My new "old" French chest!

On Tuesday, Adelaide and I had the afternoon off and we went shopping. We found this beautiful old French dresser and it was calling our name to come home with us!! I loved it, so we decided to get it and use it in our guest room.

We have been painting our upstairs this summer and we are in the process of changing 3 of the bedrooms around. Am I crazy, or what? Adelaide has a really large bedroom and she offered to move to a smaller bedroom and let me have the larger room for my office/computer room/sewing room. I was thrilled!

I will have enough space to have my computer table, sewing table and a couch, chair and ottoman. It will be my new workroom (hang-out)!! I am so excited. Adelaide will take the room that is now our guest room and my old office will become our new guest room.

Since the new guest room is the smallest of the 4 bedrooms, I will use minimal furniture in there. I bought a new queen-size mattress today for the guest room and with the new French dresser, it will help bring the room together. After I get all that in and set up, I will see what else I might need. I don't want the room to be cluttered.

For Adelaide's room, I am re-doing an old French Provincial bedroom suite that I had as a child. I have had fun working on it, but I have a new respect for all my blog friends who do this for a living. It is hard work! I have learned a lot though from reading blogs, so I hope it all turns out OK. I can't wait to get it finished. I will post pictures when we get it finished. I am working on 2 twin beds, a nightstand and a dresser.

As if we don't have enough going on with my husband painting the rooms, I have decided to take up all the carpet, so that I can more easily paint the trim. We are getting new carpet too. I went and priced that on Friday. I had sticker shock, believe me! Thank goodness they have 0 interest for a year, so that will be a big help.

For my office, I have a couch and a chair/ottoman that I am going to have re-upholstered. I will pick out some of the $3 fabric that I posted about earlier. We are also having a small wing chair re-upholstered for Adelaide's bedroom. As I have free time (what is that?), I need to go shop for fabric. I have already called the upholsterer and gotten prices and fabric yardages for each piece I am having done.

Needless to say, my whole house is a total wreck. You can't even walk in my dining room, as that is the holding room for all the excess stuff that is packed up from upstairs. The upstairs rooms are a mess from where my husband has been painting.
It will be worth the mess and aggravation when it is all finished, but in the meantime, it is driving me crazy!!!!!!

My master bedroom and bath need to be re-done too, but that will just have to wait until I get all this other stuff done. I can't have the whole upstairs torn up at one time. I think I might lose it for sure.

One of these years, I am going to have a summer where I don't do anything. I am a glutton for punishment, but I so want to get my house fixed up and be able to have guests. Things were getting a bit shopworn around here. I still had the original carpet in my upstairs that was put in when we built the house in 1987. It is a bit worn, to say the least. In our downstairs, we put in hardwood floors many years ago and really love it. I have tried to get my husband to let me put hardwoods upstairs, but he wants carpet.

I wish I could twitch my nose and everything would be done. Just like Samantha on Bewitched!! That would be wonderful. In the meantime, I need to keep my sanity and just take a day at a time and get as much done as I can. I have faith that it will all come together.

I took some wonderful pictures at the last Beach Music show on Thursday night and while trying to upload them, I deleted all of them. Me and my techno skills!!! Oh well, so much for that post. It was a great concert. The Chairman of the Board played and they were awesome! It has been so hot this week, I felt like I was at the beach. Today I got in my car and the thermostat said 108!!! As I started driving it cooled down to 95. Woo hoo!!! I'm not complaining though, just stating a fact!! After I just about froze to death this past winter, I swore I would not complain about the heat.

I hope all of you are having a very nice weekend, doing whatever makes you happy! I did a bit of yard saling this morning and found some really nice treasures. I love yard sales each Saturday morning and seeing what amazing things people want to get rid of . I found a beautiful milk glass bowl to add my collection and it was only $1. Love that! Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Life is Good!

Today is officially the first day of summer, but I am amazed at how fast the time is going. My daughter came home from college the first week of May and I can't believe that she has already completed her 6 week internship at a local children's hospital. Today she started her Nanny job for the rest of the summer.

Aren't my roses pretty? I took these pictures at night, so the roses would show up really well. I just love my roses and they have done so good this year. These are hybrid tea roses that I planted many, many years ago.
These blooms were huge!! And such a gorgeous shade of pink!

On Friday I had to go for my semi-annual CT Scan. I do not have the best veins in the world and I sometimes have a bit of a problem with my IV, but this time was the worst. To start off, it took the lab tech 3 tries to get my blood drawn. Then I went back for my CT Scan and the 2 ladies working the CT machine stuck me 8 times before they could get the IV to go in my veins. I was about ready to walk out and say, "forget it". I felt like a human pin cushion.

It was not the ladies fault, I just have terrible veins. Needless to say, despite all the headaches involved with getting my CT Scan, I got great results. The scan came back normal and there was no evidence of cancer.

My oncologist has told me that if I have another clear clan in December that he will release me and I will not have to have any more scans. Isn't that great? I was thrilled!!!
In the past 7 years since my cancer surgery, I have had more CT Scans than I care to count. The first 3 years I had them every 3 months, then I switched to every 4 months and now I go every 6 months.

I feel very fortunate to have gotten along so well with my cancer. God is good!!! Each day is a joy and I look forward to living it to the fullest each and every day. I enjoy life, my family and my friends (in real life and in the blog world) and count it a blessing to be alive! I have so enjoyed all your blogs and being able to form friendships via the internet. I consider it a privilege to laugh with you, cry with you and pray for you, as we all travel this road we call "LIFE".

So you see, life is good! I had a wonderful weekend with my husband, girls and my son-in-law. They are such an important part of my life and bring so much joy to me! I missed being with my parents and my sister, but I will see them over the 4th holiday.

I only had to work a half day today, so I am in the basement painting furniture. I can't wait to get it finished and set up in Adelaide's room. I am closing with my favorite verse...

I Thes. 5:16-18 Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to my sweet Dad, Bill and my wonderful husband, Tom!! You are such important men in my life and I thank you both for all the support and love throughout the years. You are the best!!! This is a picture of my Mom and Dad at the Angus Barn in Raleigh, where I took them for dinner one night.

As a child I loved playing games with my Dad. We went on lots of wonderful family trips together. My Dad is such a kind and patient man and he has always adored my sister and I, as well as his grandchildren. He spent every possible moment with us and also his grandchildren. Daddy even loves all his "grand pets"!!!

My father served in World War 2 and is very proud of his service in the war. As I stated in an earlier post, he loves to tell war stories and he is constantly telling "tales" and jokes. He loves to be the life of the party with his story telling and jokes!

We were not wealthy, by any means, but I felt rich in the love my father shared with us and the wonderful times we had together. At 89, my Dad is as young at heart as ever and enjoys each and every day. He loves to work his crossword puzzle each day in the newspaper and at night he always has to watch Jeopardy.

Dad had a very strong work ethic and was able to retire from his job early. He actually has been retired longer than he worked. I'm so glad that he has had such a wonderful life. We have been blessed to have him as the head of our family. Love you Dad!!!
This is my husband Tom and I as we celebrated his 56th birthday in June. As I have mentioned before on my posts, we met in high school at the age of 15, so we have practically grown up together. Tom is a hard worker and has a strong work ethic, as well. He has enough years to be able to retire, but has not decided to throw in the towel yet, as they say. In all his years of working, he has only missed work a few times, so therefore he has accumulated years of sick leave. That is pretty impressive!

He has been a great husband and father and we have had some wonderful times together as a family. Tom is a mean pool player and loves to shoot pool!!! Tom adores his 2 daughters and enjoys spending time with them.
The girls were both here this weekend, along with our son-in-law and we had the best time being together.

I hope Tom and my Dad have an awesome Father's Day and feel very loved. I hope all of you have had a great day celebrating your Fathers or remembering fathers who have gone on to heaven. Thanks to all the Dads and the wonderful blessings that they have been to their families!

What's On My Mind Today!

One of my blogger friends, Jennifer over at Trading Ashes for Beauty does a post once a week from the Simple Woman's Day book called what's on my mind. I always like the open ended statements and her comments that she posts each week. Jennifer, I am going to borrow your idea and do the same on my post today.

I have let the week get by and have not posted all week. Sorry guys!! It has just been one of those fun, but busy weeks.

I AM THINKING..... of my wonderful family and how fortunate I am to have such a great family. God blessed me with 2 beautiful daughters and a husband that I have known since I was 15 years old. We have shared 34 years of married life together. Lauren, Adelaide and Thomas are here this weekend for Father's Day and we have had so much fun being together. It seems like all we have done is eat! And we have done lots of talking and laughing!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW...... the sun is shining bright and the temperature is up in the mid 90's. It is HOT!!! But hey, I am not complaining one bit after the cold weather we had this past winter. I am inside with the AC on, so life is good!

I AM WEARING.... a Lilly dress in my favorite color, blue! I wear pants/capris, but I especially love to wear dresses and skirts in the summer. And I love to wear flip flops/sandals. Right now I have on my Jack Rogers.

I AM REMEMBERING.... how special my parents and my sister are and what great times we have had together! I am so fortunate that my parents are still living and we all still enjoy spending time together. My sister lives 2 hours from me and my parents have a second home where she lives in the mountains, so we all get to be together a lot. I wouldn't have it any other way. Family is very important to us and we so enjoy being with each other.
I AM READING.... My Bible. I am waiting on my copy of The Help to arrive and I can't wait to start that. It is supposed to be so good. A great summer read! I also spend a lot of time reading your blogs. Love my blog reading each day!!!!

I AM HOPING... that I will have one more clear CT Scan in December and if so, I will not have to have them anymore and will be released from my oncologist's care. That will be awesome. I just had a CT Scan on Friday of this week and it came back normal. Praise the Lord!! Despite having cancer I am so fortunate to have been blessed by God in so many ways. Each day is a joy and I try to live it to the fullest!

ON MY MIND... I am thinking about how fast the summer is flying by. Adelaide has already been home for 6 weeks from college. The time is going too fast. I am so enjoying my time with her at home and do not want it to go so fast. She just completed an internship at Brenner's Children's Hospital and will start her summer Nanny job on Monday. She wants to be a Child Life Specialist and work with children who are terminally ill or have had surgery/trauma in their lives. She will be so good at that!!! I know that she blessed many children while she was there this summer. I can't believe that Adelaide will be a senior in college this year.

FROM THE KITCHEN.... We have been eating out all weekend, but on Sunday morning, we plan to fix a big breakfast for Father's Day. Friday night we ate at a wonderful restaurant downtown and then walked to a yummy cheesecake place and sat outside and ate our cheesecake and listened to jazz music. For lunch today, we ate at our favorite deli and tonight we are going to our favorite Italian restaurant and Thomas' parents are going to join us. In case you haven't noticed, this family LOVES to eat. And I do love to cook, but this weekend, we just wanted to be together and do other things besides be in the kitchen all weekend.

AROUND THE HOUSE..... things are in a mess!!! We are painting our whole upstairs, getting ready to put in new carpet and changing rooms around. What fun!!! In the process, I am cleaning out, throwing away and trying to get re-organized. So things are a wreck right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, thank goodness!

PLANS FOR THE WEEK..... Thursday night is the last beach music for the season. But it will be a great one, because Chairmen of the Board are going to play. It has been so much fun going each week!!! I love beach music, although I never did learn how to Shag. I will be working this week from Monday through Thursday. I am also refinishing an old bedroom suite for Adelaide that I had as a child. I hope I can get it finished this week. I have enjoyed working on it.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS..... are hydrangeas! I love this color blue!!! I would love to have a whole yard full of hydrangeas and be able to pick a bouquet whenever I wanted one. This bush is on the side of my house. So pretty!!!
Have a nice Father's Day weekend!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Busy Bees!!!

I am loving all the gorgeous hydrangeas that are in bloom here in North Carolina right now. The ones in my yard are purple! I took this picture while I was out shopping the other day. This blue is my favorite color! So pretty!

I must apologize for not posting all week. Wow, did this week fly by! For one thing, I had something to do EVERY night this week after work. Monday night I had dinner with girl friends, Tuesday night Adelaide and I attended a bridal shower, Wednesday night I went from work to babysit, Thursday night I went with a girlfriend to Beach Music to hear the Band of Oz. Friday night Tom and I went out to dinner. That makes for an extremely busy week to say the least.
Tuesday night Adelaide and I attended a bridal shower for one of Adelaide's high school friends who is getting married this summer. These are all Adelaide's high school Young Life friends and the lady (Susie) on the right was their Young Life Leader. And guess what? Susie was in college when I was in high school and she was my Young Life leader. Isn't that a small world? (Adelaide is the 4th one on the top row in the navy/white dress)

Susie is an amazing lady and she loves her "girls". At the shower when each gift was opened by the bride to be, Sara Katelin, the person who gave her the gift got to bless her and also give her a bit of advice about marriage. That was really a very special part of the shower. It was very touching. Also, at the end of the shower, Susie prayed for the bride and so did a lot of other people.

It was so wonderful to see all these young college girls who have grown up in Young Life and who so love the Lord and want to put Him first in their lives. There were also lots of Moms at the shower too, so it was a fun time for all. Lots of good food, fellowship and time to love on the bride and wish her well. The bride and groom will be moving to Canada when they get married.

On Friday, my Monday morning Bible study group (minus one gal who was out of town) got together for the day and went thrifting, shopping and out to lunch! We had the best time and we talked non-stop all day. Who would expect anything else? We don't meet in the summer, so we get together at least once a month and plan a fun outing, so that we can be together. We went to the Tea Room in Kernersville, NC, near where we live. It was delicious, as always! (Susan, Nancy, Terre, Jane & Me)
This is a nightstand that goes with a bedroom set that used to belong to me when I was a little girl. I'm sure you remember this old French Provincial style. I have had this set in my basement. (2 twin beds, a nightstand and a large dresser) Adelaide decided that she would like to have this set in her bedroom, so I am refinishing all the pieces. Over the weekend I got the pieces primed and they are now ready to paint. The beds and nightstand are going to be done in the white shabby chic style and the dresser is going to be a blue color. I think it will all be pretty when I get it finished. Luckily I only have to work 3 days this week, as the family I Nanny for is going out of town for a mini vacation. That will give me some extra time to hopefully get this furniture finished next weekend.

We got beautiful Shabby Chic bedding from Target that has mostly white in it, but it does have some touches of blue. The walls for Adelaide's room are painted the palest of blues. It is so pretty and so soothing! I love it! My sweet husband painted Adelaide's bedroom last weekend and this weekend he painted our guest room. The next room to paint will be my office/sewing room/upstairs den. There is nothing better than a room with a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
This is Holly "wishing" for some banana pudding!! And no, we don't sit with our dog at the table on a regular basis. Adelaide has been gone all weekend to the mountains to attend a wedding. Since Adelaide got home tonight, Holly has not wanted to get out of Adelaide's sight. When we finished dinner, Adelaide let Holly sit on her lap while I was cleaning off the table. Holly put her little paws up on the table like she was waiting to be served some dessert.

Here is Adelaide with Holly. Adelaide had a wonderful time visiting her roommate, who is at college this summer going to summer school. Adelaide enjoyed being back in her apartment for the weekend, visiting with friends and going to the wedding of one of her guy friends from high school. She said that everything was just beautiful. We love weddings, so I know she had a great time.

As you can see, things have been busy here, but we have had a great week. Needless to say, my house is a wreck and will probably be a mess until we can get all this painting done. The next thing is getting new carpet in our whole upstairs. Won't that be fun? I can't wait. I am so tired of this old carpet. And it is going to be fun to re-do all our upstairs rooms.

We are keeping our same master bedroom, but the 3 other bedrooms are being switched around. Since Adelaide's bedroom is the largest, she is letting me have that room for my office/sewing room/den. Our old office will become the new guest room and the old guest room will become Adelaide's new room.

My husband and I are going to get a king-size bed and our guest room will get our queen bed. Our poor married daughter and her husband have a hard time sleeping on our double guest bed. They will love the queen!

I also have a couch, chair and ottoman that will need to be re-upholstered, so I will have to go back over to the $3 a yard fabric store and look for fabric to have those pieces done. There are never enough hours in the day, are there?

Anyway, we are making progress and I am happy to be getting all this stuff done. It will be a while, but I will take pictures when we have everything finished. Right now it is a wreck!

On top of all this work inside, I went to Home Depot to get my paint the other day and they had all their perennials on sale for 99 cents and I came home with a trunk full. I had to plant those too. I couldn't resist!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful week.