I finally got another video up of the duct or duck tape coin purse I made.  It was actually really fun but I wish I had made a prototype to work all of the bugs out first.  I figured if the purse didn’t work out, I would scrap the video but never considered all of the things I would have to redo to make the project work.  I have to say though, I never thought I’d be able to do anything with duct or duck tape because it’s so hard to get off the roll and then it’s so hard to pull off of anything else.  It wasn’t so bad.  I would really like to find another project that I could do that would come out great and be useful.

I keep referring to it as duck or duct tape because although I know it’s called duct tape, the tape I used was called duck tape so it’s very confusing to me.  I’m not sure if I refer to it as duck tape because that’s the maker’s name…what is the answer?  I know over time we all stopped called adhesive bandages what they are and started calling them “Band-Aids.”  Same with Q-tips and Jello.  So I’m left in a quandary.  Call it what it is or call it what’s its name is…  It is a dilemma.  I guess for now I’ll continue to call it both so as not to offend the makers or people who only refer to it as duct tape.  I’m pretty sure it’ll be ok.  Time will tell.

I did a haul video last night.  I’ve only done one other haul and this time there were so many things from so many places, I forgot the origins of a lot of it.  As I said in the last blog, I’ve been buying things like a crazed lunatic, but what else is there to do ?? A haul video, YAY!  I have to say that at one point I was just throwing things on top of the pile because it was so out of control.  I had to move the pile a couple of times because I couldn’t show anything else if I didn’t. I feel a little guilty about the horrible mess the room is in right now because I had a couple of big boxes of things end up all over the floor.  I know you’re thinking, hey, pick that stuff up.  I was thinking the same thing.  Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to bend like that.  So the mess remains.  It might be another week or so before I get to touch my mess and it’s literally making me a wreck because I can’t clean.  I’m not horribly neat in my craft room but this is so bad, I am destined for hoarders.  Or maybe a new show called “Hoarders with Ribbon.”  It makes it sound so much prettier that way.  The bottom line is that I need to get busy doing something or I just might try to clean my room and that could be a horrible disaster.  Maybe I should just close the door and when anything new comes, have Rich just pitch it in there and slam the door shut.  Oh,  I can’t do that, Bella needs to get to her cage…I hope by the end of next week that she still can.  Wish her luck.

I got a box of goodies in the mail from Moondaughter0 daughter, and it had so many great things in it I promised her I’d do a haul video and include the box contents.  She’s also a fan of Halloween things so she sent me all kinds of great Halloween stamps and embellishments including a stamp I’ve been searching for high and low.  It’s called Tableau of Terror and is from Stampin’ Up and I absolutely love it!  I can’t wait to show it off on a video and later cards and anything else I can think to do with it.  I’ve met so many really great people on You Tube and I’m so excited to use the things I’ve just gotten. She sent a couple of stamp pads with really great colors and I’m anxious to try those as well.  I just need to get off of this couch.  Only a week and a day until my doctor’s appointment and then I should be free!  Free!  I know it was only three weeks total, but it really does seem like forever.  Plus I’m easily bored and the internet is not my friend.  I’m a shopaholic and can’t make myself stop.  Well you’ll see when you see my haul video.  I normally don’t do them, but this is to obscene to let pass without a comment.  I’ve just gotten crazy with my purchases.  SOMEONE MAKE ME STOP!  Who am I kidding, there isn’t a soul living who would be brave enough to come between me and the internet.

I need to do a haul video.  If you aren’t familiar, it’s when you show things you’ve recently purchased.  I’m not normally really into them, but I’ve purchased so many things from the couch that it’s borderline crazy.  I can’t believe what the mailman brings me every day.  Worse yet, I’m sad when he doesn’t bring me anything.  What’s a girl to do?  I guess I’ll just keep buying more things and filling my craft room to the ceiling.  If only I had one small amount of self control.  It went out the window when the boredom kicked in.  Today I even sent a girlfriend to A C Moore for me.  That’s pretty pathetic.  And they didn’t have what they were supposed to so that was kind of disappointing.  I’m going to get a grip but I’m not really sure when.  Maybe when I can walk again..  Who am I kidding, I’ll still be buying things.  The first thing I’m going to do once I can ride in a car is go shopping.  Three weeks staring at the same walls would make anyone a little nutty, that’s all I’m saying.

Let’s talk drugs.  I absolutely can’t imagine why anyone would choose to take strong pain medications if they don’t need them.  I hate that I can’t remember things and that I’m exhausted from them and that they make me feel odd.  Please sir, can I have another?  Seriously, I just don’t get it.  I nod off in conversations and can’t remember if I’ve seen a movie and can’t recall what I had for supper yesterday.  I’m not even sure they work because my hip still hurts and wasn’t that the point?  I wish I could remember the words to a Huey Lewis song called, “I want a new drug.”  I remember it had some great lyrics but (maybe because of these drugs) can’t repeat them back to you.   Wait, I just remembered the words (or found them online)…

I want a new drug
One that won’t make me sick
One that won’t make me crash my car
Or make me feel three feet thick

I want a new drug
One that won’t hurt my head
One that won’t make my mouth too dry
Or make my eyes too red

One that won’t make me nervous
Wondering what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you
When I’m alone with you

I want a new drug
One that won’t spill
One that don’t cost too much
Or come in a pill

I want a new drug
One that won’t go away
One that won’t keep me up all night
One that won’t make me sleep all day

One that won’t make me nervous
Wondering what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you
When I’m alone with you
I’m alone with you, baby

I want a new drug
One that does what it should
One that won’t make me feel too bad
One that won’t make me feel too good

I want a new drug
One with no doubt
One that won’t make me talk too much
Or make my face break out

One that won’t make me nervous
Wondering what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you
When I’m alone with you
I’m alone with you

 

Ok, obviously I didn’t remember half of the words.   It was catchy though.  Oddly enough, I thought I wrote in the blog yesterday.  I didn’t.  I want a new drug.

When I started doing videos on You Tube, I expected people to respond with comments.  I guess what I didn’t expect was to meet so many really wonderful people with great insights and huge hearts.  I feel like this channel has given me a new perspective.  I really try to approach each video so that there’s always one craft that someone can do.  Since I was primarily a card marker, it is really fun to try new things and now it’s almost hard to find time to do a card video because I have so many other things I want to try.  There was a line in “Shawshank  Redemption” that said something like “Get busy living or get busy dying,” and I feel like I’m getting busy living now and that’s a great feeling.  I’ve always needed a purpose, or to be needed and this gives me the opportunity to do both. I’m so grateful to every person that watches my videos and reads the blog posts and  I’m hoping that I’m helping others get busy living as well.

The video of our “man” basement is finally up.  I’m really excited at the nice comments I’ve received so far and that people are asking for other rooms of the house.  I’m all about showing other rooms as we have remodeled almost every room and some of them more than once in the 22 years we’ve lived here.  When we bought our house it was really outdated and that’s saying a lot for a brick ranch.  How out of date can that be, you’d ask.  Well we’ll start with the fact that the people moved out but left their dog in the house for a few weeks without taking him outside, if you get my drift.  So all of the carpets needed to go. They had converted a porch into a family room but didn’t really care about important things like heat and building codes. I don’t know anything about building codes, but the fact that you could see sunshine through the corner of the wall would be a good indicator that they didn’t really have a clue.  They also just put carpet on the old cement patio pad without any insulation and thought a space heater shoved into the wall was a great heat source.  Needless to say, the room made me absolutely crazy.  It was darkly paneled and had sliding glass doors onto a rotting deck.  The deck was so bad that my friend Mary put her foot through it while standing still.  I was MORTIFIED! The rest of the house is brick except for this room and they used the cheapest materials for the outside of the house surrounding that room.  It didn’t match the existing brick at all.   The thing that is really sad about it is the fact that the people that owned the house before us were professionals that owned a big insurance agency and the house is in a nice neighborhood.  They just slapped things together and called them done.  My goal for the house was to make it accessible for me as I age.  So every project we did, we tried to keep that in the back of our minds.  First project, remodel the master bathroom.  Huge undertaking but results are terrific.  It still looks current even though it’s been at least fifteen years since we did the project.  Well we did change the flooring to white ceramic subway tiles recently.  PS I don’t recommend them, the grout lines are too wide and dirt shows up everywhere. Yikes!  The next major project was the small bathroom off of our bedroom.  It’s now got a cool enclosed ceramic shower stall and heated ceramic floor.  I don’t recommend the heated floors because they get HOT!  Maybe we just can’t adjust it properly, but we don’t use the heat at all.  Ok, so we changed the countertops and floors in the kitchen twice before the big remodel…I will skip the basement and go right to the kitchen and the dark creepy room that went onto the deck.  I envisioned level floors where I didn’t have to step down to get to the creepy room.  I wanted it to be light and airy and I wanted as many windows as possible.  I also hate wooden decks because of the maintenance, so wanted a huge cement patio with an awning over it.  The kitchen and dining rooms were both kind of small so I had them eliminate the wall between them.  If you can believe it, the contractor that did the basement came back and did two more major projects for us.  He’s a glutton for punishment.   I wanted a very contemporary kitchen, something the kitchen man had never seen.  I showed him photos of everything from door and drawer handles to cupboards to islands.  It took them FIVE MONTHS to do the kitchen and creepy rooms but in the end, I absolutely love both of them and I hope you will too.  The kitchen is mostly drawers and I have a couple of cupboards that open and up pops my mixer in one cupboard and my food processor in the other.  Both rooms are completely handicap accessible and we’ll have no problem growing old here.  We built another office in the basement that is now Rich’s and was mine, so is cool and travel themed to match the rest of the basement, and the little bathroom down there is really cute as well.  I absolutely love remodeling and making a house my own.  It’s my first love when it comes to art and the area I feel most comfortable in.  I hope you’ll check out my other videos as they unfold, but for now, please enjoy the man room.  It’s not for the man who crushes a beer can on his head, but a man who enjoys lounging with popcorn, a Mountain Dew and his favorite sports or movies.  In short, my kind of man.