I’ve always loved the artwork that people create in their homes using mosaic tiles. I just have always loved that look and think it is so gorgeous!

We decided, at one point, to do the kids bathroom with fish-themed decorating. And it was all really colorful. Not like when people do nautical themes, but, more along the lines of Nemo-colorful, you know?

Mark – my contractor husband – told me at that time, that I should change out the bathroom tiles to mosaic tiles. He thought that I would be perfectly capable of doing so and that it would turn out great. I did not agree in regards to my skill set and never tried it. One day I’ll try it on something, though, maybe on a smaller scale to start out with. And I’m sure it will be abstract. He thought I could make cute little fish! That crazy man.

I know exactly what would have happened – I would have started and he would come in there correcting me and eventually just taking over. Hmm…that is one way to get him to do what you want, now, isn’t it? Ha!

For our fishy bathroom, though, it would be really cute if he would put up some subway tiles in a few shades of blue. I think that would look great! He could put some really pretty bright blue on the bottom half and then a lighter shade of blue for the top half. That would look cool!

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese philosophy for creating positive energy in any space. The system is dominated by eight areas of each space and five elements. Here, you will learn about the five elements that define feng shui and give rise to the colors and organization of your space to create an atmosphere of prosperity and health.

The Five Elements

There are five main elements in Feng Shui theory. They are wood, fire, water, earth and metal. Each element plays a crucial role within the space that you occupy, whether it is your home or your office. After you have used a compass and your home’s floor plan to create the bagua (energy map) the next step is to look at the elements that control each of the eight areas.

Each element has a particular life area that it influences. Knowing what areas those are helps with creating the design of your home and the use of furniture and accents that demonstrate that specific element.

Fire – As you can imagine, anything that has to do with fire inspires a passion that burns deep within. The fire element also adds a high amount of energy to anything that you do. This includes your work (career), your leisure activities and for couples, your sex life.

Water – Water is a refreshing element. Water flows freely bring with it an abundance of good fortune. In ancient rituals of many cultures, water was used as a purifying agent. Using the water element in your home adds purity, abundance of energy and a fresh feeling.

Earth – Have you ever heard of someone who is “down to Earth?” The Earth element brings a feeling of stability and security to your home. Mother Earth nurtures all who live on it and within it. The same goes for the earth element in your home – it nourishes each family member.

Metal – You may be wondering why metal is an element. It seems so hard and impersonal. Actually, metal is used to represent efficiency and clarity of mind and purpose. Your work will have both a well-defined purpose and good qualities when the metal element is present.

Wood – Think of trees. They provide oxygen for all living creatures that need it. The wood element equals health to the body. Healing cures using feng shui include the wood element in their composition. Prosperity in your home is also governed by the wood element.

Each Feng Shui element serves a different purpose in the home. The associated colors and areas that work best with each element help you to build positive energy throughout your home. Each area will be strong in a particular element and give you a certain feeling when you enter that room.

What? Lisa, are you crazy? What on earth are you talking about?

I know, I know – I can tell that’s what you’re thinking. Just hear me out. I’m missing my little munchkins a lot lately – when my kids were shrimps, that is. They are all three teenagers and the boys are taller than I, with these uber deep ‘man’ voices. It is so weird.

Well, the other day I was in the dollar store with my daughter. We were just browsing around, not looking for anything in particular. I had purposely left my debit card in the car, as I’ve been known to cause some *shiver* damage in a dollar store. Something about everything being just ONE DOLLAR makes me go a little on the crazy, loony bird side!

The store had put out all of the Easter goodies. And there was one section that really caught my eye and almost made me tear up. Window clings. That’s right, window clings. For Easter.

You see, I used to have window clings for every. single. holiday. imaginable. I had them all organized in their own envelopes and set up neatly on a shelf in my office closet. I knew right where they were, I could get them out at a moment’s notice. I was so much more organized when the kids were little.

Anyway, back to the window clings. We had this uber huge sliding door in our kitchen that was glass. It was awesome. I’d never seen one so big in a house before. It was “Window Cling Heaven”! So every holiday that popped up, I’d run back in my office and pull out the appropriate clings and the kids and I would sit on the floor and divide them up evenly and let them go to town on that big door!

It was so much fun! And more often than not, that door was covered with clings! I’m telling you what – kids love those things! (And so do I!)

But then, the unthinkable happened. Mark started remodeling that house. Eeks! Yep – that door was outta there! He put a regular door in there and installed a very nice window beside it. The window was cool – some fancy new thing that was very expensive. (You won’t believe the things people THROW AWAY off of job sites – nuts!!)

Not getting to do window clings anymore was not our only problem with that door, either. The door handles were so completely awful, that the children absolutely could not do them. They would get stuck outside all the time. It was really awful, would totally freak them out.

We moved out of that house to our next not long after that, though. And besides, I think the kids were getting sick of window clings.

(I still love them, though!)

The dampness in our new basement really freaks me out. To tell the truth, when we did a walk-through a few months before we moved in, the whole house felt damp. It is either better from being lived in and the doors and windows opening and closing, or (eeps!) I’ve gotten used to it from being here for two years. The basement, however, still feels cold and damp to me. I’ve expressed my fears to Mark about mold and the dampness down there, and he thinks it is just fine. Having never had a basement, I am not sure if that is just how they all feel all the time.

Even if we did discover that there was a problem down there, I have no idea how an issue like that would be tackled. I mean, would it be some major construction job to fix it? I thought it might be, but, then, I was reading Oprah’s site last week and came across the answer. I was looking for a different story, but, I happened upon one with Dr. Mehmet Oz. Let me tell you, I just love this guy! I have both of his books with Dr. Roizen and I just love Dr. Oz’s style! Love it! And he was talking about keeping your house healthy. And he said that if your basement smells, then you do have a problem and you need a dehumidifier. Well – now how about that? I shudder to admit I don’t think I’ve ever really heard of dehumidifiers. We have lots of history with humidifiers. I’ve got a son with chronic nosebleeds and that is just about the only thing that helps.

As soon as I saw that, I knew we must have a problem. Our basement doesn’t smell horrible or anything, but, to someone with a bionic nose like mine – there is a bit of a damp odor down there. No one else has ever noticed it, though. I usually smell things long before the family does, however! Like the gas leaks in TWO different houses – that my husband blamed on postpartum hormones – both times. And he was wrong – both times. Ha! He says that I should work for the FBI with my damn nose! That’s for sure!

So I haven’t brought it up with him just yet, but, I have been doing a little reading about dehumidifiers. I’m learning a lot about them, like how you might need to have some kind of hose connection to empty the bucket. And if your room that it will be going in is fairly large, you will need a large capacity one. The large ones will obviously be a lot heavier, so that is why a hose would make it so much easier for draining. It wouldn’t matter so much with the smaller ones, that are just for bathrooms and such. Our basement is just one, big, wide-open room, so we would definitely need a big one.

Another thing you need to consider is where you will have the dehumidifier, because, you might need a quieter one if it is going to be in earshot of any bedrooms. All of our bedrooms are over the basement, but, for some odd reason, the noise from down there is loudest in our master bedroom. Mark will go down there on schoolnights when the kids and I are in bed and watch his shoot ’em up action movies and drive me crazy! So yeah, I’d want to find a very quiet dehumidifier. Who knows, though, maybe it could act as white noise against those movies! Nah, that wouldn’t work – Mark would have to turn the movies up even louder to hear! Ok, so I would want a very quiet one!

The only problem is that I don’t know if I could ever convince my husband that this is really necessary. You know how guys are when it comes to accepting new ideas or new concepts that they hear from their wives. The best thing to happen would be that one of his buddies decides that this is a great idea for their house, and then shares that information with Mark!

I really did think we had the ugliest mailbox in town. I’m serious – this thing is bad. Our house was built in 1961, and I’m telling you, this has to be the original mailbox! It is pitiful – utterly pitiful. Someone has rigged it up with a steel pole next to the original pole, to strengthen its rusty self. The two poles are tied together with some metal wire. And then, I just noticed recently that part of it is actually held together with twist ties! Twist ties! You know, the kind that come on your bread bags! And God bless him, but, the name on the side of the mailbox – he’s been passed away for EIGHT YEARS! Crazy, huh?

So I’m always making fun of and joking around about our mailbox, positive that we must have the ugliest mailbox in town. The other day, however, we were driving around town – and my daughter yells out from the backseat, “Look, Mom! Their mailbox is uglier than ours!” And I excitedly replied, “Well, look at that – it sure is! Ha! What do you know about that?” Haha! And since then I’ve seen a few more super ugly mailboxes.

I came up with a great plan to start photographing all of the ugliest, most rickety mailboxes we come across. Well, now – wouldn’t that be a collection? I’ve really no idea what I’d do with such a collection, but, it sounded like a good idea… uh… yeah.

As you can imagine, then, my eyes are always peeled for the perfect mail box. There was a time I really liked the plastic ones – the ones that sort of resembled the children’s backyard play structures. A lot of them were actually made by the same company. I can’t remember the name of it now. I’ve grown weary of that style, though. I’m not really sure exactly what kind I want.

My uncle had an awesome one once, years ago, that was an exact replica of his house. That thing was so cool! He had to replace it rather quickly – I can’t remember if kids kept messing with it, or if it was just too fragile. The thing was amazing, though! I wish I had a picture of it – I guess I could ask my cousins if they do.

The only thing that I’m sure about is that I want a mailbox that is rather large – on the inside. I get so sick of things being curled up and smashed to fit in my mailbox! That drives me crazy! I don’t want it to be so huge that it looks like a commercial mailbox, though – that would be really ugly.

The real bummer of the deal is that my husband is not at all concerned with this issue – while it’s been on my mind for quite some time. It’s just a total non-issue for him. I hope that changes before too long. I’d love to have an adorable, aesthetically-pleasing mailbox out front, in which I could maybe plant some flowers. Have you seen those kind? They are so cool!

I just can’t wait until my living room comes upstairs, out of the friggin’ basement!  I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad if it was a normal basement.  It is not normal, however.  You have to go downstairs into the garage and go through the garage to get to it.  To me, it feels like a separate, but attached, apartment.  Anyhoo, when we finally get the upstairs situated, our living room will be right behind me. It is right next to my office.  I won’t be able to see it, though.  Mark is going to build a wall between the two.  He needs a wall on which to hang his giant television, you see.  I guess he’ll have to get some kind of plasma mount for it.  And then our sweet little house will be so much more like a HOME, when the upstairs doesn’t look like a house in the middle of a remodel!

It’s driving me absolutely nutty having my living room in the basement, and having my living room half torn up and empty! I’m just getting so sick of it. It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to go through the garage to get to the basement hangout room. I totally understand the reasoning for it – keeping it empty until we do the renovations so we don’t have a whole ton of furniture to move when it’s time to do the renovations. And so we don’t put off doing the renovations, because, we don’t feel like moving a ton of furniture. It’s just starting to really get to me. It would be nice to shop for some discount furniture and just get a couple of pieces, like maybe two soft chairs, so that we’d have someplace comfortable to sit up here, besides on our beds. We had a new thrift shop open up in town and it is huge. I’m keeping my eyes out there for some decent chairs. I’ll just be so glad when we can make this house our home. It sure would make this whole transition easier!

I’ve just been noticing that more and more lately – that people just aren’t using tv shelves anymore. We went out to eat last night, and it was a deli sandwich/bar type of restaurant and they had a big flat screen TV up on the wall. And another place we like to go is a Mexican restaurant that has two big flat screen TV’s on the walls. They have one on each side so no matter which way you are sitting, you can see one of them.

And then earlier this afternoon, a friend was showing us some pictures of her newly-redone living room and I noticed that her TV was stuck to the wall and she had a tiny little table in front of it to hold the DVD player. And I just thought it was so funny, how everywhere you go – the TV’s are all stuck to the walls!

Ours will be once we bring it upstairs from the basement. There is no place to hang it on the wall down there, so we had to use the little stand thing that came with it and Mark put it on one of his chests. No, not his chest – one of his chests! Silly!

I have absolutely got to get my clothing nightmare cleaned out! I have way too many clothes, and they are just not getting put away. But I have noticed recently that the few clothes that I do wear are the only ones that really get ‘touched’ by me. And I had a light bulb moment that I should totally get rid of some.

I have been hanging onto way too many clothes. I had some lovely, sweet people give me hand-me-downs, around the same time. And it just overwhelmed me, because, there were so many clothes all at once. So I need to just buckle down and get to going through them.

The other issue is that I am hanging onto clothes that just don’t fit me anymore. I keep thinking that ‘overweight’ is a temporary condition (which I really do hope and pray it is) but, it’s been six years now. And hanging onto some of those clothes is just plain silly.

I’m going to use the tactic I learned from either FlyLady or Marilu Henner – I can’t remember which one of them it was, they both just totally rock, in my book! Anyway, the tactic is you have to either totally love the item – or wear it frequently – or it’s gone! Some of the items I know that I will keep are my wedding dress, my high school dance dresses (there are only four of them) and stuff like that. But other stuff, that I don’t completely love, and I’m just thinking, ‘I may be able to wear that as soon as I lose weight…’ – forget it! It’s gone! It’s going to be hard, but, I am really working hard to simplify my life and make things easier and more manageable, and this is one thing that has definitely gotten out of control!

One thing that I am afraid of is not having very many clothes left when I am done. This really would be a good thing, though, as it would simplify things so much, and as I do lose weight, I can go and buy new and pretty things. (My clothes really are pretty scrappy, anyway.) I could just buy one thing here and there, and eventually wind up with a nice wardrobe. It would be so cool if I had a friend with a plus-size store, so I could get wholesale clothing prices. Then I could really build up my wardrobe nicely. But then, of course, maybe I’d wind up in the same pickle I’m in now – too many clothes! LOL!

We moved from a house with two bathrooms to a house with three bathrooms, only to find that we can only use one! That is such s bummer! We can use the toilet and the sink in ours, but, we have to shower in the kids’/guest bathroom. And then there is a shower down in the basement. Mark has recently gotten that one working, but, I would love to have the one in our master bathroom working!

We have a really nice shower in there, too. It is stand-up shower, with no bath, and it is very large and looks like it would be very nice and comfy to shower in. And it would be easy to move around in – some stand-up showers are so tiny you can barely move. This is not like this at all. The only thing is that it doesn’t have a little seat in it – that would be really cool.

But we don’t even have the hardware in place right now for our shower. So I’ve been looking at some shower faucets online and I’ve found some really nice ones that I like.

Unfortunately, I think we actually have more of a problem than just needing the hardware. I can’t remember if it is a leak or what, I just know that I want to shower in my own room.

When we do finally get it working, I would love to have a hand-held shower head – those are so great!

I tell you what – if we got our own shower, and we could have a hand-held shower, I’d be one happy mama! I’d look like this guy: