And a little free advice...

This is the second seriously close call we've had. The first was a few years ago when we were living in Hampton & a tornado tore through the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Anyway, what I've learned is that when there's constant lightning going HORIZONTALLY through the sky, you get a tornado. I've seen it twice in my life, & both times, there's been a wretched tornado.

My mom taught me when I was little that if the sky turned green, there would be a tornado, and I think that's true in the Midwest, but not so true down here. Of course, it's also not helpful when they come at night.

Public Service Announcement is now over. Thank you for your attention. ;)

We're fine...

Thanks to those of you who called last night to check on us. The tornado in Atlanta appears to have gone by the north side of our neighborhood (Grant Park) into another neighborhood called Cabbagetown. The division between these is literally a single street. Lindsey drove through on his way to do some work at the church this morning, and said that it's pretty awful. The pictures online aren't too encouraging, either.

Since we don't watch TV, we were woefully underinformed last night. Turns out that Atlanta radio doesn't give out ANY information except the actual warnings. After people started calling to tell us that our neighborhood was on the news, I did look at the streaming footage online, and figured out what was going on. I also grew up in a community with tornado sirens, and there certainly weren't any going off here last night, so I don't know if we don't have them, or if there was so little warning that they never turned them on.

Regardless, it did give us a nice taste of how ill-prepared we are.

Anyway, my yardwork plans for today are officially scuttled, since worse storms are on the way. I think cookie baking might be in my future.

Those of y'all who are close, take care. *love*

Snowing...

This week: 70 degrees, then thunderstorms like it was July, now it's snowing. This is the first Atlanta snow I've seen this winter, though, since I've managed to be out of town the three previous time. The flakes are big & pretty. I'll upload some pictures later.

Now, though, if you'd like to do something fun & un-wintry....

...you could try the Spring Reading Thing from Callapidder Days. Amy brought it to her readers' attention, and I think it sounds like a good time. I do have a stack of things to read, which often get overlooked for something else, so this is a good challenge for me.

Some of you will be shocked to know I've been up since 7:30. :) Weekend Edition has been really great this morning, including a discussion about the spate of recent faked memoirs. It's funny - when I first heard about this (where a gal claimed to be half White/half Native American, raised by an African-American foster mother in the hood where her foster brothers were in a gang & she sold drugs, etc., etc., etc.), I was instantly skeptical. However, the author hoodwinked a whole bunch of authors, editors, reviewers, and journalists, until her own sister called her out. Turns out she grew up in a tony suburb of L.A. Nice. Appropriating other people's tragedies as your own to sell a book. She claims she was just trying to share their stories, but I don't believe her. (Imagine that....)

Home.

Kenzie
Originally uploaded by sarahblascovich

Despite crazy weather & NASCAR traffic, I made it back from Macon in record time. Lindsey is doing some NASTY dishes that he left at school for way too long, and then we're going to have Mexican. Cheese quesadillas & beans = Lenten staple. :)

Guess who I get to see this weekend?

That's right - this precious little one & her parents. We're going to the zoo! Now, let's hope it's not snowing on Sunday afternoon! Happy weekend.

Just when you think you understand the world.

Brett Favre retires. Now, I'm no football nut, and I really don't even care for the Packers (though I do understand how that team could bring some joy to your life if you're from Green Bay, where it's 32 below and snowing in JULY), but you could just always count on Brett.

Not to mention, it's one of the most egregious mispronunciations of a French name that I know of. The v comes before the r, yet you pronounce it in the opposite order.

sheesh.

Sometimes, she can plan...

Now that I travel, I pay attention to the weather. I am famous for never knowing the forecast (or what time it is, but that's a different post). I used to wake Lindsey up to ask him what the weather was going to do, which I am quite sure he found very annoying. In fact, I know he found it annoying, because he used to say things like "how would I know? I'm not up yet!"

Anyhoodle, because I now use weather.com for purposes besides convincing myself it was within the 12 degree temperature range that allowed us to take the kids to recess, I knew YESTERDAY it was going to be rainy & gross today. That meant I went OUTSIDE yesterday, and read on the swing, and walked around downtown Decatur. I left all of the yucky inside chores for today, so today I get to do the following things:

1) Clean. In a big way.
2) Organize fabric into cloth bins suggested by the amazing Sarah.
3) Laundry. You all know that laundry is an uphill battle for me ALL THE TIME. I used to have to stay up all night in college sometimes, not to do schoolwork, but to do 15 loads of laundry. Ugh. I'm not that bad anymore, but I still really hate it. And believe you me, if I didn't have moral principles that prevent me from hiring out housework to people Lindsey & I refer to as domestic wageslaves, I'd definitely let someone else do my laundry. But that would be wrong.
4) Write a bunch of thank you notes, sympathy cards, and general mail that hasn't been sent for a variety of lame reasons.
5) Work on a master plan for VBS.

Did I mention that I bought Steel Magnolias for $5 at Target??? That means at some point today I'll be bawling my eyes out, if you're interested.

And has anyone listened to Lennye's playlist yet? It's definitely quality, but for some reason it makes me think I should be drinking while I'm listening to it. I'm not sure what that says, exactly, but it's an unsettling feeling at 10:00 in the morning...

Finally, I don't think I've shared this yet. While in New York, I got to check out the fabulous Purl Patchwork store. The thing is about the size of a large closet, but they have it very well stocked with some gorgeous fabric. I'll have to photograph my fabric selections for you, but here's a shot of the store:


For added excitement, you get to swivel your head to see this, because I forgot to flip it before I downloaded it, and I just plain REFUSE to waste time downloading it again.

Happy Tuesday!

Vintage Heart Swap - from Becky

First of all, I need to offer HUGE, gigantic, enormous apologies to the Fabulous Becky, who sent me such fantastic swap gifts, and whom I have neglected to thank publicly! So, Becky, I'm truly sorry it's taken me this long to share with the bloggy world the great things you sent me. :)

Secondly, y'all are going to be amazed with the things Becky sent. It is not acceptable to drive here and try to take them, but I am willing to let you see them when you come to visit, I promise.

Without further ado.....


This lovely framed art piece is made from a vintage quilted heart, vintage fabrics, trims, and a heck of a lot of ingenuity. I LOVE it. I am having trouble deciding where to put it, but it will be an all-the-time piece of art, not just a Valentine piece of art.
Becky also sent a pretty basket full of treats, including a silver heart box full of old buttons (!!!), a bunch of candy that may have disappeared very quickly, or so I heard, a nifty purse holder, another quilted heart magnet, some Mary Engelbreit items, and more.

And because this is hanging in our hard-to-photograph computer nook, I am linking to Becky's post about the calendar she designed & illustrated herself! It's a very high-quality calendar, and the images are just darling. I am not lying when I say that I hope she does one every year. ;) (Hint, hint, Becky!)

THANK YOU, Becky!!! This swap was a blast. :) If you're interested, you can see Becky's post about what I sent to her, here.

She's back. Again.

But only briefly.

I did manage, though, to swing two days off in a ROW. I got those to atone for working Saturday & Sunday. Yesterday lasted longer than I thought it would, so poor Lindsey had to go to my Sunday School meeting for me. Yes, you heard right. I have decided to teach Sunday School (again.) I gave it up for quite a while, since I had kids all day long every day, and I just didn't have much left to offer come Sunday morning. Since I don't have kids all day right now, I figured the time was right, plus they really needed someone to start a new class. So, here I am, the new 4 & 5 year old co-teacher. (They've arranged for two of us, but something tells me..... I digress. Ahem.)

Oh, and did I mention that I'm co-chairing Vacation Bible School, too???? That's only a week-long extravaganza, not to mention that I've never done that before.

Here's a question for you church-going readers: how much is expected of the parents of the children in your Sunday School programs? We're in a small quandary over this right now. I'm interested to know if we are unique in that none of the parents are directly involved in the Sunday School program.... They do other things in the church, but not this.

Very shortly, there will be another post, just as soon as some things get loaded into Flickr.... Be patient....