In which my car enters a watery grave...

Thursday night I went to a painting class (more on that later), got home around 10:30 & got ready for bed...it started storming & the power went off at 11:15.  B-rad had to be up at 4 am to head to Illinois for an archery shoot & with the power out - neither of us got much sleep.

He got up at 4, got his stuff together & left.  The power was still out so I was wide awake.  He texted me a minute or two after he left that our end of the road was the only one out, the rest of our road had power.  

Lucky us.

A minute or two later (at exactly 4:52AM) B-rad called me.  He exclaimed, "I need you to get in my truck & come get me.  I just got your car stuck in water."

SHIT.

I jumped up outta bed, grabbed my purse & his key & took off (still in my pajamas mind you!) It was still VERY dark at 4:52 am & I was driving quickly to get there as fast as I could.  I had no idea where he was on the road, but surely I would see him, right?  B-rad called me again, but when I answered the call went dead (I guess because of the storms etc cell towers were messed up) & suddenly I popped over a hill & there was WATER & lots of it.  I saw B-rad standing in the water beside my car waving a flashlight so I would see him.  I slammed on the brakes.  I went into the water a bit myself because it was RIGHT after you crested the hill.  Luckily his truck is massively tall & I got stopped before I got too deep.  B-rad walked through the water to gauge how deep it was to see if his truck could make it through.  Ya'll the water came up to where his legs meet his hips.  It was DEEP.  

He drove the truck slowly through the water & we hooked a strapped to my car to pull it out of the water it was still in.  When he hit the water he slammed on the brakes but it was too late.  (He said he was surprised the air bag didn't go off-that's how hard it hit.)  He tried to kill the engine, but it's a fancy pants push button & it has to be in park.  From the force of the initial hit & the deepness of the water, he floated through the water until the car engine died.   He had enough wits about him to look out the window to see how deep it was.  He could see it was REALLY close to the door so he crawled out of the car through the window & pushed it out of the deepest water the best he could.  As we drove the truck through to the other side he said, 'watch & make sure I don't hit your car.'  If I hadn't been watching my car & trying not to cry I would've taken a picture.  It was in the water, but it looked like it wasn't up over the seal of the door.  

Once we got the car pulled out of the water & up onto a hill B-rad worked a bit to see if he could get the water out of the spark plugs & maybe get it started.  My job was to watch for cars coming & flash the truck lights at them to alert them there was a problem.  You'd be surprised at that un-Godly hour how many people were out.

He had to go to the barn to get a better tool & I stayed back w/ my car.  I called the police to let them know someone needed to come put something out to make sure people knew there was high water.

 I stood there in the dark waiting for B-rad to come back & save us & I really, REALLY wanted to cry but I didn't...(until Shauna called me to see how I was {B-rad texted them what happened that morning}... then I got all emotional... SIGH.)

My poor car...

 B-rad worked on it but sadly he could not get it running again.

 Once he decided to admit defeat he left again to go back & get the trailer to load it up to bring it home.

 As day broke, the water went down very quickly.  I had called our insurance agent (who is B-rad's uncle) to see if I needed an accident report to file w/ the insurance.  I woke him up (it was 6:30am) & he said he 'didn't THINK so'.  UHM-I wasn't real confident w/ that answer so I called the police (again) & asked them to come out to give us an accident report.)

 This pic shows how high the water WAS when B-rad hit it...you can see about half way up that hill is debris & it's wet.  THAT'S where it was.  He didn't stand a chance.

 We waited nearly an hour for the police to come.  I called into work because I hadn't slept hardly at all the night before & it was 7:45am & we were still on the road (I'm supposed to be at work at 7:30).  Plus I couldn't get cleaned up at home & come in late even if I wanted too because in the country no power = no water.  

When the police finally showed he said we could load the car up & that we didn't need an accident report.  Gee - thanks for NOTHING.

 B-rad & I attempted to push the car into the trailer.  I was in the back pushing & when the car hit the ramp I saw the front of the trailer come up in the air.  UHM... I didn't say anything because B-rad was having a bit of a rough morning already... He must've seen it too because he said to stop pushing & he walked to the front of the trailer & said, 'Sure, why WOULDN'T the trailer come off the hitch?'  (Apparently Brady had taken his hitch out of the truck & when B-rad grabbed the hitch he thought it was the right one - it was not...)

 SO B-rad left, AGAIN, to go get the right hitch & I again waited for him to return.  He decided to winch the car in & I got to push the button to let the cable out.  Just out, ya'll, that's all I could handle...B-rad operated the controls to pull it back in.

 If this isn't the saddest thing you've ever seen...

 

 B-rad got the car all strapped in & we got home around 9:00 to STILL no power.  Shauna had offered to let him use her car to take to Illinois for his shoot, but by the time we got done messing w/ the car it was too late for him to get there by the time he was scheduled to shoot.  (His shoot was at 1:00 & it takes about 6 hours to get there.)  I tried to convince him earlier in the morning to go to the shoot but he said, 'No, I'll shoot like crap when I get there so there's no reason to go.'  

Poor B-rad....

SO-what's next for me & my cute little silver car w/ a purple flower AND my monogram on the back?  The answer is - I don't know.  We called B-rad's uncle back later in the day (when the power came back on around 11am we both went back to bed for a couple of hours) & he filed the claim & hopefully we'll hear from someone Monday.  My concern is that that car is still under factory warranty so I'm sure an 'authorized dealer' will need to work on it & sometimes insurance companies want you to take your vehicle to their preferred people.  However, I've never had anything like this happen before so I have no idea what they will do.  Obviously there is water in the engine, but luckily it did not get inside the car.  As of this writing, B-rad just went out in the trailer to get some stuff out of it for me & he checked the inside of water damage & didn't see any.  

As for me, I am borrowing Butterfly's vehicle.  He has a company vehicle he drives all the time & no one is using his car so he said I could borrow it.  I'm not sure what year it is, but it has a CASSETTE player, ya'll....SIGH.  I told B-rad, "I'm a TOTAL car snob...no satellite radio? No bluetooth music?  No automatic lights?  I HAVE TO USE A KEY??...."  

Yea, yea I should just be thankful that I have a car to drive....I AM - I promise... I am trying to keep a good attitude about it all & making jokes is what I do so I don't cry... cut me some slack, mmmm kay? 

Current events

Every few months so often I get an itch for a new cell phone case.  I don't know WHY... I get bored w/ the same case all the time which is really stupid because I don't even SEE the case... details schmetails.  I went back to an old case (which I knew would never satisfy my 'I need a new cell phone case urge' but I wanted to put it off for a bit while I decided what I wanted.)  It was silver glitter.

 I ended up finding a case I liked on Etsy (I just realized I never took a picture of it...for shame for shame.) but I did NOT like it on my phone.  I like to get the mid level tough cases that offer a little protection.  I don't need full-on able to survive a nuclear attack but I do like a bit of drop protection.  Most the cases I get come w/ what I like to refer to as a 'condom'.  It has the black bumper thingie that goes around your phone for added protection.  GET IT?

ANYWAY-the case from Etsy came &  I hated how it looked on my phone.  

(Yes, the poor little girl didn't like how the cell phone case made her $800 phone look.)    It was like TOO bulky for my phone.  The bumper piece was like a hard plastic rounded bumper not a thin, rubber bumper.  The pic is from Etsy & don't let it fool you.  This looks awesome...the too tough  of a case I got - not awesome.

I knew that would never do so I started a new search far & wide on the vast regions of the internet for a new case.  I looked on Amazon & I found a section on the bottom of the page that showed 'items from third parties'.  I am always leery of stuff from third parties because you don't know if your computer will get a virus (well I won't because I have a Mac, but you other people out there - be wary of third parties...) or if you will get ripped off.  I Googled the name of the company & it looked legit.  The only word I put in the search bar was 'purple' (YES I DID) & off I went.  

I liked the looks of my glittery silver case so when I found a case called 'Purple glitter' I figured I couldn't go wrong.  I ordered the 'tough case' w/ the nice little condom around it & was excited when it arrived....

UNTIL.

I opened it & it was NOT glitter at all...it was like a cartoon of glitter...or a drawing of glitter.  I can't explain it because it looks good in the picture (like it looked good on the website) - it does NOT look good in real life.

 So I said to hell w/ that & they promise your satisfaction so I sent them an email that I was unhappy w/ the case.  They emailed me back right away & said they would refund my money AND I didn't even have to send the case back.  

(so in un-related news I have a 'Purple glitter' tough cell phone case for an iPhone 6 if anyone wants it for free.  Yes, I know I've given it a glowing review - but hey, someone may be into cartoonish, drawingish purple glitter...)

I went back to the same website (I'm either a glutton for punishment or I felt bad that they refunded my money AND let me keep the other crappy case) & did my 'purple' search again.  I scrapped the glitter idea - it's just not meant to be - & then I found it...stripes...& that was it - I was in love.

Until the next time I fall in love...

 ***

B-rad was putting down nitrogen a couple of weeks ago & stopped by the house in the tractor.  Sonny likes to go outside to eat grass & then come inside to throw it up & when I let him out he went straight to the tractor.  This thing is huge & it was running so it was loud... but Sonny didn't care...

 I didn't like it because that meant my little kitty was on the road so I walked up to be over-bearing & protect him from getting ran over by a car.

 I let him sniff around & explore for a few minutes but when he walked full on into the road I was like, "NU-UH, not happening."  I picked him up & walked him back down in the yard about 1/2 way.  When I put him back down, the little shit ran right back to the tractor & then it was game over...he had to come back inside.  I'm a hard ass like that. 

***

My newest nail design from my awesome nail people.  I am weird & only like the french tips when they're a bit more 'thick' & Tony likes to make fun of me for that.  He says, 'why you no like to do tip again?' so I searched Pinterest when he started on my nails & found something we could both agree on.  It still lets me keep a couple of the tips white but it's not so like 'small tips in your face' that I can handle it.  In the original picture the colors were black & white.  I would say what we made is a vast improvement... 

Painting Hydrangeas

My buddy, Jami (who I refer to as JLL), is a lucky ducky & won a FREE month of paintings at Uptown Art.  When she texted to tell me I had just gotten an email for a 20% off coupon & we made a date for Tuesday night to paint hydrangeas.  

 June is half off wine bottles... YES PLEASE.

 We started by painting the whole background w/ a concoction of light yellow & dark yellow.  You can see above we had like 2 shades of yellow & 1 brown, however their official names (the dark yellow & brown) were light siena & dark siena.  If you've ever been to a class you can imagine the major confusion it caused in a room of people drinking to determine which color the teacher was referring to when she said dark sienna.  She finally said, 'You need 3 huge scoops of the dijon mustard & 3 huge scoops of the french mustard.'  Yea, that's more like it...keep it simple...

 We painted some light yellow on top of the concoction, then we added some white.  Next we added the table & outline for the vase.

 Then came my favorite part...do you know what these colors make?

 Purrrrrr-ple...

 We added 4 hydrangeas & used the same color to put some color in the vase.

 We made our original purple concoction a little lighter & added to the hydrangeas.

 We made it lighter again & added this color to the vase too.

 Then it was time for the greenery.  LORD the greenery.  I'm not a perfectionist & most the time I'm like, "Eh, it's FINE!" but the leaves I painted on the middle hydrangea looked like devil horns to me.  I ended up adding another little leaf to try & offset that...

 They had an optional color for this class of hot pink.  We used it last to create a look of 'new growth'.  This is how mine finally ended up.  I'm on the fence w/ this painting because it did NOT look anything like the picture online.  Apparently the picture online was painted w/ some kind of pallet thingie & we weren't doing that so it turned out a lot different.

 I liked the hot pink but JLL did not (& sadly she was most excited about using hot pink!)  She ended up going over her hot pink w/ one of our purpleish concoctions & I think it turned out well because you could see just a hint of pink coming through.

(This picture of us did not turn out the best but we are claiming no responsibility for that.  The instructor took our photo...)

Thanks for the fun night JLL!  

(We're going again next week!  I have been so much I have earned a free class from their punch card so this one will be free for me too!! Did you also forget it's half off wine bottles ALL of June?  What a great month for her to win!)

In which I bore you w/ my monogram....AGAIN...

So I'm obsessed w/ a lot of things in life:

the correct spelling of my name.

the color purple.

cell phone cases.

purses.

I could go on, but why make myself look crazier than I already do?

My latest obsession is w/ my monogram.  I showed you guys the ring I got from Etsy a few weeks back.  I also have a lot of 'M's' in our house as decorations...but guess what I've done NOW?  

NOW I have my monogram on the back of my car.  YES I DO.

B-rad gets mad at me because I don't profess my undying love for him ever on social media or in real life.  I mean, COME ON, B-rad - what says undying love more than having HIS initial on my finger AND my car?  I rest my case...

I ordered the sticker through Etsy (have I told ya'll how much I love Etsy?).  I knew that I would never be patient enough to put it on so I asked B-rad if he could put it on for me when he had time.  I got lucky the day of Brady's graduation because after graduation & going to dinner after it was too late for him to do any farming related activity when we got home.    

(YES that was over 2 weeks ago & I'm just now blogging about it.  SHUSH.)

B-rad got the window all prepped.

I was in charge of making sure the sticker didn't run away.... (No really - I was in charge of nothing... which is smart on B-rad's part...)

B-rad is a pro at putting stickers on my car.  Don't forget I have the PURPLE hibiscus on the other side. My other vehicles have also had a purple hibiscus so this isn't his first rodeo w/ me.

He got it placed on the window & that's when things headed south...

It was bubbled which led to much cussing & huffing & puffing.

 I have learned it's best for me just to keep my mouth shut at times like this.  You know - let him vent & work out his anger.  If I pipe up then he remembers I am the reason he's pissed & that's never good...

He got it smoothed out the best he could.  

It works out well that I'm not a perfectionist.

And there you have it - a profession of love for my monogram...

Brady's graduation weekend (YES-it lasted the weekend for me)

I had to work last Saturday & after I finished I went to Brian & Lora's to help her prepare food for Brady's party on Sunday.  (Disclaimer-YES I hate to cook, but I am fully capable of mixing stuff together & cutting stuff up.)

Erin, Eric & the girls came home for the party & they were there to help as well.  (Well, they were staying at Brian & Lora's - they didn't really have a choice.)  Erin's girls were ALL ABOUT ME last weekend for some reason.  (I am not complaining - I like when people are ALL ABOUT ME.)  They wanted to sit beside me at the counter while I worked & I even let them help... a little.

First on my to do list was pinwheels.  

 A couple of hours in, I got a call from B-rad that he broke something & needed me to come get him. (Farming doesn't care about Brady's party.)  Guess who wanted to go w/ me...the girls.  Erin helped me get their car seats into my car & Madelyn was ALL ABOUT my Michael Kors bag.  She got it out of the front seat & put it in the back w/ her.

The girls love Taylor Swift songs but I only had a couple on my phone.  Like any good Great-aunt & immediately downloaded more for them.  We sang at the top of our lungs w/ the moonroof open & windows rolled down on the way to get B-rad.  (they were amazed that the windows in the back of my car went all the way down.)  After B-rad was in the car I made him he videoed them singing.  I couldn't figure out a good way to video AND drive & I knew if I hurt them their dad would KILL me.  

(note in the video what Madelyn has tucked away securely under her arm...)

The seat belts in my back seat are stiff & they had a hard time getting them hooked.  They said, 'Man, these things are hard to use because you don't have any kids to put back here.  Are you ever gonna have kids?'  Yes, I scolded them for that remark...

Yes, Payton has a black eye but that was NOT on my watch...her parents do Cross fit & Payton dropped a weight on her face...

 After we spent the day making food we (Lora, me, Erin & crew) went to Corydon to eat dinner.  The girls exclaimed, "I'M RIDING W/ JAIME!" & off we went.  Guess who got my purse out of the car for me & who selflessly carried it INTO the restaurant?

 Once inside the new exclamation was, 'I WANT TO SIT BESIDE JAIME!' & I said, "Relax, girls - I have 2 sides - you can BOTH sit beside me."   (I used to deal w/ the SAME thing between B-rad & Erin....)  I had to take turns helping them color their pictures.  Yes, I HATED that...  

Madelyn kept my purse under her chair the whole time.  That made me break out into hives a little..but I kept a watchful eye on it.  I told her daddy, "Be ready & start saving now - your girl has GREAT taste in handbags...'  He wasn't amused...

 Before we even got back to Lora's they were telling me they wanted to come to my house.  Who am I to say no to that?  I told them we had to ask their parents & that was the FIRST thing they did when we got home.  I'm not saying their parents were excited for a kid free night - but when we got out to my car all their stuff was already in my front seat.

 They helped me wrap Brady's gift.

Then they decided they wanted to make Brady a gift.  Truth be told I think they wanted to play w/ the left over stickers I had from the photo albums & to delay bedtime...

 They wrapped & taped them all by themselves.  Madelyn wrote their names & Payton drew the hearts.

 We watched How the Grinch stole Christmas until 11:00 pm (am I awesome stupid or what?) & one of them asked me, 'Why do you have kids movies anyway?'  The next morning we were up BRIGHT & EARLY at 7:00am & the girls wanted to play 'office'.  I got highlighters & paper out for them.  I said, "Do NOT touch my computer."  LORD.

 We went back over to Lora's around 8:30 to get the tables & chairs set up & to do more last minute cooking.  The girls forgot their tennis shoes at my house & their dad scolded me for that.  I said, "UH-at least I brought back the girls & left the tennis shoes not the other way around!"  He said, 'Wait - I didn't know that was an option...'

It was decided that I had the best handwriting (NO-I didn't decide it - Lora did...) so I got the job of writing Brady's name on the banner.  Madelyn wanted to help & the banner had these little blank rolled up diplomas so I let her write 'NH' inside one diploma & '2015' on the other side.

Lora asked me to keep the cake at my house because her fridge was full.  I went home to shower (it was HOT HOT HOT that day) & went back over around 1:30 to deliver the cake, the girls tennis shoes, a cooler & to help set food out.  Lora had quite the spread.

(See the girls all around?  The LOVE to help!)

These cookies are from 'Sandy's Bakery' in Borden.  They are Brady's favorite & for good reason.  They are DELICIOUS.

 Someone made Brady pose behind his cake & the table for pictures.  

Ok-you guessed it - it was ME.   But lots of other people took his picture too!  I'm a giver!

Lora had Brady's diploma sitting out & also a flyer from Prosser from where he got accepted into the 'Think Big" program.

Ann had brought over the story Brady wrote when he was little about being a farmer I told you about in one of my previous posts.  She's had it framed in her house at the farm for years...

 I forgot to take pictures of these pictures when I was working on the photo books, but I wanted to prove again to you that I've been around forever.... and this is my blog so I'll do what I want.  This was right after Brian & Lora moved in their house...I don't think B-rad & I were married yet so it's older than 16 years old.  I totally remember when I would tie cute scarves in my hair.  Turns out I've loved accessories forever.  I'm also wearing a gold necklace B-rad bought me.

 This was in the photo book & one of Lora's friends (who also knows me) was like, 'Jaime - how OLD were you in this picture?  TWELVE?'  (She is my new most favoritest person.)  I said, "Well, Brady is a baby so I was 20..."  

(And this reminds me when I'm at graduation & there are people there w/ kids graduating that I went to school w/ & I'm all like, 'I'M not old enough to have kids this age...'... the hell I'm not....)

 I would guesstimate they had around 50-60 people there...which is evidenced by the cake massacre...

Brian announced it was time for Brady's gift & I was super excited about it.  Since he's going to school to be a heavy machinery mechanic he has to have tools.  He starts school in August, but his sponsor, Whayne Supply, wanted him to start work that next day.  Brian & Lora got him a tool box & Brian had the great idea of putting his old tool box in the trailer in front of Brady's.  I found it hilarious.  

(You will see in the video tho that Brady goes right to the new toolbox...punk...)

The toolbox has been hiding in our garage & we covered it w/ an old blanket I had.  Since everyone in this family is a comedian, B-rad told him that that was our gift to him.... a purple & black zebra striped cover...

We really did get Brady a cover for it. (It's WAY more boring than the purple & black one.) And just to be clear that we're not total cheapskates this isn't like a grill cover...it cost a lot more than $25 or $30 bucks.  He has to haul it back & forth from his 8 week school sessions in Illinois so it will help keep the toolbox clean.