Winter needs to LEAVE! NOW!!! We're trying to chase the winter blues away at work, so someone came up with the idea of a monthly Crockpot Fest. Groups of three work together to prepare a crockpot meal and share with the rest of the gang. It's my group "on deck" this week. Ryan is making his world famous jambalaya, I'm making salad and cheese bread, and Christina is making a crock pot dessert called Triple Chocolate Mess. We'll let you know how it turns out!

Last Saturday a group of Butler University basketball fans got together at a local sports bar and watched the Bulldogs give the Davidson Wildcats a spanking! It was a lively group and lots of fun to cheer together.

It's Been a While...

Wow, where did the last 10 days go? It's been a while since I visited my little blog spot, but I'm back. Finished the knitted headband for my niece...I think it came out cute, if I do say so myself. I mailed it last Thursday, so I'm thinking and just maybe she'll get it today. I'm posting a photo of it that I took just before dropping it in the mail. You'll also see a little tiny card that I made to send along with it. Card-making is another one of my hobbies/passions. As a Human Resource Director, there's not a whole lot of room for creativity (can't get away with making up new rules every other day!), so I guess I need my hobbies to release that "creative urge"!

Anyway, had fun with a friend this weekend helping her shop for all sorts of goodies to spice up her newly painted dining room. Her walls are a beautiful soft yellow with the slightest, slightest hint of pale green in it. They're beautiful! She decided to use turquoise as an accent color, so we shopped for "all-things-thrquoise" and yellow. Found a perfect rug for under her table, great throw pillows, some cool yellow placemats set off with turquoise napkins, some clear water goblets rimmed in turquoise, and several other fun things. We didn't return from shopping until about 10 p.m., but HAD to put everything in place the minute we walked in the front door. What fun! We're going to do a little more shopping tomorrow night.

Enough for now!

Well friends, not much to post today...no cute pictures or catchy tidbits. Did a little knitting on that headband for my niece last night. She asked me to use a soft slate grey alpaca yarn that has just the right amount of "fluff"---not too "foo-foo", but soft and pretty to frame her face. Found it at my favorite yarn shop yesterday and even got help from the ever-delightful shop owner, Natalie, in figuring out how to knit the big flower! I'll try to take a picture of it this weekend so that I can show my progress on the blog next week!

Lots and lots of snow in Northern Indiana, but not as much as Indianapolis. We had about 6 inches and Indy got an amazing 12 inches. Back many years ago when I was in Indianapolis in college (GO BUTLER BULLDOGS!!!) the city didn't have the know-how OR the equipment to deal with big snowstorms. I'm sure that it hasn't changed much! Central Indiana seldom gets much snow.

Will say "goodbye and good luck" tonight to my temporary "roomie". One of my daughter's friends has been staying with me for the past month as she completed a Pharmacy internship here in Ft. Wayne. I'll miss her LOTS...she knew more about all the "in" TV shows than anyone I know! We loved watching "The Bachelor" every Monday night and critiquing everything from clothes to smiles to annoying little habits! Who do you think will win? I have my favorite, but let's hear from you! Anyway, a few of us are getting together and surprising her with a little Farewell Party!

More later...

Found a better picture of the headband. Anybody...can you help?

My niece in Baltimore just sent me a darling picture of a knitted winter headband with has a flower on it (I'll try to import the picture). Does anyone out there know of a knitting pattern for such a flower. Would love, love love to make it for her!

OMG! I just created a blog...inspired by one of my daughter's friends who has an AWESOME wedding blog. Wait until I tell her I did this ALL BY MYSELF!!

Now that I'm here, not sure what to say! Those of you who know me are aware that I love to keep busy with lots of different activities. I work full-time as a Human Resources Director for a GREAT company in Ft. Wayne, IN. When I'm not busy with work, my passions are (in order)

• cooking


• knitting


• card-making


• scrapbooking


• sewing

I'm a single mom...my daughter Annie, is 25 and has been married to Josh for one and a half years. Wish we had known about wedding blogs when working on her wedding. We think it came out splendid, but there certainly are lots of great ideas on the blogs I've seen.

I'm hoping that I can use my blog to keep in touch with family and share some of the things I enjoy. I also hope that I'll meet new folks outside of the family who enjoy the same things I enjoy.

That being said, I'll end today's entry with a shot of my little paradise...my tiny cottage in northern Indiana, passed down through three generations. I cannot imagine being without this little place to go where my soul is fed and my heart is warmed. More later!