The first week in 2012

January 1st:  guess where?  Who Dat!

January 2: being deliberate

January 3: finished new black and gold skirt (no pattern, just cut some rectangles based on another skirt I love.)

January 4: shipped my first orders of 2012

January 5: finished first week of Couch to 5K

January 6: discovered picnik

 

January 7:  a beautiful day to work in the garden  (we’re enjoying broccoli and cabbage right now.)

 

Just a note:  For several years, I posted on 3 blogs:  1 for personal sewing and family stuff, 1 for sewing instruction notes, and 1 for my shop.  I find that this leads me to neglect any 2 at any given time.  Look for several things to change.  I think all three topics will be combined onto 1 blog, but I’m not sure where or when.  I’ll keep you posted.

What I’ve been up to…

A little while back, I tried etsy.com.

It didn’t work for me.

At least I thought it didn’t.

Now, I’ve decided to give it another go.

I’ve loaded it up (okay, so I’m slowly building it up) with some surefire sellers:

anything purple and gold or Who Dat.

Here are a few of the outfits I’ve listed:

I’m so excited!

You can find my shop at:

www.etsy.com/shop/personalitychildrens

It appears etsy.com might work for me after all.

It helps that the Saints are in the Super Bowl, but we’ll take what we can get!

WHO DAT!

Some Black and Gold Christmas Gifts

You already know I’m a Saints fan.  And I’ve been a Saints fan for a while. But this year, I get to cheer for a fabulous team!  Right now, the Saints are 12-0!!  So, before I show you any black and gold Christmas gifts, I have to share some of these great posts I’ve seen lately.  (I completely stole all of these!)

♪♪Dashing through the Dome, on a 3rd and 1 pass play, See ol' Colston run, TOUCHDOWN all the way! HA!HA!HA! Sharper intercepts, Defense gets a sack. Oh what fun it is to see that Redskin on his back! OH! 12 & 0, 12 & 0, Undefeated all the way! Oh what fun it will be to watch the SAINTS Sunday! ♪♪

♪♪On the twelfth game of the season Coach Peyton gave to me 12 Romped Redskins, 11 Punked Patriots, 10 Battered Bucs, 9 Ragged Rams, 8 Pounced Panthers, 7 Dirty Birds, 6 Dunked Dolphins, 5 Shrunk-en Giants, 4 Wrecked Jets, 3 Beat up Bills, 2 Tame Eagles, and a Lion Sauce Picante! ♪♪

Hurricane Warning:
Hurricane Who Dat has officially moved to a Category 11. New Orleans's Saintologist Sean Peyton predicts that it will make landfall in Landover, MD Sunday afternoon as a CATEGORY 12!
The hurricane warning will remain in effect till Sun evening, while combinations of dangerously high touchdown passes and exceptional receptions continue.
The strength of Hurricane Who Dat is expected to have long lasting effects on the country, especially Louisiana and specifically New Orleans, even after the BREES have subsided.
Sportscasters remain in good agreement; the models continue to predict touchdowns and interceptions in Who Dat's favor. Be warned, Redskins casualties are expected.

♪♪Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the Saints are so delightful,  the Redskins already know,  Twelve & eaux, twelve & eaux, twelve & eaux!  ♪♪

Now onto the gifts:

***DISCLAIMER***

By proceeding herewith, Reader assumes all responsibility to feign surprise on Christmas morning and hereby agrees to gush/oohhh/aahh in total astonishment with the following gift upon opening.

Remember this fabric?  And this great Scarf Along.  I finally finished all the scarves I was making.  I have worn mine several times a week lately.  And, these instructions made 7 more.  Wonder who’ll get these…

All I want for Christmas…

(or wanted for Christmas) were tickets to a New Orleans Saints game in the Super Dome.  Well, life happens: my hubby’s schedule is nuts, my sisters and parents are busy people, and—of all things!—the Saints were off to their best start ever making the demand for tickets sky high!  So on Wednesday, Daddy gently informed me that this Christmas wish just wouldn’t happen this year.  But a girl should never give up hope!

Then, on Friday, out of the blue, my baby sister “found” some tickets.  For this weekend’s Saints vs. Panthers game.  Like in just over 48 hours.  Could I get to New Orleans for Sunday at 3?  Uhm, Yeah! (Never mind that NO is a 5 hour drive at it’s quickest, my hubby didn’t get off work until 8:30 Saturday night, and I had a presentation at 9 AM Monday morning!  We’d figure that out later. Ha.)

For the next 2 days, I floated bounced flitted barely made it through everything we had to do:  homework, a swim meet, grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, etc.  Then finally, after sweet talking a supervisor, my hubby got off work an hour early and we hit the road to NO at 7:30 Saturday night.  We swung by my sister’s in Lafayette, grabbed the tickets and then hit my other sister’s in New Orleans around 2 in the morning Sunday morning! 

The entire experience was almost indescribable.  The crowds were nuts.  The fans were diehard.  The traffic was intense. The game was a nail biter. The Drew Brees-Pierre Thomas combination was on fire.  The defense was tough on Jake Delhomme.  The Saints were awesome.  And the Dome was rocking!  The best part:  one of my dearest friends and her family were one section over, Bobby Hebert’s autograph, the tailgating, 30-20 win over Carolina, the way the floor vibrated when every fan in the place chanted “Who Dat!” as the Saints went 8-0 for the first time EVER!!

Enjoy the game through my camera lens!

The Tickets:The Fans:The Tailgating:The Crowds:Bobby Hebert (Did I mention I’ve been a fan a LONG time!):Becca, Me and Jane:  The Crowd: The Offense.  Some Shockey, some Bush, some Colston and a lot of Brees and Thomas:The Defense that rocked the second half! Us:The sidelines: The Final Score.  8-0! The Dome: 

Who Dat!

 

I was going to sew this weekend…

And then my sister called and offered me a chance to do this: 

More pictures tomorrow when I’ve caught up on my sleep!

WOW!!!!

4-0!!!

 

And a winning season means customers are asking for jumpers and jon-jons in black and gold.  Do you know how hard it is to make something cute in those colors???

Stay tuned and I’ll show you what I come up with.

Go Saints

The NFL Season kicked off this weekend!  Hooray!  And, of course, I had to do it up big:

Crazy nail polish:  Thanks Jane!

A fabulous wreath:  Thanks Sus!

My new Saints Wreath!

Amongst all the wonderful Christmas goodies, I got one made just for me!

Sister #2 made me a Saints wreath!

I love the "D" fence and the numbers of some of my favorites. I spy 9, 16, 23, and 26. Do you?

It is so delightfully tacky that I just can't wait to show it off. Unfortunately the Saints didn't cooperate with my decorating ideas, so off to the attic it goes, ready and waiting for next fall.

Catching Up...

[No Monday Book Review this week.]

Okay, since my last real post was 2 weeks and 2 hurricanes ago (I'm not counting Hannah, because, praise the Lord, it didn't bother us!), I figure you're ready for an update. So here it is.

GUSTAV- He rolled in and out without leaving too much damage in my little neck of the woods. In fact, the S. Louisiana family fared better than the Central Arkansas crowd. What's up with that?

Anyway, my Nita came to stay with us, just in case the weather took her power for a few days. Well, it didn't, but a bout of vertigo sure knocked her (and me) for a loop. She woke up that Monday morning so sick that she actually asked to go to the ER. If you've been following along, yes, that trip does become our second annual Labor Day Hospital Story. Anyway, 1 ER trip and 1 MD visit later, she felt tons better. She stayed the week and we were so glad we could be here to help her. Plus, our visits are always a special treat.

While she was here and feeling better, I got a little sewing done. These orders went out after Gustav (except for the one to Houma, which we held onto because they got hit hard). [Note: I am not an Alabama fan, but I don't mind sewing for them:)]

Plus, I got the pattern to make these darling blocks. [Note: I am not an Arkansas fan either, but I have sweet babies that are being raised by sadly delusional parents that are :)]

The kids went back to school on the Thursday of that week, but it was almost like starting the year all over again. It was a wild and wacky week, but our Gustav experience was most definitely memorable!

IKE-This storm was a little more of a pain than Gustav. After finally having a normal week at school (including our 1st first grade science test-yikes) we holed up ready for the winds and rains of Hurricane Ike. And they came. We are far enough inland that these storms are usually no more than tropical storm force by the time they get to us, but those winds are still tough enough to cause damage. We had no damage here, only a few tiny limbs down (first picture), but Ike was kind enough to knock the rest of the pears out of the tree (second picture). Goody, something to do this week. (said with sarcasm)

We lost power for an evening with Gustav, but it was out for 14 hours with Ike. Not fun. Here's why: We were listening to the LSU game on the radio and the power clicks off right at kick-off!!!! I was not happy. Fortunately we found a weather radio to finish listening to the game. GEAUX TIGERS!

The power stayed off all night. I've always wanted to wear my N.O. Saints jersey to church and this finally gave me my excuse. Everything needed ironing and since we had no power, I just pulled my hair up and grabbed my jeans and headed to church Sunday morning, jersey on. Too bad it didn't do us any good during the game. GO 'AINTS! oh wait, I mean GO SAINTS!

Anyway, before the power went out, I got a little more sewing done. The Little Man talked his Momo into this great superhero fabric. Momo only bought 2 yards and he wanted "pants and a shirt and some shorts and some pajamas and some boxers and a costume and..." Well, since I couldn't quite make all that happen, he had to settle for a "Superhero Pajama Costume". He loved it! (I'll give you more details here in a future post.)

And for the Big Girl, a Whirly, Twirly Skirt and Matching top. (And if you didn't notice, I learned to make yo-yos! I love these things and they are great hand work during football games.)

And yes, the skirt really twirls!

So, that catches you up to date on our lives! We are blessed that our family and friends and their respective homes are safe. We are even more blessed that God timing was perfect and Nita was here (a half-mile from the hospital) when she became ill. What a week--or 2!

Husbands--You Gotta Love 'Em!

9+ years and 2 kids and my dear husband can still be romantic! I walked into the kitchen this morning to find a gift bag and a card on the counter. The card was perfectly sweet and just what I needed to be reaffirmed during this crazy week. The gift--even better! A Saints jersey! How wonderful to know my DH still knows me perfectly!

Wonder how tacky it would be to wear it to a Baby Shower this Sunday? It is game day after all.

To vote for Sean Payton for Coach of the week, click here. To vote for Drew Brees for NFL Quarterback of the Week, click here.

Finally!!!

Well, like every other die-hard New Orleans fan, I have watched every agonizing minute of Saints football this fall. And, while the sane, fair-weathered folks would have long given up, I tuned in Sunday night with my fingers crossed. And finally...

• The Drew Brees we all know and love made an appearance.
• Reggie Bush played like the Heisman Trophy winner he is.
• The Saints played Defense!

If Coach Payton impressed you with his gutsy, go-for-it plays on 3rd downs, you can vote for him as Coach of the Week here.

Shall we try for 2!