Papa Bear began the morning by reflecting on people who refer to karma but in looking back it's hard to see where or when your transgression took place. More importantly when does the punishment end? When things really pile on, the bad thing I did vs. the bad things that keep happening ratio is really unbalanced. I quickly saw where he was going.

We've been tied up for quite a few days dealing with a homeowners nightmare, known as a nasty plumbing clog. Friday morning we blew a fuse (every once in a while it happens when we have the space heater, microwave, tv, and various other electrical do dahs working at once), so as I trounced around the side of the house to flip the switch I happened upon one giant plumbing clean out explosion. I know it happened over night because the fuse I was out to flip had blew the previous afternoon also(the space heater is the killer) and I wasn't greeted with the 5 square feet of toilet paper and various other lovely sewage goodies as I was friday morning.

Gripped with panic (you know..."oh no...a whole new sewer line, no...not now") I suddenly remembered our home warranty! Shooooo. My brother many years ago advised me to either get one or when buying a home to renew for crud like this. It really is a life saver...if they friggin' respond.

Long story short it took 3 days of many , many WTF? calls, and then finally one really irate call to eventually make contact with a plumber. What is supposed to happen, once you notify the warranty company, they then fax out a work order, then the contractor contacts you. I know most of the problem is that this occurred on a friday during the busiest plumbing season, but HELLO!!! I've got an 11 year old boy's--- who insists on using an entire roll of toilet paper every time he enters a bathroom--- kind of raw sewage bubbling up for the litigious world to see, not to mention the obvious humiliation associated here!!!!

Here is the really stoooopid part. It costs us only $45 for the service call. A plumber finally comes out in all of 3 minutes runs 40 feet of cable, unclogs and writes the receipt BUT tells us we now need to have the crap professionally cleaned BUT the warranty company will not cover it BECAUSE it is considered secondary damage.

How much would the plumber have been if I were to have called him myself on Friday morning and had him out? $85 bucks.

SO I have paid a warranty company for 3 years (roughly $400 a year) $1200 plus $45 but because they didn't serve or respond to me, I'm now faced with $1,100 in toxic waste clean-up?

And the only way to avoid secondary is to have vacated our home, stayed at a hotel of which there is no reimbursement OR used the bathroom outside, in say...oh I don't know the same place the sewage would collect? Sorry for the imagery there, but the logic is so maddening.

Of course THIS is not sitting well (in my brain or my yard)! There is a popular prison analogy appropriate to describe this situation that I will just leave for the imagination (involving soap).

So this morning I interrupt Rob to say I know where he's going with the karma thing, but that we really can't look at this like that...shitty (literally!) things just happen to good people, bright side- cie la vie- kinda baloney

"YA I KNOW, THAT'S WHY I WISH ALL THE KARMA TALK PEOPLE WOULD JUST SHUT UP"

Or is that People?

Anyways you learn something new everyday, such as...did you know there is a special distinction (and community) for Hairy Gay Men ? Yep, BEARS. Who knew?

Flickr'ing all the sweet little things people make...for Valentines Day. Keychain! Wish I could glob a bunch of photos at once.

This via the intrepid "Junk Philosopher"

"p.s. know why dryer lint IS NOT a good craft medium???? It dawned on me one day like a light bulb- Pubic Hair! And god knows what else could be disected from dryer lint. I refuse to quit collecting it though, it is the million dollar niche the world is waiting for me to launch."

This was her (with urging) fantastic idea...Isn't dryer lint good for something? Well, I sure think so. My suggestion was to boil as if it were wool fibers rendering fabulous felt! I still think it will work, despite the unsavory byproducts involved, but are they really unsavory Cindy? I mean, isn't it the ultimate hemp?

Pubic hair purses? Intuition tells me, we're friggin on to something here

Did I mention I hate my digital camera? Oh yes...many times. Well I am in super hate mode because I replaced the batteries... oh about a week ago...and guess what? They're Dead. So, NO new fabulous painting, NO new fabulous popcorn crochet, NO pictures of my baby Virgo's spontaneous need to clean the tops of the ceiling fan!

Virgo, after a stray moment of standing on the tip of crappy couch top (now you know why it's crappy) of course spots something and comes running into the kitchen to inform me he needs a "wet rag"

ME - Why?

Virgo - Because the tops of the fan are just like "WHITE" ---with the biggest smile on his face, like he just found a golden Wonka ticket sitting up there or something

ME - You really want a wet rag? You really want to clean them?

Virgo - Oh Yeah!

Poor Virgo got a sloppy Sagittarius for a mama...However, lucky Sag got a Virgo for a boy...meticulous to a fault but very unwilling to attribute or pin any shortcomings on a loved one.

ME - Riley, does it bother you that Mom is completely hopeless, rather useless at keeping this home anywhere near to your comfort level?

Virgo - MOM, don't be silly, one person alone could never control the natural level of dust in the air!

Even if you actually did dust, statistics say the dust would be back soon after anyways!
We will just work together better in the future and we'll get there, don't you worry!

Shoo for me. Anyways, (Cindy) if someone could come up with an idea of harnessing and then recycling house dust into an ipod carrier or a baby dress...now, that would be super incredible.

I was just blown away at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS" online exhibit...

Bound for Glory, America in Color, 1939-1943

I am not going to say much because to my notion, the striking color, emotional beauty and reach out and touch aspect speak for themselves....THIS IS MY FAVORITE




THE REST ARE NOTHING SHORT OF FABULOUS!

This is a picture I painted that baby bear said had to go there, even IF the blues are wrong! (PS, I said it before, but I hate my ditial camera! Continue)




More work in progress pix. In hindsight I should have taken more befores, just so I could prove what a massive improvement this is and how truly crappy it looked before. The framed picture above the bookcase needs to be moved up a bit but I think its working. I moved the crappy sofa and chair that I'm stuck with in closer and it the result is mucho cozio.

I fished out this SureFit slipcover I picked up at The Goodwill Dump that never fit ( and guess what? IT STILL DOESN'T - a quasi illustration of insanity, I left it on and bopped out, in the meantime as Papa Bear went to work. He called and asked where I'd gotten that "thing" on the sofa...blah, blah, blah DUMP....he said (which had me curled on the floor laughing) "Ohhhh...one of those "one size, Fits NOTHING huh?"



Anyhow, the darker walls have put, oh about 7 months of life in the crappy sofa and chair, because the darker color with light pine wood flooring (ahem, faux wood, ahem) finally make there oversize scale in perspective and they don't draw back into the wall and all you see is the shadows of SHIT AND MESS!

I have this GROOVY stripped fabric (thrift, natch) that is so colorful I just can't keep eyes off it...BACKSTORY....I decided I love BRIGHT DARK COLORS now after I watched this documentary on WE (? does that sound right? Sappy women stuff?) on "Shop-o-holics" and shewww...can those women spend some money, but one of them had this fabulously colorful house, bright sunny yellow, perky crisp blue, deep cherry red on the walls, WOW. It looked HAPPY and I thought...I think I like that, and I think I can do that and I think I can do it WITH NO MONEY!





SO back to the fabric. Love it, thought I would make great pillow covers, totally work with the wall color...but When I wrap them around a pillow and plop back on crappy sofa...it is apparent they don't work on the crappy sofa and chair, surprise! Hence, fishing out the "one size fits nothing slipcover"!

Arghhh! More progresso pictures on the way....and BONUS...Ode to Cindy Candles!

Thanks to my helper, we did it in less that 2 hours!

So after my long hiatus from blogging (bad news/outcome zapped my motivation for commiserating in a blog) I am going to put my worries behind and start fresh...

Well sorta. That lovely patch you see scrubbed into my wall wasn't intended to to be a 2 year swatch. I splurged on a can of periwinkle "oops" at Home Depot and was just going for it until papa bear walked in and screamed. He has a homosexual gene when it comes to decorating which drives me bananas. Don't get me wrong, it would be fantastic if it weren't "Queer Eye for the 80'sGuy"



So in recent weeks, flipping through magazines at the check out stand I am seeing a lot of periwinkle blue walls with red accents. Armed with one red pillow, I intend to follow this through...when papa bear leaves for work tonight!



UPDATE: I have already been scolded for lazy picture prep. Might have been nice if I feigned neatness and fluffed the pillows, no?