Have You Seen My Lipstick?

No, I Haven't Seen Your Lipstick… Why Would You Even Ask Me That?

More On The Flooding

Remember I mentioned the community that was totally under water? A friend of mine sent me a link to this video of an idiot someone driving on one of the roads going out west of town. I actually lived farther west on this road when I was married.



Here are videos I found of flooding in my city:





And a video of areas all around my county, mostly in a community I was born and lived 1/3 of my life in. My Dad graduated high school there. It was devastating for me to watch the video...

Marvelous Monday Update 7/26/10

SCHOOL
I wonder if any of you could hear a huge sigh of relief on Friday night, about 10:30pm? That was around the time I submitted my final homework and test online... after intermittent internet connection. I am officially done with the semester!!! I won't know what my final grade is until next week, but I have a good idea that I finished with a "B".


STITCHY STUFF
OMG! Have you seen the latest by Joan Elliott?

Summer Geisha is supposedly in the July UK Cross Stitch Collection #186. Anyone have the magazine and not want the chart??

Unfortunately, I haven't had any time this past week to do any stitching.

I did manage to catalog my GAST threads in Organized Expressions. I don't like how the interface is to add new threads to the inventory. It makes sense to make it so when you add, it goes directly to the thread database, but it doesn't. It's kept in a separate database.

In case you're wondering, I got out JG... the chart, the threads, and WIP are on my sofa waiting to be worked on.


NEW JOB
Readers who've been with me a while know that my employer cut my hours. While I'm grateful I still have a job, the 20% pay cut really hurts! Last week, I interviewed for a part time bookkeeper/office manager job. That was the easiest job interview I've had in a long time! I was offered the job on the spot. There are some "perks" to the job: Flexible hours (I can set my own hours), no dress code (He said I can wear shorts, jeans, whatever I'm comfortable in), and I got the pay I asked for. The downside: It's a temporary job. They have someone to take the job full time when the company's financial position improves. My first day was last Friday. I also worked a couple hours on Saturday (Yes, I braved the flooding even though the Sheriff's dept encouraged people not to travel).


CELESTE
I almost forgot! Celeste had an appointment at the doggie beauty salon. I told them to cut her hair shorter... Why do they take it to the extreme?

"I'm so ugly, I'm cute.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!"
Other photos are HERE.

GIVEAWAY
Blu (Therapy by Thread) is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her 100th follower. Click on over to see what it's all about. Giveaway ends July 31st.

30-11-120

What do these numbers have in common? Late Thursday night, we got rain. LOTS of rain. In the 30 hours following, my area received approximately 11" of rain. We are now in a state of disaster.

There is a river and a creek that run through the county and city -- The river is at 16ft right now, two feet above flood stage.

The rain wreaked havoc in my city as well as the county. All roads leaving the city except one were closed due to flooding. I saw water shooting up through a manhole cover. I live on higher ground so was one of the lucky ones! Some who live one block to the west of me had 3 feet of water in their basement. In a community SW of me, people have been dealing with entire basements full of water for over 4 days. That community has been closed to traffic.

I woke up Saturday morning to water in my basement. There was at least an inch of water across 3/4 of the basement. Luckily, I keep all the important stuff up on plastic pallets so I didn't lose much.

I started to shop vac the water and after sucking up 30 gallons of water, I found out that water was seeping up through a crack in the floor. In the three years at The Homestead, I've never seen that happen. I could hold the shop vac over the crack and hear the water being sucked up. That was the end of cleaning up the basement water... at least until it stopped bubbling up through the crack!

Six hours later, I was able to clean up the basement. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY gallons later most of the water is off the basement floor.


What Did The City Look Like Early Saturday Morning?

Baileyville Road
IL Rte 20 W
Lamm Road
Walnut Road: Crews were working to remove a utility pole that had fallen onto the roadway due to rushing water. See how close the water is to the top of the bridge? By later in the afternoon, the water had risen up over the bridge and the road had to be closed.

Sonic: At the time the photo was taken, the water
was about thigh deep. May I take your order?

West Ave Shopping: Later in the afternoon, there was at least 6" of water rushing across the roadway.

NOTE: Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. They were taken with my cell phone. I did have my camera with me and took hundreds of photos over a two hour time span, but when I went to upload them I got a card error. Grrr! (I am very upset) I don't know if they're recoverable, but I have a call into a computer place. My other photos really show how much devastation there was/is!

Happy Endings

On the first day,
she sadly packed her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.


On the second day,
she had the movers come and collect her things.





On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining-room table, by candle-light; she put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar,and a bottle of spring-water.




When she'd finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into the hollow centre of the curtain rods.





She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.







On the fourth day, the husband came back with his new girlfriend, and at first all was bliss.





Then, slowly, the house began to smell.


They tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and airing-out the place.


Vents were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned.


Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which time the two had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting. Nothing worked!

People stopped coming over to visit.

Repairmen refused to work in the house.

The maid quit.

Finally, they couldn't take the stench any longer, and decided they had to move, but a month later - even though they'd cut their price in half - they couldn't find a buyer for such a stinky house.

Word got out, and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls.


Finally, unable to wait any longer for a purchaser, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place.


Then the ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for having the house.


Knowing she could have no idea how bad the smell really was, he agreed on a price that was only 1/10 th of what the house had been worth ... but only if she would sign the papers that very day.


She agreed, and within two hours his lawyers delivered the completed paperwork.



A week later the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home......









... and to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain rods!








I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING, DON'T YOU?

Marvelous Monday Update 7/19/10

STITCHY STUFF
I finished the breast cancer ornament for Donna at SFAC over the weekend. The ornament will go to a Reach For Recovery volunteer. These volunteers are also cancer survivors.

Design: Cancer Awareness Blackwork
Designer: Kristine Herber, Dragonfly Stitches
Fabric: 14ct ecru aida
Fibers: DMC (962 & 963)
Embellishments: Seed Beads, Charm, Braided Trim

Even though I have two Tacky Bob's, I used my Bead Nabber to assist in putting the beads on. It's pretty convenient in that you wear it on your finger.



SCHOOL
It's my last week of the semester. I am SO ready for a break. The online Cost Accounting class has been rough (ruff-ruff, lol). I have a test this week, plus homework and then I'm FREE! For two weeks anyway...

Then the next semester starts up. I'll be taking a full time class load comprised of in-seat and online classes. More accounting and finance classes -- fun. (NOT)

Only 6 more classes!


DO-IT-YOURSELF
While on vacation for a week, a friend of mine got a wild hair up the butt and decided (out of the blue) to remodel the bathroom. I volunteered to do the drywall mudding, sanding, and painting. Included in the ordeal project was a new sink faucet, towel bars, and even new toilet handle -- all in rubbed oil bronze finish. Oh, and new linoleum flooring.

To save $$$, I suggested the furnace grate, old trim, and door be painted in a shade to match the bronze finishes. Guess who's doing that?? Yep, moi! I found this hammered bronze paint that matches. All was going great until... Let me back up: When I do spray painting, I have a nifty gadget that snaps to the top (similar to the one to the right). Well, I forgot mine at home. I primered all the trim and then spray painted it without the paint can adapter. My index finger was a bit sore by the time I ran out of paint... later it felt numb. Here it is a day later and the tip of my finger is still numb!

(P.S. This was for the friend's bathroom, not mine!)

Meet Elmo

Awww... Ain't he cute?

Marvelous Monday Update 7/12/10

STITCHY STUFF
A couple weeks ago, I saw that Donna at Stitching for a Cure needed some volunteers to stitch ornaments to be given as gifts to the Relay for Life volunteers. I decided to help out since I've been wanting to do something for a while. Last I knew, Donna still needed a few more ornaments so if you want to help out, I know she'd be grateful. You don't even have to finish it if you don't want to... She will do it, if you do the stitching. Go ahead, go for it! :)

I finished the stitching in a few hours. Now all I have left is some beading and construction of the ornie itself.

The floss looks red but it's really a dark pink


I've had a few people ask what Gentle Menagerie is supposed to look like when it's finished so I've scanned a photo from the magazine. You can click to see a larger pic. They are supposed to be the American country cousins to the fabled Brementown Musicians.

I finished the cow, and have set the project aside so I can work on other things -- the breast cancer ornament and frogging JG.



WEATHER
We had some strange weather on Saturday. It had been HOT and sunny, blue skies with a few fluffy clouds. On my way back from the grocery store, I noticed a black ominous looking cloud, yet the skies around it were blue and it was sunny. Within 20 minutes that cloud had moved over the city and let loose.... heavy winds, rain, thunder and hail. All the while, I could see blue skies all around it. Within 30 minutes, it was all over. Weird!



TREASURE HUNTING
I was on the other side of town over the weekend, so I stopped in at the thrift store to do a bit of treasure hunting. This cute little shelf caught my eye:


I thought it would look cute hanging in my spare room/craft room.


I didn't really give much thought to the bath products inside -- a bonus as far as I was concerned. Turns out there was shower gel, bath salts, soaps, and a candle. After I got home, I found out they smell heavenly!!


Upon closer inspection, I found out the pulls, hinges, and decorative grates are all attached via screws. A new paint job will be a breeze!

Almost forgot... My new "treasure" only cost $1.99!


GARDENING
Flowers and vegetables are growing like crazy! Due to the wet weather, I didn't get the garden in on time so everything is behind. I'm surprised the corn is still growing considering how many times the wind has knocked it over!

Other flower pics can be seen HERE.



NEIGHBORS
Do I live next door to redneck neighbors???

It's bad enough that the neighbors have shoved placed every bit of extraneous piece of crap stuff they don't have room for (or can't find a place for) in between our garages... think 2 1/2 ft wide space. This keeps me from spraying the vines that grow on the side of my garage.

Over the past week, a lovely rust bucket of a car has showed up next door.


They have proceeded to yank everything off the car except the engine. I don't know if they are trying to make a stock car or what (Haven't worked up the nerve to ask... maybe I don't wanna know!). You can't see in the photo, but the extra car pieces are next to the driveway by my garage. You also can't see into THEIR garage... how full it is of stuff!

See that chain link fence in the background? They have made two dog kennels in their backyard... two dog houses and FOUR dogs. From what they have told me, the city has been out several times because of this. Nice. Personally, I don't think it's right that at all times only two of the dogs have access to the dog houses. Oh, and let's not forget that the dogs will howl and howl at certains times... in heat maybe? There *are* two males and two females... because they're planning on breeding them. Again, nice.

Remember the above mentioned storm? When it started pouring, the neighbor seems preoccupied with covering up the car parts and neglecting the fact that his "good" car's windows were down, LOL. The good neighbor I am, I yelled out my door that his windows were down.

Might Be A Redneck If... (Click HERE)

GIVEAWAY
Bette from Reflections of a Desert Rat is hosting a giveaway. She's been working on some beautiful poppies. If you're interested in seeing her work, click on over.

Terrific Tuesday Update 7/6/2010

For those of you in the US, did you have a fantastic July 4th holiday? On the 3rd I watched the fireworks display in my city. On the 4th, I went to a parade. It was really poignant to watch people stand and clap as the Vietnam Vets passed by, seeing as when they came back from war they did not get the homecoming they deserved. (Support the troops even if you don't support war)

Abraham Lincoln came to visit :)
Fire truck used 1945-1977
1945 Farmall Tractor painted pink
and has the slogan:
"Made for Daddy's Little Girl"
One of the last Single Row Corn Pickers
made by John Deere. Can you imagine
picking corn row-by-row?


SHOPPING
Ya'll know how I *love* to shop at yard sales and thrift stores. While at the retreat, several of us went to a community yard sale. It was a big parking lot filled with tables of "stuff". I came home with a couple of cool things... Well, I think they're cool!

First up is a white wicker picnic basket. It would be great for stitchy fabric storage, don't you think?


I also found this "treasure" for the mere price of $1! It's a wood lapdesk that opens up. Not very pretty... my plan is to shine up the brass hinges and repaint it.


Whenever I work out of town, I always stop at the thrift store on my way home. I found a Sudberry floss holder for 49cents. These retail for $10! This will be great for when I'm working with kits.




STITCHY STUFF
I finished the mailart piece I was working on at the retreat, but won't be showing pics until after the recipient gets it. It was my first time doing one with aida and I thought it turned out pretty well.

I started working on Gentle Menagerie and almost have the cow done (sans head and tail). I'm surprised at how fast it's stitching up.


Vickie has been on my case bugging me to get JG out and frog it so I can move on and get to working on it again. Ugh, it's bad enough I don't like stitching over-one... frogging over-one is even worse.