The Un-Project Files

Well, dang it, Riley is sick. He's been puny since Sunday and I was hoping it was just allergies, but I had to pick him up early from school yesterday with fever. After he'd tried to call twice, the school had called twice and he'd text me. Twice. My phone, as it were, was in my purse on silent while I was trying to help my mom with a "project." Yes, it looks like I have become "that" parent.

So, I'm taking him to the doctor today. At this point, I'm just praying it's not flu. He gets the flu every year, bless his heart, despite the fact that we take the flu shot. How unfair is that? Anyway, he may just have a sinus infection, which means he still feels lousy, but that he probably doesn't feel as lousy as he could AND he won't infect anyone else. Like me. Did I mention "bless his heart?"

About the "project" with Mom...yeah, EPIC FAIL. And, it was all my idea, I'm sad to say.

When I was in Colorado a few weeks ago, I came across these cute spiced mug mats. They are these little fabric squares with spices inside of them that you put your hot drink on and the heat makes the scent really come out. I'm using mine right now as I'm writing.

Anyway, my mother is a really good seamstress and she's always looking for a little gift for the ladies in her Bible study group, so I thought she and I could make these. The ladies would LOVE them!

Now, understand that when I say "she and I," I really mean HER making them at my house while I serve refreshments and say things like, "Yeah, those are looking great, Mom, good job!" Number 1: I am an encourager; Number 2: I do not sew. At all. No hemming or even buttons.

So, we went ahead with the before mentioned plan and it was doomed from the beginning. The potpourri Mom bought wouldn't crush up small enough. Then, I was supposed to be ironing on this fleece stuff, (I did end up with a simple job), I guess that was the heat part, and my iron kept powering off and not working well. Which I would've known if I EVER use my iron. Which, I don't.

Finally, Mom made an executive decision to save all this fabric stuff for next year, seeing how she needs these gifts this Thursday, and find something else. Like Hershey kisses inside little stockings, etc.

Then, next year, we'll attempt the spiced mug mats again a little earlier. And we'll use her iron.

Shout Out to the Parental Units

Good Monday to y'all!

I'll begin today with an update on affairs:

Robert and I had a nice weekend trip to Houston, where we put a major dent in our Christmas shopping. This has become a little tradition for us, except the past years we've been in Dallas. But, scheduling difficulties fixed it to where Houston was the best option this year. So, we went to our beloved Omni Hotel and had a great time. We have quite a "group" to buy for, plus we bought things for a children's home our church is blessing this Christmas. Needless to say, there was barely room for Riley in the car on the way home...

Speaking of Riley, he made All-Region band over the weekend. Yay! So very proud of him and to have him as my son. You make me happy, Boy...

In case you've been trapped under something heavy all weekend and are not aware, Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M is this year's Heisman Trophy winner - oh, yeah, baby!!! As a freshman, too. He SO deserves it, in my book. Gig 'em!

Finally, I want to give a huge shout-out to my parents. In short, I don't know where I'd be without them - and, trust me, it wouldn't be anywhere I'd want to go! They are the most amazing parents in the world! They've always been and continue to be a constant support in my life - through the good, the bad and the ugly.

They're very close to Riley, too. I truly believe he'd move in with them and never miss me if I'd let him- and, actually, that's not a terrible thing. It used to bother me, but now that I have grandkids, I totally get it.

Anyway, my parents are the main reason that I can travel some with Robert. They always keep Riley, shuttle him around wherever he needs to be - and there's ALWAYS SOMEWHERE he needs to be. They help with homework projects, feed him (a feat all in itself), and spoil him, of course, which I'm pretty sure is rule #1 in some grandparenting book somewhere...or, at least it should be.

They even came over to help me before I left for Houston on Friday.

Here's Mom gathering up all of Riley's "things" for the weekend.

Love her.

And, here's my sweet dad, fixing the Christmas lights in the bushes - yes, they're working!

Love him.

My take: my life is oh, so much sweeter because of my parents. I hope I am HALF the parent to Riley that they have been to me. Meme and Pawpaw forever!!! Love, love them!

Fun Friday: I Have WAY Too Much to Do

Well, the lights are still not on. You know who I sound like? I sound like the father-in-law from Christmas Vacation. After Clark Griswold finally gets all the lights to come on and the whole family is outside looking at them, Clark is crying and going around giving Christmas greetings to everyone, and the father-in-law says, "The little lights are not twinkling, Clark." What a Debbie Downer. He's my least favorite character in that movie.

Anyway, all I can say today about the lights is: Oh well. No time to deal with them today.

Today I'm leaving to meet Robert in Houston for the weekend, just a needed chance to get away and do a little Christmas shopping. Every time I've talked to him in the past 2 days, he's in Austin for work, he's moved the time up. Geez, just give me a time and stick to it, OK? How am I supposed to plan and get everything done when you keep changing the time? I love that man...and it's a good thing I love him...

In other news, Riley's Christmas choir concert was excellent last night. Their choir is just huge, over 100 kids when all the different groups get together and they have a great sound. The concert was at a church, so the acoustics were wonderful. They sang some cute Christmas songs and some more classical Christmas songs and even a small ensemble did their Area try-out music. Wow, it was gorgeous. Check out some pictures:

The top picture is of Riley and his choir teacher, Mrs. Stanton. She's great, she makes choir fun and the kids really love her.

Riley is in the mixed choir, meaning guys and girls, and this is a picture from their part. It's kinda hard to see him, he's tall, so he's in the back.

This was the last piece, with all the choirs together. Again, I promise he's back there.

And, these are he and some of his friends practicing being teenagers after the concert.

They wear the teenager thing pretty well.

Home Alone 2: Electrical Edition

OK. This is how lovely my outside decor looked from the street. Key word there is LOOKED. This morning, for some unknown reason, all the lights in the bushes are out. Yep, every last one.

Here's a quick news flash: the reason this post is called "Home Alone 2" is because I am indeed home alone. Again. I mean, I'm always home alone during the day, unless you count Cassie, and I TOTALLY do. What I really mean, since I'm sure you're confused, I know I am and I'm writing this post, is that Robert is out of town again for work. There it is.

So, seeing that my lights were out I did what any smart woman would do in my shoes with no husband around: 1. I wiggled the cords. 2. I unplugged, then replugged. Yeah. Nothing.

Now, I'm not sure what to do. I unplugged them all, as I do every morning, and am hoping that when I go to plug them all in, BAM! there they will be. I may actually go pray over them in a minute...

One option would be to go into town to Hobby Lobby and return some tree lights that I don't need and get new outside lights, since these outside lights just might be as old as Riley. Yeah, I can feel the hives coming up on my body at just the thought of going to Hobby Lobby. I'm sure standing in line for hours wouldn't be great for my foot..which is still hurting, by the way...I haven't mentioned it lately, because when I think about it, I usually burst into tears...and that makes my family kinda nervous.

My take: I don't know what I'll do about the lights. I think, for now, I'll just hope for a Christmas miracle...then possibly brave the aisles at Hobby Lobby. Tune in tomorrow for another Christmas recipe and pictures - with my new camera - from Riley's Christmas choir concert. And hopefully lights in my bushes that actually light up and all. That'd be good...

Nothing to Say

Someone get the thermometer: I can't think of anything to talk about today.

Yes, I know this is shocking news, heck, I can't even believe it myself! I've been fooling around on the interent for about an hour now, trying to get inspired. Huh. Weird.

Well, you know, it's not like I had the most exciting day yesterday. I went to my nail appointment, only to find out that it's today, not yesterday. I had lunch with my friend, Terri. That was fun.

As I started to drive back to the high school, it started raining like crazy. I mean, monsoons, OK? But, that's fine because we need the rain in these parts. I sound like a farmer.

Oh, wait, I did actually do something unique and somewhat fun yesterday: I made chicken-fried steak for the first time. It was pretty good, too, according to Riley, who considers himself an authority on chicken-fried steak. Lucky for me, he didn't see the first two steaks that I threw in the garbage. I seem to always fry things at too high a temperature. But, it's tricky, you know, I mean you're FRYING something, right?That speaks HOT to me. Thank God we're only a family of 3, and they usually package meat in 4's and 5's. Dinner was saved.

So, all in all, not the most exciting of days. But, you know me: tune in tomorrow,'cause something crazy is bound to happen around here!

Happy Hump Day - let's get over the hump!

Where the Heck is My Car?

Great news! Cassie's Christmas pajamas from last year still fit! This is a big relief...one less thing I have to buy this year.

Good girl, Cassie...hee, hee...

So, yesterday I did a little more shopping. Actually, a couple of returns and went to spend my Kohls cash...I actually remembered I had it this time. Just in time for the last day to spend it. I.AM.AWESOME. Except for the part about losing my car...

Apparently, I have a disorder. Said disorder could be called "I never remember where I parked my car" disorder. I went to 3 stores yesterday and upon leaving the store, EACH TIME, I could not find my car. Seriously, all 3 times. I don't understand how I can lose my car. And, I mean, REALLY LOSE IT. Once yesterday, I was about to call Robert and tell him my car had been stolen. My normal routine when I can't find my car (yes, that's how often it happens, there is a routine) is I keep clicking the lock button on my remote, then simply follow the beeps. But, at Target, I was so far from the car that I couldn't hear the beeps. Huh. Weird.

I really do try to notice where I park, you know? I count the rows, look for weird trash or oil stains on the ground around the car, any point of reference. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working. Or, at least nothing worked yesterday.

But, today is a new day. And, as far as I have planned for today, I'm only going to have to park in 2 lots and one is tiny. If I get lost in the salon parking lot, someone feel free to take my keys. I'd love to be chauffeured around anyway...

My take: Couldn't someone invent a "Where's My Car?" app? I mean, they have a "Where's My iPhone?" app, a "Where's My iPAD?" app. I always know where those things are. Maybe I can invent it myself and become rich. Or, maybe I just need to have better batteries for my car remote so I can hear the beeps from another parking lot.

Parades, Decorations and Pictures, Oh My!

I had a really good weekend, and, as you can see, did a little decorating!

Actually, I only have like 3 things left to decorate, then put up all the boxes. Yay! Riley helped me get the yard done yesterday and Robert helped me get the tree put together, artificial, and then he helped me with the lights and ribbon. And, then, I had to make Riley help me with some ornaments. Nothing screams "Christmas Spirit" quite like threatening to ground your teenager if he won't help trim the tree. But, hey, it worked. Genius.

On Friday night, Charlotte spent the night while Robert was in Warren. I wasn't feeling terrific so we hung out all night on the couch watching Christmas movies and playing. And watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," because that's one of her favorites. She doesn't understand seasons and holidays yet.

Then on Saturday Robert got home and we drove down to ride on our church's float in the Christmas Parade in Groves. It was a blast and I really think our float was the best. We had music blaring and all the people watching were dancing and having a good time. There were so many people out, too! It kind of blew our Christmas parade out of the water, really. Oh, well, Lumberton, there's always next year.

Also, last Friday Angie and I got together and made our picture frame wreaths. What do you think? I love mine and Angie's turned out great, too. Robert actually said it was very creative. Now THAT, my friends, is a compliment! They were fun to make and really pretty easy. Unless you count all the times I got burned from the hot glue gun.

By the way, I took these 2 pictures with my new camera! Robert and I bought "his and hers" Nikon Coolpix cameras on Black Friday and they arrived over the weekend. It has a 21x zoom lens, can you believe it? And, it seems easy to use, which is always a plus for me, because a fantastic photographer, I am not. Yet. Most importantly, since it was a Black Friday purchase, we got a GREAT DEAL!! Anyway, there's a bunch of settings on it, so I'm having to figure it all out. I offer this as an explanation in case there are some not-so-great pictures on the blog in the near future. Please be patient.

So, folks, that was my weekend! How was yours? Let me know what's going on with your decorating, Christmas shopping and the like. Happy Monday!