Thievery

NOTE: 11/12/08 I should point out that the card in question was my debit card. Don't think I said that.

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Well we've just had something weird happen to us.

Yesterday while waiting to be tossed out of an airplane (TERRIFYING!! AMAZING!! Post coming soon) the Mr. had his laptop going using their free wifi (what, your local drop zone doesn't have free wifi?? How gauche), and he says, "Hey our bank account has this much in it...does that sound right? I heard the single number he said and assumed it was an abbreviation to indicate how many of the base units of money were in the account. "Yeah, that sounds right," I say scanning the sky as the most recent plane load of jumpers starts sprouting parachutes. It actually sounded high, but we'd just been paid and hadn't had time to fritter it all away yet (just kidding! We are very responsible with our benjamins...retirement accounts, emergency funds, the whole bit). He must have noticed I wasn't paying the closest attention so he started looking around and found several charges to gas stations that were hovering around an amount we might use if we were gassing up the H3 and commuting to work 2 states away every day. We do not own an H3 and thankfully the gas prices around us have come down to around the $2 mark so unless we were gassing up every 4 wheeled item we own (cars, lawnmower...gas powered radio control trucks??) plus the leaf blower, electric chainsaw, refrigerator, DVD player and those little light up earrings I got at Christmas last year there was absolutely no way we could use that much gas...or buy that many snacks.

Then he notices a couple major shopping sprees at Publix. The nearest Publix is an hour drive...and those commercials might make me weak in the knees, but they sure don't make me want to drive an hour (of course that's what I was doing wasn't it...I was filling the car up before AND after driving to Publix to buy 2 months worth of groceries...I just forgot to tell the Mr.!!!!).

I went through my envelope of receipts to mark the legitimate charges and hubs heads to the bank today. After an hour with a most wonderful woman at our bank he comes back with news of a total amount taken that would go a long way toward making not one, but two very Merry Christmases for us and our families. One of the late breaking charges in the "Point of Sale" category turned out to be a $200 spree at Bath & Body Works; he eyed me suspiciously when he told me that one. Just kidding! He was with me the last time I went to B&BW and saw the $7 candle holders I got at 50% off. Turns out the charges are coming from somewhere in Florida.

The strange thing is I did not lose my card, and I shred all mail with personal info on it. Maybe a waiter or someone else I gave my card to during a trip we took weekend before last wrote down the card number?? Who knows.

So weird! I thank God that he alerted hubs to all this before charges started bouncing. Our bank is filing some paperwork, and we should get the money back in the next few weeks. Also THANK GOD that we are in a secure enough financial position that this will not devastate us. We'll have to watch what we spend, but we'll be able to pay the bills and eat.

Pink Saturday!

Happy Pink Saturday! This Saturday I am sharing some photos of the pink church you saw in some paintings I featured in a previous Pink Saturday post.

This is Trinity Episcopal Church in Abbeville, SC. This little church is 145 years old. It is open to visitors, so drop by if you are ever near Abbeville.

This is part of the archway over the front door.

You can see that the years have left their mark on the exterior. The pink is still there and going strong!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

My Birfday!

Today I am 27 years old! I just can't help but feel special on November 6. I grew up in a family where birthdays were recognized with parties and gifts or a special dinner at any restaurant the birthday boy or girl chose. And people are so nice to you on your birthday!

My sweeter than sweet hubs made my day when he surprised me with a birthday cake he made! Check this out!


Look how smooth that icing job is! He rigged up his own rotating cake stand with a small lazy susan and one of those little rubbery grip pads one can use to get the pickle jar open. The pad kept the parchment under the cake from sliding around when he turned the stand. He is so smart!

And boy, was that cake good. The people at work raved.

To top it all off, this Sunday afternoon he is taking me SKYDIVING!!! OH MY GOSH!!! We have been talking about skydiving for YEARS, and he decided to surprise me for my birthday this year. I have never done anything like this (bungee jump, hang glide, parasail...nothing!) so I am psyched...and nervous! I'll let you know how it goes!

Saucy's Zombie Jar Swap

I just participated in my first ever swap! Which reminds me:

Tan of Enchantments and Giggles: If you are reading this and haven't received the package I sent you, stop reading now! I don't want you to see the goodies before they arrive!

Saucy of Bloggedy Blog Blog hosted the Zombie Jar Swap, a spin on the faerie jars that are flying around many creative blogs but with a Halloween twist. As you may have guessed I was partnered with Tan of Enchantments and Giggles. Here's what I sent her!

I caught this little pumpkin fellow and bottled up some of Halloween night complete with bats, stars and a man in the moon to keep him company.


I have to praise my wonderful hubby here. He was so supportive through this whole project with advice when I needed it and encouragement to get a move on as the deadline loomed close. Also he is solely responsible for the oh-so-cute placement of my pumpkin fellow's limbs! What I came up with before this = not oh-so-cute. I was at a loss, so I took this little guy to him and hubs made a little bend here and an arm placement there and voila! My hubs is the best ev-ah.

This tag explains it all:

What I sent:

-Jar full of pumpkin fellow
-Orange bucket with black cat on a fence scene
-Bat shaped Halloween mask
-Sparkly black cat ornament
-Bag of teeny rafia pumpkins (pumpkin fellow's relatives)
-Chocolate covered orange marshmallow pumpkins (Tan loves those)
-Handmade Boo banner

I'm so proud of this banner! I made it all by myself! (And I do believe it was somewhere around 4 am when I took these pictures...I was so excited about all this stuff I couldn't make myself stop and go to bed!)

Tan and I found we share an undying love for Etsy, the online marketplace for all things handmade. I actually got the sweet bats fluttering around in the jar from the shop Duct Tape and Denim. She's got some on sale right now, not to mention bunches of other cute things.

If you check out Tan's blog you'll see she mentions that she injured her neck and back several weeks ago and just found out from her doctor that she has 6-8 more weeks of treatments. Any of you reading who pray, please pray and ask God for a speedy and complete recovery for Tan!

Thank you, Saucy, for a great swap! I enjoyed stretching my creative muscles!

TWD: Pumpkin muffins

Note: You only have until October 31 to join the baking odyssey! Buy the book, go sign up and show us your food!

I was coming off a TWD slump and needed something to get me back in the swing...enter: Pumpkin Muffins. Simple, quick, yummy. Thank you, Dorie!

Things started pretty normally, but then the batter got weirdly grainy once the eggs were added in.

But once the dry ingredients/raisins (I used dark raisins, by the way)/walnuts were added in things got back to normal.

And turned into these!

My only teensy weensy complaint would be that they seemed a tad dry even though I checked them a couple minutes before the lowest cooking time Dorie listed. My oven must run hot or something...I'll just have to check sooner in the future.

Dorie knows what she's talking about (imagine that) when she says to split, toast and add marmalade...very niiiice.

Go make these muffins! They're like little chunks of fall!

Just cuz, take a look at that turtle with her legs stretched out...have you ever seen such?

A Thanksgiving Wish

I am very excited to be at the point in the season that we are right now. I enjoy having my Halloween decorations up and still seeing Halloween items in the stores and watching like a hawk as they put those things on sale. But this weekend I went to The Mall and got sucked right in to Williams-Sonoma. And now I have a bad case of the I-wants...


Like this...I think I stopped breathing when I saw this. Its HUGE! And I'm not even sure there'd be room to actually eat at the table if this was in the middle of it...but I NEED it.

This, too

And one of these for good measure

And definitely some of these. Never know when you might need a holiday themed towel.

And while we're at it, just go ahead and toss these in...hey, I could actually get away with those as a Halloween-y item!

Who does one write letters to for Thanksgiving gift requests?

Pink Saturday!

I am so excited about today's pink stuff! I live in Abbeville, SC where there is a wonderful little place called Trinity Street Market & Gallery run by the dynamic duo of Kristin and Pat. They feature the work of over 30 regional artists, and there is always something new and inspiring to see each time I stop by.

They just finished a show with an artist who signs her works with the name Pink Earth; does it get any more Pink Saturday than that??

Kristin and Pat generously let me come in and take me take pictures of Pink Earth's (real name: Jeanette Ross) work to my heart's content; I told them I had some ladies who needed to see these paintings!

This is called Humble Beacon, and it shows part of Trinity Episcopal Church just down the street from the gallery. Yes, this 145 year old church is actually pink! It is not quite this bright; Jeanette uses a distinctive color palette in her works that is heavy on pinks, purples and aquas. I'll show you actual photographs of the church in an upcoming episode of Pink Saturday.

Here we see part of Trinity Street. That's the ice cream parlor on the right side with the aqua beams and banisters (best potato salad ever). The gallery is right across the street, but not shown in this painting. Don't you just love that pink church!

Just can't get enough...its beautiful inside, too.

The Rough House has been an Abbeville institution for over 75 years (back in the day, women weren't even allowed in here). They have a little dance floor called the Side Pocket and one Friday a month a DJ comes in to play beach music for all the shag dancers. We stop by their lunch counter so my husband can get his hotdog/moon pie/RC Cola fix every once in a while.

Even hot dog joints can benefit from a little pink.

Yummy pink bricks. The Rough House is actually not pink, but it's fun to pretend.

Here we see the Abbeville square and some excellent use of pink. I used to live in an apartment overlooking this square. If the square were actually pink, I don't think I ever would have moved.

One more view of the square; the building in the background is the courthouse where my husband and I got our marriage license.

Lovin' it, Jeanette.

More of our favorite color on the postcard advertising the show.

I hope you enjoyed the art! This only scratched the surface of the pink there is to be found throughout the Trinity Street Market & Gallery; hopefully I can go back and collect more pink specimens to share with you. Click here if you'd like to visit the gallery's site.

Happy Pink Saturday and thanks for dropping by!