OMG, It's freakin hot!!!!

This past weekend the air conditioner decided to go on the fritz and of course, it peaked at 100 degrees here! The guy finally got here Monday nite only to tell me that it was frozen and nothing he could do about it until it thawed. So $100 later after I buried his remains in the backyard....I found out what we'll probably need is a new unit. He can't come back until tomorrow night and he already has 90 appointments for Tuesday but he'll get to me...yea right! When I got home from work Tuesday, it was 92 degrees upstairs. I thought I was gonna pass out just walking up there to change my clothes. Poor little Clarice wouldn't even go up then stairs...smart kitty! We've spent the last 4 nights sleeping on the couch in the basement and it hasn't been pleasant. Think about it....2 sets of stairs if you need anything from the bedroom, the basment doesn't have a "tv" just a projector that Mark doesn't run unless we're watching movies and he just didn't feel like doing that...whatever! But the worst part was having to go upstairs to shower and get ready for work. I was sweating my makeup off as fast as I was slathering it on. Anyway, the guy showed up after 8 last night, charged the unit and said let's just run her until she gives up the ghost then we'll replace her. Now I'm thinking the unit is only 5 years old so why would she be giving up the ghost at such a young age....well it seems it's just another thing the builder cheaped out on. I'd like to strangle that guy but I guess the state of the building industry around these parts is doing that job very well for me! Revenage is best served cold along with a dirty martini! LOL!

So my ebay has taken on a life of it's own. Today I thought this is great I've made $242.50 then I started thinking...hmmm...postage, supplies and ebay fees reduce that to about $100 which I was lucky enough to spend on the air conditioner guy. This isn't fair. Never thought I'd get rich selling my stuff but factoring in my time, I've gotta be losing money. Maybe a garage sale or a flea market booth would have been a better idea afterall. I've decided that I'll stick with it for a couple more months and continue to purge just so I'll have more closet space.

Well mark's just arrived home so I'm off to wow him with my culinary skills of dialing the phone to order pizza.

Mondays never go my way

It was a extremely busy weekend and it flew by without me even getting one spare minute to stitch. That sure didn't improve my attitude this morning when the alarm went off. I decided to finally start selling on ebay all the stuff that has just been collecting dust and it was an all consuming task all weekend long. I have collected so much "stuff" that is just sitting in cabinets, drawers and closets and I finally had to decide that any $$$$ is better than none so I listed a ton of stuff. Then today after a horrible day at work I came home and purged even more. I guess I'll spend all next week packing stuff up and mailing it out but atleast I might get enough cash to offset the costs. And I might even pick up some new cross stitch stash to clutter up more space...LOL!

While I was waiting on stuff to load on ebay so I spent a lot of time catching up on reading blogs. I always found lots of great giveways that of course, I signed up for. Check out Jennifer's giveway for 2 great summer pattern giveways. Her blog is always fun, interesting and so full of great ideas. I finally figured out how to follow blogs so I signed up for a lot but Jennifer's Feathers in the nest is is one of my faves.

I have now inspired Mark to clean out some of his stuff so he's listing a ton of high end audio equipment that he has collected over the years. Of course, some of it he got at reaaly great discounts when he worked for JBL and best of all he'll be clearing out boxes from the storage area. Wahoo! More room for my stuff...LOL!

Well the new season of American Pickers is starting on the History Channel tonight so I'm off to marvel at everything these guys find by just knocking on doors. They are living my dream except the part of maybe finding snakes, rats and shudder...spiders in these buildings.

Wow is it really June already?

The good news is that I found a sofa. It was the exact one that I wanted from Pottery Barn and ......get this....paid $350 for it and sold my set for $325! It was just meant to be! The really funny thing is that I found it on Craigs List and called the lady to say I want it sight unseen so she'd hold it for me. We drove into downtown Atlanta at rush hour with a Braves game happening no less to pick it up. Mark wasn't a very happy camper! But 2 hours later, we're at the lady's house and she's not home. Oh no! She drives up about 15 minutes later and many choice words later about me not double checking with her today to make sure the sofa was still waiting on us. Her little doggie comes running up to greet us and low and behold, it's name is Clarice. Now what are the odds of me having a kitty named Clarice and her having a dog with the same name?

Now I'm off a re-decorating spree which is driving Mark nuts. I redid the bedroom last week when he was in Germany but he really does like it a lot so that worked out. But he has forbidden that I even mention Craigs List or have the website up where he can see it. LOL! He got off a plane Sunday and I picked him up at the airport with a generous offer of stopping to eat at his fave mexican joint on the way home but he wasn't interested. So I finally had to confess that I bought a primitive antique cabinet and needed to pick it up on the way home. He wasn't happy but willing to stop by the lady's house if I made it a quick trip. She was so nice and had a log cabin in her backyard that was full of great prim items that she was selling so I had to go take a look. OMG! I think I died and went to heaven. She's gonna list more things as she sorts thru them but I could have stayed there all day just looking around. Of course, I rushed because I knew he was tired, hot hungry and very cranky but I hope to go back really soon to look around.

My mom retired last week at the ripe, ole age of 62 and she's enjoying herself a lot. My daddy won't retire until August so she's keeping herself entertained shopping. hmmm...less income but she's shopping 'til she drops....what's wrong with this picture? Anyway, they are planning a long overdue trip here in August and I can't wait. It seems like forever since I saw them and they won't have to rush back home for work so they can really relax and stay with us for a couple of weeks (if Mark asks it will only be 2 days...LOL) They are going to all of Zared's home games and were asked to be the team parents for the fall baseball season...again I ask what is wrong with this picture....he has parents! I swear my brother will never grow up. Zared's twice as mature as his folks and that's a shame. He's living my brother's dream of playing college ball but Jeff can't be bothered to go watch him. After all these years of pushing the kid to be a better player and now when he's really shining you can't be bothered to attend his games. Jeff should be popping the buttons off his shirt with pride at what the kid has accomplished. I know I am.

Where the hell does the time go?

I swear yesterday it was April 22 so how come the calendar today has May 12th as the date? LOL! Things have been crazy around here as usual. Let's see work continues to be an adventure everyday but hey, the doors are still open and that's good news nowdays. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect sofa on Craigs List but I do have Mark's blessing to find something and I have a buyer for the leather set. I had a Pottery Barn sofa cornered but the gal seems to be a bit of a flake so I've stopped trying. There have been a few that fit my general ideas but nothing that really thrills me...yet!

Mark's headed back to China the end of this month and I've decided that will be perfect time for a total beedroom makeover. Donna (next door...I know too funny that we're both Donna and live next door to each other) has agreed to help me paint so now I need to narrow down the color. Martha Stewart has a greyish blue that I'm really leaning towards and I found the perfect quilt on markdown at JC Penney. That American Living brand that they are carrying is really great. Someone told me that it's Ralph Lauren brand but I haven't confirmed that with anyone. I got a little carried away online and ordered 4 different ones so I may be redoing the guestrooms as well. You should check out the website if you are in the market for new bedding.

Well it's time for American Idol and Bon Jovi is performing so I'm off to drool a little or make that alot.

Slow day at work

It seems like today is never going to end....let's see paid my bills, balanced checkbook, caught up on reading everyone's blogs and checked Craigs List about a million times looking for a great deal on a couch for the tv room. I've hated the leather set that we bought almost since the day we brought it home....the arms are too high for me to stitch comfortably and I can't touch the ground! I don't know what we were thinking when we bought it...oh wait, I do know what we were thinking....This is just too good of a deal to pass up. It was a floor sample, all real leather and we got the huge couch, massive chair and footstool for $800 so we just got all caught up in the deal. Well we've come to realize the error of our ways and now I'm on the hunt for the perfect couch. I know what I really want (Restoration Hardware down filled, patterned sofa or a Pottery Barn slipcovered sofa) but I refuse to pay a fortune for something even if we will use it nightly. And I'd like to keep the same drapes in that room for now so I'm looking for earthtones which does limit some of my options. Oh well, the right one will come along sometime hopefully before Miss Clarice tears this set. She doesn't sharpen her claws but takes running leaps to get to my lap and sometimes she slips a little so there are some nail marks. When I find what I want and get ready to sell this set, I'll use some shoe polish to get it cleaned up before I list it.

I scored a great little prim cabinet at GW yesterday on lunch. I actually left it there, drove over to Hobby Lobby to pick up some needles and just kept thinking about it so I rushed back to buy it. I was so thankful that no one else had grabbed it. It's already a little grungy red but I still need to wipe some stain on it then it'll be perfect. I think it'll go on our dresser with my brown toile and white pitchers but we'll see. My other thought is the laundry room with one of the prim candle lights sitting on it. So many possibilities for only $3.53.

I'm still stitching on Midnight Watch in memory of my little Maggie cat and I'm making some progress. I finished the cat last night so tonight's mission is to stitch the moon. I've signed up for a Blackbird Designs SAL starting in June so I've got to get a move on. I just don't do WIP's because if I set them down then it's months and months or years before I pick them up again. I asked Mark to decide what I stitch for the SAL and he's picked Tulip Manor. That's a great one because it'll be perfect in the entrance hall when I finish it. See I'm already decorating with it and I haven't even started it yet. LOL!

I'm actually taking Saturday off work. Now I know everyone's thinking...hmmm, she just works til noon on Saturdays so what's the big deal....but getting up 6 days a week to go to work gets old. I want to sleep late or atleast until 7:30 then just take my time getting dressed instead of rushing around like a mad woman. We're still trying to decide what if anything we want to do since we finally finished the yardwork Sunday.
Well I'm off now to check Craig's List again and maybe, just maybe actually do some work this afternoon. Have a great day!

Post Concert Letdown

The concert was amazing as usual and to quote a friend "They rocked my arse off". I had good seats and could see David most of the night which made me a very happy girl. I'm not crazy about The Circle stage setup because Row H is not Row 8 like it would normally be. However, I was only 4 rows outside the circle so when they came out there I had amazing views. I got some wonderful pics. And my friends are so great and took tons of pics of David for me as well. Now I've got those post concert blues but so very grateful that I got to go to this one in Atlanta and spend time with great friends!
We've been doing yard work every night now for a couple of weeks and it looks amazing. Mark has built me raised herb gardens (4 of them no less), stacked stone flower beds out front, helped me get all my wildflower seeds in and planted so many colorful plants in the front of the house that he's totally transformed the look. He's done more in last 2 weeks than the entire 5 years we've lived here combined! I've enjoyed working along side him but not the dirty, sweaty work...LOL! When he decides that he wants to "do something" it's full steam ahead until it's done then he's "over" it so now I just will have to remind (nag) him to keep everything alive.
They are having the big antique street fair in Crabapple and Lakewood Antique Show this weekend so as soon as I get off work at noon, I'm headed out to find some new treasures. I just can't wait because I always seem to find the neatest stuff there and prices aren't usually too bad. Besides I need some stuff to decorate all these new beds with.LOL!

Spring has sprung

We're staying busy pulling weeds, planting flowers and of course, my favorite decorating the front porch and deck. I swear I should have been born wealthy so I wouldn't have to pull weeds! I hate getting dirty and sweaty especially after working all day long.

I did take a few hours off on Tuesday and managed to score some real bargins. I got 2 birdhouses, peg rack, atrium, 2 pillows, 2 watering cans, 2 planters, pair of little rain boots, pewter cake plate and a wooden jewelry box at Good Will for an amazing price of $25 total. The peg rack was already prim so I hung it outside the window on the deck and put the watering cans and some garden tools on it. I'll need to prim up the jewelry box AKA charging station but I think a little black paint, sandpaper and stain will make it exactly what I was looking for to keep my phone, ipod and camera charged up. I also made a trip to Cleveland, GA to visit Hearts and Flowers which is just to die for. I love her store so much but don't get in as often as I'd like but that makes Mark really happy. I went to get some wax melts but I just had to buy a "wasp catcher" that was converted to a lamp and a fly screen to put over the pewter cake plate that I'd scored at GW. But I saved so much on decorations at GW that this trip didn't really cost me anything....that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And of course lastly, the Bon Jovi concert is exactly 1 week away in Atlanta. I've got friends coming to stay with us so I've got to get the house cleaned before Wednesday. I just can't wait to spend time with all my equally crazy Jovi buddies. We always have a lot of fun when we get together and the concert is just the icing on the cake! In one week, I'll be gazing upon David with my little star struck eyes again and I just can't wait.