The Horror

No one came to look at my house (still for sale) during all of October and November...and I've been nothing but grateful for that. We have just had too much going on. With Becky passing away, we're just now getting back in the swing of things with school (Not to blame you, Becky - it just threw us all for a loop.), much less house cleaning.

Tuesday broke the streak.

My nine-year old answered the phone around 11am.

I hear, "Yea. Uh-huh. Sure. Ok, see you then."

Me: Who was that?
Annika: Oh, someone is coming to see the house at 5:30.
Me: Dear, please don't answer the phone anymore.

Who makes appointments with 9-year-olds? Not that I wouldn't have let them see the house! ...but if they had asked to stop by in ten minutes, she'd have probably said the same thing...and it took me cleaning from 11 until 5:30 to get the house in buy-me condition.

The horror. I'd rather have been working on this:


...or one my secret Christmas presents - instead of packing them all away!

call me Minnie...

...the Moocher - not the mouse.

I'm a terrible gardener. Actually, I'm decent with plants...as long as they aren't supposed to produce food. Those kind never seem to work out for me. This year we ate 2 green tomatoes out of our garden. That's it. Sad.

....so we mooch. My Dad lets us pick all we want at his house. This year we stole potatoes and beets.




Dad pickled the beets and Mom delivered them (along with some yummy raspberry jam) when she came for the Festival of Trees! How did I get so lucky?


What's the white stuff in the jar on the right? - only what's left of the indian corn my Dad grew, ground, and donated to his non-farming daughter. At least I know how to make corn bread!


If his gardening skills and bee knowledge skip a generation...I guess I'd be ok with that. When I'm old, my kids can deliver the fresh produce. :)

Reely Jiggin

Jonny and Cozy got to participate in their first Irish dance performances at the Festival of Trees. Cozy in a more unofficial way. She donned her homemade costume and danced in front of the stage...


...when she wasn't clinging to me and hiding her face against my legs. So many sides to that little personality!

My Mom and nieces even skipped the big talent show (that Dad, BIL and brother were performing in - she's already heard it lots :) to be there! Yeah! Sofia got to be in the Crossing Light Jig for the first time. She denies it, but, to me, she looked petrified (as in extremely frightened...not stiff).



Cozy was pretty happy to be dancing quasi in front of everyone, so that kept her entertained for most of the performance...until she discovered that she could get through the stage curtains.



Not good. That's when you see me ducking after her. Isn't my hair horrid? I just don't know what to do with it. Makes me want to shave it again, but I have no excuse for such nonsense now.

The last time I shaved it was right before Becky went into the hospital with her stroke/brain tumor. ...and now I kind of feel like my hair length measures how long it's been since she passed away.

Almost two months growth now.

Maybe that's why I hate it?

Or it could just be because it looks terrible.

Ok. Digression over.

The Festival of Trees was wonderful! Tony wrangled Boo. Anthony refused to watch (dancing embarrasses him). The dancers did great (and forgot all about the horror of having their hair curled!)


Our company even stayed the night, so our neglected guestroom got some use! Whoo-hoo. The girls gave an encore with their cousins later that evening...but they were dressed as vampires and lip syncing to Girls Just Wanna have Fun. I should have gotten that on video!

...they just wanna...they just wannaaaa....

Thanksgiving

Since we're planning a move for this summer, I knew this was probably going to be our last Thanksgiving at my folks for a few years. (Tony can breath a sigh of relief...he gets a little overwhelmed by the ten adults and twenty-one children that make up my family. :) Understandable.) So, I just had to soak it all in and save it up!

The ambience.


Cooking in the kitchen with my sisters. (Man! I look way cuter in my brain!) ...and Dad - who was whipping out the pie crusts!


Annika with the pie crust cookies.


Kids swarming for the chocolate box.


The menfolk practicing their hornpipe for the talent show. My brother James is on guitar, BIL Mike on the penny whistle and the fiddle sticks (so cool!), and Dad on fiddle. Background dancers: Cozy, Lucy, Lilly, Natalie, and Lance. I'm sure they rocked the talent show yesterday (minus the dancers - bummer)!

Out with the old...

Happy day! The "red riding hood" charm pack I bought from Nettie came in the mail!


I'm excited enough about it to finish up some stagnant projects (so that I can give myself permisson to start a new one)!

I was so excited to sew, that my power went out....so that I couldn't. I did some cutting by candlelight, but it was too hazardous. (I can't keep little Cozy off of the table!) Sans flash....


...and with flash, so that you can see my cutie fabrics.


Now I just have to whip out my belated birthday quilts (doll-sized, so that they are whip-out-able); then I can begin my sweet red, brown, green, and blue riding-hood quilt!

Obsessive Shopping

I've been fairly obsessed with clothes lately. I think it stems from my lack of a winter wardrobe. Strangly enough, the clothes I wore last winter are mostly worn out or not fitting me. They must have shrunk.

So, I've been pouring over Modcloth, drooling over clothes that I can't remotely afford (...and for that - I blame Tony's "applying to Med school hobby" - all of my fun money is being spent on application fees and plane tickets! Lame.)

But, guess where I can afford to buy cool clothes with a vintage look? Goodwill.

Sure enough, I found a beautiful gray (my fave!) sweater!



...that fit Sofia. :( Oh, well. She needed one.


Then, like an idiot, I spent $32 on a pair of summer shoes. Yes, $32 - at Goodwill.


Italian leather - that fulfills a major fantasy of mine (I can officially stop trying to learn Italian now) - how could I say no?


...and, if that wasn't crazy enough, I bought a $25 necklace. Yes, Goodwill folks! Even the lady at the counter kept pointing out other necklaces that came with earrings for $4.


When I got home, I googled the necklace, to prove to myself that I wasn't crazy. It made me feel better when I found the same necklace on Etsy for $85. ...and I didn't even have to pay shipping!

One shopping trip later, I had no new winter clothes.

I broke down and went to Old Navy. It's lazy, but I found exactly what I was looking for. Four new outfits. All adorable and just quirky enough to make me happy.



Oh, the joy of pintucks!

...and Cozette is officially NOT invited to go shopping with me again until she's four. Between her screaming, climbing out of the cart, and trying to throw herself out of the cart during violent fits, I've been getting those looks every time I try to take her out. Those "get your screaming kid out of here already" looks. Grounded. Until she's four. Don't let me forget when she's being sweet and adorable!

Time Wasters

My Irish dancers are getting ready for their first performance of the season, so, since I have nothing important to do, I decided to make Cozy (our dancing mascot) a costume of her own.


Joanns had Simplicity patterns for $1, so I picked out a jumper (so she'd match the girls) with pleats (so I could add some more red). ...and since I got to choose the fabric for this one - it's shiny (machine-washable) satin!


The final product was a little reminiscent of cheerleading outfits...but I'm ok with that. Sofia promptly whipped out a mini-dress for one of her stuffies to wear. (I think she was just trying to put off her math lesson.)

I wasn't sure if Cozy would recognize this outfit for what it was - a dance costume. After all, she's only 1 and a half. But, sure enough, the moment I zipped it up, she danced away into the living room!


Jon finally tackled her so we could take a picture! :)


Anyhoo....that's my time-wasting, self-indulgent sewing project for the week.