Myrtling

Today, was a good day because I got to myrtle.  

Myrtling.  [Pronounced like Myrtle the Turtle and then conjugate it to an action].  This little gift of a word was given to my family after my middle sister sat next to a gentleman on a plane, at least 20 years ago, and he was explaining to her how he likes to myrtle around the house.  We quickly adopted it.

And if you know the Spann girls, you know we use it regularly.  

Some families use putz (who knew this was a Yiddish work?  I love Yiddish, by the way.  Actually, I love any familial culture that seamlessly weaves native language into English, because there just isn't an English word that'll do.)

So what did I do today?

Well.....let's see.  I started by removing some shelving out of the laundry room.  (Sweet Sarah has spent an entire two years in quiet frustration because she couldn't open the laundry room door all the way due to the shelves.  Who knew?)  So, out came the dremel, baby!!!  Power tools first thing in the morning....most women couldn't stand it.  Luckily, I'm not most women!  

Anywho, after cutting through two of the six bars the cutting wheel broke off, snapped back and BAM!  Caught me right in the chin, just below my lip!!!!  Thank goodness it wasn't too bad.  A tinsey little cut.(nope, that's not a typo.  tinsey.  Another little gem of a word.  pronounced tine-see.  From the southern bit of culture in me.)  Carry on.  I finished that little project.  One cutting wheel per bar.  The laundry door officially has full range of motion.  And Sweet Sarah is happy [Yes, she does the laundry.  One of the countless reasons I love her.  Like clockwork, laundry every Sunday until the bottom of both baskets can be seen.  Start to finish.  Washed, folded.  AND.  WAIT FOR IT.  WAIT. WAAAAIIIIITTTT. PUT AWAY!!!  Yep, I know.  You're jealous.]

From there I moved to putting our new wine fridge in place, stocking and removing the old wine cabinet. [thanks to the in-laws for our birthday present!]

Then, I fixed my desk chair.  I have this really awesome, old school desk chair.  The kind Pottery Barn now sells for $400!!!     Like this...

I salvaged it out of an old university office in Tennessee.  And since 1998 it has been too short.  So I've had this constant love/hate relationship with it.  I love the look.  It's comfortable, except that my arms are at a permanent upward reach to my desk.  So today, I disassembled it, cleaned the ancient parts that have been gathering grime and dust and oil for a coon's age, and raised the height.  I'm excited to be sitting at the right height tomorrow!

Next, up....putting away Christmas decorations that Sweet Sarah had laid out to dry in the basement.  And while I was at it, I re-organized the Christmas storage and consolidated. Oi vey! There's always SO much to fit into such a TINY space!!!

Then finally some accessorizing in the family room.  I decided to do a little Valentine's Day theme for the mantel and coffee table.  Turned out pretty cute.  I'd like to pick up a cute little floral heart for the mirror. If I find one I'll update the picture.

And now finally....I'm showered, sitting on the couch and enjoying a nice glass of wine.  A nice end to the weekend.  

I love to myrtle.  Love love love.

As an added bonus to my myrtling activities, here are a few pics of the mantel from Christmas and Fall. 

Here's what I did for the Christmas Mantel.  I couldn't find something I liked for over the mantel so I painted this.  I recycled an old canvas that I'd been dragging around in every move since 2003 because I liked the shape of the canvas.  It turned out pretty sharp.  

Christmas Mantel

And here is the Fall Mantel.  Also cute.  A Pinterest inspiration.

Fall Mantel

Ok, so that's your lesson in Myrtling (with a few bonus pictures thrown in!)