Weekend plans?

All my include "Honey Do" projects all of which Mark is dreading.  So sorry but it's a gorgeous fall day and what better way to celebrate with pressure washing the decks, cleaning  the basement, cutting all the shrubs & trees, cleaning out the storage area with all my seasonal goodies and anything else that pops into my little old head while we are puttering around.  Then we're off to dinner with friends and maybe the fair if I can talk them all into going with me.  I say eat dinner at the fair....yummy corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cake, roasted corn, ect...it'll probably cost more to eat there than any 5 star restaurant. 

I love Christopher Columbus and sure enjoyed Monday being off work.  I slept in until 7:30, ate my poptart while catching up on everyone blog and then took a quick trip up into the north Georgia mountains for some primitive retail therapy.  I just love, love Hearts and Flowers in Cleveland and would love to have at least one of everything in her store but sadly my budget doesn't allow for that much retail therapy.  I did some awesome stuff.....a pillow that's a Halloween black cat, brown coverlet table runner, brown homespun chair pad that I want to make into a pillow, small irvin's tartwarmer, black crow, snowman, 3 bags tarts, the newest Early American Home and Simple Things magazines and finally  prim candle ring for Christmas with little sprigs of pin and tiny pinecones.  Wow, it does sound like a lot when I type it all out but it all fit into 1 shopping bag.  I also stopped at Bessie Mae's where I got a cute little prim snowman, treat or treat post its and a little wooden thingy which I think is part of an old clamp or maybe a rope bed turning device.  Don't you love the techinal talk of thingy but it's hard to explain.  I'll post a picture this afternoon and maybe someone can tell me what it is.

I'm making great progress on my Trix or Treat pattern from Blackbird Designs.  I started while at the camp but set it aside when we got home so I could finish Be Kind and True also by the uber talented Alma and Barb.  I crawled into bed last night with some of my older patterns to decide what I want to start next and I'm thinking....hmmm....Beware of Cat by Birds of a Feather....I hate that they aren't designing cross stitch patterns anymore because the Halloween ones are to die for!  I've got all of them plus several of the every day patterns and hope to finish all of them.  Also want to start The Primitive Needle's Halloween Revelry which was featured in the 2009 Just Crossstitch Halloween magazine.  Oh and her Oujia Board pattern which I won on ebay a few months back.  Why is there never enough time to stitch?  I'm going to join the ladies on the yahoo Blackbird Designs group for a SAL starting Christmas day so I'll have to pick that pattern soon and get whatever I don't have on hand.  Why is that you think I have everything I need for this pattern then you start sorting thru thread and realize that you're short a couple...ugh!

Ok, it's now 10 minutes until I get off work so I guess I should post this and actually do some work before we close.  Nah, I'll just go make copies of the patterns that I want to start next week and then lock the doors.  Have a great weekend!

Maine Vacation Photos

Lighthouse in Portland.  It was just what I imagined

Tate House which is Mark's fave photo-Old House/Sports Car

Apple Bench that looks like I set this photo up but it was already like that when we walked up

My future home

Camp

Camp

Fireplace at camp

Cozy Nights

Coastline view

Fall Delights

Back from a very restful week at "The Camp" as they refer to the house on the coast in Maine.  Too funny because it's 3 bedrooms and 2 baths...well 3 if you include the original little brickhouse shithouse.  It was just to grand and I hummed ....Aw, she's a brickhouse...shake a down now, shake a down...yep come on you all know the words just admit it.  Anywho, the camp has no tv, no telephone, no Internet or even get this, cell phone coverage....it was heaven on earth!  I really did leave everyday life behind and unwind.  I'd move there in a heart beat or as Mark said probably until the first big snowstorm then I'd be hightailing it back to Georgia.  Mark surprised me with a Kindle for my birthday...something I never even knew I wanted  :)  What a guy!  I read 2 books while I was gone and stitched to my little hearts content.  It's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have tv, Internet or phones to distract you.  The camp has been in Rich's family for 64 years and started life as a 1 room cabin and it's grown a lot since then but it's retained all the charm of that 1 room cabin.  It's even got a stuffed moose head mounted on the wall and recessed nooks everywhere just overflowing with stuff.  You might see an antique clock sharing space with a stuffed squirrel, old books nested up to rusty old chains, keys and locks.  I swear everyday I saw something that I had overlooked before.  I got up every morning to watch the sun come up across the water, listen to the squirrels gathering the winter grub and watch the sea gulls....Mark missed all that because he was a sleepyhead but I loved every minute of watching the world around us wake up every morning. 

We saw so many old places that I'd have loved to have owned, went to many antique stores and ate lots of lobster.  We even did our own one night at camp.  It was yummy but a lot of work.  We did splurge and rent a Camero to drive while we were there so Mark didn't mind going so many places since he could at least enjoy the drive.  He was shocked (and frankly so was I) because I sure didn't buy much.  I got a early 1900's cast iron mailbox that is chippy white painted and I'm gonna put flowers in it for the mantle but that was all I really bought.  He had already checked on shipping costs for large furniture, ect but I just wasn't in that kind of mood!  It's so funny to see what is popular with collectors from other regions and what is...well dirt cheap here is high $$$ there.  Everything I bought could be carried on in my suitcase.  Well, almost everything because I did try to smuggle a jar of blueberry, hot pepper jam back but they busted me.  The lady said just go back and check that bag then you'll be able to take the jam home...ahem NO!  That would cost $25 and that was almost triple what the jam was worth....get real lady!

If I can ever figure out this blogging stuff, I'll post pics and change over to a stunning background like the rest of you not so computer challenged people do.  Maybe one day I'll actually have or rather take the time to figure it out.  Well I'm really suppose to be working on a spreadsheet for work tonight but I'm doing what I do best...procrastinating so I'll close for now.

Whew, is it fall yet?

This has been one long, hot summer!  I'm not sure I have ever sweated this much in my entire lifetime.  Nice visual for you all but you know you are hot when you drag your skirt over the steering wheel so the air will blow up it when driving to or from work.  I'm sure the guys in trucks have a good laugh or more likely, cringe when they pass by me.  Cooler weather please hurry to Georgia!

My folks came to visit for a week and what a great visit it was.  My daddy hadn't been to my house in 2 years and momma a year so it was a real treat!  I miss them so much and never get enough time with them.  They both retired this summer so I'm hoping for a few more visits now.  And speaking of retiring, my daddy just loves to grin and say he doesn't even wear a watch nowdays.  I'm so happy they are still young and healthy enough to enjoy retirement.  Daddy's company gave them a $8,000 travel voucher so the next day momma booked a trip to Hawaii for Thanksgiving.  It sounds like the trip they have always dreamed of taking....2 weeks, cruise, tours, car, ect all paid for...and I'm so excited for them.  They'll have a blast.

Mark was gone last week to Korea again and got home on day 3 of my folks visit.  That was nice because it gave me some alone time with them plus time to get my house cleaned and all my cooking done before they got here.  I swear I cook way too much stuff when I have guests but I never hear anyone complaining.  I did swipe a recipe from Edgar's Blacksheep blog for a coffee cake that was to die for.  And so easy that I"ll be adding it to the recipe rotation.  Yummy, sure wish I had some of it this morning.

We leave on vacation a week from today.  I'm so excited and can't wait to see the house that we're staying at not to mention all the fall leaves colors.  This morning I picked out my traveling stitching project....hey that's almost as important as my clothes.  I'm almost done with Be Kind and True which is my 2nd SAL this summer.  I've picked out Evergreen to travel with since it only takes 3 colors...perfect traveling stitching....hope this house has good enough light for me to stitch.  Maybe need to look into buying a travel light....hmmm....I have a little book lite somewhere ...now where did I hide it?????

I can't wait to explore a new area with lots of antique, primitive country stores and stitching stores.  Now that I know for sure everything is booked, I'll start getting my wish list ready.  I should probably get the house decorated for fall before I leave so it'll be a great little treat to come home to in October. 

Have a great weekend and hope cooler is headed this way soon.

Saturday in the park....wish it was the 4th of July

Not Bon Jovi but still seemed just right today.  It would be a long weekend which I could so use right now!!!!  My folks are coming to visit for a week and they get here Tuesday.  Oh my, so much to do and never, never enough time in the day.  Mark leaves for Korea Monday so guess I'll try cramming everything into Monday night...wooo I'm pooped just thinking about it all.  My momma is allergic to kitties and Clarice has staked that guestroom out as her own so I'm got to scrub it down, change all the linens and shut the door so that little monkey can't sneak back into it before they get here.  I was lucky enough that I found the perfect American Living Red and White Postage Stamp quilt at Tuesday Mornings for less than $50.  I was so excited because I really wanted to buy it when J C Penney's carried it at regular prices but just couldn't make myself spend the money.  Then they discontinued it and I was crushed so imagine my surprise when I saw one at the  very top of a shelf at Tuesday Mornings.  I couldn't clamber up there fast enough to check it out!  So now I'm finally turning that room into a prim room because I'm so tired of that Shabby Chic look in that room.  It was so out of place with the other rooms in the house.  I picked up some treasures at Good Will and the flea market last weekend so I just need to start the decorating process to see what else I need.  Well but I need to clean the room first so dang it all we're back to needing extra time off work.

We finally set up our vacation last night.  We've been struggling with what to do, where to go, ect...it's been such a stressful year for us both that neither of us wanted to make a decision....make way too many of those daily in our work lives.  So last night over burger and fries at Five Guys we made a list of our options.   Let's see cruise, beachy island sort of place, Florida Keys (which we love) or Maine which is something that I've always wanted to do...see the eastern seaboard and all the great antique places that I've read all about over the years.   So we debated, discussed but just couldn't decide so when we got home I took an idea from Edgar (if you don't read his Blacksheep blog you are missing so much) and put all the ideas on foldedvpaper, threw them in the air and which ever one Clarice pounced on was the place we were headed.....wahoo!!!!  She picked Maine!  Now to start the planning....Mark's boss has a family farm homestead that he's loaning us for a week so I'll have extra money to spend on whatever.  And boy do I plan on buying lots of whatevers.  I'll post the details when I get home later so excited.  I'm at work but just too excited about planning this trip to get anything really done. 

Depressed, down and out or whatever you call it

My worst working nightmare was realized 3 weeks ago when the bank that I work for failed!  That's right kiddos, FDIC walked in and shut us down.  It was a horrible, horrible experience because they show up at 3:30 but I can't tell my staff what's happening until after the last branch closes at 6....do they think we're all morons....hello, business suits walk in on friday, come into my office, shut the door and duh....no one is suppose to think anything is out of norm?  Anyway, it's an experience that I'd gladly do without again, thank you very much.  I've been struggling with depression for about 8 or 9 months now and just thought that maybe I was turning the corner when all this happened.  Now, I'm not stupid I knew that it "had" to happen because we were hanging on the edge of the cliff for way too long but still it's a blow.  We were lucky because another bank did purchase us and we've been fortunate that no one has been terminated but still it's more change.   The one thing I could do without now.  Anyhoooo....we're all just struggling to get thru the day without actual blood loss right now, I'm here just about round the clock reassuring customers and staff but hey, who's gonna reassure me?

So enough whining, the dr started me on some new meds and made me promise that before I see him later this month I would start doing things that I once enjoyed.  So of course, I'm still stitching but also made arrangements for my parents to come visit for a week (something I have been putting off for over a year now) and I've started reading again.  I've been a reader since I was 3 and ued to plow thru 4 or 5 books a week but as things got worse I just shut down that aspect of "me".  Now, I'm not sure why I gave up reading because you'd think that would occupy my thoughts instead of dwelling on everything else but instead it just felt like one more deadline to me.  I stocked up on books last week at costco, went for a massage and even bought more Blackbird Designs patterns so maybe I'm back to finding "me" again.  Now I just need to start reconnecting with my friends again which is kinda the hardest for me right now.

Mark and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on Sunday.  I'm still shocked and really need to collect serious bucks from his frat brothers that swore we'd never even make it 1 year.  I know when we were engaged there was a pool going on so I bet we'd shock some of those guys now with 23 years under our belts so to speak...ok maybe that's over our belts since things are sagging.  We painted our tv room and bought Mark's dream tv.  We started saturday just going to look at the tvs, then  maybe just buy a tv, ok but we really should paint the room since we're going to be hanging thetv on the wall and well, we've changed the furniture in there anyway to HUGE, Fullblown project weekend.  What were we thinking that re-doing an entire room in 2 days is a romantic weekend????  But the color is amazing and the room is starting to all
come together just as I had imagined.  It's not as prim as I'd like but maybe more mission styled but Mark likes it so I'm not griping at all.  He was trying to show me the tv Sunday night but he was watching golf so I was less than impressed so he said wait a sec, he then turned on Criminal Minds and I was hooked!  The pic is amazing!

Alrighty, I've got to get off this computer and figure out what we are having for dinner tonight...hummm...
5 guys cheeseburgers and fries? No maybe not, Mark has his sleep study tonight so I'd hate to send him up to the hospital so full they might think he's gonna explode.  Ah, I get the whole bed to myself tonight with only Clarice and me snoring too loudly.  Wahoo!

Who'd have thunk it?

Who would have ever imagine that this hard rockin, headbanging metal princess would ever have become this middle aged, conservative banker? Certainly not me....now instead of partying all night, I look forward to making an appearence at the party then scurrying home to relax with my kitty and stitch! Now I get excited about a trip to the local xstitch store, getting my carpets re-stretched and most exciting of all was buying a new vaccum last week.

I'll gush on about just how wonderful the "Ferrari" of vacs is if you want the details.....what choice do you really have....you're already reading this post....I got the newest Dyson and it was the deal of the century. As you know, I'm a bargin hunter but this may be one of my best deals ever. Target listed the Dyson 25 with orange ball at $349 but ad stated supplies were limited and there would be no rainchecks....the model has been updated and now has a red ball. We stopped by the store just to see if they had any left and there was the display model only. I grab it and go off to hunt for someone to get the box, paperwork, ect for it. We're still standing around back there when a manager walks by so Mark asks what's the differences in the models and why the sale is limited when they clearly have several in stock in red....She said the ad is misleading so I'll honor it and you just take this one up front for the same price. If you've priced these you know it's a $499 vac and they NEVER go on sale! I'm just thrilled with it and would tell everyone it's worth the $$$$.

We did the neighbor's party last night and it was fun. He puts on a fireworks display better than any city one I've ever seen. He spends over a $1,000 each year, has food brought in, keg, ect so it's always a great party. I look forward to it all year. Everyone usually brings along some sort of dessert or side dish to share and last night mine was the hit of the party. I saw in the Semi Homemade magazine a clever little recipe and I tweeked it to make it mine. Buy sugar cookie dough in the fridge area, raw sugar, slivered almonds and a plastic sandbucket. Put dough into the freezer until it's firm enough for you to slice, arrange slices on cookie sheets and put 5 slivered almonds arranged in a sand dollar shape, sprinkle with raw sugar and bake 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool then place them in a new sandbucket and carry to the party. What a fun display for the buffet table not to mention they are melt in your mouth good.

I'm trying to figure out how to chnage my background, add pics like everyone else in blog land and hope I can make some changes this weekend. I'm going to enjoy 2 days off in a row by doing nothing! Got the house work and laundry done Friday night so now it's all about me!

Hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend!