ode to my box of kleenex

I have a cold.

It started yesterday.

I hardly slept last night.

I blow my nose lovingly into my extra soft Kleenex.

I think wearing my pajamas all day is a good idea.

sometimes life gets in the way

of my blogging!

Since my last post, I've made it through starting my new position at my job, tech & dress rehearsals & the first weekend (of 2) for The Mousetrap, a 2-day festival for which I designed the program & at which I took nearly 800 photos, the death of a friend and very little down time.

So, since I have nothing cool to post, I am going to share a recipe, if one can call it that. This is hardly rocket surgery after all.

Tater Tot Nachos

Using a 9X13 pan, cook an entire regular sized package of tater tots according to package instructions.

While tots are baking, brown hamburger & add taco seasoning according to package instructions.

When tots are done, remove from oven, pour the meat over the top of tots.

Add block olives on top (optional)

Pour 1-2 jars of salsa of your choice over the whole thing

Sprinkle a whole package of shredded cheese on top (3 cheese "Mexican" blend is good)

Ppop back into the oven for 5-10 minutes to melt cheese

Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving in bowls and a dollop of sour cream.

Makes great left-overs!

bathroom, part 2

Choosing what to do to the bathroom is harder than choosing to do something to the bathroom.

I knew I wanted something serene and spa-like, but I also wanted to make sure that it wasn't too feminine or that it didn't have so much personality that future buyers looked at it in the way we did back in 2002.

Here's the palette we're thinking of: The towel rack was just a convenient place to look at everything in good light & it's going to get refinished to be a closer match to the wood tone of our existing mirror, represented by the cherry color on the right. The rack was purchased when we still apartment dwellers and it didn't find a home here until this fall when I realized that with company coming, we needed more hanging space for guest towels.

We haven't decided yet if we want to go with the wood tone or white for the new vanity that Joe is going to have built at work (thank you 5 years w/ the company bonus!)

There are 2 slightly different colors of Cambria being considered for the counter, then white, represented by the tile, for the fixtures.

We're trying to choose one of the paint colors for the walls and we're leaning toward the top chip. Since the room is on the small side, we don't want the color to overwhelm the space.

The tiles are a really amazing deal. Joe's coworker has them. Lots of them. We're getting them cheap. They're just under 12x12 and although they look rough they are a smooth matte glaze and pick up the other colors nicely.

In my last bathroom post you may have noticed that the tub is white and the surrounding tiles are bisque. This really bugs me, but they are functional and if we can't afford to change them right now, I could still find a way to go on living. That said, I'd like to do something different, but we haven't thought that part out quite yet. Which really means the guy and I don't see eye to eye on this one, so to keep "domestic tranquility" we've avoided the discussion. (we have enough going on without that!)

In our next bathroom segment:
Peggy sets a budget! (can she stick to it?)
Concept elevations and ground plot

these are the days of our lives...

I finished the new calendar! I just hung it up above my desk and I'm pretty darn please with it. The Crayola cling film worked nicely, but there are a few bubbles that were tough to get out. Because it's 8 1/2 x 11, I had to use 4 sheets to create the calendar and so there are seams, but I love the design and although I could have picked from any number of calendars on Etsy, I was able to do this for less and make it mine.

My desk is a little messy right now (when is it not?) But here's a view of what I'm looking at as I blog:
And in case you were wondering, yes, all the bills on the calendar are color coded, because I'm just that geeky.