Happy Haloween

Y'all know this is my least favorite holiday but I still wish for the all the ghosts and goblins and princesses in your life have a fabulously fun and very safe time out tonight.

It's all good

Yep, I made Flimzie a neck kerchief and now, he's a rock star!

I wasn't feeling very motivated yesterday and so instead of forcing a post for "Motivational Monday", I just let it go.  That's a new thing for me - not writing - but it turned out alright. I actually missed writing this morning so sometimes, taking a day for yourself is exactly what is needed in order to get things flowing again. 

We also got Hobbit's first report card of the year and it required a bit of celebrating.  She received the elementary school equivalent of honor roll!  A long standing tradition in this house is for us to have a celebratory meal, chosen by the one being celebrated, so in this case it meant we all had to go Steak n' Shake.  Not a bad thing but still a rather tightly timed excursion on a school night.

Once supper was done we had to pop across the street to the mall and return a pair of jeans that I had picked up for her.  As she told the clerk, they looked painted on and that just won't do.  After we found the exchanged size and a pack of undershirts for the cooler weather, we headed to another store in the mall to put our family Christmas present on layaway!  We decided that with as many TV shows and movies that this family watches, we should finally upgrade.  Sears was having a fabulous sale on their electronics so we put a new 32" Samsung flat screen LCD TV and a new wifi capable Blue Ray machine up for Christmas.  We are all very excited and can't wait - me especially... the remote has an actual "Netflix" button on it!  Yes, I'm in heaven now, or at least I will be come Christmas.

Currently, I've got some yarn in the crock pot and I'm going to over-dye it because I need it for some trim on another project but I have always hated the original color.  It's just a bit leftover from some that I won.  If the photograph had shown the true colors, I don't think I would have entered for it but free yarn is always good and now that I know how to dye, free yarn over-dyed is even better.  I'll show you the before and afters when I'm done.  It's going on a test knit hat that I'm working on.

I've also got a few other things in the planning stages that I'll share once all the details are ironed out.  I hope everyone is having a fabulous day and that it's all good in your neighborhood too.

Sunday Snaps

I'm thinking I'll keep adding rounds to this one...

I signed up to win a family preview of this - fingers crossed we win...

Hopefully, this was the final chapter and that book of stupidity is closed.

Not a lot of pictures were taken this week.  I've got a truck load of things to do today which might result in photographs, if I remember to actually take them and not just think about taking them which has been my current ailment. 

We had a grand Family Fun Day at Walt Disney World and being passholders, naturally I signed us up to win a preview of the new area, a cast member perk that I greatly miss.  Fingers crossed, I'll have a sneak peek to share in November.

We also had our 'fence' put up by our property management group.  The configuration is very odd but we've got a plan in place so we're good.  Morning glories will soon be crawling across that trellis stuff in the front and the section of 6' fence is just... well... there.  Maybe we'll plant a garden in that area now, who knows.

Overall, a quiet week around here.  Here's hoping for more of the same!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Cassidy, author of the sweet blog From Scratch - Our Homemade Life! I am going to be making a special care package, just for you with 8 fabulous things in it.  Email me your address and we'll work out the particulars.

Thanks to all who played along - and we now return you to your regularly scheduled crafting!

That's all it takes

I have made progress... I mean major progress.  This fact has me tickled.  You see, I opted to make this one particular granny square blanket and I loved the color combination too... but for some reason, I was just hating the blanket.  It wasn't working for me and I kept putting it up.  Considering that I am using this blanket as my BROOM and my Dissertation, I needed to get a fire under my tail and get to work.  So I sat down and really examined my squares and it hit me - it's too freaking busy!

I know that sounds crazy but there is something about my earthy color palette that makes my blanket feel very spastic and disorganized and that in turn made me feel uneasy.  Not as in "oh I'm not sure" but as in a full blown physical unrest when it came to this project.  It needed to be grounded in some way and I figured it out.

I'm going to anchor it with cream squares at the intersections and solid squares down the middle.  That lowers the chaos factor by a million and I've fallen in love with my blanket again.  So much so that I'm getting off of here right now to go and work on it some more!

I'll update my Ravelry project page tonight so you can see how well this anchoring works!

Sometimes, a little reimagineering is all it takes to make it work.

The day after

We took an extra day this weekend and it was so wonderful.  The schools were already closed on Monday because of a teacher planning day so we just extended it by one so that we could have a family weekend adventure.  I think everyone is recharged and ready to face the week... at least mentally if not physically.  Here are a few shots of our fun.

Everything was decked out in autumn splendor.

So much so that we didn't want to leave... ever.

We met new friends too.

Everyone had a wonderful time!

This will be my birthday destination in roughly 8 weeks time.

A hero was found where we didn't expect to find one.

An angel returned and is hopefully here to stay for a nice long while.

We hope that everyone else had a wonderful weekend too and is ready for Halloween!

Tuesday Tunes

A much needed day full of magical moments and pixie dust awaits us!

Motivational Monday

I know I'm a bit late tonight but I'll be honest with you, I wasn't motivated to write today.  Nothing has inspired me today to make this week positive and fabulous.  I am not even enjoying either of the blankets that I'm working on... so that requires some serious inspirational bootie kicking... and this is all I've come up with -

© Olivia Rainsford- I won this pattern last week from Slytherin Scheming Squad!

© TheHatandI - I want to make this for Peanut before she leaves the great white north.

© Amy Singer - I have to make this for Hobbit's birthday.

by elwen - I know of a sweet girl who would love this particular capelet too.

So that is what I have done - gone through my Ravelry library and searched for inspiration... if nothing more, I can simply bribe myself with a new project once I finish one of these two.  Some days, that's motivation enough.

Sunday Snaps

It's been a week full of super heroes...

unexpected surprises...

'daring' adventures...

and conquering mountains.

Das crazy

Minnie - still the most beautiful car I've ever seen!

Yesterday, I needed the oil changed in my car.  A normal, random errand that takes place several times a year.  Nothing really exciting, right... well, it all depends on how you look at it.

Remember back in April when my sweet husband bought me my dream car?  The one thing we never thought of was that my car is German.  It is not your average Chevy and will require maintenance from places that aren't your average places.  For years, we've taken our cars to a major retail store that sells everything under the sun at "everyday low prices" when we needed a simple oil change.  Pokey took his car there and was in and out in under an hour.  He drives a beautiful Chevy and this is what we're used to in life.  It never occurred to me that they wouldn't be able to do my car as well... but they couldn't because of the European synthetic oil and the special oil filter.  Huh, wouda thunk - as my PopPop would say.

Naturally, I called around to other major places that do simple oil changes and the average price, for the select few who had the items on hand, was around $200!  I was practically in tears.  What had I done - why was I being punished with such outlandish pricing simply because I was finally able to own my dream car!!  As a last ditch effort, I called the dealership.  Now, let me explain something first for those who do not know ~ the dealership is usually the last place you want to take your car because they are usually outlandishly expensive.  I mean astronomical pricing and hellacious wait times... and they always find something else wrong when you came in for something simple.  Trust me, this has always been the case... until now.

With all hope lost, I actually called my dealership.  The guy on the phone was very personable and I could get my car done, regularly $80, for half off because they have a coupon right now.  Holy wow, are you serious?  I had an appointment for 2:30 p.m. that day and was promised an hour's wait time.  Sign me up!!  I scooped up Hobbit early, just in case because it was cutting it too close for my comfort with her getting out of school, and we headed out.  They were quick in getting my keys and inspecting my car.  I knew I needed wiper blades and had forgotten to ask so I was prepared for that when they came back with their thoughts.  I was also told of a coupon that would allow me to not only get my oil changed but rotate and balance my tires, check/replace my wipers and some other stuff for just $12 more... sure, sounds good because I figured the wipers were about that anyway, right?  Actually no, they're just over $30 but I digress.

So we're in the waiting room and there are some interesting characters afoot.  A grandma who believes herself to be about 30 years younger than she truly is that kept picking scabs and scratching herself, being sure to get up and wipe the dead skin off the black leather chairs periodically and wander around the lounge barefoot.  A grandpa who knew his age and allowed said grandma to verbally beat him down every time he had an idea or made a suggestion/comment.  A father with two kids, one of whom ran around screaming (literally) and the other who licked (seriously, yeah) all the bagels on the snack counter.  The three of them managed to scarf down all of the complimentary donuts which is just as well because they inspected everything before making their selections.  These are the people who own my brand of car... I do not fit with these people.

The love of a Beetle can conquer all.. true story.

In my world, the people who own my car are quiet, nerdy folk with hipster glasses and sunshine dispositions.  They are fun and kind and respectful.  I fit in with the people in my world... the people who were in this dealership lounge were rude, gross and honestly made my stomach turn.  I kept telling myself that I would be out in hour but the truth of the matter was, I was out in three!  Was it truly worth saving over $100 while wasting over two hours of my life amongst scab picking, insult hurling, bagel licking folk?

Next time, I'll just drop it off and spend that time with the people in my world instead.

Weekend Wonderment ~ 10/19 - 10/23

Plugging away on my two huge projects... even though they don't feel like I've made much progress

OWLs, BROOMs and Dissertations - Oh my!  That's what my weekend will be filled with this time... that and a much needed trip over to the Magic Kingdom.  Things have been a bit crazy around here and we've all decided that we need a break... and when we say "break", we mean we all want to go to Walt Disney World.

So that is just what we're going to do.

Random milestone for me... this is my 888 post - and 8 is my lucky number so leave a comment on here about what you like to do when you need a break and I'll draw a surprise winner in 8 days.  Good luck!!

Guess what...

source

Yeah, it's gonna be one of those days... decided to just go with it.

Tuesday Tunes

I was looking for something to make me smile today... this video was definitely it.

Is it over already?

I feel as though I've missed my weekend.  I know I was fully present for the past two days but I woke up and just wasn't in the mood to face Monday full on.  Where did my weekend go? There are several small things that need doing around the house today and overall, they will get done, but I would still like to launch an investigative committee to find out exactly what happened to my weekend.  Although, on the upside, I don't have to deal with Monday next week so thank you "Teacher Planning Day".

I know this beautiful soul who does a little thing called "three good things" every day.  She just writes down three good things in her life right at that moment.  It could be something as simple as a moment to be able to reflect to the deeper, more grandiose things.  I think this would the perfect day to start doing just that - find three things that I am thankful for and listing them out... so here goes -

1. I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock in the mornings.  My husband wakes me very sweetly and brings me coffee.
2. While it may be Monday, my 'office' is right here at home - a luxury that many woman and families of today can not afford.
3. The world is still sleeping right now and hasn't been spoiled by stupidity.

Okay, that makes me feel a bit better.  I think I can take on the day now!  So every time things start to get really icky, I think I will stop and think of three good things to remind me that while something may be unpleasant at that very moment, there are a great deal more in my life that are wonderful.

Sunday Snaps

Creative culinary week that was largely a hit around here...

I finished one of the largest toys I've ever crafted...

And he got a welcomed response from his new owner!  Still carrying him around this whole week...

I made something that I'm not very proud of but my family loves so it's still hanging around...

Quickly remedied by something that I am very proud of and sharing with the crafting world.

There have been other events of the week that have transpired but they aren't very pleasant so their stories can keep for another day when they've reached their full conclusion.  One of which I know will have a happy ending because I've already been told what the ending is to be and it makes me rather happy.

Off to have a day full of laundry, crafting and movies with the smallest member of the house.  Yesterday, she wrote down a list of something like 20 movies and we've been working through them this weekend.  So far we've watched "Ella Enchanted", "Mean Girls", "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" and "Star Trek" - goodness knows what today will hold!

Holiday Bunting

Holiday Bunting - the newest pattern design from Peppermint Mocha Mama!

I finished my bunting project yesterday!  I even had enough forethought to write down very detailed notes as to what I was doing so I could share with my fellow crafters.  I spent the better part of this morning getting all organized and ready. So without further ado, please enjoy and download my newest pattern, Holiday Bunting.

It's fun, it's festive and it's free - what more could anyone ask for with this latest design!

Weekend Wonderment ~ 10/12 - 10/14

Looks like my weekend is a 'work in progress'.

I have already earned a base of at least 245 points for the month of October over at HPKCHC, which is 52 points more than I earned in September, so I feel comfortable pulling out my WIPs for the weekend.

1. My OWL has reached that point where you do a complete a round and it's taking forever.  I have to have it finished by the end of next month so it's best to push through it now, a little at a time, instead of 'having' to work on it non-stop of several nights.
2. My holiday bunting.  I could not find a pattern that I liked for this so I made up my own.  It is coming out exactly as I had envisioned and I've been keeping superb notes so that I can write it up and share with y'all when I'm done.  It's also my last category for the month over in Nerd Wars, as I've already answered the other 5 earlier last week.
3. My B.R.O.O.M. / Dissertation needs one more big block and then 31 more smaller blocks and a boarder.  This project has two completely different deadlines so it should be interesting to see how it goes.

That's my plan for the weekend... to weave in some loose ends, so to speak.

Zero

I can't believe I forgot to post about Zero being finished!  His last stitch was tied off a few days ago and he has happily been residing with Hobbit ever since.  I did manage to get a few photos before his abduction so here ya go -

He is just a happy little ghost puppy.

I modified the pattern a bit at the nose, body and ears... all over really.

Can you tell how truly massive this toy/blanket really is - he took me three days of trial and error!

Maybe this will help with judging size - Pokey vs. Zero - both equally cheesy cute.

Okay, so she didn't abduct him - he surprised her on Monday morning by waiting patiently...

And it was well worth the wait.  Zero was a huge hit.

Blessings returned

Remember that awesome swap package I received early last week?  Mine has finally arrived at the recipient's house so I can share with y'all what I sent.  I admit, I was floundering on this one since there wasn't any theme.  I had no direction and felt lost... until I sat down and realized that was my problem and just gave myself a theme.  I went with Autumn and here is what I sent to my swap partner...

My swap buddy is a baker so I thought she could use some pretty new oven mitts...

and kitchen towels because I know mine are always missing!

We had to have a local item so I did the best I could with what I could find that wasn't too kitschy.

Autumn smells like apple cinnamon to me, what about you?

Everyone loves a jar full of candy corn... don't they?

She has two little people so I added these cuties for them.

She also loves to cross-stitch and I thought this little message was wonderful and always so true.

4 Ring Pops... 4 people in her family... score!

Fun bedtime story to read to her babies during the cooler months.

I made her this cute hat.  It reminds me of a baker's hat a little bit but way classier.

and I made a matching ornament for her Christmas tree... being a baker, a cupcake works.

I wrote her a little note too - just to say how fabulous she is...

Complete with some official Walt Disney World pixie dust from my personal stash.

There you have it - my swap box.  She says she loved it all - and that makes me very tickled indeed.