Make It So



The Wallpaper

 

I am declaring this year (2011) to be the "Year of the House."  We have lived in our house for eight and a half years and in that time I've painted a few rooms and bought furniture but I haven't done anything to significantly alter the decor. If we moved all of our belongings out today the house would look very much the way it did the day we moved in.  The lack of any significant change can be attributed to the fact that when we bought the house it was already decorated the way I would have done it. The living room was the perfect yellow (more butter than lemon), the dining room was a beautiful shade of green and the den was my favorite color of Porter Paint (Lincoln Home Beige). The one glaring exception to my "like" list  was the kitchen wallpaper.  Acres and acres of black wallpaper with a festive fruit pattern.  I have always disliked the kitchen wallpaper and my only explanation for living with it for so long is the fact that the sheer volume of the wallpaper that has to be removed is intimidating.  But I have decided that as of now the wallpaper's days are numbered and that this is the year my kitchen gets a much deserved makeover. I've been purusing paint colors and I've brough home samples ranging from "Borrowed Light" to "Tobacco" and everything in between.  Blue, gray, yellow, cream - so many possibilities. Honestly, I'm still a little lost where the potential paint color is concerned but my hope is that it will come into focus once the wallpaper is gone.


From my Idea Notebook:
A kitchen that is
so very bright and airy
and devoid of fruit.



  Other items on my "Year of the House To Do List"  include replacing our front door, finishing out the guest room / office project, updating the master bathroom, repainting the master bedroom, changing out some light fixtures and maybe hanging curtains in the living room.  

Wildcats Attack

 Tullahoma High School

January 2011

   We went to see the Community Playhouse production of "The Music Man" in Tullahoma Saturday night.  The production was absolutely wonderful - better than many things I've seen on much bigger stages here in Nashville.  What was really great about Saturday night though was seeing so many friends.  It was good for all of us to go home to Tullahoma for the night.  After the show, Joel walked the kids and I through the high school pointing out where his locker used to be and commenting on how many things have changed and how many things are still the same.  I left Tullahoma feeling more than a little homesick but also very grateful for all the wonderful friends who live there - friends who made some very difficult days in 2008 more bearable.  It's a great place, Tullahoma.  Joel comes from good people.

The Year that Was

       In December of every year I sort through all the photos I've taken that year so that I can put together a calender at Shutterfly to give to all the grandparents.  My reaction to this year's crop of photos is along the lines of good grief, what a year. 

January 2010

     My grandparents house was burned to make

way for a new elementary school. 

   I miss this house. 

I miss my grandparents.

The day after I learned the house had been

burned I started this blog.
 A few days later I wrote about
losing the house.

http://adayinthelife-julie.blogspot.com/2010/01/june-20th-1962.html

February 2010

My parents bought a condo in Nashville (finally).

Owen and Sarah helped measure the empty rooms.

The room above is two and a half Vallejo kids wide.
We are all happy that they are here now.

March 2010

The kids and I spent a few days in Orange Beach.

They were so sweet to each other on this trip.

Almost nine and just turned six were fun ages.

April 2010

My parents were in a car accident on

Good Friday and my mother spent many weeks in

in a rehabilitation facility afterwards.

It was a tough couple of months, but she was able

to get some really good therapy

that she could not have received otherwise.

   

May 2010

Owen had his first sleepover (for his 9th birthday)
the same night that Nashville had a 500 year flood.
Owen's friends were marooned with us for
two extra days and our dog died -
not because of the flood, just during it.
Not sure what I'm going to be able to plan for this
year's birthday that will top last year's party.

June 2010

We traveled to DisneyWorld with the Barts.

Owen ended up in he ER as a result of a stomach bug

but the first days of the trip and  the last days of the trip were great. 

We had a view of the Magic Kingdom from our room!

July 2010

This is a photo from our Vallejo Family Vacation

in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Our trip coincided with the arrival of

oil on the beaches from the BP Oil Spill but

we learned a lot about blimps and Coast Guard helicopters

and the impact of oil on the environment.

Also, the view from the condo was like having

box seats to a natural disaster and I

like having box seats to just about anything.

August 2010

New floors!

Our basement finally shed it's "flood chic" look and the

new floor is a vast improvement over the old carpet.

September 2010

My parents celebrated their 45th

wedding anniversary on September 4th.

Lots of lessons here about endurance

and perseverance.

October 2010

The kids and I spent a few more days in Orange Beach. 

We met my aunts and cousin there.

It was the most beautiful week

we've had at the beach in a long long time. 

While we were away Joel was in an accident

that totaled his car - but he was fine.

Also in October . . .

I visited Washington, DC and fell in love

with the place.  Hoping to go with

Joel and the kids sometime soon.

November 2010

Joel ran the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon

and the kids ran the last mile of the Kids Marathon

(they had run the first 25.2 miles in the weeks

leading up to the marathon).

Sarah is crying in this photo because she got trampled

at the starting line, but she finished her race.

December 2010

December was busy in a good way with nativity plays,

basketball games, dinners with friends and family,

present wrapping and opening and general merry-making. 

Best of all, we woke up to snow on Christmas morning.

December is a good way to end a year.

To sum up:

2010 was not an easy year, but it was a good year. 

We survived some things and we made the best of others. 

At the beginning of 2010 I wrote a list of what I wanted

to accomplish during the year and the first item on that list was

"Choose Joy - breathe deep, let go, choose joy."

It became my mantra for the year and I know it kept me saner

during the flood and the many trips to the rehab hospital.  

I'm still working on my list of things to do in 2011

but I think "Choose Joy" is going to stay somewhere near the top. 

Sister Mary Donalda

My Grandmother

Sr. M. Donalda

My grandmother, Mary Walsh, was a nun. Briefly.
She joined the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul
in Ontario, Canada on August 14, 1919.
She was sixteen years old.

According to my Aunt Maureen (and I am quoting her email here):

"I don't know exactly when she left.

She was ill and couldn't stand the rigors of the convent (they felt.)

They paid for her to go to Brooklyn New York to St. Mary's nursing school.

She was working as a nurse when she met grampa.

He was a patient. And the rest, as they say, is history."

My grandparents were married in 1933 (I believe) and had

six children - Greg, Maureen, John (my dad), Eileen, Anne and Grace.
One more interesting family story to add to the mix.

Make Mom Laugh

     Looks like Sarah has decided that the best way to get things done is to make a list of all she needs to do and then set about doing it.  I have no idea who she gets this from. I found yesterday's list when I was cleaning the kitchen this morning.  It may be the best "to do" list I've ever read, especially numbers 7 and 8.    My to do list for today includes wrapping more presents, figuring out how to cook a turkey (again), cleaning the living room and helping the kids make a gingerbread house.  After reading Sarah's list I'm going to add "Be Merry" to my own list because sometimes the "merry" in Christmas isn't a given and you have to remind yourself to do it. 

Dear Santa

Two letters to Santa that I've 

mailed to the North Pole this year.

Dear Saint Nicholaus or Santa Clause,             Are you having a good year so far?  You  know it’s coming to your favorite time of the year.  In several days it will be time to saddle up the raindeers and don’t forget to put Rudolph in front.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Glory to God. From, Owen Vallejo

    His wish list included legos and action figures

and nintendo games and books.

    

Dear Santa,             Thank you for Christmas.  And can you say hi to the raindeers for me? Love, Sarah Grace 1. Barbie Dreamhouse 2. AGD bike 3. AGD table and chairs 4. AGD cat 5. AGD sleigh and antlears

On Sarah's list, the abbreviation "AGD"

should be read as "American Girl Doll."

Love the spelling of "raindeer" on both of their lists

and Sarah's spelling of "antlears."

Kids are fun.

December 14th, 1996

We were married

at Holy Ghost Catholic Church

in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The wedding mass began at 7pm rather than

6:30 (like I had originally planned) because my

mother said it was bad luck to get

married on the downward stroke of the clock.*

 

The Pre-Wedding Huddle

with my beautiful bridesmaid friends.

Joel spent his time before the wedding

hanging out with his best friend, Albert,

and reading comic books.

     When Joel proposed to me at the Ruby Tuesday's salad bar he had very few requirements as far as the wedding itself was concerned.  His one request was that we not get married in a hot month.  Because the wedding was going to be in Knoxville that eliminated the months of May through August and of course UT's football season took the remaining fall months out of contention.  So, December 14th it was.  Looking back on it now I think we had a nice wedding. Our reception was at the Knoxville Museum of Art and there was cake and hors d'ouvres and dancing.  It wasn't elaborate but it was pretty much exactly what we wanted.      

* I didn't want to get married at 7 o'clock because "7" is an odd number and I'm not a fan of odd numbers. After some reflection however,  I decided that the 7pm wedding start time cancelled out the fact that our rehearsal dinner was on Friday the 13th  (because those two odd numbers make an even number).  To sum up, Joel wanted a nice cool wedding day and I wanted one that was divisible by 2.