Fashionista

My oldest elected to get new clothes for Christmas this year. I never thought I would see that day. Only one little hang-up, he didn't want to get clothes from Tyler. So, off we went in search of malls in the main direction of Dallas. Mind you, we were searching for shopping malls, not shopping centers. Let the hilarity ensue...

We get to Terrell and used directions from Mr. Plantfreak to go to the mall. The outlet mall. That just won't do. So, off we go to Rockwall. They have to have a shopping mall, right? No. I had things to get at Michael's and asked a lady for suggestions. She was very nice and gave me completely off the wall directions. Even with two sets of eyes we never found the streets she said to use.

I had an idea to call Mr. Plantfreak. I didn't say it was a good idea though. He told me I was going in the wrong direction and to turn around. He would be wrong. Several strangers later, we made it to the mall and Cody was in skater clothes heaven.

As we were driving home- we ran into another shopping mall. Really, now we're just finding them by accident. It was 8 o'clock when we got home-we left at nine that morning. But hey, Cody is stylin' and that's all that matters.

Well, since it seems I'm only doing monthly posts...let me give you a rundown on all my doings.

Since November I have sold 59 dozen cookies (I've made way more). It just kind of snowballed and I love it when people have happy tummies.

Cody turned 16 this past Tuesday. It's killing me, I want that cute little toddler that loved getting hugs from Mommy and looked at everything with curiosity and wonder.

AJ turned 15 on Friday. We went out to eat and it was actually enjoyable!

I'm still scrambling to get presents in the mail, get outfits for our out of town trip, clean house, blah,blah,blah!

I worked at the paying job and let me tell you the crazies are out! I had a lady trying to read me bible verses on the phone (she called looking for a pomegranite tree).

I had two different people come in and want to buy pieces of a plant, not the whole thing, just a piece. That's called pinching and you do it when no one is looking. Jeesh.

But really, the cookies are what have done me in. Mark says I'm in the wrong business. Maybe I can open a bakery, hmmmm....

What A Crock!

It does absolutely NO good to get up at 6am and put a roast in the crockpot if you don't plug the #&^#*#!$#$& thing into the wall!!!!!! Hmmph!

Taco Bell anyone?

The Rest Of The Story

I feel I should add to my Thanksgiving tale. I focused on all the ironic, Murphy-esque happenings and forgot to tell the good parts.

I got to spend the day with Sheila and her family and I truly enjoyed it.

Mark got to watch football for most of the day while we were there.

One of the families that came in (not needy but in need of Thanksgiving food) had a budding magician in the midst and he got up and entertained everyone. He was pretty dang good too.

We got to see a new area of Tyler and a new lunch spot.

It all evened out.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We (meaning me) decided to help out serving the needy this year. Everyone else in the house was simply overjoyed at the thought-sniff,sniff, does anyone else smell sarcasm?

My friend Sheila's son has a restaurant in Tyler and he thought it would be a good idea to open the doors to those who might not otherwise celebrate. I thought that was pretty selfless. It's a cute little place, and I've heard nothing but good about the food since it opened.

We arrived promptly at 10:30 and met Sheila's family, looked around, and waited for the doors to open. The news crew arrived and Hank (the owner) was tickled to death about that. Since it was early and no one had shown up yet, the news crew did interviews. They interviewed Hank, myself, and Cody.

That night on the news they showed the "interviews". Our 2 minute interviews were cut down to a 5 second sound bite. I was made to look like one of the needy, and Cody's only statement was "I love stuffing".

Lovely.

Not many people showed up, the boys were bored to tears and AJ pouted about there not being any food he liked until Hank made him a burger. Yep. WE all learned valuable lessons. Aj learned that pouting to strangers works, Cody learned that comments to news crews like " this was all my Mom's idea, it it was up to me I would at home playing X-box" mortifies his mother. I myself learned to run like hell when camers show up! Lest I resemble the homeless again.

In fact, the only person to improve was Mr. Plantfreak...he called his mother and his oldest daughter on the same day without my nagging. I don't think that has ever happened before.

Like I said, "No good deed..."

Say Hi To Logan

Mr. Logan was born on Monday and weighs 7lbs, 13 oz. He is Little Miss G's grandson number two and she is over the moon! Wouldn't you be?

The Cuteness Can Not Be Contained

That should give you visions of sugarplums dancing in your head!

Heaven Help Me....

...my oldest just got his learner's permit to drive! He'll be 16 next month but he has to wait until next May to get his license. I couldn't wait to get my permit and then license. Half his friends have waited too, so I guess it's not that big a deal around here.

Any tips on how to survive?!

Feeding My Obsession

I was trolling Ebay (another bad habit), and I bought a book to feed my ongoing cake obsession. Colette's Birthday Cakes is the name of my book, and it is awesome! Colette Peters is a pretty big name in the cake world and she's earned it.

I cannot wait to dig in and try some of the techniques in here!

Funny Story

The other day I told my friend Little Miss G about the poop girl story. You know the one. Anyway, it's so much funnier when I re-enact and after LMG finished laughing hysterically she told me an even funnier and much less disgusting story.

When her niece was little she had an upset stomach, and after going to the bathroom she started yelling for Grandma. "Grandma, I have the ballerinas again!" OMG! That's hilarious! Even Mr. Plantfreak calls it the ballerinas now.

Hiya Stranger!

I have been so dang busy these days! I had cookies to makes (about 20 dozen), I helped a friend get her yard ready for a baby shower (I should really take pics), plant orders to get out, and then there was the paying job.

I have started Christmas shopping though, sort of. I had to hammer out some details with an artist. I don't mean to be so vague but that person reads the blog. Now if the money for all that will just sprout on one of my trees!

Behold...

the most beautiful grandchildren ever! I did restrain myself and only posted 1/2 the pics. It's hard because they are just so adorable!

Oh my goodness, that hair!

Joselyn

Gage

Gage, I mean Blade

The queen Gianna

Ariel, aka: Joselyn

pumpkin Gianna

supermodel Joselyn

future major league star!

Are you awestruck? You should be!

Makin' Cake

I've been boring my friends to death about cake decorating. My latest project is a SpongBob cake for my friend's 4 year old. I was freaking out because the proportions were wrong and I had tons of boo-boo's, and I ran out of ingredients several times...but in the end I think I can be pleased with it.

SpongeBob is pretty wonky though. Maybe it's his cousin SpongeBillyBob.

Patrick turned out the best. Of Course I melted the first one and dropped the second one, so third time is the charm!

I hope they like it. Mr. Plantfreak slammed the box into the car seat when he was loading it (par for the course), and I'm afraid to look at it. Cross your fingers it makes it to Dallas today!

Halloweenie!

Click on this for a little Halloweenie fun!


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My Oldest

I took my oldest clothes shopping the other day. ...and the stuff he picked was surprising. I guess in rebellion to my predilection for earth tones, he has gone in the opposite direction. He bought a belt that was black and stark red. Not something I would expect my son to pick (maybe my daughter). Cody is also into hoodies. The ones he really liked were $100 +. We settled on a $70 one and I gulped really hard at the checkout. What does it look like? Well, it's reversible with one side being black with white graffiti (not too bad), and the other side being black with bluish purple stripes. Hmm.

This is it but in red.

I just hope he doesn't end up looking like this.

Oh. Might be too late.

Playing At Work

Here is a little fairy garden I put together at work.
The planter itself is about $300 so you won't see me doing this at home.

By the time I finished...it turned into a $500 fairy garden!

Those are my little pumpkins that I made from polymer clay.

BTW, Karma has bitten me in the butt for making fun of the poop girl. I have gotten a particularly nasty intestinal condition and I've been absolutley miserable for days! Sorry Karma.

Did I Hear That Right?

I was on the way to work this morning and had to stop and get gas. As I was waiting in line a girl came in talking on the cellphone...loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Girl, I pooped last night and it was turrible!"

Surely I heard that wrong...

"I lost at least 2 pounds"

Ewwww, no I didn't. The 20 other people in the gas station heard it too.

And then she tried to give the two young guys in line the "Hey Hey" look. Girl,...don't do that.

People are just weird.

Someone Has Been Fluffing Again!

The boss at the paying job has been fluffing again. We have gone crazy for these head planters! This is a new style that we just got in.

Everytime we get a new plant in the store we have to stick them in the heads to see what it looks like.

Of course, we have a gnome-ey, faux bois, and mushroom display.

It's time for the annual fall display.

Where Have I Been!!!

Nowhere.

I've had stories to tell, but I haven't.

In my defense, AJ (my youngest), has a new school program. This means he lays claim to the computer all day long for schoolwork. The only time for me to blog is in the wee hours of the morning and I just have not been coherent enough for that task. Aha! But today is saturday and AJ is still snoozing.

I've been playing with my clay again. Making flowers for my fairy garden. You know, for when nothing is blooming. I rather like them.

So...what's going on with you?

Dream On

The other day on the way to school my oldest bestowed upon me a little nugget of knowledge. This little nugget was that his two top picks for cars (he'll be 16 in December) ...

are you ready?....

a '69 Camaro (vintage blue with white stripes), or a purple Ferrari!

Really.

Dream on Little Man, Dream On.

Vintage Baby Shower

There is a customer at the paying job that I absolutely adore! Little Miss G loves her bling, anything french, and vintage! She is throwing a shower for her daughter-in-law in November and is decorating house, yard, everything! The theme is vintage baby. She has made this tower and is in the process of stacking it with vintage baby items.

Click on the picture to see the details. It's pretty cool. I'm going to help her set things up in November for the shower so I'll post tons of pics. It should be one awesome shindig!

Oh So Wrong...

but oh so funny! I know it's not right to make fun of other people, but when they are begging for it...it has to happen.

Mr. Plantfreak found this website called People of Walmart. It's where people have taken pics of other outrageous people and have posted them. It has always amazed me what people will wear in public. I mean, I know I'm not a glamour queen, but I am at least presentable and covered up when I go out.

Just take a peek. You will be shocked, amazed, dumbstruck, and on occasion, grossed out. Mr. Plantfreak and I plan to go on Photo Safari at our walmart and see if there are any characters that deserve to be posted. If you look at the locations of all the crazies, you will see that most of them are in Texas!

Gotta, Gotta, Gotta!

Need to blog...Gotta wash clothes...
Kid sick...other kid sick...
kids better but hubby sick...
I'm sick...gotta go to work....
Need to blog...Gotta cook dinner...

That seems to be my week! Add to that Phyllis had her last day at the paying job. No more Phyllis! I'm so sad I can't stand it. We talk every day so I'm sure I'll muddle through.

I was supposed to work at Mr. C's ranch to plant his Fall veggies but with over 4 inches of rain that is not going to happen. Maybe next week.

Gotta clean kitchen...Gotta wash clothes...it never ends!

Roll Tide Roll!

Grandpa Sute is an Alabama alumni and fan (actually all my family are rabid Bama fans), and he sent me pics of his decorations for last night's game. He has a treehouse complete with bar and flat screen tv for football. I gave him a topiary monkey to hang outside the treehouse and the monkey got into the spirit as well.

Roll Tide Roll!

In The Zone

Ok, now I'm really scared!

I called AJ from the paying job and asked him to water plants. "I already did. And I weeded some of the plants."

Oh.

"I also did some dishes in the kitchen"

Now I'm wondering what happened to that grunting neanderthal that gets angry when I tell him to do a chore. I asked him what he wanted because I suspected an ulterior motive.

"I don't want anything, I just felt like doing chores"

I hear the soundtrack from Twilight Zone and now I'm REALLY scared!

End Of The World

I think the world is going to end...Cody has done his homework 2 nights in a row.

Maybe he actually listened to me over the summer...nah!

I hope I didn't jinx it by mentioning it!!!

Quick somebody knock on wood!

Have You Missed Devil Dog?

I know I haven't posted lately about Devil Dog, but trust me...she has been busy!
Let's start with her ball playing! Notice the baseball? My boys don't play baseball (but the neighbor's boy does).

Now let's move on to the craters she dug all over the yard. To be fair though, the other dogs have helped quite a bit.

Remember Devil Dog and the greenhouse? Well, she moved on to the irrigation system that Mr. Plantfreak set up. We had to remove the entire thing!

This is our kitten Jasper I found in the woods with DD covered in slobber and mud. He took three days to recuperate. DD said she was just playing. Hmph!

Here is the first shoe DD brought home. I don't even know where there is a little girl around here. DD is such a dang thief!

And yet another one! Not to mention the men's sandal that I found down the driveway. My friend Priscilla says I should put out a lost and found box at the end of the driveway. Good idea but then they will know who took their stuff. DD just might get herself shot one of these days!

Guilty Pleasures

My guilty pleasures are E Online for celebrity gossip, and two reality shows... Design Star and Project Runway. I absoluely love watching other peoples creativity!

Last night was the second night of Project Runway and the talent is amazing! Even the people they sent home were really good, just a little bizarre. Last night, the designers had to design a maternity outfit for a celebrity (Rebecca Romjin). Malvin, who was sent home, took the concept of fertility to the avian route. He designed a top that alluded to a mother hen and resulting egg. Sorry, I couldn't find a picture. Poor Malvin, the golden rule is "Never make a pregnant woman feel like a chicken with an egg!"

Needless to say the egg idea did not go over well with a panel of all women judges, and Malvin seemed stunned to be eliminated. Too bad, I would like to see what else he can do.

First Day Of School

Hooray! Another year of aggravation! Cody started early this year too. I bought basic supplies for him weeks ago to get ahead of the game, only to have him inform me he did not want the fancy binder I bought him. He refused to take it to school, and instead went with no paper, just a pen. So he rode the bus home instead of me picking him up. He could have told me he didn't like the binder 3 weeks ago, instead he waits until the day of school. Turns out he needed a ton of other things for each teacher...I hate school supply lists!

Down At The River

Grandpa Sute sent me these pictures before the big computer crash.
It's Hannah, Rudy, and Abbey fetching a stick at the river.

I'm surprised that they can all fit on there.

Can't tell who is who in this picture.

It sure seems to me that Abbey has become one of the family! Look at her smile!

Squint Your Eyes....

...and you won't see all the mistakes on my cake! Like I said before, I have been hooked on Ace of Cakes and Amazing Wedding Cakes. They make it look so easy, but brother, it ain't. Of course I was just slapping it together instead of planning it out and measuring everything. I had the best time though!

The top part was decorated for my friend Karen. Like me, she loves the colors turquoise and brown.

The bottom part was for my friend Chantelle, who is partial to seashells and anything beach themed.

Like I said, squint your eyes and look and it looks like a pretty good job!

Oh Happy Day!

I finally got my crack, er...computer back!!!!!! I picked it up yesterday and wouldn't you know it...the service provider had a cable cut by accident and there was no internet until today. The moniter is still screwed up but I'm using the moniter from my old computer and I'm thrilled to be back in the blog world and the cyber world. I missed ya'll too.

I will say this though, it's amazing what you can find to do when the computer is gone and there is absolutely nothiung on TV!

I have to work the next three days but I will post the cake I made for some friends. I've become addicted to Ace Of Cakes and Amazing Wedding Cakes. I had to try!

Quick Hello!

I'm supposed to be working but all the bosses are out and I'm sneaking a quick hello! I am absolutely going into serious computer withdrawl !!!! It's just killing me! Gotta go, Bye!

PS. Let's hope tomorrow is the lucky day for my computer to come home!

Just What I Needed

A jacked up computer! The kids have done something to it and I can't seem to fix it. If I can't get it to work tonight, then off it goes to the computer place. because I really wanted to spend money on that. Crap, crap, crap!

I'll see you when I see you...(pouting)

Ick, Ick, Ick!

Grandpa Sute hatched those damn snake eggs!

Every nightmare I had growing up looked like this! I have creepy crawlies up my spine just looking at these pictures!

Dad says they are black racers...as if I would spend enough time around a snake to distinguish what kind it is.

I'll be imagining snakes in every nook and cranny for a week!

Market Mania

We did the festival this weekend and it was a ton of fun! There was great music...even Grandpa Sute would have approved and there were lots of interesting people. It was sooooooo friggin' hot though. I'm pretty sure Texas was Dante's inspiration on at least one of the circles of hell, if not all of them!

I was still upset about the lack of pretty plants in my greenhouse so I cheated a little and bought plants from a wholesale nursery in Tyler. Great people! Penny and Roger live on 23 acres and run their fabulous nursery. My dream job! It was the cleanest nursery I've ever seen!

I sold enough to cover expenses plus extra....I even sold a fairy garden. I decided to build a fairy garden in one of the old wheelbarrows I bought and everyone just went nuts over it. Mark and I had to laugh because just as many men were fascinated by it as women...including a couple of big, burly bikers. Maybe I should make an action figure garden?! Hmmm...

The festival was such a success that they are planning to do another in October and I will be there. With bells on...and fairy gardens made...and succulents planted...and whatever else I can think of!

Headed To Market

The Gypsy Market that is! This is the first G.M. Festival ever and I signed up to sell plants.

I'm a little apprehensive...this horrible heat took it's toll on the plants and I don't have a ton of stuff that looks great. It's a little 10x10 booth so hopefully I can scrounge up some stuff. I'm excited though about meeting some of the people in Mineola. People say it's an artistic community and I really want to get to know that crowd. I just really don't want to be embarrassed by what plants I have. Whine, whine, whine! I'll let you know how it turns out.