Let's Make a Deal

Remember that Game Show with Monty Hall - Let's Make a Deal?

Well, that is how my morning started - sort of.....

Or maybe it was more like an old fashioned Trading Post

The object of the early morning trading frenzy.......

Coffee K-cups

You know I am a coffee fiend and love my Keurig brewer.  A few months ago a friend bought one so I gave her a little gift bag filled with samples from my stash. 

Then she could try some out without buying a whole box and discovering she didn't like that flavor. 

On the weekend a co-worker bought a machine and I offered the same deal.  He was

thrilled to get his treat bag this morning and offered to buy me a replacement box.

I said No, this is today's random act of kindness, but the next time you try a new flavor you like - you have to share.

So the 3 of us got together and made an arrangement to swap new flavors and combine orders to save on shipping.  Plus we get to try new blends.

This morning was like the floor of the stock exchange

"I'll give you 3 pumpkin for 2 mud slides and a blueberry..." 

It is a little sad what the effects of caffeine can have on otherwise normal people.

When the new order arrives, I will give you my reviews.

In the meantime.....

Rumor has it......

Rumor has it that this was the first official weekend of Autumn.   That is what everyone is saying.  That is what the calendar is saying.

However, the thermometer was saying something else all weekend.  It felt more like July than the tail end of September.   Even the trees are slow catching on.  This photo was taken last year.

Maybe it's some kind of twisted karma that ever since I bought new Fall duds for cooler weather  - the temps have climbed to the mid to high 20's.  Today I was sweating in shorts and a T-shirt.  Sorry gals, until it cools down I won't be modelling my new purchases for awhile.

I had a bit of a stomach bug yesterday and spent much of the day sleeping on the sofa.  I hate it when I waste an entire precious weekend day.  Plus that meant I had to cram all the weekend chores into today.  The last load of laundry is now folded and I can pull a few loops on my rug while I watch the premier of Desperate Housewives.

I also switched the furniture around in the "Christmas" room.  It is actually the front living room that we never use - except for at Christmas time.  It is going to become my study room while I start my new courses.  I got notice on Friday that my first set of text books have been shipped so I  moved things around so I have a cozy little study corner away from the chaos and the constant stream of company this house receives.  

Time to see what is happening on Wisteria Lane.   Have a great week.

It wasn't my fault

Really, it wasn't my fault.   Don't judge me....

So, here is what happened and I will let you decide.

I had an appointment this morning in Moncton (shopping heaven) so I took the entire day off work.  After I was finished at the dentist office I stopped at the mall.

Danier Leathers had all their windows plastered with SALE signs. 

So I figured it wouldn't hurt to just go in and look around.........Right?  And my old black

leather jacket is getting ratty (no, seriously)  The sleeves and around the elbows are getting all worn and chalky looking so replacing it is not unreasonable.......Right?

Well, the Sale signs were not misleading.  All last years styles on sale - major markdowns.  I found a simple black lambskin jacket that was originally $450.  It was reduced to  $140 and it had a yellow sticker so there was another 20%.   Total price - $ 111

This is not the actual jacket but very similar

So......it wasn't my fault.  I had no choice but to buy it.......Right?

It would have been foolish to leave a deal like that behind.......Right?

And Momma didn't raise a fool.

And then a short while later I walked past a shoe store. (big mistake)

In the window were the most fabulous high black leather"hooker boots"

(Yes Lauren CFM's)

You know they are going to look perfect with the new jacket.......Right?

As a side note - both purchases are still hidden in the trunk of my car until I can sneak them in and mix them in with existing inventory.   LOL  And yes, I will pretend I had them last year and people must have forgotten they saw them before.  Don't rat me out, OK?

I celebrated my purchases over a chocolate pumpkin spice latte.  Mmmmm

Today was a good day

A mid week ramble

No pictures tonight, mainly because I am too lazy to take one or even look for one to go with this post.  Isn't that terrible? 
Instead I thought I would just ramble to you for a few minutes.  Some of you had asked me about the size of the autumn leaf rug in progress.  I measured it tonight and it is roughly 20 x 36.  I have made a bit more progress but not enough to warrant showing another picture yet.

If you are looking for another way to waste time, you should check out pinterest.  It is a really interesting site that has the potential to become really addictive.  Check out the button on my sidebar if you haven't already. 

I found a new coffee supplier for my Keurig machine.  My order arrived yesterday and along with my favorites, I ordered a small sample of some new coffee flavors to try.  This way you can test one or two without purchasing a whole box.   So far Wild Mountain Blueberry coffee and Chocolate Glazed Donut both get 2 thumbs up.  The blueberry one is really tasty.

Well, this is my edition of random rambling Wednesday.  Thanks for hanging in with me despite the lack of riveting post material.

My 3 favorite words

There are 3 little words in the english language that make me feel all warm and fuzzy

I bet you are all thinking it's something like

I love you......

or some other mushy type phrase

NOPE........

COME ON PEOPLE, you must know me better than that by now

My 3 favorite words this week are.............

MOTION TO ADJOURN

Yes, it has been a week of meeting after meeting after meeting

AND it's only Tuesday

Some work weeks are definitely longer than others.

Slow progress

My attempt at a large abstract fall leaf is progressing slower

than I had hoped.  Today when I took it off the frame to

photograph it, I was a little disappointed at how much empty

space I am still seeing.   Sigh........

It just didn't seem that large when I was drawing it out on the floor.

Now it just looks massive to me. 

I need to get some more filled in before I lose interest.  This always

happens to me when I attempt a larger rug, yet I never seem to learn.



I do love the colors though.

Well - Now I've gone and done it

I realize that some of you have suspected this for some time now.  However, today it became official

I have completely Lost My Mind

Are you wondering what thing happened to push me over the edge ?  To dangle by my fingertips at the edge of a cliff ?  To add one more thing to an already full, busy, often chaotic schedule ????

Today I officially committed to go ...............

What the heck was I thinking ??   (Not sure)   It is true that I was a young nerd and loved school and still love to learn new things.  And yes, I still get nostalgic as summer ends and find myself at the store looking at all the Back to School supplies.  But then I give my head a smack and get over it. 

But the truth is I enjoy learning new things and I try to take the opportunity to take any professional development opportunities  as they arise through my work.  I really enjoy my job and hope that by expanding my knowledge base I will eventually rise through the ranks somewhat.

For the past year I have been encouraged (gently nudged etc) to investigate opportunities in a more advanced area of my field.  I looked around a bit at different programs but always held back, thinking it was a big committment and maybe I didn't have the time.  However recently the nudges got a little more frequent.   I looked a little harder and found what is really an excellent program that is offered through Continuing Education, meaning I can participate on-line and submit assignments/exams.

The Progam and the courses being offered are perfect - exactly what we were looking for and I received approval to apply.   But now that the initial excitement has worn off --   Panic has set in.  Do you know how many years it has been since I was in University ?   Can I manage everything I already do AND take university courses ?   Well, we are going to find out soon.  

If anyone sees a brain laying around, would they please put it in a package and mail it back to me.  Mine is apparently missing.

Put on your big girl panties......

No matter how much you love your job, there are always some parts of it that are less than pleasant. 
And of course, human nature being what it is, we always put off, delay, procrastinate those little chores that we dislike.

Well, I couldn't put this particular part of my job off any longer.  Uhmm, well I could have but then I would have ended up on the shit list at work - and nobody wants to get on that list!

Somedays you just gotta put on your big girl panties and deal with it !!

So that's what I did.  I put on a nice crisp white shirt (to look professional), a little extra make-up (to distract), some high heel shoes (to click when I walk in), and my big metal cuff bracelet (because it always makes me feel like Wonder Woman)

Now that's over with for awhile.  Phew!     I wasn't the only one who had to put her big girl panties on today.  Miss Millie had an appointment at the groomers.  She was looking awfully shaggy last night in the photo. 

Here she is again -- all pretty and waiting for her treats for being such a good girl.

That is her serious "GIVE ME A TREAT" face.   

  There was a treat on the end of my fingers a split second before the camera shutter clicked.  She swooped in a snatched it that quick. 

Ahhh, tomorrow - mid week.  Also the monthly management meeting.  Think of me tomorrow - I may need to find a 2nd pair of those special undies !  I do not look forward to these meetings.

It's a blank

My mind is blank tonight. Nothing exciting has happened today, no stupid stories etc. In fact all I can think about is wanting to snack. I've got the dreaded boredom munchies.

So, to distract myself I am test blogging from an iPad app. I have a couple of different ones and am not sure which is more user friendly.

And just to test all the features I'll add a pic of Miss Millie. Oops, I had to wake her for the photo. Doesn't she looked impressed?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vegging Out

It's only been a week, but I have say I have no regrets about joining the local farm initiative.

I think everybody knows they should eat more vegetables but if you are like me, sometimes you need a nudge.

The veggies I picked up on Wednesday are almost gone.  By tomorrow at this time, they will be.    Not only were they very tasty, but I love the fact that they were certified organic and grown about 25 miles from my house.  I could have bought the exact same things at the grocery store but would never know where they were grown, how far they travelled to get here, or more importantly what was sprayed on them.   The added benefit is that it supports a small local farm run by a lovely young couple.  It's good all the way around.

 So, Operation Healthy Eating is off to a great start.  (Sorry Robin for another guilt trip hehehe).   Friday night after work is generally a take-out night.  But this week I made this yummy stir fry with chicken and a thai peanut sauce.    Can you imagine??  Me - cooking on a friday night??  Its a miracle

Now, if I could only find the same enthusiasm about exercise..........

Help - Part 3 - The Acceptance

Sometimes you just have to accept defeat.  It looks like I am stuck with my current settings and that there are no options to revert to the old blogger format.  Oh well, its not the end of the world.

I want to thank all of you who tried to help me. I received several emails too.  A few of you tried and tried and I truly appreciate it.  Poor April from Red Jack Rugs was on line with me half the evening, email after email offering suggestions.  Thank you April!!

I did find something today that was helpful.....

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me today, and we all could probably use more calm in our lives. Some doctor on tv this morning said the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished so I have managed to finish off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, a pockage of Prungles, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valiuminun scriptins, the res of the chesescke an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how bludy fablus I feel rite now.

Plaese sned dhis orn to dem yu fee ar in ned ov iennr pisss. An telum,u blody luvum.!! Xxx
 

Help - Part 2

First, thank you for the suggestions and help.  However, either I am dumb as a stick or............. well, as you can tell - its not working.

Before Blogger's last change, those fixes would have worked.  I just took a rather poor quality photo of my screen so you can see what I see.  (Or more importantly what I don't see)

In the settings section related to comments - this is what I see.

No option for comment placement, imbedding, etc.   Bahhhhhhhh!   Is it just me??  Am I missing something???   This new blogger design is annoying me.

Grrrrrrrrr!

Blog help, please

I need a little blog help from my friends.  Everytime Blogger redesigns or changes something it seems to throw something else off.   Blogger help forum seems to be a joke, so like most of you, we have to rely on each other to figure stuff out.

Here is my problem.  I want to change the format of my comments.  It used to be an easy fix but I have been looking and looking and can't seem to change it. 

My comments used to appear directly below each post.  I think it used to be referred to as "imbedded" in the former blogger settings.  A few months ago when virtually everybody seemed to be having commenting problems, I changed my settings to "pop-up" which it is now where my comment section pops up in a different window.  I hate it.  I want to go back to imbedded.  

BUT, where the heck is the setting now??  I don't see anywhere on the dashboard/settings that gives you the option. 

I would appreciate any tips or feedback on how to fix this.  HELP...............

Fall Bounty

Yesterday was the first day back to school in town.  On my way to work I watched all the little ones walking to school.  Some of them seem so small - much too tiny to be heading off to start a new adventure in independence.  I started grade 1 at 5 years old and I'm sure I looked small too.   Everyone looked so happy in their new clothes and backpacks, skipping along the sidewalk. 

I have to admit it - I had a tiny twinge of jealousy.  I always loved the first day of school.  (Clearly I was a nerd)  It was like a new beginning.  Even after all these years I still miss it.   I consider the fall to be the start of my new year.  I don't make New Years resolutions but I do make a Fall Bucket List - a list of things I want to do, change, accomplish etc. 

One of the things I want to focus on this season is eating a little heathier.  Its so easy, especially with the crazy schedule around here, to slide into quick and easy foods.  And those choices are rarely healthy.   So as luck would have it, a few days ago I learned about a local farm initiative through Deanne's blog.  You purchase a share in the farm and receive an assortment of fresh vegetables every week.  They deliver to a location in town once a week.

I had heard about these before but didn't realize we had one in this area.  I signed up and picked up my first package of fresh veggies after work tonight.  There is what I got for this week

I think its going to force me to cook better foods during the week.  I always make good meals on the weekends but slack off during the weekdays.   I can't believe I'm so excited about a box of vegetables.  Its a long way from hiding them in my pockets as a child!

Another bounty of Fall are the colors.  I'm using lots of rich fall colors in my current rug project but as I  hooked a bit this weekend I felt like I needed a bit more in contrast colors.  I grabbed a piece of each wool I have so far and headed to the studio shopping.  I found 2 gorgeous slub yarns in gold and rust to add to the mix.

I just love working with that slub yarn.  It hooks so beautifully and it has such a nice sheen to it that you just can't capture in  wider strips of wool.

There is just so much to love about Fall's Bounty.

Time to put away the white purse

I was lost for a post today so I am repeating my post from last years Labor Day. 

White after Labor Day??

OK, I admit I am a little traditional and old fashioned.  Well, my dear Auntie says I'm only old fashioned when the situation suits me....but lets not go there!   LOL

But, when I was growing up there were hard and fast rules about white. 

1.  Never wear white before the long weekend in May

2. NEVER wear white after Labor Day

Now I realize that, like many things, these rules have changed with the times but I can't seem to change. 

This morning at work one of the young girls (mid 20's) came into my office with a huge grin.  She said "Look what I wore just for you"  Yup, she had on white pants, white shoes and a white purse!!!

She was laughing so hard, she said she had been planning this for weeks and was hoping I hadn't taken the day off!

Then, to make it worse, she said she couldn't wait to go show her Mother after work because she would be horrified too.   

HER MOTHER.........

OMG, I thought I was young but apparently I'm like their mothers!!!  That part was hard to take!  LOL

So what is your stand on White after Labor Day??? 

Did you change your purse today??

 

(I can't wait to see what she wears tomorrow......)

Harvest Golds

September is off to a good start.  My favorite season is upon us.  I love the weather,

the fashions, the comfort foods, the colors....

Yesterday I  dug out this collection of Harvest Gold colors for a new project.

I'm going to try something a little different - a little abstract maybe?

At this point it is just a tiny germ of an idea.  I always get these things that look

great in my head but never really transfer to the burlap.

Maybe this time will be different. 

Even if this project takes a strange turn and transforms into something else,

I am still enjoying working with these colors.

Keepsakes

Yesterday I had the day off work and went on a little road trip.  The sun was shining and it seemed like a perfect day for a drive in the country.

I went to visit family in Pictou County.  I took the scenic country route and just took my time enjoying the sights on the 2 hour drive. 

I had a lovely visit including a tasty vegetable quiche for lunch.   Before I left I was invited to browse in the china cabinet and take a china teacup and saucer for a keepsake. 

Before I knew it, the cabinet was being emptied onto the table.  She had so many lovely ones.  I selected this pretty blue and gold one.   It was a sweet gesture and I will always think of her and that day whenever I look at it.