You would think that if you were on vacation, you could just sleep in, relax, not do anything, etc.  Not MY vacations!!  I've been busy!

I actually sat down yesterday for a few hours and sewed on my quilt.  It is coming along, slowly but surely.  I have most of the pieced pieces together.  It looks like the rest of it is just getting the edgings put together, and then I'll be ready to quilt it.  Just FYI - that may not happen any time soon!

My to-do list has gotten shorter, but not by nearly enough.  I still have tons of things to get done, and, as usual, probably won't get to all of them.  Oh, well - I always have high hopes of getting everything crossed off my lists.  Something about crossing them off is so satisfying.  I think I'm going to go cross off a few things that I know won't get done this week, just so I feel better!

Koori got a bath yesterday!  I took her in to PetSmart, and they gave her a good bath, brushing and grooming.  She is so soft!  Her nails are also way shorter.  Since PetSmart is so close to the River Trail, when I picked her up, we went for a nice little walk.  It is a mile from the shopping center over the river to Turtle Bay.  It was a dark and gloomy day, but no rain yet.  (It started raining just as I left for Scouts).  The freeway is just off to the side of the trail, but you would never know it by the beautiful river scenes.  If you could ignore the noise of the traffic, it was a very relaxing walk.  Luckily, I can ignore just about anything - Koo and I had a great time!

Here's the dress I'm wearing for the Christmas party - the dress is beautiful - I'm hoping it looks as good on, too!

What a full day yesterday was!  It was the last day of my quilting club for the year, and they auctioned off items that had been made as 'extra projects' over the year (like I had time to do anything extra - I didn't even get the last project done!  But....I did finish three of them - Yes!!) and quilting patterns and material.  During the year, we earned 'Thimbleberry Bucks' for bringing in our project, doing extra items, and bringing in items for show-and tell.  I spend part of an evening last week searching for all of my Bucks from the year.  I'm sure I have more than what I found, but.....they are still hiding!  I dug out what I could find, and then joined forces with Meredith.  Neither of us had a lot of Bucks, but together, she was able to win a table topper quilt that one of the members had done over the year.  I need to get a picture of it - it is beautiful (and much better than what either of us can make at this time)  She put it out yesterday with her Christmas stuff.  Pretty!!!  I also picked up the last of the material for the Christmas quilt - I haven't touched the last set!

After quilt club, I ran home (after a quick trip to the store) and started baking cookies.  Around 2:00, the Derby and Fisher clans showed up to decorate sugar cookies and make jewelry.  In the past, I had the girls over as part of a group of AJ's friends, and they decorated cookies and made ornaments.  Over the years, the group dwindled down, as AJ's friends got older, they lost interest in making ornaments (though the still liked eating the cookies).  Last year, I skipped it all together.  

At Halloween, we got together for Meredith's and Veronica's Mom's birthday, the girls asked if they could come over this year for cookies.  The Derby's moved to Paradise several years ago, so to work with their schedule, we decided on yesterday as 'the day'.  Lord help me, I wasn't ready for Christmas yet!!  I did get the house decorated last weekend, but that was about all that I got done.  I planned on getting a couple of batches of cookies made during the week, but here I was Saturday afternoon, baking cookies!  I did get the sugar cookies baked Friday night, but that was all.  Yesterday, I got chocolate chip, peanut butter, and macaroon cookies baked before 2:00 (okay - the macaroons were still baking when they got here, but they were almost done!)

Since "the girls" are now young adults (Carolyn is AJ's age, Emma will be 18 in a few weeks, and Rosemary is driving now!!!!) I decided to get out my jewelry stuff for them, and they could make presents for their moms.  Then, the moms decided to come over too, so.....we all made our own presents!  Emma has beaded before, so she was a lot of help showing how to work the wire, etc.  I think everyone had a great time, and they all went home with some pretty earrings and bracelets.

After they left (5:15 or so) I rushed in and changed clothes, met them back at Meredith's house at 6:00, and went to Shasta High School's Madrigal Dinner.  It was wonderful!  It is at the Pilgrim's Church, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the acoustics are fantastic!  Tirza's (a former co-worker of Veronica and Meredith, and also of Ralph - I've know her for years!) daughter was the "Queen" and so the tickets we got (my ticket was a birthday present from V & M - awesome!) were through her, and....we sat at the head table.  At the end of the program, Tirza was 'knighted' by her daughter as a thank you for all the work she has done over the years for the program.  (Duchess of Culinary Procurement and Coordination or something like that - too cute!) Again, Awesome!!  Here is a picture of Amanda, the Queen (and the King of course :) )

Part of the cast.  As Queen, Amanda tried out for the part in August, and was responsible for practice sessions, and a lot of the coordination of efforts - amazing experience for a senior in high school!  She also has a beautiful voice (as did all of the troop.)

Part of the play - bringing in the Boar's Head

The singing was awesome, literally.  The sound of Madrigal music in the church was beautiful.  (Not that impressed with some of the instrumental sounds, but the singing made up for it!)  The dinner was good - especially considering the number of people being fed by high school kids dressed in period costume.  The servers kept us entertained when there wasn't actual performances gong on with really bad jokes.  I was constantly amazed at the poise these 'kids' had.  What a great experience for them.  

After all that, I got home after 10:00, and, needless to say, didn't go to bed until 11:30.  What a great day!!

I got a request from a co-worker this week.  He had been seeing the 'bearded beanies' and wanted one.  he even brought me the pattern for it!  I whipped one up, attached it to the hat (he provided that as well) and......I hope he likes it.  I'm not a fan - too hot - but if he is happy, I'm happy!

Yesterday, when I took the cats to the vet around 10:00, I hit a slight road block.  Churn Creek was flowing over Meadowview Rd.  I took Airport Road in to town instead, and when I came home, I took Churn Creek Road the back way in to the subdivision, and stopped and took a couple of pictures.  This is facing East on Meadowview, and just before the bridge, the creek is over the road.

Wow!  I didn't think we had that much rain!  I don't think 'we' did - I think other areas were hit much harder than we were.  We didn't have any damage (that we have found so far, at least) from the rain or wind.  Margene lost a fence all along one side of her property.

Margene had said she would be down to brush Tank, and called to apologize for not coming yet, as she had been dealing with issues on her property.  AJ and I went down to help her with the fence - she needed some muscle to hold stuff for her (which is why AJ went down, I just went to keep them company!)  She mostly was just trying to dog proof her back yard.  The main repairs will probably wait until spring, as the fence is actually the neighbors, not hers.  

I got everything on my to-do list crossed off today!  What a thought!  Of course, it want's a really long list, but still, they all got done!  I got the house and tree decorated for Christmas, two cats to the vet for shots (only one 'minor' scratch on my hand) the leftover turkey cut up and put in the freezer and turkey broth made with the carcasses, and Tank brushed out - thanks to Margene!  (and we all had a bite or scratch mark from Tank - he wasn't a happy camper!)  Margene brought down her 'furminator' brush and AJ, Magene and I tackled Tank for over an hour.  We all need a shower afterwards, trust me, but Tank looks like half the dog he used to.  Santa is going to bring him his very own furminator (and a muzzle!) for Christmas.

I also made up a flyer for my crocheted crafts this year.  I'm not doing much ahead of time that I can't use somewhere else, but if any one wants to special order anything, I will do that.  I went through all of my boxes of yarn/thread today (!?!?!?!) and sorted out what I have, and what I need to make, etc.  I have too many projects there to get done by Christmas!  I even got in the yarn to finish my fox stole....but it still isn't done.  Maybe next week???  I did get a new Christmas dress for the work Christmas party.....bight red, long enough I need high heels, and gorgeous.  I can hardly wait.  I'm gong to stop traffic :)

The wind storm came, but not so much of the rain.  That's okay by me, but....if it is going to rain another 5 or 6 inches, can't it rain at night, so I can run around during the day and not get soaked???  Today is a 'run around' day, too.  I'm going to go jump in the shower here is a sec, and get ready to start the day with some grocery shopping etc. (have to go early now - the stores are already crowded at 9:00!!!) and then later, Dawn and I are meeting up with Meredith, and going shopping!  Woohoo!

There is a large craft show down at the fairgrounds, the book store that Emma works at is having a sale (it is a neat little bookstore - charming!!) and the quilt store is having a 10% off sale, too!  Fun!  I hope to pick up the material for the purse that I bought the pattern for a couple of months ago (no need to rush!!)  I got the pattern hoping I could talk Mom into making it for me, but no go there.  (she just laughed, actually!)  Then, I found out that one of the instructors of the quilt club is going to have a class on making the purse in January.  Cool!  My sewing skills are pretty rusty, and this has zippers!  With a little help, I'm sure I can do it!

So far, our rain gauge shows 1.99 inches of rain from this storm.  The high wind gusts are around 35 m.p.h. so it is a nice little storm.  I don't know that it is the freaky storm everyone was talking about.  At one point, I heard a forecast of 13 inches in the series of storms. so....we'll see.  So far, its just a storm!

One more 'new to me' activity done!  I spent over an hour talking to a high school ROP class about Lending.  I go back Friday for an hour and half.  (The teacher asked if I had any videos or anything - I must need a little spice in my presentation!)  The bank is sending staff in to the classroom on a regular basis, with different people from different departments talking about their 'specialties'.  A couple of weeks ago (right before I went to Tulsa) an e-mail came out that they still needed 'some help' with the Lending area.  I volunteered to help - thinking I was 'helping' another Lender.  I found out last week that I was it.  Poor kids!  I read the book (very dry, and over emphasized areas that aren't that big a thing unless you actually go into banking, and glossed over things that people need to know just to be a good consumer.  Go figure!)  I was quite proud of myself - I worked up a lesson plan, including assigned homework and everything!  It went pretty well - there are only 5 kids in the class, so it was very much one-on-one, and they were good kids with some good questions.  (some questions not so much, but....they are kids.)

Once again, we had a full house for Thanksgiving.  I think the only one missing was Sarah, and she is now in Las Vegas.  In her place, we invited Lisa, Dave's girlfriend and Margene, Dallas's mom down to join us.  She is seriously missing the kids!  Dallas will be home from Pennsylvania for Christmas, and Allan will be home in February - with his new wife.  He's getting married next weekend.  Talk about a year of change for Margene!  It was a nice visit with all.  I don't get to see everyone that much anymore.  Jeff's boys are getting big - even Jake - he is finally getting a growth spurt.

Sometimes, you just want to try something different.  Even though you have 6 projects already started, there is one just calling to you.  And of course, you MUST go get new yarn/thread for it, right?  I got the new Crochet Today magazine this week, and there was a really cute hat pattern in it.  I don't wear hats, but....a co-worker's daughter lives in Germany, and she does, and, she is coming to visit in a couple of weeks.  I picked up three different yarns on Tuesday at lunch (two different colors of the type suggested for the pattern, and the other just because it is gorgeous!!), and then whipped this out Tuesday night.  It went together really fast!  Here's the top of it....

Here is the side of it....

And here it is on - don't judge - I hadn't even dried my hair yet.  I was in a hurry to get photos because I had a ton of things to get done Wednesday morning.

The yarn is much prettier in person - the photos at 5:30 a.m. don't do it justice.  (Neither does the model :))

Getting ready for the week ahead.  Turkeys thawing? Check.  Meal planned out?  Check.  RSVP's received?  Mostly - still room for a few more, so feel free to stop by.  I think I have the big things done.  It's always the little things that trip me up.  Napkins, plates, utensils, serving spoons, etc.  By now, you would think I would have it down, but....not so much.  Good thing it's family coming.  They are at least used to it by now.

Fast forward through THAT week - talk about flying by.  Here it is, Sunday afternoon, and I' still doing laundry, and trying to catch up with myself.  The work part of the week was good, but I flew to Tulsa on Thursday with three other people for work.  It was a fun trip - there are always adventures in travel, and we had a few.  At one point, I didn't know if two of us were going to make it out of the DFW airport - we were the last ones to board the plane (we were there in plenty of time, the airline just didn't know if they had seats for us.)    And this was after the first plane we were scheduled to fly on was deemed 'unairworthy' and they had to send for a new one from the hanger.  It's always an adventure!  Even the stewardesses were on before us.

We did take a break after our meeting and go for a walk along the Arkansas River in Tulsa - a very pretty town.  One of the gentlemen traveling with me went to high school in Tulsa (many years ago!) and he drove us around, showing us some of the sites.  At times it was hard to see them, since we had our eyes closed from his driving!

This photo was taken from the hotel:

The rest are taken from the walking trail.

It has been a "marathon of movies" weekend.  Since I really don't want to do most of my chores, I've been holed up on the couch (or kitchen table if Alli won't share the couch) working on craft projects, watching movies.  Saturday I re-watched Mirror Mirror among others (I love that movie!) and yesterday was a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon.  I missed the end of the third movie - I fell asleep on the couch.  I gave up around 11:00 and went to bed.  I did finish up a little project (blue snowflakes for Meredith) and started a new one (a scarf).  

I hoped to finish my fox stole that I started in 2006, but.....I can't find the yarn for the tip of the tail!  I thought I separated what I needed for the project and put it all away together, but, low and behold, I didn't.  Of course, the yarn isn't carried anymore locally, and I had to order it on-line.  Joanns.com has it - $5.99 a skein, and only $5.95 for shipping.  Oh boy!  Lucky for me, they had a shipping special for Veteran's Day - $0.11 flat shipping.  So, of course, I had to order a couple of balls of thread in colors I can't get here too, right?  Now, to get everything else done on the stole so all I have to finish is the tip of tail when that yarn cones in!

Allison's room catches the afternoon sun in the winter.  I went to put clothes away yesterday - all three cats were sleeping in there.  In seniority order - Rufus on the bookcase, Picot on the bed and Indy on the dresser.  They were so cute!

I found the perfect spot for my new quilted table runner.  It's it great!!!

Last night was also a marathon cooking night.  AJ had three friends over, and I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits.  (I made roasted Brussels sprouts for the adults too - the kids didn't touch them!)  I fried up about 20 pieces of chicken, and about 12 potatoes, and I think there were 6 pieces, one serving of potatoes, and one serving of sprouts left over.  After I went to bed, they polished off the homemade ice cream, too.  It took me as long to clean up the kitchen as it did to cook, I think!  I can hardly wait until they want breakfast (yes, they spent the night).