Some “Things” I Love Most

“Things I Love Thursday.” Yes, I love this feature! I first saw it over at Gala Darling and I instantly knew that I had to “borrow” it. She recently wrote about how she has seen it take off on the internet and she thinks it’s great. What I love about it most is that it is such a positive act; thinking of and writing about the little things (or grand things) that bring a person joy. It really is one of my favorite things to do each week. so, here’s to “Things I Love Thursday!”

Sunshine! After all the storms we’ve been having in SoCal it was so nice to see the sun out over the weekend. Everything was still sopping wet and there was still a chill in the air but just seeing the sun felt fantastic. I’ve been enjoying the rain but nothing beats a perfect, clear day. What can I say, I’m a Leo, we love the sun!

Ramses. I posted a picture yesterday of us that is one of my favorites. Sure, I may look a little taken by surprise, and he’s sporting the old goatee that’s been gone for a year but I remember taking that picture and how goofy we can be together. I have refrained from listing my darling husband here because it goes without saying that I love him but I just couldn’t resist this week. =)

Baby Ebi & Baby Kai-Kai!!

Ebi & Kai. Read above about the “it goes without saying thing” but I can’t ever truly express how much joy, laughter, and love my little guys give me. Above are their baby pictures. They are by no means big now but I cannot remember them being that tiny! And yes that is Asa behind Kai wondering whether or not he should eat the poor little thing!

Getting ahead! Whew! For the last couple of weeks I have been feeling like I’ve been just barely holding onto the reins of a runaway horse. Just barely keeping up with everything I set out to do. But this last weekend I forced myself to sit down and focus. I’ve concentrated on putting together a schedule and sticking to it and, let me tell you, it feels great to actually get ahead instead of my regular playing catch-up routine!

Music, TV, & “Art”

• Musicals!  Ever since Glee premiered I have been obsessed with watching and listening to old musicals that I loved as a little girl and ones I love today.  I learned to sing by watching Disney musicals, particularly The Little Mermaid.  I must have worn out my cassette tape soundtrack rewinding “Part of your World” hundreds of times.
• Everything Bagels with Cream Cheese. So good it even has it’s own facebook page!  For the last couple of months Ramses has been making us breakfast while I finish getting ready for work.  Normally, it’s some variation of eggs, bacon, or waffles.  We normally don’t have bagels in the house so it’s a treat to have something I really love.  Yesterday he accidentally left the office with my breakfast that he had thoughtfully packed up for me since I was running late.  The one I had this morning was so much better because of that!

• Fall TV!!  I am a TV addict.  I love television; drama, comedy, trashy reality.  It’s my favorite way to relax.  So, needless to say I have been so excited about the new fall season.  With old favorites returning and some new shows I want to try we had to carefully organize our TiVo in order to ensure we get to record most of what we can to see.  Some new shows I am excited about:  Glee (but you already know that), Eastwick, Flashforward, Community, and Vampire Diaries .  Both Glee, Vampire Diaries, and Community have already premiered and I am really enjoying them.
• Ramses!  No explaination needed.  He’s a “thing I love” everyday.  =)
• Ebi & Kai!  Again no explaination needed, my boys make me laugh everyday.  I love them to bits.



• Coloring books & crayons!  I have been getting daily visits to my office from my boss’ granddaughters who I keep entertained by coloring with them.  This week we covered the refrigerator with Hello Kitty in an effort to girl up the place.  =)

Filling Up

Last weekend Ramses and I spend two days reorganizing our office… it’s really a bit more than a home office but calling it “the library” or “the study” seems pretentious to me.  Once we have our dream house with walls of floor to ceiling bookshelves that require one of those awesome sliding ladders then and only then will we have a real library… ahh, to dream.  But I digress, as I often do…

If you’ve been to our house, which most everyone who reads this has, you know that last year for my birthday Ramses had a carpenter make a floor to ceiling bookshelf that I designed and bought new office furniture to match it.  Well, Mr. Carpenter never found the time to return and install the shelves in the cabinets that line the bottom.  So, for a full year the cabinets that were meant to add much-needed storage to the room housed miscellaneous items that poured out anytime a door was opened.  When Ramses asked what I wanted for my birthday this year I quickly decided that I would like to finish bookshelf.

We took advantage of the long weekend and made a trip to Lowe’s.  We found pre-finished  shelves that matched, some brackets, and the brushed nickle hardware to finish the look.  I really wish I’d taken a picture of Ramses’ handywork because it turned out perfectly.

Once Ram was done  it was my turn to put my organizational skills to work.  Once I get organizing there is no stopping me so I started rearranging all the books on the shelves.  It’s no Dewey Decimal system but it’s a system that makes sense to me and with about 450 books that is all I can ask for.   I find myself just wandering into the room often and just staring at the bookshelf.  I love it so much.

The best shot I could get of the whole shelf.  The new hardware is sort of visible at the bottom right corner.

Some of my favorite shelves; my Alice collection, leather-bound collections, and Harry potter.  I love my Alice and my Queen of Hearts dolls.  My boss brought me back the tea set from London earlier this year.

My Oz collection including my Dorothy & Wicked Witch (or Elphaba as I will always refer to her after reading Wicked) and a nice shot of the beautiful moulding.