Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Reading Chair Makeover
I have been in a very creative mood lately. I have painted, made a slipcover for a stool, refinished a lamp, started refinishing an antique school desk (my graduation gift), and revived a frumpy old chair. I bought the chair about a year ago from a yard sale for $5.00. I thought after a little TLC it would make a great reading chair for a future classroom. Since I haven't had an immediate need for the chair it was stored in the attic until a couple of weeks ago. I was inspired to get the chair out and give her a makeover after reading several posts on different blogs about furniture refinishing. I decided my frumpy old chair would be the perfect candidate for a blogging makeover. Here is what she looked like before:
The photo is very misleading. This chair was dirty nasty and the paint job was terrible. Someone's idea of recovering the poor chair was to hot glue a piece of lace over the top of the cushion. It was bad but I figured if I totally messed up the chair I was only out $5.00. So, I tore all the lace off, picked off the hot glue, gave her a light sanding and a fresh coat of spray paint, recovered the seat, and voila. . . she is now a very classy lady. I am making her a custom pillow tomorrow to complete her new look. I will provide the after photo tomorrow!! I am so excited!
Reading Chair Makeover
I have been in a very creative mood lately. I have painted, made a slipcover for a stool, refinished a lamp, started refinishing an antique school desk (my graduation gift), and revived a frumpy old chair. I bought the chair about a year ago from a yard sale for $5.00. I thought after a little TLC it would make a great reading chair for a future classroom. Since I haven't had an immediate need for the chair it was stored in the attic until a couple of weeks ago. I was inspired to get the chair out and give her a makeover after reading several posts on different blogs about furniture refinishing. I decided my frumpy old chair would be the perfect candidate for a blogging makeover. Here is what she looked like before:
The photo is very misleading. This chair was dirty nasty and the paint job was terrible. Someone's idea of recovering the poor chair was to hot glue a piece of lace over the top of the cushion. It was bad but I figured if I totally messed up the chair I was only out $5.00. So, I tore all the lace off, picked off the hot glue, gave her a light sanding and a fresh coat of spray paint, recovered the seat, and voila. . . she is now a very classy lady. I am making her a custom pillow tomorrow to complete her new look. I will provide the after photo tomorrow!! I am so excited!
Mommy Moments
For about the past year people have been asking me if I am having trouble dealing with my oldest son T graduating this year. Every time someone asks me that I am surprised and my answer is no--that is it was until last Saturday night. Our Saturday was filled with tons of activities as usual. Of course we had our usual projects and routine things to do like going to Wal-Mart. But this past Saturday we had to fit the Salvation Army into our day (my newest passion). After the trip to the Salvation Army store we headed to the park and the new environmental education building. That is where my brilliant husband thoought of as the place to take T's Senior Prom photos. (It was supposed to rain)
Like I said up until that day I had not even had one worry about T graduating and leaving the nest. In fact I was fine all through the photos. After we finished with the photos we headed to Home Depot for some home improvement items. Still nothing. We came home and started on several weekend projects. Still fine. It hit me at about 8:00. I suddenly had a strong urge to talk to my firstborn son. I can't explain the feeling but if you are a mom you know it. It is that overwhelming feeling you get that says, "You have to see your child, you need to hold them, and make sure they are okay." To me it is a physical need to capture a moment with my child. A way to preserve a memory of a moment with my child. Much to the dismay of my husband this feeling has occured often in my children's lives. I cannot tell you the number of nights I have spent snuggling up in a twin sized bed with each of my boys. My husband would rather me stay in our bed but he has always been understanding about the need I have to nurture my boys. T and I have spent many late nights curled up in front of the television watching The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Designing Women and whatever else we could find to watch. That was one of the greatest benefits to homeschooling. If we had a late night we would just sleep in and start school later than usual.
I don't know what happened but suddenly I needed to speak to T. I knew it would probably not be well recieved for mom to call in the middle of his date so I resisted the urge to hear his voice and sent a text instead. I had been so busy that I didn't take time to have that "These are the best times of your life speech" and I was suddenly overcome. I don't do it often but I broke into uncontrollable tears. Poor J didn't know what to think in fact I think he thought I had finally lost my mind. About that time I hear J say, "Hey, y'all come on in." He looked in and said Trey is here. I jumped up and ran out of the room to try and compose myself. I don't want to be the nut case boyfriend's mom. I experienced a few of those and do not care to join that group myself.
T laughed at me, of course. He said, "I'm coming home tomorrow. I am not leaving home for good." But he did give me a hug and let me cry on his shoulder a little. I can't say for sure but for a split second I thought I caught a glimpse of my long lost dog behind that cranky old cat that took his place. Maybe it won't be long until the cat is gone for good and my sweet doggie companion will once again be content to watch late night television with me. Well, at least I can dream.
Like I said up until that day I had not even had one worry about T graduating and leaving the nest. In fact I was fine all through the photos. After we finished with the photos we headed to Home Depot for some home improvement items. Still nothing. We came home and started on several weekend projects. Still fine. It hit me at about 8:00. I suddenly had a strong urge to talk to my firstborn son. I can't explain the feeling but if you are a mom you know it. It is that overwhelming feeling you get that says, "You have to see your child, you need to hold them, and make sure they are okay." To me it is a physical need to capture a moment with my child. A way to preserve a memory of a moment with my child. Much to the dismay of my husband this feeling has occured often in my children's lives. I cannot tell you the number of nights I have spent snuggling up in a twin sized bed with each of my boys. My husband would rather me stay in our bed but he has always been understanding about the need I have to nurture my boys. T and I have spent many late nights curled up in front of the television watching The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Designing Women and whatever else we could find to watch. That was one of the greatest benefits to homeschooling. If we had a late night we would just sleep in and start school later than usual.
I don't know what happened but suddenly I needed to speak to T. I knew it would probably not be well recieved for mom to call in the middle of his date so I resisted the urge to hear his voice and sent a text instead. I had been so busy that I didn't take time to have that "These are the best times of your life speech" and I was suddenly overcome. I don't do it often but I broke into uncontrollable tears. Poor J didn't know what to think in fact I think he thought I had finally lost my mind. About that time I hear J say, "Hey, y'all come on in." He looked in and said Trey is here. I jumped up and ran out of the room to try and compose myself. I don't want to be the nut case boyfriend's mom. I experienced a few of those and do not care to join that group myself.
T laughed at me, of course. He said, "I'm coming home tomorrow. I am not leaving home for good." But he did give me a hug and let me cry on his shoulder a little. I can't say for sure but for a split second I thought I caught a glimpse of my long lost dog behind that cranky old cat that took his place. Maybe it won't be long until the cat is gone for good and my sweet doggie companion will once again be content to watch late night television with me. Well, at least I can dream.
Mommy Moments
For about the past year people have been asking me if I am having trouble dealing with my oldest son T graduating this year. Every time someone asks me that I am surprised and my answer is no--that is it was until last Saturday night. Our Saturday was filled with tons of activities as usual. Of course we had our usual projects and routine things to do like going to Wal-Mart. But this past Saturday we had to fit the Salvation Army into our day (my newest passion). After the trip to the Salvation Army store we headed to the park and the new environmental education building. That is where my brilliant husband thoought of as the place to take T's Senior Prom photos. (It was supposed to rain)
Like I said up until that day I had not even had one worry about T graduating and leaving the nest. In fact I was fine all through the photos. After we finished with the photos we headed to Home Depot for some home improvement items. Still nothing. We came home and started on several weekend projects. Still fine. It hit me at about 8:00. I suddenly had a strong urge to talk to my firstborn son. I can't explain the feeling but if you are a mom you know it. It is that overwhelming feeling you get that says, "You have to see your child, you need to hold them, and make sure they are okay." To me it is a physical need to capture a moment with my child. A way to preserve a memory of a moment with my child. Much to the dismay of my husband this feeling has occured often in my children's lives. I cannot tell you the number of nights I have spent snuggling up in a twin sized bed with each of my boys. My husband would rather me stay in our bed but he has always been understanding about the need I have to nurture my boys. T and I have spent many late nights curled up in front of the television watching The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Designing Women and whatever else we could find to watch. That was one of the greatest benefits to homeschooling. If we had a late night we would just sleep in and start school later than usual.
I don't know what happened but suddenly I needed to speak to T. I knew it would probably not be well recieved for mom to call in the middle of his date so I resisted the urge to hear his voice and sent a text instead. I had been so busy that I didn't take time to have that "These are the best times of your life speech" and I was suddenly overcome. I don't do it often but I broke into uncontrollable tears. Poor J didn't know what to think in fact I think he thought I had finally lost my mind. About that time I hear J say, "Hey, y'all come on in." He looked in and said Trey is here. I jumped up and ran out of the room to try and compose myself. I don't want to be the nut case boyfriend's mom. I experienced a few of those and do not care to join that group myself.
T laughed at me, of course. He said, "I'm coming home tomorrow. I am not leaving home for good." But he did give me a hug and let me cry on his shoulder a little. I can't say for sure but for a split second I thought I caught a glimpse of my long lost dog behind that cranky old cat that took his place. Maybe it won't be long until the cat is gone for good and my sweet doggie companion will once again be content to watch late night television with me. Well, at least I can dream.
Like I said up until that day I had not even had one worry about T graduating and leaving the nest. In fact I was fine all through the photos. After we finished with the photos we headed to Home Depot for some home improvement items. Still nothing. We came home and started on several weekend projects. Still fine. It hit me at about 8:00. I suddenly had a strong urge to talk to my firstborn son. I can't explain the feeling but if you are a mom you know it. It is that overwhelming feeling you get that says, "You have to see your child, you need to hold them, and make sure they are okay." To me it is a physical need to capture a moment with my child. A way to preserve a memory of a moment with my child. Much to the dismay of my husband this feeling has occured often in my children's lives. I cannot tell you the number of nights I have spent snuggling up in a twin sized bed with each of my boys. My husband would rather me stay in our bed but he has always been understanding about the need I have to nurture my boys. T and I have spent many late nights curled up in front of the television watching The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Designing Women and whatever else we could find to watch. That was one of the greatest benefits to homeschooling. If we had a late night we would just sleep in and start school later than usual.
I don't know what happened but suddenly I needed to speak to T. I knew it would probably not be well recieved for mom to call in the middle of his date so I resisted the urge to hear his voice and sent a text instead. I had been so busy that I didn't take time to have that "These are the best times of your life speech" and I was suddenly overcome. I don't do it often but I broke into uncontrollable tears. Poor J didn't know what to think in fact I think he thought I had finally lost my mind. About that time I hear J say, "Hey, y'all come on in." He looked in and said Trey is here. I jumped up and ran out of the room to try and compose myself. I don't want to be the nut case boyfriend's mom. I experienced a few of those and do not care to join that group myself.
T laughed at me, of course. He said, "I'm coming home tomorrow. I am not leaving home for good." But he did give me a hug and let me cry on his shoulder a little. I can't say for sure but for a split second I thought I caught a glimpse of my long lost dog behind that cranky old cat that took his place. Maybe it won't be long until the cat is gone for good and my sweet doggie companion will once again be content to watch late night television with me. Well, at least I can dream.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Trust
Today I went to G's school a little early so I could take him to the book fair at his school. I can't describe the overwhelming joy I feel when I lock eyes with that precious little boy. The secretary had announced my arrival over the intercom and G's teacher had him waiting in the hallway when I turned onto his hall. He hasn't been that excited about seeing me for quite some time and to tell you the truth it was really starting to bother me. He has always been so overjoyed to see me when we are reunited after even the briefest absence. He was on his way to the restroom and when I arrived. His teachers and parapros were all busy so I had the privilege of taking him to the bathroom. He was so excited that he almost wheeled himself into the bathroom wall.
We used a side door that goes through a courtyard leading to the media center. G is not used to going this way because the sidewalk there has a slight slope. I am ever trying to broaden his experiences and prepare him for the world so I thought that way is the best way to head to the library. Usually when faced with the obstacle that a slope presents G reacts by letting go of his wheels and raising both arms up as his body reacts to his fear. Now, I don't have to tell you that his reaction is totally the opposite reaction he needs to have in this kind of situation. I was pleasantly surprised today when I let him independently roll out onto the slope. He didn't let go! In fact he held a death grip on the wheels. Well, it is progress. At least he knows the danger in being strapped to an out of control wheelchair. Now to help him gain confidence in himself and gradually loosen the grip on his wheels.
I suppose that is why I have such trouble with transitions myself. I don't like the feeling of not being completely in control. I feel strapped to this thing called life with very little control of my direction. The difference between my situation and G's is that G is the only one in that wheelchair. He alone controls the speed and direction that it goes. It is all up to him. I however am a child of God. He has me in his hand as He guides me through life. Just as G has to learn to trust me when I stand in front of his chair and tell him I will not let him fall as he begins down an unfamiliar path I have to loosen my grip and trust that God is not going to let me fall.
Sometimes parents let their children fall so that they realize falling is not as scary as it seems. God doesn't give us everything we want, exactly the way we want, or exactly when we want it. He gives us so much more. He gives us what we need when we don't realize that is what we would have wanted all along if we had only been able to see it clearly. I am reminded of that lesson every time I look at my sweet baby G. Would I have chosen for my sweet child to have a disability if given the choice in the beginning? No, I wouldn't. Would I change him now if I could? No, probably not. That may sound cold and strange to some people but G's disability is part of who he is. It is partly responsible for the kind of spirit he has. His disability has brought many special people into our lives. People are naturally drawn to that precious little boy and he has blessed many people with his strength and his joyful spirit.
G's disability has changed our family and helped us to see things in a different way. It has strengthened us and brought us together as a team. We depend on each other in a way that most people will never understand. So just as I have always trusted God when it comes to G, I will continue to trust Him as He leads me into and out of the hallway.
We used a side door that goes through a courtyard leading to the media center. G is not used to going this way because the sidewalk there has a slight slope. I am ever trying to broaden his experiences and prepare him for the world so I thought that way is the best way to head to the library. Usually when faced with the obstacle that a slope presents G reacts by letting go of his wheels and raising both arms up as his body reacts to his fear. Now, I don't have to tell you that his reaction is totally the opposite reaction he needs to have in this kind of situation. I was pleasantly surprised today when I let him independently roll out onto the slope. He didn't let go! In fact he held a death grip on the wheels. Well, it is progress. At least he knows the danger in being strapped to an out of control wheelchair. Now to help him gain confidence in himself and gradually loosen the grip on his wheels.
I suppose that is why I have such trouble with transitions myself. I don't like the feeling of not being completely in control. I feel strapped to this thing called life with very little control of my direction. The difference between my situation and G's is that G is the only one in that wheelchair. He alone controls the speed and direction that it goes. It is all up to him. I however am a child of God. He has me in his hand as He guides me through life. Just as G has to learn to trust me when I stand in front of his chair and tell him I will not let him fall as he begins down an unfamiliar path I have to loosen my grip and trust that God is not going to let me fall.
Sometimes parents let their children fall so that they realize falling is not as scary as it seems. God doesn't give us everything we want, exactly the way we want, or exactly when we want it. He gives us so much more. He gives us what we need when we don't realize that is what we would have wanted all along if we had only been able to see it clearly. I am reminded of that lesson every time I look at my sweet baby G. Would I have chosen for my sweet child to have a disability if given the choice in the beginning? No, I wouldn't. Would I change him now if I could? No, probably not. That may sound cold and strange to some people but G's disability is part of who he is. It is partly responsible for the kind of spirit he has. His disability has brought many special people into our lives. People are naturally drawn to that precious little boy and he has blessed many people with his strength and his joyful spirit.
G's disability has changed our family and helped us to see things in a different way. It has strengthened us and brought us together as a team. We depend on each other in a way that most people will never understand. So just as I have always trusted God when it comes to G, I will continue to trust Him as He leads me into and out of the hallway.
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