Local Feature

A local photographer, Natalie Myers of Shay Chic Photography has a segment she does on Wednesdays featuring a local crafter called Homegrown Wednesday.

Guess who today's featured crafter is?

If you guessed me, you guessed right.
(If you guessed someone else, shove off.)

Hop on over and be sure to show her, and me, some bloggy love.  

My High School Un-Reunion

High school sucked.  It sucked for everyone but I especially hated it.

We moved to Ohio right before my 9th grade year, making me a transplant among classmates that had been together the previous 9 school years.  I wasn't the judge's kid, I wasn't an athlete, wasn't popular and certainly wasn't rich.  I wasn't in one of the existing cliques and had a hard time making friends.  I was a girl from Nebraska (gasp!) who played in band and I was made, quickly, to feel my place in that school among my classmates.

So it's with mixed emotion that I read a former classmate's blog post about her 15 Year Reunion. The Jefferson Area High School Class of 1996 Reunion.  Our high school class reunion. MY reunion.

What?

On one hand, I don't care because I wouldn't have wanted to go but on the other hand I feel a little like I just got put in my place.  Again, only 15 years later.

And that?  Sucks.

Too Hot for a Hot Tub

This heat is ridiculous.  And relentless.  And calls for swearing.

FUCK it's hot.

We've been in a heat advisory for close to a week now meaning that our temps are hovering at 100 and the heat indexes (indices? indicees?) are well into the 110's.  That's choking on the air hot. That's begging someone else to get the mail for you hot because the driveway will burn the soles off your feet hot. 

So when I got out of the shower yesterday morning, sweating, I wasn't totally surprised and didn't think a whole lot about it until I got an email from Fred about an hour later at work:  Our AC is out. I'm meeting someone there between 1 and 3pm.

A flurry of bad thoughts went swimming in my head, each one worse than the other.  OMG the house is going to be so hot since we have to wait another 5 - 7 hours.  Hot houses means spoiled food.  I hate bad bread. I wonder if the entire system is blown; it is a 14 year old unit. (Heh, I said unit.) I bet we'll have to replace the whole thing.  And that?  Will mean NO trip to Disney World.  Gahhh kill me now, it's hot and I can't see the mouse in a couple months and I have to replace the most major appliance in our house and I don't know how we'll pay for it. I don't even know how much a heat pump thingy is! Or hell, what it even is!  I'm irrational! and! using! too! many! exclamation! points!

I had no choice but to chill out about it for a few hours and was relieved to find out the repair had been done and wasn't going to cost the $14,000 I was envisioning.  It was the capacitor. And this guy?  Had the part in his truck. 

I would later learn that it was not the flux capacitor
that requires 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power. 

Bummer.

Good News:  It got fixed for a reasonable sum and in great time.
Bad News:  The house got up to 84 balmy degrees.
Good news:  I woke up shivering at 5am. 

Ahhhhh.

Random Updates and Smatterings

Those Damn Bushes.  Long blog post short, ugly and pokey bushes line our front walkway and I want them gone.  Now.  We've agreed on 2 years which is now down to 1 year and 8 months since I started the Campaign of Doom in March of this year.  Times-a-tickin, Freddie Bill.

Un-Pregnancy Scare.  Elliot told his classmates all about his little brother the other day.  How he's little and he crawls and he's cute.  His name?  Henry.  Turns out, he meant to say Cousin.

My Numb Hands.  Still happens occasionally but not at the frequency it was.  I'm not bothered enough to actually fork out the money for a doctor's visit and am, instead, somewhat entertained by flicking my hand to see if I can feel it.  I can't.

Feelings. Let's talk about feeeeelings!  As mentioned here, Elliot still has a higher preference for his dad over me.  Most recently I heard this gem: Mom, I like you but I like daddy more so he's going to put me to bed.  Dagger to the heart, man.

My Yard.  Turns out, I'm still not going to be a gardener.  I have managed to keep some flowers alive (read: it's rained on just the right days) but haven't done much more than that.  I blame the bunnies that ate my freshly planted cornflowers and the stupidly hot sun; they have sucked my will to live.  As a gardener, that is.

The Big Craft Update.  Since doing all of of my updates and announcing my upcoming appearance at the Farmers' Market, I've sold a business card wallet, a doll quilt and three pairs of pajamas.  I'm also going to be featured (not sure when) on a local blogger's Homegrown Wednesday segment!  Hooray!

Posts.  While I know they have been infrequent as of late, they're inching up to the 500 mark.  What should we do?  Have a blog party?  (What is a blog party?)  Have a giveaway of some kind?

Anyway

• I can only get John Tesh on my radio in the evening but I listen to him anyway because I can't imagine not sewing for even one night.
• When Elliot tells me he doesn't like me, I hug him harder anyway because it makes me feel better.
• Even though I'm watching what I eat, I take the family out for ice cream anyway.
• My house is never very clean, but I feel at home anyway.
• Fred hates when I dump pictures onto the desktop and leave them there but I do it anyway because I'm just that lazy.
• He, apparently, loves me anyway.  (Or just tolerates it?)
• The outfits Elliot picks are awful but I let him go to preschool them in them anyway because I choose to pick my battles.
• Every month we swear off eating out very much but go to Lazlo's anyway, so, you know, we can discuss this idea.
• I shake my head and roll my eyes at Fred and even though Elliot has mastered the exact action I do it anyway.
• I'm not too keen on swimming but we put Elliot in lessons anyway so he doesn't grow up scared of deep water like his momma.
• Following up statements with "your mom" comments is pretty outdated but I do it anyway.
• I really hate being bossy (ha) but I trained Fred on the only way to fold towels anyway because there definitely is a wrong and right way to do it.
• Same goes for yelling "duh" at Fred, but I do it anyway.
• And Blogger doesn't recognize definitely as a word but I'm using it anyway.
• It's hard to talking with someone that is having a hard time but I do it anyway and hope they'd do the same for me.
• Watching sports is torture but I do it anyway if that's what the boys are doing.
• I'm scared to death I'll fail at this weekend's Farmers' Market, but I'm doing it anyway.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Idea taken from Ashley - family, friend and private blogger.

Ready or Not...

Well, folks, I can't back out now.  I'm officially signed up for - and paid - 2 local farmers' markets.  I've done nothing but sew for the last few weeks (read: months) and am finally taking the plunge.

I think I'm ready, do you?

If you're local, come on down to the Haymarket Farmers' Market the mornings of Saturday July 16 and July 30th from 8am until noon.

For more pics, go here.