Mello’s Neighborhood

I am completely aware that I am one of those people who throws themselves into a project wholeheartedly, then gets bored after like, two minutes. I know that I get bored easily, but I can't help but love that feeling of enthusiasm that comes with a new project or challenge. Therefore, despite the fact that I know I will tire shortly and my enthusiasm will wane, I embrace new things with childish excitement. A waste of time, many would call it. (A thirst for knowledge, would be my retort.) But I thrive on the adrenaline that comes with learning something new.

My latest obsession... interior design.

There's a whole lot more to it than I had previously considered. And I am intrigued to find out as much as I can whilst I am in a position to do so. One of the things that I have noticed most in my new job is the level of creativity needed to provide excellent customer service. This occurs 1) when preparing the store and products for the customers' perusal and 2) when helping a customer make choices in decorating their home to their liking. The creativity factor is an overwhelming rush for me. I already love the excitement and inventiveness of putting a room together and I am looking forward to focussing on the design element in more detail.

I am currently trawling the web to see what kinda stuff is available... what colour schemes are trendy right now...what fabrics are in this season... who the coolest designers are...where in the world the superlative furniture is created... and so on. It's interesting viewing and reading, yet it is bringing lots of questions to my mind, questions to which I've not yet found the answers.

Take furniture for example...

So far, I have found three bedroom sets that I am loving...

Bedroom Furniture
More Bedroom Furniture
Even More Bedroom Furniture

Laura Ashley designs and puts together some beautiful furniture ranges. Let's focus on bedroom sets for now. I've seen the Provencale range first hand and don't get me wrong, it looks classy and, having sat on it, I can tell you is very sturdy and very comfortable. Check out the funky yet somehow completely traditional print on the pink bed frame. It's really pretty, right? But, is it really worth £1650? I'll cost another £500 minimum to put a mattress on it too. I do believe that Laura Ashley products are great quality and, recently, I have seen the construction process which simply cemented my belief. But still... Is it realistic to spend close on £2500 for just a bed, without furniture or bedding?

A  really cool site I came across on my internet travels, focussed on European designers in particular. Now, Laura Ashley is Welsh and my research has brought me to wondering... should I support Welsh companies because I am Welsh, even though the prices are extortionate? Just because the products are made close to home, doesn't mean they are better quality does it? My latest find has caused me to fall in love with the idea of platform beds as they are apparently a must-have for the Modern Bedroom. (I particularly fancy the Selex Crono Modern Platform Bed- is it my imagination or is it totally floating on air??!!!)  Now, here brings another question to my inquisitive mind... are Italian designers always the better choice? Italian shoes are great quality; Italian food is delicious; Italian clothes are superlative. Does that mean I should go for Italian furniture because it has a reputation for incomparable quality and craftsmanship? I could choose an entire bedroom set for $3700, as opposed to just the bed at Laura Ashley for the same price. Because it's so much cheaper, does that make it a less successful choice?

If that's the case, then I should never shop in Ikea, I suppose. Are Ikea products that bad? I mean they looked quite basic when I was browsing through the bedroom range. Nothing brilliant, but not awful. I've bought inexpensive furniture before, including an Ikea bookcase, and depending on the purchase I have been both pleased and disappointed. I understand that the cheaper the product, more chance of it falling apart (which means Ikea or Argos stuff is not a good buy), but at what price should you say no- because it's too cheap or too dear? What's the happy medium? At which price are you getting the perfect product/ cost ratio?

And then there's the choice of style. I know that part's a personal preference, but having seen so many different styles tonight, I can't quite decide if I like a Contemporary Bedroom, a Traditional Bedroom or a Totally Cute Bedroom.

I've kind of gone off on one, haven't I? I'm just touching on one or two elements of interior design here. There's so much to consider- history, tradition, culture, trends, colours, personal choice, fashion are only a few.

I guess I have a whole lot of research, reading and learning ahead of me if I'm going to make the most of this obsession before it fizzles out. I hope it doesn't go too soon! ;)

So this is going to be rather random. Just a warning.

Just call me Pilot Jenny
On Saturday, Kevin and Mia spent the night with me, which is always fun. I especially wanted to have this last bit of time with them since they started sixth grade on Monday. I can't believe they're in middle school now. Seriously, where does the time go?

We had a lot of fun. Originally Kevin wanted to watch Two Towers and Return of the King, which is a rather ambitious undertaking; I've never even watched back-to-back LotR installments so I couldn't imagine two almost-12-year-olds lasting. Unsurprisingly, after the first disc, Kevin asked if we could watch Buffy. So they spent the rest of the night taking turns picking episodes. We watched the very last episode; the fourth-season premiere; the episode where there are two Xanders; and "The Pack," which, admittedly, I shouldn't have watched right before bed. That's probably the only episode of Buffy capable of giving me nightmares.

Sunday we overslept, ate blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs, and watched my two favorite episodes, "Becoming, Pts. 1 and 2;" the fourth-season Indian episode where Xander is inflicted with syphilis by a vengeful spirit; and the penultimate Season 5 episode where Buffy's catatonic for three-fourths of the time and then realizes at the end that the only way to stop Glory is to kill Dawn.

Then we ran some errands and headed over to pick up Kailin, Emily and Elijah so we could run up to La Cantera and go to the Apple store since K, M and I had run out of time. The little wrinkle in that plan was that the bottom dropped out on our way to my parents' house. Maybe I should've scrapped the trip altogether, except I couldn't fathom being cooped up in the house for however long with five kids, and a little rain never hurt anyone, right?

We collected several umbrellas and Elijah's stroller and all loaded into my parents' ginormous Expedition and set out for La Cantera. It was actually pretty entertaining. Kevin and Mia had recently rediscovered their love for Serenity and so they decided we should "play" Serenity. I was the pilot -- River, since Wash got that rather untimely spear through the chest, although Kailin kept calling me "Pilot Jenny" -- Mia was Zoe, Kevin was Jayne, Kailin was Kaylee, and our "first mate," Elijah, was Mal, for lack of any other male characters except Simon and Book. (Too boring.) Emily kept insisting she wanted to be a princess, and also Miley Cyrus, so Mia talked her into being Inara by telling her Inara was princess. Princess, prostitute -- semantics, really.

So that kept Kailin and Emily occupied while I navigated the torrential downpour and they shot their "guns" at people in the cars next to us (thankfully the windows are tinted) and kept telling me to "check our six" and something about secret missions and Reavers.

We got to La Cantera (which is awesome and upscale and an outdoors mall) and unfurled the umbrellas and set out for the Apple store. It was pouring, and the slate tiles were murder on my and Mia's flip-flops, so since I didn't want to fall, we stashed our flip-flops under the stroller and went barefoot. We finally got to the Apple store. I literally walked right up to the salesperson in front and said, "I've got five kids who like to touch things. I need some earbuds for my iPod." And she grabbed my money and took care of me. We were in and out in five minutes. God bless you, anonymous Apple store employee.

Then the rain got really bad. Really, really, Noah's Ark-like bad. Kevin gave up his umbrella to wedge around Elijah -- the kid never got wet once -- and put his hood up and just got soaked. We were all soaked by the time we got to the car, despite the umbrellas. But they had a lot of fun. We ordered pizza on the way home, swung through Starbucks and got hot chocolate, got the pizza, went home and changed clothes and had dinner, and then they all went upstairs to watch Nim's Island while I tended to Elijah. I got him fed, bathed, and to sleep without a single cry, which is a miracle, because he's teething again and is rather fussy. (And spoiled.)

Anyway, it was fun, and never once did I stop and think, "OMG(oodness), I never want kids, ever," which is usually the way I'm thinking after 48 hours of babysitting. I guess I'm growing as a person.

I feel like I'm PLAYING TO AFRICA
Yeah, that's not going to make any sense unless you've been compulsively watching BG's really, really funny video podcasts on their YouTube channel like Sarah, Elizabeth and I have been over the last few days.

I will warn you that they're really random and also like Pringles -- it's impossible to just eat watch one.

E actually filmed us Friday night with her digital camera at A's and we watched it last night. It is so hilarious and you notice things that people say and do that you don't when it's actually happening. I can't wait to get the flip cam, which promises to be awesome:

Flip

All sorts of cool features, and it comes with built-in software to upload directly to YouTube.

Pretty soon we'll be filming podcasts like this: (if you've never met Sarah, she's pretty much exactly like Lauren -- namely, hilarious)

I was to be at a ladies meeting this morning at 10:00, I didn't make it.  I went to the house where we had met previously, no cars, I went to the door knocked several times waited, nothing, tried the door bell, still no response so I sat in my vehicle for a while.  I'm thinking I should call someone to find out what is wrong.  No cell phone once again when I really needed it I didn't have it.  The phone was as dead as a door nail, so I left it at home charging.  I started questioning myself as to was it Wednesday today, was the clock in the vehicle right.  I finally gave up and went home, all the time thinking how duh I am.  When I got home I was reminded the meeting was at my daughter in laws house now, at this point I didn't have to think I was duh I knew it..  The thing is I did know that the meeting place had been changed, but for some reason, it just never registered in my mind this morning.  I called my daughter in law so they didn't worry because I had not shown up, I had to fess up and tell the truth and embarrass myself.  I'm sure all the ladies had a good laugh. 

At the end of this post I'm going to give a link to an article I read today on CNN from Oprah.com.  It's an article that, at first, made me mad, and then just sad.  Mad that Oprah would put this garbage in her magazine and on her website, and sad that so many women will be influenced by it.  It's an article titled, "She's happily married, dreaming of divorce".  I can sum up the article pretty easily for you: I I I I I, Me Me Me Me Me.  It's an article that is just dripping with selfishness.

Selfishness, it's the mindset that says, "I'm going to do what I want, regardless of how it effects other people, because what matters most is me and how I feel.

The article is written by a woman who is most concerned with herself and her feelings, and she'd clearly like other women to share her views.  The woman states in the very first paragraph of the article how selfish she is.  It can be summarized like this: "I think about divorce every day when my husband greets me in the morning, because after 16 years he still doesn't know that I'm not going to be in a good mood before 10am."  She then goes on in the next couple paragraphs to complain about things her husband does (like he doesn't have a list himself on her).  The rest of the article is basically how she contemplates divorce, how divorce is actually not a bad thing, and how marriage in general is actually the problem.  Here are some snipets from the article.....

"Still, beneath the thumpingly ordinary nature of our marriage -- Everymarriage --runs the silent chyron of divorce."

"Should I stay or should I go.  Our mothers knew better than to ponder such questions, at least not out loud in front of God and the hairdresser.......If we jump ship now, we're still attractive prospects who may have another shot at happiness."

"Marriage and its cruel cohort, fidelity, are a lot to expect from anyone, much less from swift-flying us."

"I recently stood by as a clothing designer, a mother in her 40s, announced to a group of women that she was divorcing her husband. The women's faces flickered with curiosity, support, recognition, and -- could it be? -- yearning. Not a one of us suggested that she try harder to make it work. No voice murmured, "What a shame."  Because it isn't a shame."

"My husband is my best friend," others will say.  No. Your husband is not your best friend."

"Our day comes down to choices -- and it's finally dawning on the long-term wives of the world that divorce may be the last-standing woman's right to choose."

"This is not to say that dismantling one's marriage will automatically bring happiness; it's the idealization of marriage that needs to be shredded"

"Maybe one day, marriage -- like the human appendix, male nipples, or your pinky toes -- will become a vestigial structure that will, in a millennium or two, be obsolete. Our great-great-great-grandchildren's grandchildren will ask each other in passing, "Remember marriage? What was its function again? Was it that maladaptive organ that intermittently produced gastrointestinal antigens and sometimes got so inflamed that it painfully erupted?"  Yes. Yes it was."

Sad, really sad.  Notice how many I, Me, Us and We statements are in the article.  What you won't find are statements like, "How are my actions affecting our marriage?", "Am I being the best wife I can be?", "How would my leaving affect my children and husband?", "What can I do to make my marriage better?".  Those statements aren't there, because how her actions affect others is not her primary concern.  How other's actions affect her is her primary concern.  Selfishness.

I'm sure her husband isn't perfect (he hit her with a car so obviously he makes mistakes), but I didn't see anything in the article about him being an abuser or a adulterer, just an imperfect guy.  Plus, someone else's improper actions or behavior isn't an excuse for us to react wrongly anyway.  But so many times we do.  "I wouldn't have reacted that way if so-and-so hadn't of done such-and-such first.  Wrong.  We should react in a Christlike manner regardless of what others do.

I've been studying the subject of selfishness lately, as it seems to be the root cause of many of the arguments between the children in our house.  A verse that really struck me was in James 3:14-16.  It basically says emotions like bitter jealousy and selfishness, are not from God, but are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  Wow, demonic - that's pretty strong, but it's true.  Which makes perfect sense when you think about it.  Satan is the ultimate example of selfishness, and Jesus is the ultimate example of complete selflessness.  Satan was an angel that wanted to be worshiped as a god, and it got him kicked out of heaven.  Compared to Jesus, who in the garden of gethesemane prayed that if it were possible, that he wouldn't have to be crucified, but that ultimately God's will would be done, not what He wanted.  Ultimate selflessness.

I guess because selfishness has been on my mind as of late, even though this article is basically a woman's skewed view on marriage, the pure selfishness of it just jumped out at me.  Here's the link.....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/08/26/o.divorce.dreams/index.html 

P.S.  I know that I'm not perfect (just ask Janie), and that I have areas of my life where I'm selfish, even in areas that I may not realize.  I'm a work in progress.

Show us a funny bumper sticker.

Bumper sticker

Yeah, I'm starting my own thing. I'd do the Things on Tuesday (or is it Two for Tuesday?) but unless you count having so many creative Halloween ideas, I'm tripping over them, I don't really have anything to complain about. Being creative makes me feel fantastic.

So, this is something that warms my heart each and every time I see it...

Playing-Cars

What's your definition of home?
Submitted by NayNay72

Home Is:

- Being curled up on the couch with Lee, Sylvester sprawled over both of us, purring like a vibrating blanket.

- Flannel PJs and coffee on the deck on a lazy Saturday morning.

- Pulling up to the cabin after a long Friday night drive and being greeting by the flicker of a campfire and the smell of woodsmoke.

- Kneeling in the grass in front of the flower beds, hands girtty with dirt.

- Walking into the bedroom and being greeted by a leaping weasel.

- A bar stool and a cold beer at the family pub.

- Anywhere I can be me - the good,  the bad and the ugly - and still be loved.

- Where I really can shake off trouble at the door, like kicking mud off my shoes, before going inside.