After Christmas Sales

Angus with pretty Santa scarf!

MONDAY
Walked the dogs early morning on Monday Dec 27. We went into CDA to get hubby some sale shirts at JCPenney. In addition to the $9.99 sale for each shirt, there was an additional $10 for each sale over $25. It was totally worth getting him some nice shirts to look better.

Lots of people in town. Driving dumb. Went to Costco to pick up stuff. Got burgers at Wendy's for the dogs, then home. Watched Dexter

TUESDAY
We walked the dogs in the morning on Tuesday, Dec 28 and got lattes. Then vegged out for the rest of the day. Went to pick up groceries at Spirit Lake Miller's in the afternoon. Also got a kitty bowl at Spirit Lake Hardware for the feral cats that hubby brought home the day before Christmas.

Finished watching the first season of Dexter DVD set that KRN had given hubby as a Christmas present. Good show. It started snowing before we went to bed.

WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday, Dec 29 we saw LOTS of snow early morning. 1 inch per hour the weather forecasters stated. Shoveled the decks several times. Hubby snowplowed drive. He worked in the shop for a while.

Merry Christmas

THURSDAY
Packed up hurriedly on Thursday, Dec 24 to go over to Cheney for Christmas with KRN. We had to take 2 vehicles because of the dogs & so many presents. Packed all the presents and Lil Bit with me & the FMF. Hubby had to drop off deposit to bank, stop to drop off #3's present of a complete set of moto-cross racing gear including boots, pants, shirt, gloves & goggles. Then he had to go by Tim's home to give him a bonus.

I arrived first & unloaded car, then hubby showed up after a while. KRN was all excited. Beebo was happy to see his lil friend Bit! They raced around for quite a while.

Hubby came & unloaded all the dogs. It was cold, but had not snowed.

KRN had already started a turkey dinner. Hubby wrapped my presents then we went out to look at lights in the neighborhood. Very pretty.

Headed back to KRN's home & had dinner. Was very nice. Watched DVD's for annual tradition. Muppet's Christmas and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Went to bed late.

FRIDAY 
Dogs kept us up most of the night, wanting to go outside. I suppose they are not comfortable when they are unused to a different home. Harry & Bit slept with us in the guest bed, Bud & Isabelle & Angus slept at the bottom of the bed on the floor. Quite difficult trying to get up in the middle of the night to use the potty!

Santa Hubby

We opened Christmas gifts in the morning. Then cleaned up all the wrapping paper. KRN had to go in to work at 11:30 so we walked dogs before she went in. I also took a couple allergy pills as my right eye swelled up again with a welt. I slept for most of the afternoon, hubby took candy into KRN's Espresso Stand as she ran out of candy canes. She made quite a lot of tips for the few hours she worked.

More Holiday Stuff

Tuesday

Hubby made me take Benadryl allergy pills because of my hurt eyepod. I am also taking antibiotics which seem to be slowly helping. The dogs woke me up at 6AM when hubby got up. I went outside with Bud to pick up his poo, but he would not poo! I staggered in a drugged haze back to bed. Dogs woke me up again at 9AM, when I slogged on my boots & fur coat to go out with them again. Bud did not poo again! I was very disappointed in him. Again back to bed as I was exhausted. Lil Bit woke me up at 11AM for the final time. I then decided that it would be a good idea to have coffee & Kahlua with fresh whipped cream. Which only made me more groggy. Hey! It's the holiday season. Who cares? 

Worked on more Sparkleballs.

Anyway, Bud refused to poo until 4:00PM. He held it an awful long time. I perused his poo, but did not see any worms like we had on Sunday. 

 

I ran the fresh poo down to the Vets. They later called & said they did not find any worms, but they will give me medicine for him after I described the size, shape & color of the worms we had seen.

Ran out of propane in the evening, so house was cold. We need to get one of those remotes that shows consumption levels.

Hubby worked in shop until 9PM.

Wednesday

Working on "special" secret holiday gifts. Won't be able to post the pics here until after the holiday. Hubby cut, I sanded & painted. Then will assemble. So fun.

wire heart for KRN xmas present

Picked up Bud's medicine at vet this AM. Then got latte. Came home & started to work on "special" secret projects. Then hubby called & wanted me to bring him a thing to town. So bundled up & took Bud/'Lil Bit with me to town. Picked up another latte & eggnog latte for hubby. Washed the FMF while trying to call hubby. The car wash was handing out candy canes, so I took two. One for me, one for hubby. Hubby was working, so I dropped the "thing" off at the Hayden CO with his best buddy-Brad. But I forgot to leave the latte - maybe I'll give it to him tonight.

Talked to hubby & told him I dropped off thing. Came home & worked on "special" secret project again.

Posting Christmas Fabric Postcards

On Sunday we got lattes, walked dogs in the deserted subdivision. Learned that Bud has worms as seen by his feces. Other dogs were clear. I got a sample to take to vet on Monday.

We got the FMF & drove into town to get hubby's dually that he left at work. Then purchased burgers for the dogs at Wendy's.

I worked on garlands, sparkleballs & lighted mason jars.

Made white fudge, more cookies & sugar candy popcorn. For some obscure reason, hubby just LOVES my sugar candy popcorn where in the past he has hated it. Odd.

It can now be revealed that I MADE our Christmas Postcards this year. With Christmas pattern fabric melded on fusible peltex & covered on the back with another fabric with the printed postcard from the computer copier. It took me almost all of one day to make 32 postcards. Hubby mailed them and it cost 64 cents for each postcard to be mailed & hand-stamped. Hope everybody likes them.

front - Christmas Fabric Postcard

 back - Christmas Fabric Postcard 2010

On Monday, I took Bud's poo to the vet where the receptionist stated that it would need to be fresh, not day-old or frozen. Then to pick up a latte & Deralee gave me Greg's gift, my gift & KRN's gift. Off to Lil Town Market to pick up milk. Then home again. At home I worked on more sparkleballs.

Busy Bee

Washed laundry
Vacuumed Main Floor
Washed Dog Beds
Sewed Dog Beds
Made More Mini Christmas Sugar Cookies
Vacuumed basement dog dirt
Vacuumed upstairs
Scrubbed Dog Rugs in bathtub
Shoveled Front & Back Decks of 4 inches of Snow
Showered
Made another Sparkleball
Cut more Fabric & finished another Garland.

Hubby had traded shifts with a coworker last week and had to work this Saturday. So I stayed home with my diseased eye-pod and was unable to go to the cookie exchange. :(

Bud "dogged" my footsteps again today causing me to step on his toes & almost trip over him several times. When I opened the back door to shovel snow, Lil Bit scuttled quickly out the opening and dashed towards the road. I tried to call him back to no avail. He did come to the garage when I opened the garage door - Thank god. Then I quickly closed the door & trapped him in the garage. Left him there while I finished making cookies between shoveling more. He's a bad little black dog.

Lighted Mason Jars

I am feeling so sick and tired, but have thousand of craft ideas soaring through my head.

Also have to get the Christmas sugar cookies baked today, but I have no energy to do it.

Finished the Lighted Mason Jars today. KRN wants to give a couple for presents. Also want to give one to DeraLee.

Also made sugar Christmas cookies & frosted them.

Lighted Mason Jar

So Tired

Christmas preparation is making me tired. I spent all day yesterday working on Christmas cards. Today I finished a sparkleball & baked chocolate cookies. Then made peppermint bark.

My eye seems to be worse today. I think I have a fever, too.

Secret Project

Can't share my secret project yet because it is the Christmas cards we are sending out this year!

Manito Lights

Went shopping today. Michaels, Costco, Costco Gasoline, Scissor Sharpening, Shoe Repair, JoAnn Fabrics, WalMart, Lowes.

Had to complain at Lowes about our carpet that is fraying & never got fixed at the seam connection. Over a year later and nothing. Time to escalate.

Rushed home to unload. I put more extension cords out to the last of the lights beyond the garage to the west side.

 tree lights in woods

Then drove over to Cheney to surprise KRN. Left Lil Bit with Beebo so they could play at KRN's home. Showed up at the latte stand & surprised KRN! We bailed at 5:30 to go get her food at Taco Time as she was Starvin' Marvin'.

We parked her car at WalMart & piled into the FMF. After getting warm lattes at Starbucks, off we adventured to Manito Park in Spokane to view the lights at the Gaiser Conservatory. Very pretty.

 manito lights - pretty!

 

g&h at manito park lights

Afterwards we cruised around in the pouring rain looking at lights in the neighborhood, then shopped in Airway Heights at WalMart. KRN followed us to her home. Ate cookies & let dogs play for a while. We left at 8:30. Very rainy, foggy & difficult driving on the way home. Exhausted. Fell into bed.

EYEPOD

4AM Wake up to eye hurting bad. Pink eye from stye in mah ah.
730AM Whine to hubby that I don't want to go because mah ah hertz.
731AM Hubby says get my butt out of bed. No feeling sorry for my pink eyepod.

8AM Depart Idaho. Bring Bud & Bit.
930AM Arrive Cheney. Drop off Bit to play with Bravo.
10AM Davenport Hotel Gingerbread House Build Off by local Professional chefs.
10:30AM Window Shopping at River Park Square
11:00AM  Pick up Mondo Burritos at Taco Del Mar
11:30 AM Eat lunch with KRN at her house in Cheney
12:30 AM Say Farewell to KRN
1:12 PM Target. Pick up Hair Straightener
1:38 PM Hubby picks up stuff at Harbor Freight. 52 Degrees!
2:30PM WalMart Shopping. Deposit $ in bank. Wendy's Cheeseburgers
3:45PM Arrive home in Idaho. All purchases transported into house.
4:45PM Hang up blue icicle lights over garage.
5:00PM Fall exhausted onto couch.

There You Are Again

I believe in actual
In the clear concise and the factual
All of life has reason
And it should be clear to see
But when the crowds all drift away
And we are apart for one more day
In the most peculiar places
You're where you should not be

There you are again
In the rustling leaves of a summer storm
In my favorite chair all safe and warm
In a wish that a child believes

There you are again
When light returns to the morning sky
When two lovers cannot say good-bye
When a movie makes me cry
When the perfect story ends
There you are again

Will I ever get over the feel of your touch
The sound of your voice the scent of your hair
Your quiet reminder to not be afraid
When you promised to find me somewhere

There you are again
Till I forget to close the door
And the heartache's in and I'm damned I'm sure
To each day miss you more
When I think I can't endure
There's a whisper in the wind
There you are again

-Livingston Taylor

Rain Some More

Rain Rain & Rain Some More
Dogs Play in Backyard
Pay Bills
Work on Garland
Start Working on Mason Jar Lights
Fabric Christmas Postcards

L to R - Lil Bit, Bud, Angus, Harriet

12 Days of Cookies

More Baking cookies
More working on Garlands
More work on Sparkleballs
High of 38 degrees
Rain
Snow melting

More Baking & Busy Day

1/Exhausted when I awoke this morning. Up at 2 & 5 to let dogs outside.
2/Laundry
3/Dishes
4/Filled fish tank with warm water
5/Made Green Sparkleball
6/Baked 6 dozen Cream Cheese Xmas tree cookies
7/Rested
8/Worked on Garland

 Green Sparkleball

Baked Goods

Hubby took my cookies into work today to share with his buddies. They really liked them. I have quite the reputation for baking around this time of year.

Worked on garlands, then picked hubby up from work in the FMF. I had turned the lights on before I left home so we arrived home to all the pretty Christmas lights.

Stopped at WalMart to pick up dog food, more lights for SparkleBalls, and a wonderfully delicious sundried tomato basted turkey breast. Yum.

Made Oatmeal Raisin and Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies for hubby. He can take some more into work tomorrow.

Lights Up!

Sunday we slept late until 10:00! Harriet is FOUR years old today so we sang "Happy Birthday" to her softly as she was lying between us on the bed.

Then took the dogs for a walk after getting lattes. DeraLee invited me to a cookie exchange on December 18 at 3PM. OMG. What cookies shall I take?

Even tho it was a shivering cold 25 degrees, the walk was not bad because the wind did not blow. Harriet had a ball as she blasted Bud at high speed over and over again! Bud actually came to us & hid around our legs in a vain attempt to evade her. 

When we got back home dogs got leftover turkey grog. Then we dug out more extension cords & lights to put up on the trees. Hubby had to shovel snow back to find the plugs for the other lights on trees. We added a total of about 30 more trees lit up, but did not do anything else as it was far too cold. Maybe it will get warmer this week and I can go out during the day to work on it. #3 got quite a few done yesterday. It was beautiful coming home to lights last night.

I have a total of 4 garlands done out of the red/green/cream/white colors. Plus found some neat things to hang on them from a trip to WalMart last night.

Gave the dogs bone crack. They worked the bones all day.

Hubby is really tired right now after working so hard in the snow so we will rest for a bit.

Drove around looking at Christmas lights, then to Spirit Lake Miller's Grocery to buy Solo cups for more Sparkleballs.
 
Watched the ending of the 6 part mini series The Walking Dead. We will miss watching this on Sunday nights. I made cookies from a new recipe I found on internet.

 

White Rolled Christmas Cookies

Put up the metal Christmas tree in our bedroom. Wandering up to bed early, Harriet pulled the blanket back...and rested on the bed watching the pretty lights. She had a good birthday today. Gave the dogs dogcookie treats before bedtime.

 Harriet Watching Christmas Tree Lights

Big Truck - Mega Matt Part 2

Walked dogs this morning and picked up lattes. Jen Bunny was there and told me that the lady had received her garland and LOVED it. Hubby went to work at shop after we got home while I worked on garlands & ornaments.

At 2:00 we took Bud & Bit with us to pick up MegaMatt from Custom Truck and deliver to KRN. We stopped to get my two nails fixed that I busted yesterday...and got an Pumpkin Smash from Jamba Juice for KRN. She is addicted to them. Devon was working - he was a nice kid.

Then drove to Cheney. Misplaced KRN's house key in my other purse...so could not get into house. Drove over to latte stand where KRN works and got key from her. Went back to her house, but it was the wrong key. We drove around her neighborhood looking at lights until she came home. Then looked at the new shelves, (dad fixed screws) tried out her new memory foam on the bed, and the new close shelving system. All very cool. We drove in our car with ALL the dogs (Beebo included) to eat at Mongolian. Hubby felt sick so he skipped dinner. I was very limited in what I could eat. But was very careful to eat onions & chicken. KRN got enough so she could have leftovers.

On the way out of the restaurant, thanked a retired AF vet for his service. Chatted a while with his wife & daughter. Very friendly people.

Shopped at Walmart to get lights for garlands. Then took KRN home and we left. Got Wendy's cheeseburgers for the dogs at home. They were glad to see us after so many hours being absent. We finally arrived  home at 930PM. When I got out of the FMF before hubby put it into the garage, I fell hard down on the ice. Literally disappeared under the car. Thank god hubby didn't just go ahead & pull in the garage. He would have run over me. I was holding Lil Bit and almost crushed him when I went down. He ran off into the woods limping a little bit. He was better after he got inside and warmed up. Hubby ran around the car, helped me up. I took a hot bath & dosed with a few aspirins. Good as new. Not.

Blog Update

Christmas Decor updated on Blog. How pretty.

 Paint Stick Word Art Tree Ornament

Slid down to A-town for a latte & visit with DeraLee. Showed her my Sparkleball and she wants to make one just like it! Also gave her one of the Paint Stick Word Art ornaments. She was happy to see me. Took Bud & Bit so they could get treats. Very icy on roads & had to drive the 2WD Dodge because hubby did not clear out the snow berm in front of the garage where we store the FMF!

Still Wintery

WEDNESDAY - Snow Snow & More Snow. I must have shoveled the decks about a dozen times. And the snow kept coming down. Worked on my fabric garland and the paint stick word art ornaments.


THURSDAY - It warmed up and finally started melting. We had a high of about 37 degrees. I got the decks totally cleared of slush & snow. Yippee. Except...later in the night it started freezing and the decks turned into a skating pond! Dogs were slipping & sliding everywhere.

Hubby had to plow for about 2 hours after he arrived home from work. Stupid winter. Need to get driveway cleared before it freezes.

Lights!

Almost December 1st and we have not gotten our Christmas lights up yet. I worked heavily on it today. Got blue lights up around the garages, put snowflakes on the decks, and shoveled the decks 3 times so far today. It is snowing. Again.

I don't know if we will be able to get all the trees in the woods lighted this year. There is about 2 feet of snow out there already. Most of the plug ends are buried in the snow mounds. Next year we will start in October to put up our lights.

Finished the Sparkleball and hung it up. Quite pretty. And simple once you know how to do it!

 Sparkleball

Mrs Prindables

Gosh. I was doing so well on my diet and then I get this catalog in the mail. Another catalog advertising Christmas gifts. Except these look to be D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

Apples dipped in buttery caramel, rolled in tasty toppings, and dipped in chocolate. Decadent.

Mrs Prindables gift basket

I finished another garland today. Hung Christmas garlands up in the house today. Brought out more decorations. Slowly getting the house decorated for the holiday.

Fucking Reindeer 2010

Yesterday, hubby & friends saw a momma moose & 2 baby moose (if you could call two animals that are over 6 foot tall babies...) cross the road down by the shop. Sure glad that our resident Moose found a boyfriend and had some kids! Hope they stick around all winter.

I got the red, white, green, and cream garland done for a customer today. Delivered it when we went down to get lattes at stand.

After lattes, we walked the dogs down at the deserted subdivision because the park refuses to plow out their roads for use by taxpayers.

Then came home. Shoveled decks with another 3 inches of snow. Hubby helped me with the Paint Stick Ornaments from Today's Fabulous Finds. He also drilled holes in plastic cups so we can make a SparkleBall for ourselves. It will be clear plastic with blue lights.

Fucking Deer

We also put the Fucking Deer up outside on the deck. Our Christmas annual tradition. #3 is coming over on Tuesday to put up the lights outside. I am too tired and hubby doesn't want to do it. #3 is more than eager to come over to help. He just has to put the star on the side of the house, run the cords out to the lights on each tree. I am not putting out the deer, snowman, or metal tree this year as it is snowing too much.

Changed the seasonal dictionary pages in the frames - changed to snowmen. While watching television tonight, I started work on another garland.

Turkey Day

On Thanksgiving Thursday we got up early, put the turkey in the oven. I made bacon/stuffing roll-ups so that we munched on something while getting dinner ready. KRN had already made her brandied cranberries. Hubby made Yams with too much cinnamon. KRN also made the green bean casserole.

KRN had to meet a friend at 12:30 so we ate after that. Hubby drove her down because it started snowing. And snowing. And snowing.

Snacked throughout the day, shoveled snow, and perused the newspaper for Black Friday ads. KRN had us play a game later that night.


On Black Friday we decided to sleep late as the BF ads were not so great. Nothing we really wanted to endure going in the snow & crowds for.

It continued snowing.Got about 10 inches total. KRN left in the afternoon. Hubby plowed snow until 7:00PM. I went to bed early after watching The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.


Saturday we drove to Sandpoint to shop at Ben Franklin, then on to Newport to shop at the Ben Franklin there. Finally found 35 & 50 count Christmas lights.Snowed another 10 inches.

 Snowy Woods

Happy T-Day

Went to get eggnog latte for hubby this morning. Gave Jen the tree & turkey cupcakes to share with her family. Then came back home & hubby helped me clean house, vacuum, tidy, & wax the floors.

KRN arrived at 12:30. Brought in all the groceries. Hubby worked in the shop til 5:30. We realized we had some last minute groceries to get so went to Rathdrum Super One after eating at Zips (family says "never again"). Dogs were happy to see us when we returned.

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Holiday Events

Holiday Events = Shopping & Baking.

Hubby and I awoke this morning to 5 degree temps outside. Brrr. Very cold. Joe H. was outside plowing for us. Very nice of him to do that. Later in the afternoon there was a high of 10 degrees while we were shopping in town. Hubster got his hair cut at Great Clips, we picked up pumpkin and apple pies at Costco for Thanksgiving. Got gasoline in the FMF. Then over to WalMart at Post Falls to pick up material for the Christmas garland that a customer at the latte stand wants me to make. White, Red, Cream & Green. With lots of raffia.

turkey cupcakes

Decorated cupcakes today when we got home.

Christmas tree cupcakes

Hubby worked in the shop until 7PM to get a truck done in time for more snow plowing.

It is a bone chilling, lung burning NEGATIVE 8 Degrees! Hope people have sense enough to make sure their animals have some sort of protection and pets are brought indoors tonight.

Snow Snow & More Snow

Woke up to the snow softly falling. At first it looked quite beautiful. However, the softly falling has accorded us more than 6 inches so far...and it is only 2pm in the afternoon. Right now with the temp only 16, the wind is blowing and it looks to be quite the developing winter storm.

Dogs are rip-roaring in the backyard. Bud walked with me down to get the mail and I almost froze to death! Could not feel anything in my body, I was so cold.

Decorated chocolate mini cupcakes. Working on decorating the regular size chocolate cupcakes filled with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes filled with tapioca. As soon as the cream cheese is thawed, I will be able to make maple cream cheese frosting for the pumpkin cupcakes.

Indoor Fish Pond

On Saturday I went over to the John Brown Elementary School craft show. It was a waste of time as there was not much there that I was interested in. Nothing new for me to try.

Bud stayed in the shop with the guys all day.

Cold, intermittent snow all day. Worked on making Christmas ornaments.

At bedtime - Isabelle decided she wanted to go outside at 3:00AM. Groan.


Sunday we got up at 8:00 (we slept in-woot!) and while hubby sat around in his jammies to have breakfast, I made coffee & had an apple. Made beds and got the dogs ready for their morning walk. It was quite cold outside 22 degrees F. Brrr. Winter is definitely upon us.

The snow was bitterly cold as it hit our faces while walking around the park. Dogs raced around like maniacs. Harriet & Isabelle galloped around in the white covered fields.

We dropped dogs off at home & promised to return with treats. Took Bud & Lil Bit with us to town. No more separation anxiety destroyed beds for us, Thank you Bud.

100 gallon stock tank for fish

Stopped at Feed & Farm in town to pick up a 100 gallon stock tank for the fishies in the basement! No more roundy-round swimming for them. Then went to Wal-Mart for a quick shop to pick up groceries for cupcake baking & some last-minute Thanksgiving items.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was parked in front of the store, but they seemed to have no promotional event going on. Sad.

Picked up newspapers to find the Black Friday ads (per KRN), then walked B&B through the Hayden Community Park. Drove home in the burgeoning snow storm.

By 7PM, we have about 3 inches on the deck and it is 21 degrees F outside. Brrrrr. I hate opening the door to let the dogs outside as a blast of arctic air wafts into the house!

The overwhelming aroma of Chocolate Espresso cupcakes and Pumpkin cupcakes fills the air as I get done baking them all by 8pm.

Hubby updates his blog & Flickr with pictures from the shop.

Craft Shows

KRN and I started out bright & early for the Craft Show at Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. It was huge. $6 entry fee for each of us. I got a cute wooden cut out of a running bunny. KRN purchased a piece of eggnog fudge & then bought a glass/wooden expression frame for over her bed.

On the return trip to CDA, we stopped at the new Nordstrom's Rack in the Valley Mall, then a quick shop at Old Navy next door.

Target in CDA, got Wendy's cheeseburgers for the dogs, then home. When we entered the house we discovered that Bud had not been as good as he was yesterday. Separation anxiety resulted in the complete destruction of one dog bed. I cleaned it up while KRN brought in our purchases from the car.
KRN left shortly afterwards with Addison to attend dinner at Azteca Grill with Matt's family.

Hubby came home & spent until midnight working down at the shop.

Lost 10 pounds on the HCG diet so far. Quite good.

Cloudy, Rainy Cold

Before KRN came over, I vacuumed.

Quilted Christmas Ornament

I had made quilted Christmas ornament ball. Also made a couple cinnamon stick Christmas trees and several button wreaths.

Button Wreath

Shopped in CDA on Thursday. When we got home, we walked the dogs in the park down at Farragut. Hailed on us for a bit.

Craft Fair Shopping

Friday - Yucky cold day. Rainy. Ick.


Saturday - Walked dogs with hubby at park. Harry was wild & free - running everywhere. Shopping at Noon with KRN at the Post Falls High School Craft Fair. KRN got a cool penguin painted vintage sled complete with metal runners. And also purchased a lighted wine bottle and custom made mittens.

I passed on the wine bottle thinking I could make it very easily. Got a wooden snowman, also custom mittens in a different color & block snowman - very cute.

We drove to pick up Jamba Juice (I was on my bulk load days for diet so I could eat high fat) then over to Hobby Lobby near the Valley Mall to pick up craft stuff. Hobby Lobby was very disappointing. Low stock. Unable to find lots of stuff I wanted for craft making.

Returned KRN's American Eagle purchases, stopped quickly at Aeropostale, then returned back to drop KRN off at her car. Then I drove home because by that time it was about 4:30 & almost dark. I detest driving in the dark & rain.

Hubby came home at 5:00pm. Had dinner. Watched a little TV. Went to bed early.

Sunday - After I had made breakfast for hubby, we walked dogs again early this morning. Mist due to fog. Harriet was again running like a free dog. Isabelle was also a "free" dog, but did not run as much.

L to R - Isabelle, Bud, Harriet, Angus, & Lil Bit

We dropped dogs off at home & went to WalMart for shopping - groceries. I got a pretty scarf, hair coloring, & crafty stuff. Hubby got 2 pair new jeans in unusual colors.

Then to the Mead High School Craft Fair. Difficult to find. But not worth it - nothing original. Hubby did find a cool hat. And got a red sparkle ball for KRN. I believe with hubby's help, I can make one of these for us, too.

 

Sparkleball

Picked up sub sandwiches for KRN & hubby on the way to Airway Heights and detoured to get a Wendy's cheeseburger for Bud for a treat because he had waited patiently in the FMF for us while we shopped.

Surprised KRN at work. Gave her sub sandwich & sparkle ball. She was happy.

Drove back home in dark. Daylight Savings Time sucks.

Monday - Lost 5 pounds on 2 days of diet so far. Thought I was on the menopause roller coaster, but this month I stopped to get off  :(

Can't seem to get anything done today. Lil Bit escaped out the back yard. Had to secure broken fence with zip ties. Another thing for hubby to fix on his vacation.

Thank A Vet for Their Service

Today is the day to honor all Service Members.

As the proud mother of a service member, I thank you all. Including my son.

Our freedom was earned by all those who have sacrificed.

YoYo Garland

I cleaned house, did 6 loads of laundry, picked up poo, and made a fall YoYo garland.

Christmas Catalog Time

Model Girl at the latte stand (Hannah) had knee surgery so her sister Megan was filling in for her. Megan makes the best drinks EVER.

Must almost be that time of year. The catalogs I received in the mail today - Alloy, Delia's, Victoria's Secret, Moosejaw, Fetchdog, The Vermont Country Store, Cutco, Terry's Village, Pfaltzgraff, Lilian Vernon, Ltd Commodities, The Lakeside Collection, Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus, IKEA, Miles Kimball.

Worked on craft projects today.

Ordered AE Warm & Fuzzy boots from American Eagle.

Mute Monday

Schipperke Lil Bit driving Dodge with dad

Vintage Dictionary Page Art

On Sunday we slept until 10AM. I was very exhausted after getting up 4X to let the dogs out. Bud still seems to want outside several times during the night-still has bad tummy.

KRN & I got lattes & talked to Jen Bunny. Left Deralee's Christmas glass block.

Hubby was dressed by the time he got home so we left the dogs at home so we could go into town for some shopping. Got gas in FMF at Costco, went to Big Lots, got KRN some Jamba Juice Pumpkin Smash, $1 Store, Target & returned crockpot to Kohl's. KRN got a memory foam mattress to help her hip & back pain at Kohl's for 50% discount.

Stopped to pick up Mediterranean Chicken pizza at Papa Murphy's. Then home.

 vintage dictionary page art

Forgetful Friday

Friday was a short cleaning day for me. Then kid came in the afternoon. We took Bud down to the vet to find out why he was vomiting and had diarrhea for the past couple day (Bud put the brakes on at the vet-which was odd-he never gave me any problems before). Vet thought our dog food was bad.

We picked up lattes & chatted for a while with DeraLee. Then got a few groceries at Spirit Lake Miller's. Hubby came home & worked in shop until late.

 hubby at work pole cattin'

On Saturday hubby and I had good intentions to travel to Montana but stopped in A-town for lattes. We changed our mind and instead took took the Jeep into CDA that hubby had worked upon, then breakfasted at Blue Plate Special (hubby's work hangout). Then came home to pick up the kid - took all the dogs to the park for a long walk. When we returned home, hubby backed into garage and accidentally ran over dog poo in yard. It was on the left front driver's tire. Smelled Like Shit! He had to clean it off.

Dropped dogs off at home & took KRN into the CDA Ski Swap at the Fairgrounds. Very disappointing. Picked up Christmas lights as Lowe's. Kid had to get a Pumpkin Smash at Jamba Juice (she's addicted). Then got pitas at Pita Pit in Post Falls.

Came home to take naps. We were exhausted after getting up at 5am.

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

Wednesday. Made Chocolate Espresso cupcakes. Vanilla pudding filled cupcakes topped with vanilla whipped cream frosting. Decorated with holly leaves & berries. A little early in the season, but gotta start now before Christmas is upon us.

Chocolate Espresso cupcakes

pudding filled whipped cream topping with coconut

On Thursday the propane man came to fill our tank. $2.25/gallon. Cleaned house & did laundry. Big Boring.

Christmas Glass Block

Monday morning-Foggy clouds hanging over Mt. Spokane.

Mt. Spokane with fog

I made vanilla cupcakes for the Dulce de Leche cupcakes. The crockpot rattled while cooking all day long. Obviously the lid does not fit properly and the slow cooker will have to be returned. It drove me bat-nuts all day. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

Worked on my Christmas decorative glass block. Filled it with multi-color lights & created a custom bow for the top.

 Christmas decor glass block

On Tuesday morning I went into CDA to get my nails done at Nails 2000; the girl filed my skin down on my thumb & cut it. Owie. When I got home, I cleaned & vac'd the Dodge & the FMF. Hubby's Walenstock slippers came via Fed Ex. Also made more vanilla cupcakes. Picked up dog poo.

Hubby came home at 5:00; went to Timberlake to vote. I Voted Today. Did you?

Filled the cupcakes with dulce de leche, then frosted. Yum. Ready for delivery tomorrow.

Happy Halloween

Bunco Mountains west of Farragut Park

pumpkin tortilla

Almost Halloween

It has been dreary, windy, cold, & rainy here. So our plans to go hand out candy at KRN's are demolished. We would not be able to keep the dogs in the back yard getting rained on while we happily sat inside handing out candy to kiddies.

Made Belgian waffles & sausage for KRN on Thursday morning. Then I dropped KRN off at latte stand so she could work at 11:00. Deralee was getting ready to leave for her daughter's Volleyball State competition in Jerome, Idaho. She will be gone until Saturday morning. Hope Timberlake wins!

I watched dogs & accidentally broke the lights underneath the kitchen counter. Need to get new ones. It was a panic to get the glass cleaned up as Bravo led the other dogs into the kitchen to see what was going on.

Picked KRN up at 5:00. Took her notebook down to her so she could do closing. Hubby got off work & got a latte. (eggnog-his favorite in winter) and then we went home. I made tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. We watched "How To Train Your Dragon" on DVD during dinner.

On Friday, KRN went to the latte stand early in the morning. She had to open at 6AM. Hubby dumped Bravo into bed with me before he left. I took Bud, Bit & Bravo (the 3Bs) down to the latte stand with me. Got drinks & then drove home again. Latte stand very busy. Lady forgot to bring Krispy Kreme donuts at 7AM. DeraLee had gotten them for fundraising for Volleyball team. :(

At home I paid bills, put away dishes & entertained dogs. KRN got done with work at 1PM; came home & said goodbye. Drove back to her home at 2:30PM.

TSO - Songs of Winter

My first purchase of the holiday season...at Kohl's. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Songs of Winter. A rehash of some old songs already released. But supposedly 100% of the net profit from the sale will be donated to kids' health & education initiatives in communities nationwide. It was only $5.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Songs Of Winter

KRN came over at 2:00pm; I was busy this morning cleaning house, washing dog beds, and making bean soup. This afternoon I made Black Forest cupcakes.

 Black Forest Cupcakes

Had to give bathes to Harriet & Lil Bit because they got in the mud outside. Just rinsed off Bud's feet as he is not too fond of home bathes. Not raining today but still gloomy & overcast with dark clouds.

KRN went over to in-laws to carve pumpkins & watch movies. She came home late. I was already in bed.

Slooooo Cooker

On Monday I worked on my fall garland, washed clothes, and organized shelves. Bud & I walked down the drive in the freezing, pouring rain to get the mail. Brrrrrr. Winter is coming. There has already been the first snow in 3500 feet & up. Snowy mountain tops are evident on Mt Spokane and Schweitzer.

Had bad case of vertigo today. Not fun. Almost fell into poo when bending over to pick it up in backyard.

Hubby's long sleeve shirts from WalMart (Faded Glory) came today. What a deal. Only $10 each for the shirts that he likes to wear. Frontier is also getting him about 8 new shirts. Hope they are long sleeved. Hope they get here before the end of winter!

When I drove in to get lattes early Tuesday morning, Model Girl was there working. So I gave her the sweater vest that I had purchased for her at Kohl's. Her actual birthday is Dec 18, so it was a good deal! I am covered. I win! She really liked it.

As our "Cow" patterned crock pot finally bit the dust after 20 years of using it, (the glass top broke) I was forced to purchase a new one. After researching, I ordered a Rival 5 quart slow cooker from Kohl's. Only $26.99 with free shipping & 2% Ebates. Yippee! I win.

Rival Slow Cooker

wed thurs fri sat sun

Wednesday
I cleaned the FMF. It was a beautiful day today. Very sunny & warm.

Thursday
KRN came over early in the morning. I was vacuuming house. We stored the dogs inside & went shopping. Jamba Juice, Hobby Lobby, American Eagle, Pita Pit for lunch. KRN went to Wine Party in Spokane Valley with Heather on Thursday night.

Friday
Went shopping again with KRN for a little while. Jamba Juice, Lowe's, WalMart, Kohl's. Forgot if I had peed while in bathroom because toilet kept auto flushing so much. Hubby came home in afternoon from Everett training. He worked down at shop for a while. Neighbors were shooting out back so Brad was going nuclear. He ate one of my plants by the pond; then when I tied him up in the woods he started trying to eat through the tree. Took him down to shop & tied him up away from gunshots. KRN made chicken soup with dumplings. Yum. Later in the night I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting. Hubby took Brad to a friend's house for a new home.

mini cupcakes

Saturday
While at the latte stand, DeraLee asked KRN to work for a couple hours while she went to daughter Jen's volleyball game at Timberlake. So KRN worked while I vacuumed the FMF out again, did 3 loads of laundry & put away all hubby's clothes from the past week, put away cleaned dishes, made beds & picked up poo outside.Talked with DeraLee after she returned from game, then came home to spend time with puppies before hubby, KRN & I went to movie - RED at the Regal Cinemas Riverstone. In addition to being very crowded and us having to sit 10 feet from the big screen, we also had to contend with teenagers that would not quit talking loudly.

After the movie we got Orange Smash at Jamba Juice, drove to pick up money at hubby's bank, met Tim at SuperOne to pay him, then drove home.

KRN went to a bonfire behind Silverwood with her friends until 11:00. We babysat Bravo.

Sunday
Slept in until 9:00, went to get lattes, came home so that KRN could get a shower & wash her hair before Handgun Class at Center Target Sports in Post Falls today at 1-5PM. Left hubby home so he could get his beard cut, take garbage to dump & bring Bravo to meet KRN at 5PM. Hubby & KRN decided they were hungry so we went over to Nate's New York Pizza. Had hot wings & pizza before dark storm clouds moved into area. Got quite cold. KRN drove home & we left to go home.

 practice shooting at range

Target shots
not bad for a first time!

Totally Tuesday

Brad Pit

Brad likes to sit on the dryer in the laundryroom. I think he is part moutain goat. Learning quickly. Treats for down, up, sit.

Went walking with Brad throughout the day so he could go potty. On our travels we found this pretty leaf from one of the trees we planted last year.

What A Picnik

Signed up for Picnik photo editing program online. This is a shot of KRN & Bravo at the park. Eerie. I even resisted the urge to make her a zombie.

K&B at park

Brad is being bad. Brought him in yesterday to sleep in the laundry room as he was frightened of the neighbor's shooting. But he has been climbing up on the counters now & started to chew his bed. Bad dog. So he goes to the outside kennel again. But he was so adorable that when he tried crawling through the fence with a leg & head I just had to bring him in again.

Decoupaged this star today. Will set it up on the mantle.

vintage dictionary decopauged star

I might not be able to go to the decorating class tonight as I have real bad vertigo. Am going upstairs to rest on the bed & hope it goes away.

WOT a Day!

It was one of those days. Everything happened.

After sleeping with Harriet in Isabelle's bed midway during the night, I woke up with a wet spot on the blanket. Harriet had another "accident". Then I went back to sleeping with hubby. Harriet had recently had an "accident" in there, too. Poor little baby. Can't control her bladder. So I edged to the side of the bed nearly falling off and slept for another 30 minutes. Hubby tried to dislocate my back in bed this morning when he woke up. So I was in pain for the rest of the day.

Hubby made himself breakfast but didn't share with anybody. So I made sausages for the dogs; even Brad out in his kennel.

We picked up lattes this morning on the way into CDA in the Dodge with Bud & Bit. Jen-Bunny was trying to get our opinion on fall $2 latte specials.

Stopped at Costco first thing & everybody seemed determined to be in the way. Pushing, shoving, it was horrible. And this was even before the after church rush. We had already gotten gas so there was no problem there, but inside there were lots of people. Hubby was hesitant but I talked him into getting the hot dog that he likes at Costco so much. I went out to start loading the truck & he met us outside. Walked the dogs at the side lot before we went on to Home Depot to pick up dirt for the plants that I need to get in the ground. Hubby whined a lot about loading it. He told me to get #3 over and have him fill in the plants & dirt as he did not have the energy to do anymore.

Hubby came with me into Michaels which also seemed to have too many people in the store standing around blocking aisles. I quickly got my stuff for class tomorrow night & we left. At Wendy's we got cheeseburgers for the dogs.

When we returned home, we unpacked our purchases & got the dogs ready for a walk at the park. Loaded Brad & Isabelle up front, the rest of them in the back. Isabelle ran free while I had Brad & Bit who both seemed to tolerate each other. Hubby had Angus, Bud & Harriet. Harriet did tire out quite soon. Probably too much exercise for her.

After we got back home again, we put the fish in the basement in their winter habitat. Put fireside chairs away. Put away canoe. Drained the ponds. Put away all the park benches. Took down the hanging flower baskets. All I have left to do is bring in my plants on the deck. Maybe tomorrow...After all this activity, hubby decided he wanted to add cheese to the garlic bread for a bite to eat. While sawing thru the bread with a bread knife he severely cut a huge piece of his thumb off. I had to do some quick first-aid. Hope he does not get infection. It was bleeding quite profusely.

Hubby finally had a chance to rest on the couch and I made the Mummy Cupcakes that he wanted me to do for his cubbies at class.

Then he wanted me to clean out his ear hair. While I was doing that I cut his ear. It started bleeding. So had to put styptic pencil on it. Poor hubby. Then Brad tore into the house from outside. We were startled that he had gotten out of his kennel. The little dog was frightened because the neighbors had decided to start target shooting so he literally tore the door off the exit of his kennel, and then proceeded to rip through the fence. He then dashed in the house looking for us.

So we repaired the fence, picked up his poop, fixed the door to his kennel & decided to let him stay inside for the rest of the night.

Hubby left at 6:15pm and I rode in the car down the drive with him and walked Brad back with me so he could potty before bed.