I answered this earlier and now it's not there. Bummer. What a week this has been. Company left after 2 tries this morning. They were flying standby. Their 2 yr old and my 3 yr old were in constant battle over the toys and everything was blamed on my child because she's "older". Grrr. They are having another baby and will soon learn how things go in the real world. ha 3 yr olds don't share any better than 2 yr olds, especially when it's their toys. ha It was a nice visit, but I'm glad to settle back to a normal routine. Took a long nap this afternoon to try to get over my loss of sleep this week. Everyone had to use our master bath and I'm such a light sleeper I got woken up all during the night. Pregnant women go to the bathroom a lot!! ha

The contracters wife had surgery so he never came back after Tuesday of last week. So we are still at about 10% completion. We have a tub. We just went tonight and got the tile and are hoping he'll be coming on Monday to start tiling. I am so hoping it's going to turn out like I have it pictured in my head. ha I'm a nervous wreck over it. After this experience I don't think I could ever build a house. ha

Your craft fair sounds like a good time. You'll have to tell me all about it when you can. That new TS right around the corner from my house had it's grand opening this week and I've been itching to get over there. ha I'll most likely go on Mon. Hope I'm not disappointed.

Hope you have a nice weekend as well. The kids are off Mon and Tues so I may get some painting done if they'll cooperate!! What is your GD going to be for Halloween? My oldest is still working on her costume (something with a bunch of connected glow sticks!!), then I have a skeleton, Darth Vader, and a witch princess. ha It's actually supposed to be in the 60's for TrT this year so it will beat the snow we were trudging thru last year I guess. ha ~Anj

Hi Anj, Don't you hate it when that happens? I think sometimes I click on the Return to the forum instead of the Preview message button.

In all honesty, I could have seen more of the crafts if I had gone alone-but my friend NEEDED an outing and to talk. She is older and her DH has failing health. I think it made her feel better to get out awhile and we had a nice lunch together too. I always pay close attention to the painted items. Recognized several that I have patterns for. Love to read all the cute saying ones. Saw a really cute one for the Barbeque--almost made me wish my son was a beer drinker! LOL It had a big flame and a spatula on top, then signs under that on the stake. Things like "Put steak on grill" and in smaller print under that "have a beer", then "Turn steak over" then under that "have a beer"--you get the idea.

There were lots of pottery, stained glass, windchimes, birdhouses, applique clothes, jewelry, paintings, etc. One lady had painted houses, front and back, on large rocks. I had seen an article about her in one of my crafts magazines a couple years ago. They sell the rock on a turntable so you can view each side easily--she painted lots of the local buildings and houses so it was fun to see ones we recognized.

Glad you can start to get back to normal. Always nice to have company, but also nice when they go and things settle back into our comfortable routines!

GD will be over today, so know I will be busy. Right now I need to go get my tennis shoes on, DH and I are heading out for a walk with the two dogs.

I'll catch you later.

Luvs

Hey...I went by the TS this morning and OH MY GOODNESS!! It was sooooo packed! It was a shopping frenzy! Cannot believe all the people in there. Hope the newness wears off before winter gets here so I can go there to get my fix without driving across town. ha Managed to squeeze back to the book section and found 10 pattern books:

Andi's Summer Package by Andrea Lyness (super cute witch and Uncle Sam)

Sunshine Stars n Stripes by Annette Ward (some Easter and 4th of July patterns)

We've Just Begun BkII by Barbara Lloyd (found a pilgrim girl that I have 2 cutouts for so wanted that pattern)

Cock-a-doodle-doo by Rebecca Carter (designs for chalk boards with chickens and farm animals & angels)

Mrs. Pi Wackett & Friends by Jill Webster(black cats, crows and fall stuff)

The Kringle Collection by Eliza Jane Originals(tree santas & more)

Lots of Santas by Margaret Wilburn (santas of course)

Talk Blocks & More vol II by Janelle Harder (crows and sunflowers)

A Time & SEason for Guardian Angels by REbecca Carter (birds and angels)

The Magic of the Season by Jill Webster (cute papier mache boxes, penguins and snowmen)

They were .50 cents each. I didn't have time to look thru them very good cause I was being bumped by the 2 people behind me trying to butt (It was sooo packed!) but if I saw at least one thing in them that caught my eye I got it for that price. There were probably 30+ books that I went thru so I didn't do too much damage to my wallet by taking 10. I'd pay much more than that for one new book. Also got a sequel to a book DD's been reading and a couple of how to draw books for the kids too. Think I'll wait a week or so before I go back to let the crowds die down! ha It's a huge store. ~Anj

Wow! You made out like a bandit, Anj. Many of those sound familiar. I've used patterns from Andrea Lyness, Rebecca Carter, Margaret Wilburn, Annette Ward and Barbara Lloyd. I still have books by some of them. Not sure if any are the same as these you found or not. Like you, even if I saw just one pattern I liked, it would be worth the 50 cents. Books now are $10.95 and up, and just one pattern pack is $7.50 and up. And now I sometimes look at some of the shapes and see if I want to "redesign" it into something else! Not successful at that too often, but sometimes. You were very brave to venture into all the crowds of people. Just tells us that we are not the only ones looking for bargains, doesn't it? LOL

I always feel like I am missing good finds and bargains because I am timid about going to YS/GS by myself too. Always think how thrilling it would be to run across a painter getting rid of a bunch of books! LOL

I've got the background painted for a couple of projects, hope to get to work painting them this week. I got most of my house cleaning done today, and did the sheets too, so should have lots of free time to paint now.

Has your household settled back into the normal routine now? Think you said the kids were out of school today and tomorrow, so sure you are still busy doing things with them.

I hope the crowds die down at that new store soon too--does it seem to have pretty good prices? We have a new GW, but it does seem a little higher than the others. Naturally it is closer than the others! LOL

I'll talk with you later. Luvs