Reward or punishment?

Alicia & her family get together this time of year to make cookies...& this year she invited me to come over as well.  

I was happy & appreciative that she invited me - I mean, wasn't that a nice thing for them to do - to include me in the family fun day of baking?

UHM...after I got there I quickly started to wonder if they DON'T like me & this was my punishment?

When I got there the first batch of chocolate chip cookies had burned.  I should've taken that as a sign (because they are my favorite!) but I did not.

Next up was sugar cookie decoration.  Ya'll - they let these kids decorate these things all on their own.  No one helping with icing, no one supervising sprinkle disbursement,  no dirt devil under each chair, no plastic wrap on the floors or walls.

Madness, I tell ya...

 I had the privilege of sitting next to Jake.  If you aren't familiar w/ Jake - he is like a little nuclear ball of energy & noise.  First he iced a gingerbread man... in this pic he is getting ready to apply sprinkles.

 It didn't take long for the sprinkles to invade the icing bowls.

 And what I wasn't fast enough to get here was Nora sticking her tongue in the sprinkle bottle.

(That's about the time Alicia told me, 'Oh don't worry - we DO NOT eat these cookies!'  

Thank GOD - I was really starting to wonder about them...)

 Just a couple of cookies in & it was time to lick the icing off the knives...

 I may or may not have encouraged Colton to lick the knife again because I wasn't fast enough to get his pic the first time.

You're welcome...

 Jake said (in his loud, nuclearized, jacked up on sugar voice) 'HEY LOOK - I'M USING THE OTHER END OF THE KNIFE.'  

Good thinking, Jake.

 My job was to cringe & attempt to hold my mouth shut put the completed masterpieces onto the cookie sheet.  It's a dirty job, but somebody had to do it.   

 Alicia & I decided that THIS cookie was the ugliest of the bunch...

 Look closely at the table---see al the sprinkle schrapnel?  The floor was just as bad.  I told them they need to invest in large rolls of plastic...

 The kids LOVE to help w/ the baking & Jake used his energy for good (& not all evil) as he was the biggest help of them all.  He rolled almost all of the Snickerdoodles.

 Alicia had to take a few power naps during the day.  Watching all that baking is EXHAUSTING.

 We took a little break to watch Home Alone.  Colton found a nice seat on top of Jake.

 For chocolate chip cookie batch round 2 Colton had taken a spot at the sink to 'wash' dishes.  He had water up to his elbows.  

 I don't know if I've ever seen this many cookies in my life.  All the containers were full & we had chocolate chip & no-bakes on the table.  (And YES I witnessed Alicia eat cookies, dough AND chips.)

Thanks again (I THINK?) for inviting me over.  It was a fun afternoon!

Current events

Last time I blogged was when I went to see Long Island Medium (I THINK?)... of course lots has happened since then.

Here is my attempt to catch you up on our lives...

I headed to Rose's house last month to visit & work on Sonny's quilt.  The weekend we made my quilt however long ago I had finished it & they helped me use the pieces I didn't use in my quilt to make a small quilt for Sonny.  At the time he sat on the back of the couch & got black hair on it (Yuck) so the plan was to put it there for him to lay on.  Well... I have since moved the couch & he no longer lays on the back of it so I had to come up w/ Plan B.

Do ya'll remember when I went w/ Rose to hear about a quilting machine?  She did buy one & this was my first time seeing it in action.  

Sonny gives it 2 paws up.... it now resides on our bed for him to lay on.  And since I didn't like the fabrics we used for the front (because I didn't like them enough to be on MY quilt) I use the back as the front.  It's a fun print w/ kitty faces & words that cats might say (i.e. Meow & FEED ME.)

***

My blogger friends & I kept our annual tradition alive of getting together the night before Thanksgiving.  I think this was our 5th year?  We decided to paint a Christmas tree w/ our names on it at Uptown Art.  Did you know that when you write your last name & add an 's' you don't use the apostrophe between your name & the 's'?  

I DID NOT.  

We started a fierce debate whilst we were painting (& drinking) & it was honestly the hardest decision we all had to make that night.  I was in denial & couldn't believe it...it just doesn't make sense.  A lady sitting near us overhead our conundrum & tried to explain that there is no apotrosphe 's' because it's not possessive - you don't own it.  I said, "The hell I do - it's MY name!"

  I told Jami to text Alicia (our resident teacher - if anyone would know it SHOULD be her!!) & sadly she confirmed the news.... no apostrophe 's' after your name. 

Hmph, whatever...

Gretchen's last name is 'Bush' & if that doesn't give you a HELL of a dilemma I don't know what does?  

Is it:

 The Bush's?

The Bushs?

The Bushes?  

(To which I said nu uh - that's like 'the bushes' in your yard!)

So what do you do when you can't decide your name & don't want it to seem like you're writing about lawn foliage....?

You simply write NOEL.

(Alicia also confirmed the proper way is 'The Bushes'. Uhm....no....)

***

B-rad FINALLY got done w/ harvest the day after Thanksgiving.  They pulled an all day'er', all nighter AND the next day'er' to get finished.

He worked on Wednesday ( so he was up around 5:00am) then came home & started to run corn & didn't get in until 3:00am.  Thanksgiving morning he got up around 9:30am & ran until he met me at my parents around 12:15pm for lunch.  After staying there about an hour, he went back out again.  I got up for work on Friday at 6:30am & he was not home...

Around 3:30pm Friday afternoon he texted me they were done.

If you've lost count that's being up 30+ hours.  Insanity, people...

Of course, nothing is ever easy & the tire on the grain cart couldn't take anymore.

Obviously it was more tired than the boys...

He fell asleep after eating at home around 4:30 & I was out that Friday night.  When I got home around 11:00pm he was fast asleep in bed...where he stayed until around 8:00am the next morning.

It's always a good feeling for them to be done w/ planting & harvest - but ya'll know there's ALWAYS something to do at the farm (like fixing that tire!)  He still goes to the barn every day/night to load trucks or work on something.

***

B-rad's grandparents had a '69th' anniversary party a couple of weeks ago.  They had requested we bring pictures to display & B-rad's aunt had requested pics of yourself w/ Gpa & Gma Mac on your wedding day...

I'm a good little soldier & this is what I took...

This is B-rad's parents on their wedding day.  I took a pic of it because Ann's parents are gone now.  Plus I don't think I've ever seen this picture!

If you look at Ann & then look at B-rad - MAN he looked like his momma when he was young!

B-rad's aunt & cousin led the charge on the anniversary party.  They did a great job of decorating.  It was definitely a Pinterest success.

The best man & maid of honor from their wedding were also at the party.  It was really neat to see them all together after all these years.  

They surprised Gma & Gpa w/ a vow renewal.  Later in the day I was talking to Grandpa & he was joking around about how they tricked him into saying 'I do' again... I said, "Yea - that's why it was a surprise!  They didn't want to give you a chance to think of a way out!"

(That's where B-rad gets {some of} his sense of humor.  Gpa's the one who says, 'weddings, funerals - same thing...)

***

B-rad & I walked the new Abraham Lincoln bridge.  It was a mess that morning because it was SO foggy.  We had to wait in line about 45 minutes before we reached the bridge.  Rumor had it that the big wig officials wanted to wait to cut the ribbon when the fog lifted & the helicopters could fly over.

Punks.

It's so much more modern looking than the other old bridges.

B-rad is a valuable resource to have doing stuff like this - he's a pretty smart guy & was telling me all kinds of stuff about the bridge.  Did YOU know that there's a door at the bottom of this pillar & it has stairs inside & that's how they get up to the top?  I did not know that...

The peril of having B-rad at stuff like this is because he likes to not follow the rules.  GRANTED he was not standing or climbing on the wall, but he leaned wayyyyyyy over as far as that cursed concrete wall would allow so he could see into the river.

***

I went to get my nails done & wanted to do something 'Christmasy' but not too much, ya know?  I didn't want any reindeer or Christmas lights or anything.  There's nothing wrong w/ doing that & it looks super cute but it's just not for Jaime Mac.

I found this on Pinterest & liked it...however I did NOT want that Santa face.

So we took the Santa face off & voila.  I love my nail people.  I have gotten a TON of compliments about my nails.

***

Debbie, Rose & I met up for dinner one night in French Lick.  We went to West Baden after dinner to visit.  It's so pretty there.

We were laughing our booties off while we took these pictures.  Rose really needed a night of fun - her brother is in the final stages of throat cancer (I can't spell the official word - you guys get my point.)  It has spread to his brain & his back & the end has come much faster than they anticipated.   He is in the hospital being kept comfortable so she has been at the hospital nearly every night. 

She said it did her heart good to see us & to LAUGH.

You would be surprised how long 3 women can go o ncackling like maniacs & taking selfies & no one offers to take your picture.   When we finally decided we had a good enough picture & started to leave a lady offered to take a pic for us. 

Too little, too late - lady!

***

Ya'll know I'm obsessed w/ my monogram & B-rad reads the blog - he knows too.  He made me a monogram at work w/ the laser machine.  It originally started as a keychain - but to make it look right he had to make it bigger & it was WAY to big for a keychain.  I was gonna hang it in my car from my rear view mirror but it clanged against the other stuff & made all kinds of racket.  I decided to put it on the wall on my desk at work.

***

The purple & silver glittery masterpiece is up.  I got a new tree this year & also put it in a different spot.  It's in our dining room.  

YES I know that sounds weird, but hear me out.  

Our ceilings are vaulted & to put the tree by the edge walls I could only do like a 6' tree.  Plus I have to rearrange the living room & it feels so cramped & that gets on my nerves.  I decided to go w/ a taller tree but that means I have to put it in the middle of the house.... which equals the dining room.  I don't put gifts under it so it's not like I need room for that. (YES I buy gifts - when I wrap them I put them in bags or boxes ready to tote to either mom's house or B-rad's brothers.  I'm organized like that.)   All I had to do was move the dining room table a bit & I was done. 

I'll take it.  

I added some silver, glittery, twirly sticks this year.  

B-rad says he thinks it's fine here (but do you think he would actually say he didn't?  You know who would have to move it if he said it looked awful - it's self-preservation...)  Some friends of ours stopped by & said it looked good there as well...you could see it from every room this way.

I really have no choice now because it's too tall to go anywhere else so it's gonna have to grow on me.

I put my very first quilting project (table runner) that Rose & Debbie helped me w/ on the dining room table along w/ some snowmen. 

***

Lastly (YAY you're to the end!) I went the Christmas Expo & found something really cool for Butterfly for Christmas.  B-rad & I are done w/ his Christmas but Mom is always looking for more things to get him.  I found this glass mug w/ a Decepticon from Transformers on it.  Strangely Butterfly has this tattooed on his back so I knew he'd love it.  I called Mom & asked her what she thought.  It was $15 & it's really heavy duty.  I think it's a steal!

When I took it to check out they told me for $5 they could engrave it so I made the executive decision to do that.  I had them do his nickname 'J Balls'.  AND the dude told me they would put it in Decepticon language letters as well.

I know it's hard to see since the glass is clear & all but I think it looks SO cool!