What Ana Does

 I have been devouring books like crazy this season.  The Body Reset Diet from Harley Pasternak - we listened to this guy on the Goop Men's podcast while driving through Wyoming and I liked his very sensible approach. I've never done a diet "reset" and I thought, "well, if I'm going to do one, give me one with lots of yogurt and smoothies." So we got the book and did the reset diet, as prescribed. And now I'm doing my best to follow the spirit of the diet, if not down to the letter.  Beach Read by Emily Henry - My favorite book of the summer, so far. I laughed, I cried my eyes out and I really enjoyed the dialog and pace of the book. The characters were well sketched and it was such a quick and sweet story. I very rarely read "mainstream" titles, but this book restored some of my faith in what "everyone else is reading."  Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerhall - First off, isn't it funny the main character's name ISN'T E...

When we returned from our RV trip we found a citation for an "unkempt" yard from our town hall. No fine but it was still very annoying. YES, we were aware of the state of our yard but we went on vacation. We also got one from our neighborhood association, thanks to a nosy neighbor who took a picture of our yard (with the RV in the driveway) to report us. Really cool.  The truth was, we had already called a landscaping service to pull it all out, and, in fact, had been waiting for their estimate when we got the city's notice. We quickly learned landscapers have been abnormally busy this year, so it took a few weeks to get the estimate and on the schedule.  Finally, I have some before and after photos for you ...  We also did the other side of the house, but I don't have photos of that side. It's much the same: weeds to grass seed.  The plan is to sod and get grass growing in all the cleared out areas. And, eventually, add something like hydrangea along the front po...

I struggled a lot with household chores for the kids, allowances and money. I read a few parenting books about allowances and listened to some parenting experts, hoping to land on something that felt right for my house and kids. ( Here's a book on that subject I didn't agree with. )  But with quarantine and everyone being HOME, I really had to find something that would work. Because if it was just ME AND DAVID putting away dishes every day, I was going to lose it.  For a few years, we've been working on this clipboard of chores, where I had listed chores and how much they paid out, but there was room to add and negotiate price. Alice got especially good a bartering. And I was good about paying immediately for awhile, but eventually we started to list "I Owe Yous" to the girls and it got a little meaningless. As you know, I'm not good with consistency.  But while home, we figured out if we added up the money on the chalkboard, we could keep track of what they w...

Our home office has been a bit of a wreck since we moved back from Paris. A catch-all room. But then we started working from home in March and this room has been in a state of PROGRESS. David used it. Than, he moved to the basement, and I've been using it. We moved the chaise in here for the dogs to nap and watch the neighborhood -- it's everyone's room.  Once the decision was made to distance learn, we had a family discussion on where the girls wanted to work. After last Spring's experience, the dining room or kitchen was out of the picture. Too messy. We quickly identified the office as the optimal place (the first of there several options) so they're close to me, for guidance and questions while I'm working from home, and they're away from distractions in their rooms. The desks in their rooms would play an alternate roll, once they got up and running successfully and needed a fresh location. Options are good.  It was also the perfect opportunity to clear ...

Welcome to freshman year, Leah! It is not at all what we thought it would be.  Due to the pandemic and concerns about safety, our school district decided to make the first few months of the school year (through October, at this point) 100% distance learning. Meaning, meeting over video conference calls and working through assignments on-line. While I know it was the right thing to do, and I'm pretty proud of our teachers for pulling together to adjust lesson plans, etc., it's still hard.  However, the girls are pretty excited about the idea of working at their own pace, in their own homes and figuring things out. It's an adventure for all of us. (They hate the bus?!) So, we went and picked up Leah's laptop and textbooks from school and this is pretty much the only "getting on the bus" back-to-school picture I'm going to get. Given that she's "too old" for such traditions, I'm actually pretty glad to have snapped the photos that I did. Mu...

Have you heard about this Enneagram personality test? Ok, it's been around for years and years, so it's not a new thing at all but I've just been lately hearing it referred to in my favorite podcasts. "Oh, you're a 4 so that makes sense," they'll say. I had to figure out what the heck it was all about.  I found a quick, free test here and my result was ... I'm a SEVEN. With a lot of 4, 9 and 5, apparently.  While I'm pretty happy to be considered The Enthusiast, I think all-in-all it's pretty accurate. Though, according to this official-looking site , 7s are extroverts and I'm totally not.  This short description pretty much sums me up. I'm generally versatile, I read a lot and I'm TOTALLY SCATTERED! It's incredibly accurate.  The one word I think about a lot is "Spontaneous." I never really thought of myself as spontaneous, but once I started to really think about it, I might actually be. One of my weak points is I...

Here's a quick tip for painting a TON of spindles.  1. Cover your hand with a plastic bag.  2. Cover that with a cotton sock. Preferably one that's lost its mate and has been sitting at the bottom of the laundry basket for several months (ok, probably years).  3. Dip your hand in the paint and run your hands up and down the spindle. In your other hand, have a little brush to catch any drips and misses.  It looks a little crazy, but with the stairway project, I had so many spindles with detail work, it would have take me days to brush each. This took me a few minutes with each coat of primer and finish paint.  You're welcome! 

Big news! I built my own picture ledges and it really wasn't that hard!  Here they are all built and holding art and family photos in my dining room. Aren't they so FUN! And, the best part, building them myself saved me sooo much money. If you were buying them from a store, a sold wood picture ledge 6 ft long is about $80-100. Sometimes more! I spent about $40 for the finished oak at Mendard's for each ledge. Ok. So I've been seeing these picture ledges all over Instagram and Pinterest. And they're so attractive and allow for flexibility when arranging the art. I can pull some off and add new ones. Or add seasonal additions, too. But they are expensive. Here's my inspiration photo. I liked the light wood and the mix of frames and images. And I love the light fixtures above them -- but that's another story. OK. So armed with some DIY instructions and a firm idea of what I want it to look like, I headed to the trim aisles at Mendard's. Afte...

Our last stop on our RV trip was Colorado. I found a newer RV campground/glamping spot in Granby and it looked just like our speed.  But first, we stayed a night in Laramie, WY and spent a day in their downtown. It felt so good to walk around and explore a town, do a little shopping and we even ate out for the FIRST TIME in since the start of this crazy pandemic. And we had the BEST PIZZA ever.  We've been on a hunt for a new bike for Alice, since she's outgrown hers'. We had high hopes at this bike shop, but because of the pandemic, you can't buy a new bike anywhere ... even in a small town in Wyoming.  When booking the trip, I thought ahead. I imagined we'd be DONE sleeping in an RV and want a little comfort, so we booked a small cabin at this Colorado RV park, and the golf cart to drive around in.  It was a luxury to be in one place with a REAL bed and laundry and no where to drive for a few days.  And the kids enjoyed driving lessons in the golf cart!  ...