I don't get it...

Why can't people just Be Nice? Keep their word? Do the right thing? The only thing I can think of in my situation which I don't even want to waste time talking about is MONEY.

It makes me sad to think about not only the frustrating inconveniences such as what I'm going through, but of the terrible circumstances around the globe, just because of Money.

Disgusting.

Okay, and to turn the negativity around...Things I'm glad for...

1. My health and the health of my family (which includes Travis and his family:)
2. The roof over my head and the ability to turn the heat on (but not yet...)
3. That I can pay my bills (even though I complain about it)
4. That I have a job with benefits.
5. That I have 4 social obligations this weekend and had to turn one down:( sorry Tasha
6. That I have a cute neice and nephew to hang out with on Saturday.
7. That I get to drink wine with my new wine consultant friend on Friday;)
8. That it's fall and getting chilly and there's beautiful colors all around me and crunchy leaves below my feet!
9. That the people across the street have their lightpost dressed up like the grim reaper and when the front door is open I catch him out of the corner of my eye and get a little creeped!
10. That the people in my neighborhood have ridiculous blow up spiders in their yards, cobwebs in their trees, and RIP tombstones with round-headed ghosts dancing in a circle on their front lawn...
11. That my tea is finally cooled down enough to drink.
12. That my report cards are almost done!
13. That 1/4 of my schoolyear is over.
14. That I have all these great coupons with which to begin my holiday shopping (or not).
15. That my Halloween snickers bars were in the car on one of those blistering hot fall days and got all melty so now I have to eat them all because they're discolored and mis-shapen. Yum!
16. That tomorrow is Friday!!
17. That I have a nice support system of friends (some of whom even like me enough to read my boring blog!)
18. And lots of other things, too...

Crafty!!

So yesterday was my debut at a real live "craft fair" (although it was at my school). But when I got there, I quickly recognized that there were some serious "crafters" there. There was everything from nice quilted table runners and wall-hangings to crocheted and knit products to the *fancy* fringed fleece blankets and "decoupage" jewelry boxes. Then there was my table...down the side aisle, in the corner...you'd think that I had connections with my school's PTO and that they'd give me a little preferential treatment, but alas, we (Tasha and I) got the worst location in the house! But alas, we were recruited by a "scout" for another local fair...We were "invited" by this woman organizing her school's holiday fair...I asked if she was just asking everyone and she said that she was really just picking those vendors that had the an appearance of quality. She said that last year when they opened up the vending to the general public there was a lot of junk so they decided to do it differently this year. That was a nice compliment:) Plus, given that I still have PLENTY of soap and salt and smelly sprays and oils, I technically don't have to do anything to prepare for it:) But of course I always like to give myself more work so I'm thinking about making these cute little country/"primitive" ornaments I made as gifts a few years back...we'll see. And actually, another woman who owns a lingerie shop in town was going to be checking in with her mom/business partner and "holistic healer" to see if they might be able to carry some of my products in their shop once they move into their new location...we'll see what happens! It's kind of nice to get paid for your hobby...Well, time to get into report card mode....

Halloween

Any ideas for a creative yet easy Halloween costume...please send them my way...we have been invited to a post Halloween party...strongly encouraged to dress-up. Hmmmm....Please share any ideas you've come across...

Actually, I guess I can turn this into a memory post...I remember Becky being Gilligan and getting kicked out of Blarney's only to sneak back in to find her sailor hat...I remember Erika being Wind...I was some silly farmer girl...what else???? I think I was a shoe-shine boy a few years back...the year my brother was Ugly Kid Joe...

VT Family Fun

This past weekend, me and Trav, Abby and Shan, and Jill, Lenny, and Chase all made it up to VT to stay in a house that my parents had rented for the weekend. (We missed you Jeff and Marisa and Samantha, too...maybe next year;) It was a nice laid back weekend of everyone doing their own thing, coming and going, hiking, going to a farm, looking at houses, watching movies, watching the leaves change colors overnight, looking for lakes that are all dried up, making dinner, better even, making dessert (thank you Trav), taking first steps (beyond the standard 3), making our own Oktoberfest, arguing over movies, you know, all the standard weekend away with family kinds of things. It was a nice time! Thanks Mom and Dad for the invite...wait, were we ever even invited??? On our way home, as per my dad's suggestion, we stopped in the town of Shelburne Falls in MA where there was this great little "Bridge of Flowers" as it is called. It was formerly an old trolley bridge that crossed the river. Now it is a footbridge that is filled with all of this beautiful vegetation, even trees! and thick, twisty wisteria vines. Pretty impressive colors for mid-October! Some of the pictures are neat because of the contrast between the boldly colored flowers and the dreary day. Trav and I stopped in at a coffee shop for a couple lattes and sweets. We waited out the sudden downpour and walked back to the car in a drizzle. It was a nice little stop-off if anyone is ever in the area.

More Randoms...

Last weekend our little house was like an olfactory amusement park! I spent much of Sunday mixing and labeling my sprays and massage oils (new product;) So for a good portion of the day the house smelled of lavender, lemon, peppermint, grapefruit, etc. Kinda nice, but not so much after awhile...then there's the headache of getting the damn labels aligned...Grrrr...
Then Trav came home from a study-break drive in his special car after having gone to an apple orchard where he picked up some apples. He got right to making some applesause when he came home...Yummm!!! That was the fall smell that I so much needed to get rid of my essential oil overload. A little warm chunky applesauce with a dollap of vanilla ice-cream...Delicious!!

There Goes the Neighborhood!!!

While I don't claim to be a significant contributor to the house values in my neighborhood, I try not to do anything that might bring more attention to our simple accomodations. Then there's the neighbor who is actually in the construction business himself in many of the wealthier towns at that. Well, last weekend, he apparently took it upon himself to begin digging up his walkway which I noticed on my way into the house. That's fine by me. Our walkway is a little "dated" seeming too so I thought nothing of it until Trav asked if I'd noticed the neighbors new "Belgian Block Retaining Wall." Okay, so maybe they're not exactly Belgian or even Blocks for that matter. Maybe there's a new market for that "crumbled walkway" look...Maybe Trav and I are sitting on a goldmine after all with both a front AND back walkway...I'll cut a deal to my dearest friends if you're interested in the crumbled curbside look...just let me know...accepting all offers...

Random Things

Before I start rambling, how cute is that picture? My brother took his little girl out to buy shoes last weekend and this is what they came home with...I can't remember when my brother didn't own a pair of Timberland's or "Herman's Survivors" (where'd I pull that name out of??? Must have been the knock off Timberland's back in the day, or maybe Timberland is the knock off? What do I know about boots?) So anyway, once the boots were home, they had to be immediately broken in by helping daddy wash his big truck...Onward...

I know I haven't been a good "poster" but things have been a little crazy around here over the past couple of weeks...And I have some pictures from various events but don't feel like getting up to get the camera and USB cable so you'll get pics another time, except for the one above that was emailed to me which is saved...and maybe I'll stick one below (being a Random Things post and all...)

So let's see, last post was Lion King...the following weekend we took the ferry across to Long Island for Trav's sister's wedding out in Montauk. It was a great weekend and a perfectly simple and lovely wedding ceremony. Her now-husband's family has a cottage out there with a little windy path through the dunes to get to the beach. Shannon's friends lined that with daisies for her to walk through on the way down to the beach. Once on the beach, the "aisle" was lined with tikki torches...very cute. There were only about 25-30 people there, immediate family and closest friends, "intimate" as the invite said;) After the sunset pictures, the party was back at the house, outside, with one of those "fire-pits on wheels"...Trav and I brought the s'mores ingredients for late night;) It was a nice time.

We had to get up and out early on Sunday however because my darling husband needed to get more schoolwork done so that he had enough work done to qualify for an extension...I thought I was a pretty good procrastinator, but he has me beat in that category for sure. Thank goodness he's almost done...Hopefully by mid-December (good plan, Trav?) so we can enjoy the holidays...Wow! Then I'll be done AND he'll be done...We will be able to RECLAIM our WEEKENDS...I must say, it's been nice not having any schoolwork to do. I've actually been busy making soaps and other smelly stuff for my school's upcoming International Festival...They make a big deal out of this event and have a simultaneous Craft Fair in which I will be selling my wares (and so will Tasha who's been busy knitting Stuff to Sell)...we're such dorks. But at the very least, I'd like to get rid of all of my hobby related CRAP I've been accumulating over the past however many months. While I like the idea of selling things and making things and all, I guess I need to narrow down my doings...I'll see what actually sells at this fair and then take it from there. I need to simplify because otherwise I think everything is a great idea and I buy more stuff to sell therefore spend my money to MAYBE be able to make money back, but we're talking nickels and dimes in the grand scheme, so I just need to look at it like a hobby, something I enjoy doing. If I make a couple of bucks, great, if not, well then I stop buying stuff. Bored with my rambling post yet??

And to end, dinner from a few weeks back. These were supposed to be 'wraps' but I got the wraps at the health food store and they only just crispily folded in half before breaking apart. At least they were good for us!

Have a nice day!