A Vicious Game....

Sorry happens to be my favorite game so of course I had to play! And yes, it was vicious, we were having a great time sending people back and knocking each other back to start!

Last night we went down to my In-Laws and spent a few hours down there. We had leftovers since they ate earlier and just hung out. Rich's niece's Abby and Emily came home with us (they live by Columbus) and we just got back from meeting their mom halfway. The kids all had a great time and it was nice to spend some time with Dad, Alice and Uncle Dave.

Abby and Emmy

My Love!

PS: Check out that quilt behind Rich (the yellow one) - not one I made, but I like it!

SNOW!!!

Monday night it started snowing, and didn't stop till sometime last night. When I went to work on Tuesday morning there was just a light dusting of snow, not much at all. But it was coming down. As the day progressed it got heavier and was the perfect snow for snowballs! I know, the guys threw some at us in dispatch yesterday! When I got out of work at 7 p there was easily 3 inches of snow, and this is what I woke up to this morning. Doesn't it look so pretty?

Monday night was the Cross Country banquet, it was nice, a potluck and it was great to see everyone again. J earned a medal for the Jr High boys winning the district, and TJ won a special award for being such a dedicated freshman. As coach said "He came out of nowhere and just blew us away". He also lettered as a freshman, which is pretty impressive, since you have to be on the the varsity team for 50% of the races. He was on varsity for all but 1, which he didn't race.

J

TJ

And this is how we have been keeping our heating costs down:

I mentioned we have a gas well on our property and we finally got our gas heater hooked up in our basement and got it going. It is keeping the lower two levels in the 68-72 range, but the upstairs is still a little cold. We were having problems figuring out how high/low to run it to keep it going and to keep the house warm. But I think we got it now. Its not necessarily hot in here, but it keeps the furnace from running which is what we wanted.

Otherwise I have been working. Today is my Friday. I am off tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. I plan to spend most of the day tomorrow sewing. We are going to Rich's dads when he gets off work and then Friday we will be home with the kids. Saturday Rich works and I will be home cleaning and sewing. I haven't done anything since last week and I need to get some stuff done!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!! WE BEAT MICHIGAN!!! (sorry all you Michigan fans out there!)

I unfortunately did not get to watch THE GAME, because I was at work, but I heard it was a good game.


Yesterday Rich hooked up the gas wall heater in the basement. We have a gas well on our property so we ran a line to the house and bought a small wall unit. It did a great job heating the floors and when I went to bed it was about 73 according to the thermostat. They also cleaned stalls and then watched the game. It was nice and toasty in here when I got home!

After I got home from work last night my parents came over and we had dinner. My brother came over too, and they guys watched football while us ladies chatted. Dinner consisted of pizza, veggies, chips and cookies. J made cookies yesterday (he is not a football fan) so he made these. Can you read them??

He tried hard and they say "The Ohio State" "O" and "Go Bucks Win". And Mom took this picture of the 4 of us. Rich was whinning that he didn't want his picture taken, but you can't say no to mom, right?

Nothing happening in the sewing world, been working and don't have off till Thursday. Today was a little stressful at work since I started answering 911 calls. Kinda scary when that phone goes off since it is LOUD and sounds like a siren! But I did it and didn't completely freeze!

Right now I am reading Inkspell, and enjoying it. It is at Teen book and a friend recommended it to me. It's about this guy who can read things out of books, like characters when he reads aloud and he read out a villan many years ago and now they want him to do more.

Tomorrow is the cross country banquet and I will have some more pictures then, otherwise, nothing happening. Off to blog read, and then read some more and bed! Tomorrow I work 5a to 3 p again!

Booking Through Thursday

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

This is one question that I am honestly not sure of the answer. I think that many reviewers do give good reviews, even if they don't like the book, just because they feel obligated. One of the reasons I tend to not want to review books - because I don't like to feel pressured to read a book and if I don't like it then I am going to want to say so (or not finish reading it!). As for disclaimers, well, that might be going a bit far, but yes, we probably are getting to that point. It won't be long before an author sues a person over a bad review. This is really sad because there are so many great books out there! But everyone prefers something different. I have read books before that others have loved that I think not so much..and vice versa. I would hope that reviewers would be honest in their review, then maybe the author would consider reworking the book before it becomes published.

A Day Off!!

Today is one of my 3 days off, but it really doesn't seem like it since I worked till 5 am this morning. Then I took a nap and then got up to do some sewing! It was so nice to be able to sit down and sew or do some reading while no one was home. Now it is almost bed time for the kids and I am kinda tired. Being tired is good though since I work "normal" for the next 6 weeks; mostly 5a to 3p.


Today I finished the backing for my tree skirt, got it quilted and the binding put on. Now I just need to sew the binding down. I am glad it is done and I can move on to something else. Here is a completed picture, and for Karen here is the tutorial from Crazy Mom that shows how to put the hole in the center so it goes around the tree! (Excuse the mess and the orange in the center!)

I also FINALLY received some pictures of my to be granddaughter in her pirate costume. It ended up being a little big in the shirt, but its hard to make a shirt for someone that is some 800 miles away! I don't think it turned out too badly, considering she wasn't here to try it on!

And this is what has been happening in our neck of the woods for the last several days. Twice when I have gone to work it has been snowing sideways. Yes, sideways. It snowed almost all day today and we are supposed to get more overnight.

Hope everyone is having a good week and staying warm!!

The top is done!

Tonight I finished up the top for my Christmas Tree Skirt. Thank you to all of you who offered suggestions on the block placement etc. I decided to go with Jacquie and put all the red squares in the middle. I like it, and I may just get it pinned tonight yet. I don't think I will get it quilted tonight though.

Tomorrow Rich and I are both off so it will be nice to spend the day together and J gets his braces on. Rich and I both work this weekend - him days, me nights. So we will see each other in passing. The kids will be at their mom's and hopefully I will get this finished up, some more things made and the bindings that need done completed.

Have a great night!

The Blocks are done!

Between working odd hours, and sleeping I have been working on my Xmas tree skirt. It has been going well, and tonight I got a lot of it done! I have all my blocks done. 12 in all. There are 4 setting blocks, that are currently in the corners:

4 stars that are green and white:

4 stars that are green, red and white:

4 stars that are red and green:

And this fabric I absolutely love! So much that I went back and bought more. Ok, I realized I wasn't going to have enough to do the sashing and the binding, but I really probably only needed a yard and I bought 2. What can I say! It's snowmen!

Ok, its a bad picture!

So here is the finished blocks. Sorry the picture is a little tight.

Now I have to put the sashing in and then I think I am just going to bind it. No border. What do you think? Should I put a border on it. I think it might be too much red if I do that. I don't have any more green material or the white material. And what about the arrangement of the blocks??

In my other free time I am reading the last of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I am not sure that I like it as much as I did the first three. I don't know why, but there is just something different about this one that I am not sure about. Maybe its the way it's looking like it is going to end...After this, I will probably read another book for my Challenge on my sidebar. I have only read Life of Pi for it and I have two books here waiting to be read for it: The Color Purple, and The Road.

Tonight I don't have to work, so I am sure I will be up for a few more hours. I actually get to sleep like a normal person tonight. I did work till 5 am today so I slept for a bit. Rich was home because it was veterans day (paid holiday for both of us) so we were able to sleep in together and hang out together! Which was nice!

Tomorrow I work 1 pm to 11 pm so I am sure I will get nothing done tomorrow. But then I have Thursday and Friday off so that will be nice, lots of sewing I am sure. Hopefully I can get mine top together, and quilted, then all I will have to do is sew the binding on mine and mom's. I have a ton of stuff that I want to make and I really need to get J's quilt done. He asked today when it would be done so I take that as a hint to get moving! LOL!

I need to do some reading and studying for work tomorrow so I am going to do some blog reading and then start studying. Rich is totally engrossed in the new game I picked up for Playstation, oh well!!! Have a good night and I will be back later this week!

Cold and Windy Today

This week the weather was just beautiful! It was in the 60's to 70's and sunny every day. Then yesterday at about 1:00pm it started raining and it is now cold and windy. The rain has pretty much stopped, but it is still windy and cold. Winter is coming quicker than we know it!

Yesterday I spent the day running some errands. I went to the library, the post office, the drs to get my blood draw, then to Target to pick up prescriptions and a few other things. Then I came home and added another border to my mom's tree skirt. I hung out with Rich and the kids when they got home, we had dinner and I took the boys to the movies. I then started quilting my mom's tree skirt. It's done! I love it. All that is left is the binding to be sewn down and well, I will get there. I hate bindings, but I will get it done.

Mom's Tree Skirt

Last night I also stopped at Game Stop to see if I could find a new Play Station game for Rich and the boys to play. They like some of the war ones, but we don't play Mortal Kombat and they don't like SOCOM. So I stopped in there and picked up a couple of used games. They had a throughbred racing game and another military one. This is what my boys have been doing all day:

The colors didn't come out real good in the picture, and yes they are playing at a TV in the middle of the living room. The TV was given to us by a friend who was going to throw it out, and my BIL decided we needed it. Not sure why - but they hooked up the Play Station up to it since we were watching football (GO BUCKEYES! GO IOWA! They beat PENN STATE!!!). We also ordered pizza for dinner and we have eaten two large and two mediums since 4:00 pm, its 9:47. Yeah, the joy of three boys!

I have to work tomorrow night so I will be up all night tonight. I really like it and hopefully will get to do more this week than I did last week. I want to also get my codes and signals learned - I know about half. That's all that is new here, tonight will be working on my tree skirt. Hopefully it will go as quick as my mom's did!

Booking Through Thursday

What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”

I haven't gotten a book as a present in a while. The last books I got as a present were the Civil War Diaries and Civil War Love Letters Quilt Books. These were given to me by my sons' for Mother's Day. I do love to get books as presents, not only because it is a book, but also because the person who gives it is usually someone who knows me well and it is very special. It just makes the book more special.

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On to non-btt news. Nothing, really, nothing. I have been working 5a to 3p and then I come home, do a few things, have dinner and go to bed. Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? Tomorrow I am off and hopefully after my errands I will get a few things made/quilted. 4 10's is great, but I am thinking most of my quilting etc is going to be done on the days I don't work. I also go back to nights for two weeks so I am going to try to stay up the nights as much as possible.

I do like the job though. I am learning alot and all my fears have pretty much vanished. I am pretty sure that it won't be a huge issue to me to get on the radio. Ok, the first few times 911 rings I will probably be extremely nervous, but so far everything is going great!

So off to dinner (I had to take a nap, I was pretty tired today!) and then hopefully I can get blogs read, some squares made for my tree skirt and start getting my mom's finished up.

I VOTED!

DID YOU???

Actually I took J with me and he voted for me, but I told him how to vote. He likes to go and do it, so we read the issues and then he would point to what he thought I would vote and I told him yes or no. He did a great job picking what he thought I would pick. We do talk about politics and issues with our kids, we think it is important at this young age to make them aware. And J likes to hit the screen! LOL!

If you haven't voted you should! Its your right as an American!

Farm Chores

Today Rich and I were home together for the day, so we took the day to do some work around the house that needed done. It was a beautiful day and in the 60's so it was the perfect day to do some things. The major project consisted of cleaning out the water trough and resealing it since it leaks and then trying to get the drainage pipes opened up so that we can hopefully get rid of the muddy mess where the water trough usually is.

CC was very intent on Rich

Then Rich changed the light bulb in the back barn light, fixed the switch plate (he put the switch upside down). We went and picked up shavings and that was about it. That took most of the day after I got up.

Exploring the trough

Last night when I got to work I found out that I wasn't supposed to work. My trainer called off, but I stayed anyway and they changed my shift for the rest of the week. So this week I will be working T, W, H from 5a to 3p and then I will go back to nights. What fun, all that preparation for nothing! But that is okay. I got to observe for a few hours. Then as part of my training I get to ride with an officer, the fire chief and on the LST. So last night I rode with an officer. It was a lot of fun, and a little scary. I got to see 3 people arrested in the course of the night and one was a juvenile that we took to Juvie. It was actually very intersting, and I think I will enjoy it. All the people seem great so far!, but still alot of learning to do!

Off to dinner so I can get to sleep early so I can be up by 3:30 in the morning.

Weather and Tree Skirts

The weather here the last several days has been beautiful. It has been in the mid to upper 60's and sunny. The leaves are changing and the animals are getting their winter coats. I have enjoyed it though. It is so nice to go outside in just a sweatshirt with no coat, or gloves, or hat...you get the idea. Here are some pictures I took on my way home last night. I love how when I come over the one hill you can see all the colors in the distance.

I love these bright reds

Here is one of CC, just because he is my baby. He has been missing people since he has learned to stay in the barn when it is cold. Yesterday he was all over me and kept getting under foot. I wish I could bring him inside. He has suddenly grown too into a normal size. He doesn't look so small and thin anymore. I guess he just needed some nourishment and he caught right up.

Lastly here is four of my squares for my tree skirt. It's amazing what you can get done in the middle of the night when no one else is around. I made all these yesterday and have half of the setting blocks together. I haven't quite decided how many squares I am going to use since I think I want mine to be a little bigger. Still working on that, but I should have the top done by the end of the week.

I have to work tonight so no sewing will get done till Tuesday night. I could get used to this being up all night and sewing on my days off. LOL! And while 10 hour shifts are long, I think the 3 days off will be worth it! Hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Trying to stay up...

I am trying to stay up as late as possible in preperation of starting my new job on Sunday night when I have to work 7p to 5a. Rich is laughing at me, you'll never make it. Says I should just give up and go to bed. But I am going to try! I may end up on the couch but I don't want to be falling asleep on my first night. This is certainly going to be the hardest part - adjusting to the different schedules. I think Rich just wants me to warm up the bed for him! I have also been studying hard.


Tonight I stopped at my mom's to see my niece and nephew before trick-or-treating. They, of course, are my little princess and prince. Jess is my girl through and through - so much alike! They were so cute in their costumes. Here is a picture of them with me and then one of them and their friends at grandma's door trick or treating.

Me and my favorite ghouls

Anything good?

I was also "Booed" by Luann at Loose Threads. Thanks Luann! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Lastly here is a picture of Rich that I managed to get this afternoon. He was playing in an online poker tournament and will not be happy to see his picture posted, but oh well!

My guy

I am off to blog read and then play computer games. I can't sew tonight, the BIL has his gf over so I don't want to bother them while they are watching a movie. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!