Wednesday, May 28, 2014

May 28, 2014: Quick Recap

Last weekend I met up with a couple of friends who had moved out of Houston.  After talking to them I realized that pieces of my story had been missing in my posts.  So, here is a quick recap:

August 2000 - November 2010:  I am happily married.

November 2010:  my (then) husband fell and became paralyzed.  I found him and called the ambulance - saving his life.

November 2010 through January  2011:  He is at TIRR hospital.  He convinced the hospital psychologist that he was not depressed.  No help was offered to me at TIRR even though I obviously was an emotional wreck.  I found my own therapist.

January - June, 2011:  He is at a nursing home and then TIRR again.  I visited him daily and made sure that he was given the best possible care.

June - January, 2012:  He returns home.  I arranged caregivers for Mom and ex to come in the mornings and stay on the days that I was at work.  The ex was very demanding.  I paid for a private physical therapist to come in and work with him at home.

January, 2012:  Mom went to the hospital for severely swollen legs.  I then placed her in a personal care home.  She needed more help than I could give her at home.  (Plus, I also had a quadriplegic in the house.)

January - August, 2012:  The ex let go of all caregivers except the young Mexican girl. He became more demanding and distant.

August 2012:  The ex proposes marriage to his young caregiver and gives her an engagement ring.  I discover this and take him back to TIRR for further testing.  They could not discover any brain damage.

August - December, 2012:  We fire the young caregiver and find out that she was pregnant and living with her boyfriend.  She had no intention of marrying my husband.
I drive us to marriage counseling every week to his preferred therapist who was located in Friendswood.

December 5, 2012:  In marriage counseling my ex announces "I don't love you, I don't even like you and I'm not sorry for what I did." 

December 6, 2012:  I call a lawyer.

December 12, 2012: I officially file for divorce.

January 14, 2013:  The ex finally finds a place to live and moves out of my house.  I live alone for the first time in my life.

February 12, 2013:  The divorce is final.

2013-present:  I am happily living alone.  My whole house is my closet!  I am even dating. My life is simple and uncluttered.

I could update you some on the ex's new life but who cares?  The man I once loved and married died bit by bit sometime between November 2010 and December 2012.  It was a slow and painful end but it is all over now.

Friday, May 16, 2014

May 16, 2014: The Tiggermobile

Last year I bought my bright orange Subaru Crosstrek.  It's only been just this past week that I finally have gotten around to giving it some personality.

The interior is orange and black so the car really wanted to be a tiger.  I found a Tigger bobblehead on ebay and put him on the dashboard.  The steering wheel sports a tiger fur cover that I got at a dollar store.

The car needed some exterior tiger striping.  I didn't want to go overboard with the decorations.  I just put black and white stripes on the hood, outlined the headlights (the eyes) in white and added black eyelashes.

The rear view mirrors (the ears) have black and white stripes plus I added black pin striping along both sides of the car.  I ran out of the white striping but I've ordered more.  Then I will add a white stripe to the black ones on the sides of the car.

I made a long striped tail on the rear of the car that extends around to the gas cap cover.  Wrote out "Tigger" in black and added a white Tigger decal.

Now it looks like MY car!

 

 It makes me smile every time I get in it.  Plus, I see other people looking and smiling at my car, too.
Everybody needs a giggle once in a while.




Wednesday, May 14, 2014

May 14, 2014: Pink Poodle Mannequin



I have saved searches on ebay for "poodle" and "pink poodle fabric."  That's how I found a pink poodle costume in size 3T.  I don't remember exactly how much I paid for it.  I do know that it was less than $5.00 total.  The best time to buy costumes on ebay is from January to August.  Nobody wants a costume during those months.  (Right now it's almost summer so sweaters and coats are the bargain items.)

How could I NOT buy this pink poodle outfit?  But then, what to do with it?  I decided to make a mannequin to fit the costume.  She is constructed from pvc pipe and fittings, cut to size.  Her head is a large styrofoam ball that I pushed on to the pipe that formed the neck.

I bought some pink shoes at a thrift store.  I cut styrofoam to fit into the shoes and jammed the leg pvc pipes into them.

I made some small pink mittens for hands and glued them to her "arms." I thought she would look cute as a "butler" type mannequin so I gave her a lightweight tray to hold.

There's never a dull moment at home when you have 3 cats and a dog.  Luckily I didn't put anything breakable on the tray.  The cats jump onto the tray and knock down the little stuffed puppies.  They try to play with them but my real life pink poodle, Sweetsie, swoops down and runs off with them.

The costume is completely removable.  Maybe my new baby granddaughter will want to be a pink poodle for Halloween when she reaches 3 years old.  I would just love to see her wear it!
Sweetsie
I have entered my Pink Poodle Mannequin and my Pink Poodle Telephone in a contest:  Craftys/Awards that Celebrate Crafts.  I would really appreciate it if you would go their website and vote for one of my projects!  http://thecraftys.com/