My Never Ending Summer

See these? They're some of the jackets I've bought in the last month. I figured that since I'd dropped a couple of pounds this year, I could wear something like these with a pair of jeans and look downright spiffy. Now see this?
It's a lovely brown sweater I bought to wear over a plain white t-shirt. And this?

Another sweater I bought for the blue jean/white t-shirt look I'm planning to sport this fall. (I'm totally diggin' the color!)

However, thanks to this (click to enlarge):
I'm starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn't have just bought tank tops and bermuda shorts. Yesterday, it was 96 FLIPPIN' DEGREES HERE!!!! Hel-loooooooo! It's October! Time for pumpkins, falling leaves and crisp weather. Today it's supposed to get up to 90 degrees, but that's what they said yesterday so I'm preparing for a full-press roasting session. But, just to prove I'm not a total pessimist, I'm also heading out to find and buy a bale of hay, for my front yard scarecrow display. Mother Nature doesn't seem to want it to be cooler weather here so it looks like I'll just have to fake it. As they say: "Denial...not just a river in Egypt".
Hope Mother Nature comes around soon, though. I've only got a limited time frame to wear this before people start looking at me funny:It says "Don't be a scardy cat" on the front. Even cuter? Check out what it says on the back of the left shoulder:

You gotta love that, right?

Finding a Weigh Out of Fat and Whining

Okay, okay, okay. I know I'm a whiner. To be honest, I'm a whiner from waaaaaaay back. It's sort of a way a life with me. Matter of fact, I guess you could call me a genuine Whine-O. I would say that I'll try to do better in the future, try to not whine about every little thing that happens in my life, but well, then I'd just be a lying whiner instead of just a plain ol' whiner and that would make me even worse, right? I suspect I'll always whine so what's the point of trying to deny it. At any rate, I'm at the point of my latest crisis when even I'm sick of hearing me blubber so I guess that means I need to move on now. Cars and cousins are just a part of life and grousing about either won't change the circumstances surrounding those subjects. At long last, I've arrived at the "suck it up" stage of this particular whine. So YAY me. LOL
Now on to "weightier" issues. I'm happy to report that I've lost another 1.6 pounds for a grand total thus far of 41 pounds. I'm pretty darn pleased with myself about this (ha! Talk about an understatement!). I got a comment on my previously referenced "big whining post" from Vee, asking if I was learning what to do when stressed instead of eat? I have to tell you, I hadn't even thought about it until she asked! But you know, there was a time not so very long ago when I would have buried my face in chocolate cake or maybe a bag of Hershey kisses or even a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos when faced with as much stress as we've been through the past few weeks. Without trying to sound like a cheerleader for their program, I have to give credit to Weight Watchers for my not doing that anymore. WW has taught me how to eat and, more importantly I think, they've taught me how to have a healthy emotional relationship with food. I no longer look to food for comfort or solace. I eat because my body needs the fuel, not because I'm feeling depressed or anxious or happy or sad. I'm so glad that Vee asked me that question because I feel much more confident in realizing through actual actions that my relationship with food has changed so dramatically. If I could impart one piece of advice to anyone trying to lose weight, it'd be to learn that food is fuel - nothing more, nothing less. That's not to say I don't want my food to taste good, because I do, but I don't plan my days around food anymore. I don't plan my life around food, other than to eat it because I need the fuel for energy. It's incredibly liberating to not be focused on food 24/7 (and here's to this being a life-long attitude and not just a phase, eh?). Heck, I'm even able to happily focus on other things these days...things like my husband, my hobbies, my home, my clothes... speaking of clothes, let me tell you this; the other day, I was telling Randey that I had tried on a pair of size 8 Levi's and actually got them on! SIZE 8s!!Okay, so it wasn't pretty, but that wasn't the point (*smile*). The point was that I was able to put them on my body and zip them up without rupturing anything. And despite my arse looking like a twisted balloon (strange little creases abounded!), it was a thrill to be able to do that. And maybe in a month or so, those size 8s will fit like they're supposed to. Maybe. Hopefully. (Hey! It's a goal! Don't judge.)
Before I leave, I want to share a picture of the Halloween tree. Yeah, it's the same tree I posted about and called my Fall tree, but I decided to dress it up for Halloween now. I had these "witch shoes" from Hobby Lobby last year. Don't know why I bought them, other than they were on sale after Halloween. They have little handles on them so maybe they are to hold candy or flowers or something, who knows. Anyway, as I was staring at them, trying to think of where to put them, it hit me: I needed a pair of Halloween tights to stick into the shoes! I found some at Wal-Mart, stuffed them with fiber-fill and set them up under the tree. Then I found a totally cool witch hat for the topper. And if I had those gorgeous feather-trimmed witch gloves I'd bought Maddy a couple of months ago, this tree would have arms as well as legs! (Yeah, Jake was pretty grateful those gloves are with Maddy now, too. lol) So what do you think? Too much?

The Silver Lining of Hurricane Ike (for me anyway!)

I found out last Thursday that one of my blogging buddies, Jayme, from down near Houston was evacuating to get away from Hurricane Ike. And where, oh where, do you think she and her family evacuated to? My little town, that's where! We were able to meet Friday for lunch. Here we are at Applebee's, just finishing up. And if you read my previous post, you'll remember I mentioned a shirt that I will never, ever, ever wear again because I've now seen this picture and come to realize that my honkin' arms are ginormous and probably shouldn't see the light of day again!! I mean, hel-lo! I really must speak to Randey about letting me leave the house dressed like this. He should know better (ha!). Anywho, lunch was great fun - Jayme and I seemed to be able to talk like we'd known each other for ages! Then we did some shopping together. You all know how I hate shopping, right? But...I'm a good friend so I soldiered on along through store after store in order to show an out-of-towner a good time when they're visiting our fair little hamlet. Oh the sacrifices I make for others...(heavy sigh). Here's Jayme at Ross. We found these baskets and, for some reason, we both thought they were quite funny. They're "labeled". Wonder if the basket police will come take you away if they find you've put "books" in the "stuff" basket or vice-versa? And what's with that "laundry" basket? Laundry for who? Little, bitty, tiny smurf-like people? Here's Jayme and I at On the Border the next day. Yes. We enjoyed lunch a couple of times. So sue us. I have to say, I really enjoyed lunch this day. I luvs me some Mexican food, yessir I do. I love it so much, in fact, that I really, really need to just keep clear of it or I'll undo all the good I've done with Weight Watchers these past four months. lol Cheese and onion enchiladas..... ahhhhhhhhh. Here's a picture of Jayme's daughter, Saira, playing Randey's X-Box (and that's a whole other story we'll call The X-Box Debacle. I'll tell you about that at a later time). Jayme brought Saira over to our house when she came over to use the computer. Saira is a perfectly charming little child with the most wonderful accent and speech patterns. If you could hear her in person, you'd know what I mean. I really enjoyed talking with her. She's great. I also met Jayme's husband Chad and her son Ryan (who has perfect teeth, just let me say that. I know, it's a weird thing to mention, but his teeth were that good! lol). I know that Hurricane Ike was not a happy event by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm grateful that it allowed me to meet Jayme and her family in person. That's my little "silver lining" for this particular natural disaster. By the way, her house and property sustained very little damage by all accounts, although they are still without power and water, etc. Their little town did take a huge hit and I know it'll be a long road ahead of them before they are anywhere near normal again. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers, if you would.
Here's what else I've been up to. Last year, my daughter-in-law Jodie, decided to do a fall themed tree to celebrate Autumn. This year, I decided to do one, too. What do you think of it?
Here's a full shot of the room. As you can see, it's a small tree. Just enough to make the room glow at night. I love it. Just looking at it puts me in a better frame of mind (geez...does that mean I'm easily influenced? Yeah. Probably. That's okay, though...I can deal with that knowledge. lol).
As some of you know (and thank you so much for your kind words about it!) Friday was my birthday. My son Kaleb, got me this:
House, Season Four! Yay! I love that show. My daughter got me a pair of sandals and a kitchen clock, both of which I need to take pictures of. I liked the clock so much, I hung it up right away and then forgot to snap a photo of it when I was preparing for this post! I'll fix that soon.
Then I got this in the mail yesterday from Annie. I was so touched by her kindness. I was sort of pouting about how I didn't hear from either of my parents on my birthday and was feeling kind of down about it when Randey walked in carrying the mail. Thank you, Annie. Talk about great timing. (I should clarify that I didn't really expect to hear from my parents on my birthday. My mom and I have issues and my dad's memory isn't what it used to be so not having either of them call was not a surprise. I was just being moody about it, that's all!) Anyway, I appreciate the gift and will get good use out of the book, I'm sure.
This is what I woke up to Friday morning:
Roses, a card and a gift. I was kind of surprised because the laptop was our birthday present to each other (Randey's birthday is 6 days after mine). But oh man, aren't these flowers pretty? I love them. And the card was just wonderful, too. By the way, the card says "Happy Birthday Sissy" because everyone in my whole entire family calls me Sissy, including my husband. That's because we were introduced to each other by my sister and his brother, who are married to each other. If Randey ever called me "Kari", I wouldn't know who he was talking to. lol Just goes to show you, people...you can get used to being called darn near anything. I've been called "Sissy" for so long, it doesn't even phase me anymore. :)
Want to know what was in the package from Randey? This thing:

A Jim Shore Halloween cat. I adore this cat. It's so perfect for this time of year and just makes me happy to look at it. I discovered Jim Shore stuff last year. I don't like everything out there that's made by him, but certain things just really appeal to me, for some reason. Like some of the cats. The ones with words like "freedom", "patience", "vigilance" and "curiosity". Love them! I also have a little chihuahua (in honor of Sydney the Wonder Dog, of course!) and a Jiminy Cricket with the words "Let your conscience be your guide!", a saying I've long been fond of, across the bottom of it and a Little Red Riding Hood "Granny" figure. I get a lot of pleasure from just looking at those figures. Don't know why, so don't ask. lol Anywho, my beloved daughter-in-law Jodie, knows of my love of some things Jim Shore. So...being the great gift-giver that she is, she found this to send me (and yeah, I just know she was the one responsible...Nick would have bought me a Star Wars thing instead! ha!) by the way, I'd have loved a Star Wars thing, too! Nick does know his mother pretty well. lol :
Isn't this witch and cat adorable? And doesn't it just put you in the mood for autumn and Halloween and cooler weather??? I love it. I don't think I'd actually seen this figure before. It's totally cool and I'm so glad she picked it out. (Check out the face on the broom. Cracks me up!) But the absolute most awesomely wonderful Jim Shore item ever made is this:
I had actually seen this in a Hallmark store here in town and came so close to buying it for myself. But I didn't. I've been spending way too much money on just "me" lately so I talked myself out of it. (See? I can exercise self control occasionally!) Then I received it from Jodie and Nick. Talk about being all smiles!!! I have spent more time just staring at this beautiful cornucopia. All the little details, the colors, the workmanship. I, quite simply, love love love this thing. Click on the picture to enlarge. You'll see what I mean. It's just darn cool to look at. Thank so much Jodie, Nick and Kara. I'm totally pleased with these two things. You spent too much, of course, but well heck...I'm thrilled with them anyway. Thank you guys! And thanks also to Susan, my BFF, for the gift card. I'll let you know what I end up getting with it. Decisions, decisions.

I guess that's about it for today. I have my weigh in tomorrow at my Weight Watchers meeting. I'm tired of agonizing over it, though. I've decided to take a totally radical approach this week. I'm gonna wear jeans and a heavier shirt and I might even leave my shoes on when I hop my butt up on that dreaded, evil weight measuring device those people call "scales". I know it'll make those scales say I've gained at least 3 pounds, but just think of how virtuous I'll feel next week when I wear my normal (and not nearly as heavy!) regular clothes. Yeah, so it's cheating. I don't care. I need to shake things up a bit and this seems like a perfectly harmless way to do that. I hope to get around to some blogs again soon. I've read a few, but need to go back and leave a comment now. But first I have to cook dinner for my dearly beloved. He's headed out of town Thursday so it's looking good for dinner out tomorrow night. But tonight, it's just me, slaving away in the kitchen (another heavy sigh). See you guys tomorrow!

Pumpkins Galore

These were some pretty pumpkins we saw at Central Market during my sister's visit. I love that bright orange color. Let me assure you that Central Market is pretty darn proud of their pumpkins and charge accordingly. In other words, we didn't buy any from them... mainly because I didn't feel like filling out all that pesky paperwork for a second mortgage on our home and I'm afraid that would have been necessary in order for me to afford them.... Check out these pumpkins. I couldn't decide if these were teenager pumpkins or menopausal ones. They looked like they were suffering from some severe skin issues so you can understand where my confusion came in, can't you?
And these are my new favorite (although, come to think of it, I'm not sure there's really an old favorite). Not that it matters, I suppose. At any rate, these beauties pictured here are called "Cotton Candy" pumpkins. Love that name! Just wish they weren't filled with gold (I'm assuming they were because that might explain what made them cost so freakin' much!).
And here's a lovely little topiary that I thought I might make. I even had all the (faux) pumpkins gathered when we went to Garden Ridge, but Garden Ridge sometimes has trouble marking their items with prices. And if it ain't marked, they can't help you (apparently). As is my norm when I experience bad customer service, such as employees who have absolutely no clue as to how they can obtain a price on an item they are selling, I put my items down and stomped out of the store. I've really got to stop doing that. The amazing thing is, bad customer service is a frequent occurrence at Garden Ridge and yet, I keep going back! I need therapy. I really, really do.
And this is something I did end up buying, although not at Garden Ridge, of course. I got the pumpkin at Wal-Mart, but I got the pumpkin's "Turkey" outfit in Granbury. How cute is this? I love how it looks - and I sure wish I could explain why. I just think he's funny with his feet kicked up like that! lol
Tomorrow I hope to post a couple of pictures of the pumpkins my boys are carving. I think Kaleb is carving a ghost and Jacob, because he likes to freak out his mama, is carving a spider. Cute kid, huh?

I want to thank everyone who has sent good wishes and prayers for my cousin, Joey, and his wife, Karen. Your thoughts are so very much appreciated.

I'm a Winner, I'm a Loser, I'm Thankful 4 Blog Help, I'm Showing Off my D-I-L's Autumn Tree & I'm Thanking my Sweet Friend, Carmen! (Whew! Busy Post!)

I'm still in shock! I actually won someone's giveaway! Me!! The person who hasn't won anything in over 30 years! And just what did I win? I won these beauties: How great is this!!!! Christmas stockings. Do I even have to say how thrilling this is for me? Not only did I win, but I won something Christmas-y. It feels so......perfect! And who was giving these away? Well, it was Jo over at Angel Jem's City Cottage. She made these stockings! Can you believe that? Thank you, Jo. I can't tell you how excited I am at the thought of hanging them up this year in my home. (I'm rubbing my hands together in glee right now, thinking of where exactly they'll go!). lol
Speaking of giveaways, here's two great ones that I didn't win: the flippin' awesome purse at Heather's blog, Splaneyo. Oh I lusted for that purse. I did. And lusting will always get you in trouble, right? Right. However, all was not lost as Heather and son Spencer gave us the recipe for some of Spencer's Super Easy Beer Bread. This recipe looks easy enough for even me to handle. But I hate to speak too soon. Me and kitchen spoken in the same sentence hardly ever results in anything good. But I'm feeling pretty brave so I might give it a try anyway. The other giveaway I didn't win? This awesome scarf over at Karolee's blog, My Montana Moments. That scarf would've looked great with my black winter coat. *Sigh* But alas, it wasn't to be. Still...I had visions dancing in my head of me twirling around at the local Christmas festival, wrapped in Karolee's scarf and carrying Heather's purse. I'd have been one Hot Mama, that's for sure. Guess I'll have to make due with my big honkin' pink purse (unless I can find a red one!) and my OU Sooner scarf. Not quite as hot, but thems the breaks. Oh yeah, congratulations to the winners Nadine (who won the lovely red scarf) and Kim (who won the purse)!
I want to take a moment to thank 3 bloggers who have gone way above and beyond the call of Blogger-helpfulness! Pea at Pea's Corner and Annie at My Life as Annie. Pea provided a website address for doing up a signature for blogs and Annie provided specific and easy to follow directions on how to load the code for it (not to mention actually doing my whole entire signature thingy-I'm still smiling over that)! Thanks to both of you for helping out like that! Because of you two, there's people all over Blogland with pretty signatures now. People like Karolee and Jayme. The other helpful blogger is Tammy at My Gentle Retreat. Without me begging, pleading or actually even asking, Tammy sent me codes and directions (great directions, too, by the way!) to change the background on my blog. How kind and generous is that? Thank you, Tammy! That was unexpected and much appreciated!
Do ya'll remember when I posted that picture of the Autumn tree that I saw in the foyer of my local Hobby Lobby? I said then that I wanted to do one myself. Naturally, I haven't gotten around to that yet (procrastination is my game, after all). But my daughter-in-law, Jodie, did do one. Click on her name to see it. She and my son, Nicholas, are currently stationed in Okinawa and I'm as amazed as she is that she was able to find enough stuff to decorate an Autumn tree over there. It is fairly tropical island, after all. But wow! She did it and it looks fantastic! Great job, Jodie!!
And last, but in no way least, I must say a heartfelt thank you to Carmen. Look at what she sent me for my birthday (I told you guys this was like a birthday "season" this year for me! Woo-hoo!):
Can you believe this? I was stunned, shocked, pleased, teary-eyed...the whole nine yards. She send a gift card for Bath & Body Works as well as one for Macy's! Am I the luckiest person on the planet or what? Such kindness from a friend I've never even met in real life. Thank you, Carmen! You're the greatest! Oh and hey - check out the purse on the cover of the card...looks kind of like one that Heather had in her giveaway. Maybe that's why I didn't win it - Carmen had already sent me one just like it! lol

It's Officially Fall, Ya'll!

According to my calendar, today is the first day of Autumn. Woo-hoo! According to my thermometer, summer is still hangin' in there. Boo-hoo. But, I'll not let the warmer temps get me all hot and bothered (pun intended) on this wonderful First Day of Fall. I made a wreath to go over our fireplace this morning (see picture below). It's bright. Really bright. But I think I like it. No, no. I'm sure I like it. (The funny orange things that are hanging above the wreath are actually the fan pulls. Strange camera angle, I guess). And those odd looking whitish orange things lined up across the front of the mantle are beaded pumpkins. They just don't seem to photograph well. If you'll look to the right of the picture shown below (I feel like a docent at the Museum of Natural History or something. lol), you'll see my new $5 painting. Do not mock my painting. I think it's beauti-mous. I found it at Goodwill last weekend and after cleaning up the frame and adding a little stain and faux paint to it (the frame, not the painting itself!), I'm pleased as punch at how it turned out. And again, those whitish orange looking things on the right side wicker cube are more of those beaded pumpkins. Still not photographing well, are they? And check out a close-up of my Autumn pillows. I found these at Jo-Ann's yesterday. I was really struggling over which pillows to buy and in the middle of my indecision frenzy, I looked over at Randey and saw his eyes glazing over and I thought for just a moment that maybe he was thinking of strangling me. So I made my mind up pretty darn quick and tossed these two into the cart. I'm glad I wasn't holding neon pink ones in my hand at the time. Sheesh. But I know better than to drag him into a place like Jo-Ann's. It was only a matter of time before he turned to violence. (Just kidding. Anybody who knows Randey knows he wouldn't hurt a fly!).
While at Jo-Ann's, we found some buddies for our original scarecrow (Blu's arch enemy, remember?). They were on sale for $5 each so how could I not get them? But now that we see them out there, we've decided that we need another one and a bale of hay for it to sit on. What do you think? Yes, it's just what we need. I can hear you all agreeing with me.
And here's a closer shot of the Scarecrow Family. See how faded the color is? That's because the SUN IS SHINING SO BRIGHTLY here. Not that I'm complaining. No, sir. Not me. Love the bright sunlight. Just wish it was a tad bit cooler, is all. Like about 20 degrees maybe.
So what did ya'll do to celebrate the First Day of Autumn?