well shit. I had a nice long newsy post and I screwed the pooch on that one.

Let's see. I'm still knitting. Just not getting anything finished. The cardigan is still in pieces waiting to be blocked and assembled. The front section of the lacy t-shirt is finished and the back is on the needles. The fir cone lace shawl is in a bag of UFOs in my craft cave. I don't even remember where I am on that one.

My crafting time has been taken up recently by making a tribal style belly dance costume. So far, the bra is covered and there is some trim on it. I had to wait for the coins to get here so I can get them sewn onto it as well. The belt still needs to have some coins sewn on as well as some long ribbons. That green fringe in the photo is from a scarf underneath the belt. I'm also working on a turkish vest (no pictures) and need to get that finished. I have a three-part goal for my halloween party. Make costume, lose weight, create/choreograph a routine. So far, I'm two for three - I can't find a song. I'm still working on that part. It's probably going to be more off the cuff but I still need to get it going.

Other than crafting, I've been working more than I want - 32 hours last week and it's supposed to be about fifteen. Dealing with four kids all summer was draining. We did rent a house in the Outer Banks (North Carolina - specifically Corolla) for a week in August. That was a blast! I had a great time. I was at the beach every morning and afternoon. I tried very hard to avoid the sun and still got a tan! But no one got burned and that's saying something considering both the twins are so darn pale - one a blonde and the other a redhead!

James and Catherine are 2-1/2 years old now. Can you believe that? Potty training is on the horizon but I'm not pushing it. Sometimes they want to sit, sometimes they do not. It's early yet.

My oldest daughter was in Florence, Italy this summer taking some classes, doing some tours, and having a great time. She was ready to come home after the six weeks. Middle son got to do a week of skateboard camp and my oldest son was in summer school for six weeks making up not one world history class, but two.

Celebrated my tenth wedding anniversary with a White Trash wedding anniversary party. Everyone had to come dressed in their white-trashiest and I served a bunch of classics: pigs in blankets, little smokies, mini-corn dogs, saltines, velveeta, and a krispy kreme bread pudding for dessert. Surprisingly, that tasted pretty good albeit way too sweet even for me. I averaged about a party every other month last year. The next party is being planned for Halloween. I was thinking of decorating the house with birds a la Alfred Hitchcock. Perhaps next year - I don't have time to make any birds before then.