Thursday, November 14, 2013

Bad coffee creamer, and a kitchen picture


Here's a finished kitchen picture. I still have to paint the window, but will do that this weekend (I swear). Details include knobs and pulls, which I mentioned the other day, and also to get a smaller microwave. This one is vintage 1990's, if I recall correctly, and was given to us by my former in-laws, with the express purpose of being able to fit big things in it. Microwaves were the up and coming thing at the time. It's a monster, though, and getting a smaller one will free up space on that counter. 

I love the wall color. I hemmed and hawed over this one and several shades lighter, and it was Mr W who said, "I like the darker color". I had considered blues as well, and just couldn't make up my mind. Once this got on the walls, it was clearly a good choice. There is a lot going on between the floor and the tile, and the bold color kind of melts into the background. It's weird, you don't notice it much, which to my mind means it's holding its own. 

Oh, by the way, it was bad coffee creamer. Yuck. And shame on the store for having spoiled stuff that was two weeks before its sell by date. 

In other news, I've been having trouble sleeping. Again. I usually fall asleep OK, and then am up for an hour or so, then am solidly asleep when the alarm goes off. I've been reading about sleep, and I do a lot of it right. Dark room, cool temperature, quiet or white noise, consistent times, and few if any disturbances.

Sally, who has always slept in the living room, has recently been granted access to Mr W's room (at his request) and will fall asleep there when he's at my house. When he's not, she still goes in there but is a little restless, and I can hear her walking by my door sometimes once or twice a night. So that's one thing that wakes me up, but it's not a big deal. 

I did go to the doctor and she said that because of my age, I should get hormone levels tested, which I did and they are normal, so it's all in my head, so to speak. What I mean is that the worry about stupid things that have no real bearing, and also about things that are totally out of my control are the things I need to usher out the door when I lay down to sleep. So I'm going to try to do some meditation work before bed to clear the table, and will see how that goes. 

I do occasionally get a really good night's sleep and the difference I feel is really noticeable. It's the difference between getting all the stuff done that I need to get done and not much more, and feeling like I'm actually living my life as I should. 

In other other news, here's some more new stuff in the Etsy shop:





Happy Thursday! I'm attending a lecture tonight on campus. It's one of the benefits of living in a college town that I don't take advantage of enough.


10 comments:

  1. Your kitchen is stunning, it turned out beautifully!
    Good luck with getting good sleep; I generally find a cup of chamomile/lavender tea before bedtime is helpful.

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    1. Thanks, Jacqueline. I might try the tea - it's supposed to work.

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  2. Your sleep "problems" are an exact description of mine even though I'm 30 years older than you and at a different stage of life. (We'll both keep working on it, okay?)

    Love your kitchen flooring! And all the colors as a whole. I think the knobs on the cabinets are going to add a lot when you can get to them. Mr W did a good job picking out the wall color. ;o} When I was having trouble deciding on a "yellow" color the first time I painted my kitchen walls, I asked a friend whose home is decorated beautifully. She looked at my samples and said, "Use this color. Honey Blonde. That's the name of the coloring my hairdresser is currently using on my hair." (And it was a great color on the walls!)

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    1. Yep, keep working on it. Thanks for the kind words.

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  3. I love the wall color - it just ties everything in. Your kitchen looks wonderful. What a great job you did in picking out all those coordinating bits and pieces! I have sleep problems that occur in phases. I do all the right things, too, but there is nothing outside of knock-out drops that will stop the brain loop I'm afflicted with. I just relish the phases where I do sleep well.

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    1. I worry that is my fate as well - to only sleep really well when everything is swell. I'm going to keep trying to manage my monkey mind.

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  4. Love those kitchen colors! Green in any shade is my favorite.

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    1. Thanks, I got kind of lucky putting all the parts I liked together, but I'm very happy with the result.

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  5. Hi, random drop-in comment from Jordan's sister. I've had lots of sleep problems too, starting in my late 20s and continuing for 15 or so years. Hard time falling asleep, and always woke up in the middle of the night for a big chunk of time. I was using alprazolam every night for several years as well as melatonin off an on, and sleep masks and ear plugs helped too. I've weaned myself off of all of them over the last year and sleep very well overall now. Eating paleo (or "primal") made the big difference for me. I don't have to eat strictly paleo/primal, mostly is good enough. Consuming sugar, alcohol, caffeine/chocolate noticeably affect my sleep that night. Eating paleo/primal also eliminates the arthritis pain, which affects the sleep quality, of course, . So less joint pain also equals better sleep. I still go to bed too late and sleep in too late in the morning (taking 4000 IU of vitamin D in the morning as soon as I get up seems to be resetting that cycle, as I'm waking up earlier now even though it's getting darker in the AM). My sympathies go out to you! Poor sleep quality really does affect everything about your life... foggy thinking, mood, energy levels, and so on and so on. Good luck!

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    1. Hi Liz,
      Thanks for commenting. I haven't thought about how my diet affects my sleep, aside from the obvious issue of caffeine too late in the day. How long did it take to see results after you changed your diet? Cutting back on carbs would be tough indeed for me, but worth it to sleep better.

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Hi, sorry to make the humans do an extra step.