Happy Birthday, Alison!

It's Alison's birthday - so that means Mom traveling to grandma's for the three day weekend -- er, what's that you say? Mom retired and is on vacation, so she can't take Ali and I across the state of NY? Well, Alison, I think you got your wish. You no longer get to open your presents in the car.

A little about Alison - she is becoming quite the baker! (I'm sure if you pay for her flight to Austin, she'll agree to bake you a cake for the cost of the ingredients.) This is Ali hard at work on the Danish wedding cakes.
Happy Birthday, Alison! To celebrate, er - I've made you ... a picture of your Danish Wedding Cakes!

May you enjoy all the prizes in your Treasure Hunt today! (For all you crazies out there that can't tell the difference between my sister and I, Alison is on the right - and in the first picture above. I swear it's not me.)

Outdoor Decorations

Holy cannoli! I promise you this isn't a Halloween decoration, but I was spooked. I leaned out the window, sprayed the wasp spray, slammed the window shut, and watched the swarm spread out and fly to my neighbors' yards. (Hey, they aren't MY problem anymore!)

I've been eying an orange Fall wreath at JoAnn's. Last weekend, it was 50% off. This weekend, 63% 0ff - and at a reasonable price. I love the orange as an accent with the green.
Oh, and that arm? It's a Halloween tradition. I usually bring it to work & place it on my mouse when I'm not at the computer. It can really freak people out. I'm really liking the arm opening the door though. I hope I can freak out some of the dog walkers!

I won!

Okay, so it's not the lottery. But I was super excited when I checked some of the blogs that I follow on a regular basis. One quilting blogger mentioned that she was going to travel to a few countries in Central America & will bring back a few prizes for readers. I'm pretty sure my winning is one big ol' giant sign that I need to start working on my house: painting, decorating, hanging pictures. (Whatever the prize, it's going in my Central American themed guest room!) PS - this is just a random photo from google. Once I get my guest room in order (and I WILL get everything hung soon), I'll show pics of that!http://vesuviusmama.blogspot.com/2010/10/greetings-from-mexico-city.html

They're All Girls! (so far)

I swear it's baby city in Austin. The neighbor had a girl 2ish months ago, another neighbor (babysitter to Dewie when I don't do it) is expecting a girl, Baby E (who I made my first baby quilt for) is expecting a little sister, and a coworker is expecting another child (his 1st child is Miss M who I made the yellow dress for) - sex unknown. If I was a betting gal, I'd say it's a girl with all the pink I've seen lately. I'd be more than okay if it's a boy though. My eyes are about to pop out of my head with all think pink I'm seeing.

I made some rock-n-roll bibs and burp clothes for the neighbor babies. The light pink is real soft, and it was a scrap from JoAnn's bargain bin, so I used it all up! On the back of these bibs/burp clothes is the opposite fabric. I absolutely love making bibs for baby shower gifts now. They're so much easier than a quilt!
I told the neighbor that's expecting (due date Feb 17 - one day away from an AWESOME birthday) that I'd make more burp clothes. I've already picked up some wild fabrics. (Hey - the dad was hoping for a boy, so I can't give them too many pink things!)

One Fish, Two Fish

Sadly my fish of 7 years passed away last month. Sm'unk was my first fish I ever had. I first saw him was in a martini glass on a table during parents' weekend. There was a "casino night" that the RHF put on where I volunteered. He and his brother (and several others, but I only took 2) were threatened to be flushed if people didn't step up and adopt that night. It was love at fist bite. The bowl I got for the fish quickly turned into a 10 gallon tank, which broke when I moved to Cleveland, so that turned into a 30 gallon tank.

I made sure Suki (age 3 - I got her in Cleveland), my surviving fish, was alright after Sm'unk's passing. She didn't exhibit any signs of illness, but last week either I got the fishy itch or Suki looked lonely. Either way, I went out and couldn't resist two new siblings for Suki.

Sqrt() (yes, the parenthesis are part of her name - ask anyone who has dabbled in computer programming or intermediate Excel) was the teeniest guppy in the PetSmart tank. She was healthy, and stuck to the front of the tank begging me to take her home. I'm pretty sure her eyes and tail is 3/4 of her body. "Sqrt()" can be pronounced as "Squirt," but you've got to say it quickly. I'll keep it between you and me that I'll accept "Square Root" as a name.

Sir Issac Newton made me laugh when I saw him. Most of his bottom half and face is white, but the rest orange. He has a wonderful orange handlebar moustache that cracks me up. I promise that's not a frown. I love it when I see his mouth open - it accentuates the 'stache. I clearly had to name him "Sir" something or other.