What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer

I really thought I would like this one.  It's about a woman who suffers from depression after some major losses in her life.  The prescribed treatment is electroconvulsive therapy, after which she wakes up in a different time period.  

I'm only about a quarter of the way through, and I'm not sure I will persevere.  I'm actually quite bored by it.

Card catch up...

 I haven't posted any Saturday snail mail in awhile, and I found myself with a lot of card photos on my phone.  These were all made while I was in Kentucky.

The first few are woven using strips cut from magazine pages.

The next one is a hand-doodled flower embellished with button and word bead attached with embroidery floss. 

I put a little more work in on the next one...it was for my mother-in-law's birthday.

 The next three were sent to kidlets.  (The other kidlets got cards too, I just don't seem to have photos of them.)

I think (fingers crossed) that I may have all of next week off.  I could use some time for a little crafting...oh and cleaning, of course (cough, cough).

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth

This one has been on my Kindle for awhile.  I read and enjoyed the first two books in the series, and I like the way each chapter is sort of a stand-alone short story, so I waited awhile to read this one until I needed something to read in stops and starts.

I haven't been reading much since I've been home.  Family, work, commute, and vegging in front of the TV have made a dent in my progress.  My next one needs to be another book from my 2014 goals list.

In the land of chalk drawings...again...

Kasey's chalkboard that I love to play on is no longer in her dining room, but she hasn't had time to update it from a dining room motif.  (You can see its new home--in their new house--in the first photo.)

One of her best friends had a birthday today (a big one), so while Kasey was away from home at the party, I thought I'd surprise her by sneaking over and putting up some new chalk art for the new house.  I was inspired by the work of dirtsastudio in her Etsy shop...I first saw it on Pinterest.

This was definitely the most challenging chalk art I have attempted as I was doing it freehand while looking at the inspiration piece...and the audience (Beau) kept adding their two cents.

I like it with just the white chalk, but since I had ordered fancy colored chalk from Amazon, I added a little just for interest...the choice of states colored in has absolutely no significance other than I was totally copying the inspiration piece.

I added the heart in our part of Texas, and the 'Home is where the heart is' caption at the bottom.  I think I may go back and add a simple border around the edges.

I added a message in the corner at the last for Beau and anyone else who may think it's funny to point out its imperfection.  :)

Kasey called me after she got home to say that she really liked her surprise.  

I can mark another Pinterest project done on my 2014 goals list.  Now I need to put some chalk art on that section of wall I painted with chalkboard paint in my own house.

Thanks, AAA...

I signed up with AAA roadside assistance as I left home heading to Kentucky (literally, Carey handed me the info as I walked out the door, and I pulled over at the gas station on the corner to make the call).  I was very happy not to need it while I was away.

Today, however, Kasey and I made a 2-hour trek over to Ikea.  We loaded up the back of her SUV with shelving for the kids' rooms and office in their new house.  Ten minutes before we got home, and just as it was getting dark, we had a blowout.  

Since the service covers any vehicle you are driving or are a passenger in, I called the number I had programmed into my phone, and after a little bit of confusion pinpointing our location, they sent out a very nice guy who promptly changed the tire and got us back underway.  

Whew!  I've had the service for a little over three months, and it's already paid for itself.  Love it, and hope I never have to be without it.

Paying bills...

I just finished paying bills.  I hate paying bills.  Does anyone like to?

The photo above is of a checklist I created a few years ago.  I tweak it at the beginning of every year.  (This is a blank version.  My actual one is filled in up to April, but I felt weird about showing the actual payments.)  I used to actually print out a hard copy and fill it in by hand.  This year I just save it on my desktop and fill it out on the computer.  It's not perfect, but it keeps things from falling through the cracks.

Since I left full-time employment at the beginning of the year, I've had cash flow on my mind.  I was kind of worried about it.  But I've been home one week, and I've already been booked to work seven days (basically as a temp in different branches with my same company I've been with for 12 plus years).  I've accepted each assignment, because I never know when the next request will come along.  But I am needing to get some big tasks done around the house, so if the requests slow down for awhile, it would not upset me at this point.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Working on scratching another one off my 2014 reading list and am about half way through A Tale of Two Cities.  I've always liked Dickens.  Not sure why I've never read this one.  As with Frankenstein, it was a little difficult getting into the language of the era in which it was written, but now I'm chugging right along.