Little Ruthie

A cheap fix for the basement

Picture courtesy of Frugal Farmhouse Design

Okay. So our basement isn't finished.  It needs drywalling and I have all sorts of ideas about how it could be such a great space.  But first I have to tackle cleaning it out.  It is amazing all the shit you put in your basement.  To top it off, our washer/dryer is down there.  Well my two guys think nothing of throwing clothes down the basement stairs with the idea that they are eventually going to go in the wash.  As a result, we have a TON of clothing just sitting on the floor.  I really am airing my dirty laundry for all to see.  My mother is rollin' in her grave.

Well while the husband is gone diving my plan is to at the very least, clean up the laundry side of the basement (the stairwell divides it into two areas).  Ambitious as it may seem, it will make me so happy. 

The floor is concrete and eventually I'd like it to be something else.  Well hardwood is always my first choice but given that it's the basement where there is a sump pump in case of flooding, etc., I don't want to spend the money on hardwood.  Well lookey what I found here.  It's a cheap fix with plywood.  I mean, who the heck cares in the basement??

Now bring me back down to reality if I'm off my rocker.

Not a project for this two week period but definitely a consideration for later.

We are wiped out

We've had a rough couple of weeks. First I had a major work event which required travel to the mountains. The work leading up to it was fairly stressful and then to add to it, the change in barometric pressure from Denver to the mountains reeeallly messed with my fibro. So I was already in a flair up mode when The Boy broke his arm last Friday while playing on the playground. He ended up having surgery on Saturday.

This is his second trip in an ambulance for a broken arm.  Same arm but in a different place.  If you recall, he managed to fall off the monkey bars the second day of kindergarten.  This time, he fell off a crazy wall on the new playground by our house.  I tell ya, I am going to worry myself to death over this kid.  He's like his dad.  Always thinking he's bullet proof.

All is fine. His arm is healing and he's his usual joyful self. And I have begun the climb back to helping myself feel better. 

The husband leaves tomorrow for two weeks diving in the Galapagos Islands.  Visiting with Whale Sharks.  He'll love it.  

Gene

Yeah, just Gene.  He and I are on a first name basis.  That would be Gene Kelly.

Today is his birthday, so I figured I just couldn't let it pass by without letting everyone know. 

Two recent incidents make me realize how far away he is from children of today.  One day I was talking with our intern at work who is just an amazing guy.  He's about 20.  Well somehow we got on the subject of dancing and movies and I mentioned Gene Kelly.  He nodded and I suspected he didn't know the name.  So I asked, "Do you know who Gene Kelly is?"  He smiled and good naturedly said, "no".  Rather than give him a lecture on Gene and his work and its significance in American dance and entertainment, I just let him know that he was a very famous dancer who was popular in Hollywood musicals.

Then one day while listening to our local NPR station, they interviewed a professor of film and asked him what sort of movies families could watch together that would a) appeal to the kids and b) not annoy or bore the crap  out of parents.  He mentioned the Gene Kelly musicals and noted how the music was wonderful and part of the American Songbook, the dances were entertaining as was Kelly.  He then listed some favorites and I smiled because they are the ones the boy has seen over and over.

The boy has NO idea yet that American culture is unsupportive (at best) of male dancers.  He thinks Gene Kelly is amazing and loves to tap dance.  We (husband, boy and myself) took a tap class together along with my sister.  We had a blast and the boy fell in love with it. 

So while the man is far away from most young people and their cultural references, he is quite present in our home!

This is a clip of one of my favorite dances (code to embed was disabled). It's the ballet from On The Town.  I really just like to watch Gene Kelly dance alone, but of all the female partners he had, Vera Ellen is my hands down favorite, so this is especially enjoyable to me.  Plus, who doesn't love Leonard Bernstein's gorgeous music?

Here are two of my favorite Gene photos.  They're from a Life Magazine photo shoot and they just capture his athleticism and grace.  Plus he's darned handsome too!

Enjoy and wish Gene a happy birthday.

 

A fly-by post

I've been gone forever, it seems.  Just been hugely busy with summer.  School began this week and this weekend we will be doing back to back picnics for the boy's Cub Scouts (Sat), and baseball (they won the championship!)

I've also gotten back to writing.  Thankful for that.  It is extremely slow going but I think I may have come to the point where I just can't beat myself up over it.  There simply aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I'm supposed to do.

Off to have a writing meeting with my niece, who is also a writer.  But I saw this video and had to share.  Jane Austen on steroids...

 

 

Tea and Champagne to Celebrate

Tonight my sister had her grand opening party at her new tea room.  As many of you know, she has catered tea parties for several years (I'm usually the help).  Well earlier this year she came across a wonderful opportunity to have her own tea room and over these past few months she has painted, wallpapered, covered cushions (actually, that'd be me), in preparation for today.

It was a total success.  The place was packed all day and into the evening when we closed.  I'm so happy for her!  I wish all of you could have been there.

BUT if you're ever in Denver, please stop by The Denver Tea Room and have tea.

  

Been camping

 
  
We took several days and planted ourselves at the Garden of the Gods Campground outside of Manitou Springs, CO.  We went there last year and had a wonderful time and decided to do it again.  Lots to see so close by. 

I love spending time with my guys.  I'm not really a camper but I'll do whatever they want me to do.  Fortunately for me, the husband has explained to the boy that his mama is not much of a camper and so we should go to KOA-like camp grounds with bathrooms.  But we still sleep in the tent, which oddly enough, I enjoy very much.

Now I'm back to work and my guys are re-packing for the Cub Scout Camping Trip tomorrow!  I won't be on this one which kind of bums me out because my friend and fellow Scout Leader, Ami, is going with her husband and son.  Would have been fun.

I did my workout after not working out for about a week.  Yes, I went on little hikes and did a lot of walking while on vacation but I still didn't feel like I pushed it.  The good news is I didn't die when I put in my 30 Day Shred dvd.  In fact, I found it rather easy.  So time to up my workouts.  Still a little wide in the midsection but I have to say I feel tons better since I've been working out and the fibro pains are really being managed.  Fingers crossed.

Library Love

I attended the grand opening of our new main branch this past weekend.  Oh man, it was amazing!

Rangeview Library District is one of the first districts in the country to move to the Word Think model and away from the Dewey Decimal System.  At first I didn't know if I'd like it but it's really not any different than how Borders or Barnes & Noble are set up. 

I walked in and was very impressed by the design.  It's a LEED building and they used local craftsman to build all the shelves.  There are two large fireplaces - one inside and one outside.  Picnic tables and grass area are outside too.  There's an internet cafe with about 20 computers in it.  The kids section is 4,000 sq. feet and incredible.  They've done away with the reference desk and the old lady peering down at you from behind it.  Now they have these kiosks and the t-shirt wearing "concierges" help you out.  Their t-shirts say, "Shhh is a four letter word," meaning it's okay to talk.  Oh, and they've done away with late fees.

I chatted with a couple of the staff members who were very helpful.  By that time I had already loaded up my gift bag (you even get schwag at the grand opening!) with about 8 books.  The staff told me that if there was any book I wanted to read and they didn't have it or the other branches didn't have it, they would order just for me.  Any book.  Amazing.

So I spent Saturday night curled up in bed racing through one book.  At 1 am I finished it, feeling very satisfied.

I love my library.