In which I attempt a real "journal" entry. Remember those?

Well, big surprise... it's been six months since I updated. Again. I'm really good at that. Is there some sort of prize or sponsorship for being the most lazy updater ever? I mean, it seems like that's all blogging is anymore. It's kind of sad. I mean, I love a giveaway as much as the next gal, but what happened to pouring your heart out or just posting about the minutiae of your day? Back in the day of "online journals," there was no incentive to post anything except the catharsis of getting it out there in black and white. No one does that anymore... and I guess it does make a difference now that everyone and their grandma knows how to use the Internet. Your jobs, relationships, your entire livelihood can be in jeopardy if you keep it real.

I felt pressured to define this blog when I started it, just because it seems like that's what you have to do now. There are fashion bloggers, home bloggers, recipe bloggers, mommy bloggers, blahblahblah bloggers... that's starting to not look like a real word anymore. Anyway, I don't want this to be a niche blog. I just want a place to write every once in a while.

I'm going to force myself to do a little exercise. I'm going to bust it out LiveJournal style and write about my day. With Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it's too easy to update everyone in short, concise bursts. This is a real freakin' journal entry, people. Behold.

Kyle let me sleep until 9:30 this morning, which was nice, since Hank decided that 2:00 and 4:00 AM were excellent times to wake up screaming for no discernible reason. I think he must be going through a growth spurt. He's been eating like a horse lately, and his sleep patterns always get jacked up when he's hitting another milestone.

After some chai and several readings of "Penguin Says Please" (Hank's new favorite book), I still wasn't awake, so my dear husband was kind enough to let me go back to sleep for a while. I finally pulled it together around 2:00 and went for some ice cream with my mom (with Hank in tow) and then came back to the house to do some yardwork while Mom chased after Hank.

No, I couldn't get my parenting game together today, in case that's what you were thinking.

Anyway, I used some old bricks I found in our shed to edge around the front of our house. Previously, it was just old mulch and then grass... not all that attractive. The edging is a little crooked, but I think it'll look nice once I get some new mulch down and the grass fills back in. I got one side of the house done and then it looked like a serious rainstorm was headed in, so I went down to the fence row on the north side of our house and attempted to dig out the chokecherry that I had sprayed weed killer on last week. A lot of it was still too stubborn to get out, so that got doused with weed killer again. I also managed to finally plant two variegated hostas in the area where we got married a couple years ago. There are two large cement foundations and a little shaded garden area which gets extremely weedy extremely fast. I need to put more mulch down there as soon as possible.

I really do not enjoy being outside that much, but I have gotten into gardening this year, so I go about it like I'm killing snakes on days when it's not ungodly hot.

After a much-needed shower, I dropped Mom off at home and we went over to Kyle's parents' house to eat dinner with his dad, who was flying solo this evening. Burgers, baked beans and macaroni and cheese filled us up, then we all went outside and watched Hank run up and down their huge deck. He got a bath there and then we employed the car method of getting him down for the night.

And now, it is getting on towards 11:00 and it's time for bed.

A little upcycling for your rainy Sunday.

The last couple days have been unseasonably warm for January, so I decided to work on a quick project that I've been meaning to do for quite a long time.

The previous owners of our house (which was built in 1840-ish) left several of the original windows in the shed. Since I am totally at a loss for what to do with our mantel for winter and spring, I decided to clean one of the windows up and use that as the focal point. It's kind of a popular trend right now, but I like it.

Here's what it looked like when I pulled it out of the shed. I liked this one because all the glass was still in tact and it was 9-pane, a little different than the typical window. It was covered in dust and spiderwebs and who knows what else, so I used our Dustbuster to get the big stuff off before starting the cleaning process.

First I sprayed this GreenWorks stuff all over both sides of it and let it sit for about 10 minutes or so. Then I rinsed it off using an old rag dunked in water and a little dish soap. I also lost a pane in the process (the topmost right one).

Then I rinsed it with a bleach and water mixture and used a toothbrush to clean out the nooks and crannies. This is the opposite side of what I've been posting, but you can see how much cleaner it is at this point. It's also lighter, because another pane fell out (the middle left one). It adds character.

I let it dry overnight and then cleaned the windows on both sides (very carefully, I might add) with vinegar and water using coffee filters to cut back on streaking.

And here's the final product!

I am totally at a loss for how to finish out my winter mantel. I love the two little bundled-up birdies perched in the empty spots, and I placed a birdhouse my dad made next to them on top of a book called "A Daughter of the Snows," but everything else is sort of thrown together. I kind of wanted to do an all winter-white theme, since I found a bunch of white milkglass for super cheap at a local antique store, but I don't know. Suggestions are always welcome, of course. I think I'll keep the window up for spring and then put the crane painting that my grandpa did back up for summer.