Pics of my near future

We are coming into the busy season of the year. I was thinking ahead to what all is coming up and I am thinking I may have to go back to bed to get rested up for the rest of the year. 

It starts Saturday morning with my Thirty-One bi-monthly meeting. I can't wait to see what goodies are in store for us for the holiday specials. 

After I get done with my meeting, I am picking up Alexis, Caleb and Shelby to go to Trunk-or-Treat at our church. We always have lots of candy for the kids, good fun, music, hot dogs, popcorn and the train ride for the kids.

Caleb called me the other day and said he had great news for me. It turns out he volunteered me to make  cupcakes for his class for their Halloween party. Good thing I like to bake and that he has a small class this year. Just 15 kids. I think I will try to make some like these.



Then of course, Halloween arrives with all the little trick-or-treaters. I will buy some candy and leave my porch light on, but I don't look to have many if any. Last year, we had just moved to the neighborhood a few days before Halloween and didn't know anybody. But now that we have met our neighbors, maybe we will get a few.



The first of November is going to be the launch for my Thirty-One Wish List gathering. I'm preparing my list for my invites and getting packets put together ready to mail.

I have company coming to town in November and we are planning an entire day of antiquing. Hope to find some good Pyrex deals. 

The kids are out of school for election day so I am going to spend the day with three of my grandchildren. I'm not sure what we are going to get into, but I know it will be fun.



As many of you all know, I love Saturdays for shopping. My daughter and I go on a regular basis, even if it is just to window shop and get out of the house. But between her work and various commitments, it has been at least 3 or 4 weeks since we have went shopping. It looks like it is going to be a couple more weeks before we get a chance to go, but I know we are wanting to squeeze a trip to Turkey Creek into our schedule pretty soon.




It is that time when hubby and I start stocking up the pantry for our family Thanksgiving dinner. So there will be several trips to Food City, Kroger and Walmart in our future.



Then, of course, the joyful day for Thanksgiving. All that good food, browsing the ads for Friday sales, and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.



That is always when we celebrate my daughter-in-laws birthday. It won't be long and she will deciding what her birthday "cake" will be. We have changed that to birthday dessert because not everybody picks cake. Last year, she picked the Reece Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle. Can't wait to see what she picks for this year.



I am starting to look forward and plan for Black Friday. Not everybody loves Black Friday and to each their own. I have actually had a so-called friend who made me feel like I was less of a person because I shopped on Black Friday. She does most of her shopping online, but that is her prerogative just like going shopping on Black Friday is mine. I love it so please don't steal my joy just because you don't.



I also have to pick up my Christmas cards soon. I like addressing them on Sunday afternoon after Thanksgiving while I'm relaxing around the house after two days of shopping.




I usually put my tree up within the first few days of September and decorate the house for Christmas. My little poinsettia basket that Mamaw Eden bought me 50 years ago is always the first thing to be set out.



We have already started practicing for our Christmas program at church which falls during December.



The morning we do our Christmas program, I have an afternoon meeting with Thirty-One for the new spring premier sneak peek. I can't wait. Should be an exciting day.

My twins have a birthday in December and 3 days after theirs I have mine so we always get together sometime during that time to celebrate. It all hinges on hunting draws for my son as to when we get together. 

Shadrack's Christmas Light show comes to the Smokies Stadium in December and I want to squeeze some time in to go to it. I have never been, but hope to go this year. 

I am on the parade committee for the Kodak Community Christmas Parade. We already have some participants signed up. Last year was the first year and it was a big success for such a small community. I can't wait for this years.

If we get a chance, Hubby and I want to go on one of his nights off over to Dollywood to see the Christmas lights. I love walking around looking at the lights and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. 

Sometime amidst all the festivities, I need to bake my annual orange cookies and chocolate cookies. As well as make fudge and various other baked goods, depending on what I'm craving. 

Then of course I need to find time to wrap presents for the family and the ones that I send off to Mom.

Sometime in December will be the Secret Sister exchange at church. I received a lot of goodies last year. I can't wait for the reveal this year to see who my secret sister has been. 

But nothing compares to the thrill of our family gathering at our house on Christmas Eve. It is the highlight of the season. 

Well, I guess you can tell I'm going to be busy from now through Christmas. But I look at it this way....it gives me plenty of blog topics!

I didn't want to leave....

I took a trip to McKay's Book Exchange yesterday with my friend, Sherrie. I love going there. I didn't have very many to trade in, but I still received a nice size credit toward new books. Here is what I found.

Six books by my favorite author, Barbara Delinsky. I love anything she writes.  

Another of my favorites is Debbie Macomber and I found three of her books that I had not read. 

Then there were an assortment of other authors that I like and I found a few books by them plus a couple by authors I had never read but the books looked good. 

We were almost ready to leave and I decided to go down this one aisle that had recipe and craft book. Oh, my goodness. 

I found these two large Christmas coffee table books for just .35 cents each. My heart just fluttered. 

I then discovered an awesome hardback book with holiday plastic canvas patterns which I just had to have for .25 cents. 

There were some hardback Christmas books with recipe and gift ideas. These were also just .25 cents. 

Then I found a couple with great ideas for fast and inexpensive Christmas crafts. These were just .25 cents each as well. 

I could not believe the selection. It was so overwhelming, I just had to stand there and stare at the choices. I am so glad that I decided to stop down that aisle. The only problem was, I didn't want to leave. I can't wait to go back again. 

Later that night, my daughter stopped by to pick up an order she had placed for Thirty-One. We missed Shelby and I went back to my office to see what she was doing. She said "I found my new Halloween costume." I'm going to be a writer. She has found my wild reading glasses and this is how she thinks she needs to do Halloween. (By the dirty face, I would say she also discovered my Kit Kat bar. 

My Top 10 Favorites

Just thought I'd share some of my favorites things with you today. So I prepared a list of my top 10 categories of favorite things. 

My favorite candy ... Junior Mints. I have a candy dish beside the couch and another one on my desk. They always hold Junior Mints. As you can tell, it's time to make a "mint run" as I am getting dangerously low. 

My favorite drink ... Caffeine free Pepsi. It used to be just regular Pepsi, but I switched about 8 years ago and love my Caffeine free Pepsi. 

My favorite food ... Pizza Hut pizza and breadsticks. My favorite is thin crust with Italian sausage. But when I really want to be extravagant and for special occasions I get thin crust meat lovers. Their breadsticks are a must if I am going to have their pizza. I can't have one without the other.

My favorite songs ... My all time #1 favorite song is Take it to the Limit by the Eagles. My all time favorite country song is Cross my Heart by George Strait. Hubby calls that our song. He sang in a band in his high school years. He does a great job on George Strait songs. My all time favorite gospel song is hard to pick because I like so many. I guess I would have to go with my current favorite one My Chains are Gone by Chris Tomlin. The first time I heard it was at my son's church when their youth choir sung it. It has been my favorite ever since then. I love that song because it includes Amazing Grace which would be my all time favorite gospel.

My favorite book ... I love Karen by Marie Killilea. It is the story of a little girl from her birth in 1940 until she is 12 years old. It is written about her life by her mother. Karen was born three months premature when babies didn't survive that early. She had cerebral palsy. She was an intelligent little girl and the story is about the day to day struggles she and her family went through. It is a heartwarming tale of how love conquers all. Her mother was co-founder of The National United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

My favorite movie ... I absolutely love The American President. My favorite scene is when he says "It turns out I have a rose garden." I have probably watched this movie at least 20 or 30 times if not more. Love it.

My favorite color ... That would have to be red. It has been my favorite color since about 8th grade and has never changed. I have seasons of time where I favor other colors, but red remains my favorite.

My favorite car ... My all time favorite car that I ever owned was a 1996 red Dodge Stealth. I loved that car, but with grandbabies it just wasn't practical so we traded it in. But oh how I loved it.



My favorite store ... Most everyone will think I will say Walmart...and you would be right. It is the one-stop shopping place to find just about everything you need. I can't help it, I love Walmart. Especially on Black Friday. If that makes me a redneck, so be it. But my second favorite is Kohl's. I love to go there especially on Saturday when they have awesome sales.

My favorite TV show ... Without a doubt right now it is The Voice. Since that is seasonal though, I would pick my favorite that is year round show would be Hawaii Five-0. I just adore Steve McGarret.



What are some of YOUR favorite things?

Weekend wrap up

Now that I have a sewing machine, I am going to start picking up some material. I found a few pieces at Walmart over the weekend. I love poinsettias. They are my favorite flower of all time. So I love anything with them on it. And my living room has Santa all over the place in my Christmas decor. 

I also adore Rudolph. I don't think I have ever missed that cartoon every Christmas. My favorite song from it is There's always Tomorrow with Clarisse. So I loved this material and knew I had to make something from it. 

On my way to Walmart I stopped at an estate sale. It started at 8:00 and the ad very plainly said no early sales. I got there about 8:15 and the house was almost empty. I asked about a particular item that was in the ad and was told almost everything sold the night before because people kept calling her (phone number was in the ad) to see if they could come on by. I hate when people do early sales when it says plainly no early sales. I did manage to pic up a few things. I love these napkins. There were 8 of them for .50. I love cloth napkins and thought these would be good for spring.

I also picked up two place mats in spring colors. These make good basket liners. 

I picked up these 2 little scarves in lavender. I will use them in my Master Bath. 

This little scarf is going to be incorporated into a throw pillow for my bed. 

I love this bread cloth. I love bread cloths. I have a lot of baskets I like to use for breads and crackers so I pick these up whenever I find them. 

I saw some great recipes in this dessert cookbook from 1971. There are some great desserts in it I want to try for the holidays. 

I normally never make pie. Well, actually I have only made one pie my whole life. Apple. But I would love to try a lemon meringue. 

I did fall in love with these nesting baskets. I am not sure where they will end up or what I will use them for. But I have a weakness for baskets and these were just .50 cents so I couldn't pass them up. 

I was talking with Mom Saturday and she mentioned she is looking for, what I call, a market basket. I checked with Double R Farms and Roger had some in stock so I swung by on my way home and picked up three. One for Mom and one for me. And I know when Rachel sees what we are going to do with ours, she will want one. Oh no! I'm going to have to go get one more because I know Amy will want one as well. Again, stay tuned for the results. 

When I went to church yesterday morning, I had another sweet gift from my Secret Sister. I have been trying to decide what to put on the living room coffee table when Halloween stuff gets packed back up. I know the leaf candy dish will be a part of it. I love this.

Philippians 4:13

^"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

This bible verse and this video just says it all. Have a blessed Sunday and enjoy the day the Lord has made.

The yard sale with 2000 items...

I went yesterday to the 2000 item yard sale. And I don't doubt for a minute that there were 2000 items there. I have never seen so much stuff. Some things were good deals and some not so much. They did have two pieces of Pyrex but I didn't buy them. They were marked Pyrex Corelle and the pattern was a white and blue that I didn't really care for. Plus they were in casserole styles that I have more than what I want of. 

But I did pick up a few unique things. They had some paperbacks for a quarter each or 5 for $1.00. I got some good Nora Roberts, a Debbie Macomber and a Luanne Rice. Which is good because I am just finishing up the In the Garden Trilogy by Nora Roberts and needed something new to start. 

They had this little round Christmas tin for just .50 cents. I have a whole plan for my Christmas tins so I'm trying to collect more as I go. 

I found this adorable little jar for just .50 cents. I am picturing it with a little piece of jute or ribbon under the rim area and filling it with my malted milk balls. 

But my favorite, favorite find of the day was this set of whimsical cats for just .75 cents for the pair. I love them. I know just where they are going. I will show you later. First they need a bath and cleaned up. 

On another note, I wanted to share Hubby's supper with you from last night. I had ordered Pizza Hut and he wanted wings, but wanted his own. He deep fried the wings and then mixed Holy Smoke BBQ Sauce that we got at the Double R Farms with KC Masterpiece Hickory BBQ. 

The Holy Smoke has some heat to it so that added a little kick to the wings. Then he took the leftover potatoes from Thursday night supper that I tried from Mama M's Grandma's recipe and cut them up and deep fried them. The result.. Doesn't this look scrumptious. 

Find of the week....

I haven't felt good this week. Had a nasty head cold. But yesterday really brightened my day. My daughter told me about one of our friends who was selling a sewing machine. She is the one who we had the bridal shower for this past spring. I called her and went to check it out after she got off work. 

I loved it and it worked awesome. It is a New Home brand. From all my research, a used one in good condition goes for as high as $100. She sold it to me for just $30.00 so I snatched it up. 

It has these neat knobs for different stitches.

It's been so long since I've sewn, I'm going to have to brush up on everything. I'm not really sure what these knobs do. 

It even has this neat little drawer in the front for storage and had all the assorted feet with it.

She also gave me this beautiful cedar chest for my bobbins. 

And it was full of bobbins! Plus there were 2 bobbins in the little drawer on the machine. I love the way the inside of the box is. These are the good metal bobbins. At Joann's, these are $2.49 for a pack of four and she gave me 56 of them. That is a $34 value right there. She is such a good friend. 

She threw in some rick rack she had as well. This is vintage rick rack from the 1970's. And there was a new thimble and a piece of cloth in the goodie bag she gave me. Thank you Ms. Anya for your thoughtfulness. 

My hubby bought me a sewing box years ago that I just love. I rarely use it but now I'll be getting it organized. 

I am so loving it. I can't wait to do some sewing this weekend. I'll be working on the craft/office room so I can have an area for my sewing. I took sewing for three years in Junior High School. I made a sleeveless dress the first year. The second year, I made a dress with a collar, sleeves and pockets and the third year I made a lined skirt and vest and what we called a jump suit. 

It would be kind of nice to try to make something that actually required a pattern like a skirt or a nightgown for the granddaughters. But for now, I think I'll start slow and make some holiday pillows.

I'm heading out this morning to a yard sale at 8:00. I saw signs all over Kodak yesterday promoting the sale. The signs were made professionally and even had the street name, date and time printed on the sign. It caught my interest so I looked it up on the Mountain Press and here is what it says:

Huge Garage Sale. Kodak. Fri&Sat 8:00-5:00. Over 2000 items. ....

Seriously?! Over 2000 items? I am so going to be there at 8:00! Who knows what I might find.