Sweet 16 and a House 'O Dreams

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My niece turns Sweet Sixteen tomorrow! Where has the time gone?

Down the rabbit hole in Alice's Wonderland, I imagine. It really feels like only yesterday she was that 3-year old little girl obsessed with playing dress up and wanting us to build one of my special tents in the living room. We used to put their little kid's table inside while we ate junk food and watched Peter Pan.

Tomorrow would have also been my Grandma's birthday. We seem to share a lot of birthdays in this family. Actually, my niece shares her birthday with my Grandma (who passed away before my nephew was born) as well as her Grandma on her father's side. Even my nephew shares his birthday with my Dad, which also happens to be Texas Independence Day.

Here's a pic of my niece in her drum major uniform, as well as conducting at her first football game. She's the youngest drum major their school has ever had and they say it'll never happen again. My niece is definitely following her dream right now, and everything has fallen into place for her. She's one lucky, hardworking - and hilarious - young gal! And isn't she a beauty?



My nephew wrote a funny note on her Facebook page:

Me your bruder. Me s'posed to say happy burdday. Me be GOOD bruder. So me say happy birthday. Happy early day before burdday.

- Big bruder

She also took her drivers test today. SCARY!!!! I'm not gonna lie that I hate it when the kiddos can finally drive. It's a good thing I never had children. I'd be a basketcase, wanting to protect them all the time.

My niece's birthday was also a day in history for Austin, Tx:
(My niece and nephew live in Austin)







(Click HERE for a large pic from the realtor sites)

I have unfortunate news. To borrow from Owl in Disney's Bambi, my mother and I both are simply "twitterpated" with a house up in Lago Vista. For a lot of reasons (Short Sale, my father hates driving up there on those high cliffs, etc) it'll never happen and our hearts are broken into a million pieces over it. I didn't even see it in person, and yet my mother and I both describe it the same way; that it feels magical. Enchanted.

We both said it sounded silly, but that it evokes the same feeling as Gull Cottage in the movie "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." It sits on 2 1/2 acres and has a view of the lake. The house itself is small, and needs landscaping and to be painted a prettier color. It really isn't a big deal, but THE FEELING that the atmosphere of the whole place sends off is just so peaceful and energizing. It's being surrounded by nature and a beautiful view that's so soothing to the spirit... which is something I crave desperately. It's nothing at all like the neighborhoods we've lived in all our lives. Here, we have a really nice house but it doesn't have that positive vibe which we receive with the other house. It even has a little fireplace in the kitchen!

I can't believe how much in love I am with it when I didn't even get to see it in person. I really need to just get over it and move on.







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(Click on Thumbnails)





Here's the view from the balcony. This pic is from the realtor sites.



There are A LOT of deer up there. Mom saw one guy taking the trash out, and the deer just followed him. (I would imagine gardening is a problem). Mom even saw a roadrunner!







Made another bag recently. With this one, history was made because I actually did some of my own sewing. By hand mind you, since to me operating a sewing machine is tantamount to rocket science. Me + Sewing Machine never ends well. All I hand-stitched though was the flowers and lace up at the top.





Two things I learned with this one is as follows:

1). If you don't want the glue/glossiness from the transfer showing up on the bag always re-iron each section before immediately - yet carefully - peeling it up.

2). Since the tape on the velcro does not fulfill it's destiny and actually stick to the bag, sewing it on BEFORE the lace is a must.









- Season 1 of Once Upon A Time is on Netflix Instant Watch! The new season starts September 30th. I can't wait!!!!!!



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- I've been making a lot of necklaces to sell to some of my sister's Teacher friends. I'll probably post photos of those before I mail them off.

- I finally know what kind of toys entertain Abby! They have to be INTERACTIVE. The other night we got out this little Energizer Bunny wind-up toy, and Abby was wild over it.



So now she has a remote control truck to chase around the house. Since it's green, we've christened it with the name "The Leprechaun 2012." She seems pretty happy with it!





Linking to CAMERA CRITTERS

- I'm ready for cooler weather! The good news is the 100+ temps seems to finally be over. I'm really craving for fall to arrive - which it never does in this part of Texas - so this year I plan on trying to trick myself into feeling that it's fall by trying that Pumpkin Spice coffee everyone talks about this time of year. I haven't found it in any stores yet, although I saw that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts is selling it.

The trouble there is I don't like Dunkin Donuts and if I ever get something from Starbucks it's gonna be a Mocha Frappuccino. I can't help myself.

- Here's video of Endeavor flying over Walt Disney World!!!!





And look at all the Halloween decorations. This makes me so sad! I'm homesick for Disney like never before. This time of year it always hits hard because it's our favorite time to visit. Mickey's-Not-So-Scary-Halloween-Party is so much fun, especially since they all fall around Mom's birthday.

- I have to do it. I have to post a video of Hallowishes. Words cannot describe how amazing this fireworks display is in person.



- Dinosaurs is finally on Netflix! Some of the episodes are in the wrong order, and the descriptions are sometimes incorrect but I'm just glad it's finally on Instant Watch.

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- Loud noises are bothering me even more than usual lately. I've always been sensitive to loud noises, but lately even going to a store is a nightmare. Too many people, crying kids and commotion. At the craft store the other day the loudest fire alarm in the history of mankind kept going off. The lure of jewelry supplies on sale are the only reason I didn't completely lose my marbles and start throwing stuff.

- It's a new Tilt Shift video of Disney World!



- I might get an assignment at a Junior High tomorrow. Pray for me, as the place is teeming with teenagers and I've never been to this school before. I wish I could make a living just making and selling crafts of all kinds. I'm willing to learn anything and everything if I could just work from home on a decent salary.

Of Bunnies, Regal Yorkies and Cinderella's Mice

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I made a new necklace last night! I fell instantly in love with this mouse/midnight charm. It's the "Fairy Tale" brand which can be found at Hobby Lobby. I think I'm going to re-create one to sell to my sister's Teacher friend's come Christmastime.

I wanted to add chain to this one, but the chain I have didn't quite match the gold.

My mother and I also made some tote bags yesterday. Mine is the rabbit and hers is the Yorkie pup. I LOVE the bling we put on Mom's bag. I put a small crystal on my bag, too, but it doesn't show up well in these photos. I really should have taken better photos, but who am I kidding? The lighting is always a problem so these pics are what they are. I'll take better pictures whenever we get a new camera. (In the very least, I need to find some pretty lace to set my necklaces on when taking photos of them).





















Oops. I forgot to mention that the graphics we got from an Etsy store.... http://www.etsy.com/shop/Graphique .... and they were only $1 a piece! We got 11 of them, but are going to add at least 2 more soon. I think this means we're going to be making a lot of canvas bags, for ourselves and even as Christmas presents.





As everyone knows, today is a sad day for a lot of families. Every year people ask the question: "Where were you when 911 happened?"

When 911 happened, I was subbing for a 7th grade Texas History class. It was the same junior high I attended, and this was even my old classroom.

A student came in at the start of second period and shouted that a terrorist flew a plane into one of the towers. That early on, it was a break in an otherwise monotonous school day, so all the kids were a little... excited, for lack of a better term. It hadn't hit home to anyone yet just how serious this was. Even I had no clue. I really thought this boy was over-exaggerating, and that it was only a small plane that hit the tower by some freak accident.

Soon after, kids kept getting called to the office to be picked up early by their parents. The office was just across the hall from me, and at lunchtime I went to the teacher's lounge to get a coke. Along the way I noticed the tv's switched on in all the classrooms, and inside the office it was PANDEMONIUM, so that's when I went back to the classroom. I turned on the tv, and that's when I saw how devastating it really was.

Some teachers allowed their students to watch the news while all this was happening. I just couldn't though. Whenever I had a class and the kids kept asking to watch the news, I turned off the television. I knew there would be some students not comfortable seeing it. For all I knew, some of them had family or friends in NYC. (If someone with family there outright asked to watch the news, I would have allowed it. Otherwise, that tv stayed off so there would be at least a small sense of normalcy for that class period).

For the rest of the day, students were constantly being sent home. I'm not exaggerating when I say that in our classroom alone, about every five minutes... usually less than even that... a child was picked up by their parent. A lot of people were afraid of the schools being targeted next.

I think every American remembers where they were on 9/11, and what they were doing. And whether you're a conspiracy theorist or not... I bring this up because there have been A LOT of those shows on lately... let's not get so caught up in those debates that we forget the victims themselves. My thoughts are with those who lost loved one's that day.

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Last year I read THIS blog post from Tales From an OC Cottage. It's always stuck with me, and the list of names at the end of the post really sticks with you. It's all just so tragic.

Really, it's Okay

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Oh.my.gosh. To borrow from The 9th Doctor, isn't this picture just FANTASTIC?! (Yes, that would be my nerdy side showing with pride). Don't ya just love Pinterest?

Victorian + Tardis + Robot Dog = Whovian Heaven




Hosted by MOCKINGBIRD HILL COTTAGE





One of my favorite things in the world is this beautiful stained glass my mother made for me a few years back. Isn't it pretty? She's made a lot of stained glass before, but when making this one she said she "felt inspired."





Added a cute little goodie... the cat/moon... to our Halloween basket. Found it at Thads in Old Town Spring.




(Link HERE)


- It's okay.... to be feeling utter dread about work, and that I had to take my favorite school off my list because of the traffic and long distance from my house.

- It's okay.... that I need an attitude adjustment when it comes to work. The first step towards a positive lifestyle is realizing that you have a problem and it's time to change.

- It's okay.... to know the above statement is total BS.

- It's okay... that I'm still afraid of commenting on other people's blogs for fear of losing all my blogs again.

- It's okay.... that I got another romance novel, because this one was 80% off. I got it for something like like 56 cents!



The story doesn't seem fascinating to me, but I have a lot of her other books so I figured what the heck?

- It's okay... to be really nervous about working in new schools all because I'm a control freak and loathe change all the way down to the marrow of my bones.

- It's okay... that my Photobucket account with all our old family and home photos are denying me access.

- It's okay... that in the above statement I'm lying to myself again.

- It's okay... that I'd rather stick a fork in my eye AND drop a case of Coca Cola on my foot AND put lemon juice on a paper cut than to add middle school and elementary to my accepted job assignments. Focus on the new junior high first, and leap head-first into the Pit 'O Doom a little later.

- It's okay... that I'm thinking of not accepting a job assignment until Monday because today I realized that my once-beautiful purse looks like white trash and needs to be replaced. Also, I could use a few more dress pants and shirts.

- It's okay... to hate spending money on something as awful as clothes (yes, I'm not a fan of clothes shopping) because come Monday I'll WANT to accept an assignment just for the money.

- It's okay.... that in the blogosphere everyone and their cousin is talking about fall approaching when here in Texas it's 99 or 100 degrees every flippin' day. Then add the humidity, and the heat index is well over 100.

- It's okay... that for this entire post I pretty much just complained like Eeyore.