On The Road. Again.

That's right. We're going out of town. Again. One of these days we'll figure out how to be content at home. (Yeah, right.) For now, the open road, "real" shopping and a chance to see the San Antonio Spurs play live have us packed up and ready to go one more time. We'll be seeing family we love and miss, possibly seeing some good friends and definitely having lots of fun. Watch out Cabela's, Academy, Michael's and James Avery. We're a-comin'! I can't wait to get on the road, but I have another 3 hours of work ahead of me before I can even think about loading up the car and going. I'm really, really looking forward to this trip and I really hope the man is as well. It should be LOTS of fun!

I'll be away from reasonable internet while we're gone, unless I can talk the man into sitting at Starbucks for a few hours. (Yeah, right, again.) For that reason, there will be no handmade favorites feature this week. Don't worry. I don't have a whole slew of Etsy sellers lined up, waiting to be featured. I'll be back with a few favorites next weekend that focus on a decidedly Texan theme and I'm going to be looking to feature a few decidedly Texan artisans. I'm really looking forward to it!

Okay, time to log off and get to work! The desk isn't going to clear itself off!

Robots and Christmas

This Christmas was quite fantastic, really. Button stole the show on Christmas morning. He's such a ham. Jason and I miss seeing him as often as we used to. Now that he's really grown into his personality, it's especially hard. We love our nephew to pieces!

We left last Tuesday for Corpus, to stay with Jason's dad and brother and Button, of course. We braved a few stores; Academy, where we both stocked up on Under Armour and Half Price Books, where I stocked up on, well, too many books again. We also braved the mall the morning of Christmas Eve and it was surprisingly dead. Bath and Body Works was packed, but I made quick work of that store and we were off. We spent the remainder of the day lounging around and playing with Button. We went to see Jason's grandma and exchange gifts with her. She's such a sweet woman, with a true love of her family and the Lord. She's just a blessing to be near. We also took Button to see the Christmas lights around town. He wasn't disappointed at all. Any house with at least one strand of lights was "Awesome!"

We spent Christmas morning opening presents with Button, Dad-in-law and bro-in-law and had a lot of fun doing so. We're so blessed! Button was spoiled rotten, but being the only grandchild, what do we expect? We left Corpus for Jason's mom's ranch and arrived just in time for presents with her new fiance and his family. That was a lot of fun as well. (Although I was a bit chagrined to receive the Twilight Soundtrack at the same time my 13-year-old and 16-year-old sis-in-law's did, but what am I going to do? I love Twilight!) Christmas lunch was a feast with turkey, ham and all the fixin's. We got to kick back and watch the Spurs beat the Suns with a last-second three-pointer from Roger Mason. (YES!!)

Saturday was our day to head back to the Pine and I'm glad we went, but I'm glad we're home. Having happy families on both sides is such a joy and a blessing. I know that not everyone is as fortunate as we are. We've had our hard times with some, but those things pass. Family is forever...

I believe that this is pretty much the coolest robot ever. His torso spins around while he's looking for attackers. Awesome.


Button being, well, Button. He was showing me how strong he was after working out with "Uncle Jason".

This Crazy Life

I cannot believe that it's Dec. 1, 2008! Only a month left this year! I'm going a bit crazy right now. Jason and I had a WONDERFUL time while spending Thanksgiving week with my family. I do have pictures and stories to tell, but I'm hoping to do that through the week. I'm hoping for a post for each great event, but we'll see how that goes!

We got home around 4 pm after about 7 hours on the road. I got inside and promptly began unpacking, only to turn around and start packing again. I leave tomorrow morning with some coworkers for a conference in the Dallas area. I'm NOT looking forward to 10 hours in the car after all the driving we did last week, but it has to be done. I'm hoping that we'll be home in the early evening on Saturday, but more likely than not, we'll be home late Saturday evening. I'm still reeling from last week and am having trouble planning outfits, workouts and etc. for the trip, but I'll figure it out. I think that I'll be able to slow my mind down after I get back from getting the rest of the bills paid at lunch. Having that done will be a HUGE relief.

I can't wait to blog about this past week, but I think I can hold it in. There should be some down time in the hotel and I can type and attach pics then.

Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for some Thanksgiving fun!

Getting ready to go

I can't wait until tomorrow! The house is clean, the bags are packed and the car is full of gas. We're ready to hit the road!

Today has been a great day. Work wasn't all that eventful and I made it through despite having taken a muscle relaxer about an hour into the day. My back was just not quite ready to hold me up as I sat at my desk all morning. I got through it with the aid of the muscle relaxers and getting up and walking/stretching every 30 minutes or so. I was feeling so much better that I was able to bundle up and go on a leisurely walk and do my back strengthening moves/stretches after work. I'm hoping to be back to my regular workout by next week.

Anyhow, now I'm sitting here, staring at my luggage and wishing I was more tired than I am so that tomorrow will be here sooner! I feel like a kid, but I'm so blessed to have such a close relationship with my parents and sisters. I cannot wait for the fun we'll be having the rest of this week! Instead of doing the Black Friday thing, we're all going to Dublin to visit the Dr. Pepper plant. It's the only place in the world that uses the original Dr. Pepper formula and uses pure cane sugar. That's great for my dad who's allergic to corn products. No corn syrup in those DP's! That's going to be a lot of fun!

Well, Jason and I have plans to watch "Big Bang Theory" in a few minutes and I want to be sure the house is decent before it starts!

Good night and blessings to all!

Any post that begins with a Cinnabon has to be a good one right? Jason and I pulled into our wonderful hotel at about 6:30 p.m. So here we are in Midland and nothing to eat. We headed to where we know the restaurants are and he spotted a Schlotzsky's. So, since he's agreed to Chick-fil-a at the mall tomorrow, I agreed to eat there tonight. It's not a place that I hate, it's just not my favorite. Anyhow. I do my best to be conservative by buying a wrap and a diet coke. Well, there that went when I saw the Cinnabon. These things are HUGE and I could only eat a few bites for the sweetness, but it was soooo yummy and worth the extra exercise I'll have to do to work it off!

Tomorrow is our big day of "how many stores can you go to in your waking hours?" I know we're going to head to Sam's Club, Academy, Home Depot, Zales, Barnes & Noble, Mervyn's (they're having a huge going out of business sale!), Bath & Body Works, GNC and numerous others. I'd also like to find a Starbucks, but that might not be the best idea after the Cinnabon, huh? ;)

Well, I've finally started Transgressions by Sarah Dunant, so I'm going to get into bed and get to reading. I'm hoping that it turns out as well as the last one by her that I read. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow sometime. We'll see if I have enough energy after we get back from our fancy Olive Garden dinner!

Not enough time

I don't know how it happens, but I have a perfectly laid out plan for what needs to be done and when and it all falls apart!! Oh well, I assume that most people are like that, right?

The worst part about the night was processing my Avon orders. I love selling Avon and I really love the products, but every other Thursday when that delivery hits the front door mat, procrastination kicks in. Well, I got it done and was actually able to label and date 130 brochures for the next campaign. I just have to think about all money it's making us.

I think we're all packed for our weekend of Christmas shopping that starts tomorrow night. I know that we have a lot of things to get done, but I also know that we're both looking forward to a weekend away.

The year just seems to be going by so fast! I can't believe how soon Thanksgiving is. I don't don't if I'm prepared for all of this. The best thing is that I should have all of our presents wrapped and tucked away by next weekend. Phew. That is really the biggest task and to have it out of the way is going to be such a blessing!

Creativity leads to exhaustion...

Wow. I'm tired. Jason has been out all night doing a deer survey. I've been strapped to my desk working on a craft/art project for a craftster swap that I'm embarrassingly behind on. I have to admit that inspiration was elusive on this particular swap, the "Book-Lovers" swap, but things are coming together now. I just finished a work in pyrography/painting that I'm extremely proud of. I'll post pictures as soon as my crafty partner has received it. I will almost certainly create a similar piece of wall art for myself. The requirements for this swap were small, but I still fell behind. I'll be sending by Saturday and am going out tomorrow for some extra goodies to throw in.

I am up way too late, but I just don't feel like I can put my head down. I've just got a last little bit of crafting to do and then I will try to sleep. I'm just out of my element right now. That's okay, because things will be back to normal soon.

Jason's been talking about going to Midland-Odessa for a while for Christmas shopping and a mini-getaway for us. I've been putting off discussing it, but finally made reservations for the MCM Elegante in Odessa. It's a really nice place, according to my friend at work, and I booked us an in-room couple's massage for the morning after we arrive. Now I'm actually excited about the trip. I'm going to try to find a nice place for us to dine while there, but I'm pretty sure we'll end up going to Olive Garden anyhow. Haha!

Well, the glue is in place and ready to dry overnight. Hopefully I'll dream of the last project I need to make my package complete.