My Friday Find

Hubby and I did our grocery shopping yesterday and we were just browsing through the Christmas Candy aisle at Walmart when something caught my eye. 

First, let me say that I have loved M & M's as far back as I remember. I have a jar that is always filled with M & M's. 

Another love of mine is orange creams covered with milk chocolate. I just love orange and chocolate together. I even eat a handful of malted milk balls when I have orange sherbet. 

So imagine my delight when I found these. 

They are actually a little thicker and bigger than a normal M & M and the chocolate center has a taste of orange flavoring in it. They are by far the most divine flavor M & M has come out with in years. Best invention since peanut M & M's. If you like orange and chocolate, you need to try these. You will fall in love with them. 

Frolicking Friday

Frolicking: Play and move about cheerfully, excitedly, or energetically.

That is what my mind is like by the time Friday rolls around. I have 1001 ideas thoughts plans just plain "stuff" floating around excitedly in my brain.

I made my Thanksgiving menu out the other day and then last night I broke it down into a grocery list and checked off items we already had in the cupboard. Let the Thanksgiving feast shopping begin. I get so organized for Thanksgiving it is hilarious.

I actually make an Excel spreadsheet of items needed, what we have; what we need to get and where we will get the best deal. I've been clipping coupons for a few weeks preparing for this. My hubby thinks I'm nuts, but hey, we never miss an item for the BIG DAY!

Santa (the one that lives next door to me) has his Christmas lights up and added some displays yesterday. He also has a fully decorated tree on the porch. The lights are gorgeous. I don't ever decorate until after Thanksgiving. But I guess when you are Santa you gotta do it when you have the time. I don't expect to see much of him and Mrs. Claus after Thanksgiving. I was able to get him and the Mrs. to be in our local Community Christmas Parade in December. 

I can't believe that there are ads posted on Black Friday and I haven't had a chance to go look at them. Yikes! That is so not like me. But that's okay. I may have some time tonight because there isn't anything good on TV.

Speaking of TV. I didn't get to watch Hawaii Five-0 this past Monday. When we went to bed at midnight on Wednesday, I decided to find it On Demand and watch it. What a major mistake. It was their Halloween show and it was scary. I don't do scary movies and can't believe I watched a scary Five-0. Hubby said he couldn't believe I watched it since it was so gory that night. My response..."It's McGarret. I couldn't NOT watch." But I had nightmares all night. Worst night sleep in a long time. No more scary episodes before sleep.



I am tired of pink and blue and yellow in my office. It wasn't what I had planned. It just fell into place because I had a few blue and pink pieces to sit on shelves. Then I found a pair of curtains at a yard sale in those colors and next thing you know, I had a pastel office. Which is not really me. I am more into hunter greens, burgundy, deep blue. I think I will look for a new pair of curtains in those colors and rearrange some things around the house to bring those colors into my office/craft room and do something else with my pink and blues (which are mostly candles and tea sets).

I was also wondering last night if Pyrex will be coming out with clear bowls with Christmas designs since they did for Halloween. I'm going to keep a check at Target to see. If anybody sees any, let me know. If they don't I may end up getting some of the ones with just red or green lids.



I guess I have rambled on enough for one day. Hope everybody has a great weekend. 

In the South

I saw this sign last night on a friend's Facebook post. It tickled my fancy. It made me start thinking about what it means to be Southern.

Apparently the first thing that came to mind is that we have the ability to laugh at ourselves. Why else would we love a sign like this one? But it is so much more than that.

It is a spirit of living. An appreciation of life. It is knowing that when you screw up you don't try to cover up, you run laughing to your best friend and say you'll never believe what I just did.

It is faith and family and friendship.

It is courage and caring.

It is love and laughter.

It is a way of life not a location on a map.

It is taking each day as it comes, daring to dream and finding joy in the everyday moments of life.

Here in the south, when life hands us lemons we cut them up and put them in our sweet tea, set on the porch and swing in the sunset.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I had four of the five grandchildren yesterday. Garret was hunting with his dad. I missed having him. I can't wait till Thanksgiving to have all 5 of them here at one time. Of course, if Garret had been here, I am not sure if I would have gotten any pictures. He is at that "I'm a teenager, don't take my photo" stage of his teen years. This was the last picture I got of him back in October. 

Of course, I couldn't do a wordless Wednesday because I had to make a few comments. But here are some pictures of the grandkids that I was able to get yesterday. 

He has got to have one of the cutest grins ever.

These two are not camera shy at all. They always like to pose. 

I absolutely love this one. Those beautiful blue eyes.

And little miss rotten with her big brown eyes. I have yet to figure out when I say look at the camera she turns her head to the camera but her eyes get sidetracked off to the side. 

Very, very unusual to get one with him smiling a natural smile. They grow up so fast. 

Colby was attached to Caleb all day. Every time Caleb laid down on the couch, Colby would go veg out on him. 

At one point, Caleb hollered for all of them to come to him a minute. Next thing he knew, he was at the bottom of a pile of kids...and loving every minute of it. 

We got to talking about Christmas and they wanted to go to www.ReindeerCam.com to see the reindeer  online. From there we found an interactive site with Santa's workshop. Then they got in a Christmas mood and want to go to Bass Pro Shop to look at the Bass toy section. So I bundled them all four in the car and off we went. It was a great trip because I got a lot of Christmas ideas for the hunters in my family. As we were leaving, they had to "test drive" one of the ATV's. 

It was an awesome way to spend a day off. 

Time Out Tuesday

I promised a tutorial today on the no-sew runners. I had a project yesterday that took longer than I thought it would so I was not able to complete the tutorial. So I will be posting twice today. I'm going to work on the no-sew runner later this morning and will post it then. So check back sometime later this evening. I'm taking some time out to play today. I'm picking up two of the grandbabies to spend the day with me. I am so excited. I can't wait.

I did want to share some neat new items for my Thirty-One collection. The special this month is a product that is just available during the November special. It is the medium utility tote. Smaller than the large utility, but roomier than the organizing utility. This will be perfect to take my desserts and/or gifts to holiday functions. Not to mention storing it in my trunk to carry packages into the house. And I love the pattern that is exclusively for the Christmas season.

Even though the Snowman is my favorite, it is available in several other patterns as well. I love the fact that for every medium utility tote purchased, they will donate a Thermal Tote to Operation Homefront to assist military families in need.

The other new items I got is the Timeless Beauty Bag. I ordered one in the Black Pick Me Plaid.

Three internal zipper pocket and a place to hold your makeup brushes. 

I have seen several uses for these on line. It even has a snaplock on one of the handles so you can put it through your car head rest and make a nice carry caddy to hold toys or activities for your children in the car.

Thirty-One is a great company to work for and they are always giving us opportunities to earn free products by setting sales goal. I recently won the Timeless Wristlet in an exclusive pattern for the giveaway. This is probably one my favorite pieces of my Thirty-One collection. It is perfect for antique shopping, thrift store shopping, anywhere you don't want to fool with a purse. The front pocket holds my cell phone. It is big enough to hold most Android phones. Mine is a Motorola Electrify and it fits in there perfectly.

The other side has the click pocket for your ID. I am not a big fan of having my ID showing so I usually stick some of my Thirty-One business cards in there in case anybody asks me about the product.

The inside has a slot for cash and a zipper section for coins on one side and the other side has four card slots and another pocket behind them.

I love the product for what it does but I also love the fact that I earned it by reaching my sales goal for the week. I just love being a Thirty-One consultant. 

Weekend Wrap Up

My daughter and I did some shopping this weekend. While we were out, we discovered a thrift store in Knoxville that I had never been in. I decided to pop in and see what it was like. I didn't purchase anything, but I was tempted by this clear Pyrex casserole. It was just $4.98 but I am not big on clear Pyrex so I left it for some other treasure hunter to find. 

The next thing I debated over was the casserole dish by Dyna Ware. I really had to debate this one. It also was just $4.98. I have been looking for this exact shape in Pyrex, but haven't found one. But I really want one with a lid and I really want a particular Pyrex pattern in it so I passed up on it. If it is still there next week, I may get it. 

This piece was in perfect condition and had all the parts but there was no price and we don't drink coffee so I decided not to fool with asking a price. But it was a great piece for anyone who could benefit from it. 

I spent some time decorating for Thanksgiving and doing some crafts. I made my no-sew table runner for the coffee table. 

And a smaller one for a little cabinet in the living room. 

Do you recognize my candle from fall? I simply put it in a vase to change it up for Thanksgiving. 

This is my bakers rack. I love the fact that everything on this shelf except for the little candle has come from yard sales or antique stores. 

I love my little chipmunk pilgrims. I put them and a candle on a vintage oval plate from 1935 that I found at a yard sale this fall. Counting the little wooden shelf they are on, I have about $2.75 in the whole thing. 

While I was decorating, I wanted some music on so I check up in the higher music channels on Comcast. It turns out that Channel 833 is called Sounds of the Seasons and it plays non-stop Christmas music. I had it on all afternoon and evening. 

While I had the iron and ironing board set up, I decide to make one of the small 12" runners that I am working on for Christmas using scraps of Christmas material I have accumulated over the years. I think they will be cute with a little candle and/or a small candy dish for Christmas gifts. Stop back by tomorrow when I will be posting a tutorial on these. 

I am starting to receive Christmas catalogs, coupons for the holidays and magazines with great ideas. I haven't had time to go through them all so I put this little basket at the end of the couch so I could go through them while I am relaxing in the evenings. 

As if it hasn't been a busy enough weekend, my daughter called me Sunday and said she had been pinning Christmas ideas so I had to go check them out. I love this idea. Wouldn't these be cute on guests plates for a Christmas get together? Or a great gift for those unexpected drop by's that you want to send something home with them. These are just too cute. 

These were shown as gift tags, but I think they would be a great Christmas ornament for our pre-K Sunday School class to take home and put on their trees. I'll have to print this for my idea book.

I love little sausages wrapped up like pigs in a blanket. What a unique way to serve them. 

Needless to say, I have had an exhausting busy weekend. But it ended on a relaxing note. There was another gift from my Secret Sister. She must have known I needed to pamper myself after my busy weekend. What a thoughtful gift. Check out the blooming dahlia flowers. They are actually soap petals you can drop in your bath. I had such a relaxing bath that I didn't want to get out. 

 All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend. 

30 Days of Thankfulness

On November 1st many of my Facebook friends and blogging buddies started 30 Days of Thankfulness. I have so much in my life to be thankful for that there is no way I could list it in 30 days. So my post today is to thank God for every single, solitary blessing He provides me with. I do not live a charmed life. I have my trials and tribulations like the next person. But I believe that God is there to help me through them and I put my trust in Him. That takes a great burden off my shoulders and allows me to enjoy the blessings He provides while He handles the problems I face. He brings me peace and joy even during the times of strife. 

So instead of 30 days of things I am thankful for, I offer up these lyrics that sum up all the blessings in my life. 

Thank You Lord for Your Blessings on Me

As the world looks upon me, as I struggle along 

They say I have nothing, but they are so wrong 

In my heart I'm rejoicing, how I wish they could see 

Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me 

Now I know I'm not wealthy, and these clothes, they're not new 

I don't have much money, but Lord I have you 

And to me that's all that matters, though the world cannot see 

Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me 

There's a roof up above me, I've a good place to sleep 

There's food on my table, And shoes on my feet 

You gave me your love Lord, And a fine family 

Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me.