Renovations: Trash

I've broken down. I am so proud of myself and my progress, that I just HAD to share. Remember in my first post about our Basement to Playroom Transition, I told you that we had a pile of junk in our den so large that you'd report me to Hoarders on A & E?

You better start looking up their number. I'm showing you all one photo.

Click on the photo to see the madness up close.

Believe it or not, I thought we had put this stuff in here in an organized manner! haha.  Needless to say, while the construction is going on in the basement, I got very tired of looking at this pile of junk. I walked past it everyday going to and from the garage. :{

So, as soon as they got my closet's done, I was jumping at the chance to start filling them up! I had already started to sort keepsakes and just had to put them in organized totes for easy, stack-able storage.

I am not even kidding - it took me about 15 hours to get this far:

I think I found every picture ever taken in that original pile! I have approximately 1,000 photos that I need to put in albums - ugh!  Now I question why we ever made doubles.....can anyone help me with that one?

I did pretty good at getting rid of things though. Here is what ended up on the curb Monday morning:

1) Yes - I took a picture of my trash, on the curb.

2) Yes - The sanitation workers took it all, surprisingly.

And, 3) I think we went over why one of the trash cans doesn't have a lid, yesterday.... :{

Who knew Lucy's diaper boxes would come in so handy?

Finally, since I have been involving you in my decor ideas and dilemmas, I thought I would share a couple of pictures of items I got this weekend for the room.



Sorry this picture is so blurry. I was trying to keep Lucy and the chihuahuas off of it for at least two seconds, for a picture on  my phone. This was the best I could do.

I was excited to find this mat, with all the colors I want to incorporate into the room!  Also, Lucy was with me in the store; so, I let her hold onto it, in the cart. She loved it! She hugged it and hit it, with tons of smiles. She even tried to chew on the corner a few times, which I had to halt.  I could tell she was excited too!



I am not sure what I'm going to do with these yet. I have a bookshelf and an entertainment center that will be going back into the room. So, perhaps I will put them on the shelves. Still not sure....they were on sale (I'm a sucker!) and they matched the colors well; therefore, they had to go home with me. :)

Are you now understanding how we got that big pile of crap in the first place? haha.

I will be sure to continue the updates. Heath and I have finally come to the consensus that we are about 2/3rds done with the room! Yay!

Wish us luck!

Any ideas on colorful, canvas totes or white toy shelves? Again, I could use the help finding these!

Oops!

Seven Random Facts

Photo from IMDB.com

1) My all time favorite television show is I Love Lucy, I bet you couldn't have guessed that! That is where we got Lucy's name from. Thank goodness Heath loved it too! My favorite episode, for all you other Lucille Ball fans out there, is one of the Lucy & Desi Comedy Hours, in the last season. It's when they go to Japan. Hilarious! Second? Vitameatavegamin.

2) I have full intention of playing Barbies with Lucy when she is old enough. And, when it comes to buying toys...I'm going to be a sucker. Heck, I kind of already am. I bought her a baby doll from Walmart the other night. In my defense, she was grabbing for it...I already knew she had a couple at home. But, this was a baby boy. She didn't have one of those. Now, if she gets a little brother some day; she will have a baby boy to play with along side mommy.  Alright, so there was my justification....haha.

3) I've been on a huge 'cheese' kick lately. It may be all psychological; but, I swear it gives me that energy boost I need lately - especially before workouts. So, I've been snacking on cheese cubes and string cheese. But, I have also been eating these:


I've been getting the Four Cheese kind though. They are really good and a great snack at work. Check them out!

Photo from IMDB.com

4) My guilty pleasures include watching Crybaby and Grease 2! They are awful, just plain awful. Why, oh why can't I resist them?

5) My not-so-guilty pleasures include getting pedicures, ordering dessert, purse shopping, getting a new pair of sandals, getting a really good clearance deal, getting my hair done, and indulging in the occasional Oreo.

6) I don't like drinking water...for the most part. I will when I work out or when I'm just plain thirsty. But, when I'm sitting around the house or going out to eat, I want something tastey! My preferences include: diet mountain dew, diet coke (at Sonic, I get vanilla in it), lemonade, or unsweetened, iced tea with lemon.

7) I have several celebrity crushes and most are based on their characters. I'm head over heels for....

Photo from IMDB.com

Matthew Lawrence. Haha....I bet you thought I was going to say Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, or even Channing Tatum.  Nope. I fell in love with Matthew Lawrence in The Hot Chick, back in high school, and have loved him ever since - wherever he may be now.  By the way, you should watch that movie. It makes me laugh.

Oh, the Guilt Look

I get it almost nightly in our house.

The scene in the evenings is often that of me sitting on the couch, while Heath is on the floor with Lucy.

Don't get me wrong, I play with her. But, she isn't that interested in anything for too long and moves on, usually across the room. I simply can't keep up. The window, balloon, baby gate latch, curtain tie, remote, iPod Touch, shoe, or sock is far more interesting.  Believe me too, the list goes on!

Heath, however, will remain on the floor almost every evening, even if he is watching television or Lucy is across the room.  This doesn't stop him from giving me 'the look'. It is very much opposite of this face, which everyone else sees.

Here he is:

Don't let that cute face trick you though. He can give a pretty guilty glare at home...

Alright, alright, so I'm exaggerating a bit. But, he does say all the time, "Come down here; play with us."

Play with us?

With us?

Hmmmmmm........

Where is Lucy at?

Stacking the toys...

and the pride of stacking them, without 'the tower' falling.

I think Heath just wants me to play with him!

Renovations: More Wall Space!

We have one wall completed in our Basement to Playroom Transition!

I bet you thought you'd see photos too. Sorry! Not yet! I do, however, have some of my wonderful, very 'to-scale' diagrams (yeah right!). :)

We have the wall by the furnace, water heater, etc. done. So, again, this is what our basement looked like before:

The boxes on the left are stairs and the squares/circles are the furnace, water heater, etc.

And, we were planning on putting a wall up, to safely cover the items that we didn't want Lucy to have access to. Like this:

Once Heath and my father-in-law put up the wall, they realized the small door to the landing was unnecessary. Here, this will better explain. We ended up with this:

The red arrow denotes my easily accessible path to a small storage space! Yay! No extra cubby door!

    Wall
-   Cubby Door
=  More Wall Space

Again, the landing is just a drop in the ceiling, so I could leave the window exposed. I wanted Lucy to have a second exit for emergencies, and for the light to shine in. In addition, it is nice to open it up and let some fresh air in! :)

All of this will be much clearer with photos! I apologize for my awful diagrams! haha.

On a fun note, I have bought a few items for the room, for storage!

I bought two of these little stacking boxes.



I bought one of these, it's teal.



I bought one of these, thus far, in lime green.

Since I am not even sure what will go in these things, I stopped buying more, for now.  Once I start to fill the room, I will have a better idea of what we need.

I have been eyeing these:

I want something similar to these; but, I am just not sold on one yet. :{

I also want some canvas totes; but, remember, I have to somehow incorporate red into the decor. Since the carpet is bright red! Ugh!  So, I want something cute, perhaps polka dot, that ties all these colors in:




We'll see....I may just have to get some cute artwork or something, and use these solid colored totes. I'll figure it out.

If you have any suggestions for cute, white shelves, or fun decor, I would love to hear them! Let me know! I could use some help!

Guess what? Tomorrow is Friday!

Our ABCs

My house has given it's best. I'll give it credit. It tried very hard not to let Lucy take over. But, without the playroom finished, the poor house lost.

The living room was the first to go. My leather ottomans with lids, used to be filled with blankets and our electronic gadgets. Now? Toys. Each cabinet has baby locks on it, and we have to use a swing door baby gate to go in and out of the room (because of stairs - ugh!).

Now, the kitchen has succumbed. We already had the highchair, the safety latches for the cabinets, and a baby gate. We also had a small, ride-on car in the corner. The cherry on top? New ABC magnets on the fridge - lots of them!

When I first brought them home, Lucy was napping. So, I used the two pack to spell out our names, our last name, the dogs' names, and even some random words. The magnets were neatly ordered just as I, being super anal, would have it. :)

Heath: "You know they won't stay like that."

Me: "I know!"

I said this in a slightly annoyed tone. He knew that I was being a bit particular about it, and there was a good chance that it would continue as long as the magnets stayed.

To my credit, they have been on the fridge, post-Lucy play, for four days now and I haven't reorganized them. Every time I walk by the fridge though, I see the beginning and the end of our last name. The middle? Who even knows where those letters went? They might possibly be under the fridge. I know it's only a matter of time until I put our names back together. It's for learning purposes right? :{

Anyway, enough with my antics...

Here is something else about ABCs that has been circling the Blog and Facebook worlds.  I thought I would join in too.

Cori's ABCs

A - Age: 20 something

B-Bed Size: Queen. Sometimes I wish it was a king (no offense Hun!).

C-Chore you hate: Sweeping/Moping - it is a wonder it ever gets done.

D-Dogs: Our two chihuahuas, Chico (black, 6 yrs. old) and Squirt (tan, long-haired, 5 yrs. old)



E-Essential start to your day: hitting the snooze button. I am not a morning person!

F-Favorite color: dark red

G-gold or silver: I like both; but, lately I've been into white gold and silver.

H-Height: average

I-Instruments you play: Trumpet, French Horn, and little Tuba. I also rocked the bells in 4th grade. :)

J-Job Title: ---------

K-Kids: Lucy, my beautiful little girl

L-Live: to the fullest! :) In the Midwest...

M-Mom's name: Mom, and Mimi :)

N-Nickname: Momma, Mum, Sweetheart, Babydoll, Cori Dee, and occasionally, the dreaded Corky. :{

O-Overnight hospital stay: only when I had Lucy. I stayed three nights! One of them I was in labor all night.

P-Pet Peeve: Lots! Improper grammar (like double negatives!), when people say "a hunerd" instead of "a hundred", when people say "warsh" and "warsh-cloth" instead of "wash", loud talkers at movies, and when people's jeans get stuck on the tongues of their tennis shoes (not in purposely, Justin Beiber kinda way).

Q-Quote from a movie: "So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day." - The Notebook

Photo from IMDB.com

R-right/left: righty

S-Siblings: an older sister

my sister, my mom, and me

T-Time you wake up normally: the alarm starts going off at 6:20 am. I usually drag myself out of bed around 7, depending on if I need to take a shower.

U-underwear: Umm, yes....? Victoria Secret?

V-veggies you dislike: Spinach, raw onions, peppers, squash, tomatoes

W-What makes you run late: sometimes Lucy, most of the time it's shear laziness and being slow

X-x-rays you've had: teeth a couple of times and my hip/pelvis once

Y-Yummy Food You Make: tonight we are having grilled chicken wraps! :)

 Z-Zoo animal: I love to watch the monkeys and the polar bears

Happy Hump Day!

My Husband's Blog Suggestion

"Hey! That is what you need to add to your blog."

"What?"

"You need to add something to your list of 'Baby Musts' or 'Toddler Musts'."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Chihuahuas- to clean up the kitchen floor around the highchair."

I think he's right. :)

Junior High Wrestling

As I've mentioned before, I have a close family. Family is my number one priority. Therefore, I have become close to my cousins, Hannah and Rex.


My cousins, me (pregnant), and my sister

My cousin, I've mentioned before. She is 5 1/2 years younger than me and she has always been like a little sister. We've even had people think we were sisters! :) Now that she is getting older, our age difference is becoming less and less noticeable. I look forward to years and years of spending time together and someday, our children spending time together. :)

Our youngest cousin, on the other hand, is 10 1/2 years younger than me. And, I think it goes without saying, he is a boy. I'm about as close as I can be to him. But, I just don't think hanging out with his 25 year old, female cousin, and her baby girl is his idea of a good time...haha.

We love spending time together as a family though, as we did last Friday for my grandpa's birthday. Us grand kids played pitch while the 'adults' watched the great-grandchildren. ;) It's funny how I still don't quite think of myself as an adult at the family events...although, the 'kids table' is no longer in existence.

Anyway, I try my hardest to be a part of their lives; Heath and I both do.

Although my youngest cousins' junior high wrestling meets are usually scheduled before I get off work, we decided to take off work early for his last meet. I had to at least go to one! I wanted to watch him, as I had heard so much about it. Plus, I heard he was pretty good at it too - kickin' butt and takin' names! :) You saw him! He is taller than all of us at just 14!

I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't even know the rules. I didn't know what the ankle bands were about or the point system. It was all foreign. The only thing I did understand was the pinning and blowing of the whistle. Although I did somewhat expect the referee to hit the mat and count to ten or something...

Rex wasn't up for awhile; so, we got to watch a few other matches first. It was sad...

Since it was junior high, some of the boys looked like, well, men. They were tall, muscular, had deeper voices, and were ready to jump right into high school. Then, there were the other boys..the ones who hadn't yet hit their stride. They still had some 'baby chub' on them, not much muscle, and looked like their skin was smooth and, well, hairless. Now, you tell me, is it fair that these two wrestle?

According to my husband, "Yes - that is what they sign up for."

I watched one boy, who was obviously not matched well, except for weight alone, get his face smashed into the mat repeatedly by a kid who was probably a foot taller than him.

Sad...It broke my heart.

I know that I shouldn't feel that way; because, it is almost like I have pity for them or something. That's not how it is though. I just felt sad. It was unfair......to me. I know the weight says something totally different. And, so did all of the people there.

To be fair, this is how I've always felt about fighting - boxing, MMA, wrestling. It's just soooo personal. I hate watching somebody get physically put in their place. It's sad to watch. So, when you substitute these people for junior high boys, it only made it worse. Although, wrestling isn't at all close to the craziness of MMA!

I didn't mind watching my cousin though. He was pretty evenly matched, and he pinned his guys with some, I would guess, standard wrestling moves. There wasn't any mat, face shoving. He almost made it look easy actually. What a stud? haha. Lucy thought so too! She only clapped for my cousin, and none of his fellow school mates.

Anyway - what do you think about wrestling? Would you want your son to do it? Or, does your son already wrestle? Do you think that I am being hyper-emotional, per usual?

Finally, for my family's enjoyment, and anyone else who knows my Grandma, here is something I thought was funny. In the picture of us cousins, above, Granny is in the background talking some random guy's ear off. See below:

She cracks me up! haha.

Have a good weekend!

Keepsake? or Trash?

With the new basement renovation, we have been going through our totes with a tough heart. We've been asking ourselves some hard questions: Do we really need this? Will we use this again? Although it is of sentimental value to us, will it mean anything to anyone else? Basically, will Lucy want it?

I am a sucker for sentimental items. My family history and background mean so much to me. I love having items from years before. There is just something about holding the same items that your great, great grandmother held, and imagining what she was doing, wearing, or thinking. So, I want to pass down things to my great, great granddaughter too!  This is where the trouble starts...

There are some items that I have deemed priceless and will never let go of. For my college graduation, my grandma gave me a brush set. This wasn't just any old brush set, it was my great grandmother's. It included a brush, hand mirror, and nail set. My great-grandma got it for her high school graduation in 1929. The set is beautiful. My grandma said that when she was a little girl, she'd go into her mother's room and look at them, and wish that she too had a set. It warms my heart just thinking about it.


My Great-Grandmother's Brush Set - 82 years old

I decided to put the set into a shadow box, to keep it preserved and to enjoy it. I love seeing it in my dining room every day. These are items that I could most certainly pass down to Lucy. Hopefully, she cares as much about her family history as I do. I sure hope to pass that on...

My great-grandmother kept this set, then my grandmother kept it, and it eventually made it to me. So, that makes me think...what will I pass down?  Will it be a journal? Check. Will it be photos? Check. Will it be my treasured jewelry? Check.  What else does there need to be?  I'm not sure.

Heath, being the uber geek that he is, has kept all of his cell phones from the past. He even kept most of the boxes and directions. He thinks it will be hilarious to Lucy and her siblings, years to come. I just wish we had a bag phone to go along with them. haha.  I don't really argue too much on these; because, they are small and don't take up a lot of room. Here are just a couple of the 6 or so that we have:


The white phone's antenna cracks me up! haha.

Up until the moment when Lucy was born, Heath's and my stuff seemed so much more important. Now that we have Lucy it puts it into perspective of what would she would think was 'valuable' and what would she think was, basically, crap.

The mirror that hung on the back of Heath's door in high school? The one that I wrote on and kissed, at just 15 years old, so he'd always think of me? 



The makeup has lasted 10 years! Wish I could remember the brand name! :)

We kept it this long; but, now it's heading to the trash.

What about these?


Two of a LOT of puffy, Disney VHSs!

Who even keeps VHSs anymore?  I guess we should probably get these on DVD and throw these out...

Or, what about these autographs? I simply cannot throw them out. But, will Lucy even know who these people are?

Dennis Haskins, Mr. Belding, from 'Saved By the Bell' -
 

He even personalized it! To Cori - :)

I can tell that you are a skeptic. I did meet him though, look:

Here are two more "autographs."  Or, scribbles...whichever you prefer. These scribbles were made by Benji Madden and Billy Martin, from Good Charlotte. Heath and I waited out by their tour bus one night after a concert, a long time ago.  No such luck on Joel.....:(



This was way back, before Nicole Richie...

I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder. I will give some of these items to Lucy and her siblings, or whoever else wants them. If they don't want them and they toss them? Well, then at least I gave them the option of keeping it...

Do you have anything that you've kept, even though you know you probably shouldn't have? What is it? Where did you get it? Do you and your partner agree on keeping it?

Renovations: Entertainment Center Make-Over

We are continuing the basement renovation and I’m beginning to plan the placement of furniture. While, thinking about the layout and design, my favorite part, I decided to change our 10+ year old entertainment center.

This entertainment center is on its last life, as far as I’m concerned. It has come so close to being taken to the ‘dump’ on several occasions. I am trying to think back to why we saved it exactly and I really can’t think of a reason. However, in our basement it’s been…just holding my old, non-flat screened, college TV.

And, since it has been so resilient, of course we are keeping it again! It just needs a little ‘tuning’ up, if you will. It’s getting pretty rough.

So, at work last Friday I made an executive decision concerning our entertaining friend. I thought to myself, "I'm gonna paint it!" I immediately googled how to paint particle board. I knew that paint wouldn't stick to that shiny exterior. So, what could I do?

According to....hmmm, I think it was 'HowTo.com', I should sand it first. It would give the board some 'grit' and the paint would then stick.  I shared my idea with Heath and there you have - we had a plan!

According to the site, I should use a 220 grit sand paper, which I started with. It worked; but, I was going through it like crazy! And, I felt like it was taking fore..ev...er! So, I eventually used 150 grit and that worked great! It made it go a lot quicker too!

Thank goodness we have a sander; I was planning on doing the whole thing by hand. THAT would have been a nightmare!

After I removed the shelves and doors, and I sanded, Heath wiped it off for me.

It looks weird, huh?

Now, on the saw horses, it was ready for a coat of white paint. We decided to use a flat paint, since that is what the rest of the basement is.

Here I am painting. My father-in-law was helping by touching up the corners, where my roller couldn't reach.

It took two coats to really cover it; but, I went through a third time, just to be anal. We were very pleased with the results!

And for all of you who are scrolling up and down, here is the comparison. :)



The only part that looks bad, is the lower, right cubbies. That is because there will be doors that cover that area. So, I wasn't too concerned about being particular on sanding or painting. And, there was like a faux, cardboard back, which was brown. The brown kept coming through the paint; so, it is tinged yellow-ish. Again, not a big deal; because no one will see it.

After some more thought, I probably could have painted it a fun color; however, I think with all of the toys in the room, and red carpet,  it could get a little cluttered. Overall, I'm glad I stuck with white! :)

The total approximate cost of this project was about $15.

I don't go by "Strawberry Shortcake" anymore...

...call me "Shorts" or just "Straws-B!"

Let me explain...

I was recently sent an article from my friend about how toys are changing, evolving, if you will. Girl toys are apparently becoming more sexy and flashy.  You can read the article too, here, on MSNBC, if you want.

I read it and these were my initial reactions: 1) Yes - I can see them somewhat updating the dolls. 2) Hmm...I don't really remember Tinkerbell dolls. 3) Why are Bratz Dollz not on here? Sorry - I may be off on the 'Z' placement, instead of 'S'. Stupid. Anyway...they're awful. And, 4) Strawberry Shortcake got a makeover? I'll have to google her!

I am apparently completely out of the girl toy loop! Where have I been? Take a look at some of these changes! Although they aren't all 'sexy' changes; I just had to investigate.

Strawberry Shortcake
When I played with her, she was petite and had an enormous head. She had semi-crazy, boy-hair, and big eyes. She was so out of proportion that she couldn't even play with Barbies...she was just too odd. This is what they have now!

When you say Strawberry Shortcake, I think of two things: Enormous head. Gone. The smell of strawberries. This is still TBD.

Polly Pocket
When I played with her, she could actually fit in your pocket! She was microscopic almost. Face details? Who needs a face, when you are that small and all you do is stand in little circles? All I knew was that she was blonde and occasionally wore a pink shirt and jeans. Period.

Is this a barbie? The face looks exactly the same. Again, why is Polly so big? I could NOT fit all of those things in my pocket. And, since when does Polly wear skirts? And, change clothes?

My Little Pony
Although they still sell the 'My Little Ponies' that I remember; they are making new ones too. The ones I remember were short and stocky. They looked young and little sheepish.

This is apparently 'My Little Pony Princess Celestia'...?  Why is she so lanky? Is it because she is a unicorn? Those are some pretty fancy 'shoes.'

Rainbow Brite
This was it; the one that put me over the edge. Rainbow Brite had yarn for hair. She had cloth legs and was unable to stand on her own. The only part of her that was hard was her head, which resulted in some major top-heaviness. She had these crazy hairs that stuck out the side of her ponytail; it made me feel even more connected to her. haha.

Who the heck is this impostor? I refuse to believe that she is really Rainbow. I refuse to believe that she is the Uncle Fester that went to the Bermuda Triangle, lost her memory, and showed up 10 years later. It simply isn't her.

At least I was comforted when I saw that Raggedy Ann was still her same old, hobo self. Whew! :)

As you can see, many changes have been made. I am not sure I am completely on board with the changes being 'sexier'. I do think that they are becoming flashier and the dolls appear to be wearing makeup or more of it. I always thought of these dolls as young. Now, it seems like they are all older...which makes me sad. Little girls should NOT be in any hurry to grow up. Hopefully, parents are relaying that message (as if that really works though, right?).

And, I realize that all toys have to change, "to keep up with the times", if you will. But, again, it makes me sad. I hope Lucy can stay grounded and cherish her youth for as long as possible. I guess I should start working on my spiel.

Which one shocked you the most? Have you seen any toys that have shockingly changed?

All photos were from Amazon.com.