I won!

Now, see? All this blog visiting and reading that I do has paid off, in a very nice and surprising way. I actually won a blog giveaway over at the Honour and Love Your Husband blog -- a Dr. Seuss book! I think this is actually the third time I've won something from another blog -- a great package of organization e-books, a revamp of my blog (which I forgot to take advantage of), and now this book. Yay, me! Today was a babysitting day for Brayden, and I have to tell you, it's one of the very few days that I wasn't looking forward to having him with me all day. My back has been giving me more-than-normal problems lately, and when I woke up this morning -- it was definitely in ouchie status. Hurt to turn, hurt to stand for more than a few minutes, just generally hurt no matter what I did. I put on one of those back ache patches and gobbled 3 Motrin, and at least got out of the ouchie stage and into the "ugh, that hurts" stage. Bless his heart, Brayden understands that there are some days my back hurts more than others, and he's pretty good about letting me sit down when I need to, and picking his toys up off the floor for me. Today we actually went on a nice long walk -- exercise seems to help quite a bit. We walked up to the end of our street, then to a street we've not walked on before, and down the street across from us. It was only about a half mile or so, but that's the longest walk he's taken with me. Tonight, I'm tired, though my back feels better than it did this morning. I stayed up last night to listen to Obama acceptance speech, then got up at 5:45 to get ready for Brayden's arrival at 7:00. I somehow managed to get four loads of laundry done (with Brayden's help - he loves to do laundry), and made a dent in the ironing, though I still have a ways to go. Why did I only make a dent in the ironing (as in, two shirts out of twelve)? Because there's a chatty two year old in the room with me. I start ironing and the conversation goes like this. B: Umma, is that iron hot? Me: Yes, it's hot. B: Umma, can I touch it? Me: No, you know you can't touch hot things. B: Umma, is that iron plugged in? Me: Yes, it's plugged in. See? B: Umma, if the iron isn't plugged in, is it hot? Me: It stays hot for a little while. Make sure you don't touch it. B: Can I touch it when it's cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron at all. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch it at all. B: Umma, is the iron hot NOW? Me: Yes, it's hot now. B: Umma, Can I touch it? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron, sweetie. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? .....and round and round we go... When my eyes start crossing at answering the same questions over and over and over again, I tend to give up on that particular activity. I did get some sewing done yesterday. I'm working on the Mary Englebreit placemats that I fell in love with. It's machine applique and I got about 3/4's of the way through one and a second one cut out yesterday afternoon. So pretty! So vintage looking! The next step is some hand embroidery stitches, and I hope to get that done tomorrow evening. Tomorrow my friend Lynn and I are having a "Creative Day" at her house. I will bring my camera so you can see her "studio". Phew.... it's to die for. She and her husband bought a home a few months ago, and the basement was divided into four rooms plus a laundry room, bathroom and full kitchen -- and she claimed the entire floor for her sewing room.... I'm guess it's at least 1200 square feet! It's decorated with antique sewing machines and even an artificial Christmas tree all year long, decorated with sewing notions and supplies! She uses old wooden ironing boards turned into stools at her kitchen island. It's just wonderful and you can't help but feel "motivated" when you're in that space. I'm taking a purse pattern that I've cut out and Brayden's I Spy Quilt to work on. Hopefully we'll motivate each other and get some things done! Still no pictures of Brayden in his Halloween costume. I keep asking my daughter, but to no avail. I would have liked to see how he looked in the costume I worked so hard on! (Was that a poor me moment?) THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR #4

1. My husband's department is finally hiring more people, which will mean less hours for him. YAY!
2. Motrin.
3. Creative Friends who don't mind me hanging out at their house.
4. My grandmother teaching me to knit when I was young.
5. That my husband doesn't mind "quick meals" when I'm too tired to cook.