Bad Day!

Well, it happened, just like I thought it would. My car over heated on me yesterday morning. There I was, sitting on the side of the highway in the very narrow "emergency lane". For some reason my memory, or maybe it was just my imagination, told me to stay in the car with my seatbelt on. That way if I got hit by some crazy driver not paying attention, at least I would be safer inside the car than out. The whole experience was very unnerving, those semi trucks whiz by at super high speeds, very, very close. Afeared for my safety, as soon as the car cooled off a little I eased on off that busy interstate by creeping along that skinny little emergency lane to the next exit and found a half way decent place to park. So I waited. And waited. And waited. It took an hour for the tow truck to get to me. During my wait I entertained the possibility that this little incident was a sign from God that I shouldn't be driving to work anyway, I should be at home, preforming my housewife duties. I tell ya, if one more thing happens, I'm taking it as a down right demand to quit my job!
Alright, well I've got wedding photos to edit before newly weds start coming after me.
Until next time...

Prompt

Well, I saw this assignment over at mamakatslosinit and thought it might be fun so I signed up. The object is that Kat will give a topic and you have to base your blog (on Wednesdays) on that particular topic. So here goes -I chose the topic... "I wish I could..."

As soon as I saw it, I knew this was what I wanted to write about. But then I started feeling guilty, or ashamed, so maybe I should write about the other, and then I changed my mind. Then I thought, "is there really any guilt to be awarded?" Then I thought "Well of course there is, how could you wish for anything different than what you have? I have 2 awesome sons, I have a wonderful marriage (married or not, we've been together for 11 years now) with 2 wonderful step-sons. My life is pretty decent, who could complain, right?

I wish I could ...
Be a housewife.

Yes, you read correctly. I want to quit my job and be a housewife. That's it. I mean geez, I've been working since I was 17 years old, I'm 37 now, that's 20 years! Don't you get to retire after 20 years of working? I thought that's how it went. So how come I'm still working?
My 2 boys don't live with me anymore (a couple of years ago, they decided they wanted to go live with their Dad). I'm okay with that now. Afterall, I knew it was coming. I was somewhat prepared. They are safe, comfortable and seemingly happy. I can't beg them to come home. I have to accept it. They are where they want to be....for now.
So here I am, with my husband (whom I adore) and his 2 boys (who coincidently decided that they wanted to move in with thier Dad (my adorable husband) at the same time that my boys decided they wanted to go live with their Dad) so I'm still fulfilling the role of Mom...it's just not the same though. Here's where I feel guilty. Is it okay for me to say to my husband "I'm tired, I don't want to work anymore, you take over.? Is that so wrong? I just want to stay home and keep my house clean. I want to sweep up dust bunnies, and hang sheets out on the line. I want to cook all our meals, I want to have the laundry done (well mine at least, everyone here does thier own laundry), I want to sew and quilt and garden and craft, is that too much to ask? Really?

There have been so many times when I've felt like just quitting. I really hate going to work. My patience isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. I really dread having to deal with other people now, and when I say other people, I'm referring to co-workers and clients. Get this, someone ate my frozen breakfast croissants. Yea, took them right out of the freezer and ATE THEM! What kind of crap is that? Who does that, eats other people's food like that? Now I have to go buy something to eat today which totally goes against my efforts to spend less.
I hate fighting traffic on a daily basis, it really makes. me. crazy. Like this morning, I was freaking out because the morning rush hour traffic was worse than usual and my car kept acting like it was going to over heat. If my car had actually over heated, I'd have been stuck on the side of the road trying to find someone to rescue me (Sparky is out of town this week so he can't be my hero this time), at the same time I'd surely have a nervous breakdown because there are freaks and wierdos out there that would just love the opportunity to snatch up a helpless little thing like me. If I were home being a good housewife, doing housewife things, I wouldn't have to deal with these kinds of situations. Now I have to make it home today. Please car, please don't over heat. Please traffic, please be nice today.
Coming home and announcing that I have retired... priceless! Do you think I'm being selfish or lazy in my wanting of this? Cuz I can see how some people might see it that way. I, myself don't see it that way though. I see it as a changing of careers! And so what if we have less income. I don't need a lot, I just want to be able to pay my bills and buy groceries, that's all. And be a good little house wife.

Well, there's my assignment, I hope you enjoyed it.
Now could someone please tell me how I can find free, cool blog layouts so that I can change mine?
Thanks and have a super day!
~angie~

Surprise!!!!

Remember me telling you about the water bottle swap? Well look what the mail man, or woman, brought me yesterday...

This is From Elizabeth in England, isn't it pretty? I love the prairie looking fabric and I'm using it right this very moment! I just love it!


And look what else ! I couldn't believe she sent me so many goodies!!!

There are 2 packets of flower seeds AND a cachet full of lavender seeds from HER very own garden. There's also an adorable little needle book AND a book titled The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, which I've already started reading and am totally enjoying!
I was so excited by my package that my husband said I was like a little girl again, all giddy with delight. I can't wait to send her her package, which I'm dgoing to do tomorrow!


Ok so I know yall have been wondering how Hurricane Fay treated us. Actually, she wasn't really that bad. We have all the expected tree limbs and branches littering our yards and streets, which I predict is going to take a few weekends to clean up. We did have one major incident though that we didn't even notice until Sunday when we were cleaning up the front yard. One of our 60 foot trees broke at about 20 feet up from the bottom and fell into the tree next to it. You can't really tell but the tree is fairly large in the trunk and canopy (the canopy is all tangled up into the next tree's canopy). The tree is actually about 2 feet from our house and if it had fallen the other direction, it could have been catastrophic since it happend at around 1:30 am while everyone was in bed sleeping. I am convinced that God was watching over us.

Here's a side view of our very messy backyard thanks to Fay.


And here's the tree that fell over, look in the middle of the pic. just above the roof line.


Look what Fay did to my okra! :0(


But, on a happier note, my loofas faired very well and are growing beautifully! Look how big this one is!

Owchie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do this giraffe and I have in common?
Look closley at the neck. Go on, take a look.
See the way it's neck is kinked?
That's what my neck looks like, er, feels like.
I must be falling apart cuz I've managed to contract a nasty cold over the past week, my sinuses were killing me 2 days ago, I've been graced with one of those...you know...girlie issues, I broke a nail and this morning I woke up with a cink in my neck. What the heck is going on here!!!!!
Well...
at least I woke up this morning, right?

Tomorrow, I'll post pics of what Kay left for us to clean up.
Until tomorrow...

Hurricane Fay

Well, Fay is headed our way and is projected to pass through Jacksonville tomorrow. School has been cancelled for shelter preparations and most City Offices are closed.
Sigh...
Wish my office was closed right now.
Are we really ready for a hurricane? MMM, no. Someone stole our generator a while back so we don't have that. I have lots of candles but prolly not enough if we lost power for more than a week (which isn't out of the question). Our stove is electric so if we do loose power, we won't be able to cook. Sure we could cook on the grill or open flame but what is there to burn, everything around here is wet! We only have one bathtub to fill with water, we can't fill our washing machine cuz it's one of those front loaders. I do have several milk jugs and wine bottles filled with water so that's a plus. We've got a decent supply of canned goods, bread and snacks. Oh and we do have a manual can opener, which is a must!
The things that scare me the most are tornadoes and huge tree limbs coming through our roof and hitting somone. I mean, you can get away from the glass windows but you can't really get away from the ceiling! You know, home builders in tornado prone areas should build safe rooms inside houses. I wonder how come there are so few people in florida who have cellars? I wish we had a cellar, we could always have it stocked just in case and I wouldn't have to worry about something coming through the roof.
On a possitive note, at least I have plenty of crafty things to do if we do loose power and if my BFF comes over to wait out the storm, I can teach her and her daughter how to crochet!!!

Until next time...

To Do List - UPDATED

I've been working on my To Do List , I wonder how much of it I'll get done over the weekend???

Chores - Inside
Inspect entire house for cob webs
Hang painting and photographs on the big wall - DONE
Put movies and games on new shlef - DONE
Put all books on shelf in hallway (except cook books) - DONE
Pain chandelier mount
Remove wire hanging from opening to kitchen

Chores - Outside
Remove all scrap wood and yard debris from back yard - IN PROGRESS
Relocate hot tub to where shed was
Clean back porch of everything, move table to area off dining room - DONE
Put up clothes line in back yard near grape vine - DONE

Projects
Organize sewing needle book - DONE
Organize crochet & knitting needles and baskets - DONE
Organize sewing cabinet and dresser - DONE
Store fabrics & batting - DONE
Finish Mom & Dad's quilt
Polish brass lamps
Re-wire non-operating lamp - DONE
Re-cover lamp shades - IN PROGRESS
Consider lace curtains for living & dining rooms
Finish recovering chairs that are on back porch

Wish me luck and have a happy weekend!!!!!!!

Chocolate Cake!

Ok so yesterday was my 37th birthday right? Well I have a photo of my Mom on her 37th birthday back in 1990. I thought it would be neat to show her photo and my photo together, both on our 37th birthdays...

Here's mine...



And here's Mom's...




I love this one. There's Mom holding up her candles. That's my very dirty little brother in the forground, that's my other brother Darrell standing and displaying the peace sign, or are those bunny ears? That's my very dirty baby sister there peeking over Mom's arm and look, there's me on the left, I was 18 then. And I just noticed that we both have CHOCOLATE CAKE!

I had a great birthday, thanks for all the kind birthday wishes!!!
~angie~

It's muh Birthday!!!!!!!!

Yep, today is my birthday (thanks Momma & Daddy!) and I share it with George Hamilton (that really tan guy) and Jane Wyatt (the Mom from Father's Knows Best). These are some of the things that were going on in in 1971 when I was born:

• Richard M. Nixon was president
• The average annual income was $10,600
• The average price of a new house was $25,250
• The average monthly rent was $150
• The cost of one gallon of gas was 40 cents
• Stamps were 8 cents
• Ladies 2 piece knit suite were $9.98
• Movie tickets were $1.50
• A brand new Datson 1200 sports coupe was priced at $1,866
• The Microprocessor was invented - computers, yay!
• All in the Family debuts on CBS and introduces a trend in socially conscious programming
• Jim Morrison died in Paris at age 27
• Simon and Garfunkel's Album Bridge Over Troubled Water won Grammys for Album of the year and song of the year.
• Phyllis George (Texas) won the title of Miss America
  

For more interesting info on what was happening the year you were born, go HERE.

I never hesitate to buy myself a birthday present, ever. I've always loved chenille bedspreads so I went looking for one. I found the one I wanted on ebay so I bought it and guess what the mail man delivered yesterday? Yes! my very own, vintage chenille bedspread, and this thing is heavy! I couldn't get it out of the package fast enough! Oh, it is perfect, beautiful, just what I'd hoped it would be. That reminds me, I need to go rate the seller. Anyway, so I put it on my bed and had a photo shoot, check it out...

Isn't it gorgeous! So now I need to make some vintage throw pillows to complete the look. I just love it!

Sparky got me a present too! Look how pretty...

Ok, bring on the Birthday Wishes!!!!

:0)

I shot my husband!

Yes, I shot my husband but it was all in fun! The boys bought themselves some of those toy air guns, you know the ones that shoot little tiny balls, they look like b.b.'s but they are plastic, not metal. Anyway, they had a blast (pun intended) running around the yard shooting eachother. A part of me wonders if it's ok for them to play like that and the other part of me says, why not, it's fun. No different really than cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, laser tag, paintball battles or water-gun wars. I'm not convinced that the "bad guys" of the world turned out that way because they played these games when they were growing up. But that's just me.
Anyway, after watching the boys play for a while, I wanted to play. So each one of them let me shoot them but just to be fair, I let them shoot me too. The ammo wasn't too bad, gives you a little welt, nothing too painful.
Ok so all of a sudden I got a great idea! Sneek up on Sparky and get him! So I crept into the house, ducked down behind the couch then jumped up and let him have it!!!! It was great cuz he didn't have a shirt on! I got him about 5 times before he could get out of the chair and chase me outside and get himself a gun! The boys got a kick outta watching us act like little kids again cuz you know we're old and never do fun stuff...Oh to be a kid again...

Get Outta Here!!!!!!!!!

You're not going to believe this. I was surfing the internet for other crafty bloggers in my area and just look at what I found. You won't believe it, what's next?
Click HERE.

Granny's House

I use to love to go to Granny's house. I had several Grannies, you know Daddy's Granny, Momma's Granny. Then I had several Grandmas - Daddy's Momma, Momma's Momma. Anyway, Granny and Grandma houses were always a lot of fun for me. One of my Granny's had a vanity full of those little tiny pink miniture lipsticks, I think they were samples. There were glass diamond cut perfume bottles with the squeeze bulbs and spray hoses.

There were black rotary phones

and the beds had metal headboards and footboards. My favorites were the chenille bedspreads,

the quilts


and the glass door knobs!
I had one Granny that had those valentine heart shaped candy boxes on her walls, we use to watch The Price Is Right together. Nana, who is shown in a previous post, use to give me manicures and pedicures when I was little and she had a little bottle of perfume that was all mine! The bottle was in the shape of a watering can, the perfume was pink and everytime I went to Nana's house, she would dab a little bit on my wrists. She's the one who taught me how to hover over the potty when in public restrooms! Ok, enough reminiscing.
**Note - the above photos are not mine, they are photos found on the internet that I'm using for illustration purposes only. I can do that right???

I love my house but it has really been a challenge to get it decorated. It would be easy if I had tons of money but I don't so I have to do with what I've got on a very limited budget. A friend told me to write down my favorite colors and my favorite style/theme and she would help me decorate. It isn't that simple for me because I like a lot of different things. Besides that, a huge problem for me is my interior walls. They are wood. Not wood like paneling or cedar but like rough exterior siding, in it's natural coloring. See...
On top of that, I have virtually zero windows in my house. Instead, I have west facing sliding glass doors that run all the way across the back side of my house.
So with the wood walls and lack of windows, it's ver dark and gloomy inside. I've been really bothered lately by the state of my home. I can't go out and buy new furniture or flooring (the flooring is another big issue, right now I have commercial, office building carpet squares, in an aweful shade of blue/gray). See the carpet? And how about that table? It looks nice when it's polished but it makes me very nervous when my niece is around, those corners don't play around!
Like I said, I love all kinds of styles and themes, I think they are all great. I did country for a long time and have just been kind of stuck in limbo since then. I like the French Country look but with not so many florals. I like the clean white and cobalt blue theme, it just feels fresh and light and airy. I love antiques, I love vintage linens and I love dark, wooden furniture. Ok so with all this in mind, I think my only solution is to paint the wood walls a whitish color, get some light colored slip covers (untill I get new flooring) and make some throw pillows, hang a bunch of paintings and wat-nots on that big huge wall I have and do something with my dining room table and chairs. I'd really like to do something different with my curtains that hang in front of the sliding glass doors, maybe some lace, to let more light in. I picture my house looking like Granny's house, nothing matches but it all flows together. You can tell that there isn't much money but the best is being done with what is had. It's comfortable, clean and welcoming without being too busy or cluttered. I'd say that "Granny's House" is my style. I'd like to decorate my home with the sort of things that were in Granny's house. I wonder what my friend will say when I tell her that? Now I'm gonna have to go back to the flea market and get that Uncle Sam piggy bank that I saw. My Grandpa Brown had one and everytime I went to visit, that was one of the first things I'd play with. (again, not my photo)

Suggestions are welcomed!
Blessings!

Flea Market Finds!

Another blogger shared one of her Crafy Magic projects with us last week and as soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to get in on this fun little makeover myself!

Sunday morning Sparky took me to our local flea market. I specifically wanted to stroll through what I affectionately refer to as the "junky side". You know, the side where people have their unwated items strown out on the ground in the hopes that some wierdo like myself will give them money for at least something! I don't like the side that has all the new sunglasses and tennis shoes and such. I have no use for that kind of stuff, I want junk!!!!

I had one thing in mind for this day, a little old ugly stool. Yep, I have plenty of fabric and a staple gun, I'm on a mission! It didn't take long for me to find my prize and guess what? There were 2! Yes! a matching set, a round one and a square one. I swear they came right out of the 60's. I never have been a good negotiator. The guy wanted $8 for each stool but luckily Sparky was with me and talked him down to $12 for both. What a guy that Sparky, he's my hero!
Anyway, here's what I got...
By the way, I forgot to take a before pic of the round one but I did get the square one.
Don't you just love the white pleather!

It took a while for me to decide which fabric I wanted to use and then I had to decide if I wanted the stools to match. Since nothing else in my house matches, I decided to keep with that theme and re-cover the stools in different fabrics. I put a double layer of quilting batting on top of the original coverings first then added the fabrics and trim. Check 'em out...





Now I'm on the lookout for some bar stools!

Thanks for the inspiration Dana!

Good Times!

While I was looking for pictures for a new post I came across the ones from a trip last year. My brother and I decided to take a road trip back home to Texas to see Momma & Daddy. Elmo Texas to be exact. About 30 miles south east of Dallas. We were both born there and although we've spent most of our lives in Florida, Texas will always be home. My brother has since moved back there. When my kids are all grown, I may go back as well. We'll have to wait and see what happens...
It's a 15 hour drive, the not so fun part. On our way, we stopped in the Florida pan handle and picked up Nana. She likes to go to Texas a lot! "D" and I took turns driving while Nana kept the conversations going, if you know what I mean!

Here's Nana, aint she beautiful!


Here we are at the Texas Welcome Center!








We were only able to spend 3 days but we had a great time!


Yes, we are a silly bunch!



I love Texas!