Struck by Lighting

Sorry for my absence yesterday. I was busy playing chauffeur and had to go downtown to purchase myriad random stuff for the kidlets. And lack of sleep was sure not helping to motivate me.

Anyway, last week my friend Flower Girl and I went to a friend’s open house. I have to tell you, Flower Girl is obsessed with light fixtures. She went to Ikea waaaaaaaaaaay north of here JUST to get a light fixture for her bedroom.

I would be afraid to sneeze with that giant dandelion dangling over my head.

At the open house she fell in love with the drum-shaped fixture in the foyer. Unlike my foyer, my friend’s ceiling was at normal height, so the small fixture was just right for the space. Which then got me to thinking about my two-storey ceiling area in the foyer. It has a flush mount fixture the size of a salad plate, and with the lumens power of maybe two candles in a storm.

Seriously, it provides enough light to identify shapes. On the ceiling…

So now I have the lighting bug. And I thought that it would be easy to just find one and be done with it. But as usual, nothing that simple is ever easy. I had thought to get just a wrought iron looking pendant with maybe three bulbs. How hard could it be, right? OMG… There are different finishes, different metals, different lightbulbs, different cords, different everything! As the photos of fixtures swam across my eyes, I had a sudden thought: why not look for something more….Sithy?? And I found just the thing.

I can just see Hubby’s face when he walks through the door to that. After the “What the hell is that thing??” and before the “This is a joke, right?” he will just look at me and shake his head, wondering if it’s too early for a drink. Which is silly because he should know that a drink would be waiting for him on account of me getting a Sithy light fixture. I am that considerate. Besides, he would eventually realize it could be worse.

I could go out and acquire a giant metal chicken 😉

Because Five Fests Are Not Enough

Yes, my friends! It’s FEST TIME AGAIN!!

First we had the Wein & Sangerfest, then the Gruene Music and Wine Fest, then it was Oktoberfest, and now comes WURSTFEST!!!

You’ll notice this fest is technically number four. Well, there are two more planned at the end of the year, including the Weihnachtsmarkt. And I haven’t included the fests that are celebrated on the north side of the area. Hopefully they will have some souvenir glassware available. I would hate to be a *cough* bad example to the kids.

They should just call it “Liverfest”. It would save them a ton of money on advertising 😉

I Hate My Calendar

I really don’t know where the time goes.

Around here, November is Birthday Month. Three of the five kidlets in my family have birthdays, as do several nieces and nephews, plus many friends. Count back nine months and you’ll understand why!

Anyway, I was looking up who had birthdays this week, when I noticed the Ides were almost upon me. And my first thought was, “Uh, almost halfway through the month??” followed by my second thought, “CRUD!!!” It always happens: I never have enough time to properly celebrate every birthday while fitting Thanksgiving plans and getting ready for Christmas. But I try, and keep reminding myself that SOMEONE has a birthday today.

So, I really hope I don’t forget anyone. I can tell you from experience that being forgotten isn’t conducive to having a great birthday. So to my November Babies, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Here are flowers for y’all!!

*MUAH*!!! 😀

Scent of a Woman

I confess, I love perfume. I do. Aside from the historical viewpoint, I love the romance of it. I love the bottles, and the labels, and the names, and the stories attached to their journey from nature to bottle. I own quite a few bottles, too. Perfume doesn’t have to be expensive to be nice and appreciated. I remember waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in high school, a friend gave me a tiny bottle of Babe™ eau de toilette for Christmas, and I loved it. And who can forget Love’s Baby Soft™?? I still have some of that. Not that it’s appreciated around here:

Hubby: What are you wearing??

Me: Uh, pajamas…

Hubby: No, I mean what perfume??

Me: Oh! “Love’s Baby Soft”, why? Don’t you like it?

Hubby: Any chance you can shower again, and throw away the bottle?

Me: Hater…

Not all perfumes are divine scents, though. My mom gifted me a bottle of some high-priced designer stuff that reeked like a dead skunk that had baked in the sun for days. It was so bad, I threw it out, and I never throw out perfume. That’s just wrong. But that was just awful. And I don’t care what people say about “personal chemistry”. You wear what smells nice to you. My sister prefers floral scents, and I prefer orientals and woodsy scents. Basically, that means she never borrows any of mine, and vice versa. Not that she would. My signature scent is Shalimar™, and that just reminds her of our grandmother.

Remember: the gift of scent is a personal one, so make sure YOU can live with it, as well. It is no secret what Hubby likes, from the myriad Shalimar™ and Samsara™ bottles I own 😉

Reasons Why I’m in Charge of Halloween Candy

Never underestimate Hubby on Halloween.

This year, our kids dressed up and went trolling up and down the neighborhood, while Hubby and I stayed behind. In the years past, we had a block party in order to “streamline” the Trick-or-Treaters into one area to make things easier on the parents, but this year was called off due to several neighbors moving away. So, we sat outside so that the kids wouldn’t be ringing the doorbell and driving the dogs crazy.

Normally, the evening would have entailed me exclaiming over the costumes and Hubby going off with the kids. Not this time. This time he was adding to the conversations.

Hubby: You know, we can go get the other snake and place it in the candy basket and let the kids pick through.

Me: Uh, NO!

Hubby: Oh, c’mon! It would be fun!

Me: You’re insane.

And then there were the costumes…. Hubby is not one to *ahem* gloss over anything.

Me: (pointing out a woman dressed as a so-called Little Bo Peep in stockings and high heels) I would NEVER be outside dressed like that!

Hubby: What’s wrong with it?

Me: Obviously nothing from your point of view.

Hubby: She’s sure Peeping out of it.

And the kids dressed like zombies got two pieces of candy, for obvious reasons.

Zombie Kid: TRICK OR TREAT!!

Hubby: Hey! A zombie! You’re lucky I left my shotgun inside.

Zombie Kid: Huh?

Hubby: Practice for the Zombie Apocalypse, you know?

Me: HERE’S SOME CANDY HAVE A GOODNIGHT!!!!

I think next year I’ll put him in charge, and videotape the whole thing. It’s the only way people will believe me 😉

I Survived, Sorta

Little One’s party was a great success. So great, that the girls are still here…

They stayed up until four o’clock in the morning, and then got up at the ghastly hour of eight. And why did they have so much energy? Because they ate cupcakes, pizza, hot dogs, four bags of chips, three bottles of soda, and a HUGE bag of candy.

And then had doughnuts for breakfast. I bet the parents are going to hate me today.

I don’t remember having that much energy, not even when I was her age. I never had sleepovers, so it’s hard to judge, but since I was quite happy to observe my 10:00PM curfew until I was 22, I can safely say I just wasn’t energetic like that. All I know is today I will drink coffee until I wake up enough to make the turkey roast. If that happens, I will consider today a win 😀

Cupcake Overload

Today, Little One will be having a sleepover and instead of cake, she requested cupcakes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, last Thursday was Chocolate Cupcake Day at the local bakery, which meant I had to get a dozen of their assorted chocolate cupcakes, like chocolate cherry and triple chocolate. Those didn’t last very long, so obviously we needed more for the party.

And boy, did we score!

Chocolate chocolate, Italian cream, chocolate raspberry, pumpkin pecan, peanut butter chocolate, and the pièce de resistance:

Guinness Beer Cupcake!!!

I only got one, and no, not for the girls. This one is for Hubby. I’m hoping I get a bite of it, though. I love to cook with Guinness, so this may be awesome, or just this side of “What the heck were they thinking??” I almost got the maple and bacon cupcake, but Little One wanted something fancier, and more normal.

Ok, time for me to start getting the upstairs ready. Manicures, flower making, and hairstyling is in my future.

And so is wine 😉

By the Pricking of My Thumbs…

I have a confession to make: I have no idea how to use a sewing machine.

I can hear you gasping in shock all the way over here.

Before y’all condemn me, I know how to sew, but only by hand. And it’s not that I haven’t had the opportunity to learn on a machine. My mom sews, my sister sews, my daughter took it in what we used to call Home Economics before it went all politically correct. In retrospect, I should have taken Home Ec. It sure would have made my culinary path a bit easier, that’s for sure. I think the reason I never learned to use a sewing machine was fear: I was afraid of sewing my fingers, or making a huge mistake, or tangling all the bobbins, or having the machine come to life. I have an active imagination.

Lately though, I have been wanting to learn to use a sewing machine. Why? Because all of the tiny little projects I have been doing need some sewing, and my thumbs are about to go on strike.

Last night as I was making a cord cover for Eldest’s light fixture, I jammed the needle into the thumb cuticle. I bet that just made y’all flinch, didn’t it?? I know I sure did. I think that was my last straw. Perhaps getting a small, standard sewing machine isn’t a bad idea. Oh, nothing fancy that does embroidery or the dishes. Just something that will prevent me from inflicting multiple stab wounds on myself. I’ll make sure Santa Claus gets the memo. I know he’s always at a loss as to what to get me 😉

FREEEEEDOM!!!!!

My friend, Princess Natasha, was kind enough to post this news on her social-site-with-faces profile. I thought it was my duty as poster of fluff here to make y’all aware of it.

Consider this your Public Service Announcement for today.

And guys, be sure to support them!!

Have a great day 😉

Checking It Twice, or Five Times to Be Sure

I have been making and revising the Christmas List™. This year it has been a bit more frustrating than before. You see, there have been changes to the List of which I have recently become aware. Nothing big, like new family members. I am aware of those changes! No, just little things, like color preferences, new style preferences, new hobby interests, etc.

Still, it’s not a big inconvenience, just a mild one. At least gift certificates and money are always failsafe. Come to think of it, so is food.

But I just can’t be trusted with purchasing chocolate. The stress of the season would force me to take advantage of that. Well, just having it around would force me to take advantage of that. Ok, “force” is not the right word. STOP JUDGING ME!!!!

Just for that, I’m going out to get another bag of Halloween candy. It helps with the stress 😀