Socktober

It's October. Now I can give myself permission to wear socks again. I've been holding out, you know. I didn't want to give in and admit that summer was over. But Environment Canada is predicting frost for our area tonight and somewhere in the province (I didn't catch where) there was SNOW this morning. (I know, I know - I said that dirty S-word again.)

I won't be wearing the socks pictured above. I don't actually own socks that look like that. I stole the photo from an online catalogue. The OnlyChild wears striped socks, though. Often odd socks. Not me. Mine are quite plain. With the exception of my little booties.

Speaking of booties... my friend Erminia phoned Nona (in Italy) on the weekend. Nona is thrilled that so many of you loved her booties. She's quite tickled to be famous in North America. Unfortunately, like many knitters of her generation, she doesn't actually have a pattern for the booties. She just knows instinctively how to make them and makes them by the dozens. Maybe I can start a bootie import business...

Anyway, it's definitely fall now. Time for socks and booties. Time to drag the boxes out from under the bed and exchange my summer clothes for winter skirts, sweaters and pants. Sigh.

I've been sick all week. I caught the OnlyChild's terrible cold. My head is so fuzzy I feel like I'm on something illegal (but I'm not, I assure you). The work hasn't slowed down - marking upon marking, still trying to write learning guides and tests, still working on that dratted course. I'm so looking forward to the Thanksgiving long weekend (Oct 10-12) so that I'll have an extra day to do my marking. Sigh again.

Back to the grindstone!
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Don't forget...

to visit Kelee at The Katillac Shack to join in the Pet Parade Party.

You can see a video of the project and photos of the dogs dressed in their finery!

AND... Abby and I won a "Cheerful Applique and Handwork" prize for our summery daisy scarf!

Hurray!

If you comment on Kelee's post by October 1st, you will be entered in a draw and another $1.00 for each comment will be donated to help animals in need.
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Sunday morning reunion

A few weeks ago, I got an invitation to attend a Pampered Chef party. I went to one of these about 10 years ago and bought a baking stone. It's one of the best kitchen items I've ever purchased. It's still in perfect condition and we use it all the time. I love their products!

Today's party started at 10 am. I had a little trouble finding the house because it's in an area of town that I rarely visit. But I made it there on time and very much enjoyed myself at the party. The hostess (who is also the consultant), Vicki, made wonderful corn chowder and mini carrot cake muffins while we were there, demonstrating many of the products. What a great lunch!
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So, what did I buy? I bought a chopper - the OnlyChild has been asking for one of these for a while and it would have come in handy when I was making all that salsa.

I bought a mini muffin pan - also at the request of the OnlyChild. She can make mini cupcakes in this and I know I'll use it too.

I bought a new pastry brush. This one is silicone (no photo) which means that nobody will find bristles in their piece of pie and think I got dog hair in the food.

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I also got this baking dish for 60% off (the discount was a draw prize).

So what was so great about this party that I would blog about it? Vicki is a woman I met when we were in grade 6! And I haven't seen her since I moved away in grade 7! For those of you doing the math, that's almost 28 years. It was a really nice reunion - and, you know, she is exactly as I remember her. Same big blue eyes, same bubbly personality, same wide smile. She's just a little taller (I don't think I am) and is now married with two adorable little boys.

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I very much enjoyed seeing her again and this time I hope we stay in touch a bit better.

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Edited to add: I forgot to mention that Vicki and I had re-connected on Facebook about a year ago, so it wasn't just a coincidence that I ended up at her house. But wouldn't that have been a great story! Just thought I'd better make myself a bit clearer.

Giveaways...aways...aways...

That's my rendition of an echo. haha.
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Pat at Silver Thimble is having a wonderful givaway to celebrate her 150th post. I hope you go and visit her, even if it means you reduce my chance of winning! Every time I see "Pat of Silver Thimble" I always think of the L.M. Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables) book, Pat of Silver Bush. I loved that book when I was a young girl. Little did I know I would grow up to marry a man from the same island as Lucy Maud. Since Mr. P and I met, I've had the chance to visit all the Prince Edward Island tourist sites based on her books, including the house that inspired Silver Bush.
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But that's not what this post is about, is it? Here's another great giveaway: Go and visit Gene at Gene Black an Alabama Artist to help him celebrate his 250th post and the arrival of a new 'baby' (the easiest kind of baby - no diapers to change, just bobbins).
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And it's the weekend. I'm supposed to be marking. In fact, I have assignments piled all over and they're getting in the way of me playing on the computer. I get sidetracked easily, though, which is why the marking has been shoved aside so I can blog. Better get back to it even though I have other, more important (fun) things on my to-do list, like finishing that "Let it Snow" quilt which has been nicely laid out on the spare room bed for months, waiting for me to sew the blocks together. Oh, it's been hanging around for such a looonnnnggg time now.
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As my mother always said, There's no rest for the wicked. I wonder if she was actually talking about me when she said that. Hmmm...
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Have a great weekend!
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Pet Parade Party

Remember back at the beginning of the summer, I made this? (Click on the photo to go to the post.)

It was part of Kelee's scarf decorating project that raised funds for homeless animals. Kelee reached her goal and now is celebrating with a party!

On September 30, please visit The Katillac Shack to see a parade of pets proudly wearing their scarves. My sweet Abby Dog will be among them.

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See you there!

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Two things I realized today:

1. I have 127 days left in my 30s. Well... 126 if you consider that today is pretty much over. Ouch.
2. I am not enjoying the course I am taking. I don't understand it, I'm not interested in it, the textbook is boring, and the people in the class are pretentious.

The first revelation came about during announcements at school today when the 'prayer person' said that there are only 100 days left in 2009. Have you been living your resolutions? How's that 2009 to-do list looking? (Mine is on the right hand side of the page... still many projects unfinished and unstarted.)

The second big awakening occurred about 5 minutes ago when I felt the panic rise inside me again. I'm trying to write my online posts for the course and I have only tonight and maybe Friday night to do 4 of them. I'm reading the chapter in the textbook and I keep having to re-read paragraphs because it simply makes no sense to me. When I read, I take notes so the information sticks in my brain for later use. It's not working! The text is 403 pages long and I'm sure that 400 of those pages are complete bullsh*t.

Boy, I'm just full of insights today...

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Victory!

I finished writing one learning guide. I am doing a victory lap (in my head).

Still piles of other stuff to finish, but it feels soooo good to be able to check this one off the list!
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And it only took a cup of tea and one chocolate bar.

That's me to the right, sitting at the computer. Of course, I wasn't wearing a dress to get this work done. I was in my comfiest clothes and my booties!

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Aren't these the cutest? Adult booties. My friend Erminia's Nona (Italian grandmother) made them. While we were in Jesolo (near Venice), Erminia's aunt visited her bringing a pile of pairs of these in an array of colours. I got first pick!
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They're so nice and warm. My feet were freezing, even though it's a nice-ish day outside. The weather has been strange lately. Mr. P removed our air conditioner from the bedroom because we were sure that Fall had arrived. He had to re-install it a couple of days later because it was unbearable in our room at night. Our bedroom is tucked up under the eaves of the house - hot in summer, cold in winter. We're going to wait until at least next week before we put the air conditioner away again!

Happy Autumn, everyone!

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