Get It? Got It? Good.

So I stumbled upon this photo of Sir Orlando Bloom. (no, he does not officially have that title, but the man certainly deserves to be knighted in my humble American opinion. I mean, look at him.) I know many of my lady-friends don't understand the Orlando Attraction, but seriously folks, how can anyone see this photo and not get it??!! And that's my entire post for the day. I guess I'll cease from being a silly Tiger Beat reading teenager and go back to being the 40+ Mom that I am now. damn.

Cirque de Sully

Slowly but surely, the house is coming together. As it does, I'll put photos on here. Here's Sully's room. Even though he's not even close, it's part of the cool Tween Hang-Out he and his big sister have going in the basement. He and Viv have the downstairs all to themselves, pretty sweet for them! (not always so sweet for us however when the Coreman and I want to watch an inappropriate-for-kids movie and Sullivan comes out saying he can't sleep--and NO not THOSE kinds of movies, get your mind out of the gutter--) I guess at some point we may have to worry about the kids sneaking in and out of the sliding door down there...hopefully they will both be goodie-goodies like I was and not even dream of doing such a thing. A Mom can dream.

Anyway! Sullivan's room is a sweet and cozy one. The main reason he chose it was because of the glorious 'secret room', which is really just a Great Big Closet. It is pretty nice, I can store the majority of his toys in there and I can see as he gets older how he may want to make it into a nice little reading den or something. Before we even bought a house we had told the kids they could paint their new rooms any color they wanted to. (within reason, of course...we had to nix Vivian's macabre choice of black.!) Sullivan had said orange. Well this room just happened to already be orange, however the specific shade of orange brings to mind the Circus Peanut. An entire room painted the color of a Circus Peanut. eeeu. Partly to keep some color in the room and mostly out of laziness, we kept two walls that color and painted two of them white. (a big thanks to my paint-helpers Nancy and Stephanie!!) I suppose I would have picked a different shade of orange for the others but honestly we were in a hurry and the thought of painting the one brick wall over with all of it's nooks and crannies was NOT something I really wanted to do. So there it is. Sullivan sure doesn't seem to mind, so Circus Peanut it is! With the color of his bedding, rug and pictures, it's actually pretty cute in there. He may very well want something a bit more masculine as he gets older, and by then he'll be old enough to paint his OWN room. Go to it, little man! Just not black.

So he seems pretty happy in there, and we got rid of the bunk and instead stuck the air mattress under his bed for guests or Vivian, who on more than one occassion wanted to sleep in the room with her brother in the old house. (how cute is that?) The bunk was nice but didn't fit so well in this smaller room--besides, it was pretty low and pretty soon he was going to start bumping his head upon rising. I have to say, when I'm changing his sheets I sure don't miss that top bunk. Now that's a Circus act in itself.

Dumbledore Comes Out

You gotta hand it to JK Rowling--even after her Harry Potter series is done, she's still pushing the envelope with the announcement that the grandfatherly wizard Albus Dumbledore character was gay. (you could say she 'came out' with it--heh heh!) Coreman immediately rolled his eyes and was thinking it was a publicity stunt to get more attention now that the story is over, and I suppose it could be...but my first thought was, "You Go, Girl!" She could have somehow alluded to it more openly in the books if she wanted to make a statement or get attention (of course maybe she did and I missed it--quite possible!) but the fact that she's making it public now just makes me think about how she was trying to get across that 'being gay' was just a part of Dumbledore's life, not who he was--a message we should all take to heart. I get so angry when people make such a big deal about being gay--I mean, who the heck cares?! As for the story line, it does make more sense to know that fact, realizing why Dumbledore was so easily under the spell of his good but evil friend Grindelwald.

So there it is. Dumbledore was gay. Good for him, now, how is the weather?

Grey Matter

I kid you not, the day I moved into this new house I noticed a plethora of grey hairs on the top of my head. I mean, I've had a few here and there for a while now--when I've see one of those boogers I've just plucked it right out with the tweezers. Gone, no evidence. But the morning I woke up here and looked in the mirror--BAM!, as Emeril would say. Not just a grey hair or two, but enough that would quality as what I would call a sprig. When in the world did one wiley hair turn into a sprig of many?? And I mean, these suckers were pretty long, so I don't know how they escaped my ever-roving eye. I knew my whole move was a bit of a hair-raising experience, what with selling in 11 days and not having settled on a new home yet--but that was ridiculous.

But you know, I have decided I'm leaving those babies. Quite honestly, I think grey hair can be really pretty. At one point in my rock and roll past I actually paid money to have grey hair extension streaks put in. I saw a woman at the Mac counter not long ago with the most beautiful silvery-grey hair I'd ever seen, covering her entire head. It was all I could do not to sigh, "ooooh, pretty" and reach out to touch it. I have decided that I am indeed going to grow old gracefully and proudly sport my greys. (unless of course I see one of those crazy curly ones that resemble a more private area of hair...now THOSE have to go...!) I've always loved dichotomy in fashion--you know, the whole dress with the combat boot thing, or Anne Klein pink suede loafers with a black ripped up shirt--so why not contrast my old greys with a young skull T? It works for me. My way of looking 'old' in the face and saying "F You!" and then, "I guess we're in this together...."

At least that's how I feel today. Of course when one of my kids' friends calls me 'that old lady' or something I may be hitting the bottle of Clairol before you can say Elvis is dead.

Have I Mentioned...?

Have I mentioned lately that I love my new home?? Today the kids took me through our back yard and into the woods, where they have already been exploring. Amazing. Not far back we have a sweet little creek running back there, and if you follow the path you eventually come to a railroad track. Does this make it look like it would lead you there and back again, or what?! A little farther across the track and you come upon a man-made--or kid-made, perhaps??--BMX run, complete with jumps. It is amazing and totally tucked away so that only the local people would know about it. Too bad none of us do that sort of thing, but it's cool to have it back there nonetheless. Just in case Metal Mommy gets the urge and puts her BMX pants on. heh heh.

I really broke in the house last night with it's first party--my Silpada jewelry open house! Unfortunately not many could show--turns out October is a very busy time for people--but it was a blast and great to see the women-folk that did manage to make it out. (a big thank you to Stephanie who brought a yummy appetizer and somehow managed to magically appear by my side to help me open bottles of wine...) I'm so mad--once again I was so busy that I forgot to take photos!!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my new business?? It's so much fun for me--I LOVE the jewels, I love having something of my own, and having a girlie blingy party is right up my alley. Plus I make pretty nice ching. Can't beat that.

Today was more unpacking and organizing. We are actually seeing some floor in the garage, which of course is a good thing. Whew! Maybe tomorrow we'll see more deer in our yard???

Everything Rocks

Kitchen Nirvana, that's all I can say. Not only do I have my very own desk in my kitchen, but I now have a glorious center island to call my very own. (okay, I guess I will share it with my family...!) A big thanks to Greg, who took time out of his busy Saturday to come over for a few and help Cory with a few of the final touches he needed to get it done. It actually still needs a back piece, but no matter to me since this was what was required in order for me to start getting my stuff in it. yeah! All of the kitchen boxes are finally unpacked and the things inside them in their rightful places. (well, of course there could always still be one lurking in the garage...but one thing at a time here.) Kitchen Nirvana, and Organizational Nirvana. I LOVE organizing. At one point Coreman started to put a pot in a drawer which immediately warranted a finger up from me...no one touches my kitchen drawers/shelves in an organizational capacity but me. One could say I am a bit anal about such things, or maybe a kitchen control freak?! But there it is. (quite honestly I don't think the Coreman cares much if I take this job over...!) Having a ROCKIN' center island that one can store, prepare and sit around, well, rocks. I'm loving it.

And speaking of loving it, here's our back yard. Sullivan is sitting on our deck which overlooks it--can you say Rivendell??? I swear, yesterday morning as I listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack whilst watching leaves fall in the sunlight that was peeking through the trees, I really did fancy myself an elf for a few short moments. My back yard rocks.

My husband rocks, too. Not only is he working like a crazed IKEA fool, putting all of this stuff together--the center island, bedroom furniture for the kids, 2 desks, a TV stand--but upon moving in he also surprised me with a brand-spankin' new Nano as a house warming present! He asked me for a potholder, and there it was, sitting in the drawer. You'd think I would have asked him why in the world he needed a potholder, but I didn't--that's why I fall for this stuff so easily, I guess. I love my new Nano. I have to say it is quite the improvement from the already ultra-cool one I had before this. I like the shape better, the color screen is phenomenal, and even the controls work better. Plus I have a coolest of cool jazzy red one, of which the purchase of it helps to fight Aids in Africa. Gotta love that.

I'd have to say, right now everything rocks. That's a good thing. Speaking of that, I'd better get rockin' and rollin' and get to more boxes....

Trees and Boxes

Another day, another box. The unpacking continues, and of course will for at least a month I'm sure! I will slowly but surely be adding photos of the new pad-- but of course I want to wait until you can actually see a finished room and not just piles of boxes! Check out this tree in our front yard--could it be any more magical?? I am THRILLED that this tree is mine, all mine. The trees at our old house never got these colors. We have one like this in the back yard, too. woo hoooo!

And here is a lovely photo of our garage and our work ahead of us. Where the heck are we gonna put it all?! Time will tell...

One Happy Cake-Eater

Hello! My first official post from my new (and already messy) desk in the kitchen of my new lovely home. Ahhh, home sweet home. It totally feels good already, even though it is a complete mess and I'm sure it will be for quite some time. As in typical Suz style, the move itself was quite a Saga, and this old girl is too tired to go into that one right now. But slowly and surely, we are all getting settled into the new digs. (including Digs.) The kids seem very happy, actually, which is a wonderful thing. Both are adjusting to their new schools quite well and seem very happy there. This house just feels right, and we are surrounded by green which is perfect for a little Hobbit like me. Already we've been greeted by some new neighbors tonight, complete with warm homemade apple crisp that was to die for. NICE! I have to say, I have heart eyes for my new suburban life here.

And I have to give a shout-out to all of my good friends out there who have helped in so many ways--schlepping things around, painting, bringing goodies, and always moral support. How lucky am I to have such people in my life?? It makes a person feel at home no matter where they are, that is for sure. The strange thing is I left my SLP home without even a look back. Interesting. Not that I was unhappy there, not in the least. But it's always been me to take on something new without regret, even though normally I am one of the most sentimental people on the planet. Sappy, you might say. But don't tell anyone, it may ruin my Metal Mommy status...;-)

OK, back to the unpacking. One thing we are noticing is that even though we have gained square footage we have lost storage space, just from the sheer layout of the house. That will be a problem, 'cuz we have a lot of stuff. Even after getting rid of a bunch before we got here. This oughta be interesting...! Stay tuned!