Trunk or Treat

Every day at work I'm like I'm so going to do some sewing when I get home. Then I'm home and it's 7:00 and I haven't got anything done.

Saturday is the big Handcrafter's Boutique that I've done a few times now. It's my favorite craft show because people come prepared to buy handmade items. This year it is actually NOT supposed to rain woot woot. That probably means we'll have a ton of wind but I'm hoping it's just a nice day.

Ok onto some pics from last Saturday's Trunk or Treat! I did not decorate my car. Next year I need to plan ahead and decorate my car since it gives you an anchor on where you hang out lol.

Some people set up this fantastic display. Notice their motorhomes, they stayed down in the campground over night. Usually there are a lot more motor homes but some people are boycotting the campgrounds because they made a new rule that they can no longer empty their tanks there (they used to be able to do it for free)

The dragons blew out smoke bubbles (below them actually) Cool but probably not great if you are asthmatic.

This little "trailer" has got a work out from Redneck party to Trunk or Treat lol

3 of the 4 Flamingos. Slightly sad I didn't get invited into the "cool kids flamingo club"

Jess with her spider web trunk

Hmm there's Trevor by the girl in the sparkly red outfit..

Ninja Robert (back with his mom now so I can post pics :))

My girls and their partners

Forcing Trevor to take a selfie with me

Steampunkers

Dad and niece Adrian

Nephew Tony

Spider girl and boy ;)

When arm wrestling breaks out

After the party I went home and did some sewing but I'll save those pictures for another day!

Editing this to add a few more Halloween pictures I had not blogged

Here's all the big kids carving pumpkins

My nieces and nephew all dressed up

Happy Saturday!

Well today is the Saturday in between craft shows.

I need to be doing some sewing this weekend. 

Today is also Trunk Or Treat.

Today is also where I still feel sick and think I'm working my way over to bronchitis.

Why do the gray hairs have to go the wrong direction?

Awesome!

I swear it's the weirdest thing. When I was laying in bed Tuesday dying I thought "that's odd, my chest kind of hurts". The rest of the week I've been doing a little cough cough. Yesterday I started using an inhaler. 

I picked Trevor up after his after school activity and then we went to Wal Mart, Target and a couple stores in the mall looking for this card game we wanted. I noticed the shoe store we always go to "Famous Footwear" is no longer in the mall. It's kind of scary how many stores are empty in there now. That store is one of the only reasons I go in that mall. He found the cards he wanted at Target but they only had the really expensive pack so he didn't get them.

I totally had to tease Scott with this disgusting egg slime stuff. I LIKE eggs and I thought it was disgusting. He is super grossed out by eggs unless they are totally mixed with no whites showing AT ALL. I sent him this picture and told him I found him a new toy. He was just as grossed out as I was hoping he would be haha.

Then we went to the grocery store and I was so exhausted I just got a few things ($185). I need to make a menu and a real shopping list so I will actually cook, although my stomach keeps getting upset when I eat much of anything so I'm scared to eat a lot of stuff. 

Now I've went to the opposite end of the spectrum where I'm like maybe I need to drink some coffee and eat some fruit..

I ended up going to lay in bed as soon as we got home last night. It was probably about 8pm. Needless to say I have no Trunk or Treat ideas and never got a costume. I'm thinking of either just wearing cute Halloween leggings I got last weekend or looking for the costume I wore a couple years ago out of the shed if Scott will get it for me. Also if one of the kids decorates their car just hanging out by them to hand out the candy. I'm supposed to be helping with the event too so I should really at least dress up a bit.

Alrighty! Stay tuned to find out if I pulled my head out of my ass today or not haha. No plans for tomorrow whoopie!

Every Day Lessons

I learned a few lessons today.

1. Why I stopped doing Scott & anyone else's laundry. You people are disgusting. I'm pretty sure his entire wardrobe is out in the garage waiting to get washed.

2. If I don't wash towels eventually we will run out. Mostly because since I am not doing #1 no one else is really doing it either.

3. If I ever catch who hawked a loogie in my bathroom sink (and left it) in action they will be eating it.

4. If I don't put my "get ready for work stuff" in my room then someone will go in the bathroom to take a dump and I will be sitting at the kitchen table like this 10 minutes before we have to leave.

Yes, that is a shirt as a towel on my head. See #2

5. Don't eat an egg mcmuffin meal and a small orange juice if you previously had a stomach bug. You will sit in pain for most of the day.

6. If the boss is gone in the other department Berkeley mom will talk for the ENTIRE day about absolutely nothing anyone wants to hear about. I learned this lesson a long time ago and woohoo had my headphones with me.

7. It's sad when you have to wash an entire box of vintage fabrics because they smell musty

8. If your daughter cleans the entire house on Wednesday when you come home on Thursday it will only be half clean. (How does this happen? Everyone was gone??)

9. Do people really cry when their kids move out?

10. This is my dream when they do (nicked it off someone on a FB group). Only like 75% fabric and 25% everything else ;)

11. Ok off to bed, I was trying to do things but I'm too tired. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday!

Throwing Up Is No Fun

Well I went to work today. Monday I was feeling kind of weird at work so I left around 12:30. That was after laying in my car on my lunch. When I got home I started throwing up and once all that was finally out of my system it went the other direction. Woohoo fun times.  I also had a fever so that was a nice little virus.  My cousin's son was not feeling well on Saturday and Sunday I they were throwing up so I'm sure that's probably where it came from. Although a couple people at work have had similar illnesses.

Snookie's worried look

Amazingly no one in my house or my mom is sick. So weird how that happens.

This morning I dragged myself to work and after lunch I felt quite a bit better although I am feeling like I could take a little nap. Going to try and go to bingo though since the girls want to go.

Snookie the Nursemaid

I know I've done a few posts in the past (PS went searching for some but got side tracked reading old blog posts lol) about how loving Scott is when I'm sick. Here's another one for the book.

So he asks if he can pick me up any medicine or anything else before he comes home?

So nice!

No, I'm good. Oh wait maybe some Popsicles. (you know, because I'm sure I'm dehydrated from dying all day).

So he calls me from our little corner store that only sells single serving ice creams and tells me they are out of Popsicles, do I want anything else?

Like WTF? Why would you just go to buy ONE Popsicle when I'm obviously pretty sick and that's the only thing I've asked for and you totally could have hit a real store on the way home and bought an entire box?

I just don't get men.

Luckily he was saved by the one that was hiding in the freezer and Jessica bought me a box the next day.

Check out this "soup"  (caldo de pollo) order from the Mexican restaurant by my work (I call this place the "hot plate" Mexican food place)

One of the containers had rice and the other had onions and cilantro. I only ate about half the soup and snacked on the chips later. I have so much more energy now that I ate something (and it stayed put)

So on a different note, you guys know I have an Etsy store mostly for patterns that I buy and resell?  Today I got the weirdest message from someone. I'm like is this a joke? This gal wanted to know if I could help her boyfriend pick out a good dress pattern. I was like um I'm not a fashionable person I just sell patterns lol. Hey I could care less if a guy wants to wear a dress, I'm sure if he does want to wear a dress he is probably way more fashionable than I'd ever be!

Boo-Bash!

Yesterday I drove to Fresno to do this event

Fresno is a bit far away but the gal that was running it sought me out on Facebook and gave me a really good deal on the event fee. My cousin lives close by so I was like it would be nice to see her too if she could make it over. My mom went with me. The plan was to leave around 6 (left at 6:20). I had to stop and get gas since I forgot to do that Friday night and then we made another stop for coffee and a breakfast sandwich so we rolled in around 8:30. I never did fully finish putting everything up but it was good enough lol.

The person to the right of my booth never showed up so that was nice for more space for me. There was a little walkway to a bathroom on the left so I was able to set up my favorite way.

The weather was perfect with just a nice breeze, I was in the shade all day which was awesome.

This is my cousin Courtney and her family. Courtney is my mom's brother Ronnie's oldest daughter.

First cousins (like my hat? lol)

The event wasn't very busy. I probably sold the most to other vendors. I think when they set these things up they really need to focus on the location. Also, more handmade stuff less direct sales.

These picture are early on so there was more people out there after that, just took some to show the set up.

Another thing that would be nice is the organizers to come over and welcome you, ask if you need anything, tell you where the bathroom is etc. 

I had several people ask me to do other events in the area, but it's too far to drive.

Over all I didn't do too bad, enough that it was worth it to go, and I did have a nice time hanging out with my cousin and seeing her kids, oh and mom too of course!

Aunt Flo Again

It's that again. That time of the month I should say. I spent the first few hours of the AM feeling my body drip out of me hoping that it wasn't escaping onto my white sheet. I know, I know, why do I have a white sheet on the bed.

I know I've talked before about how I never really had bad cramps before but now that I'm 44 my body is revolting and trying to CRAMP it all out at once. While I was laying there this morning moaning I debated on calling into work. I actually looked at my text to my boss to see if the last thing I sent her was me calling in lol. It wasn't but the last time I called in was Sept 11. See a pattern here.

I managed to doze off for a bit and woke up to my alarm going off. That's when I noticed Scott was still in the bed. Usually he leaves for the train 15 minutes before my alarm goes off. Whoopsie! Looks like someone is late today.

I got up and went to the bathroom, decided to take a shower and then since I did that might as well get dressed and go to work right? Yep.

At work we are being required to log every file we work on to this website. Basically we have to account for our entire 8 hours into categories and put which person we worked on and how long. Which doesn't seem that bad but I work on like 30 files at time for 2 minutes each.

Remember Monday was a holiday.

Tuesday we go to work and I log on a piece of paper everything I did and how long it took. I started putting it all into the computer an hour before it was time to go home and ran out of time. I got to work this morning and spent another 1 1/2 hours working on it. Finally I got everything in there. I did some more work and logged my time on a piece of paper. Then we had a staff meeting.

Towards the end of the staff meeting someone said something that made me realize I had logged EVERYTHING ON THE WRONG DAY. I started my log on Monday. UGH GDMF.

So tomorrow morning I can spend another 2 hours or so fixing all that. You can't just switch the days in one big swoop, I'm going to have to go into each log and switch the day. What a pain in the ass. I still have to log all my work from today too. Hey at least I'm not bored right? They are going to love my log entry that is "4 hours logging time".

I know the reason behind all this is so they can figure out who to can. They tell us it's the other way around, so they know where they need to hire but I don't believe it. It's all a bit stressful.

After work I went grocery shopping ($275 and there is still space on the shelves in the fridge..) and then made pepper steak per Jessica's request. We all skipped bingo tonight. The last couple times there has been a bit of drama so what's the point of going if you aren't coming home feeling happy. My plan was to do some sewing but uh now it's 9:41pm so it's a bit late to start haha.

I did pay some bills though. I finally paid off Buster's eye removal.

We are going to have to get our septic pumped out as soon as Scott calls and gets them to come out. I told him I'm giving him that job since he's the one that needs to be here when they do it.

I don't do big people's poo.

Let's hope that works and we don't have to get whole new system for awhile. I don't have 10k and I'm not sure how I would get that much money without maxing out credit cards which I really don't want to do.

Lodi Street Faire

Oh my gosh how do the weeks go by so quickly? Probably the same way my sink keeps feeling up with dishes and the laundry is always overflowing.

So all last week it was the "weather watch" for Sunday. Sunday was the big day! The biggest craft fair I have dared so far. The Lodi Street Faire! Now this fair was NOT cheap to get into and that was most of what I was worried about. Would I make enough to cover my booth fee? I had been furiously sewing for weeks to make sure I had enough good inventory that people would want to buy. I may have made 117 new mug cozies!

Monday there was a rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday it was thundering and lighting-ing and Rusty was a mess. I need to try buying him a thunder jacket. If that doesn't work I need to just ask the vet for some pills to chill him TF out. I gave him 3 Benadryls and that got him to at least stop pacing for a bit.

This is how it started, moved tables around 12 times after that ;)

After that the weather was looking great! 80 for Sunday! Saturday I look at the weather and there it was. The dreaded WIND symbol. GDMF. What is it about me that everything I plan for has to have either wind, rain or be 185 degrees outside.

At least I'm kind of wind proof. I have a back up wind set up so I'm not TOO worried. I have my 30 pound sand bags for each leg of my canopy so it won't blow away like that one time. (and oh my look at my first real show I did, I've gotten a bit more crazy with my booth now).

I had asked my mom if she wanted to come with me to help out so she did. She drove her own car but followed me over. From start to finish I never talked to anyone that ran this fair. So weird! You sign up all online. When I drove in the gate there was no one there. I rolled down my window to ask someone what booth number they were and she told me I'd be down a bit. When I thought I was kind of close I asked more people what numbers they were (out the window Grey Poupon style). Finally I found my spot. Mom was able to park real close and after we unloaded the car I parked right next to her.

The booth next to me had the quilts and it made a nice back drop to my stuff 

I had 2 older ladies on each side of me. The one to the right had quilts mostly and the one on the left had all kinds of metal stuff along with aprons and some other crafty things. All really nice women and my mom loved talking to them all. I keep telling my mom she needs to make some stuff up to sell. She is super talented and could make some great stuff! I know from this weekend she'd love having all the people to talk to.

When we first got there my mom pointed out the weights of the metal booth next to us. I was like yeah I don't know if I really trust those ones I've seen them come loose before. They had 2 on each leg (they might have had more weight to each one I'm not sure). Sure as shit at 3 pm that tent went flying. Those poor ladies!

In the morning it wasn't quite as windy and I was doing really well! I had made $50 plus by 9am. AWESOME! Way on track to making my booth fee back. My mom was super hungry so she went off in search of food. About an hour and a half later I was like where in the hell is my mom? I sent her a text asking if she was lost and I got back "yes". Haha. I think she got a little side tracked by all the fun stuff. So she finally comes back with no food. I was like MOM where's the food! She hung out for a bit and then went and got us some.

Later she took the little folding wagon she had given me and went to get this thing she thought she had to have. She comes back with this big wood child's buffet thing. I should have taken a picture. She wheeled it into my booth and I was like well that's nice lol. Eventually we stood it up and used it to set a few wine bottles on. Of course when it was time to go home it wouldn't fit in her car. Good thing my Dad could go borrow my brother's truck to pick it up. I told her she needs to remember she drives a Spark and not a van anymore lol. The gal next to us teased her and told her she should just get a Smart Car so everything will REALLY fit.

This is the 8am crowd, later you could barely walk down the street

The wind kept gusting and bit here and there and I had several wine bottles fall off the table (they are just used ones I use for display for my wine totes). Luckily most of the time the glass all stays in the tote when they fall and I just dump them out. I think I lost about 6 bottles. Around 2 it was super windy and I had to take down my key fob displays because they kept falling over even with rocks on the bottom of them. I also took down the window displays because they were making me nervous and the new shade back I got for the tent because it kept whipping. Next came my buntings because I couldn't stand seeing them fly around anymore.

So needless to say business pretty much came to a screeching halt around 2, but it was ok. I made more than 2x the booth fee so I felt fine about it! I will definitely sign up for the next one in May. Although with my luck it will probably rain and be windy ;)

Next Saturday  October 20th I have a booth in Fresno which is a bit of a drive but somehow I got talked into doing the show. Mom is going to ride with me so I need to take 1 box less, most likely just the wine bottles since I don't need to take that many anyways, they are just fun to put out when they aren't blowing off the table.

Hopefully she won't find anything big to buy ;) One of us might have to buy a truck soon lol.  I spent my day off on Monday (love that we get Columbus Day off even if it is a bogus holiday) doing some inventory, listing a bunch of stuff on Etsy and going to lunch with my friends. Now the rest of the week I need to work on a few more things I that people were looking for and or I sold out of.

Random Bits and Bobs

Well I should be sewing or cooking dinner but instead I paid bills and read blogs. I guess those were both productive too.

I have spent all my free time getting ready for the big Lodi Street Fair this Sunday. I have a ton of mug cozies in process that I need to finish up and then I think I'm going to call the production side of things good. Maybe.

Here's a few recent pics, I'm way behind on sharing pictures here although I haven't done anything too exciting. Work, Book Club was Sunday, Bingo every Wednesday, Bunco last Monday, you know, not much.

So at work there is a big court yard and in the middle is an oak tree. Today I was walking by and was like holy cow look at all the acorns! I think I'm going to collect some from there (I was going to do it today at lunch then forgot) and some of the cup shells. I think the shells would be pretty on a wreath.  Might be fun to start some little oak trees too.

I actually cooked last night! Stew! Although it wasn't really cold enough for it yet but I love it. (yes that's ketchup, don't judge!)

My little book case at work. I got the pumpkin 2 weekends ago when my mom and went to a couple crafty type show things. Actually I got all the little pumpkins there. The white pot I got for admin assistant's day (shock, first time ever getting anything for that) and the can one used to have more and be cuter when I bought it in the summer at a craft show I was at. Those need to be re-potted.

Here is a rag wreath I made to sell. I have one more frame so maybe I will make a 2nd one but they make my nose stuffed up from ripping all the fabric. I was trying to the link for the page I used before that said how long to make the strips but couldn't find it. I ended up making them 1" x 6" (started with bigger but I didn't like how long they are). I just pulled out fabrics from my stash to use up. Seems a bit busy in the pictures but I like it in person and if it doesn't sell I'll just hang it on my door lol.

Well lucky me Trevor started making dinner so more time to blog.

I think I have made up my mind that I am not going to apply for the other position at work when they advertise it. UNLESS they make it so it pays more than my current position. I don't see the point of changing positions for a lot more stress if I'm not going to get paid more. Plus I like what I do now.  When I'm not sharing it with 2 other people.

Starting next week we have to do this time cycle study thing again where you basically have to log every minute of your day and say what you did. FOR THREE WEEKS.  It looks like we are going to do this about once a quarter. The last time we did it I just stopped doing it the 2nd week. I was like eh what are they going to do, fire me? But now I've actually seen someone get fired (not for that though) so who knows maybe they would!

Also now we are having to do this online training/quiz thing. It sounds like they are maybe going to combine 3 agencies. One of the agencies is in our office and I worked with them and get in their files so I know what they do, but the other one I didn't even know what it was. So that's fun learning all what a whole agency does in 10 short pages and then being quizzed on it. Like I'm going to remember all those government acronyms and which loan is called what and how long it is.

Basically farmers have to buy about 50 different kinds of insurance. What a mess. Sounds way too stressful to be a farmer.