Home Office

In September I was able to move into a work at home position for my company. I had been wanting that for so long. Since we had an extra spare room I decided to get to work on it immediately.

I knew I wanted a cool color scheme...greys with black accents.

First we had the task of tackling this pink and purple room. 

Next came the color. I was so happy with this grey. I actually really enjoy painting. Papa Bear and I painted our bedroom and I was more than ready to help paint my office. 

Almost finished. I didn't want just a white ceiling, so we continued the grey all the way up. 

And I absolutely love how it turned out. I want to change the lighting, but I do love the ceiling fan. This room is small and it gets hot really easily. Many morning I open the window and have the ceiling fan going. 

I also decided to redo Mom's desk/dresser that was always in her bedroom. It was so old and just collecting "things" in the living room. I wanted to put it to use. I want to sit at it and imagine her sitting there as well. She did a lot of drawing on this desk. I turned it into my make up desk. It's on the opposite side of the room from my work desk. 

I chose a color from the same palette as my wall color. The wall color was the third color on the swatch and the desk was the second to the darkest.

I knew I wanted blues incorporated in the room in very minor touches and I wanted glass knobs. A quick trip to World Market and I found exactly what I was looking for. 

I have my make up in the first two drawers on each side. The top holds my mirror, perfumes, a clock, all my make up brushes and a birdcage-candle holder. 

I absolutely love it.

I love that I have my own little corner that is really just mine. 

And here's my work set up on the other side. In the office I had an L-shaped desk and I knew for the layout of my books I needed an L-shaped at home. 

We looked online, in stores...I wasn't able to find anything that would work. I needed something that was deep enough and I just wasn't finding it.

Until we were referred to Desks Galore. I found exactly what I was looking for.

And they discounted it..And they delivered...

It was a double bonus for me!! 

And I'm never alone in my office. My boys stay with me constantly. 

Who really needs to use a mouse? I'm so sorry I was inconveniencing him. 

And that's me most of my day... 

Micah is usually the one who joins me. He waits for me to wake up and then follows me in the office and makes himself comfortable on my voice mail log. This is a daily fight with him when I try to write down my messages. He's biting and attacking the pen here. 

And sometimes I have all three... 

I saw this cute quote on Pinterest. It is soooo very true!

I need this on a t-shirt! 

I have become obsessed with Illy's Espresso.

I use it in my French Press. 

It is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted. 

I've even made affogato for the girls with it! 

And I tried to make my own Con Panna. 

I think I'll just let Starbucks handle that from now on! 

Copalli's Cafe, Cappuccinos & Cats

I used to HATE coffee. 

Hated the smell.

Hated the idea.

Hated the taste, even though I had never tasted it. 

All I knew, was that I would hear Mom every morning moving around in the kitchen making her morning pot of coffee.

I hated that she thought she needed it to get her day started.

...Now...

this is basically me.... 

So, after my injection last Thursday, CC found the cutest cafe for us to have lunch at....Copalli Cafe.

The cafe has the coziest, most relaxing atmosphere.

I love the warm colors throughout, the reclaimed hard wood floors...

And the food...oh my, the food....

is out of this world, knock your socks off, mouth watering good!!!

Everything is made from scratch, nothing store bought.

The cafe is run by a local professor, her son and his girlfriend.

After our lunch, I had to try a pumpkin cappuccino (which only made me yearn for fall)...

I watched him make my drink. He did so with skill and ease and it definitely was reflected in the taste.

I was/am hooked.... 

While we were eating this cute little squirrel came by and was peeping on us.

The staff gave him a mini muffin to munch it. 

It was the sweetest thing!

The staff at Copalli Cafe couldn't be sweeter. They make you feel at home. If I could see my dream job through, it would to own a cafe like Copalli Cafe. It is just THAT good!! 

And it was soooo good, that on Saturday, I woke Lena up and told her she had to go with me to have lunch at Copalli. I could have easily just picked lunch up, but I wanted her to have the whole experience.

Lena and I sat on the opposite size in a cozy little nook.

Everything about Copalli Cafe is just so perfect...right down to the jazzy art they have on the wall.

You can come it, sit down, relax and forget about what is weighing on your mind...have a great conversation with Khalehla and Chris..

and enjoy another pumpkin cappuccino.... 

and pair it with a homemade from scratch S'more Coffee Cake. 

Oh yes. It's THAT good!!

When it's my next turn to bring breakfast for work I know EXACTLY what I will be bringing.

Our Papa Bear was out of town this past weekend, so I snapped him this selfie (gosh, I HATE using that word) to send to him.

CC ordered the Caprese sanchwhich when she and I went.

I just had to buy some fresh basil and mozarella and make my own sandwich. I'll just say this...the girls LOVED it! 

With all this eating out, we've been trying to counteract it by hitting the gym. The gym is my stress release. I love to go at night when there are fewer people. It's just uncomfortable to work out next to these huge bulked up body builders. I feel like I'm being critiqued for doing something wrong. 

After working out I usually rest my muscles in the hot tub, hit the sauna, then shower and head home. I feel so fresh and rejuvenated the next day. There is NOTHING that feels as good as working out.

It not only does your body good, it does wonders for your mind as well! 

I'm not sure what is going on, but my boys have been so clingy lately. Some days they want nothing to do with me, aside from feeding them.... 

and other days I can't get them away from me. It's seriously reminds me of having a baby sometimes. I can't go to the restroom with out seeing little paws under the door and hear one or two of them crying and crying.... 

Even Toby decided to be nice to CC. 

On a weight loss note... my hair has been falling out like crazy. It worries me but I keep reading that it will grow back. It sure better or I need to start looking for wigs!!!

The weather is warming up and we've had no rain for a while...which is really kinda nice!

Meanwhile, I'm on the search for some high protein, low carb recipes that will be good for my Gastric Sleeve.

Pinterest has been most helpful so far!

April Happenings

My girls have been so good at taking care of me and helping me through this recovery. 

CC brought me home this delicious peach/raspberry cupcake from GiGi's.

I loved that the icing wasn't so sweet it burned your mouth and the cake part was really moist and flavorful.

CC also brought home my favorite flowers for me...tulips.

They just don't last long enough. 

I have tried growing tulips bulbs in the past and it just never works for me. I know that I don't have the green thumb that mom and CC have, so I know that is a factor, but I think the hot, dry Texas weather is just not what the tulips like. 

I have certainly been having my share of coffee. I love these disposable cups Starbucks came out with. I have a few at work and before I left for surgery I picked a few up to have here at the house. They are so convenient and can be used for hot and cold beverages.  

Since all i can do it sit all day, I've been getting in plenty of snuggle time with this fatty. 

I can't help but think of what kind of life he must have had before we found him. He was so skinny, full of worms and abandoned in a dog park. I took him home, fed him, had him vaccinated and neutered and fell so hard in love with my fat boy.

I think he was around 5 pounds when we got him. He's not over 18 lbs!

He's still so very skittish and will lay far away so that if you want to pet him you have to put in the work. 

So when he comes and snuggles up with me like this, it is HUGE! It's a giant leap of trust for him and I treasure it! 

I did manage to go outside to look at my roses. My poor babies are really suffering with out. I am surprised they survived at all. Out of the five I had, only two are left. This injury has really effected every aspect of my life. Losing my Peace rose because I was unable to care for them nearly did me in. They were a gift from Emil and the girls and this injury took that away from me too. 

Anyway, my knock-out roses are going wild. I love looking out my window and seeing the bush full of red and dark pink blooms. 

No matter how hard I try, I can never capture the beauty of the color of the knock outs. 

This bush was so small when they planted it and the roses themselves were so small at first. 

Over the years the blooms have gotten bigger and that bush is nearly out of control. I have heard trimming it down during winter is best, but I am too scared that I will over trim and kill it. 

And Emil's pomegranate tree is producing what we thought were tiny fruits. I see now when I look outside that it is actually flowers blooming that have petals the exact color of the bud. I can't wait until this tree actually produces fruit. 

Mom got this tree for Emil since pomegranates are the national fruit of 

Armenia....or something like that. He's Armenian and he tells us all the time how that is THEIR fruit...it's native to their land...

So my Papa Bear has his own pomegranate tree...from my mama. 

My sweet mother in law came to stay a week with us and help take care of me. It was such a treat and blessing to have her here. I miss having a mama in my life. I think I convinced myself that I really am ok without having a mom. That I am strong and can handle anything by myself, because since Mom died I have no one to fall back on, lean on and get advice from. It's me now making decisions and learning as I go.

So, to have a mom here doting on me, cooking me soup, talking with me, hugging me, loving me, tucking me in...it felt great. 

I really didn't realize how much I miss that.

I told Emil he doesn't realize how fortunate he is to have his mom and I admit, when I saw her hugging him and kissing him goodnight, I got a little jealous. 

I got the same hugs and kisses from her, but she will never be my mom. She can love me like a mom and take care of me like a mom but she will never be MY mom.  

I did try to venture out to the park with the girls the other day. I lasted all of 15 minutes then had to sit in the car.

All I could do was wish I was back in my recliner. 

There were tons of yellow wild flowers in the park. I wish there were more bluebonnets. 

I also went to my surgeon's office last week to have my bandages removed. I went up to their office, down a few floors for the x-ray and then back up to the surgeon to have the bandages removed. 

As I sat and waited to be called I placed one foot behind the other while sitting and felt the stones of one shoe. Now I knew that I selected the polka-dot bow shoes because they matched the polka-dots on my shirt.

Imagine the surprise when I lifted my legs and saw I left the house AND paraded around the doctors office and xray clinic WITH TWO DIFFERENT SHOES ON!

I could have died. I told Emil we had to go straight home and get me different shoes. 

That didn't happen. 

I was humiliated...so embarrassed....but, that's what happens when you can't look down! 

I was so ready to get that stupid bandage removed and see what it looked like underneath. 

It's really swollen here and you can't see it that great. But I am pretty sure it's going to scar up. I am devastated about that. I won't be able to wear necklaces and I'm going to have this ugly, visual reminder everyday to look at.

All because I took my girls on vacation. You don't know how many times I've wished we would have chosen a different flight time home or different vacation locale all together.

I'm telling you...no good deed goes unpunished. 

So this is what I look like most days. This was before a bath and my hair is down. I normally have to have my hair up on the top of my head to keep it from getting in the Velcro of the soft brace...and that gives me a headache sometimes. 

I've tried braiding it, putting in pony tails, buns, you name it.

I am afraid that now I'm going to have to go cut my hair short to make life with the braces more comfortable. 

I wear this soft brace in the house when I'm ...sitting.

I have a hard brace that I wear when I'm up for longer than 15 minutes or when I leave the house. 

And the other night this cute little birdie was just hanging out in the salvia bush outside CC's window. He must have been injured because he didn't fly away when we got close and he/she let CC pet it. 

My college course have really been troubled because of this surgery. I am just barely above water in my courses. Thank goodness the end is in sight. I think classes are over the middle of May.

So that's about it. 

I wear and a brace and I sit...all day.

I am sick of watching TV. I am sick of being on the computer. 

But I am alive and that's just fine with me!