Marvelous Monday Update 7/25/11

WEATHER
I think this says it all......


As I said in my previous post, the week started out with 16 states under extreme heat advisory. Three days later, there were THIRTY-TWO states under the advisory. Ack! My area had 100+ actual temps and humidity so thick my lungs practically seized up when I stepped outside.


I called my parents (who are senior citizens... shhhhh!) to make sure they were OK seeing as they don't have air conditioning. Well, they have an AC unit but Dad won't put it in the window because it "costs too much". Anyway... I called, they were OK, and Mom explained my Dad's geri-rigged method of getting the cool air from the basement upstairs, lol. I wasn't surprised since he used to do that when I still lived at home. Whatever works, Dad! Mom was thrilled to peaches that I called to check on them.

Over the weekend, we had strong (and LOUD) thunderstorms with quite a bit of rain. I've already sucked up 18 gallons of water off my basement floor! Last night, the humidity broke and it's a beautiful, cool, sunny morning. :)


GARDENING
When I woke up Saturday morning, everything outside was covered in rain drops. I grabbed my camera and took a few shots. The first one is a tiger lily not quite open yet, and the other one is hosta flowers.

I think they turned out awesome!
SCHOOL
Up until last Thursday, I was flipping out stressin' over the final exam... especially after taking the stressful midterm.

Stress Reliever #1: I calculated how many points I'd need on the final to maintain an "A" for the class. I only needed to get a 69!

Stress Reliever #2: Students were supposed to have 2½ hours to take the final. Turns out the instructor forgot to set the timer on the final, which I didn't realize until I was 3/4 done with the exam (The timer wasn't counting down).



Results: I just checked the online classroom, and found out that I got 99.39 out of 100! *happy dancing* Woo Hoo!


Did I mention I only have TWO classes left until I graduate?
T-W-O! Woo Hoo!!! Did I mention I'll be graduating in November?? Yes, sireee!


GIVEAWAYS
Parsely at Seasons of my Mind is hosting a Christmas in July giveaway. She'd like to meet more bloggy friends!

Gabi at Lady of the Floss is also hosting a giveaway in honor of her upcoming blogversary. Click on over and congratulate her.

Peggy at Keep Me in Stitches is also celebrating a blogversary -- one year of bloggy bliss!


STITCHY STUFF
It's been a whole month since I've been able to work on Blossom Splendor. She received quite a bit of attention over the weekend. The other sleeve of her kimono is almost finished!



Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 7/18/11

WEATHER
16 states (Count them... S-I-X-T-E-E-N) are under under heat advisory. Starting last Saturday, temperatures creeped up to the mid 90's and will stay there all this week. Add in humidity, and you have a recipe for turning on the AC and staying in. Indexes are supposed to be 108F+.

Little Celeste has already had her share of the heat. She loves to go outside, and I kept her out with me while I cleaned the garage. A couple hours later, we went in the house... she was panting, wheezing, and drooling all over the place. (Normally, she doesn't drool.) After about 15 minutes, I decided to give her a cold bath. She hates baths but this time, she just laid down in the water and stayed there. Eventually, her panting eased up and the drooling stopped. I was very close to taking her to the vet!


SCHOOL
The good news is... It's finals week. The bad news is... It's finals week. LOL
This week entails reading 3 chapters and a web article, posting about the web article and responding to two other student posts, then studying and taking the final exam.

Ack!



On the upside, I'm enrolled for next semester and received notification my textbook is winging it's way to me via the good 'ole Post Office. CORRECTION: It arrived in today's mail! AND ~ I'll get a week or so breather before I need to get crackin' on the next class.


THEATRE
This past weekend, the local college put on "Once Upon A Mattress". It's a musical comedy that originally opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway. The play was written as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. As usual, the college actors and actresses gave a great performance. It is really awesome to see such talent in my community.


STITCHY STUFF
Guess what?! I finished putting the envelope together. It will go in the mail today. Once the recipient gets it, I'll post photos. In the meantime, here's a teaser...

Bwahahaha... You didn't think I'd show anything really good, did you?
I also finished the stitching for the Lizzie Kate ornament exchange. No photos of it either. Bummer, right? I worked on Blossom Splendor a bit last night. I just have about 10 confetti stitches to do then I can move on to the next page. Woo Hoo! No photo of it either. I know... What's up with that?! I figure I'll wait until after I start the next page.


WORK
More drama continues. The project manager of old company (and supposed 1/2 partner in new company) quit last week and was gone by 10am Friday morning. Prior to PM quitting, the owners of the old company had already interviewed for his replacement. Don'tcha just love when companies expect loyalty and then go behind their employees' backs? My guess is that he's no longer part of the new company either.


TREASURE HUNTING
I found a treasure trove of goodies last week. From the thrift stores, I came home with:

One Yard of Fusible Interfacing
50cents
The timing on this was great as I used the last of my interfacing when I finished my last mailart.

One Yard of Shamrock Fabric - $1.00
I figure this will come in handy for St. Patrick's Day themed projects. Couldn't pass it up when all fabrics were 1/2 off!

$2 for Both
The Calico Crossroads "Strung Out" is actually a kit. I didn't know they made these in kit form. The Garfield leaflet is an OOP chart. I love Garfield!

As some of my long-time readers know, I have a porcelain doll collection. I found this adorable "baby"... only $1.99!

When I brought her home, her face and hands were smudged and dirty. Kids, I tell ya! She patiently waited for her clothes to be washed.

"Ahhhh, all better."
While shopping at JC Penneys, I found this great pair of corduroy slacks for $3 on clearance. They were originally priced at $35.


On craigslist, a lady was selling a complete set of DMC floss, three unopened packages of fabric (one was Belfast linen), and a ziploc bag of "small pieces". Here's a photo of the fabrics:

• 14ct Blue Aida 12x14
• 14ct Antique White Aida 11x17
• 14ct White Aida 14x17
• 14ct White Aida 11x17
• 14ct Black Aida 14x17
• 14ct White Aida 11x16 with 5x6 cutout
• 18ct White Aida 8x14 with 5x5 cutout
• 18ct White Aida 11x14
• 18ct Antique White Aida 19x21
• 22ct White Hardanger 10x11
• 32ct Belfast Linen 17x17
I washed, pressed and labeled them all. Except for the 3 in the package, the above were in the ziploc bag... Small pieces??! The smallest ones are pictured below:

• 18ct White Aida 9x14
• 22ct Yellow Hardanger 5.5x7
• 22ct Yellow Hardanger 7.5x11
• 22ct White Hardanger 5x10
Not sure why the yellow fabric looks goldenrod. It's really more of a sunshine yellow. I didn't get a photo of the DMC set, which is wound onto bobbins -- There are five large bobbin cases. Plus, there were five ziploc bags of DMC still in skein form. All for the low... low... low... price of $10!

If all the colors are there, that makes the cost 4cents/skein, not including the fabric. Belfast Linen is $5-6 at the store! What a dealio :) How could I pass up that stitchy goodness?

Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 7/11/11

GARDENING
My garden this year looks pretty pathetic. About a dozen spinach plants actually sprouted (out of two full rows). The cucumbers are struggling to stay alive. The watermelon sprouted but then either died or something ate them. They're gone now. The only things really thriving are the tomato plants and the sunflowers. My cherry tomato plant already had 4 ripe tomatoes, which I promptly scarfed down ate.


Well... they were thriving until this morning's massive thunderstorm passed through. :(


Here are some updated pics of my flowers:

Lilies
One of my Planters
Miniature Roses
SCHOOL
It's time to register for next semester's classes already. I'll be taking Financial Markets and Institutions. I've looked at the syllabus already and it looks like this class will keep me even busier than the one I'm in now. Every week there will be chapter readings, homework problems, online postings, quizzes, midterm, final, an essay, AND a term paper! Aye-aye-aye!

Next week is the week of finals. I hope I do well enough to maintain my A. Why do midterms and finals have to be worth so much?


RAK'd
Last month, Niina of Ilmattaren ihmemaa (Ilmatar Wonderland) hosted a July 4th blog giveaway. She stitched up "Land That I Love" by Pine Mountain Designs.

I was the lucky winner! In addition, she sent some candy from Finland. The chocolate was yummy. The other candy tasted like salty licorice.


The pillow will go great with all the Pine Mountain kits I won in Amy's giveaway. Thank you Niina!


STITCHY STUFF
I finished the stitching part of my mail art envelope last night. Woo Hoo! I'll be making it into an actual envelope sometime this week. I am so excited about getting it put together. I think the recipient will really like it. I'll have pics soon, so stay tuned!

Until next time,

(A shout out goes to Karen
for my newest siggie!)

In Remembrance

On June 28th, I received two phone calls telling me that my uncle (Dad's oldest and remaining brother) passed away in his home. My aunt (his sister) found him. He had just turned 73 one month and one day previous.

A "Celebration of Life" service was held at the funeral home where as my sister puts it... "all the family goes when they die". Which is true. I was 9 or 10 the first time I entered the funeral home... when my grandmother passed. Then my uncle. Then my grandpa. Then my aunt. Now my other uncle. Kinda weird, huh?

During the COL ceremony, we were asked to share stories about my uncle. The night before, I couldn't sleep so I was up until after midnight jotting notes and stories about my uncle. I took them with me as "insurance"... as I didn't know if I could share them without crying... and I could just read it if I had to. I was the first to go... and then my brother took a turn. Not many people spoke, even though I know several people had really *good* stories.

My earliest memory of my uncle is when I was 5 or 6 years old. While I was at his house, he had crawled under the kitchen table, flipped his teeth out (Yes, he had dentures where the teeth could be flipped forward and out!) and growled. Then he proceeded to chase after me on his hands and knees. I laughed and ran. He then went back under the table until I was "brave" enough to get closer... at which time he'd come rushing out after me again.

Fast forward about 20 years. He was still full of fun and mischief. My parents had a get-together at their house. They have this huge tree where the center is rotted out. I heard him say, "I want to see what's up in there!" I grabbed my camera and took what became one of my favorite pictures of him.

Clickable for larger pic
My uncle is on the left. His oldest son is on the right -- this photo was taken on his Dad's "Celebration of Life", 15 years after his Dad's photo was taken. Pretty cool, eh?

As I looked through my photo albums, I noticed a theme to the majority of photos I had of my uncle. My uncle LOVED food. I have photos that showed him holding plates of food -- sitting at a picnic table... sitting on a lawn chair. I even have one of him sitting on the ground, propped up against a tree with a plate of food. At family get-togethers, he would always get caught eating things he wasn't supposed to (He was diabetic). Can you blame him? Food at family gatherings is awesome!

My uncle brought our family a lot of good times, and he definitely will be missed.

Realize The Value

To realize
The value of a sister/brother:
Ask someone who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when
You can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:
LOSE ONE.

~Author Unknown

Thursday Tidbits 7/7/11

I hope my friends in the U.S. had a safe and happy holiday!

Mine was a bit hampered by the death of my uncle, but other than that it was pretty good. I didn't go to see the fireworks this year -- I was just too exhausted after the week's events.

The BF and I did grill some awesome wings, though. Check these out:



SCHOOL
Could ya'll hear the sigh of relief when I got the grade for my mid-term exam? Thankfully, the instructor graded on the curve. However, due to our ability to "challenge" questions on the exam, we all lost 2 points on the curve. I earned an 89% on the exam. And I think with the extra 4 points for the curve, I actually ended up with a 91, which I am very happy with!

My scores for last week's quiz, written paper, and online posting equated to.... *drum roll please* ....... 100%! I haven't gotten one of those since the beginning of the semester. Call me pleased!! *big grin*

Five weeks down, three to go!


GIVEAWAYS
Deb over at Threadgatherer is hosting a Go Baby! giveaway. Hop on over and see what it's all about.

Jennifer at Feathers in the Nest is hosting a giveaway also. In honor of Caylee Anthony, she is giving away a pair of Ginghers scissors.


WORK
Job #2 is still having financial difficulties, and more than likely will be filing bankruptcy. As it stands, the bank has to approve payroll expenditures on a week-by-week basis. That means we never know what day we're getting paid. Their huge line of credit (almost $1million) has been maxed and they haven't been paying suppliers or loans.

Last month, the project manager and a son of one of J2's owners got together to form a new company. What is "funny" about this situation is that the PM can't stand the son -- so I'm wondering what's in it for the PM. Incidentally, the very same day they got the paperwork started for the new company, they put an ad on craigslist that sounded very similar to the one I applied to when I was hired for the job. I talked to the secretary about it, and she asked them if she was going to have a job... both sets of owners (J2 and new company) have been evasive. The PM told her that if she wanted a job, she'd have to take a pay cut. So I'm thinking if she has to take a pay cut, they definitely won't be keeping me because I make a whole lot more than the secretary does. Last week, I asked him directly if I was going to have a job and he said I would. However, I think he's stalling so that he can utilize my experience until the new company gets up and running. It's a mixed up mess!

Meanwhile, I've been lining up some alternatives... Hoping that something pans out!


STITCHY STUFF
Surprisingly, I have done a bit of stitching. I'm half done with the LK ornament for HOE. I put it down in order to finish the stitching on my envelope. I am still looking for a cute alphabet to do the addresses with. Since these are for exchanges, I can't show any pics yet. Blossom is sitting patiently on the back of my loveseat waiting to be worked on again.