Miss me?

Dear Blog,

It has been a few weeks since I last visited. I am so sorry. Does it help to say I missed you? Would you believe it if I wrote it? I missed you. (There. Believe it? Hmmm. Oh. Me, either. It's a pile o' phooey.) I am sorry if you thought I had another blog on the side. That could not be further from the truth. Life has just gotten in the way. Honestly. There's no other blog but you. It's Life's fault.

Take, for instance, television. Top Chef and Project Runway are back on. We have been watching the DVR'd episodes of Gene Simmons Family Jewels and howling with laughter. Then there is HGTV and all the home improvement ideas that erupt like a volcano after all the hours glued to that channel. After all, it was HGTV that spurred the final sanding-staining-sanding-restaining-painting of the dining room table in August. (It looks great, by the way.)

Then there was the back-to-school madness. Drew started his sophomore year in high school last week. (Sophomore? Really? 10th grade? Already? I'm suddenly feeling older.) Of course he had a growth spurt near the end of summer and needed new pants, shorts and shirts to be able to go to school. It takes time to shop, my friend! New glasses. Oh, and new sneakers too. Although saying "sneakers" is probably going to get me in trouble with the mod police. What is the correct term these days? Or is one just supposed to quote the brand and assume everyone will know it's really sneakers?

Chauffeur duty. Dinner with friends. The myriad of appointments and meetings ... Oh, who am I kidding? Excuses. Excuses. Excuses! Let's just chalk it all up to a mini bloggercation, shall we? A bloggercation with no photos to show for it. No sand in the shoes. No lost luggage. No frequent flier miles. No extra $$ out of the bank account. I can't tell you what I did in all that time, but I must have done something. It's all good. But the best part -- and I mean the absolute bestest part -- I'm BAAAAACK!!!!

Miss me?

If I only had a piano

A grand idea

I've been on a piano kick lately. So much so that when the dining room table refinishing job went south last week I hatched a plan to replace said table with a baby grand piano. You read that right -- use a baby grand piano as a table. After all, the DR table is used as a perching post for sundry papers and the occasional homework session, not so much for dinners. So why not just replace it with a lovely baby grand? Put the top down, throw on an artfully arranged table cloth and pull up a stool if one really does need a table. Voila! Talk about a multi-tasking piece of furniture. Not to mention an uber conversation piece and built-in piano bar. I think this could really work!

It might not surprise you that my baby grand-turned-table idea has been met with raised eyebrows and a few quizzical looks. (Or both.) But I couldn't imagine I was the only one who had ever thought of this, so I let my fingers do some googling. Guess what? THIS is what. It's the next best thing to having a real baby grand as a dining room table. It does come in black but it doesn't have Steinway or another storied brand printed on the side. For the price though, I could buy the grand and the chairs and the table cloth and some sheet music and hire a caterer for a dinner party and pay for a professional pianist to provide the music. Yowser.

It is time to pick up some more sand paper and paint and give the dining room table another go. You can bet I will be listening to piano music the whole time.

Christmas in July

I found this musician while browsing on iTunes and just had to share. Jon Schmidt is a classical pianist, composer and new age recording artist. His music ranges from simple and elegant, to bold and brilliant. What an amazing talent!

But wait. It gets better. Go to Jon Schmidt's website and you can listen to full length songs, playlists, even download sheet music for free. Yes, FREE! It's like Christmas in July! And you know how much I adore Christmas! *serious squealage*

My new house

Just so you know, the 2010 HGTV Dream Home will be mine. You won't need to enter. You won't need to pay attention to all the emails they send. You won't need to give anyone your email address or phone number. You won't get carpel tunnel in your hands from typing multiple daily entries. I'm going to make it soooo easy for you this year and save you tons of time because I AM GOING TO WIN IT! (Heck, Oprah says I have to delcare something and then it will come true. Speak it to the universe and all that. So I'm speaking, Universe! Hear me? That's right, I'm declaring that I will win the 2010 HGTV Dream House. De. Clar. Ing.)

And so you, my favorite reader, will know what kind of house I'll be living in come April 2010, and just in case you want to come visit, here is the rendering. If you get tired of staring at the mountains and breathtaking Santa Fe setting click "next" near the bottom of the page and you'll see the floorplan. Stunning. Spacious. Drool worthy. It's gorgeous. I'm planning the move. Swoon.

If there was ever any doubt ...

Are these two related or what?!?!

Scout Camp v. 2009

Last year during scout camp I was the lucky recipient of a phone call with news of a tangle between thumb and pocket knife. (In case you had any doubt, pocket knife won.) This year during scout camp I was the lucky recipient of the following:

So far I much prefer the upgraded model. :-)