There once was a girl

I'm expecting twins tonight, so I'm repacking my doula bag and getting ready for the phone call. Back when I was first starting to go to birth I carried a ton of stuff with me, but now my bag is mostly full of food with a couple of small massage tools. I barely use those, but somehow I can't leave them out, as if I wouldn't be a real doula without them. The most comforting thing I've ever whipped out of my bag was a nice cup of tea with honey...not that cheap Lipton the hospital was serving up, but a real tea.

Also, I gave myself a haircut. It's time to stop fighting and embrace the curls. Still long in the back, but with 100% more curly bangs in front, and a little shorter all around to clean up the scraggly ends and add bounce.

It's a little hard to get used to the curls tickling my forehead, but I like it. I've been cutting my own hair (or not cutting it, most of the time...) for ten years, figuring I couldn't screw it up nearly as badly as the supposed professionals did.

Housecleaning

Last weekend we had plans to host a party for some friends on Saturday night, so the whole house got a top down (well, except for our bedroom, in the spirit of full disclosure) scrubbing. It hasn't been this clean in the entire time we have lived here. It wasn't even this clean when we moved in - the house was a grimy, funky trust sale. Having it so nice is inspirational; I'm no Martha, but I do like to be in a place that makes me happy rather than depressing me with mess and unfinished projects.

PS- In the spirit of further disclosure, all the unfinished projects are outside, and I still haven't fixed the trim on the kitchen door...

The party was good, too! What I remember of it, anyway. I was out at a birth all night the day before, got home at 4pm, and only slept a couple of hours before the party prep and party itself woke me up. It was all good, I just sort of floated through the scene in my stripey socks with a glass of punch. Did you know that jello wrestling is really, really messy? Fun though. Our friends were good about cleaning up after everything, so the house is magically returned to a pristine state (except for that kiddie pool full of jello that we haven't figured out what to do with).

Say Yes to Zebra.

Lately we have worked so much on the outside of the house that the inside has been feeling kind of blah. The dining room was especially bland - a sort of beige peach.

I just don't dig bland, so on Saturday morning, hopped up on coffee and cold medicine and perhaps a little feverish, I bought a giant zebra painting at Ross. I do mean giant, too...it didn't fit in the car, so I had to walk home carrying my 15 square feet of Zebra.

I loved my Zebra, and judging from the enthusiastic commentary of passing motorists, Hollywood loves him too. However, there was a problem. You can't just slap a giant zebra on a beige wall.

To me, this doesn't so much make a statement as pose a question...and the question is, "WTF is up with that crazypants zebra?!?". It reminds me of a hospital ward that is trying too hard to be cheerful. This is not the look I was going for.

But wait! The sad beige peach walls are made of fabric wallpaper...fabric that would be really pretty if it just weren't so beige. I decided that if it was fabric, I could dye it, right? I used craft acrylic, diluted with water 1:3, to give the walls a wash of indigo. Wha-bam. I intentionally made it a little uneven - I was going for an antique silk look, not modern perfection. The little floral designs were nearly invisible before, but they took up the stain differently and I think they add a lot.

Now we're talkin'. Zebra looks good, and the new gallery walls inspired me to finally frame up and display a lot of other art. The white crown moldings really pop too.

I still have a few small prints to hang, and some wall sconces to install, but I am just so damn proud of the way it turned out. Total cost: about $20 for paint, $43 for Zebra, and $100 for Ikea picture frames and other accessories.

Once more, just for fun!

Back! Sort of...

We took a few days off in New Orleans, where I didn't take a camera or a single photo. It was gorgeous and I loved the city. Boiled crawfish might be my new favorite food.

However, I didn't sleep hardly at all while I was there. Bars and clubs never close until people stop spending money, which might be never. Bourbon Street at 6am is surreal and post-apocalpytic. I thought the city would be resting itself after Mardi Gras the week before, but I guess there's no rest for the wicked. Or for me...hmm, what does that make me?

Anyway, I wasn't too surprised when I got sick hard as soon as we got back. I've been through all the stages or ick and gross, with the fever and the sore throat, and now I'm in the land of late-night coughing fits. I felt pretty awesome all day, unless I tried to talk to people, but now when I'd rather be sleeping I'm coughing like mad.

I have some new chicks in the laundry room, and they are stinky little bruisers (more about them when I'm done coughing). The rabbits are safely separated into their own palatial accomodations, the big chickens are laying like mad, and we're getting a second crop of cherry tomatoes off the plant I never got around to taking down at the end of the summer. High of 75F this afternoon!