Happy Halloween

We enjoy Halloween at our house. We don't happen to be of the belief that Christians can't enjoy costumes and trick-or-treating or decorating the yard and porch for the holiday. Steven will probably fuss at me for saying this, but he reads my October issue of Martha Stewart Living every year to find new Halloween ideas. He makes fun of my love of Martha, but even he thinks she's #1 with the Halloween stuff.

Just about everything in our Halloween decor is a Martha project. The wooden cats flanking the walkway are a Martha project that Steven lovingly made for me.



I loved the cat mask on the pumpkin idea when it came out one year in Martha's magazine. A trip to Kinko's, some scissors, ribbon, and one of those craft pumpkins were all it took.



And of course, there was the year the mice templates were in the magazine. Steven placed the cut-out mice all around the porch. I thought the mouse on the doorbell was a nice touch.



We have spider balls, ala Martha, hanging from the ceiling of the porch, too. For better pictures of our stuff, go here.

In the second photo with the cat mask on the pumpkin, you might notice a little portable CD player. That was Steven's new idea for this year. He scoured the internet to find some spooky sounds to download and play on a loop. He played something with crickets, frogs, and owls, which I really liked. Then came a recording with some demonic-sounding voice. I told him we can't have anything too scary because we want little kids to still come to the door. He laughed and said, "So, the demonic voice saying, 'Welcome to Hell,' is out?" Um, yeah.

I told him that nothing says, "This household loves Jesus," like a devil voice saying, "Welcome to Hell," as kids walk up to ring the doorbell!

We're sticking with the frogs, crickets, and owls.

A Crafty Word of Advice

If you're going to glitter pumpkins, don't do it in the living room using a flimsy tray table while sitting on the couch. If you drop a pumpkin into the lightweight disposable bowl that you're using to catch the glitter, the bowl will go flying, and you'll have glitter all over yourself, the couch, the tray table, and the carpeting.

I'm just sayin'.

New Glasses!

I saw the eye doctor last Friday. My main motivation was that I'm sick of not having wearable contacts. My last ophthamologist insisted I wear a toric lens, but I'm so sensitive to the slightest movements that I couldn't ever focus with the constant shifting of the toric lens. So, I've spent the last 5 years almost exclusively wearing glasses.

I now have a lovely new non-toric prescription for contacts, and I'm very happy! I received tons of compliments at church on Sunday with my new no-glasses look.

Since I needed a new prescription, I also got new glasses and sunglasses. My husband helped me pick them out. He said these just screamed my name:




There are polka dots and pink sparkles on the sides! I love them! I have to confess, though, that they're kids' glasses. My face is so narrow that I had to shop in the kids' section. So, they may not be the most grown-up look around, but I like 'em!

Bloggy Giveaway

It's time for another quarterly round of Bloggy Giveaways. Keeping with the Star Wars theme of my previous Bloggy Giveaways, I have a signed 501st Legion Trooper action figure, an exclusive 501st Legion Imperial Cadet Training Manual (it's a kids' activity booklet), and a 501st Legion tattoo. These are for the true Star Wars fan!



Who is the 501st Legion? You can read about their history within the Star Wars saga, as well as the real-life members of the 501st Legion here. In the movies and books, they are under the command of Darth Vader himself. In real life, they are a worldwide organization that does a lot of great charity work. (If you click on the stormtroopers link in my sidebar, you can see what some of the local guys are involved in.)

Children often ask for the stormtroopers' autographs. My husband is a stormtrooper and a member of the 501st Legion. He has signed the action figure with his 501st ID. (Please note that he is not an actor and was not in any of the Star Wars films.)




The Imperial Cadet Manual and 501st Legion tattoo are exclusives that can only be obtained from a member of the 501st Legion. (The "Pottery Barn Kids" printed at the bottom is there because that particular run was given out by the stormtroopers at the PB launch of their new Star Wars line.) The back of the activity booklet is also signed.




To enter to win, simply leave a comment along with some way to contact you if you are the winner. I'll randomly choose a winner on Monday, November 3.

**Comments are now closed.

Live Clue

We played a live version of the game Clue last year with our youth group. It was so much fun that we decided to do it again this year. The youth leaders all got together to scout out locations on the property we were to play on, then we spent time writing out all the riddles that would lead to the clues.

As we did last year, we dressed up as the characters/suspects. Steven reprised his role as Col. Mustard, but I decided to be Professor Plum this year:



Mrs. Peacock:



A rather frightening, yet hilarious Mrs. White:



(Even scarier is that I keep thinking of Alice in Wonderland whenever I see that picture!)

I failed to get pictures of Miss Scarlet or Mr. Green. Oops.

I had fun playing the Professor. We made the kids do stuff for us before we'd give them a clue. I loved watching their faces as I asked for an example of dramatic foil as found in Act III of Romeo and Juliet (I don't even remember if there is dramatic foil within that act!), an example of litotes as found in Beowulf (I know there's an example in the description of Grendel's mother, but I can't remember specifics), and a recitation of Puck's speech at the end of Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream (this I can actually do). The looks on the faces of the middle schoolers were priceless! The high schoolers actually attempted to answer my questions. Badly, but they attempted it. One of the 7th grade girls told me, "Professor Plum is mean; I don't like her! I like Anne Marie." Awwww.

The kids wore costumes, too, but they weren't Clue related. As always, I won't show their pictures here since I don't know who reads or stops by here. But if you're on Facebook with me, you can see them there since I know you and trust you!

Facebook

I was very anti-MySpace and Facebook for quite some time. I blog, so why do I need to do the social-page thing, as well? But when my husband signed up, I started to see the benefits. He's suddenly back in touch with people he knew years ago.

Considering that I moved a lot as a kid, even to Europe for a while, I've lost track of a lot of people. I decided to give Facebook a try.

Wow! I'm now back in touch with sorority sisters, friends from my Texas high school, my Louisiana junior high, and most excitingly, my high school in Europe. I now have more excuses to visit London again (as if seeing my nieces weren't excuse enough) as a few friends are living in and around London.

It's sort of odd, though, seeing all these people from different places and periods of my life all intermingling on my page. Even stranger is looking at friend lists and discovering that my friends are friends with people I knew at a different time. A sorority sister is friends with someone I knew from kindgergarten to 3rd grade, for example. Strange stuff!

Anyone else do the Facebook or MySpace thing?

Edited to add: I've heard from my sorority sister who has a picture with an old elementary-school friend of mine. She said she doesn't actually know her; that was a group shot from a shower. So I guess I should say that my friends from different periods of my life apparently have some mutual friend(s).

Drugging the Cat

We seem to have the pill popping down to a science now. Sort of. We figured out how Calvin has to be held, along with the best position for my hand to pry his jaw open and be ready with the pill popper. But there's still the problem of the cat. Nothing will make him want to cooperate. He's not fighting as hard now, at least not physically. Now he's going for pathetic to try to gain the sympathy vote. This is his common stance now when we take him into the bathroom to give him his nightly pill:



He buries his head into Steven's armpit. If he's really wanting to look pitiful, he'll even cover his face with his paw. This always garners soothing words, hugs, and kisses on his little furry head.

But he still gets the pill.

On the bright side, he really does enjoy his cornbread:



I don't think he's putting on any weight from it, but he certainly does like his treat. Punk cat has no appreciation for fine cooking, though. He'd rather eat that cheap Jiffy boxed mix than my from-scratch cornbread.

And then there's Doogie, our sweet little cat who has been such a trooper through all of this. He's the one who doesn't have to have the special diet, but he hasn't complained once since we switched him over to it to make feeding time easier. He's really just happy to be alive, fed, and loved:



However, I think he's glad that he's not the one having pills shoved down his throat every night. His sunny disposition can only go so far.

Life Unexpected--Again

This time it has nothing to do with the cat. Steven's company had a meeting yesterday morning to announce how the economic crisis is affecting them. They told everyone that they were having to lay off 17% of the company. Seventeen percent! Talk about a lousy day for everyone, not knowing if they'd be next to be called in and given the bad news.

Steven was one of the lucky ones who got to keep his job. But this doesn't mean that we don't still worry. Who's to say that there won't be another round of layoffs in the coming months? These are scary times in which we live.

We had a quiet night at home. I'd made tacos, including homemade guacaomle, per Steven's request. He felt sad for his single coworker who was laid off yesterday and didn't have a wife and a good dinner to go home to. After dinner Steven worked on a stormtrooper helmet for a guy who is hoping to join the 501st Legion soon, while I played around with some Sculpey again. This time I didn't play with Star Wars stamps; I went for bible verses:



I find them comforting in a time of uncertainty, and Romans 12:12 is especially poignant. What more can we do than be joyful, patient, and especially faithful in prayer when it comes to life? We have no guarantees other than life, death, and salvation for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Pink Living and Some Minor Crafting

Those cheap eco bags have been at all the grocery stores, as well as many other types of stores. I've avoided them because 1) they're made in China, and 2) I had every intention of making my own. That second reason never happened, and probably won't for a very long time, if I'm totally honest. As for the first, well, I caved last week. But here's why:



Sprouts has pink bags this month! (They're for Breast Cancer Awareness.) I couldn't resist buying them in pink. Much better than all the generic-looking green bags. Who says being eco friendly has to be green?

On another subject, I figured I should show proof that I'm actually putting my clean desk to use again. I made a prayer journal last week:



I'd been meaning to make one for nearly a year, so I'm glad I finally accomplished just that. (Yes, procrastination is a character flaw that I've always possessed.) Now I have only a billion more projects left to complete.

My Baking Philosophy

I'm not very fond of baking. I love to cook, but baking isn't my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. So, if I'm going to bake, I prefer to bake big. It's part of why I love my wheat bread recipe; it makes 4 loaves at once! And when I bake pumpkin bread, I quadruple the recipe. Three loaves for the freezer, 1 loaf for right now.




Pumpkin Bread

1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (approx. ½ of a 15-oz. can)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup applesauce)
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. each ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg
1/4 tsp. baking powder

In a mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, spices, and baking powder; gradually add to pumpkin mixture. Fold in pecans. Pour into a greased 9”x 5” loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf

If you choose to double or even quadruple this recipe, just make sure you have a big bowl!

Finding the Fun in Life--Even When It's Bad

Last week was not a good week. In addition to the cat issues involving urine, a vet visit, pill popping, and lots and lots of laundry, my grandmother died. My last living grandparent whom I loved fiercely is now gone. Sad as it is, it's a good thing, as she's now out of the frail body with the feeble mind and in the arms of the Savior.

But that really was the topping to an already lousy week.

Calvin targeted the bed pillows again on Saturday, and it was discovered right before we needed to leave for an evening with friends. (We were celebrating a belated Canadian Thanksgiving at the home of our Canadian friends.) I was going to let it go for a few hours. I had Steven take the stinking wet pillows to set on top of the washing machine. Problem with that is I don't have an actual laundry room; I have a laundry closet in the kitchen. Cat urine is rank, and the smell wound up permeating the kitchen. I couldn't let that go.

This is where things started getting crazy.

I tossed the pillows and shams into the washer and got it started. However, one pillow was filled with dense foam, and the other was something lightweight. The foam pillow sunk like a rock, and the other pillow floated. This meant that to keep the stinky pillow submerged to be washed properly, I had to stand there with rubber gloves, shoving the pillow down as the agitator worked it's magic.

That was annoying, but really okay... until the washer tried to drain the water. Because one pillow was heavy and one was not, the machine was off balance as it spun the water out. I tried to balance it with a wet beach towel on top of the light pillow, but it still sent the machine bouncing all over the place and making a horrible racket. Steven had to pull the wet, soapy pillows out and put them in a garbage bag while I called our friends to say not to hold dinner for us, as we had to go to the laundromat.

It wound up being productive time as I worked on the Sunday school lesson for the morning, and Steven worked on what he would be teaching the whole youth group on Sunday evening. But even with that, being stuck in a laundromat isn't fun, unless you make it fun.

My husband happened to notice this sign on the washers in the laundromat:



He found it hilarious and told me to take this picture of him:



Is it any wonder that we teach the middle schoolers at church?

Yeah, it was silly and goofy, but it made me laugh. And if I ever needed some laughter in my life, last week was the time for it. Sometimes you just have to ignore all the garbage and make some fun in life.

Book Giveaway Winner

I said I'd do a drawing for the book From Clutter to Clarity by Nancy Twigg on October 18th. I'm still technically there, even if it is 11:40pm. It's been a crazy sort of day, and I completely forgot about my giveaway! Oops.

Without further ado, I give you photos of the drawing. Because it's not a Star Wars giveaway this time, I did something that's more me: I had the hubby draw the winner from a pink hat, as I took the photos with my pink camera.




Suzie G., I've sent you an email. Congratulations!

Happy 11th Birthday!

Another niece, another birthday. Caroline turns 11 today. (She's the one in front wearing green.) Caroline was born exactly one week after Steven and I started dating. He must have really liked me already because I managed to drag him to the hospital with me to see my niece. He met my entire family that day.

People who know me in real life know that I'm not much of a baby person. I don't hate babies or anything; I'm just not someone who particularly wants to hold them. Caroline was the first baby I'd ever really held. I remember feeling so surprised at how soft and warm she was and how comfortable it actually was to hold a baby. And I swear, that kid and I bonded right there. (Nevermind that she was asleep through that entire first meeting.)

Caroline and I always had a close bond. In fact, when she was a toddler, she didn't even want to acknowledge that Uncle Steven existed; I was hers, and she didn't like having to share me with him!

She and I share a love of reading, so I really enjoy recommending books to her or sending them to her. One of the major disadvantages of having her halfway across the world now (apart from the whole physical separation thing and the fact that I miss her like crazy) is that I don't get to share my book collection with her. I'd always figured that my bookshelves would be her personal lending library, but that's hard to do when an entire ocean separates us. As always, I wish I could be there with her for her birthday celebration. Instead, a phone call and a blog entry will have to suffice. Happy Birthday!

Life Unexpected

Sometimes stuff happens that throws everything out of whack. The cat did that for me this week. I've been finding things covered in cat urine. My ironing basket, which admittedly was overflowing (Steven calls it the basket where good clothes go to die), was targeted. Our bed pillows, which were thankfully not on the bed at the time, were hit. He even targeted the pile of bed sheets and a blanket that I hadn't gotten around to washing after stripping the bed.

I don't think I've ever done so much laundry at one time in my life. (This picture doesn't even begin to show it all!)



After washing all the pillows and coverings, then ironing the shams, I had to put all the pillows up on the ironing board to keep the cat from getting to them.



At first I was really annoyed with Calvin for his bad behavior. You see, he's like the boy who cried wolf. He had a spraying problem a few years ago, which was his way of letting us know that he was unhappy with the service. So when he started urinating on stuff again, I just thought he was expressing his displeasure with his renal diet. He has a track record!

But then I realized that he's squatting and not spraying, so he took a trip to the vet. He was diagnosed with a bladder infection, which is actually a good thing, because it's quite treatable. The bad thing, though, is that we have to give him a pill every day for 20 days. (If you've ever had to give pills to a cat, you'll know why I'm not happy about this!)

We're still watching him like a hawk because I'm tired of doing laundry and sniffing the house to make sure that all traces of that abominable odor are gone. But he seems to be improving. I guess this is all just par for the course with older pets, especially those with kidney disease.



Oh, and because he's still losing weight (which I totally believe is due to the fact that he doesn't like his food, therefore, he doesn't eat as much), we're supposed to supplement his diet with non-protein food. The vet suggested rice, which I can't seem him eating willingly. I mentioned that he loves cornbread (yellow only--he turns his nose up at white cornbread), and the vet said that would be great. So now, I have to bake for the cat.

Does this officially make me a Crazy Cat Lady?

The Fair Day That Wasn't

Steven took off work yesterday so that we could go to the State Fair of Texas. It's really fabulous and not hokey, as you might imagine a state fair to be. He'd scheduled this day off a couple of months ago, and as usual, we planned our fair day for a Wednesday. (It's always $1 entrance with 3 cans of food for the North Texas Food Bank.) We were both really looking forward to this.

But it was raining when we woke up.

No big deal. I made a breakfast of French toast and bacon, and we waited it out. The rain finally stopped, so we left the house around noon.

But as we were driving, this happened:



It really started raining. And kept raining. Halfway there, we decided not to bother with the fair. Spending the day at something that is mostly outdoors isn't much fun in the rain. So, we pulled off to eat here:



Pappadeaux is my favorite restaurant, so I was more than happy to spend the lunch hour eating Cajun food. While talking over lunch, we decided to go here after we ate:



If the movies on the marquee look a little old, that's because it's the dollar theater. (It really needed to be the dollar theater to balance out the pricey lunch we ate, complete with appetizers because neither of us can resist the crawfish bisque.) We watched Hellboy II, which was surprisingly good since we were both rather indifferent towards the first Hellboy movie. But throw in that director from Pan's Labyrinth, and I'm there!

While this day didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, it was still a great day. Just taking a day off from our regular schedules and spending time together is nice no matter what we're doing!

Happy 9th Birthday!

I wanted to publicly wish my beautiful niece Leah a happy 9th birthday today! (But she's 8-1/2 in that photo since that's when I saw her last.)

I remember meeting her for the first time in the hospital in Dallas where she was born. I had her big sister on my lap while we gazed at the newborn Leah. She was such a sweet, quiet baby who didn't say a whole lot, but she'd fight for what she wanted! I recall a Thanksgiving when she was only a year old. She was taking a turn sitting in my lap, and when her big sister tried to climb in my lap, too, Leah shoved her off! That made me laugh. She didn't say much, but she certainly made her wishes known!

Now she's my crafty niece. (I mean that in a good way.) She enjoys making things and being creative. I enjoy picking out new craft supplies for her since I love crafty things, too.

This is the third birthday she's spent in London, so it's the third one I've not been able to be there for. I miss her terribly, but I'm excited for the interesting life she gets to lead in England.

A Winner and a Giveaway

I was so excited to learn that I'd won a giveaway on Annie's blog! A $25 gift card to Amazon was mine! All mine! I wound up ordering these 3 books:



I have to credit Carrie with 2 of the books I ordered. She'd reviewed Nancy Twigg's From Clutter to Clarity and J. Matthew Sleeth's Serve God, Save the Planet, which is what piqued my interest in them. Nancy Twigg's Celebrate Simply is just another book of interest I discovered while ordering my books.

I have only read 2 chapters so far in From Clutter to Clarity, but I've already been challenged (in a good way). This book does not merely deal with physical clutter, but also with spiritual, emotional, and financial clutter, and it is written from a Christian perspective. This has been quite interesting to read in light of the cleaning out we did this past weekend. I'm astounded at how much stuff we've wasted money on in the past, not to mention the things that take up space in our home and our lives.

And, because I'm a goober who didn't carefully check her order, I accidentally ordered 2 copies of From Clutter to Clarity. In the spirit of giving, I've decided to host my own little giveaway here. For once it's not a Star Wars item! For a chance to win my extra copy of From Clutter to Clarity, just leave a comment on this post. (One comment only please; multiple entries will be deleted.) I'll choose a winner on Saturday, October 18.

All Cleaned Up

I posted last week that I'm slow to work on the blog for a few reasons, but a big one is the mess in my craft room and on my desk. I'm pleased to report that I went from a cluttery mess to this:



I wasn't the only one with the cleaning and reorganizing bug. Steven's Star Wars room was revamped a bit this weekend. He made this really amazing diorama of Dagobah Swamp several years ago. He was invited to bring it to Star Wars: Celebration III; it's just that cool. But now it smells really funky, is really dusty (but made of materials that make it hard to clean), and it takes up a ton of space, as you can see here:



So, we carried it out to the garage where Steven will work on dismantling it. Then, he got to work on cleaning and reorganizing:



Where Dagobah Swamp used to stand, he is now proudly displaying his new Millennium Falcon:



I know that we're both happy to have things a bit less cluttered and dusty. I'm looking forward to working at my desk again. I was able to do my bible study there last night, and I'm about to do it again right now. I can even get some craft projects done now!

Busy Busy

I'm usually better about updating the blog, but I've just been really busy the past few weeks. I've been doing some substitute teaching here and there, as well as working on some projects for other people. That wasn't necessarily the best thing for me to do, seeing as I barely manage to get my own projects done! I've also started back up with the women's bible study at my church after being away from it for a year-and-a-half.

Add to all that the fact that I'm attempting to stay off the computer a bit more. I've realized that I read a lot online, but I'm not reading books as often or as quickly as I used to. I'm working to remedy that.

And then there's this:



My desk is Command Central around here. I pay the bills here, work on the computer here, do most of my craft projects here, and prefer to do my bible study here. But as you can see, the state of my desk hasn't exactly been conducive to any of that. I've been tackling that mess this week. See that stack of papers on top of the pink filing cabinet to the right? I finally filed all that and discovered that I hadn't filed anything since May. Pretty ridiculous since the filing cabinet is right there.

All this to say that I'm attempting to discipline myself more and get my household into proper working order. I hope to be back to regular posting sooner rather than later.

A Country Club Event

I knew this was going to be a different sort of charity event when we pulled into a country club and had to give our names to the security guards at the gate, who then checked The List. Apparently, we (or at least Steven) were on The List, so we were allowed to enter. But I suspect we were sent to park in the staff lot, as all the luxury vehicles appeared to be sent a different direction.

I really knew this would be different when we walked inside to see this:



Ballrooms with chandeliers do not typically have bounce houses inside them!

The stormtroopers were there to help THANKS raise money for abused and neglected kids.



As far as I could tell, the children had filled jars with change to give away. The stormtroopers were pretty much just there to add to the entertainment value of the event. (I suspect far more money was spent on the entertainment than was raised for charity, but this was still a good way to introduce children to the joys of giving to others.)

I was amused to take a photo of the stormtroopers by a golf cart with a golf course in the background. Not their usual venue!



A few more photos from the day:





At least the guys were well fed. Steven, Todd, and Fred unmasked to cool down and eat up:



As for me, I felt woefully underdressed in jeans and my pink 501st t-shirt. I thought Steven had said we were going to a children's hospital!

A Few Links

I've had a very busy weekend, including an event that involved crystal chandeliers, bounce houses, and stormtroopers--all in the same room! Unfortunately, I don't have time to get around to sharing that with you until late Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. So, in the meantime, I'll leave you with a few links of places I enjoy on the web.

If you like cats at all, you've got to visit Bella Bluegrass. This has become one of my favorite blogs to visit because the pictures of Bella, along with the witty captions, are just fabulous. Definitely a fun blog to visit!

For a little humor, Stuff Christians Like is hilarious. If you go to church, and especially if you grew up going to church, you'll get it.

Because I totally dig Ikea, and I really dig people being creative with their stuff, I enjoy visiting Ikea Hacker. It's a great place to see the clever things that people have done with their Ikea furniture and household items.

Hope to see you in a couple of days!

Migraines, Chiropractors, and Thrift Stores

I started the day with a visit to the chiropractor. I've been seeing him for a couple of months for some back/hip pain I've been experiencing. That problem is mostly taken care of now, but lately, my migraines have been bad. Scary bad. (Early Wednesday morning I experienced the worst one I can remember ever having.) I mentioned this to my chiropractor, so he did some extra adjusting on me, including my jaw. Yes, my jaw. I didn't know you could adjust a person's jaw, but he managed it. I am aware that TMJ or other similar issues can cause migraines, so I let him do his thing. Guess I'll see if it works or not. (Admittedly, I'm highly skeptical.)

He also gave me a sample of this:



Again, I'm skeptical, as the homeopathic stuff seems pretty useless for real migraine, but it can't hurt to try.

When I was finished at the chiropractor's, I decided to try a little thrifting. I went first to CCA and was shocked to find a Romertopf clay baker for only $6! I'd read about them on Meredith's blog, so I snatched this one up before someone else could realize what a find it was. Even better, the dinner plan for tonight was already baked chicken. It'll now be cooked in my new pot!

Additionally, I found a nice teapot for only $3. It's nothing special, but I've wanted another teapot. We frequently make pots of tea in the evenings when it's cold out. Not that we're looking to have cold weather anytime soon here.



Next I headed to Goodwill. I found a Snoopy glass that I really like. I realize that I'm all grown up and all, but I still love Snoopy. I mean, I do still dress my Snoopys up for the holidays and whatnot! I also found a mug with cats and part of a nursery rhyme:

Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been?
I've been up to London to look at the Queen.

It reminds me of 2 of my favorite things--cats and my nieces (they live in London).



Then, I hit gold. Eight amber-colored glasses that say, "Handblown Lenox Crystal" on the bottoms. Personally, I hate amber glass, but one of my friends loves the stuff. I bought all 8 glasses for a mere 59 cents each. I'm putting them away for her birthday next year, assuming I can wait that long! (Pardon the sideways picture. It's right-side up on my computer, but Blogger keeps turning it sideways, no matter what I do!)