I'm going to Chicago tomorrow

So you know what that means.....

lots of this:

Okay.....you're right....it's not going to be 2 degrees....I just found that image and used it.

However, the high during my visit there is going to be 27 degrees.

Twenty.

Seven.

Still I'm SUPER excited about the trip. I've never been before and y'all know I love a new adventure!

This is a Little Pissy/Big Pissy trip. We've never traveled so far just the two of us. I'm sure there will be stories to tell and pictures to share.

And layers and layers of clothing to be worn.

Whisper Blue

I've been searching for the perfect throw for my couch since.....probably....September.

Any of y'all who have followed and/or read my blog for any length of time know that I'm all about the cozy.

Anything cozy.

In home furnishings, in clothing.....really in general...as a way of life.

'Cuz we all know that cozy=comfy.....right?

So anyway....I'd been on what I thought was going to be an eternal quest for the perfect throw.

I came close to buying a throw at West Elm a month or so ago, but held off.

I even tried to talk Devon into giving me the one off her couch (hee hee!).

But then.....then.....I found one!

And right here at Heliotrope in downtown Decatur!!!!

Woo hoo!!!!

Gracie and I are snuggling under it right now while we enjoy a Vampire Diaries mini-marathon.

(image and descriptive paragraph re: image from BlissLiving Home)

(I didn't provide a link to their website.

However, on the off chance that anyone

goes to the site to look around, I did NOT

pay $100.00 for this throw.

Y'all know me better than that! )

The surface of our

Temi throw is covered in hundreds of tiny, playful pom-poms. More pom-poms are strung along the edges for a cozy softness you'll simply adore. Offered in warm ivory and whisper blue, to coordinate with our Icelandic Dream duvet.

Red Fern Giclee II

I know, I know.....

I need another piece of art for my casita like I need a hole in the head.

But c'mon!

How could I resist this?!?!?

(image from Ballard Designs)

I bought the one hanging in the middle in the picture above.

Here it is hanging on the wall of the tiny landing

of my staircase.

details......

Close-up of details.

It's a departure for me from the types of art I'm normally drawn to

(no pun intended),

but I really like it a lot.

I love the simplicity, the textures, the colors and of course the image itself.

Y'all know me.

I can't close without telling you what a mega, mega deal I got on it.

It was originally priced at $199.00

Outlet price: $148.99

I pointed out to a salesperson that one of the brackets

on back was broken so she reduced it to $99.99.

THEN....

All wall decor was on sale that day.....30% off.

Final price: $69.99

*sigh*

I love a good deal.

Chair pictures

Don't y'all love the titles of my posts lately?

It's obvious I put a lot of thought into them. ;-)

Actually, I've been known to spend way too much time on titles.

So now I'm just sort of getting to the point.

Since several of you seemed to like my

funky chair, I thought I'd take a couple of pictures

up close.

Here they are:

I don't know if you can tell or not (the pictures don't do the colors justice)

but the fabric is dark brown damask on a creamy linen.

The wooden frame of the chair has a washed finish

where turquoise paint is used.

The chair back has this neat contrasting/coordinating fabric

dark brown striped print on the linen background.

I fell in love with it immediately.

Bought it at a consignment shop that I've been going to lately.

I paid $60.00 for it.

The seller only got 1/2 of that.

This chair is worth WAY more than even $60.00 (much less $30) which makes me wonder

about the seller.

Maybe they didn't want it anymore?

Oh, well...

My gain!!!

Gracie!

FINALLY!!!

A good picture of Gracie!

This photo captures her essence: she is pretty much always this cool,

calm and collected. Her expression seldom changes.

Love my puppy girl! :)

Let's look at some pictures.....

My original intention was to make a video tour of my (not so new anymore) house. Since I've never gotten around to it, I've decided to post pictures whenever I do something new here at my little place.

Or when we (me or Dev) get a shot of something that I particularly like.

Exciting, huh?!?!?

We were at West Elm a few week ago when Devon spotted this

chair marked down 50%.

We both loved it, but it goes perfectly in my upstairs living room.

I was originally going to use it as my desk chair, but the back isn't striped.

I wanted to be able to see the stripes all the time, 'cuz let's face it:

this chair is all about the stripes!

I like it in this spot between the cubbies and the windows.

It makes me happy. :)

Devon took this shot of some Halloween decor in my upstairs living room.

I love how it turned out!

Have I ever showed y'all pictures of my kitchen/dining/living area?

This is the first floor of my little house.

Well, part of it.

I didn't take pictures of the area where the table is because I still

want to hang curtains on the windows.

So this is the entire "kitchen": mini-sink, stove and small-ish fridge.

I took these pictures this evening so the light isn't too great.

My downstairs area is funky and fun.

The colors are TOTALLY different from upstairs which is much more

serene with muted colors.

The landlords re-modeled this room right before I moved in.

They painted the cabinets the color of some decorative shutters I had

and selected the counter tops to match.

They also installed the cabinet you see to the left.

It was originally one piece that they made into two

so that the shelf part of the cabinet hangs on the wall.

I love that it has glass door. It looks sort of custom.

This is a view of my cozy living area.

The TV in this room is strictly for watching DVDs.

The chair next to the TV is another one of my favorite things.

I found it at a consignment shop for $60 bucks!

It had just been reupholstered.

MAJOR score!

I'm going to close this post by thanking Dev and Zach for coming by this afternoon

and helping me re-arrange my downstairs room.

I couldn't have moved all that furniture without them.

Not to mention Devon's GREAT decorating sense! :)

Thanks, guys!

p.s. there will be more pictures of the rest of the room eventually. I'm sure y'all can't wait!!!

;-)

Baby news!!!

Yay!

We now know that my grandbaby

due March 17th is a

BOY

Here is a photo of the beautiful mom-to-be.

It was taken by her husband (who is a professional

photographer and whose link is on my sidebar :)

Nursery decor is being planned as I type this!!!

More updates to follow!! :)

Who doesn't love a penguin?!?!?

This picture just makes me smile!!!

Happy Monday and.......

Now let's go out there and enjoy it, people!!!!

xoxo

~Pissy

Halloweekend

Still raining and part-time Super Nanny update

Rain for the third day in a row. Hopefully the weather will cool off after this rain passes. It's been in the 80's for a couple of days now! Crazyness!!!! Where the heck is Fall?!?!?

Now for the Super Nanny update:

I spend time with these two cuties twice a week now.

I started working for their family a couple of months ago.

They're friends of the other family I work for...the people

in the glass house.

Who...by the way...I will have been working for one year as of next month.

I feel VERY fortunate to work for/with these families.

They're very cool, easy going, have great kids,

parenting skills and methods that coincide with mine.

I have a great time with the children: we go to parks and spend time

with their little friends~exploring, playing, learning social skills.

We go for nature walks~gathering acorns, leaves, sticks, rocks...

looking for birds and squirrels.

We do all sorts of art projects, read amazing books (the new family just moved

here from France; they have awesome books from England),

play dress up, build block towers, do puzzles,

draw with sidewalk chalk, watch the occasional

episode of "Little Einsteins" (one of my new favorite shows),

have snacks and lunch together,

giggle, laugh and act silly ....

I could go on and on.

Bottom line: I LOVE what I do,

feel lucky that I get to do it

and get paid well for doing so.

Life is good!

It was one of those mornings.....

Thunder.... lightening..... wind...rain...

It's stopped now.

I love thunderstorms....

so long as I don't have to go out in them!

p.s. The sun is out again. :)

Takes me back to my DNA testing days.....

Hee hee!

I especially like the "diaper: the little chocolate milk is wearing.

Nice touch! ;-)

This made me laugh.

Weekend words of wisdom

See y'all Tuesday!

I'm heading to VA for a long weekend.

Wedding fun, here I come!

To continue with my "wildlife" theme.....

Topic of the day.....

Discuss

I know just how she feels.....

you know:

the barely-keeping-my-head-above-water part.

...but on the other hand~

doesn't that water look amazing?!?!?

Gracie and I.....

go to the dog park almost every day for an hour or so.

Disney lied.

No one there looks like their dog.

I know....I've done the research.

Oh, no.......

R.I.P.

Sad and shocking news from Decatur..... Devon was with me this afternoon when I discovered the loss of my beloved Jin-Jin (our favorite Chinese restaurant). Gracie and I are observing an official period of mourning which will begin Tuesday afternoon. We'll have a moment of silence and light a candle in front of our little shrine which will consist of a statue of Buddha, a Jin-Jin menu and an empty take-out box. Featured background music will be provided by a cd of Tibetan monks chanting their chants of mourning. We will be attired in matching kimonos. zai jian, Jin-Jin.....zai jian...... *wiping a tear*

Makes me think of my landlord

I didn't do it.

Unless there is such a thing as "verbally" cutting a bitch.

In which case: I did that.

She deserved it.

And hopefully learned a lesson which is:

"Do NOT bother Pissy about the freakin' "parking situation" AGAIN!"

Humph!!!!

It was August 4th.....

*see note at end of post

....so of course I was sick again.

Throat infection (which I'd never had before....strep test negative) and both ears infected. I felt SO bad that I laid down on the hard exam table while waiting for the doctor to come in. I didn't have the energy to sit up.

I laid down again while waiting for test results and the for the nurse to come give me the shots I'd agreed to for "faster healing".

After the nurse gave me the shots ( one cortisone and one "super" antibiotic), I went to the desk to check out.

I almost fainted.

Seriously.

Like "put-your-head-between-your-knees" fainted.

I can't remember the last time that happened to me.

Weird!

I ended up having to stay in an exam room for 30 minutes until I felt better. Cold compresses were applied, my feet were put up and I was not left alone. The doctor and nurse kept coming in and checking on me.

I spent the rest of the day and night having chills, fever and generally feeling miserable.

Looking back on my posts, you'll see that I was sick with a sinus infection on April 4th.

And again on June 4th.

And now AGAIN on August 4th.

If this pattern continues, I should be sick with some sort of sinus related infection on October 4th.

I'm starting to think there's a voodoo doll out there with my name on it.

*note* There is nothing remotely cute or adorable about me when I'm sick. I just liked this picture.

Nanny for hire

Friday I went by and saw the family that I work for in the afternoons.

We hadn't seen each other for a month. They'd been out of state and I'd been recuperating from the surgery. Before they left, we'd discussed what would happen after the surgery....whether or not I'd go back to work for them, etc. I decided a visit was in order.

Much to my dismay, it appears that the lovely 14 month old girl who blew me kisses as I left her house in June, has come back from vacation in August a screaming, tantrum throwing little horror who wants nothing to do with me.

I won't go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that the child's own mother was embarrassed by her behavior and extremely apologetic. The mom kept saying that the baby is "going through a phase".

Alrighty......

Then the 2 1/2 year old woke up from him nap. He seemed happy enough to see me. He showed me his new "big boy" bed and we talked a little about his vacation, seeing his cousins, etc. I only stayed a few more minutes after that.

(And it was hot in the house. I don't do hot. There cannot BE enough fans on me as well as a/c. Ask anyone who knows me.)

As the mom (holding the still fussy, squirming baby) and the 2 year old and I are standing at the door saying our goodbyes, the 2 year old interrupts me to say: "Be quiet! My daddy is working!" I didn't have a chance to say anything in return because the mom was again apologizing profusely and reprimanding the child for speaking to me in that tone and using that phrase. Then he said it again. Loudly. The poor mom....she looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. (btw: the dad was NOT working. he was in the den watching TV AND we weren't speaking loudly).

So...I was going to go back. To at least give it a try...it's a rather demanding situation with the one child in pull-ups AND one in diapers..... the two 120 pound Labs that stay in the house, the two cats that constantly try to escape. But now....after witnessing how the baby is these days (according to her mother), the little boy being mouthy.... combined with how warm it was in the house.....I'm not going back.

I've got a feeling the mom won't be surprised,

Really?!?!?

Remember when this happened back in June?

Well, I happened to have an appointment with the surgeon that afternoon regarding my shoulder. I saw a Physician's Assistant that day. I'd injured my right foot in the accident, so it was x-rayed, they thought it MIGHT be fractured, I was told to keep it elevated and wear this ugly orthopedic boot for a while. They'd check my foot the next time I came for follow-up.

Since then, I've been back to this same surgeon I don't know how many times. Every time since that first time back in June (the day of the accident) I've seen the surgeon rather than the PA. Whenever I'd ask about my foot (which still has a sizable lump on the right side which renders me unable to wear most shoes or sandals) the doctor would barely glance at it and tell me to "give it time".

Next week will be two months. How much time to do I have to give it? So this past Friday I was back for my 2nd post op for my shoulder. Guess who I saw this time? Yeah, the PA. I asked him about my foot. He couldn't believe it still looked that way. More x-rays were taken and various things were discussed. Mainly that it's probably been fractured this entire time. OR it could be a joint problem.

So this Thursday I'm having an MRI on my foot to determine exactly what it is.

And all I can say is:

P.S. My friend Weezer says someone just needs to put me back together with duct tape. ;-)

Did anybody notice?!?!?

The last comment left on my last post.

You know .....the exciting one about my new care-free summer hairstyle.

Why on earth would that particular post cause me to get a spam comment about penis enlargement?!?!?!?

New hair

My new summer 'do is brought to you by the following sponsors:

*relentless heat + its best friend stifling humidity

*my hair

(it has a natural inclination to "curl" when allowed)

*left shoulder

(which doesn't allow freedom of movement

to blow dry or flat iron hair straight)

Pretty!!!!

It's really not.

Prepare yourselves.

I told you!!!!

At the top of my arm you can see a two of the three places where I had stitches. Got them out Friday.

Now for the bruises to go away...... :(

p.s. the nightgown I'm wearing in the picture has pigs flying. Seriously. Pigs with wings flying amongst lots of puffy white clouds. I love Nick and Nora sleepwear AND Target for selling it!

....and in other news.....

My Georgia Power bill arrived today.

It was more than DOUBLE what it was last month.

*sigh*

I've recently hung thick drapes on all the upstairs windows,

a thick roman shade on the french door leading out to the deck

and had a 52 inch ceiling fan installed

to replace the teensy one that was here when I moved in.

Hopefully all this will help.

p.s. I get my stitches out tomorrow!!!!!!

Bring back the shoulder pad

Yep!

Gonna bring it back all by myself!

I sported that bad-boy until Saturday, so I guess it could have been worse.

Now I'm just in a sling.

The stitches come out Friday.

Holla!

The surgery ended up being minimal, thank goodness!

They removed a lot of scar tissue and the bone spur.

Lots of fluid too.

Once I got back to Devon's house

I had an AWFUL reaction to the anesthesia and would have happily died

to be put out of my misery.

I felt WORLDS better once I threw up.

So there ya go! LOL

Thanks so much for all the well wishes!!!

Hey Babies!

Tomorrow is the big day.

I'm having surgery on my left shoulder.

It may also involve my left heybaby.

I'll be back to let y'all know.

Happy Birthday USA!!!!

So much going on.....

Just for fun here is a picture

of my new media console

purchased yesterday at Ballard's Backroom

for the low, low "doorbuster" price of

$99.00!!!

Yeah, baby!

Original price: $238.99

*insert happy dance here*

so....

yeah.

Life has been crazy....just like everyone's, I'm sure.

I wrecked my car June 10th.

Long story short: everyone is fine.

By "everyone" I mean the two other cars I hit

Actually, I only hit (rear ended) one, but that caused him to hit the guy

in front of him.

Of course I hit a Mercedes and it hit an Acura.

*sigh*

My car suffered the most damage because, let me tell ya:

hitting a '99 Mercedes sedan is like hitting a boulder.

Or a tank.

I have pictures.

I'll post them sometime.

It took two weeks to repair my car. I drove a rental in the mean time.

Devon said it looked like a roller skate. haha!

I was just glad to have something to drive that had good a/c.

'Cuz can we talk about how freakin' HOT it's been?!?!?

Good LORD!

I've been back and forth to the doctors a lot.

I hurt my foot (just a little) in the wreck, and then there's the shoulder/arm thing.

I'm having surgery next Wednesday.

I've also been working quite a bit.

One of my families is on va-kay for three weeks.

I was supposed to go to Boston with them, but decided not to.

I needed a break AND to get this shoulder fixed.

You KNOW it's bad when a Southern gal can't put her hand on her hip.

Yep! THAT'S how "frozen" my shoulder is.

I could go on and on, but old people and their ailments are kinda boring.

Hope everyone is keeping cool!!!

Bedroom alcove.....

is complete!!!!

I know this isn't a very good picture,

but I really wanted to show y'all how the

bedroom alcove turned out.

(photo from Ballard's online)

I wanted new art for the tiny space.

Something brighter to lighten things up.

Devon found the print for me

(the one above on the right)

at Ballard's Backroom.

On sale~of course~for $100.00!

Our biggest score was the Lewis headboard

from Pottery Barn.

We found it at the Pottery Barn Outlet.

Normally it can only be ordered online or by catalog

and costs $300.00 plus $79 shipping and handling.

Devon had printed out a coupon that Little Pissy had sent her

so I was able to get an additional percentage off.

(photo from Pottery Barn online)

This brought the cost down to

$128.00!!!!

MAJOR score!!!

Then I went online to order the slipcover for the headboard.

They were on clearance.

Colors and sizes were very limited.

I was SO fortunate in that I was able to get

the size I needed in the color I wanted

for only $79.00!

After shipping it was $100.00

So I was able to get the EXACT upholstered headboard I

wanted with the slipcover I wanted

for $228.00 when normally

it would have cost over $500.00!!!

Now to find the perfect little throw pillow with

just a touch of yellow to replace

the queen bee pillow.....

Yes, again.....

I spent Easter weekend sick in bed with a sinus and ear infection.

I'll be spending this weekend the same way.

Since it was only 2 months ago (to the day) that I was last at the doctor with this same thing, she wanted to put me on a different antibiotic. I was surprised at that. She said, "well, if you get another one soon we'll have to switch."

Really?

In other medical news: I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this morning. My left shoulder/arm has been bothering me for months. I've been through a course of physical therapy~didn't help. I've tried several different treatments and none of them have worked. Consulting with a surgeon was the next step.

X-rays were taken and a bone spur was found on my shoulder. After some range of motion testing it was determined that I have "frozen shoulder" and that arthroscopic surgery would be required soon. An MRI is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. This should show if there is any further damage, such as a rotator cuff tear. I see the surgeon again on Thursday for the results and to determine the course of action.

As crazy as this may sound, I'm actually looking forward to this. I'm SO tired of waking up at 2 or 4 in the morning from the pain in my shoulder/arm..... not being able to put my arm behind my back or over my head....shampooing, blow drying and flat ironing my hair is painful..... performing what should be a simple task like making up a bed and ending up in excruciating pain.

Movements that a person normally does without giving it a second thought? Those things hurt me.

Let's not even talk about how difficult it is to get dressed and undressed.

Enough whining.

I'm going to take some Nyquil in the hope that it will know me out for the night.

So yesterday on the deck.....

I was playing around with my new laptop's camera, trying to get a good picture of Gracie and me.

Here are the results:

"No, Mom! You can't make me!!!"

SO close! ...and then she turned her head.... :(

"I'm doing it, but I'm not happy about it."

Sigh

Oh, well.

We can always try again.

Or I can just give up.

B is for "Boring"

That's what Devon said about my blog tonight. haha!

And she was sitting on my couch on my computer when she said it!

The NERVE! ;-)

I'm sorry I've been SO bad at updating.

Since March I've been working almost full time.

Then I got Gracie 5 weeks ago.

We started obedience classes 4 weeks ago.

I've been going to physical therapy for my shoulder twice a week for the past 4 weeks.

In between all that, I've been finishing up the decorating of the deck: shopping for chair cushions, buying plants, repotting them, shopping for yard art,

hanging lights, etc. It's been fun, but has taken a lot of time.

Not to mention keeping my house clean, doing laundry, taking Gracie for walks (short ones) 3 or 4 times a day....

So basically?

I've been living like a normal person.

What's new with y'all?

Sneak peek of view from the deck:

I know it looks weird, but those balls

of light are the sun shining through the trees.

"A" is for Apple

The verdict from the computer repair guy gave me the verdict: at least $325 to repair my laptop and it might last one to two years. It has multiple issues. *sigh*

~or~

buy a new computer.

I've decided to buy a Macbook.

I've only ever owned a PC, but I used Devon's Macs all the time, so I think I'll be OK.

Hopefully I'll be up and running soon and able to visit everyone's blogs.

I miss y'all!!!!

My computer is going for repairs

ACK!

What will I do?!?!?!?

Really, I should have taken it in a while back. I've been putting up with the issues it's having because I didn't want to be without it.

*sigh*

Time to suck it up and have it fixed.

Not sure how long I'll be without it.

In the meantime.....this is what I'm gonna do:

(Picture of AWESOME tray taken
@ Target at Atlantic Station.
No, I didn't buy it.)