November Block

Another block finished for the virtual quilting bee...

I had a blast making this one! Love the poodle fabric center... That little splash of black is one of my favorite parts.

I didn't get permission exactly, but....

I'm going to link to Hubby anyway. You may remember how I've mentioned that he's struggled with showing his face on his site, and he's never been fond of me posting pics of him on mine. Well, now he's gone and done it all by himself! So, I'm just going to help with advertising...

However, I will refrain from using his picture since I didn't request permission for that first. See, Hubbs... I do listen to you!

Be cool and grab a t-shirt while you're there!

Finally Friday?

Well, folks... it's here. Friday. Frankly, it snuck (that's not a real word, right?) up on me. Yesterday I was looking forward to its arrival, even thought it felt like it should already be there for me. And now I don't feel like its Friday at all.

I have so much to do today that does not include being at work. I need to make goodie bags for the cheerleaders for our last pep rally tonight. I need to take care of getting my mom's birthday package shipped. I need to make some crafts, one gift needs to be completed by Sunday so I can give it to a couple who is moving away. And there are lots more things that I just want to be working on.

The horrific shooting that took place yesterday at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas is haunting me. Another disgruntled person taking out innocent bystanders. So many thoughts racing through my brain since hearing about this yesterday afternoon... Mainly that I'm part of the team who terminated a man at work who I feel is very unstable and could do the same to our company or to one or more of us who works for the company. I just want to go home and be with Hubby who works from home and fiercely protects our humble abode.

But I know I can't duck down and hide in fear. Why haven't I gotten my own CHL yet? I could walk to my car in the work parking lot with the confidence of one of Charlie's Angels if only I was packin'. Right?

Time to pull my head out of the clouds and get back to business. I wish you all the best today as you prepare for your weekend adventures. Feel free to distract me with your comments about the exciting things you have planned. Once again, this Inquiring Mind would LOVE to know!

Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night!

Have you listened to that song from the Black Eyed Peas yet? Love it! It gets stuck in my head all the time and makes me want to snap & jiggle. Or smile and giggle. Something along those lines!

But, that's not what I really wanted to write about today. Tonight is truly going to be a good night and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to a pot-luck dinner hosted by one of the ladies in my sewing guild at church. I had asked if we could have a holiday party since we won't be meeting again until January, plus we have one of our members moving away next week, so this will be a good opportunity to send her off in style.

The leader of our guild, who will be retiring from her leadership role this year, is someone that I absolutely love being around. Her name is Betty. She is a very talented traditional quilter and a great director of our small group. She knows how to teach us new things and get us back on track when we try to veer off course. And she's got a slight edge to her, like maybe she has a short fuse with some of our members, so some of the things that come out of her mouth just crack me up. I'm looking forward to sitting back with her tonight as we sip our glasses of wine and see what the conversation stirs up.

The dish I'm bringing is something I renamed a Green Chile Quiche. It was originally called a Corn Cheese Pie, but that sounds completely hick and bumpkin so the need for a new name was blatant in my opinion. I'll post the recipe for you guys tomorrow in case you are interested in giving it a try. And, of course I'm bringing a bottle of wine.

I can't wait to dig in to everything tonight!

Christmas Re-Decor

My excitement for the month of October dwindled quickly with all the rain we had. The lack of sunshine and the speed with which the month flew by took the air out of my sails.

But, alas! November is here and major holiday preparations are underway!

Hubby and I decided to take a leap and redecorate our Christmas tree. I guess you literally redecorate it every year when you have to put up and take down ornaments, but what we mean is that we are ditching some ornaments and getting some new ones.

You see, we inherited the majority of our Christmas decorations from my mother when she moved to Las Vegas. She started over with a Hubby of her own and new tree. We gladly took her leftovers as we didn't have much to call our own at the time. But, her style was definitely not our own. Her's had a froofy, granny-ish quality, and we are quite... well... not that at all. The colors are predominantly maroon and gold, which is pretty but not as bright as what we are going for. I'm a little partial to some of the ornaments, and we aren't getting rid of all of them, but for the most part an overhaul is underway.

So, this is what inspired us over the weekend when we made a pit stop at Pier 1 Imports to spend a gift card from last Christmas. We are going with bright green, bright red and white for the most part.


We picked up a few of the white reindeer in the bottom pic, some of the jolly red ones, and some other ornaments in this color scheme that aren't shown here. You get the idea... Bright, jolly fun is just around the corner!

Flowers, Stitches and One Scary Movie

I have a lot to catch you guys up on! Let me go back to the beginning of October, when my anniversary was here. I never showed you the gorgeous flowers that were waiting for me when I got home from work that day. Hubby always picks the most beautiful arrangements for me... I loved these so much! And the whole house smelled great for days!


Here is a picture of the October Block I stitched for the virtual quilting bee I'm part of. I finally finished it and have it ready for tomorrow's mail so it can go to it's owner.

And the big finale...

Last night we went to see Paranormal Activity for our big Halloween outing. O-M-G. Scared the pants off me. Almost. It is truly freaky. The ending was a bit unrealistic, but the rest of the movie had me jumping in my seat, grasping my mouth and not wanting to go home after it was over. I slept right up against Hubby all night long practically, scared to be near the edge of my bed. I'm still haunted by that flick... even in broad daylight!

Do you have any spooky things to share from Halloween?

Crafty Project for You!

I'm so excited about this project that I just had to share this link with you. I saw it yesterday on Crazy Mom Quilts since I regularly visit Amanda Jean's blog, but when I saw the tutorial this morning on SewMamaSew I knew it was fate and that you had to know about it, too!

Photo by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

If you're like me and you have fabric scraps, and you like to make projects that end quickly so you can see the fruits of your labor in an expeditious manner, then you will like this project, too.

Happy Sewing! And, thanks Amanda Jean for such a cool project idea!

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

On Sunday me and a good friend of mine took our kids to see Where the Wild Things Are. The Little Guy wasn't too excited. He thought it would be for the little kids, and now that he's 11 he's too big for such movies. He says he would prefer Paranormal Activity. Yeah, right.

The movie was good. But, I must warn you, it is a tear-jerker. It has a lot of depth to it. And it is a bit on the angry side, so I wouldn't recommend taking little bitty ones. The monsters and their battles will most likely spook them. Plus, they won't understand what Max is going through. He's definitely an emotional little boy trying to deal with the chaos inside himself.

Take a tissue or two. You're going to need it.

Note to Self: Remember Sobering Thoughts

I've been dragging my feet at work today. Only because it is cold and wet outside and I'm fantasizing of being home, curled up with the pups and a good book. I don't know why I'm dwelling on such things. If I were able to leave once I got home I'm sure I would do something other than what I'm dreaming of. It usually works out that way for me.

I've also been dwelling on a human resource issue that I'm waiting to deal with at work. We have an employee who is chronically absent and will be put on disciplinary probation today. Our General Manager wants to wait until the end of business to conduct the meeting with that employee. In the meantime, I'm wishing we could hurry up and get it over with so I can move on.

And, I was just reminded by a coworker just how fragile life is. He stopped to tell me a story about a good friend of his and his wife's who just discovered she has bone cancer. It has spread to her lungs. A woman who is not even 30 years old and has two small children. And how she found out is mind boggling... she was changing her child's diaper and turned to place the baby on the changing table. Her leg broke and she fell. When she went to the ER she was told her leg broke because it was eaten up with cancer. She was given approximately five years to live.

As my coworker walked away he said, "Makes you live in the moments."

As I agreed with him I realized that I agreed with his words automatically, that I didn't feel the words. Then I let them sink in a bit. I talk about savoring moments with my family and my friends so often, and I've gotten a lot better at it. I was reminded to be more thoughtful of my time on this earth during the sermon yesterday, too. To be more prayerful, more devoted and disciplined. Be thankful of your health and your life, my friends. Draw near to those you belong with, and savor all that you can.

Haunted Houses Anyone?

Last night The Little Guy had a football buddy stay over. It was Hubby's idea that we all go to a haunted house after football practice and dinner had passed. I was supportive of the idea... while trying to block out that I hate being scared.

So at 9:30 we finally headed to Hangman's House of Horrors. There were four spooky houses to tour. And lots of spooky costumed characters roaming around jumping in our faces and blowing in my hair. Yuck. The Little Guy and his 11-year-old-self was certainly not entertained at first. He didn't want to go through any of the houses. (This was totally opposite from his behavior earlier... he couldn't wait to get there!) We started small and went into a blacked out labyrinth first, and he realized it wasn't all that bad if he kept his face buried in the back of Hubby's jacket. (He emerged from the tours with big smiles and lots of conversation, so I'm guessing he wasn't traumatized.)

So we toured the spooky trails in this formation: Hubby in front, The Little Guy, Me and Football Buddy bringing up the rear. FB was a great sport... he talked to the grizzly characters instead of being spooked. In the main house that we toured at the very end, an insane asylum which literally took 30 minutes to get through, the four of us were split into two about half-way through the house. That freaked me out. Big time. I had to play leader with FB's hands on my shoulders. I had to navigate through dark hallways with things hanging from the ceiling that touched my hair (major yuck) and be the first to get spooked around every corner. FB gave me a few pointers as we trudged through the mazes, telling me someone was coming up on the left or if I was going the wrong way. I was so grateful for his help! I kept thinking, as I was sweating bullets, that I couldn't wait to get through this place and out into the fresh air. Finally, we made it to the end, through the chainsaws being thrust around in the air by hillbillies, and I could remove my coat and let my sticky self breathe.

Then we headed home. My shoulders ached. My neck was tense. And I laughed a lot the entire night. It was a lot more fun for all of us than we thought it would be. As it turns out I've entered a new level of tolerance for being spooked. Don't get me wrong, I still don't want the guys in my household jumping out of dark spaces causing me to dribble in my drawers. But, I think I can add haunted houses to my list of things to do before Halloween each year.