A moment of peace...

at least until my brain starts wandering (again!) and I think of everything I need to do / get done before we leave for Charleston a week from Sunday! 

Last Saturday I went out to my sister Laurie's to go to a fairy garden class - it wasn't really a class, but it was kind of fun to look around for the right planter, then pieces and plants to go in it.  I already have what I call a ceme-terrarium (my T post from the A-Z Challenge) and I felt this was harder, since it was so small.  It really forced me to look at scale & not get too much piled in there.   

 I fell in love with the little tent, so I started there.  

I made the mistake (OK, not really) of not having any plans, so I let myself be at Laurie's mercy.  I figured since we were already at the nursery, I'd get my annuals and flowers for the yard.  She tends to have a hard time making decisions, so I had my selection at LOT quicker than she did.  Glad they had a "Perennial Party" going on, so they had free pop & hot dogs.  

We dropped the plants & gardens off at her house, then we went to Menards.  She wanted to look for a new stove, and had 100 projects in mind.  So that took several hours there.  Then lunch.  Then it started raining.  So we went to Walmart - but that was just to grab a few necessities so it was pretty quick.  

Man - people watching at a country WalMart is primo A-1!  I swear I saw every hillbilly stereotype there.  Then we went back to her house & visited for a while, then I loaded Jack up (who loves Aunt Laurie's house and didn't want to get in the car!) and came home. 

Randy drove straight thru home from Arkansas - it took him 14 1/2 hours to get home Saturday.  He apparently had a hard time leaving his mom this time, so it helped him to know that if need be, he can get back down there in just 1 day. 

Angel had dance in the a.m. then went to the beach with Lauren.  She said they saw Psycho Boy there and he stared at her the whole time.  I don't know how he found them - there are 4 or 5 beaches at this park, so how did he know which one they were at?  Granted they both do have very distinctive cars.  All he'd have to do is cruise the parking lots until he saw one of their cars.  But still, what a creeper!  They need to go try out some the other Metro parks around here, since they both have passes to get in. 

Sunday was a lazy day.  We went out to breakfast and on the way home, we drove thru a huge downpour - but it was almost done by the time we got home!  Then the sun came out.  Then it stormed again.  It did this most of the morning!

 Angel took Jack to get his nails trimmed Monday - he was feeling pretty here!

 I truly get into my work when I paint. 

 While at Menards, I picked up some sand to mix with paint for texture.  Last night, I got the base coat on the new headstones - loving it!!  It looks quite awesome, in my opinion. 

Did you know you can stuff to scent your paint??  Glade offers paint scents.  Crazy.  

These are just cheap foam headstones.  I cut out plywood to back each one and painted that black before gluing it on.  I screwed U shaped conduit straps on the back to fit over rebar to make then stand up.  The next steps will be personalized per stone.  Some will get washed in black and drybrushed with white, some will have black details - it'll just depend on the detail on the stone. 

Hey!  I'm on Snapchat!  I added a link over on the right with the rest of my social media stuff.

I'm sort of ticked that I added an extra letter to my call-sign on my screen name, and they won't let me change it.  Oh well.  I post goofy stuff like this, nothing too earth-shattering. 

So dress rehearsal for the recital is tomorrow night!  I took a half day off work, because for some reason, I thought it started at 4 and I couldn't get her & her costumes there in time if I left work at my usual 3:30.  But it starts at 5.  It's probably a good thing, since both Angel & Sarah will be working in the morning!   Their shift ends at 3:30 but the owner of the restaurant will probably let them go early.  

I'll be going to pick up my new camera after work.  I dropped my old one on Mother's Day at the Zoo and broke the clip that keep the battery door closed.  I'm sure I probably could have gotten that replaced, and maybe I still will - so I have backup. 

That means the recital is Saturday!  I don't think we've ever had one on a Saturday so that's kind of neat.  I'm kind of cheesed that Randy will be missing it.  This is the only dance event I make him go to, so he can see what he's been paying for all year!  But it happens to be the same weekend that the Western Michigan MS-150 bike ride is, and he's done radio comms there for years.  So I guess I can forgive him.  We'll just have a movie night when the DVD comes in - and he'll get personal commentary from Angel herself!  

OMG, my mind has begun to wander.  It's already taken me over an hour and a half to write this much.  I heard the washer stop, which meant the shower curtains were done, so I had to go wipe down the bathtub so I could hang them back up.  I've had to pet Daisy.  I've had to pet Jack.  I had to go raid the fridge.  

One last thing before I call it quits (I really need to go steam some of her costumes again!) that I'm pretty excited, yet scared about.  If you want the entire story....it starts here and there's links to the follow-ups from there. Cliff-notes version.  I have both fibroid tumors and polyps in my uterus.  I've basically dealt with non-stop period since mid-January.  I even had an IUD installed in help control the gush and it lasted for 2 months, before the damn thing fell out!!!!  One of the most horrifying things I've ever seen, since it came out in a huge clot of tissue.  Thank God I was in the shower!  Sorry for the TMI, but anyhooo.  I went in Friday, the gyn checked me out (that when the polyp was discovered) and gave me the blessing for a hysterectomy!  But of course the girl who does surgical scheduling is out of the office until Tuesday.  

So they'll do the surgery laprascopically - basically 2 small incisions on each side of my stomach, then one in my belly button.  She'll cut the top connective tissue and it'll come out vaginally.  Sounds pretty straight-forward, but I'll have to stay overnight in the hospital.  And she said she'd write me a note for 6 weeks off work if I want!  But the info she gave me said 2-3 weeks and that seems more reasonable to me. There's no way in hell I could take 6 weeks off work!  

Since she only does surgery on Monday's, it looks like I won't be able to get in until July 25.  

Next week is pretty much a no-go since we leave for Charleston on the 19th.  The following 2 Monday's we'll be in Charleston.  Then there's the 4th of July.  The 11th is right after mine & Randy's anniversary, and he's making plans for a long weekend getaway.  I'm not cutting that short!  The 18th is Randy's birthday.  So that leaves the 25th.  And I conferred with my boss & 1 other person in my department at work and they're both in the office then, so that works there, too.  And Randy will be able to take off a couple days to be with me right after it's done. 

So yeah.  Actually after the morning I had today....it totally needs to come out.  I paused for a minute before I left for work this morning and changed my teal skirt at the last minute into a black one.  And I'm SO glad that I did!  It was an awful morning. Luckily, I think the problem was it was Mother Nature paying a visit & she's apparently pissed at me!  

I can't wait to say Bye Felicia!  

I'm outta here.  I'm sure there will be lots of trial photos from the new camera soon!