Runaway October » Life

Happy Mother’s Day!

Katie — Sun, 09 May 2010 13:00:16 +0000

Today is Mother’s Day in the USA. Other countries have different dates to appreciate mothers.

It’s really all about the ties of family, the strength of love and appreciation for the leaders in our life.

What better way to show you love your mom then by posting old pictures?

There’s Dad in the back.

Uncle Darrin, Grandma Betty, Mom holding Cody.

Bonnie and I front and center. This was 1989.

Hence those glasses. No, kidding. They’re lovely Mom.

Also 1989.

Grandma Betty and Bonnie, Mom and Cody, Grandma List and Charlie, then me.

Nice Barbie.

1991.

Grandma Betty, Mom holding Erin, Grandma List and Cody.

Pretty Mama.

And just to prove I haven’t always been goofy looking:

Aug '85. Almost three years old.

So make sure today that you give your mom a hug, tell her that she means everything to you, and be thankful for what you have.

And that she got rid of those glasses.

KIDDING! <3

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The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

~Honoré de Balzac

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It’s not a garden, It’s a Jungle.

Katie — Sat, 08 May 2010 13:00:58 +0000

Remember the planter boxes my oh so accommodating husband built for me? These guys?

And that this is what they looked like when I planted them?

Wanna guess what they look like now? No, really. Think about it.

This is Arizona, it’s hot. And as much as I hate to admit it, gardening is a never-ending ‘craft’. You can’t just plant it and forget about it, like you can with most of the crafts I do. I’m not so great at ongoing projects.

Which is why I’m quite tickled (and slightly overwhelmed) that they now look like this:

April 23rd, Box 1

Notice how they’re still pretty much within their beds and you can sort of see all the individual plants.

April 23rd, Box 2

Yeah.

Not anymore.

May7th

It’s a jungle.

Which is awesome, but Holey Moley.

How am I ever going to tame this thing?

I’m really hoping that we’ll get some veggies off of it before the heat makes them go dormant.

Also thinking about putting some kind of shade over it.

I learned awhile back that if the night temps don’t get low enough, it doesn’t matter what I do, the tomatoes will stop fruiting, so hurry hurry little tomatoes.

Heirloom Brandywine Tomatoes

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes

Roma Tomatoes, possibly. Hard to tell in there.

Jalapeño

Crookneck Squash

Green Bush Beans

The cucumbers and honeydew are coming along nicely.

We picked some radishes the other night. I think they were crowded.

And there’s lot of herbs too. Cilantro, Dill, Lemon Thyme, Spearmint, Stevia, Chocolate Basil, Chocolate Mint (I can never seem to pass up all the chocolate ones).

There’s carrots buried in there too.

Maybe next year, I wont pack in so many tomatoes.

How does your garden grow this year?

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The Big Green Chair

Katie — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:00:43 +0000

I like to frequent thrift stores, especially on 50% off days. I also like to read decorating and homemaking blogs.

Because of said blogs, I’ve realized that I need to pay more attention to decorating my own house.

Thrift stores are a great place for finding one of a kind items, especially if you have an eye for refurbishing or updating things. You have to realize the potential of things, I guess you could say. My husband doesn’t quite get it, so I often get ‘What are you going to do with it?’ or ‘What is it?” or ‘Why on earth did you buy that?’. In general I get kidded for alot of the “decorating” I do.

Recently I had a tough purchasing dilemma. My mom, the boys, a friend and I were at Goodwill, when Mom mentioned there was a really cool green chair near the back but it had some rips in it. I didn’t think much of it. I mean, a green chair, right? As I strolled towards the back… Okay, so as I calmly walked to the back while my kids were fighting like wolverines in the cart, the chair caught my eye.

See what I mean? Would that not have made you look too?

I think I sat on it for a good 20 minutes deciding what to do. It was $25 on half price. Problem was it had rips, like mom mentioned. I even sent a picture to my husband and asked what to do. Sometimes it’s easier to let him decide. He told me sure as long as it was in good condition. Yikes.

This is the seat. It was two smaller rips before my boys noticed it. :S

I just couldn’t pass it up though. I bought it!

I was so upset and angry when they loaded it for me though. The guy loading it put it on a box dolly and drug it across the asphalt, doing even more damage to it around the bottom edges then it had before.

My mom thinks the chair is awesome, but Matt still makes fun of me for it. He just has no sense, right?

The color above is more true to life, and it obviously needs a real home, other than stuffed in my front sitting room. From what we can tell it’s real leather and someone covered it by hand, hence the slightly erratic nailhead trim. But that’s all part of the appeal for me.

I’ve looked into leather repair for it, but honestly I think the little lamb skin on it is perfect. It also helps reduce the stickiness of bare legs against leather that I dread.

So, what do you think? I LOOVE it!

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Cody

Katie — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:00:39 +0000

So I’ve got this brother, right? Erm, this little brother I should say. And you all know how little brothers are. Are you with me on this?

I happen to be super blessed in that Cody is staying with us for now. He makes our lives full… full of all kinds of stuff.

Like girl drama. I’m glad I was never that way! Ahem.

And dirty socks.

And he selflessly tutors my two innocent children in ways to get themselves hurt or in trouble.

He’s a fine upstanding example of trouble.

See this?

Tarantula Hawk

Cody pissed it off.

And this normally placid flyer stung him. Ha! Poor guy, just minding his own business when some giant gets all huffy about a sting and douses you in Carburetor cleaner.

Or how about when he tries to show Declan how to ride BMX, like a pro yo.

This is what Declan comes back looking like:

Now, what do you think Cody looks like? After all, Declan was under Cody’s tutelage when this disaster happened.

Are you ready for it?

No really, you should be prepared.

Let’s look at this more closely, shall we?

Click for larger version

Nice huh? And that’s just his face.

This is right before all the scabs came off.

Pretty huh?

I don’t have pictures of the time after that. He still has the scabs on his shins. Probably should have got stitches.

So that’s a very small glimpse of Life with Cody. I wont even go into where I spent my entire Tuesday evening because of him. Stay tuned for more Cody adventures.

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What’s wrong with my tree?

Katie — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:13:15 +0000

When we moved in, this little Bradford Pear (I think) was having a rough go with Cutter Bees. While it looked sad it was still healthy. Early early this spring, around February, it bloomed out and was just beautiful. But now it looks sick.

So I ask The Internets for help. And also the Arizona Garden Web Forum, which is a great source of information for you local readers.

Click for larger pictures.

Any thoughts? I don’t want to lose this little tree!

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Snapshots of Easter Week

Katie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:24:51 +0000

Hasselback Potatoes

Blue Delphiniums

African Daisies

Ridin' like a pro now

So proud of himself

String Eggs. These would make an amazing set of lanterns for the porch.

Polka Dots

Easter Wreath

Peeking Bunnies

Homemade Mossy Easter Baskets

Funny Bunny Hat

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Freaky House Photos Friday

Katie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 06:28:33 +0000

Julia at Hooked On Houses started a new Linky. I love Linkys. They’re a great way to find information in one general post, or share a great idea or promote your blog. Problem is I never seem to have anything worth linking.

When she proposed Freaky Houses I instantly thought of some of the houses we saw in our house hunting days. Man, what WERE those people thinking? But then I realized I could use some help.

While not really freaky, my loft is… well, helpless is how I would describe it most days.

This is what up see upon coming up the stairs. Notice the blank, the bland, the blah. The main purpose of this room is a media room. Suspended from the ceiling is a projecter which shines on the screen that’s rolled up in the above picture.

Standing at the top of the stairs, here’s the view to your left. That sad little shelf there had good intentions. At the time, we needed something super cheap yet strong enough to hold a receiver and a couple game consoles. Matt and his dad made the shelf, which IS super strong, but there was a measurement mishap. Not everything fits. AND none of the cords are really concealed. Huuuggee pet peeve of mine.

Continuing to the left we have our behemoth couch. You see no laundry. -Jedi Mind Trick gesture- It was purchased for our old house. Maximum seating and small price point were the cause behind this one. It seems very overwhelming, which is surprising considering the room is about 20′ x 15′. End table and coffee table need to be refinished but waiting on that until I have a sense of the room.

This is the view basically standing under the ill-fated shelf. Down the hallway to the left is laundry, craft room, kids bedroom and a bathroom. The door to the right is the master bedroom. That cord should be gone as soon as we get our delivery from NewEgg.com this week.

Here’s a couple panoramas. Click for larger versions.

Normally I would define a few seating areas, throw some rugs and call it done-ish, but there are some special considerations here. It needs to be able to be as dark as possible in the middle of the day; due to the projector, nothing can block your view of the screen and the media devices need to stay close to where the shelf is. They’re hard wired in and out of reach of small people.

This is the screen in full down position. It’s about 2′ from the ground and maybe 3′ from the right wall. That makes it really hard to put anything seating wise along that right wall. I do have a futon that was given to us that would fit, but watching the screen from it would be uncomfortable. And, let’s face it, futons typically ain’t cute. The paint color is from the previous owners, so no need to keep it, per se.

I don’t necessarily have a budget, or a general time frame but a fresh set of eyes on this would be nice. If I know what I want I can start keeping an eye out at swap-meets, thrift stores, etc.

If this was your loft, what would you do?

Please don’t forget to visit Julia and add your own Freaky House Photos.

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Here’s the big news!

Katie — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:01:13 +0000

I WON! I am SO not kidding. I WON!

I’m usually not one to answer my cellphone from Unknown Callers, but for some reason I answered this call. Then I talked very calmly, to a lovely woman named Stacey (because I’m sure she didn’t want to hear me squeal), hung up the phone and THEN squealed like an idiot.

Check out the official announcement here. This is my goofy application. I feel so dumb writing these things. Thankfully the judges must have a similar sense of humor.

They asked just a few things from me; To keep my passion and continue doing exactly what I do and to crosspost on a blog that they will host for me. In return, they will sponsor a few of my crafts. And I’m hoping for a serger. Maybe my Etsy shop is closer than we all think?

I haven’t got much information from them, but do you know who’ll I’ll tell first when they give me more info? Besides immediate family and the neighbors and the guy at the convenience store and everyone on Facebook and all my second cousins twice removed? You Guys! Yay!

And, in conclusion, thank you – to all of you who voted, all of you who encourage me when I hold up a project, wrinkle my nose and ask “Does this look stupid?”, and to whoever gave me my creativity since both of my parents claim it wasn’t them and it was my Great Aunt Katherine, whom I never met and thank you to Prilosec!

I’m rambling.

Now, really in conclusion, Yay! Thank you!

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One Blog – One Tree

Katie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:53:21 +0000

I came across this post, by Jojoebi, just a little while ago. And it was something that definitely caught my attention.

A German company, called Kaufda, is promising to plant one tree in cooperation with The Arbor Day Foundation for every blog that participates in their “My blog is carbon neutral” campaign.

According to Kaufda:

For every single one of the participating blogs, “Make it Green” and “Arbor Day Foundation” are planting a tree in Plumas National Forest. With your support, we are helping reforest Plumas National Forest with as much trees as possible. In the spring of 2010, Douglas-fir, red and white firs, and incense cedars will be planted alongside ponderosa pine and sugar pine trees. These new trees will help prevent soot and soil runoff into Plumas’ precious water supplies. Now, we are reforesting it with your help!

We plant trees, both in Germany (in the upper Harz region) and in Northern California. Why are we doing this? Because the reduction of carbon emissions by planting trees has the same effect, regardless of where in the world the trees are planted. It involves all of us to give something back to our environment.

If you’d like to participate, please click the button above or to the right.

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Happy!

Katie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:08:41 +0000

I received some amazing news yesterday!

Unfortunately I can’t really say yet, but I can say that it means I’ll have more reasons to blog soon. Not that I don’t now.

It’s been so beautiful in little Queen Creek lately. Just warm enough to stay outside, but cool enough to debate a jacket. For Pete’s Sake, I even cleaned my exterior porch and garage lights today because I wanted to stay outside so bad. AND! We cleaned the garage yesterday. Go me! (And thanks bunches Dad. He’s a great packer.)

The boys have rediscovered sidewalk chalk. I would have taken a picture of my chalk covered kids and dog, but D’s in the potty. He told me he’d be out in 3 hours. I’m not waiting on that, because, well, he’s probably right.

Stay tuned for the great news, which is about 3 weeks off. But you can pretend that it could be any minute and keep checking back obsessively. Or you can guess what it is in the comments. No fair giving it away if you already know though.

And no, there’s no need to start crocheting, as my Grandma asked. I’m not pregnant. As far as I know. And I should know. Hopefully.

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