. . . a blue ribbon store . . .

. . . and a pink ribbon store . . .

. . . and a green ribbon store . . .

. . . and black . . .

. . . and brown . . .

. . . and aqua . . .

. . . and every other 

color of the rainbow . . .

. . . i mean we're talking about 

a LOT of ribbon . . .

. . . this store 

~ i still call it "ruffler's roost" ~ 

has occupied four different locations

 since i've been shopping there . . .

{i've been shopping there for many, many, many years}

. . . at the second location, 

they kind of changed the name 

{at least on the storefront signage} 

to "ribbons and lace" . . . 

. . . the third location 

was soooooo convenient to me . . .

. . . so i cried just a little 

when they moved 

to their new location 

last month . . .

. . . the sign now says 

"the ribbon store" . . .

. . . this space is lots more,

 well, spacious . . .

. . . but i will be happier 

about driving out to higley to shop

 if/when the construction 

on both roads of the intersection 

is finished . . .

. . . it's a mess . . .

. . . i'd be even more tickled 

if the parking lot was paved . . .

. . . it was pure mud 

when i went last week . . .

. . . today, it was a little drier . . .

{one of about half a dozen aisles, 

this is perhaps my favorite ~ all polka dots}

. . . bottom line is: 

wild horses couldn't keep me 

from this store . . .

. . . i'm a frequent flier there . . .

. . . season tickets, if you will . . .

. . . if you've ever used oops!, 

now you know 

one of my secrets . . .

. . . the voice of the people . . .

. . . so, how's your day been? . . .

. . . the word i'd use to describe mine

 would be: glum . . .

. . . i woke up several times 

during the night 

feeling depressed . . .

. . . but then you know 

what happened? . . .

{it happened for you and for me and for all of us}

. . . the sun did, indeed, come out . . .

{ask my children ~ any one of them ~ how much 

they love my opera-style rendition of "tomorrow" from annie. 

it's spectacular!}

. . . so i got up . . .

. . . got my hair cut and colored . . .

{that always helps}

. . . a fresh mani/pedi . . .

{much needed. see: lots of gardening lately}

. . . boxed up and shipped a package 

to new york . . .

{who would 've thought my two-year-old iPhone 4 

would sell on eBay for $243.50?}

. . . then ~ best of all, 

i went to play the organ 

at the temple . . .

. . . and i know 

tomorrow will be 

a little better . . .

. . . and the next day 

and the next . . .

. . . but some things won't change . . .

. . . the fact is: i believe 

the right man was not elected . . .

. . . the fact is: i will cross my fingers

 and pray like crazy 

that our economy 

will improve . . .

. . . the fact is: i have 

immense admiration 

for mitt and ann 

and their family . . .

. . . the fact is: they handled 

the entire campaign 

with grace and class . . .

. . . i also believe 

in the voice of the people . . .

{even though i think they were waaaaaaay off key}

. . . i allowed myself to pout today . . .

. . . tomorrow i will do my best 

to get over it and move on . . .

. . . because when all is said 

and done . . . 

. . . the fact is: {found in Ether 2:12} . . .

. . . and that's what i'll be trying to do

 each day . . .

. . . on pins and needles . . .

. . . too nervous 

to really post today . . .

. . . please forgive me . . .

. . . on a happy note, though, 

typing is getting easier 

because my nails 

are getting shorter . . .
{chompchompchomp}

. . . twenty-nine and holding . . .

. . . with a three-year-old daughter, 

and a tiny two-week-old baby girl, 

we moved into this home 

in november 1983 . . .

. . . building here 

was an awesome decision 

bill and i made together . . .

. . . staying here all these years 

was also the right thing to do . . .

. . . yes ~ there are 

some cracks in the pool deck, 

a few loose shingles, 

a couple of doors that squeak, 

and lots of empty bedrooms now . . .

. . . but ~ there are also 

wonderful memories, 

great friends and **neighbors, 

the stability we were able 

to give our children, 

and the cozy comfort and shelter 

this home still provides . . .

{go matt [or professor harold hill, as i like to call him] and mitt!}

. . . last year for her birthday, 

we got our home a fresh coat of paint

 on her shutters . . . 

. . . this year, she's accessorized

with a couple of campaign signs . . .

. . . just a subtle reminder 

of what to do tomorrow . . .

. . . please vote . . .

. . . and it'd be great 

if you'd choose the right 

while you're at it! . . .

{**like the neighbor who saw me taking this photo 

and asked if he would be seeing it on my blog later. 

um . . . yes. hi eric!}

. . . memory lane posts 

about our home sweet home . . . 

 here, here, here, here, here, here,

here, here, and {sort of} here

. . . sunday evening with crabby . . .

. . . cam's only crabby 

if his mom 

isn't shoveling in brownies 

and ice cream 

fast enough . . .

. . . after properly signing 

"more" and "please", 

the anticipation is almost more 

than he can bear . . .

. . . then . . . 

. . . finally the reward . . .

. . . followed closely 

by a little yo gabba gabba 

screen time . . . 

. . . and all the crabby is gone,

except the one on his jammies . ..

. . . very very hungry . . .

. . . a couple of years ago, 

tyler worked so hard 

planting twelve hibiscus . . .

. . . and eight arizona yellow bells

 around our pool . . .

. . . that was after he worked so hard

 digging out the stumps of hedges past

 and replacing the drip system . . .

. . . yep ~ he's a keeper . . .

. . . then, sadly, 

one by one, every single 

danged hibiscus died . . .

. . . my yard man told me 

that he'd seen dozens of them 

kicking the bucket around town . . .

. . . one by one, i yanked them out . . .

. . . grrrrr . . .

. . . the yellow bells, however, 

grew like weeds . . .

. . . seriously . . .

. . . i have to cut them back

 all.the.time . . .

. . . but i love the pop of yellow . . . 

{look at the flowers ~ not the quilt}

. . . even through this downpour, 

you can see they were 

green and thriving . . .

. . . then over the course 

of the past two weeks . . .

. . . they started turning brown . . .

. . . and i said a few bad words . . .

. . . and felt horticulturally 

picked on . . .

. . . and i wondered 

what in the world 

are those black specks? . . .

. . . and then i noticed 

something was eating 

my basil, too . . .

. . . some sort of italian pests, 

no doubt . . .

. . . but when i saw 

my beloved coral geraniums 

were being devoured . . .

. . . that was the last straw . . .

. . . i was mad as he** and 

i wasn't going to take it 

any more . . .

. . . apparently, the valley of the sun 

is infested right now by these . . .

{if you have children, i know you've read this book about a thousand times}

. . . technically they are

leaf skeletonizers . . . 

. . . i kept searching 

for one to photograph, 

but was not successful . . .

. . . according to the asu website, 

this is what they look like . . .

. . . bless their fat, slimy 

green little hearts . . .

. . . when i walked 

into my local a&p nursery 

with my chewed up clippings 

safely tucked in a ziploc bag, 

the guy just laughed and said, 

"you're about 

the hundredth person today" . . .

. . . misery does, indeed, 

love company . . .

. . . then he sold me these 

and told me to prune the bushes back

 to practically nothing . . .

. . . which i did, 

and then i sprayed the heck 

out of them . . .

. . . and gave a shot 

to the basil 

and geraniums, too . . .

. . . in case you were wondering . . .

. . . the black specks 

covering the ravaged leaves 

happens to be caterpillar poo . . .

. . . i hate to think 

how much of it i touched . . .

. . . or worse, inhaled, 

in the process of pruning . . .

. . . so if/when 

i start coughing up moths 

in a couple of weeks, 

there is a perfectly 

logical explanation . . .

. . . the edge . . .

. . . i haven't sewn any oops! 

in quite a while . . .

. . . so ~ these are 

some of the first i've made 

with this new batch 

of labels . . .

. . . grey text 

where they used to be brown . . .

. . . just switchin' it up a little . . .

. . . another switch or option, 

if you will . . .

. . . choose eyelet ruffles 

{or the usual pom poms if you want to} 

for the edges . . .

. . . can't get much girlier than that . . .

. . . all dressed up . . .

. . . a romney family 

halloween recap . . .

. . . complete with character photos 

for your reference . . .

. . . marty, the fun-loving zebra 

from madagascar 

is always eager to please . . . 

. . . hayden, the more adorable, 

fun-loving, easy to please zebra . . . 

. . . without the annoying voice 

of chris rock . . .

. . . a red collared dalmation puppy . . .

. . . colby as an 

infinitely more playful 

red collared dalmation puppy . . . 

. . . cranky carl fredrickson from up . . .

. . . slightly cranky 

cameron fredrickson . . . 

{post lasik surgery apparently}

. . . russell, the wilderness explorer,

 from up . . .

. . . enthusiastic elliott as russell . . .

. . . he doesn't especially enjoy playing

 "let's see who can be quiet 

the longest" . . .

. . . his mother, however, 

loves that game . . .

. . . moody james . . .

. . . moody tagg . . .

. . . this kid can hold a grudge . . .

{he had a good excuse. he was sort of flattened by his mom 

and bonked his head pretty hard as she ran 

to save cameron/carl from running into traffic.}

. . . why are edward's eyes green? . . .

. . . wait . . .

. . . so are tate's . . .

. . . and he takes this vampire stuff

 verrrrrrrrrrry seriously . . .

. . . oh, bella . . .

. . . sorry, but halleigh is 

a much prettier vampire . . .

. . . victoria is gorgeous . . .

. . . addison made 

a super beautiful glampire also . . .

. . . looking way too old 

in makeup, fishnets, 

and her mom's wedges . . .

. . . the hansen vampire coven . . .

. . . carl {complete with eyewear} and russell . . .

. . . colby with his masters . . .

. . . and an attempt at a group shot . . .

. . . happy halloween . . . 

. . . now bring on the real holidays! . . .