Merry Christmas to my Hubby!

Sealy Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade

Our Zumba class from the YMCA participated in our small town Christmas parade. Steve even was volunteered to drive his truck with our zumba music blaring and lit up in Christmas lights. We had a lot of fun. I forgot to bring my camera but found a couple of pics of us on the Sealy Community Foundation page. Luckily you can't make me out in this pic. I'm the dork in the center front row with my hands straight up b/c I was yelling 'woo Sealy YMCA' at the stage trying to get them to dance. HA HA!

WHEW, thankful for great neighbors

Yesterday, after getting the mail, I got something in my eye that the pain brought me to my knees. I called my neighbor to come help flush it out and see if she could see anything. Two hours later I called begging her to drive me to the Dr. So, on we went. Long story short it was a clear looking piece of sand, aka glass. It scratched my cornea pretty badly. My vision out of that eye was extremely blurry yesterday. It's much better today! Whew, glad that's over. I'm oh so thankful for my sweet neighbor for being there for me while hubby is out of town for work.

The drama continues, this morning as I do every morning at 7am, I walked my dog. As soon as I got to the end of my driveway I noticed a suspicious car at the end of the culde-a-sac facing the street. The windows were so tinted I could not see in very well but swore I saw a bald headed guy leaned over kind of hiding. So, I walked home as fast as I could and called the constable. He came out and sure enough there was a guy in the car. It was a brand new black Lincoln town car. I saw him talking to the guy then he drove a couple houses down and knocked on their door. Then went back to the guy's car. Then they both drove off and the constable came back to my house. He said the guy drove a neighbor home from the airport late last night and parked there to catch a nap. I still find it odd he didn't park in the neighbors driveway and sleep. Is the neighbor that rude that he didn't even offer the guy to sleep on his sofa?? The constable was very thankful that I called right away. He said you never know, today the guy had a sensible story, tomorrow he may be back and it's not so sensible. He said you did the right thing by calling. This is what it takes in our community to stop things and don't ever hesitate to call.

So, today I am extremely thankful as we are approaching thanksgiving. Thankful for great neighbors and friends. The neighbor across the street (a different neighbor from the eye drama) sat with me as we watched the constable investigate this car. It's so nice to have such great people I can count on when I have only lived her for 2 years and have no family here. Oh, and I'm also very thankful for my eyesight. Amazing the tiny things we take for granted!

Country living

This was our backyard on a Saturday morning filled with Egrets. Of course, as soon as we started taking pics, they flew off. Our whole 2.5 acres were filled with these. It was too foggy for all of them to show up on the pictures.

Every morning I roll out of bed, put on my walking shoes and take my dog for a 1 mile walk in our neighborhood. This has become my favorite part of the day because I get to see beautiful sunrises. When the sky is the most beautiful, I never have my camera. I also am in too much awe to even go get it. I finally did snap a picture last week and this isn't up to par with some of the beautiful sunrises I see daily. It calms me and puts a smile on my face before starting my work day.

Sneak peek of the FURY

Steve got his last fitting done on his new racecar this weekend. The car should be done by December. Here's a few pics to hold u over until then.

The funny car cage is a perfect fit!

Jason's rendering of the paint scheme. We are still figuring out colors.

from the side.

The fin.

Christine. aka 58 plymouth fury. Should I be scared? Guess it will be ok, I won't be eating any hamburgers in her. HA!

Super geek

This post is for my friend who called me a super geek when I told him I had my own mini command center at my home office. I'm super geeky, yeow! This post is for you Dewayne and Barry.

-the smart cookie :)

Heavy heart

This past week has been full of tragic news and has really made my heart heavy. My co-worker's husband passed away unexpectedly on Thursday at the age of 50. My heart has been aching for her. She always spoke so highly of him. They had no kids and did everything together.

In addition, a friend of mine lost two cousins age 3 and 2 in a house fire. My heart has been so heavy for that family as well.

They have both been in my prayers. Please add them to yours.

Gerber Baby

I have nicknamed my neighbors baby Gerber baby because I think she looks just like the Gerber baby. Those big blue eyes are irresistible. I can't refrain from kissing those cheeks either when I see her. Last night, I got the privilege of babysitting her. She's such a good baby. Here are a few pics. My favorite is of her and Steve. She constantly keeps her tongue on her two little front teeth that are growing. She's only 8 months old and already walking. You can vote for her as the next Gerber baby on http://www.gerber.com/Photo/#/vote/ her id is 56004 and her name is Kaycee

Visitors

I planted way too many morning glories for my trellis. Steve and I decided to cut them down after they grew into an unruly mound. The next day, I thought there were dead leaves hanging from the sun on the trellis. After focusing my eyes, I realized it was a mound of bees!!!! I called my friend who works here at the prairie chicken farm to find out if she knew of any local beekeepers to come remove them. She informed me that when bees travel a lot of times they rest wherever they can and it's very temporary. She assured me they would be gone by Monday. But, if not, she would find a beekeeper for me. We had dinner plans with her that night. So, she said she'd swing by and come check out the bees. Well, lo and behold, an hour before she came over, they were gone. I never knew bees did this. I wish I would have seen them leave. I wonder if they ascend all at once in a group. Or, if they go one by one. I will never know.....

Fruit of my labor

The one watermelon that successfully grew in my garden was finally ready for picking. It amazingly turned out ok. Next year, I think I will need a bigger garden bed for planting watermelon.

It's a no go

The pacifica is a no go. Basically, the guy is upside down in it and wants for it what he owes. Which I think is way too much for something with 85k miles on it. So, we will try to extend the life of the beemer until December or January and then I will get what I want.

Time to retire the 'old girl'

I took my dog for a ride in the car Saturday afternoon that turned into an event. I was on a narrow country road behind our neighborhood. As I was approaching a curve and slowed down, my car quietly died without warning. It took 3 calls to get in touch with my hubby who was thankfully home! He came to the rescue in what felt like forever in that Texas heat. I had no leash or collar for my dog! It was just going to be a quick ride, right? Unfortunately, it was cooler outside the car than it was inside with all the windows down. Finally, Steve arrived. The daunting task was to turn the car around on this narrow road with his truck and a dinky rope. After much struggling with no power steering and mostly pushing the car ourselves, we finally got it. Off to towing it home right? A little slack in the rope and POP. Rope breaks. This happened about three more times. But, an hour later, we made it home!! And I thought I was going to die of a heat stroke!!

Needless to say, we bought two tow straps this weekend to keep in each car. The BMW, old girl, is now 11 years old with 185,000 + miles on it. She has been a wonderful car!! Steve realized it was the fuel pump and after trying to find the fuel pump relay location, he found the burnt fuse for the fuel pump. Changed it and viola car is all good again. W are thinking we will sell it soon and get something else with fewer miles on it. She's getting to a point where things are just slap wearing out because of age. I dont really want to continue to spend the money to slowly replace everything on the car. Luckily it's minor things but it's still the principle. I just can't find anything as nice as my 11 year old BMW and don't really want the note of a new one. I have not had a car note in years and it's very nice.

We are test driving his friend's chrysler pacifica today that is for sale. We'll see how it compares to the old girl. It's been a nice 6 years with her and while we will miss her we won't miss her lack of cup holders. As those German engineers say, it's the ultimate driving machine, not the ultimate eating machine.

Look what we did!

This weekend we put together a pergola on our new porch 'extension'. We now have a lovely outdoor space to enjoy our Sealy wind. I also sewed together two sun shades to block that hot Texas sun! Each sunshade was 40 feet long. I'm sure I was quite the site using my driveway as a layout table. I would go to my driveway to lay out the material and pin it. Then, Steve and I would bunch it all up and carry it in for me to sew. Then, layout on the driveway again and on and on. We also made a pvc pipe for each side as weights and I sewed openings for those to slide through. It turned out fantastic. Of course, with the Sealy hurricane force wind, we had to tie the pvc pipes to the pergola with bungie straps so that we don't lose the whole thing. As you can see in the picture the wind is blowing it.

I even already had all the furniture. The table has been in storage in our morgan building since we moved here. I'm glad to finally put it to use again. Wouldn't a pool look real nice next to it!? We just need to fence in our 2.5 acres first!! We definitely have the room for an Olympic sized pool (Texas sized).

Happy Fourth!

We had a great holiday weekend. We went swimming at our friend's house Sunday and Monday. Makes me want a pool even more! The night of the 4th, our neighbor across the street had a party with $1,000 worth of fireworks. They put on a spectacular show.

I was also able to finish the two latest stained glass projects of mine. One is a garden gnome for my friend who collects them. Another, is a horse fan lamp for my cousin who refused to let me pay for something I ordered from him.

Dually is now legal

Apparently, we have been driving around for two years in Texas with an illegal dually. I was pulled over this weekend because it is Texas state law that all dual wheel vehicles have mud flaps. I was so floored that the truck has passed inspection twice. Funny how laws among states can differ so much that when you move to a new state you have no idea! Oh well, at least I only got a warning. I never realized how huge those mud flaps are. They are bigger than a doormat!! Steve unfortunately had to take all 4 rear wheels off just to install them. But, we are legal now. Just in time, since he left this am for Detroit in my car since it's easier to park at the airport. So, I'll be sporting the dually with it's new mud flaps all week. ha ha!

On an exciting note, I have 3 watermelon growing in my garden!! They are about the size of a softball. I also ate my first successfully home grown tomato in Texas today. The key has been watering EVERY day and organic bug spray. It looks like I CAN grow tomatoes in Texas!!

I also finished up my latest stained glass project that I have not touched since May. We bought an a/c for the garage so that I can now work out there. WOO HOO!! The piece is 'old lucky sun'.

Steve also made progress on the bug. All the rubbers and fenders are now on. The wiring is completed. I think we are going to have a productive summer. Hopefully, by the end of the summer I'll be driving around in the bug instead of the dually :)

Iggy Celebrates

Iggy loves to go for a ride. Just the mention of the word and he celebrates like this. My voice aggravates me in these 2 videos but he's too darn cute not to share it.

Summertime

We went to our friend's house saturday for a day by the pool with pina coladas. This was the second attempt at getting Iggy to swim. He is deathly afraid of the water. The first time we tried, last week, he panicked and never got over the heavy breathing. He froze and was like a piece of driftwood clinging to Steve with all his might. This time, Rebecca and I coaxed him onto the sun deck and spent about 15 minutes just pouring water over him and getting him comfortable. Then, Steve picked him up and carried him into the water. He did MUCH better this time around. He still isn't swimming voluntarily and happy in the water. But, at least he wasn't panicking. We are thinking just a little patience and more time will lead to Iggy swimming with us on his own :)

I love summertime and finding fresh produce grown by locals. As we were driving around today, there was a guy on the roadside selling produce. I bought peaches, tomatoes, and summer squash. Yummy! I of course made a turkey BLT for dinner tonight. I can't wait to have the summer squash and peaches. Too bad my hubby doesn't eat any of those. Oh well, more for me!

Summer cold

I went to Louisiana and all I got was a lousy cold! ha ha. I've been sick since Saturday. Lost all sense of smell and taste. I'm finally starting to feel better today! I slept ALL day Sunday. Steve was pretty worried because I NEVER sleep in the middle of the day much less all day.

I have to say since I've been living in Texas I don't get near the colds/sinus infections that I got while living in Louisiana. I guess the drier air helps.

On another note, my garden has exploded in growth. I had to transplant my plants to a bigger bed last week. The watermelon is now in it's own bed. It had totally taken over the original bed it was in. It's ironic because that plant was so puny when I bought it. I thought for sure it would never survive. It has 11 blooms on it!

I'll be so happy to have home grown tomatoes this year. I'm still shocked they are doing so well. We'll see what happens.

Garden attempts year two in HOT, DRY, WINDY Sealy.

When I lived in Louisiana I had the greenest thumb of them all. After, I moved her to HOT dry windy texas, I realized it wasn't my thumb that was green. Rather, it was the perfect growing conditions of rain, humidity and rich soil. I had to BUY dirt this year. Steve says can you believe we BOUGHT dirt. Our yard is sandy loam soil. It turns to concrete when dry and quicksand when wet. Yeah, don't park a 1 ton dually on it when you are expecting rain. We learned our lesson real fast!! he he.

Anyway, this year I decided to try raised beds for a garden and flower bed. I also planted sunflowers in pots. Most of the beautiful plants in my flower bed were deflowered by the wind. However, my garden is doing pretty well, amazingly. The watermelon is flourishing. The tomatoes are doing well. The only thing that did not make it were the cucumber seedlings. I may buy some cucumber plants. I also still need plant my chives seeds. The wind blew the entire planting tray away of the seedlings I was growing. Gotta love that Sealy wind! I guess it's worth it because the few days the wind is calm, there is a lovely summer breeze!

Random Pictures

King of the ottoman.

Would you please stop taking pictures of me!!!

Steve getting fitted for the Fury. Does he look happy or what!? I love my sweet Hubby!!

The bug is back and BEAUTIFUL!

We still have tons of work left to do on it aesthetically not to mention mechanically. The one part that worries me the most is putting the new headliner in along with the windshield. So, neighbors if you hear cussing coming out of our garage, it's just Steve and I trying to get the headliner and front windshield in all at once. Her are the pictures of my beautiful bug and it's new paint job.

Bug

The bug is painted and on it's way home. More to come with pictures...

Dreams

Why do I keep having recurring dreams that I am still in college and it's my last semester? It is the week before finals and I have no idea what time or days my classes are. It's very disturbing that I keep having this same dream. I dreamed it again last night!? When I woke up this am, I was so happy that I'm an adult with a full time job and a degree and not a college kid in school!!!

Time for rejoicing!

We had HOA elections last night and voted in a new board that is not power hungry like the previous one. Last year was the first year of the HOA being handed over from the builders of our neighborhood. It has been a nightmare to say the least. They have pissed everyone in the neighborhood off. When it comes to common sense, they have none. Instead of picking up the phone and calling the county to find out info, they would throw their hands up in the air and say 'I don't know'. When we say, I sent you a letter when you asked me to do so and I received no response, they blame it on the post office. However, my letter was an email!!! ha ha.

I won't go into details of all the negative things that have been going on with this power hungry group. But, it was quite satisfying to see the people who were so power hungry nearly in tears when they lost. I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I walked by their house this am on my morning walk. :)

Sometimes I Wish I were dumb

Sometimes I wish I were dumb so I could be as oblivious to everything as other people are. I won't rant and rave here about specifics. I have observed and been affected by this in so many aspects of my life. I'm just disgusted that so many people go through life so oblivious to so many things. It takes those of us who have a clue to take care of the repercussion. That, yet again, they are oblivious too!!

Ok, I'm done. I try so hard not to post anything negative. But, I'm so irked right now I just needed a place to vent. :) Happy Friday!!

Is tomorrow really friday?

Time is really flying by. Last weekend we had friends in town for the ADRL race (http://www.adrl.us/) in Baytown, Tx. It was a crazy weekend for all of us but we still managed to have fun. Our friends left Baton Rouge and headed for Sealy around 3:00 pm on Friday. I get a text around 5:00 that while stuck in traffic, their radiator 'exploded'. So, they finally get back on the road at 7:00 pm. This put them at our house at 2:00 am. They planned on being there by 9:00! After a few hours of sleep, we are on the road for 7:00 headed to Baytown for the race.

Now, let me explain how drag racing events NORMALLY work. Thursday and Friday is qualifying and Saturday is the race. Sunday is a fall over day in case there is inclement weather. So, the qualifying gets rained out by 11:00 am. We are told DO NOT LEAVE WE WILL RACE NO MATTER WHAT. However, they are telling the racers to pack up their tents and cars b/c of expected high winds and rain. We leave to eat lunch. Call the track after lunch and are told the race has been postponed until July 23rd!?!?!? WHAT!?

The racers were infuriated and we were confused. Still don't know the reasoning. My logic is there weren't enough people there for this national event to being with and they wanted to make more money.

So, we decide to make a day of it and go to IKEA, which sucked. We only went b/c one of the girls really wanted to go. Then, we tried the comedy club in Houston which was sold out because Ralphie May was performing. We ended up at the IMAX and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. it was great! Then, we drove back to Sealy and stopped in at the liquor store to get alcohol to make margaritas and mudslides. We ordered pizza and decided to have a game night. We played partini until one of our friends got VERY ill. Long story short, he had food poisoning from his lunch on Friday in BR. We thought we were going to have to take him to the hospital.

Poor thing was still sick for the 6 hour ride home. Thankfully, they all made it home safely and in one piece. Whew! I pray that the event in June is much less eventful for all of us :) ha ha.

Steve has been out of town this week for work and just flew back home today. I can't believe it will be Friday tomorrow. It feels like it was yesterday we were nursing our sick friend and praying they would make it home safe and sound :)

The piece that burned me

Luckily, I managed not to break this piece after dropping it on the table when the solder burned my wrist. The blue glass inspired me to make this piece and I love the way it turned out. I hung it in the sidelight of my front door.

The final product

My dangerous hobby

So, I guess I'm a daredevil by doing such a dangerous hobby of stained glass. ;) I have a pretty bad burn on the top of my left wrist from molten solder. I was attaching a hook to the latest project I'm working on and solder dripped down on my arm as I was soldering and trying to hold the piece. I'm amazed this is the first time I've been burned. Next month will be a year that I have been doing stained glass. I've had a few lessons learned:

1. Don't empty your glass scraps into your kitchen garbage can, you will get severely cut. Always use a separate plastic can by your workstation for glass only!!

2. Always secure your pieces that you hang. If not, they WILL fall!! All your weeks of hard work and hundreds of dollars in glass will be destroyed.

3. Never hold a piece under the area that you are soldering! Liquid, hot solder will drip on you.

Now, if I can just kick my husband out of the garage and have it all to myself to do stained glass, that would be great! Lately he has been using spray glue on car upholstery and the fumes kill me. Guess I need to build him a separate shop. Or, maybe I'll build one for me and let him have the garage!!

Lampshade Complete

The final product. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I have not yet weighted down the actual lamp base. So, there are no picture yet of it on the lamp. I don't want to risk it falling over and breaking to take a picture...which would be my luck.

Lampshade assembled

It's assembled. Not quite complete yet though. I still have to solder the entire thing again to make it look nice. My solder lines on the outside are awful. Surprisingly, my solder lines on the inside of the shade are beautiful. At least it's together!! Then, I have to solder a wire to the bottom of the shade for structure. Finally, I can Patina it and it will be done. Probably another week or so.....

Thanks to my hubby for his help. This is definitely an assembly that cannot be done with only 2 hands. A third is required for sure!!

Bug Prepped and Ready for Paint, part 2