The North Pole

My Mom, Sister, Niece, and Auntie all flew out last weekend. We hit up The North Pole - it's strange to be surrounded by Christmas-themed rides/food/souvenirs in October. It was fun nonetheless.

This was Butterball, after a long day of excitement (look at that face!), toting a Vera Bradley; we're corrupting her early.

Butterball and her Momma, at the end of the peppermint slide:

This was how Tucker looked on every ride! I'm training him to be my roller coaster buddy when he gets older because my husband claims that rides make him "sick":

Scariest. Ride. Ever. It looked pretty mild from the sidelines, but it was scary - even for me! You can't see him, but Tucker is in the same seat as me. He laughed the whole time while I screamed:
You think they had fun, or what?

And the Winner is...

Vicki!

Vicki and I were pawn brokers together in Texas - I think I can speak for both of us when I say that it was the most interesting job ever, right Vic?

She is a total goofball, as you can see in the photo. Her and I were so excited when we got to purchase these two scooters at the pawn shop. We rode around the store that day like kids - Vic has always brought out the crazy in me.

I love you and miss you, Vic (email me your address so I can ship your bag).

I wanted all of you to win a bag (I wish I had more to give away!). But honestly, I was pleased when the random number generator chose Vicki's number - because I know how much she'll love having it.

I always hate entering giveaways because I never win anything. But if you're one of those who didn't win this time, don't worry - there will be more in the future! Thanks for all of your comments and support!

Grateful

For:

1. My handsome, strong, hard-working husband (sleeping off his 24-hour duty that ended this morning at nine).

2. My joyful, curious (currently sick) son, who loves cuddling with his daddy.

3. The hand-stitched quilt my Aunt Maxie finished the year I was born. I have memories of this quilt as a child, laying in my mom and dad's bed, running my fingers along the pattern, pretending they were country roads.

4. My beautiful pillowcases, which I got for mere pennies at a thrift store.

5. And my Ralph Lauren pillows that I got on a really good sale at Macy's for $8.50. I don't care what you say; brand matters when it comes to pillows - and these are heavenly.

What are you grateful for today?

Hot Chocolate Fail

Martha's my girl. Usually.

Unfortunately her blood-red hot chocolate recipe is a big fat fail.

I've seen people mention the desire to try it on other blogs, which is the only reason I mention it. If you're planning on making hot chocolate from scratch, modify this recipe. It needs way more milk and way less chocolate.

Giveaway!

I'm giving into the giveaway craze. Everyone loves free crap, right?

Well, I'm giving away the large version of the Buttercup Bag (pattern by Rae Hoekstra) made by me in a yummy thrifted print that reminds me of my favorite season: Fall. It's lining is a luscious blue (made from a thrifted chair cover) and has a small inner pocket as well as a metal snap closure.

Ok, so here are the rules (my motivation for this will be revealed in due time, my friends):

1) Post a comment and you get entered once.

2) Blog about my giveaway and leave your hyperlink in a second comment and you get entered again!

3) Become a follower of my blog (on the ride hand sidebar) and you get entered a third time (please leave a separate comment saying that you completed this step).

That's three chances to be entered in the giveaway, friends. I can't wait to hear what you think of the purse; I'm already dreading letting it go (good thing I have enough fabric for another one).

The drawing will be on Wednesday, October 14th. (Sorry, I'm not willing to commit to a time.)

The Neighbor Dog and a Mystery Carcass

I'm up late because I took a nap today. It was a very needed nap - I wasn't feeling well at all. But now I'm trying to tire myself out by reading and blogging. Sigh.

Anyway, I was just outside smoking, and I saw the neighbor dog, a beautiful husky named "Kitty" (so not an appropriate name for such a pretty dog) with something very large in her mouth, on the outside of her fence. She's one of those dogs that typically stays in the yard and curls up on the grass, but the gate was closed and she was wandering around. She was whining and trying to jump back over the fence. But the very large mystery object in her mouth was keeping her from doing so.

I approached her, which I haven't ever done because I haven't ever had the need, and she started growling. In the dark, I could not figure out for the life of me what was in her mouth. I went closer. Is it a massive raccoon? A large plastic construction tube? Nope. It's a rib cage. A very large animal's rib cage. Yummy.

I tried getting her to follow me so I could let her in through the gate, but she wasn't havin' it. I finally got her to jump back over the fence and leave the carcass on the ground. Now the dilemma: Leave the carcass outside of the fence, where she'll surely jump back over, or throw the carcass over the fence and leave her content in her yard to protect her elderly owner?

I don't know what y'all would have done, but I attempted to pick up the carcass on the side where it was dried out like jerky. But I guess Kitty thought I was trying to take it for myself, so she put her wolf teeth through the chain link and held on for dear life. I tried rationalizing with her, "Kitty, I'm trying to HELP you!" I tried yanking on the other side and ran into mushy fat. Freakin'. Gross. With blood all over my hand, I took advantage of her temporary loose grip on the ribs and tossed the carcass over the fence. I wonder if anyone saw me in my flannel pajamas, at midnight, talking to and appeasing a wolf with a fresh ginormous meal.

Before and After

I found this cute old desk at Goodwill not too long ago. It needed some love and a little paint (I'm being nice when I say it looked like the previous owner used a mop and white water color).


Even the chewed gum was painted over!

And the finished product. It looks really cute in TuckMeister's room - but it seems to swallow him when he sits at it: