Weird!

The other day I noticed a spider web in front of one of my windows. When I went out to tear it down, I saw something that was so strange looking that I had to go grab my camera. How bizarre is this thing??

After watching it for a while, The Hub took care of it because we weren't sure what the heck this happy face, spikey little bastard was and whether it was poisonous or not.

I got online and googled images for "Happy face spider" and that freaked me out even more. Try it and look at the crazy damn creatures you get! Anyway, after several pages, I found out that it's called a crab spider.

Even though I know what it is now, I hope I never see another one. We have enough of a problem with Wolf spiders, brown widows, and other miscellaneous creepy crawlers spinning webs everywhere outside!

The find of the century for me

I absolutely love antiques, and over the years I've acquired a few really nice pieces. One that I've wanted since I was 13 has eluded me all these years. When I'd actually find one, I couldn't afford it. That changed yesterday.

My friend Michelle (you can check out her work here at http://mdgdesignsjewelry.com/default.aspx), Breeze and I had our semi-weekly goof-off day and went to a couple of antique/thrift/consignment stores here in town. I walked into one of the rooms of the first store and there it sat. I gasped, looked at the price tag, and thought, "Someday I'll have one." The owner then told us that the merchandise on the floor was 50% off, and my wheels started to turn. When I asked if it was 50% off the original or the marked down price, I'd already decided that I COULD afford it either way. She said it belonged to a friend of hers, so she was sure it would be off the original price. She then walked away, and I continued to look at other things in the room, feeling myself drawn to this beauty. The store owner came back in and said that she had called her friend, and the friend was willing to sell it for 50% off the marked down price. My jaw dropped, and I immediately pulled the tag and told her I'd be buying it and taking it with me. Check it out!

A Singer treadle sewing machine! WITH ALL THE ATTACHMENTS!

When I got home last night, I did some research, looked up the first digit of the serial number, and found out that it was manufactured between 1908-1909. Upon closer inspection, I found that the bobbin is still threaded, but the thread is so old that it breaks if I pull too hard.

I am so excited that I finally got my treadle machine!!

Robbed by Alzheimer's

I love this picture. That's my maternal grandparents in 1942, soon after they married. She was 14, and he was 21. It was a different time then. He went off to WWII while she kept the home fires burning. They wrote letters (and she still has them). When she was 18, they welcomed their first child, a son, into the world. Over the next few years, they had two daughters and another son. They weren't wealthy, but they were rich in what was important. They were married for 53 years and only had eyes for each other. They were in love with each other as much after all those years as the day they wed. She lost him right after breakfast one day in 1995. She put up a brave front for several years, but in truth, a huge part of her died with him that morning.

She's waited for 14 years to be with him again. Every year, she has deteriorated more and more. Now, she is weak, frail, and bedridden, and Alzheimer's Disease has taken her mind. Some days she doesn't even recognize her own children, but she knows him. She doesn't know that he's gone anymore. She sees him and talks to him. She's so confused and tormented, and it rips my heart out.

I know the day isn't far away when she will join him again. While I will mourn the loss of one of the greatest women I've ever known and be sad for myself, I will be happy for her.

My beloved grandmother is the fifth victim in my family who has been claimed this thing. With all of the medical advances and research, Why do we not know what causes it? Why do we not have a cure? WHY is this disease still winning??

Here we go again!

No, not actually "going" as in moving. We've begun chapter, oh what is it now, 432? of "Living in a construction zone". Having the house in chaos drives me nuts, but the payoff in the end is worth it.

First, the girls have switched rooms again. With Breeze going off to college, we opted to give Kat the bigger bedroom. So this is once again Breeze's room...remember the lilac walls with that black harlequin pattern on the accent wall? Yeah, that one. Carpet's gone, wood floors in. Walls repainted, new window, new baseboards, trim, etc. And this time, I chose all paint colors. I went back to Valspar's Shrimp Toast that I had originally used in the living room.

And now Kat's new room...

Here's a taste of what we started with when we bought the house.

Yeah, gross.

For a while it was like a dark cave, designed by a teenager.

Well, this is the same room now. I hadn't put the window treatments up when I snapped the pic.

And one last pic...

This is what I finally decided on for the living room. That huge wall unit is now gone, along the chair in the left side of the pic.

We now have ZERO carpet in this house. We've put down Pergo flooring in all 3 bedrooms. We've replaced all the windows, exterior dooors, and interior doors now. My craft room will be getting Pergo flooring this weekend also.

2+ years of work, and we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The house is *almost* finished!

Regret

I've heard so many people declare that they have no regrets in life. There are tons of clever, uplifting quotes about it floating around in cyberspace. Sounds like a great way to live.



Dictionary.com defines it as a sense of loss, disappointment, dissatisfaction, or a feeling of sorrow or remorse for a fault, act, loss, disappointment, etc.



I'm talking about the feeling of remorse for an action. How can people NOT have that? To those of you who profess to live without regret, I have some questions. Have you never done anything that you wish you hadn't? Have you never broken the heart of a loved one? Have you never made a bad decision? Ever wished you'd gone to college or majored in something different? Never wished you hadn't married the ex? Never harmed an innocent person? If not, you're either lying, or you're a better person than I am.



I have many regrets. Do I let them dictate my life? No, but they're there. I don't wallow in the "coulda, shoulda, woulda's", but there are so many things that I wish I could go back and change. Some of them are just there in the past, but some seem to raise up and smack me on the head over and over. I'm not going to list them because it's a very personal issue for me. I just want you to stop and think about it.



How do you *really* live with no regret?

What are the boundaries of friendship?

Exactly what IS a friend?



From dictionary.com...
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter.
3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.



Synonyms:1. comrade, chum, crony, confidant. 2. backer, advocate. 4. ally, associate, confrere, compatriot.



As someone attached by feelings, a confidant, a *true* friend, where is the boundary on speaking freely? Is it ever okay to tell them things like, "You are such an incredibly intelligent woman, so how the fuck can you be so stupid??" or "How can you overlook the mountain of bullshit you've been fed for so long?" Or how about, "You have happiness sitting in front of you, and you're hell-bent on throwing it away with both hands." Can you tell them, "I love you, but you really need to quit whining, suck it up, and keep going."

Just thinking about a lot of things this morning after the screwed-up dreams I had all night.

The past month has brought many changes with it, and I don't even know where to begin. Let's see...

I've started an online course in Medical Coding and Billing with http://www.careerstep.com/ and I'm using brain cells that have been asleep for way too long now. Hopefully my college A&P and Pharmacology courses will help me out when I get to that point. My crazy-ass medical history has already helped somewhat, and I've been enrolled for just a week now. I'd *like* to do the Medical Transcription course when I'm done with this, but we'll see how it goes.

We finally got ALL of the windows replaced in the house! Our utility bill has dropped to less than HALF what it was at this time last year. Amazing.

Little Matteo (see my previous post) has already been in the hospital and scared us all half to death. Poor thing was so jaundiced and couldn't maintain his body temp, but he's home and doing much better now.

One of my chosen sisters had back surgery and is still on the mend. She has a long road ahead, and I'll be right there every step of the way.

Breeze is graduating on TUESDAY. I still can't believe it. Poor thing better enjoy that day b/c she's having surgery the day after. We discovered what seems to be the source of a lot of her breathing problems...a SEVERELY deviated septum, so an outstanding ENT/Allergy specialist is going to fix her up.

Kat is coming home on Saturday! Woo Hoo! I'll finally have my family whole again under one roof. I just wish it were permanent, but I'm focusing on the positive. She's now a 10th grader!

Oh, and my dad, stepmom, and oldest nephew came to visit. My nephew is 15 and fell in love with Beaufort. :) He says he's moving here when he graduates. What's not to love? The beach, fishing, and a gorgeous little town full of charm.

My precious baby, Molly, (my new Dodge Nitro) already had to have a new windshield. :( Breeze and I were driving home from Charleston, and a rock hit the windshield. I was PISSED, but our insurance company rocks and had a tech out here asap to replace it. I'm happy, Molly's happy.

So that's life in a nutshell here. Someday, I'll post more regularly...maybe. ;)