Mr. Prof designer home

Ann over at http://annstreasurebox.blogspot.com/ is having a great Give A-Way for her Grand Opening. Go on over and check out her site - you'll love it. Sign up for her great Gathering of Goodies.

This once-every-four-years occurrence seems like a good opportunity for a meme.

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS YEAR'S ELECTION RESULTS:
This is an historic election, and a special one in the hearts and lives of a people that have not been well-treated by our country; I'm thankful for this opportunity to rejoice with those who are rejoicing. For other people that have not been well-treated by our country, it is an outcome with horrifying potential. I probably won't agree with much of anything Obama does as President, but I am moved by this moment, and I pray that it will do much to heal deep wounds in our nation.


A QUICK REVIEW OF THE ELECTIONS OF MY LIFE:

1980: RONALD REAGAN

1. I REMEMBER: nothing about this election. I was one year old when Reagan was elected.
2. I WAS: a toddler and preschooler... living in Texas and Colorado.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: I learned to read.
   

1. I REMEMBER: not much. I don't remember this election. My husband, however, attended a Reagan Rally in Oklahoma and remembers the confetti.
   
2. I WAS: 5-8 years old and we moved back in Texas.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: I professed faith in Christ and started school.

1. I REMEMBER: not a whole lot about that election. I wasn't politically-minded in my early years.
   
2. I WAS: 9-12 years old and lived in Texas.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: I started sporting poofy bangs and tight-rolling my faded jeans.
   

1. I REMEMBER: being appalled that one of my friends voted for Clinton in our school's mock election. ("Don't you know he's for killing babies?," I asked, aghast that anyone I knew would vote for him.) Little did I know that 10 miles away, my future husband was casting his ballot for Perot in their school's mock election, because he thought Perot could single-handedly pay off the national debt.
   
2. I WAS: 13-16 years old and still living in Texas.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: I lived recklessly... rebellious towards my parents, I tried all sorts of foolish things, ignoring the Holy Spirit's warnings in my heart every time. Those years have cost me much sorrow and self-loathing... but serve as a reminder and warning to me of the lure and price of sin.
   

1. I REMEMBER: knowing that Dole didn't stand a chance. Kind of like McCain this election, this modern world looks delightfully on young, hip people and scoffs at the old and battle-tested.
   
2. I WAS: 17-20 years old, and lived in Texas for the first two years and went away to college in Arkansas for the last two years.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: In God's mercy, He drew me back from the bad choices I had made and set me in a high place. I had a blast at college, made friends, and even got elected class president. The last year of this time was when I met Doug and, for the first time in my life, found someone I absolutely couldn't stand to be away from. I met the love of my life, and he asked me to marry him.
   

1. I REMEMBER: SO much about this campaign, election, and everything. I took a "Campaigns and Elections" course in the Spring (during the primaries) and then an "American Presidency" course in the Fall (during the election). In fact, I skipped a class session to go to a Bush/Cheney rally where Doug & I met Dick Cheney. It was the first time I could vote for President. That election may end up being the most vividly remembered one of my life.
   
2. I WAS: 21-24 years old and lived in Arkansas, the outskirts of Washington D.C., and then we moved back to Texas.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: I became a wife to Doug and a mother to Ethan and Baxter. Prior to motherhood, I worked in the Arkansas legislative session and for the State of Texas in Washington D.C. I gave up the "perfect" job for something even more perfect and prized: being at home with my sweet baby.
   

1. I REMEMBER: thinking John Kerry was willing to say anything to get elected. He came off as so scripted, out-of-touch, and insincere-- in a way that is similar to Mitt Romney this year, I think.
   
2. I WAS: 25-28 years old and lived in Texas, China, Texas again, and Turkey.
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: we had two more children (Maranatha, our first daughter, and Silas), moved all around the world, and grew in faith and perseverance through some difficult challenges. I would never want to re-live those years (except, perhaps, the precious time we had in China and the sweet moments when I first "met" our children), but I am thankful for the lessons we learned and how God grew us through the struggles.
   

1. I REMEMBER: feeling that my "team" was done after the South Carolina primary, when Thompson kept Huckabee from winning, and McCain began having the momentum that comes from "inevitability". I will always be glad that our party didn't choose Mitt, and still believe Huckabee was the only Republican who could have, possibly, beaten Obama.
   
2. I WAS: 29 and lived in Turkey... and who knows where we'll be or end up by the end of this four years?
   
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS: we shall see... I am hoping and praying that there are some promises that will not be kept.
   

• First, post three sentences about your thoughts on this year's election results
• Then, starting with the year nearest to when you were born, post the election year, the winner, and these three things:

1. What, if anything, you remember about the campaign/election/outcome.
2. How old you were & where you lived during that President's four year term.
3. What happened in your life during that four-year period?

1. I REMEMBER:
2. I WAS:
3. DURING THAT FOUR YEARS:
   

There are some wonderful (if not safe for work) panoramas of a fashion shoot at The Edison by Will Pearson. I continue to be impressed with the depth of the Edison design... there are details in these panoramas that I haven't seen before.

More of the Edison Bar
Interview with Andrew Meieran of the Edison Bar
Edison Bar Analyzed

via Coilhouse.

Oh my gosh we had a beautiful summer day today and it's still going! It reached 75 already and climbing.

Doug and I had some running this morning after voting and I put on my black slacks and a cotton jacket and boy was I warm....we went to Walmart and Menards and I couldn't wait to get home and get my Capris on. Winter is going to be hard on me with clothes...I'm just so in my comfort zone with my Capris...but I guess if I wear socks and a sweater with them in the house I'll be okay - for gosh sakes they're just a couple inches shorter than long pants...especially on this 5'-3/4" body!

Last night we got to see baby Aidan finally - took awhile but it happened. He was such a good little fellow and smiled most of the time. We got to cuddle and giggle with him for a few hours.

He was so funny at dinner - he just sat on our laps and looked like he belonged at the table. Got a few pictures but not good ones. I'm a horrible picture taker, well, except when we're going 70 miles an hour down the Interstate...then they come out clear for some reason.

Here he is with me and Grandpa

This afternoon I decided to take my sewing into our screen room - thought I'd get one last good day of basking in the wonderful surroundings.

We put plastic up this weekend to protect the screening from the wind and snow for the winter but it's still nice out there and the partially bare trees and bushes were still holding onto some of their beautiful red and gold leaves....just for me to feast my eyes on one last time.

We use the room up through Christmas by using one of the free standing Propane heaters and let me tell you IT WORKS.

We have the EXIT and the snacks for our IN-HOME SHOW in the screen room and it is always so cozy with all the warmth and the aromas of mulled cider and treats.

I purchased some beautiful cards from a company in MN with the most beautiful Primitive Colonial pictures on them and decided to post a few of them now and then in my heading...so hope you enjoy.

They are for sale by the way for $2.95 per card if anyone wants them. Each card is blank inside to write your own note or to insert you own letter and the back has a single line verse. All made in the USA.

So you hire an architect to design your home. It's built, you move in. Four months later your son is having a sleepover and his friend discovers that the radiator grill has a ciphered message addressed to the son.... and the game begins.

The house -- actually a 5th Avenue apartent in New York City -- was designed by architect Eric Clough for a family of 6. After the father requested a poem he had written be hidden somewhere in the house, Clough went on a puzzle building spree intended to "spark a child's mind."


In any case, the finale involved, in part, removing decorative door knockers from two hallway panels, which fit together to make a crank, which in turn opened hidden panels in a credenza in the dining room, which displayed multiple keys and keyholes, which, when the correct ones were used, yielded drawers containing acrylic letters and a table-size cloth imprinted with the beginnings of a crossword puzzle, the answers to which led to one of the rectangular panels lining the tiny den, which concealed a chamfered magnetic cube, which could be used to open the 24 remaining panels, revealing, in large type, the poem written by Mr. Klinsky.

Read about the whole thing here, with many pictures at the New York Times.

Hat tip to Malsperanza, commenting on Holly Black's LiveJournal.

Eight years ago, my new husband and I were glued to the TV screen watching every facet of analysis and political commentary we could hear. Our then-engaged friends John & Julie came over to our tiny apartment and we all stayed up late into the night, waiting to see who would win... only to give up in the wee hours of the morning (which turned out to be a good thing, as the election didn't get cleared up for many weeks).

Four years ago, again, we watched eagerly, from our home in Texas, and were glad to see clear election results after the scandal and drama of the previous presidential election.

2008: McCain vs. Obama
This year, living in an apartment in Central Asia, I have been able to check in on the election when I want to, and aside from the fury of blog articles popping up in my bloglines account, I've been able to almost ignore the election except for when I go looking for information about it. Honestly, even though it at times feels strange to be so "out" of it (particular as a politically-minded gal), it's been kind of nice.

I'm sure some of my lack of worry and sense of disconnectedness comes from this being the first time I live overseas during the presidential elections, and the fact that I'm not seeing 24/7 wall-to-wall coverage of it. Some of it probably comes from the fact that "my" horse in the presidential race dropped in the Spring and I'm not *jazzed* about either candidate (although I definitely DID vote... and you should, too!).

But, also, God is giving me a new sense of peace about it all. Regardless of who wins... and however we feel about that (I know Christians who will be angry if McCain wins, and some who will be angry if Obama wins, and some who will be angry no matter what happens), it is absolutely wonderful to be able to rest in God's sovereignty.

Psalm 47: 8 says:
God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

Proverbs 21:1 says:
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

1 Timothy 2: 1-3 says:
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,

Planning a show in your home?

We are having our 3rd Annul In-Home Show Saturday/Sunday, November 29/30 from 9 am to 9 pm if anyone living in our area would like to come. Please e-mail me at kmprimitives@yahoo.com and I will send you details. We are in Burlington, the southeast part of Wisconsin.

Here are a few tips to consider

1. Send out invitations at least 2 weeks prior to show. Put large ad in papers at least 2 weeks before show and then the week before the show put a small reminder in.
2. Have more than enough small bills and change. Sometimes customers only have a $20 or a $50 if you are their first stop!
3. Be ready for a large crowd the first 3 hours of your sale - this is when the bulk of the customers show up so be prepared. It tends to get less after that and by the last 2 hours there are usually just a couple here and there.
4. Have one door for entrance and one for exit to prevent crowding at the doors.
5. Have spotters in all rooms. You may have friends bringing friends but you still don’t know who their friends are…it’s not a nice way to feel, but believe me it’s better to have someone in each room even if to help the customers.
6. Also make sure these spotters can help the customers as well such as getting familiar with prices and if you have more than the one of something in your inventory.
7. Offer your customers Special Orders if they don’t want to purchase ones you have - like different colors or sizes. Every order adds up!!!
8. Use Homespun fabrics to cover tables - use risers in the centers of your tables to get your items up off the flat surface - stage your products to make it more appealing to your customers.
9. Give them ideas - you really have to show people the different ways they can use the items you are selling. For instance BOWL FILLERS...put some Rosehips or Potpouri in a wooden bowl and put in the bowl fillers. Take some of your items and make an arrangement or a gathering of them.
10. Take plain candles and wrap them in grungy gauze or take some Kraft package wrapping paper, cut strips to go around the candle, rub it with a coffee/cinnamon/vanilla mixture (very thin) and tie it with some coffee dyed butchers string or twine...put a small sprig of Sweet Annie behind the string or tie two grungy bells onto the string. You have to catch their eye!!!
11. Keep your check-out area spacious so your customer can set their items down and have a place to open their purse and or write a check.
12. Wrap breakable items when possible and items that may snag on fabric items. So stock up on tissue paper.
    You can buy boxes of plastic bags at places like Office Depot, Office Max - Something like 250 bags for $5.00.
13. Have helpers wrapping and bagging so customers don’t have to wait too long in line.
    Try and have small baskets by the entrance door for ease in carrying the smaller items they pick up.
14. Have light finger snacks at the end of the show area such as where they are checking out. Things like cookies, brownies, assorted candies and to make wonderful aromas in the air, hot mulled cider, hot chocolate.
15. Set aside a space for signing up for the door prize if you are offering one. People won’t sign up if it’s crowded and they can’t get into the space.
16. Most of all be friendly to each customer as if they are the only one there.
    Put a business card in with each receipt.

I hope I have helped you with your HOME SHOW!

We have had much success by following these guidelines.

Here’s a few pictures of last years show in our home.