I was in the quilty shack today!

I wasn't sewing though.I was using these. Don't worry, all of my digits are still attached.

I SHOULD have been sewing, but alas I was rearranging. I need to go to furniture re-arrangers anonymous. Seriously. Last week in Sunday School I suggested we rearrange the furniture. So we did. It is like if I feel the furniture would work better a different way, it will just eat away at me until it is done. Freak show, I know.

So some ideas had been lurking around in my head about the optimal layout in the quilty shack and they had to be acted upon...post haste.

I'll try to take pics tomorrow for a little reveal.

Here is Alvin on the quilty shack porch...Nothing says sewing room more than a napping cat on a quilt right?


There was a bake sale at blonde rascal's school last week. I made chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Oh my.

The cookie dough inside ends up not raw but not cooked either....sort of in between the two. Delightful I tell you. Kids go nuts for them. I got the recipe here. Only difference being I used a cake mix, canned frosting and that Pillsbury break apart cookie dough.

Last night was the rowdy, sugar crazed, exhausting fall festival at blonde rascal's school. Is it just me? I can't wait for that thing to be OVER every year.

Here is B.R. and his buddy the grim reaper. B.R. was an FBI agent. See his little secret agent ear piece? Seriously, we go all out around here.

Gosh, looks like our brave agent is taking out a sniper in the school gym rafters or something.

By the way all you people with daughters, check out this costume....
It was Volleyball Barbie. So cute. The shower thing was fun too.


In other news, we adopted another stray kitten.
Scrappy. Look at that cute little booger. We take all the barn cats we can get. Barn cats= less snakes. Amen.


Look who is driving the tractor?
Yes, he is 10. Yes, that would be his father who let him do that. His mother was in the house and unaware that her baby was driving a large farm implement.

And here he is driving cattle!
Or pushing them or moving them or whatever it is called.

My goodness I love that boy.

Brain Drain.

I have nothing to say really, but I miss blogging so when I have nothing specific to say I think I will just ramble. Flush the brain, if you will.

Blogging is time consuming. Amen? Especially with pictures, that whole uploading thing is for the birds. So no pictures today.

I love this time of year. SO much. The cooler weather just makes my heart go pitter patter. Pumpkin scented candles are the best thing ever. The "fall back" time change? BRING IT! Although it seems like it is happening so much later in the year, did they change it? Dark at 6:00, love it. Candle burning, little lamps on all over the house, snug as a bug in our cozy home. Makes me happy!!

In wildlife news this week....I killed a snake with a hoe, got stung by a wasp on my finger (which incidentally in case you are wondering, a scorpion sting hurts worse than a wasp) and we were woken up in the ungodly wee hours Sunday morning by the outside dogs incessantly barking at something that was growling.

When we were leaving for church, the silly doggies greeted us with porcupine quills in their muzzles.

Sunday afternoon was spent wrestling dogs to the ground and yanking quills out with pliers. Well, hubs and blonde rascal did that. I have a weak stomach and cannot partake in activities like that.

I am going to decorate for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving!!! Although I'll probably not put up the tree until the day after T-day. I love Christmas decor and it just really sucks to put it up after T-day and then take it down 3 weeks later. Last Christmas was our first in this house but we went to TN for Christmas so I pretty much only put up the tree last year. Christmas decor in a new house, that's exciting! So that's that.

I bought a Spanish nativity while we were in Mexico. Love it, a lot.

Equally riveting, I bought panty hose this weekend. I think it has been 10 years, if not more, since I bought/wore panty hose.

**We lived in Cleveland for a few years during my teen years(Dad's job transfer, and then back to Houston) where panty hose are referred to as nylons. Likewise in the south carbonated beverages are all lumped together and called "Coke" and in the north "pop".... you guys vs. y'all. Yankee/southern folk language barriers, that's a good topic for another day, yes?**

I did not buy them to wear. Does anyone still wear them? Obviously someone does, because CVS had a stellar selection, I must say. I bought them to cover the cracked pool strainer basket which allows leaves and crap to go through the basket and then into the strainer in the pool pump which then slows down the filtering process thereby making the pool green and the vacuum not work and generally pissing me off in a big way AND pool strainer baskets cannot be bought in this small town they have to be ordered, meaning at this point in the game I will just buy panty hose(nylons) and get a new basket next summer.

How do you feel about run on sentences?

Pinky swear to me that you will never lose your mind and have a pool put in your yard? Or in our case, buy a house with a pool already there. Please save yourself. However, it does feel reeaally good to jump in the pool after mowing the grass in July. Fully clothed right from the mower to the pool. I think honestly the best option would be to have a pool boy. A pool boy AND a yard boy. I'll work on that, and a new strainer basket, for next summer.

I am going to make 2 quilts as Christmas gifts this year. However I am going to make a wall hanging and finish another quilt BEFORE I start the gifts. I said it out loud so I am now accountable.

OK just one picture. Because well, that dang weenie dog is so cute.

The men folk were roping yesterday afternoon and Missy was doing what she does best....bossing. Bossing the steers, horses, humans, other dogs, cats.... the world is hers. She rules it in no uncertain terms. Thank the heavens above that she sleeps inside because had she been outside with that porcupine? Her crazy vicious little sassy weenie self would have fought to the death and she would have been covered head to toe with quills.

All righty then, I feel lighter now letting all that worthless information out! Off to turn on the pool vacuum. Praying to the pool gods that we can put the cover that S.O.B. this week. Sorry, but I'm keeping it real this morning. Stream of consciousness thing.

Now please leave a comment, if anyone has really stayed with me this far in this ridiculous post. Leave a comment telling me when the last time you wore panty hose was OR if you have an extra pool strainer basket you could send me OR if you have ever been stabbed by a porcupine quill OR admitting that my weenie dog is cuter than your dog.

Best week evah.

A year and a half ago hubs and I pulled up roots and opened a new chapter in life in a small town. A small town 90 miles away from the city where hubs was born and raised, where I have lived since 1989 when I started college and where blonde rascal was born.

We started a new business, working our fingers to the bone to make it work. Blonde rascal started in a new school, a tiny, tiny school much different from the huge school he had attended.

We sought God's direction in this new chapter and really have felt His hand on it the whole time. Our business has been even more successful than we could have imagined. Blonde rascal adores his tiny school and friends. We found a great church, the kindest people and some priceless friends.

This group of friends, 3 couples, wholeheartedly adopted us and welcomed us into their motley crew!!! They have befriended us and loved on us like we were old friends. We have been so blessed by having them as we started out new in town.

The best news is that they have gone on tropical vacations together the past 2 years. Since we got voted into the gang, they invited us to go along this year!

Last week we spent 7 nights and 8 days in Mexico. The Mayan Riviera.... Playa del Carmen, right on the Caribbean.
Boy we know how to pick friends right!

Fellow bloggers please know that before you die, you must go to this resort... Secrets Maroma Beach.

(All inclusive resort and airfare at a very VERY reasonable price, booked through www.cheap caribbean (dot)com. By reasonable I mean when you divide out meals (LOTS of eating!), drinks, airfare, lodging for 7 nights...it is amazing, I don't know how the resort comes out ahead)

We got off the shuttle from the airport and walked into this exquisite lobby
Where we are immediately greeted with a glass of champagne and a cold towel lightly scented with lavender. I'm not gonna lie, it's hot in Mexico so that towel felt super good.


We checked in and walked further, passing by and partaking of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies sitting out, entering into this gaawgeous main lobby area.
It sucked to be us, right?


Then it was off to our room. It was beautiful.

Hard to decipher in this picture,

but this is the spa tub in our room, partitioned off from the main part of the room by that little curtain. Curtain that was gently blowing in the Caribbean breeze. The breeze was blowing in from our open patio door.Which led out into our private swim up pool. This little pool connected all four of our groups rooms, which I have to say was undeniably the highlight of the trip. Our gang had the most ridiculous fun in this pool. The hysterical laughter echoing out of that little pool was no doubt heard across the resort!

It was dreamy. Worth every relaxing, soothing, gorgeous penny (or peso as the case may be) that it cost!