The cookies are gone. All those big, hand-decorated, buttery, shortbread cookies. They’re gone! And they didn’t even last a week! I’m happy to report that Eric ate a lot more of them than I did, but I certainly helped. It wasn’t like you took an entire cookie and sat down and ate it. No, it was more just breaking off a piece from the “bouquet” every time you passed by. They were SO good, SO tempting, SO addicting. I never even had a piece of the biggest one – which said HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY. Eric ate that one all by himself!
I’ve also been nibbling on the dark chocolate, but I kind of think of that as a “daily vitamin.” There’s a lot of healthy stuff in dark chocolate and, as long as you’re just having a piece every day, it’s very good for you!
Yesterday, when I went to KEILS, I bought a big bag of Clementines. They are the smallest Clementines you’ve ever seen. They’re very tasty and refreshing, but they’re gone in no time! The best thing about a Clementine is they have no pits, so there’s no spitting involved. I feel a lot more ladylike eating a Clementine than I do an orange. Being ladylike is not always of the utmost importance to me (as many of you have seen), but I do enjoy eating seedless fruit!
Speaking of being ladylike, anyone who has ever walked or driven with me while I’m chewing gum will know that my absolute worst habit is that I just spit my gum out in the street. If I’m driving, I will roll down the window and just let it fly. If I’m walking, I try to spit it into a garbage pail, if there’s one available, but if not…
I’ve gotten a lot of flack about that, but I just don’t like to put it into a tissue or a piece of paper and then have to worry about it floating around my purse or my car until I can dispose of it. It’s just easier (and faster) to spit it out. But the shocked expressions I’ve received at times have been hilarious. People just don’t expect it – again, because I’m usually very ladylike! I do think it’s my worst habit. Maybe my New Year’s resolution should be to stop spitting out my gum!
This morning, I continued my game of Concentration with the clip-on and screw-on earrings, until I was positive I had no pairs left. I kept all the pairs in one giant bag and all the singles in another. I still have more tins to go through, so I may find them yet.
Eric couldn’t understand why I cared about pairs vs. singles, but it’s because sometimes in projects I like to make it very symmetrical, so the pairs help me balance it out. Other times, it’s more mixed up and “devil-may-care!”
After Eric and I both had breakfast, we went out to run a few errands. First, we went back to MICHAEL’S, because I had purchased two urns, a wall pocket and big planter – all in a brownish antique-look metal. I thought we’d use the two urns and either the wall pocket or the big planter in the center. Eric said we should put the big planter in the center, with an urn on either side and put a wall pocket on either end of the balcony, so I went to buy another wall pocket.
Then, we went to HOME DEPOT and got a bunch of plants in their nursery. We got calla lilies for the two urns, cyclamen for the two wall pockets, and a mixture of pansies, begonias, and other flowering plants for the big planter in the center. We also bought some soil. When we got back, Eric did all the planting, while I put plastic bags and rocks in the bottom of each planter, since they didn’t have any drainage holes.
They look SO pretty. I forgot to take pictures (with my cell phone). I’ll do that tomorrow!
After that, I did three loads of laundry, so that everything will be clean for our vacation. We’re really getting excited now! I am waiting until Sunday to pack. It’s very important that we take as little as possible, because we just have two small carry-ons, and Eric’s bicycling clothes and armor alone take up most of his carry-on. I also have to take my lap-top and Betty (the GPS system). We wouldn’t DREAM of traveling without Betty!
Eric made a frozen pizza for dinner, because I started working on jewelry mosaic project using a mirror with the clip-on and screw-on earrings. Once I get started, I don’t want to stop. It is a round, frameless beveled mirror I brought from NY. The best mirrors to do my jewelry mosaics are the frameless mirrors.
I worked for a couple of hours, until my back was killing me from leaning over the table for so many hours. I can sit while I decoupage, but I need to stand when I do the mosaics, and it’s really hard on my back!
I’m going to hang the mirror at the end of the hallway in between the master bedroom and bathroom, but I really want to sell it, so I’m going to photograph it and show it to some shops in town.
It’s been great to do my crafting again. I’ve really missed it. I hadn’t done anything since July and I used to do crafting almost every day, when I had the shop. I love it! If I could, I would just craft every day, all day long.
Sorry the picture is so blurry! This is the plain black tray I decoupaged.
I also finished my decoupaged tray today. I put a lot more coats of varnish on the top and bottom and think it’s finally finished. Eric will do a final inspection tomorrow. He’s very good with things like that and if he says it’s done, it’s done! If not, I’ll put a few more coats on it.
The bottom of the tray before I decoupaged it.
Here's the tray after I covered it with pictures with a party theme!
I did a New Year’s Eve party theme for the tray, since Eric and I have been invited to a New Year’s Eve party in Los Angeles and we are hoping to get back from South Carolina early enough to attend. We’ll drive up in the RV, go to the party, sleep in the RV overnight and then drive back to San Diego in the morning.
We are looking forward to seeing my cousin, Audrey, and her friends tomorrow. It will be nice to have company again!