That's MS. Witch to You

Last week my husband raked leaves & mowed the lawn for the final time this year. He bagged the clippings & prepared them for the next garbage pick-up. I walked by the bags as I took my daughter to the bus stop, & when I met her upon arrival home from school. I walked by the bags on my way to & from the mailbox. Something tugged at me each time. As if a spell had come over me, I felt compelled to create! I'm sure the possibilities are endless, but here's what transpired.

Boring bag of clippings/leaves

Roll of white paper & double-wide construction paper

Introducing Ms. Witch!

I didn't use any patterns...just drew on the construction paper freehand. And everything you see is from construction paper except the witch's hat that I got on clearance two years ago for $.19.

Rhymes With Lucky

Last Saturday, my youngest daughter & I attended the annual Oak Bank Pumpkin Give Away fundraiser, benefiting The Road Home (Dane County). This, in itself, was its own little carnival complete with a bouncy house, games for the little ones, an appearance from local team & business mascots, food, activities, & even the Oscar Mayer Mini Wienermobile. Free chair massages were available for the adults, & there was a nice spread of prizes featured in their raffle. I bought 5 tickets, I chose carefully.....and wouldn't you know it.....I WON one!

What you must understand now is that I never win anything. Ok, ok I realize my odds were a little better that day considering the snow flurries in the air & the bitter wind that made tiny white caps on the pond near by. (No picture to post from the event because, even with mittens, my fingers were too frozen to manipulate a camera.) Maybe the turnout wasn't quite what it had been in the past, but either way.....I won!

Now here's the moral of the story. What I really had my sights set on in the basket was the Bucky Book. My husband was also a lucky Bucky winner last May during one of his company's monthly meetings. It had been about 1.5 decades since I'd had relations with a Bucky Book. I never cared for it. It mocked me, pressured me &, if you will, Badgered me. That's right. That little book filled with coupons nagged me to "Buy One, Get One Free" & frequent hundreds of establishments that, under normal non-coupon circumstances, I never would have patronized. But that little word....that one little word....the word "free" appealed to me on a different level this time.

Summer was approaching, giving us a little more free time, when Ty brought that book home last year, & it just seemed the appropriate time to at least partake in the completely free offerings. I mean, what a deal to get something for absolutely nothing, right? And so it began. A freebie coupon there, a buy one, get one free coupon there. They began as a nice break for me to take from cooking on occasion, a neat outing to enjoy with A., & so on. Quickly my hesitation turned into an eagerness for another and another and another good deal the whole family could enjoy. I poured over each offering inside that sneaky book, leaving no acceptable offer to waste. Admittedly, we enjoyed a fun-filled summer & my whole family experienced a Mom who was a bit more happy-go-lucky. It encouraged me to get out, enjoy, & participate in the outside world a smidge more. It was the best summer I can remember in a long time. Thank you, Bucky Book. I look forward to this next year with you.

Heeeellloooooo Out Theeeere

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

If you're there, I'd like to welcome you to my blog debut. Today's the day. Today's the day I will actually write one of the many things that have been swirling around in my brain since I began giving this whole blogging thing some thought.

There's a massive amount of creativity out there, don't you agree? Some of you are serious crafters, aren't you? That alone was having me feeling rather inadequate, and actually wondering if I would be ostracized from the cyber world if I told you that the idea of sewing, quilting and the like made me break out in hives. I sewed a wonderfully precise pig pillow in Home Economics class in 8th grade, which I got an A+ on, and to this day maintain quite a sense of pride about it. And sewing supposedly runs in my genes, as my maternal grandmother used to run a business sewing everything from special gowns for the girls at a local, private high school to attaching uniform decals that were shipped to her in huge deliveries. Like missing out on getting my mom's beautiful blue eyes, I have not been issued the love of sewing.

I'm not so certain I can actually "craft" either. Where do you people keep all those materials needed for making all that stuff? When do you find the time?

Me? I shop. I looooove shopping, and I know I'm good at it. I can smell a good clearance miles away. And don't get me started on garage sales.....there will be plenty of time to discuss that as we get to know each other better.

What else, you ask? Well, I do certainly like to decorate. The issue right now is finding the time to be able to actually put out more than what I consider the bare bones. (Again, I refer back to all the cool stuff I see posted for fall. Mom's with kids.....how do those loving, little, needy creatures allow you do get to any of it? Really. I'd love to know.)

Oh, and then there's baking & cooking. It's good. I like it. I'll be sharing with you some of my anti-recipe recipes (hint: I don't measure much) in the future, so maybe that's where I can be of assistance to you.

Well, nice to have met you. By the way, my name is Julie. I am married to a physicist and we have two girls, ages 6 (1st grade) & 2. I have PLENTY to say about each one them. But that's for another day.