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I spoke to my grandmother last night and I told her to behave or someone would pull the plug; of course that’s the kind of thing only a grandkid could get away with, and for the record it did make her laugh.  Her surgery for colon cancer was today and I just got word that she tolerated it well and is in recovery.  Evidently it is not an easy surgery to recover from, so her road will yet be long.  If you happen on a spare ‘good thought’ send it her way, I know she’d appreciate it.

Saturday we cleaned the house, or I should say, D cleaned the house and I culled the bookshelf. Somehow what started as a really good dusting turned into a total overhaul and I removed almost half of the bookshelf’s contents and boxed them for donation. Two thirds of the removed items were cookbooks ... I may have lost my mind. My love affair with cookbooks has dimmed somewhat of late and there were several that I’m sure I’ve never cooked from. In fact lately I’ve had little interest in books. Then again, I’m so enamored with this book that I ordered it today - yeah, I know Christmas is coming, but the one I borrowed from the library is due and I’m having trouble parting with it.

Saturday night I prepped for Sunday’s Turkey day part deux, and Sunday I cooked like a mad woman. Three people tucked into roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, twice baked sweet potatoes, salad, rolls and the grand finale, black velvet torte. It is crazy expensive to make (almond flour, hazelnut flour, bourbon, and lots of top shelf chocolate) so I only do so about once a year, but it is so, so worth it.

I also finished my pin cushion challenge project. I realize that I’m tooting my own horn here, but I’m simply thrilled with the outcome, so thrilled I may have to make one for myself. My match in the swap is scary creative. Really. Scary. Creative. I’ll share who she is once I know the package has arrived, but if you just gotta know e-mail me and I’ll share.

I made a pincushion, a needle book and a small journal cover in coordinating oriental fabrics and a beaded bookmark. The needle book was an afterthought but turned out to be my favorite item.

Oh, and the paper bags in the background are little extras for her, her husband and kids and I am absolutely going to be wrapping Christmas presents this way. These are ‘treat’ bags from the party store, but I’m sure lunch bags or plain grocery bags would work too. All I did was fold the top over, punch two holes with a hole punch and thread fabric ribbon through the holes. Cute, no?

For those of you keeping track, these photos are with the old camera (Canon Powershot G6), the new camera still isn’t talking to my work computer, which may actually be a good thing - heh.

All in all it was a fine weekend with the exception of my neighbor having a party that didn’t start till 3am and went till well after dawn. I figure they must have all come back to his place after closing the bars. I could ignore the talking an laughter (they were outside on the lanai) but the monotonous pounding of the bass coming from the stereo made me want to storm over there like some wild woman. When he first bought the house they partied like this almost every weekend and then his girlfriend moved in with him and things slowed down a bit. I haven’t seen her since before I went to Missouri and I suspect that she has moved out and he has fallen back to frat boy ways, or at least is being influenced by his new roommate (a guy). For now I am playing the waiting game, everyone is going to disturb someone else a few times a year and I can live with that as long as it’s a weekend night. But if this is going back to being a weekly thing, well, I guess I’m going to turn into the ‘old bitty’ of the neighborhood ‘cause there will be a discussion. I’m undecided though if I should do the neighborly thing and speak to him directly, or the anonymous thing and call the law. What would you do?

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch, of course Sunday promises to be more stressful when I’m doing all the cooking.  Ok, not really, I enjoy the cooking and about the only stress I have with it is getting everything to be done at the same time.  Case in point, the two items I took for Thanksgiving were simply stellar, and their recipes have already been tucked into the ‘make again’ file.

If you’d like either recipe; Pumpkin Cake with Egg-Nog Frosting or Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups give me a holler or pick up this month’s Cuisine At Home.  The cake recipe is perfect as written, but I’d make two changes to the sweet potato recipe.  First I’d loose the orange cups.  I had enough potatoes to cook some in the cups and some in a casserole.  The ones in the cups took on a little bit of bitter pith flavor but the casserole variety was ‘roll-in-them’ good.  They are very visually appealing, but I’m not sure the cups are worth all the extra work. Also I substituted rum (yeah, you aren’t’ surprised are you?) for the bourbon called for in the glaze. I did it because there was no bourbon in the house, but a friend who made the same recipe said he wished he’d done the same as his were distinctly bourbon-ee.  Of course if you prefer bourbon to rum then never-mind, heh.

I played with the new camera during dinner, but it is still far smarter than I am.  I did manage a shot of the sweet potatoes, but the cake went so fast I couldn’t get focused!  I also got a photo of my Mackenzie’s mama, Bear*, with her most favorite thing in the world, a tennis ball. 

She is seriously ball-happy and one of the sweetest dogs ever.  She’s a leaner; she just walks up to you and leans her head on your knee and gives you one of those soulful doggy looks...*sigh* just heart melting.

It was a pleasant, if uneventful day and I even had enough time in the evening to work on my Pincushion Challenge Swap which is coming along nicely.  Next up is the OrnaMENTAL exchange which I’ve challenged myself to finish up next weekend so I can put some hours in a promise I made back in October, and (finger’s crossed) finish up my brother’s quilt top.  Until then, if you catch me making a promise or signing up for a swap, smack me please!

*I have not spelled that right, they spell it funny, like Baer or Baree or some such.

Thanksgiving snuck up on me like a lion in the brush.  Luckily this year we’ve deviated from the normal course, and that’s the only reason why I don’t have one hand up the business end of a turkey and the other in a bowl of stuffing.  Normally we have Thanksgiving with my mom but this year we are going to partake with the rest of the family and have the ‘mom and me’ Thanksgiving on Sunday.  So, as odd as it seems, I have not been up since 4am cooking.  I did not stay up all hours last night prepping.  To be honest, I feel a little lost - heh.  My contributions to today’s meal were handled last night; sweet potato souffle in orange cups and pumpkin clove cake.  There are some finishing touches to be done today; pecan glaze for the potatoes and egg-nog frosting for the cake, but I can almost make them with my eyes closed. 

So, since it really doesn’t yet feel like Thanksgiving today, and I didn’t post my birthday gifts yesterday I give you birthday booty!

Most of what you see here is from Kim ... because she lost her mind!  A second box from her showed up yesterday, crammed full of knitting goodness and lovely book; Where Women Create.  As for the knitting, well its a gazillion pairs of mitts, each lovelier than the next and a pair of pretty indigo wrist warmers.  The first box, that turned up a day or two ago had an assortment of “Queen for the Day’ items (too funny) and the lovely glass handbag in the center of the photo.  It is already parked happily in the window of my creative space.  Kim, you went way, way overboard and I love everything! 

I also received another book, The Quilt Maker’s Journey too add to my collection from the lovely Donni.  I really have a special affection for theses books and was just delighted to receive it.  Donni, I’ve said thanks, but I’ll say it again - THANKS!

There on the purple box is a hand blown glass dragonfly from the currently blogless Greenie, difficult to photo, but lovely to behold!  It too has taken up a spot in a window where the light can reflect on its gilt edges.  Lovely, Green Bean, just lovely!

And finally, though its not in the photo, Rox sen me a gift certificate from Indigo Wild and I cannot wait to shop - hee.  Soap, lotions and potions ... mmmm, perfect!  Rox, as you all know, rocks!

Thank you all ladies, it is just so kind of you to think of me, I am blown away!

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday, or weekend depending on what you celibrate, I am off to frost, lol.

I’ve been running practically since I stepped off of the airplane, but having been out of town in one way or another for the last three weeks I rather expected it.  My apologies for being so slow to blog the trip, but believe me it is just one thing on a (still) long list.  I got in yesterday around 10am, went to work, went home, went holiday grocery shopping, did laundry, made the ‘auction’ cake*, and did a very small amount of general straightening before falling into bed.  Before I do tell you all about it let me mention that there are several birthday gifts to share (but I did not get the photos taken so probably tomorrow), a Tribe gift to brag about, and a new project up on my project blog. 

So, the trip.  Arriving in Atlanta I was much later than expected Thursday evening so about all I accomplished was telling my brother ‘hi’ and ‘goodnight’ in the same breath.  Friday I went window shopping and generally knocked around until I could check into the hotel.  Happily it was all I hoped and then some.  My room was tiny, and the bathroom nearly a closet, but perfectly functional for one person (two might have been crowded). There is music playing when you enter the room and everything smells of freshly laundered sheets.  Beautifully casual is the only way I can describe the whole place. 

The lobby was equally lovely.

And was populated with the neatest double Adirondack chairs.  The arms, legs, and cutout in the back reflected the hotel logo, a nautilus (its a crappy photo, but the only one I got, and I just had to share).

The bar too, was a super comfortable and very pretty. 

Photo murals, as you probably noticed, are everywhere.  In the bar they are on the ceiling.

The hotel photos are really the only pictures that I took ... shame on me!

Friday night I met up with my brother and four of his friends for dinner at Agave.  Mmmm-mmmm barely covers it. 

Sadly Kim and I had to cancel our plans to meet due to unforseen circumstances.  Certainly I was disappointed, and I believe she was as well, but things happen and there will surly be a ‘next time’.  Instead, I spent Saturday looking for fabric stores (no luck) and visiting my old neighborhood.  Much of it I do not even recognize anymore and I had an odd sense that there is none of ‘me’ left there.  I lunched, browsed Barnes and Noble, bought a book and returned to the hotel where I made a nest of the blankets and pillows and spent the rest of the afternoon reading.

Sunday my brother and I had breakfast and went to see Casino Royal - I enjoyed it very much, and then he went about some errands while I returned the rental car and changed hotels to be closer to the airport for my flight Monday.  We were going to do dinner but that didn’t work out, so I ate in the hotel restaurant (quite good actually), read for a while and called it an evening.

Reading this I know it sounds rather boring, and for some I’m sure it was.  For me it was exactly what I needed, no clocks, no schedules, nothing to clean or fix and no one else to worry about.  Even the disappointments, like not finding a fabric store, were taken in stride.  I do think that having traveled to KC and Busch Gardens just prior to this trip took some of the steam out of my sails, and I was probably ready to go home much sooner than expected but it was still a fine birthday gift to myself ... that and this .

*The lady I made it for said that there was a war over that cake, and in the end it raised $30.  The lady who won it said her husband, a bonafide peanut butter lover, told her to ‘do whatever it took to win that cake’, and was willing to go as high as $50!  Yeah, my ego is a little swollen today - hee.

In a hair under five hours I’ll be winging my way to Atlanta with no other purpose than to enjoy myself.  To be honest that whole concept throws me a little, but rest assured I’ll give it the old college try.  My plans include visiting my brother, meeting Kim and her kids at the zoo, shopping, and anything else that comes to mind while I’m there (hmmmm, do you think I could find a fabric store).  I’ll be back Monday, till then, take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend!

Any given day in the blogiverse you will can find a post about why someone blogs.  I’ve avoided the subject, mostly because I don’t have cathartic reason for doing so.  I blog because I can ask unsuspecting folks questions like, “Will you take a picture of my foot?”

I took a spill yesterday, nothing serious but still no fun.  My mother’s has a home business as caretaker of many homes and condos owned by seasonal residents.  As she is still in KC, helping my grandmother, I put on my caretaker hat and made the rounds.  One of the things-to-do on my list was turn the water off at her condo.  Which I did.  But when I double checked it I found that it had not completely turned off so I went back to tighten the valve, which is located on a wall behind lots of shrubs and a bougainvillaea (read - thorny shrub).  My first trip to the valve got me a little raked up from the thorns so on my second trip I thought I’d try it from the other direction, hopefully putting me in less contact with the biting shrub.  What I didn’t see was the two foot deep hole that I stepped directly in, and grace that I am sprawled full length in, behind, and all over the thorny bush.  I look a little like I was on the losing end of a cat fight as I am covered in fine, bloody scratches.  I skinned both knees, banged my head on the wall, damaged one of those ugly spots on my legs (very easy to do) and twisted my ankle.  Of course I jumped up really fast and hid in my truck lest anyone witness the spectacle of my clumsiness.  Last night, getting ready for bed, I made a closer inspection of several bloody spots on one leg that I thought were just scrapes.  They were actually thorns, firmly planted in my skin, so I spent twenty minutes or so with a pair of tweezers setting them free.  There is still one in my knee, that I’m embarrassed to say I may have to go see my doctor and have him remove it, I just cant get a hold on the thing.  As for my ankle, I can get around, my gait looks a little like Quasimodo’s, but then again I never had a runway walk so maybe it’s not so bad.

We drove to Tampa Friday night (two hours north of us) and met up with the other employees and their guests for dinner at Chili’s.  We ate, we drank, we laughed and then we retired to the hotel.  The next morning we met again over a quick breakfast where his boss passed out park tickets and spending money to each pair and sent us on our way.  It was a perfect day, there is no other way to describe it.  The morning was cool and clear and the afternoon hot, but not so much so that you were miserable.  The crowd at the park was lite and we only had to wait a few minutes for the two rides we did go on.  D is not fond of roller coasters and I adore them, he was gracious enough to wait while I rode Kumba. 

I laughed, I screamed, I had a blast and if D had not been waiting around for me I’d probably still be looping the loop!

Mostly we enjoyed the beauty of the park, which is lushly landscaped and deeply shaded.  This tree, in the center of a children’s boat race game was just stunning.

And the animals and their habitats were just great!  The park has had a few new arrivals in the past year including a baby rhino and a baby hippo.

The hippo enclosure was especially cool as you were viewing the animals eye level across the water as well as beneath the water thanks to a super thick sheet of glass.

The park’s theme is Africa and there were many times looking out across the savanna that you could almost believe that you were there.  Zebra, antelope and giraffe roamed together across the wide plain, the illusion only broken by unnatural curves and corners of rides leaping up in the background.  Even the lion enclosure, though separated from the ‘lunch’ type animals seemed one with the rest of the plain.

There were frightening animals, like the Nile Alligator;

And the comics like this buffalo who ‘smiled’ for the camera,

or the elephants, who touched their heads together just as D snapped the photo.

And there were moments that it seemed to be privately ours, like the little boy who growled at the Komodo dragon,

and the tiny native anole lizard perched on the tail of the Komodo.

And moments that made you grin on the inside, like the two matching Lorries that decided my little cup of nectar was the one they wanted.

We left the park tired, a little sunburned and wholly satisfied.  Though you might think we’d reached the end of our day, we had yet to go and collect the dog from my dad’s house where we were met with an early birthday celebration of Chinese take-out, chocolate raspberry cake, good red wine and eeeeee!, fabulous gifts!

Don’t be laughing at my crock pot, I needed one.  The glaze of my crock has crazed, and I must have mentioned it months ago because my step mom remembered.  I think I’ll celebrate with a pot roast tonight, mmm.  As for the camera, it is actually a ‘hand-me-down’.  My dad and I have been discussing for some time now the value of a digital SLR camera and the death of film as a day to day media.  Two months ago he succumbed to our discussions and purchased this Canon camera which he has been playing with.  Our discussions continued and at some point I’m sure I said that someday I too would make that leap to SLR goodness, despite being a pretty poor photographer.  He, taking me at my word, and being presented with both a Canon rebate and a dealer willing to make, um, a deal, traded up to an SLR with a full sized digital sensor (an important thing, or so I’m told) and I got the two month old cast off.  Yeah, I’m disappointed, in fact I’m so disappointed that I’m positively giddy!  While it will be a bit before I can spare the time to sit down and learn its functions, you can bet I’ll be dragging the collage photography text book out on my first quiet day and burning up some serious pixels!

It was a perfect, perfect day in every way it could be and I have every intention of allowing that day to permeate my being for some time to come.

Yesterday at work I was trying to work out some scheduling for myself and realized how jam packed the rest of November is really going to be.  On the sewing front there are two swaps, and two promises (or maybe that’s three).  Ive got one surprise in the works, non sewing.  I’m off to Busch Gardens tonight, D’s business is taking all of their employees (plus guests) for dinner tonight and a day of fun tomorrow.  Thursday I leave for Atlanta and return on Monday and three days later its Thanksgiving.  Somewhere in the middle of all that there’s dinner with my dad, taking care of my mom’s business while she’s still in KC*, and a cake for a charity auction**.  Whew, I am the hole digging diva!

I am off today, but not exactly off ... there’s dog washing, clothes washing, and if time, window washing. I also need to make a trip to the book store and the fabric store to get the finishing touches for a baby shower gift.  The shower is Sunday, and I must admit that I’m considering skipping it.  It is for my hair stylist, whom I adore, but I won’t know anyone there and I really cannot adequately articulate how much I dislike ‘shower games’.  Yeah, I’m a wall flower ... at least when the games come out.  Worse, when I do participate, especially with the ready made games that have you name tv/movie kids or nursery rhymes, I win.  It is amazing how quickly a room full of women will turn on you when there’s a prize involved, heehee.

In other news we had another death in the family yesterday, my grandfather’s brother.  I cannot say I knew him well, if at all, but seriously we’re all getting a little ragged around here, and with my grandmother’s upcoming surgery I don’t suppose its going to get better anytime soon.  My personally challenge of ‘being happy’ in November has become a much tougher one than I had originally thought.  Ah well, I’m strong, I will certainly muddle through one way or another.

*We discovered a few days after my Grandfathers death that my Grandmother has colon cancer, my mother has stayed behind to help her after the surgery.  Spare ‘good thoughts’ are appreciated.

**A friend asked me to make one for her to donate, I gotta tell you I was flattered as hell!

So, I met the fearless Rox yesterday, and I gotta tell you she is a BRAT! A big, spoiled brat. She just had to have her way on everything! She had to drive 30 miles out of her way to meet me, she had to wait patiently while I shopped for my grandmother, she had to trick me into picking out my own birthday present - and its not my birthday! She’s a total BRAT! In fact the only argument I won was over the dinner check, and that was an arm wrestling match.

We met at Zona Rosa and walked a quick tour of the shops before we decided that getting out of the city before rush hour was our wisest course. Once south of the city we stopped at a mall and popped into the jungle for a drink. A drink that turned into dinner, and lucky me, her hubby joined us as well. Our initial goal was to belly up to the bar, but one look at the bar stools was enough to send us packing for a table. In keeping with the restaurants theme each stool was the hind end of a jungle animal. I don’t know about skinny folks, but we full figured gals have no desire to have an elephants ass lined up with our own. The restaurant also featured animatronic monkeys, elephants, cheetahs etc, a mist filled waterfall and intermittent rain-forest lightening storms that set all the animals growling and shrieking. It also set us into giggle fits with each passing storm.

Another highlight was the photo booth. Rox made me swear not to take any photos of our visit and I agreed, but when she saw the photo booth it was a whole different story. As you might expect two Reubenesque women packed into a photo booth was a comedy of its own caliber, but I would have loved to have seen the show that was going on outside the curtain. Her cute, gentlemanly hubby, patiently waiting for us to stop acting like we were ten. I figure he was either pretending not to know us or selling tickets for the show to the passers by.

All and all it was a great time, and so wonderful to finally put a face with her voice. I sincerely hope we have the opportunity to do it again, though maybe somewhere with a few less chimps - heh. Thanks Rox!

We are safely here, and have gotten through the memorial. My job yesterday was to take care of G’ma, get her ready and to the church on time. She was nervous as a bride, and many times during our preparations I thought ‘this is just like a wedding’. The emotion levels were just as high, and folks were just as tense. But we did it, and though there were some grumblings about how things were handled, G’ma was delighted with the whole event and as far as I’m concerned that is all that matters.

Today I’m taking a little breather and driving my brother back to the airport, and then meeting up with Rox. She is, I know, nervous, but oddly I’m not. Or at least, not yet, check with me in a few hours - heh. I was also going to try to bump into Brad but sadly I think I’ve screwed that up. I sent him an email prior to leaving Florida but he never responded and if I were a betting woman (and I can be) I’d bet that I sent that mail from my work account and it went right into his ‘junk’ folder. Ah well, I expect I’ll be back, and next time at least will be with more forethought so I can come bearing gifts for his knee-nibblers. I am woefully empty handed this trip, and I’ve always enjoyed the Japanese tradition of gift giving when meeting.

The trip has really gone as expected, and though there is stress and bickering, it is nothing we cant all live with. I will be happy to get home Wednesday, hopefully then I can share a photo or two of my grandfather. There were some really wonderful ones at the memorial, many I’d never seen. And, if I’m really talented (don’t hold your breath), a recording of him singing ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ at my uncles wedding. The played it to close the memorial service and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Or at least we will be in a few hours.  My brain woke me a little before 4am with ‘things forgotten’ and so I’ve been knocking around the house and turning them into ‘things remembered’.  I have to repack the suitcase to make room for some of those things ... and I have to eliminate a pair of shoes, oh the horror!  The TSA’s liquid requirements are a royal pain in the tookus, especially as I am not fond of packing liquids with my clothes in the ‘check through’ bag or of those same items freezing.  I swear some things are never the same once they’ve been inthe cargo hold of a plane, but maybe thats just me.  I’m traveling with creweling supplies and little scissors ... oh, please let me get a security agent that knows the ban on scissors has been lifted.  The image of me tussilng with some guy in a polyester suit over a pair of Gingher scissors is not a pretty one.  I swear my fear of the security line (and of me inadvertantly packing something illegal) is greater that my fear of flying- heh.

I expect blogging will be even sparcer than is has been or non-existant.  I’ll be back next Wednesday, till then, take care everyone.

Personally I think its fair to say, for me at least, that October mostly sucked.  Even the trick-or-treaters were a let down, the doorbell rang exactly three times - sigh.  As for my plans and challenges, they were so promptly forgotten that I had to go back and re-read last month’s review just so I’d know what I hadn’t done.  I was going to exercise four days a week (didn’t happen), finish the quilt top by the 14th (not even close), remodel the master bath (you’re joking, right?), finish the HTML tutorial (success!), decorate for Halloween (success!), and loose weight (small success, due mostly to irregular eating and skipped meals).  For the most part I can blame circumstances beyond my control, and some of those will continue into November.  So, for that month I have one challenge only ... be happy.  It is going to be a busy month; Kansas City next week, Orlando two days after I return, Atlanta the weekend after that and then Thanksgiving.  Two promises, a swap, and a gift, and of course that sudden steep slide into Christmas.  Its enough, I think, to simply try to be happy.