Away in the Manager...

My mom's only outside Christmas decoration.

It was made by my brother more than a handful of years ago. We put it up for her when we were home this weekend.

Simple. Beautiful!

Slippers for the Retiree!

My brother, Rick, retired! His last day was last week. Officially, he is done on 11/30. He's worked for P&G for 33 years! He is excited to pursue this next chapter of his life. He is very fortunate to get this opportunity to try a few new things.

We made a quick trip to Cincinnati for his retirement party.

Here the boys are in the car on the way to Cincinnati. Puppers was the best four-legged traveler. Thank goodness for pretzels. They seem to make any roadtrip better:)

The retirement party was at Dave & Busters. It was wonderful. They did a great job. My boys got their fix of playing pool. It was so nice to see some of my family. The time is always too short, but I did enjoy the time we had.

I struggled with a gift and decided to make slippers. So, here's another pair of felted slippers. They are fun to make.

I used my mom's washing machine and they felted up great.

I don't know if they fit, but hope they do!

We are so happy for Rick & Joyce. We are crossing our fingers he finds some free time to help us with some projects here in Memphis!!

Thanksgiving 2010

The Big Guy and Peanut kept the tradition and ran in the Turkey Trot 4 miler. It was raining and really windy. When the race started, the rain stopped but the wind kept blowing. Here they are before the race right when we got out of the car to brave the elements.

I only had my iphone which was on its last bit of battery life. I played with the photos to make them a bit better. The Big Guy said that they both look like they just woke up.

We missed having Pumpkin with us. He was at swim practice.

The route was a bit different this year. The first two miles were literally all uphill. The wind did not help things. And, I listened to the boys and brought Buddy with me. He was a great puppy dog. He was smart enough to turn his head out of the wind.

Here he sat waiting for the results to be posted.

After the run, we headed home to clean up. My inlaws hosted a wonderful turkey dinner. I brought the standard strawberry pretzel salad. The meal was yummy and we enjoyed seeing family. The Big Guy snapped this picture with his new Blackberry.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I am still contemplating waking up early to do a little shopping. Then, we are driving, driving, driving to Cincinnati for a quick trip home.

My Closet

This past summer (I am embarrassed to say it was that long ago) when we came home from Cincinnati, my clothes were on the floor. The wire shelving just wore out and fell from the wall.

A couple weekends ago, the Big Guy got inspired. I cleaned it all out, he patched and got to work painting it.

I tried to reuse as much of the shelving as I could. However, the systems were updated and not exactly a perfect fit.

Today I got everything back into the closet. The clothes are not arranged by color, but they are arranged in a very user friendly way.

Peanut told me that I have too many shoes. You can never have too many. Can you?

Here's the new closet. I faded the photo colors as the pink robe dominated every photo.

Unlike the Big Guy who has an armoire in our bedroom, most of my clothes are in the closet. I might add wire shelf dividers on the shelves to keep the folded clothes upright.

I put my big felted bag to use holding my swimsuits until summer.


What a pleasure to walk into my closet! The Big Guy thought it looked great. He walked away thinking I did not have that many clothes after all. I, on the other hand, felt like my stash of clothes is a bit excessive.

I'm inspired to tackle the bathroom. We want to try doing it ourselves. It, though, may take some time...

The Big Guy's Office

Walls at the Big Guy's office:

The classic picture of the sunflowers from the Tour de France.
His diplomas and a picture that used to hang in my office. The picture made me a bit melancholy.
The jersey (converted into a bag) he wore when he had his bike crash more than 5 years ago.
A medley of pictures including a wedding photo that makes me feel quite old!
A Giro helmet ad and a cross-stitch designed by me. It was one of the first gifts I gave to him.
A globe, a gift for a service anniversary.

180K and Counting!

We passed 180,000 miles this weekend!

It was a bit of a challenge to get the shot. The Big Guy snapped away while I was "flying" down the highway.

I had to use the antique effect in iPhoto - figuring it was only appropriate.

Volvo for life???

Race For Education 2010

The weather was gorgeous yesterday making for the perfect day for a run.

My boys all ran in the Race for Education. It benefits the Shelby County public schools. They had a new venue for it this year. Albeit farther from home, the location was great.

There was some smack talking going on before the run. Peanut is an experienced runner and thoroughly loves it. Pumpkin is an experienced swimmer and is running for the cause. It did not stop him from talking it up with his bro'.

One of Peanut's soccer team mates was there too. He hung with him for a bit and then was off! Pumpkin beat Peanut to the mile marker, but could not hang with his younger brother any longer. Actually, Pumpkin's knee started hurting (can't take a swimmer out of the pool!)

Not the best picture, but one of Peanut crossing the finish line. He took second to a classmate of his. He ran a great race, a personal best!

The Big Guy ran a fast one too. He said that he felt great.

Pumpkin finished. His knee was bothering him. Fortunately, it seems to be okay this morning. Whew! He's got some swim meets coming up and that knee is pretty important in breaststroke.

We stuck around for the awards. Pumpkin won an itunes gift card in the raffle and the Big Guy won a gift certificate to Red Lobster (he's never been but can use it at the family of restaurants.) We were pretty lucky:)

It seemed like the participation was pretty good. The money benefits the fine arts and "extras" at the schools. Every little bit helps!

Slippers for Peanut

Just in time for the colder weather...



He wanted each one to be different, but still black and gold. We are patiently waiting for basketball season when it gets a bit easier to be a Vandy fan!

I made the Women's large, narrow version using Lamb's Pride bulky. They felted perfectly thanks to my friend, Linda, and her washing machine. Our low water washing machine just doesn't felt like the regular washing machines do!

Knitting...

I get asked on a daily basis if I am done knitting Peanut's slippers.

He's changing it up a bit. Each slipper is going to be opposite of each other.

Black and Gold are the colors! Go 'Dores!

I'm on the black slipper. It's a bit more of a challenge knitting with the dark color.

Back to it...

GWU Patriots Stocking Cap

Just in time for the colder weather...

a belated graduation gift for our nephew.

Knit using Karabella 8 and lined with a band of fleece.

Hope he wears it with pride a George Washington University!