Sunday, November 30, 2008

Blogging Postcards

Tracey from Simply Smooches has the cutest blogger postcards available in her Etsy shop.

Hey all of you bloggers out there! Are you ready to spread the love in
little ways to your blogging friends? Now you can, with this new set of funky
postcards made specifically with bloggers in mind!

This set includes 12 high-quality, professionally printed postcards, 2 each
of the original Simply Smooches. The price for the set of 12 cards is just $9.00
plus $1.00 shipping and handling(For U. S. residents). That is less than $1.00 a
postcard! In today's economy, you can't beat sending a little bit of love for
less than a buck!

Tell your blogging buddies that their blog rocks...or send them the
ULTIMATE comment in the form of a postcard!

Maybe you want to buy a set and send it to another blogger to surprise them
and "pay it forward."THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO ORDER WILL GET 12 POSTCARD STAMPS FREE! No need to do anything...if you are one of the first 3, i will automatically send the stamps with your order!

Sunday is for Holiday Gift Guides


Hello. I'm not feeling sorry for myself today, which is a relief.


Today, I worked on sharing the links to the shopping pages that the people that I work with have compiled. (Wow, that was a very awkward sentence). I have 3 blogs at b5media, and I belong to two different channels, so it was a total of 6 link guides. If you are interested in seeing any of them (some are really very cool), then you could find a link from one of my blogs The Scented Life, Veggie Chic, or Dating Dames.


I signed up for a bunch of beauty sites when I got the job at The Scented Life and every day I've got email for free offers or super savings. One of the best is the one they have at Sephora, called Beauty Insiders. They sent me a code for $15 off of a $35 purchase. I've read that other people have used the offer on a smaller than $35 order. Pretty tricky. If you are a fan of beauty products (toys for grown-up girls) then check in with me at The Scented Life. I put new savings up every day lately. Apparently, people shop a lot this time of the year. Go figure............


Time to get moving again. I hope that you've enjoyed your day.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Not At My Best


It's late-ish on Saturday. I'm feeling funky.

I feel good about a lot of what I'm doing right now. I am glad that I'm writing again - I missed it when I was away. I feel excited about what I'm learning with the photography. Max is doing okay. Bay is doing okay. Sarah is Sarah. I'm going to be able to give my family a Christmas. Gas is now officially "cheap". My mom is still talking about the meal that I made for Thanksgiving. These are all good things.

I just wrote this whole paragraph about why I think I'm going to be single forever, but it was pitiful and I don't want to be pitiful, so I deleted it. I want to feel proud of myself, but it's very hard right now. I feel absolutely unlovable and icky. I hate feeling this way. It might be hormones or maybe it's just the truth. Bleech. It doesn't help that my head hurts so bad that I'm nauseous.

A year ago I had so much hope for the future. I was very excited about moving to Oregon, to live with my high school sweetheart. I had no idea that everything would blow up so badly - it felt very right at the time. I was certain that if I lived unselfishly and keep my focus on what would be good for all of us - Steve, me, my kids, his kids - it would all go well. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try, it just does not work. Or maybe it's that I don't work. It doesn't help when your partner gives up on basically everything.

Oh well. Maybe I don't get this dream, I don't get a partner. I'm okay - I've been doing this on my own since Max was less than 2 and Bay was only a few months old. I can do this alone forever, if necessary.
I'm going to work on being a better mom. It occurred to me this morning that Sarah will soon be in the pushing-me-away stage. I need to enjoy this time while I can. I waste too much time saying, "Honey, I need to get some work done first." I mentioned this to Bay and Bay said, "Don't worry, you've got another year." A year? Oh boy.

I want to get my work organized, so that I can find the time to exercise again. It felt great to run with Sarah. I would like it to become a habit for us again. We haven't hiked in a long time or gone on a bike ride in more than a month. These are habits that are good for our health, as well as our happiness.

Okay, maybe I will be single forever, but that will leave me more time to give Max what he's going to need. As he gets older, his health is going to be challenging. I don't want to feel guilty because I'm torn between him and a man. He trusts me to be there for him always and I will never let him down.

Bay, she's going to be fine no matter what. She didn't make the same connection with Steve that the rest of us did. She has her boyfriend and that's where her head is right now.

Okay, I've just about talked myself through this, but honestly, my heart is a bit fragile and I'm worried about him way more than I am worried about myself. I know that I will be okay. I hope that he will be, as well, but I have my doubts.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Sarah and I Run For Food

For the second time, Sarah and I did The Run For Food. A 5K event that benefits The Jesus Center - a facility that provides aid to homeless people.

We had a good time, but every time I do something like this, I am reminded that my daughter needs more time playing outside and less time sitting in front of the computer. An overweight, 42-year-old mom should not be able to run circles around her 10-year-old daughter. :( I will fix that. It's my new purpose. I want to not be able to keep up with that kid.

Here we are before the race. We got there just before it started - our clock apparently needs a battery and it was later than I thought. Oops. The announcer said that there were more than 2200 entrants this year.

Here's a shot of the crowd. Everyone was so excited and chatty. I saw a lady lean in and sing to her husband - lots of music - and it was so sweet that it gave me goosebumps.
This approximately the midway point. We cross the creek and go back the other way. It's a 5K event.

After the race I took this and it has a curious whirly feel that I thought was kind of cool. It makes me dizzy to look at it.



Here we are at the end. Hurray!!! Look how pink our faces are. Time to go home and start the pies.......in theory, anyway. Instead I uploaded the photos. I gotta be me. The pies will get done.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!







Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Today was a big Bay Day. I took her down to the Dr, to discuss what was behind her recent fainting spell. Her Dr, also Max's Dr (and soon to be Sarah's), is a pediatrician. She is incredibly thorough (and smart). She questioned Bailey about her diet, her medications, what she ate or drank, how much water she had, if she felt funny when she stood up, how her ears were affected by the fainting............ she covered pretty much anything and everything.

In the end, after much examination and blood pressure tests in various positions, the Dr decided that it was probably due to a problem with Bay's inner ear. That's what regulates balance. She also explained the importance of eating correctly so that she doesn't suffer from low blood sugar. I've spoken with Bay about nutrition time and again, but I'm Mom, what do I know?

Bay hates it when she learns that I'm right about yet another thing. Hee hee. I love it.

Here is a photo of Bay with her boyfriend, Greg, at the dance that they attended a couple of weekends ago. I cannot get over those legs.

I found this one while looking for some Bay shots for this post. This is Bailey standing next to my nephew, Chance, at the creek. I need to get over there. I look forward to floating in this water in about..........6 months. Possibly 7. Ahhh......


I missed Ruby Tuesday this week!!! Darn it! I hope that you all had fun.
Don't forget to enter my giveaway, if you haven't already. I'd really like to give you that photo! ;D
Now I'm off to bed, because I'm out of time - today is now tomorrow!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Protecting Our Children


This evening, I found this in my email - Protecting My Child’s Innocence « MrsG’s Other Life . Mrs G is a fellow b5media blogger, living in New Zealand, and today her daughter was a victim of some disturbing racism. She is hoping that by reading about her family experience, people will stop and think about the way they act in front of children. Careless words can turn into something bitter and ugly in time.

Please read what she has to say and really think about it. Words can hurt. In my own family, we have some phrases that we are sensitive about, because of my boy Max. People throw around words like "retard" without any thought. I see my girls flinch when this happens.

It's been awhile since we had to deal with much in the way of prejudice, but I can remember a time like the day three boys (a friend of a friend's children) were standing in front of Max, making fun of his teeth. He had a problem with gum over-growth from one of his anti-seizure medications and it made his gums look huge - you couldn't see his teeth.
I was horrified and really, really pissed when I noticed what they were doing. I can remember smiling and then just.....freezing. We were trying to enjoy our town's annual Kite Day Celebration. The thoughtlessness of those young boys changed everything - turned something fun into something heart breaking.
It's silly and not the fault of the kites, of course, but I've never taken my kids back. We fly out kites out by on the grass by our apartment.


Catching Up on Monday

I'm having trouble uploading pictures today, so I'm going to skip it for right now. We had an interesting weekend around our house.

Friday, I met my girlfriends for a viewing of Twilight. I was so worried about the tickets selling out (they did) that I went down to the theater at 1:30 and picked them up. We arrived very early, waited in line, I handed out the tickets, and my ticket was not a ticket, but a receipt! I panicked. I switched out purses - my fault, darn it, I wanted to sneak in a water - and it was in the other purse.

I ran to the ticket office and explained that when I bought the tickets, the girl said, "Here are your tickets," handed me a strip of 4 connected tickets, and then, "and here is your receipt," a single small piece of paper. That's the part that I left behind.

Luckily, I was able to talk them into letting me in. I told them that I would pay for another ticket, whatever it took, but for some reason they decided to believe me. I guess I should thank my believable mom-face for that.

Saturday, Sarah and I sold nuts for the Girl Scouts, outside Trader Joes. We had a lot of fun selling the nuts with her former Brownie troop leader and her daughter. I always dread these booth sales, but they are usually fun. I get to chat with another mom for awhile, the girls have fun.

Saturday night, I dropped Bay off at one place, but she was supposed to spend the night at another place. She did not check in, did not respond to my texts or phone calls. I was very concerned. And pissed. Finally, after midnight she checked in.

Sunday, Sarah and I went to see Twilight. I liked it much better the second time that I saw it. I was prepared for the changes to the story and I enjoyed the opportunity to stare at that handsome boy for an additional few hours. (Honestly, I am adding him to my movie star boyfriend list).

I got a call from Bay's work (Round Table Pizza). Bay said that she had fallen at work, could I pick her up. Heck yeah. I raced over there and was told that she had either fainted or had a seizure. Oh boy. I took her over to get something to eat immediately. I don't think that she ate much over the weekend, I can't be sure, as she spent most of her time away from home.

I'm making an appointment for her to see her Dr today. She has a bump on the back of her head and a really bruised elbow from the fall. That kid scares the stuffing out of me. All the time. People think that Max must be a challenge, but he has never been the challenge that Bay has been. I love her like crazy, but it is exhausting to be her mom.

Okay, now on to business..... I am holding a giveaway over at my Veggie Chic blog. To enter, go to Veggie Chic, click on the post about the giveaway, leave a comment there, and I will pick a random winner on Black Friday (this coming friday). I will be giving away one of the photos from my Etsy shop.

I'm going to go lay down with a book for about 30 minutes now. I have a really busy day ahead of me and I woke up well before dawn because I could not sleep. I'm so worried about Bailey. I need a little break before I continue my work day. My head hurts.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

I'm Looking At You!

Boo! Bailey took this for me today. I needed a picture of my eye before and after a mascara trial. We did that with one made up eye and one not made up eye. I kept blinking, so this is me opening wide. Scary, a little. If you want to see it, the post is here. I think that the mascara is very effective, by the way.

My eyes are different colors. I hadn't noticed that until the photo today. I guess it's similar to the way the two sides of your face don't line up. Well, except for Amber Valletta - her face is almost completely symetrical.

Tomorrow, my girlfriends and I are going to see Twilight. I am very excited! I read the book this Summer - my sister had it shipped to me, she loved it so much, and apparently me, too ;D. I'm rereading it now, in time for the movie. I'm also reading the memoir of Paula Deen. She is a much spicier lady than I thought.

Wow, Bay and I just had a very loud exchange. She brought out this huge (HUGE) basket of dirty clothes. I told the girls that they are now in charge of their own laundry and I think she's rewashing instead of folding clean c........ she just knocked over the cofffee pot. Gotta go.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I Won An Award!


I won my first ever blog award! I am very excited!! I received it from Dianne over at Forks Off Tthe Moment. She is a peach, that's for sure. I've enjoyed getting to know her through her blog and I look forward to getting to know her even more.
I love writing this blog. I started it last Spring and my goal was to write something every day. I used to write freelance, but after a long break, I was finding it hard to get back into the writer's head space. It worked - I now have 3 regular paying jobs blogging.
This week I started the newest blog Veggie Chic. I am a little overwhelmed work-wise and currently unable to keep up this blog the way I'd like. I am going to work on a system, a better way to organize my time, because this blog is my fun time and I want to continue to meet cool people like Dianne.
And now I'd like to pass this award onto a few of those cool ladies.
Eliza, of Homemom, is my oldest internet buddy. I first met Eliza more than 9 years ago. She's a great friend. In addition to Homemom, she writes Babylune a blog for pregnant or new moms.
My buddy, Leah, does not have a blog, but I'm hoping that she will start one soon. She takes some great photos and we had fun shooting Lake Almanor together. When she starts her own blog, I hope she puts this award on it. Or maybe she could put it on her MySpace. That would work.
(i)Post, of Nine Miles North of Nowhere, is my one and only subscriber. I appreciate that so much every time I see her lone name sitting there. She's an incredible photographer and is going to be teaching an online photography class very soon. I think she's still got some room available, if you want to check out Nine Acres Photography.
Okay, I hope that this entry made sense. My tired brain is a little slippery right now. If I haven't got to your Ruby Tuesday today, I promise to get to it tomorrow.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Ruby Tuesday - Christmas in November

Here are some more photos from my portrait session with the Yorks. Ruby Tuesday is hosted by Mary, The Teach at her blog, Work of the Poet .

This first one, well it's not red, but it is pretty impressive. Today, I was showing the photos to Mom and she told me that her parents told her, "Don't wiggle it," because they were afraid it would fall out before the photos. That cracks me up!
Shawna had some Christmas decorations for us to use as props. The kids loved them, although Hayden was not a fan of laying down here. Crying baby photos are so cute.


I got this one, the only one without him crying in the lay down position, just in time. They are so darn pretty. I love these kids. I hope that Shawna and Brad like the photos.



The boys liked tasting these balls. Don't worry, they are not glass. We watched them very close.


I got to start Veggie Chic today. WooHoo!! Only a "hello" and some background on my previous writing, but.....well, it will get better.
Happy Ruby Tuesday!!!





Sunday with the Yorks - My First Family Portrait Session

I had the opportunity today.....err, well yesterday, as it's in the very early hours of Monday, to do a family portrait session with my brother's beautiful family. I had so much fun. I was nervous, as this was my first official job, but as soon as I got behind the camera, my nerves just went away.

My brother's kids are gorgeous. Here is my favorite shot of the day, so far - I'm only 1/4 of the way through the editing. This is Brad Jr. Look at those eyelashes - the sun caught them here. This is Brad and his lovely wife, Shawna. Shawna is the one who asked me to do the photos. There was a funny moment here where Shawna was saying, "Lets try one like this....... " and then she made a comment that I so wish I had caught on my brother's face. Dagnabit! I do think that the way they are looking at each other here, well it's very loving. They were high school sweethearts, too.
My youngest nephew is Hayden. His older sister, Ashlee, and his older brother, Brad, are constantly loving on that boy. Hugging him, kissing him, it's all about the little brother. I love to see close sibling relationships like that. My brother is almost 13 years younger than I am, so I was this way with him. He was the best baby - sweet and cuddily. I need to find a photo of him........ I'll get back to you with that. He was the best surprise of my childhood.


Heres's a taste of the devilish charm I saw today. These two crack me up. I was showing Sarah the photos and she laughed so hard, making up commentary as we went through all the photos.



Here they are all together in their backyard. The kids love this yard - they have so much room to run about. What do you think of the boy's matching outfits? Those hats, so darn cute. I have a lot more that I will share later in the week. I had so much fun shooting these guys. I hope that they had fun, too.






Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday

I'm finding it hard to get to all of my blogs lately. I know that eventually it will all be easy, but for now, I'm still in the learning stage, still figuring out how to budget my time. I end up doing the work-blogs and don't have time for the personal stuff.

I put some new photos in my etsy store at Chase Your Bliss Photography . They were taken either this Summer or in the case of the Lake Almanor photos, in September.
Oh, forgot, I took this one is October, after the sprinklers ran, in the morning. I'm not sure anyone else will enjoy the photos that I've taken, but I like the reflection photos.


Tomorrow is Mom's birthday. I'm going to make her dinner and instead of cake, we are having homemade chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Yum. She came over for a visit today and talked about how worried she is about my Grandma. Then, Grandma called and talked about how worried she is about her relationship with my mom.
There's something about that mother/daughter thing that can be really tricky. I know that they both want to be able to have someone to talk to, but like I explained to my grandma, there are going to be some subjects that they cannot share with each other.



Well, it's time to get Buddy into bed. And I have to make a pathway to my bed, in my room. Right now, Bay's queen sized bed is blocking my doorway. My friend, Leah, and her husband, Kelly, brought her a futon today. We got as far as putting the futon up in her room and pulling the queen out, then her boyfriend arrived. Tomorrow, my brother is going to help me move the queen over to Mom's house, then I'm going to set up my bed on my old tall wooden bed frame.
Darn, sure wish I was in that bed right now. Oh, something exciting.......... tomorrow I am taking family portraits of my brother Brad's family. My first photography job!!!








Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sepia Scenes - Looking Outdoors

I'm taking part in Sepia Scenes, but I may be late again. I'm not sure what day it runs. I do better with memes that have the day in the name, like Ruby Tuesday. ;D I have a couple of Summer shots at the Concert in the Park, then a look outside my front door.

I took this shot this Summer when Chance, Casey, Trin, Sarah, Mom, and I went to the Concert in Park in downtown Chico, CA. I was trying to catch that flare on the side of the building. This fountain goes all the time in the new City Plaza. The Plaza is a big Chico controversy, as it was built after the city removed a whole lot of diseased trees. Here in Chico, we love our trees. I mean, really, really love our trees. The Plaza appeared - the old one - in a movie made by Disney years ago. It was called Under Wraps and it shows the big trees and the diamond-patterned walkway. It was beautiful, as is the new Plaza, but in a very different way.
Here is Chance. I used a color version of this photo at Dating Dames a week or so ago. He looks deep in thought here.

Here is a view out my front door. I was sitting on the floor, back against the couch, looking at this view and I thought, hhmm, kind of pretty. I am lucky to live in a lovely little complex. We've been here for 10 years now - longer than I have ever lived in any place.

I got a new writing job. I'm going to be taking over the blog Veggie Chic.
I used to write for a vegetarian magazine a few years ago. It was Vegetarian Baby and Child and my editor lived in Mongolia. Seriously, in Mongolia, where there is not a huge selection of vegetables. Her husband was a doctor for the Peace Corps. I haven't spoken to her in years. She was such a nice lady. I ought to see if I can track her down. She was from California, too.
If you are interested, I wrote a quick tutorial for making your own Bath Salts here and I have the information about a Benefit cosmetic contest here . The prizes include a shopping spree at Bloomingdales.






Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Ruby Tuesday - Halloween in November

I'm getting in on Mary the Teach's Ruby Tuesday. I have all the kids home and my boyfriend left for home this morning, so not a lot of time for fun stuff. I have some photos from the Halloween parade at school.

This is Trevor. Pretty darn scary, although the kitty behind him looks pretty unfazed.

There he is! How cute is he with those freckles and those big eyes? He is a funny kid, has a real spunky streak. The other day I was walking on the field, talking to another student and he ran in front of us with a football. He was moving so fast, that I felt a breeze against my face. We are very lucky that he is that fast or we would have run right into him. I need to learn to pay better attention on the playground.
Elvis was in the parade. Look at the attitude he's showing here.


And last I've got a very pretty pirate. I love my job at the school. It is wonderful to be able to share the day with these great kids.





Friday, November 7, 2008

Max's Fever

Just a short post tonight. Max came down with something last night and developed a temperature of 103.4 F. It was very scary.

Luckily, Steve was the hero of the night and ran out to buy me some additional fever reducer when the Ibuprofen didn't phase the fever. In the past, I've tried staggering doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for a high fever and last night, it only reduced 2 degrees. See, scary kid sometimes. It was enough to stop his shivering. This was the first time in 17 years that I was able to turn to a partner for some support. It was wonderful.

Today, I took Max to the Dr and he was given two shots of antibiotics. He's been resting every since. He is such a tough kid.

Well, I'm off to make some brownies. Sarah and I are going to stir milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and crushed Heath bars into them. Steve is on a short trip with his dad, so I have to sleep without him next to me. It's surprising how quickly I grow to rely on that. He's so warm. I back up to him and he's like a full-length heating pad. Plus he smells good.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

My Head Is In the Clouds

I haven't updated in a couple of days. I have been so busy, just trying to catch up.

I started a new writing job this week and my boyfriend came down for a visit. I expected him Wednesday or Thursday, but got a text from him when he was an hour away on Tuesday. Yikes. You would not believe how quickly I cleaned my house.

My new job is at The Scented Life and so far it is a lot of fun. Tonight I put up a post with a link to a great rebate from Olay beauty products - buy $50 and get $20 back in a rebate. Pretty cool.
Things with my boyfriend are going pretty well, but they always go well when he is here. It's when he's gone that we've got trouble. He called me - last Friday - I think, and he wanted to come down for a visit. I had not heard from him in a long time. In fact, the night before, I had decided that it was time to move on. Now I'm not sure. I care a lot about him, but he makes me sad and I don't need more sad in my life. I treat people well and I do not thing that being well is too much to ask of the man who loves me.

Here is Sarah enjoying the clouds. These were taken a few days ago. I wish I had a lens that could really capture them. They were absolutely breath-taking. Sarah asked me what I wrote about about Dating Dames. She said, "I have some advice for guys who are dating." Then, she gave me some great advice for our readers. She is very wise. If you'd like to read it, it's here.



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I Voted!

I voted!

My daughter, Bay, took this photo of me when I was done. I asked, but I was not allowed to take photos inside the polling place. I can understand why, although I wasn't given an answer why, but I would have liked to show you what it looks like inside The Neighborhood Church, which is the place where I have voted for years. Here is a close-ish photo of the front. There was this smell of rotten fruit just before you walked in the door. I do not know what it was, but it smelled awful.

Here's a wider shot. It looks like half of a golden golfball. Very 1970s looking. It reminds me of this theater that I used to visit when I lived in Orange, CA, back in the early 80s. It has since been torn down, but it was this cool domed building.
I made sure that the kids could see my "I voted" sticker. They were so excited about the election this year - something that I hadn't noticed when we voted last time. They wanted to know who I voted for and unlike one of the teachers who I heard snap, "None of your business!" I told them that I voted for Obama.
I also voted in support of gay marriage, to allow farm animals humane conditions, and to allow pregnant teens the right to abortion without parental permission. I voted for other things, too, but these were most important to me.
I love to vote.


Bay's Dance

Here are some photos from the night of Bay's big dance. I also snuck Whoobie, our guinea pig in because he's so darn cute.
Here is a shot of her putting on perfume. Do you think she should have worn a shorter skirt? Yikes. That girl has got some great legs. Her dress looks on the taupe side here, but it was a smokey grey color. I tried to warm the photo a bit and it affected the color. Really bad lighting.
There we both are. :D She was straightening her hair and her iron just broke - cracked, fell apart - so Sarah and I jumped in the van and went to borrow her friend Kimm's iron. Phew. Crisis averted. The clock on the wall is the wrong time, but now with daylight savings time, it's correct. Bay and I laughed about that yesterday. It was in her room for months with the wrong time and when she finally hung it on the wall again, I never got around to changing it. Silly me.


Here she is head to toe. It looks like the goldfish is checking out her legs, as well. Apparently she was having some sort of undergarment issue.



This shot shows the detail on the dress a little better. The beds are a sort of metallic-y blue, taupe, purple, brown, grey mixture. Pretty. She had a good time at the dance and now has a great dress to wear for New Years!



I will be back later after I vote. Good Tuesday to you!


Saturday, November 1, 2008

Halloween Smells Good?

**edit** I just noticed that I spelled Halloween wrong. How silly of me. hee hee


How was your Halloween? We had a wet-ish one, with very little traffic. Here was our first trick or treater. He kept tipping back, the excitement was a bit much for him. So darn cute. That's the Candy Lady, to the left there. There she is! She's got a bag full of Airheads, gumballs, suckers, and Now and Laters. I was going for cheap candy, because we usually have about 100+ visitors. Unfortunately, the bowl was still almost full at the end of the night. Tons of candy, none of it chocolate. :(
Here's the Candy Lady in her full costume. She was a Masquerade Ball Girl. That hat, it was a last minutes addition. She went to the Halloween party at her Grandma's work and one of the coworkers gave it to her. Score! It's very sturdy, from the Disney shop.


I love Halloween. I have a collection of witch decorations and I used to have them out all year. This year I couldn't find the box that they are stashed in. I cleaned my closet just a little too thoroughly and it's going to take some searching before I find them for next year. I borrowed some of Sarah's pumpkin decorations (I collect witches, she collects pumpkins, Bay collects black cats) to add ambience (and light) to the front porch.


Our neighborhood was full of some really fancy pumpkins - the kind with stenciled on designs. I'm a old school triangular featured, gap-tooth grin pumpkin decorator. I like a big eye, a little eye, and a crooked smile. I want it to look like it's squinting or winking. One of our neighbors put incense in the top of his pumpkins. Our neighborhood smelled fantastic. :D
Speaking of smells........ today marks my first day with The Scented Life. I have my intro post up and I'd love it if you'd stop by. Also, I'd love to share scent stories on there. Do you have a first perfume story or a story of some sort of scent that really means a lot to you? If you do, please leave me a note in the comment section and I will get back to you. Fragrance is such a huge part of our lives - the smell of cookies, the smell of our baby's warm, little heads, or the way it smells when the first few raindrops hit the road - lots of good smells out there.
Well, I'm off to the library with Sarah. I wish you a wonderful day.