Probably the most boring thing I've ever written about.

 

I have a lot of pet peeves. A sermon once told me that I should work on having a lot fewer. . . that I should let fewer things bother me. I am a work in progress.

One thing that I cannot stand are cords. It is the 21st century, I don't understand why we even need them. Cords, especially knoted cords give me anxiety. . . I can literally feel my chest starting to explode sometimes.

 

I grew up with apple products. My first computer had one cord. The cord that charged it. My second had 3, the power cord, keyboard cord and mouse cord. All very managable. 

When I got married I inherited a lot of cords. I did not know that this was coming to me. I can't tell you how many times I have said to Kyle, "I don't understand why your computer has so many cords. Can't we just get rid of some." Then I would invision just cutting them away like thread on blouse. Apparently you can't do that.

 

I was always told that the computer didn't have that many cords. How could that be? I wondered. And if what I am seeing is a few, what does a lot look like?

I looked under the desk the other day, where the baby was playing at the moment, and saw that his neck was wrapped in cords. Keyboard and mouse. He was screaming. It took more than a few seconds to untangle him.

A friend recently wrote me an email asking how I gotten settled into our home so quickly with two little ones. I don't think I've written her back. The answer is that we are still getting settled. I've just thrown things into places and am slowly organizing. Today I took on the most daunting task in the whole home. Organizing  the cords. . .

Warning: The following contains graphic images of a extreme nature. Proceed at your own risk.



Before



Before

I shudder.

Whoever invented zipties is a genius. They are fantastic. I used about 297 of them today. I actually didn't have zipties long enough to do what I needed, but, you can zip tie them together and they still work perfectly.

I started by unplugging everything. I knew with almost 100% certaintly that I would never be able to put them all back in the right place, but there was no way to detangle without unplugging. Long story (4 hours of strapping down and pinning and placing and running to BestBuy), short. It turns out that Kyle's computer does have that many cords after all. The modem, router and internet phone took up a good portion of the corded mass. They are now all organized on a single plug hub and can be reset by unplugging just one cord. Speakers, moniter, tower and printer are on another hub. Keyboard, mouse and iphone charger (I laugh that the fella has one) are on their own hub that I stuck to the back of the keyboard tray/drawer, so now there is only 1 usb cord going to the computer and those cords can no longer hang down and strangle the baby. Which is just fantastic. 



Modem, phone and router

After

USB hub at back of keyboard drawer

Everything is working but the phone. I also reset the internet security and address, so were at default right now. . . no hacking please!

 

Project 14 of many. . .

Earlier today I got a package in the mail. Inside were some old drawings of mine and a lovely little "present" from Sarah.

Before

It reads. . .
Caitlyn
Sarah is pretty sure you can make her a skirt out of these jean legs!
Mom

After

I also considered titling this post, "What Sarah wants, Sarah gets."
I thought it turned out pretty cute, though I'm not sure I like the crochet at the hem any more. . . (Sarah, have mom cut if off if you don't like it)

Project 13 of many. . .

I found this great little table on craigslist. . . I guess no one else liked it because it was a really old post and had been up for over a month. I was pleased that it was still available. I think it is going to be perfect for sewing on, the best part about it is that it gives me so much more room in my studio.

Before. . .


After. . .

I left the legs the original color and just painted the rest white.

project 12 of many. . .

A little while back we had a run-in with a gopher. Said gopher went all up and down the front and back of our home eating everything in it's path and spilling dirt everywhere. It took out many plants, including our two oleander bushes in the front yard . . . we were left with something that looked exactly like this. . . The gopher is now dead.
Kyle is gone this weekend in California visiting his friend Danny so I decided to pass the time the only way I know how. . . by starting a new project. The gopher actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Usually Arizona soil is a bugger to break (and it still put up a good fight), however, the intricate tunnel system of said gopher had really loosened things up a bit making this project a lot easier than it could have been.The flower bed has red and orange hibiscus in it as well as some rosemary vine. . . There is also a new tree (shoestring acacia) planted to the left. It should provide quite a bit of shade someday without really blocking the view of the side of the house. . . My only fear with plants is that they make excellent places for thieves (bandits?) to hide behind.
In other news I am liking my front yard more and more everyday. . . I can't wait for it to grow up and only wish that I didn't have to grow up along with it. My cat's claw has really taken a hold of the side of the house and hopefully will envelope the entire side front of the garage by fall. The mimosa (nestled between the two pink oleanders on the right) has also made a remarkable comeback after staying in it's planting bucket for far too long without any water and several below freezing nights. . . I guess I'm just not used to seeing trees loose their leaves. . .

Project 10 of many. . .

This project began with a chair that I found cast aside on the road in front of my house, in a pile that looked about like this. . .

I pressure washed the chair, let it dry and then began to take it apart. . . and now it's done. Tah dah (it looks cooler in real life than it does in these pictures).