oh yeah! {squeal!}

looky looky looky what hubby gave me:

is he great, or what!?!

spoofed!

bastards! someone made all these fake email accounts using my .com address!
i'm pissed!!

if you have come here to check out the site that sent the bizarre email - it wasn't me!!
really, i'm a nice person (stop snickering!) i had nothing to do with it.

how weird is it that someone can just make up these addresses and have them actually send emails? who does that kind of thing? how can someone get off on that? what is the purpose?

grrr. there are no words for how mad i am over this! grrrr- fuckers!


ETA: i did call my hosting company last night and they 'put a stop to it'....
although it didn't stop all the emails from all these ticked off people bouncing back to my inbox.

fessing up

ya'll there's something i have been keeping a secret.
i'm fat. okay, that's not really what i had planned on saying, but well... the truth hurts right?

seriously, my point was to tell you all that i started the south beach diet 5 weeks ago. my regular physician and my gyno told me (within a week of each other-i think they are in cahoots) last march that if i didn't do something about the weight, i would become diabetic (this disease has a huge presence in my family). after hearing this, i started seriously considering losing the weight. considering, mind you, not actually doing anything about it... then, 6 weeks ago, a very dear friend called me in distress. she had gone to the doc and at the appt. weigh-in, they had to move the big weight. anyone who has ever had weight issues knows what i'm talking about. as i was talking with her about it, we decided - we were done with this.
done with the depression of being overweight
done with not going to the swimming pool with our children
done with the fear of disease
done with not being the fun, active moms we want to be
done with being fat
done

together, we:
read the south beach diet book
de-junk-fooded our houses
shopped for our 'phase 1' foods
cursed and whined and complained about not being able to eat at our favorite fast-food place.
whined and whined and supported each other
and made it through!

2 weeks of carb-free living. it actually didn't end up being as difficult the second week. we decided another week of phase 1 before moving on to the more liberal (slightly) phase 2.
after 3 weeks, we each had lost 12 lbs. monday will be 6 weeks. i haven't weighed in again. i don't own a scale. i know that if i go buy one, i'll become obsessed with the numbers.
i'm afraid that if i have a week of no loss or a gain... i'll buckle. i know this has got to be a life change.... so i avoid the scale. i'm curious, but... it'll wait a while longer and pop into the doc's office again.

why south beach? different diets for different people. like i said, this has to be a life change for me. it's not just about the weight loss. it's about the way my body processes sugar. i must learn which carbs my body can handle, and which it can't. if not, diabetes will find me i may just be delaying the inevitable... but in this case, a delay is good.

okay, now i'm nervous, because now people know about this and will hope for great things for me.
this is my hope:
see this ring?

isn't it beautiful? (filthy, but you get the picture) not my wedding ring. i got too fat for it. i want to wear the ring i said "i do" in again.

so there. now you know.

oh, and for some crafty content, a little felt bunny i made. i really want to imporve on my embroidery skills.

my first ever successful french knots. woohoo for me. which will, from this point forward, on this blog, be known as buns. for one, it looks like a cinnamon bun to me, and another... well, i have a colorful opinion of the politics of the french.

this is really cute, and fun.... ummmm, but quite useless. it's only about 2 1/2" tall and just barely puffy...any ideas?

thrifty goodness

so with all the re-decorating going on in the house, i've been out shopping. hitting up all the different thrift stores, garage sales and alleys in town. thought i'd show you all some things i've found. not all at once. just starting it today, is all.

cute cute brass? bunny - this sucker is heavy! she sits in the window seal in my kitchen. about 4"tall X 4"nose to tail and 3"wide. 57cents - is that a deal, or what!?!

fun, little copper rooster pan type thingy. although, i'm pretty sure this one is made for decoration and not actual use. 27cents. it's on the side of a cabinet in my kitchen. what is it about roosters that makes them so charming? i love them.

isn't this a cute little stool? i saw this on someone's porch and stopped to see if they'd sell it. yay! so, for $7, my daughter has a cutie tootie chair for her vanity

i've still made no decisions on decoration style/color for my craft room. i'm over-thinking it. i think.it needs to somehow tie in with the kitchen, which has not been decided yet. oh, what a pain in the booty.

i'll be going to the fabric store soon with my decorator -yes, i'm that pathetic. i can't do it on my own - ya know, this is one of those things -- you've either got it, or you don't. i don't. i'm about as crafty as it gets, but i couldn't place a lamp in the right place to save my life-or anyone else's. so if there's a looney with a red button out there and a room in desperation, let's all hope he finds nate and not me. pam (the decorator) is going to help me pick fabrics for the sofa slipcover. i'm working on a 'pattern' for that right now. i've got 2 cushions down. perfect fit. like a glove, i tell ya :D

sew?

well, i did it again. joined another blog group:



every 6 weeks we are given a new 'subject' to sew. last was bags.. i missed that one. boohoo.now is tops. so i am making this for my daughter.

i'll be using the peach fabric under the pattern. i also was thinking of making one with this fabric:

i have SOOOO much fabric. i really need to start doing something with it other than itty bitty stuffies. so i thought this might give me just the push i needed.

i have 2 sewing machines and a serger. the singer was my grandmothers. and the babylock was a gift to me from my parents. i love them both. right now, i keep having problems with the tension on the singer. so i am using my babylock. i need to get the singer to the shop. but it's going to have to wait for another day. i've got so much going on with fixing up and buying new things for the new decoration style of the house, i haven't pennies to spare.. at least not while the other machine is still working. sooooo, you'll soon start to see more of my many sewing adventures here as well. a girl can never have too many crafts. too many going at one time, yes. but the ability, no. and so far... i've yet to be able to control my startitus. i'm really trying, though. and to prove that - check this out:

do you remember this purse?



i think i crocheted this around valentine's day 2005. finally, i've sewn a lining for it. woohoo for me. now, i haven't sewn it in.... but it at least exists now :D
more of these finish or frog items to come :D

summer showers

102 degrees, the sun is shining and big fat raindrops are falling from the sky.

ummmm, i'm telling

ummmm, i'm telling
okay, moms, tell the truth: sometimes, when you hear that, don't you want to hide? it's never ever because they are coming to tell something fabulous a sibling did.

this morning, i heard one of the funniest things ever coming from the living room:
Crash! and then, the sound of parts rolling around... i could tell it wasn't good by the immediate silence that followed. then X says to his younger brother "you'd better go tell on yourself"

so funny. i almost had a hard time putting on the "what'd you do?" face when he showed up in the doorway of my craftroom.

turns out, he just dropped the mouse and the batteries fell out. no biggee... but the siblings were all scared for him, you could see it in their eyes. which brings me to something else....
why? what exactly did they think i was going to do to him had it been broken? one of them did something odd the other day, too. we were at a store and someone was misbehaving (don't remember which-although i'm pretty sure it was X) so i reached over to grab an arm to pull him close to me, and the child flinched and covered like i was going to just beat the life out of him. wtf? yes, they've had spankings (on their little booties), but i've never reached out and knock 'em around. anyway, that was something that really bothered me and has been on my mind. (please, do not start the debate that spanking is hitting - wasn't my point)

and speaking of getting into trouble....take a look at this guy:

he knows he's not allowed on the trampoline, and yet he does it anyway!! grrrr

okay, fiber fun :D
tonight i have a martini party to go to, soooo.... a little something i made for the hostess.





she is a quilter, so i thought a really deep pincushion would be a ideal.
it is actually a tealight candle holder.... i glued a layer of wool to the inside and then needle felted the big bulb to that. not at all an original idea - i totally stole it from little birds - the one she made is beautiful! check it out

i've never had a martini before... i'm an amaretto kinda gal. are they good?

good times

i hope you all had as much fun on your 4th of July holiday as we did!
there was:
crafting

E, working on a plastic canvas needlepoint picture. and i cast on and finished the bottom of another sophie, this one is turqoise, for my dtr.
gaming

friendly game of checkers between Pop (my dad) and J
food
somehow, i managed to not get pictures of anyone eating, or even the lovely decorated table... hmmm. guess i was too busy stuffing my face ;-P
there were hotdogs, burgers, hotlinks, baked beans and all the fixins'. and then, oh yes, homemade ice cream mmmmm, and my favorite flavor - peanut butter!
confetti poppers

actual fireworks are banned within city limits, so aunt chelle brought kid-friendly confetti poppers :D
more gaming

what is a summer get-together without croquet? dead last. that was me.
fireworks

they were loud and sparkly. this was the first year that i didn't have a kidlet terrified! it was fun to watch and not have to console a crying little one :D
because of my baddass 4X4 suburban, we had front row seating! after the show and there were literally, thousands of vehicles trying to get home, hubby threw it back into 4wheel drive and went "the back way" bouncity-bounce, up some questionable hills and we drove somewhat sideways on a pretty steep incline there for a while. my poor mom. she just knew we were gonna flip. shhhh, i think my dad had more fun than willing to admit :D
(didn't i do good on this photo? wooo- go me!)

the only thing missing was sissy and sherry

happy 4th and some sky

Happy 4th of July!

stay safe and enjoy the fireworks

i missed out on posting my saturday sky,

but i did take photos. here is the sky above Texas this past saturday: