sey061

Yesterday I crossed off another item on my Houston to-do list. I finally visited the Archiver's store in Katy. I can sum up my experience in 6 words: What a colossal waste of time. I'm not a scrapbooker but I do like their supplies. I've always thought that Archiver's was THE place to shop for scrapbooking supplies but after visiting I've somewhat changed my opinion. Was the store huge? Yes it was, compared to your garden variety scrapbooking store. Did they have absolutely everything a scrapbooker could want? Well, I guess it depends on the scrapbooker. They had paper out the wazoo in every brand you could imagine. They had plenty of themed die cuts, stickers and accessories as well. They had lots of different types of albums, tools, rubberstamps and supplies but nothing really impressive. I think your average scrapbooker could be very happy there as long as she never tries to think outside the box (or scrapbook) and has access to unlimited amounts of disposable c...

Sunday fun with the Thibodeauxs included some automotive repairs, a 3-hour-tour that only took an hour and a half, lots of dry heaves, and more innuendos than you could shake a stick at. Heh. Get it? Shake a stick? Yeah, that was the theme of the weekend. Every time our friends visit we just happen to be in need of some minor car repairs such as a brake job or a power steering issue. It's just pure coincidence that these things happen while Chad is here and he happens to know a few things about automotive repairs. Jayson's power steering has been giving him trouble to the point where it's really hard for him to make sharp turns. Chad and Jayson went outside and did whatever it is that guys do under the hoods of cars then declared the problem fixed. Jayson had been having some 'tummy trouble' all morning so of course we had to discuss all the details of that because it's just what we do. While the guys were washing up at the kitchen sink we somehow start talking ...

Our good friends Chad, Jamie and their kids Collin and Emily are here visiting for the weekend. No matter what we do or don't do we always have a great time with them. Today we went bowling at Main Event in Katy. Jayson has his own ball and shoes which he said he hadn't used in probably 10 years. When he opened the bag he found a couple of small toys that Taylor had when she was a toddler, along with a score card from 1998. It's been slightly more than 10 years. His old bowling towel was in the bag as well and looked like it hadn't been washed since 1998. One of the kids asked why his towel was so dirty and before I could stop myself I said, "Because Mr. Jayson has dirty balls."  That caused fits of giggles and an entire day filled with juvenile ball jokes. After bowling we wandered around Katy Mills Mall for the rest of the afternoon. The kids spotted the EuroBubbles and couldn't resist taking a tumble. I'd never seen these before and was fascinated....

When I went outside to get the newspaper yesterday morning, I noticed my doorknob was particularly grungy. It was sort of a chocolate brown color but I was pretty sure there was some shiny brass underneath. After working on my knob for most of the day, I thought I might share some tips on how to effectively polish a knob. This is something every woman should know how to do so I hope these tips will help you to be able to polish a knob on your own without having to call a professional. I myself am not a professional but if the shiny knobs in my house are any indication, I might know a thing or two. Knob polishing is best done alone but can be done with an experienced friend you have a particularly large knob that you feel ill-equipped to handle. I'll start with what is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you: Don't be afraid of the knob. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors but they all work the same way. Remember, the knob will not hurt you, contrary to ...

Are you sick and tired of hearing about my sewing machine? You should be because I'm sick and tired of having to think about it. There has been a new development which may prove to be relatively insignificant to the outcome of this tale, but then again it could potentially cause even more problems. We shall see. Mr. President's assistant called yesterday with an alternative suggestion to our previous arrangement of her shipping me a box and me using that box to send my machine back to her. She said she discussed the situation with Mr. President and he told her to ask me if I would be willing to take my machine to one of my local authorized Baby Lock dealer/repair centers to have the repairs or shipping (if necessary) done through them. All of this would be done at Baby Lock's expense, of course. I asked her which repair center she had in mind and the one she suggested was the one who said my repairs were not covered under the warranty and they wanted $65 to check my machine...

That email I sent to all the executive officers of the Tacony Corporation actually produced some results. I really thought it would be read by their assistants and that the actual people I sent it to would never see it. The president of Baby Lock called me this afternoon from his cell phone since he was on the road. He had just opened my email and thought he'd better call because he sensed the urgency. That means he read the part where I told him I was a blogger and would be publishing my very honest review of his company online. Dude was really nice and said he understood I'd been having some trouble getting my machine serviced. I was prepared to start my rant but didn't need to since he proved to be very solution oriented. He said it looked like the repairs I needed were covered under the warranty and if I would be willing to ship the machine to their corporate office, they would see if the parts I need are still available. If so, they will repair the machine at no cost t...

I feel the need to rant again. I've been doing that a lot lately. However, I don't think it's me getting unreasonably frustrated with other people. I think everyone else just needs to quit pissing me off. Today's rant is about my 22 year old sewing machine. I know, I know, I could get a brand new one with tons more features for under $100 at Wal Mart. But I don't want a brand new cheap sewing machine. I want my awesome old one fixed. The problem is that I want it fixed for free. Or partially free anyway. It's not that I'm against paying for repairs. Heck, I'd even spend more than what that cheap Wal Mart machine costs just to get this one fixed if I had to. But see...I don't think I should have to. Here is the warranty that I received with my machine 22 years ago. I also have the official proof of purchase certificate that came with it. And yes, I do realize how bizarre it is that I still have these things. The way I read it, if anything on my machin...