How much can it rain in an hour?

A ton! In this picture is the bayou that runs behind my house. Ordinarily it is so small and so shallow (about 2 feet across and a foot deep) that you can't see it from the back door. There's a small drop off on our side so when it floods it goes the other way, fortunately. This is what it looked like after an hour of rain this afternoon.



That's about 30 feet across and there were tree branches that went zipping by from time to time.

I was pretty mad about the rain...no, I'm really mad at the contractor building two houses on the other side of my neighbor. They've completely blocked the ditch in front of our house so it doesn't drain. I called public works and mosquito abatement about 2 weeks ago about this problem. I got an immediate response from the mosquito guys the last time I called. They came out at 7 am the very next morning, not only did they treat the ditch they also treated around the house so they would stay away from the house. Those people get West Nile phobia. I don't know if public works ever actually came out or not. So this afternoon when I get home, I see they came in and dumped another load of dirt in what little bit was left of the ditch. I was so pissed. I called public works again and she promised me they'd be out in the morning. If the people working on that house were ever actually there I'd give them a piece of my mind, but they're like house elves or something. A little work gets done every now and then, but you never see them there.

Anyway, the rain is good for some things. Check out how curly Lauren's hair got.

15 Things that Make me Happy

1. My family
2. Stitching
3. My Tuesday night group
4. Getting unexpected mail/email
5. Driving with the radio on loud on a sunny day
6. Coming home to a clean house
7. The episode of That 70's Show when Eric, Donna and Kelso are stealing the street sign for Hyde
8. Actually cooking something that tastes good
9. When the kids all fall asleep early (which enables...)
10. Steak...lots of it LOL
11. Chocolate
12. Going on our Florida vacations
13. Sleeping late
14. A long hot uninterrupted bath
15. A good book

MIT Weblog Survey

This survey is making the blog rounds

Finally FINISHED

It's really bad when the people in your stitching group start to comment about how long it's taking you to finish a particular project. However, I finally finished my most recent project. It's for someone that reads my blog so I don't want to post a picture of it until I confirm that she's gotten it. And she'll probably have to wait a bit because Daddy-O hasn't made the frame yet.

So, I started my Stitcher's Lane RR tonight. I think it's going to be a quick stitch. Thank goodness, because I'm really starting to stress out over the amount of stitching I need to do versus the amount that I'm actually getting done.

Let's see...I'm also starting to wonder about when in the world are Lauren and Maria going to start talking? They're 15 months and don't say much else other than uh oh, and bye bye. They do however understand things. They can talk to each other. They actually 'talk' all day long, but apparently not in a language I understand. Well, there are times that I can get what they're talking about. Like Sunday James and Eva went swimming and Lauren said something like Where's Daddy and I told her that he went bye bye with Eva and then she went to Eva's room and said something to the effect that Eva was gone. None of this was said in any sort of semblance of English but I understood what she was trying to get across. I've read the twins sort of develop their own language and that regular language skills can be delayed. My MIL said that her twins had their own language and no one knew what they were talking about for years. So, I'm not going to start worrying about it too much yet, since my SILs are grown up now and do in fact talk LOL


I thought about attending Jaime Daigle's wake. It's probably a good thing I didn't go. Over 1,000 people were in attendance. She was a beautiful girl. It's such a shame what happened to her.

Pretty Slow Around Here

A New Pic of the Girls!


Nothing very exciting going on around here.


I watched a few movies over the weekend. I saw Troy. I thought it was pretty good. I'm not one for being fussy about historical details so all the complaints I heard about it didn't really make any difference. I never got people getting upset about that kind of stuff. It's a movie not a documentary! I also finally watched Freaky Friday. I thought it was cute. Jamie Lee Curtis didn't really look her best, but it was fun and entertaining. I also got to see part of Sugar and Spice. I know it's a really corny movie, but I think it's hilarious. It has one of my favorite movie lines in it. "I'm tired of all the fighting and backstabbing and open hosility. We aren't acting like cheerleaders, we're acting like sorority girls".

Saturday J took the girls to his parents house again. So I had the day to myself. I did the grocery shopping. I'm such a wild girl! LOL

I'm finally getting close to my current stitching project. I have a little bit more on the over one corners then a little more in the center part then a few beads and I'll be done. Hopefully my dad got the frame made over the weekend.

Here's a new picture of the girls

Weekend Recap

Wow! What a full weekend we had! Saturday we went to a baby shower for one of Eva's teachers. I gave her that Sweetheart Tree baby sampler. I got the appropriate amount of Ooohing and Aaahing. LOL Then Saturday night we went to my grandparents for a BBQ for Father's Day.

My grandmother got a new dog, Gracie. There's a bit of backstory to that. She had bought a miniature Manchaster from a breeder in Houston last week. My aunt was there for a horse show and picked him up. While she was at the pet store buying supplies for him, there was a couple there with a dog up for adoption that they had found on side the road. She couldn't resist her, so they adopted her too. Jake, the Manchester, was delivered this morning, so now they have 2 dogs. I really like Gracie, very sweet, very loving, and doesn't bark. Jake, I think is going to have to grow on me. He's a bit of a barker.

Sunday we went to a wedding at Hemingbough. It was very nice. They had peacocks roaming the grounds and during the ceremony they kept making all this racket. If you've never heard a peacock the closest sound I could think of was cats in heat. The food was very good. I asked J if it was weird that we were on a plantation and everybody attending the wedding was white and all the staff were black.

Then when we got home I went to the store and got J a giant cookie cake and picked him up dinner at his favorite restaraunt. Eva made a big production out of the cookie cake and insisted that we put candles on it and sing Happy Birthday. So, I guess he had a good Father's Day.

Yes, another one, can you stand it?

I just have too much fun with these


Sexy - Your body is your temple. Playful, and at
times childish and ditzy, you can be smarter
than you look when you actually try to be.
Whatever is fluffy, cute and attracts the
opposite sex is on the top of your list.

What Faerie Personality Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Legalizing Prostitution

This morning on my local talk radio station there was a discussion about legalizing prostitution. I might be the oddball woman, but I support the idea of legalizing prostitution. I watched a documentary on HBO about a place in Nevada called the Bunny Ranch. If prostitution was to be legalized here, I think that would be ideal. The women all work out of this one house/bordello. All their business is conducted there, no working on the street stuff. The financial transaction took place first with the house manager there. Some percentage went to the house for overhead expenses, but it was fairly low from what I remember. All the rooms had surveillance cameras to make sure the guys weren't hurting the girls (or vice versa I guess) and bouncers on scene. Every month there was a doctor that came in and examined all the girls for disease and drugs and passed out birth control. The girls were required to submit to that exam to keep their job. How much were these girls making? $25,000 a week. Not a year, not a month, but $25K a WEEK.

I think the bordello business model would be an ideal situation. The proposal was brought up that they should be taxed. I think it would be easy if the legal prostitutes were required to work out of houses rather than on the streets. If the house can manage to take their percentage, they can just take a little more for taxes. Their medical care could be easily taken care of. Safety measures are in place to keep away the psychos, as much as they can be kept away.

Anyway, that's something else I'm thinking about this morning.

Thursday's Ramblings

Yes, I watched Dancing With the Stars last night. I'm kinda bummed Evander was out, but he really couldn't get it together. Joey looked healthy last night. He looked well rested, tan, and not strung out on something. I have to take back my original opinion of Rachel Hunter. I think I just didn't like her dress the first night. She did really good last night. She is very elegant.

I also watched that show The Inside on Fox. I'm not too sure on that one. Definately unoriginal. What's up with the main female character. She looks like she's about 16 or something. Did I miss the first episode or something and she really is 16?

I thought I had seen the last of the eyelets on the stitching project I have going on, but this morning I noticed that I had two that were off. Frogging eyelets is a real PITA. However, I think the rest should stitch up really fast and I might actually finish it sometime next week. Maybe. It could be wishful thinking.

I really hope my dad gets my frame done today. The party is Saturday. I need to have it painted or stained and aired out before then. I asked him if he was going to have it done this week, because if he couldn't I could go get one made somewhere real quick. He assured me that he would be able to. I still haven't seen it yet.

Not much else going on. Lauren and Maria have been fighting like cats and dogs. I just don't know what to do about that. On one hand I feel like they're going to need to work out their differences, but on the other I don't want them to be so angry with each other. Yesterday, when I got home, my mom had put them in their beds to separate them for awhile. So that might be the answer for now.

Cold Mountain

Last night I watched Cold Mountain. I thought it was fairly good. My mom and my aunt hated it, but I couldn't remember why. Once it started getting close to the end I remembered why. They were mad that Inman died. I did like how it portrayed women as strong and capable of taking care of themselves. It also got me wondering if there are any Civil War (aka The War of Northern Aggression LOL) movies that are from the aspect of the North. It seems like all movies are from the vision of the Southerners. I couldn't think of any, but I didn't really get past Gone With the Wind.

I did stitch a little more. This piece I'm working on is taking me forever! I do have stitching tonight though, so maybe I'll get a little more done.

I think my Gmail address is being spoofed. I let Gmail know about it. I'm curious to see what their answer will be.

I don't even want to talk about the Jacko Verdict....

Weekend Recap

Well, we did end up going out. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything exciting. I was asleep by 10 pm if that tells you anything. Oh well.

I did go stitching for a few hours at my LNS and that was fun. I met a BB member in person and that was kinda weird that she knew me from the boards. LOL I felt like a celebrity or something LOL. Anyway, she was really nice and I enjoyed her company.

I got a little more stitching in at 3 am this morning. There was a bed wetting incident so by time you have to get up to help change clothes and get laundry started, it's pretty hard to go back to sleep. I watched Kinsey. It was pretty good, more in the interesting side rather than the entertaining side.

Sad news, both of the fish died today. The circumstances are rather suspicious. They were both fine this morning. I took a nap for a couple of hours and when I woke up they were both gone. How can two fish die like that in just a matter of a couple of hours?

I'm going out!

J and I are going out for the first time in like over a year. I can't believe it's been that long. I told him that we could do anything he wants to do, that I wouldn't question it, complain, or disagree in anyway. My only request was to not tell me beforehand. So, God only knows what we'll end up doing. The only hint I've gotten is he asked if my mom was going to be able to stay overnight. She said she would...so we'll see!!

Ok, scratch that....J says he's too tired. Grrrrrr. Jerk.

I'm driving myself crazy

I have nothing to do at work, and I'm really anxious about a few things that will culminate today. So, I'm taking my mind off it by taking quizzes.

I took the What Highschool Stereotype Are You quiz on Quizfarm.com. I was 70% Goth. I thought that was pretty amusing. Just the other day I was thinking that I'm closet Goth if there is such a thing.

What Barbie would I be?
You're Soroity Slut Barbie! You're easy and you're
really cheesy! Have fun with the entire
football team.

I took the picture out because it was too big,
but it was really funny.

If You Were A Barbie...
brought to you by Quizilla

What Napoleon Dynamite character am I? So sad...LOL

You are Kip Dynamite and you love technology.


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

What type of Killer am I?
You are an assassin.
That means you are a professional and do your job without mixing any emotions in it. In your life you have probably been hurt many times and have gotten some mental scars. This results in you being distant from people. Though many think that you are evil, you are not. What you really are is a person, trying to forget your pain and past. You are the person who never seems to care and that is why being an assassin fits you good. Atleast, that's what people think. Even if you don't care that much for your victims, you still have the ability to care and to generally feel. It is not lost, just a little forgotten. In crowds you tend to not get to noticed, and dress in black or other discrete colours. You don't being in the spotlight and wish people would just leave you alone. But once you do get close to someone you have a hard time letting go and get real down if you loose him/her.

Main weapon: Sniper
Quote: "The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy" -Jim Rohn
Facial expression: Narrowed eyes

If I had a Light Saber, it would be...
Yellow. You've made a yellow Lightsaber Yellow is the color of Honor and Loyalty. It symbolizes caution and foreboding in either direction of the blade, Meaning that the owner is relatively cautious...but also to be cautious of them. Since Yellow stands for both Honor and Cowardice, Once should always think twice before attacking someone with a Yellow Saber.

Which Dysfunctional Care Bear are You?
Ok, I was Tramp Bear. I'm not even going to post the description because it's so not true!

Two Mermaids in One Week

The Goddess of Water and Anger. You are a reclusive
loner . Always wary and deliberate, once youve
got a friendship, its for life and you are
exceptionally considerate. You are a serene
beauty.


Which gorgeous goddess are you? For girls! (breath taking pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

A Name from the Past

Today I was listening to Sean Hannity and offhandedly he mentioned the name Sista Solja...I can't even remember the context. I was instantly transported back to Freshman Year High School. I was instantly mortified at the same time! I don't even want to elaborate for those who have no idea what I'm talking about.

It's been pretty quiet...except for the frogs and the bird that keeps flying into the kitchen window. It's storming...again. If TD #1 becomes Tropical Storm Arlene and we get a direct hit, at least we've been prepared by these last two weeks.

I went shopping today. I got Eva 3 pairs of shorts and a t-shirt, Lauren and Maria each an outfit, and James a button down shirt and khaki shorts. Did I buy myself any clothes? Of course not, and I'm probably most in need of new clothes. I HATE clothes shopping for myself. Hate isn't even a strong enough word.

I think I figured out another reason why I haven't been stitching. TV just sucks right now. Although I did watch Fire Me Please last night and laughed pretty good at it. Dancing With the Stars comes on again tonight and I'll probably watch it. I did watch Anchorman yesterday. So funny! I have Kinsey set to arrive tomorrow. Some conservative group came out with a list of the 10 most dangerous pieces of literature and the Kinsey Report was on that list. So I'll have to see what's so controversial about him.

We just had an Amber Alert. Of course it's nowhere to be found on the internet. I thought that was sort of the purpose, but anyway.

X-tasy

I swear someone must have slipped me some because I've been ridiculously happy and in love with everything tonight. Except my damn cat. He's being REALLY annoying.

I found this quiz on the Itsiest Blog. It was fun! Not too surprised by the result.


What Mythological Creature are you? (Cool Pics!)
created with QuizFarm.com

Mermaid: Mermaids are also known as Sirens. These creatures were beautiful women who tricked sailors into becoming completely entranced by their haunting voices and found death soon after. Not all stories of Mermaids are about gentle loving sea people. They are mystical, magical, and extremely dangerous. They have a way about them that brings anyone they are around to seem enchanted. They are very mysterious creatures and to meet one... Would mean certain Death. Let the song of the Sea fill your soul, for you are a Mermaid.

Anniversary

Today is my 5 year anniversary. That just seems hard to believe. On one hand it feels like this time has gone by so fast, and on the other it seems like he was always there. Even to the point when I bring up things that happened in my past he has to remind me that he didn’t know me then. I’ve noticed that he’s done it a few times to and I’ll have to remind him he did that with some other woman. LOL Our relationship seems like it’s going well. Some nice highs, no real lows. We had a great weekend to celebrate. No going out, but some fantastic steak dinners! J is mostly a hamburger guy, but when he goes fancy, he goes all out!

It’s weird though, whenever our anniversary rolls around I inevitably think of all the other relationships that could have been. There are 2 that I thought were so important at the time. Turns out they were completely insignificant, I had to even think to remember their names. There’s another though, at the time it was just nothing, a fling maybe, but not even that. There was nothing even there to end, we both just drifted away, and he’s the one that I always wonder “what if” about. Funny how that happens.

Another stormy weekend and more on the way today. Sunday morning we went for a walk at 8 am and it had just finished raining. It was like a steam room, you couldn’t even breathe properly. At 8 am! I’m so sick of the hot weather and it’s only the beginning of June. There’s still like 4 months of this weather.

Stitching has not been going well. I haven’t stitched in days. I tried yesterday and got about 2 dozen stitches in. In a slump I guess. I’m hoping to get myself motivated again, by starting a gift for a friend. Hmmmm, thinking of that, I need to get working on my Secret Stitcher scissor fob.

I got our first Netflix delivery Friday. I watched Mean Girls. It was cute. A little more serious than I originally thought, but El had warned me about that. Oh, and I’ll admit, I watched Dancing With the Stars. Yes, I’m a loser. What’s up with Joey McIntyre? He looks like he’s drunk or stoned or just woke up after being drunk or stoned. He did dance well though, but he was already somewhat experienced with that. Evander Holyfield, he was hot. That’s all I can say about that without getting all giggly.

All this lack of internet connection is driving me crazy. At home it’s sporadic because Cox is upgrading their wiring. The guy mentioned something about nodes or nodules or something and how changing those could be interfering with my access. At work we don’t have it this morning because their equipment got struck by lightning or a power surge or something. So, my boredom this morning is the reason for this super long entry.

I was pretty disappointed that my babysitter (aka Mom) was out of town this weekend. I really wanted to go to the Pimps N Hos (how do you spell that?) party at one of the local strip clubs. LOL Kidding! I was curious to know what a Pimps N Hos party was though. Do you dress up? Are those the only people allowed? Reading their signs is one of the highlights of my drive home. When you cross the parish line there’s 3 or 4 strip clubs clustered in one little area and they seem to try to outdo each other with their clever signs which change daily. I am easily amused.

Quiz

Tracy took this quiz, so I did too. It came back January as my birth month...I was born in September though....

Your True Birth Month Is January

Loyal Social Logical Easily jealous Loves children Rather reserved Highly attentive Likes to criticize Needs close friends Ambitious and serious Smart, neat and organized Hardworking and productive Loves to teach and be taught Quiet unless excited or tensed Sensitive and has deep thoughts Knows how to make others happy Searches for the greatest romance Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds Romantic but has difficulties expressing love Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses

What's Your True Birth Month?

Mama called the doctor...

And the doctor said...I'm not going deaf. I had my appointment with the audiologist and he said that the hearing problems I'm having are due to my ears not being totally healed. The ENT confirmed that there's still a lot of inflammation, but no sign of infection or fluid build up.

Ezboard is still crapped out, but there are signs of improvement.

My ebay auctions are going well.

Some of you may be grossed out by this, but I thought it was so funny. L & M were eating some ice cream last night and they were licking it off of each other's faces. They were so cute! They thought it was hilarious!

Disaster!

Disaster has befallen Ezboard. It was the target of a malicious hacker and now all the boards are screwed up, including my board Just Plain Chat. We lost some posts, but not too bad. Mainly I can't post, some threads I can't even open. It looks like it will be several days before Ezboard knows if they'll be able to rectify the situation.

You'd think that would give me more stitching time. No. I've been screwing around on Ebay. I'm about to sell my breast pump for more than I bought it for LOL I think I'm going to start listing some DVDs. The post office has priority boxes that are perfect sized for DVDs. We have a bunch of DVDs that we don't watch anymore. They've been packed in a box since we moved over a year ago.

Let's see what I can do to kill some time....

From the Weather Goddess
25 Most Asked Stitching Questions:

1. How old were you when you started cross stitching?
I remember doing it when I was little, maybe 9 or 10. I didn't start really stitching until I was about 19. My first big piece was Annmarie's Wedding Sampler. Thinking back on it, it probably looks horrible.

2. Who taught you to cross stitch?
My mom taught me the basics. I've taught myself from there.

3. What inspired you to begin cross stitching?
Mostly boredom. I can't just sit and watch TV. I feel like I need to be doing something else. Stitching is good for that. Also, it makes for good presents.

4. What has been your most difficult cross stitch piece?
Hmmm...maybe Lanarte's The Bride. The chart was hand drawn and that's always a challenge to figure out. It used about 15 different shades of ecru, light tan, eggshell, taupe, etc. It got difficult to figure out where I was at some points.

5. Do you have friends that stitch?
I have a bunch of online friends. Then, I have my Tuesday night stitching group, if I ever make it back. Plus, my aunts Debbie and Pam stitch.

6. What is your favourite stitched piece?
That's tough. Maybe Santa's Magic or Lady of the Flag.

7. What is your favorite fabric?
32 ct. anything. Lugana and Linen are preferred, but I've been stitching on Jobelan lately and it's not as bad as I remember.

8. What is your favorite fiber?
Vicki Clayton silks. Reasonable prices, pretty colors.

9. What is your favorite needle?
John James Petites size 26

10. Do you prefer black & white or colored charts?
Black and white is best!

11. How many Works In Progress do you have at this time?
Let's not go there.

12. How many UFO's do you have at this time?
Ummm, I don't have anything I don't intend to finish at this time. I got rid of a few several months ago.

13. How many cross stitch charts/kits/mags do you own?
Probably hundreds. I've never counted. Actually, probably not that many. Maybe more than 100, but less than 200.

14. How much fabric do you have in stock at this time?
An obsene amount. I was going through a fabric phase for awhile and I acquired a lot. I have one of those large 20 gallon rubbermaid boxes overflowing with fabric. I do use it though!


15. Where is your favorite place to stitch?
In my chair at home.

16. What is your favorite time of day to stitch?
Late at night after everyone else has gone to bed.

17. How many pieces have you stitched in your lifetime?
It looks like I have about 54 in my Picturetrail Album. There's probably 3 or 4 more that I don't have pictures of.

18. Do you give your stitched pieces away?
Yes, but not all. I've been trying to keep more of them.

19. How many different fibers do you have in stock at this time?
A lot. Remember the Fabric Phase? Now I'm in a Fiber Phase. I've bought so much thread lately.

20. How many pairs of scissors do you own?
Only 2 pairs of good one. My favorite are my Black Ginghers. I have a ton of scissors tough. I buy the cheapo ones a lot.

21. Do you use stitching enhancers (lights, scroll frames...etc)?
I use a variety of q-snaps. At home I use an ott lite.

22. How many pieces that have been stitched but not yet framed or finished off in some other way do you have at this time?
I have 2 that I know of. Wintery Mix and a little peacock.

23. Do you have a craft/stitching room?
No. I have a walk-in closet though.

24. Why do you stitch?
It's a stress reducer. I like the sense of accomplishment that it gives me. It also makes me feel productive when I'm just sitting around.

25. What is your most memorable time related to cross stitching?
I guess Eva helping me. She likes to pull the thread through. I can't think of anything really outstanding.