not killing a single bird with any number of stones.

This weekend was not my weekend.
Just a series of not-quite-working-out-like-i'd-hoped things..

With Christmas and weddings and such around the corner, I had lots of things on my to-do list.
Some of which was cleaning.. We've got a big crowd coming for Christmas, and I need to get the guest rooms (aka, the "unfolded laundry storage area" and "the craft hiding room") ready for company. You want to know how far along I got? I will tell you. I started the washing machine.
Project Clean the Rooms = fail.

In addition to being holiday season, Late fall is also Birthday season in my life. In the circle of friends that I grew up with, all the birthdays are in November and December. In addition, my sisters-in-law are also November babies. However, I missed pretty much the entire first half of November due to my hubby being sick and in the hospital (he's OK now). Seriously, if you've never spent much time in the hospital, it's like a chunk of your life just disappears.
Anyway, to put it simply, I am way (WAY) behind on birthdays and also a housewarming gift for one of those friends. So I had 3 crafty glass art pieces I was going to make for each friend as a gift, out of one large salvaged piece of glass. Personal, homemade, and wall fodder. Great plan.

So I started cutting it with my glass cutting blade.
It was slow going, the blade didn't seem to be doing much, and then:

Awesome. Apparently my $3 glass cutting blade is not rated for tempered glass.
Project Get Caught Up On Gifties = fail.

*BONUS: I also did this particular project on the grass in the front yard, thinking that the cement floor of either the front porch or the carport/workshop would be too hard and would scratch the glass. So when it shattered, there were MILLIONS of tiny shards of glass in my yard... where my dogs and I walk barefoot. Therefore, I had to spend about 3 hours picking up glass shards and then VACUUMING my yard to get as much of the glass up as possible. Yes, I shop-vac'd my yard in the middle of the day.
Project Avoid Looking Crazy = fail.

My other brilliant plan was to make candied pecans to have at christmas time. If you've never had Sahale Snacks' Valdosta Pecans, you're missing out. They are quite possibly the single reason God gave us charge of the pecan trees.. so that one day some glorious person would come along and make Valdosta Pecans. But they're pricey, and I have tons of shelled pecans at my house just waiting to be used in something delicious. So, I thought I'd try to imitate the recipe.
It should be noted here that I have no experience with cooking nuts. None. Zero, Zilch, Nada. I know how to eat them after they've been cooked. I'm a pro at that. But I found a pin on pinterest *surprise* that discussed making candied almonds in a crock pot. it seemed fairly simple: dump ingredients in, stir often, cool. it was going to take 2-3 hours on low.
So I dumped my ingredients in based on the estimated ratio that I remembered from my purchased snack. I figured I could tweak the seasonings a little more later if need be. After 20 minutes on Low, I stirred, as I was supposed to.
Another 20 minutes, Another stir.
Well then I remembered that there was a sale that was starting in 20 minutes. I wasn't going to be around to stir the nuts. My solution: switch the crock pot to the "Hold Warm" setting!
Well I MAY have gotten distracted during the sale... but I came home 3 hours later and my nuts were burned. Completely ruined. It would seem that the "Hold Warm" setting is a slight under statement.
I cried.
Project Make Delicious Happen = fail.

I never got around to the muffins I was going to cook.
Or the movie I was going to watch.
Or the sewing I was hoping to start.

That wasn't even the lot of it. Just one of those weekends that needs a "start over" button.

I did, however, accomplish 2 things:

• Hubby and I finally put the ornaments on the tree. We've had the tree up for a week or so, but hadn't gotten to the ornaments until this weekend. It's so pretty now that everything is done :) . Just in time too, because we got a lot of Christmas presents at that sale that burned my pecans (you see how it's now the sale's fault?)
• And, with the help of a can of spraypaint, I got this old thing looking pretty, to be used in some of those upcoming nuptuals I mentioned:

 

So the weekend was not a total bust. Besides, any weekend I can finish by snuggling on the couch with my family is a good one, as far as I'm concerned.