BEFORE AND AFTER

Look at me keeping my word about posting on my blah, blah, blog. lol. I just love saying that. You can say it in so many different ways. 

For example:

In a deep, burly voice like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk.

 "Blah, blah, blog!"

             Or

In an annoyed, lazy tone, like the person is rolling his/her eyes.

  "Blah, blah, blog."OrIn a peppy voice, like a cheerleader.

"Blah, blah, blog!"

            Or

            In my preferred tone, with a higher note at the end as if I were answering a question. "What's the name of your blog?"

            "Blah, blah, blog."

It mostly depends on my mood, though, which is another reason why I like the name so much.

But enough of that.

              

As I said in my last post, I have before and after pics of my newly renovated home. I used to do interior decorating part-time, so I like to think I know what I’m doing.

              

But as with writing and art, it comes down to personal taste and the subjectivity of the reader or viewer.

             

The pics below will show before and after shots (as close as can be or just of same room). I’m only posting a few rooms and the backyard renovations too. If you want to boost my decorating skill ego, feel free to tell me how amazing the after pics are. Lol. But for real.

             

And now for the big reveal …  drum roll … 

             

Kitchen before 
 

Kitchen after

Family room before

After

Before living room, dining, and entry

 

After living room, and dining room turned my office (cause who needs formal dining when you have a large breakfast room by the tv? lol), and entry


  

 

 

And for my favorite part of the house besides the kitchen ... 

Before boring, small pool area and sad backyard

 

 

After pool reno, extended patio and screen, outdoor fire pit area and much needed landscaping.

 
 
 

So, that's what's been keeping me busy for so long. It was never ending, and as you can see from pics dated, brown, and boring. Now it's fresh and new. I didn't post the bedrooms, bathrooms, or bonus room because they're always a bit of a mess. lol. But those are all new too.

Now that the renovation part of my life is over--Finally! Praise the Lord!--I have been writing more and very happy.

My current projects are revisions on two completed novels and getting one I wrote about five years ago (light sci-fi meets historical fantasy) ready to post here and possibly self-pub. Gulp. I was told the mash-up of the two genres would make it hard to find a home in the traditional world. Instead of leaving it on a shelf, FOREVER, I decided to find it a home myself. Woot! Woot!

Now, I'm off to deliver a Christmas gift and pick up a few more. In case you didn't know, "Santa's coming."

 

BLOG NAME CHANGE AND THEN SOME

Well hello there strangers!


How ye do?

In case you haven't noticed I've been MIA. Really, I've been MRH. Moving, Renovating, Homeschooling.  Those three things can take a lot out of you. I'm exhausted and ready for life to lighten up so I can get back to being my simple old self. Writer, Hello Kitty obsessed, lover of decorating and outfits that make me gasp or want to twirl, sparkle diva, pet snuggler, and professional belly laugher.

Okay. I might have made up that last one.

So here is the low down on what's been going on in my wee lil life ...

I moved into a new house and did a full renovation. It was dated but the bones were good, the neighborhood great, and the lot fairly private for a gated community. It took over a month and we couldn't live in the house because it was a dusty, dirty construction site. So we kept our other house and lived in it until the renovations were done, because paying for two mortgages makes so much more sense than paying for one. Am I right?


Fortunately, that house is about to sell. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! Can I get an amen?
And while carrying that puppy for the last, oh five or six months, has been fun--not--at the time it was necessary to save me from an allergy infested inhabitable construction zone. Have I ever mentioned I'm allergic to the world?
When I was diagnosed the allergist said, "Congratulations, you're allergic to everything except for shellfish and peanuts."
My reply, "Well, I'm part Polish so it makes sense."
We both had a good laughed and I left with a list of things I should avoid. To name a few: pollen, mold, dander, ragweed, potatoes, yeast, chocolate, mushrooms, cheese, wine, bees. I tucked that crushing list into my purse, zipped up my bubble, and rolled on outside.


Once the renovation was complete and the new house more gorgeous (gorgy) than I imagined, we moved in and, for sh*ts and giggles, decided to renovate the pool and backyard. Because we're wild like that. Haaay!


What a nightmare! The pool and patio renovation was so much worse than redoing the interior of the house. We hired a lying POS who made our life hell for three months--until we fired him. We then hired a new company to finish and fix what the first lying POS left. Thankfully, that ended a week ago. Yes, you heard that right. A week ago! Did I say we started the reno (not new construction of a pool, just renovations on the existing pool and patio) in August? August! Deep breath in. Release.


Feel better? Me too.

While dealing with all that my hubby got a new job, a big new job with big new stress and it requires him to travel a lot. Too much. Waah! Where are you? Where's Waldo?  I forgot your face. What do you look like again, hubby?


To my relief, hubby won't be traveling as much after the new year. YAY!

And, I almost forgot the homeschooling part. In the midst of all that crap--moving, reno, new job, two mortgages, pool reno from hell--my youngest son switched from private school to homeschool. Because, you know, we didn't think we had enough on our plates. We like a challenge and to multitask. What's a move, renovation, new job, sale of a former home, and homeschooling? Nothing. Easy peasy. A walk in the park. A piece of cake. A slice of pie.


WRONG! I feel like death, reborn and then killed again. Death twice over--or is that death over easy? My writing has slowed waaayyyyy down, like a granny doing a backward crab crawl. You're welcome for that mental image. BUT, for me to be writing here again means my life is finding a new normal, or a new form of crazy. Either way, I hope to keep this up and post regularly.

I also have before and after pics of the house and backyard reno to post. I have novel revisions to share, too. Revising a story is a lot like renovating a home. You reconstruct it to make it better. It's a lot of work, can take longer than anticipated, and can end up totally different than the original plan. But more on that later.

Stay tuned for before and after pics, and ideas I have about posting some of my novels on my blog. Say whaa???? I'm not crazy.