An arts & craftsy kind of Thanksgiving

For the past 4 years, MY favorite Thanksgiving tradition has been meeting up w/ my blogger friends to eat, laugh until I cry & talk about all the nonsense we see on social media.   I don't get to see these gals NEARLY enough & the time we spend together seems to fly by.  

And because they have been stalking me for years - they know me.  They know I tease, chastise & make fun because I L-O-V-E. (And they give it right back to me which I also L-O-V-E.)

This was never more evident than when Gretchen had to change up the timing of her travels home to meet up with us.  She knows I NEED to have a plan & when she changed the time to a "tentative" (!) time one day before we met - well....that created a lot of harassing texts about TENTATIVE times & such between us.  

And since you have to be able to take it to dish it - I was not left out of the harassment.  I got to hear comments about the change messing up my calendar colors on my phone....

We met up for Mexican & when our meals came out they were all huge...except Gretchen's.  She had 2 small, sad chicken tacos...

But the joke was on us when it was time to pay the tab.  Sure, my chicken fajita quesadilla was delicious (& I took half home to B-rad for his supper) but it was $13.  G paid a mere $4.26 for the sad, small chicken tacos...

And without further adieu, I will tell you what I am most thankful for about these girls... (because you all know how mushy & thankful & blah blah blah I am...)

Jami -(Also known to me as "JLL"):  I am thankful that JLL's questions about iPhones & now her sons iPad keep me on my toes.  Because of all the help I giver her I would like either:

A) a blue shirt w/ a white Apple embroidered on the front

B) from this day forward only be referred to as 'your majesty the apple queen'.  
I am also thankful that when we had a strange woman suddenly appear next to us in the parking lot asking for cash that JLL also said she didn't have money on her.  (Seriously - it was dark & we were standing there talking & this woman came out of nowhere w/ a young kid & asked us for money.    I said no because I tend to always believe that people are lying & she was just using the kid to pull at our heart strings.  (She had no idea who she was messing w/ huh?!).  JLL was leery because she thought if we took out our wallets someone working w/ her could've been hiding & come out to snatch them from us.  Both were reasonable I think..) 

Tracey:  I am thankful that Tracey has such a sweet heart.  (Not that the other ones don't - hers is just the sweetest.)  I am thankful for her friendship w/ Gretchen because together they are funnier than they are separate.   I am thankful that she understands that Jake from the tv show Scandal is my boyfriend & not hers. 

Gretchen:  I am thankful that Gretchen is so cool & hip.  She is 2 years older than me, but in her pursuit to be 'young & cool' she finds all sorts of gems & passes them on to me.  She also has such a funny yet dry way of saying things that she keeps me laughing all the time.  When I mentioned a fight B-rad & I recently had she asked, "Was it about sex?" just as serious as she could be... (However she said 'sex' in the lowest possible voice.)

I am thankful that as we were talking about current events or people we know on Facebook we all had to do a quick 'look around' at the restaurant to make sure no one in the restaurant were those people or might know those people.  I am thankful when we talked about the 'Fifty Shades of Gray' movie coming out we all spoke very, VERY quietly (while laughing hysterically) & tried to figure out a place we could go see it where no one would know us.  (We settled on Cincinnati...)  

I am thankful we are all so vain it only took us 4 attempts to get a pic we could all agree which each looked 'ok' in...

The next day we went to my parents house for Thanksgiving lunch.  I have been wanting to make one of those mesh wreath thingies that are all the rage right now.  I know Rhonda is super crafty so I asked her if she knew how to make them... & she did....

I found a picture on Pinterest & because I have no creativity gene I bought almost exactly what it showed in the picture.  My wreath would also feature ribbons along w/ the mesh...

You can see how instrumental Rhonda was in helping me attach the mesh.

(and if you look closely behind my head you will see B-rad & mines wedding photo...)

Because Rhonda wasn't watching what I was doing well enough I ran out of mesh before I was all the way around the wreath form.  THEN she decided she needed to take a bigger roll in what I was doing as she helped me undo it ALL & start over....

After we attached the mesh we took 2 rolls of ribbon & ran it through the wreath.

Then we took the other 2 rolls of ribbon & cut them into like 6" pieces to tie on to let them dangle or curl or whatever.  We even enlisted moms help in cutting.

 THIS is what I envisioned making...

But like all great Pinterest projects it just didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted.  I like it, but I wish it was a bit more full.  Rhonda says I could add more to the middle, or maybe have used a smaller wreath form...

Current events

SO it's been a couple of weeks since you've heard from me... & I'm sorry for you.

3 weeks & over $22,000.00 later, B-rad & his brother got the replacement motor in the combine & now all is well again in the world.  B-rad was out really late last weekend trying to get as much done as possible before the snow.  Friday he got home around 1:30am & Saturday around 12:30am.  (& of course he was up early both days.)  He was down a couple of days from the snow but now he's back to green flag racing...until it rains Sunday.

Beans are totally done (which is good because in this weather w/ all the getting wet & drying over & over the pods start to pop open & all the beans fall out.  {And I ain't going out there to pick them up by hand, ya'll.})  Corn is about 1/2 way finished - so he still has 400-500 acres to go.  I can only remember one year when he was done before Thanksgiving (there had been a drought & there was hardly anything to harvest) so he will be running Thanksgiving day after lunch...& they think they may still be running until Christmas.

Oh, the humanity....

***

I have had my super cool iPhone 6 for 2 months... TWO.  And I am on my 4th case.

Yea - that sounds about right.

I have a sickness- ya'll KNOW this...

I picked this beauty up 2 weeks ago from Etsy for $20.  It came from China & I LOVE all the glitter.  Sadly, I hated how the case fit my phone & felt in my hand.  (& I thought B-rad was the princess..) 

It offered no protection for my phone.  I'm not hard on my phone at all so I don't need anything at the Otterbox level, but I do need more then glitter protecting the back...

As I was hunting my next case, I had seen an ad on Facebook for mycustomcase.com. (Tell me the damn computer doesn't know what we look at!  Michael Kors bags pop up all the time too.  Sigh...)  A girl at work showed me a Groupon for that website for a $47 purchase for $20.  Sign me up.

It can me monogrammed or have your name written on it but I elected to not have it personalized.  It doesn't save you any money, but I didn't like how it looked.  I opted to get what I like to refer to as the 'condom' for this case. 

 Phone condom =  rubber bumper for 'extra protection'.  

(When a girl at work asked me about the different cases you can get & I told her about it - at the end she said, "Is that really what it's called - a condom?"  I said, "No, technically it's called a 'rubber bumper' but I think condom is funnier.")

***

Brodbeck Seed did a Facebook contest for the most 'likes' on a harvest picture & B-rad posted this picture our nephew Brady took.  Brady's in the Case tractor & B-rad is in the combine coming towards him.  We love the pic & it's even at the top of the blog.  

  B-rad & I shamelessly asked all our FB friends to go 'like' the pic so he could win got the most likes & won the contest.  

Sadly for Brady he's not on Facebook (he's 18 - he's too cool for Facebook) so he misses out on the prize - I can't help it.  Too bad, so sad.    

If it makes you feel better we did rub it in tell him B-rad won a prize from Brodbeck for a picture he took...

***

Since I have recently appointed myself been referred to as the 'Apple Queen' by my friends & co-workers, I have set up 5 new phones from older models for other people in the last couple of months  (B-rad did his all by himself.).  I had only done this process TWICE in my life - once from the 4 to 5 & then from the 5 to the 6.  I'm not sure why people think that makes me an expert - but they do.   Most people I helped have only had one phone & this was the first time they were changing them over.  They were super intimidated by the whole process & just wanted me to do it. (Hey-I learned to 'fake it 'till I make it' in the jewelry biz.  It's all about confidence, people!)  I don't mind at all, but it makes me nervous because if something goes wrong - they're gonna blame me.  I have also texted step-by-step instructions to countless others for them to follow.  I have found as long as they follow my lengthy text verbatim they have no problems!

Recently I changed over a phone for the daughter of one of the men I work for.  Now - if this applies to you, I'm sorry - but you should be ASHAMED of yourself.  

Over 2,000 UNREAD emails...

20 MISSED calls....

20 unread texts.... (She was in a group text because while I was backing it up it just kept going off... by the time I was done with the phone {I had it for an hour} she had 47 texts....

Here's the worst part - this girl is 19 years old.  

A) What 19 year old doesn't know how to switch over her own iPhone?

B)  What 19 year old isn't on top of her phone at ALL times?  

(Disclaimer - all the unread emails & missed calls were that number when I got the phone...me having it for an hour didn't create that mess, people.)

Youth today - I tell ya it's sad...

***

There was some excitement at my parents house when we had the big snow.  Marcia texted me to say that a tree in their yard was on fire (remember she lives across the street?).  I called mom at work (she works close to home) & she rushed home.  I called dad - he was at the house, but had no idea anything was even going on.  I told him, "Go outside & look at the trees!  Marcia Gettelfinger says one is on fire."  

Since the snow came so early there were still leaves on the trees so that made the branches hold more snow & become heavier than normal.  It was leaning down on an electrical wire.  UH YEA.  It was causing the wire to spark so the fire department was called to watch it to make sure it didn't get out of control.  That afternoon the electric company was there to trim the branch.

***

 Shauna's daughter, Ally (she's almost 11), has helped me for the last couple of years buy gifts for a needy child & fill a shoe box for mom's church.  This year when we planned to go shopping for the box, Shauna had asked if I could also take Ally shopping for a pretty dress to wear at her talent show.  (Shauna still can't drive after her neck surgery.)  Of course that was no problem, I have been clothes shopping w/ them before.  I barely remember shopping w/ my mom when I was little & you moms can relate - but they don't get along the best when they're clothes shopping.   (It's a mother/daughter thing.  You know how it is when it's someone OTHER than your parent telling you stuff - you tend to listen better, be less argumentative, etc.  That's just how it is...) 

If you are thinking I was out of my element - you are right!  But we walked into the store like we owned the place & we went to the section that I thought looked like it might fit her.  (I'm a great adult, huh?  Maybe Shauna should re-think this whole thing?)  Ally is quite tall & very thin so she's kind of at that in-between stage because girls is too small & juniors is too big.

We went to JC Penney's first & I explained to Ally that we had a budget we had to stick to, we had a lot of things to get accomplished for the night & we needed to communicate good & stay on track.   We found a dress she liked at Penney's, but she also wanted to go to another store.  And since I'm a softie like that - I took her.  

Some of her stipulations: (remember what it was like to be a 10 year old girl?  {And this is what some of you have to look forward too!})

1.  Long.

2.  NO long sleeves.

3.  NOT itchy.

4.  Not only was it for the talent show, it also had to double as an outfit appropriate for her 'job' as CEO of Biztown.  (I have no idea what Biztown is but she went on & on about it.  They were going on a field trip at school the next day for it... to it?  Anyone?)

Even though she wanted a long dress, she tried on a lot of shorter ones.  Surprisingly there aren't many longer dresses out there for young girls.

(Notice the HUGE smile on her face in the blue dress?  We were cracking up at this one because it was REALLY short on her!)

 

 From inside the dressing room I heard, "I'm having SOOO much fun!"  I said, "UHM, hello Ally?  Did you not think you would have fun w/ me?  I'm a fun gal!"  She said, "I don't know - I thought I would be on my phone all night playing games - but I'm having fun!"

Although she is still a little girl she can act very mature at times.  I made her come out & show me all the dresses (hello-her mom had trusted me w/ a MAJOR responsibility - I didn't wanna screw it up!) & she would give me her narrative about them - what she liked, what she didn't like, how they fit, etc.  Even though some of the dresses were NOT the right looks I figured there was no harm in letting her try them on. After all - she was having FUN!   I had already told her that I reserved the right to veto any dress even she liked if it wasn't appropriate for her or for school.  

Then she said, "What's veto mean?"

Shauna has her kids refer to B-rad & I as 'aunt & uncle'.  For her it's a form of respect from them to us & also is an indication to them that we are adults they can trust.  I enjoy that because our niece & nephews NEVER referred to me as aunt.  B-rad was always Uncle Brad, but now that the kids are getting older (Cole is 12) they don't refer to him as "Uncle" much anymore.  At one point Ally said, "I LOVE my dress!  When my friends ask me where I got it I'm going to tell them my Aunt helped me pick it out!"  Even after trying on the dresses at the other store - we decided on the first one she tried on at Penney's.   

C'mon people - she's adorable...

Ally & I had a great time together.  She told me she wished we could do a shoe box every month :) so  I told Shauna I need to take her on little outings here & there.   She's a really sweet little girl & I'm so happy I could help her find a dress!  

Adventures with a hospital bag....

Last Friday, I went to Indy w/ the bff while she had surgery on her neck.

Oh, you need more than that?

Ok-so Shauna had a disc in her neck that has been bulging & putting pressure on her spinal cord.  This has caused her much pain, headaches & even tingling sensations down both her arms.  It's quite the mess as you can imagine.  It was also very serious.  Like, that's your spine, people - all kinds of funky stuff can be affected by your spine.  This has been progressing & she has been procrastinating for a couple of years, but it was finally time to get it DONE.  

I offered to do anything B-rad & I could to help them w/ the process & she had asked us to watch Laila (that's the dog...) while they were gone.  That's a no brainer - B-rad loves Laila more than he loves me.

The plan was for Brian & her to go up for the surgery & stay the night.  It is an out-patient procedure, but because we are 2 hours from Indy the doctor wanted her to stay to make sure there were no complications.  We would watch the dog, check on the guinea pigs & cats while they were gone & the grandparents would watch the kids.  

Yea, I'd rather watch the pets than the kids so it was a win-win.

Shauna will be out of work at least at month & Brian's work is on the point system & if he took off 2 nights (he works 3rd shift) he would be dangerously close to his point limit & if anything else happened it would be bad.  He would also not get paid.  

They talked it over & decided to ask if I would mind going with her to Indy so he could stay home, work, take care of the pets & the kiddos.  

And if you're wondering about what this meant for me - I have some vacation days left at work so I got paid to be off.  My employer is a family owned business so they are super understanding about stuff like this (even for the bff.)  And I have a CAT, people.  That's why I love me some cats.  They can essentially be left alone for days & not even care that you're not around.  B-rad had no problem w/ me going at all & I made sure I had food in the house to fix himself for supper. 

He WAS a little upset that this meant Laila wouldn't be coming over.  TOLD YOU. 

(This is also reason # 431 I don't have kids - come & go as I please.)

  

We went up last Thursday night & stayed in a hotel because we had to be at the hospital at an un-Godly hour of 6:30AM.   They explained how long the surgery & recovery would take & told me all the things I needed to know as the person waiting.  They took her back to what I referred to as the 'staging' area around 8:00am & I was able to go back a bit later & sit w/ her.  All kinds of people came in to ask questions (like she had to tell them her name & birthday 9 million times), etc & the surgeons assistant came in to go over the procedure w/ her (again).  He did some tests where she had to hold out her arms & he pushed against them to test her arm strength.  Of course that was painful for her & she winced the whole time.  They going to cut her in the front which seemed weird to me since her spine was the area they were working on, but hey - they're the doctors...

  He wrote the word 'yes' on her right side so they knew where to cut.  I told her it looked like a prison tattoo...

Around 8:30 am they kicked me out of the staging area.  I gave her a hug, a kiss on the cheek & told her I loved her.  She said, "Don't be nervous."  I said, "I'm not worried about you at all!" 

I think one of the reasons Shauna wanted me to go w/ her is because I'm pretty good about keeping my cool.  I'm NOT a worrier.  I'm just not.  I think worrying really steals your joy.  I mean, if you spend your life worrying about everything that might go wrong or could go wrong - you will never EVER be happy.  And I really think a positive attitude is super important for the healing process. If I had been crying & scared before - that wouldn't have helped matters at all.  

 I had also been praying for her like crazy the days leading up to the surgery & for the doctors & nurses so I knew there was Someone way more powerful in charge of the situation...

They gave me a hospital bag w/ Shauna's clothes in it that I carried around ALL day.  I broke out the giant Coach bag because I thought there might be some things of hers that I would need to carry around.  (Think wallet, iPad, iPhone, chap-stick & ear-buds...all the necessities...)

The bag & I sat in the waiting room about 3 hours.  Everyone else that had been there at 6:30AM when we got there had gotten their conversation w/ the doctor & had left....

We went to the bathroom together...

We waited for the doctor to come tell us how the surgery went in this little room...You know w/ all the HIPAA laws & stuff now a days they just couldn't tell me out in the open w/ the other waiters...

The surgeon told me everything went perfect & he was very pleased w/ the surgery.  He also told me about some things she would need to do when she got home.

We went back out & waited for her to go over to recovery...

And we waited...like an hour. (But we still didn't worry...)  Everyone there was so, SO nice.  The receptionist saw me sitting there for a long while & she went back to check on Shauna for me.  She said that her pain level was very high (10 out of 10) & they were trying to get her comfortable before they let me go back. 

 

 We finally got back to see her in recovery.  She was very swollen & a bit groggy but she knew I was there & was able to talk to me.  

After we got her up to let her go to the bathroom, they put her in a recliner rather than the bed.  She got to eat Jello & pudding.  And the bag & I were right there...

Most of the pain & soreness she felt after was all from what they did to her during the procedure but we couldn't figure out WHY some things hurt.  She had a LOT of pain in her throat which we figured was from the tube they put down her throat to help her breath.  After talking to the surgeons assistant we learned that it was also because once they made the incision - they moved everything in her throat (including but not limited to her esophagus) out of the way to get to the spine.  Yikes.  

Her shoulder & back pain were because when they were done they shoved her shoulders down to get a good x-ray view of her neck & the artificial disc.  Double yikes.  

 Bright & early Saturday morning, the Doctors associate came in & checked her over.  He did all the same arm tests he had done less than 24 hours ago.  And while she was sore from everything else, she did not wince like she did the day before.  That was an awesome sight. 

 Everything looked good & she got discharged.  We were on the road for home around 7:00AM.  

 I know most my blog stalkers are Believers, so please say a quick prayer for a speedy recovery for my friend.  She is doing great so far, but please pray for pain relief & healing of the neck & from all the crazy stuff they did to her while they were fixing it! 

Thank you... :)

Trick or treating & 4th Street (in the snow, wind & rain)

One of the many perks of not having tiny humans is that I get to be exempt from trick or treating & other kid related nonsense'ness'.... AND since I live in the country, the only trick or treaters I ever got were my niece & nephews & they're all grown up now so I don't have anything to do with Halloween...  

However; on the coldest Halloween in recent history I was allll out & about making merry...

Our buddy, Brian, was going to take the T-rex he built out into their neighborhood w/ the kiddos on Halloween night.  Shauna had asked me if I would like to tag along & we planned to wear our cave woman costumes.  See the theme here?

Since most of you have kids, you know the weather on Halloween wasn't 'ideal'.  Brian had a really tough time in the T-rex costume because the wind was so strong.  It would nearly knock him over & it was taking all his strength just to keep upright.  Shauna had to end up rescuing him & putting the costume back in the trailer & poor Brian was done trick or treating for the night.

They borrow a 'Gator' from their father in law & usually her & her sister in law drive it around & the kids go door to door & jump in the back when they get tired.  Shauna & I walked in the cold, dreary weather.  We were both bundled up over our costumes - her w/ a jacket & me wrapped in a blanket.  We had even broke out the winter gloves, people.  

We passed a guy who said, "Hey you all - the rain is coming soon.'  but we continued on....

First came the cold rain, then it started to snow... We were really really far back in the subdivision.  The kids decided soon after they saw snow that they were trick or treated out & Shauna's sister in law loaded them into the Gator & she took off for home.    

We walked & walked & walked & walked waiting for Tricia to come back & get us in the car.  We stopped at Darth Vadar's house because he had a fire for us to thaw our hands out while we waited.  (I had given my gloves to their son, Dylan, & Shauna gave hers to her daughter, Ally.  We're givers...)

After drying out from trick or treating, we still had more plans for the night.

Brian had decided that afternoon to enter his T-rex costume in the contest at 4th Street Live that night.  It's not a one man job so he had to be able to line up some helpers before he committed.  B-rad said he'd be able to help him & voila - a plan was born!  

Around 10:45 Halloween night we all ended up at 4th Street for a costume contest.

And I hadn't even taken a nap...

 There was MAJOR excitement over the T-rex at 4th Street.  While he was walking in the announcer said, "Oh shit - there's a T-REX. The costume contest just got real interesting..."

And ya'll - it was still freakin' cold outside. The wind was blowing like crazy but luckily we couldn't feel it too much in the middle of 4th Street because the buildings blocked it.

 Brian stood in the same spot for about an hour & a half.  As you can imagine it's difficult to navigate & with all the people around it made it even more so.   Lots of people had their picture taken with him.  

(Later in the night we saw this Spiderman surprise his girlfriend with a proposal on stage.  Of course I loved it & 'ooohed & ahhhhed'...but if B-rad did something like this I would kill him.  A slow & painful death....)

 There were tons of people hanging around.  Most were in costume but we didn't wear ours. A lot of the costumes were really cool, inventive & creative...but there was also a fair share of slutty costumes as well.  

 When it was time for the contest (at midnight) we moved closer to the stage area & then we didn't have the protection of the buildings to block the wind.  It was COLD & there were even flurries.  Brian had to navigate a super steep ramp just to get up on stage.  I don't know how he did it!

They take all the contestants pictures when they register, then the staff decides on the top 3 for each category:  Group, sexy & most creative.  The winner in each group is decided by audience cheering.

This guy was amazing & I'm glad that Brian wasn't up against him because it would've made it like Sophie's choice for me who to cheer for.  He was dressed as Beetlejuice & on the right side of the couch was the top half of a woman & on the left side just the bottom half.  Ya'll-it was amazing.  The legs moved & he interacted with both halves.  I could NOT figure out how he did it.  (Later as we chatted w/ some of the staff they explained that it was a sleeper sofa they took the bed out of & the girls were stuffed in their respective sides.  But I still can't figure out where they hid the top half of that chick.  I looked behind the cushion & there was like no indication there was a person behind it.  Crazy - I tell ya...)

Brian's group (most creative) was up last.  Shauna & I were right up front & we screamed our heads off when they announced the T-rex... so did most the other people in the audience because he WON.  

 

 Lastly they did an overall winner.  They took the winner from each category & the audience decided the winner on that as well.  He was up against Beetlejuice (Sigh...I had a tough choice to make...) & the winner of the sexy category (which was a GUY dressed as a girl.  Hmph.)
Much to our excitement, Brian won the overall category too.  

 He worked really hard on this costume so it was awesome for him to be recognized for that.  He was super bummed he couldn't walk around Halloween night (Halloween is like Brian's thing...) so I'm glad he ended the night on a good note.  I'm also glad B-rad was able to help & support his buddy.  
(In the spirit of kinda full disclosure {even tho it's not my disclosure to give I'm doing it anyway} the winning costumes received a cash prize.  Brian was generous enough to give B-rad & I some of the cash he won for helping keep him from getting attacked by drunken strangers.  That was really nice of him & we appreciate it so much.... Which also makes the choice of not screaming for Beetlejuice less painful...) 
And if you're new here - all this Beetlejuice talk is called SARCASM.  I screamed my damn head off for Brian's T-rex ... 
I only screamed a little for Beetlejuice...

  The Courier Journal was there & they posted a video on their website.  Brian's costume made the video as did some of the other slutty costumes.  Check it out if you have a couple of minutes...

http://www.courier-journal.com/videos/news/local/2014/11/01/18318623/