I work hard. For dog clothes.

You are going to be mildly impressed blown away by this post.

No, really.

I'm normally not too keen on wrapping up my weekends here, mostly because nothing happens besides the typical 30hr felting session//craft show//zombie movie marathon//remembering loved ones who have passed.  But this past weekend was just too much to not share.

Too. Much.

Day One: my very first auction.  I can't find the words...no I can find the words, I just can't arrange them into a sentence that conveys how exciting this was for me. 

Thank you bullets:

• I love junk.
• I love to repurpose junk.
• I love working for my junk.
• I love a good deal.
• I love old stuff.
• I love watching people.
• I love imagining why anyone would want German woodcut figurines.
• I love out-of-the-ordinary activities.

While driving home with my mom, my sister, our junk, and her 1860's drop leaf table she got for $17.50thankyouverymuch:

"Hi honey (this is my mom on the phone to my dad), we're just on our way home from an auction......Yeah, an auction.  Stacie dragged us to it......(to me)  Your father said that had you written all over it."

I may or may not have ended up with $13 in goods by way of a paddle-happy sister.  But in her defense she was sure I needed a gold framed oval mirror.

Also Day One: Mr. Oliver T. Lucas is now the proud owner of a brand new rain jacket!

He hates it, but we are hoping he'll grow to appreciate it on those days we would normally have to call off walks due to inclement weather (drizzle).

"Yay, Oliver has a rain jacket!"

"Yaaay....you do realize this means we have to walk him in the rain, right?"

"......oh."

One More Thing About Day One:  turkey sandwich. 

What?!  It was a great sandwich.

Day Two:  shopping and holiday coffee and nap and zombies. 

At the end of this day I had Christmas gift ideas, one shirt I don't need, another shirt I'll wear once this year, peppermint mocha in my belly, one hour of uninterrupted snuggle time with the dog, and my weekly fix of zombie apocalypse.

At The Very End of Day Two: banana split.

My current vice.  Don't judge.

...

Of course there was some work to be done.  Which I did.  Because those four necklaces, 13 baby headbands and acorn ornaments can't make themselves, am I right? or am I right?! or am I right?!?

And that brings us to Monday.

Aren't Mondays easier when you know there's an eatin' holiday coming up?

Is this just me?

Nuts. And other related items.

Can I tell you, I've written this post three different times.

You're looking at attempt number four.

And if you are actually looking at it that means I GOT ONE THAT WORKS!  Finally....

I've been trying to tell you how much I love, love, love fall but every time I get going I'm all "let's talk about every single detail of why marching band is just the absolute funnest thing in the whole entire world!!"

Because that's what goes on now through October.  For four years band was my life and my life was cool.

And then I scratch that post because you're not here for the Life & Times of a High School Trombonist.  So I start over.  But then I'm goofy over Purdue football.

Ok, so what if you almost dated Drew Brees's cousin.

You're impressed.  Right?  Is that what I'm sensing here?

(But srsly, there's nothing better than Big 10 football.  Look it up, I'm pretty sure it's a proven fact.)

But then I'm like, "really, did you really just go there?"

And then I go, "well yeah, it's probably my only claim to fame.  Ever."

So I say, "what about that time you literally ran into Lucy Lui in NYC?"

And I'm like, "ok, but that was different.  I didn't want her signing my umbrella and she was pissy."

And then I go, "fair enough."

People.  Friends.  You, sitting there still trying to decide why you came here in the first place.  I'm getting all carried away with myself because there is just too much to say why I love this season that is only 22 days away!

So I'm pretty much not going to say any of it.

I'm kinda doing you a favor anyway.  My love of apple cider vs. its reign of terror inside my upper GI is probably not going to put this post at the top of your "Faves" list.

What is going to put it at the top of your faves, you ask?

Maybe this:

Well, hello little darlins'.

Fall is when those pesky squirrels start stockpiling acorns.  They take the good nut-parts, stuff 'em in their squirrelly little cheeks, and chuck the leftovers, the acorn hats if you will, at my head, the hood of my car, and dirty pigeons.

Their loss = my gain.

Suckers.

But I exaggerate.  I really do like squirrels.

And for the record I do not condone the throwing of acorn waste, rocks, yorkies, etc. at dirty pigeons.

They can't help it that they were made to have such a high tolerance for dirt and rabies and stuff.

So I take those acorn hats and turn them into cheery little table decorations with felted wool balls as the "acorn."  It's like taking one part of nature and putting it with another part of nature to get a nature hybrid.

How environmentally forward am I?  Pssshaw.

You can leave them alone, scattered on a table.  Or pair them with a mixture of dried fall leaves and berries and stuff.  Or you can decide Stacie has zero interior decorating skills and do something that is "in" right now.

But for now we wait.

We wait for those danged little squirrels to get hungry and then pesky.

We wait for the leaves to change and for the sounds of baritones and tubas in the morning.

...

At least there's still time while we wait to enjoy that last few perks of summer.

With that said, will you please excuse me.  I believe there is something that needs to be grilled.