Colour My World

Although Mr. B working away from home is difficult sometimes, I do find that while he's away I seem to be a little more productive in my domestic duties. When he's home, all I want to do is be stuck to him. Although he says he likes that, I suspect that he sometimes feels a little smothered and although he puts on a good show, I have further suspicions that he doesn't really enjoy talking about my latest jewelry design and Tomato Spice walls. It's nice that he humours me though. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like I just swallowed a kitten.

One of the ways I've adjusted to Mr. B being away is focussing on getting as much work done as I can while he's gone. I try to ensure that all of the housework is caught up and my orders are packaged and mailed so that when he comes home, I have all the free time possible to spend with him, the kidlets, and the goggies.

Although I'm quickly running out of rooms, I've rather enjoyed painting while Mr. B is at work. On "homecoming" day, I'm like a little kid at Christmas waiting for her dad to open the macaroni covered pencil holder she made him at school. Unfortunately, most of the time I'm still at work when he gets home but then I just wait for the phone call or text message telling me he's found my latest work of art. (I use that term loosely because I couldn't paint or draw a picture to save my life - redecorating, sewing, and jewelry making are my outlets.) I never tell him which room is next or what colour I have in mind. It's always a surprise... usually even to me. I wait for it to hit me, then I toddle off to visit my paint guy. Although my need to control everything would suggest otherwise, I am quite often a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of gal. There are a few things in this life that I'm afraid of, thankfully colour is NOT one of them.

This was the last surprise awaiting Mr. B's return. It's called Earthen Ware but I prefer Tomato Spice. ;)

This is my Hawaii powder room. I have carved 50's style hula girls in here, an orchid, and photos of sea turtles taken in Hanauma Bay. I can't remember what the paint chip was titled but I call it Tropical Skies.

Hint for the next project: Outdoors.

That is all.

Surprises are lovely things.

Twas a day full of surprises and it was glorious. No, there was no party with people popping out of closets or behind sofas. I did not win the lottery. It was not my birthday or anything else like that. It was just an ordinary day full of tasks that I never finished (not unlike any other day really) but it was the little unexpected things that happened that made it extraordinary.

First, I was thinking about my new friend Justine today and had a hunch that I just might see her at the bead shop. I thought nothing more of it. What are the chances that she'd be there at the exact same time that I decided to wander in? Pretty good apparently because when I walked in, there she sat. It was very nice to see her and that made me happy.

Later, we came home and met with the neighbour who wants to hire the Magpie for babysitting. That turns out to be quite a lucrative position for her and we're thrilled. It was just such a big fat warm and fuzzy to hear them say how much they and their kids love her and it was such a relief to know that she's not going to have to find a part time job in retail or in a fast food joint. She's in high school now and needs a little more money that we can offer but doesn't want to jeopardize her school work by having a job with crazy long shifts after school. This gig is perfect!

This next bit happened somewhere in the middle of the others but just came to mind now. I'm not so sure if this qualifies as a surprise but rather a teeny bit of an embarrassing yet very amusing moment. We were visited this morning by two young fellows who wanted to share a piece of scripture from the Bible with me while my dog wanted nothing more than to lick their skin clean off. I held him back. No young man dressed as nicely as they were and who was as pleasant to a half dressed, greasy haired woman with no make up as they were, deserves dog slobber all over them. He's shivering, nervous, and clearly concerned about the dog attacking him, or so I thought anyway. I politely tell him that I can save him a bit of time and explain to him that we are a Catholic family and that Mr. B could probably recite that piece from memory. He smiles, says thanks, and suggests that maybe another time he could read to me. I smile, thank him for his time, close the door, and look in the mirror. I'm wearing Mr. B's orange "Dawn of the Dead" T-shirt that I sleep in when he's away. Nice. I hope the dog really was the one making him nervous. Poor fellow. I need to learn to get dressed earlier on weekends.

I have a few jewelry orders that I need to get done this weekend as well as a few orders that need to be packaged and shipped so I start to manage that, log in to my shop, and find that I've sold a whole stack of more stuff. Excellent! There are a few supplies I've been coveting but the rule is that I can't buy more until I sell more so guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Shopping for more cool supplies! That may not sound like fun but to me, it's almost as good as shoe shopping.

Okay, so then the big surprise. The last I'd heard from Mr. B, he was going to be working late in the hangar and would call me later. I text him a few times but get no replies. Then, he calls. We're chatting, the doorbell rings, the little Prince and I do our thing to clear the dog from the door and who should be standing there but MR. B HIMSELF! I cried, because I'm a baby like that. Sometimes.

There you have it. All that coupled with the free coffee and cake (I only had coffee) that they were offering at Staples today and my day was just swell.

Now if you'll excuse me, although Mr. B is sleeping I'm going to go and enjoy being in his presence for the next day or so... or until Thursday.