herd of fun?

well, when i got home from the cities, the herd of plastic reindeer was waiting. they were way more shabby than chic, even the silver ones.

and a little too big for the tinsel tree.

so today i went to ace and got a can of copper spray paint...wha la!
just the finishing touch for the colorful tree!



love the whole dang baker's dozen of them!

color splash

last year i had a really cute little brown/green/turquoise thing going on my christmas tree. i really had no plans to change anything when i set up the "leaning" tree a couple of weeks ago. in the meantime, in addition to leaning, about 2/3 of the lights went out. so change seemed like it might not be a bad idea.

finally yesterday i stopped at target to get new lights. i think all this talk about "clark" on everyone's blogsites made me do it. i got all-colored lights instead, and pulled out the bright orange globes that had been in the basement for a couple of years gathering dust...

and guess what?




this little bright tree makes me kind of happy :)

no coast

went to the no coast craft-o-rama in minneapolis this weekend with the girls. cassie had a great booth and sold a bunch of stuff!

i did not take any photos as usual, but i have some really cute arm warmers on today :)

slightly obsessed

they come out of nowhere. these compelling needs to see things. certain things. alot of them, like groupings or collections or entire rooms full of things.

i am nuts! if i ignore it, it usually just goes away!

this year, i did not really need any christmas ornaments. i have a really small fake tree made to look like a real charlie brown tree. it's packed. full. not one more thing will fit.

i did buy a smallish metal tree for my office when kirst was here. now, i keep dreaming of oldish shiny ornaments to adorn it. i keep looking at it, imagining the possibilities. i keep SEEING THNGS IN MY HEAD. so, i just bid on THESE on ebay.

these would actually fulfill not one, but two of my strange obsessions. shiny christmas ornaments AND deer. i like deer. i imagine rooms full of them, too.

there. i feel better now.

***Update***

schwew. i got them. somehow, i also got these :)

totally useless things i love: a series

#1: glass figurines (especially chickens)

i thought i would start out this thrilling new series with a CLASSIC...the glass chicken. is it just me, or are these the most fabulous things ever? i was so bummed last week when a special hand-blown glass chicken given to me by carey's mom busted all over the stove. i almost cried.

and i have been thinking about glass chickens ever since. not only did i find a cute one at hobby lobby, but this lovely GROUPING can be found in the pier one christmas catalogue.

other than dusting them, and staring at their loveliness, i cannot think of a use for them.

long long time

a 4-day weekend spent doing very little can seem like a whole week! i think there is something to be said for being less slug-like, however.

i did accomplish a few random things:



kicked off the weekend on wednesday by thrifting for old christmas stuff. very fruitful :)



spent afternoon with a 3-year old wielding a glue stick, and learned that she could do more damage than a herd of wild cats. rani, i salute you.

made the first batch of christmas cookies, half of which are eaten already. must. make. more.

finally dove into the turkey carcass yesterday, and made soup. realize that cooking turkeys is HIGHLY overrated, and increased my love of ham tenfold. yikes. i should have realized a carcass of any kind would not be fun.

watched 2 of 3 epic "lord of the rings" movies. STILL have not made it thru the last one. please, don't tell me how it ends :)


nagged phillip to the point of completion on the christmas lights. perhaps that was more satisfying for me, than him, however mabel looks like a storybook house :)

thought of cher AND katie as i attempted to put up the christmas tree this weekend. after arranging all the ornaments perfectly (and asking phil what he thought, to his reply "that's the most ornaments i have ever seen on a tree") and sitting down on the couch to admire, noticed a slight lean. which, after about 20 minutes had reached to the point of touching my shoulder as i sat there. UNLIKE cher or katie, i just said "i'm done with you" and it's still leaning there, waiting for help. maybe MAYBE today, if it looks pitiful enough.

anyway, back to monday world. hope you all had a good one.

full but not quite

i hope everybody had a great day yesterday, turkey turned out fine, but it had to bake an extra hour...not sure why. it seemed kind of not worth it in the end, but perhaps i had just hoped for something better. i do that a lot :)

otherwise, it was a quiet, peaceful day. i think knowing we have the next several days "off" together makes for the contentment. luckily, i avoided the black friday mess, as a result of staying up way too late last night. thank goodness for that, i did not really want to go shopping today.

i'm gettting to be more and more "anti" when it comes to shopping ... although selfishly not for SOME luxuries, like books and craft supplies and art. i have to remember that for phil, video games ARE art :) ha. but even so, it's difficult to tell him what i want for christmas without saying "everything, but nothing."

i guess because christmas is not about shopping. hands down. if i read one more "review" from somebody who hates the holidays because it seems hollow, i will scream. if it seems hollow, IT IS. christmas is meant for celebrating Christ, no matter how much we twist it around! oh yeah, the family love, and the warm lights and the food and festivities and shopping ARE good. but they are not GOOD ENOUGH. and if we look for satisfaction in just those things, we will still be left with longing.

so, i'm still a little hungry, i admit. not sure how to go about filling up this year. i hope to donate to something/someone in a meaningful way. there are way too many people in need, so choosing will not be a problem. but shifting my mental state from "me" to "we" and looking at my fellow man and loving them as myself can sometimes be a shake. i'm asking the Lord to shake me, and make me love extra hard this christmas. i'm sure He does not disappoint in giving that kind of gift in full :)

countdown to turkey day

number of trips to the grocery store: 3

number of pies baked for big day so far: 1

number of pies that did not make it past the "midnight snack" or "just one slice for breakfast" stage: 1

number of pies left to bake: 1, 2 or 3 depending on energy consumed in process

number of almost-sliced-off fingers in baking process: 1

number of dishes yet to prepare: 27

morning's left until you have to BAKE A FREAKING TURKEY:
0

how to make ...

a cat bed.

when i googled the above, this seriously came up!



SOMEBODY must know i have 17 empty suitcases in the basement, eh?

w. o. w.

have you guys checked out this baking site?

i think it's one of the best on the web...

one down

ah, well, now that the crazy, busy, nutso, not-ready-for-monday morning has passed, i have time to sit and reflect on the weekend.

not much to report, except that Phillip and i happened to be at the mall, buying some $300 not-very-fun tires to replace what we THOUGHT was a flat,

and we happened upon THIS.

those crazy kiosks do it every time. who doesn't need a weasel ball, i say?!

shhhhh. don't tell siesta, it's her first stocking stuffer :)

jack's back

oh, jack bauer, how i love thee. funny how you hear EXTREME opinions about the tv series "24" - people either love it or hate it (kinda like vampires, i guess - te he)...

i'm in the "love" camp for sure. and last night's return to tv after a long absence was JUST what i needed. the 2-hour showing of "redemption" was awesome!

when we last saw jack, he was heading to africa, after being wrongly (sort of wrongly, anyway) run out of the country for a really BIG crime. he was once again alone and on the run. maybe that is why i love him. redemption happens in africa, i guess, as the title implies. the movie is almost a carbon copy of parts of "blood diamond" which i also loved...lotsa love here.

okay, back to jack. not sure what the appeal is. maybe it's that he is the kind of hero who ALWAYS saves the day. it's not his fault that everybody he loves ultimately dies! just bad timing, i guess :)

last night, in the middle of all the drama, i said to phil "aren't you just GLAD that jack is in da house?"

:) he he. can hardly wait till january, when the series returns for good.

protein power

well, i did it for the FIRST time yesterday!

not alot of firsts at 46, so i'll celebrate the day i ordered my first turkey to cook for thanksgiving. oh boy. kind of scary, no?

i am also a bit scared of all the recipes out there. i just bought one of those "bags" and a cute little roaster at walmart for $9.

i think i am set.

well, except for the mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, biscuits, cranberry salad, pecan and pumpkin pie!

what are y'all havin'?

not gonna do it

well, it's almost thanksgiving, which means i am KIND OF SORT OF starting to think of christmas. i love christmas. the cookies, the lights, the love, all of it. however, i dread thinking of the gift giving. dread it. not because i don't like giving gifts, because i do. but because i am such a loser procrastinator that i NEVER seem to give the gift i really want to give. you cannot do that, if you wait til the night before you are seeing the person, and then run to the mall.

this year, i vow to NOT DO THIS.

i mean it. actually, i have pretty much given up malls year around...i just never really go there. well, maybe twice so far this year. pretty funny for a girl who used to need a new outfit about twice a week!

anyway, that leaves options. best option: making things to give. best time to start best option: waaaaaaaay sooner than now. however, i am determined to make a few gifts. i have a measly start, and need to get some supplies for some other ideas i have.

2nd best option: buying online. i know, that is kind of impersonal. however, i LOVE when a box comes from amazon. or some amazing etsy artist. everybody would love that sort of thing, right?


i need some help here. let me know your favorite place to christmas shop. the sooner you reply, the better :)

botched plan

since you guys are used to my "boasting" about all my home decorater projects, thought i'd show you my latest extravaganza, er, mistake. perhaps it's just because i was starting to get accustomed to NO draperies. perhaps it's because i am reminded of Tara when i look at them. perhaps it's because i hung them about 4" too high, so they look like "highwater" curtains...

i don't know. but the new drapes bug me. i started with the best intentions. chocolate brown velvet. rich and creamy and warm for winter. they came in the mail. oops. a little TOO dark and rich. oh well, can always paint a wall to match them. then, the thought that they looked a little too naked. so i decided to add the green. i was contemplating adding more pattern, but dang, i have alot of pattern going on in that room.

long story short, i ended up with this. you never know. if rhett butler ever stops over, i'm all set to make him feel at home.




but before i go, lest you should think i've completely lost my touch. the infamous afghan, all laid out on the kitchen floor. oh. my.

this photo was taken over a week ago. i have gotten a little waylaid by the sewing of the squares together. perhaps this photo will inspire me to press onward!

communal living

after spending the weekend with kirsten, i am starting to think about the benefits of communal living. how GREAT it would be to have a woman friend living in your house with you all of the time! to commiserate! to chat when the man-folk just want to play video games! to actually offer to help! to compliment you on nearly everything!


yes. the weekend was good. yes, we sat around alot and crocheted, but also visited and shopped too. and slept. did alot of good sleeping.



however, being the ding dong i am, i forgot to take any photos. i have asked for one of THESE for christmas, not that it would help me remember to use it.

thanks kirst :)

the visitor

well, she is on her way. or soon to be on her way.

so excited.

i'm sure very soon we'll be headed here:


and we might even do some of this:


and for SURE a bunch of this:


and probably even more of this:



cannot WAIT!

happy early weekend everyone!

end of the spear

yesterday phil had the day off because of the weather, and i ended up taking most of the afternoon off with "post-big-meeting-relief" and laziness.

we ended up watching "end of the spear" finally. i think it came out 2 years ago? dunno.

anyway, it was a good flick. of COURSE i cried at the end. if you have not heard of the movie, it's about 5 christian missionaries who are killed by a remote ecuadorian tribe in the 50s. with a twist, of course.

the little boy in the movie totally TOTALLY reminded me of the oldest j boy. i think that made the movie better for me. although it's not a movie for little kids, if you are a big kid you should watch it!

re-everything

okay, here is something i gotta try. isn't that fantastic?

too good

ever meet somebody and think "man, they are so good, i don't even deserve to know them?"

the guy who took this photo is one of those people to me. he went to humble sdsu just like the rest of us, but somehow he stands out a little among most of those that i knew. his talent is just so amazing, i could look at his work all day. from landscape stuff to sports and just about any kind of people shot you can imagine. greg finds a way to make everything look good...

and yes, i stole this photo from his blog :)