How does a grown up get an ear infection? Well, I don’t know, but it seemed like a good enough reason to stay home from work. I’ve been such a workin’ worker the last two weeks that I’ve been far out of the blogoshpere. I’ve spent the last two hours here at my computer trying to catch up. But I did make an omelet du fromage to enjoy while I’m reading. Did you all see that Hillary is offering the pointy kitten pattern for free?!:

And made some fresh coffee in my wonderful Hamilton Beach Brew Station. I can’t even tell you how much I am loving this coffee maker. It was worth the $50-the most I’ve ever spent on a coffee maker. No carafe means a lot less mess. Do you love my coffee cup? I do. It reminds me of Mrs. McLean (Sandra’s mom) for some reason. I love the speckledness of it and the pretty blue bamboo. Earl loses coffee cups, so every once in a while when I’m at Goodwill, I load up on a bunch for .29 each. This one has become my new favorite.

What else? Oh yes, the polymer clay project! Haha! Carmen lost interest quickly. She is not a sculptor-never has been. Eric did a beautiful job making this tiny teapot bead for his sister and this apple bead for his teacher:

But no one had more fun than Max! Oh Lordy, that boy! He made the most fantastical sculptures and used up my entire supply of clay. There are trophies and figures and an evil cherry dude. My favorite was his sculpture entitled “rock on dirt”. And he loves them all and plays with them. I made about four beads that are “eh”. I have a whole new respect for the polymer clay artists. In the pic below, Eric’s things are on the left, my beads are in the middle and most of Max’s creations are on the right. I think he’s got the rest hiding in his messy nest-er, bedroom.

I did one very cool thing this weekend. I made a fabric closet! Woohoo! In my fifties ranch house, there is a hall of cabinetry. The tiny coat closet wasn’t really getting much use, so I built shelves in it. Yup, me. All by myself! The hardest part was buying the 4×8 foot sheet of particle board. I couldn’t pick it up myself-it’s heavy even for two men. So I guess I did have a little help. I had two strangers put it in my cart. I heaved it onto my pickup by myself-still not sure how I did that! When I got home, my brother stopped in and I got him and Earl to put it on the sawhorses for me. Then I cut one by ones to act as the supports, predrilled holes in them, cut the particle board to the right size and then installed the whole deal. This was also my first time using a circular saw, so I did have to get a tutorial from Earl on that. I’m so very proud of myself! I sung a little song as I was cutting the shelves. I think it went like this: “Oh yeah, I’m a shelf cutting mama. I cut shelves and I rock!”

And then, (don’t worry about leaving, I know I’m boring as heck here! I’ll just talk to myself!) Earl and I went out for Valentine’s Day on Saturday and Max took a picture of us and I don’t hate the way I look in it!!!! That’s a red letter day, for sure! (Also, I got asked to dance by two guys! And they weren’t eighty years old, like my usual would be dance partners!) Look at my honey! Isn’t he a cutie? Those are boots on the bottoms of my legs. And, oh yeah, ignore all the paint swatches on my walls-that’s a whole ‘nother post!

And then, Sunday we actually got the boat out on water! The problem with buying a boat in December is that you don’t get a lot of time in it right away! By the time we got everything ready, it was three o’clock! So we pushed the limit and ended up being the last people out of the mud hole- I mean, Folsom Lake. I got these pretty shots of the moon coming up and the sun going down. I also got a cute video of Eric dancing in the front of the boat, but I don’t know how to post video here. Trust me though, it was cute, with bootie shakin’ and everything!

But that’s not all, oh no, that’s not all! As I write this, my roof is covered with roofers! I’m so happy that this is finally getting done! Our very ugly, bad roof almost cost us this house when we were trying to buy it. Our insurance carrier did not want to insure us. They finally did, but it was still ugly. Our neighbors tell us that it was only ten years old and one of them said it had been done with a “repossessed roof”. What in the heck does that mean? Someone couldn’t pay the roofer and he repossessed the felt and shingles? Huh? I don’t know and I don’t care-I’m just glad that it’s gone! So this is what the front of my house looks like right now.

Okay, I think I’m done now. I’m actually pretty sick of sitting in front of this computer! Time for a laundry folding break.