Free!

Is my favorite four letter word!

LOL

So, as I was off rummaging last weekend, a little white paper flapping in the breeze caught my eye.

"Free"

Attached to this

very heavy, in great shape (ignore the camera strap in the corner please!) shelf/plant stand!

Back home I went as fast as I could fly to change cars.  Loaded this bad boy all by myself into the CRV and here it is.  Ready for today!  Sunny blue skies.  70's they tell me.  Off to buy dirt and flats of flowers to get this party started!

Speaking of which, why can't my stubby little fingers dial a local radio station fast enough to try and be entered into a $200 gift card for GFS?  All I would have to do is be the correct number caller and talk about our graduating child.  Sigh.  Maybe next time!  Wouldn't that be awesome to win to use for his graduation party!

I will also take donations from family and friends to feed all of these people!  LOL

Okay, reality check.  The "not an open house" party keeps getting bigger.  For years now we've been invited to huge, ginormous, overblown open houses for graduates.  Like they had won the Tour de France or were drug reps hosting a luncheon for a doctor's office.  Halls rented out, tents sprouting in yards, chocolate fountains (sorry Javi!), DJ's, plastic shrink wrap on carpets to keep them clean, houses that should be in Country or Southern Living.  I mean, they're like wedding receptions.  And the parents outdo themselves in the one up manship of complaining about the cost (wait, didn't I just do that too?  lol) and inconvenience.

The kids are bragging about how much they "pulled in" cash and gift wise.  It's totally insane.

So, Javi decided he wanted a party like we would have if it were a family member birthday.  Cake, punch.  Small.  Invitation only.  He's rejecting the hype, hoopla and greediness.  For which, I'm thankful.  Not only because it IS less work for us, but because I think he sees the bigger picture.  The economy and how it affects those around him.  Wanting to celebrate this special occasion with those he loves and truly wants there, not just inviting everybody and their brother for a gift or a number to brag about.

I'm so proud of him.

We'll be having a bonfire at his grandparents' house later that night.  With hotdogs, s'mores, sodas, friends, family.  This is what he wanted and we're so happy to do this for him.

Proud mama moment over.  Thanks for bearing with me.

I have two of the three valances finished and hung up.  They're from vintage sheets I swapped with from a fellow addict on flickr.  Just beautiful fabric!  I didn't gather them because I wanted the print to show as much as possible.  I have some of the gingham from the couch as trim on the bottom edge.

I am uber happy with how they turned out.

No, I'm not that tall.  Standing on the Fisher Price end table!  LOL

Wall is prepped and ready to paint today.  Ceiling is totally finished.  Endtable quilt is done and ready to go on the secret project I've been working on.  More on that later-because it easier to ask for forgiveness than it is permission.  Ever had a quilt you've been working on forever and you're getting to the "I can't stand this" stage of it?  I was there with this room Monday.  I have to tell you, stripping butt ugly wall paper again, patching holes and gashes, sanding, the whole ladder thing-was starting to bring me down.

But now, we're in the home stretch and I promise after I'm finished and a few more pictures, I won't blog about it again for a while!  LOL

At Goodwill Tuesday, I found this scrumptious orphan.  The adoption fee was only $14.99 plus tax.  And a Harry Potter book for my handsome furniture mover/assistant.  I've been Googling the snot out of reupholstering tutorials and how to's.  I'm in love.

Hope the weather is nice where you are and that you get to go out and get your hands in some dirt somewhere and plant a little love!