I found the ribbon...I found the ribbon!

Finally! After searching all day, I discovered the purple ribbon that I totally hid from myself. It wasn't even in plain site, so I don't feel so stupid anymore. So, here is my creation....a purple Halloween wreath that even lights up if I want it to, but I like it just as much without the lights. Now I have to store it up in the attic with all the Halloween decorations that I didn't drag out this year. I looooove this holiday and I usually create a scary basement but with all the construction, I couldn't bare to bring myself clutter the house anymore than it already is. I also made a Super Hero cape for Sam....but I didn't get a pic tonight of it. I'll make him model it tomorrow. I only had a days notice and didn't get to the store to buy fabric until well into the afternoon, so it was a quickie job. Everyone seems impressed. I would have liked a longer cape but I would have needed more fabric and I bought all that was left. I made do, so to speak, but you'll see what I mean. I hope everyone had a spooky night. We gave away more candy than we have in years. The weather was so mild that I think it encouraged people to hit the streets.

Get this candy outta this house...NOW!

Oh man, we have a problem. The candy must go. Why? I'll tell you why. I'm eating the stupid stuff because I have no self control. Shhhhheeeeeeesssssshhhhh! I'm not the only one. I saw Nancy hiding Reece's Peanutbutter Cups that she took out of the treat bowl last night. She thought she was being clever by spreading the candy out in the bowl so it didn't look like anyone was in it. I said, "Nancy! Have you been sneaking stuff out of this bowl?" She said, "Ummmm." To which I said, " You know I counted all the treats...I totally know how many there are." Then we started laughing and she said she has no control. Yes, people, that means we MUST get rid of all the candy tonight or people will start confusing me with bowling balls or beached whales. It's bad enough already...I don't want to add to peoples confusion.

To add to my wicked emotional state, I still have not found that stinkin' roll of purple wire ribbon. I'd scream but I'm afraid the trick or treaters will hear and won't come to our house.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to everyone!!

PS~ I'm not watching a scary movie...just so you know.

Where is it!

I bought a roll of purple wire ribbon this afternoon. I know I brought it home. I saw it before I started working on Sam's Super hero cape. Can I find it now? Hell no. I have looked for the last 30 minutes and I'm starting to get really pissed off. I want to finish off my Halloween wreath. All I need is the ribbon. Grrrr.

Look what Aunt Vickie sent me...

Every once in a while I get mail from my Aunt Vickie. I usually say the same thing out loud when I notice the return address. "Oh dear Lord, what is that woman up to now!" Then I say a quick prayer that the package or envelope doesn't contain a boobie trap. Hey, you have to be on your toes in this family. It turns out that Vickie was cleaning out a closet and came across these pictures of my Second Birthday party in May of '72. Vickie has said before that it was a memorable day for her because she'd been out partying the entire night before because it was her High School prom. She forced her boyfriend...later to become her hubby and my Uncle John to attend my birthday party too. Hey, if she had to suffer through a family event on no sleep, poor John was going too. That is me with my Grandma Slater..aka Martha, in the top photo. She's the only Grandparent that I have left, the rest have all passed away and I'm sad to say that Grandma's time is coming to an end. She's confused a lot and her skin is so thin. I know she suffers and that is why I find myself hoping that she passes peacefully in her sleep and then there are times I can't bare to think about it and I just want to hold on for a little longer. Time has a way of marching on though, doesn't it.
Now, I have no idea why I am in a different outfit in the bottom picture. Maybe it was a new outfit, perhaps I was covered in cake and had to change. What do I know, I was two years old. Anyway, Grandma had me standing on the table. I needed this picture the other day when I blogged about grand kids getting away with anything. Ah, I wish my hair was still Strawberry Blonde. Sure I could dye it but then I would have to keep touching up the roots....blah, I don't want to mess with that. Vickie had a few questions about this picture. I'll answer them on my blog. She wanted to know if that was my Dad at the end of the table behind me (just under my hand). The answer is yes...he had hair back then. Looks like they had a card game going....nothing new there, they always had/have a card game going. Then she asked who was sitting by John. I totally know. For everyone else's benefit, I will let you know that my Grandpa Virgil Slater is being blocked by Grandma Slater's arms and Grandpa Kaster is over there too but I only know that because I have seen other pictures of that day and I know they were sitting next to each other. Across the table we have Uncle Jim in the green shirt, Uncle John in the stripped shirt, Aunt Vickie standing over him, keeping him in line, no doubt...and the person on the other side is Uncle Gary. I know this because I remember seeing a picture that my Mom has and Gary is scooping out ice cream at my party. It's the same hairdo. Vickie also wanted to know why there was only one light bulb in the fixture above. Maybe because it was an over watt bulb and one was enough to light the room. Honestly, who wants to really look at family anyway...they can be scary. lol. Of course Mom and Dad were very young parents, not even close to 25 at the time these pictures were taken, so maybe they couldn't afford more bulbs. I DON'T KNOW. I'm sure Mom will comment and give us her incite, or lack of it.
Thanks for the pictures Aunt Vickie...I love them. I would have totally cut you some slack if it has not been for this comment in your letter, "You were so cute then. What happened?" lol, nice, very nice. You will pay for that, you know that, right. Stay tuned, I'm going to post about Dad teaching Vickie how to drive. It's a fun story. I might even throw in the story about how she got her head caught in the steering wheel of a 1960-something mustang. She will never come clean with the real story, so I will just have to improvise. Mine will be better anyway and may include brief descriptions of nudity. YEAH, it will be gooooood.

Don't forget to ENTER the CONTEST below...

No Fair!

Everyone gets to play with my Rue...everyone but me. That is my second cousin Roxanne (she's actually my Dad's cousin but she's a year younger than me.) making MY Rue happy at the big Lade Family reunion earlier this month. Dang it. Dang it. Dang it. No, its OK, I have dibs on Christmas vacation, so I will be getting my Rue-Rue time. See Rue's horns? Her bangs were so long they were getting in her eyes and bugging her so my Sister but the little pony tails in her hair. She had a hair cut last week and they trimmed up her bangs. When Janice was trimming her hair she said that Rue sat still better than most 5 or 6 year olds....actual, she sat still better than her Grandpa. My Dad thought that comment was a hoot.
I did get to talk to Rue on the phone today...but she hung up on me twice. Not on purpose...of course. I'm going through Rue-Rue withdrawls. Christmas can't get here soon enough, it really can't.

OK, show Grammy where Middle C is located.

Grandchildren have it easy. I know for a fact that my Mother never would have allowed me to stand on her piano bench....never ever....EVER. To prove it, i'm going to try it when I go home for Christmas....I bet she yells at me. On top of that, she never would have let us bang on random keys for enjoyment purposes. Rue sure gets to. Yep, that is what its all about, torment your children and let your Grandchildren do any darn thing they want to do. It's OK. I know, I had Grandparents too. Shoot, that is why we used to love going to Grandma Kaster's house. She'd let us do about anything we wanted to do. You want a half a container of cool whip on your slice of pie...you got it. Another soda, sure, it didn't matter that you had already had 4. You wanted to eat dill pickles and ice cream, sure, whatever strikes your fancy. Plus you always went home with a pocket full of pennies and a sugar high that almost took signing into a detox clinic to come down off of. Grandma Slater was a little more strict but she still let you get away with stuff too. She had wind chimes hanging in each door frame on the first floor of the house and she'd let you run in circles through the house, smacking those chimes, so that they were always making noise. (Though secretly, I think she let us do that so we would crash early and she would have some peace and quiet.) You could sit under the table while the grown ups played cards and try to tie Great Uncle Rays shoe laces together. Ahhh, yes, those were the days.

Ouchie Mama!

Thank good I didn't wear leather shoes. It could have been so much worse. At this point, I can't imagine that, but I'm sure its true. As it is, I'm going to be wearing flip flops for at least a week. It better not get much colder or I'm going to be pissed. Stupid frigging blisters. That is what happens when its raining like crazy and your Nike sneakers get wet, then your socks start to slip around and before long, you start walking like you are 100 years old. Yep, those are juicy blusters too. Thank goodness they didn't pop or I would be very very unhappy as apposed to just mildly unhappy. Believe me, there is a difference. The worst part of the whole deal is that I wanted to go on a haunted walking tour with Raine and Chris. Oy Friggin Vey....it put a damper on my fun, that is for darn sure. I did have a good time at lunch and during the Frankenstein the Musical. I got to see the Monsters moobs. For those of you not in the know...moobs are man boobs. Raine pointed them out to me....not that you could miss them. I also enjoyed watching the monster spray everywhere. He was spitting up a storm while he sang. Somehow, I found it entertaining. They had just enough back lighting to make it stand out perfectly. The best part is when he was at the end of the stage and belted out a few notes, and the spray went out into the audience because the ladies in front of me jumped or flinched, depending on how you looked at it. They were in the second row, so they were safe...but it made me laugh. That and the fact that I knew I was safe if the spit did set a world record for travel because they were blocking the slobber with their big melon heads. Yeah, so besides the blisters, I had a good day, but I always have a good time with Raine...and Chris, I can't leave him out or he will get upset.

"Raine Recommends" things you should know about Nett

Test your knowledge about Nett. Answer the questions below for your chance to win a secret prize!

(All comments in red are by Netter, Everything else is from Raine)
**note about the picture: My hair was a mess, I wasn't wearing makeup, I have crazy eyes and I'm not sure you can tell, but my glasses got stuck in my hair and were hanging backwards and upside down. That's what I get for using them to push my hair back. Raine wanted me to add it and since this is her show...she gets what she wants. Now on with the show.

CONTEST RULES...because we need rules.

1)DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS AS A COMMENT, instead send them to Frankland@gmail.com
2)The contest will run for one week from the date it is posted. so the deadline is midnight on November 2, 2007.
3)Asking Netter what her answer would be, is not allowed. She's not going to help anyone win or she will suffer the wrath of Rain. Trust me, you don't want to be on Rain's shit list.
4)You don't necessarily have to get all the questions right and points will be awarded for the most creative. This scares me a little, but you just as well have fun with it

Rain has a prize package all ready to go and here's the Blog Quiz.

1) What is Annette's middle name? Extra points: what is the correct
spelling?
2) What creature is Millie Kaster (Nett's mom) deathly afraid of?
3) When is Netter's birthday?
4) Allen Kaster (Nett's dad) makes the best ever what?
5) What is Annette's favorite Christmas movie?
6) What shape does Annette love to collect?
7) True or false Annette likes S&M? Raine! OMG, I can't believe you stuck that question in there...for shame, for shame...lol. Raine, do you even know the real answer to that question or are you winging it?!
8) What U.S. States has Annette NOT visited?
9) What is Annette's niece's name? (Too easy, I know but I'm throwing you a bone here people)
10) What was the name of Annette's cat when she was little? I actually had two cats during my childhood...can you name them both?

HINT: The answers to nearly all of these questions are mentioned in posts on this blog

BONUS #1: What is Annette doing in a picture that Rain has that Annette
would KILL Rain for if Rain ever posted the pic? I swear! I SWEAR... that sucker better never see the light of day because I found the duplicate of the picture you made me destroy of you. No, that isn't a treat, I'm just saying, that's all...

BONUS #2: What nationality of men does Annette seem to romantically prefer? lol..sheesh, do we even agree on this?

BONUS #3: What is the last scary movie Annette watched in the theater? Why did I go to that movie?!

Don't forget to enter the Netter Contest, below!

Look, there's a Leach in the dirt!

Jim Leach, that is. Jim has been hard at work putting in raised garden beds. I have been helping him cut the cedar for the beds and let me tell you, he has some large planks that he is cutting. Raine said she wanted to see a picture of Jim, with his wild hair and dirt on his face. Jim's always a good sport so he played along.
I'm supposed to go back and help him on Sunday. I think we are going to put in the posts for the garden beds. All I know is he said its something that Jean can't do, but I can because I'm far stronger. I'm the work horse...I get the job done. He wanted me to come tomorrow but I plans for a trip into NYC to see a show and to go on a haunted walking tour with Raine and Chris. When the garden project is done, I'll take pictures.

It's time for some fall crafting...

I had some Indian corn and some fall artificial leaves that someone had given me some years ago so I decided instead of letting them sit around collecting dust, it was time to spice them up. Hence, my wall hangings. I like the baby corn bunch the best but the other one is fine and dandy too. I had another large one that I used red leaves on and different ribbon but I sent it to someone before I was remembered to take a picture of it. Once it was all packaged up, I wasn't about to tear open the box.
I'm trying to use up the supplies I have because I have a lot of craft stuff. I won't let myself buy anything else unless I need it to get rid of stuff I already have. It's fall cleaning time.
I told my Mom she could have one of these if she liked it. They are looking for homes.

I'm back!

It's been so crazy around this house, its not even funny anymore. The kitchen is almost back together and we don't have boxes littering the living room anymore. The only problem now is the driveway is torn up and waiting to be resurfaced. The problem with that is all the sand and crap people are dragging in on their feet. I like to go barefoot around the house, but I feel like I'm at the beach, no matter how many times I sweep. It's getting old.

The good news is that I'm going to be free to blog more. I know some of you have missed my odd behavior and random blogging. As a good friend recently described viewing my blog, "It's like taking a Netter Vacation." Awwww, isn't that sweet. Yeah, its true, if you are bored at work and looking for something to do instead of stressing over deadlines, I'm the gal to visit. I'm even feeling crafty these days. How refreshing is that after a long dry spell. Let's face it, its hard to work on crafts when every square inch of the house is filled with drywall dust and every few minutes a contractor is calling your name to keep you updated on all the setbacks and minor disasters befalling the house you live in. It bites, people, it really does.

Before I forget, I have an announcement to make. My friend Raine has decided that it is time for a contest on my site. She's created something and has a prize package all ready. I just have to post the contest for her. First she has to send me this nutty picture of me that she wants to be posted with the contest. If I remember correctly, its a terrible picture, yet its funny, so I can't say no. Well, that and she pinches hard if she gets mad at you and I bruise easily.

I'm off to bed. See you later.

Another quiz...but basically spot on.

you are lightcyan #E0FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Not bad...

 Remember a while back I blogged about Kashi letting you trade in your normal snack for a Kashi semi-healthy snack. Well I got my cookie in the mail the other day and let me tell you. It was yummy. It was the high point to my day. Sad, isn't it. Yeah well...I'm in contractor hell here, so don't judge me. Some day, things will be normal around here. Some day we won't have a bajillon boxes of kitchen crap sitting around the house. Oh yes, some day....

Grrrr

 Nancy was away last week...Cliff was away for two days. He came home early actually, which is nice but the following morning I found this message on the dry-erase board. This was his subtle way of saying..."Annette, what did you do with my keys that were supposed to be on the fridge." Trust me, I know how he operates. He even came down stairs in the morning...around 6 AM, flipped on the office light and sighed loudly in an attempt to wake me up. I'd put money on it. I had left my bedroom door slightly ajar when I went to bed the night before but I was no dumby, I played possom and didn't move. I know that 6AM is way to early for me to deal with Cliff. He shut the light back off and went upstairs. I heard him stomping around the house and finally he left at 6:30. I got up, threw on some clothes and went outside to drag the garbage to the curb. The van was gone and the Honda was still in the driveway. They always take the Honda to the train station. Hmmmmm. I found the note on the fridge and started laughing. I knew exactly what happened.
On Tuesday morning, Cliff took the Honda to the train station. He was going to work and then taking a car service to CT for a business meeting and would come back later in the week. WE don't leave the cars at the station because they have had people break into the cars in the past. I had taken Emily with me...she drove the Van home and I drove the Honda and parked it in our driveway. Now, I used my key because Cliff had his. We keep Cliff's keys on the fridge or he can't find them. I kid you not. The man doesn't even have a key to his own house because he can't keep track of them. Nancy will agree, that if keys go missing around here, you can bet that Cliff had them. We always search his belongings first and always get lucky and discover them in a pocket of a jacket or in the bottom of his breifcase. I knew the reason that the key to the Honda wasn't on the fridge is because Cliff never put it back when he got back from his business trip, so I emailed him.

"Good Morning Cliff, I saw your note. The reason your key wasn't on the fridge is because you didn't put it back when you got back from your trip. I picked up the Honda from the train station with my key. I'm sure if you check your briefcase or where ever you put it when you locked the doors the other day, you will find it where you left it. Let me know if you can't find it. I'll have to have another copy made and they are about $95.00 each because it has the remote with it. Have a good day. Nett"

About three minutes later I get this email reply. "I'm an idiot. The key was in my breifcase. Sorry."

Uh huh.....yep, yep...just another day around here. Just another typical day. He even apologized when he got home so he's back in my good graces.

Look what blew in on the wind...

 It sure wasn't Mary Poppins or a farm house from Kansas. We had a bad storm blow in off the ocean last Thursday. There were two rotating cells that straddled us and therefore we were in a tornado warning. Sam was bugging out but I told him, "Listen, I grew up in tornado alley. You don't need to worry until I tell you to haul ass to the basement." It wasn't that bad out. I was cooking while I was watching the weather unfold and I was watching the track of the closest rotating cell that was tracking right next to us across Point Lookout and heading to Bay Colony, which is in our backyard out on the bay. The wind was fierce, the waves high, the lightening was flashing, the sky dark...but alas no tornado formed. At one point, just after it had passed, I went outside to see how the ropes on the boat were doing. The new weigh system that holds the boat away from the dock worked great but I was worried that one of the ropes would break because it was a little bit older than the other ropes. I opened the patio door on to the deck and suddenly heard this loud "WHAM", then again..."WHAM"...then again. I booked it down to the bulkhead to discover one of the large 5 mile per hour buoys broke loose from its chain and was slamming with each wave into our neighbors bulkhead. The waves were large and those buoys are heavy. I leaned over the edge and discovered that the thing was leaving huge marks....not good. Now, bulkheads are expensive to repair, our neighbors were not home and I knew I had to do something. I ran in the house and told Emily that I needed her to come outside in the rain with me...in case I fell in the water or something while I was dinking around with the damn marker.
I grabbed a length of rope from the garage, ran back out, got on my knees and tried grabbing the buoy from the front when the wave pushed it into the bulkhead. I got ahold of the metal bar inside the top but let go once I realized I couldn't hold it when the wave pulled back. I then walked onto the ramp onto the dock, got on my knees and leaned way out through the bars to grab the buoy from the side. That was a little easier, because I could sway with the buoy but even then I had to release the buoy a few times before I managed to get the rope in the top and looped off. I hauled the buoy away from the front of the bulkhead and tied it to the cleat on the side of the neighbors dock. It was bouncing against the dock but not with the force that it had been hitting the bulkhead and I knew it was cheaper to replace the side board on the dock than reface the bulkhead.
I was soaked from the rain and spray off the water. I went inside and checked my dinner and then I was going to run next door to leave a note about the buoy. Paula must have just arrived home because I saw her car was in the driveway. I rang the bell. She tried to get me to come in but I refused to drip all over her home. I explained what I did and she was so funny. She said, "Annette to the rescue again." and thanked me for taking care of it. She said Jeff wouldn't be home until late and she would not have known what to do and even if she did, would have been to scared to do what I did. I'm not much of a nervous Nelly, that is for sure. Anyway, I went out the next morning and took a picture of the buoy...for blogging sake. Let's face it...I have not been blogging lately. Things have been crazy. I have not done a single craft. I did read a book though, which I placed on the Bloggers Book Club. I just have been in such a rut with everything around here. It's never ending. I'm in the whole, "don't say anything if you can't say something nice" mode. That is why I have been MIA. I'm about to the point where I have to start venting or I will burst. The back of the house was resided in hopes that they could keep the house from leaking. Well, lets just say, that during the storm, I used ever single spare towel in the house. We had leaks in the same spots. One spot was far less severe but the dining room bay window was terrible. The guys are coming back on Tuesday. They are taking a garden hose to the back of the house, until they find where the water is getting in. The upstairs bathroom didn't leak once while the cabinets were off the wall....BUT once the cabinet was secured and every thing was about finished, water from the shower started pouring onto our new stove through our new cabinet and right over the front of our new convection microwave. YES, Murphy's Law is residing at our house until further notice. So, please, take advantage of this and get all of your important projects done while we entertain the doom and gloom here. Act fast, because one of these days our house guest is going to get sick of us and move on to its next victim. Until then, I will continue to shuffle around the house shouting, CALGON...TAKE ME AWAY!" and pouting when more stuff goes wrong. I usually just try to laugh our disasters off....but I'm way beyond that at this point. The humor has left the building, people. It's like I live in a giant cocoon and it looks strangely like a lemon.

Home free.....YESSSS!

I got a summons to do Jury Duty this last week. I had to call in everyday after 5PM to see if I had to go in the following day. Lucky me...I had a large Juror number and they never got to me. I was dismissed and now I'm free from it for another four years. Oh yeah, life is good. I swear the summons could not have arrived at a worse time. We had guys schedualed for lots of work around this house. Especially the floor instilation which I cancelled once already. Well, I lucked out and got away without fulfilling my civic duty. I'm sure they will catch me the next time around.

Taking a whirl...

 Rue had a blast at the County Fair. She wasn't to sure about the merry-go-round at first but after a little while, she was having a blast. Actually, we are not sure who had more fun, Rue or her PaPa. I'm sure it was a pretty tight race. I've been waiting for these pics for a month! A month.....sigh.

My Niece Rue won!

Every year at the Johnson County Fair, they have a cutest baby contest. Once long ago, my Cousin Jeff won. I remember seeing the trophy at his Parents house, years ago. This year, our little Rue won. The pic on the newspaper clipping isn't Rue, its just a random picture that they used....but the picture below is the picture that she won with. The color is off so you can't see her pretty bright blue eyes and I can't find my copy of it. Snapfish isn't cooperating with me tonight.  

 

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Rue Rue is going to be a teddy bear. Her Auntie Nett went shopping for her costume over the weekend and after much deliberating, the bear won out over the kitten and the bunny outfit. Let's face it, Sugar Bear, needs a big Sister and since Rue adores her Sugar Bear so much, who better to fill the fur. Sure she is to small to eat any of the treats...but she still has to go trick or treating at her Great Aunt and Uncles homes. She has to hit her Grammy and PaPa's house, her friend Taryn's house across the street, and her many admireors too. She's mighty popular these days. Aunt Nett has a fun care package for her, since she can't go trick or treating at my house. OK, seriously, how cute is she going to be in that costume?!