Friday makes mommy happy.

Ooooooh, I love Friday afternoon the way I love BOGO shoes at Payless. $3 designer duds at a consignment store. Soccer practice cancelled at the last minute. DVR. And laundry. I'll always love laundry. And acorn squash. Learned to love that today.

I was so happy today was Friday and the boys weren't likely to come home w/ homework of any kind or need a bath or bedtime of any consequence, that I bought a shirt that says, "It's OK, I'm with the band." That's one of my favorite things to say. Not that I get that many opportunities to say it, but sometimes I just throw it out there for fun. Isn't that funny?

What's NOT funny are elementary room moms who throw out there at the last minute that each child needs to bring a fresh flower for his teacher on Valentine's Day. Buying an individual flower is a pain in the you know. It's not something you can pick up on the usual weekly trip to the grocery store because the need for it NEVER falls the day after you've just been at the store. So, it requires a SPECIAL trip to the store ... and most grocery store flowers are now sold in clumps, so it's often hard to find a single flower. Anyway, sweet thought. Pain in the butt. There, I said it.

So, on this night before V. Day, The Big One and I made a flower out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners just like he made in his second year of preschool. And I thought he'd be embarrassed to carry it into school since carrying things like a LUNCHBOX and PENCILS into school embarrass him, but he was surprisingly cool w/ it. He especially liked the clump of yellow "pollen" in the middle of our red flower. Aren't we cool?

While we worked, The Short One asked for a pipe cleaner and foil to make a flower for his teacher. He crafted a "jet w/ fire," a "nest with an egg," and a "little pot." Flowers are tough.

Oh, but back to my shirt. Once each year my musician uncle plays a holiday gig here. And we all go as a family. Kids and all. Grandparents. Aunts and uncles. And he loves us so he always puts our name on THE LIST so all his family who hoot and holler for him can get in FREE. And I always feel really cool walking up to the ticket window and, while I could say, "Ahem, yes, Van Wilks has asked that you permit us to enter free of charge," I enjoy A. GREAT. DEAL. saying, "Yeah, it's cool. I'm with the band." And The Tall One doesn't understand why I enjoy that so much. And I guess I don't either. But, now I have a shirt. It would've been nice to have a shirt on V. Day that says "It's not for ME, It's for my KIDS," when the Randall's guy gave me A LOOK as he led me to whipped topping. "Not the kind in a tub. The kind that squirts out of a can." His look was kinda dirty and presumptious. And when I said, "I don't know where it is because I've never bought it before," he acted like he didn't believe me. IT'S FOR THE KIDS TO SQUIRT ON THEIR STRAWBERRIES and, of course, grossly into their open mouths. Why ELSE would I want it??

So, The Short One is still talking about heaven. A lot. He decided the other evening before bed that he was fairly certain he didn't ever want to go there because he'd rather not "just lay there w/ my eyes closed." Souls and spirits and such were lost on him, but "running wherever you want to," appealed to him a bit more. But, I asked him if we might not TRY getting to heaven for awhile cuz there ain't no turning back and he agreed to stick around awhile.

American Idol and how it relates to my new DVR and how my DVR relates to IT is a whole other post, but let me just say this! And his smirky little picture doesn't do him justice. Watch him sing. And lemme know what you think. (DAWG!)

Here's the furniture that The Tall One refinished for The Short One's room.

This is a hutch that took me about 363 days to find. I even cruised neighborhoods on bulk trash collection day looking for the right piece. We had the desk and needed JUST the hutch in the right style and dimensions to fit on top and hold books, trophies and Lego's. And rocks. And shells. Found JUST the hutch in ALMOST the right size at a thrift store. Replaced the knobs. Stripped it. Refinished it in black w/ a sanded "Pottery Barn" look. Set it just off center for "interest." I talk like I did all the hard stuff. I found the hutch. I suggested the black. And that counts. The desk is circa 1995. The hutch? Probably '75.


Here's a tighter shot of the lovely job The Tall One did on the sanded/finished surface. The Short One walked by it one day mid-project in the garage and said, "Daddy, I don't know why you put all that paint on and now you're taking it off." He dared to respond, "Ask your mother."


This is the nightstand, which I found at the same shop, on day 373 of the search. Same style. Same knobs. Same legs as desk. Same "rail" as the hutch, which I had originally planned to remove from the hutch since it's obviously for plates and makes it hard to remove books, but when I found the nightstand w/ matching rail, I decided to leave it. Both were that early American cherry-looking finish.

It's an end table, but it reminds me of all those Blue's Clues episodes w/ "Side Table Drawer" and makes me happy when I look at it in his room. Initially, he thought it was going to replace his desk and he cried. He's cool, now. He's filled it w/ rocks.

And if those pieces had been squillions of dollars, I'd never divulge the price. But, since the nightstand and hutch TOGETHER were less than $75 and The Tall One spent $50 on stain and supplies, I'm just gushing to share.

Forecast is for COLD weather and rain this weekend. Possibly freezing. I'm reading this book that I found in a library sale for a dollar. It's touching.

If I had just the right shirt right now, it'd say, "Enjoy your weekend. I'm tired." And I'd sleep in it.