Musings on a winter's day

Sitting here looking out at a foot of snow dumped all over the landscape, it's hard to be excited about the everyday routine around here currently. But, I suppose I should really be thankful that I have a routine to be so "blah" about. I have a great job, I have an amazing family, I have a super awesome all-wheel drive vehicle that maneuvers through the snow as deftly as Julia Mancuso (see how I worked that Olympics reference in there)! So, I will try not to complain about the snow too much. But, with snow, comes sickness. Every year. And this year it has hit us all. Oliver bore the brunt of the germs, but we've all been brought down by the stomach bug making the rounds, and most recently by a cold of some sort, which gave Oliver a super-high fever for 3 straight days before he finally was able to kick it.

Somewhere under all that is a kid about to go sledding.

Snow days also bring out some weird sort of need in me to find a creative outlet. I mean, I AM left-handed, so I'm totally just channeling all of those other super-smart, creative types, like Van Gogh, Einstein, Diane Keaton, Bill Clinton, etc....where was I going with this? :) Oh, yes: Crafting. I got a wild hair that our dining table needed an "update". So, I scoured the internet for DIY blogs on how to strip and distress wood to achieve a natural, weathered, driftwood-sort-of-look. Did I succeed? Um, ehh. It took WAY longer than I thought it would, and my environmentally-friendly techniques touted by those shabby-chic bloggers were a total bust. So, multiple stripping, sanding and staining attempts later, below is the end result. I think I like it better than the before. You  may like the white better, and that's okay. But I will just tell you, 3 year olds are hard on white surfaces. As hard as Bob Costas' eye infection is to get rid of (yeah, okay, that Olympic reference was a bit of  a stretch).

Table "before"

"During"

"After" 

Blessed be the patient husband who lives with newspapers strewn about underfoot and fumes in the air for days and days.

Happy Valentine's Week! Love your loved ones this week, and all weeks. XOXO!