an idea

i like necklaces. they are my accessory of choice. up until just recently didn't have them in any organized fashion and it was kind of a pain to get them untangled or not be able to find the one i was looking for. of course i thought of a jewelery box but i know i would just end up piling all the necklaces on top of the box after a week or two. so then i thought of a key rack, you know like you have near the back door. but then i'd have to drill two holes into the walls of wherever i was renting... plus i was having a hard time finding a cool key rack that didn't have cherubim or elk on it. so after a couple weeks of brain storming and throwing ideas back and forth i came up with this:

i took one of my panels (just a piece of board) and painted it with some acrylic paint - yellow ochre - one of my most favorite colors. then i hammered five little nails in and fitted the back with eyelets and picture wire so it would hang like a painting. then hang up the necklaces all organized and nice and you know, i have to say it is quite artistic, not to mention aesthetically pleasing. so, yeah i was feeling quite innovative and i thought i'd share.

six months

and here we are a half year later. i'm completely enamored.

best if used before

i have this memory - the visual is a bit hazy but the audio is clear - of my G'ma Jones and my Aunt Shirley cleaning out the fridge at my house. i was probably five or six, hence the haze, but the thing that is amazingly sharp is the phrase, 'when in doubt, throw out'.

certain things have a way of piling up in the fridge. for me it's little tubs of different kinds of cheese (feta, parmesan, etc.). at my family's cabin it's pickles, 2-liter sodas, mustard, jell-o cups, and containers of frosting (?).

while English, Ash and i were staying there for a few days we finally decided to clean out the fridge and make some space. it was a mix between spelunking and visiting the Medical Oddities Museum. as more and more and yet, more jars of pickles were stacked on the kitchen floor (all of which were open and partially gone) we realized the incredible nature of this event and we had to document.

that's ten, count 'em, ten jars of pickles.

each of these frosting containers had about half an inch of frosting in the bottom that was dried up and resembled an old clay river bed.

the oldest thing in the fridge... any guesses?

a jar of Nalley Horseradish Mustard (one of nine mustards). over twelve years old. and the second oldest thing... the same type and brand of mustard, just a few months younger. you don't believe me, i know - so here's the proof:

o nine, o one, seventy-nine

you know those days when your shirt turns into a burp cloth?

i'm leaning into it.

in other news, English ran 28 miles along the Skyline Drive yesterday to celebrate his 28th birthday. Ash and i drove the 'support vehicle' and enjoyed the views. Ash chewed on her Grover at the stops and we chatted for most of the drive. English did great and the only casualty was that he sunburned the left side of his neck.

English & T.R. cresting the hill .......................... Ash passes some time

the finish line

so, does this make me an enabler?