P1010556, originally uploaded by rcailloux77.

I had a fantastic weekend- friends and family really came through for me!

Thursday morning, Jenks surprised me by stopping by on her morning run. We made plans for a doggy date in the afternoon. Feeling motivated by Jenk's friendly surprise, I started to clean up around the house. Then I got a friendly text from LR asking to make plans. So we ran some errands together. In the afternoon, the three of us went for a little walk with our pups to East Atlanta Village where we had to stop for a thirst-quenching fruit smoothy as Splash. Yum!

After a nice walk, we parted ways and I scooted over to the parent's condo. Then the three of us walked up to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for Scarecrows in the Garden. Drinking local brews, we strolled through the gardens to check out all the creative scarecrows that local schools and businesses made. Fun!

We had great weather on Friday, too. After my morning appointment, I met Maura to help her set up for the Candler Park Festival. We had the tent set up in record time, so she took me to check out her new project in EAV. It's a wreck of a house that is going to be beautiful when she's done with it. She's making some key circulation changes and adding a master suite so that the house will be a three two with a single garage and two living rooms! It's also on a huge lot. Nice.

Tim was home from Jersey by the time I returned home. We chatted a bit and I organized the Commune for diner and drinks at the Holy Taco. Although the company was great as usual, the meal did not sit well with me. Too many greasy chips- yuk!

Saturday morning was lazy- the grey clouds had rolled in over night. Tim and I planned our weekend, including meals. We are making a concerted effort to eat out less and cook more together. It's a great way to spend time together, too!

So we made a simple cream chicken and mushroom risotto for lunch. Then we went to the newly renovated Kroger and did some grocery shopping for the weekend. Since he's going to be gone all next week, we planned on doing alot of cooking on the weekend so I can eat leftovers during the week. Afterwards, we stopped off at the Candler Park Festival to say Hi to the Mitzners. Kendal fed my husband three beers in the course of an hour; he's so persuasive! I also got to see Shawn G from my old job and catch up with him. And Jonathan from ABI was there, too. It only sprinkled a little bit, and the weather was nice and chilly. It was a great neighborhood festival!

We came home, after restocking our beverage menu with some great wines from the grocery store, and started cooking dinner. We made a turkey black bean chili with cornbread. Unfortunately, the corn bread came out more like corn cakes- or warm polenta! But I love corn, so it was edible.

This morning, the weather had cleared up and it was nice and crisp. Tim and I had part of the gang over for an impromptu brunch of fruit salad, eggs and pumpkin waffles. L&D brought the champagne for the mimosas. Delicioso! They have a neighbor's dog with them, so Jack, Murphy and Silar all played around in the back yard while we sat on the front porch drinking coffee.

In the afternoon, L, D and I scooted over to my favorite store- City Issue- looking for midCentury lamps. Nothing there today, but I snapped this picture of my favorite things: scooters and midcentury furniture! (And friends, of course). I also stopped at the new market that opened up in Inman Park- Savi. I picked up some cookies and syrup.

After I scooted home, Tim and I made dinner. I'm trying to save the butternut squash soup I made last week, so we made another batch hoping that by combining the two, the spicy-ness would be cut in half. Then I threw together a salad and an apple crisp. We took the food over to the Canadians and enjoyed the meal on their back porch. (After a couple of glasses of wine, of course!).

I had a wonderful weekend with all my family and friends. Tim and I really bonded this weekend- cooking together is alot of fun and helped us spend time with each other. Even though he's leaving town tomorrow and he's going to be in class all this next weekend, I feel like we had a lot of quality time together. He really made the effort to spend time with me and focus on our relationship, and he wasn't bitter that he didn't get to watch much TV or play many computer games- he actually had fun hanging out with me. Hey- I know it sounds like a silly thing to say about your spouse, but there are plenty of couples who barely tolerate each other. I just didn't want us to be one of them- and this weekend proved that we don't have to be! Yay for marriage! :)

Living Room, originally uploaded by rcailloux77.

Today was not a good day for me. I don't know why- I just got all depressed again. When I get like this, I don't feel comfortable anywhere. I don't feel like I have a home- I'm rudderless and floating alone. Even my favorite room- the living room- doesn't feel like I belong there.

I'm not a leader. I know that's a bad thing these days- we should all be leaders, especially of our own lives. But days like this, I want to follow. I want someone to take me in their arms and say, "Everything is going to be OK. I'm going to take care of it." I'm ashamed that I'm weak like that, but that's how I feel. And for years I've been telling myself that wanting someone to take care of me, to love me and cheer me up when I'm blue, that it's a weakness that I should be ashamed of- and to fight. But when I get tired of fighting, and it's just me by myself, I sink.

So today I sink.

I don't know when I'll float back to the surface.

rail, originally uploaded by rcailloux77.

Tim and I finished the railing around the back porch. Well, we sort-of finished it. We still need to add the handrail going up the stairs, but we will wait until the stone for the patio is laid down before we do that- or we may do it at the same time.

I designed the railing system using the pipes from the Big Box store. The three in the center are set close together, and then the remaining are evenly spaced according to code.

It is really solid. Tim notched out the posts for each one by scribing it to the existing skirt. Very impressive. It's so tight- it's like furniture! He could go pro!

(The ladder is stored there until we build a shed. It's the only protected place long enough for the big yellow monster.)

At some point, I will stain the deck and handrail. Probably next spring when the stair handrail gets installed.

back gate front, originally uploaded by rcailloux77.

A couple of weeks ago Tim and I finished the back gate. Now Murphy has free reign over the back yard!

The design replicates our front door a bit with the three "window panes" created by the copper pipes. If I had to do over again, I probably would make that opening a little more decorative. As it is, it's a bit stark.

Other than that, it's a really solid gate. It looks really nice at the end of the driveway, too. The spacing on the fence slats is the same as our neighbor's. So as the gate ages, it will blend in with the existing fence there.

front morning, originally uploaded by rcailloux77.

After months of debating house colors, taking polls, etc, I finally decided which colors to paint the house. I decided to play it safe and stick with the green body color. I chose a shade similar to the color of the pair of gliders from Restoration Hardware. The color is Sherwin William's Koi Pond.

But I got little daring for the accent color around the windows. It's a dusty teal blue named St. Bart's. Most people in the hood pair green with a red accent color, or sometimes a pumpkin orange color. But I love blue and green- so why not put them together?!
The trim is a color called Steamed Milk. The brown colors are actually two colors- High Tea and Protege Bronze. I painted the porch slightly lighter than the rest of the brick to add a little visual detail.

I also wanted to break the brick column up so they look a little like normal columns. I think it looks ok- what do you think?