Yes, I'm Still Here!

I have a story to tell you. But first, I want to say that, yes, I'm still alive and kicking. I've taken a hiatus of sorts from blogging. Well, not from just blogging, but from life in general, trying to get my feet back underneath me. Anyway.....

I have a story to tell you. A story only I could come up with! As I'm sure you can imagine, it's not always easy to sleep after a life changing occurrence, and my case is no different.  A few nights ago, I had a dream. I was home, just me and the dogs, and there were bad guys with guns after us. And not just your average bad guys, but ninja type bad guys. Real bad. Somehow they had gotten into the house, and I was so afraid they were going to hurt the dogs. I didn't want to call 911, because I knew they would call back, and we have caller ID, then I would be totally busted, since I'm sure, at least in my dream, it would say, "911 operator". Luckily, that's when I woke up. So there I was, just laying there in bed, wide awake at 2:00. Again. Then I heard a noise. But, I was really awake and this wasn't a dream. The noise was right outside my bedroom window, and it sounded like an engine. We have no close neighbors on that side of us, just my garden, our trees, then a ditch and the neighbor's pasture. There should be no engine. I thought it was a truck engine, but couldn't be sure. Do ninja-bad guys travel in trucks? Surely not. I opened the window a crack, and realized it was the air compressor, out in the garden. We've been doing work around the house, and the air compressor had been out for who knows what. So now, it all made sense. The obvious reason for it being on was NOT that it had accidentally been left on, but the ninja-bad guys were using that as a ploy to lure me outside, far away from the house to turn it off, when they would take that opportunity to do ninja-bad guy stuff to me and the dogs. Ha! I was not going to play their game, though. I got my trusty, big Mag flashlight, and let Dozer outside. I stood in the doorway, looking rather tough in my robe and big fuzzy slippers, and watched him to see if he could smell anything out of place. Everything seemed fine, so I unplugged the compressor from the wall next to the door, called Dozer back inside, and then locked the door. Ha! Take that, you ninja-bad guys. You lost. I won.

Trying My Best.....

I've been swamped with papers. Probably ten years worth, all scattered in drawers, boxes, and tucked into corners of the house. My goal? To turn this mountain of paper into a cohesive, organized filing system. Hmm, let's see. I can tell you that I've been at this for about a week now, and I have shut down the shredder numerous times due to overheating. Goodness. I've taken out bag after bag of papers and shreddings to the garbage. Shreddings.... is that even a word? What do you call the tiny little pieces of paper that the shredder makes?
So originally, I thought I could get all this paperwork done before I went back to work. Maybe even start cleaning around the house a little. You know, in my spare time. 
Yea. I know. A girl can dream, can't she?

I start back to work in a week. And I'm tired. So, so tired. I'm hoping that being around the kids will give me a much needed spark. And hugs. Lots and lots of hugs. I work with special needs children, mostly kindergarten and first graders, and there are a few that love hugs. This year we will have 12 in the classroom. Lots more than last year. Lots to keep me busy at work. Luckily, we are pretty relaxed the first few weeks of school. We're pretty protective of our kids, and those first few weeks we do lots of bonding, so they know they are safe and loved, and that school is fun.
Special kids are..... Special. There's no other word for them. I thank God for each and every day they are in my life.
      

Sunshine And Roses Interrupted

Normally, I only say happy things on this blog. This is sort of my sunshine and roses spot. I have another place that I give news of a more serious nature, but here I like to keep it to more of the stereotypical happy place. Today, however, I feel like putting something up here, and decided to tell you what has been happening in my life for the past year.
So, here I am. Outside, eating watermelon, drinking wine, and waiting for the quiche to get out of the oven. And thinking. Thinking about the past year, and about trying to find our, "new normal."
Just about this time last year, my dear darling hubby started having health issues. After about a month, he was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma, a rather nasty form of skin cancer. He was given 4-6 months, and surprised all the docs by living over a year. Alas, all things must come to an end, and my hubby of 28 years passed away last week. So, here I am. Outside, eating watermelon, drinking wine, and waiting for the quiche to get out of the oven. And thinking. Sigh....

My New Purse!

So, I'm still here....... just haven't been blogging for awhile. Lots of things going on, yadda yadda. But, I wanted to show off my new purse. Not just any purse, either. This is a CHICKEN Purse! 

Anybody that knows me, knows that I love my chickens. I have all sorts of chicken stuff in the house, and now I am the proud owner of a chicken purse. Want to know the story??? I have this friend. (Yes, I have a friend!) She's totally into sewing, and quite possibly the most talented person that I know. She's also very sweet. So sweet, in fact, that when she saw this purse, she thought of me, and got it for me, and then mailed it to me. Yes, she did all that! And you want to know something else?? When she mailed it to me, she timed it so that it arrived on ....... are you ready?? It arrived on my 50th birthday! Happy Birthday to me! I immediately changed purses, and hubby and I went to dinner at a stylish restaurant. There I was, decked out in rolled up carpenter jeans, sporting my new chicken purse, celebrating my 50th birthday. My new chicken purse is just too cute for words!

Happy Mother's Day

On this day, I would like to wish all my friends a Happy Mother's Day. May you have peace and tranquility on such a beautiful day.
 
I was thinking about all the moms that I know, and the women that have added to my life. From my mother, to grandmothers, sister and sisters in law, and the many women friends I have. Each one has given something to make my life what it is now. Whatever would we do without them?

Bending To Peer Pressure

I don't always do what my sister tells me to. Mainly because I'm more than just a little stubborn. But this time, she must have caught me in a moment of weakness, and I totally caved. I told her I would show the picture of me and my Minnie purse, and now I have to post it. This was the best background I could come up with on a rainy, yucky day. I didn't even look at what was on the floor, and to be quite honest, I still don't know what that is. So, here we are..... Minnie and me. In all our glory!

A Guest Post

My sister noticed it had been awhile since I'd posted anything on my blog and suggested she do a guest post for me. Wasn't that sweet of her?? I thought so too! Soooo, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about her. She's older than me, although not by very much. I think our parents were romantic little lovebirds in their youth. (Ewwww! Our PARENTS??) What a thought! Anyway, back to my sister. She loves animals, especially horses. If there was any way that she could spend her entire day with horses, she'd be the first in line. Well, maybe right after her daughter! And she sews. Boy, does she ever sew! Wedding dresses, bridesmaid and prom dresses, and smocked things that are professional quality. I just look at them in amazement. Girlfriend is good!!
I'm happy to say that she and I live about a half hour away from each other, so we do a few girl things together regularly. I hope you enjoy Linda as much as I do!
~~Lori

Hello and welcome to the guest portion of Lori's Blog. I am Lori's sister Linda and am guest writing for this segment. Fasten your seat belt.............................

So I am, like Lori, a sewer. But I sew clothes, machine embroider and quilt after a fashion. Lori is a better quilter, but I do manage a quilt on occasion. I also am a smocker and heirloom sewer, which is weird in California. But I digress.
I decided that over Lori's Easter break I would go up and help her celebrate her vacation by sewing with her. We both are trying to sew up our fabric stashes (stop laughing everyone) and I had a cool pattern that I bought off of Etsy from Sew Spoiled called the Cabrio Tote. I had made one and felt that it needed a tweak or two. (Like Lori, I cannot leave a pattern or recipe alone. My apologies to Sew Spoiled-Ido love it though.) Anyway, Lori had some batiks that she thought would make a cute purse. I have a Brother sewing machine with built in Disney characters and some Disney cards so we planned a day of sewing and dessert. We started with the fabric and then picked out a large Minnie Mouse to put on the body of the tote. Then we let the machine work its magic:

I am not stoned. Lori took the picture and like the paparazzi only sent me the dorky one. It is her blog after all. Honest we had not been drinking. But we had made this:

What is this???? Straight from Ree Drummond – The Pioneer Woman and Tasty Kitchen Blog hostess it is Birthday Cake Batter Popcorn. Tweaked of course. I am me after all. The original recipe called for white chocolate and white cake mix (Yes, there is 1 and ½ cups of cake mix in this recipe, totally shocking I know.) Me being the chocolate lover that I am I used dark chocolate chips and a chocolate fudge cake mix. We made it festive with the red, white and blue sprinkles supplied by Lori since I forgot the sprinkles. Let’s hope that my post makes Lori as famous as Ree. I am sure that we can convince Geoff to wear chaps for the cause.

Meanwhile, here is a close up of the completed Minnie Mouse embroidery for Lori's purse:

How cute is that?

We originally sewed early in the week that Lori had off and on Friday she had the purse finished. (Not to mention the popcorn!!!)

Can we just say, “How cute!!!” The main tweaks were we made the tote overall larger. We decided that just making the top band and bag body bigger would have been sufficient. Lori and I both get lots of complements on our bags and we are enjoying using them. Sew Spoiled has no idea that I exist except in that I bought the pattern and Ree is also blissfully ignorant of my existence. Lori however, is neither blissfully ignorant nor unaware of my existence. We had a fun day and used up part of both my stash and Lori’s. A huge coup in the world of sewers, who love having “someday” fabric. I find that it is harder to keep the stash to manageable levels than it is to decide which project to make next. I also am looking forward to your comments and hope that we both have inspired you all to shop at home for your next project. I am amazed what I find on occasion.

Cheers and best wishes, Linda

P. S. We also checked in with the hen that I took up to Lori and her chick that is now a teenaged chicken. How cute she is and how big. It was fun to get to see her again and to figure out that we are pretty sure that she is a hen.