Morning Post, Take Two

Good morning!

So, why 'Morning Post, Take TWO'? Well, because I was here yesterday morning trying to update the blog, but I felt fairly miserable (hadn't felt great the night before, either) and soon curled up on the couch where I didn't wake up until . . . 12:40 PM!! Good grief! Guess I needed it!

But now, here I am, coffee carafe on the side table to eliminate those bothersome trips downstairs to the kitchen for more java.

First, I have to tell you about the Deal of the Century. And, it's all about beer. Cheap beer, but beer. Hey, beggars (which we are, these days) can't be choosers, right? We were with our friends / the expectant parents both Friday night and Saturday morning. Tom stayed there overnight so that he and J could get out early the final Saturday of deer season, and, after dinner the night before, I returned for breakfast and to see the spoils of the hunt. (More on that later.)

Anyway, over homemade chili Friday night, J pointed at the cans of Milwaukee's Best (as I said, cheap beer) we were drinking and said, "I bought that at the store for $1.99 a 12-pack!" After letting that compute in my tired mind and assuming he meant that it had been mis-priced, I said, "Whoops!" . . . referring to the owner, a mutual friend of us all. "No, no," he said. "The distributor marked it down. It's past its expiration date!" REALLY?? $1.99 for a 12-pack of beer?? "And", he said, "there are a few left, I think."

So, fast forward past a visit to the store, and we are the proud owners of the remaining seven cases of beer . . . for a TOTAL of $13.93! That's 17 cents a can, in case you're keeping track. [An aside, we used to be total beer and wine snobs. Five years ago, had you told me that we'd be buying Milwaukee's Best by the case, I N-E-V-E-R would have believed you. But, as I said, desperate times call for desperate measures! ;)]

Yesterday morning as I waved Tom out of the front yard and down the driveway, as I do each morning, I heard an owl call. This isn't an altogether uncommon thing, but the call was unusual. It wasn't a hoot. It was more of a warble. Like, a contented warble as the fluffy thing sat on its morning roost. I spent about 1/2 an hour yesterday trying to identify it by sound via the Internet but came up with nothing. Hmph. Any ideas? Ruthie?

I do have some super big news to share! For the last many months, a website has been brewing in the minds of both my mom and me. A website to sell her incredible, hand-made baby quilts - the making of which is her passion. And, with me trying to get Chicken Mama's Graphic & Web Design off the ground, we had a great opportunity. So, the last few weeks have been BUSY with set up and design and product descriptions and re-writing and photography . . . and then repeats of all of these 2 or 3 times over until we had something we were both happy with. Enter Mama Pea Quilts!

This last week has been EXHAUSTING with intense finalization, but we finally went LIVE last night, and mass e-mailings advertising this new venture will begin going out today. My mom wrote about her new business on both of her blogs, Mama Pea Quilts (blog) and A Home Grown Journal. Please take a moment or two to check it all out!

The first of the two holiday art sales that I'm participating in this year happens this coming Saturday. And, as usual, I'm woefully unprepared. (Sigh. ONE of these days . . . .) But, I always attack my belated preparation with the same motto: prepare fewer items the very best way possible . . . rather than present more pieces in a slipshod manner. So, you know what I'll be doing the rest of this week BESIDES eating turkey and all the fixins! :)