Abby is a little confused about Christmas. It's arriving a little early this year - even earlier than usual - since holiday decorating around here is exhausting. Always is it rewarding in the end, but there's so much to do that I actually lose sleep thinking about everything that needs to be done.
Since family is coming for Thanksgiving, getting everything up before then is an absolute must. And oh boy.... over the last few days I became so obsessed with non-stop decorating that I aggravated the pinched nerve in my neck. Thank goodness, after some R&R the other night, it's a lot better.
I'm very disappointed in my Christmas Village this year. Always is the village my crowning glory; the one thing I can actually brag about every year; but that just isn't the case for 2012. The trouble stems from not being able to find THE snow that I always use. It's extra fine snow, and it seems Michael's has tricked me this year. One of the stores didn't carry it at all, and the other one is selling something different. I thought it was the usual, but after opening the bag I discovered that this copycat snow is a fake! It's coarse and a lot larger. Not fine at all. Words can't describe how upset I am over this. All those hours upon hours of hard work was for nothing. A failure.
And to make matters worse, I discovered that the ONLY store that sold my favorite cappuccino has stopped carrying it. (See? Remember how I mentioned this scenario a few days ago? If it's something I love, the stores pull it off the shelf).
This is serious. This is so not a nice joke to play on me. Between the village snow disaster and cappuccino death, I'm feeling a little unstable at the moment.
Not good, but that's okay. There's still a lot of Christmas bling around here to distract me from this new cruel world which lacks posh fake snow and my favorite cappuccino fix.
I think I'll post all our holiday decor photos later this week. For now, here are pics of just some of Mom's newest supplies bought for this year's glitter houses and glitter boxes. A lot of this stuff was from World Market.
She got a couple of really cute boxes to store stuff in, too. Even I got some more pretty boxes recently - my #1 weakness - but I still haven't taken photos of them yet.
(I spy HIDDEN MICKEY EARS!)
I should probably post this next part on my other blog, but it's too beautiful not to share.
On Saturday, we received a really good thunderstorm. When it just started raining, Mom was ironing and mentioned she needed some hangers. I offered to get some, and while I went into my mother's closet to grab the hangers, little did I know that such a tiny and unimportant chore would turn into one of the most AWESOME and comforting experiences of my life!
As I opened those noisy double doors, I turned on the light and starting grabbing hangers when muffled within the clothes on the bottom rack I heard a familiar purr. It was Tiger Lily's purr. (My cat that passed away this summer). The one she always used whenever we entered her favorite napping spot/Mom's closet and woke her from her slumber.
Even though I KNEW it wasn't Wendy, I told myself that maybe she pulled a Superman move and rushed into the closet just as I entered it myself. Still, deep down I KNEW that I had just heard Tiger Lily. You don't have a cat for 20 years, and not recognize their purr after you thought you'd never hear it again.
So I started talking to her.... AND SHE ANSWERED ME BACK because immediately she issued the same purr again.
I then ran - well let's just say I walked really, really fast - to tell Mom that I had just heard Kitty Girl. On the way, however, I doubled-checked to see that Wendy Kitty was still asleep on the chair in the living room, 3 rooms away.... which she was. She was sound asleep.
So now I'm guessing that that really was Tiger Lily who I saw a month or so ago. I had gone into my room one night, and just as I crawled into bed - before I even turned off the light and turned on my laptop - I looked behind me and did a double-take when I saw a quick flash of Tiger Lily rushing into my room. I saw her for only a second. It was so quick, but I could clearly see the black and brown markings on her face.
Now, I am not a religious person, but I've always known there was life after death. That was proven to me when I was 7 years old, so it never was an issue of having faith in such a thing. Life after death was a fact. Likewise, I've also always known that our pets are still around after they pass away, but this was the first time I actually heard a pet and then had actual live interaction with them. It didn't last very long, but it happened. I didn't dream it, I didn't imagine it, I didn't misinterpret it. I wasn't even thinking about Tiger Lily, and yet straight out of nowhere there she is making her presence known.
I really wish that all the people out there that have pets who have passed on could experience what I did. Truly, it was the most amazing and unexpected occurrence. Everyone should be so lucky.
While I couldn't see her I did HEAR her. And actually INTERACTING with her.... well, any adjectives found in the dictionary cannot do that experience justice. It was all too surreal for words.
(Click HERE to visit Susan Branch's blog! It's a really uplifting place to visit)
Oh, how I wish this quote were true where I live! I am more than ready for cooler weather but we don't receive actual seasons here. Fall/Autumn this far south lasts only a few days a year and only on random mornings and evenings.
Still, I CANNOT WAIT to feast my eyes on all those pretty fall pictures people post when the leaves on the trees start changing color. I've always said I would love to visit Tennessee in the fall. I've never been there before and think the fall season would be the perfect time to visit.
Made a few more necklaces recently.
Please pardon the poor photo quality. The lighting isn't cooperating much, and I'm really growing tired of not having a nice backdrop for my necklaces. I plan on remedying that soon.
I wish I had a really good close-up picture of this one. I like the colors of the beads.
This fabric rose necklace my Mom wanted me to make for her. I wish I had gotten larger beads for it, but Mom wanted smaller ones and they didn't have the right shade of pink beads in the larger size anyway.
You work with what you can find, but I think I'll be adding to this necklace before too long. I might can compensate for the smaller beads if I add more chain and elements to it. As it is, this one feels incomplete.
I really need to take better photos of this necklace. I made it Tuesday night, and I like it a lot. Half the photos (including this one) turned out blurry so this will have to do for now.
No textures or anything here. I took these photos a loong time ago, and they are what they are.
I gotta say that I do miss that old garden. It's the only thing I miss about our old house.
Dear Maddie and Izzy,
You really don't have to bark/announce when the phone rings. We can hear it just fine, but thank you anyway.
Dear Neighbor,
Don't you know that it's considered rude when you're loudly hammering away outside at 10 o'clock at night?
Dear Bully-At-Work-Whom-Shall-Not-Be-Named,
Behave yourself in front of my big sister. If you don't, I'm afraid I'm going to have to smash you so far into the ground with my bare fists that come springtime you'll have daisies sprouting from your arse.
Dear Netflix,
It's time to add Season 2 of Downton Abbey to Instant Watch. PLEASE!!!!!! I've already bide my time watching "Upstairs, Downstairs" but now that's all over. I MUST see more of Anna and Mr. Bates. I miss them!
Dear Humidity,
Must you live here permanently, year after year and during every single month?
Dear Cable TV,
I have no idea why we even have you. Nothing good is ever on, and you keep playing the same new episodes of boring shows back-to-back. Why do you do this? Are you afraid people will forget what they watched only 2 seconds earlier? Do you think we've lost our short term memory? Please explain.
Dear Books,
I'm so sorry for neglecting you again. If it makes you feel any better, Books > Television.
This is the current gate up at our land. If we ever do build a house out there, we're definitely going to have one grand gate. In the meantime, however, it's as seen in the picture above. We found a few of those metal dogs in the barn, so we spray painted them black and placed one on the gate.
I'm pretty sure this is along one of my favorite country roads in the Brenham area; Old Tommelson Creek Road. I was so impressed with this area that I put it in the first book that I wrote. (A book in desperate need of editing I might add). I only wish this photo wasn't taken from inside a moving vehicle. I've always regretted that.
Believe it or not, this pic of a barn was taken from a gas station parking lot. This is also in Brenham.
And as you can see, Maddie LOVES the country! When she used to - very reluctantly - travel with us up to Austin, once we entered Brenham she'd immediately perk up and start sniffing the country air. She reacts the same way when entering Lago Vista, too.
Like Mom and myself, she's a country gal at heart.
I was looking through some older photographs, taken at our old house, when I found these of my little canary. I named him after "Westley" in The Princess Bride movie.
He looooved 'dancing' to music (especially to the Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera soundtracks) and would sing so loudly that even with my bedroom door closed you could still hear him from downstairs. I often called him "My Sweet Little Westley Prince" because, well... he was a prince. To this day I miss him. I was obsessed with this little bird, seeing that he was happy and healthy. Because of this, I know I'll never get another canary. He was a sweetheart, and it really is too bad that I didn't have a digital camera back then. If I had, you could have heard how beautifully and how LOUDLY he sang his little heart out each and every single day.
And not only was he a sweetheart and a prince, but he never complained about living in a pink room and bathing and eating out of pink dishes.
1. The best thing to do on a hot day isstay indoors if at all possible. Heat stroke happens easily around here.
2. The best place to be on a hot day isstanding next to the opened freezer door, with your face resting against the ice box.
3. The best thing to eat on a hot day isJava Chip Frappuccino Ice Cream!
4. Hot dayscoupled with humidity are the norm around here, so there are no such things as heat waves in these parts. Even in October, it'll be in the 90's.
5. My go to uniform on a warm summer day isshort sleeves, sandals and an iced mocha in my hand. Don't ya know the outfit wouldn't be complete without one?
6. The scent that reminds me of summer isSweat? Okay, to be more poetic that would be jasmine and roses and freshly mowed grass.
7. My favorite thing about summer iswhen it ends and the triple digit heat index goes bye-bye.
I've been watching the behind-the-scenes of the LOTR Extended Edition, so this song has been on my mind. I think it's beautiful.
Translation:
From darkness I understand the night
dreams flow, a star shines
Ah! I desire Evenstar
Look! A star rises out of the darkness
The song of the star enchants my heart
Ah! I desire
- to tell Mom that I had just heard Kitty Girl. On the way, however, I doubled-checked to see that Wendy Kitty was still asleep on the chair in the living room, 3 rooms away.... which she was. She was sound asleep.
