"C" is for Curtains

I've been struggling with decorating the very large area around the french doors and windows in our living room.  I wanted to be able to leave the curtains open most of the time, since we use these doors to access our patio, but I also needed to be able close them to block the sun.  I started with sheer and solid panels and a flimsy rod to cover the 20-foot wondrous wall of windows, but it just wasn't working.

Empty wall with previous curtains removed.  

You can see the old sheers and rod laying on the chair on the right.

Next step: REMOVE VERTICAL BLINDS.

They went straight to the trash.

I called an interior designer out of Stillwater, who had done several houses in Cushing.  After doing a consultation and taking a throw pillow from the couch, she found the perfect fabric and made some serious drapes--these things are heavy...and gorgeous!  The hardware she suggested is much more substantial too, so I'm really happy with the final result.  Here are a few pics of the process.

First set of brackets hung

Half way done

Finished product!

These curtains are the first thing you see when you walk in the house, and they're totally functional.  I love them!

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"C" is for Children's Place

After 2+ years of living in my house, I still get mail for the previous owners.  Today's find: coupons for The Children's Place.  I don't have kids, so I don't need coupons for your store.  When I do, I'll visit your store and sign up for my own coupons.  I'll probably also sign up for your free rewards program, but that's another story.  So back to the mail...I seriously call and ask to be removed from every mailing list for every company that sends me something I don't want.  We get very little junk mail in return.  Every time I check the mailbox and it's empty I do a mental victory dance.  So today I called TCP's customer service line to ask to be removed from the mailing list.  I navigated through the menu prompts and was put on hold for the first 27 minutes.  Then the line started ringing.  I got all excited thinking my 27 minutes on hold totally paid off, but I was wrong.  The phone counter got all the way to 53 minutes before someone answered the the ringing line.  Then the guy said that he's not familiar with TCP and that their phones have been down due to a computer glitch.  Really?  A 53-minute computer glitch?  I despise you, TCP customer service, and no matter how cute your clothes are, I will never shop at your store.

As a side note, I did manage to do some work and have a quick phone call with my mom on my cell, while listening to TCP's phone Muzak and ring-ringing on my home phone.

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"C" is for Capsized

We had a peaceful Labor Day weekend at Lake LBJ with John's parents. We also met up with with one of my friends from A&M, Graham.  He was staying at a nearby lake house with other Aggie friends, so we spent a day out on the boat with them.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the weekend. 

Zach has a tough life tanning and fishing.

John Deer visits the Cockerhams often.  He's very tame.

John surfing.

Graham surfing.

After doing some surfing, the weekend got really exciting.  A group of three people had turned over a seadoo, so we watched them for a while.  It was funny because they were yelling and screaming, so Nick waved because he thought they were having a good time.

Once Nick realized they were in distress, he hopped off the surfboard to rescue the girl who couldn't swim.  (She almost drowned him in the process.)  Another group on a seadoo and two other boats stopped to help/watch.  It was quite a sight, and I couldn't help but take some photos.

Attempt number ?? to upright the seadoo.

Nick rescuing girl.

Volunteer firefighters helped with the rescue too.  I've never seen anyone get on a boat like this.

Another fun part of the weekend was jumping off the bridge.

Graham                             John

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