Football, Family and Food

We began by driving to College Station to spend Thanksgiving Day and the TAMU v. tu football game.That's our about to graduate from Texas State Avery with her puppy, Paisley.

Dinner was over about 1:30 and some got in a short nap before we prepped to go tailgait before the game. Our biggest concern was how to optimize the vehicles since we only had one parking permit and the people in the other cars would have to walk across campus to get to our tailgait site. Now to get everything we need, loaded into the one car that we can park at the tailgait site. We had to ride with one car holding six people, so one person in the back seat had to scrunch down so no one would notice we didn't have enough seat belts for six. We are off!!

Unloaded and setup for our version of tailgait--no cooking, a couple of beers and a sandwich before the game. A few other family members dropped by and we had time for a Christmas card shoot in Aggie uniform and Kyle field in the background. I love this picture I got of my brother and sister in law. So sweet.
Then off to the stadium in time to watch the band and the Corps of Cadets march in and settle down for the game. This game is always such an exciting one and especially since we have had such a bipolar team this year. Our hope was that they wouldn't embarrass ourselves and the team stepped up to the bar on that. I think we actually gave them a bit of a scare and tu did not rack up any "beauty points" as they call them. Friday we were back home and getting ready for a celebration in El Campo on Saturday. I got these cute shot of one of the youngest members of the family while we played hide from the camera.

Ryan had about had it with cameras by this time of the day, so it was a real challenge to grab a shot of him.
It was a wonderful weekend of having most of the family together and finding out what is going on in their lives. In two weeks, we will have our Florida family here for graduation and will do it all again. I was most thankful that we had time with my nephew to wish him well as he prepares to deploy for Iraq on Tuesday. It was really a great holiday with plenty of time to connect with everyone. Thanks to everyone for a stress less gathering and good fun! Godspeed, Kyle.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE.

Now to prepare for the next big milestone for college graduation and another family gathering!!!

TTYL. Sandy

It's been a while

As usual I haven't posted in a while. Life has been busy, OK? I managed to make it through my first day of substitute teaching and made it out alive--86 seventh graders. Arghhh!

This last weekend my friend, Peggy, and I went junking/antiquing to Glen Flora and Rosenberg on Saturday and on Sunday we met up at Houston's Urban Market. We managed to snag a few goodies and forgot the camera. I'll be making a trip back to Glen Flora to pick up a couple of things we passed on and have now decided we must have.

Today I listed my first items on Etsy!! You can see them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lolcoop I feel very honored to be invited to join this collective of creative women. I posted my handmade flowers and a couple of vintage paper collections.

The weather here in Sugar Land is absolutely beautiful today and I'm thinking I'll go work in the yard for a bit. I need to harvest the pine cones out of my front yard, if nothing else. I'll be glad when they stop dropping. I fill a large trash bag of them about every other day right now. It's good exercise, but it makes my back hurt. The rusty years are at play here.

Thanksgiving is looming large on the horizon and I'm trying to decide what dishes I will contribute to our dinner. We will be meeting with family in College Station and after the meal we'll be tailgaiting and going to the A&M vs tu game. BTHO tu!!! We've spoiled their season more than once...

That's it for now. More later this week.

Sandy

Need your addresses!!!!

Ladies, ladies, ladies. I tried to sneak around and find your email addresses, but none of you post an "email me" on your blogs. ARgh!!! So those who want flowers, please email me. sphorton@windstream.net I will mail them out next week with instructions.

Lost picture..

rather than edit the previous post, I'll just add the picture that was dropped. This is Gloria winning the apron challenge. That's Taylor Taylor wearing the award winning apron.

Bet you can't make just one...

and it's all Jenna Wilson's fault!! We learned how to make these flowers at Inspiration Unlimited and I think I got a little carried away. Ya think! Obviously I couldn't make up my mind which color I wanted, so I bought several different colors and just making one of each color was out of the question. Just cut up all the material and go for it. This is probably why I have so many handmade embellishments--I want it all!! NOW!! I'll RAK the first 10 people who leave a comment, pick your color: black, white, burgundy, eggplant, taupe, apricot. You can embellish a page, wear it as a brooch or in your hair.

Inspiration Unlimited was a great event. Las Vegas was hot, but not as hot as Phoenix. I should like it, but I miss my humidity. After living in the swamps of America for most of my life, I miss the humidity. Got to meet up with friends from previous events and it was great to see everyone again.

My RFL (roommate for life), Gloria won the apron decorating challenge!! She is so talented. I had offered to help her work on it, but unfortunately for her, she was unable to awaken me at 11pm to give a helping hand. What a good friend I am! It also insured that she got to keep all the goodies and I couldn't legally request a percentage of her winnings. Taylor is wearing Gloria's winning apron and announcing that she is the winner of the challenge. All of the aprons were outstanding works of creativity and it was amazing that they were created in less than 24 hours and in between events.

And speaking of amazing, this event was exactly that. Two days jam packed with workshops and classes delivered by some great ladies. Such a relaxed atmosphere, only heard "you have 2 minutes left" once. Those of you who know me, know that this drives me crazy. I have been known to get up and walk out of a class when these words are uttered!! We did manage to make it to the "strip" on Sunday, brunched at MGM Grand and walked to NY-NY and Hard Rock before it got too hot.

Had a nice storm come through here last night, so I'm going to go sit in the backyard and enjoy the 70' weather.

Ta Ta for now..

Sandy

I forgot to mention

that the Venue Committee flew in around the 1st of July to check out my backyard for the 2009 Summer Olympics. They checked everything: fire bush blooming, check; Turk's cap blooming, check; trumpet flowers blooming, check;fresh nectar, check; esperanza blooming, check. I was so glad that I passed inspection again this year. Oh, did I forget to tell you this is the Hummingbird Olympics??
It seems that during August and September the adolescent males are vieing for the best spots. I get some of the best of the best appearing for competition: Buzz Lightyear, Luke Skywalker, you recognize them.
Usually, I only see one hummingbird at a time in my yard. It could be one that comes by many times a day or several that come one at a time to feed on my flowers, but during these months I will have 2-6 at a time. They are very aggressive and fight among themselves over which can feed from which flowers. There is much chasing and dive bombing and at times it is like actually being in Star Wars the movie as they chase each other through the yard, banking around the honeysuckle, swooping under the patio cover (narrowly missing my head) and sometimes engaging in hand to hand combat (actually, that foot to foot combat) and falling to the ground and flopping around until someone gives up and releases the other from their hold. It's all very exciting. I never know who wins.
Sadly, they will be finished with their teenage combat soon and heading on to Mexico or where every they winter. I'll miss the excitement, but then I can begin preparing for next year's inspection and hoping that I will pass muster and be picked again.

Life in the backyard is exciting!!

Creative Escape

Home at last! Whew, what a week. My RFL (roommates for life) and I met up on Tuesday morning at the Phoenix airport at 9 am or there abouts, got our car and set out for some serious shopping in the Phoenix area. We hit everything on our list for the first day and then some: Melrose Vintage (I could kick myself for not getting a piece of junk that I liked), then to Frenzy Stamper, Sprinkles CupCakes (not too impressed with that) and then to the hotel. Wednesday morning bright and early we were on the Bazzill bus to buy cardstock (it was like a kid in a candy store, but I have plenty of cs now)then on to Scrapbooks Etc. for more shopping. In the afternoon we made it to Mystic Paper (I heart this store!), Domestic Bliss, SAS Fabric (Gloria scored a yard of Amy Butler fabric for $5) and after that everything is a blur. Thursday morning we had a reunion breakfast of the the China trip. It was really awesome to see everyone and catch up. Jaci from Scrapmap was there and we talked her into talking Jim into a London/Cottswald tour with Heidi in 2011!! Whoop!! After breakfast everything for the next three days is pretty much a blur. The projects were over the top. Not a bad one in the bunch and head and shoulders over CE07. Evidently, they noticed I boycotted CE08 and cleaned up their act. The closing dinner was delicious as was all the meals. The highlight for me was having my friend and dinner partner, Penny Powers, win her golden ticket for CE10!! Way to go!

Glo and I decided we would take a little wind down time and moved to a cheaper hotel Sunday and just lazed around. Went to see Inglorious Basterds!! Bloody, funny and typical Tarrentino! Would definitely see that one again and probably laugh even more. Managed to arrive home about 6 on Monday after schleping 60 lbs of luggage through 2 airports. Definitely need to rethink what I take to these events and I even shipped stuff back to myself. A good time was had by all.

Now I have to get ready for Inspiration Unlimited in Las Vegas at the end of September and that's it for me.

He did it!

My nephew planned a surprise proposal for his girlfriend. He began sending us emails in March for the event planned for the end of May. Somehow he managed to pull it off without a hitch. Both are Aggies and the plan was a traditional proposal under the Century Oak on the A&M Campus. It was beautiful and she had no idea it was coming. She never saw the 15 or so family members standing a mere 15 feet away she was so surprised. They are going to have such a wonderful life together. They are both so grounded and responsible. He will be departing soon for Ft. Bliss and deployment to Iraq and she will remain behind and continue predicting the weather for Channel 3 in Shreveport. So if you are ever in Shreveport, that cute weather lady will be related to us next year.
So last week when I was in Shreveport, I gave them a mini album of the event. As usual, my slow scrapping was a factor and I really had to push myself to have it done before the trip.
All is well, all are happy.

Glitter and glue to you,

Sandy

Link to Arbor Oaks

I don't know what happened to the link. Will try this again.
http://www.arboroaksretreat.com/

Yum-O

It's been a while since I updated here. I got a lot of flack from my retreat mates, so I'm finally going to update my blog!!
Sunday before last I woke up to the smells of the breakfast cooking--straight from NOLA!! Beignets and coffee milk, oh so good!! It was as good at being at the Cafe du Monde!! A group of old and new friends met in Lake Charles at Arbor Oaks for a weekend of scrappin, drinkin, laughin and eatin. Lot's of good Cajun food including fresh boudin and crackers--my FAV!! We did our own cooking and it was fabulass. Everyone took a meal and it was all good.
I learn a few cajun/creole words. Thank goodness I can't remember them because I sure I wouldn't have occasion to repeat them!! It was great seeing my old friends. It has been over a year since we were all together and could stir up a little trouble.
Many beautiful layouts were created and displayed. We even had a little challenge going on. The local Scrapbooking store was just a few blocks away and we certainly took advantage of their sale! In fact, they had a pink sale going on. Everything that was pink was discounted, even if the pink only appeared in the label!!
Here's the link for Arbor Oaks


Glitter and glue to you!

Sandy

INTRODUCING...

Fanfare...Drumroll...

No not just because I'm updating my blog!! I have been a busy little bee, just humming around the house and chained to my sewing machine. I've been sooo in love with that machine this past month.

Okay, enough of that.

Imagine yourself on the catwalk doing your thing with your trusty AMM Tote at your side and suddenly all your tools start falling out. Horrors... They are everywhere, all over the runway. This happens to me a lot. Not of the runway, but getting from my car to the crop. In fact, I lost my brayer for a month. I later found it under the front seat of my car. On top of that, I'm getting ready for a trip and I plan to take some SB classes during non working hours. I wanted to take my tote with me just in case they asked us to use something that was not in the basic tool box. The problem was that I didn't want everything falling out of the tote and into my luggage.

I thought about it a bit and decided to make a cover for the tote. At least if anything fell out during the time I was intransit, it would be contained inside the cover. So without further ado, here is my tote cover.

I made a few extras and you can view them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shorton2006/SandBags?authkey=Gv1sRgCM730uz-8rGSkQE&feat=directlink

They are listed at the end of the album. As you can see, I don't know how to embed a link.

If you would like to order a tote or a purse, please email me for particulars. The tote will sell for $15 and that includes s/h in the US. and the purses sell for $50 including s/h.

I hope I don't get bumped off my connection here. We are having some pretty fierce storms around here and I'm expecting to have to shut this down pretty quickly. The little bit of rain we have had so far is really making my backyard look nice. There is nothing like a little rain to brighten up your flower beds. I'm hoping that by the time I get back home that everything will be beautiful and blooming and as an added bonus there will be little tomatoes on the tomato plant. Maybe and eggplant and a pepper or two as well.

I am trying tomatoes this year for the first time in several years. The last time I planted them the possums ate them. I went out to pick three really beautiful specimens and when I took them from the plant, they were hollow. The possum had leaned away from the fence, had eaten a hole in the back side of the tomato and had cleaned out the interior of the tomato. I was a bit sad, but there was one happy little possum. Oh, and no I don't live in the country. I live smack, dab in the middle of suburbia!! I would like to be rid of the stinky little rascals, but another would just take its place.

I need to say ta-ta and begin to get ready for my trip.

Vegas, Baby!!!!

Can't wait for this one!! I missed going last year but I don't expect anything to get in my way this time! Looks like we will have a good Texas group-equal parts Houston and Dallas. I'm hoping to go in a day early and stay a day late. Room rates certainly help out there. I want to get down to the dam and see the exhibits there. My dad donated pictures he took hanging out the side of an airplane back in the 1940s. Last we heard they had not put his pictures up for display, but have archived all his negatives.

I am almost finished with my Photoshop class, yeah..and have bought my CS4 Extended student edition program. Now I just have to fix my Picasa database, Ugh.

I'm still waiting for the job fairy to drop by and tell me I have a job. Obviously, I'm not a very well disciplined person or I would be in "hog heaven" right now. No boss, no politics, all the time in the world to do what I wish...blah, blah, blah... Oh, I did manage to rearrange and clean up my scrap room. This is a major undertaking and I'm still not finished with it. I still have two dumping sites that need to be organized and integrated into the room and the wall deco put up permantently. When I get that done, I'll show pics.

I'll try to post more often here. In the meantime, I'm waiting for my stimulus money. I'll let you know when it arrives!!!

Sandy

It's amazing

what you find when you start cleaning up your scraproom!! I found one of the first CK KOTMs from Ali Edwards and look at the stamps I found inside...Well, I may never get around to the kit, but the stamps are going into service.

Unfortunately, I have a whole box full of unopened or unfinished kits. Namely, why I have tried not to buy any more until I finish those. Yeah, right.

Here's a sneak of some of my cleaning attempts. When I get totally finished, I'll post the final and you can save it for posterity since it will never look that way again.

Maybe some day I will get better at setting up my blog entries. Adding pictures is really getting to be more difficult the more that I do.

Thanks Ching for the blog nomination, but this entry shows I haven't a clue about what I'm doing.

Hopefully, I will begin to improve sometime soon. I need to get back to my room and create some more space and get to some scrapping.

Glitter and glue to you

Sandy

Monthly Metting

of the Currently Unemployed met this evening to slam down a couple of beers/margaritas, eat dinner and commiserate over our currently unemployed status. Many laughs were had over the comparison of our daily lives since our jobs were deemed unnecessary. How having one thing to do takes a day of preparation including spending most of the afternoon preparing for our meeting this evening. What a hoot!! I am really happy that we have all continued to get together without fail since the demise of our jobs in September. Many good laughs were had and it is always great company.
On another note: Have you noticed that newspapers are getting smaller? I made note of this the last time I changed the bird cage. Usually I had to fold over about an inch and a half to fit in the tray at the bottom of Mango's cage, now it fits exactly.
Speaking of which or whom--here is a picture of Mango. Taking a picture of him is like trying to herd cats. About the time you get focused, he is off to some other important project in or on his cage. No time for posing. So I felt extremely fortunate to snag this picture of him.

For those who could not post to my last entry, all I can figure out is that I did edit that entry and I'm sure it has something to do with that. I did make sure that the proper comment buttons were highlighted. Go figure.

Glitter and glue to you...

Sandy

Based on the number of

photos taken on my first officially requested photo shoot (meaning the subjects were not coerced family members) I have enough daily pictures for 1 1/2 years!!! However, I was able to pick out 140 that were worthy of showing the clients. I have emailed them and I am holding my breath.
I will have to admit that the family is part of my extended family, but nevertheless, they asked and I hope I delivered.

We spent a little over an hour at a local park here. They had some shots they wanted to make and I had a few the I wanted to try. I just clicked away in hopes of getting an outstanding shot and I think I managed to get a couple, especially just standing around and clicking on the girls as they interacted. It paid off except for the background, Arghhhh! I may try cropping down a little and

see if that helps. They were all easy subjects. And a little of the ham in them as well. The older girls are students at Texas A&M and the youngest still in high school. They are so close to each other and have such fun together. And, of course, the older two are so patient with the younger. They truly have great fun together.

I was teasing the dad that his head was reflecting light all over the place. We had a great laugh and I think a cute picture out of that exchange. I doubt they pick it, but everyone had a good laugh out of it.

The picture below is my favorite of them all . We took this one on the way out of the park. It really reflects how close and happy this family is.

Glitter and glue to you...

Sandy