My New Creative Outlet

So Jenny, my co-worker, got the great idea to have a girls night out of wreath making.  Of course, this is a Pinterest inspired event!!!  Football season is just around the corner (literally, it starts next weekend), so we gathered together to show our local hometown college support by making wreaths for our doors!  The first picture is a collage of the 4 wreaths we made.  They came out great, in my opinion!  The wine could have been an inspiration! LOL!

This second picture is the one that I made and have finally hung on my door!  I had to go purchase an actual wreath hanger as before I was just using random nails that had been left from previous tenants in the apartment. A nail wasn't quite long enough, nor did I think it could support it.  The wreath isn't really that heavy but, boy is it HUGE!!!

This wreath below is the one that I did for my younger sister.  She, of course, after seeing mine, wanted one for herself.  In fact, I've already been instructed that she wants a Halloween, Christmas and Mardi Gras wreaths.  :/  I guess I'll be busy!!!  I am visiting her next weekend so I told her that we are going to go shopping for some of those wreaths and get them made while I am there!  They are too big and fragile to think about shipping!

I think that my sister's came out better than mine.  But isn't that always the case?  The first is an experiment and as you make more, you get the execution and concepts refined.  I can't wait to work on another one.  Just not sure what the theme will be!

Hello!

It has been over a month since I last posted! Where has the time gone?  It seems to have flown by!  September has been filled with birthdays, football games, and work. 

I've been busy mostly with work this month.  I have worked the last 13 days straight.  I am tired!  Today was my first full day off of work.  It was bittersweet.  It was nice to be home but I had so much to catch up on with the household chores! 

How about those #1 LSU Tigers?  Woo hoo!  My team is #1 in the AP poll!  (We won't discuss the silly coaches poll).  While it is still early, I hope that my Tigers can hang onto this spot.  Or maybe just hang out in the top 5?  That would be good too.  #1 is too much pressure!

Yesterday was Homecoming at one of the local high schools.  My friend's two sons were attending and asked me to come out and take some pictures. At first it looked like I wouldn't make it as I had a board meeting in a town 2 1/2 hours away but I finished up in just enough time to "fly" back in time for the pictures.  (Thank goodness there were no cops on the route!!!!)  Here are a few of the pictures I took:

I've also been doing a little bit of stitching.  I try to pick up a project whenever I have a few minutes available. I am currently stitching on the Mad Tea Party but I have no update picture yet.

I had to re-start Snow White.  I flubbed a BUNCH of stitches so this is my re-start of it:

This is the project that my sister requested I do for her.  She doesn't know that I am working on it.  :)  It is a secret.  It is the Thomas Kinkade Peter Pan and Tinker Bell picture:



My latest obsession?  Pinterest.  Have ya'll found this website?  http://www.pinterest.com/  It is a place where you can gather all your favorite projects, web pages, etc and it is accesible from anywhere.  I find it hard to describe but if you can get an invite from a user, you should try it out.  It is addictive!

On Friday I went with my sister to see The Lion King.  It hadn't changed any from the first time I had seen it.  Although the 3D was pretty cool.  But as I was sitting there watching it, I realized how violent this movie is!  Wow!  Lots of death!

Hope all is well in your worlds!  I hope to find more time to blog in the future!

Fun Weekend!

Oh, how I wish the weekends would never end!  Mondays are just so loathsome!  Especially the Monday following Daylight Savings Time!!! 

I had a great weekend!  It was fun and the time just flew by! 

Friday
Friday started with an interview for a great position that would keep me busy and with a company that seems to be pretty great and STABLE!  Unfortunately, I was only able to meet with one of the three people I was supposed to meet with so I am hoping to be called back for a 2nd interview.  The person I met with said that he felt confident I would be, but one never knows!

Stacy and Marly Grace rolled into town Friday afternoon.  It has been quite a few months since I have seen them last.  Since football season! Way too long!

We went to dinner at a local favorite, Parrain's!  Great seafood.  We had fried green tomatos with a remoulade sauce, charbroiled oysters, and fried shrimp.  Yummy!  After eating so much we had to do something to work off all that food so we went to Perkins Rowe which is a local shopping area. Great area to walk around and do some window shopping.

Then we finished up the evening by watching LSU beat Cal State Fullerton in baseball.  It was a close game but we were victorious!  The game also had one of the worse collisions I had ever seen in a baseball game.  Looked like they forgot they were baseball players and were football players instead!  While we watched the game, Marly kept herself busy coloring and making me a beautiful picture of a sunflower!

Saturday
Saturday, we packed in a bunch in the morning!  Stacy and Marly Grace were to head to New Orleans to catch a cruise ship.  So, we went to breakfast and then while Stacy went to pick up her mother-in-law, and Marly and I waited for Stacy's mom to arrive at my place, Marly and I cleaned up my patio.  I know, real fun, huh?  But it was such a beautiful morning out, it needed to be done and Marly offered to help.  Who was I to turn down free labor?  :)

Once I got them all off to New Orleans, I headed out to see a movie.  I chose Red Riding Hood.  I liked it.  It was different.  Definitely  not a traditional fairy tale. But if you aren't  interested in werewolves or witches, not a movie for you!  And it definitely was an "adult" movie. Not for children to see!

Sunday
Started off at the dog park with Duke.  A local park recently underwent some renovations and is now open.  It is a beautiful park.  Has a section for large dogs and small dogs.  A fishing pond.  New tennis courts and facility.  Walking trails.  Duke go to roam around for about half an hour with no leash on and then I got to walk around the trails for another half an hour. 

The rest of the day was laundry, watching LSU beat Cal State Fullerton in the 3rd game of the series (we swept the series!), and a quick visit with my parents.  It was definitely a lazy Sunday!

Daylight Savings Time, though, is not my favorite.  I like the extra sunlight but the hour we lose really messes everything up.  I went to church on Saturday so I wouldn't "oversleep" on Sunday.  But then Sunday night I wasn't tired and couldn't get to sleep so I tossed and turned all night.  Getting up Monday morning was a fight!  Blegh!  Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll be back into a routine again!

Stitching
Not much progress has been made since last week.  It's been busy, busy, busy.  Hopefully I will have something to show next blog entry but I'm not promising!  LOL  Stacy and Marly Grace are back in town on Saturday again and we have plans.

Spring is here!
I can tell spring is here.  Not by just the film of green pollen on everything but by all of the upcoming events: parties, baseball games, concerts.  It is going to be fun and busy time!

Bring it on.....

I can't begin to describe the joy I was feeling last night as SEC football kicked off with South Carolina playing Southern Miss.  The return on SEC football!!!  Been dreaming of it since LSU played their last game on January 1.  One more day and the Tigers will be playing!!!

I did my grocery shopping today, thankfully.  It was already a zoo!  I can't even imagine what the stores will be like on Game Day.  But I am totally ready.  I have my beer, mango run, chips, dip, makings for taco soup.  I am READY!!!!  It will be football Saturday for me!!!  Football will be the only thing on my tv on Saturday! I may do some things around the apartment, but other than that I will be soaking up SEC football which I have dearly missed!  The day will start with  Game Day on ESPN.  It is being broadcast from Atlanta which is where LSU is playing tomorrow's game. Then I will watch one of the many games that are on tv up until 7 pm which will then start the LSU game!!!!!

I have been paying attention to all the stories that are coming out about our opponent, the Tarheels. At last count, the Tarheels would be down 15 players, 6 ruled ineligible by the NCAA, 6 suspended by the school and 3 that weren't allowed to make the trip because they are still being investigated. Gotta love NCAA violations!!! If we can't win against a team that is down 15 players, 8-9 of them starters, then we are going to have some serious PROBLEMS!!!


 
Yes, I bleed purple and gold. But I'm not any more obsessive about it than the next person down here in south Louisiana. I was just raised right.  A GRITS (girl raised in Tiger Stadium). I wonder what shirt I will wear tomorrow?  Yes, of course it will be a LSU shirt but will it be white, purple, grey, or gold?  So many choices! 

Life is good!  :)

Easter Weekend and Beyond

Friday
There were only two of us working in the office on Friday.  When the boss came to us at 11:30 to say that he was leaving for the day at 11:45, we looked at each and said "WTF is wrong with us?"  So we left early at 1:30.  :)

Friday evening I went to the LSU baseball game with my Daddy.  It was a good game.  Game 1 of the 3 game series against Georgia.  We won! :)  Daddy got us awesome seats along the 1st baseline.  You can tell by the pictures I took with my phone's camera how close we were to the field!!  I love baseball!!!

Anthony Ranaudo warming up for his first start since being hurt.

Pre-game warm ups

Saturday

Saturday morning I went out shopping.  I indulged and bought myself a few new shirts but my main objective was to get my niece Marly a birthday present.  She is going to be 9!!!!  Wow!  How time flies!  So a trip out to the outlet mall to visit her favorite shop was necessary.  Justice for Girls.  A little too girlie for me but it is what she likes!!!! 

I even visited Cabelo's for the first time ever.  I've never have had a reason to go there so I was out there so I went in. I'll probably never go there again.  LOL!  I don't do anything outdoors and if I do, I just use my grandfather's equipment.  So, unless I go back for a gift card for my grandfather, it really isn't my kind of place!!!

Spring came and went pretty quickly around here.  We are now heading toward the hot, humid, muggy days of summer!!!  Saturday afternoon was quite warm, so before the LSU baseball game came on, Duke and I headed out for sno cones.  There's a place not far from my apartment who has yummy flavors and does "puppy" cones too!!  (Basically just plain ice formed into a sno cone in a little Dixie cup).  Duke and I got our sno cones and then came back home to enjoy them while watching the game.

Duke enjoying his sno-cone!!  Ooops, it spilled!

Sunday

Sunday was, of course, Easter.  Now, for some reason, I didn't sleep a wink the night before.  As I was still awake, I got up and went to early Mass.  By the time my parents called me to join them for Mass, I'd already gone and come back and was cooking breakfast!!!

Went to my parents for Easter dinner and to watch the 3rd game of the LSU series against Georgia.  It was a really pleasant afternoon! 

Now, I was really tired as I had not slept the night before, I went to bed super early.  Not just because of lack of sleep but because I was to meet the boss at 6:30 am on Monday morning!!!

Monday

Ohhhh, how I was anxious about Monday!  On Monday I took a trip to Orange Beach, Alabama with my boss.  We went to visit a resort where we are holding our summer convention in June.  It is 4 hours one way!!!  4 hours in a car, alone, with my boss.  A total of 8 hours in a car.  No radio. 

To be honest, it wasn't bad.  He was very well-behaved.  I'm not saying I had a blast but we both came home alive! :)

Now, let's talk about the resort.  This place is awesome!!! 2 and 3 bedroom condos.  Full kitchens.  Each bedroom has a private bathroom.  Huge balconies.  I cannot wait to go!!!  Since I am to have my own 2 bedroom condo, my sister and friend Celestine will be joining me for the weekend.  We may not see each other much as I have to work but why waste a 2 bedroom condo that we don't have to pay for????  Now don't feel too bad.  I will have off at least 1 afternoon where I can enjoy one of the 3 pools and the 980 feet of lazy river.  :) 

Upcoming

I have a trip to Houston coming up for my niece Marly's birthday.  I'm excited to go see everyone.  Might even run into my sister as she will be in Houston for a birthday party also that is literally just a few miles down the road from where I'll be. 

I'm also excited that my BFF Sarah is coming into town this month.  But not only this month but in June too!!!!  I hope we manage to catch up with each other!!!  It is rare that we see each other once a year let alone 2x within 6 months of each other!!!!  In fact, it has been 6 months since I last went to Houston to see her!!!  Wow, I think we might be setting a record!  I can't wait. 

Hope everyone is well and enjoying this fabulous Spring!!!

Halloween Weekend

There was a time, not too long ago, had someone had told me that I would be having so much fun I would not have believed them!  This Halloween weekend was so much fun!

Friday night started the weekend off.  Jill and I went to a late dinner at Zea's where we had some great food!  Then we were off to the 10 pm showing of Rocky Horror at the local community theatre.  The production company that was putting it on is owned by a friend of mine, Chris.  They did an excellent job!  We laughed and smiled so much!!!  Gasps of shock as the actors came out in their lingerie and laughter as the actors mingled among the audience.

Saturday was a beautiful day!  Cool temperatures. Blue skies. A perfect day for Halloween.  Jill and I went down to campus to spend the day. First was the baseball team's national championship ring ceremony.  The whole team was there with the exception of two players.  One was in the Dominican Republic playing baseball and the other was Chad Jones, he was getting ready for the football game.

After the ring ceremony, it was FOOTBALL TIME!  We made it over to the hill in time to see the band come down the hill.  A great tradition everyone should see at least once!  Then on to the game.  We were playing Tulane.  So, while it wasn't exactly an exciting game, it was still a great night!  A win is a win. No matter who it is against.

It was a weekend of firsts for Jill.  She'd never been to Rocky Horror.  Never been in the new Alex Box Stadium.  Never been to an LSU football game. It was a great time!  A wonderful weekend!

Houston Trip

Friday I anxiously counted down the time to 11:30!  As soon as it hit, I was out the office door!  After stopping to get some gas and cash (hey! that rhymes!), I was on the road.  It was a beautiful day for a ride!  Blue skies all the way! 

Once I arrived, we were off to dinner at Gringo's!  They have some of the best Mexican food!  I also had a apple pucker margarita.  It was good to try but I probably wouldn't have it again.  It isn't as good as say, mango or peach.

Then we came home where we had a quiet evening. I was able to play with Cassady, change her, get her ready for bed, feed her, and then put her to bed.  She is just too sweet!

Saturday was an awesome day!  We had so much fun at Sarah's youngest daughter's birthday party!  It was a great time to catch up with an old, dear friend.  It was also nice to see her parents.  Sarah's dad was one of my high school teachers.  He is, and always be, Mr. Paul.  His wife however has become just Pam.  Isn't that funny!?  Cassady was awesome.  She was so good tempered and she just played and played.  I finally had to leave because she would not lay down to nap.  She had to be up and aware of all that was going on!  She was out seconds after putting her in the car!!!  It was an awesome trip even though I got lost twice.  But what's a road trip without getting lost at least once??

Sarah's two girls are just so cute.  They are total opposites.  Eden, her oldest, is the spitting image of her mother, outgoing and very talkative.  Zoe is more reserved and like her father.  But they both cannot be mistaken for anything other than "Paul" girls. 

Saturday evening was a nice relaxing evening with the girls.  Stacy, Cassady and I went out for Chinese, then Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and back home to watch the LSU game.  The boys finally decided to deliver a decisive victory for us! 

I was on the road by 9 am on Sunday.  Cassady decided that she wanted to wake up at 6:30 am!!  We really thought she would sleep late as we had had such a big day on Saturday!  No such luck!  But that had me home by 1:30ish.  I have been able to spend that time watching the Saints game, stitching, some laundry, and making some homemade cranberry sauce (I love cranberries!).

I have the long work week ahead of me, but that's ok!  I have Rocky Horror on Friday to look forward to and then Halloween, Tulane LSU game, and enchiladas with friends on Saturday!!!!

Busy, but mostly lazy, weekend

It was a fairly good weekend.  Saturday was a busy day. I woke up early to take my car in for it's very first oil change and tire rotation.  I have to say, it didn't take them that long.  I was in and out in less than an hour!

I then briefly made an appearance at my apartment to walk the dog and then off to campus to pick up Stacy and Marly Grace.  We thought it would be a good idea for them to park their car early on campus for the big game that night, Florida and LSU.  We were right.  At 10:30 am, people were beginning to park on the outskirts of campus.  There were people every where. I can honestly say, I cannot remember a time when there were so many people on campus.  They were estimating 150,000 to be on campus.

It was Stacy's birthday so we went to Parrain's for lunch.  We had a great time.  And for dessert, we had purple and gold cheesecake!!! 

We then did a quick shopping trip to Walmart and then back to campus to drop them off for the game.  I then proceeded home where I spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled on the couch with my dog.  I've just been so tired lately from work and late nights with the dog (he's been sick) that I actually napped.  Then I watched the game. 

I don't know why I am upset that we lost to Florida.  It was pretty much a given.  But I had hope.  I was holding on to the hope that the team that I know they can be would show up.  Instead, they just disappointed me.  Now I could strongly argue, though, that the referrees were on Florida's payroll.  I mean, really?  How many times in a row can you call offsides?

Sunday has been a semi lazy day.  I have done laundry, some ironing, and that's about it.  I've started a new cross stitch project.  I am now working on a quilt for Christmas for Cassady.  I hope to finish it by then.  Once I've gotten some progress made on it, I will post a progress picture.

I did have dinner with my parents.  My mom's birthday is next weekend but she won't be here so we had a dinner tonight.  Dad made a yummy Mexican Stew.  It was awesome.  It's like a typical beef stew but it has rotel tomatos, cinnamon, chili powder, apple juice, and granny smith apples added in.  It was very yummy!

That's all for now.  I have to get ready for the upcoming work week!  Ugh!  Not looking forward to it!

Weekend Update

No Expectations
This weekend was one where I was not expected anywhere and there was no one visiting!  It was a nice, quiet weekend!  I liked it!!!

Halloween
I love Halloween!  It's my favorite holiday.  This Sunday, my mom and I went to purchase my nephew Parker's halloween costume.  This year, he is going to be Darth Vader.  Yep, the villain from Star Wars.  It's what he wanted! 

Typically we also get my niece Marly her costume.  However, today she informed me that she wants to "make" her costume.  Meaning, she wants a homemade costume. SHE wants to do it.  I'm all for it.  It's the kind of costumes I grew up with.  I did make sure to let her know, she can change her mind at any time.

Also did some Halloween shopping today.  I got a really cool spider web to hang in the patio door!  I'm thinking that for night time, I am going to get some orange or purple lights to go around it! 

Stitching
This weekend I managed to get some stitching in while watching all of the many football games going on!  I worked on Dragon Knot mostly.  I managed to finish the SIXTH page!!! Yay!

A friend of mine asked me about the back of the project.  How "neat" it should look.  Well, just for her, here is the back of Dragon Knot:

Not so very neat is it?  However, with this particular pattern there are a ton of confetti stitches!!!!

Randomness

Besides the shopping and stitching, not much went on.  Did some cleaning and laundry.  Ran over to a friend's apartment a couple of times to feed the cats while she is away.  Watched football of course.  The Tigers managed to pull out a win and move up in the rankings to #4. Just hope it can last!!!!

Not ready for work of course.  But is anyone really?  Lots to do in a short week!  I am taking off, crossing fingers, on Thursday and Friday. Hopefully I will survive until then!!!

Have a good week!

Saturday Night In Death Valley!

Ok, so I wasn't actually in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night but it was still a great afternoon/night!!!

I headed out to Jill's house for an afternoon of shooting, dinner, and then the LSU-ULL football game! 

Now, I have never in my life shot a gun. Not even a bb gun! Let alone even handled one. I figured that if I were to shoot one, maybe I'd get over my fears.  So Jill offered to let me shoot some of hers!  I have to say, I really enjoyed it!!!  I was shaking like a leaf but I actually didn't do that bad!  I actually hit the target a few times!!!  Jill had me try out 3 different guns.  What they were, well, you'd have to ask her. LOL  I know I started out very easy and progressed up to guns with a lot of "kick". 

Can you tell how tense I am in the pictures?  LOL!  But I really did enjoy it!!!  Definitely a great stress reliever! 

We then had dinner.  Which Jill and her husband did a great job cooking!!!  Loved the taco soup!  She even made bread pudding for dessert!  One of my favorite desserts!

We all went and got daiquiris and then came back to watch the LSU game!  It was a great game!  We won!  Even better was when Washington beat USC!!! Yay!!!!!

I have to say that this Saturday was so much fun!!!!  It was definitely needed and appreciated!!!

Never Rains in Tiger Stadium

Here in Louisiana we have a saying: "It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium"  I don't know who or when this was originated but I have to say, there have been countless times that I have sat soaked on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. This Saturday was one of those days!

The day started with clouds and lots of rain.  By the time Jeff, Parker, Lisa and I made it to campus, it had stopped raining.  We had a great afternoon of shopping at the Union bookstore and tailgating with friends!  It was so great to catch up with old friends!!!

LSU Cookie Cake!  Too cute!

Lisa and her godson, Michael Jr.

Parker (Jeff in the back)

Then on to the game.  It still wasn't raining.  Would our luck hold out?  Unfortunately, no. 30 minutes prior to the game as we were sitting waiting for the pre-game to start, it started to sprinkle.  It did this through the first quarter.  2nd quarter, the heavens opened up!  We did have our ponchos which kept our upper bodies quite dry.  But for some reason, our entire back sides (although we were sitting) were soaked!  I literally had to peel my clothes off of me when I got home! 

Great view from our seats!

But nothing can ruin a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium!  We won, of course!  Currently 2-0. 

Before the rain!

Whirlwind Weekend

I have been so busy with work that I haven't had the chance to do a blog update. I do have some stitching progress to show but not much. I will save that for another day!

This weekend my Uncle came in for a visit. He hasn't visited South Louisiana for 10 years. From the moment he stepped off the plane we whisked him away! On Saturday we went to LSU for a tour of the campus. We were so lucky that Mike was out! He was playing in the water. He is such a beautiful cat!

We also headed over to New Orleans that afternoon. Had to visit the voodoo shop and other specialty shops that only New Orleans has!

On Sunday we headed to Nottoway Plantation. Such a beautiful home! Rich in history and stories! It was so much fun to wander the grounds and tour the home. Envision a time that was so different than today.

I now need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Another long week at work. So much to do, so little time! :)

National Champions!!!!

I have spent the last 12 days watching the College World Series. I have watched most of the games and ALL of the LSU games. I have spent the last 3 nights on the edge of my seat, watching and waiting for LSU to win their SIXTH championship! Tonight they did that! Winning 11 to 4 against University of Texas! GEAUX TIGERS!

Back from Florida

I am back from my convention in Florida. It went very well, I believe. At least I was praised by most that it was a success. This is the view from my balcony. Isn't it beautiful? On Saturday evening I watched a beach wedding. How sweet!

Next door to the hotel was the Gulfarium. All I can say is that it's no Sea World!!!!

It was VERY hot in Florida. So hot that I only managed an hour on the beach on Friday. And in that short of time, with SPF 30 lotion slathered on, I still managed to get burned!!! Saturday, after going to the Gulfarium, I managed to spend another hour out by the pool but that was between 4 pm and 5 pm. I've never been to the beach when it was so hot you were miserable. There wasn't even a cool ocean breeze!!! But I got some beach time in and it just makes me want more!

Now I'm back home, I've picked Duke back up from the vet, and I am preparing to watch the College World Series! Geaux Tigers!