Fay, Fay go away... Come again another day!

We've been awaiting Fay for a week and she's finally getting around to making landfall in Jacksonville.

About a week ago they predicted it would be a category 1 hurricane... but it lost alot of steam and now is a Tropical Storm. Sounds alot better than it actually is... A tropical storm still packs a pretty big punch; we are scheduled for 10 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph. Enough to throw your patio furniture through a window - or at least that's what the weatherman is saying.

Just about every office in Jacksonville is closed - EXCEPT for mine. Why in the world we are still open is beyond me. No one's clip reel is worth getting killed for - I don't care who your client is! Dave of course had to leave me and Arnold about 5 am to go start the wall-to-wall coverage at FCN. Another perk of working in TV - They don't care if you've got family at home - They need you to come into work!! STAT!!

So I guess the bottom line is we are both at work - 40 miles apart - and the poor cat is holding down the fort. I am going to try and sneak out early to check on Ardsley and Belmonte. I think we'll be ok, but you never know with an old house. I feel much better knowing that both houses have new roofs, and we got the humongous dead tree cut down last year.

So we're hunkering down here in Jax!! Pray that we make it through tonight! I think the worst is yet to come!!

Fun in the Sun.

This past weekend we flew to Mississippi for a quick trip... and continued the trend of NOT doing any projects on the house.

We got to see our 3 year old nephew and 6 month old niece. We spent most of the weekend relaxing by my in-laws' gorgeous pool. The weather was perfect too - 85 and sunny! But now that we're back... I think it's high time we tackled something of note. I'll keep you updated on that later..... but first, how about some photos? Enjoy!


Mary Holland and I having a good laugh...


The pool and the 6 acres of green stuff in the back... Why can't our yard look this nice?


The 3 Charlies playing a game of volleyball...


Dave and Charlie win the prize for "pruniest fingers." You couldn't drag those two out of the pool if your life depended on it.

Sew wrong.

I had a curtain incident Monday night.

Our kitchen window is really bare... and while I like the light coming in, I do think we need SOMETHING there to soften all the fake wood paneling we've got going on. So I looked at all the pre-made curtains and didn't like a single one. Sew boring!!! So I decided I would make something from scratch! I found a really cute fabric shower curtain that would do the trick. It's a brown and white "toile like" pattern, but the birds in the pattern are blue. I got it at Target...

Adorable!

Well it's been sitting in a closet for weeks... just waiting for me to rip it in half and sew a straight line. Monday night I decided to get down to it. So I dragged it out, measured the window, and marked the fabric. Now where are my GOOD scissors? HHhmmmm......

That proved to be my first task. I could not find my sewing scissors for the life of me. I think they got "recycled" to the garage when it was clear I was not doing much sewing in my free time. So I had to make do with regular scissors that we use to cut ribbon, wrapping paper, wires, tags off of shirts, photos, gum out my hair - you get the picture. A true seamstress will tell you that you should "always cut fabric with a pair of very very sharp sewing scissors that are used for nothing else in the house." Why? Well I'll tell you why... As I found out Monday night, dull scissors will shred your fabric as you try to cut it!! So there I was on the floor with 2 pieces of fabric successfully cut, but both ends looking like they had fancy fringe attached.

Then I set up the sewing machine that I got at a garage sale 2 years ago (and have yet to use). This was my second disappointment of the night. Either I was threading it the wrong way, or the thread was so old it was breaking; I ended up with what looked like a nice straight line on the top of the fabric but when I flipped it over it was one long knot! Completely stumped on how to fix that - I ripped it all out and decided to hand sew it.

After God-knows-how-long that took me, I was FINALLY ready to just hang that dang thing up there!! The hem looked terrible but at this point, 3 hours into my project, I was ready to hang up my dull scissors and go to bed. So I found the tension rod that I intended to use that was re purposed from a different window..... threaded the curtain and went to the kitchen window and........................ the rod was too short!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I only needed 2 more inches. Totally frustrated, I threw the entire contraption into the guest bedroom, poured myself a BIG glass of wine, and vowed to buy pre made curtains from here to eternity. There's a reason they sell them in the store.

Just a tad of OCD....

What's wrong with having a place for everything, and everything in it's place?
It gives me a sense of order, makes me feel calm....even happy!

Dave says it's just another indication that I am a control freak.

I think I'd almost rather have OCD so I could say, "It's a medical condition. I can't control it!" while I walk around other people's houses straightening pictures on the wall and dusting their shelves. I started thinking about this as I was shopping online for a nice.... filing cabinet.
What?! Yes, I was trying to find the "best filing cabinet for my needs." Doesn't everyone do that?


Did I mention that, once I get it home.......... it's going to be......................... in a closet?


Yup. I am making one closet into the "Office Center" where I can keep all my envelopes and stacks of paper neatly arranged in OCD bliss.

I decided upon this genius idea after finally going through some boxes that were YET to be unpacked from our December move!! Boxes full of old English class papers, bank statements from 1991, and birthday cards that read, "Happy 18th Kris!" "Happy College Graduation Dave!" It was like I was a scientist sifting through old dinosaur bones. You would not believe what I came across. Relics!! Let's just say I'm not quite where I thought I'd be at this age. Apparently I really believed that by age 30 I would be a Broadway star, have written a book, have a "kick ass" apartment in Manhattan, and somehow have 2 kids with plans to have 2 more after age 30.

Oy!

I am actually working in GOLF... not in the theater. I live in the same town I grew up in... NOT in Manhattan. And instead of 2 kids... I have 2 houses. Well, 2 kids if you count Dave and Arnold. (But no poopy diapers.)