I love going up north!

And here I am at work. This is my view as I look out one of the windows. Its still pretty dark out. Thats what happens when you get up at the butt crack of dawn to go to work.

Ok, so how is everyone today? I am super happy because its my last day of work for a whole week. We head up north Wed. am, about 3 am. Once up North we are cut off from civilization. That is to say no Internet, no land line, and no cable. LOL. It is not completely horrible and it is good to disconnect. It forces you into a different mindset. Easier for the adults, but not so easy for the kids. Caveboy is content as long as he has a video games. But that takes up the one TV that is up there. So that leaves Pixie at loose ends. She will most likely color and draw. Maybe bring some dolls to play with.

And of course we will have the pups to play with, the men will be hunting and all the fun shopping the girls can do. Me I have plenty to keep me busy. I haven't been able to catch up on my DVr'd shows. So I have about 6 DVDs worth of taped programs to watch...LOL. And I hope to use this time to finish Caveboy's afghan that I started this past winter. And hopefully get a good start on Pixie's. And I hope to take advantage of my mother-in-law's knitting experience and get some hands on instruction.

Of course it never turns out the way its planned. There are nightly campfires, ATv's to be ridden, shopping excursions to be undertaken, relatives to be visited and hopefully a little time left over for some peace and quiet. I predict that when I get home Caveboy's afghan will still be unfinished, Pixie's un-started, and I will still have at least 3 DVD's worth of shows to still watch.

So anyway, I know I am not the best at regular blog posts, but for sure this will be my last post for probably at least a week. Unless I get access to a comp up north. We'll see. So everyone have a great week and weekend. Later.

I Love Quiet Time

Well, I had a hard time choosing my topic today. It was between this, I Love Missouri and I Love Fall. But today I don't love fall so much as I did yesterday and I will be loving Missouri even more tomorrow when I am there so that is an entry for tomorrow or Fri.

So onto today. Right now it is peaceful and I love it. Kids are outside, house is shadowed (except for the light of my laptop) and the pups are asleep on the floor. I think I am the only person in my house that doesn't have to have some form of noise (usually the TV) blaring in the background. I enjoy, even crave the quiet. Not always, but usually.

So after I get done with this entry (which will be short so as to take advantage of said quiet) I will be using this time to, well, catch up on some DVR'd shows. I know, noise. But I have been enjoying the quiet for almost an hour now. And with the kids gone its not just the quiet I can enjoy but the empty house to do with what I want. So I am going to watch TV, feed the pups and then order some pizza for dinner.

Did I mention I love Wednesdays, as I don't have to cook dinner? Its pizza night! Yay!

Then on to packing for the mini trip to Missouri. Enjoy your night and may you get some quiet time.

I Love Shopping for Craft Supplies

What I don't love is dropping $20 and walking out with a bag small enough to hold a sandwich. Hehehe. Thats ok though. I still got a lot for my money. Just small stuff. I am embarking on a new craft and wanted to get some things so that I could experiment. I am hoping it turns out because I am making them for a swap. Can't really go into detail though, just in case.

Back to why I love shopping for Craft Supplies. There is something exciting about buying new things to be made into something. Of course one of my favorite things to shop for is yarn because I crochet. I wander into the yarn section all the time and usually end up buying yarn with no set project in mind. Like the time I bought a multicolored skein that was all blues and greens with a little yellow thrown in. I only got one because thats all I had money for at the time. I ended up using it to crochet dozens of little flowers which I later attached to a shawl for Pixie. It turned out too cute.

In the summer my craft shopping habits change a little. I still look at yarn but don't feel that overwhelming "must have" urge. I don't crochet too much during the summer because who wants all that hot yarn on you when it is hot outside. But I did get into thread crocheting this summer. I made a sweet bookmark (love to read) and got the coolest pattern for these little butterflies. It is such a basic and easy pattern that even I could master it. (See I am a self taught crocheter and just started to brave reading patterns that were more complicated than say a granny square.)

When I got to a craft store I always take a detour down the bead aisle. I don't bead but dream of doing it some day. It seems like an expensive hobby, and not sure I could take on another one of those. But who can resist all those cute little beads and charms. Not I and tonight I didn't have to because they fell right into my new project. So now you see why my final purchase bag was so small (beads) I am going to start work on it tomorrow, meanwhile I am already planning my next trip to the craft store.

Any ideas?

I Love Swaps

I am new to the whole swapping thing. But I have quickly become addicted. It all started when my Twitter Knitter group decided we should do a yarn swap. To do so we had to join a site called Swap Bot. So I joined. Filled out my profile and then decided to click around a bit. I found that most swaps require you to already have experience. A lot of them had "No Newbies" requirements. Sigh.

How do you get experience when they won't let you in unless you HAVE experience. Finally I found one called Blog Exposure Swap. No experience required and it was an easy first swap. No mailing even required. Plus I will get extra traffic to my blog. The swap went well and I had 4 cool partners. Here is a list of their blogs.

Domicidal Tendencies
Macati
Rosey Little Things
Chronicles of a Sexy Beast

Now I have ratings and they are all good so I am free to join other swaps. Which of course I have! I just spent part of my TV viewing night making a matchbox pretty for a Matchbox swap. It was so fun! Who would have ever thought of making a little bitty 32 count matchbox into something fun? Not me for sure. But I sure had a blast doing it. I can't wait to find out who my swap partner is so I can fill the matchbox.

Also I am in the middle of the yarn swap and bought my yarn today. It was fun buying all that yarn and imagining the expression on my partners face when she opens her package. I can't go into any other detail in case she reads this. But I am doing something hand made also. Hope they turn out.

The other two swaps I am in won't be coming up until later this month. I can't wait to go shopping for them too. LOL. I love buying things for other people. So if you love that too, you should check out Swap Bot. And no I am not paid for this. I just think it is a good site to check out and have fun with.

Well time to get the pups to bed and hit the hay myself soon. Night everyone.

I Love Weekends off

I used to get every other one off. But then one of the waitresses went off to college and my boss didn't see fit to hire a new one. So there went my every other Sunday off. I still get every other Saturday off but it just isn't the same. I never knew how much I needed those weekends off until I didn't have them anymore. So it was arranged that I get this weekend completely off.

On Saturday it was opening day for the Duck Hunting Season therefore my mighty hunters already had their whole day planned. That left Pixie and I to have our annual Girl's Day (which of course coincides with opening duck hunting day) This is our third. We always begin with breakfast. Usually at Ihop as it is Pixie's choice. This year my sis-in-law joined us. We got up early this year and first went to the Farmer's Market.

I love going to the Farmer's Market. You never know what you will find there but it is always good. I left with 3 1/2 pints of raspberries, two turnovers. a tart, some honey sticks and a loaf of home made whole wheat and ten grain bread. It was a very fruitful trip. Pun intended. Then it was off for breakfast at, you guessed it, Ihop. We lucked out as it fruit crepe time. Yumm! After breakfast a quick stop at Petco to get tags for the dogs and of course some treats.

Then it was time to hit the mall. I hate going there and avoid it if at all possible, but it is the mecca of all shopping to my 6yo. So as a treat, off we went. The other thing that always coincides with opening Duck Hunting Weekend (not sure how that happens) is JC Penny's having a kick ass sale. This year Pixie was able to get 2 or her favorite brand shirts, Bobby Jack. That of course is a picture of her in it above. Then it was off to Wally world for more puppy supplies, and household incidentals.

By the time we got home and let the girls out (with a minimum of accidents) it was nearly 1 pm. I did some house cleaning and then had to get ready for a reception. By the time I got home, the men were home. I crashed early. laid down for a nightly snuggle with the kids and next thing I know I wake up and it is almost 11 pm. Fell asleep on top of the covers and with the light on.

Today was a lazy morning. Hunters off hunting again so just me and Pixie and pups. My morning surprise was a nice poopy mess to clean up. April has regressed a bit since the introduction of May to the household. I know they are only 11 weeks old but April was doing so good. However May had no training, living in an outside kennel until we brought her home. It is rough so far. Anyway by the time I got done cleaning the floor of their kennel, feeding them and bathing them both (quite a chore with two puppies weighing 23 and 24 lbs. Bathed separately of course.) it was after 8 am. So much for sleeping in on ONE of my days off...LOL. Breakfast for Pixie, a little computer time, dishes, hunters come home and next thing I know its almost 1PM.

Hahaha. What day off? Grocery shopping, friend visits to meet the new pup, have friend over for his birthday, mop the kitchen, feed the dogs, sigh. Now its almost 7pm. Baths for school, try to relax, get stuff gathered up for work tomorrow and before I know it, it will be bedtime.

But it was good having the weekend off and I feel refreshed to go back to work tomorrow. The life of a waitress/Mom/Wife/Puppy Mom. But that is probably a whole other blog entry.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

I Love Puppies

And I better! As I have just become the proud owner of another one. We brought Miss April home about a month ago. She has adjusted well, and is a precocious little one. Loves to chew, and we are working on it. She is very playful and loves to play tug! She is already learning sit, stay and fetch. She loves attention all the time. The only problem we have is she is a a little to rambunctious for the liking of our 6yo. When Chloe tries to run away from April, then April thinks she is playing and goes after her ferociously.

The people we got her from are friends. They watched April when we went out of town overnight a week after we got her. And we have been back at their house every two weeks to get April's preventative worm meds. And every time I go back I fall in love with one of the female black labs they have yet to find a home for. I tried to talk Maverick into getting her but he said absolutely no!

She is a sweet little girl and the polar opposite from April. Even when all her brother and sisters are running around like hyper puppies, she sits calmly by and watches them. I keep telling Maverick "Look at her. She is so sweet!" And he would say "You don't want a dog like that" To which I would reply "No, YOU don't want a dog like that. That is exactly the kind of dog I want."

See April is going to be a hunting dog. So it's good that she is full of energy because she will need it. But I want a house dog. A lover who is happy to cuddle up with me while I read. And someone who doesn't terrorize Chloe. Someone I could put pretty pink collars on.

So tonight we take April back for her last medicine dose. I don't even go near the little black one because I know I can't have her. We took the tractor out to their pumpkin patch and had a blast picking pumpkins. I got a Cinderella pumpkin. It looks just like the one that turned into her coach. We got back from the patch and I could hear April barking away. Its funny how I could pick her out of the pack.

That's when Maverick told me to get my dog it was time to go home. So I went chasing after April. And Dave (our friend) said "Didn't you hear him? He said to get your dogs!" I look up and everyone is staring at me. I quickly stood, brushing at the front of my shirt. "What did I do? Why is everyone staring at me?" And Maverick said, "The wheels are turning, but she hasn't figured it out yet." Then Maddie said, "He told you to get both your dogs." I looked at Maverick and he had that grin on his face.

And so tonight we brought home April's sister and named her May. So Miss April Cotton Teal and Miss May Lily Garnet are now happily sleeping in their kennel together. We had some adjusting and I know we are in for much more, but I love my girls. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a picture to add to this post.

Goodnight everyone.

I Love Coffee

The more flavor the better. I am not into black plain icky coffee. I love my caramel, chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut...any combination thereof. My most favorite coffee is a Caramel Mudd Macchiato from Mountain Mudd Coffee in Troy, Missouri. Of course being in Wisconsin, the chances to get said coffee are few and far between.

As I type, I am sitting in a local coffee house. No Global Chains for me. Well I do enjoy a Starbucks every now and then. But the local coffee house is my place of choice. Could be that my friend works there. Could be the wi-fi. But probably a combination. Also, once I discovered my coffee of choice, my Barrista (not sure of the spelling.) of choice, began trying to replicate my beverage. We have it close. Its called a Caramel Muddy Puddle. YUM! Not Mountain Mudd, but close. And Mountain Mudd doesn't have the ambiance. After all, you can't do much in a little hut in the middle of a parking lot where you can ONLY drive up for the coffee.

As the weather begins to turn cold, coffee becomes my beverage of choice. Hawaiian Chocolate Macadamia nut, Toffee hazel nut, and lets not forget Caramel Muddy Puddles. There is something eminently satisfying about enjoying a nice warm cup of coffee in the chilly morning air.

Well today we hit a nice weather spell. not cold but not warm either. Just perfect! But Maverick had to have emergency oral surgery and wouldn't you know my coffee house of choice is two blocks over from the oral surgeon. And I seized the chance to enjoy a muddy puddle and visit with an old friend at the same time. now however I need to get back to the Oral Surgeons. Wouldn't want my honey to come out to an empty waiting room.

Hope everyone has a great day.