What I did on my summer vacation....oh wait - it isn't summer anymore.  Here's what I did on Friday, how's that?  The bank is closed on Monday (Columbus Day) so I took Friday and Tuesday off, giving me a loooong weekend.  Friday morning, I took on the 'dog pen' area.  I called a solar specialist and they not only came out within an hour to take a look at my problem, they fixed the leaking (and outdated) water solar panel in the side yard, they gave me an estimate to take the whole mess out.  Woohoo!!!  The down side - I had to clean up the mess out there before anyone could even get back in there to look at it.  Since it has been leaking for a while, the star jasmine was very happy to take over back there, and a willow tree decided to grow.  Not good!

Some of the stuff I cut and hauled out:

The green waste pile:

The area, now that it you can get to it.

You can't tell, but there is about 3 inches of standing water here.  I had to go get boots on to get back in there to clean it out.  I went out yesterday, after about 24 hours after he fixed the leak, and the standing water was gone.  It was still muddy, but much better!  I need to figure out how to get rid of the willow tree.  My plan is to start with round up and see what happens......

That was just my Friday morning, too!  After the plumber/solar specialist left, I showered and went over to Meredith's to help her pack.  They are moving in a couple of weeks, and her sister Veronica was up to help, too.  I worked there for a couple of hours (wrapping fragile items and putting them in boxes - I hope they don't break!!!) and then ran to the store for some dinner items, picked up Alli from daycare, and came home and made a birthday dinner for Margene - Dallas's mom.  We had shrimp, and crackers and hummus for appetizers, steak, roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary, roasted butternut squash, and spinach salad for dinner, and homemade ice cream for dessert - all washed down with a couple of bottles of wine, and a lot of conversation.  Margene went home (good thing she lives close!) at 11:00, so it was midnight before I got to bed.  A very productive day!

Saturday wasn't quite as productive, but since Alli got up at 5:15, I was running an a few hours of sleep!  Alli, Dawn and I did our normal shopping, and then I cleaned up a bit, and sat down with my sewing machine.  It has been acting up on me.  I've been trying to machine quilt the baby quilt I have, and the top thread kept breaking every few inches.  Arrgh!!!  ("someone who shall remain nameless only because I really can't pinpoint it - knocked over my sewing caddy, and I can't find my seam ripper!!  I'm thinking it was Indy - I think he jumped up to the window and was just a bit too heavy for the caddy.)  I googled 'top thread breaks' and tried all the suggestions.  I should have started at the bottom!  The very last thing to try was a new spool of thread.  I've been suing the same spool all along, so I almost didn't try it, since I didn't have problems until recently, but, since if nothing else worked, the recommendation was to take it in for repairs (and who knew how long that would take) I swapped out for a new spool.  Eureka!!!!!  I finished the machine quilting on the baby quilt, and it is ready for the binding to be sewn.  Woohoo!!!!

I finished that up just in time to catch "Gone Girl" at the movies with Meredith and Dawn.  The book was one we read at book club, so I wasn't sure I wanted to see it (that was the time I stated "I can't crochet psychotic" and made a generic bookmark!) but I'm glad I did.  They did a good job on the film, and yes, it was just as psychotic as the book.  It was fun to go to the movies with 'the girls'.  Meredith wanted to go in early to make sure we had good seats, so I took along some yarn and knitting needles to start a scarf.  Since there isn't a fancy pattern, and no counting, I was able to knit throughout the movie - and see what I got done!!!

I also tried the cello bookmark with the single crochet stitch.  Much better!!!  Now to get a bunch made before Wednesday!

Needless to say, dinner last night was leftovers.  I was pooped!