I think I'll dance a little jig

It's Monday! Not just any Monday either. It's THE Monday before Turkey Day. It's the best Monday of the whole year. Of course that's just my nutty opinion. Pardon me while I dance a little jig.

We made it back from NM, again. Every time I go it seems like I come home puny. This time my allergies really did a number on me. I felt lousy most of the time and now I've got a fever blister forming right in the middle of my lower lip. Pretty!

I'm done with class for the week and it feels really odd. Another reason to dance a little jig.

I started a new quilt this afternoon. I'm doing the Turning Twenty design #1, but I'm only turning 12. Trust me, it's legal. This is a Christmas quilt and I can't decide if I'm going to keep it or put it in the family gift exchange. I may wait and see how it turns out.

In sort-of-thrifty news (the in-laws gave them to me), I have a couple of really ugly lamps to photograph and share. You're going to love them. I just know it.

I hope everyone is having a glorious Monday!

First day of summer class

Gosh! Where did my summer break go? I turned around and it was over.

Today is the first day of the summer semester. I'm only taking one class, but it's a science class. That means lots of study time and not much crafting except on Friday and the weekends.

Later I'll have a recipe from my granny, a few quilts with stories, and a funny to share.

Have a great Tuesday.

Field Trip

We went on a homeschool field trip this morning to the local air and space museum. Unfortunately, most of my pictures are a big fat blur. I think it had something to do with the sensors along the ceiling and the lovely blue floor. Of course the lighting might have something to do with it as well.

Enjoying my time off

This morning the boy and I finished up his math for the year and then spent the rest of the morning outside. We filled bird feeders, talked, and admired flowers.

The daylilys are starting to bloom. Those two white buckets contain baby trees started from seed. One is an Oak of some sort and the other is a Black Walnut genetically modified to grow fast at some college up North. My memory is bad today and I couldn't tell you which college if my life depended on it.

I have onions, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and radishes up from seed. My little tomato plant has tons of grape tomatoes on it right now.

After lunch we went down and did a few honey-do's for my mom and then ran around for a bit.

Right now I'm listening to DH work on the boat. It appears to involve a bunch of hammering, stapling, and swearing. I don't think I'm going to see what's up. I'll just stay right here.

Enjoy the day. It's been a beauty.

I'm gradumacated

Hey, that's what the card says.

Seriously, it's all over, but the company going home. I'll have a few pictures once I get them downloaded.

For my next degree, I think I won't walk. It's just too hard on this old woman.

Let's plan a party

We're having a backyard party on 5/10 to celebrate my graduating college. Hooray!

There are a few things we need to have a good time, food, fun, and for my in-laws not to come. Okay, that was tacky, but even DH admits it.

We're crossing our fingers that it doesn't rain and it's pretty enough to be outside the whole day. The thought of being trapped in my house with all of those people makes me break out in hives. I don't like crowds and I define crowds as more than six people at a time. We're expecting something like 20 people.

Mom and I sat down and figured out the menu and who's doing what. Right now the menu looks like this:
Brisket (Mom cooking)
German sausage
Green salad
Baked beans
Potato salad
Corn
Yeast rolls
Pickles, peppers, and onions
Chocolate cake (mom baking)
Dump cake (mom baking)
Fruit salad
Homemade ice cream (DH in charge)
Iced tea and lemonade

I think we've got the food covered unless somebody can see something we've forgotten.

So, now we're down to the fun. I don't want a bunch of whiney kids hollering they're bored. On the same hand, I don't want to sit around and listen to gossip from the in-laws about the rest of the family. We'll set up the croquet course and probably the badminton net. What else do we need?

Water balloons? Water guns? Relay races?

What would you do? Help me out here.

Wind, wind, wind

It's blowing and I'm ever so tired of it. Please stop already. It's giving me a headache.

The dumpster lid has been banging most of the day and just a few minutes ago the neighbor across the street lost part of their fence. I thought I'd lost part of my house, the bang was so loud.

I'm almost done in the downstairs guest room. Just a little more to do and I'll share. Tonight I started working on the bathroom and have a cute project to show when I'm finished.

School is super busy and quickly coming to a close. My poster and final paper are due Monday. I think I'm in good shape and I'm not worried about it. It's hard to believe that in 2 weeks finals start and in 3 weeks I graduate.

Sometime I need to start planning the graduation shin-dig I kind of got stuck doing. I'll be sure and ask you kind folks for ideas.


Click on the picture and look in the grass.

I think I'll go put rocks in my pockets and try not to blow away.

Pansies for Sunday

Yes, I know it's not Sunday. I should have started this on Sunday and didn't. I found another set to share and want to get all of this one up. So, since I'm missing Wednesday, you get Sunday instead.

Well, that was fun. I spent an hour in chemistry this morning with no lights and Dr. T. never stuttered. He kept right on writing on the chalkboard, in the dark, like nothing happened. Holy Smokes! I wonder how much of it I got written down correctly? Just a wild guess, but I don't think they have the chemistry building on a generator.

In other news, it's raining and cold. Brrr! Mr. Fuzz went out this morning and just came in. He's one wet kitty.

I had intended to get my crepe myrtles and rose planted today, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen now. At least they're getting a nice drink. DH mowed the yard last night and it looks so pretty right now. Something about the light just makes it look nice.

I hope everyone is have a safe and happy day. Don't forget that tomorrow is Thankful Thursday.

Tiny pin-keep

Here I present the grand sum of my Easter decor and all of my crafting for the coming weekend. I bought this little cup at the thrift store and finally made a pin-keep out of it. I thought it turned out pretty cute. The little bunny is also a thrift store find.

I have to have a rough draft of my senior paper to turn in by 4pm on Monday. I'm not even close to being done yet and so I plan on spending tomorrow, pen in hand, writing a brilliant paper. Stop that laughing. I can hear you!

If you see me around this weekend, please tell me to get back to my paper.

Thankful Thursday

I regularly read Julie's posts at Another Chance Ranch. This week when I saw she was doing Thankful Thursday I decided to join.

I always try to be thankful for my many blessings, but as a human I often forget how fortunate I really am.

Today I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to go to college.

I realize I grumble about homework, fellow students, and professors, but I truly am grateful. My parents didn't attend college and neither have my siblings. At 41-years-old, I will be the first of my mother's children to graduate from college.

I'm also grateful that when I graduate in May we won't have a gazillion dollars in student loans to pay back. We've paid for it all ourselves and I've taken classes as we could afford them. It's taken me longer to get to the end, but it's going to be worth it in so many ways.

I'm grateful for my husband. Without his support I would have never made it this far.

Run over to Another Chance Ranch and see what other bloggers are thankful for.

My brush with academic dishonesty

Oh boy!

Tonight while taking a chemistry exam, I found my paper being jerked away and me being told to get into the hall. "NOW!" Actually, it wasn't me being yelled at, it was the girl behind me, but he meant me as well.

Oh my goodness. My heart was pounding and I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. What did I do? Did I look like I was cheating? How was that possible? My head was down the whole time, looking neither right nor left. My bottom lip started to tremble and I just knew I'd be blubbering in a matter of seconds.

Of course the murmur that ran across the room in a wave didn't help my flushed face or make me feel the least bit better. Humiliation with a generous sprinkle of fear best describes how I felt.

Evidently the girl sitting behind me was copying my paper over my shoulder. Where I had mechanisms and showed my work, she just had my answers.

According to Dr. T., there was some real neck-craning going on. I felt stupid. I was so intent on my test I didn't notice that some little dim-wit was cheating off my paper.

He laid down the law, gave me back my test to finish, and escorted her out of the building. I sure would hate to be wearing her shoes right about now.

I went back in and finished my test. My writing was so small by the time I was done any cheating would have to be done with binoculars.

I have always been too scared to cheat on an exam, not to mention it's just wrong.

I feel about cheating the same way I feel about eavesdropping. You may not necessarily get the right answer just like you might not like what you hear.

I never did cry, but I sure did feel like it.

Quilt update

I finally got the sashing quilted on the machine. Now I need to drag out the quilting hoop and get it in there. I've decided to quilt the squares by hand. I think it will look better and I'll be happier with it. Plus, I enjoy doing stuff like that.

This is my first full week of classes and I'm super busy. I hope to be able to do some sewing this weekend if I can keep up.

I finally visited the thrift store yesterday and have a couple of things I need to take pictures of and share. Of course they aren't anything nearly as nifty as Nancy Jo's $6 quilt.

Egads!

I'm going to start this post with a warning. I never promised not to rattle like an idiot on this blog. Sometimes I just need to talk.

Class went well today. I always dread the first day, just like when I was a little kid. I end up with knots in my stomach, sweaty palms, and just before class starts I want to go home to my mommy.

I ended up enrolling in another class. What was I thinking? It should be okay and will probably help me in my chemistry class. Oh well, it's only two hours a week out of my life.

On that note, I'm going to try really hard not to get behind this semester so that I can relax and craft on the weekends. That's the plan, let's see how it works. LOL!

In other news, my father-in-law's doctor called my husband and asked him to meet with him tomorrow when he gives my father-in-law his latest test results. In other words, he wants somebody there with FIL when he gets the results. It doesn't sound good. So, my dear husband is winging his way to New Mexico as we speak. He didn't even wait for me to get out of class before he left. He's obviously rattled since he forgot his clothes and all I can find missing is his razor.

If you find yourself so inclined, a prayer for my father-in-law, J.E., would be welcome and appreciated.

Did you hear that?

It was a huge sigh of relief. Finals are over and life can begin again.

I'm not going to have much time to pull off a fabulous Christmas, but I'm going to do my best. Better late than never certainly applies this year.

I've got gifts to make, a house to clean and decorate, and sleep to catch up on. I'll bet I don't get much sleep though.

I'm off to visit my bloggy friends and see what kind of trouble they've been up to.

Whew!

If ever I was glad to see a Friday, today would be the day.

This week has been miserable. I've done exactly two things on my to-do list. That's bad.

At this point in the semester I'm ready to chuck the whole thing in the garbage and go bag groceries at the local Homeland.

Somehow having two hideously impossible tests in one week just makes me grumpy. Really grumpy. I woke up at 7:15 this morning with class notes and books strewn across the bed, the TV and light both still on, my ponytail askew and a crick in my neck. The last time I remember looking at the clock it was 3:20. I don't know when I conked out. The night before it was 4:07 the last time I checked. I'm too old for this nonsense. It's a good thing DH was gone hunting or he'd have had a litter of puppies. He's cranky that way.

I'm over it now though. Tomorrow is December 1st.

The arrival of December means I'm supposed to put up our tree and execute my pathetic attempt at decorating. I kind of want my remodeling/renovation done before I decorate, but that could mean several more holiday seasons without decorations. That won't work.

I wonder which one of the kids I can bribe to go up in the attic and hand stuff down so we can get to the business of decorating?

Sorry for the stream of thought post. It just feels good to kind of unload my mind. Now I think I'll go visit my friends' blogs and see what they've been up to since my last visit.