Small Successes-August 11th

Celebrating the little things in life that add up.

1. At long last I have finished the seemingly never ending project of sanding, painting/staining and sewing liners for three wooden crates.  I needed to do this job so I could reclaim the three crates that were originally used as under the crib storage when Ellie was a baby.  It probably would have been easier to just stain three more to match the nursery furniture, but I figured it would be best to finish the new crates to match the furniture in the rooms where the old ones were being used.  In the process, I have learned that spray painting pine white isn't the easiest thing to do.  In hindsight, I should have used a primer.  Also, polystain that is nearly black in color is not much fun to use.  I had a few freak out moments when the black stain hit my skin and could be seen absorbing and spreading within seconds.  Thankfully, baking soda, the rock star of the cleaning world, had me covered for stain removal.

2. I now have the vast majority of the school supplies that Madeline will need for middle school.  Bryan also managed to get Madeline's bus stop changed.  On Saturday we received her bus pass and the transportation office assigned her to the bus stop at the opposite end of our street as opposed to the bus stop that is less than 100 feet from our property line.  After calling around to the neighbors I discovered that the kids who live in the middle of the street were all assigned to the bus stop closest to our house, but Madeline and the boy who also lives one house away from the bus stop were assigned to the opposite end of the street.  Clearly there's a glitch somewhere.  I can now relax knowing that I'll be able to see her get on the bus in the morning.

3. I'm inching closer to having the nursery set up.  We moved the arm chair from Ellie's room to the nursery.  I had been convinced for months that the chair simply wasn't going to work in the small room, but I was surprised on Sunday afternoon to find that I was wrong.  Ellie isn't exactly happy that her chair is gone, but we promised to get her a bookshelf to replace it.   I haven't said anything to Bryan yet, but I'm thinking about getting her a small chair, too.