Coming your way! Last week I completed a training class to be a certified Logan Mat Cutting instructor. Classes will be held at AC Moore stores in certain areas so keep your eyes out for more info in your local store. If you don't see anything and are interested in learning more, Logan is still looking for teachers, experience helpful. Contact Connie Cook at www.logangraphic.com. Hayward and I had the pleasure of attending a York Revolutions baseball game yesterday in York, PA with my friend Stephen (since second grade) and his wife Nancy. What a fun time! The town is just beautiful and the stadium was full of folks from the community having a good time enjoying the perfect weather. In between innings there was sumo wrestling, little kids doing sack races, free t-shirts being launched from gigantic rubber band catapults, contests, etc. Plus their hot dogs were, well, everything a hot dog eaten during a baseball game should be. To make things extra special, we were in the company of a celebrity- Nancy has worked on the committee that actually built the stadium and we saw her name right in the entrance on an mpressive brass plaque- yeah- she's my peep :-) uh huh... Wish we lived closer- I'd be there a lot. Which makes me think about how lucky I am living where I do- 25 miles from DC and all the museums and landmarks. When we moved here I decided to take the kids in and visit once a week. We did for a few weeks but then they made friends and decided the pool was more fun- and it was sure easier than loading everyone up for a day in DC. But now I am free to go where I want and don't! OK, note to self- go exploring!

No photo tonight. I am just trying to keep to 5 blogs a week! I finally decided I would again hold the annual Barn Sale here November 21-22. We bought our house from a guy who was a (an?) historical preservationist. He would take old buildings down, number the parts and reconstruct them elsewhere. As a result, we have a very cool 1888 barn in our back yard. So every year I invite crafting buddies of mine to set up our wares boutique style and pack the place. It's a very fun event- exhausting getting ready for- but so great to see friends from church, school, scouts, NJROTC, military, etc. This year I had to change the weekend we usually have it so hope the vendors can still come. Somehow, we always wind up with just the right numbe of folks. My sister and Mom come down from NY to do the show and everyone winds up visiting, eating, shopping and lots of TALKING! Last year, I had a big banner on the barn door which hundreds of people signed. I brought it up to Chris at Thanksgiving- he was just home from Iraq and he was quite touched that people had thought of him and had been keeping him in their thoughts and prayers. Can't believe it has been almost a year already and he's preparing to go back there :-( . I can only hope that God will keep him safe again. So tonight I was sending out the paperwork to the vendors to see if they would like to participate again. Monday night I return to school. I'll be attending 3 classes at NOVA. Subject matter- learning computer graphic programs. It will probably be painful but something has to sink in... I'm hoping, anyway.

Here's what I found at the thrift store on Saturday. All for less than $5 total! Stay tuned for the metamorphosis into a cool new item.... Today Hayward and I cleaned the garage and got rid of a bunch of stuff on Freecycle. If you don't know what that is, you need to find out about the group in your area. All items are totally free and it's basically a forum where you post what you are offering and what you are looking for. The group I'm in is very active (Be prepared to get LOTS of emails)... but it's interesting to see what all comes up. Today I posted a karaoke machine, small toaster oven, book on tape and portable sishwasher. While at the computer posting them, I noticed a Pottery Barn white rolling office chair come up and I immediately replied and wound up getting it- it's beautiful- like new. And I think everything I had to give is gone- not sure about the dishwasher but someone's coming to look at it tomorrow. Find out more at Freecycle.org and then type in your area/town. You'll need a yahoo email address. Each group has different rules so check it out. To me, it just makes sense- we're a bunch of people saving perfectly good items from our landfills.