Scat Enterprises underpromises and over delivers

So, the seats and interior kits were not supposed to be shipped for another two weeks. Last night we were watching a movie and the doorbell rings. I go to the door to see who this peculiar short looking person is. I open it to find it's not a person but 2 tall boxes among 5 other boxes. It was the Scat order. We were like two kids on Christmas morning opening these things. The seats are BEAUTIFUL. Our bug will have nicer seats than the Beamer.

Next step, after Steve takes the bug completely apart and cleans it and paints all the undercarriage parts, is to bring it to Louisiana to have it painted. We were going to just get it painted here. However, our friend in Louisiana paints and restores his own cars and said he would do it for us. We are both so tickled about this because we know that he will do a quality job and don't have to worry about taking a chance with the places around here that we have no clue about.

Bug Progress

So, Steve has been working on the bug on his week off. He has replaced the floor pans and is now taking it apart bit by bit. Here's a couple of pics. I'm trying to take as many pics as I can to document the restoration for him. It's going to be such a fun little car once it's done. We just ordered new front seats and the interior kit from scat. Can't wait to get it in!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 33rd birthday. My hubby bought me a heart to heart ring that I asked for as a gift. He also took me to my favorite Italian restaurant for lunch here in Sealy for my all time favorite grilled chicken ceasar salad. It's so much that I just finished eating the 2nd half for dinner. yum yum.

It's been a great day. Below is a pic of my ring. I also just finished watching a chick flick, "the proposal"...good movie. I guess the best gift of all is that I get control of the TV and the remote for the night. No pinks or car shows tonight!! Ha ha ha.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my friends and family a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!! Happy Birthday Jesus.

Abita beer -the few things I miss about living in Louisiana

We finally found a place that can carry Abita. It's such a strange concept for us to have to go to a liquor store to buy alcohol of any type. In Louisiana you can buy anything in a grocery store. Here in Texas (and most likely the rest of the world) you have to go to a liquor store. Since we've lived here, we've been to one. We went yesterday to get some crown for Christmas and New Year's. I asked the owner if he carried Abita and he said no but I can get it. He said I used to carry it but it would go bad on the shelves because no one here knew what it was. So, while we were there he put in an order for Abita Purple Haze. Woo hoo, I can now have some Abita and not have to drive 12 hours round trip to get it! Of course, he may stop carrying it because a 6 pack will last me a month. But, at least I can always order it.

There are a few things I miss about Louisiana. Number one, the quality of food at restaurants and the numerous options of restaurants. Number two, great sausage. There's no Richard's or Manda here. And, if you want HOT, you can forget it. Their idea of HOT is jalapeño. Not the same. Number Three, of course is Abita beer!! But, now I can at least get that. Now, if I could just have Manda's or Richard's sausage and have a Sammy's open up nearby, I'd never get home sick.

Now, I won't go into the things I don't miss because that list is WAY longer than the things I do miss. However, number one is traffic and insufficient infrastructure of roads.

Florida Trip

We are back home from our trip. We had a fantastic time and wore ourselves out. It was so good to see some of our Baton Rouge friends and hang out with them for the week. We got there Thursday night. I, unfortunately, slept about 1 hour the first night. The next morning we went to the PRI show (performance racing industry trade show). I was exhausted by noon. Of course we stayed all day till 6 pm. I did, however, find a great deal on seats for our vw bug that we are restoring. So, it was worth the time there. That night, we went to Mickey's christmas party at Disney. It was fun. We had access to the park until midnight. I even rode it's a small world. Steve rode the teacups with 3 other of his adult friends. Brought us back to our childhood.

The next day, Steve and I went to universal by ourselves. His new race car body a 58 Plymouth fury (which is the same car in Christine... the Steven King movie), was supposed to arrive at the PRI show at 4:00. We rushed from universal to get there in time to get the body. However, they didn't show up until after 6:00. Pictures are below of the body. Steve was like a little boy on Christmas morning. We had reservations for dinner at 7:00 in downtown disney. We rushed and barely made it. Luckily our 7 other people got there to get our reservations. We ate then went to cirque de soliel.

Next day, we went to universal all day, then a Luau that night at Sea world. The following day we did the other half of universal all day and finished the day off at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. We were the 'fun' table sitting in front of the live 'band' (it was a guy w/ a guitar singing). He told us we were the most fun table he's had in a long time. We made friends with him and even got him to sing longer than he was scheduled to.

I also forgot to mention that we had breakfast every morning together. We had two rooms that were condos with a common area and everyone had their own separate rooms and baths. Among the 11 of us, we had two rooms. One of our friends cooked breakfast every morning and we all ate together as a family. We had eggs, biscuits, sausage, grits every morning. It was so nice and was a very inexpensive alternative to fast food every morning. My stomach also thanked me for it.

So, it was very difficult to leave all of our friends (new and old) and return home. Steve and I were both depressed all day yesterday after the great time we had. We can't wait to do it again and to see our friends again. Hopefully, we can start a tradition to be vacation buddies.

Here are pics of Steve getting his new race car body.

Dead Bugs

So, I bought my first REAL painting at an art gallery. It's entitled "dead bugs". Steve and I are in the process of restoring a 72 super beetle that kind of looks like the green one in the painting. This is a watercolor painting. I was in awe with it when we first went in the art gallery months ago. I've been thinking about it for months now and we finally decided to go back and buy it :)

When we finish our bug, it will look more like this scaled model below. Except ours will have beige interior and no roof rack.

I guess I could also post pics of the current state of our bug:

Iggy has the day off

Iggy is curled up in a ball on his blanket in my office. Steve works a 9-8-0 schedule and is off today. When Steve is not home, Iggy will not stay with me in my office. He feels he needs to guard the front door. So, he sits in the wingback or the sofa in the front room. However, when Steve is home, he will stay in my office with me all day while I work. He's pretty relaxed today on his day off of guarding. Wouldn't you say so? Right now he's actually snoring as I type this.

Today's gift

Beautiful Bloom!

My amaryllis that I bought a couple of weeks ago is beginning to bloom. It is so beautiful. Plants make me so happy! It's just beginning to open. I'll have to post more pics when it's fully bloomed.

Also, I have to rejoice because I went to the doctor this am and my blood pressure was 112/70!!!! WOO HOO. I guess that mile I walk every morning with Iggy is helping. Usually, when I go to the doctor my blood pressure is high (only there). I'm tickled pink (look like that bloom, lol) that my blood pressure was so low.

YAY!, I don't have to get on blood pressure meds!!!!

Office Depot ROCKS!

I have never ordered anything online and gotten it delivered this fast and with free shipping!!! I needed 4 ink cartridges for my printer (3 color and 1 black). I couldn't find any in my local office depot. However, they had a 4 pack online for 52.00 (these cartridges are sold individually for 20 bucks a pop). So, I ordered the pack online Monday afternoon and received them yesterday!!!! That's less than a 24 hour turn around.

I order stuff online all the time b/c I am way out in the boonies. I have NEVER had this fast of a turnaround on delivery. It's quicker to order online than it is for me to drive to my local Office Depot, which is 30 miles away! It's the little things in life :)

Whats in a wave?

Every morning as soon as I wake up, I get dressed and head out the door for a walk with my dog. We walk the entire neighborhood as everyone is driving to work/school. People in Sealy, TX are definitely friendlier than in Louisiana. EVERYONE here waves; every day, every time they see you man, woman or child.

The thing I find comical is HOW they wave. I've gotten to the point where I initiate the wave. I've noticed that whomever I wave to, be it a dainty little girl or a masculine man, they ALWAYS mimic my wave. If I do a short one stroke wave, I get that back. This morning I was doing the feminine wave where you wiggle your fingers. It was so funny to watch all the men wave back that way. So next time you wave to someone, try different ways of waving and see how they wave back. You'll be surprised and start making it a game. :) HA HA!

Where's Waldo?

There have been many times when I've gone looking all over the house for Iggy and I can't find him. Then, I finally realize he's on the love seat but I missed him because he blends in so well. If it weren't for the evil eyes from the flash in this pic, you probably would have a difficult time spotting him. He's like Waldo!

Slowly getting over the stained glass suicide attempt

My first stained glass piece that I ever made attempted suicide last night. It has taken me this long to get over it enough just to be able to post about it. Luckily, it's mostly in tact. It shattered and cracked the glass in a quite a few places. It had about an 8 foot fall onto the arm of the love seat. I had it placed up on the transom above the window.

Stupid us didn't secure it very well but thought it would be ok. It's been up there for about 6 months now. Guess the vibrations on the transom from opening and closing the front door moved it?? I still can't comprehend how/why it fell. All I know is that I learned my lesson about securing my stained glass pieces.

Finished Scarecrow Garden Stake

I finally finished Mr. Scarecrow last night after adding all the hay around his face, neck, sleeves, and pants. This was by far the hardest part. Trying to solder those little pieces of solder was a pain. I had to span it over 2 evenings b/c I was getting so frustrated. He's standing proud now in my front yard. We even bought some solar landscape lights and pointed one at him. He's too cute. Steve says he looks like a cowboy.

Mr. Scarecrow

As promised, here are pics of my stained glass scarecrow. I'm not done with him. I still need to add his eyes and buttons on his shirt and solder wire for straw. I took a pic of the pattern to show what he will look like.

Missing out

So, this weekend is apparently the weekend of events that we've been waiting for. It's the Austin county fair (our county), the scarecrow festival, the ellington field air show, and the Bayou city art festival. Steve will come home tonight from DC and has to fly back out sunday morning to Detroit for work. So, that only gives us one day to jam pack all these things in that are usually day long events. The blue angels are even going to be at the air show!! I could almost hear tears in Steve's voice when I told him last night. I think we can make the county fair thursday and/or friday night. We are definitely doing the scarecrow festival saturday morning. Maybe I'll cut it short and we can attempt to do the other two.

Steve rarely travels for work. Unfortunately, he has to travel back to back during the most eventful times around here. Too bad he couldn't have traveled in July or August. It's too hot then to do anything here anyway. Of course it isn't any cooler right now.

Is it summer?

It's just way too hot for October. I can't wait for cooler weather. I'm also looking forward to the scarecrow festival this weekend in Chappell Hill, Texas. We went last year and it's more booths than you can ever imagine of crafts and things.

http://www.chappellhillmuseum.org/festivals.htm

I also am in the process of making a stained glass scarecrow garden stake. I just finished foiling him last night and will solder him together tonight. I'll have to post pics of him when I'm done.

Finally found a mini Carrie

The most difficult thing to find after moving to a new state was someone that I was satisfied with to cut my hair and Steve's. We were spoiled by our friend Carrie who would cut both of our hair. Well, amazingly we finally found a mini Carrie. There's a salon around the corner from our house. Fairly upscale, actually extremely upscale and hip for Sealy!!! We even felt like family like we do at our Carrie's house. After I was waiting for Steve to get his haircut, I was served a Margarita by the owner's boyfriend. His name is Brian. I nicknamed him Bartender Brian. I'm feeling pretty good now and am VERY happy with my hair cut. I never thought we'd find someone half as good as our Carrie. This girl may be a little slower to cut our hair than Carrie is but she does a fantastic job! Here's a drunken pic of me after a margarita (I'm not even done with it!) and my new having haircut with no makeup and a self portrait at that! lol. Hopefully I don't have too many mispellings...guess I could use spellcheck :)

Please help and send to anyone you know who can help!

Louisiana Boxer Rescue is in desperate need!!! They have numerous Boxers in shelters and need help in fostering or adoption. Louisiana Boxer Rescue has no room at its present foster homes can you or anyone you know help? If so, contact Charlene at... 504-491-9805. They also have several on their website that need permanent homes (and several that haven't even made it to the website yet). In addition, they owe approximately $5,000 to thier kind Vet and have to figure out some way to pay him. If you care to make a donation, please see their website http://louisianaboxerrescue.org/rescues.html

Imitation crab meat

Ok, I'm strange. I LOVE imitation crab meat. So, yesterday, I bought 2 packs of it at walmart. The cashier asked me "Do you eat this, is it any good?" I said yes, I love it. She replied "I've never seen anyone who actually eats it, most customers use it for fishing bait." I just cracked up. I'm on my 2nd snack of it today. Mmmm mmm good.

Yeah that's not going to work

Since I don't like eggs or the crap I have to eat on this diet. I'm just not eating at all. Which is not good for me since I have hypoglycemia. So, I don't really think this is NOT the diet for me. I lasted one whole day, lol. Well, not even a whole day. My blood sugar crashed by noon and I turned into EVIL Jenny. I couldn't even stand to be around myself! MMMMM, I got to drink milk this morning :)

Day one of low carb - just call me eggfish!!

So, I'm tired of being overweight. I have gained 20lbs of unecessary weight over the past 6 years. I have had some medical issues that have contributed. However, honestly, I really think the weight gain has attributed to the medical issues. Not the other way around as the doctors like to say. :)

Anyway, I have thrown in the towel and am trying a low carb diet. So, the first phase is two weeks of no more than 20g of carbs a day. It's shocking to find how many things have carbs, 2% milk is 12g for one cup!! It's going to be hard to forgo my milk in the am for two weeks. I just ate deviled eggs for bkfast. I HATE eggs, so we'll see how long this lasts, but I'm giving it my all. I will try it for one week and if I see results, I'll continue. If not, I'll go back to being fat and happy and eating whatever my heart desires, LOL! I'm getting prepared to eat a LOT of fish. I'm going to turn into an eggfish because basically that's all I can eat for the next two weeks.

Underprivileged scardy cat (dog)

We dog sat for the neighbors two dogs last week while they were in Disney. They brought back a new toy (stuffed Mickey mouse) for Iggy and he loves it. He's so underpriviledged ;)

UPS man

I find it quite amusing that the big buffed UPS man with tatoos on his arms is petrified of my boxer. He probably, like most others, think he is a pit bull. He rang the door bell and was pleading with me to just crack the door open to talk to me as ...he was nervously backing up and making sure I didn't let my dog out. If he only knew how much of a chicken my dog is!!!!

In addition

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention my biggest beef about this. They advertise this program of how to get a 'greener' car that burns less gas. I drive a 10 year old BMW (that's been paid for) that gets 31 miles to the gallon hwy and 25 in the city! None of these new cars can beat that. However, what most people don't realize is it's not just the engine performance, it's how the driver drives. The faster and more aggressive you drive, the more fuel you will burn. I have friends with the same car as mine that only get 19 mpg in the city. People just need to stop being ignorant and start thinking for themselves!! Okay, I'll step down from my soap box now :)

Dave Ramsey's thoughts on cash for clunkers

I have been complianing about this 'program' since it came about. I just have to post Dave's comments because I couldn't have said it better myself. Below are his thoughts:

With all the buzz about Cash for Clunkers, it’s easy to think that it was a great way for people to get a better set of wheels. But was it really? No way! Cash for Clunkers was simply a way for broke people to buy cars that they really couldn't afford. It was a bad idea on multiple levels. But before digging into that, let’s take a little history lesson.
About a decade ago, a fair housing program was started, called a sub-prime lending market. The idea behind it was that everyone “needed” to own a home—including broke people. The government decided to start a program to reinvest in communities, which allowed pretty much anyone to borrow money to buy a house. Lending companies charged high interest rates, causing already struggling families to go even further into debt.
Basically, this was a program designed to encourage broke people to buy houses. Most people didn’t even know it existed until it unraveled and became the number-one cause of our recent recession. The government took those stupid loans back and securitized them, which created the financial mess last fall. Helping broke people buy houses didn’t turn out to be a great government program. Guess what? Helping broke people buy brand-new cars—and now home appliances—will turn out just as bad.
The Cash for Clunkers program was designed exactly for people who should not take advantage of the program. You trade your $2,000 clunker in for a brand-new, shiny $20,000 car, and the only way you can afford it is with a high-interest payment. That just means you really couldn’t afford it to begin with. Doesn’t this sound like the sub-prime mortgage problem all over again?
When you drive that new car off the lot, you’re immediately going to lose $4,500. The worst car accidents happen on the showroom floor. New cars go down in value like a rock. The government thinks it’s going to save the American auto industry by putting broke people into cars they can’t pay for. It’s going to come back to bite them—and the rest of us—in the form of taxes galore.
Another bad thing about this program is that we, the taxpayers, are paying for the new cars! It’s morally wrong of the government to take money away from us—against our will—in the form of taxes and give that money to someone else to buy a stupid car they can’t afford in the first place! This is theft, plain and simple.
Cash for Clunkers is a program that redistributes wealth in the name of the environment, and it’s going to be a curse on the car dealer and the manufacturer that carries the paper. It’s going to hurt the broke person who bought a car he couldn’t afford. And it’s already a problem for our country, because it’s adding dollars to the national debt.
There’s always a twist with government programs like this. They try to think of creative ways to help people, but the situation usually ends up worse than it did before they “helped.” In the end, I should decide what to do with my own money. If I want to buy you a car, I will! And if you can’t buy a car without actually paying for the whole thing, then you’re better off keeping your “clunker.”
So good riddance to a really bad program that has done more damage than good.

Burned Biscuits -email forward that I just had to post

When I was a little boy, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Baby, I love burned biscuits."
Later that night, I went to hug Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"
You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people.. and I'm sure not the best at much. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences. - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God.Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship, in business or otherwise!

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."

Garden Ridge

I just found a new favorite store. Steve and I decided to go to Garden Ridge yesterday to see what it's all about. I thought it was a place that sold outdoor furniture. Boy, was I surprised. They sell outdoor furniture among other things. I found this painting of a boxer that captures the expression of a boxer. There was only one color to choose from so he isn't brindle like my Iggy. The store is 3 football fields in size wth all sorts of things. We are going to have to go back so we can see everything in the store. They closed at 6 before we could even make one lap around the store. I can't wait to go back.

I'm alive

Everyone's been wondering where I've been. Now that I'm working full time again, I don't have so much free time on my hands to blog and facebook. I did finish my last big stained glass project before I started working again. Of course, I haven't done any more projects since then. This is another one of my favorites. I've been so busy dusting off the cobwebs in my brain for work that I haven't had time to blog. I need to make more of an effort to blog more often.

Stained glass quilt

I finished putting the frame on the patriotic stars just in time for memorial day. I also made a stained glass quilt that is too cute! Thank goodness I'm going back to work soon to financially support my new expensive hobby.

Final pic of 1st project

I guess I could post a pic of what the first project turned out like. It's hanging in the transom above my living room. I smile every time I see it and say "I made that!" :)

Latest Stained Glass Projects

The past two weeks I've been working on more stained glass projects. After the finishing the frogs, I started on 6 different crosses. These were tedious and much harder than the first big project I did. They did turn out nice though. I made a butterfly bookend that I just finished today. My latest project is the patriotic red white and blue with stars. I just finished soldering it together. I need to go to the stained glass shop to buy some framing and solder it on. Then, patina it to make the solder look antique. I'm thinking copper patina for this one (which is what I used for the bookend).

Sabbatical over

After being on sabbatical for a much needed 7 months, it's finally over. I have accepted a job at OLOL hospital working remotely from Texas. Basically, it's my old job there that I left 2 years ago. Funny how things work out. I'm so happy to be going back and even happier that I can do it from Texas. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time off. However, I am more than ready to get back into a routine and be challenged every day. I think it's ironic how when you are working full time all you want is to not work so that you can take care of things that seem so overwhelming like yardwork, laundry, errands, groceries. Yet, when you are NOT working those things only take up about 2 hours of your day, then you are done. I have definitely kept myself busy with crafts, gardening, yardwork, sewing, stained glass, chores, unpacking, etc. I still found myself feeling bored and not challenged enough. I start June 1st and will actually go to Baton Rouge for the first week. It will be nice to catch up with all my old friends who still work there. I'm so thankful :)

Why didn't I think of this earlier?

It's no surprise that I've been sewing for a few years now. I've always continuously tried different solutions for organizing and storing my fabrics. Thanks to my mother-in-law, I have TONS of fabric. She gives me all the fabric she doesn't want. She has a pretty bad fabric habit (lucky for me). Honestly, out of all the fabric you see (and I couldn't get it all in the picture) I've only purchased about 2 square blocks. Now, back to my point. I couldn't ever find a good solution for storing fabric. I've tried everything from crates to shelves. The other day I thought why don't I use the hanging space in the closet and buy those sweater and shoe hanging organziers. I now have six hanging on one side of the closet. All my fabric fits and is organized. Although, it weighs a ton, we are going to have to put some more support bars up for it. It's not such a great pic b/c I couldn't get the whole thing but you get the point.

Mr Frog Prince and Miss Frog Princess

So, I've already finished project 2 and 3 of my stained glass. These were way easier than my 1st one. I'm having so much fun making these. I'm going to go broke buying glass though, it isn't cheap! Miss frog doesn't have her pupils glued on yet. But, you can see them on the shelf in front of her. I'm still debating on the color, so I haven't put them on yet. Meet the happy couple. :)

A day to celebrate

Today marks the day of our 3 year wedding anniversary. Also, it's been one year since we've had our boy Iggy (our sweet boxer). I am so thankful for Steve being in my life!!! Here are a few pics from our wedding and honeymoon. Steve and I keep swearing we are going to go back to Grand Turks and Cacos. I can't believe we have been saying that for 3 years now. Guess it's time for us to take a vacation! I also think it's ironic the shirt that Steve is wearing in the honeymoon pic. Who would have thought we'd end up in Texas? :)

Stained Glass

Well, my teacher says I'm a natural and ambitious. She says she never had a student choose such a complex pattern for a first one. She said today that she only had to show me once how to do something that I'm a natural. Guess I'm just a quick learner. I finished soldering it today. Next class, she will show me how to attach a frame. She said, I didn't think it would only take you 3 classes!! It's supposed to be 5 classes. So, I've already picked out another pattern for my second piece.

Texas Rainbows

After a full day of terrible rain and thunderstorms, we walked out with Iggy once the rain stopped. There was a huge beautiful rainbow. The left side shines down on running cattle. The right side shines down on the Texas and American flags.