apple puddin'

So for our first married holiday, Patrick and I are spending it apart. And no, it's not because we couldn't handle divvying (I spell checked it and that IS the correct spelling) up the holidays together between our two families. Although, I do have to say I am slightly relieved to be able to push that task back another month. But I digress... the truth is that Patrick spends every Thanksgiving with his Dad up north at their family hunting camp. No. Girls. Allowed. Not that I was begging to be invited.

And as many field hockey families already know, Thanksgiving is the holiday spent out West at the National Field Hockey Festival. I did it for three years, and now it's my sister's turn. So my dad and Kim are out in Phoenix for the holiday, playing (watching) game after game of field hockey. For 5 days straight. That leaves my mom and me alone on the farm. Alone, except for the dozen dogs. And the cat.

We are secretly very excited to have these few days to spend with each other. And are really looking forward to my older sister and her gaggle of children coming up for Thanksgiving dinner. To get ready we made a 'to do list' and we are getting through it, slowly but surely. But more fun things always seem to pop up. Like today's project.

Our very dear friend, Ms. Eileen, told us about this receipe for apple pudding. She says it's better than apple pie! So we decided to give it a test run today to see if it was worthy of Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm sure it will be. As soon as it's done I'm guessing we'll put the 'to do list' away and curl up with a bowl of it in front of the fire and put on a good movie.

Oh how good it is to be home for the holidays :)

P.S. - I miss you husband!

productivity

Yesterday was one of my most productive days in a while. I didn't go back to sleep after Patrick left for work and I was able to get so much done! I got in a 3 mile run (part of my half marathon training... more on that later) and took the dogs to the beach (also, more on the later).

Then I cleaned the WHOLE downstairs of the house. I'm talking 'under the couch cushions' clean. I made a serious dent in the ever growing pile of laundry we have. And just in the knick of time for a break Carly called me and asked if I wanted to bring the boys for another walk in the National Forest.

Side note - Carly found the nicest walking path in the woods and it's just a mile off the island! Gorgeous scenery, very peaceful and full of lots of lizards for the pups to chase!

So back to my training. I've been looking for a good long distance run to train for for a while now. To get me motivated and really back into running. I have chosen a half marathon in Wilmington

next March. This was my first week and I haven't been lazy about a workout yet, we'll see how the next 17 weeks play out!

And now for the best, perhaps distasteful, part. I took the dogs down to the beach to let them run and get some energy out. All was going well until Winston decided to chase birds again. He takes off into the ocean after them and doesn't realize he's not going to ever catch them until he can't feel the ground anymore. Well this time on his way out he decided to take a potty break.

That's right, folks. He pooped right in the ocean. If you recall from this post this isn't the first time he's done this. It looks like he's knocking out bodies of water to use as a toilet. But really, after the ocean, there's no where to go but down. Sorry Win, you're too much of an overachiever. And sorry readers if you're offended or grossed out by this post/photo. I just think it's hysterical.

birthday chronicles

I have the best husband. He planned a whole week of birthday surprises for me :) First we started out last Tuesday Nov 9 at the 2d Rad Bn Birthday Ball with our new friends who I can't wait to hang out with again! And I'm pretty sure one of them got a picture of the 2 of us, as soon as I track one down I'll post it!

As we were leaving the hotel the morning of my birthday, I was handed this piece of paper...

and the real celebrating started! In case you can't see... Patrick made clues to figure out each word of my surprise! This one says: Dinner in DC with our best friends. Hooray! We ended up going to Carly & Mo's house for a surprise birthday cake celebration with all of Wolfe St. (we missed you Stef!) then on to Mr. Smith's for dinner! Mr. Smith's is in Georgetown, and it is the home of the $1,000 burger! Literally... it's one thousand dollars. It comes with some crazy bottle of wine. We stuck to chili, nachos and champagne. And it was wonderful!

After dinner, we went to experience some local nightlife, and on the way stopped to get my palm read! Crazy experience, it was in someone's living room. There were cats, and a tiny dog that may or may not have peed on the ridiculously red carpet while we were there. She told me that I have a good aura, and I care about people. I apparently need to move to California for financial benefits. Also, one of my friends is jealous and doesn't want to see me happy. And that there is something keeping me up at night and I'm having trouble sleeping. It was weird and I don't think I'll do it again, but it provided some entertainment for the night!

The next morning at breakfast at our favorite diner, Bob & Edith's (see surprise #1) I got my clue for surprise #2

and it was on to MD to celebrate with Pat's family! The surprise is dinner at lewnes with grandma Dee and grandpa Bob. For the record, we don't call Pat's parents that, the boys do. The boys being the dogs. And, I actually never figured out the name of the restaurant. I filled in the blank after we ate there. Pat insisted I had been there, but he was wrong. I hadn't. But it was so delicious! And they gave us a tasty birthday brownie ice cream sprinkled in goodness. Again, the next morning, I was presented with clues for surprise #3

and we were off to NC again! The surprise is the wkd (weekend) at the farm with Mimi and Bepa. Again, it's Jack and Win who call my parents Mimi and Bepa, ha! And boy did they have fun running and running and running down on the farm. My Dad arrived about an hour and a half after us, and he was toting a half bushel of real live MD crabs! He steamed them for us, and we had a nice crab feast birthday dinner! We rounded out the night playing 500 rummy or something like that.

All in all, FABULOUS birthday! Good job hubby! My only wish is that we could've spent more time with everyone. But when is there ever enough time? Well, happy birthday to me! Now it's back home with laundry, dishes, and flowers. Oh, and I get to pick out linens for our NEW bed that is being ordered! Yay!

he takes after me

While Winston loves the beach for the sand and the surf, just like Patrick... My Jack takes after me, and loves his sunbathing. How freaking cute is he?!

Disregard the messiness of the room. And the ghettoness too. While we get to enjoy a deck overlooking the ocean, that's about as classy as it gets. We have a giant (and heavy) tv that is supported by the only piece of decent furniture in our house (an end table from my parents' old house). Oh, and that 5 gallon bucket just has some saltwater in it. It's there for when our tank in the bedroom needs a water change.

It seems that after keeping the rest of the house clean, I give up with it comes to our room. Oh well... focus on the cute dog napping contently in the sunshine :) He always manages to find these sunny spots too. And when I close the curtains, he gets this hurt look on his face and I can't stand it. It's like he's saying "Mom, what did I do to make you take the sun away?" and I open them again... I'm a sucker for a puppy face.

And just so you don't think I'm favoring one over the other... This is what Winston is currently up to:

And my heart melts :)

advertisements

I can't believe I forgot to mention this! A few days ago I finally decided on a photo to use for my ad on the blog. I opted for the big one of both dogs, as seen here. I think I picked that one because I would feel so guilty picking one with just one dog, and not the other. I'm a loser, I know. It doesn't even have a picture of anything I sell, I know. I'm hoping that curiousity wins people over and they decide to click anyways :)

And I can always try something else next month. But since I have posted the ad I have had 37 hits out of 61 coming from it! Check it out, live and in person here. Oh, and if you go to posts from November 2, or just click this, you'll see a feature of my shop!

first sale

I'm officially in business. Yes my shop has been open for a little over a month now, but it was yesterday that I made my first sale. Yay! Another kind etsy shop owner purchased this little gem ...I call it my Fall Fantasy Flower. Although I really can't take the credit on that one. My lovely mother actually treated me to a whole bunch of fabric, this jazzy orange one included. And she was so excited about that particular one, she said "You can call it your Fall Fantasy Flower!" and I did. Maybe I should hire her for consulting on the rest of my creations?

Oh, and if you're interested, here's my model, Jack, with the Fall Fantasy Flower.
I love him :)