Cool Stumble Upon find

For that extra huge appetite!

I feel like I ate this, instead of the several normal sized hamburgers I did have today!

If you want to see some other awesome pumpkins, decorated in unique ways, head over to this site!



http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/2011/09/20-unique-pumpkin-ideas.html

Another project, finished!

This is a shot of the newly painted master bedroom, tah~DAH!!!  My mom, she's the absolute best, in so many ways.  Thanks for the lovely wedding present.

Jerry hang the new blinds and the chocolate brown curtains this evening, in both the bedroom and the bathroom.  Yea!!  The color of the paint is peppermint tea, from WalMart.  It's a light, frothy, frosty, pale green that is so soothing and refreshing.

On one of the bedposts is an assortment of hats that I'd made my husband a few years back.  The black and gold is for our local high~school yellow jackets.  The maroon and white is for MSU {go dogs!}.  There is a blue watch cap that he calls his skittles cap.  And the silver and black is for the raiders {his team from way back}.

Mom also painted the master bath for us, too.  In the magazine rack are several editions of Crochet Today!  The floor is not finished, eventually, it will have tile~~there's no rush.

Ferah's Fantastical Funky Formal Fortieth

My husband spent the morning building a box; a large, heavy, durable box fastened with screws and painted black.  So when I got home, he was sweaty, dusty, and marked up with paint.  It's for my friend.

Ferah is turning forty next month.  She is having a wildly funky formal birthday bash in a few weeks.  There will be mexican foods, margaritas, and plenty of dancing.  I'm planning to wear my wedding dress.  It's champagne, cocktail~length, sleeveless, satin, and two years old.  I might even wear my veil, cuz it's cool and very would be a funky thing to do, fitting the theme.

Yesterday, my husband and I met at the Mexican restaurant down by the high~school cuz the Yellow Jackets played a home game last night.  We were the first few folks to arrive, at 4, well before the dinner crowd.  Normally, we both are very careful not to drink and drive, but we figured since kick~off was at 7:30, we had a few hours.  I was gonna get a margarita, but then my husband decided to have one too.  So we ordered a pitcher.  A half~dozen swallows into his, my husband decided he didn't want anymore.  So I drank the entire pitcher.  Minus a half~dozen swallows.

Then, I went to the football game.  I have to say, it was the drunkest I've been in about ten years.  And it was the best time I've ever had a game.  I was very energetic by the end of it, the buzz was dying off, I thought, and so I drove to WalMart, my husband followed me.  If I had doubts, I would have left my car and come home with him and returned in the morning.

It turns out, while I was in WalMart, that I realized that the buzz hadn't really worn off at all.  It was lying dormant.  Once I started to walk around, all that blood got to moving around and I told my husband that I wanted to buy my friend, Ferah, the one who turns forty next month, the one I mentioned in the beginning of this, a pamper me kit for her birthday.

He supported my decision to load the cart with liquid soaps, bubblebaths, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, facial scrubs and masks, shower~poofs, candles, baby oils, etc.  Basically all the accouterments you'd need for pampering a girly~girl.  But they didn't have a basket big enough.  So I tossed around the idea of loading it all in a rectangular laundry basket, displayed with tissue paper and then my husband, my wonderful husband, said, "ya know, I could build her a box.  Ya know, a pamper box, with all her pamper stuff."

Sure, that sounds great!  And is incredibly sweet.  So we finally get home around MIDNIGHT.   At 9:30 this morning, my husband wakes me so that I can make it to the BookMart by ten, cuz I told the fiber friends I'd be there.  He then builds this box for Ferah and all her lovely stuffs.

Turns out, this box is heavy.  The stuff is heavy.  I think we will have drive to B'ham, sneak the stuff and the box into her house, load it and all that once it is on the table, cuz there is no FRIGGIN' way that we can carry that.  We'd need a hand~truck {a dolly}.  Or a wheelbarrow.  Or the Incredible Hulk.  On crack.

So my husband and I are staring at the box, and he turns to me and says, "you can tell Ferah that I spend all morning playing with her box, in the driveway."  I replied, "she'd like that."

Crafting at the Cafe

This morning, I went to the BookMart DownTown here is Starkville to meet up with a few crafters.  I finished one knitting project, started another, and began to plan what other projects I want to work on in the near future.  I had told fellow fiber freaks that I would stay til 2p; however, the screaming, demanding, whining toddlers did me in and so I packed it in early and left at a quarter past one.  Why people feel compelled to dress their tots in cute lil university outfits and then drag them cranky to a football game, with packed crowded and rowdy stadiums, when the kid is gonna be out of sorts...is beyond me.

That's like popping your kid into a stroller and spending hours at the local fair.  The kid's eye~level is at the same level as your thighs, so for hours, that kid is lost in a sea of ass.  Bobbling fat asses encased in tight denim, releasing fumes from fair food.  Oh how glorious that child's life must be, as they ride rough~shod over bumpy gravel, strapped into a sticky torture chamber.  Poor thing.

People, you may think that it's so very awesome that you take your tykes to each and every game, cuz you are a diehard fan.  But your child is not gonna remember having spent game~time as a several days, months, or even years old.  I'm thinking most kids are not going to remember even as a small child of three or four, sitting with you at the game, let alone what the hell is happening on the field.  Now, if your kid is thoroughly enjoying the game experience, great!  Chances are tho, that if you kid is needing a nap, not great with change or strangers, teething, or having just recently acquired crazy~mad skilZ like crawling, walking, or running; then they are not enjoying the confinement of your lap with lots of confusing smells, sounds, and weirdos jostling them about.  So if they won't remember what a swell time it was, and they aren't having fun at the present time; then why are you dragging them thru this and making everyone else miserable too?  WHY?


One couple that was at the BookMart with a sobbing toddler in tow was the deal~breaker and that's when I left.  The kid kept screaming, "why??  oh, why??  why are we here???  why are we here, DAD????"  It would have been humorous, were it not so annoying.  Also, I was tempted to start screaming, "why??  oh, why??  why are you here??  why are you here, DAD??" right along with the kid.  And parents tolerate that crap from their own adorable {not} offspring, but not from adults who hopefully would know better.

I'd hope the parents would know better, too.

Hope springs eternal.

Dear Zenni~Optical

{This is an eMail I sent to the Zenni~Optical folks earlier this evening.  Cuz I like their products, but am not thrilled with this particular situation.  However, the glasses/frames that others I know have from Zenni are holding up just fine; indeed my other pair are as well.}

Hello!  Earlier this year, I ordered two pair of glasses from you {order#zippittee~dooh~DAH}.  I have enjoyed them immensely and receive many compliments.  I'm like a representative for your company, referring to your website and bragging on you.

Well, guess what happened?  No, don't guess!  We'll be playing eMail tag forever.  Instead, I'll just tell ya.

Earlier this evening, I was cleaning my glasses {the regular ones, not the shades} and the arm snapped right off.  The bottom plastic corner piece that holds the screw that attaches the arm to the front part {eye pieces} sorta disintegrated.  Because that part was in crumbly plastic bits, I can't really fix it.  I don't have anything to hold the screw in the bottom; I mean the screw would go thru the top loop, down thru the arm, but the bottom piece with the hole for the screw is missing~~just a lone jagged piece survives.

So uhm, frame#zippittee~dooh~DAH {a sort of caramel color that matches my hair, at least this month it does, next month, I'm thinking pumpkin orange would be suitable, don't you agree?  yes!  I thought you would!} isn't wanting to stay on my face any longer.  Oh, bother.  {sigh}.

What might you suggest?  Can I send the broken frames in for repair?  Can you salvage the lenses?  Do I need to just chalk this up to an extremely short~lived pair of specs?  I know my prescription is the same, as I just had my eyes examined earlier this year and since I keep my old prescriptions on file, I know that over the years, my Rx hasn't changed that much since I began wearing glasses at the age of nine {I'm forty}.  At any rate, I've never had a pair of glasses leave my face so soon.  It's heart~rending, it is.

I will wear my lovely rose~shades with the rose~tinted lenses tomorrow and perhaps for awhile til I get plain untinted lenses in reliable frames, cuz dude/tte{s}, I must wear glasses.  Otherwise, I'm like Mr Magoo, and driving would be an adventure.  Especially for my passengers.

You're lovely folks, you are.  And tomorrow, I will attempt to view your site when I am more awake and able to make decisions.  In the meantime, please advise me.  And let me know, why, oh why did this pair die?  Do have a wonderful Thursday.  Thanks so very much for your consideration, Debra

the next project

Long time readers may recall that when I moved in with my now~husband over two and a half years ago, my mom had given me an awesome wedding~gift.  She would help me clean, and paint, the entire interior of my new home.  She had come over and spent about five or six weeks at that time.  We cleaned and painted the huge open living area which includes the living area, the dining area, the breakfast nook, and the kitchen; and one bedroom and one bathroom.  Later that year, a month or so before my wedding, she and my brother returned and painted three guest rooms in the addition and laid tile flooring in those rooms as well.

Last year, we never really coordinated things well, either when she could spend sufficient time, or when I felt lively enough to want to do any major cleaning/painting.  Besides, I wanted to have a few visits with my mom that weren't working~vacations.  And also there was my husband's wreck and then a five~month house~guest.  So we thought we'd wait a bit.

This year, my mom was bound and determined to make it happen; so Wednesday evening she arrived with her brushes and her knee~pad.  Yesterday, we did a few errands around town.  This morning, we started in on the master bedroom, with plans to also do the master bath.  For now, it's mostly cleaning and painting; the floors must wait to be tiled for a later date.

So enter Krud~Kutter deglosser and prep for the painting.  That stuff is strong, good, and very very effective.  Mom is applying the first coat of primer for most of the room.  A second coat of primer is applied as well.  We use KilZ primer, great stuff!

Then she does two top coats of the satin {or semi~gloss} paint.  We are sticking with what is called "peppermint tea".  All but one room so far has been painted in this color.  Peppermint tea is a light frothy frosty pale green that is soothing and refreshing.

In the future, we have one rather large front bedroom to do~~I still need to clear it out and go thru all the clutter in there.  And back in the addition, we do have a small room, the bathroom, and the wide hall to do.  As well as laying new tile in all but three rooms.

We're not in a rush.  Each time a new section is done, we feel oh so much better.  My husband says that he never notices how much the walls and floor do affect him until they are cleaned and painted; then he feels so much lighter.  I know what he means!

When I was growing up, my mother repainted our kitchen and sometimes the bedrooms ever other year or so.  It felt so much more better, to have that freshly cleaned and painted room.  I can't describe it quite right, but if you've experienced it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Ahhhhhhh.

I'm disgusted with the dust~dogs under my bed, behind my dresser, in the corners, hanging from the ceiling.  I call them "dust~dogs" cuz they are fine spider~webs that have caught dog hair in the corners; wads of dust that are more dog hair piled under the bed; drifts of dog hair that are settled behind dressers; so much so that we could easily construct several other dogs with all the shed dog hair.  I love Shaddow, but I will not ever get another large dog.

My floors are in a constant state of nastiness, cuz I have admitted defeat in the battle of scrubbing them clean.  My husband and I both use the broom when it gets to the point that the drifting, settling dog fur piles encroach on our space.  I always forewarn folks that my floors are not ever so clean you'd want to eat off them.  I shudder when a small child crawls around on them, and apologize to the parents ahead of time if the knees of their pants are dirty after chasing the lil chiweenie around.  It seems that when we sweep, it just stirs up the grit and fluffy fur so that when it resettles, the same clumps of hair is there yet again.  {sigh}

At least my walls are lovely!  And other than my floors, I think we have a fairly clean, clutterless home.  Well, maybe not so clutter~free at this moment, as I have tools spread across the table, yarn piled here, fabric piled there, and books here and there.  Once the bedroom is done, I can put things back into place.  So I can deal with the clutter.

For now.

I think.

stumble upon

This past week has been a bit odd for me and I'm exhausted.  But I didn't want to go to bed too early, as I knew that waking in the middle of the night wide eyed would not leave me feeling refreshed.  So I'm listening to my audio~book while my husband is watching MSU at Memphis {pht~ballZ}.  Since I'm sitting at the computer, I thought I'd stumble upon a few sites and see what's what.  Usually there are a plethora of cute pix that others have marked to share with others.  Rarely do I find something that I want to go, "hey! check this out!"

But I did just now.  Kelly Harman's blog, Did I Say That Out Loud? cracked me up.  The first entry I read was posted yesterday, entitled "Why 6th Grade Boys are Evil".  She relates an incident that results in her going to work to meet with her boss, a former litigator, dressed in nylons and a trenchcoat, forgetting to pick up her power~suit from the cleaners.  I actually did snicker while reading this.

If you need a few light~hearted snippets to make you smile, you might want to give this blog a read!  Check it!