Wow....

Dear slightly older lady at Target (or Phone Nazi),

Thank you so much for being on the lookout for people who are littering your airspace by talking on the phone.

Me: walking down the big aisle near the clothes with my son and a shopping cart, talking on the phone

You: browsing the 30% clearance rack

As I approached the rack to look at one item, while listening to my mother on the phone, you said, "Get off your phone." 

Um, whaaat??? Did you really just say that to me? I must have looked at you incredulously and you said, "It's rude." 

I think I recall rolling my eyes at you--as I was a bit in shock, I am trying to remember clearly--and you said, "Think whatever you like, it's impolite."

Hm. Is it just me and we are shopping at Target and not at a super-fancy department store? Or maybe Target is the only place you get out to in your lame-ass life??

I could understand if I was blabbing in a restaurant. Or at a spa. Or holding up the checkout line.

Did you have small children once upon a time? Do you remember how little time children allow you to speak on the phone? I had spent my day so far running errands with my kids and working. So, if I need to spend a few minutes speaking on the phone inside a big-box store, as long as I am not inconveniencing you, I think it's probably okay.

Even if I thought someone was being rude by talking on the phone, I would never go so far as to be rude to them to point it out. I might just give them a slightly dirty look.

So, right back at ya, babe. Get a life. And some makeup and a hairdo. Perhaps you need all the uninterrupted time shopping you can get. Because you are ruining my airspace with your bitchiness and bad hair. Think whatever you like, it's impolite.

Sincerely,
Chatty Cathy and my cell phone

*****

In other news, we are enjoying a nice, long, relaxing weekend, following the birthday bonanza weekend for Sweetie. Our girl is four years old now and keeps telling us that she is on her way to five. Yeah, don't really want to think about it! ; ) We had a nice party for the birthday girl. It was a bit busy then, so I did not get many good pics!

In February, I will be presenting a clinic with two other teachers at our state music education conference. SO EXCITED about this. Needless to say, it has been a lot of work and quite a bit of brainpower devoted to this project. We have about three weeks to go. I'm trying to figure out what would be the best outfit to wear for this! Don't want to be too dressy or too casual.....stay tuned.

And....we have had an epiphany about our basement. More on that to come. At least paint samples are up on the wall.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Cozy mantel

Well, today is the final day of winter break and it's back to the grind tomorrow. And....tomorrow could be the most depressing day of the year. It's dark when you go to work, it's dark just after you get home. There's nothing to do. No pretty Christmas decorations. (this tends to be a theme of mine this time of year) Plus, there's still a little more than half of the school year left. I love teaching kids, but there are times of the year that just drag a bit. Luckily, I won't be bored.....there's a month left of basketball games for my band to play, which is about 14 games, and I will be giving a clinic at our state music conference with two of my colleagues in February.....; )

So, here is what is going on around the house. We have been cleaning mofos. I mean, pulling out the fridge and cleaning behind it, which has never been done in this house (going on four years). This is my favorite time of year for painting projects, so we have a few on tap.

I have a big pot of ham and bean soup going, made from the ham bone of a Honeybaked ham...yum.

I have a really pretty little poinsettia that I am going to try to keep alive this year. It's pink! I usually am totally over poinsettias by this time of year, but I'm going to try with this little guy....or girl.

Now that the holidays are over, we've moved on to what I like to call "winter-y but not Christmas-y." As such, our mantel.

I have used dried grasses, flowerheads and seed heads from the garden. I try to remember to hold on to some of those things when I am cutting back in the fall. I bought an off-white sweater at the thrift store and cut it up to cover the vases.

I cut a log into a few sections to put some votive holders at different heights. The small cup below has some pieces of driftwood that are bleached and smooothed.

I picked up this piece of driftwood on one of our vacations last year. I love the texture that it adds and also how it reminds me of our trip. : ) The yarn balls also had a bit of texture and a fun shape.

The seedheads are from Black-eyed susans and the flower heads were clipped from my oakleaf hydrangea. I also like the white birch brances.

As my husband said, it's all brown and white. He claims that brown is my favorite color, which it's not. It's just a neutral that goes with all other colors. I bet he doesn't know what IS my favorite color.

It's not my favorite colors, it's just what I see when I look out the window right now. : ) 

Hope you are staying cozy wherever you are!

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Tuesday Talent Show at Chef n Training
Flaunt Your Flowers  at Tootsie Time
What I Wore/What's Up Wednesday at Rae Gun Ramblings
Sunday Roundup at A Rosie Sweet Home
Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing

Winter Containers: You Can Grow That!

Here I am with the latest edition of You Can Grow That!

Just because it is cold outside doesn't mean that you can't have something interesting and pretty to look at in your containers. I changed mine out from "Christmas" to "winter" the other day. Let's see how they got there....

I started with this.

I liked using the ornamental cabbages that I had from the fall. They were starting to look a little rough, though. So, out they went.

Once I removed everything, I had nice, empty pots. I actually had to bring them inside for a little bit to defrost them so I could remove stuff. : )

I love fresh greens for wintertime, but I don't love the cost. Lucky for me then that I found these wreaths on clearance for $2.99 apiece!

I clipped off the ribbon and doodads...

I then had two plain wreaths.

I laid them flat on my pots and added some branches I had cut off from my hibiscus plant. I had already spray painted the twigs a silvery color. Then, I added some dried ornamental grass that I bunched up and used a cable tie to attach to a little stake. Lastly, I put some pinecones around the base of the grasses and branches.

The branches could be any color. I may consider white in the future!

Wintertime? Why not add a little eye-catching interest to your containers. It will make you happy every time you see them and You Can Grow That.

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Share Day at Just a Girl

Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life

Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

Pinspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Tuesday Talent Show at Chef n Training
Flaunt Your Flowers  at Tootsie Time
What I Wore/What's Up Wednesday at Rae Gun Ramblings
Sunday Roundup at A Rosie Sweet Home
Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing

Packing it all away

So, how is 2013 looking for you lately? Good, I hope. We've been busy bees around my house. Out with the old and in with the new, you know....

I read an update on Facebook from an old friend the other day that made me laugh. It read, "I'm not making any resolutions this year because I'm just fine the way I am. I do, however, have plenty of suggestions on how you can improve."  ; )

We put away Christmas yesterday and have nearly packed it up. As I was packing some garland, I came across my favorite Christmas packing box.

It is an old bankers box that has been around a long time. It came to our house many years ago when I was a child and my grandmother sent gifts to us in it. Since then, it has been written on by my mother, my sister and me to hold various Christmas things. I enjoy seeing everything that has been written on it and knowing what each of those things mean, as well as who it was who wrote on it.

Pretty cool, huh?