Tuesday, February 8, 2022

It's Raining Shingles & Tiny Arms

Helloooo, my gingersnappy dressers and tea-riffic T-rexes! 
(I'm drinking ginger tea, can you tell?)

How's your week going?

Mine started off with a bang, since John and I just made the Least Fun Adulting Purchase Ever: a new roof.


Gee, we shouldn't have.

Seriously, is there a less satisfying major expense than a new roof? Our old roof was fine, even; it was just old. So because insurance and blah blah boring stuff we have a herd of step-dancing buffalo body slamming our ceilings for the next few days. 

I hoped to sleep through some of it, but at 7:05AM the house began to shake, rattle, & roll, and I had two VERY concerned felines trying to crawl inside my pajama top. (Apparently armageddon makes cats snuggly.) So we packed up the group, got a grip, came equipped, grabbed the proton packs scaredy cats off our backs, and we SPLIT.

Yes that was the rap from Ghostbusters 2. I'm a little punchy. What.

Anyhoozle, I'm currently camping out at a friend's apartment with the cats, who really are MUCH happier, no matter what Eva tells you. I swear this cat turns into a dying bassoon the second we put her in a carrier. The drama! The over-acting! The sheer vocal range.

I can't gripe about Eva without showing you some funny/cute pictures, though, so here are some from last week:




Aww. Ok, I guess she's worth the yowling during car rides.

And don't worry, Suki fans, I've got pics for you, too:

Goals.

Suki is the perfect silent angel in the carrier, btw, and is currently chilling on the floor in my friend's guest room giving exasperated, superior looks at Eva - who has zero chill - hiding under the bed. Looks like this:

::to Eva:: "You are a sad, strange little cat."

Huh. You know, this post was supposed to be something completely different, but my brain is mush and apparently I just wanted to talk about my cats, so... here we are. ::sleepy grin::

Before I keel over let me end with something super fun and silly, something I've wanted to show you for a while now. Remember the Firefly-inspired dinosaur mirrors John made last August? (If not, go see!) Well John made another variation on the T-Rex mirror, this time inspired by one of my favorite .gifs of all time:

That little arm shimmy makes me laugh out loud every. time.

This .gif is of course from the criminally underrated Disney film Meet The Robinsons, where the villain, Bowler Hat Guy, controls the dino with a tiny bowler hat robot. (You can just see it on the T-Rex's head in the gif.)

Ready to see John's mirror homage?

John designed the text in Photoshop, then cut everything from white vinyl with our Cricut.

Please note the tiny bowler hat robot in the foot:


... and the crowning touch, an actual plastic bowler hat I've had for years - I think it came off a bottle of hot sauce? [Correction: it's from a bottle of Broker's Gin!]


I attached the hat with hot glue, tipped forward at a jaunty angle so the mirror can still hang on the wall if we want. Obviously it is MUCH bigger than the tiny movie hat, but I like it better this size.

And for that perfect geeky combo, John chose to display his "Big Head" mirror next to my tiny Herman head from our Beetlejuice Halloween. (Herman was a throw-away build, but like many of my throw-away projects, John claimed it.)


This is the most subtle visual gag, but it makes me grin.

I hope our cats and raining shingles and tiny armed T-rex gave you a smile today, too. Here's to a quieter household the next time we chat, and better sleeps between.

::collapses face down into pillow::

*****

P.S. Here's John's original dino mirrors, in case you missed them!

The mirrors are from Dollar Tree and always seem to be in stock, so this is an inexpensive, fun Cricut craft. I have the free cut templates here, along with a whale design for you Hitchhiker's Guide fans.

And if you're looking for more fun DIYs, mosey your mouse over to my Tutorials page! I've got nearly 200 thumbnails for you to browse, from furniture builds to origami to cosplay, and everything in between.


32 comments:

  1. Good movie, Meet the Robinsons. But do tell, where does one find bowler hat-wearing hot sauce??

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  2. I wish I could remember! I’ve had the hat for a decade or more, I only know it fit over a bottle cap because there’s a smaller round cavity inside.

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  3. I hope nobody thinks poorly of me and my habits but the hat! It's gotta be Broker's Gin!

    I may have a sizeable stash of those little hats in my "For Future Crafts" bin.

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    1. Seems a shame to keep them in a box in the meantime! You could bowler hat all the things! 😃

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    2. Aha! Thank you for solving the mystery! John used to like gin & tonics back when we first got married, I bet that's how we ended up with it. :) Also I'm officially jealous of your stash of tiny hats.

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  4. Roofs are pretty unsexy as home improvements go, but they beat out sewer line replacement and waterproofing.

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    1. Or Septic Tanks!!! That is Likely the SINGLE.WORST. ADULT. PURCHASE. EVER!
      At least a roof you have pretty colors to look at and your yard doesn't stink in the process!

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    2. Many moons ago, I was visiting my grandparents for Christmas and I just happened to be the oh so lucky ducky that was THE VERY LAST ONE to use the toilet before their septic tank gave up the ghost. First time I'd ever visited that house, first time I ever used their crapper, and THAT is when it decided it was officially done working. My already naturally super-grouchy Grandpa was SUPER pissed at me about it, like I'd filled it all by myself. SUCH a fun visit. He hassled me about it every time I went to the can for the rest of his damn LIFE.

      Your Pal,

      Storm the Klingon

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  5. We had our roof replaced a few years ago. I will never forget the lovely *STOMP STOMP* noises. Thankfully, it only took them a couple of days so, hopefully, you'll be good to go in no time.

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  6. After we got our roof replaced, our winters were warmer and our summers were cooler so, pretty worth it!

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  7. OMGosh, that movie! Meet the Robinsons gets me every time. I have seen it SO many times and always end up in wracking sobs by the end.

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  8. My roof was installed while I was at work, and this post gave me a moment of guilt for leaving my poor cat alone while they worked on it, I hadn't even considered her. But then I remembered the kind of cat she is, nothing bothers her. So I'm sure she was more entertained by the all activity outside. I hope.

    I was required by insurance to get mine done too, I feel ya there.

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  9. OOh, Firefly. Shiny. Want. Need.

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    1. GOt distracted by Firefly. I originally wanted to say that if you think being in the house while they reroof is bad, you should try doing it yourself! lol Less noise, more heat. We had the *pleasure* of doing ours a couple years ago. Only to have it thoroughly tested by a massive rainstorm literally within the hour of stepping off the roof. No leaks! Phew! And while I'm proud of our work, not something I would want to undertake again. But should a neighbor have a need, I'll be there with my toolbelt on! Oh yeah, I also dropped the hammer stapler through the skylight and stapled my kitchen floor! lol

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    2. Oh my gosh - I'm sorry about the dropped stapler, but since it's in the past, you made me literally LOL. Thanks for that!

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  10. We had our roof done about a year ago, and our guys came at the buttcrack of dawn. But they finished by 2pm! Only one day! I was super impressed!

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  11. We've had 2 1/2 roofs replaced over the years of home ownership, all due to massive ugly hailstorms. It becomes a lot sexier when you watch whole, intact shingles replace the ones with large divots and holes. It's still not exactly how one might wish to be woken at 7:05 am.

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  12. We just had to get a new roof last October for the same reason. Fortunately, my roofing company did the whole thing in one day. I wasnt able to get the kids dressed and out the door in time to not get trapped for the demo portion though. They took a break right when it was naptime for the boys (2yo twins) so the timing was great. Saddest $5k I ever spent (managed to finagle my old insurance who dropped us into paying for most of it because of wind damage from the previous August).

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  13. None of my local Dollar stores have those mirrors (I'm actually interested in the whale too) can you say which store you find those in? I'm near Ocoee but I probably know where all the Orlando and environs Dollar stores are so just a shopping center or cross street would work.

    And I too love the Robinsons!

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    1. Hiya! Our main store is the one in Altamonte on 436/434, which always has stacks of all the mirror designs. Pretty sure the one off OBT in the Rosemont Plaza has them, too; that's the branch we visit for the really elusive items.

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  14. Fun mirrors! Fluffy kittens! This is a fantastic post. Hopefully, the new roof will be finished with finesse! :D

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  15. Foundation leveling is an even less fun adulting purchase (and I replaced the roof and the windows too, so know of which I speak). Jackhammers in my living room and lurching floors, and the net effect in the end was some wall cracks smaller, but some new/larger, new groundwater seepage points, and follow-on flooring patches/replacements. The sewer line repair work was unsexy, but also a lot less intrusive and collaterally destructive.

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  16. Had the roof done a few years ago. My roof has two peaks, the peak for the 1 story part of the house is right outside my second story bedroom window. The roofers are family friends. I only sleep with a sheer curtain across the window if anything. Sooo... for the second time in my life, I got to wake up with people standing outside my window talking to me. (The first time was when I was a child and my dad's friend was building a chimney outside my 3rd story window. Great guy, but scarred me for life.)

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  17. Roof replacement is right up there with furnace replacement. Both send cats fleeing. Lucky for you , you have another house to retreat to. The 2 Maine Coons at the time, spent days yowling under the bed. (Maine Coons sound like Siamese cats on steriods). LOVE the cat updates and over the moon on Suki's Yoga Sleeping. Little Miss Maine Coon takes Suki's approach of silence in the carrier. Now, getting her INTO the carrier is a blood sport...

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    1. Furnace replacement on the ONE DAY it's -6 outside and they have to call in reinforcements because they'd never seen anything quite like that frankenfurnace I had. Miss Ajax Kitty spent the day cowering upstairs in fear. I spent the day on the couch working, enjoying the commentary.

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  18. Oh. My. GOD! I need that Trex so bad!!! <3

    I live in Texas, where we have to replace our roofs every few years due to hail storms, so I'm very familiar with the tap-dancing dinosaurs above your head. It only lasts a few days!!

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  19. I went to 4 different DT's in my hometown when you first posted the Firefly dino mirrors and none of them had the mirrors in stock. I was so sad! Still haven't found any here...

    When my parents redid their roof several years ago, they replaced it with a really nice metal roof instead of shingles. Kind of a satisfying adulting purchase/upgrade, and hopefully won't have to be replaced again. They did all the work themselves, though, with some familial help, so didn't have to pay contractors to do it.

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  20. Just made a rex mirror for my daughter who loves MtR SO much. And I am making a tiny bowler hat out of clay to go on top. Love this idea!

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  21. Broker's Gin bottles always come with little bowler hats on them, if anyone is interested! Being a bartender the last few years, I've got a small handful I can send lol

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  22. That's a kind offer, Medigan! Jen, you'd better jump on that! Loved the kitty pics. Hope you've all recovered and are ensconced in a newly roofed house. I didn't know insurance companies made such demands. If I may ask those who have had this happen, was it because of the age of the roof, or was it damaged by a storm?

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    1. It's the age of the roof, which nearly all companies have lowered to a max of 15 years here in Florida. Any older than that - even if it has "25 year" shingles & is in decent condition like ours was - and they won't cover the house with any insurance at all. You have to have insurance, so there's really no choice.

      We're hearing insurance companies are trying to drop the age limit to only 10 years(!!), too - at least here in Florida - so this is a major concern for homeowners.

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