New Pics and Art

For those two or three of you who might actually read this, I will be cross-posting some of this on my other blog...

I had 207 items on my camera, so decided it was time to download. But before I did, I took some pics of my latest piece. I was inspired by a sermon our pastor did where he talked about listening with your head vs. listening with your heart.


What is the "18-inch Gap"? It's the approximate distance between your head and your heart. How do you hear Him? Do you hear Him directly, or through a filter?

Close ups...

That's Newton, my cat. He looks on a bit disinterested. Why are you bothering me, he wonders.

This is one of the largest pieces I have ever done, approx. 12" x 18". It was incredible doing it... it started as I heard the sermon, and began sketching and taking notes right there in church (well... who said when you take notes in church they had to be written???). I then came home and didn't actually work on it for a few days... maybe weeks.... I did a rough layout, tried various letters and options... The color even is inspired. Grey, behind the head. Why? What do we call the brain (pssst.... grey matter!). And what color is the heart (um.... supposedly red, right?).
My hubby (the Bugman) thinks its weird, but then again, he thinks most of what I do is weird. He loves me enough to be impressed, and to build me a "studio" in our garage.

Oh, and Novel Approach is open again after the hurricane, and had a Hurricane sale where you (for a fee, of course) stuff the bag. I came home with a bundle of stuff including lots of papers, Pinata alcohol inks, some Neopaque paints, some Memory Makers acrylic paints, some stickers... and more paper, and more paper. And ONE Magenta (brand) stamp. Love Magenta (older stuff especially). I intended to get there at 10 a.m. when they opened, but last night my back was broken out (allergic reaction to SOMETHING we can't identify) so I took Benedryl. Not good, in that I did NOT want to get up this morning, and ended up there an hour late (and I'm sure I missed out on a bundle of good stuff).

BTW, how come when I DO cook lately no one wants to eat, but if I DON'T cook, then they gripe that there is nothing to eat??? I just can't win!

Oh well.

Here I am!

How are you all? We are doing well. Ike was kind to us, although our business has been SLOW. Bugman had to venture into new territory...no, not bug territory, but employment territory. Bugman AND Buddyboy have gone to work "for the Man". Bugman is delivering pizza for a major pizza chain, and Buddyboy is going to be answering phones and making pizzas. I thought about a parttime job (hmmm... William-Sonoma would be good... ) but we figured after taxes, and paying for Legoboy to babysit, I would have about a buck left for profit. Not really worth it, huh?

School is going well, but I am getting burned out. Legoboy leaves me weary, and Buddyboy is really working hard in his Biology class, but is struggling to keep up. Luckily his teacher (my favorite doctor!) is so kind-hearted and understanding. She is really trying to help him. I am proud of him.

Shall we mention politics? Uh, no, let's not. It's too depressing for me.

Oh good news (yes, there is some!). God is good! And... for the first time in 15 years, we are getting a "refund". I overpaid when we filed our extension, and we are getting a bunch back and with the "stimulus" check (what a joke) I will have more than enough to pay my school taxes, my county taxes, my homeowner's insurance, my windstorm insurance, and my city taxes. LOL... wait, where did that money go that I got back?????

Other good news! I found a plumber (bless his heart... he was wonderful! Mike's Plumbing here in League City) and he got our gas line run... and my new stove was delivered, and is now hooked up! Waaaahoooo! and I am now "cooking with gas!". I am soooo happy. You can see what I got here.

Okay kids are hungry. guess I should go feed them. They always seem to be hungry... hmmm.

Surviving Hurricane Ike

Howdy friends. Life has been pretty busy the past few weeks. We got back to school, as well as starting co-op. I just haven't had lots of time for blogging.

Just to let you know, yes, we did stay for Ike. For those reading this who may not know, I live approximately 25 miles northwest of Galveston, straight up I-45. Compared to many in the Houston, Galveston area, our town weathered the storm very well. Most of our little town has power again, and things are starting to feel more "normal".

My husband (Bugman) decided to stay for the hurricane, and I wasn't going to leave without him. So, stay we did. It is incredible to witness the power of God in action. Truthfully, the storm wasn't as scary as I expected, but maybe that was because of the peace I had (read Psalm 91 over and over!). It was after, with no power and it being so miserably hot, that was so awful.

We had really no damage to our house, no fence to fall, and so just a lot of tree-debris to clean up. Bugman got a new chainsaw and had lots of fun (still is!) helping neighbors cut up limbs and trees in their yards.

We spent Saturday after the storm cleaning up our yard of large debris items, and then cleaning up the gutters and storm drains on our street to help the water go down. Many on my street were not as lucky as us, and had large (HUGE) trees down in their yards or even in their homes.

Sunday, we left after church to go out of town. Our congregation meets in a school, which turned out to be the hardest hit school of all the ones in our district (so who knows where we will meet after this!). We met at our pastor's home for that Sunday. We left Sunday and headed for Roanoke, TX (just north of Ft. Worth). We stayed with our dear friend Pat (kids call her "Mama Pat"... she loves it!). We got a call Monday that there was power again in our house, and Tuesday we headed back. We ate lunch at our favorite Roanoke spot Babe's Chicken Dinner House and went away happy.

Wednesday was dedicated to finishing our yard, as well as helping other families with theirs. Other than a slight altercation with a neighbor (who wanted to wait for "the city" to take care of his problems), we actually had a great time, bonding with neighbors and getting to know some we had not met before. Our side of the street had power on Monday, but our neighbors across the street had none until Wednesday night. We ran an extension cord over to them so they could run a fan, or plug in their refrigerator.

Stores have been low on lots of items.... milk, cheese, eggs have been scarce, but are getting more plentiful. I went today and was able to get everything I wanted. I think one of the keys is to go EARLY. Gas lines are getting shorter. Over all, we have been blessed in more ways than we can imagine!

So many in our area are still without power. It is quite sad and depressing. My sister-in-law up in Kingwood (north of Houston) may not have power until late next week.

I think the saddest part for me is throwing out so much good food (and then smelling it rot in front of the house).

I will blog more later. I am still in awe of the power of God and how much he does for us.

Just to show off... here are my boys.
Left to right... LittleJ (7), Buddyboy (16), Tiny (4) and Legoboy (13).

Isn't that an awesome picture?

Freezer's Fine

You know, since Sears got bought by Kmart, it's service and quality have diminished greatly. It was very disappointing for us, as we had always bought Sears items due to their great service and policies. Well, the deep freeze is a Kenmore (bought five years ago, before Sears changed hands) and since we didn't want to deal with Sears (my service nightmare story has to do with another Sears product... I'll tell it another day!), we called an independent service guy. He told us that our model had had lots of problems in the past, and made suggestions as to what the problem might be, but said on top of all that, he couldn't come until Monday. Great. I might lose all my stuff!

So, we caved and called Sears. They said Saturday. Great. We'll take it.

That was Tuesday. I thought I was going to have to go through five or six more nights of listening to that stinkin' alarm go off at 3 a.m. out in the garage telling me it was "off temp-er-ture" (said in my best Marvin Zindler accent).

But, God is so good! Wednesday, they called and said a technician would be in the area that day, could he come by and check today! Yes, Ma'am! The tech was a 37 year Sears repair veteran, and knew EVERYTHING! He checked the freezer, said it was fine, but gave us some advice (it was off temp because of the nine gallon bottles of water I put in it in prep for the "hurricane", and because of the boxes I had stored on top... which kept the condenser working harder). He also came in and told bugman how to fix the door to the fridge inside (also a Kenmore, 10 years old). AND.... when bugman said "I want your card so I can request you next time" we found out he is a MASTER PLUMBER! How cool is that??

Now, why is that cool, you may ask. It's cool because we need a plumber who can run a gas line to our kitchen for our new stove! I really feel like God sent this wonderful man our way to bless us. We are very excited. Bugman will call him next week to set up a time to get the line installed. Meanwhile, I need to find a scratch-and-dent store to see if I can find my stove at a discount price. LOL.