Operation Christmas Cookie

Mom and I spent the whole weekend making Christmas cookies. Three pounds of butter, 12 and half cups of flour, and lots of laughing later, we finished with pretty spectacular results!

And the mower got the last word...

Yesterday was probably my last day mowing grass at work, and it was a little chilly out, so I grabbed my favorite toboggan. I don't usually wear it to work, but it was the only one I could find. It used to look like this one below (which is actually my brother's) but blue.



Now it looks like this:




I had taken it off and put it in my pocket, and it fell out on the ground. I guess the mower was either upset with me or hungry, because it sucked it up and spit it out the other side. I nearly cried, as it's the first thing I really designed (not the hat part - it came from Happy Hooker, but the fleur part). Sure I can make another one, but still, there was my happy, favorite hat in a mangled pile of blue yarn, some purple flung about, full of grass and gunk from under the mower deck. Goodbye, mower, I'm sure I won't miss you, and you won't miss me.

OMG! OMG!

I have a new job! The secretary where I work is leaving, and the powers that be have deemed me worthy enough to take her position. I start next week. I'm nervous and scared and excited. I'm so so glad to have to opportunity to move up some, gain some more professional experience, and learn a lot of new things. I've spent the last three days in intense anticipation, and going around feeling like I'm going to throw up all the time. This is definitely a good change.

Thank you, Josh Ritter

Oh bring me the love that can sweeten a sword
A boat that can love the rocks or the shore
The love of the iceberg reaching out for a wreck
Can you love me like the crosses love the nape of the neck?
- To the Dogs or Whoever from The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

John Deere Green

Dan and I spent the weekend in Muncie at Brandon's, and while there traveled to exciting Jay County, which hosted the 42nd Tri-State Gas Engine & Tractor Association show, and I promised a blog post about it. I attended with the promise of steam engines and Ivanhoe's ice cream afterward. Ivanhoe's became a reality, but the steam tractors were a tad scarce. I think there were 5. Here's one of them, heading up the Tractor Parade.


There were however lots of old tractors, about which the guys were able to reminisce about using as kids. This one is apparently similar to one Dan's family had:

I was a little out of my element there, as I pretty much grew up in the city. Even when I lived in the mountains of West Virginia, it was in a subdivision, and the mall was nearby. The closest thing we had to a tractor when I grew up was Grandpa's John Deere riding mower in Jeffersonville. But I digress: the tractor show. There were also a lot of small engines running, however superfluously, as most were not attached to anything. They just ran. Others were running water pumps or performing some other useful task. This was one my of favorites, mainly because it's the right color:


Also in the parade was this cute train, with the cars made from old barrels:


After wandering around the show for a few hours, it started to rain on us, so we drove (or napped) to Ivanhoe's and ate way too much, because that's what one does at Ivanhoe's. On an unexpected but pleasant detour back into town, we ran into this bridge:


which suffered an unfortunate fate:


In all it was a great (albeit very busy) weekend, definitely good to get out of town, and as always, really great to see some old friends.

State Fair, yo

I have not gone to the State Fair in 20 years. Really, I was 7 and living in Fern Creek at the time. I remember going with a girl from school and Girl Scouts. I remember nothing else. I do know that I hate crowds, and that's why I've stayed away. However my inlaws wanted to go tonight, so we went.



That was dinner. Hot beef sundae. Mashed potatoes, roast beef and gravy, corn, and shredded cheddar, with a cherry tomato on top. Heaven. I will be making this at home this winter.



Information you've always wanted: The winners of the ham contest.



This is what award winning tobacco looks like.



We thought these goats were fighting, but we found out later that it was foreplay.



At 815 pounds this was the biggest pumpkin.



Tater zoo!



We spent the whole time there looking for alpaca. At the last booth, right before we left, this is what we found. The stall was empty, containing only this:



Bastids took my alpaca away...



Good night!

IOU

I owe you guys a couple of blog posts, one with pictures from the Art Car Show last weekend, cake makin', and another about this week's LEO. I don't have the energy for it right now, but, I found out today that someone's been using my Blockbuster account. I got a call that I had some movies that were overdue and became suspicious, as I haven't rented a movie in quite some time, so I called. Someone used my account to rent a couple of movies that I've never heard of. Fortunately they're semi-honest people, because the movies had been returned and my credit card hasn't been charged, and I was able to cancel my account. What I don't understand is how they accessed the account to begin with, as I still have my card.
That's all the excitement I have for now...