I did it.

After looking at my schedule for the next few weeks, I decided today was the day.

You should too. Early voting ends Oct 31st!

Blah Blah Blah

It's October. Burn-out time. Both mentally & physically. At work and at home. The newness of the school year has worn off, and the demands have increased. The weather starts to change ( a few degrees each week) and so do the allergens. It's a no win situation.

The start of the month brings so much promise: pumpkins, baseball playoffs and candy corn. The high fructose corn syrup high alone is enough to inspire countless Halloween crafts that require a scouring of the dollar store bins for just the right diamond in the rough project.

Then mid month rolls around and the candy corn runs out. And you can't buy anymore because you threatened your child with the "once it's gone I'm not buying anymore" speech. That's when you realize that you have grades to enter. And an end of season baseball party to plan. And that baby shower for a co-worker. You wake up one morning to find you have to reach for your inhaler before you get out of bed, and pop cough drops just to make it through the day. The nights get shorter and the days get longer. Christmas items replace the Halloween specials, and you realize you still haven't sent those cards you made last Halloween. Your "day" doesn't end until 9:30 or 10:00, and then you still have laundry/dinner/homework to check. Never mind that it's been a week since you've updated your blog or had time to visit your neighbor's. Oh and did you know it's only 60 days till Christmas? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

I wish I knew it would slow down, but it's not going to. I just keep burning through it with everything I've got, cause I don't know any other way to do it. But hey, at least I've got pretty toes.

A little more spookiness

In the past 4 days I've driven 600 miles, cleaned 3 bathrooms, washed 5 loads of laundry, listened to the NKOTB cassette 14 times, attended 4 baseball games and crafted 3 more Halloween treats. I think I may actually be through decorating by the time Halloween gets here!

Here's my latest batch of crafty goodness. Aren't those white pumpkins just perfect on my candlesticks?

I love these little spooky eye votives. I found the idea in Family Fun Magazine. A little construction paper, a hole punch, some mod podge and presto! Find the directions here.Hobby Lobby had ribbon and wood crafts for 50% off, so I found a reason to buy.

Pay no attention to the dirtiness of the siding :) I think it makes it spookier...
I had plenty of frames left from the garage sale, so I grabbed scrapbook paper, stickers and some ribbon to make these fun little treats. I love the black cat print!

A whole lotta busy...

Wow! Didn't realize it had been that long since I blogged. Please forgive me. There's been a lot of this.

And a little of this.

Oh and can't forget about that.

I promise to make it all up to you. Tomorrow :)

If I could be someone else...

I found this in my un-freakin-believable journey through the blogosphere yesterday. (Ashley.Unscripted) I'm still basking in the glow of comments/vistors and can't get my brain (or fingers) to compose anything of interest, so I'll just go with this:

MY GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of your first name plus “izzle”)

Julizzle (My album drops next month yo)

MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Turquoise Penguin (not sure if that's going to work in the yellow pages ad.)

MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, name of one of your pets)

Diane Loki (that sounds like a TV reporter)

MY SUPERHERO NAME: (“The” plus 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)

The Black Screwdriver (my secret hideout would obviously be Home Depot)

MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)

J.R. William (we have a lot of initials in the family)

MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )

Pearl Martin (sorry mom, but that's the rules)

MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)

Summer Daisy (I think maybe that's my hippie name...)

And because I can't go three posts with no picture:

Over too soon

Wow! My eyes are screaming right now. I think I've read/visited more blogs in the past 12 hours than I have in the 6 months I've had my blog! But what fun it was to meet new SITS-tahs and share the comment love. I even found time to teach 5 classes in between :) My fingers lost feeling a couple of hours back, and were it not for spellcheck, I wouldn't be able to type coherently anymore. So thank you for stopping by, and I promise to visit as soon as I can blink again. So excited about all the new blogs to visit...

Blogathon

I am a relative newcomer to the blogging world. I started this blog in June as a way to keep our out-of state family (i.e. everyone) current on our "goings ons". Through the blog world I've been able to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, and just be in awe at what people create with 5 minutes free time. One of the sites that has helped me find my way is SITS. That's Secret is in the Sauce, a blog dedicated to recognizing and supporting bloggers. Each day they have a feature blog and link you up to some of their favorite posts, and throughout the week they have various giveaways from some amazing sponsors. You visit the blog and leave some comment love. Because nothing is sadder than a post without comments. It makes me sad to see "0 folks are keeping up". But with SITS, whenever you see the button, you comment away, and make sure to visit all your vistors' blogs. Do you see the bloggy chain of love this creates? I've stumbled into many a blog by way of SITS, but here are my top 5 finds:

1. Heather @ Mindless Junque. She's one of the founders of SITS and I love her quirky observations on life (and her fireside chats).
2. Kat @ Mama's Losin' It. Hi.lar.i.ous. I laugh out loud when reading her blog. She has such a fun and entertaining family, and they are all fair game. And her header alone makes it worth it.
3. Cherry @ Cherry's Jubilee This is where I go to drool. She has such cool and eclectic decor and I have attempted to re-create several things without success.
4. Emily @ Little Momma and Co. Wow! This momma does it all, from cooking, to painting, to sculpting clay jack-o-lanterns, I am worn out just reading through her blog. She has such a fun style. I love her blog layout!
5. Tricia @ Fabulous since 1961. Tricia has such sincere and funny posts. even the most routine thing takes on a whole different flavor when she blogs about it. Her family is sweet and she shares both the the good and bad times they've had.



So thank you SITS! Have a fabulous blogathon day!