On the tip of my tongue.

I get so frustrated when I am trying to remember something, and I am so close I can almost taste it, but it never completely breaks through the surface. In many ways, it felt that way with the guardianship thing. It felt like it was just out of the grasp of our fingers and we couldn't quite catch it. It still feels like it's a bit out of reach, since we haven't gotten the official paperwork in the mail yet, but at least we know it's coming, and the resolution will be complete when it finally shows up.

Triggered by a sound, which triggered a smell, I had to go on a web search for a toy from my childhood. Anyone remember Incredible Edibles? I'm talking about the electric toy that heated small plates filled with edible goo to solidify, or maybe I should say, "rubberize" them, so older brothers could terrorize their younger sisters with them. I can't count the number of gooey spiders and snakes that were put in either one of our beds or our hair or  chased us around the yard at night. I'm betting the inventor of Gummy Worms had an Incredible Edible machine when he was little, and I'm betting he chased his little sisters, too!

Seeing the picture of the plates brought back an almost physical reaction for me. There's nothing that smells quite like the gel that was used when it's baking, and for a split second, that smell was so strong that I was back in the home I grew up in, sitting around the machine with my brothers and sister waiting for the goodies to be done, so we could eat them. I could smell the dampness of the basement, feel the coolness of the concrete against my knees, and feel the anticipation as though I were 8 years old again. 

What wonderful memories!

It's funny how a sound or a smell can transport a person back in time. For years, there was a single phrase that transported me back, but it was like I was stuck in a time machine, for I could remember but one line in the song. I wanted to have the full experience of the memory, but no matter what I did to remember the rest of the song, I couldn't. 

Thankfully, my brother came through for me when we were back home for Mom's heart surgery. We were at the park with the kids, and I was standing around with one of my sisters, one of my brothers, and one of my sister-in-laws. I told them that I needed help! That there was a song that played on the radio when we were little that I wanted to hear again, but all I could remember was the phrase, "And find me a pretty girl!"

Instantly, my brother started singing the song! He remembered the words and the artist, but I've got to call him up and ask him who sang it, because I've already forgotten. I'm hoping it will lead to me actually finding an old vinyl record with the song on it. I really, really want to actually hear the song again, instead of just hearing the memory of it in my mind!) 

Do any of you remember this song???

I'm gonna get on a riverboat,

And go down the river,

And find me a pretty girl!

And if that pretty girl

Falls in love me,

I'm gonna marry her!

And if that pretty girl

proves to be untrue... 

I'm gonna get on a riverboat,

and go down the river, 

and find me another girl!

I've searched everything I have access to search, and not only can I not find the song anywhere, I can't even find the lyrics. It's frustrating, because in spite of being instantly transported to my childhood when my brother sang the three verses of the song that he remembered, I still feel like the rest of the memory is on the tip of my tongue. 

I want to be transported back in time to the black and white checkered floor in the kitchen with the sunlight dancing on the kitchen cupboards and stove top again. I want to feel like I did when I listened to it with my family when I was little. When I knew that Grammy and Grandad were just across the street, and that Daddy would come home every night, and that Mom would always be there when we got home after school. 

Just for awhile, I want to be transported back in time when the biggest worry I had was whether I was going to wear barrettes or ribbons in my hair that day, and whether I'd be able to stay awake and watch 'Connie Jarson' with Mom and Daddy. 

It's so close I can just about touch it...

Progress in pictures. Part 1.

K helped me a lot over the last 10 days or so. Over the next few days, I will be posting pictures of some of the projects we worked on. The first project was part of my craft area. The Hubster and I got a couple of really pretty oak cupboards on Craigslist for an unbelievably low price of $100 each about a year ago. I knew the moment I saw them that I wanted them for the craft area.

They were solid oak and had been used in some sort of a medical situation. The shelves and drawers all had labels inside. I peeled off labels that said anything from 'adult diapers', to 'chux pads' and 'catheters', knowing I would replace those labels with labels of my own. I'm really looking forward to healing enough from the surgery that I can start sorting my craft supplies and putting them in their places. It will be fun to get it all put away and labeled according to how I want it labeled.

After all the caulking and painting in the family and workout rooms were finished, The Hubster helped me move the craft cupboards in the place we had in mind for them the moment I saw their picture online. We had bought some solid oak shelves that were darker in color than the cabinets to put between them but we weren't sure how we were going to mount them. We had a few options.

We could try to install those metal shelf bracket things on the wall between the cabinets and make them adjustable. The problem with that, though, was that the only stud between the cabinets fell in the center. We were concerned that the weight of the shelves and contents would be enough it would pull the thing out of the drywall, if we used drywall anchors. So that option was off the table.

We figured we could use metal brackets. We'd screw the brackets into the shelving and into the sides of the cupboards, but that gets expensive. We'd need 16 screws and 4 brackets for each shelf. And while we could weather the expense the problem really comes with having 4 screw holes in each cupboard for each shelf we put up.

I decided on the last option. I took a 1x2 and cut it into 10" pieces and screwed them on the sides of the cupboards. Using my grandfather's level, we made sure the shelves were straight and then put the other furring strip on the other cupboard. It all went smoothly with K's help, but the color of the 1x2s really stuck out. It wouldn't work at all. So I took the Old English to them, and they looked like they were part of an overall unit. It was perfect!
As you can tell in this picture, the boards looked like they were meant to be a part of a bigger piece of furniture. And of course, I had to have my grandfather's level in the photo. He would have been so proud of me for not being too intimidated to do the work I've done just, because I'm a girl. That makes me really happy. Just like using his level.

This is how they looked when we were all done...I am so ready to start using them! I'm so very happy with how they turned out, and I look forward to many years and many hours of crafting with my girls down there.

And as hard as it was at the time that the pipe burst and flooded our basement, it's one of the best things that has ever happened to us.

I am thankful for that blessing in disguise.

Very. Very. Thankful.