Happy Halloween/Happy Fall

Happy Halloween everyone.
This will be the first year we are not home to answer the door for trick or treaters. I feel bad but we have been invited out to a friend's for dinner. We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood too. I did get candy and I will put it in a basket at the door. I hope the first kids are not greedy and leave some for the others.

The last couple of evenings driving home I have been so in awe of my gorgeous surroundings - it is distracting driving looking at all of the incredible colors of the trees. It is amazing. I took these pictures driving home last night. I wish my pictures could capture the true beauty.




These are taken in my neighborhood - I just can't get enough of this incredible display of color.





Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight!
:-)

A Good Tuesday

I've made it through day 7 and actually came home for 2 days now headache free! Yeah, maybe I'm over the hump! I am feeling better about what I'm doing on the job too - phew!

It was also a good day cause I had 2 sales on Etsy. I "almost" pulled my pumpkins last night thinking no one will buy them now since Halloween is on Saturday but 2 mini pumpkins sold today! The customer lives in a neighboring state so I assume they will arrive by Friday at the latest.

I just added my "Sweet Nothing" stitched owl to the shop. I hooked him last month and forgot all about him.
I need to start hooking - hopefully I can get myself in a groove to start hooking at least an hour every night. I used to be able to work full time and hook enough to have inventory for shows so I know I can do it again! I have a home tour show I'm participating in coming up the first weekend in December yikes - I need to hook!!!

Saratogo Weekend

We're back from our weekend in Saratoga Springs. It was great! I feel relaxed!
We left early Saturday morning to face the 5-hour ride and meet Lori at the appointed restaurant at 12:00. It was a rainy day.

Driving on the PA turnpike enjoying the beautiful colors through the rain.

Just a drizzly mist of rain but beautiful colors as we started going north in NY.

We had a nice lunch and walked around the town with Lori but it was raining so hard we were totally soaked and could not take any pictures :-(
It is such a beautiful historic area in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, famous for it's race track and the beautiful lake making it a wonderful retreat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the upper classes.

Saratoga Lake around 7:30 AM getting ready for the events for the Head of the Fish Regatta.

This is Katie (pink boots) and her partner in the "Double" carrying their boat to launch. Whether one rows in a single or an Eight, it is the rower(s) who are responsible to get their boat to the water.
This was her first event.
A Double is a sculling (2 oar) event. Katie learned "sculling" in high school but not many are taught to scull. The majority are taught "sweeping", which is using one oar.



Katie's position (she is the one without the hat) in the boat is called bow which means she stears.


Here is Katie with her 2nd event - rowing in an Eight, taking the boat to launch. This is a sweeping event.



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It was a cloudy, gray and chilly day on the lake - we're headed home.

The further south we went the nicer it got and it was a lovely ride home -

I could not resist photographing this beautiful tree at a rest-stop


I feel nice and relaxed - I'm hoping my week will be that way too :-)

TGIF and Fall Foliage

We are peaking in Southeastern PA with our fall foliage. It is a beautiful explosion of color. These are all views out of my bedroom window. Sorry they aren't too clear.





This is our big sugar maple in the back yard that has lost all of it's leaves already. It seems to be one of the first to drop. I love the look of the burning bushes over our neighbor's fence. You may remember I mentioned we lost our tree in the front yard - it was even bigger than this tree. It was so beautiful and I really miss it.

We're driving up to Saratoga Springs NY tomorrow to see our daughter row in the "Head of the Fish" regatta. I think it may have already peaked up that way since it is so much further north. It is also supposed to be raining all day tomorrow. I guess I won't be able to get any pictures - darn - it is such a pretty area.
Katie rows for UMass and this is the only fall regatta we will get to. One of the reasons we make it a point to go to this one is just to be able to go to Saratoga Springs!
I'm also excited to see my good friend Lori Eurto who lives in upstate NY. She is going to drive over to meet us for lunch and stop at one of her favorite bead shops.

Now I can say TGIF! I came home exhausted again today, and with another headache. What's wrong with me? I think probably part of it is the stress of the new job. I need to get back in the groove again. I sure hope I adjust soon.
Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Brain - Fried!

I'm here - just barely!
I've made it through my first 3 days of work - wahooey!
I'm totally brain-fried though. I'm so saturated with information I could burst. It is frustrating too. It is difficult for me not to know what I should be doing. I want to be able to start working and start being a contributing member right away - it is frustrating to me that I feel like I'm not now. I know this is normal but it's been so long since I've had to go through this I have to keep reminding myself.
It is also difficult to learn new ways, the culture of the company, etc.
It will come, I know, but I just want it to all come together now!
Thankfully the people all seem so nice.

Getting myself back to a schedule where I can have the time to catch up on blogging is something I need to tackle. I know most of you work full time and still manage to find time to blog, and daily. Geez, how do you do it? I need to get myself in a groove.
LOL - as an Executive Assistant I used to pride myself on time-management. Hope I slip back into that groove again FAST!

I was asked to join a local chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen too (I'm honored) and participate in a 2-day home tour of the chapter members the first week in December. I'm excited to have an opportunity to do a "show" again but, yikes, I need to get some inventory by then. When will I have time?

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you all with my reading and comments, but, most importantly, THANK YOU ALL FOR THINKING OF ME AND ALL OF YOUR WISHES FOR ME ON MONDAY!
Love ya all!

TGIF

This picture was taken Wednesday when the weather was nice. Yesterday and today have been cold (40 degrees) and lots of rain. This weather is too cold for this time of year.

I say TGIF for you all in the working world, and I'm almost there with you! Can't believe I start on Monday!
As much as I have wanted this it will be a difficult transition. I worked at the same company for 27 years. It is not going to be easy to start somewhere else - 27 years with the same company, and then 8 1/2 month of the stress of unemployment.
I'm ready though, and know it will be an adjustment, but I also know I will do just fine.
Yesterday I was actually invited to lunch at my new company - isn't that nice??? I don't think that I mentioned that I am an Executive Assistant and will be supporting the SVP of Sales and Marketing. He asked 2 other Assistants to have lunch with me to help make the transition a little easier. They were nice as could be and I know this is right. I got to see where my desk/workstation is too.
I really am getting excited - a little nervous, but a lot excited, and READY!

Oh get this - I got a call from a recruiter about another job today! HA! I got to say, sorry, I've accepted another offer!

I got together with my creative friends last night. I wish I had a picture of my favorite creation with the glass slipper but I'll try to describe it to you - it was a Cinderella theme creation. She took a "Golden Years" Cinderella book (remember those little Golden Years books) drilled a hole in the center and put a clock onto it (hands in the front and workings in the back). She put the clock numbers (1-12) in silver glitter obviously on the front and then hung 2 glass slippers, which she covered with glitter, from ribbons from the back for a pendulum effect. It was adorable - a Cinderella pendulum clock made out of a Golden Years book! I think it was a fabulous piece. I want to know how she got 2 slippers and I only got one - LOL! Why didn't I think to put glitter on my shoe in my shadow box too? Oh well!
Of course, all of the other projects were great too but I just loved that clock!

TGIF - To all of you lucky working people out there I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Glass Slippers and Old Jewelry

I've mentioned before that I am part of a group, we call Creative Friends. We get together once a month and socialize and present our project to the group. Each month we are each given the same item and we all use our own creative drives to create something with it.
This month we were each given a (plastic) glass slipper. I decided to put my slipper in a shadow box. My original thought was to do it with a Cinderella theme but as I started to look for words in magazines I changed from Cinderella to celebrating dressy, fun heels.
Here's my completed project for our get together tomorrow night!

It says -
Bring on the bubbly
wear something glamorous and high enough to be stylish

I just came home from a "Sell Your Old Jewelry" party. It was an amazing thing. I don't know if any of you have been to one but, wow! They pay cash on the spot for your old gold and silver jewelry. People were walking away with more than $500! I had actually sold my unwanted older gold jewelry a while ago but took some old silver jewelry and walked away with $126!!!!
If you have any jewelry you have not worn in ages or don't want, sell it - you'll be pleasantly surprised!