What Holiday Food Are You?

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Catch Up

It seems so long since I've posted but I've been so busy. Little T and I have been alternating days being nauseous and sick all the way through this past weekend.

Two weeks ago, I was volunteering at Portland's Revolve Tour (Women of Faith for girls) but couldn't go Saturday because I was up all night with my littlest and she got sick 12 times before the day was through. Revolve is so cool, too, and I was the host for their MC Brie Reed. Friday night was an amazing time, though.

Last week, T3 (Tess) had oral surgery on Wednesday which allowed her the long weekend to recover. Talk about wiped out for five days straight. She's still pretty swollen and has light bruising, too. But, she put it off for over two years and has had trouble lately with swelling and pain. Please note the grumpy face -- not too happy about having her picture taken, either.

Thanksgiving was an interesting day since I had been sick Tuesday night and then had to come home from work early on Wednesday because I was sick again. Luckily, Mike cooks every year and he's an amazing cook so I was just in charge of cleaning, and generally doing whatever I'm told. His mom and her husband came down from Washington and she brought pies -- she's an amazing baker. All four Ts were home so that made it extra special since it's less often that everyone is together due to schedules and such. I know it will really be interesting once someone gets married.

Then, I didn't get to do our traditional o'dark-thirty Black Friday shopping, again because I got sick to my stomach. Poor Tara did get up and went on her home but came home so bummed out because she missed out on all the super specials she had on her list. The sad thing is that I did make it out later that day and was still able to pick up the few buys I had on my list but they were not high-demand items. The girls actually asked for some handmade gifts this year, so I was excited to purchase yarn for Tara's blanket and material for a Tess' Christmas party dress. I also found a few things to finalize my last swaps. I've resolved to start a new budget/debt-free lifestyle and swapping will have to go.

Speaking of swaps, I am working on my SP11 Reveal Package and trying to find a fun way to let my partner know who I am. I think I going to do gifts that start with letters of my name and see if she figures it out. Or is that too egocentric?

Sunday I volunteered at church and then finished felting a couple of bags. I also started Tara's blanket, worked on my One-Skein project, and am dreaming about what to do with the Karaoke I got from MY sp11 pal. The bag I originally planned ended up taking almost 7 skeins of this yarn (see left) and that's just too much so I'm looking for another pattern. I know crocheting limits me but I just can't commit to knitting yet.

Thanks for reading along ... it helps to post the mundane sometimes.

Two Book Swap Packages Received!

Thank you Michelle and Debb!! I visited my post office box after all fun of Thanksgiving and found TWO boxes -- my October angel box and November's box. Check these out!
Michelle sent me 50 Harbor Court by Debbie Macomber (great series!), plus journals, a "harbor" magnet, post-its (I ADORE office supplies), and some yummy smelling goodes, too.

Debb packed a FULL package for November: a book right off my Amazon wish list tops the list - the Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling will be a great read. Add to that another book, a MARY ENGELBREIT bookmark, 2008 pocket planner, stickers, cute butterfly, a fun potato chip clip, some delish candles, tea, "scarecrow stew", socks to keep cozy and two skeins of cotton yarn PLUS more. Thank you so much.

You guys made my week -- I've been sick and feeling icky.

Halloween

Miss T and I went trick-or-treating even though I could barely speak. Note our lovely costumes .. I'm wearing my new apron and she has on that gorgeous outfit we found at Goodwill (ignore clutter). I wasn't too thrilled with the witch idea but she did find the perfect hat to match the must-have outfit. She brought homes pounds of candy, most of which is still hanging around. It will be gone with everyone home next week!

Retro Displays

Check out these cool displays in my local grocery store. Haven't we come a long way, baby? Makes me want to kiss my washing machine.

And don't you just adore the bread truck? I did feel a little foolish snapping pictures at 7 am in Thriftway but I knew you'd appreciate my efforts.

Aprons Everywhere

I am noticing adorable aprons just everywhere these days. Did I mention that I wore my adorable apron Beelicious sent me out trick-or-treating? I was cute! Oh yeah, the little DD was cute too as my exotic good witch. I'm a little bummed because that picture isn't on my camera now but we were quite the pair.

I'm following this fun tutorial that I've posted before and making some Thanksgiving aprons ... two for some swaps (of course), one for me and one for a surprise. Wish me luck finding the time to get it done! LOL!!

SP11 Package Arrived

Look what was on my doorstop on Monday:

Just the most amazing package from my SP11 spoiler. This package was stuffed with SP goodness, including fun stuff for my DD. She asks, "How'd she know about me, Mom?". I told her crafty friends know everything! The whole box is perfectly me.

I adore Interweave Crochet magazine, and here's the latest edition. Mary Engelbriet is one of my favorite artists and I have a cool bookmark (I LOVE to read too!) along with magnetic photo frames.

Next, check out these cool "Knit Klips" for blocking items -- PERFECT for felted purses. Oh, speaking of purses, a new set of handles are right there, too. And then, just the right amount of chocolately goodness.

BUT I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST .... THE Karaoke yarn I wanted in THE colorway! I can't believe she bought me Karaoke #306! It's so darn expensive and I just couldn't find it anywhere. THANK YOU!!!

TMI - Expensive Car Trouble

Hi dear friends,

I'm home again today with laryngitis and feeling icky. Plus, I've had bad money news so am scrambling trying to figure out how to earn extra funds. I've sent out a few emails to try and get some meal sessions scheduled since that works best. I definitely need to slow down on the swaps, or Christmas will be slim pickin's!

My 2003 VW Passat wagon had to go for repair on Tuesday. We had a recall to address and then the clutch/transmission has been going downhill quickly ... no power on hills, revving instead of engaging properly, and I asked them to check out a funny noise that I hear when turning right. What a doozy that turned out to be. The dealership called back to say the clutch repair would be $1200 to $1500, plus they found a leak into something-or-other that would be another $500 - and didn't even address the steering noise yet. After we picked up our jaws (Mike and I were both home on Tuesday), he started calling around for a better price on the clutch repair. Within a couple of hours, we had a $650 quote so we picked our car up in Gladstone and v-e-r-y c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y drove it to Clackamas. The gal in the Service Dept must work on commission, because she was not happy with us. So, Clutch Doctors worked on the Passat yesterday and also found my noise problem ... two cracked wheel hubs with all the grease leaked out, so those had to be replaced along with both axles! Yuck!! It ended up costing almost $1100 and just makes me sick. Mike is right, though, I can't be without a safe car. I hate money and I hate cars -- both necessary evils!

Thanks for letting me vent.