My Adventure Out...

So, I would like to tell you about my adventures today. I would also like to suggest getting comfy for this heart pouring drama may be intense and long. Just sayin’. Let me set the scene for you. Yesterday I was asked/volunteered willing to participate in our local school's Fall Festival. In fact I have been wanting to do just that for several years, it's just that, that weekend is usually booked as this year it was too, but I figured if I don’t just go for it I will never do it.

So, having the day off, I thought I would take a road trip to Bemidji and look for pieces of clothing and accessories to make up a costume. Well, I first stopped at Target and nothing caught my eye, so on to the mall I went. Once arriving at the mall, I stopped at a kiosk that was selling Halloween costumes and props. I noticed a South Seas Siren costume that I could make work if I would add fabric and some other stuff. Okay, so I purchased it but I should tell you that before I did I checked Kmart and Joann Fabrics. So, back to Joann Fabrics I went. I figured if I bought some fabric and some gold coins that would make my costume look so much better. Okay, whatever. But looking back now this is where it all started. You see, when I went to have the lady cut the cord with the coins on it, I about died when she told me how much it would cost. Okay lady, I think I don’t want them. Well, she proceeded to tell me that the coins really made my costume and that I should really reconsider. In fact, she offered me a special coupon. By signing for their mailing I would receive a 50% off coupon for signing up. Wow, I thought that was a good deal. Wrong! Considering everyone else had one, including myself. In fact, I had one already in my hot little hand. Well, I thought she was giving me an additional coupon, but no. Okay, so whatever. Yes, I did go home with the coins. In line to check-out the lady in front of was returning fabric. While she was waiting for the lady in front of her to finish, the manager came over and discussed her return with her. So, once this lady gets up there, she tells the cashier that she is returning her fabric and a zipper. Oh boy, this was really a sign. Okay, so the cashier tells her that they are not taking returns on fabric any longer, but the customer tells her that the manager okayed it. So off went the cashier. She then proceeds to start yelling at the manager. Yes, loud enough for everyone to hear it. So the cashier comes back and starts typing numbers into the cash register. While typing, she starts yelling at the customer. Oh boy, this is were I removed myself and went to the next register. I can kinda understand why the cashier was upset, but the yelling was not necessary. I guess they had a meeting that morning and decided that they will not be doing anymore returns of cut fabric. No excuses, no matter what. Are you following me, yep then the manager let this lady return hers. Whoops. Can you say awkward? I got the heck out of there.

Well, I was really craving Subway, so I thought I would swing into Wal-Mart and kill two birds with one stone. I had some stuff to pickup to go with my costume and they have a Subway so it sounded perfect. Well this could/should have been another sign. The young guy waiting on me decided to start throwing knives around. Yep, you heard me correct. Knives! Okay people, I should have not walked out, but I should have ran out. Nope not me. I wanted that darn sub that I was salivating over. Okay, so he must not have done much damage, because I’m alive to tell you about my moments of a day from you know where. So, I decide that he is just trying to show off. Yes, absolutely I’m really impressed. Just give me my damn sub, so I can eat. In the mean time, he proceeded to tell me that he is dressing up as a scary clown and that he signed on with the guards and he is going to Iraq. Okay, good luck guy. Just give me my sandwich, already. Please! Once I finally got my sub, I sat down to enjoy every morsel. I started listening around me and noticed that the other three parties in Subway didn’t speak English. In fact all three parties spoke a different language. I felt like the Twilight Zone had struck Bemidji, Minnesota.

Well, I hope you are still reading because this is really where the story gets good. LOL

So, I grabbed my goodies I needed and off to the cash registers I went. Like usual they had a ton of people waiting in line and like three cashiers. So I picked a register and before I can turn around and pick a different one this really big lady (yes, bigger than me) rolls up with three colorful children. One was screaming its blasted head off, one was picking her nose and wiping it on everything and I’m not exactly sure what the other one was doing. I’m thinking maybe behaving himself because nothing stands out in my mind. Well the lady in front of me was buying some plants of some sort. I’m not exactly sure why she was buying them because they were pretty much dead. I think Wal-Mart should have paid her to take them off their hands, but that’s whatever. So she was politely telling the cashier that they were on clearance for five dollars, but of course they were not ringing up correctly. So they are discussing things over. Well, I only have three things that I’m getting and so I’m just holding the stuff. So I look behind me in between the screams of the sobbing, bratty child and noticed that the lady behind me was filling her pockets full of that little crap that is at the cash registers. So have any guesses as to what happens next???? Come on you can guess. Ah, she busts me. She glares at me like she is going to kill me. This is when I noticed that she has a huge bruise on her check and claw marks all the way down her check and forehead. Friends this is when I really wanted to get the hell out of Dodge, but that’s when we, I mean all of Wal-Mart heard a little girl screaming like she is dying. I think I tinkled just a little at that moment. I’m not sure. Okay, remember her little girl smearing boogers all over the place, well she decided to smear them on the conveyor belt thing that brings your goods to the cashier and she got her finger(s) and some of her hair stuck where the belt comes out. OUCH!! So, people I’m not kidding I thought I was being killed when the little girl screamed and that’s when I’m not kidding I honestly did….I threw up all over everywhere. I know, gross huh? That’s what happens when to much commotion is going on around you, oh and not to mention when you think someone is killing you. Well Wal-Mart wanted me to stay and fill out a report, but I was like I’m sorry, but I just threw up all over my bad self and you can imagine what that looked like. Remember I just got done eating Subway. So I left. I’m sorry, this may have been the wrong thing to do, but I was not going to be the victim of that crazy stealing woman. No way was she going to get my personal information. I’m not exactly sure what extent of injuries the little girl suffered if any. I just know that she is alive, which is a good thing.

Okay, so are ready for more? Yes, friends there is more. I know. You are probably thinking how can there be more. Well, there just is. So, leaving Bemidji I noticed that my window on the passenger side was having issues. Sometimes when the window gets rolled down it does not go back up correctly and it whistles like a tea kettle. Annoying! So, I figured I would try rolling it down and putting in back up. In the past this has fixed the problem. In the mean time the air pressure my Subway bag blew out my window. Sh**! I hate littering, obviously I did not intentionally want this to happen. Well so what do you think happened next? Yes, there just happened to be a state trooper behind me. You guessed it, I got pulled over. So, when the nice man came to my window and asked for my license, we had a little talk. I proceeded to tell him about my misfortune I encountered today. He actually knew what I was talking about because he heard it over the scanner. He was on his way there when he was called to a different location. Considering the events I had gone through he was extremely nice and didn’t give me a ticket. Thank you nice trooper man. He just had me promise that I would clean a section of ditch within a year’s time. I’m willing to do so and I will. Much better than a $600 fine.

After dealing with that and thinking all I want to do is get home and try my stuff on and be done with today’s excitement. When all of a sudden I get pulled over again. Now what! It was not even five minutes from my last pull over……grrrrr! This time it was a highway patrol man. He was wanting to know why I was flashing him down. Flashing you down? What? Oh, hell I forgot to put my lights on. You see my lights flicker, because they have a short in them. You see with all of today’s excitement I forgot to turn them on. Once again I told my story. Thinking this is it. I know for sure that I will be getting a ticket this time. He also knew about the excitement at Wal-Mart. Good news. I was lucky again. He did not give me a ticket. Again I was told that I had task to do. He told me to have my lights fixed, so maybe, just maybe they will get fixed this time. My poor car sounds like it has just as many problems as its owner.

So, all in all today was an adventure. I have to say that if nothing ever happens like this to me again, that it just fine. My nephew Riley told me just the other day that I should consider writing a book. Well Riley, I think I just added another chapter. =)

Thanks for listening!

Cherry Jell-O Dessert

What a gorgeous fall day. I can't wait to get outside and play in the yard. I think today will be a perfect day to finish up cleaning around the house and yard. Well, I really should not say finish cause it really is never finished. But I'm sure you know what I mean.

Today's recipe is a new recipe, but a good one. I use to eat jell-o all the time when I was a kid visiting my grandparents. Well I have been craving it lately so this one hits the spot. I used the cherry stamp from SU "Tart and Tangy" set and also used the "Tart and Tangy" designer paper. The card stock is real red and a generic green color.

Have a great day!

Coffin Treat Box

I really like Halloween. In fact October, November and December are probably my favorite months of the year. Who wouldn't love the months were you get a ton of candy, a feast for a meal and then top it off by giving or receiving presents. So, when Halloween rolls around, one of my favorite sites to visit is Martha Stewart.com. She always has neat and exciting crafts that one can make for this spooky time of year. Naturally when I saw the pattern for the coffin I had to give it a try. Super easy! I love easy! If you would like to make one head over to her website and get yourself the pattern. The top and bottom are cut from a 8 1/2 X 11 piece of black card stock. The are lined with K & Company designer paper. I wanted the outside to be decorated so I added the skeleton stamp from "Batty for You" stamp set. I then tied it together with natural hemp twine. I can't wait to make a couple of more, but I ran out of black card stock. I think I need to go shopping. Oh, bummer. LOL

October Card Club

Can you believe another month has flown by? Yep, it was card club night again. I always look forward to going to card club to see how the ladies use their creative juices. We had another great line up.


The creator of this card was Peg. She utilized her Cricut machine to the max for this cute double pocket card. I think she must have cute from sunup to sundown for a month straight. Way to go the extra mile, Peg. You rock! It is so fun to pick out card candy. Don't look to close to my card, cause you will see black ink everywhere, including the twine. Boy, I was having a bad ink day. I guess it is better than having a bad hair day. LOL

The creator of this card was Nancy. I’m not sure of the color of card stock we used but I like the colors together. What a great idea to incorporate flowers. The flowers are very dainty and fragile, so I will have to hand deliver this card. What a lucky recipient.

The creator of this card was Sharon. This card was really fun. For two reasons, the first was I have never used daubers and ink. I really enjoyed it and would like to invest in some. The second reason I really liked this card was because it was a window card. I have never made one of those before. However, I really can’t take a 100% credit, because Sharon already punched the windows out for us. What a nice lady. I also really like the stamp we used. What a great fall barn scene.

The creator of this card was the other Sharon. The Sharon’s are sister-in-laws and so they have the same name. I think that is funny, cause we always have to refer to them as Sharon and the other Sharon. So anyways, we had three different colors to choose from. They were Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Pink (perhaps Pink Pirouette) the new In Colors from SU. So as you can see I choose Kiwi Kiss. First time trying it out. It’s a great color to work with. Once again I got black ink all over my card, so don’t look to close. I had trouble getting the ink to dry on the twill tape, but I did get it on there without to much complication. I really like using Prima flowers on cards they add so much.

The creator of this card was Audrey. I love pumpkins and punches so naturally I love this card. Audrey had already had the small and large oval’s punched out for us. So we just sponged the edges to add dimension and then glued them together. The candy corn strip is from the fall pack of Debbie Mumm paper. Then we tied ribbon on a cute clip. I love these clips. Really cute.
I had a great time once again and I’m already looking forward to next month. Speaking of next month we will be doing the Christmas card exchange, so I better hurry and think up of a card. Have a good day.

The Smell of Fall...

I bet if you took a poll one out of every five people would say that they have a love/hate relationship with Autumn because it means that summer is over in some parts of the country and winter is just around the corner. I live in one of those areas that has a not so mellow winter and yet, when the leaves begin to change and the air begins to smell like leaves and wood stoves burning, I just get a sense of calm.

This also my favorite time of year to walk. I take advantage of the short time that I have with Autumn and I try to be outside as much as possible to take it all in. I usually go late in the afternoon, when it is just about to get dark because that is when it is not too cold but not warm out either. The air does not chill my lungs when I breath in but I still need a long sleeve sweatshirt when I head out the door. Now, even though I adore being outside during this time of year, I need to gush about the most incredible smell when I walk in my house.

No, it is not the smell of my wet dog that smells once again like a skunk (I lost track of how many times this makes.) My absolute favorite smell when I walk in my door (I am taking a deep breath in right now)... is Pumpkin Pie from Yankee Candle. Oh, this smell just makes my home a home. This candle is a miracle worker! I do not have a fireplace, but I do not even care, because with this candle, I curl up on the couch with a good book or movie and just settle in with a warm fuzzy blanket. If you have not gotten this candle yet, now is the time to do it!! I also recommend burning 'Autumn Wreath' in a nearby room and then 'Harvest' in another. All of the scents melt together to form the ultimate fall smell right in your own home! (p.s. thanks to Yankee Candle company for their beautiful picture. I didn't think you wanted to see my half burned up candle.)

So go ahead! Run baby run and then light up... a candle!

Pumpkin Bread...

The other day we had a stamp/craft day at LS's house and I made my first 6 x 6 recipe card. It was so cute. It was a recipe for "Poor Man's Turtles". She had made a turtle out of different types of punches. Well, I enjoyed making it (recipe card) so much that I thought I would make one for the Pumpkin Bread recipe I got last week from my friend Peg. She had made a batch and of course I had to sample it. Yum. So the next day I made a batch of my own. I like to play around with recipes to make them more healthful, so I added applesauce instead of oil. Next time I would like to use egg beaters instead of eggs and maybe try experimenting with Splenda instead of sugar. This a great fall recipe. Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Candy Test Tube Holder...

A few weeks back, I went on a road trip to St. Cloud to have lunch with my aunt and uncle and I made a pit stop at Micheal's and Crafts Direct. I had not been to Crafts Direct new location, so it was a huge treat. I just wish I would have had more time and tons of money. I know, I will keep dreaming. When I was at Micheal's my nephew, Riley saw some test tubes and he told me to buy them. I had no idea what to do with them, but I went ahead and got them. Well, funny story after that I noticed many other crafter's also purchased these and made cute candy holders out of them. I borrowed the pattern of the test tube holder from Lisa Somerville. These were fun to make.

Thanks for looking today and have a great Tuesday.