Wired Up!

Today, I put words & talk into action. I actually completed a DIY project! Whew... that was hard. I bought this lamp at a yard sale during the summer. Yes, count the months... SIX months ago. I've been staring at it, tripping over it & shuffling it around my house WAITING for it to magically remake itself. Turns out, they don't do that no matter how much you want them to. Instead, I needed to get dirty - or get covered in paint & fabric strings.

I forgot to take a pic of the full "before" photo, so these will have to do. You can still get a sense of the hideous color and condition that the lamp & shade were in.

The mustard seed with dirty seams color just didn't quite cut it for me, so I bought some really great turquoise spray paint and made it better. My only prepwork on this was to clean the lamp base with a wet rag and tape off the metal and cording (they don't need to be turquoise, too). Then I tore off the shade material, leaving me with two wire rings.

Spraying the base took 2 coats. I bought the "good stuff" rather than the cheap-o cans of paint. I will never go back. The only reason I had to hit it with a second coat is because I missed a few spots completely in the initial spray. If I had been more diligent, I'm sure one coat would have been sufficient. But let's move past paint...

I found some great material (which I unfortunately did not photograph before shredding it and tying it to the shade rings. Oops! I bought 2 fat quarters & 2 pre-cut yards of material that would complement my choice of base color.

Then I spent more than 2 hours sitting in front of the lamp & the television tying the shreds onto the shade rings in an organized, yet haphazard manner. I'll let you be the judge on whether it is full enough, colorful enough, matchy-matchy enough, etc. You can judge, but I'll still like it anyway.

This little light of mine... I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Living the rag life,
Fame

Ever So Thankful

We are regularly thankful for the "easy" things (the in-the-moment items), we can be reminded to be thankful for the "forgotten" things (things we take for granted)... but how many can say that you've expressed your thanks to God and to others in your life for the silver linings... the blessings that come from "pain"? Praise God through the pain, through the trial, through the fire.

Our pastor gave us homework to do this week: list the easy & the forgotten stuff, look for the thankful moments in the painful circumstances... and then ACT on them. Say thanks to those that have been a part of your reasons for being grateful.

Today, I'm thankful for chickens that provide food & enjoyment for my family, a new cat that gives me something to care for, money to pay bills nearing their due dates, shelter & comfort that I overlook daily. I have grown into the pain of my stroke, and I am so grateful that I suffer through what is considered minor "aftershocks". I walk. I talk. I eat. I breath. All of these things I am thankful for. 

The trial of my son's ADHD... I have not come to grips with the silver lining of this yet. I am thankful that it means he is an extremely intelligent being, and I am enormously grateful to the Lord who gave him a wonderful disposition. So many other boys with this illness are aggressive & combative. My son can be argumentative, but he is soft-hearted and empathetic.

God, thank you most of all for my husband, who held me up to you during the most painful parts of our lives together. He has been strength when my own has failed. He guided me back to you when I wandered. He grounds me. Thank you.