Fire Storm

I went to the mecca of all fabric shops today with my mom for their HUGE birthday sale. There was literally 300+ people standing outside the building before the opening. One poor old lady fell off the curb and had to be taken to the hospital. Poor thing. The owners were nice enough to bring her out the covetted coupon book, that only the first 300 would get, and send her on her way with a quilt to ward off the shakes, and a driver younger then 50 to get her to the hospital quickly and safely. Poor thing. Let me tell you, those quilters are crazy ass buyers! Damn this store had to have done at least 50k of business in the first 2 hours. SO CRAZY! I stood and drooled over the entire line of Amy Butler stuff and about split my face in half smiling when I discovered a AB quilt kit in my mom's basket. Turns out the kit was the main reason she was going up there since she is making it for my birthday. Hooray AB quilt! I am so excited about it.

On the way home we discovered a fire so big that they shut down part of the highway for 10 miles, which meant we either had to slog through traffic on the frontage roads or take twisty backrooads. We opted for the traffic since there are 25 mph wind gusts right now. And we didn't want to end up blown over in a ditch somewhere.

The smell of smoke was everywhere and I kept thinking back to the SD fires of 2003. I made an off comment that my house better not have burned down and what do you know? THERE was a BIG fire less then a block from our home. HOLY COW!!!!!

Luckily we have a super sweet neighbor who sprayed down the dry brush behnd our fenceline for an hour before I got home, and now I have sprinklers going just to get some of the super dry brush wet. It is going to be a dry windy night dropping down to the 20's with a freeze.

Freaking wind, powerlines, and dry brush.

Thumbs up

We got this picture via email a couple days ago and I just love it. It completely embodies Alex's personality right now.

Call me Smitten

Love is on my mind lately. What with a wedding coming up, Valentine's day, birthdays, friends near and far, and cuddly puppies always ready for a snuggle, love never seems to be far from my thoughts. Especially the variations of love in my life.

For instance, I really love our new bed and I also really love our new flannel sheets. (Ya'll know my love affair with flannel.) Hmmmmm, bed sweet sweet bed.

I really really, times a Ka-Zill-ion, love my son, who is turning eight in 6 days. Like love him to no end forever and ever and ever, like love him so much it hurts and makes me ecstatic at the same time. Especially as I checked on him tonight and he sighed against my check as I kissed him good night. There is still some baby in there somewhere.

I also deeply love Casey, my Mister Man for fifteen years. It sure says something when you have loved someone for half your life. He is the best and I love learning from him. I can smile back on our crazy high school love that started in a 711 parking lot, that moved on to an apartment in Oceanside, to a hospital room and a wee baby between us, to a winery with words of I do, to a new state, to a new place in our relationship. The evolution of love between us is something that takes my breath away.

I also deeply love my parents, especially as I see them as parents to an adult (me) and mellow into time for themselves. I love that they have stuck together and have finally seen Europe together.

I love love love love love love our puppies, had to say it six times for the six of them. Every blessed tail and lick and mess and chew toy and happy face. Every one of those with us and those who have gone on.

And cupcakes, hello! Love me some cupcakes. Yay for baked goods!

I love my friends, all those old and new, near and far. I love remembering things about you, letting you know that I am thinking of you, reminding myself to tell you silly things that happen that you would understand. Knowing that we hold a comfort between ourselves that I truly cherish and love. There is no personal space with me. I am either right next to you snuggled up on the couch or I am not there.

I love my family, both blood and by friendship. I love that any call is welcomed and shared and that we can laugh so much over phone lines. I love that we love the same people and that that won't change.

I love being aware of these priorities. The people in my life who make it worth while and the small comforts that make it even more fun to share.

Texas Date Night

When the kiddo is staying the night at Grandma's the best way to start off a Texas date night is with a carton of BB's, three fresh cartridges, a couple beers, and an empty box. Good times.

Six's

Six Dogs.

Six Bones.

Six Corners.

Sixty-Six Degrees.

Life is good.

Winken Blinken & Nicole

A new bed with 18 inches of sweetness.

New flannel sheets with loft and fluff.

A proper set of pictures soon to come...

as soon as we can unfurl ourselves from our nest.

A bit more for Lady Gray

Artwork for the bathroom, Alice in Wonderland set by The Black Apple
Lovely Alice...
Flirty Mad Hatter...
Nervous Rabbit...
Regal Queen of Hearts... I just love them!

We have more pieces to hang around the house too!

Bring Dramamine or a Barf Bag

Cloverfield = Major Motion Sickness with an undercurrent of scary shock.

I saw Cloverfield today with my Dad. I immediately, like within the first five minutes, got nauseous. I heard more then saw the movie and the parts I did see left me with a shocked feeling. Decapitated Liberty, Monsters ala LoveCraft, flashbacks to I Am Legend, and moments so familiar through 9/11 imagery that I think I would feel nauseous even with out the Blair Witch camera antics and random strobe lights.

Overall, good movie, left much unanswered in the typical Abrams style. I will most likely not see this movie again because I seriously thought I was going to lose my cookies. I had to get up and leave at one point and spent that time away from the screen leaning up against a wall with another woman who was ready to puke in a can. Seriously.

Abrams needs to invest in a steady-cam.

If you give our boy...

If you give our boy a box then he will want an apple.

Mess Confess

Me: Forgive me Father for I have Messed...

Me: We created the above mess weeks ago and I have left it to ruin. It has hindered my ability to get to my hamper, so it spawned another mess that is thankfully not pictured of laundry mountains and basket piles...

Me: And Father while I am confessing I'd like to get off my chest the state of our closet. It is a pitiful shameful disgrace. Clothing and shoes and bags everywhere. I would really like to move the previously mentioned hamper plus another one to the closet so our room is not a container of laundry piles but a nice peaceful restful, dust catcher free space.

Father: Child, my I suggest you get your behind out of my confessional and start cleaning?

We're leaving on a Cessna...

Today we went to the COOLEST birthday party ever! Mostly because we got to take a plane ride in our friends Cessna!
Meet Jeff, our friend and Dad to Cameron the birthday boy, who is great friends with Alex as well as one of my Cub Scouts.
Meet flying high at 2 thousand feet Casey. I was trying to figure out how my headset worked, while Alex finished each sentence with Copy that.
"Wow, Sea World! Copy that..."
My absolute favorite picture of the day, boy joy!

Once we landed Casey got roped into Dad duty but was rewarded with birthday cake and new friends. Holding a hula hoop equals male bonding.
A small part of the birthday crew, Alyssa Cameron Alex. Three peas in a pod at school.

Flying was awesome amazing exciting and such a great expierence to share with my family.


The menfolk think that it was worth a crazy picture.

I think that it was just perfect.

Letter of the day is P.

Alex won fourth place in his Pack's Pinewood Derby today. Not bad considering this is a Mommy made car. Woo Hoo for me and a hack saw! Proud of him.

A perfect follow-up is a ham and brie quiche, especially for a slightly upset tummy. Yum comfort food wrapped in pie crust. Perfect for them.
And then hours of knitting, My So Called Scarf has been languishing on my needles since the day after Christmas and I am jamming through to finish it up. One skein caked, one skein knit. Progress for me.

Meet the Love Board

Aahhh, the Love Board, the place in our home where you will find lovely messages from us all to each other, decorating the laundry room of course. Originally it was used to track bank balances and how many loads of laundry I did in a week. But then it evolved into this Master Piece of affection. And today I topped it by finally putting up the hat rack we painted, oh only, 5 months ago. No longer will Casey's hats collection be keeping my KitchenAid warm.

Lookit! One in Alex's closet too. Now there is no excuse for "I can't find my hat", because it has a place. And everyone knows if something has a place then it should be there, right?

On the Loose...

This morning Alex and I were heading out the door when we were tackled by a blond mass of puppy paws and licks. We decided to keep her safe from the rain and cars (since we saw one come within inches of hitting her) and she survived the day with our pack. No small feat.
*sigh* I just loves puppies... their floppy paws and happy eyes and tails that wag forever. This one is super sweet and cute and Alex is all ready halfway in love with her... Archie, no so much.

Oh look at those smokey eyes...
She immediately claimed the after school pile...
And the belly, give me more belly!


I gues she isn't as small as I originally thought she was... oh but look at the belly again! So sweet!

Varying stages of thaw

First I will totally concede that those of you in any state north of me, which is 99% of them can complain about the cold so much more then I. But today I have been nothing but cold. My toes have yet to get warm, I have attempted hot showers, down comforter burial, 30 minutes on the elliptical, even the bellies of puppies but nothing has warmed them up. We have rain for the first time since August and it is COLD and constant and drizzly and very gray. So physically I have been like Encino Man, mentally I am HAPPY.

This weather makes me love my home envisioning it in many shades of gray, which Casey will be happy to hear. I had a fire last night and was so happy with the crackling flames, the boy playing Lego's on the floor and snoozing puppies. I have been daydreaming of birthday parties, Valentine's Day celebrations, and baking. All happy snugly thoughts brought on by the weather.

So when the kiddo finishes up his homework, bath, prayers, and tuck-ins, I am heading for the bath with a bit of Iron & Wine, a good book, and the entire contents of our hot water heater. And I will slowly cook and turn myself into a lobster and then slather every available inch with Shea butter and envelop myself in flannel pants and tissue weight tanks, and bury myself under our down clouds with puppies warming my legs and head alternatively, and it will be warm. And so very good.

One to many

I must remember that banana bread made in our bread machine cannot handle that one extra mushy banana...
It was just one mushy banana too many for me... But the pups love it.

Saturday Eats

Saturdays in our household are treated foodwise as the day for a "Sunday" dinner. It is the day before Casey leaves on business trips. It is the day to cook home comforts, to throw open the windows and watch the puppies sniff the air catching wafts of kitchen treats. I take pride in the cooking I do for my family. I enjoy the entire process from recipe searches, to shopping, to prepping, to cooking, to waiting, to eating, and even the clean up. I love the fact that my husband thanks me for his Saturday meals and compliments me by saying my food is always better then where ever we eat out. My dad has even started bragging about my cooking, and having that come from the Master Foodie, it means alot.

Last night was Chicken Spaghetti with Reese's and Smore's cookies for the diabetic coma part of the night. Today is dark chocolate brownies, bacon cracker wraps, and a pot roast. Food comforts for my boys. The dogs usually get some sort of treat out of it, today was the silver skin from the roast pan fried and toasty.

I can not take full credit for my home cooking. I get alot of recipes from google searches and of course Nigella books. One of my favorite books is Joie de Vivre, don't be intimidated because it is about French cooking. It is all simple basic techniques, with tasty foods. One of my absolute favorite places to get recipes is from the Pioneer Woman. Every simple blessedly delicious thing has been awesome. Go try her out, especially the Chicken Spaghetti, damn it is good. Oh and the Bread Pudding!

Yarn Muffin

Good Day Mrs. Gray

The bathroom is finally livable again. It took a day of wallpaper scraping, one coat of primer, one super coat of ceiling paint, and three coats of color. Plus two days of trim painting and caulking and four different switch plates, I still haven't found one that I love. Plus we need some wall art.

Anonymous commenter, THANK YOU for your tip on removing wallpaper, I was declaring my undying love as those stubborn bits slipped off.

Finally the yellow is gone! But now we are eyeing the mustard color in the hallway and front room. And eventually that linoleum must go away.
I am picking out some wood trim to put over the front of the shelves. I was originally going to demo them and put up some sort of glass fronted chest, but they are functional in an odd space and trim is a much better budget fit then the cabinet I know I would want. the previous owner just threw them up there, but I know I can make them look great. Shelf Storage is still a mystery too.
These beauties came from Anthropologie. Love that place. It is hard to see in the picture, but they are swirled milk glass knobs, yummy. And they were on sale! I also picked up the switch plate I thought I wanted, it was even on sale, but I just don't like it. So I am on a simple switch plate hunt.
I also couldn't resist and I busted out our valentine dinner decorations. I love those TV dinner trays, I can get Alex to so much better with them.

And get a load of the linens, cupcakes and hearts, be still my heart. I am girlie-fying the kitchen. Officially.

Purples and Greens Oh My!

This was just the haul of yarn, there are at least a dozen set of needles as well as patterns too!

I had a fabulously fun fiber day. My mom and I went to our LYS that is unfortunately closing doors in a couple months, I decided to use up all of my very generous gift card they gave me for Christmas. So last night I sat down, checked off my needles and researched what I would need for queued projects, I organized all my patterns and stashes on Raverly and armed myself with a list today. Since word has gone out that this store is closing things were starting to get pick over, especially the Cascade 220 that I was looking for, so I changed my plan by super stocking my needles and circs, and indulging in loads of Noro Blossom, Lorna's Laces, Jitterbug, Kaffe Sock yarn and some super bulky that is crying out to me to cast on tonight. Funny thing is that everything turned out to be some shade of purple today. I must be in a mood.

Pre-Beginning

Tonight was the night to get everything lined up for Alex's return to school and our return to daily life. We crammed in a brunch with Grandpa, a movie fun time, a Target cruise, and a trip to the grocery.

Dinner was yummy and filling, everything eaten without complaint, and I am happy in the knowledge that he is in bed with a full tummy. My tummy isn't to full and only filled with good whole foods.

Winter Break Homework packet is finished and filed in the proper folder, clothes are picked out, back pack is stuffed and ready to be tossed over a shoulder.

The dishes are done, lunch is prepped and waiting, tea and cup are out for Mommy Reality time, breakfast is standing at attention (spoon and bowl and cereal on the alert), alarms are set, and stuff is ready to be sorted out to the proper kiddos at school.

My son is in bed, my dogs are snoozing, I am dreaming of a hot bath and knitting. I think I will take a cup of tea and my bamboo & wool and snuggle in to odd Sunday TV before I hit the sheets.

Tomorrow a new week, a new page in my calendar book, a new sheet of behavior, new meals to eat, new goals to reach, new appointments to hold, new beginnings after the holiday time warp.

Marking Time

I discovered last year that Alex was marking days off a calendar that he won out of his teacher's treasure chest. So I thought that he would enjoy a Calendar this Christmas and apparently I was right. I love his marking of time.

Gray is Good

Some sneaky peaks until it is complete.

We went with two shades of gray, Porpoise and Subtle Touch.

Casey got a "real" desk.

Pictures of the bathroom will come when it is done. I still need to get some trim up, and pictures of course. But I love it. Every time I see it I smile. It looks so clear and bright.

Good Bye 2.0

Good Bye girlie room. No longer will you tease Casey with your butterflies and flowers.
Lavender ceiling, it is time for you to go. Casey wants a man's room, not a flower garden.

Farewell purple palace. It is this guy's time!