Something is missing......

Well, here we are....again.
It's Saturday and almost two weeks have flown by. Doesn't seem possible.
I hope that everyone had a really nice Thanksgiving. Mine was hectic, unorganized and mostly frustrating but other than that it was nice. :) It's really hard to believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away. And of course, I am no where near ready for it. Usually by this point we have the majority of the shopping done. Not this year! We haven't even begun. Looking to get started next weekend (and hopefully finished). Wish me luck!

Before we get started with the past couple of weeks.....I just realized that I've 'lost' two members. :(
Not sure why, maybe I've been to ho-hum? I haven't gone searching to see if I can figure out who it is yet. I'm sure there is someway of figuring it out. I guess my stories and progress just weren't enough (or too much?) for them.

Oh well, on to the goodies.....
Let's see, last post I told you that I had begun a 'firepit', but didn't have any photos...well, I have a few now....

Pixie inspecting the progress....making sure everything

is lined up correctly

the finished pit with two of the three 'seats' drying.

the third has yet to be added (money is a funny thing)

one of the many (5 or 6 now) fires in

the new firepit. it works wonderfully!

I've been working on a new painting (or two). I am not thrilled with them as of yet, so no pictures. When I get them to come around my way I will post progress shots. They are just ideas at this moment but what I have in my head is not coming out on the canvas. Geez, sounds like a typical artist, doesn't it? :)

For Thanksgiving I made bread pudding, in addition to everything else. I wanted to use my mom's recipe but apparently I don't have it. BUMMER! I used an online recipe that seemed fairly good. Boy was it! Of course I made a couple of changes (can't leave well enough alone). I used 'dark, sweet dinner rolls' instead of french bread (which is the recipes recommendation). I also cut up a granny smith apple (the green ones) into small pieces to spread over the top. I added far more raisins than what the recipe called for - I like raisins! I was going to write out the recipe but I think I will just give you the link. I used the first recipe (there are two on this page/link). We've been invited out for New Years, so I'm thinking I may make more to take with us.

Last Friday (black Friday) my daughter conned me into taking her to the mall. Yes, it was temporary insanity. I don't know what I was thinking....or not thinking. She had her heart set on a pink stripped bag from Victoria's Secret. I was up at 4am, after going to bed at 1am and not sleeping. When we got to the mall, it was packed. I just looked at my daughter and said 'Are you sure you want to take me in there?"

We went inside and you could see the 'crazy, sleepless' look on people's faces. And the rudeness was a plenty! As we made our way to the second floor, everywhere you looked was bright pink bags from Victoria's Secret.....which was amazing since they weren't supposed to open until 5am and it was only 4:45. I told my daughter "If we get up there and they are out I am going to lose it". She just smiled and said 'I hope not'. Fortunately they were not sold out and she got the bag she wanted. Among several other items that she wanted for Christmas. Yes, I know, she picked out her own presents. The ONLY way I can make sure she gets what she wants and that they fit! However, they are still in the bag! And Yes, I will be wrapping them (wow, I guess I did start Christmas shopping already. Now I don't feel quite so behind). After spending about 30 minutes or so in the store we wandered around the mall and then left. We had both had enough of the 'Christmas Attitude' from the employees and the customers. :) And for the record, this is the first time I have shopped on black Friday in about 20 years. People just get so stupid over deals that aren't really deals! I just have no patience for that, in case you hadn't realized that from reading any of my posts. LOL  :)

I also got some work done on Moxie! Not quite as much as I was hoping to, but progress just the same!

***News Flash - Jan just emailed my about the 'Play Stove'! Yep, while I was typing! She's made some great progress on it! Aaarrggghhhhh! I can't seem to get the photo off my phone. This is going to make me crazy (more than normal). Ok, I guess it's going to have to wait until next time - so I can figure out how to get photos from texts off the phone......Sorry! It'll be worth the wait though - it really looks amazing! ***

Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, Moxie. I have completed her arms and attached them. I have finished her dress as well, although I am not sure how much I really like it. It looks ok but it's not what I have in my head (gee, that sounds familiar). I'll post a couple of photos and you can let me know what you all think about it...

arms attached! YAY!

these are the ones i decided on after messing up

three other pairs. fingers are a nightmare!

one of the mangled arms. got down to the last finger

to be turned and it ripped wide open. did the same thing

on two other pairs  :(

Moxie's dress....it's made from three layers

of 'Tulle' (i do believe that's what it's called)

i wanted shear to let her 'tatoos' show through

but this is NOT what i had in mind.

What do you think? keep it or lose it?

I also went back to work this past week......I was off for three days. You would think that I had been gone for a month. What a clusterf#*k!! Needless to say, it was a very long week! Almost makes me not want to take vacation (YEAH RIGHT!!).

*** More breaking news!  Jan sent the photo again...to my email (since my phone doesn't want to cooperate). So here's the latest photo of the 'kitchen project'........

kitchen update from Jan

looks good!

What do you think of my 'Holiday' banner? Created from scratch! I was searching for an image on the internet but couldn't find anything that floated my boat.....so....I made my own. I did find some interesting things on a 'Yule Goat'. I think I will save that for the next post though. I need to do some more digging and see what it's all about. It looks really cool though. Kind of reminds me of Burning Man but with an actual holiday / celebration behind it. Anyway, watch out for the goat! LOL!

Well fellow travellers, I think that's all for this post.

The Christmas season is well under way and I wish you and yours ALL THE BEST THE SEASON HAS TO OFFER!

May your days be filled with joy and your nights be filled with the warmth of family and friends!

til next time...

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!

TTFN

p.s. - I'm thinking (dangerous, I know) about doing a video post in the near future. What do you think about that idea? Good one? Bad one? Has anybody done one yet? Any helpful hints? Or 'what-not-to-do's'??

Let me know!