I Found The One!

Ever since I moved into my house a year and a half ago, I have been looking for a cabinet to store my craft and stitchy supplies in. Not just any cabinet, mind you, but the "perfect" cabinet that looked like a "nice" (both relative terms, mind you) piece of furniture. I've looked at thrift stores, consignment shops, Menards, furniture stores, and antique shops. I even checked craigslist in my area. Pieces I liked were prohibitively over-budget for what I wanted to use it for, and the ones that were within budget were made of pressboard... which I try to avoid as they really don't last. I was getting discouraged and started to think I'd have to "settle" for a piece of crap something I really didn't like if I wanted to get my stitchy and craft stuff unpacked. (Yes, everything is *still* in boxes!)

When JT and I were on our way to my parents' picnic on the 4th, we passed by the Salvation Army store where they were having a 50% off sale on clothing. Since we had time to kill, he turned the car around and we went in to look. Didn't have luck on clothing, but I did find this:

The tag said it had just come into the store on July 1st. Can you imagine someone *just* donating such a marvelous armoire??? This beautiful piece of furniture measures 42W x 19D x 62H and is made of SOLID WOOD. There were a couple of light scratches and rub marks... nothing some Old English didn't take care of. It's also missing the handles on one of the drawers at the bottom, but I'll figure something out. Or, can anyone can point me to a place to get similar replacements??

I found out this morning that the partitions in the top section are removeable, which is really nice. I've already had thoughts of making adjustable partitions for the drawers in order to make organization easier.

Close Up Details

CONTEST: Take a guess as to how much I paid for this armoire? (Btw, Has anyone noticed how much more expensive Goodwill and SA stores have gotten in the past several years?) Leave a comment that you'd like to be included in the contest along with your guess. If you comment anonymously, be sure to put your email addy so I can contact you. The person who guesses the closest will receive something from my stitchy stash. Contest ends July 17th, winner announced in the following MM update.

Marvelous Monday Update 7/6/09

To those in the US, I hope you all had a safe and fun 4th of July!

On Friday night, JT and I found a spot to watch fireworks at a local bank that was giving away FREE ice cream bars. Who could resist that? Unfortunately, he's allergic to chocolate so he couldn't have one. Being the sweet person I am, I bought him a pineapple sundae from the DQ next door. The DQ employees were PO'd that the bank next door was giving away free ice cream, LOL. They started passing out coupons "Buy a blizzard, get one for 99c". But the ice cream at the bank is FREE!

In the Saturday rain, we headed to my parents' home where a cookout was being held. Everyone brought a dish to pass, and Dad was the grill cook. (Good job, Dad!) I made pasta salad and watermelon wedges.

The pasta salad was a big hit... there was barely a large spoonful left!

Later that evening, JT and I went to the fireworks show in another village since the rain subsided late afternoon. One of the fireworks displays was a smiley face. Would've been really cool if the face was right-side up. LOL


STITCHY STUFF
I got a lot of stitching in this past week, and my "secret" exchange project is almost done being stitched. I bought fabric and other embellishments in order to make it into the "finished" item. No pics yet, sorry!

I rescued this custom framed (by Michaels), stitched piece from the local Salavation Army store for 99c! There's no signature or date on it, unfortunately. Does anyone know what the piece is called, or who the designer is?



GARDENING
The planters and hanging baskets have really filled out, so I decided to take some creative photos of my flowers:



YUM-YUMS
Earlier in the week, I made grilled chicken and vegetable kebobs. I marinaded the chicken in lemon pepper, and the kebobs were brushed with caesar dressing before and during cooking. JT and I both love grilled kebobs. Yummy!

Uncooked
Grilled to Perfection!

Urine Testing

JOB - URINE TEST


Joe, the average worker says:

"Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.



What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their lazy butts, doing drugs, while I work...

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Something has to change in this country -- and soon!

Guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'."

Marvelous Monday Update 6/29/09

WEATHER
The heat and humidity has finally broke (amongst other things, but more on that later)! Morning temps were 66F and it's forecasted to be in the upper 70's with little humidity. Woo Hoo!!


DATING

Last Thursday marked the two month anniversary of my first date with JT. Time has gone by so fast! Yet the comfort level is such that we've known each other a long time. He's very considerate, thoughtful, helpful, and affectionate. I can't say enough good things about him! To celebrate the "anniversary", I cooked us a nice stir-fry dinner. JT brought me flowers, candy, and this:

Isn't it beautiful?!
As part of a local festival, a "movie in the park" was shown on a 30ft screen Friday night. JT and I sat amongst many parents with children to see "Surf's Up." It was a cute movie.

I found it kind of amusing that two adults with no kids show up to an annimated movie riding in on a Harley, with JT looking like the quintessential "bad boy", which he is not -- but he pulls the look off really well! I'm still getting used to riding on the back of a motorcycle, since I haven't been on one for close to 20 years.

Since the weather was so nice yesterday, JT and I went on a 14.25 mile bicycle ride on the bike trail outside of town. The last few miles, both of us were two tired pups! I ended up with a slight sunburn. It was a beautiful ride with a nice breeze, though.


INGENUITY
I can't tell you how many times I've had to iron ribbons, either for clothing, or for crafts. It's always a pain to get out the ironing board and iron to iron something like a little piece of ribbon. Isn't it? Yes, it is!

Introduce the flat iron! I use it every morning to flat iron my hair. Over the weekend, I was wearing a shirt that has a ribbon which always needs ironing. It dawned on me... "If I can use this to iron my hair, why wouldn't it work for a piece of ribbon?" So, I tried it! Whaddya know!! It works wonderfully. Just make sure you don't leave the ribbon between the two heating elements too long, otherwise there's a good possibility it will get scorched due to the high temperature.


YUM-YUM's
I haven't shown my culinary skills in a while, so I thought I'd share one of my more recent creations:

Yakitori Noodles
This was a budget-friendly recipe I found on Rachel Ray's website. Instead of using soba noodles, I used noodles I'd bought from an Asian food store. I added sliced carrots and peas. Next time, I'm thinking about adding some broccoli and cutting the chicken pieces smaller. JT said it's a keeper!

Breaking News!

Breaking is correct... or rather, Broken!

With the sweltering temps in the 80's & 90's, high humidity, HI of 100-106F, and heat advisories, I broke down and turned on my central air last week. At first, it seemed to be working. By the second and third day... the thermostat said the house was 80 yet I had set the CA to 72-74.

I let my fingers do the dialing and called a HVAC guy.

Good news (if you think a $200 service call is good): He *thought* the capacitor was bad. ONLY $25 + labor of $150-175! HVAC guy: "I haven't seen one of these in 30 years."

Bad news: It WASN'T the capacitor, which meant it was the condensor. Can you say BIG bucks?!!

More bad news: The CA unit is too old to get parts. Wanna know how old it is??? Sure you do! "45 years old," he says, "if I calculated the code correctly on the unit"


In addition, he said my furnace is probably 60 years old which means it's the original furnace put in the house when it was built. HVAC guy: "These furnaces don't normally last this long."


So guess what I spent my week doing? Yep, that's right! Getting quotes for replacing my furnace and central air.

There are a few upsides:
1. There's a 30% tax credit for Home Energy Efficiency Improvement.
2. The two HVAC guys that have given me estimates so far have both said that whoever did the duct work, did a really good job. :)
3. I had two practically new window AC units in my garage that I'd bought when I first moved into my apt years ago. Used them sparingly the first year, after that the landlord put in CA units. Go figure. The smaller window unit fits in my livingroom window. JT was the sweetest dear by putting it in for me Friday after he got off work.

Thought for the Day

Handle every stressful situation like a dog.

If you can't eat it or play with it,

Just piss on it and walk away.