You know the 3-D quilt I've been working on?? You know...the one I was having so much fun putting together. The one I decided to quilt in sections. heh.

QUILTING IN SECTIONS IS STOOOOOPID!

I tried. I really tried. I pinned. I sewed. I ripped. I showed my hubby who wisely kept his mouth shut and pretended to be watching TV instead of his wife walking back and forth from the sewing machine to the living room all while muttering nasties under her breath. The one time he did try and offer some advice I may have punched him in the nose. hmph.

It isn't pretty folks. And it is sewed and ripped and sewn again within an inch of its life. I will only show this one on the back of a galloping horse. A galloping horse who bucks.

After two hours of trying to get that thing to work I finally folded up the whole thing and put it in a box.

Now every time I walk past it I shudder. Today my mom and niece come for a visit. Tomorrow I am going to the local quilt store to look for some inspiration. I am going to leave the quilt alone for awhile. Hey!! I just thought of something!! Maybe the LQS offers a class on quilting in sections!!! I'm off to find out!

peace out homies!!

I got home from a very wet/cold day of shopping with the family AND SAW STUFF IN THE MAIL FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was beyond excited to see who sent me something!! LOOK LOOK LOOK!!! I got some presents from the sweetie chookyblue! I left a comment on her blog once upon a time about how lucky she was to live in Australia (swoon!!) and be able to find stitcheries. I've been everywhere here in Ohio and can't find any. I asked at my local quilt store and they didn't even know what I was talking about. Well Ms. Chookyblue felt that just wasn't right and wrote to see if I wanted her to send me a little sumpin sumpin. I replied YESYESYESYESYESOHMYGODYES!! Next thing I know I got this pattern......


and a magazine chock full of wonderful stitcheries and some DMC thread!!

This is my HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE look. (I told the 16 year old to make sure she got my thin side. Sigh. She did the best she could)

This is my happy beyond belief look. I am looking at the other patterns and magazine she sent wondering how I could fly to Australia and hug her.

You made my day Chookyblue. Truly. I cannot wait to start making some of these. Your kindness takes my breath away. :)

If that wasn't just icing from the fridge slapped on a big ole spoon....look what my Ya-Ya Leigh sent!!!

She sent a little Christmas cheer folks. There is a cute Christmas frame, a friendship pillow and this really neat pattern. It has directions on how to make 50 quilt blocks representing the 50 States. We are going to each make one and then sob every time we look at it cause we miss each other so darn much.

Whoever says that you cannot make friends by blogging obviously never blogged. Thanks again you two!!!

A dream is a wish your heart makes.....

The Boo-Bear: Mom I've made my New Year's Resolutions.

Me reading blogs but trying to pretend that I am veeeeeery interested in the 5 millionth conversation with one of my children that day: Hmmmmmmmmmm?

The Boo-Bear: I've decided that I'm not gonna argue so much with you this year.

That is when I jumped around the house yelling Hallelujah to the Baby Jesus. (Talladega Nights reference right chere cause I am hip and happening.)

Falling on some d@#$ ice!

Dear Int-netz,



If you get an ice storm and need to take your dog out for a walk do not think yourself cute in your red pea coat, boots, scarf and gloves. The FATES will know you are out there getting all jiggy with it and you will go to take a step on the curb AND YOU WILL FALL!!!! Then you may cry a bit. While you are sitting there sniffling and feeling very sorry for yourself and wondering if your hubby will feel bad enough to go and buy you some Feel Better Soon Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream you will look up and notice a van full of people who are pointing and laughing at you.

You may feel like pointing a "certain" finger at them but you must remember you are a lady and there will be no finger pointing. Then you will hobble back into your house where you will wake up your hubby so he can kiss your boo-boo on your elbow.



This concludes my message.

This is Dawn The Super Sleuth/Reporter here reporting live from Ohio with an update on Crazy Lady With Invisible Demon Friend.

The 16 year old needed to open a bank account the other day because thankalltheheavensabove it seems she is about to be employed. We had a few things to do before they could hire her and a bank account to put all her monies in was at the top of the list.

After we put our name on the new account list a very nice woman led us to her office. We chit chatted a bit. Her computer was slow. We were talking about some of the crazy things we've seen lately and I told her about the Crazy Lady With Invisible Demon Friend. She said it sounded like a lady who comes into the bank. I was all "No way!!" She was all "Yes way!!" So then I was all "Get out!!" and she was all "No you get out!!" Then I described her just to make sure.



It was the same lady.



What are the chances??? Seems she comes into the bank every once in awhile to do some ummmm banking and brings her little invisible friend with her.

I must meet her!!!!

The Son has our home phone on speed dial so the next time she shows up at the store he can call me and I can speed on over. Crazy Lady With Invisible Demon Friend is like my new Naked Korean Man!!!! WHOOPIE!



I will update as new info becomes available. This is Dawn the Super Sleuth/Reporter signing off.

Presents!!

The super sweet cutie patootie pie otherwise known in the blog world as the Chocolate Cat sent me a package the other day!!! I was sitting in my sewing room working on my quilt with the hubby and the 16 year old keeping me company when I heard the mail man. I got up, opened up the door, reached in the mail box AND FOUND A PACKAGE ADDRESSED TO MOI!!! I went back into the sewing room, doing the bootie dance, to show the family what I got. And look!!! She wrapped it!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!








Look. At. All. The. Lovely. Goodness! Cute napkins to daintily wipe one's mouth when one is enjoying a donut and coffee. A wonderful gingerbread button to adorn a Christmas bag I am now going to make. A very Aussie calender that I can look at every morning and sigh. Why the sigh?? Because as I am looking at the picture of the month there will be a longing inside of me to be out in the bush....watching wallabies....eating shrimp on the barbie...having walkabouts and visiting with one of the kindest people around. (smooches Lise!!) There is also a book about all things Australia and some lotion for when my hands get chapped during this very dry, very cold winter. See the package with the bow. That my friends would be food for the gods. Choc-o-late. Yuuuuummmmm. I popped one of them there babies in my mouth so I could sustain myself while taking pictures. Did I share with the hubby and the 16 year old you ask?? I informed them that their name was not on the package and for them to get back before they lost a limb.


See!!!! Chocolates from Australia!!!! Could anything be better?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!? If you are shaking your head right now thinking no Dawn, there is nothing better then chocolates from Australia you would be DING DING DING!! right.

The whole kit and caboodle was in this bag. This very cute bag that I promptly put on the door of my sewing center so I could look at it and smile. Thinking about someone (in Australia SQUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE) who was nice enough to be thinking of me.

You meet some of the best people while blogging!! Hugs and kisses to you Lise!!!!

You truly made my day.

The Jazz Player...

The Boo-Bear had her first band recital the other night. She plays the Alto Saxophone and loves it! The Capt is really into Jazz. They listen to music together all the time. When she asked if she could play the sax this year there wasn't anything anyone could have done to make him happier.

Here she is being all easy-breezy-cool. Like all good Jazz Players are. :)

This is an example not of my baby playing her heart out but of my mad photo shopping skills! I photo shopped all the other kids out of the picture so no momma's would have fits of rage if they decided to google their kiddos and see I posted a picture online of their babe-ees.

I am nothing if not always thinking.

See the cute bow in her hair. She was feeling very Matildah-ish and ohmygodmomIihavetohaveabowinmyhair!!!

She does look pretty cute there if I do say so myself. If I may brag a bit....and what's a blog for if not for us to brag on our kids I ask ya?? She came home today with a form for us to fill out so she can move up in band. The girl has been playing the sax since Oct. Of. This. Year.

She said when she gets famous that she will give us CD's for free.

How nice of her.

quilt pics!!

Whew. It is either a feast of posts or famine. Things have been so busy here. I did take time to get the quilt pics....here she is...






I'm working on a new quilt. It is what's called a 3-D quilt. (I got it from a McCall's Quilting mag I think. It is one I tore out and put in a binder. I need to go and find it so I can get all the info and post it here. I'll update with that later.)
Update: I just noticed that I left out a border. Funny what you see after you post!
You take squares and fold them into triangles and then make a block. Here is the quilt top finished. It's still in sections as I think I may try to do the quilting in sections method.












Here is one of the sections. You can see that the triangles are sewn like prairie points. I love this quilt. It is so neat! There are little pockets and prairie points all over it.




Not to sure how the quilting in sections method is going to go. I took the 4 outer panels and basted them today. I have about 1/4th of one done and am having a ball doing it. I'm crossing my fingers it turns out after all the work I did sewing the top. Anyone else out there done one of these??



I hope this post makes sense. It's late here. Real late. And I'm tired. Hey, are you not allowed to start a sentence with the word And?? Just wondering. Anywaaaay it's late. I'm up waiting for The Son to come home from work. It's icy on the roads out there so I'm doing the Worried Mom Thing. Since I had some time I thought I'd get a post or two out there. Life has been busy lately. The hubby came home, we had The Boo Bear's band thingie at school, Christmas shopping has been done, we've eaten out a couple of times. It's just that time of year. I haven't had a lot of blogging time.

Hope everyone is well, healthy and happy out there. :)

Question....

Anyone out there feel the need to clean out the ole email/in box every time you clean your house?? Hmmmmmm?? No?? Just me...lil miss ocd??



Okay then.

Note: Next post will have some pics of the really cute 3-d quilt I'm a workin on over here...also an update on the crazy lady with the invisible demon friend...you're not gonna believe it!

Another Crazy Night At Work...

The Son was working the cash register again last night at work. I look forward to his coming home on cash register nights cause he always has a crazy story about the people who go in there to shop. Last night? I was not disappointed. He tells me that a lady walks up to the register with her hood on...baby it's cold outside. He starts checking her stuff and they talk a bit. He doesn't get a good look at her face the one time he glanced up cause hoodie is on. She has woman hands, a womans figure and a woman's voice. As they are talking about stuff she must have gotten hot cause she pulled the hood down and lo and behold?? SHE WAS TOTALLY A HE!!! How does my son know this you ask? Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm could have been the full beard and mustache. As we start laughing like loons I asked him what he did. He just kept on checking, took her money, gave her a receipt. All without breaking stride. Oh yeah, he's my son all right!

On another note....anyone watching the new show called Secret Millionaire?? Oh. My. Gosh. The premise of the show is to take a different millionaire each episode and put them in a poor neighborhood. The person interacts with the people around him/her and gets to know them and their stories. The millionaire must live like the other people around them. No special treatment. At the end of the show they take $100,000 of their own money and give it away to the deserving.
Again, Oh. My. Gosh! You must watch this!! Bring tissue!! It was a sob fest over here! I was reaching for the tissue before anyone had a dime. It is even better then the show where people get the house. I promise!!! You will love it!! You will blog about it and use many many exclamation points!!!
Okay, I'm off to clean up the house and do some errands...not really. I'm gonna go and make another cup of coffee while I try and come down from Hurricane Boo-Bear. Sheesh. Can the child take a shower in the morning and not sing at the top of her lungs......and get water all over the floor cause she doesn't believe in the power of the shower curtain to keep the boogie-man away.......and WHO TOLD HER TO TAKE THE CAT IN THERE TO KEEP HER COMPANY????? Did the cat enjoy himself? No. No he did not. Nor did anyone else enjoy all the meowing and the singing. Good gravy, the singing. I may put a little sumpin sumpin in the coffee this morning. I am Irish, Scottish and German so it's totally allowed.
Peace out.

Thursday....

It is 7:16 in the ayem here in my part of the world. I've got some coffee by my side, the Today show on the tube and The Boo-Bear doesn't wake up for another 14 minutes. But all of that is not even the best part of today....the best part is....I ordered some books a week ago and have been stalking the UPS website. When I checked it this morning I see my books are in Ohio and I should have them in my hot little hands sometime today! BLISS!!!! Anyone read the Eve Dallas series by JD Robb?? I've got them all save for the two coming today. Ahhhhhhhh new books, can there be anything better??
Also, I've been a quilting the past couple of days. I'm working on a quilt that has a bunch of folded squares. Gives it a neat 3-D effect. I'll take some pics tonight so I can post them on here.
Okay, I'm off to start my day. Have a good one everybody!!

invisible demon friend goes to Big Lots...

The Son was working the cash register at his job today. A lady got in his line and they chatted for a bit as he rang her stuff up. The talked about mundane stuff...how are you...I'm fine....cold weather again...it might snow. Normal stuff. Then it went terribly wrong. When he looked down to get another bag he heard her say this "demon! demon! Shut Up #$$%$ demon!!!" My wonderful son looked up and said "Pardon me???" (I have taught my children to be polite when the crazy comes out......and to remember it all as this gives their momma something to blog about. ) Then the lady proceeds to quietly curse out her invisible demon friend. The Son doesn't know what the demon did to make her so mad but she was really going to town. After she paid and left the store he watched her walk around the front and curse the demon out some more but louder this time. I said to him as I was laughing....."what did you think about it all?" He says he couldn't wait to get home and tell me.



My children do me proud!

The Homeless..A Pimp...and An Accident...

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd how way ya'lls Sunday??? Hmmmm?? Any Homeless infiltrating the Public Library?? Any Pimps?? An Accident? No? PWASH! and you guys call yourselves bloggers! Shall I tell you about my Sunday?? Okay!

It all started on a dark and stormy night....BWAHAHAHA just kidding. It all started relatively innocent. Wanted to take ma gurls to the library so we could stock up on books. We got all dressed, perfumed, the girls fought over shotgun. It was a day like any other. Then we got to the library. When it is cold outside the total homeless population of Dayton goes in the library to keep warm. There was a crowd at the door waiting out the 20 minutes til opening. As one of the guys we will call Red Ski Mask Man was licking his chops checking out my 16 year old I decided that the safest thing to do would be to go back and wait in the van. I didn't want to have to use my Seriously Powerful Ninja Moves on him so we sat in the van, doors locked, and decided to people watch. First up were The Barely Dressed Even Though It's Wicked Cold Out Girls. They were soon joined by Man Who Could Be Their Pimp. How do we know this?? Well I was talking to the 16 year old about how he walked up to them and asked ever so sweetly "Where the h#$% you bin!!" The 16 year old says "Maybe he's their pimp." This is when The Boo Bear piped up and said "But he doesn't have a cane and he's not wearing purple." My girls? Totally take after me. I am so proud.

Finally the library opened. We got a tote bag full of books and headed out to get our read on at Starbucks. A cold Sunday always calls for partaking of a caramel macchiato while reading free books.

We hit the highway with visions of coffee dancing in our heads. I turn left at our green light and things took a decided turn......not for the better. A lady ran a red light and plowed right into us. She hit the passenger side door (where our Boo Bear was sitting) then she slid and almost took off the front bumper. We all sat for a minute to get our bearing and then I pulled over. This is when the cop pulled up as he was right behind us. He saw the whole thing. I got out of the van to inspect the damage and he ran over to me to see if anyone needed any help. I asked him if he had a Xanex. He realised I was okay and went back to where his partner was talking to the lady in the red car. Come to find out it isn't the lady's car....she has no drivers license on her and no proof of insurance in the car....AND she tried to blame me! The cops got a kick out of that one and told her, again, that they were right behind us and saw the whole thing. I was given a case number and told I could go and get my Starbucks now and they were very sorry that they were unable to give me any drugs.

This?? This is why my husband should not leave me to my own devices people!! Remember last summer when he had to go away and I ran over the little ole' Ajimah???? Even though neither accident was my fault I still think he should stay here at all times so we could be better safe then sorry.

I am off to go and look at the front bumper again.

Stay safe out there!!

The Son had yet to see Twilight. I KNOW!! I couldn't believe it either. When he asked me to go with him I did not jump at the chance, no I did not, I was not up for seeing it a 5th time. Five may just be to much. I ONLY said I would go with him because I am a good mother and didn't want to let him down. It had nothing to do with this little piece of hawtness over to the left there.








I promise. I am not in need of an ECI....for those of you not in the know it is an Edward Cullen Intervention. I am almost 40 years old. I am to matuuuuuuure for this foolishment called Edward Cullen Love Amongst Those Over Thirty.












I also was not the woman who stood up in the middle of the movie, you know...the part where he leans in to kiss Bella for the first time, it was not me who stood up and yelled "GOOD LORD EDWARD.....I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!!!!!" Word on the street is that after the woman, who was not me, yelled all of her children fainted dead away from the embarrassment. Unable to handle the syndrome called OWWAILWECETHIAVAWTEHWASLABFOMC........

otherwise known as Older Women Who Are In Love With Edward Cullen Even Though He Is A Vampire And Want To Eat Him With A Spoon Like A Bowl Full Of Melted Chocolate.



But that would not be me. Ahem.
Oh, also, while on the subject...if you read in the paper about some woman who had all of her Twilight Books laminated with gold and keeps them by her bedside so she can gaze at them lovingly....yeah, that would not be me either.

heeheeheesnortheeheegiggle

Baby it's cold...

It is really cold here today. I mean really cold. Antarctica kinda cold. Plus it's snowing. Hard. I am thinking this is what a blizzard must look like. We even have a 16th of an inch sticking to the ground. I may need to stock up on provisions like Ma in Little House on The Prairie.



Watching the snow while enjoying the my first cup of coffee in the morning, I felt that something was missing. I know!!!...........



Blueberry muffins!!!



I made a dozen, fixed another cup of coffee and settled down with two muffins and some blog reading. I needed two muffins cause the first one doesn't count on a snowy day. Really! It's a law.



So I'm sitting here, eating muffins, partaking of some coffee....with my dog laying right next to me on the couch. She is all warm and fluffy. I've got the laptop on my lap, coffee in hand, muffins to the left of me and my faithful dog on the right. I'm using my right hand to rub her belly. She is laying on her back, all but purring, because there just isn't anything better the getting a belly rub when it is cold and snowing outside by your person. We are taking every few minutes to gaze into each others eyes with love and adoration. As I'm looking at her I start thinking about the neighbors dog. She has been barking to be let in for about 20 minutes now. They do this often. They put her outside and just leave her out there. We don't have backyards here, we have patios with a bit of grass. I feel bad for her. There is nothing wrong with putting your dog out, I'm not saying that at all. Of course whenever I have tried to put Abbey out there alone she looks at me with these big eyes like "ummmmm, hello?? This is not my normal treatment and as I am unused to such conditions I would like you to let me back in and give me a treat. I may need two or three treats to get over such an atrocity....and a belly rub. Definitely a belly rub." Abbey may be a tad spoiled. My family has accepted the fact that I am a dog lover and she had me at our first hello. When I come home from parts unknown and sit down to talk to her about where I've been and "Oh look what mommy bought her luvy girls!!" they just smile at me fondly and sigh because when the family dog knows what a Starbucks bag looks like and is also well versed in the different flavor nuances of The Morning Scone, well there is really no hope is there.



Alls I am saying about this whole situation is that it's cold. And snowing. And cold. Let the dog in already. She is obviously not enjoying it out there on the frozen tundra. I am not enjoying listening to her displeasure. They are messing with my "hey this is great/the kiddos are asleep/ I am eating muffins/since the hubby is gone the dog is sleeping on the couch next to me/it is snowing outside/I am gonna quilt today/I may even go to a quilt store" feng schway thingie I have going on here.



If this continues I may have to liberate that puppy in the middle of the night. I will wear my ninja/liberating animals outfit. I will then introduce her to The Pumpkin Scone and cuddles in the morning and belly rubs and long talks about the evils of squirrels and car rides to pick up kids that smell like chocolate chip cookies.

Excuse me while I plan my strategy.

:)

Musings at the Friendly Neighborhood Starbucks...

So yesterday I told you about the hubby waiting til the very last minute to pack. Well he also had some errands to run. heh. My hubby doesn't like to do errands alone. He needed to go to the cleaners and get a haircut and some other "manly" stuff. If you have ever been to Wright Patterson you know that the base is spreaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad out. One part is over here....one over there...another waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over there. Every place he needed to go to was at a different part. I told him I'd go with him but he needed to drop me off at the Starbucks on base while he ran about getting himself together. I grabbed two books (reading savant here remember) and some cash-ola. Off we went. Both happy. Him cause hello? I was with him and I was happy cause hello? Starbucks and a donut were in my future. I also had on my very cute new jeans and some really cute ankle boots. He probably struggled to keep his hands to himself. :)



He came into Starbucks with me to watch me order what I needed to sustain myself while there. He helped me to get settled in a chair, coffee on the lovely side table, coat off and affixed over the chair next to me, donut at the ready, reading glasses out and book in hand. Now that I think about it he is really good to me and I am a spoiled brat. :) Or maybe it was the lure of the ankle boots that made him so attentive. The world will never know.



I got to read and people watch for an hour and a half. LURVLY. SIMPLY LURVLY. I made a little observation or two while there though and felt the need to share.



A lady came in dressed all businessy and career mindedy. She even smelled good. I know this cause I got up to get a napkin where she was standing. She had ordered two coffees. When she picked up the two coffees do you know what she did?? She had a sip of both!!! Why did she do that? I was fascinated. I watched her walk to her car, get in, buckle up and then SHE TOOK ANOTHER SIP OF BOTH! Now I am thinking maybe her boss sends her out to get his coffee in the morning and as she is a woman of the 21st century it rankles. She probably wants to say to him "Get your own coffee jerk-wad!" but with the economy as it is she can't so she makes herself feel better by sipping his coffee once or twice before she gives it to him thereby guaranteeing he will get cooties.



Two guys came in after she left, both dressed in uniform. They weren't together but both came in, got some coffee (black. I am saying why even bother with black coffee at Starbucks when the list is endless of all the goodness but to each his own) and opened up laptops. Were they doing secrety Air Force Stuff on the laptops?? Maybe they were double agents and downloading secrety stuff and they could only do it at the coffee shop. Or maybe they were playing hooky from work and checking the latest sports scores. The jury is still out on those two, I will update if anything hinky goes down as I am sure I will be called on to testify in their trials if it comes to that. I am nothing if not there for my country in its time of need.



A lady came in and looked like a street person. Really. No lie. She paid, gave a toothless smile and then left. I wanted to tell her that soap can be our friend. Oh, and not to be scared of deodorant. heh.



I watched an interview and felt for the interviewer. I just know he had to stop himself from ripping the gum out of that girls mouth and throwing it away. Note to girl, wearing pants that show your G-String?? Probably not a good career move. Please say no to crack and move outta my line of vision.



Finally my hunka-hunka-burnin-love showed up to collect me. He came in with his hair all cut and my heart thumped a bit. All the waitin til the last minute to pack was forgotten as he helped me get myself together. Note to hubby: Obsession cologne? very good choice!



All in all a very very good morning. heehee

The Capt and his packing habits....

The Capt has to leave again for parts unknown to do important things. Guess what day he started to pack. If you said today......hours before I had to drop him off at the airport....you would be right!! Ladies, why do they do these things?????! He knows he will be rushed. Being rushed means he will be messing up my house looking for all of the stuff he needs to be all important and stuff. Why oh why can he not pack the day before?!?!?!



When he woke up this morning and rolled over it was sooooooooooooo early. I said the first thing that came to mind..."I have cramps!!" heeheeheehee Grace under pressure that's me. He says to me "I may need some help getting ready this morning." I then sat up and bit his face off. No, not really. I came downstairs, took the dog out, made myself that life saving (his not mine) first cup of coffee and now I am hiding behind the laptop blogging while he is going up and down the stairs packing. I don't plan to look up til The Boo-Bear leaves for school. Which is about an hour and a half from now. I can see him looking at me as I type but I am holding firm and pretending I am doing "things" on this here laptop. If he talks to me in the next five minutes I may have to do some bodily harm on him.



I'm scared to look at the state of our bedroom. Shudder. Pray for me int-netz!!



Good Lord ladies!! He just woke The Boo-Bear up a half hour early!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now may need more then prayers.

Merry Flippin Christmas...

The Boo-Bear ran in the house after school yesterday very excited to show me the Christmas gift she bought for me at school. It was a cute little snowman. Then she proceeds to tell me that one of its eyes fell off on the way home...oh, and his arm is broken. Then she dropped it on the floor as she ran outside. All of this show and tell was told in one huge breath. She ran in...then ran back out. Whew.



If I could bottle her energy and sell it I would make a mint.

Find your bliss...

There is this commercial on TV about finding your bliss. Every time it comes on I see myself sitting in Barnes and Noble, in one of the overstuffed chairs, sipping ever so delicately on a venti caramel machiato, while Gary Sinese reads to me the newest Nora Roberts.

Why Gary Sinese?? Ummmm Hello???? Hawtness personified!

Is there truly any place on the face of the planet more comfy/cozy then Barnes and Noble on a cold snowy day?? (or a rainy day....or a hot day....or a Monday...Tuesday....Weds?!?!) They have everything a girl could want. Christmas music waffling in the background, books fabulous books, coffee, cheesecake, coffee, cheesecake, comfy chairs...they even have a restroom so when the coffee kicks in you don't have to run home!

Today The Son has the day off. We have a date to do what we do when he has a free day. We are headed to a comic book store that happens to be right next to a great used book store. Then we are off to get some coffee and sit awhile reading books for free at Barnes and Noble. I am so excited that I am getting out of the house and that I actually have someone to talk to during the day that I had trouble sleeping last night. Sad, very sad really.

So if you happen to be at the Barnes and Noble in Dayton and you aren't a stalker.....find the girl wearing her comfy sweats sitting way in the back. I will be in the brown overstuffed chair with my feet on a stool and another stool by my side to hold my coffee. Have a sit down and a chat with me! Oh, ummmmmmmmmmmmmm if Gary is there and he is reading to me I will not have time for that chat. I will be finding my inner bliss. And no, I won't share!

Happy Day!!!

Being Safe While Shopping....

They are saying to be extra careful this Holiday Season if you are a woman out shopping alone. To be alert and ever vigilant. It made me remember something that happened to me a couple of years ago while out shopping. It was nighttime. I had to go get some milk or diapers or something. While going through the isles I just "felt" like someone was looking at me and when I looked around there was a man staring at me. As I walked away to finish what I had to do I got this weird little feeling. Like a hmmmmmmmm inside of me. It seemed like every isle I was on so was he. He didn't do anything weird. He never tried to talk to me. It was just me, feeling uneasy. As I went up to the front to pay he was nowhere to be seen. I paid the cashier and started to leave. Then I got another uneasy feeling. I asked to speak to the manager. When he came over I told him that there was a man who was making me feel uneasy and could he have security walk me to my car. He asked me to show him the man. I told him I couldn't see him and didn't know where he was. He said to me that maybe I just misunderstood something and that he was sure everything was fine. I told him that I'd really like to make sure everything was fine and could he please have security walk me to my car. There was no way I was leaving the store by myself no matter what anyone thought. As security walked me to my car I saw the man again. He was sitting in his dark car looking straight at me. I got in my car and he followed me for awhile. As we lived on base at that time and needed an ID card to get on he had to turn around when I got to the gate. Now maybe it was all coincidence and I was just being young. Or maybe something bad was going to happen to me that night and it was a good thing I listened to my inner hmmmmm.

I'm saying all this to tell all you guys out there in int-netz land to be careful this Holiday Season. Listen to your inner voice. If something is telling you that maybe there is something "off" then there probably is.

Better safe then sorry.

d

Makin stuff up as I go along...

My kids have this habit. They have had it forever. If they see something going on that they don't understand then they ask me about it. For example:



an accident - What happened mom??



sirens going off somewhere outside - What is that all about mom??



men building stuff - What are they doing mom??



some show we stop and watch while channel surfing - what is this show about mom??



My children think I am all knowing. While this is true, the fact that they ask me questions like these never ceases to tickle me. I have long since given up trying to make them understand that I have no idea what is happening to every single person we drive past. I don't know why the couple in the next car is fighting. I have no idea why traffic is backed up. Who knows what's going on in the house across the street. I just do not know!



Some years ago I started to make stuff up. I can get really creative too.



Couple fighting: He came home 3 hours late last night and she is mad cause he missed dinner. They are newly married and she had called HIS mother to get the recipe for his favorite dish. He was punished by sleeping on the couch. She has not forgiven him yet.

Traffic Jam: A teenager just got their drivers licence annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd forgot to fill up the gas tank. Now his car is stalled and jamming the rest of us up.



AND THEY BELIEVE ME! Oh the power of the Mother. It is mighty!



I asked my daughter why they always ask me stuff like that and she said "You're a mom. You guys know everything."



Do your kids do the same thing?? Is this an Every Mom Situation or just my kids thinking their mother is a know everything savant??? Discuss amongst yourselves. :)

Thoughts running around my head this Monday morning...

We made it through The Great Thanksgiving With The Rents 08 with flying colors. :) Much food was eaten, two TV's were purchased, laundry was forgotten, naps were taken, hilarity ensued. In short, it was wonderful! Today? I pay. heh. The laundry had taken over the house. I will be here all day long cleaning. I just don't know what happens while we sleep on Sundays. I think the house is messing with me cause I swear it doesn't look like this when I go to bed. I am dealing with Monday as best I can.....by drinking coffee and hiding behind the puter til everyone leaves for work/school.

Can I just say here that I am really wondering what time the Today show people have to get up so that they can look all awake and talk coherently amongst themselves. It is 7:20am for me and I am daring people to talk to me! (or even look at me now that I think about it) So far they are smart and I am being left alone. The hubby actually came over and looked in my coffee cup. They know, if they value their lives, to not talk to me til the cup is AT LEAST half gone.

The OCD is fierce in my head this morning. I keep hearing it whisper to me that "the house is messsssssssssssssssy" "the laundry is over-flowing" then it giggles. Stoopid OCD.

Was Black Friday crazy or what?!?!!

I think I may have a cavity.

Sally Fields is on TV talking about bone loss. I wonder if I am old enough to have bone loss. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Something to ponder.

My mom took a quilt home with her while she was here. I think that makes her total 5. I am thinking she should buy me a treadmill. What do you think?? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Okay, the toast making portion of my morning is about to commence. We get this great bread at the store and I toast it dark, put a slather of yogurt butter on it and then a thin covering of marmalade. Pair that with cup of coffee number two and I may just be able to start on this house of mine.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!!!