Eh. Doldrums.

I'm trying not to be jealous (because I know that's ludicrous) & I'm missing certain places/times a lot right now. Decided quiet, lazy Sunday afternoons are not for me a long time ago. Too much introspection, too much meandering down memory lane. I'd much rather be in the company of friends, being lazy together, laughing, joking, maybe enjoying a beer or two, perhaps getting a little loud now and then. Not that I'd change my life right now (well, not much anyway) but it would be nice to have some spontaneity back. I miss having friends pop over for dinner unannounced & unplanned who knew they'd get a good meal-even on the fly, getting that call-"hey, whatcha doin'? let's go..." I've always know I am not someone who does "alone" well. I can if required, but would prefer to be surrounded by a crowd or just a few who let me connect to them.

Have I mentioned that I HATE fall? It's my least favorite season. I can't stand the cooler weather, don't like the sun going down earlier & earlier each night, barely tolerate the leaf-peepers, and generally want to tell the world to go to hell. I avoid scraping the frost off my windshield for as long as possible by using gallons of washer fluid & running the defrost at full blast. I miss my tank tops & skirts, my bikinis, my bare, painted toes. I miss salad and grilled chicken feeling like a great meal. I miss meandering and drifting, driving with the windows down.

I do not think I am depressed. I think I am just a little melancholy. I think I need a swift kick in the ass. I think I have to create the life I want and stop waiting to get it back. I need to remember that many out there have it so much worse than me. And I will remember that...tomorrow.

Poll

If you knit, please go to BikerChicKnits and take her poll in the right sidebar:
"Have you ever lost a FO?"

whew.

It has barely started and fall has been busy. Yesterday alone we had swimming lessons, a welcome-back-to-school picnic (for which I made 50 pumpkin whoopie pies), I made 50 birdseed hearts for a wedding and I attended a friend's bachelorette party. I've decided I'm too old to be up until 2:30am.

Sunday...ugh. 5 hours of sleep doesn't make for a productive day. Made 60 more birdseed hearts. They have to be delivered on Wed and I want to make sure they're completely dry. Grocery-shopped (that is it's own special kind of hell.) Attempted laundry and vacuuming. Didn't get as far as I'd hoped.

Even Zeep felt a little pitiful today. I guess he didn't get his beauty rest after being awakened at 2am.

Dragon threatened to eat all the deserts at the picnic. Deserts were saved by BubbaLou. Photo is slightly deceiving...dragon back is about 6' tall. It's a great feat to be able to climb up to the top of the dragon's tail, back & head because if you can't get down by yourself, you can't go up.
Next weekend, wedding. Weekend after- VT sheep & wool. Weekend after that- Warner Fall Foliage Festival. Weekend after that- birthday party season officially starts. I 'owe' two women baby sweaters. I think I'm gonna have to knit 12month sizes at this rate.

Hounds and the dog days of summer...

I have officially begun the search for another wolfhound. Preferably an adult in need of a loving home. And a little girl who will call him a little brother, like Zeep-y. Zeep's human 'Mama' just let me know they're hoping for a spring litter...there may be a baby in my future.

Now for the dog days of summer...kind of. School is about to start, the tourists are going home and I get to enjoy the warm, sunny days of September sitting on a quiet beach and swimming in water that's still pretty warm (compared to what it was like in June.) And BL will have all the beach toys to herself (if they haven't been locked up yet.)

Aaahhhh.
I love where I live, but when I visit a 'tourist town', I sympathize with them.

Stand Tall

We Are Great!We Are Strong!We Are Giant Dorks!

We also know how to have more fun than Bubba Lou at the new local playground.
Seriously...they have these super-duper spinning things...just asking for a group of tipsy "adults" to play on and be video taped for youtube.

Pin Drop lll

BL had a hearing check up w/ the specialists on Friday.

Her hearing couldn't be better. No more fluid at all.

Now there's no excuses.

Let them eat cake...all of it!

I've spent the last 5 days making what felt like hundreds of 6", 10" & 14" cakes, and tons of Swiss Meringue Frosting. Literally tons of it. My arms will vouch for me. And I cannot thank 'Sis enough for letting me borrow her Kitchen Aid (hers-red, mine-blue...very patriotic.) Saved me hours of washing out the large bowl to beat egg whites into submission.

I do not own a turn-table. My creativity kicked in...what does BubbaLou own that spins? She's got to have something...think, think, think.
The infamous Sit-N-Spin!Flip it upside down, place over two chairs...voila! Instant turntable.
And if you accidentally bump the "top" of the red part, it plays a jaunty little tune.
Damn near lost the cake the first time it went off.

Final result:

Not as perfect as I would have liked, but over 80 degree temps and no A/C in the reception hall was not very kind to the frosting (all that butter.) Touch-ups were almost impossible, especially with no running water (cold or otherwise) in the place to be able to cool the spatula down. Groom and Mother of the Groom were very pleased (not as type-A, OCD, perfectionist as me.)

Very happy to be done. Tomorrow will finish cleaning the kitchen and mopping up the floor (scraping up dropped frosting & dried bits of cake trimmings.) Will also throw away any leftover cake so I don't eat it all. The thought of eating cake & frosting kinda makes me sick right now anyway.