Uh Oh.

I can't actually remember the last time I left my house...


Do you think I'll remember how?

FYI...

You'll know that things are bad when you suddenly realize that you are completely out of ibuprofen, strawberry jam, and toilet paper.

Things are not good right now, but in my defense, I did send my husband to the store with a list that included all three of these items...two days ago...and he still hasn't remembered to buy them.  Apples, he remembered.  Teddy Grahams, check.  But toilet paper???

Not so much...

Please Send Help!

I have a sniffly, coughing kid and my house looks like it has been hit by a Christmas ornament bomb!

Not sure how much longer I can hold on........................................................................................


Just kidding.  I think I'll be okay, but if you don't hear from me tomorrow, you might want to check under my Christmas tree.  I'm pretty sure that it's going to collapse on me the next time I go near it! 

Thanksgiving Greetings.

Today, we're preparing to go over the river and through the woods to my in-laws house. 
I'll be making my assigned dish, green bean casserole, and watching the parade soon, but I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to each and every one of you who takes time out of your busy days to check in on this blog.  I appreciate it.  I really do! 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day filled with turkey, stuffing, those really (really) good dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, and a magical fairy who flies in to clean the kitchen when no one is looking.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fighting Old Man Winter.

I don't know about you, but the transition to winter is always a bit tough for me.  It takes awhile for me to get used to the cold, the wind, the dull gray days.  I find myself wishing that I could hibernate until spring, but then, who would do all of the important stuff around here--Like fetching the after-school snack and remembering to remove the tissues from pants pockets before washing them?

So, today I'm daydreaming of some things that would make this whole winter thing a bit more comfortable.  How about a trip to...

http://www.globeimages.net/img-cusinart-resort-sandy-beaches-16.htm

Or maybe something smaller?  : )

Like hot chocolate?  I fell in love with Stephen's when we lived in Utah.  I haven't had it in years, but I'm sure that it would warm up a cold, gloomy winter day.

http://www.indulgentfoods.com/

I love scarves!  I think that a cozy scarf can go a long way in making the school drop-off more bearable.  How about one of these lovelies from Etsy?

Etsy shops (l to r):  Desertblonde, GreenCouch, violasboutique, iWunder

When I'm home, I tend to turn on every light in my house.  The electric company loves me in the winter!  Does Seasonal Affective Disorder justify the purchase of some new lamps?

www.lightinguniverse.com

One last thing...I ALWAYS feel better when my toes are cozy and I know that I'm at least 15 years behind this trend, but suddenly boots like these are looking pretty fantastic to me:

www.zappos.com

I hope that we can all stay cozy this winter!  What makes your winter days happier?

Where was I?

Okay.  Where was I?  I'm sorry that I went missing.  First, there was the Holiday Open House.

Then my parents came to visit.  While they were here, there was a period of piano-taking-apart(are you still sore, Dad?), followed up by pumpkin-pie-eating and a lot of Aces-Bubble-Popper-playing on my Mom's Nook.  Oh, yes!  I was very productive (haha!).

Now, I'm in "the recovery stage."  : )
I feel like I need to catch my breath before the next phase of craziness begins.  My calendar looks something like this:

• Today = C's last day of school this week
• Tomorrow = Husband's birthday, flu mist for C, new shoes for C, etc.
• Thursday = Thanksgiving
• Friday = Christmas decorating day (C has already advised that I should get "a lot of rest" for that one)
• December 1st = The Dark Day
• December 8th = My mom's birthday
• December 9th-December 24th = Classes end, grades are due, C is out of school, Christmas shopping takes place, making of many presents may or may not occur
• December 25th = A little something called "Christmas"
• December 28th = A little something called our 9th wedding anniversary
• Throw in two more family birthdays to round out the year and then take a deep, deep breath.

Are you all ready for the holidays???  Are you gearing up for Black Friday???  I can't do it. 
One year, I accidentally went to Kohl's on that day (we needed to exchange J's birthday present) and I was absolutely horrified by the crowds!  I'm such a wimp!  : )

I hope that you are all having a great week!

Happy Pins: Week Four.

Good Morning!  I'm in the mood to make flowers.  How about you?
Ready to be inspired by Pinterest???  Here we go:

via Dana Kaar Bolyard from notmartha.org

via Bev McCullough {Flamingo Toes} from madeyoulook.ca

via Michelle Espinoza from snowybliss.blogspot.com

via Robin Allen from red-brolly.com  

via lisaleonard from frecklednest.typepad.com

from kuchnia-pelna-cudow.blogspot.com

via Jamie Bingham Campbell From theidearoom.net

via Marnie Fisher-Ingram from cherrystreetcottage.blogspot.com

via marta dansie from befickle.blogspot.com

 

from kerryh01.wordpress.com





Panic Time.

Well, hello Thursday!  Where did you come from?  Sorry for my bloggy absence this week.  I've been busy becoming increasingly frantic about the upcoming Open House and busily making crafts that look so bad, even my mom wouldn't like them.

I'm trying not to stress out.
I'm trying not to freak about the fact that everything I touch seems to turn ugly.
I'm trying to enjoy this process.  I get to stay home and make things--how awesome is that?

Really, though, I'll be a wee bit happy when the Open House is over and I can find a better way of managing this crafty life that I want to have.  Because I love it.  I really do.  I just want to love it in a calmer, less all-over-the-kitchen-table kind of way.

Do you know what I mean?

Would you like to see some bad pictures of what I've been working on?  Okay, here goes:  

I'm sorry about the bad photos, but I don't have time to edit and, let's be honest, my edited pics aren't much better than my non-edited pics, so...  : )

Have a great day!

Monday Miscellany.

1. I am (inexplicably) watching the Today Show and I have serious questions about Matt Lauer's outfit.  Is that an ascot?  In Namibia?  Why? Why? Why?
2. I'm uncomfortable with men who wear "outfits."
3. I'm wondering when the clean-up fairies are scheduled to arrive at my house today because I definitely need some assistance!
4. I've been working on crafty items all weekend and I'm a bit overwhelmed by how long it takes me to get things finished.  Will I be ready for the Open House?  I'm just not sure.
5. November is hard for me because It's so gloomy and rainy outside.  I feel like my best friend, Mr. Sunshine, has moved to Florida and left me with a parting gift of Seasonal Affective Disorder.
6. Okay, it looks like Matt is just wearing a dark tshirt under his denim shirt--not an ascot.  I'm relieved about that, but now I'm concerned about my vision.  Perhaps it's time for a new prescription?
7. I just googled Monica Lewinsky to see what she has been up to lately.  What is wrong with me?
8. I've been sitting here for five minutes trying to think of any other rivoting information that I can share with you this morning, but I'm coming up empty so I'll just say that I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  I'm off to have some more coffee and get crafting!

Sunday Confession.



Source


I'll be honest: 

Last night, I was too lazy to switch ALL of our clocks to Daylight Savings time.

I did switch one, though.
Can you guess which one?


I was hoping that C would take a look at his alarm clock this morning, see that it was 10 'til the crack of dawn, and go back to sleep...


But it didn't work.


So while the rest of the world * was enjoying an extra hour of snoozing...

I was up at 6:00 instead of 7:00 on a Sunday morning!

UGH!!!!!!!!!  I hate it when that happens...  : )

*(or at least those of you in the Central Standard Time Zone)

Happy Pins: Week Three.

Happy Words from Pinterest!

Source:  Ice Lacsamana via Jenna Peterson from  mth2011.tumblr.com

Source:  Colleen Brown via Lacy Harper



Source:  Destiny Perkins via Andrea from moneysavingmom.com



Source:  Shirley East via Sandy Dean from skinnyiswhatpeoplesee.tumblr.com



Source:  Shirley East via Susie Kay from blogaholicdesigns.com



Source:  Lyn Chapman via Jessica McCall from balzerdesigns.typepad.com



Source:  Eunice Bauermeester via Sunny Wells from blogs.psychcentral.com

...and what it all boils down to for me:

Source:  Ice Lacsamana via Patricia from flickr.com

Hope that you are having a great weekend!

Crafting Craziness.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here...

...and that is just weird!  : )

I'm taking part in a "Holiday Open House" next weekend so I am hastily trying to get ready.  I've never done this sort of thing before and I'm feeling a bit unprepared (I found out about it on Monday), but I love spending my days sewing up little pretties and I'm excited beneath all of my fear.

I hope that you all have a good weekend!

a dash of this, a pinch of that.

I did it!  I actually made something that I found on Pinterest!  I fixed "Chicken Rollups #2" for dinner last night.


Source:  plainchicken.com via Destiny Perkins (on Pinterest)

And the verdict?
Yummy! Two (out of three) thumbs up. C was a bit skeptical, but he did eat quite a bit of it--even without being "forced."  J went back for seconds and that's a really unusual thing around here! 

The Bottom line:  This recipe definitely goes on the "to do again" list.  Really the only thing that I would do differently next time would be to saute onions instead of using onion flakes.  The flakes were fine, but the real thing would be so much better--even though it would require getting another pan dirty!  Also, I didn't use nearly as much cheddar cheese as the recipe called for and mine were plenty cheesy.

Give them a try!  I think you'll enjoy them!

Ummm...

Hello!  Is anyone else having trouble remembering what day of the week it is?  I seem to be a day behind and I'm not really sure why.  Did Halloween throw me off?  I'm not sure, but I'm hoping that I can get caught up before the week ends!

Today, I did major grocery shopping, bought some desperately-needed new shoes, and got a hair cut that leaves my hair looking...exactly the same as it looked before I got it cut.  Not sure how that happened, but I'm thinking that it might be time to find a regular stylist instead of continually testing my luck at SuperClips/GreatCuts. 

What else can I tell you about???  I'm trying out a new "Pinterest" recipe for dinner tonight so wish me luck.  I'll share the results tomorrow...

Halloween Hangover.

We did it! 

• We halloweened for 8 straight hours (12:30-8:30)! 
• C had a ton of fun (and a ton of candy).
• We had our biggest group of trick-or-treaters EVER!
• We said good-bye to $50 worth of candy and hello to healthy eating from now on (HaHa!)
• And finally we (I) crawled to the couch and watched pointless television until I had enough energy to put on my pajamas and fall into bed. 
• {Don't you just hate it when you are too tired to go to bed?}
• And now, today is November and I am somehow shocked by this fact.  How did that happen?  Where did the time go? 
• What will I do with this last month of my thirties? 
• Only 30 more days of my thirties?!?  Oh my!!!  : (