Marion Stewart: It's a Good Thing!

So my new house is finally starting to feel a lot more like home. I've got is mostly decorated, except for my office. But the upstairs is almost completely done, with the exception of two walls that need something on them.

I love my dining room table and chairs. The table was custom made in Juarez due to the fact that no one carried a table in my price range here in town. So, it turned out great, although it's going to take a bit getting used to, as it's about 2 inches higher than most tables. I don't hate it, and it doesn't really bother me, but it does feel a bit different. I found a cool bamboo table runner for it, and after searching for the perfect centerpiece, found these two large amber bottles, which I love! I have antique bottles all over the house, so these replicas tie everything in nicely. I'm also thinking of getting new dishes. I currently have black and white dishes, which no longer really go with my decor. I've found these Wave dishes, which I like, but can't decide whether I like them because they match my rug and colors or because I just like them.

I got a large Southwestern style rug for my living room and a matching one for the dining room. Wasn't really planning on leaning so far into the "Southwest" decor, but that's how it turned out and I do like it. My sepia photo that I blew up to 3 foot by 4 foot turned out great! It's of an old homestead in Capitol City and I had it mounted on this really nice, sturdy gator board, which will keep it from warping over time. I love how it looks. I think I may get another one of my photos of an old mine blown up and place it over the TV on that empty wall. Or, I've found these cool old mining picks in an antique store and may get several and hang them in a group over the TV, along with an old miner's hat. I also need something on the other corner wall over the mantel. So, once I get those walls done, I think everything upstairs will be complete.

My bedroom has a new bed and that's it. I would love a new comforter, but I need to slow down the spending! I'm trying to decide between this comforter or just finding a cool saddle blanket looking blanket or cover and drape it over my current comforter, to complete the "horse" theme in there. Something with red stripes. I think that would be cool. Ideas? I like the Telluride comforter set too, was just thinking of alternatives.

So, all that's left inside is the office, which has nothing on the walls but a clock at this point. I'm thinking of decorating the walls with these cool retro travel posters. I'm not sure. I want something more colorful in my office since the rest of the house is so earthy and neutral.

Then when it warms up I will begin work in the yard. Yesterday I worked a bit moving rocks from my driveway to the back yard, because when I moved here I dumped all my pretty rocks in the driveway near the house and never did anything else with them. I brought a bunch of football size rocks from my mom's house that are beautiful and I want to do something nice with them. I'm very ready for summer and warmer weather!

Okay, well, there you have it. I'm having fun decorating my new place and I'm getting more comfortable living here. It doesn't feel as "new" any more, which is nice, because it means I'm settling in.

A Video Memorial for Scooter...

... because it's too hard to write about.

A Colorado Caucus

So tonight I participated in my first caucus and it was a very interesting evening. When I arrived at my precinct there was mass confusion even though I arrived an hour early. There were three large rooms and precinct captains were informally choosing a room and setting up camp. The first 20 minutes were spent wandering from room to room asking if my precinct was meeting in that room. It was completely disorganized, I must say. Finally, our precinct captain showed up and we met in one corner of a room.

When they asked if anyone wanted to speak for the candidates, a few people spoke up and there was this one man who was handing out CDs about 9/11 conspiracies and he spoke up for the undecided. He was, in short, a complete nut case. He spoke about several ideas of his that were more than a little out there and we all listened politely but gave each other looks like, "who is this guy?"

When the vote was cast there were two more votes for Obama than Clinton in our precinct and 5 undecided. The precinct captain did not bring a calculator and so someone ussed their cell phone calculator to determine if each candidate had the necessary 15% for viability. I must say, it very unorganized and the math was done wrong the first time. I couldn't help but think of Florida and just the voting fiasco in general. At a caucus you don't have a real paper trail and if the math is figured wrong by a nervous or flustered precinct captain, then my vote is not being represented. It just felt wrong, archaic. It was interesting, certainly, but a little alarming, in my opinion.

They chose delegates and I raised my hand to be an Obama delegate but so many people were interested I did not get chosen. I was a bit disappointed. Had I been a delegate I would have had the opportunity to represent Obama at my county assembly February 23rd. I could have been an alternate, but I decided if I was going to go, I wanted to be a full-fledged delegate, so I declined.

Then at the end of the caucus they asked if we wanted to make any resolutions and our precinct captain made a resolution about health care. Then the nut case spoke up and wanted to make a resolution about questioning whether President Bush knew about 9/11 beforehand. Everyone just spaced out while he was speaking. This is a man with few friends, I suspect. LOL.

So I found my friends in the other room after everything was over and spoke to them briefly and then went home to watch the returns come in. All in all, it was a very interesting evening and I was happy to have been a part of the process.

Obama is leading Colorado, according to the results that are already coming in, so that is exciting!