Don’t you just love the smell of …

… wet neoprene in the morning!  (Okay, that has nothing to do with this post, but whenever someone says, “Don’t you just love the smell of …” I remember the kid who I did my scuba certification with.  We dove the first day, so our suits were wet when we pulled them on to do our final dives the next day.)

This is bound to be a scatter-brained post, since I have a few different thoughts bumping around in my head.  I read my sister-in-law’s post about whether blogs are supposed to be interesting or not.  Here is my response: If it’s not interesting, you can close the window, or stop reading, or whatever.  I don’t claim to have a unique or exciting life such that I’ll attract crowds to my blog.  In all reality, there’s probably just a smattering of friends and family reading it.  It’s my blog, so I’ll write about what I find interesting, and you can decide whether to keep reading or not.

Now on to the real subject of this post:

… wood stain in the garage?  Let me start by introducing my dad.  He’s a fantastic carpenter.  Not by trade, but by hobby, and he’s very good at it.  Here’s proof:

This is my oak dresser that my dad made for me for my 12th birthday.  Yes, that is a glass inlay on top. And it is solid oak.  You don’t know how many times someone has gone to move it (we’ve moved a number of times in the last few years), counted out “one … two … three” and then does that jerk thing that means you tried to lift something, but it was heavier than you expected.  It’s solid.  It’s beautiful.  And it has survived a number of cross-country moves.

I’d also like to post a pic here of my bed that my dad and I built together when I got home from my mission, but I don’t have one.  It’s a marvel of engineering, with the bed sitting five ft. high and a computer desk beneath it.  It’s also the only reason I have any clue how to work with wood.

Here’s the heart of the matter.  We had a little, oak bookshelf that was “wounded” in the last move.  It lost both of it’s shelves and the back piece is hanging off the back.  It also got a some nasty water damage (or something) on top that left it all warped and discolored.  It’s a good, sturdy shelf, so I hated to chuck it.

So, I borrowed my dad’s sander last time we were there, and I sanded down the top.  There’s still a bit of discoloration, but it’s smooth.  I measured the interior space and went to Home Depot.  A very nice man cut one large piece of shelving (white pine, so you’ll see in the pic that the shelves took the stain different than the bookcase) into two pieces the size I needed.  I know it’s pathetic, but I was so proud of myself that I knew what I wanted and how to get it.  (I find Home Depot intimidating, I think, because my handy-man knowledge and skills are somewhat lacking.)

Maybe I do have something of my dad’s carpentry in me.  I found myself admiring the newly sanded wood, smiling at the way the bumps smoothed down, and loving the feel of sawdust on my fingers.

I didn’t think to take a “before” pic, but here’s the case and shelves after staining.  I’ve still got to put the polyurethane coat on it. 

You can still see a bit of the discoloration on the top, but it’s ten times better than it was, and I was worried I’d go right through the veneer if I kept sanding.

And now the final point.  After staining the bookcase and shelves and getting things put away in the garage, I went back inside and cleaned up.  Then I grabbed C and dragged him towards the garage to go see what I’d done.  When I opened the garage door, the smell of wood stain (which I’d gotten used to before cleaning up) hit me like a bag of bricks, and the first thing to cross my mind was, “Hey, now the garage smells right!”

Maybe it’s just that my dad was a carpenter, and the smell of sawdust and stain is something I grew up with, but I felt like I’d just christened the garage and it was now really a garage.  Now it smells like home.

On reading and writing

I’ve read a few books lately I highly recommend.  First off, I’ve read a few of Brandon Sanderson’s novels, and for anyone who likes fantasy, he is a fantastic author.  C and I have been reading his Mistborn series.  C tears books apart when he reads them, and he’s barely been able to find any holes or inconsistancies in the series.  I also like his first novel Elantris, but the one I liked the most was his novel Warbreaker.  The best part about that novel is you can read it online.  Here’s the link:

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/drafts/warbreaker/Warbreaker_hardcover_1st_ed.pdf

Also, I’ve put Suzanne Collin’s books, The Hunger Games, up as my new fav book.  I’d heard a lot praise for it, so I picked it up in the store to read the cover.  I wasn’t impressed.  A book about 24 kids killing each other?  I put it back down.  Then a friend recommended it and lent me her copies (two books are out, the third and final book is expected this coming August).  Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but the book about 24 kids killing each other off was amazing!  I loved the whole thing.

And while I’m on my rant about books, I’ll mention Stephanie Meyers.  There’s so much hype about the Twilight series, but IMHO, her best novel is “The Host”.  It’s captivating, thought-provoking, and very well written.  Every time it crosses my mind I think I need to get it from the library again.  Very good book.

So, for the writing part – I did get a rejection back from Cedar Fort.  It was worded very nicely.  They said they liked the book, but it wasn’t something they were currently able to market and they hoped I would find a publisher to fit my needs.  I’m sure it was just a form letter they send to everyone, but at least it didn’t say, “Don’t quit your day job!”

So, I’ve sent it off again, and as I’m sure this will happen over and over, I’ll spare you the details from now on.  I’ll just let y’all know when I do find someone to publish it.

L’s Birthday

We went up to Boise this weekend, since C had a three days off.  L’s birthday is next week, but we decided to celebrate it early – mostly so we’d have someone to share the cake with.  There are only four of us.

L asked for a pink cake, so I made her a red velvet cake and frosted it pink.  It made for big “ooowwws!” and “aaawwwws” when I sliced it up and it was bright red inside.  I’d gotten the idea for the carosel cake from a magazine, and at first I had big plans.  I was going to make the cover out of sugar cookies and glue them together with frosting.  I had it all planned out.  Then I accepted that would be entirely too much sugar (cake and sugar cookies) and just make the little red and white roof – I would have preferred pink and white, but it turns out what I thought was pink paper in the store was actually the red and white sheets right next to each other.  Oh well.

L seemed to like it, although there was some discussion as to the safety of lighting the candle.  I won out in the end, and we did light the candle.  No, it didn’t burn the house down.  Not even the top of the carosel.

The cake was a hit.

And of course, the presents made her day.  Poor S had a hard time figuring out why she didn’t get any.  At one point she climbed into my lap, looked up at me with her big, blue eyes and said, “Where’s my present, Mama?” in the most dejected little voice you can imagine.

Last of all, L got her present from my mom when we got home.  Happy 4th Birthday little girl!

Hop 2 It

We went to Hop 2 It with some friends after we got back from Christmas break.  It’s one of the girls’ favorite things to do, and in the time we were there, they only stopped moving and wiggling long enough to sit down and eat some M&Ms.  Then they were off again.

I’m impressed by both of their climbing skills, although I’d have to say I was most impressed by the young mother who scaled this ladder with her eight-month-old baby in her arms. 

Can you see L at the top of the slide?

And here she is at the bottom!

They also had a ton of fun in the ball pit – and climbing out of it again!

Just look at this little mountain goat!

And finally, a little snack.

Our Merry Christmas!

We opened presents from C's side of the family a few days before Christmas so the girls could play with the toys for a few days. Christmas Eve we drove down to my parents house. Christmas day was spent running back and forth between different families' houses. Then my mom took all "her girls" out to see the Princess and the Frog the day after Christmas. It was the first time either of my girls had been to a theater, and they were facinated.

As usual, I couldn't get the pics in the right order, so there they are, with no order at all.

Merry Christmas - a Pink Bedroom!

How's this for early indoctrination?! They've got their own little cougar!

L and S have been asking for a pink room for a while, and that's what we promised when we moved into the new house. I wasn't willing to paint perfectly good walls, so we put up a pink curtain (thanks to my brother-in-law and his hand drill) and got the girls new bed sets. Then I actually put up pictures. Theirs is the first room in the house to be compeletly done, pics and all.

Puppy Love

When we first got to my parents house, we had a problem. My girls had eventually gotten used to my mom's dog, but with my sister's family there, they have two medium sized dogs, too. S had a screaming fit when they came up to investigate the new people in the house. For the first two or three hours, both L and S didn't want anything to do with the dogs.

Then I caught L skirting her way around Lady. Lady's a 13 yr old dalmation/german shepherd mix, and she's really a sweet dog. She has gotten old, and that makes her the perfect dog for L. I explained to L that Lady was old, and she was a very nice dog. L dared approach and hold her hand out. Lady didn't make any quick movements at all, simply smelling L's hand and letting her pet her head. From that moment on, L stopped running away from the dogs.

S took a little more time, but here she is the next morning holding her hand out to Lady.

By the end of the day, both girls were smitten. Here they are giving a little too much love to Liberty.