More Manic Musings ...

hey y'all,

why can't i be like that sweet, adorable little lamb without a care in the world?! you can just tell he's got nothing but bubbles of air floating around in his sweet li'l noggin. instead, i feel like screaming and running around in circles with my hands over my ears ... because my brain is so overwhelmed with thoughts and worries and projects and more worries. aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!

whew. okay, now that that's off my chest, i'll try to pretend i'm a sane person just blogging away a ccccccold february afternoon.

went FAGGing the last TWO weekends!! how much FUN can a girl have?! maybe i'm a little overstimulated from all my junkin' treasures (including that precious lamb, above), good food (little white donuts are a must when we go out) and all the laughs we shared in the FAG-mobile.

i have the movie citizen kane on in the background. i watched the first hour or so because it's always listed as one of (if not THE) best movies in history ... always in close competition with my beloved gone with the wind.

well, let me tell you. meh ... it was alright. but it's no GWTW. i had to get up because i couldn't hack it anymore. maybe i'm missing something, or my tastes are skewed.

but i digress. perhaps i need to number my thoughts. that always seems to help me focus what i'm writing. so here goes.

1. i got a haircut/color/style last week!! this is the first professional salon 'do that i've ever had in my almost 50 years! which is probably why i decided to do it. the big 5-0 is coming soon.

it's a big change (for me) and i'm pleased with it. so is everyone else who's dared to comment on it. ;)

2. found a GREAT new junking haunt! i don't normally release this top secret information to just anyone. but since there are so few who actually read this mess of a blog, i thought i'd share. it's called the annunciation maternity home thrift shop and it's open only on the first and third fri/sat of each month.

it's located in a warehouse type building just off of state hwy 195, south of killeen/florence. turn right onto shell road just before you reach I35 and the maternity home is on the left.

they have TONS of items and terrific prices! and all proceeds go to a wonderful cause.

all they ask is that you DON'T drive over 17 mph. huh. i hate odd numbers.
3. i received my blog prize from vintagesue. a box of sweet vintage loveliness ... pieces that she knew i'd love, meant just for me! thanks soooo much sue!

sue, i hope you received the email with my effusive thanks for this lovely box o' treasures!!
4. was driving around, junkin' solo one day last week and drove past a white wicker daybed (!!!!!!!) sitting waaaay out close to the street. it was meant to draw attention, as it happened to be at a mini-flea market thingy. i nearly broke my neck gawking at it as i flew past (it was on a business highway).

without hesitation, i performed a quick (and slightly illegal) u-turn and pulled in right next to it.

a guy named fred met me before i even got out of my car. geez. like stink on a dog. he spoke broken english (meaning, not much better than me, heheh) but enough to communicate that the daybed went with the dresser sitting next to it, for a total of $175.

ouch. not my price range. plus, i didn't want or need the dresser. i've been in search of a daybed for my daughter's vacant room which is now my craft room/guest room.

anyhow, i told fred that was more than i could pay and he quickly informed me that i needed to speak to maria, the head-honcho lady. sadly, her english was worse than fred's so all i got from her was a lot of "no, no, no!" and violent head gestures.

ummm, methinks she no like my offer. but she did finally agree to split up the set and sell me the daybed after some serious and frustrating negotiations, with fred in the middle performing translation duties. poor guy. he earned his money that day, which i suspect isn't much with maria as his boss. yikes.

BUT, i am now the v. happy owner of an adorable white wicker daybed, complete with a serta mattress.

can't wait to get it moved into its new home and gussied up with chenille and pillows and lace and such.

5. saw my primary (doctor, that is) yesterday. hate going, mainly because i'm not a patient patient. which is to say, i don't like to wait 2 hours for my scheduled appointment time. i know it all boils down to the healthcare crisis, managed care, insurance companies and HMOs running the show. so "small business" doctors like mine, feel the need to make up for the loss of $$ by overbooking. i know this because i've been on the inside of the system. triple booking (scheduling 3 people for a 2:00 appointment) is a reality.

ANYways, i don't like it one bit. the wait, that is. when i'm in the waiting room with all the other poor souls, i have to play nice. but once i'm alllll alone in that exam room, it's game ON. nothing is sacred. latex gloves, the exam table, instruments, brochures, posters on the wall. anything i can access is fair game for my personal entertainment. why read a book when i can do this?!

perform a self-tonsil exam. don't try this at home, kiddies. i'm a professional. heh

make-believe you're teaching a health class: take notice, class ... if your liver is on the outside of your purple dress, something is amiss. consult your physician immediately. good luck.
6. tomorrow is groundhog's day. just sayin'.

y'all stay safe and warm. it's cold everywhere ... even in central texas! brrrrrrrrr.

love and hugs,
terry lee

ps. for your irreverant amusement, i conclude with the following:

spotted this little angel at the expo center recently. couldn't resist taking her picture ... in a not-so-angelic pose. if you know what i mean. and yes, i'm going straight to the devil for it.

Painting in the Wind

hey y'all,

just a quick post to stay in touch with blogland. rough week, physically. i think this ever-changing texas weather is wreaking havoc with my tired old body. and, according to my rheumatologist, everybody's been hurting these past couple of months. thanks, doc. misery loves company.

speaking of the weather, it's been as windy as a (insert your favorite simile here; i got nothin'). but i think you get my drift. it's been damn windy in central texas. and as luck would have it, i was bitten by the dreaded SP bug. that would be the spray painting bug.

if you've ever been bitten, you know what i'm talkin' about. once you start spraying, almost nothing can stop you. even 60-70 mph texas winds. my best guess is that only about 30% of the paint actually made it to the desired destination. another 30% was gone with the wind, and the remaining 50% must have gone straight up my nose because i was blowing white snot for days. you do the math. ;-)

so i've had these old chairs forever it seems, bought along the junkin' trail over the years. and never could muster the energy or desire to paint them. ah ha! but of course i wait until we have record-breaking wind speeds to get myself in gear.



i covered an old pillow with a sweet vintage sheet for the seat cushion. i honestly think it turned out adorable. got the chair for $1, a little elbow grease and $30 worth of spray paint (heh heh) and voila! finis!



this little sweetie pie of a chair was a freebie from newly-wedded belinda, sister of moi. while cleaning out her garage and house, she bestowed it upon me. because i asked her for it. love bentwood chairs but of course it needed some TLC. that would be terry lee craziness.



painted her pink, reupholstered the seat with a rachel ashwell shabby chic curtain found at a yard sale for almost nothing. sweet, pink roses! am pleased with these results as well.



and finally, on a final note ... not much junkin' this week/end. i hit a couple of friday sales, at one of which i found this:



i've been wanting some architectural pieces, columns and the like, but they've always been too pricey. even at flea markets, etc. it was sitting on the side of the house, as if not part of the sale. but on a whim, i asked the lady if she was selling it. she said "no, that old thing?" and my heart sank.

then she said, "it's falling apart, so you can have it."

i can almost hear the hallelujah chorus even now.

whaaa?! i honestly couldn't believe my ears. poor old lady even lugged it to my car because i'm unable to lift anything right now (long story about rib and back pain ... for more info, see my rheumatologist).

she's right. it's crumbly. but i sprayed it with a clear coating of whatchacallit to protect it. i think i'm in love. it's a beauty!



oh! and i finally painted my church bench!! it was also free, which i think i blogged about last year. anyhow, it had been sitting in my sitting (!!) area, covered in a gorgeous ashwell quilt ... but i had matt haul her out to the painting porch so i could get wild and crazy with the pink paint.

interestingly (well, to me) i used ashwell shams for the bench cushion. i cut the original church pew cushion (an old, ugly blue ... think of all the baptist behinds that have plopped down on that thing!) in half and then covered them with the shams. soooo sweet! sadly, those pics will have to wait till next time because the poor pew needs another pint of pink paint. when i looked at it the next morning, it was splotchity. ack! i blame it on the damn wind.

see?! this is what happens when you cross a stubborn texas gal with the stubborn texas wind. half-ass projects and a cheap thrill-ride high for the project-artiste (just joshing kids. don't sniff spray paint. don't do it. really).

y'all have a great week ... and don't blow away!

love and hugs,
terry lee

okay, one last thing, for reals. y'all remember that $28 chest i bought a few weeks ago? i bloggity blogged about it. anyhow, i finally finished it too. as a reminder, here's the before:



here are some after pics:

Spring Break-down

hey y'all!

can't believe spring break is over. already. hubby goes back to work tomorrow, matt and i are back in the home-school saddle and we all head off into that loooong strrrrrretch till summer break!

anyhow, here's a little recap of my SB, 'cause i know y'all are dying to know what kind of trouble i managed to stir up ... what with all that free time and all. heh heh

monday: my sister got married!!! woohoo!! congrats to you and teddy, dear sis! i served as maid/princess of honor and official photog. i was a bizzzy bee. but i loved every minute. they had a simple, short, sweet ceremony in their church with family and close friends in attendance. oh, and one dog. domino (our shared, joint custody long-haired chihuahua ... technically, belinda has complete custody now but we babysit him occasionally).



belinda surprised us all with limo service for the day! having lived a v. sheltered (and boring) life, it was a brand new experience for me. it was lots of fun except for all the scooting one has to perform when getting in and out of the limo. ack! my poor old bones and well, my, er, lady-like sensibilities rebelled. all i can say is, thank gawd i was wearing pants.



anyway, after the ceremony, the limo took us to sundance square (downtown fort worth) to the lovely restaurant, reata. beautiful, with yummy food!

it was a v. special time for my sister and teddy. i'm soooo happy for both of them. theirs is a sweet, romantic love story which you can read more about at belinda's blog.



tuesday: i honestly can't remember a dang thing. i was exhausted from all the traveling and festivities on monday, that i think i slept most of tuesday ... or rested in bed watching the office reruns. oh! hubby did find a double-yolked egg while cooking his dinner! that is all.



wednesday: bonnie and i (2/3 of the FAGs, the other 1/3 was in new mexico with family for SB) went to gatesville, via a winding out-of-the-way country road. we were in no hurry and besides, we were on The Watch for bluebonnets.

came upon the pearl community, which naturally included a cemetery. i'd never been there but i know of it v. well. my children's grandparents are buried there (their father's parents). we decided to take a looksee around the old graveyard in hopes of finding their graves. no luck.



BUT ... as i was walking back toward the car, i noticed some tiny blue blossoms on top of a grave which was covered in seashells, of all things. i stopped dead (no pun intended) in my tracks. whaaa?! stooping down to get a closer look, i almost couldn't believe it.



"bonnie!! these are baby bluebonnets!"

i quickly snapped some pics (as evidence for yous guys) of the sweet lil bonnets and then left, not quite certain how i felt about my first official sighting of bluebonnets for this season.

on. a. grave. hmmm. one can only hope that isn't a harbinger. you know how i get with signs and all. a little spooky.


found some bling in gatesville at a little shop called, appropriately, debbie's bling bling 'n more

also got this beauty. all jewelry was 1/2 off. so i had to get two pieces!

a killer hatbox, found in a shop on the square

back in cove, we visited sue's booth at crafter's and ohdearlord, did i find some delicious delights there! ahhh. love my sue-fix. always.

sue, your collages make me crazy. how? do? you? do? it????

sweet lil white basket with flowers. too cute!

thursday: another blur of a day. are you seeing a pattern here? one day of activities, one day of recovery. welcome to my world.

friday: hubby and i drove to west, texas which happens to be about the half-way point between fort worth and killeen, to return The Dog to the wedded and blissful, post-honeymooned couple. all were happy to be reunited. hubs and i were happy to get them reunited. heh heh

saturday: bon and i had flirted with yard/estate sale-ing on saturday but honestly, i was worn out from the week and besides, the weather had gone south, so the mission was scrubbed.

however, around noon-ish, cabin fever got the better of me, so i hit craigslist and found two inside sale listings. one a church jumble, the other an estate sale.

got my junkin' mo-jo on ... and off i went, solo, to conquer the world. well, two sales anyhow. first stop, the church jumble. which happened to be held at the first baptist church benefitting the youth's summer mission trip to alaska. now that sounds like a real mission trip (as opposed to baylor).

the church priced this tole tray (!!!) at 50cents. felt like i was stealing from God. yikes! isn't it lovely?! also found some linens, including that turquoise tablecloth on the right

pink basket of lace-and-things ... sweet!

while there, i ran into an old grade school chum, karen. we hadn't seen each other in decades, but what a fun experience to catch up on each others' lives. insane how you can live in the same town as someone for 40+ years and never see them.

these are identical (except for the wear) miniature silver-plated trays. strangely, i found the first one at the church sale and the second one at the estate sale! weird.

second stop was the estate sale out in harker heights. unfortunately, i couldn't stay long because there were smokers (one cigar, one cigarette) in the house and i simply couldn't breathe. ack!! as cool as it looks to smoke, it's not much fun to breathe. just say no, kiddos. heh heh

however, between holding my breath and masking my face with a scarf, i managed to score a few really sweet pieces. total cost: $5 and an increased risk of lung cancer. not bad.

vintage tin of cookie and sandwich cutters. pretty cool at $0.25!

for some odd reason, this is one of my fave pieces of the weekend. an old, old box with roses on it. it has a little drawer that pulls out ...

... and it has letters and other papers inside!! i didn't take the time to go through them at the sale, and i still haven't. but i'm looking forward to sitting down with my newfound treasure to see what i discover.

today's sunday and i'm layin' low. the sun is shining but that horrid wind is still howling like a monkey. or whatever it is that howls. and it's brrrrrrr cold.

damn groundhog.

love and hugs,
terry lee