Back to the real world

Hubby and I;


spent 4 days at;

celebrating;

25 years to be exact!

The parks were decorated for Halloween and Fall;





The weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect! The week before the temperatures had been near 100. This week they are expecting lots of rain. While we were in southern California the temperatures were in the low to mid 70's. Sunshine and blue skies every day that we were in the parks.
We could see some of the rides in CA Adventure from our hotel room window and we could even watch the Disneyland fireworks from our room. We did watch the fireworks show in the park twice and it was SPECTACULAR! All Halloween themed and choreographed so well. Hubby made reservations for dinner in the Blue Bayou Restaurant for our Anniversary and that was so fun to be eating there (the food was good too!). We had such a great time together!

Saturday we woke to a heavy overcast sky and we headed off to spend time with some of hubby's family and see college girl! We all went to lunch together in Seal Beach and then got changed for the evening wedding of a niece. All of the attendants, and most of the guests were wearing a combination of black, red and white. The bride wore an all red gown - different for sure but it was beautiful. The cake was even red and black!
Sunday we went to brunch with family and friends that had come into town for the wedding and then we were off to the airport for the long trip home. A three hour layover in SLC and then a two hour drive home from the airport. We were beat when we got home after 12:30 a.m. We said hello and good-night to our son and went right to bed. It is always good to be home again and now I need to start to work on my October projects!

Praise - Safe travels for all of us! A wonderful time of fellowship with family and friends. God also kept my son safe and warm when the temperatures at home dropped below freezing. The man from church had his back surgery today (instead of tomorrow) and it was called a success!

Prayers - For a little boy at church that will be having endoscopy surgery first thing Tuesday morning. That God will be guiding the surgeon's hands and that the little boy will be brave and his parents would rest in God's hands.

I've been lost in the WAY BACK MACHINE!

What is it with the nostalgia lately??? First of all, someone posed the question - "what music do you listen to while working out?". I started listing my favorites, most of which are from the 70's! I know very little NEW music unless my kids share some tune with me. I like the old songs that I know the words to AND they conjure up a memory or two. Then the very same day Des was creating a 70's romance Playlist to save herself some money. With the exception of 'Brandy' we were pretty much in agreement over the songs chosen and the memories they had attached with them.

I don't know what prompted the dinner conversation the other night but I was sharing with my son about when I was in junior and senior high, calling in to radio stations for their contests. Using a ROTARY PHONE! Now that takes some talent I tell you! I even won a few times too. My very best prize;

(although it should read DisneyLAND not world)


Oh yeah, that was a GRAND prize! My favorite place to go! Do you know who I chose to go with me?? My sister who also loves Disneyland. See, here is proof that we've been loving that place for a long time;

(circa 1960)


Don't you just LOVE how we were dressed for a day at Disneyland?? Just the way things were done back then. That is me on the left :D

We still INSIST that a day at Disneyland is not complete without a ride on Dumbo. Even though the lines are crazy long now. Some things are just worth the wait.


I found this picture online (http://www.davelandweb.com/) - a nice site if you have hours to waste looking at old Disneyland pictures. I miss those Sky Buckets and look at the Tea Cups! Oh I love me some Disneyland.

Oh, back to the Valentine's Day Party at Disneyland! Ya see how I get when I am in the Way Back Machine?? So my dad dropped the two of us off at the park. A couple of high school girls. I remember spending a good portion of the night ditching a pair of young Marines (in uniform no less). Now many, many years later my sister is married to an ex-Marine who was stationed at Camp Pendleton many years ago. I like to tell her that he must have been one of the guys at Disneyland that night. ;)

I don't know why I never applied for a job at the Happiest Place on Earth. It would have been perfect for me! I still think I should. I mean they have OLD LADIES working in the Crystal Shop! They do! I've seen them! The commute would kill me but what a way to go...working at Disneyland.

This is what I REALLY aspired to;

***********the cream of the crop***********

I was only intrested in the uniform style with the knee socks.

I think I have the Disneyland knowledge for the job - just ask Des. ;)

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So besides spending too much time in the Way Back Machine, I have been doing some sewing too. I finished my January Challenge. I finished it on the 3rd of February. :( I will post pictures tomorrow along with a review. I guess I need to decide what my February Challenge is going to be. I have guests coming for President's Weekend (and they are bringing my college girl with them!!!!) AND this is a short month. All things to consider when choosing my project for this month. I do have something else in the works right now but I can't reveal ANY of it at this time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * *

Prayers - college girl's schedule is jam packed this week. She has been shorting herself sleep so that she can fit everything in. Prayers that she would get some sleep this weekend but still get her homework done. She totally stresses herself out otherwise. Praise - someone came to look at the house we have on the market! They seem interested. So that is also a prayer request.

I'm going to challenge myself

So as I was wasting time, procrastinating, putting off doing anything productive and oh yeah, catching up on my blog reading I came across THIS challenge over at Oil Cloth Junkie's Blog. Boy oh boy could I relate, I love me some patterns! When the fabric stores have Simplicity, McCall's, and Butterick patterns on sale for 99 cents or even 1.99 I feel it makes sense to buy some. Sometimes I can even reach the limit. But then I also like other kinds of patterns, the kind that don't go on sale very often. The challenge - USE some of these patterns! So I have chosen 13 patterns. I will choose ONE pattern each month and make that item in a month's time. I have 13 so I can have an alternate if one of them is just not speaking to me. ;)

Sorry for the lousy pictures. Bad lighting and it looks like I took an aerial view from the Goodyear Blimp. But hey, can you believe I took the pictures today AND they are now up on my blog...same day! I know, so very exciting. Not as exciting as an impromptu trip to Disneyland but it is the best I can do.

the first 6 patterns;


Stacked Coins by Pieced Tree Patterns - for a charm pack friendly table runner. I have admired stacked coin quilts online and I thought this would be a small investment in time and material to see if I like the process.

the emmeline apron by montessori by hand - cute apron AND reversible!

Strip-Ease by Threaded Pear - I even have the fabric for this (and right now I have no idea which line it is - Ava Rose? Pop Garden? Seriously I have no clue).

Simplicity #3949 - a classic apron style with some variations.

Hip Skirts by Favorite Things - I have made a couple of skirts for college girl using another one of their patterns and liked it so I bought this one.

Covington Bag by Amy Butler - this is hard to come by and I found this at a teeeeeny fabric store I visited this summer when I was at the quilt show. I was thrilled and even more so when I saw the price marked down to $3 from $12.95. Something tells me it was marked down again though to 99 cents. but that sticker is not on the pattern so maybe I am dreaming that part.

Here is the second lousy picture of the other 7 pattern picks;


Short Stack Apron by The Paisley Pincushion - I have almost all of her patterns and I really like those I have made (yeah so there could be others on this list). I did have difficulty with one of them but I emailed her and asked for clarification. She answered quickly and sent photos via email to go along with her explanation! Try doing that with Simplicity or McCall's!

New Look #6841 - I love these bags! The grey one on the top left is going to be RED - yes I already have the fabric. It is a faux silk. I wish I could have found that same grey, maybe someday. I also love the white one the model is holding but I am going to use some Joel Dewberry Ginseng fabric for that I think.

Simple Charm by Thimble Blossoms - I am going to make this pretty much like the pattern cover, although I might not use the blues. This is a table topper and I might part with it and give it as a gift. I love Cotton Blossoms fabric (have two quilts to make using it!).

Flea Market Bag A Grand Revival Pattern - a simple ( I hope) slouch/messenger style bag. It has a few variations. I have some batik that I am thinking of using for this.

Ava Bag A Grand Revival Pattern - Says it is easy AND reversible!! I imagine all sorts of fabric combinations for this always wondering how I would decide which fabric would be in and which would be out.

Just Can't Cut It by All Washed Up - I have seen this made up most recently over here. Seeing that young man make this up encouraged me to add it to the challenge. Maybe if I just send him the fabric...

Market Bags by Portabellopixie - my favorite of the two variations is the gathered market bag. I am not sure which fabric to use for this yet.


So there you have the line-up. This will be sewing in addition to my other projects. I have other quilts and aprons and purses that I want to make. This really will be a challenge for me.

Since I am starting this challenge when January is more than half over I need to go with something I think might be fairly simple. Well at least compared to a quilt!

This is my pick for January:


I sure do hope that all of my other unused patterns don't feel bad.


Praise - that my college girl was able to spend time at my sister's house this weekend. Not quite the same as being home but at least they are related. I know she felt loved while she was there. She worked on a project for school, went out to eat, watched a couple of movies and went ice skating.
Prayers for all of those involved in the inauguration, especially those in law enforcement and security. My friend's hubby is working very long hours and people are taking their crowd control frustrations out on the men and women in blue.