Ho Hum

Yes, I'm still here.  Every other day or so I come look at my blog, try to think of something to write, and end up mumbling "Meh..." to myself and go on to something else.  To say I've hit a blogging dry spell would be a pretty massive understatement.

I'm not sure what has brought on the ho-hum attitude.  We're still settling into our new house, and I'm settling into my new job, and into city life.  City life is just that - city life.  I still feel about as comfortable as a bowl-raised goldfish thrown in the ocean.  While the city has a lot to offer as far as good restaurants and improved shopping, I still really miss living in the country and the comfort of a small town.  I'm sure time will improve my feelings toward living in the city, but I don't think I'll ever be feeling the warm-fuzzies for congested traffic and poor manners I often encounter.  So far, it's like swimming alone in a sea of uncaring strangers.  Time will likely fix that, too.

I've also been bummed by the weather.  When viewing a weather map, my eyes instinctively go to where we used to live, and I see the area enjoying rain and cooler temperatures, while Little Rock remains dry, dusty, and hot, hot, hot.

As far as home improvement goes, things have been slow but steady.  Aside from flooring, we haven't done anything major - just a lot of the small, sometimes tedious things that are slow to come together.  Paint touch-ups, new electrical outlet covers, trim, and organization issues have been the main thrust as of late.  And with hubby's busy schedule, including a pre-deployment two-week trip to the mid-east (which reminded me how much next year is going to suck rotten eggs), these home improvements have fallen mostly on my plate.  During his absence, I addressed a major headache in my life - the dreaded pantry.

Like Mom, I like to keep a well-stocked pantry, but the folks who lived here before weren't so concerned about neat, tidy, easy-to-access kitchen items.  They were fans of one of my arch nemeses - wire shelving (bleh!).  Wire shelving which encourages cans to fall over, small items to fall through, and filth to gather in nooks and crannies.  I couldn't walk by the pantry without averting my eyes and suppressing a dramatic shudder.  After researching some shelving options, I instead bought a drill press, some 1x12 boards, white paint, and went to work building fully adjustable shelves.  I'm pretty satisfied with the results, if I do say so myself.

Here is the pantry before:

Here is the pantry after:

Hey, I can brag a little, right?