New Pendant Light

I have been looking for a cheap pendant light cover that I could live with in my home for about 4 months. Our old one was dated and ugly. (Sorry, no before picture.)

Last week I found this tutorial and decided to give it a try. When I told my husband what I wanted to do he thought I was crazy and that it would look awful, but I convinced him to let me give it a try and we could keep it or go back to the old, ugly cover if my DIY attempt failed.

After a couple of shopping trips I collected the list of supplies. This past Friday a bunch of my girlfriends were getting together for a Ladies Night In to craft and hang out. (We're a wild bunch, I tell you.) I took along my supplies and got to work. For the most part I followed the instructions in the tutorial. I found it was easiest to do as the author did and put the glue on my gloved hand and run the string through the glue as I wrapped it around the ball. The tutorial says that it will take one container of glue but I used nearly two. It also said I would need 900ft of hemp string, but I only used 400ft because the globe was already looking pretty full and I wanted the light to be able to escape easily.

I did make one other small change. My pendant hangs from a 15 foot (at least!) ceiling and I didn't want to have to borrow a ladder to climb all the way to the top to detach the electrical wires so I could put the pendant kit through one of the small openings in the ball. Instead, I left an opening at the top of the globe that would fit just the plastic piece that the light bulb would screw into. I put the new hemp globe over that plastic piece, then I took a metal ring that was holding on the old glass pendant cover and screwed it on so that it was holding my new hemp globe in place. I put the light  bulb back in and called my skeptic husband to come look at my work.

He approves! I get to keep it! I must say I am really proud of myself for deciding to give this one a try and figuring out how to make it work with the pendant kit I already had hanging from my ceiling. I love the change it makes in our entryway. What do you think? Do you like my new pendant shade?

For Sale

How in the world do some people manage to get so much done in a day?! Honestly, I feel like my days must have 5 less hours in them than the days everyone else lives. What other explanation could there be for me still having 5 hours worth of work to do when other (read: more rested) people are going to bed?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our house is on the market and we get calls for showings with sometimes as little as 30 minutes notice. I guess we could turn down the appointments, but we really want to sell our house so we take every appointment that comes our way.

Keeping a home showing ready (or 30 minutes of mad rushing from showing ready) at all times is no small task. Add in a three year old boy with tons of energy and it is exhausting. I feel like I spend my days planning how long it will take the washing machine to run and if I'll have time to switch the wet clothes to the dryer before our next showing? Will there be time to run the dryer? It is in the kitchen and a bit noisy and makes the room feel humid so I don't want it running during the showing. What about folding and putting all those clothes away? At what point of the day can I squeeze in nap time? If I have to wake up Evan from his nap in order for someone to come in and see the house will I have time to put him on the potty or should I put a diaper on him and run out the door? What about snacks? I just vacuumed two days ago, do the floors look like they need it again? Has anyone forgotten to flush a toilet? Leave the seat up? What will we do while someone is looking at our house? Go for a walk or run errands? Oh, it's a 100 degree day? A walk is out... the pool? A neighbor with air conditioning that won't mind a visit? Oh, and did I mention the toys that get spread out around the house while I am cleaning the bathtub or scrubbing floors?

So I'm venting. Listing a home for sale is hard work!

We recently found out that our neighborhood is not approved for FHA loans. Our condo association has too many homeowners late in paying their condo fees and as such FHA won't approve loans in our neighborhood. Also, anyone with conventional loan financing will need to have 20% to put down or they won't be able to get a loan either. Frustrating! I found out yesterday that we have 7 homeowners who are one month late in paying their fees. If they pay up we will be within the guidelines set forth by FHA and they will be able to approve loans for purchases in our neighborhood again. All our association would need to do would be reapply for "approved" status. We are VERY hopeful that this will happen soon! The likelihood of a buyer with 20% or more as a down payment is slim and we are one of four homes on the market in our neighborhood.

We are anxious to move. More on that in the next post. For now I leave you with this picture. See? Isn't it a beautiful home? If you are local and are looking for a place to buy or know of anyone looking might I suggest our little corner of the real estate market?

Alright, here is a picture of the inside too.

And this one.

Exhausted, but hopeful.

~Genelle

Yeah, so I stink as a blogger. A ton of things have changed in my life since the last time I posted. Obviously. When does life NOT change over the course of nine months? I have a bunch of things on which to update you.... not that you are even still here after nine months of radio silence on my end, but I figured I should write it all down for my own benefit at the very least.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to update more regularly and cover the following topics, all of which have significance in my recent life.

• Listing our home for sale
• Long distance moves
• Thyroid disorders and why they stink
• Adrenal Fatigue
• PCOS and fertility issues
• Weight loss efforts
• Salt and iodine
• Potty training a three year old
• Crafting - my stress buster
• Gluten-free recipes
• Paisley Peach Designs plans - relaunching and building up the business

For now, I'm going to set this to post and get myself to bed. I have fallen into a bad habit of staying up too late and then dragging from tiredness the next few days. I really need to nip the late nights in the bud for the sake of my health and sanity. A sick, exhausted wife and mother is no good to herself, her husband or her children. In my case only one child, but he still needs me to be operating on all of my cylinders.

Good night!
~G