My day started out pretty good yesterday. I told you in an earlier post that a friend of mine (I’m going to call her Miss T) asked if I would help her decorate her home office building. Yes, it’s a separate building on her home property. It’s very cool!
So, Son #1, Son #2, and Son #3 and I helped out Miss T by painting her master bedroom walls and trim and picking up wood flooring that she has hired someone to lay down in her bedroom after the walls are done being painted.
While we were there, it quickly got dark and ominous outside. The wind was ablowin’ and things were flying all over the place. The thunder rolled and the rain came down. Thankfully, the boys got the wood inside before it started raining.
When we arrived home, we found out we had lost electricity. Our basketball hoop in our driveway had been blown over (thankfully, away from the cars!).
What to do for dinner? We couldn’t cook so we ended up going out to eat. We had a nice meal. Then we all got in the car to head home. I turned the key to start the car and ……..
CLICK….CLICK….CLICK
Oh boy!! The engine refused to turn over. Luckily, we saw some friends in the restaurant so they helped jump my car and we headed home.
When we arrived on our street, it was pitch black. There was no light anywhere to be seen. We entered our very dark house and had NO idea what to do next.
No tv, no internet, what were we to do??!!
Well, first things first….we had to fix the battery in my truck. The LOML and I went to the nearest Advanced Auto store and the guys there were GREAT! They tested the battery, said there was a bad cell (I don’t know what that means but I’m guessing that it’s bad!), and installed a brand new battery.
The car started and we were off. I turned the truck’s air conditioner on (because it was in the 90’s) and it started blowing very hot air at me. Oh brother!! Something with the computer in the truck got confused with the new battery.
Could anything else go wrong tonight??!!
When we got home, all my sons were sitting in the living room, candles, flashlights, and lanterns blazing. Son #1 was playing his trumpet, Son #2 and Son #3 were playing the piano and they were singing a Mumford and Sons song. It was great!!
Because we didn’t have air conditioning, we all slept in the family room downstairs. So, it’s not so bad without electricity. We enjoyed a little family time!
At some point, the electricity came back on while we were sleeping. Television and internet here we come!!ALLELUIA!!!
Now on to the yardstick. If you remember, I measured the height of all my children on the wall in the pantry. Well, now that everything is painted and new and fresh, what should I do with the measurements?
Here they are in all their glory (I know, very messy!)
Now my job is to add a little spunk to this mess so it fits better into my beautifully organized and clean pantry!
The inspiration picture is from a nursery (obviously) but I wanted mine to be a little bit more grown up. Some of these measurements are of my adult children (21 and 18).
I bought a thin 1/4×2 1/4×8″ board to resemble a very large ruler. Because I was placing the board on top of the baseboard, I started the measurement at 4 1/2″ and marked every inch with a small black line and every foot with a larger purple line. I did all the lines with black (inches) and purple (foot) Sharpies.
This is everything I used
SUPPLIES
1) 1/4×2 1/4×8 board painted white
2) tape measure to mark off each inch and foot line
3) black and purple Sharpies
4) triangle to make straight lines
5) pencil
6) stencil
7) stencil brush
8) purple acrylic paint
The LOML cut off the top foot of the 8 foot board so the ruler/board will be flush with the pantry door jamb.
Then he hung it up next to the measurements with our trusty nail gun and this is what it looks like:
