Bad Day

What a day it has been! It has been crazy since the moment my feet hit the floor this morning. I woke up and looked out side and knew right away that school was going to be cancelled due to the weather. It started sleeting and snowing sometime during the night and the roads were nasty. I turned the TV on in time to see the name of their school listed in the school closings. Even though school was cancelled I still had to take Mac to his doctor's appointment.

Mac's ear took a turn for the worse sometime during the night. When he woke up this morning he had blood draining from his ear. It wasn't pouring out his ear but there was enough present to make my stomach knot up. Lucky for us his appointment was Dr. L's first one this morning...bad thing was driving on the icy roads! Anyways, Dr. L looks into Mac's ear and decides that it isn't an ear infection but that there was a growth in his ear instead. Okay, I admit I had to ask if it was something Mac possiblly shoved in his ear. Dr. L laughed and said no that it was a mass of skin. Dr. L decides that it is time to go see Dr. B (ENT dr) and let him check Mac out. I was thinking that they would schedule it the next day or so but Dr. L comes back and tells me that I have an apppointment for Mac in one hour. Eeeks!...I have never got into a specialists office that quick! Lucky for us Dr. B has seen Mac before so he knows him and his ears.

We get ushered into a room where Dr. B looks at Mac's ear and confirms that their is mass of scar tissue causing all the problems. I know all the medical terms but I just don't have the energy to go into those details tonight. Bottom line is Mac has so much scar tissue from ear infections that it is has caused a cyst like mass. This mass is what is keeping his infection from getting better. How do we get his ear back to normal now? While we were at Dr. B's office, he took a small biospy of the cyst and told us he thought Mac was going to need surgury to remove the mass from his ear. Nothing is set in writing yet, we are waiting for the results to come back and then we will know more when we go back in for another check up on Feb 18. We haven't told Mac that he might need surgury yet. I don't want to worry him until I can answer all his questions (and mine!).

So far Mac has been a real brave boy though all of this. The doctor kept commenting on how he was being so good and laying still while he was doing the biospy. He has been a little cranky this afternoon but who wouldn't after they day he had!

The bright spot to my day is ....it is snowing!!! I know I am crazy but I love snow:) These weren't little snowflakes either! These were perfect for catching on your tongue. Girly was extremely happy to see the snow. She ran around and rolled in the snow until she was completely white. I tried to take a picture but she wouldn't stay in the same spot for more than 2 seconds! Gracie wasn't too impressed with the cold white stuff. LOL

I am off to find something to stitch on...I need to release some stress! :)

Frosty Friends for Joanie

I saw on Joanie's blog that she has received my Frosty Friends exchange. The design is a pattern I received in last year's snowman exchange. It is called Snowie from Twisted Threads. I dyed the fabric and I was pleased with how it turned out. :)

I looked and looked for some wintry type fabric but I couldn't find any so I gave up that battle and settled for this pinkish rose fabric.

Do you see the rotation schedule on the side? IGNORE it! It lasted 5 days I think. I am just not a rotation kind of gal. The only thing that will stay the same will be my SAL with Renee on Sundays.

I want to thank everyone for such positive responses to my tutorial. I just hope that it reads clear enough. I am a very "visual" person so if I can see the process in pictures I can usually figure it out.

Tomorrow Mac gets to go back to see Dr. L. I predict that he will look into his ear and tell me it still isn't better. *sigh* I wonder what problems I will encounter tomorrow. On top of his ear problems or I should say because of the ear problems Mac's schoolwork is starting to go downhill. While his grades are average and passing I know he is capable of more. From last quarter to this quarter he has gone down a whole letter grade. What subject? Reading! So Mac isn't happy with me but we are doing lots of reading at home. Right now we are reading the book Superfudge by Judy Blume and he seems to be enjoying it.

Have a great night!

Fabric Covered Box

I spent the afternoon finishing Father Time into a small box. I took pictures of each step so I hope this tutorial will be easy for you to understand. If you have any questions feel free to email me at msgal28atgmail.com or leave a comment.

First of all here is a list of materials you will need for this project:

*stitched piece

*pre-made box

*2 cardboard pieces ( 1 for top lid and 1 for false bottom)

*2 pieces of batting (1 for top lid and 1 for bottom)

*scissors

*glue

*fabric

*ribbon/cording

Step 1:

First thing I do is to cut and trace the top lid onto the cardboard. You will also need to do the same thing for the false bottom. Keep in mind when you trace the bottom onto the cardboard it will be slightly larger than the box. This is okay. All you have to do is trim it down to make it fit into the box securely. Important thing is to make sure the top lid and the false bottom fit properly.

Step 2

Cut batting to fit the top lid and the false bottom. Glue the batting to the cardboard.

Step 3

Cut out enough fabric to cover the false bottom. Cover the batting and glue fabric to cardboard. Do the same for your stitched piece and the top lid.

Step 4

Cut a strip of fabric to go around the outside of the lid. I press one end of the fabric under 1/4 inch. This allows for a nice straight edge to line up the bottom of the lid with the fabric. I also do this at the end of the fabric so no raw edges will be seen.

Step 5

Glue the fabric down to the top of the lid.

Step 6

Center stitched piece on cardboard and glue down. Glue the stitched piece to the top lid. I usually place a heavy (but not to heavy!) book on top to press together and let dry for a few hours.

Step 7

Cut a piece of fabric big enough to cover the inside AND outside of the box. I start mine by placing the fabric about 1/2 overlapping the bottom of the box and I press the fabric down as I turn the box in my hands. Once that is done then I glue the extra fabric down on the bottom of the box. You should have enough fabric extra to tuck the fabric down and glue to the inside of the box.

Step 8

Tuck the extra fabric into the inside of the box. The best way to describe how I do it is like wrapping a present. The key is to make sure there are no ripples in the fabric.

Step 9

Insert false bottom into the box.

Step 10

Cut a piece of fabric big enough to cover the bottom of the box. Glue down. I like to take a small (and I mean just a tiny amount!) amount of glue on my finger and run it all the way around where the sides meet the bottom.

At this point I let the whole thing dry for a few hours and then I can add my ribbon and/or cording to make it pretty. :)

I hope this is helpful to everyone! :)

Fob from Judith

Yesterday was a great mail day even though I didn't actually open the mail till this morning. Judith made me this fob for the Fob exchange. Isn't it sweet?! On the back she stitched my initials and the year.
She also sent me some great goodies, too! Thank you so much, Judith:)


I didn't work on TF last night instead I started working on another freebie. I will probably work on it some more today. I have some things waiting to be finished but when I went to get my craft glue it felt extremely light. Hmmmm....I have a sneaky feeling someone used my glue and forgot to tell me it was getting low. Oh well, sounds like a good reason to go and pick up some finishing materials. :)

Valentine Exchange for Outi

I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had a nice weekend but like always it went by too fast. On Saturday I finished the stitching on a secret piece for an exchange that has seem to gone MIA. I am planning on finishing it into something later this evening.

Yesterday I worked on the Harvest Witch SAL with Renee. I really am enjoying stitching her!

Sue asked what where I got the pattern for Harvest Witch from Stoney Creek. I am not sure if it was published in a magazine or not. I bought this leaflet that has her in it and a lot more designs I plan to stitch!

This morning I was pleased to hear that my Valentine exchange has made it safely to Outi's home. I stitched her this freebie from ABC Cross Stitch Patterns. I was concerned about the threads matching the fabric I had bought but in the end it worked out perfectly.

I finished it into a small covered box for her. Making these boxes are fairly simple and if there is enough people interested I would be happy to try and put together a tutorial for making one.

Before I go, Becky K asked how Gracie was doing. She is doing wonderful. She has already claimed the personality of a Princess...lol. Girly has decided that it is pretty fun having her around. Bitsy and Claudia have also decided that she is pretty fun to chase around the house. Zoey, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with Gracie. That isn't much of surprise though considering Zoey does not like anyone! Overall, the adjusting has been pretty smooth and now we are working on manners.

I have rambled on long enough today so I am going to go tackle that huge pile of laundry that is threatening to overtake the laundry area. Enjoy your day! :)

Not Too Sick

I want to thank everyone for their get well wishes for Mac. He was able to keep both doses down yesterday and got some much needed rest. His ear finally seems to have stopped draining but his cough is getting worse. You would think with and ear infection and a bad cough that he would slow down! Nope, he is still taking pleasure in tormenting his sisters to the point they chase him away. When he stops pestering them is when you know he is truly sick.



While Mac was napping yesterday I was able to work on ES. I finished the BS on the left side border and started to fill in the top border. I was hoping to finish page one yesterday but I guess that will have to wait until next week.




I am not sure what I will stitch on today. I am supposed to start Mac's stocking but honestly it isn't calling me.

Have a great weekend!

SBQ of the Week/ES

I have to say I am rather pleased with the progress I made yesterday on ES considering I had to frog out the upper corner and re-stitch it. Actually, the frogging went pretty smoothly because all the stitches were full stitches. Today I am going to work on the backstitching on the border.



This week's SBQ is:

Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that mentions it.) If not, when do you predict will be?

I have had a happy dance this year but I can't share anything about it yet as it is still trying to find its home. I can't wait to share it either, it turned out really cute!

It has been pretty quiet around here for the past few days. Mac is having a little trouble with his oral antibiotics. He is receiving such a high dose of antibiotics that it is making his stomach hurt and upset. The first night of taking them (Tues) he ended up throwing up all over his room. Bless him, he tried to clean it up and ended up making it worse! Yesterday's morning dosage went fine but I kept in touch with his teacher all day to make sure he was doing fine. However, last night's dosage was repeat of the first night. As if things weren't crazy enough, Mac has developed a bad cough on top of all of this. Dr. L seemed to think that the antibiotics would clear it up but I am not sure that it is helping his cough. So after listening to him cough all night long I kept him home today from school. I just hope I don't get sick!

She Has Legs!

Good news is we finally have Mac's ear drops. :) It didn't go quite as smooth as I had hoped it would. I went to town to pick up his prescriptions when I was told one was ready and the drops still hadn't arrived. I decided I had enough of this drama and called Mike to see if he could pick up the script on his way home from work. When he got home he told me he had no problems getting it picked up and insurance approved it so all we had to pay was the copay.

I have been working on TF for the past 2 nights. I finally gave her legs! Now, all she needs are her wings.

Tomorrow and the next day (unless the frogs visit too long) I am planning on working on Egyptian Sampler. I have to frog out the top corner before I can start any real stitching on it.

Enjoy your evening!

Harvest Witch SAL

I finally have a moment to sit down and gather my thoughts. Yes, it has been one of those days today. Mac had to go back in for a check up on his ear. I already knew that it hadn't gotten any better since I saw that it was still "leaking" this weekend. Dr. L took one look at it and immediately said it wasn't better. *sigh* That is what I told the nurses last week when I tried to get Mac in sooner! Dr. decides to basically up the dosage on the oral antibiotics and switched him to a new ear drop medicine. Dr. L. said he was going to call the script in to the pharmacy because he was worried they would give me a hard time because of the oral antibiotics dosage. He did give us a small sample package of the ear drops which turned out to be a good thing!

About 2 hours after the script had been phoned in I go to Wal-Mart to pick it up. Yep, that is where all the trouble starts....Wal-mart! I inquire if his medicine is ready and they tell me that is has not been filled. I asked them if they could tell me that in fact they had gotten the script. I was promptly told to go stand in another line and wait. *Sigh* I finally get the chance to ask if it has been received and the pharmacist starts having an attitude with me about how they don't check the phone in scripts every hour, only when they get a free moment can they check it. I told him I understood this but I needed to make sure that they had it (the script) and not waste the day waiting for it to be filled when they didn't have it in the first place! Did I make sense just then? He gruffly tells me he happens to have a free moment and would check them.....25 minutes later he tells me yes he had it BUT he did not have one of the medicines in the store! Okay...is there another WM pharmacy for me to go to and get it? No, Ma'am we don't keep this is stock in our stores. We might be able to get it from our supplier in Tulsa, if they have it. Let me check and see. While he is looking up the info on the computer the pharmacist is giving me an earful about how the Dr should have called him personally with this prescription. I swear the whole time I was thinking "what did I do to deserve this today?" About 15 minutes later, he finally said they could have it here tomorrow around noon. Before I left the pharmacist looked over his glasses and told me if Dr. L planned on writing more scripts he needs to let them know so they can keep it in stock. Stay tuned for the drama to see if our insurance actually covers it or not!

In my last post I promised a progress picture of Harvest Witch. Here she is. :D I can't wait to pick her up again!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on the fob. It is back in the "to stitch" list for me:) Sorry if this post sounds rushed, well it is, my 2 teen girls are swearing that I never feed them and are threatening to cook if I don't come out and start dinner...lol. Believe me it is not a pretty sight when they do cook!

I saw last night that my fob I made for the Hooked on Exchanging Fob exchange has arrived to Margie's house safely. One of my goals this year was to stitch more freebies, so I chose to stitch this Octagonal Snowflake from Cross Stitch Happy. I have seen octagonal fobs before and finally decided to try one myself. The only thing I was unhappy with this is how short the cord turned out. Normally, I make my cords a little bit longer than I did on this one but otherwise I am happy with how it turned out.





Margie, I hope you don't mind I snagged your pictures. I forgot to take pictures before I mailed the fob. Enjoy the fob:)





Last night I started on Harvest Witch but I didn't get enough done for a picture just yet. I will be working on her again today so hopefully later I will have a picture for you to see.

Happy Stitching:)

SBQ of the Week

This week's SBQ was suggested by Outi and is:

What is your favorite past time while stitching? Do you just enjoy silence, listen to music/audio books or do you "watch" TV/movies? Do you have specific favorites you listen to/watch while stitching?

It depends on the time of day I am stitching as to what I am doing besides stitching. If I am stitching while the kids are at school generally I stitch and enjoy the silence. With 3 kids you learn to savor the quiet times! At night when everyone is home I usually "watch" TV as I am stitching. Most of the time I watch the History International channel but other shows I "watch" as I stitch are Monk, Psych, Charmed, Gilmore Girls, and George Lopez.

I have been stitching but I can't show a picture yet. I have been working on a small snowman design to have ready in case my Frosty Friends exchange doesn't arrive. I will work on it some more later this afternoon, at least, until this evening when I am going to start on Harvest Witch. I am really looking forward to this one!

Today looks like it will be a busy day for me. Allie going to a friends' house tonight for a birthday sleepover but I totally forgot about it yesterday and didn't pick up a present for M. Now, I have to run in and get a present for a 13 yr old and take it up to school to give to Allie. I am hoping to be there around lunch time so I won't interrupt her class, not that she would mind. LOL

I want to thank eveyone for their comments on Gracie. We are really enjoying her right now while she is small. Some have asked how big she will get when she is fully grown. She will be a large dog weighing anywhere in between 60 to 80 pounds. It will be fun watching her grow, especially when she gets bigger than Girly. Girly isn't really a small dog but isn't a large dog either. She weighs 40 pounds but she is only 13 inches from her shoulder to the ground! What can you expect when you combine a black lab and a rat terrier?!

Have a great weekend!

Awww...

Isn't Gracie sweet? :)

Visit of the Frogs

I was stitching at a good pace last evening when I thought something looked wrong. Yep, after counting I realized the corner block is off by one stitch. I was so irritated with myself because I knew it was going to be an area I could easily mess up and I did! I was so mad at myself I didn't stitch for the rest of the evening. Now, I have to rip out the whole corner...ugghh!!

Instead of frogging out those stitches, I decided to pull out the floss I need to start on Harvest Witch. Renee and I are stitching her as SAL on Sundays but to kick it off we will be working on her for the SAT this weekend. I can't wait to get started!

I am not sure what I'm going to work on this evening yet. I mailed my Frosty Friends exchange out on the 5th and it still has not arrived yet. I am getting nervous about it since it really didn't have a long ways to travel. I have sent an exchange to XXXX before and it took almost 2 weeks (and it was priority mail!) to arrive then. Speaking of exchanges, later this afternoon I will be mailing my final 2 exchanges out. On one hand, I am sad to see it come to an end for me but on the other hand, I sure am not going to miss the knots I get in my stomach waiting for an exchange to arrive safely. This of course doesn't mean I won't be sending out gifts, it just means I don't have deadlines to worry about. :)

Have a nice day!

Outside Border

I made pretty good progress on ES last night. :) I am almost done with section 1! All I have left to stitch is the outer border. :)


Things have been slowly adjusting to Gracie arriving. The kids love her so much that I actually have to rescue her just so she can sleep! At first Allie was not happy about it because she is not fond of dogs. She has never had a bad experience with dogs but she has never liked any other dog other than Girly. However, when she got home from school she ran right past me to find Gracie and pick her up. Krissy and Mac are just as bad, too!

As for Girly, she isn't too sure what to think about Gracie. She is a little jealous but it isn't directed at Gracie. Instead Girly refuses to share her toys with Gracie! LOL...it is actually pretty cute to see. Girly will go and get her ball (a pink and purple ball in particular) and bring it back to her spot and lay down with her paws covering it. So I went and bought Gracie a stuffed toy and now Girly keeps hiding it from her! At the same time if Gracie whines or whimpers Girly is the first one to check on her and if we aren't moving fast enough (at least in Girly's opinion) she will start let you know that you need to move faster.

It looks like it will be a quiet day around here for me. I have to do some laundry but once that is done the day is mine to stitch away. :) I have a small headache today so I'm not sure if I will work on ES or start something small for me.

Happy Stitching!

Weekend Progress

Sometimes the weekends just go by way too fast! In between getting the new puppy and Allie's birthday, I didn't a lot of time to stitch but after they went to bed I pulled out Egyptian Sampler and happily started stitching on it. I am planning on working on it later today. :)

I want to thank everyone for their comments on Gracie. She has everyone wrapped around her little paw. She is so cute right now. I'm sure that will change in a few months when she is chewing on everything in her sight! LOL

Have a wonderful day!

Frosty Friends from Leena

I had a nice little package waiting for me in the mail today. It was my Frosty Friends exchange from Leena. She sent me a fantastic package! This is the whole exchange. She sent me the cutest snowman done in red! I have a fondness for redwork so this one really made me smile when I saw it. She also included some lovely fabric, snowflake buttons (they are too cute!), ribbons, and stationary. You can be assured, Leena, all of it will be put to good use. :)

Here is a close up of the pinkeep Leena made. Isn't it gorgeous?

And here is the back of the pinkeep. Thank you for everything Leena!!


I haven't had a chance to stitch today but I had a really good reason. :) I would like for you to meet the newest member of our family. Her name is Gracie. She is a real sweetheart. The kids adore her!

Have a great weekend!

SBQ of the Week

TGIF!! It has been a busy week and I am ready for the weekend! I had another sick kid (Krissy this time) home yesterday so I didn't get a lot of stitching accomplished but I did manage to finish the stitching on my Valentine piece late last night. I will work on the finishing later today.


This week's SBQ is:

What was your favorite finish of 2007?

This one was easy! Woodland Faerie by Teresa Wentzler. :D

Have a great weekend! :)

Hurry Up and Wait

It has been one of those "hurry up and wait" days for me. I had to take Mac to the doctor today because he had yucky stuff draining from his ear. We sat in the waiting room for at least 45 minutes and then sat in the exam room for another 30 minutes to only see the doctor for a brief 10 minutes! Dr. L confirmed that his left ear was infected AND his right ear was completely plugged off with earwax. By the time we got out of there it was already lunchtime so I decided to run by the Wal-Mart pharmacy and pick up something quick for Mac and I for lunch. I was informed when I handed the prescription to the pharmacist that is was going to be a 3 hour wait for his medicine!!

With Mac being sick today I haven't had a chance to even think about stitching. I hope to work on my V-day exchange after I get back from picking up the medicines. I worked on it last night and finished about half of the stitching. I am quite happy with how it is turning out so far. :)

I want to thank everyone for their comments on Topaz and Allie becoming a teen. I will say that it is very "hormonal" around my house 3/4 of the time! LOL

Have a great night!

Stormy Night

I had a nice day but it wasn't as peaceful as I would have liked it to be. The weather turned quite nasty yesterday afternoon so I was on pins and needles all night. I hardly slept last night because of the wind blowing so hard. I am just thankful that it has passed and we are all fine.

Because of the nasty storms I didn't get to do a lot of stitching last night. I did get one more flower finished and I have started to give her legs. Today I am working on my Valentine exchange piece. I finally picked a pattern but so far ( and I only have about 20 stitches in it) I am noticing that the colors in the picture aren't quite accurate. This could be a small problem since the fabric I have to finish it with matches the colors in the picture. I am not too worried about it because it is a pattern I like so if it doesn't work out I can keep it for me. :)

Things around my house have gotten back to its normal chaotic mess. As if our lives weren't crazy enough Mike's hours have been changed at work. While it isn't a huge change only by an hour in the morning and an hour in the evenings but it now means Mike won't be eating dinner with us most nights. Hopefully his hours will go back to normal soon but until then we will just have to manage dinner without him.

Another thing to add to the pile of chaos is Allie's birthday is this Sunday. She will be 13. Which means I will have 2 teenage daughters in my house! And yes Allie is greeting this phase head on. My little tomboy has discovered make up, hair spay, and boys. It is all downhill from now!

WIP Progress

For once, I was looking forward to the alarm going off this morning! Today is the kids' first day back to school this year. Whoo-hoo:) Now, I can actually clean my house and feel like I actually cleaned it.

We had a pretty nice weekend. We didn't do anything special but the weather was unusually warm so Mac and Allie took advantage of it and played outside all day long. Those two keep me in constant supply of Band-Aids, Neosporin, and ice packs!

As for stitching, I worked on Egyptian Sampler Saturday night and almost finished the falcon. I know I have said it before but I really am loving this piece!


Yesterday I decided to work on Topaz Fairie. I didn't get to stitch as much as I wanted to yesterday due to the weather being so nice. I wanted to fill in her dress and one of the flowers but all I got done was the dress. That is okay it is supposed to have rain later today and tomorrow so hopefully I can make up for it then. :)



I want to thank everyone for their comments recently. I have been terrible about reading your blogs and commenting. However, I did decide this morning after seeing my total number of feeds to read that I was not going to be able to get caught up. I hit the dreaded key to mark everything as read so hopefully I can stay caught up now at least for a little while.

Happy Stitching!

Lazy Night

I didn't get a chance to post my progress from yesterday because I didn't think I was going to have anything to show! I had only worked on EG for about an hour yesterday morning before I started feeling really bad. My stomach started hurting and whenever that happens I always end up throwing up. So I spend most of the day on the couch curled up in ball unless I was running to the bathroom. My stomach stopped hurting early in the evening but I still wasn't brave enough to try and eat! So instead, I pulled out ES and worked on it for a little bit more.

I made a quick run into town today and picked up the fabric I needed for my Valentine exchange. I have everything ready except for the pattern! While I was running I was able to get my Frosty Friends exchange and Lottery exchange in the mail. This time I remembered the PO closes at 11 AM on Saturdays. :)

We have no plans for tonight other than staying home and being lazy. This is the last official night the kids get to stay up "late" because they go back to school on Monday. So we will probably pop some popcorn and watch a movie ( I will stitch while watching the movie!).

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

SBQ of the Week

Today's stitching was all about backstitching. Like the other TW's I have stitched Egyptian Sampler has a ton of BS'ing! I am about 1/3 done with page 1. I am not sure if I will work on this tomorrow or switch to something else. I really need to get started on my piece for the Valentine exchange. I know how I want to finish but I still have to find a pattern first! I


This week's SBQ is:

Are you starting something new to celebrate the New Year or participating in "Guilt Free January?" If so, what are you planning on starting?

I started Egyptian Sampler as my official New Year start this year. I am also planning on trying to go back to a daily rotation. A daily or every other day rotation works a lot better for me when I am working on large pieces.

I will start a rotation once I have finished my Valentine exchange. I am still in the planning and gathering stage right now!

Loving ES!

I am addicted to stitching Egyptian Sampler! I can't seem to put it down for long but is that really a bad thing? :) I am sure that will change once I get to the one over one stitching.

I have decided that since the SBEBB will be closing down soon that I will not be participating in any more exchanged for this year. My last exchange will be the Valentine exchange. After looking back through the year of what I did finish in comparison to what I kept and the numbers were quite low for me. I have so many things that I really want to stitch for me that I am going to spend this year spoiling myself with my finishes. Exchanging is fun but right now I just want to stitch for me!

Kim-The colors in Topaz's dress are DMC 3078, White, 318, and 415. I agree with you, the photo on the pattern makes the yellow look really bright but it isn't that way in real life.

Happy Stitching!

Egyptian Sampler

Today is the the first of the year which means a new start for me. :) Actually, I cheated and started working on Egyptian Sampler last night for a little while. Since this pattern has lots of backstitching I will be doing the BS'ing as I go along. Normally, I save it to the end but I have learned from past experiences that TW's are less stressful if I don't save all the BS'ing for the end.

It has been a pretty quiet day around here today. Renee and her kitties left for Texas early this morning. I was sad to see them go but I know they will be back for another visit sometime soon. Mac and Allie went back to sleep after she left but I had to start the battle of cleaning the house. Unfortunately, I don't think that battle will be fully won until the kids go back to school on Jan 7!