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.

Marvelous Monday Update 6/27/2011

WEATHER
Rain, hot temps, and humidity makes a great stew for stormy weather. Let's not forget the fires, tsunamis, tornadoes, and drought in other areas. I'd say Mother Nature is PMS'ing... but it seems more like Menopause to me. Hard to believe it's the end of June already. It was *just* the beginning of June. *sigh* It's officially summer... and what weird summer weather we're having. The weather this past weekend was really nice, though. Upper 70's/Lower 80's and no humidity. I could live with that kind of weather all year long!

SCHOOL
The instructor wasn't kidding when he informed us the midterm exam would be harder than the quizzes, or that we'd be utilizing the full 2.5 hour time allotment to take the exam! My heart sank as I took the exam -- I mean, seriously? I read all the chapters, studied all the power point presentations (twice!), and read all the "extra" (i.e. not required, but recommended) reading materials. And I still feel I didn't do so well. It sucks! Bummer!


DIY
In my last post, I hinted at a new project I started. My inspiration came from the awesome craft room Taffy's son built for her. No, I didn't build a new craft room. I did build a quilt hanger, though!

1 + 1 + 1
equals.....

And here's a close up:

I am really happy with how it turned out!
I couldn't have done it without my newest "toy". (OK, I could have but it wouldn't have been as easy.) It's not really all that new... I bought it back in December, but haven't used it until now.


It's a clamping work table that folds flat for easy storage. Pretty handy, eh?


FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Over a month ago, the BF noticed the knob for the light on the range hood twisted around "too far". He was afraid concerned that it might catch fire. I've been looking at new hoods, but wasn't quite ready to buy yet because the one I really liked was going to cost around $200.

"I just want to look behind here... oh yeah, the ground is broken... crap, I can't get the knob back on." Those are the last words I heard before having to make a trip to Menards to buy a new range hood/exhaust.

Oh, he tried to get the switch box out of the exhaust hood to fix it, but the thing just would not cooperate. I wish I could say this "incident" was unexpected, but it was. I had a feeling the hood was on borrowed time -- the thing was probably installed during the 1960's or 70's! See what I mean....


And so, I went from this:

To this:
The best part? It is the one I wanted
and it was ON SALE!!
The BF was kind enough to install it... and it only cost me 1/2 gallon of ice cream, LOL. Actually, he said he'd do it for free but I know how much he likes the IC!


STITCHY STUFF
I've been a lucky girl recently. I received two fantastic stitchy packages in the mail! The first one was from Christine. She RAK'd me with the August issue of Cross Stitch Gold, a Qsnap Huggie, and the neatest undersea life card.


As my fans, faithful readers, and curious bystanders may recall, I recently participated in a HOE snowman-themed exchange. Melissa from My Life in Stitches sent me the c-u-t-e-s-t snowman ornament.


As you can see... In keeping with the theme, she sent me a snowman notecard. She says the snowman ornie she made for me is a portion of the Winter Wonderland chart by Country Cottage Needleworks. I LOVE that chart!

I am still plugging away at the mailart piece. I'm almost done with the front motif. I am really liking how it's turning out. It's going to be another project that I'm going want to keep.

I signed up for another ornament round on HOE. This one is Lizzie Kate themed. It's not due to mailed out until August, but I wanted to get a head start. Sorry, no pics on this one either.

Blossom Splendor received a bit of attention as well. I've started the left side of the parasol. A little progress is better than none, right?

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.

Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 6/20/11

I hope everyone honored the Dad's in their life yesterday. I went to see my Dad and take him a little gift. I got him a gift card to Menards and this...


Much to my surprise, he liked the book and duct tape more than the GC. He told my Mom to leave his duct tape alone. My Mom sheepishly smiled and admitted she "stole" his duct tape for something and then hid the roll of tape! lol


IN THE NEWS
My city had quite the commotion going on last week, starting at 6am Monday morning. A building built in the 1800's collapsed out onto one of the main throughfares. It was also located right across from the courthouse.


The streets surrounding that block were closed off all last week. The fire dept said there was danger of the north wall collapsing from the adjacent building (the building on the left side). If you look at the top of the photos, you can see where the wall was separating from the building.

Luckily no one was in the building and no one got hurt. There were people coming to downtown just to "site see", lol.


SCHOOL
Hard to believe it's midterm week already! So far grades are only in through Week 2... I'm holding onto 97%. I'm happy with that. :) The instructor did say that the midterm and final were going to be harder than the quizzes. Geesh, I thought the quizzes were challenging.


GARDENING
The plants and flowers are love-love-loving the rain and temps. The cucumbers, watermelon, and sunflowers are now about 4" above the ground. The herbs and spinach haven't come up yet so I'm thinking maybe the rain washed the seeds away? They were pretty tiny.

Here's a few more pics of my pretties:

Sun Drops
Hens & Chicks
Double-Knockout Roses
Coral Bells
Sedum

With these, you just stick the leaves in dirt and they'll grow. The wind blows them all over my yard. I even pick them out of the cracks in my driveway!


A VISITOR
If you haven't noticed, I love wildlife and nature. I looked out the back window of my four-season room and look who came to visit! I watched him hop all over the yard eating bugs before hopping up on my swing and then fly away.

Sorry the photos are hazy. I took them through the screened window.


STITCHY STUFF
Last week, I focused on the mailart piece. I've got one of the motifs done on the front... can't show pics, though. (I know, I know... you're sick tired of hearing that)

I was invited to join another mailart group, and in looking at their albums I've gotten a few ideas on how I want to finish my latest mailart piece. I am so excited to see how it turns out!

For anyone interested in some history of mailart, go HERE.

I did a tiny bit of stitching on Blossom (couldn't resist it). Here's what she looks like after a couple hours of stitching.


DIY
I started a new "project" over the weekend. I should have it finished by the end of this week. Are you curious? Do inquiring minds want to know? Want to see a preview? Of course you do!



Until next time,

Tuesday Tidbits 6/14/11

WEATHER
The beginning of last week was unbearably HOT and HUMID. My car thermometer said:


A few days later...


The past couple days the temps have been in the lower 70's with no humidity. My kind of weather!


BIKING
Finally, the weather has been *just right* for a bike ride. I mean the pedal kind, not the motorized kind. lol

I feel lucky that I have a beautiful bike trail nearby. It's surrounded by trees, creeks, pasture, and fields. You can't go far without seeing the local wildlife: chimpmunks, squirrels, cardinals, red-wing blackbirds, and more. For the first time since I've been riding the trail, I saw a mama deer and her fawn. It was very cool! The Jane Addams Trail is rich with history, too.

On Saturday, I rode 17.5 miles. What a stupid crazy thing to do my first time out this season! My legs felt like jello by the time I got back to the parking area. As the evening wore on, my legs thighs ached more and more. Around 8:30pm, I had to take three ibuprofen. I took three more when I went to bed. In addition to the aching, my legs felt like they weighed 50lbs each. I was still recovering yesterday when I went to work. I was glad I have a job where I sit! Today, I'd say I'm 98% recovered.


HOMESTEAD CHRONICLES
When I blogged about my shelf project a couple weeks ago, there were a few people who asked what was going on them and/or *expected* to see stuff on them, lol. For inquiring minds, behold...

These are things I gathered up from various other places in the house. Places where it didn't make sense to store them. You can't see it, but my iron is next to the spray starch and wrinkle releaser.


GARDENING
I'm happy to report that the seeds I planted are starting to come up! Yay. In addition to the veggies I planted, I also planted the sunflower seeds Betty in NV sent me in the mailart exchange. Those, plus the watermelon and cucumbers are up.

Here are more photos of the flowers I have planted at The Homestead:

These are Double Knockout Roses. They bloom all summer long. They are doing very well this year!

A couple years ago, I was driving down a country road one day and another homestead had some roots in a plastic bag with a "Free" sign on them. I took them home not knowing what they were. These are sundrops, I think. They open up when the sun is out and close up at night. Toward the back of the photo are Coneflowers, which aren't blooming yet. Both perrenials are spreaders.


STITCHY STUFF
Thanks to a couple of my blog readers, I've found out the kitty I rescued last week is part of a series called "Cats, Baskets, and Quilts". Originally, it was a series in a stitchy magazine. Now, it's sold as a kit.


Edgar from Blacksheep's Bit of the Web received the HOE snowman-themed ornament I stitched for him. I had a hard time sending it off cuz it's so darn cute!

Design: January Stamp Flip-It
Designer: Lizzie Kate
Fabric: 32ct Silkweaver Solo Evenweave (Turquoise)
Fibers: GAST and DMC
Embellishments: Tiny Snowflakes
and Runched Ribbon
OK, I lied last week when I said I was going to put Blossom on the back burner while I stitched on the mailart. She now has a hand!




I stitched on the mailart, too. No pics, though cuz it's surprise! Whoever sent the frogs my way... Thanks. Thanks a lot! I stitched an entire leaf in three colors and ended up frogging it all. Good news is... I've restitched the entire thing and then some.


Until next time,