holding my breath . . . jumble of a story

I am sooooooooooooooo darn excited. Today we headed out to find a work surface for my new scrap room. Oooooh, can I please be presumptuous and call it a 'studio'. Pleeeeease. The first stop turned out to be a molding company . . . still wondering why the Lowe's guy sent us there. They could not help . . . with the work surface, but boy could they help us with the crown molding I want. Hooray. Nice people and they had the two cutest poodle/something pups. The first referral he sent us to did wholesale only, not so nice, but we fell in love with their 140 lb golden. Off to the second referral, we can hear the barking as we get out of the car . . . do you see a theme here? Again, nice people, and the very ancient, very sweet pooch looks part black border collie, part Heinz. Yes they can do me a work surface BUT, they can also design and install all the under counter cabinetry too. Said he would stop by this afternoon to measure. Called saying he was running a tad late . . . no problem. He arrives with folder in hand . . . design ready. Two work stations, three banks of drawers, one with a filing cabinet. I am overwhelmed. Can we really do this? I mean a REAL work space not just a door on two cabinets. I am overwhelmed. Did I mention that??? Shakily, I signed on the bottom line. WooEEEEE!!

we're getting there. . .

We went to Lowe's today to look at options for the desktop work space for my new scrap room. We did not fare well. Counter tops have lips that will not work, and doors are too short and would have to be pieced. Know anyone who makes a 10' 6" door??? But, the nice guy in that department gave us the name of a local vendor that might be able to help us. We will check them out tomorrow morning. Hooray!! Next stop, paint. WooEEEE!! Picked out two blues: the one I originally fell in love with and a slightly darker one just in case. And, the brown for the accent wall. Yep. BROWN. 'Cork board' brown to be exact. Their paint sample machine was sick and down for the count so I grabbed a handful of each paint chip, brought them home and with the help of a removable Hermie, stuck them to the wall. Hooray, it really is the lighter blue I want. Ah, but one more stop before leaving Lowe's, we headed to shelving and nicely displayed on a wall were the invisible support shelves I have been looking for. My stamps will have a home on the wall. Oh, I cannot wait.

In the meantime, Thursday, I pick up the last of the Jetmax cubes I ordered at ACMoore. Who knew they would special order the ones they did not carry? Thanks Katie, for making me ask. The brown accent wall will be broken up by a white 16 cube mass of storage space. Happy, happy.

OK, OK, we all know I am design challenged. And here I am on my own, let loose to pick out my own color scheme. Three blue walls, one brown wall, white trim with white wood slat window covers. I know it sounds odd. But keep your fingers crossed it works out.

Oh and for those with whom I shared the story of Katie, my Miata, the brakes and the saw stand, my neighbor who works part time in Lowe's one upped me. Her dh owns a race car he stores in their garage. Somehow he managed to pop it in gear sending it crashing into their wall, smashing everything in sight including piping!!!! Ouch.

now I know why they call them bucket seats . . .

Poor Bru. On top of his failing kidneys, I heard a heart wrenching cat scream night before last coming from the bathroom. I flew out of bed in time to see him literally relieving himself while balanced on the top of an open packing box of Katie's toiletries. Good Grief, Bru, why there??? But I have been around cats all my life and knew it was a pretty good indication that it was something physical especially since Bru has never been into paybacks like some other cat I might name . . . Snoop are you listening??? So first thing yesterday morning, I call the vet and they ask that I bring him in and leave him so they can fit him in. Now above all else, Bru hates the trip to the vets. Hates it, hates it, hates it. To make it easier on him, I have stopped using a cat carrier which he hates even more. So with car keys in one hand and cat tucked safely under the other arm, I get in the Miata, my precious "other" baby and back out of the garage. While waiting for the door to go back down, I smell an aroma. Come on now, you cat lovers know what I mean. It is the unmistakeable stench of cat urine. Huh? What? Where? I look over and Bru, embarrassed as can be, is staring at my now urine fill bucket seat. ACK!! I jump out, open the garage door, run inside, grab a towel and a tupperware jar and run back. Ya gotta love plastic when the bucket seat is holding up like a swimming pool. I swoop up a quick sample for the vet, drop down the towel, all the time making sure Bru is still in the car and has not escaped to wander the neighborhood. ACK!!.

Without further incident, Bru, I and one very stinky little red Miata get to the vet's office. I hate parting with him, even for a short time. Fast forward to early afternoon. The vet calls and as I suspected, Bru has a urinary track infection. Keeping Frank company because he has one as well. Sigh. So home comes Bru with antibiotics and pain medicine and off I go to find a bottle of Fabreeze . . . driving of course with the top down.

So, how was your day???? Snicker, snicker.

The Muppet Show -

This just cracks me up.

freedom at last . . .

. . after being trapped by rain, shackled to a computer rebuilding it from the rubble and up to my eyeballs in wizards and wands for the last several days, it was clearly time to escape. I had company, Katie, as well was feeling the need.

We turned north, top down, radio blaring Josh Groban, headed for the 'loop'. What is the loop you might well ask? The 'loop' is a long stretch of narrow winding road looping through the tidal basin. It is mostly covered by a canopy of trees and moss so thick it rarely lets in light even in late summer afternoon . . . clearing only when it hits the open water of the basin itself. Then it wobbles and meanders along the natural waterways weaving in and out along the canals. Those woods are full of deer, possum and coons . . . all visible when the headlights catch their eyes. A wild eerie place at night, a place one is drawn to. At one point the tree frogs were singing in such competition with Josh that we turned off the radio to listen to the cacophony. After finally turning east and crossing the inter coastal waterway, we have our choice of dropping down the river side of the barrier island or down the beach side. We opt for the river but yearn instead for the sea. Backtracking, we cross over to the ocean and drop down its southern route. The shrimp boats are out in force, gaily lit with colored lights marching up the masts and out the net poles. The moon is still murky from the wet skies and the smell is rich with salt. The view, only occasionally obscured by sea oats lining the side of the road, is a vista without compare. But soon we hit civilization and the appearance of the tattoo parlors, Handi-Mart and Pecker's Lounge mark the arrival of O' by the Sea. It is time to cross back over to the river side. Another winding road, this one marked by stately old homes, newly built monstrosities and a few smaller dwellings that have not yet been snapped up and doomed for demolition. We are finally back in town and crossing back over to the mainland, can still not yet face the abundance of traffic and light. Instead we drop yet further south on the far side of the river and finally turn west toward home on back streets. It has been a good night.

remember the velveteen rabbit . . .

. . . and how scruffy he looked because he was so well loved. Well, here is our version. Bru.

flowers in abundance . . .

Did you ever have so much to do that you just shut down and go for something entirely different? The house needs cleaning, there are errands to run, I still need to finish reloading all my songs on to iTunes, I'm half way through Harry Potter, and I can't get past a busy tone at Symantec . . . so what's a body to do? Flop on the bed, goodies in hand and make flowers. What am I going to use them for? Who knows . . . just nice to have something calming for my hands to do.