Whoops!

Since I'm posting about the Family Room I really can't miss the opportunity to tell you all about our sectional. This one here.

We went out shopping looking for a cabinet to house all of our DVDs and CDs. Ya know, one with a lock to keep the kids from ruining them, scratching them, spreading them all over the house and using them as Frisbees. Seriously. Anyway, as we were looking Cam calls me on my cell (the store is huge and I had lost Cam). So I answer and he starts ranting about this great sectional he found. Huh? We were there to get a cabinet.

So, I meander over the where he is to see the sectional. Cam was SO enthusiastic. He loved it! He wanted it! He told the saleslady to write it up! Huh??? Whoa!!!!! I do NOT operate under such conditions. EVER!

I took a huge deep breath and started trying to convince Mr. Impulsive to put the brakes on....to go home and think it over....to measure it out on the floor...to really make sure he wanted it. This store is a Warehouse clearance and all sales are final.

Oh, no. He wasn't going for it at all. He LOVED it. He wanted it. By now the kids were all lounging on it, jumping on it, and Cam was checking to make sure we would all fit. Okay, even I laid down on it too. We fit.

My pulse was rushing, my head was spinning. But, something strange happened. I started telling myself to chill. I told myself not to be such a control freak. I told myself that Cam has never been excited about any piece of furniture....EVER....not even a little bit. So, I told myself to let that husband of mine buy that couch.

So he did. I went to the car to calm my nerves and plot the future ways my giving in would benefit me.

Cam paid and planned to pick it up the next day. Great

Cam got a delivery truck....ie: Cam took the seats out of our minivan. It took two trips to bring the new sectional home. Cam had the neighbor guy help he and I unload it. Next we needed to bring it from the garage into the family room. No problem. We have moved lots of furniture. We've never hired movers. We are tough, strong and determined people.

Our neighbor is very mathematical and he began measuring the door, measuring the sectional, each piece of it to figure the best was to bring it in.

We started with the smaller of the two pieces. Who wouldn't? It was tight, it was tough, we turned it, we rotated it, we finally figured out that the only was to get it in was to stand it on it's end and then wedge it back side first through the door and then rotate the rest in. Sweaty and tired we finally got it in place. Now, time for piece two. Oh...it looks much bigger. Hmmmm....we measured, we calculated, we called in a second neighbor, we labored, we turned, rotated, lifted, twisted, cursed, and repeated.

After a sweaty hour of geometry gone bad we realized it was NOT going to fit through the door. And, actually there are two doors. It wouldn't fit either door. At that point I was REALLY regretting Mr. Impulsive's new non-refundable sectional. We stood looking at our new sectional that would not fit in our new house. Great! I suggested the neighbors might want to go home. I could feel a divorce big fight coming on.

Actually very little was said. About an hour later at dinner Cam had a brilliant idea! He had solved the problem. He said we could just take the livingroom furniture and put it in the family room and the new sectional could go in the livingroom. He was so proud of himself. Me? Not so much! I shopped for months, measured, laid out a plan, agonized over the color, shape, size and feel of the livingroom set. I would NOT be putting it downstairs. Ummmmm.....NO. Of course Cam thought this was completely unreasonable of me. Completely. NOT!

But Cam did have a genius idea. Even better than my idea of selling the sectional on Craigslist or returning to the Warehouse and crying and telling them he was facing divorce over a couch. He measured the windows in the family room. Yep. It would fit...by about an inch. The good news it that we did need new windows. The bad news. This was not a planned expense. Oh well, what in life is planned? I know, stupid saying but I had to use it to make myself feel better.

So in the end we got an awesome sectional for $700.00 AND new windows for......get ready....I'm sure you can guess.......$700.00!!!!

Family Room

It's high time I post the before and after pics of our family room makeover.
When we came to tour our house I was frightened of the basement. The family room was awful! Old nasty carpet, long skinny room, old tile ceiling, weird built-in cabinets, and a BIG red wall. Icky! I couldn't imagine a warm cozy room for our family. It was a stretch. Cam had great vision. I trusted in his vision. Okay, actually I had my own ideas...which ebbed and flowed along the way. First I decided I'd never go down there. Problem solved. Fine, I do have to occasionally go down and check on the kids so it might as well be pleasing to my sight. Then I got on board and decided the room could be made over. Then I REALLY got going. I wanted one HUGE room....not the L-shaped room of Cam's vision. I was hard to budge from my vision (by budge I mean Cam just went ahead with his plan and ignored me standing in the corner with my hands on my hips). Then something magical happened. I "got" Cam's vision. Turns out he was right! The L-shaped room works really well. Plus, it leaves me a big room for sewing/crafts/laundry (I'll share that project soon).

I didn't take any photos before the demo began. Darn it! The door you can see in the wall wasn't a door. It was boarded up and behind the built in cabinets. You can see all the dismantled pieces of these. They ran the length of the wall and were where the white paint is on the red wall.

The room also had these funky interior windows. Not my favorite. Good bye.

The room does have nice big windows and a good view of the front garden.

This is the room on the other side of the red wall. The office. It had concrete floor and the same old tile ceiling.

Cam and our friend Vern took the wall down to the studs. They needed to see if we would need a support beam put in. The best news of the project was that the wall contained a big steel pole. No beam required. Savings in the bank form of carpet and paint!

Okay, now the after pics. The best part!

Here's the view standing in the doorway looking into the room. We took the door and door frame down and finished it. Much better. We don't need (or want) a door on our family room. 5 kids behind a closed door. NOT!

Now the view looking back at the entryway. The hutch is a very special piece of furniture. It was my mom's. I grew up with it and it reminds me of my childhood. I love it, thanks Mom!

From this pic you can see a good view of the fireplace. We are installing a new gas insert soon, ie: when we get our tax refund. :)

Here is the new office. It's a work in progress. Mostly it's unused. The computer is broken, and I haven't filed any paperwork since we moved. Yikes!

Standing in front of TV looking into office. The blue door leads to my sewing/craft/laundry area.

So what's next? Color!! I haven't decorated yet. Right now it's the Beige Palace. I'm going to add blue accents. The theme will be ocean. I'm framing a bunch of our favorite beach photos for the walls. But overall it's an amazing difference! Love our family room...which also doubles as a guest room....so come on over and spend the night! Seriously, we'd love to have you!

More Inner Child

More on my Inner Child. I loved my SIL Cinn's comment. She says, I think that the caring part of you may be part of your inner child, but I also think that the part of you that revels in silliness is part of your inner child. For example, I have seen you make all kinds of funny faces and sounds while laughing with and enjoying your children. You can be very uninhibited in that way, and I think that is also part of your inner child. :). This went straight to my heart. I had to pause and let it sink in. How wonderful that she noticed this and that she told me. After thinking about it I agree with her I do make funny faces and sounds while laughing with my kids. It's hard sometimes to see these things. I think it's is so much part of me....a easy natural part of me. One that I don't worry about or wonder if I do it wrong. I don't notice it because it's just seamlessly me. Ahhhh.....the Inner Child, me.

I also had a great conversation with Cam about this topic. He reads my blog religiously but doesn't comment. So, here is what he had to say. He said the Inner Child is the sense of wonder, sense of adventure in me. Huh? I'm not adventurous I said. He turned and looked at me. Becky, you have 5 kids, you've adopted twice from around the world and you've been to Africa. Oh, okay. He's right! I am adventurous. Of course a ton of research, planning, prepping, and a whole lot of prayer help me to be adventurous. :) And...he's right about my sense of wonder. I thirst for knowledge and I wonder about people and what make them tick, and how they got to where they are, and how things work, and why things happen......and on and on and on....

The other thing Cam said is a child does not temper themselves around others. As adults we stop being carefree and start to guard against what we say and do because of what others will think. Case in point: We were out to dinner and Sis passed gas. She then loudly announced, "I farted". I was DYING! The tables all around us were laughing and Sis just carried on with her dinner. Okay, I am glad that as adults we temper farting in public and announcing it but it makes my point.

When I was a kid I loved Solid Gold the TV show and I REALLY loved the Solid Gold dancers! My sister and I along with the neighbour girl would put on our own Solid Gold dance shows in the living room. At my Dad and Stepmom's house there was a wrought iron spiral staircase. Just the perfect thing to perform as a Solid Gold dancer (if you do not know what a Solid Gold dancer is go here). We also loved to put on our Grease album and belt out all the tunes. Today I love to sing with and to my kids. I love to dance with them too. It makes me feel happy and carefree. Now, I do NOT have a good singing voice but with my kids I don't care....just like when I was a kid. My inner child loves to boogey and sing out loud....at home where I don't have to temper it for fear of other adults seeing and hearing me.

Now to my favorite comment. Anonymous left a comment saying: CAM is a hottie. Yep! Anonymous I completely agree with you!! My first thought was that Cam had posted it himself. Just the kind of thing he'd write....well, maybe he'd say...."Cam is a total stallion!". I would love to know who anonymous is...please tell me! Then my friend Gary made me crack up laughing because he added to the comments I agree with Anonymous. But Becky ain't bad either! Hilarious!! I think that's Gary's inner child having fun!

So I'll leave you with a picture of Mr. Hottie himself and my cutie pie baby George...who really is not so much a baby anymore.

Inner Child

I haven't written about books for awhile. This last month my book club read The Grace to Race. The Wisdom and Inspiration of the 80 Year Old World Champion Triathlete known as the IRON NUN. Sister Madonna has competed in over 45 Ironman races plus many other triathlons and marathons. She began running and competing at the age of 48. This 80 yr old nun is an amazing athlete but also has such a wonderful outlook on life. It was a fun read!

My favorite quote from Sister Madonna is, "Don't ever grow up! Never lose sight of your inner child. It is the purest, most unadulterated authentic part of you". Love it! I read it outloud at book club. Then I wondered aloud what this part of me is. Hmmmm. I feel like even as a child I was adult like. One of my friends piped up with, "That's why you married Cam". Exactly! Cam embraces his inner child.....actually it's not really all that inner. :) But seriously Cam is silly and wild and childlike in all the fun ways.

Back to the childlike part of me. I'm serious when I say I wonder what it is. I do like to have fun and be silly and laugh. When I think of what I really enjoyed doing as a kid it was a lot of adult like play. I loved playing house and dolls and school...you know I was the teacher and the mom and the boss! I loved riding bikes and playing jump rope. I loved school (until high school) and loved spelling. I loved to cook and sew. I loved to organize and clean. I would ask my friends if I could help them clean their rooms.

So what part of those things is childlike in my life now? Did I become a mom of 5 kids with a teaching degree who loves to read, sew, clean and cook to hold onto my inner child? And...be the boss. Is that how I express my inner child? I don't know. I'm really stumped. I don't really like to play. I'll play games with the kids (not Candy Land) and read to them but really I don't like to play imaginary games. Painful. I like to work. I really do. I happen to enjoy my work which is good.

Maybe the inner child in me doesn't look like play. Maybe it's the deeply caring part of me. As I child I always felt deeply for others, for those less fortunate or mistreated. I was so distraught when I first saw starving children on TV. As an adult I still feel deeply for others. If that is part of my inner child I am happy to nurture it and not ever lose sight of that child.

So, people who know me well, those that knew me as a child. Please tell me, what does my inner child look like so that I can hold tight to it. Thank you.

Bike

I bought my new bike! A Cannondale! I named my bike Mr. T....since it's because of all that gold I sold to buy it. Unless you are my age or older you certainly won't know who Mr. T is. If you don't know, you can google him. Serious bling! Although I'm not sure a guy's name is right for my beautiful bike. It even has red flowers on it. Beautiful.

It took me about 30 minutes to pick out the bike. The guy at our local bike shop was awesome. He asked me a bunch of questions and then directed me to what kind of bike I should get. Picking out the helmet took twice as long. Sheesh. All those colors and I had to try them all on and look in the mirror. It was a mess. My hair was all tangled up and I looked like I had been wrestling in a sleeping bag by the time I chose my helmet...which turns out was the second one I tried on.

When I got home Mr. P and Busy Guy were so excited to take me on a ride. I was so thrilled that I jumped on in my jeans and boots. Not the best riding gear. My boys were awesome. They showed me how to use the brakes and how to change gears. Then I raced Mr. P...and I won!! Oh Yah! I'm not the kind of mom to let her kids win...unless it's Candy Land and I just want game to end!! :)

Cam says he's a little worried that I'll like bicycling, A LOT! Ummmhmmmm. He's worried cause he knows he'll have to share all the sunny days, and extra money for bike gear. Be afraid Cam, be very afraid! I've got my eye on a jacket already!

Solid Gold

Last night I went to a Gold Selling party. It's where you can bring all your old jewelry and sell it for cash. The price of gold is really high and there are constantly commercials telling how easy it is to sell your gold. I have been interested in doing it and was excited when I got an invite to a party. How fun! Drink wine, socialize and make some cash!
I began digging through my jewelry box to see what I could get rid of. I had two pair of gold earrings that I could no longer wear. One earring in each set was ruined...ie: fell off and was run over in the road. Not repairable. I had a few more pairs of earrings that I never wear. An old ring from a previous boyfriend. A few bracelets, some broken, some I never wear. A broken chain. A few medallions for necklaces that again...never wear. Cam had an old ring to contribute too. It didn't look like much in the bottom of my plastic baggy. I weighed I and it weighed 1.7 oz.
Off to the party I went with my baggy of loot. It was very fun to watch everyone's loot get tested, sorted and appraised. Turns out you can bring gold, silver, platinum. Jewelry (costume too), teeth, platters, etc. Hmmm...I think I have a few more items to offload.
The lowest payout from the party was $65.00. That gal had a couple pieces of costume jewelry and an earring she found in a second hand couch. Not bad. The highest payout was $1,600.00. I saw the woman's jewelry as she was getting it tested. It looked like The 80's Gone Bad. Whew, glad to see she would be getting cash and not ever again wearing any of that stuff!
I was able to get rid of my stuff (that I never wear) and earn $672.00. Right on!! I am so excited!! I could hardly sleep last night. I was dreaming a scheming how to spend my money. That would buy a lot of fabulous boots...and jeans....and dresses. Oh my. Or, it would buy a cozy new chair for my bedroom to snuggle in front of the fire. Ohhhh. Or, it could pay for part of the vacation we just booked. Yes! But, no. That isn't what my heart desires. I'm very excited to be spending my money on a BIKE! Yipee!!
Everyone in this family has a bike....okay, even some people have two bikes....Cam! So it's time I got a bike too. In a bit I'm off to the bike store to figure out what I want. So many choices. Then later today I'll take a ride on my new machine! Of course I'll be posting pics later. I even have a name all picked out for my bike! It's a good one....
Oh yah, and what does the pic of me and my sweet neice have to do with gold or bikes? Nothing. I just like the pic and I have a really hard time posting without a pic to go along with it. Plus, I really love babies. :)

Be the Example

I've been thinking a lot about sibling love. It warms my heart when I see my children being kind to each other. It breaks my heart when I see them being mean or indifferent to their brothers or sister. I do my best to guide them and help them to understand the importance of loving each other. But, I fall short and in times when my kids are fighting I start to wonder what else I could be doing.

There are lots of things, but I've come to the conclusion that the number one thing I can do is be an example. Period. I have to be a good friend, good sister, and most of all a good spouse to Cam. My relationship with my husband is the best example for my kids. It's the one they will follow...good or bad.

A few months ago Cam and I were out for a date night. I got the chance (ie: more than 10 minutes at night while we are both tired) to talk to him in depth about his job. It was very interesting...and heart breaking. Cam is Nurse Practitioner in an ICU....an ICU in a major medical university that treats the sickest patients in 6 states. Tough job. He sees VERY sick people. He watches people suffer. He watches families of the patients grieve. Very hard job. He has watched countless people die after long drawn out illnesses. Watched small children say goodbye to their parent, watched parents weeping over their adult children. Terrible sadness. There are some success stories. But few. And when a patient does do the miraculous and survive Cam doesn't get to see the end result. After leaving ICU the patient goes to floor care and then home. It's a big hospital in a big city. Occasionally a former patient will come back to visit and thank the team of providers. I like it when that happens. Proof of the good outcomes.

The crazy thing is Cam loves his job. LOVES! He is very good at it. VERY! I constantly find notes and letters he has brought home from families of his patients. He is too humble to show them all to me. But, I see them. And I know how lucky those families and patients are to have shared their journey with Cam. Blessed. And that is exactly what the cards and letters say.

Back to being a good example...and tying these two things together. When Cam gets home I'm usually at my limit....kid limit. :) He works long days. Leaves at 6:00 a.m. and gets home around 5:30-6:30. That means a long day for this mommy too. But, when he walks in the door I think about what he has seen at work that day. The pain, the suffering, the trauma. Instead of barraging him (okay, sometimes I still do) right away with what I need, instead I think, what does he need? Now, that is exactly what I'd like my kids to do for each other. Be thinking of what the other person needs. Be a friend. I need to be a better friend to my husband because that is how I teach my kids to do the same.
I love my family and I am so thankful for them and the lessons they provide me.