I "so" rock !

Sunday, March 15, 2009


a tiny life No.3 - collage, watercolour & ink - 5 x 7

This small (5x7) original collage & watercolour painting is now tucked into it's cellophane sleeve and waiting to show up in the next shop update ... any day now.

I gotta say ... I am having way too much fun and all this frantic CE building is keeping Worry & Fret at bay. Just as it seems that I can't practice deep breathing and deep brooding at the same time. Who knew ? It seems I'm also unable to cut, paste, paint, draw and feel anxious at the same time. Hallelujah !! I'm in between paying projects at the moment - design assignments from customers No Uno and big fish Chicago company - and it's high time I tried once again to see if I can't rustle up another new customer or two. Most companies, I find (in the 7+ years that I've been doin' this self employed designer gal thing) want a freelancer that can work from their workplace (so they can keep an eye on you I'm assuming) - not someone far away in a tiny sleepy village by the sea. But I also know if I can just get my foot in their giftware/home decor door - if they would just try me on one project ... well, I'd be in like flint. So that's a big To-Do on la list for this week.

I had quite a day yesterday. Aside from my ongoing CE building I wrestled with a radiator early in the morning (in my office) spewing hot scalding water. Uh Huh ! heart pounding, WTF ? Racing up and down stairs searching for the proper tools to stop this leak. Many, many sodden bath sheets later, furnace turned off and a bamboo skewer stuck in the hole I thought I was home safe only to find water leaking through the ceiling and into the main floor. Sigh. Cleaned up the water, found the vice grips, tightened the stop the water leak screw - and disaster averted You rock ! girlfriend ... or so I thought ... only later in the day to relive the morning's heart pounding angst. After lunch I was drawn to a mystifying crackling sound coming from my living room. Oh great !! the old-as-the-hills ceiling light fixture in the dining room, the one that earlier had water dripping through it - was crackling. Uh Huh !! Crackling. !! And I could smell that horrible burning electric smell. OMG !! Pulse elevated to thumping and what TF to do ?? OK calm down. Google to the rescue ! race upstairs and type in water leak through light fixture - turn off the breaker (especially if you have old ancient wiring !!). Rush back downstairs and down into the basement. Meanwhile crackling continues from said ceiling fixture. Several years ago I updated the electrical in this house from fuses to a breaker panel. Something that's never been done however is to label those switches. So ... I raced up & down the basement stairs oh 20 times (heart pounding now not only from fear of fire but also from mega increased aerobic activity) until I found the right breaker switch. Power off finally to that wet ceiling fixture and the crackling stopped and thankfully our house did not burn down through the night. Big friggin' PHEW!

You so rock sister ! Now I'll be the first one to admit (in my post feminist thinking) that I wish there was a handy man who lived in this old brick house. A super man, dressed in jeans and plaid flannel, who would leap up out of his recliner and swoop into action to deal with these ongoing old house crisis' that occur ... but sadly n'est pas ici and when all is said and done I do feel very proud and capable when I just - handle things. Things I don't believe I can handle I continually do handle - even though the stress of it nearly kills me. My heart is pounding again as I type this.

Can you say condo ?? - Condo - condo - condo - that's right - sing along with me
oh ... yeah... it's quando - quando - quando isn't it ?

Bubbles & scent are callin'

ps - Today I'm participating in the first official Dim Sum Sunday a foodie's blog meme - check out the details over at The Karmic Kitchen

12 comments:

  1. Good morning, sweet Susan. Your upbeat spirit and smiles are so warming to this cold and broken heart this morning. LOVE that! Love how you find a way to face each day, no matter how you are feeling!!

    And congrats on all your designer success. Woot to you! :)

    Much love to you and the furry gang.
    xo

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  2. What a delightful post, Susan. I know what you mean about independence and autonomy. It's great when you can say I did it. Still it's exceptionally stressful. Glad the light situation was brought under control.

    My father was an electrician and he taught me to have a special fear of water and electrical charge! I have a photo of him at Oasis in yesterday's post. He was one of those can do guys around the house that you describe.

    Love the new design concept..it's fun, light and altogether pleasing to the eye. <3

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  3. That's freakin' funny. You neglected to tell us how many trips to the hardware store it took in the attempt to "fix" the heart pounding events. I'm pretty sure Winnie thought it was funny watching all the up and down the stairs activity.
    Home ownership, there's nothing like it.

    Looking forward to your Sunday Dinner.

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  4. Susan, you are a CE-building, radiator-wrestling, vice grips-wielding kind of wonder woman! Hope your Sunday is more peaceful and you enjoy Dim Sum Sunday!

    (I have a guy in a flannel shirt sitting in the recliner, but he can't fix a thing!)

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  5. home-owning can be such a drag! but i love your whole you rock sister attitude! also love the condo / quando play on words. you are too too tealented, susan!

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  6. Lord. You had my heart pounding right along with you. Old houses can be quite a handful, as I well know.

    Love!! your new illustrations!

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  7. I love this new little, colourful, happy card...

    Okay... .listen...I have a handy guy in jeans and work shirt...but.... when something happens... I am the gopher anyway. Much hollering from the basement by him.. ... whilst I race up and down to a spot where he can hear me from where he stands beside the breakers..(because some of ours are still not marked either!) and we yell back and forth til we find the right one. Then, argue about which is the best way to proceed in the fixing of said problem.... sigh....

    One day (home alone) I had crackling in the furnace and electronic filter....ackkk! turned everything off... look for the water leak..not tough to find..it was spewing from a tiny hose pipe leading from the humidifier and going everywhere withing a 10 square foot radius... luckily the furnace is in a small room. No matter how hard I turned the shut off valve I couldn't stop the mad spurting... so... I cut off the damn hose at the valve, wrapped it with towels and hung a bucket under it....and waited til Mr. Handy got home. If I was single I would have phoned a plumber. Then, watched it.. emptying my bucket periodically. We had plumbing stuff around..so, turned off the main into the house.. and capped the pipe where I cut it off. It just sits there now... .unused. We hadn't been using anyway even though we have no humidity at all here in winter. It's not worth using because no matter how low we set it, moisture accumulates between my windows...and I don't want that. I prefer my hair standing on end... I love me lighting up like a Christmas tree every time I turn on a light switch... NOT...but, I definitely don't want moisture or mold either.... so, I suffer a bit....

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  8. Good job! Plumbing and electricity are SUCH a bad combination. And I've found a Leatherman tool to be extremely handy and versatile in situations like this.

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  9. getting new clients. its been hard for me. i fired my rep 4 years ago and im not sorry -but boy was it easy i just waited for her to offer me something and i said yes or no. ive got to work harder at -as you would call it - building the empire. i have to fight my inherent laziness everyday.


    food looks good!

    i liked the new piece. hows the stick print coming along?

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  10. ADORE this illustration. Inspiring. Love your little houses too.

    Sorry to be so clueless, but what is "CE building"?

    PHEW! is right on that episode. yo know if yo did have a man around, he might not necessarily be tht super hero handy. he could be, sad to say, like me--rather useless at that sort of thing!!

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