Goodbye to Big Weave

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”

--Pericles

I think Pericles summed it up nicely, y’all.

I’m a firm believer that people are sent into our lives for a reason. Either people are there to comfort us when we are facing trials, make us smile when we most need to, pull us out of our shell, toughen us up to the harsh realities of the world…there are even those rascals that teach us the dreaded patience lesson. There seems to always be a reason why each person enters our lives. Now, granted, sometimes we might not see it until later. As always, hindsight is 20/20.

Last Friday, as mentioned in my previous blog, I went to a little going-away party for a friend of mine. Actually, it wasn’t really a going-away party, considering he’s not moving anywhere…just changing jobs.

I’ve written a post or two in the past regarding my first job. (http://missmargarita8604.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-first-job.html ) As I was talking to Ms. Joyce last week, I told her that it felt like I had worked there so much longer than I had. In reality, I only worked there for a year and a half. So many things happened, it seemed like so much longer. There were crazy times, and there were bad times, but I wouldn’t have changed anything looking back.

I first started there as a shy, quiet, mousy thing…Thank God I came out of that quick. Part of that was due to the fact that I was an easy target for the Weave and some of the other managers at the time. He would pick on me until I was ready to deck him…then he would tell me “You need to smile more.” I. Yi. Yi. I would turn my register light off and walk outside, when I came back in he would be standing there waiting to be rang up, my light would have “magically” been turned back on …and then I would get a lecture about how I needed to turn off my light if I was going to go outside. I’m telling you, the boy drove me nuts. But, then again, we also had a lot of fun at the store. Courtney was constantly causing a ruckus, some cashiers (that shall not be named) were always saying the stupidest things, and there was always someone to make fun of. Looking back, the group that I worked with always had a really good time. I miss that sometimes.

Last Wednesday, my heart sank a little when I heard that Weave was leaving. Hitchcock’s will never be the same. There will be no singing through the aisles as the Hitchcock’s radio plays an entirely different song. There will be no one to tease cashiers or tell them crazy crap that they will only believe because they are gullible. There will be no one to say “Get to work” in all-weave fashion as the cashiers stand around gossiping. There will be no one to yell "Big Weave" in that weird way that only Ryan could do when he had accomplished something. Nope, the store will never be the same.

We will miss you Weave. I’m going to post what I wrote in the book that was given to him last week.

Ryan,

Even though you will still live in Trenton and be around, Hitchcock’s won’t be the same, and even Trenton won’t feel quite the same. That is by far the saddest part. You just “made” Hitchcocks. Between your singing, your constant teasing, you making me mad…then telling me “You need to smile more,” us calling each other “bipolar,” you firing me multiple times, and having a yelling match or two in the parking lot…knowing you has been a trip. But in all honesty, you were an awesome boss. When I came to Hitchcocks, I had no work experience. You taught me about customer service (though I am not the best with that now, I will admit…just ask Carrie) and you helped prepare me for the workforce. Not to mention, you gave me tougher skin, which I appreciate now. I do believe you were the best first boss that I could’ve had. You were also a good friend to me. I know we’ve had our ups and downs…and some days I might have wanted to push you down a flight of stairs…haha…but like I told you the other day, that’s just “how we roll.” That’s how it’s always been and how it will always be.

I know that you will be successful in whatever you do; I know that. Who knows, a year from now, you might think this is the best thing that could’ve happened to you. I just want you to know that while you were here, you’ve made an impact on many, many people. I know that because you’ve made a big impact on me, Ryan Weaver. I wish you and your family the best of luck. I hope that you will stop by the Journal from time-to-time to catch me up on things.

Aleta

What next??

Have you ever had a day where you thought if you walked outside you might get struck by lightning, get hit by a Mack Truck, and get snake bit? Just one of those really, really bad days where everything seems to go wrong; and you are left feeling the need to climb in the nearest hole and hide? Really, I’m not Vista-bound, y’all. But thank goodness Friday is over and done with. It was a truly bad day.

I had been dreading yesterday since Wednesday. My mama had another doctor’s appointment, our Kenzie Mae was having an operation, and I was set to go to a going-away party to someone near and dear to my heart.

I won’t go into all the stuff with mama, considering she’s pretty private. She is in good hands and the tests came back ok. They’re just going to do further testing. The horrible thing about cancer is the fact that even when it’s done, and you think that you or a loved one is finished with all the treatments…there is always stuff that can come up. So, anytime mama goes to the doctor, I (being the worry-wart that I am) feel like I have to hold my breath and brace myself.

Now onto the heartbreaking news of Kenzie Mae (a/k/a Kenzer Mae). Kenzie Mae is my sister’s 1-year old chocolate lab. She hasn’t been doing very well the last few months. She has been losing weight and just mopes around. Dad has taken her to the vet and also had talked to numerous “dog people” about her. The vet (that I would like to throw something at) that is in Williston checked her out a few months ago and diagnosed her with a false pregnancy w/o really checking her out (without really doing anything but collecting a check, but I digress…). We took it at that and continued on. She continued losing weight this summer, which began to concern us even more. We took her back to the vet (Suwannee Valley Vets, which are awesome, if you ever are in need of one) and they found that she had a large tumor inside of her that was pressing against her stomach, liver, intestines, etc. They said that they could do exploratory surgery and see if they could remove it, but the odds weren’t really in Kenzie’s favor. This was risky, considering that she wasn’t in great shape as it was…but it was one of those things where if you didn’t you might always wonder if you could’ve saved her. They started the operation at around 3. Unfortunately, the tumor was too large, and it involved too many blood vessels. The vet said that she had had it for a while, but by the time it would’ve really made itself noticeable, it would’ve already been far too late to do anything about it. I would just like to say this about the vet that did the surgery yesterday-- You know that you have an awesome vet when she calls crying with the news that she couldn’t remove the tumor. She told my mama that she had prayed about the surgery and Kenzie all day, and that she was really upset about it too…she had just recently lost a dog herself. That blessed my heart. Kenzie Mae is very much a part of our family, and it’s heartbreaking to know that we can’t save her. But my philosophy is this: We need to give our loved ones (family, friends, pets, etc.) the best life we possibly can. We’re never guaranteed tomorrow with them. If we know that we’ve done our best and loved them as much as possible, that is going to be a great comfort to us when they are gone. The vet put Kenzie on steroids to see if that would help shrink the tumor. Maybe that will help so that she will be able to have better digestion. They said that she wasn’t in any pain because of it, so they didn’t feel a need to put her down right away. I’m praying the steroids will help her.

I’m going to post a separate blog (hopefully tomorrow) about saying goodbye to the Weave. He was an awesome boss and a good friend to me. It’s been like a band-aid slowly ripping off since Wednesday when I found out that he was leaving. I made breakfast for the Hitchcock’s crew yesterday morning: sausage and cheese biscuits, French puffs, fruit salad, and I also baked an Ooh-la-la Chocolate cake for him. While I was busy preparing all the food, my mind was busy and not really thinking of what yesterday would bring. It hit me as soon as I went in the Hitchcock’s doors yesterday morning. It hurt my heart. Things just won’t be the same at the store, that’s for sure. More about that later, though.

AND to top yesterday off. We got a call at 4 a.m. yesterday morning from my Aunt. She was rushing my grandma to the ER. They were afraid that it was her heart, but it wound up being a gall bladder attack. She’s had her surgery now and is recuperating as we speak.

I Yi Yi. What a day it was yesterday. It was tough, for sure. I’m glad it is over. But I would like to look at the positive here. 1. My mama’s doctor seemed to think that it wasn’t anything super serious. 2. Kenzie Mae is still with us. 3. Spending time at Hitchcock’s yesterday reminded me of all the good times that we all shared there. 4. My grandma’s situation turned out a lot better than it could’ve been. And 5. I was able to have a great dinner with a friend last night and get out all my thoughts and catch up on all the latest gossip AND share a great laugh or two. Thank God for getting us through it.

New "Favorites" list

So, I haven't blogged in what seems like FOREVER. Ok, really it has been like 2 1/2 months...so that is actually quite a while for me.

I'm bored to tears here at work today and I have "9 to 5" stuck in my head, when actually I'll probably only work until 3:30. Slacker, I know. "8 to 3:30" just doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

There's quite a bit to catch y'all up on, but I dunno if I'm really up for all of that today...so I'll just make this a fun post. But let me first say this, when I actually get around to taking pics off my camera, I'm going to post a pile of them...be prepared. Between new sewing projects, birthdays, mine and KW's trip to tuckers, my recent vacation, and my family's two chocolate labs (Kenzie Mae and Karter Lee), there's a lot to show and tell about.

This blog will be about my new list of favorite things...

My list of favorite things (and things I cannot live without):

Headbands--I've got quite the collection now, from hot pink to brown polka dots to zebra stripes...I've got 'em and I love 'em.

a sewing machine & serger-- I've been sewing like a mad woman this summer. I believe the women at Joann's know me by name now.

Subway Double Chocolate Chip cookies-- Yummmmm! I eat one every workday. Maybe not so good for my waistline, but lawsy bee, it sure is good.

Vera Bradley clutches-- I used to not be VB's biggest fan. But my, oh my! Have y'all took a gander at the new clutches? Too cute. VB, I'm loving you!

Grace perfume by Luzier-- My friend Marie's mom sells Luzier, so I stumbled across this perfume back when I was in high school. Love, love, LOVE.

A hair straightener--Though I love curls, I rarely can take the time to curl my hair (and if I do, it rarely turns out right). My hair straightener is essential through the summer.

Sun-less tanner-- I'm looking mighty tan currently (with a few orange spots, I'll be honest). Could it be that I have countless hours to spend laying out by my pool? Psshhh...nope. This beautiful (slightly orange) tan comes from a bottle. Oh how I love you, Jergen's Natural Glow.

Wedge heels--I used to wear heels in high school all the time. All through college, however, I wore flats and oodles and oodles of flip-flops. They were just so much easier to truck it across campus in. But now, I'm loving my wedge heels again. And what's better than that?? Flip flop wedge heels!

White pizza--I love spinach, which is odd. I am a very, very picky eater. I don't eat much meat. I HATE seafood (need I remind you of the time I tried shrimp and it bobbled down my throat?). I have just recently began eating spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce again. I'm telling you, I'm picky. But with one taste of white pizza, my tastebuds were in love.

Wack-a-doo small town stories-- Last week, at the Journal, we were privileged to hear about (and Carrie got to write about) the break-in at the local convenient store where the robber wielded a table leg as the weapon AND we had the "topless dog wash" article run in the paper. Before you begin to wonder if we are beginning to sensationalize stories, let me just tell you that the article about the topless dog wash was SUBMITTED...and it was only referring to the fact that they don't wash the dog's head. Why? I have no clue. But it caught our attention, so maybe that'll help out their cause.

I LOVE love/hate relationships-- Odd, I realize. And I'm sure that a psychologist would have a field day with that. But what is better than being able to scream "You're a despicable, horrible person" in a parking lot in true white trash fashion and being ok a few days later? Maybe that's really weird...but that's "how I roll" :)

The band "Kornbred" "One of Many" and "Locomotive"--We were able to hear "One of Many" back in April. They did such a great job. It was there that we met Kathy, who is good friends with the members of One of Many. Then, on our recent trip, we were able to hear Kathy's band "Kornbred" play and "Locomotive." We really enjoyed it. The 3rd of July was a busy one, but we had a really good time and the bands were really good.

Trying new restaurants--On a recent trip to Carrabelle, KW and I found a new favorite restaurant. The Crooked River Grill. They have one of the best chicken salads ever....and don't even get me started on their sticky pecan cheesecake....

Well, I'd better conclude this. I only have one current dislike. People keep asking me "What are you going to do?"... to which I want to answer "I'm not sure, but as soon as I know, I'll let you know." Sigh. (rolling eyes) I. Yi. Yi. Talk about pressure. I'm not a bum, or lacking ambition. I just strictly have no idea yet what career path I want to take. The Journal still makes me happy...so I'm happy here for now. Plus, one of the best benefits to my job is seeing Miss Allie Claire and Gus every once in a while and hearing "I la you" (I love you). And hearing Miss Allie yell "Leeda, Leeda" as she beats on my desk. Yep, those are all the benefits I need right now :)

My Mama

This Mother’s Day was very special to us, even though we didn’t do a lot. Actually, we just laid around the house mostly and watched tv. I did, however, make her a very good supper and a yummy peaches-n-cream cake.

As I’m sure many of you do, I have a very special bond with my mama. We’ve always been very, very close. In fact, as some of my friends were moving off and starting their lives in other cities, I never could really envision myself leaving this area, mainly because it would involve me leaving my mama. I’ve just never been able to picture it.

This year has been a hard one for my family. In November, when we found out that my mama had breast cancer, it turned my world upside down. And it seemed to be one blow after the next.

As I may have mentioned before, the Sunday night I got home from vacation in November, I found out that mom was having surgery that Tuesday. This was a big blow, considering that I had heard nothing of it leading up to the big news. Nothing about seeing doctor’s in the previous weeks, nothing about finding a lump. I was in shock.

The surgeon told us that Tuesday that he believed that it was cancer, but they would know for sure on Wednesday, and that mom would have a little while to make a decision as to what she wanted to do. Wednesday came, and sure enough, it was cancer.

In the pre-op process of her next surgery, in a chest x-ray, they found a spot on her lung. So, before the surgery in early December, they checked the spot out (through other, more extensive tests) and found that it must’ve been some glitch in the x-ray. Mom’s surgery was very successful and we thought that we were in the process of recovery. Mom stayed home all of December recovering.

A few days before Christmas, the Oncologist called my mom and said that it was very important that she saw mom before the Christmas holiday. So, on Christmas Eve, we found out that in doing the scans to check the “lung spot,” they had found a spot on her liver. Well, after all that we had been through in the past two months, I just broke down. My mama probably doesn’t realize this, but after she called me with that news, I just sat in the living room (where I had been wrapping presents) and had myself a big, ugly cry. I just kept thinking “What next? What will be the next thing that comes up?” Talk about a downer for the Christmas holiday!
This Christmas was special because we got to spend a lot of family time together (and because we got to get sugar from the newest edition to the family), but it was definitely bittersweet because I was so worried about Mama and about what the future held.

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, we found out shortly after New Year’s that the spot on the liver was benign. She started chemo treatments shortly after, which was a whole new experience in itself. We went into it not knowing what to expect. You always hear the horrors of chemo, so when faced with that, it’s only natural to be scared. Mom faired very well through treatments. She went once every three weeks, and had a total of 6 treatments. Mama was able to work through most of the treatments, luckily. After the first couple of treatments, she could figure out which days after the chemo would be the worst. Actually, my mom never really had much of an issue with nausea, but had more of a problem with fatigue after treatments.

This Mother’s Day is special. Not only are we getting to spend time and express our love for our moms, but we are also celebrating the end of my mom’s treatments. This past Thursday marked her last chemo treatment. As she went to leave, the four or five nurses that were back in the Chemo area broke out their kazoos and played the Commencement Song to celebrate her graduation from Chemo.

This year has been a tough one for my mama. Cancer has taken a lot from her. Still, she has made it through and is still full of faith, strength, and grace. This is what I love and admire about my mama. She truly leads by example.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama. I hope that you know how very very much I love you. I hope this year brings you the most happiness and blessings that you’ve ever experienced. You deserve it.

I would also like to put here a special thanks to everyone that has been so supportive this year. I know that at times I’ve been crazy, moody, distant, etc., and I thank you all for checking on me and putting up with it :) Special Special thanks to: Aunt Angie, for soothing my hurt every time I came to you crying and for always offering to help. Sam, for being there and sitting with me through the surgery and the weeks that followed. Krystle, for always listening...and for getting crazy calls late at night. Margaret, for always calling and checking up on her. And Carrie and Mrs. Cindy Jo for always being concerned and asking about her. There are so many others that have shown support, we are blessed to have such good friends. Continue to keep us in your prayers, and thank you again for your prayers previously.

Single people unite!

Ok, ironically enough, I sent a link to an article about “Things you should never say to Singles” to my friend KW the other day. We laughed, because we’ve heard several of these before. Quite frankly, every time I hear one of these it makes me want to ingest a package of thumbtacks (to be descriptive).

Here is the link:

http://dating.personals.yahoo.com/singles/datingtips/89007/19-things-you-should-never-say-to-a-single-person

I love hearing “A pretty girl like you can’t be single” or better yet “Why are you still single?” How the crap do you answer that??

…But the all-time worst one is “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” Let me just tell you about the fish in the sea, ok?! There are the felon fish, the foreign fish, the don’t-want-to-get-a-job fish, the irritating-as-hell fish, the married-but-I-take-my-ring-off-to-hide-it fish, the no-good-will-cheat-on-you fish, the drunk fish, the been-around-the-block-five-times fish, and the fish that’s been hitting the silly seaweed. Those are the fish in my sea.

Now, I told you that to tell you this story….

Last weekend as my mom and I were coming back from Gainesville, we stopped in town to get ice. There was an old man sitting out by the ice machine, which was weird in itself. This is how the conversation went:

(As I’m trying to put money in the machine)

Weirdo: “So what are you planning to do tonight, honey?”

Me: “Ummm…I’m going home to bake cookies.”

Weirdo: “ooooh, I bet your kids will love that.”

Me: “I don’t have any kids actually.”

Weirdo: “Well, I’m sure your husband will.”

Me: “Actually, they are for my Sunday School class…the other teacher is having a birthday tomorrow, so the kids and I were going to throw her a little party.”

Weirdo: “I’m sure they’ll enjoy that. So you’re not married?”

Me: “No, sir.” (getting irritated)

Weirdo: “Not seeing anyone? Talking to anyone? Anything?”

Me: “Nope.” (irritation rising)

Weirdo: “Why?”

Me: (ummmmm?!) “All the good ones are taken??”

Weirdo: “Oh, honey, never say that. Never say all the good ones are taken.”

What. The. Heck. Seriously? First of all, I had never met this man. So it was just weird. And he was like 65ish. Ummmm? I’m single because I’ve not met anybody decent….in a long time. I’m not a lesbian. I’m not crazy. There is just no good guys HERE. So, there you go.

I. Yi. Yi.

In much much much better news: My mama has finished her treatments. They played the commencement song with kazoos as she went to leave :) How cute is that. So, as of now, no radiation. Hallelujah! I am soooo happy, and sooo blessed...more about this another day, I have much to say!

The sun, the sand, and a whole lot of good times

--This will be a long blog…be prepared—
Last Thursday afternoon, KW and I were chompin’ at the bits. In fact, Krystle barreled herself at my car as I drove up to pick her up. To say we were ready to get out of Chiefland and Trenton for the weekend would be an understatement.
Blue Bessie (my car) seemed to drive herself up to the panhandle. “She” knows the way very well. Since 2007, I have been going up there at least 3 times a year. Carrabelle has become one of my favorite places to visit. It’s slow pace, it has beautiful beaches, and you couldn’t find sweeter more interesting people. If any of you that read my blog haven’t been through that area, you’re really missing out.
Anyways, as I may have previously mentioned, KW and I had been set to go in March but plans changed. So, we’d decided to push it off until the end of April. The Riverfront Festival was going to be that weekend, so it worked out nicely.
Before we left, I sent KW the Rules for the weekend. I will give y’all a shortened version.

Rules for girl’s weekend

1. This weekend will be full of laughing, having fun, walking on the beach, exploring the towns, shopping, and eating plenty of good food (God help my waistline…bring on the moo-moos!)
2. We will take time to relax and possibly sleep late, if there are no waterfalls behind our wall at 7 a.m.
3. We won’t think about the future (i.e. work, moving, college, etc)…we’ll just live in the here and now this weekend.
4. I will not lose my underwear at the inn…again.

The 2 a.m. rules

1. There will be no butt dialing our mom’s at 2 a.m.
2. There will be no swimming in our underwear…again.
3. And there will be no texting guys to ask them to come and cuddle (shameful, plum shameful).
But other than that…have a great time! (props to whoever caught that this line was from “The Shag” movie)
**rules are subject to change**

The Franklin Inn, where we always stay

So, we drove into town on Thursday night. I came awful close to crawling out of my car and kissing the ground once we got there. Three full days of fun. When we got into our room, we found that the visitor before us had went fishing and put his catches of the day in our refrigerator,…the fish weren’t there, but their odor remained. Quite a stinky find at 8 p.m., I can tell you.
Our first night there, we just drove around town and visited the beach. The next day, we ran around and met with some of our friends in town before trucking off to Port St. Joe. It was really nice seeing everyone. Now, we’d never been to Port St. Joe, so we wanted to do some exploring. We ate at this little place, Joe Mama’s pizza.

The name is funny, but doesn’t do the place justice. The pizza was delicious! If ever you are in the area, try it, you will definitely enjoy it. KW and I had decided that we were going to try to eat at different places this weekend. And I vowed to myself to blog about them and try to drum up some business for them, if ever any of my blog followers should be in the area. All the places that we did eat at (which I will mention them below) were great…but I would like to put here that I was a bit nauseous all weekend…not due to the food, maybe it was because of all of the riding.
After lunch, we went into all the little stores and shopped around. Port St. Joe is a neat little town worth visiting.

Then we went back to Carrabelle and walked on the beach, before meeting my friend Nina for dinner. We ate at Marker 30. I don’t have a picture of this place, but the food was good….well, truth be known, I could only stomach a grilled cheese at that point, so maybe I’m not the one you should ask. BUT we did find out where to pay at. After making ourselves look a bit dumb, we found that you actually step into the kitchen area to pay. Who’d have thunk it?

The Riverfront Festival's sand sculpture

On Saturday, we went to the Riverfront festival early that morning, then, we rode around Apalachicola and St. George Island. Both towns are beautiful. We ate lunch at Tamara’s Café in Apalach. Then, that night we had dinner at “Chef Eddie’s Magnolia Café.”

I, the foodie that I’m becoming, would like to talk about this for a minute. The food was EXCELLENT. The salad was really good, with Chef Eddie’s special dressing. I had the pork loin with raspberry sauce drizzled over it. To. Die. For. Krystle had the chicken picatta with shrimp. There was so much food on the plate. To be honest, I don’t think I even touched the side dish…I couldn’t get over the meat. It was wonderful. I would like to say here that even though I LOVE Carrabelle, love the beach, and love everything about the area, I do not eat seafood…in any form. I’ve tried to eat shrimp before, and I wound up spitting it out after it bobbled down my throat. I just can’t stomach it. Lol. Go figure. BUT, I have heard that the seafood dishes at many of the places in Carrabelle, St. George Island, and Apalachicola are wonderful. Saturday night, we decided to go to Willie’s and listen to the band. I really enjoyed them. I believe the band’s name was “One of Many.” We met a couple of new people that were a blast to hang out with. I would just like to know though…how many people are named Michael/Mike in the town of Carrabelle? Lol. Something to ponder…

Sunday morning, we woke up far too early…again. We drove over to Apalach to take some more pictures (which will follow). We ate at Carolines and had the best pancakes ever (this may be due to the fact that this was the first meal that I had where I didn’t get nauseous directly after). Who would’ve thought to put white chocolate chips on them? Yummm…

I love taking pictures of the beautiful churches in Apalachicola.

And the boats

The St. George Island Lighthouse

It was hard to leave Carrabelle. Every time I leave, it makes me depressed for a few days. I always miss the people that we meet, the beautiful atmosphere, and the carefree attitudes that we have while we’re there. When we came home we had some big decisions to make, so that carefree attitude had to end…
But we did have a blast. And we ARE going back, as soon as we can :)

To finish this off…I better put the things I learned this weekend:

1. Not every jiffy store carries ginger ale. However, I have mapped out every one that does.
2. Some people believe themselves to be the next big philosopher after they’ve been drinking for a little while.
3. Apparently, according to a new friend, Acid is the only drug that’s not detectable by a drug test (wish you could’ve seen my face when she told me this). :)
4. The cleaning lady/front desk lady at the Franklin Inn is so sweet. And she needs a raise for having to clean out our nasty refrigerator.
5. Never to let KW “help” me measure the hem for her dress :) hooch :-P Love ya!..speaking of dresses…
6. Pillowcase dresses + wind= problem.
7. When you go into a restaurant, and don’t find anything that you want to eat, it’s fine to just walk out…lol

What I’ve been up to….

Ok, so y’all know how I love a vacation, right?? Well, I am FINALLY going to be able to go on vacation again next weekend. Yep, just as soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m. next Thursday afternoon, me and K-dubb are headin’ for the panhandle.

We had planned to go in the middle of March, but because one of our friends decided she needed to push her baby shower back a week, we had to push our vacation back to the 4^th weekend in April. Actually, this worked out good, because they’re having the Riverfront Festival. Yay :-)

This year has been crap, for lack of a better term. Sure, I have a lot to be thankful for, and I’m not overlooking that fact at all. It could’ve been a lot worse and through everything, we’ve gotten through, and God has been good to us. My mom has done very well so far during treatments (one more to go! Yay!), but truthfully, my stomach has been in knots since November. I’ve had other personal drama and I’ve had to make a lot of big decisions lately (some still pending). Do I go back to school? Do I try to just get into a career? What do I want to do when I grow up (lol)? Is it the right time to move out? It’s just been a lot on my plate. So, to say I’m DESPERATELY seeking some rest and relaxation on this trip would be an understatement. Plus, it’ll be really nice to be able to hang out with Krystle. It seems like we’ve been running around like crazy people here recently and haven’t had much time to hang out.

Because the anticipation of this trip has been killing me lately, I’ve tapped into my creative juices and have gotten inspired to sew again. In fact, I’ve been sewing up a storm lately.

--I realize I look like fido’s butt in these pictures. I’d been running around all day. And if I looked agitated/surprised in the pictures, it’s because my sister doesn’t believe in “One, two, three.” You’ll be standing there, adjusting the dress, and you see a flash. No warning…just snap….will add “teach Rheba how to take a picture” on my list of things to do--.

So…I’m not sure about this dress. I loved the fabric (it’s polka dots…I love me some polka dots!), but I actually made this dress to test the pattern out, before I made my Easter dress. I learned that I needed to take up about two inches off the sides. It was way too big through the stomach and hips. Plus, I didn’t really like the idea of a yoke after I made it. It just didn’t go together really smoothly. And maybe it’s just me…but it kind of ended up looking like a moo-moo. And….I don’t want to look like our crazy white van lady here in Trenton.

Here is my Easter dress. I used the same dress pattern, but completely reworked the top of the dress. I decided to do a few more pleats and put a band and straps instead of the yoke. I really liked this one. The bottom band is white eyelet material. Why did I choose navy and white, you ask? To match the Dooney purse I got for Christmas…lol. Super cute, it’s navy and white with sailboats all over it :)

I worried a little about this dress. I tend to like prints, bold colors, etc. I just didn’t want my butt to look like a billboard for the garden club. I actually liked the way this turned out. It’s fun, comfy, and colorful.

The zebra-stripe bug has bit me. I love it. So, I made this skirt by just using a straight a-line skirt that I already had, and used it as a pattern. I made a headband to match it.

I loved this fabric.

I was super excited about this dress. I thought that I was going to wear this while walking on the beach or something. In saying that, I will admit here that I made a mistake. I didn’t pre-wash this material. Big mistake. While I made it bigger on purpose, thinking that it would shrink…I didn’t take into consideration that the length of it would shrink. I have what is known as a G.B….Ghetto booty. The dress is super short (at least to me). So, I’m going to go over to the fabric store tonight and get some more red fabric to add a border to the bottom. I still really like it. I just have to alter it a bit :)

I can’t wait for vaction!!!