A Girl named Kent

Exhausted!! I am exhausted. It has been a whirlwind. Where do I begin? Well, let's do the fun stuff first. Suzy had her grand store opening on Saturday and it was a blast, crazy and hectic but a blast anyway. I am learning that when you are around her you just hang on and be ready for anything. She had asked me to do a demo so I stopped by Thursday to pick up supplies and what she wanted me to demo was not in so plan B. Oh and "demo" meant "make n takes" - big difference. :-) So racking my brain and wandering around the shop we figured out some things to promote - buttons, chipboard and the Sew Easy Rub ons. Ta da! Here is what I came up with - little 4x4 inch photo stands. People LOVED them. I was so shocked. I thought this is too simple, people will think it is cheesy but I was wrong. After the Mayor of Fremont welcomed everyone in the morning and Suzy cut the ribbon at 10:00am, I did not take a breath until 1:30. I had full tables the whole time and people waiting. I was so happy and stressed! But it was fun and I love interacting with people one on one and helping them create. It was neat to see them put their own twist on the project. Above all I just like people to feel good about what they create and everyone can do it.

Then is was time for Sylvia's class. I am holding it in the picture but it may be hard to see. It is a "This is me now" album using a clipboard. It was so cute and fun to do. She did a great job and I know it took a lot of work to put the class all together. I liked not having to come up with something original and just follow instructions. I also love walking away with a completed project. It was fun to catch up with her group of gals that I have been adopted into. :-)

Okay now here is the rough stuff - the house flip!!! Can I really do this?? I don't know if I am strong enough! When you are so tired and physically sore, it is really hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This week it was the walkway and the fence. The walkway has been a round and around "process" of what to do with it. Rip it out, overlay it, put stone in - who knows?! I feel like I have been having the same discussion with the other members for the last 4 days. But I won't bore you with all the details. I think we fianlly have decided on overlaying the existing cement with slate tiles and I arranged - 12" and 16" squares in a random pattern so all the different colored slate varies. I am hoping this will give the "cottage" look that our tudor house needs.

Here is just a sample. But it hasn't been laid yet because of the round and around discussions the 4 of us have been having. Rob and Matt did the side fence and I helped finish nailing it on Sunday. We still need the back fence done and we are still demo-ing the inside. So it feels like we are not really making progress - just taking baby steps. This week we are supposed to get the permit process started and get a dumpster to fill up and of course I am sure we will talk about the walkway some more! Good news is a house is for sale around the corner and it has some of the same features as ours. It is going for more than ours will (it's bigger) and the Realtor said she has had a lot of people and it was only their first open house. So that is really good news for us. I just have to keep telling myself this as I limp around and have blisters on my hands!