Spring cleaning

Since it has been 70 DEGREES THIS WEEKEND I wanted to work on some random projects around the house. Earlier this week, I had bought a bunch of tiles from Flor.com to become our new dining room rug and they thankfully arrived on Friday! Wooo, crazy Friday night at our house! Sarah is a 12-year-old elderly stateshound and when sick or under stress has let us know by exploding in some portion of the dining room. Always the dining room. What can I say, she's a creature of habit. I have actually watched her start to get sick (usually from eating grass outside) and just before she pukes in the kitchen on its convenient tile, she will sprint on her creaky little legs to the dining room to puke on the rug in there. Ugh.

I have an elaborate system for cleaning the carpet but it's time-consuming and a bit neurotic. It keeps the carpet in good shape, but it takes a good hour each time it happens. When you have company showing up 45 minutes after you've discovered an accident or you're already late for work, this can prove inconvenient.

We started using pee pads in her favorite spots on the old rug and those were working great except that our dining room didn't have much decor what with the green and white diaper mats strewn everywhere. So I bit the bullet and bought a new rug.

This isn't just any rug, though. It's from Flor.com. They sell individual tiles that are 19.7" square (it's a metric thing) so you can mix and match. They all have rubber backings on them and they clean up amazingly well. I first read about them on Dooce.com when Heather raved on how she got wine off her carpet with a baby wipe - a baby wipe, people! I was instantly hooked. But they're not cheap and I was chicken to pick out a set for a long time. Until now.

I ordered 49 tiles for the dining room, not really sure how many of them I would use and how many would become spares. With some tinkering, we worked out 35 of them in a 5x7 pattern and have stored the remaining 14 to be replacement tiles should anyone decide to pee or puke in the dining room (not naming any names or anything). I can't tell you how pleased I am with these tiles! They went down super easy, the pattern was fun to make, they're designed for heavy traffic and if we decide to put them somewhere else, they stack and fit in the back seat of a car. Try that with a Persian rug!

I'm now shopping for tiles for my craft room, which is a funky shape with two doors in it and lends itself well to tiles of carpet. Soon I will have no excuse to not be sewing all the time!

Along those lines, we finally cleaned all the crap out of the spare bedroom upstairs. I still had Christmas wrapping paper and accessories up there (and lots of them) so it was time to tidy. Those went to storage in the utility room, the piles of recycling made it to the actual recycling can and after six months of living here, I finally took all my fabric out of the trash bags we moved them in and into tubs on shelves. I have a lot of fabric and I really should work my way through these piles before I buy any more. The whole room, though, looks a thousand times bigger! Hooray finally moving in!

Other than that, I haven't accomplished much. I'm headed outside to enjoy the sunshine a bit more before it's back to work for another week. Here's hoping this weather holds out or at least comes back to stay soon!

Recap of 2nd Living Out Loud project: our bodies, ourselves

Again, you all continue to amaze me and I'm humbled that you would take the time to write such great things for this project. This month's challenge was to describe something physically about ourselves that pleases us. It could be a body part or an overall physical feature. The project also had a second part of providing a recent photo of yourself that pleases you. Below is a list of the participants: Kitty's Living Like you Love It Her topic is her body's power to adapt. She has done great things to create a positive image of herself and my favorite line of her entry is, "Hello – I made people!!!". And while it wasn't her topic, I feel it necessary to note that God graced her with a great rack. So there.

Gina's What Makes ME Hot Stuff I was afraid Gina was going to chicken out on me for this project but she came through with flying colors! As a fellow brown-eyed girl, I can totally respect her choice of highlighting her eyes. And the grin in her photo is awesome!

Martelle's Hot Stuff I stumbled upon Martelle through LiveJournal and the SCA, but I'm not sure I could have picked her out of a police line up or crowded feast hall. Her entry gave me all kinds of insight into her childhood, the things she takes joy in, and most importantly a photo so I can introduce myself the next time we're in the same place! Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Kim's Living Out Loud II: Body Check As folks have talked to me about this challenge I've mentally noted to myself my favorite thing about them physically. I've always loved Kim's skin and her choice to adorn it in such beautiful detail makes me a bit jealous. I'm just not sure I have the guts for it myself. I also admit to growing my hair out lately with the hope that I'll get more hair brushings.

Megan's My Body. Not Wonderland. I read Megan's entry about her strong legs and nodded to myself in agreement. I got to her photos and started crying. She is beautiful in so many ways.

Karal's Forever on the Hips I've been commiserating with her as she struggles with medical mysteries that make her belly her enemy these days. But sometimes the smallest of things can mean so much and remind us how strong we are.

Rich's Momentos written across my skin I won't embarrass us all by listing all my favorite parts of his, but I do admit that his hands are up there in the top five. Chicks do indeed dig scars - this one does at least.

My own contribution is All of me, why not take all of me. So many things about my body I can't control, but I'm pretty sure I'll always be a million feet tall. The air really is nice up here.

This project continues to bring me much joy and I personally want to thank all of you for participating. It means the world to me! I'm already looking forward for the project due April 1 (great, April Fools Day).

For this project, I have chosen Megan as our prize winner. She has been waging a battle over her body for quite a while now and bared her soul online for us all. I've been wracking my brain for an appropriate prize and have decided that a good massage would pamper all those muscles that serve her so well. Megan will be receiving a gift certificate for a 30 minute massage at her local salon.

I encourage you all to read the entries above and comment. And if you have a suggestion or this month's project, I'm all ears!

All of me, why not take all of me

For our 2nd Living Out Loud project: As I wrapped my hands around a cup of blueberry flavored java this morning in the local cafe, I thought back to all those times well meaning friends and relatives would tell my parents that letting me drink coffee as a kid would stunt my growth. As an adult, I take satisfaction in the hard clunk of the car seat as it slams into the furthest position from the steering column so I can slide all 35" of my inseam into the car.

My babysitter (who was 5' tall and very round) called me her long-legged jay bird and it always made me smile. My whole childhood was filled with physically challenging tasks that my 6'3" father never told me I shouldn't attempt. I thought all kids could move a wheelbarrow of bricks or lift their family dog. To this day I won't own a pet that I can't carry upstairs on my own, which puts my limit at about 80 pounds as long as the dog doesn't fight it.

My high school dance teacher Mr. Watson harped on me to always drop my shoulders so I could show off my long neck. I am eternally grateful that I took all those years of dance because while I never have been particularly lithe (I like food too much), I'm extremely comfortable in my body and know its capabilities. I learned to not hunch forward to make myself shorter. I grew to appreciate the length of my limbs and the way all 175 pounds of me fit together. I never worried about telling folks how much I weighed because I felt like I was in a different bracket than all my shorter friends. It was like telling someone my age in dog years; they couldn't relate.

Somewhere in college, I began to revel in being tall. I slowly realized there were short women who had to pull the car seat forward every time after their husband drove it. I discovered there were people who didn't know what was on top of their fridge (let alone could reach it). There are people who have to find a sturdy chair to change a lightbulb instead of just reaching up to the light. And in a way, I felt a bit of pity for them. I don't necessarily agree with Randy Newman's declaration that "short people got no reason to live," but his quote has certainly stuck with me every time I pull the turkey pan down without climbing all over the counter.

Since most people are on eye level or shorter, I always feel (perhaps erroneously) that I could kick 90% of the world's ass. I'm not easily intimidated. Every time I load some giant purchase from Costco into my car where my arms barely reach around it, I want to high five myself and give a little Marine "hoo-wah!". Take that ridiculously heavy and awkward box!

In the last five years, I've greatly expanded my collection of comfortable high heels because I think I walk much sexier in heels. I'm 72 luxurious inches tall in bare feet. Even being 6' and not 5'11" puts me in a new category of those whose height starts with 6. In heels, I stretch up to 6'2" or 3" tall. Men double-take when I walk past.

My body has evolved over the years. I used to be about 20 pounds heavier than I am now, and a recent doctor's visit shows I've pudged up to 178.2 pounds from my perennial 175 pounds of the last 10 years. I've had some pretty regrettable haircuts as I have experimented with my coif. My belly usually is covered in spots from my insulin pump infusion sites that I never had before 2000. I've had stretch marks on my thighs since puberty hit at 15. Laser surgery removed the need for glasses but I still chew on my cuticles until they're painful. But there are many things that won't change any time soon if at all. I've got magnificently straight teeth, amazingly long prehensile toes and the world's most petite ears. And I will always be tall. No matter other parts of me will sag or wrinkle, there will still be 6 feet of me. And I will always turn heads.