Get me off the couch

It's one of our rare weekends off this fall - our Hogs are off this week (and so are our Dallas Cowboys).  I should be leaping at the opportunity to get some projects done - painting the hallway, thrifty shopping, budgeting (blah), or reorganizing.  Or, since it's 70 and sunny, I should be outside, playing kickball with Alli or getting my run in.

Instead, I am laying on the couch.  Watching completely meaningless football.  I don't generally think SEC football is meaningless, but this is Kentucky @ Ole Miss.  Totally worthless.  And here I am, just watching.

So I thought, I'll be as productive as possible from the couch.  I'll blog!  But I am too lazy to even pick a topic to blog about.  So I just started a rambling post.  And now I'm tired of  it.  Maybe I'll get up soon and give myself something to blog about.  Maybe not.  Stay tuned.

Weighing In

For those of you who haven't been around me over the past three weeks, I have developed a somewhat minor cough.  Physically I have felt completely normal, but I am just occasionally very rarely coughing a teeny bit.  Apparently a few people had started to notice and comment, especially my mother, so I decided to schedule a doctors appointment for today.

I should let you know now that I am not huge fan of medicine.  I mean I like doctors and everything they do well enough, but I mean I don't like actual medicine that you take.  I'm in the "if I can't beat this little cough on my own, I deserve to die" camp.  Cancer is one thing.  A sniffle is another.  I like to beat colds, flu, strep, etc. on my own.  Hello, I got strep in Myrtle Beach and didn't miss a day of beach time or happy hour.  I thought I was going to die, but I figured I might as well die tan and buzzing with the waves crashing around me.  Who could ask for more?

But after three weeks of very minorly coughing delicately, I decided to go in and get the prognosis.  I mean clearly I am not beating this and will die from it, so let's figure out how much longer I have.  I do love my doctor.  He's an old high school friend of my dad's and I just adore his whole family.  But I grudgingly missed an hour or so of work to visit Dr. Mark and present my I'm-not-that-sick case so my mom could sleep at night again.

Apparently everyone is sick or injured right now.  The waiting room was packed.  What a perfect time to Facebook stalk all of you and your friends and your friends of friends.  Peaceful.  Maybe this was worth it.  And then my name was called.  Headed back.  Followed the nurse down the hallway, smiling.  Happy.  Unsuspecting.  Full of Facebook gossip and excited to talk to Dr. Mark about Razorback football.  And then the nurse stopped.

At the scale.

We looked at each other for a minute.  About five thousand thoughts ran through my head like why does she have to weigh me for a cough?  Why did I let my mom make me come here for a cough?  Why did I decide to pig out at Las Fajitas for lunch?  Whose idea was it to skip my long run this week?  If I split, could the nurse catch me?

She looks at me like I'm crazy.  "Please step on the scale."  I stammer, "I wasn't prepared for this."  She just smiles.  A really awful, knowing smile.  She's thinking someone had enchiladas for lunch.  I then say "Um, should I take my shoes off?"  She says, "It doesn't matter, but you might want to put your purse down."  Thanks for the tip, woman.

I got on the scale and looked anywhere but the reading.  She says "Mmm hmm" like she was right about something.  Then she asks me "Would you like to know what it was?"  No lady.  No one in their right mind wants to know definitively from a doctor's scale what their weight was.  I thought that was why you guys used the weird metal bars that you move the little plastic things around on.  So I can't read it.  Has anyone ever answered yes to that question?  "Yes, you know, I've been curious what my weight is without a loose tile in the bathroom or an old uncalibrated scale or a minor monthly bloating to blame it on.  Tell me, what do I officially weigh?" 

I can't read these and I'm ok with it

"Um, no.  Thanks though." is all I can muster.  Shaken, I head back to the room, questioning my every food-related decision since about April.  We go into the exam room.  She gets out the cuff and takes my blood pressure.  "Hmm, your blood pressure is normal, but a little elevated for you.  Is something stressing you right now?"

I look at her.  Really?

Things I Suck at: Finishing a Room

I hope this does not be come a new segment here on the Lowe Down, but here's how I'm feeling:  I stink at home decorating.

I'm really good with picking a paint, painting the room, getting the big stuff like bedspreads, art, couches, etc. done.  It might not be a universal taste, but I do have taste and can be true to myself when starting a room.  However, once the big art is on the wall, the linens are on the bed, the shelves are hung...I lose steam.  Every.  Single.  Time.  The finishing things in a room are what make the room special to me.  They make a space feel full and "done" rather than "college kid just moved in."

This is the part I stink at.

Case in point:

Shelves in master bedroom

I got a great start on these shelves in our master bedroom.  These doves were a steal at Arty Crafty ($11 for the set) that I got for our dresser several months ago, but once they got replaced by a bigger ceramic animal on our dresser, I knew they would go well on a shelf somewhere (a story for another post).  I found the shelves in black at Bed Bath and Beyond and spray painted them a nice antique white.  The vases I collected as I went from various home decor stores, and the topiary was another Arty Crafty aquisition.  But now, I'm stumped.  I need one or two more things on that bottom shelf and I can't for the life of me figure out what needs to go there.  Picture?  Canvas?  Vases?  I keep thinking I'll know it when I see it, but so far, nothing.

Shelf in the master bedroom

Another case in point.  This shelf in our master bedroom actually looks pretty done with a vase, candles, art, and picture of the princess on it.  However, look at all of that glaring wall space underneath it!!  I need some kind of bench with pillows on it to go under there, but I haven't found the perfect bench for the perfect price yet. 

And finally:

End table in living room

Nope, I'm not ready to fully reveal the new living room to you yet - and here's why:  Finishing.  There are about three areas of the wall and both end tables that need that special pop to make our living room complete.  I promise I'm not going for a minimalist look here, I just can't find the right final touches.  Right now it looks like "oh wow, you're getting there!" but I'm ready for it to look like "oh wow! it's done!"  That could be never.  When is a room really complete anyway?

I'll gladly take thoughts and suggestions if you have any ideas for the spaces in the pictures I've shown you!

I'm back, bitches

That's right, ladies and gents, your (least) favorite blogger is back on the map.  I took a hiatus from my strenuous posting habits, and I'm refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to tell you almost everything about my life.

When we left each other, it was late winter.  Since then I have picked up a running habit that has lead to dropping a pants size and training for a half marathon in December, become a co-volunteer coordinator for the Humane Society of the Ozarks, redone half the house, and will be mommy to a kindergartener TOMORROW!  Yikes!!

Thoughts on the new layout?  Is it me or what?  Animal print, check.  Pink and teal, check. 

I can't wait to update all three of you who read this and know me well about the changes I've had in my life in the past six months that you already know about!  And, as promised, I will very soon be posting the Meet the Pets:  The Ginger Edition.  Maybe tonight after my little kindergarten baby goes to bed.

So get excited!  It's blog time!!  See below for requisite cute pictures of Alli Bree.

Alli with her adorable kindergarten teacher Miss Mendoza

Alli getting her nails done before she starts kindergarten

She got flowers painted on them!!

I Suck at Blogging

Apparently, I am a terrible blogger.  I suspected this might be the case in the beginning, but so many of my equally busy friends did it so well, I thought it would just come naturally to me.  Fun, witty posts, roughly 3 times a week that people would enjoy.  Nope.  Nada.  I'm averaging 3 per month.  So, I must be a truly horrific blogger.

However, I will soldier on.  I can do this.  I don't have to have something funny and focused to say every time I write.  And this is supposed to be an outlet for me, not for other people, hence the limited list of people allowed to see it.  And if you're the one who gave this link away to Drew or Kyle, you owe me lunch.

So...odds and ends around casa de Lowe.

• I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping.  Miracle of miracles.  I have my mom, my pets, and my grandparents left.  And for those, it's just a matter of going to get them.  I already know what I'm getting.  It's a serious Christmas miracle.  I hate Christmas shopping.
  
• Alli just told me Rob Pattinson was her boyfriend.  Two thoughts:  Maybe time to delete pictures of him out of my phone AND I wanted to fight with her about it.  I almost said "No, that's Mama's boyfriend."  Then I realized I was arguing with a 5 year old about a celebrity.  I need counseling.  Here's the pic she liked.  

• Alli's birthday party was this weekend at Fayetteville Athletic Club.  We had 7-8 kiddos there along with their siblings.  We had some great grown-up friends too - thanks for coming, Nicole, Kerri, and Lindsey!  Our good friend Deena who works at Ricks made the cake and it was wonderful!  At the bottom are cookies Deena made for Alli to take to her class on her birthday.  I can't believe my little princess is 5!!
  

 

At the rate I'm going, I'll write again next month.  Or year.