I Believe that Christmas is Over

A couple days ago I decided that it was time to take down the 'ole Christmas tree. Gettin' towards February. The ornaments were getting dusty.

The tree was so completely dead! Barely touching the tree caused a shower of needles. I think that by the time I got the tree out to the curb there were more needles on the floor than on the branches!


Just look at that mess. It took four dustpan loads to get them into the garbage. Maybe I could have taken care of this earlier.

I unplugged the lights outside, but I'm not going to be taking them down in -10 degree weather

Just a Little Late

A couple hours late, but still my best wishes for your holiday season!

Christmas Tree Rookie

I forgot to water the tree for almost two days! I'm a bad tree parent.

I got home from work, threw my coat over the arm of the couch, and looked over at the tree. The thought of how long it had been since it had been watered flashed into my mind and I freaked out. I actually ran over to the tree to check how much water was left. 'Cause two more seconds of time without water would be catastrophic. I couldn't really see how much water was left so I, like an idiot, shoved my hand into the tree stand. Yup, had full of sap. Apparently water goes in the tree, sap comes out. It created this nice film of clear sap on the top of the water which I inserted my hand into. Awesome. No, sap doesn't wash off your hands well.

My roomie had a small Christmas party last night and, apart from people setting their drinks on my piano... grr..., everything went pretty well. I'm thinking that I'll need to host some sort of get-together next semester when the walls and ceilings get redone. Basically when I'm not completely embarrassed by the house.

Pines & Paintings

Today was a day sans work, sans class. Can't you already tell this is going to be a good post?

My main mission today was to get the house ready for my roommate's small Christmas party she's throwing tomorrow night. We still need to do a little cleaning and de-cluttering, but other than that things are about ready to go. I really wish this party was coming at the end of winter break so everyone had some nice, clean, painted walls to look at. Oh well.

First thing on my agenda today was to pick up a tree. A REAL Christmas tree!

I have NO idea how that fit in the trunk of a Pontiac Grand Prix. Since I have these amazing 9' ceilings I got an 8' fir of some kind. Sorry, I forgot what kind already. Whatever it is it makes the house smell amazing. Lets see your plastic tree do that!

And with ornaments please?



Aahhh, that's nice huh?

I also got a wreath for the door out front. It occurred to me that the white lights on white strings on my white house didn't really do much for the festive holiday spirit during the day.

Since all of the walls downstairs look like crap, I used those paintings my roommate made last year to disguise the imperfections (as much as possible) and turn this place from 'construction site' to 'warm, welcoming home'.

I still need to replace that light switch cover.


Fireplace and TV walls.

Good-bye mister stick-man smiley.

Dining Room. This room is pretty much dedicated to her paintings of a particular nude model who she chose to paint in green. She's somewhere in the ballpark of 80 years old. I think it's kinda funky, although I'm sure my mom wouldn't approve! I actually had to draw this same lady in one of my drawing classes for about a week. Mmm... I am feeling this HUGE urge to purchase some blinds since this room faces the neighbor to the west. Did I mention the neighbor to the west is a pastor? Yeah, I'm not sure how much he'd like this view.

I also put up this shelf quickly to put my glassware on before the party. The kitchen cabinet shelves are about an inch too short to fit the taller stemware on, so this was my best option. They had been on top of the fridge until now, but I think this is a little better.

We're going to do some checking around tomorrow for a cheap-o dining room set. Thrift store shopping anyone? We'll see what I can come up with.