Olivia

Our newest addition to the family is little 12 pound dachshund Olivia.

As you can tell by the photos she is a couch potato except when she is running full tilt on her stumpy little legs and leaping off of the furniture. She has adopted me as mom and follows me around the house - I had to make her a bed for my sewing room so she could be comfy when mom is busy. She learned early on Joe was a sucker for her- slipping her treats and giving her all the belly rubs she now demands!

Sister Cezanne is in love too- they like to read stories together at night time and watch TV during the storm. They have been fast friends.

We are so happy to have a new addition to our family that we can love and spoil like crazy!!

Family Needs Help

Dear Blogger Friends and Family,

There is a fantastic family that needs our help. Kari Ann Roy is an amazing writer and a local Austin mama. Her little six month old boy was recently hospitalized and is now in a medical induced coma for severe breathing problems. Unfotunatly, her husband just lost his job and they are without insurance. I want to do anything and everything I can for this family to make life just a little easier.

If you click on the link on this blog, it will take you to baby Ike's donation website. If you are able to donate anything, it will make this beautiful families life a little easier to focus on healing.

Hell month almost finished

I hate January with a fiery abhorrent passion. At least this last one...car accidents, finacial nighmares, job uncertainty, stress that would make the average person throw their hands in the air and say 'I quit' ...yet hope is on the horizon with February. There is always hope in February. Cezanne's birthday greets me on the 4th with hope and a renewed awareness that as crappy as life can get, there are always blessings around the corner.

Rest in peace Fluffy

There she is, Fluffy, belovedly named by my little girl when I bought her a couple years ago. This is what is left of her after I hydroplaned her into a concrete retaining wall last week. Poor girl. So I am in the market for a new vehicle - I hate car shopping. Bleh- at least each day I'm feeling better. It has been great to work from home the past two weeks, low stress and has expedited my recovery quite a bit. Thanks for all the love everyone. I appreciate all the support.

My New Store, Roses

Come one, come all to my new online store called Roses!! I created the name in honor of the many, many Roses in my family... a long standing family name that I have also passed on to my own daughter. The logo of Roses is; "For the young, and the young at heart."

Everything at my store is handmade by me, I have become a fabric collector of sorts and mix and match fabric I find interesting and unusual or just plain fun.

To the left is one of my new sewing kits featured on the store- I also make simple soft wallets to complement the sewing kits. This one is made with imported Japanese fabric. I love it! There are several to choose from.

If you have a special event in the future and need specialized gift bags, party bags, or just one really fancy one, I am happy to create one for you! Reusable cloth gift bags are all the rage right now people. Let me know a theme, color choice or an image you find interesting I love special orders.

Stop by my shop and buy something special.

Click on the header of this blog entry or the link to your right to take you directly to my store front.

http://Mariahlos.etsy.com

Car Accident #2 in Two weeks!

Happy New Year! Mine has started off with a bang, pun very much intended. Tuesday of this week I got a phone call from Cezanne saying she forgot her lunch- I hurried to throw some goodies in a lunch box and ran out the door. I entered onto 290 E and exited onto Northbound Lamar - suddenly my car was floating toward the median cement wall. I tried to correct but at 55 mph all you can do is watch the wall. I hit the wall, with the drivers side bumper, bounced off the wall and ran smack dab into it again and stopped. My airbags didn't deploy! My car was dead in it's tracks and the impact from my seatbelt knocked the wind out of me.

A lady who was driving behind me pulled over and called 911. I tried to dial but was having trouble moving my left hand. When I got the numbers dialed they put me on hold!!! There were so many accidents they had to put me one hold. I tried to tell them where I was but I was shaking and terrified. The fire truck arrived and pushed my car out of the way and as soon as they did a truck a 1/4 mile up the road in the same spot did the exact same thing! Then it was mass chaos- fire trucks, ambulance, police cars galore!! How embarrassing- I ran my car into a wall. I called Joe to come get me, we had to wait for the tow truck. I was still in shock because the pain really didn't start to set in until we had been there for about an hour. Then it was too much. My neck, my shoulders and especially my left shoulder were throbbing. The tow truck came hauled "fluffy" away to the city yard and my insurance company took care of the rest. Joe and I drove to Cezanne's school, we made it 5 minutes before her lunch started then I asked him to drive me to urgent care. I now have a very fashionable cervical collar, steroids for the inflammation, pain killers for the pain and muscle relaxers, yuck. I'm better today, but I can only stand in spurts. I think I've reached my quota for car accidents this year.

The Epic New Years Battle

Once upon a time in the land of Texas, in the Village of Austin, on the street of South 1st, two friends took a leisurely evening carriage ride.

The Mighty Elliot, known for his exceptional ground battle skills was equally well known for his sense of humor. Cezanne the Brave was known far and wide for her riding abilities and was slightly weaker in her battle skills than her counter part. Today was a special day for the two friends- they were celebrating the Mighty Elliot's birthday!

The Mighty Elliot, being in a good humor drew his Light Saber and whacked Cezanne the Brave over the head.

Cezanne the Brave being in an ill humor due to the lack of fireworks drew her own Light Saber and whacked the Mighty Elliot in the head in retaliation.

An epic carriage battle raged!!

The Epic Battle Continued

The Cezanne the Brave, knowing she could not defeat the Mighty Elliot in a ground battle, climbed aboard her trusty steed, Jeremy.

Raising her Light Saber overhead Cezanne the Brave let out a mighty battle cry- rendering near by villagers silent.

The Mighty Elliot, met the Cezanne the Brave's challenge. Undeterred by her steed, Jeremy, The Mighty Elliot drew his Light Saber and charged!

They fought bitterly for hours until Jeremy got tired and could not longer carry Cezanne the Brave and it was the Mighty Elliot's bedtime.

Nikki's Baby Girl

My friend Nikki stopped over to my mom's place with her brand new baby, Nevaeh. Needless to say we spent the next hour an a half gushing over her. Look at her santa suit!!

Joe and the baby

Look at those cheeks!!

Doesn't she looks like she wants to fly?

Travel to Minnesota

I'll post pictures of our car soon...

Joe and I decided to drive to Minnesota for christmas. It was peaceful and went by very quickly, until the last 150 miles. There was a storm we were trying to beat and we ended up right in the thick of it. The wind was gusting across the freeway blowing so much snow you couldn't see more than a few feet infront of you. Every mile or so there would be a pile of cars blown into the ditch. We were white knuckling it for about an hour and a half. Finally we were less than five miles from my mothers house and a gust of wind hit the car and at the same time I hit a patch of ice, we started to fishtale, I knew it was going to happen, "Oh no" I tried to pump the brakes and car started to spin, the front of the car spun into a snow bank, a WHOOSH of snow covered the entire car and I kept thinking in my head, "Please don't flip over, please don't flip over." We stopped with the front of the car facing the freeway and the rear of the car stuck in the bank. Joe tried to get out of his side of the car and had to dig it out. He was wearing sandles from this morning, when we left Texas it was 68 degrees, when we got to Minnesota seventeen hours later it was -6 degrees. Literally 30 seconds after he got out of the car a man pulled over and towed us out of the bank and we made it to my mothers house. The bumper was hanging off the left side of the car, but the rest of the body looked fine. We are fine but a little shook up. eh.