Envitably Sunday...

Coffee, it's like the force. Are you on the light side or the dark side? I like it sweet and creamy... I'm good!

I'm looking forward to a nice painting session today. I have a few things to finish, a couple things to start and some new ideas and techniques to test out. It should last about four hours long.

My daughter and her fiance will be joining us later on for a nice quiet evening of board games.. we haven't done that in years, but since we moved and were able to get the board hands into an easy access type place.. yea, looking forward to it. Dinner to! Although, I haven't really planned anything... hmmm I should probably get to it!

Ok, then.. onward and upward! May your coffee flow through your cups like the Niagra falls over those cliffs!

Peace and Light! ~  Sherry

www.facebook.com/chickspassions

Paintings Galore!!

Of all the labels I wear, mother, wife, doggie mommy, sister, daughter, voluptuous sex goddess, ect. One of my favorite labels is artist (it might have been my favorite, but what could actually really beat voluptuous sex goddess???)
My favorite media is spray paint, but I've been pencil sketching for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite childhood memories is being in Florida for the summer with my grandparents and going out to my great aunt and uncle's tiny chicken/bird farm. At the time I was given a spiral note book and a pencil and told to go make more fanciful pictures. Which I did, happily. I kept that notebook for many years to follow until it was lost in my own mess of a lazy childhood bedroom.
Art has always been a part of my life, even if it was just doodles on scrap paper to pass the time. But now, it's become a center. Something I want to share and feel value for. It's a gift of God, and it isn't my place to keep a gift of God hiding! After viewing the pics, take a stroll over to Facebook and like the page www.facebook.com/chickspassions to keep some beautiful art on your news feed! Remember, when you subscribe to choose the option to show posts! I hope everyone has a great day!
Blessings and all my love! ~ Sherry

Color Swatches Mission

Now that the moving has been done, its time to start thinking about that uhg-ly recliner. I'm close to 90% positive that I'm confident enough that I possibly might not mess this up. I can't possibly make it any worse, at any rate.

I'm sure hubs is settled in his mind that he wants the exact same material in the exact same color. I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no. I'm saying there are a gazzilion choices and I'd like to consider at least a couple of them before we make a decision.

Beginning with type of material, I want soft, and it can't feel like crushed velvet. Nor can it be like those fuzzy furniture pieces from the 70's, only because it would look totally out of place. Nothing that is going to make me feel sticky in the summer time. But something that will go well with the heat and massage that are inside the chair. 

The material that is on it is the perfect material. He says its suede, but is it real suede or not? More investigation is needed, cuz I'm positive real suede isn't a cost we can afford.

Suggestions on sites to start looking would be awesome!

Blessings and all my love ~ Sherry

The Peace of Being Settled

Moving is a lot of work. I should know, I've done it eleventy hundred times. There is this great satisfaction in getting everything out of boxes and creating a home for each and every thing.

I set goals for myself when I'm setting up a new place. The first night here my goal was to make enough room in our box filled living room to lay down the box spring and mattress. We couldn't use the bedroom for a few days as the carpet guys needed to get in there. Boxes were sorted, restacked, unpacked or otherwise moved out of my way. Eventually, there was room for our sleeping quarters.

The next day my goal was to make enough room for the table to get out of the way out the bathroom door. Being a woman who had four children this was a matter of urinary health and hygiene plus my safety! Again, boxes are moved, sorted, unpacked, re- stacked or otherwise gotten out of my way.

Soon after that came together hubs and I set a goal of getting the rest of the kitchen done. After that, it all came together pretty quickly.

We did however take a few days off before we finished the living room. Once that was done, the bedroom kinda got a bit unorganized again. I'll finish it tomorrow, I do believe.

There is a calm after all the unpacking is done. Everything is in it's place, its easy to maintain. We've worked so hard, we deserve a rest. I feel at piece, I was able to paint a couple plates. Life is pretty awesome.

But, tomorrow the rat race starts all over again....

Best wishes and all my love! ~ Sherry

Progress, Despite Pain

I'm tired. Not the sleepy tired that means I could sleep for twenty hours and wake up feeling refreshed and full of life again. The tired that means I ache all over, my feet hurt and despite sleeping for eight hours,I woke up just as tired as I had gone to bed. The kind of tired where my enthusiasm for decorating and unpacking has left me and I'm beginning to long for a good book, on a park bench in a quiet and secluded area.

I'm grumpy, I'm sore, my sores have sores. It hurts to walk, it hurts to stand, it hurts to sit or lay down. It hurts to move or to breath or even to blink. I'm pretty sure even my hair hurts.

The move took us a day and a half. Obviously, that doesn't include packing, since that took us nearly two months. Unpacking seems to be taking us a life time. Hours were spent between Saturday night and all day yesterday getting the kitchen set up. The bathroom took hubs about an hour total to set up. It's the only room I'd call complete. It's 100% functional. The kitchen is about 95% functional. The only thing left to do in the kitchen is to get out what doesn't belong there and to find an appropriate place for our bread maker.

I'm not sure how long it took hubs to set up the office. I fell asleep well before he did. It looks pretty good in here, I just need to get all of my stuff set up and we need the internet turned on.

The living room and the bedroom have to wait until the carpet guys get here today. They are replacing the carpet in the bedroom. We haven't been able to set anything up in there until they are done. Therefore, the living room is stacked with things for both rooms. Tick tock..  tick.tock... not even sure what time they will be here...

I'll be getting out and away from all this madness for a little bit this morning as I run to the post office to pick up our held mail and put in a change of address. Not the most exciting outing ever, but I'm still looking forward to it, regardless.

I took a nice soak in a bubble bath last night. I had envisioned this happening with a glass of wine, but when the time came I was a bit terrified that I'd feel asleep in the bathtub. This was my first time in a bathtub since we moved into the old apartment in February, 2012. I'll never rent another apartment without a bathtub, at least on propose! How I missed it...

Now, I'm not so sure how multiple pics get posted with this app. But, I want to share some of the pic highlights! I'll work on that.. you guys work on having a great day!

Best wishes and all my love! ~Sherry

Moving Day!!!

I can't believe it's really here! Finally!!! Today, the final walk through, getting the keys, taking pictures, moving in boxes. So much excitement I can hardly contain myself.
The it of it all.. I wish we could get out all moved out today, but it isn't going to be enough time. We will have to spend one more night in the old apartment. It's unfortunate we cannot trust adults to behave accordingly, but we cannot. It's unfortunate that we managed to find our selves in a predicament such as this in the first place. Having a suspected junkie for a roommate hasn't been fun. An epic adventure of the worst kind. And, the only thing I have to say about him right now is that he better know well enough to keep his mouth closed while we are moving, if he knows what's good for him, that is.

Then there is the landlord, and I use this term very loosely. I think renters should start asking potential landlords for references. Other than word of mouth, they have no checks and balances. Sure, court can make them comply, but when that tenant leaves, they get to start all over with a new, unsuspecting tenant. With the ever moving and the great need for places to live it's becoming cut throat. The landlords have the upper hand. There is little time, and competition is great, 30 minutes to long in making a decision means you have to decide quickly, within about the time it takes to view an apartment if the landlord is right for your as well as the apartment.
It matters! The apartment can be a beautiful and perfect fit for your family, but the landlord can be a controlling sod, or a complete nut job.

Don't become friends with your landlord. It is a business deal. Hold standards, be sure to have more than a ten minute discussion, and do your best to figure out what type of person you may be renting from. A very very very important question you could ask is how many tenants has the landlord had in the last five years. If it equals to a number greater than three, this could be an indication that the landlord has found issue with every tenant, and/or there are things wrong with the property it's self.
I've rented from all types. Although, this will be my first time renting in an apartment complex. I'm tired of shady landlords. Just because you own property that you are not utilizing yourself, doesn't mean you should be a landlord. If you have to be in control of every aspect, or appear to be, then maybe being a landlord isn't right for you. If the lease you draw up is more than five pages long, filled with rules that make no sense whatsoever (your tenants cannot hang clothes in their part of the yard?) Then you should probably think twice about being a landlord. If you are on medication for a mood disorder/mental illness, you again, should probably not be a landlord. If you believe that it's ok to hold off on property maintenance because you cannot afford to replace a refrigerator, or a stove, or fix your septic that's pouring all over the driveway in a timely manner, please, don't be a landlord. If it's your responsibility, per the lease that you had drawn up to mow the lawn and remove the snow, then your ass needs to be out there at five o'clock in the morning shoveling the snow off the walking path for your tenants. Your Saturday is now committed to mowing the grass to keep it from becoming a place where your tenants dog gets lost going out to potty. If your tenant offers to mow without charge, thank them for helping take care of your responsibilities, but check yourself, because they are probably trying to hint to you that you aren't fulfilling your end of the contract. If it's in your lease, then they've already paid you to mow the lawn. If other priorities are in your way and you cannot afford to hire someone to do it, then you do not have time to be a landlord.

Maybe I'm old fashioned. Maybe, just maybe I believe that when I pay for a service that I should get the service I paid for. If a landlord agreed to it in the price of rent, then damn it, do it. You have a contract to fulfill, complete it.

There should be a website that tenants can go to and rate their landlords. I'd totally be checking that out each time I moved.

All My Love and Best Wishes. ~ Sherry

Work horse.

My next couple of days will be spent working like a horse. For all the preparations made in the last few weeks, it is all coming down to the next couple of days. So much to do, so much to finish.
Nothing can go wrong. We are literally down to the wire. Everything has to go in a box, in a bag, or otherwise set on the Great Wall O Boxes. Things that don't go there are headed out to the side of the road for the garbage man to sort through.
I'm sipping my coffee this morning. Waiting, waiting, waiting for my motivation to arrive. It's late, it's been running on its own schedule for this last week. Sometimes it doesn't arrive until an hour before it's quitting time. Not conducive, I may have to fire my motivation and apply for a new one.
Naturally, coffee tends to attract it, but even then, sometimes coffee isn't enough. Chronic pain sucks, and I'm 98% sure it scares my motivation away.
Just one more cup of coffee...

Almost There. I Think I Can. I Think I Can.

I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed right now. While the pile of boxes all packed and ready to go has grown astronomically in the last 48 hours, I just feel like we haven't gotten enough packed.

No pictures, PLEASE!

This has truly been the longest process of moving I think I have ever experienced. We have been packing since the middle of July. Yet, here we are just 4 days from the tentative moving day and we are still packing.

I also still had garden food to put up. I finished that tonight as well. Well, nearly finished. I still have green peppers that need to go in freezer bags, once they are done freezing on the pan. I look around me and I see boxes and emptiness, where for a year and a half there was warmth and living. I'm not sad, nor am I in anyway way sentimental about this apartment. If truth be told, I guess, even though I called it home here, it never really felt like I belonged.

Where is all my STUFF??

I also don't like the feeling of my things, his things, our things being all boxed up and not really remember where we put what in what box! I know it will be over soon, at least when I look at the calendar I know it will be over soon. But, when I think about it, it still seems like a year away.

The Other Side of the Wall O Boxes

I'm also not concerned that we have yet to do the final walk through on the new apartment, nor have we done an initial walk through on this particular apartment, the one we will call our new home. BUT I would certainly LIKE to do one.. like right now, so I can remember where the bathroom is, and I can visualize the kitchen/dining/living room area better, maybe draw a picture! That way when I am searching all over Hell's Internet I can actually find things I know would work, instead of guessing they will.

My son's nearly EMPTY room

SOON!!! It will happen, soon.

Best wishes and all my love! ~Sherry

My Mission Impossible

My mission, if I so choose to accept it, is to figure out how to use the Blogger App for my droid.
It is ever apparent that during our move, we will be without internet access for a little while. It is also ever apparent that I need to be able to continue with this blog, as it will have about a billion outlets for me!
With that, I will now bring you (hopefully!) a picture of a lil lazy dog...

Blogger Idol. I am a blogging idiot!

Check one.. 
Check two..
Check... is this thing on??

Blogger Idol!! Audition. Spur of the moment decision. Am I crazy? HELL YES! But I wanna make you LOOOOOVE ME!

If nothing else.

Prizes! Fame! Fortune! Fame! Let us not forget FAME! ok, ok, I am being narcissistic...

I'm not going to even pretend I know how to blog. I won't even try to convince you that I have what it takes to be the winner of 2013. I am however, willing to step out on a limb and show you what I can do. In the end, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Come on, follow me. We will go on an adventure together!

I'm kinda humorous, a lot sarcastic, but I have a huge heart. And I'm kinda artsie-fartsie. That means I get to show you some art work... Why? Because it's MY blog, and I do what I want!

Solar Ten

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gasway

Under the Sea

Hey, when all else fails....

I have an ADORABLE lil doggie!

I'm Cute! Pick my Mommy for Blogger Idol!

  Best Wishes and All My Love ~ Sherry

Waking the Dead with a poking stick...

*poke* *PoKe* *POKE!!*

 Is this thing even on??

Who would have thunk it? It's been a "not so great" year for me. Lots and TONS of changes. And now... moving to add to the list of things that will be changing! For any and all who are wondering, the Esty Shop is closed. Yeah, sorry, it was a rat race, I couldn't keep up... I FAILED YOU!! *sob boo friggen who* Ok... moving on now...

Giant Wall O Boxes!

 

Moving, don't you just HATE it with a passion?? Everything I own (well, ok not quite everything) is in a box. If I need it like yesterday, it's in a box. If I need it tomorrow, it's in a box. I have shoes in boxes, clothes in boxes, dishes, towels, nic-naks, paddy whacks, give a dog a bone in boxes... BOXES in BOXES, The cat ate my hat in boxes! Socks in Boxes, with Foxes in Boxes, I don't like them Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and boxes!.....whew... getting carried away... but you get the drift... (disclaimer: with my work related injury I sustained last year there are only a FEW of those boxes that I can lift or move.. poor hubs!)

One thing that excites me about moving... Setting up the new place! It's going to be a bit of a challenge. It is a tiny, yet cozy apartment. Well, at least the one we LOOKED at was tiny and cozy. We won't actually SEE our apartment until we do the walk through... soon?!?

I'm blogging again because I am getting passion again! Passion about decorating our new space we will call home. Among many things I intend to share are, the moving process, the unpacking experience and the decorating and setting up of the apartment!  I have been scouring the web for the last 2 weeks to find useable ideas for our kitchen/dinning/living room area.. unsuccessfully, I might add.. as most "small space" decorating ideas for just a living room are larger than an entire Olympic sized swimming pool arena! (no, seriously, I am not exaggerating a tiny bit at all!) 

HELP ME!!!

 

First project we will conquer after setting up is reupholstering this "HELP ME I AM UGLY!! but ooohhh so comfy" chair. This WAS a very nice chair when I met my husband, but a few years of abuse by teenagers, little ones, a GIANT CHAIR EATING DOG!!! and a careless roommate have left their marks. I refuse to give up on it!! It has heat and massage and I fell asleep in it the first night I came over to hubs apartment... ya know, the night I caught him staring at me.. errr... yeah, ok, TMI... 

                            

                          

On with the show!

Lil Doggie just wants to know if it's time to move yet!!! Poor thing, she hates moving the most out of the three of us!! Best Wishes and All My Love! ~Sherry

 

THE END

 PS. Try to remind me to show you pictures of my newest art work! Spray Paint Art!!! ok, ok... no really, I am gone this time!