I'm in my happy season......

I sometimes wonder if I have a sort of reverse seasonal affective disorder? I am a crabby bitch in the heat of the summer. Moody. Irritable. Blah. But then autumn comes and I just want to do stuff! I swear I feel human again! So, I have been doing stuff! I hate to waste even a second of this all too short season. The days from September through December (yes I am a Christmas addict, too!) go by way too fast. Why can't summer go that fast?!?

(In all fairness I should admit that summer in New England can be very beautiful. I don't think there is a time of year when my beloved New England isn't beautiful! But the heat! Ugh! The damn heat and humidity. It just ruins it.)

One very fun fall activity that I look forward to each year is attending Cool Crops with my Mom and friends! Usually we go in early November to the Portsmouth NH weekend but this year we decided to also do the September weekend in Seekonk, MA, which is where I was this past weekend! Oh my freakin crackers did we have a BLAST!!! We know a lot of people that attend, but this year we sat with three Italian ladies from CT that had to be three of the craziest, raunchiest, bawdiest, funniest people I have ever met! There was Antoinette who is a couple years younger than me and she makes me look like   a little Pollyanna! Even my own mother said she never thought she would meet someone with a sicker sense of humor than me! In all honesty I have the sense of humor of a teenage boy. I do. And I don't offend easily. Antoinette, though....I think even I learned a few things from her!!! I laughed so much that I am still hoarse! Then there was Rosie, her aunt who was closer to my Mom's age and their friend Maryanne who is also close to Mom's age.

Just to give you an idea of how crazy Antoinette is, my Mom made this layout of she and my Dad

 Well, Antoinette saw it and just thought my Dad is so cute (he is!).  She just kept telling my Mom how cute he is, which cracked my Mom up, and that she "just wanted to kiss his face," which nearly made my Mom pee her pants! So my Mom, being just as loony as the rest of us, calls my Dad and puts Antoinette on the phone....and she goes and tells him the same thing!!! Bwahh! My Dad's response? 

"is this an obscene phone call?!"

My whole family is out there, I swear! My mother kept egging her on all weekend! I think they called my poor Dad four of five times...and interrupted his poker game! Gasp! But he played right along, too! Crazy I tell ya! Greeks and Italians are crazy!!!

This was one of the more tame things that was said this weekend. I am leaving out a LOT of other stuff because...well, just because! ;-)

I do have to show a pic of the crop BALLS, though!!!

Christa and the BALLS!

Mom and the BALLS! See where I get it from?!?

Maryanne trying to hide the fact that she was grabbing the BALLS!

Antoinette REALLY enjoying the BALLS!!!

Yes there was a big set of BALLS floating around the crop room this weekend. That is all I can say...

Antoinette, Rosie, and Maryanne

Mom and me...a self-portrait

I think Antoinette wanted to steal my Mom and Dad!!! lololol

Yeah, I know, we are looking real pretty but this was early in the morning after a very late night...

This is the only pic of Antoinette and me that I dare share....ha!

Yep! We had a great weekend! However, all of this craziness and BALLS and stuff didn't leave a lot of time for creating. Eh, whatever! I got a few things done and I am OK with that!

I had a great set-up and great intentions though...

And just a few random shots of our crazy group...

Our friends Tracy and Angela

Our friend Tracie from Scrap It Simple

Our table cluster

A wide shot of the room! Scrapbookers are CRAZY!

Like my bow?! I swear to you I never wear bows in my hair...at least not since I was 6! But this past weekend, as we are all painfully aware, was the 9th anniversary of 9/11. So on Saturday all of us at the crop proudly wore and displayed our red white and blue all day. And we observed a moment of silence at 8:46AM, the time the first plane hit the Twin Towers. Even in our moments of joy we must never ever forget...

Now back to happy thoughts!

This is one of the few projects I completed...

Yeah. I'm cool like that.

Cris and Cara, the organizers maintain an ongoing scrapbook of all attendees at different Cool Crops that just keep getting added to. I now have three pages in various books! This year the theme was "What is COOL about me?" Well, duh, for me the answer is obvious...everything.

;-)

It was a great weekend, but I do miss my boys while I am gone. It is always nice to see them on Sunday. And I got to come home to Patriots opening day AND random just because gifts from the hubs! He totally surprised me with two little somethings that he got for me just because he knew I would enjoy them!

A new mug! This is one side.

And this is the other! Amen!!!

And some new "bling!" Patriots bling!!!

It goes with my pink Pats hat!!!

I just love my boys!!!

So, this has gotten to be really long. I should sign off here but I have plenty of other things to post about in the coming days! I will leave with you one more picture.....

Antoinette demonstrates how to eat a cannolli like a lady....