have to touch the ground with our finger to get him down.

What I'm doing at home:

For a couple minutes each night I've been taking Nemo separately to work with him on his new "tricks". It's been really fun! We only do 5-10 minutes at a time, but I can tell he loves it.

Plus, a certain other young lady has started to get in on the clicker training action. I'm really having fun with this and I'm sure I'll have wonder dogs in no time. ;)

If It's Not One Thing ...

... It's another.



Yesterday I posted about how my heater decided to turn my house into a sauna. So, last night after work, I went straight over to Home Depot to buy a new thermostat.

Guess who's car wouldn't start when she tried to go home? Yeah, that would be mine.

It was super fun because 1) my husband was in another state coaching a basketball game 2) my parents were 45 minutes away and 3) it was dark and cold. Because of 1 & 2, there was no one to rescue me and I had to walk the 2 miles home, leaving my dead car in the Home Depot parking lot.

I'd just like to take a moment to thank God that I wear sneakers, and not heels, to and from work everyday.

After I got home and thawed out (and let out my poor dogs who had to go likeohmygodrightnow!) I started work on installing the new thermostat. Unfortunately, the installation process involves using the world's tiniest screwdriver - which I don't have at home.

After the lousy day, I called my parents to come and help me. I love them. They came right over (even though they were 45 minutes away) and installed my thermostat for me with their itty bitty screwdriver. I love them a lot.

In return, I fed them spaghetti so I think it was an even exchange.

So far (knock on wood) the thermostat seems to be fixing the problem. At first it didn't seem to do anything at all, but then we discovered that it was just the fan that was continuously running, not the heater. We went ahead and let it run (figuring the fan would be ok if it ran overnight and at least it would be warm enough to turn the heat off during the day again) and by this morning the fan wasn't running all the time anymore.

We even tested it out before we left. Heat on? On. Fan on? On. Heat off? Off. Fan off? Off. So far, so good.

Unfortunately though, in my excitement to have a working HVAC again, I forgot my lunch for the day (leftover spaghetti, it would've been delish). I just can't seem to win ...

It's Gettin' Hot In Here

Last night when I got home I realized that it was a tad bit warm in the house. After taking care of the dogs and making dinner I realized that it was getting even warmer. Worse, I had heard our heater running the entire time I was home.

I checked the thermostat and it read 76 degrees! 76!

I tried setting the temperature even lower (55?), turning the heat to "off", and even pumping up the heat even more to see if anything would make the heat turn off. Nothing worked. It was a giant fail.

Then I tried checking out the unit itself - there must be an off switch right? After looking all around (and working up quite the sweat) I couldn't find an off switch on our heating unit!

The option of last resort - cutting power to it entirely. I found the circuit breaker and flipped the switch for the HVAC unit to off and it immediately shut down (thank God too because if it hadn't, it would've meant the unit was possessed!).

The Hubs and I were hoping that flipping the circuit breaker would somehow reset the thermostat/HVAC and it would start working again, but we had no such luck. As soon as we flipped the circuit breaker back on the heat came back full force. As a result, we spent last night with the unit turned off, and while we were getting ready this morning, we flipped it back on. Right before I left for work I turned it off again so the dogs wouldn't have to sweat it out in the house all day.

I'm really hoping that the thermostat just isn't "talking" to the HVAC unit the way it should be and that a new one will fix the problem. After work today I'm going to pick up a new programmable thermostat and install it tonight. If that doesn't work, I don't relish having to call someone in to take a look a look the unit.

And if the timing weren't bad enough already (heating issues in winter are so fun!) my father in law is unexpectedly coming up to stay with us. I hope we can have this thing fixed pronto so he's not sweltering/freezing along with us.

Ornament Exchange at Slipcover Your Life

Erin over at Slipcover Your Life has sent me an ornament as part of her first annual ornament exchange. Isn't it pretty?

Her blog has tons of great swoonworthy stuff on it. Plus, she has a picture of her adorable dog Bailey right on her homepage - you know how I'm a sucker for dogs! Here's an ornament right back at ya Erin!

I thought that little guy was too funny not to share. But seriously, here's a really pretty ornament for your holiday.

from Macy's

Make sure you head over to her ornament exchange and check all of the other awesome blogs she's highlighting. She'll be highlighting a new blog everyday so there's a lot more to come!

As Promised!

I have finished the nightstands!

To refresh, here is the before again that I first showed you last week.

I actually have two of them but they're identical so I'm only showing pics of one.

Not too bad, but the wood tones and gold hardware aren't the look I'm going for. I already have this guy in the room so the nightstands need a little face lift.

With a little help from my trusty tools, the nightstands now look like this!

Not bad huh? Plus, since I already had the supplies from my first refinishing project, I only had to pay for the nightstands and new hardware. Total cost: $33.00. $25.00 for the nightstands and 4 handles at $2.00 each. Love it!

The process was exactly the same as for my first refinishing project but for a quick run down here's how I did it:

-- Step 1: Sand 'em down! The least fun but most time consuming step in the process. Alas it must be done. This wasn't any light sanding job either, you gotta get down to the real wood to make the stain stick.

-- Step 2: Putty up the holes. Since I removed the old hardware I had to fill in the holes they left behind. Just mush it in there and let it dry. Once it's dry lightly sand it down so the holes are flush to the surface of the wood.

-- Step 3: Stain! Just wipe it on and you're good. I did three coats of stain to get a really black hue.

-- Step 4: Poly! Again, just wipe it on. I really love wipe-on poly, I haven't found anything easier to use. I used two good coats of poly on these nightstands.

-- Step 5: Attach new hardware. Measure out your holes, use a handy drill bit of the correct size (start with smaller bits if you're unsure and go back with a bigger bit if the hole is still too small) and drill your holes. Screw in hardware. Fun times!

-- Step 6: Call your friends/family/significant other over to admire your amazing skills. Step 6 is obviously the most important step!

Finally Trying Mint.com

After hearing about it over and over again, I've finally tried out Mint.com.

And I have to say, it's pretty darn cool. It loads all of your financial transactions in one place to really let you see where your money is going. Your mortgage, credit cards, investments, savings ... everything is all there.

One nice thing about having it all in one place? It's easy to track your net worth. Mine? Well, it ain't so hot.

Boo! Hiss!

Luckily in my case, that net worth isn't quite as bad as it seems. It's largely because of our home. Like many homeowners, we are upside down on our mortgage. Since we plan on staying put for quite a while though it doesn't really matter. It'd be nice to see that net worth in the black, but I know it'll get there soon enough.

There is one bummer about it though. When I uploaded my account information it didn't actually load all of the transactions. I don't know why that happened - it could have been user error - but it's a little annoying. Because of it, I can't really gauge my past spending (because the info is incomplete) but I think if I keep using it in the future, it'll be a great tool.

Prepare for Projects Galore!

Yesterday, Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality announced that she's going to do a Top Projects 2009 party on January 6, 2010 and (surprise surprise!) I've decided to participate too! In anticipation of this momentous event I am going to try to finish up a few more projects before then too.

For one, I will definitely finish these nightstands. They're already on their way! I'm finished staining so they just need to get some coats of polyurethane and new hardware and they'll be good to go.

If I'm lucky and ambitious I will also finish these projects:

-- The Dressers. Remember them? Yeah, I forgot about them too. They need to get done already!

-- A Headboard for the guest bedroom. I.Want.This.Room.Done.Now.

So mark your calendars now (or not, you know I'll blog about it) and make sure you head over there when the time comes so you can check out all the great projects!


pssssst ... you can also check out last year's projects here!

Wordless Wednesday

Did You Know That Thrift Stores Have Sales?

Apparently great sales too. Like, oh, 50% off all furniture. Since I still need nightstands for my nevergonnabefinished guest bedroom, I grabbed these. Total cost for both? $25.00 + tax.

The red wood tones and gold hardware don't exactly go with the rest of the room, so I'm going to sand these guys down and give them the same treatment as the piece that's already in the room.

With any luck I'll have them finished by next week. They're kind of different looking huh?

Do You Get S.A.D.?

It happens to me every year. Almost like clockwork, right after we fall back an hour for daylight savings, I start to get a little down. Only after I'd been with The Hubs for a couple years, and he was able to point out the pattern, did I realize that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I start to feel lousy, very tired, and generally withdraw from people and activities around me. The colder and grayer it gets, the worse I feel. Luckily, my SAD appears to be mild. I've been able to manage it in several ways.

First, I recognize what's happening to me. I try not to blame myself for feeling down and work towards doing the things that make me feel better.

I exercise more. Exercise releases endorphins and actually makes me feel more energetic. It also relieves stress and anxiety, which both increase with SAD.

I get outside more. I soak up as much daylight as I can. This is especially difficult for me because as winter wears on, I wake up before dawn and get home after dark. Nonetheless, I make it a point to look out windows and take short walks outside whenever I can.

I use my happy light. For me, light therapy seems to work. Since I'm always short on time I try to prop it up in front of me when I work out. I bought my light on Amazon.com. It wasn't cheap, but it was completely worth the price.

These things aren't always easy to do. When I feel so tired it's hard to make myself workout or take a walk. When I'm feeling lousy, I'm inclined to wallow in my misery - not meet up with friends or be rational about why I'm feeling so bad. If these things ever stop working for me I also know there are a lot of other things I can try too including yoga, massage, talk therapy, and medication. Oh, and I suppose I could always move to a tropical island. I'm pretty sure I would have a difficult time getting SAD there. :)

Please note that I am not a medical professional. These are just my personal experiences. You should consult a doctor before starting any treatment.