What’s New? Peanut’s Boyfriend, Stressing About Non Life-Altering Decisions And Looking For A BOGO Discount On Spaying; Which Is A Life Altering Decision.

On January 18, 2023January 18, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz38 Comments

We had a lovely weekend on the East Coast seeing our good friends Don and Kelly. Two of our songwriter friends were at a another friends’ house, two doors down playing a party for 50 of her nearest and dearest. It was a good time for the humans, and even better for Peanut.

Peanut had a blast playing with her friend Louie. It was 24 hours of non-stop foreplay; for Peanut, not me. All the nibbling, chasing, rolling around, cuddling, etc..for our entire visit.

She was completely exhausted for the next 24 hours after we departed and since Louie is snipped, we didn’t end our weekend needing a Plan B.

I’m really not that stressed, just busy. But who else wakes up at 3am and contemplates every decision you’ve ever made and the ones you still need to make?

What is consuming me lately? Thanks for asking.

~I’ve got to make lots of decisions on the redo of our beach condo; thank you Hurricane Ian, I had it just how I wanted it aside from one thing which of course I will share with you. Floor tile, countertops, furniture. New windows? Do we want to do wood shutters again? I’ve spent about 79 hours trying to decide on the couch/chairs for the living area. Do I want the slipcovered couch with chaise or do I want the upholstered couch with the return bumper?

Do you also wonder these things? I sure hope so.

I’m fretting over the couch situation because as pretty as the last couch was, it wasn’t comfortable and I complained about it at least 79 times in the four years we had it. I found it to be stiff and shallow; don’t we all know someone one like that? The funny thing is, we’ve had lots of guests there as well as renters and not one other person complained about the couch. Goldilocks who?

RIP stiff, shallow couch and lovely deep, comfy swivel chairs.

We will do most of the condo exactly as it was, but a few things we’re going to change up, you know, so I can stress about new choices.

I know it’s only 1400 square feet, but it’s consuming me.

Please, Baby Jesus do not let us have another hurricane with storm surge until I’m in heaven eating rocky road ice cream on the daily!

~I scheduled Peanut for her hysterectomy, but now I think I have to adjust it because Louie is coming over for another playdate and there’s no ‘keeping her calm’ when her man is in town.

~Also, and maybe the biggest thing, I need to schedule a hysterectomy for myself. *sigh* I’ve known I needed to to this since November, but I’ve been putting it off. I know I’ll be ok, but I’m still avoiding the necessary. I’ve not written about it because I know some people are freaked out by ‘health talk’ and I don’t want to be the one to freak someone out. Well, today anyway. But, the mechanical parts of my lady kitchen no longer serve me and they’re causing slight issues now, and hopefully by removing them, I won’t have bigger issues later. (My Mom had a hysterectomy at 40, was left with one ovary; which became cancerous and took her from us.)

**Edited to add-I am post-menopausal, so my hormones have already left the building.

So, how did you enjoy my rant that started with Dogs making out, moving onto couch talk and ending with my upcoming major surgery? Can you imagine how things ‘swing’ inside my head if this is only a blog post.

Have any of my friends had her interior Lady Parts removed and can share any good advice. I mean, aside from avoiding it altogether? (Mark, don’t worry about answering 😜)

XOXO

If This Rocker Could Talk, You’d Hear A Lot Of Cursing

On December 5, 2022December 5, 2022 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz41 Comments

My Mom has had this rocking chair ~~since Jesus was a small child~~ forever.

It was gifted to her when she was pregnant with my brother Mark by my paternal Grandma, the only Grandma I knew. If Mark were alive, he would have turned 59 this past September. This chair is old; Mom rocked both of us on it. In it? On it?

1966-Mark. I remember that little wooden 3 legged container/table. It held sewing supplies.

1967- Suz enjoying a beer after a long day of being a baby. Probably not my first, thanks, Dad. Have we discussed recently what a dysfunctional childhood I had? See the rocker in the background? It looks like Mom changed the cushions from yellow to green.

1972? My G’ma, Mark and myself and my G’ma’s dog. Goodness, Mom has the decorating bug: She added paneling to this wall and a mantle. Do you remember having the Rick Rack trim on stockings?

1976? My parents are now divorced and this is my soon-to-be stepmom and step-sister. It was Christmas Eve, and we were at my Mom’s house because my Paternal Grandparents spent Christmas with us. I distinctly remember my father giving Mary her engagement ring on this night. At my Moms house. Ya’ll, we put the FUN in dysFUNctional! I should write a book. Or at least a pamphlet. I did (and still) love Mary and my step-sister, but they had the worst freaking nine year marriage. The police were involved quite a bit, and always around the holidays. {Merry Christmas, here’s a restraining order!} See the Rocker? Looks like Mom found gold cushions this time.

I got off-topic. This Chair Gets Around.

My Mom held onto that rocker forever and talked about painting/refinishing it a few years before she passed away. We moved it from her place in Georgia to our home in Florida, and we held onto it; I pictured myself rocking grand-babies in it one day.

We brought it up to Georgia when we first moved into our house in 2020. Once it was there, I said: I’d really like to paint it.

The Coach agreed and said we should bring it back home, and we could have the Custom Cabinet Painting department (which he was just putting together in our shop) paint it for me; much better than me trying to DIY.

So, it went back to Florida (again) and sat in our garage for two years because the Custom Painting Dept. was flooded with work, and painting the chair was put on the back burner.

A few months ago, I decided to take matters into my own hands and inquired with a custom furniture painter in our area about the chair. His price was fair, but he wanted to charge me $400 to pick up and deliver. I was shocked at the delivery price so I vented to the Coach, and he said casually:

Why don’t you have our shop paint it?

My eyeballs rolled so hard into the back of my head that I almost fainted.

DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT TO OCCASIONALLY SHANK THEIR AMAZING HUSBAND?

I’d been in the shop a few weeks prior and noticed a beautiful cabinet job in the process; it was painted the most remarkable dark, flat color, and I was drawn to it.

Coach took the rocker to work the next day, and I had it back in a week. Mom had talked about painting it white, but I’m more of a black girl; although I usually identify as white. Goodness, you know what I mean!

There was a large crack down the side/center of the seat, but it was still usable. Our cabinet guys repaired it for me. I recall Mom saying that chair had been airborne at some point; my father had the absolute worst temper.

Is it dark gray? Is it light black?

It’s SW Black Magic!

Coach’s Mom made me a nice cushion, which is so comfortable. Recently, I’ve been sitting in it near the fireplace, enjoying my morning coffee while rocking a dog.

Hey, I gotta start somewhere!

Fun fact: The logo on the bottom of the chair led me to do a little research.

“S Bent & Brothers, a furniture company established in 1867 in Gardner, Mass. They closed in 2000. S. Bent and Brothers was known for producing well-made, high-quality furniture. They specialized in the style known as “Colonial Revival.” The two most common primary kinds of wood are maple and ash, stained to look like oak. S Bent & Brothers were known for their well-made chairs, especially Windsor.”

I found several for sale on Etsy and Ebay, ranging from $100 to $599.

Generally I refrain from having antiques in the house because they are haunted; this is the exception because I’m familiar with all the spirits surrounding this chair.

This chair has a new story to be told and it has many GOOD days ahead of it!

Do you have any furniture with a family history?

Post Hurricane Ian Check-In. That Bastard, Ian

On October 13, 2022October 12, 2022 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz35 Comments

**I started this post on 10/6

Thank you to all who reached out to our family. I’m beyond happy to say that personally, we fared well in Hurricane Ian. My people are all upright and unscathed….well aside from Nathan who is on day nine of working and hasn’t slept in his bed yet. Lauren and Nathan’s town (North Port) was ravaged; this is also where Nathan works. He’s been on ‘recovery’ duty which I can’t even imagine how horrible that is. Their house was —-this—close to taking in water. Which would have sucked doubly since they just finished a complete renovation two weeks prior from a ‘surprise broken pipe’ in January that flooded their home. (after that incident, they lived with NO running water for eight weeks. EIGHT. My children are not sissy-lala snowflakes)

WE ALL THOUGHT IAN WAS GOING NORTH OF US, but that asshat made a last minute right hand turn!

How did Suz do during the hurricane? She was tucked away nicely in the mountains of GA on a pre-planned trip, but also felt stressed and guilty because she was not in the thick of it. *sigh*

Linds, her cats, her BF, his daughter and Lolo’s dogs were all hunkered down at our home with the Coach. Our home lost power for five days which is really not bad in comparison. (working on this post on 10/12 and people are still without power)

Do you remember our sweet, cute little condo on the Bay and across from the Gulf Of Mexico?

Oh how I loved those slipcovered Pottery Barn pieces…

The weather people warned of a storm surge and honestly, NONE of us really knew what to expect. Call us naive. What happened though, was the Bay and Gulf of Mexico met up in our condo as well as many others. Cars were floating in the bay. Jet Ski’s were floating in the roadway.

Anyhoo….it’s a total loss. I filed a claim while still in GA and when I got home I read my insurance policy. Cue the Debbie Downer sound effects. WE HAVE NO FLOOD INSURANCE.

*See the water line on the island? Hey, that really WAS an island for a time…*

Ya think I can wash those white slipcovers?

I’m really NOT complaining. We still have a soft, safe place to lay our heads as this wasn’t our home-home. My renters for this coming winter will have to make other plans and we are already working on redoing everything. (Everything had to be taken down to concrete to mediate any mold, even the tile floors were taken out)

So many people had harrowing experiences and many lost their lives.

I was in contact with a young man who we used to do pressure washing and sealing of our roof/pavers and he had such a terrible experience. He’s lucky to be alive.

*I mean, really. These people are survivors.*

That was part of a text he sent to me and it made my heart stop for a minute. There’s also an article from the perspective of the guy who rescued him.

Lets Talk About Our East Coast Clean Up Calvary

Hurricane Ian arrived on Wednesday.

Sunday I arrived home from GA and I was greeted by a slew of our friends from the East Coast who had come early that morning and helped the Coach remove anything salvageable from our condo. Talk about good friends; they worked in muck for hours boxing up clothes, linens, pots/pans, etc.. I should’ve taken a photo of it all the stuff, but I did remember to take of photo of them, dirty and exhausted but with the biggest hearts. They removed TV’s, our exhaust hood, ceiling fans, the kitchen sink, mirrors, light fixtures, you name it, anything that wasn’t wet and reusable.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: We are blessed with the very best of friends.

We are away again. October has been a crazy busy month; I hope November will pale in comparison.

I have much to share, but not enough time to do it. Until next time!

XOXO

Seeing FRIENDS And We Were Van Gogh’ed

On April 22, 2022April 22, 2022 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz35 Comments

One of my favorite blog friends Ernie was in the vicinity for spring break and wanted to meet up. I had my assistant look into my schedule and see where I could fit in a little gab-fest; Friday afternoon it was! She and her family had spent the day at Fort Myers beach and it was only an hour for me; naturally we met at an ice cream shop because Vacation calls for Ice Cream. We had a great hour long conversation and could have sat and talked all day, but I had a meter running and I’m partial to NOT being towed. Her daughters are just as bright, sweet and funny as I’d imagined; basically mini versions of their mom.

Ernie is the sixth blog friend I’ve met over the years and so far I’m Zero for Six at meeting a Sociopath who wants to make a skin mask out of me.

WINNING!

Ernie doesn’t show her family faces on her blog, so I need to respect that too. I know I’ve professed before that I have zero artistic abilities, so now you can see I was clearly ~~lying~~ telling the truth.

They DID see a dolphin & they DID have ice cream (those aren’t shanks in their hands)Clearly, I am the shortest one there, per usual.

Van Gogh And My Little Artists

The girls and I had a ‘play date’ on Saturday that involved an hour and forty minute drive for me with two stops along the way to pick up my children on the side of the highway. Wait., that doesn’t sound safe. We met at a place near the highway, which is funny since I recall a few times I wanted to leave them somewhere along the highway. Or maybe just a small country road? I don’t sugarcoat that there were challenging times while raising teenagers.

The good news is we got through it and I love spending time with them. I purchased tickets to Van Gogh-The Immersive Experience for the three of us. We had reservations for a lovely lunch first and then we high-tailed it to the event since you have a timed entry and lunch ~~margaritas~~ took longer than expected.

(FYI, while looking for the link I saw that there are two different versions of this around the world, we didn’t have the virtual reality experience that they show on the other site and now I’m so mad I could cut off my ear)

I didn’t exactly know what to expect, but it was a really cool experience. The first 15 minutes you walk through an area where you read the timeline of Van Gogh’s life. He was a ‘complicated’ man who at first thought about being a preacher before going into the art world. He was SO very hard on himself. The girls and I agreed that if he realized in 130 years people would be seeing his work, he would have really lost his marbles. Although that happened anyway which is very sad.

Then you plop yourself into the huge room with canvases all around that morph from one painting to another.

I felt like I died and went to heaven when the entire room was sunflowers; I didn’t even take a pic of that part as I was mesmerized.

They don’t need a dermatologist, they’re works of art.

It was so cool to see the progression of all his work. Well, I’m not such a fan of all the paintings he did of himself with his ear/head bandaged; that made me sad. He really struggled with mental illness. Did you know he did some of his most renowned work while in an asylum? (there’s hope for me yet!)

Here are some unknown facts about Vincent if you are interested. (theories that he might NOT have cut off his own ear or even taken his own life)

I Have My Own Art Gallery

While we were enjoying the exhibit I was reminded that I also have artists; this is a gallery wall in our back hallway of paintings the girls did in elementary school. A little Vincent (Starry Night) and Georgia O’Keeffe, plus more pretties.