Grab some coffee...it's a long one!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a week. Bitsy being away has left me less than crafty. I did cut fabrics for Annabelle's new quilt, but unfortunately(?) most of it is just strips so I really need my machine to do much of anything. But here they are...waiting....waiting....

Good news though--Sears called me yesterday and said the repairs are done! When I dropped it off they said to wait a day or two to pick it up after your get The Call, so it has time to get back to their particular store. So Bitsy's on her way! *happy dance*

We had a frightening experience in our neighborhood on Thursday night. I went to sleep around 11, then woke up right before midnight to hear a "popping sound," a smoke alarm, and I saw an orange glow coming from outside. Our across-the-street neighbors' garage was on fire. He was outside trying to put it out with a garden house but it was too far gone. I ran downstairs, woke up Dave (who had fallen asleep watching TV and we called 911 (they had already gotten a call about it). It seemed to take forever for the fire trucks to get there! Everyone got out, thank goodness, but their garage was completely gone and the fire had even spread to the roof of the house. They have a lot of smoke and water damage. I've never seen flames like that, going past the top of a two-story house. There was a Porsche inside the garage, propane tanks, and ammo (both of them are police officers). Very very scary. Five fire companies came, there were dozens of fire fighters and police officers. My friend who lives next door to them had some damage too...all the vinyl siding on that side of the house melted and warped. They lost some lanscaping as well.

Link to news story

The good news...the fire wall between the garage and the house saved it from being completely destroyed. Also, they happened to have a fire hydrant on their property so that helped save time. So we all have been doing what we can, I gave a bag of Mason's outgrown clothes for their 3-year old (all their clothes are smoke-damaged). The cause? The light bulb in the garage door opener melted the plastic casing which caught on fire and quickly spread. They had been getting ready for our neighborhood garage sale the next day so the garage was filled with clothes, etc. Very sad but they are doing okay and are staying with family nearby. Good, good people.

We sold some things at the sale...we had never been a part of one before. I was kind of surprised the "good stuff" didn't go, like the high chair, pack-n-play, and exersaucer. Maybe we priced them too high? But we lowered everything 50% towards the end and still nothing. $15 for a pack-and-play in good condition isn't too bad, is it? Anyway we're going to donate them to the church. Then things like stuffed animals sold. I can't imagine giving a kid a used stuffed animal, but to each his own, I guess! Kids books sold well. Oh and we got rid of the crib too, that was a good deal...$75 for it and the mattress.

Since I don't have any crafty stuff to show, I'll show pictures of stuff I got at Home Goods yesterday! Sound good? This is a planter with sweet little birds going around it. Not bad for $7.99!

Then I picked up this gardenia candle...mmm, smells just like the flowers! Gardenias remind me of my grandma, they're her favorites.

These bowls are for end-of-the-year teacher gifts. I'm going to line each one with one of those dishtowels you see and then fill them with homemade fabric apples. Apples for the teacher sounds right to me!

I got these Hello Kitty bags at Target the other day. Don't you love their dollar section? It seemed to be really well-stocked when I was there. Anyway I couldn't resist. Annabelle's already claimed one.

Since it seems like the warm weather is here to stay, I planted some annuals yesterday in the front. I was going to take pictures this morning but everyone was across the street and I felt bad. So I'll hopefully get some later.

I got a mammogram this morning, and everything's fine. Since I'm 40 I figured I should have another one. My first mammogram was a routine one when I was 37. They called me less than an hour after I got home to tell me it was normal. That was a relief, I didn't have to worry all day about test results. So my public service recommendation today is to get a mammogram if it's appropriate for you! Better to be safe than sorry! It's just a bit squeezy and it's over before you know it.

Ok, I'm going to call Sears and see what's up. Hopefully Bitsy feels all better!

♥ Jen