~~ A Celebration of Life-long friendship ~~ Sew Sweet 16 ~~ Now N' Thens 3/11

[Wood Nymph]

Josh is quite the romantic, isn't he? That was so sweet of him to plan such a special weekend for your anniversary.

 

[Terkina]

I hope you have a great day in your sewing room.

Your auction has already got some bids. A lovely bag by the way

 

[nolacindy]

Your dad as Santa! How sweet is that

Your new flooring and mantle are beautiful. that does seem like an odd place for an outlet, but very handy.

What a great surprise for your anniversary, the room is beautiful. And you look great, its inspiring to see your before to now pictures!

Glad that Allison is incorporating some meat back in her diet, it probably will help her feel better.

Nothing big planned here for the holidays, Gerald will probably be working. I feel you pain about having an event close to the holidays my birthday is 12/23 so it usually gets put to the side.

 

[DMGeurts]

I can see why! This is an adorable picture!

You really did get a lot accomplished on your first day! Fun pictures of the mine train. I rode in October but didn't take a single pic. Boo! Next time!

Those pre storm pictures are pretty cool.

Love the pics of you with your fav CM Santos(?). How fun. Always great to meet someone who has pixie dust oozing out of their shoes.

THank you!

It was a great day - I was very happy with what we were able to accomplish in the heat.

Yah - Santos is the best! We miss him so much!

Josh is quite the romantic, isn't he? That was so sweet of him to plan such a special weekend for your anniversary.

Hahaha... Yes, actually he is - when we can afford to be. It was wonderful, truly wonderful.

I hope you have a great day in your sewing room.

Your auction has already got some bids. A lovely bag by the way

Thanks! Yes it does, which makes me happy. I wasn't going to do an auction - then while I was working out yesterday, I decided to - since it was ready to go anyways.

Your dad as Santa! How sweet is that

Your new flooring and mantle are beautiful. that does seem like an odd place for an outlet, but very handy.

What a great surprise for your anniversary, the room is beautiful. And you look great, its inspiring to see your before to now pictures!

Glad that Allison is incorporating some meat back in her diet, it probably will help her feel better.

Nothing big planned here for the holidays, Gerald will probably be working. I feel you pain about having an event close to the holidays my birthday is 12/23 so it usually gets put to the side.

Yah - it was super cool! He loved it!

Thanks! Yes, everything in our house is odd. It was built in 1886, so whatever additions were added by each person who owned it - some of them make no sense at all.

Thanks! It was such a fun surprise! I wish we could afford to do it every weekend - I just LOVED spending time with him.

Me too... It's still a little odd to see her eating meat again - but I am glad she is.

I hope you have a great holiday - and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope both are wonderful!

**********************************************************

I had a great day yesterday...

I worked out in the morning.

Then I appliqued all day. I did finish my applique - but I still need to work on the applique for the wallet.

Last night, Gus came over right after dinner. He and Allison made a gingerbread house - it was very comical... It was hilarious to hear them working together... Sadly - they deleted most of the pictures on my phone - turds. So, I can only share a few here.

Then Gus painted a car on the back of the house with frosting... That kid cracks me up!

And no... We still don't have our trim up - or our vent covers on. Sigh.​

Today...

It's a heavy lifting day... Squats... Have I told you all how much I detest squats? I love what they do for my body - but I hate the process of doing them. LOL The benefits far outweigh the sacrafice - but I still hate doing them.

Then I will be working on the pre-assembly/final assembly of my last custom order before I close shop for the holidays. I hope to get both the bag and the wallet completely done today.

Also, my fabric for my 2 bags last week, should be here today, as well - so I need to get that washed and dried so I can finish those two bags right away in the morning tomorrow.

I hope to have this week's order done by lunch time, because I am hoping to run to town and get my nails done this afternoon.

Then, I have to pick Alli up - kill some time with her... Then drop her off at work. Run to pick up V from an after school event, grab a couple of groceries, and head back home.

V has one more Christmas gift that has to be finished tonight -so we will be working on that after dinner. It's all ready to go for her.

I hope you all have an amazing day!!! Prayers and good thoughts to all of you!

D~

 

[Chicago Mo]

Simply adorable.

I don't see the outlet in the pictures either!

 

[spiritsim]

Ok ok I am all caught up again! Whew it's been a good long time, but with our trip, our move and getting settled in well I was very busy. Frank is not allowed to lift more than 10lbs. Although he broke this rule several times he suffered for it every time. So I did all the trip packing, unpacking. Followed by packing our boxes to move, going through our storage units and having garage sales. I got us down from 2 full storage units to 3/4 of one unit. Then came two trips to move all our stuff and unpacking. Luckly our 2 boys helped us pack up the trailer in ohio and Greg and Raina helped unload here in NC. That left me to unpack all the boxes ,arrange our little bit of furniture we still have and host Thanksgiving for the family. Raina and Greg had Thanksgiving at his moms and then again at our house. Raina was on call and is again for Christmas so this sat they will do Christmas with his mom. Then Christmas eve they will come here! Whew! But I wouldn't miss it for the world it's the first time we have gotten to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with the girls. When Raina is on call she can only stray so far from the hospital. She lives outside this zone but I live right inside it, so she stays with me now on those days. Yea girl time I am is heaven, anyways this has kept me away from the Dis but I am back now so look out!
Love your new kitchen and your anniversary was fabulous. such a fun and lovely hotel. Much needed for you and Josh I am sure.

 

[Terkina]

Looks like Alli and Gus had a fun time decorating the gingerbread house.

My brother wants some Manga books. I went to the one store that sells them here in Norway, but they didn't have any of the books he wanted. So I ended up buying them via the internet from the UK 10 days ago. His birthday is in January so I bought some as a birthday gift as well. I ended up buying 14 books. I expected to get them in two big packages since I got two different e-mails saying the books was shipped. Well today some of the books arrived. I was shocked when I opened my mailbox. Each book was packed separately. My mailbox was full. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the books arrives soon.

 

[solana131]

Love their gingerbread house....the car on the back is a nice touch

Hope you have a great day!

 

[DMGeurts]

Simply adorable.

I don't see the outlet in the pictures either!

Yah - I think they are pretty cute together.

Hehehe... Supa Sneeky.

Ok ok I am all caught up again! Whew it's been a good long time, but with our trip, our move and getting settled in well I was very busy. Frank is not allowed to lift more than 10lbs. Although he broke this rule several times he suffered for it every time. So I did all the trip packing, unpacking. Followed by packing our boxes to move, going through our storage units and having garage sales. I got us down from 2 full storage units to 3/4 of one unit. Then came two trips to move all our stuff and unpacking. Luckly our 2 boys helped us pack up the trailer in ohio and Greg and Raina helped unload here in NC. That left me to unpack all the boxes ,arrange our little bit of furniture we still have and host Thanksgiving for the family. Raina and Greg had Thanksgiving at his moms and then again at our house. Raina was on call and is again for Christmas so this sat they will do Christmas with his mom. Then Christmas eve they will come here! Whew! But I wouldn't miss it for the world it's the first time we have gotten to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with the girls. When Raina is on call she can only stray so far from the hospital. She lives outside this zone but I live right inside it, so she stays with me now on those days. Yea girl time I am is heaven, anyways this has kept me away from the Dis but I am back now so look out!
Love your new kitchen and your anniversary was fabulous. such a fun and lovely hotel. Much needed for you and Josh I am sure.

WOW!!! It sounds like it's been a crazy few months for you Trish - you haven't stopped since before your trip. It seems like after Christmas you can relax a little bit - I am sure you need it badly!

Thank you - it was so much fun! I wish we could afford to do it all the time.

Looks like Alli and Gus had a fun time decorating the gingerbread house.

My brother wants some Manga books. I went to the one store that sells them here in Norway, but they didn't have any of the books he wanted. So I ended up buying them via the internet from the UK 10 days ago. His birthday is in January so I bought some as a birthday gift as well. I ended up buying 14 books. I expected to get them in two big packages since I got two different e-mails saying the books was shipped. Well today some of the books arrived. I was shocked when I opened my mailbox. Each book was packed separately. My mailbox was full. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the books arrives soon.

They had a great time - it was an awesome idea.

Yikes!!! LOL To send that many books separately??? That's a little scary - I sure hope the rest of them come boxed together - and soon!

Love their gingerbread house....the car on the back is a nice touch

Hope you have a great day!

Hey - lookie there... I caught you this morning. Good morning Sunshine!!! I hope you have a great day today!!! Miss you bunches!!!

**********************************************************

Well, yesterday didn't exactly go as planned. Sigh. Well, part of it did.

I did my heavy lifting in the morning.

I finished the wallet/pin lanyard first thing, then I started to work on assembling the bag. I didn't finish, like I'd wanted to, but I am close. I have less than 30 minutes worth of work to do on it this morning.

I went to town to have my nails done for Christmas... I love them! As always, Matt did a great job! And they match perfectly with all of my holiday/real life clothes... I am sticking with my black/gray/red theme for clothes again this year - I love it!

I dropped Alli off at work, then I picked V up at school... Made a couple of stops and headed home.

Checked my mail, the fabric that was supposed to be delivered for last week's bags wasn't here. So, after crying and throwing a fit, I hopped online to check the tracking... The last time it was scanned by USPS was on Tuesday - leaving Raleigh, NC. It's scheduled delivery date was yesterday and it wasn't here. Now, I am in ultra freak-out mode. I've never had something like this happen before... As far as I know - the package fell off the truck somewhere. So, please send a little prayer up that this fabric shows up in my mailbox soon - otherwise I will have to do with out it and come up with a Plan B - which would really suck, because this fabric is very HTF and perfect for this bag. If it doesn't show up here by Monday - Plan B will have to work, because she needs these bags in time for Christmas.

When we got home, V showed me a drawing she has been working on - this kid has some mad skills - seriously. She dreams of being an animator for Disney - and with this talent at 15 y/o, I believe she will be able to do great things one day. This is a drawing she did of one of the little neighbor kids she babysits...

Otherwise, we hung out the rest of the evening, until we had to go get Alli from work. And it was straight to bed after that.

Today...

I will work out right away this morning.

Then I will run upstairs and finish that bag quick.

Then I have the rest of the day to hang out and pray the mail brings my fabric.

I might run to town later to hang out with Alli between school/work.

V is going to a friend's house tonight, so Josh and I have the evening to ourselves.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend!

D~

 

[ljcrochet]

I hope the fabric comes today. The post office tracking has been horrible this season. The last two packages i got said out for delivery after they were put on my door step before 8am. One in the pouring rain not sheltered without the mailman knocking. Last May my FIL got Syd a video camera, he bought it at costco didn't trust ordering it online and having it shipped. It sat with no updated tracking info till I called to find out where it was. It was supposed to be delivered the week before her birthday and wound up coming a day or two after.

 

[Clio]

I hope your fabric shows up today. It's horrible to have to wait and wait for a package.
Yesterday was our Christmas party at work. Actually, it was Christmas dinner. We had Bob Evans and we brought in desserts. It was all very good.
It'd been crazy at work. I work with a couple of young mothers and since their children are sick, they aren't there and photo is getting backed up because one person can't do it
I hate to be asking for prayers and good thoughts again, but a very good friend's daughter is on life support and she has to decide today to pull to plug. The daughter had a drug overdose. My friend's husband died last year and has had a really rough year.
On a lighter note, I'm all done Christmas shopping and just have to wrap my great nephew's presents.
V. is an amusing artist. I hope she goes far with her talent.
Have a good day.
Liz

 

[Chicago Mo]

I saw all the pictures on facebook and LOVED IT!

sorry but your entire family has mad skills.. this is just one of many from all of you!!!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

V is very talented. I was amazed when I saw the pic on FB yesterday.

I hope the fabric comes soon.

Since I don't like coffee and the Whole30 will be starting soon, I chose again to become caffeine free. Yesterday involved a really bad headache. It is a bit better today.

We are having Chelsea's birthday party tomorrow (a month late) but at least I got one in this year. We decided to wait until after all of the dance stuff was over, plus we sort of wanted to see Annie as the movie. So, we have the party room at the local Cinemark reserved and so far, only 5 of those invited have RSVP'd, but she is excited and most everyone was excited to get to see Annie.

Then we have 2 other Christmas parties this weekend, so it is going to be another busy weekend. Going through some of my Paleo cookbooks to start getting ideas and prepared for the Whole30. My book is supposed to come tonight.

Have a great weekend and don't stress too much.

 

[Iamthequeen]

I am beginning to understand why the USPS is in such a bind. I mailed two packages to Shannon a few days apart. She got the second one after repeated calls to the post office, but the first one was returned to me after 4 weeks as undeliverable, but they were addressed exactly the same. Plus the woman at the PO was nasty as anything to her, saying that because it was addressed to 'Izze' Gibson, they couldn't deliver it. WTH!

 

[Terkina]

I'm crossing my fingers that you get the fabric in the mail today.

WOW V is really good at drawing. If she keeps on practicing she might draw as an career.

The rest of the books I ordered came with the mail today. 6 books each packed separately. So my mailbox was full again today. The postman must wonder what I'm reading since all these packages are comeing. Or maybe the postman is smart and thinks it's all Christmas gifts. But he still must wonder why they come in so many packages from the same company.

 

[DMGeurts]

I hope the fabric comes today. The post office tracking has been horrible this season. The last two packages i got said out for delivery after they were put on my door step before 8am. One in the pouring rain not sheltered without the mailman knocking. Last May my FIL got Syd a video camera, he bought it at costco didn't trust ordering it online and having it shipped. It sat with no updated tracking info till I called to find out where it was. It was supposed to be delivered the week before her birthday and wound up coming a day or two after.

Thanks... It did not come. I am beyond panic mode. I purchased some fabric yesterday that I can use just in case this doesn't come in time - it won't be as great, but it will work. Sigh. Oooh - I just tracked it, looks like it will be delivered on Monday - I hope.

Glad you finally got your items, but bummer they were so late.

I hope your fabric shows up today. It's horrible to have to wait and wait for a package.
Yesterday was our Christmas party at work. Actually, it was Christmas dinner. We had Bob Evans and we brought in desserts. It was all very good.
It'd been crazy at work. I work with a couple of young mothers and since their children are sick, they aren't there and photo is getting backed up because one person can't do it
I hate to be asking for prayers and good thoughts again, but a very good friend's daughter is on life support and she has to decide today to pull to plug. The daughter had a drug overdose. My friend's husband died last year and has had a really rough year.
On a lighter note, I'm all done Christmas shopping and just have to wrap my great nephew's presents.
V. is an amusing artist. I hope she goes far with her talent.
Have a good day.
Liz

Thanks - it didn't show up. Looks like it might be deliverd on Monday. Sigh. Which means I'll have to bust my behind Monday night and Tuesday morning to get it done.

Sorry work is so crazy - it's so hard when you or your kids are sick and they are young. Hopefully they can get someone in there to help you out.

That is so very sad... Prayers and hugs go out to them during this time, I cannot imagine.

Yay to have your Christmas shopping done. I still have a few GCs to get... but I won't get those until I am paid for all of these bags. LOL Thankfully they are easy to get, and I don't have to worry about them running out.

Have a great weekend Liz!

I saw all the pictures on facebook and LOVED IT!

sorry but your entire family has mad skills.. this is just one of many from all of you!!!

Awww... Thanks Mo - I wouldn't talk though, you have some serious mad skills in your family too! <3

V is very talented. I was amazed when I saw the pic on FB yesterday.

I hope the fabric comes soon.

Since I don't like coffee and the Whole30 will be starting soon, I chose again to become caffeine free. Yesterday involved a really bad headache. It is a bit better today.

We are having Chelsea's birthday party tomorrow (a month late) but at least I got one in this year. We decided to wait until after all of the dance stuff was over, plus we sort of wanted to see Annie as the movie. So, we have the party room at the local Cinemark reserved and so far, only 5 of those invited have RSVP'd, but she is excited and most everyone was excited to get to see Annie.

Then we have 2 other Christmas parties this weekend, so it is going to be another busy weekend. Going through some of my Paleo cookbooks to start getting ideas and prepared for the Whole30. My book is supposed to come tonight.

Have a great weekend and don't stress too much.

Thank you Shannon!

I am so proud of you for giving up caffeine... THat is going to be a hard one for me to give up... I hope I can do it, as it's no fun to drink that coffee with out the creamer. LOL Glad to hear your headache is better, hopefully that continues.

Enjoy Chelsea's party - I hope you all have a great time, it sounds like fun!

And enjoy your Christmas parties too! I love Christmas!

And take some time to read your new books!

I hope you have a great weekend, as well. Thank you!

I am beginning to understand why the USPS is in such a bind. I mailed two packages to Shannon a few days apart. She got the second one after repeated calls to the post office, but the first one was returned to me after 4 weeks as undeliverable, but they were addressed exactly the same. Plus the woman at the PO was nasty as anything to her, saying that because it was addressed to 'Izze' Gibson, they couldn't deliver it. WTH!

Absolutely crazy!!! I've never had this much of a problem with the USPS before -and I ship a lot of packages! Hopefully you can resend the box and it will get there this time.

I'm crossing my fingers that you get the fabric in the mail today.

WOW V is really good at drawing. If she keeps on practicing she might draw as an career.

The rest of the books I ordered came with the mail today. 6 books each packed separately. So my mailbox was full again today. The postman must wonder what I'm reading since all these packages are comeing. Or maybe the postman is smart and thinks it's all Christmas gifts. But he still must wonder why they come in so many packages from the same company.

Thank you - the tracking info finally updated this morning, it looks like it will be delivered on Monday - which puts me in a serious time crunch, but oh well.

Thank you - I hope she does, she loves to do it and she'd be great!

LOL about all those books coming individually. I am sure your mail person had a nice chuckle about it.

**********************************************************

Yesterday started out pretty good... Then it got a little rocky... Then it became good again... Sigh.

I worked out right away in the morning.

Then I finished that last little bit on this week's custom order.

I got ready and headed into town to run errands.

First, I stopped at BFF's house... She had some extra Gift Cards for me for Victoria's Secret - they had a promotion doing on during Thanksgiving weekend, if you ordered so much - you received free GCs. So, she gave me 5 of them, totaling $50. They had to be spent by yesterday, so that's why she gave them to me - otherwise they would have gone to waste.

Then I went to Joann's, to get a few fabrics and a back up fabric for this one I am waiting on - just in case. But it looks like it might be delivered on Monday. I hope.

While I was at Joann's, I got a call from the school principal about V... He wanted to meet with me.

Kind of put my mood in the tank for the rest of the day.

Went to VS, waited in an insanely LONG line TWICE. Grrr... But I ended up with 11 free pairs of underwear for the girls and I. Nice.

Noticed I was wearing my polka-dot leggings (they are HUGE dots) - didn't think V would appreciate me going to a meeting at school wearing those... So I ran into the store next door to grab a pair of jeans... I was insanely excited that I was able to get into 3 different pairs of size 30 waist jeans. And they all looked really good on me. Double I decided on one pair... They were $97 jeans, on sale for $39.99, when I got to the counter to pay, I asked the girl if this store gave a military discount (finding that a lot of stores in the mall are giving these now a days)... She said "No, but I'll give you a discount anyways." Cool. She gave me another 20% off. WHOOT. So, those $97 jeans were $31 and change. Aweseome! And they give me a nice butt... Double score~! Hehehehe!

Drove straight to my Target store... Purchased a few stocking stuffers, and killed time before my meeting.

Super long story, going to try for the very condensed version. Due to an incident on the bus a few weeks ago - which may or may not have been V's fault... but she had the blame put on her - even though we are not sure how involved she was in the incident. She is kicked off of the bus for 3 weeks + 2 days. She is upset, Josh is upset, I am upset. But there is nothing we can do about it at this point, so we will take the consequence and deal with it. I don't want to go any further into it than that, because the story goes much, much deeper and it's been an ongoing issue. So, needless to say, I will be driving V to and from school for the next month. She can start riding the bus again on the 26th of Jan.

So, this put me in a pretty foul mood.

After the meeting with the principal, I came home, put away some of the gifts - wrapped a few of them...

Josh came home, we went out for dinner. That helped my mood a little bit.

Dinner didn't sit well with me at all... I was not feeling well for the rest of the night. Not sure what was in it - we eat at this restaurant all of the time... but there was definitely something not right with the meal.

So, we went to bed early.

Today & tomorrow are a bit crazy - I don't want to go into too much detail. But lots of running around, LOTS of it!

Lots of Christmas festivites... Lots of fun! Looking forward to a great weekend seeing lots of family!

I hope you all have a great weekend! If you are traveling - stay safe and travel safely.

D~

 

[Clio]

I'm sorry to hear about V's problems. Sometimes a kid gets blamed for stuff that is not entirely her fault. I used to work in a school library and saw it all the time.
Work is still rough. they sent a couple of managers over to our department to help. that makes it interesting. We're a small store so not a lot people work here to start out with. The customers have been understanding for the most part and thing it's kind of funny when management have to ask us what to do. Some of the customers think that the managers know everything about the store.
I hope your fabric arrives on Monday. that is so frustrating.
Enjoy your weekend.
Liz

 

[MEK]

Finished Day 2!

Typhoon Lagoon looks like a lot of fun. Sorry you had to wait an entire hour to get on your first slide. That IS annoying. cute bathing suit and cute pics of the girls!

How lovely that you got to see Santos's baby girl. How sweet!

UGH to the transportation nightmare. I really don't like making ADRs at resorts unless I have a car. It's just SO annoying. You guys were really good sports about it and it looks like you had a great time. Your dress and necklace are really cute!

 

[Terkina]

I'm so sorry to hear about V's problems. Sadly kids get the blame for things that is not only their fault. Adults can't have eyes and ears everywhere all the time and other kids try not to get the blame for what they was a part off by blaming someone else.

Here the plan is to bake american cookies (chocolate chip) this weekend. We only call the cookies (in English. We haven't got a Norwegian word for them) The reason we call them cookies in my family is because we got the recipe back when we lived in the USA for a year. And we have backed them only for Christmas every year since.

 

[nowellsl]

Sorry to hear about V, thankfully we have cameras on our buses so if something happens they are available for us to view! That is a long time to suspend her from the bus though!

Hope you have a great weekend and your fabric comes in early on Monday! Maybe you could ship it to the buyer's resort to save time!