Blondie Speaks

Explanations.

2009-06-30T10:02:00.011-05:00

I've been absent from this blog for quite a while, and decided that I ought to take a few minutes and share a bit about what's been going on in my life recently.

In short, the past several weeks have been the worst I've ever experienced. I'm at the end of my rope, I don't even know what to do or expect next. I've been trying to go with the flow and make the best of things, but I'm starting to worry about myself and the emotional health of myself and my family, because I don't know how much more that I can take.

Photo credit: somadjinn from morguefile.com

I guess this all really started when I stopped the management job I had at work. It sucked, I really wasn't happy doing it. I had a job offer on the table and I was excited to leave the position I was in to take the new job. Then the new job disappeared- they decided not to change their staffing. I haven't been able to regain my former hours either, so I've gone from working 40 hrs/week to about 20-25 hrs/week. I'm currently looking for a second job to supplement my income, because this sucks.

My sister spent a week in the hospital at the end of April, she'd had an ectopic pregnancy and ended up with over 4 pints of blood in her abdomen. The doctors told her husband that he'd never come that close to losing her again- they were extremely lucky that she survived. I didn't find out until after the fact just how serious this was.

A good friend of Hubby's (and one of the Prince's godfathers) had a heart attack 4 weeks ago. He had 3 stints put into his heart- those arteries were 75%, 85%, and 99% blocked. This happened 5 weeks after his 30th birthday... not what you expect when you're 30!

I took my van to the shop to fix a strange noise. They called me a few hours later and told me that they wouldn't charge me, but suggested that I "get rid of it as soon as possible". We'd planned on keeping it for one or two more years. I spent the next 10 days researching, searching for, and buying a new van. The whole process wasn't tons of fun.

When we picked up the van, it only had one key. A new one is easily over $200 (transponder chip and remote are all on the key). I found some on eBay and took them to get programmed. Turns out that they don't work and I got screwed.

New van had the "service engine soon" light on, so I took it to my mechanic. He said that he thought there was a short in the O2 sensor, because the car's memory said it was an O2 error. He said that if the light came on again, we'd have to replace the sensor. Guess what? It came back on this morning.

The diamond fell out of my engagement ring. I'd worn it to work and noticed it missing the next morning. I'm sure it fell out at work and went down the drain or into the trash. We don't have the money to replace it right now, and our homeowner's insurance deductible is higher than the value of the diamond. For the time being, I'm wearing a fake, because I felt pretty naked not wearing my ring.

Our garbage disposal started leaking (gushing) water. I researched those too (I research most purchases over $100) and installed the new one myself!

Then last night our dryer died. The heating coil sparked, broke, and went kaput. The sparks caused a fire in our laundry room (towels and a rug that were under/behind the dryer). Our whole house filled with smoke and stink, we sent the kids to the neighbor's house while we got the mess cleaned up. And we had the fire department come to make sure that there weren't any hotspots in the dryer vent or anywhere else.

(Thank God this wasn't mine!)

I feel like more has happened that I'm not remembering right now, but that's a pretty good overview of recent events. I'm thankful that Hubby and I are both still employed, but goodness- it's just one thing after another and I feel like I have no control anymore.

Please forgive me for not being around much in blogland lately, I don't feel like I have anything to blog about. I'd like to continue to do the SewConnected group, but just take some time off (a couple more months?), because I'm not sewing right now... just trying to figure out how to get through my life. I'm so sorry for not being good about getting everyone's blocks done and sent off.

edited to add: After I typed this post, I went to get cookie dough out of the chest freezer- cookies sounded like good therapy. They were cold, but not rock hard frozen as they should have been. The chest freezer apparently has also died. Fuck me.

Easter Pics

2009-04-20T14:27:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures of the kids at Easter...

Topsy Turvy and Totally Green

2009-04-20T14:16:00.005-05:00

Have you seen the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter? It's made of a plastic-y fabric, green with a green print. Big and really pretty ugly.

My wonderful Hubby spent yesterday doing some planting. He planted some peppers into our vegetable garden (which hasn't been planted yet this year), potted some herbs and lilies into pots for our front patio, and re-did our strawberry patch yesterday. A few weeks ago he bought one of those Topsy Turvy tomato things and a tomato plant, and it has been hanging in our office window since then. Yesterday he hooked up a hanging rod near our front door- by the new pots- and hung the tomato thing. I'm glad he did it, but it had zero curb appeal!

So today, crafty lady that I am, I grabbed some outdoor fabric and made a cover for it! What do you think?

Sew Connected: All Caught Up!

2009-04-07T10:06:00.005-05:00

I've been completely missing lately. Things have been crazy and I just haven't been posting (but I have been ~~skimming~~ reading my Reader. More on busy-ness later.

I spent the past ~~two~~ three days playing catch-up on the Sew Connected quilting bee. It is already the second week of April and I hadn't done January, February, or March's blocks yet!!! I got all caught up this weekend and the blocks are FINALLY on their way to their owners. Hope they like them!

January- SewConnected Block #3, for Tracy:

February- SewConnected Block #4, for ArtsyMomma:

March- SewConnected Block #5, for Jessica:

Thanks so much, ladies, for waiting for these! I really hope you like them!

Because I Am...

2009-02-06T10:26:00.003-06:00

... unable to post directly to Blogger from my head, I am surprised whenever I log in to Blogger at how long it has been since I've posted. I am constantly writing posts in my head, they just don't make it out of my head and onto my blog.

... working more and finally maybe finding a balance between work and home, maybe I'll be back to posting sometime soon.

... sore, I haven't been wanting to type much. I pulled a tendon in my arm a few weeks ago and am still recovering.

... lazy, I'm going to repost my 25 Things from Facebook. Apparently I'm a sucker for peer pressure- "everyone" did the 25 Things meme, now I'm seeing it popping up over here as well.

25 Random Things about Blondie:

1) I love my cell phone. I get nervous when I don't know where it is, and I'll go back home to get it if I realize that I've left it there. The fact that it is an iPhone makes me love it more, it's just such a handy tool to have around.

2) I really am not sure how to exercise if I'm not swimming laps. Really. I did a fitness/bodyshaping class a couple of years ago and it was ok, but honestly? I'd WAY rather just be in a pool. I would love to find a place where I could swim laps really late at night- like 11pm to 1 am.

3) Mornings are not for me. I much prefer staying up late.

4) I started quilting about 2 years ago and I love it. Hubby doesn't love how much time it takes, so I've stopped sewing as much as I'd like.

5) I tried knitting a while ago. I used online tutorials and Knitting for Dummies. I think I "got it" but I felt like it was a irritatingly stupid activity. Please don't take offense, I would love to actually knit things... but the process drove me crazy.

6) I do like to crochet those dish-scrubber things, though. I make a few of them every summer and that stash usually lasts me through the year.

7) I'm totally OCD when it comes to things being in their places and cleaning. It shows up a lot at work, but not so much at home. At home, I've really just given up because I have 3 kids that run around the house every day... it's just not worth the effort to keep the place even half as clean as I'd like.

8) In high school I owned a goldfish that "danced" every time I played the Greatful Dead.

9) I've played the flute, piano, alto sax, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. I adored the bassoon and made my own reeds. I quit because I hated the college band director.

10) I miss the Gettysburg and DC areas, and would love to go back to visit; but I don't think I'd want to live there again.

11) I've visited 6 countries in Europe. I hated Paris and most of Italy, but enjoyed the history of Rome. Also, the pasta and the wine in Italy were fabulous.

12) I spent a month in Japan and absolutely loved it. I took 4 years of the language in high school and it all came back to me while I was there.

13) I bought Hubby's wedding ring before he proposed. I saw it and loved it, and figured that maybe I'd propose if he didn't.

14) I made an offer on our house before Hubby saw it. I thought he'd like it and I didn't want to lose the house because of waiting for him to see it- he was out of town for work. Luckily, he agreed that this was the right house for us.

15) I had a great time with the youth group in high school. I haven't seen or connected with those old friends in years and I miss them.

16) I don't spend nearly as much time with friends as I'd like to. I think we all are busy with our own lives, but we should work harder to make time for each other.

17) I've always wanted 4 kids, but Princess is such a wild woman that the thought of having more is rather frightening. I adore our kids and know that a lot of people consider one of each to be just right, but the thought of only having 2 makes me sad.

18) Our 10th anniversary is next summer and to celebrate, we're taking the kids on a 7-day Disney cruise!

19) I hate to repeat myself. Especially if I've explained something, I really dislike having to explain it again.

20) Stupid people drive me nuts, too. Most of the time, just thinking a little bit before they open their mouths would make them seem less dumb.

21) I'm raising my kids to be independent and to think for themselves. I don't want them to have to rely on others to do things for them or tell them what to do/how to do things. I've met too many adults that rely on others for anything and everything: advice, money, time, etc- and I refuse to allow my kids to be like that.

22) I've never paid for cable and don't intend to. There's good stuff on the free channels... and we probably watch too much TV as it is. I do miss HGTV and a few other channels, but it just isn't worth it to me.

23) I spent the summer I was 16 working at a summer camp. It was a great summer. I really don't regret working there for just one summer, because I only have good memories.

24) My first car was a 1984 Lincoln Mark VII. I loved it. I totaled it on Mother's Day 1996, when I used it to recover a stolen vehicle (I totaled that car, too!). I don't think that I've loved another car as much as I loved that one. It was the only one that I've ever totaled, which is kind of ironic.

25) I hate cold weather and playing in the snow. I'd just rather be warm. I realize that I live in the wrong part of the country, but being close to family means more to me than being unhappy with the weather.

The Lord's Prayer

2009-01-28T08:34:00.001-06:00

Obamicon.Me

2009-01-20T16:20:00.001-06:00

Make your own here!

Funniest Product Reviews EVER!

2009-01-12T17:01:00.004-06:00

Oh, Lord.

One of the blogs in my Reader is Growing Notes. Today, Megan has almost caused my husband to cause "water damage" his laptop...

She says:

Go read the product reviews on the Playmobil Security Checkpoint toy, on Amazon.

A few excerpts:

"This toy would be a lot more realistic with about 350 people standing in line for an average of an hour. It still makes a nice set with the interrogation room. "

"When we first set it up we tried it with my daughters African American Magic Jewel Ken Doll and Barbie Princess of the Nile Doll but they were pulled out of line before the security checkpoint and taken to a back room for "processing." We haven't seen them since but received a phone call from a buddy at the state department: something about "extraordinary rendition." I hope they make it home it time for the holidays. "

"I hear Playmobil is coming out with a waterboarding torture set. I think I'll wait for that and buy them together to save on shipping. "

My favorite reviews include:

"I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital. ..."

and:

"Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like. Sometimes it's a hard lesson for kids to learn because not all pigs carry billy clubs and wear body armor. ..."

So what are you waiting for? You'll laugh, I'm sure of it! (But please try not to spit liquid beverages out at your computer!) Go read the product reviews on the Playmobil Security Checkpoint toy, on Amazon.

An Upcycled Skirt

2009-01-06T01:33:00.002-06:00

for the Princess, from a pair of jeans. The jeans I bought on eBay at least a year ago, for Hubby, but they were too small and he never wore them. I cut them up and turned them into a super-cute skirt for my little gal!

front

back

pockets!

Resolutions

2009-01-05T16:24:00.003-06:00

Yes, I KNOW that it's January 5. I KNOW that most bloggers posted their resolutions days ago. I guess I'm just not most bloggers! :)

1) To spend more time with Hubby.

For years (at least since the Prince was born!) we've talked about needing to have a regular date night. This year, we're doing it. I've decided that Sundays will be our date night, and we're going out at least every other week. Yesterday was our first date night. I surprised him by taking him to a local winery, where we got to taste all of their varieties (we'd never tried any of their wines). Our favorite was called Bed Head Red, and our #2 was All Night White. Both cheap and good!

After the winery we went to our local British pub for dinner. I had my favorite "beer"- Strongbow cider, and we both had fish & chips. All in all, a very nice night out.

2) To lose some of this weight!

I haven't been on a scale for a while, but I'm sure I'm 20 lbs over my WW goal weight. It's been just over 1.5 years since I last weighed in at goal and I'd really like to be back there. I have several ideas for this weight loss (detailed over at my other blog), but in a nutshell I'm going to pay more attention to what I'm eating and drinking... and cut out some of the more fattening foods that I've been munching on these days.

That's it. Just 2 resolutions for this new year. I think that they are good resolutions, worthwhile and realistic. I want my resolutions to be attainable, I think these are. Last year I resolved to get back to my WW goal weight (and failed, obviously!)- I'm not planning on stepping on a scale until my pants fit better. I'm not worrying about a number on a scale, but I'm interested in the number on the tag in my pants (it is definitely NOT the number I was wearing when I was at goal!).

If you haven't shared them already, what are YOUR resolutions for this new year?

A Very Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T14:43:00.002-06:00

We had a great day yesterday!

The Prince got his own (used) iMac!

The Lego set that he has wanted "forever"

A new baby and swing for the Princess

Trying out the spinbrushes that Santa brought

An Abby Cadabby costume!

She had to try it on right away.

The police helmet that he really wanted

The police helmet was a hit, so were the Nerf guns!

Trying on makeup and "pretties" with her cousin

Oh yeah- I made peppermint bark!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T09:36:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Bourbon Balls

2008-12-17T14:22:00.003-06:00

This is one of my favorite holiday treats. My grandma used to make these every year around Christmas time, I made them about 2 weeks ago to take to a Christmas party. I've been seeing several favorite holiday recipes lately that I thought I'd share one of mine.

These balls are so easy to make. When I made them last, I doubled the recipe and it was plenty for my needs. If I make them again, I'd for sure double it... maybe triple?

Bourbon Balls
from BlondieSpeaks' Grandma Marye

3 cups ground vanilla wafers (seriously ground... like flour!)
1 cup ground walnuts (again, grind these really fine!)
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup (Karo?)

Mix above ingredients, then add 1/4 cup bourbon (or rum) and 1/4 cup water. Roll into small balls, then roll in powdered sugar (to coat). Chill at least 3 hours before storing. Let set at least 24 hours before serving.

Makes 4-6 dozen.

I love these around the holidays- they are decadent and delicious!

2008-12-14T18:01:00.003-06:00

We did take more photos today, with my brother (because Mom wanted pictures of him with my kids for her Christmas cards).

Here are some of my favorite shots:

The Princess was NOT interested in taking pictures with her uncle. "No! I don't want to!"

SO... I played with Photoshop and have ordered 100 of these to send out tomorrow:

Christmas Photo, Take 1

2008-12-13T14:50:00.002-06:00

I told the kids that tomorrow we'd be taking the Christmas picture, but then they looked so cute in their Mickey Santa hats that I thought I'd try quick for a fun Christmas photo. Yeah. We'll be trying again tomorrow, so I'll post more pictures then.

We usually take a nice photo- dressy- and last year's photo session took at least an hour. It produced some great shots, including the winner:

Here are a few from today:

which really isn't terrible... I played with it a bit and came up with this:

Sneak Peek..

2008-12-13T14:49:00.002-06:00

New Camera(s)!

2008-12-10T22:00:00.003-06:00

So, I'd mentioned that I was looking for a new camera because the old one bit the dust. After 2 broken Canons, I didn't want to go that route again, so I wanted something else. I had a hefty gift card to spend on a camera, thanks to a fabulous replacement plan/extended warranty we'd purchased along with the camera. Although I didn't mention it here, I was even considering purchasing 2 cameras instead of 1, so we'd have a backup if we needed one, and so Hubby and I wouldn't have to fight over camera rights.

Hubby liked that idea... I wasn't sure whether or not he would. The salesman was pretty surprised when we couldn't decide between two camera models, so we said we'd take them both.

His:

A Nikon Coolpix L18

Mine:

A Nikon Coolpix S210

We got them on Sunday. So far, so good!

Absolutely AWESOME Santa Canvas giveaway!!!

2008-12-03T12:03:00.004-06:00

I am head-over-heels for this Santa Canvas:

And she's GIVING IT AWAY! Just posting about it here gets me 5 more entries- so please go tell her how much I love it! LOL!

Camera Suggestions?

2008-11-16T13:43:00.004-06:00

Ages ago, I mentioned that my beloved camera was kaput. I still haven't replaced it, but after some hassles with the extended warranty, I now have a gift card worth the original price of the camera. (This is good, because I bought it shortly after it came out, so the price has gone down from what I paid!)

I've decided that since we're SO close to Thanksgiving, I'll wait and purchase on Black Friday with the great deals that are sure to be available. I want high resolution and good zoom, but I don't need to stick to Canon (as this was my second Canon to die an abrupt death!). I want to be able to connect easily to my Mac, and I don't want a big camera that I can't slip into my purse or pocket.

I'd LOVE some suggestions. What do you love/hate about your camera?

Happy Birthday, Jay!

2008-11-13T14:25:00.003-06:00

Today is Jay's birthday- go wish him a great one!

SewConnected Block #2

2008-11-11T00:27:00.002-06:00

But first, I need to show off the finished block that I made for Rita. I showed a peek weeks ago, but never showed the finished product:

I'm not sure if I'm just not creative, or if I'm mad for this block, but I LOVE this block- so I did it again for November's block (for Buffy).

I really love how it turned out. I had something completely different in mind for a border, but I didn't have enough fabrics to do my original plan so I went for a scrappy border... which ended up still not big enough, so I added another scrappy border outside of that. This block used a ton of fabric, but I'm really happy with it and I hope that Buffy is, too!

Really just an ad...

2008-11-06T17:16:00.003-06:00

For those of you conservative-type folks that read this.... if you happen to have voted for McCain a couple of days ago and would like a shirt to prove it, I've designed a few (and bumper stickers!). I have them in a brand new CafePress shop- check them out!

If there's something that you'd like to see that isn't available, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks!

Blogger is screwy

2008-11-04T00:45:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure why Blogger is posting my pictures so big and funky tonight... they look ok in preview mode but not after being published. If you want to see them right, they look ok when you click on them- I don't know what the deal is for now. Sorry!

GO VOTE!

2008-11-04T00:41:00.004-06:00

I am so excited to be going to vote in the morning- I wanted to wait until election day and do my part.

This one is for Jay...

2008-11-04T00:35:00.004-06:00

(because I couldn't resist, either!)

The Gala

2008-11-03T13:56:00.004-06:00

The Scottish Rite body that my hubby is associated with holds a formal gala in the fall- it was this past Saturday night. I thought I'd show a couple of pictures from last year (because I started this blog about 8 weeks later) and from 2 days ago. It was a great night... how often do adults get to get all fancied up like this?

last year

this year... and I'll never again have my picture taken near a yellow background!

Halloween!

2008-11-03T13:16:00.002-06:00

The Prince and Princess dressed up as a knight and a princess for Halloween this year (big surprise, right?!). They were super-cute and got quite the candy haul! Getting their pictures was rather difficult...

Found link!

2008-10-28T22:42:00.004-05:00

Hey- the post I mentioned last week (a vinyl tote bag I'd seen on a blog, I thought it was from Amandajean)... I found it!

It is listed on this post, just scroll down a bit. I think my MIL will be getting one for her birthday (next week!) if I can find the vinyl I like in time.

This picture is of the tote, found in this book

Handmade Christmas

2008-10-23T12:14:00.003-05:00

I am planning on making most of the gifts that I'll be giving this holiday season. I've been collecting links of ideas for a few months and am just getting ready to get started. The problem is, I don't want to appear "cheap" to my relatives who don't appreciate handmade goodness nearly as much as I do... I want to be able to give gifts that they will appreciate and use. Some members of my family seem to place a lot of importance on money and the monetary value of things, I want to find gifts that they will be happy to receive.

Some of the links that I've been saving for this upcoming holiday season are:

Candy Cane Sugar Scrub
Crayon Rolls or
Coloring Wallets
Makeup Bags
Neck Warmers
Fabric Baskets
Homegrownrose has tons of ideas here and here
And Jill has a great linky list here

I'm also thinking about lounge pants... I might make a few pairs for gifts. Also, someone posted ages ago about a tote bag she'd made out of vinyl (hers was green and cream, I think). I loved the bag and keep thinking I'd like to make a similar one- now I'm also thinking about making them as gifts. I THINK it was Amandajean, but after some searching of her blog, I can't find that post. Do you know which bag I'm thinking of? It had fun machine-stitched zig-zags to decorate the vinyl, and I think she'd made a matching coin purse. Super cute, I just wish I could link to it and a picture!

I've also been browsing etsy for ideas. I'm open to purchasing handmade gifts to save myself some time and help out some fellow crafters. I've found several great shops and will probably make some purchases over there as well.

I haven't narrowed down exactly what I'll be making for everyone. I'm still really open to ideas. What are you giving this holiday season?

Yay! (Almost) Accomplishment

2008-10-22T19:54:00.006-05:00

I have finally done some sewing! I really can't remember the last time I actually did any sewing, so I've been super excited about this. I just have the final border to do for my block for Rita, but I'll be doing some ripping tonight before I finish it... I made a little uh-oh.

It's still in progress, but here's a sneak peek:

I did add some fabrics from my stash (all the greens are mine), and I really hope that Rita likes it!

If you read many quilting blogs, you might recognize the block. It was heavily inspired by these blocks that Helen has been making... aren't those gorgeous!?!

SewConnected

2008-10-18T14:02:00.002-05:00

Dear fellow SewConnected members,

I am alive, I promise. I know that I've been silent regarding this new venture of ours, and I am really sorry about it! I've recently returned to work and can't seem to figure out how to balance work, family, housework, and still find time to sew and blog. Unfortunately, the last two have been neglected.

Rita, I have a plan. I know exactly what I am going to do for your block! As of right now, I plan to sit down and do it on my next day off... Tuesday. It will be mailed in time, though, so no worries!

I just (finally!) went through and made sure that I have everyone's blog address in my reader- it looks like Rita is going to have a fabulous quilt! Someone mentioned an idea of saving bits from everyone's fabrics to make a quilt combining all of them- I love this idea!

I just wanted to drop you all a note, letting you know that I'm really excited about this group- even if I've been too busy to type lately. I hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend, and that I can get Rita's block done this week!

Your virtual friend,
Blondie

A great Saturday

2008-10-18T12:24:00.004-05:00

I realize that I'm posting this a whole week after the fact, but I've been incredibly busy. I have no idea how so many bloggers work full-time, have family time, and still find time to post regularly to their blogs... I am finding this balancing act to be amazingly difficult.

Last Saturday was a really fabulous day with my family. The Prince had his last soccer game of the season (8AM!), which got us up and moving early. After the game, we stopped at home so he could change out of his uniform, then we headed downtown for some fun. The DOT had all the snowplows out on display, and they were giving rides in dump trucks and road graders, and were even taking people up in the cherry-pickers!

(Uh, no- we chose not to go up in one of these!)

You can kinda see the Prince through the window of this truck- just returning from his ride!

The Princess, checking out the "big water" while the Prince was riding the dump truck

It really is a nice view

When we were done checking out the big trucks, we walked over to check out the Farmer's Market. It's really a great one- and I enjoy going- but I don't get down there more than a couple times each year.

While we were there, I found a lady that was selling Rada Cutlery- the same stuff my mom has! I was so excited to find it, because the knives are fantastic. They are made here in Iowa and last forever. I spent about $40 on the knives that I had to have right away, and have gone to their website to request info on selling it myself... but it's good to know that I can buy straight from the company if I'd prefer.

After the Farmer's Market, we headed out to the suburbs, where two different fire departments were having open houses. Both kids were really excited about being able to check out the fire trucks.

How (Liberal/Conservative) Are You?

2008-10-01T23:21:00.001-05:00

I know, I suck. I haven't posted in days... and I'm posting a quiz.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 90% Conservative, 10% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Long Hard Weekend

2008-09-15T22:48:00.003-05:00

I've been away this weekend. I left early Thursday morning to attend Kappa Kappa Gamma's Leadership Academy, where our 4 days were heavily programmed- I came home totally exhausted. It was a good weekend, but I'm not 18 anymore- I would have liked more scheduled downtime... I felt like I needed a time scheduled to breathe!

About 130 collegians and 100 alumnae participated in the event at the Heartland Conference and Retreat Center. I was worried about being one of the older women there, but there were many alumnae older than me at the event.

Cell reception was minimal at best, so I didn't mobile blog as I'd planned. I had to stand in a particular place in the parking lot just to call home!

I did decide that I would like to become involved again with my chapter. We live about 30 minutes away from where we went to college, so it won't be too much of a drive to visit the house. I'm hoping to become an advisor for the chapter, and have already contacted the women who can help make that happen.

Want to know more about my fraternity? (No- it is NOT a sorority!) Wiki has a great article.

Devastating

2008-09-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and prayers. Our friends have suffered a great loss, their baby boys died shortly after birth on September 11, 2008. We are doing what we can to help and support our friends, who are burying their tiny babies in a private service tomorrow.

I am heartbroken for this family and am hurting for their loss. I will likely not mention this sad story again, as it is painful to think about. Thank you from the bottom of my hear for all of your thoughts and prayers.

God Bless America

2008-09-15T22:32:00.002-05:00

I haven't forgotten September 11. This day stands out in my memory and I am proud of our country for moving forward. Maybe I'll post more next year... in the meantime, God Bless America.

Privacy Settings

2008-09-10T14:16:00.002-05:00

Just an FYI- I've modified the privacy settings on my weight loss blog. If you are interested in having access to that blog, just let me know and I'll take care of it.

Thanks!

Prayers needed

2008-09-10T08:14:00.006-05:00

Friends, my heart is breaking and I am asking for your prayers.

In high school I had 3 best friends- boys. I still keep in touch with them, though not as much as I'd like. I do see J almost every day, because I babysit his son (ThirdKid) for 4 hours each afternoon- I've been doing this since he was a baby.

J's wife is pregnant with twins. This pregnancy was very difficult for them, the result of lots of doctors and IVF. The twins are due after Christmas, sometime in January (I'm not sure when).

I just got a message from J's wife, saying that their son won't be coming over today. Her water broke during the night and she is at the hospital, on medication to keep labor at bay. She'll be in the hospital until she delivers. I have confidence that the medical staff will do everything that they can to hold off labor for this family as long as possible, but even if both babies are born "healthy", there is so much more to worry about with preemies. I really wish that I knew how many weeks she is right now, because it might make this mean more to me:

-21 weeks or less: 0% survival rate

-22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate

-23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate

-24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate

-25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate

-26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate

-27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate

I found that info online this morning, searching for anything that would give me more information about what these dear people have in front of them. My mom actually works in Labor and Delivery at the hospital where they were planning to go, so I'll call her after a while and see what else she can tell me. (Survival rates, that kind of stuff- she is very careful about not revealing what she is not legally allowed to say... so don't worry about those HIPPA laws!)

Photo borrowed from www.iminthenicu.com

I am so worried about my friend and his wife. I don't know her terribly well (except that I see her every day!), but I know how important having more children is to her, and how much they put into accomplishing this pregnancy. She is my good friend's wife and he loves her- that is enough for me. These people are kind and caring and desperately wanted these babies. They are both public schoolteachers who spent a lot of their savings on IVF; now they have big medical bills in their future. I don't know what to do for them right now except pray. I am hurting, and I know that their extended families are hurting, too. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.

Camera coma

2008-09-04T14:55:00.002-05:00

My awesome camera is kaput, in need of repair. We purchased this one about 11 months ago (plus the extended warranty), so I'm not worried about spending big money to fix it, but I am really bummed that I'm camera-less for a couple of weeks.

:(

DQS4, Sent and Received!

2008-09-03T23:32:00.003-05:00

A HUGE thank you to TLC Stitches, who sent me a gorgeous quilt for the DQS! Pictures to be posted ASAP. She also sent gifts for the Prince and Princess, and another little giftie for me- it was too much!

Also, Sandy Kisses received the doll quilt that I sent- she has a very sweet post up about it, with pictures way better than the ones I'd posted.

Edited to add: with my camera being out-of-commission, check out the beauty I received here!

Hell, yeah!

2008-09-03T22:32:00.005-05:00

WARNING!

POLITICAL TOPIC!
This is my blog and I'll say what I want to say.
Disagree? DO NOT READ THIS POST.

This is not a topic I mention here often. I generally avoid political discussions, period.

Why?

I value my friendships and don't like "heated discussions" or disagreements with my friends. I also value my upbringing, morals, values, ethics, and country. I believe in the power of the people and limited government.

I agree with Rudy that CHANGE IS NOT A DESTINATION and that HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY. I applaud John McCain on his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate... no, that's not true- I'm THRILLED.

Palin is a fantastic choice and I can't wait for her to become our Vice President. She has significantly more experience than Obama and is most definitely qualified for this job. If and when McCain's health deteriorates and Palin must assume his duties, she is ready and will be fabulous. She understands more than any politician I've seen (ever?!) what it is like to live in middle-class, small-town America. She is a mom, a governor, and has proven herself in politics. She has made positive changes in her state and she will continue with reform as Vice President. As she put it, her job is similar to that of a "community organizer", except she "has responsibilities".

Bloggers have been talking about Sarah Palin for VP since February of 2007. That's a full year and a half, folks. The media caught on and have mentioned her as a VP possibility, too- this isn't just someone that McCain chose at random.

And really? Even a democrat is endorsing this duo! If you haven't seen this yet, it is a great clip- take another moment and watch this, too.

Once again, This is my blog and I'll say what I want to say. Disagree? Don't read it. I don't read liberal smut that I see posted on other blogs. It frustrates me to no end that such nice people have opinions that I so strongly disagree with... so I pretend that those posts don't exist and -voila!- I'm over it. Hope you will be too.

2008-08-18T00:11:00.003-05:00

Busy, busy, busy!

Between getting ready for the first day of school (TODAY!) and getting used to being a working girl again, I've been busy and haven't had much time to post. I have been keeping tabs on all of you (thanks, Google Reader!), but I've been quiet.

Let's see... I mailed my DQS4 off ages ago (3 weeks, I think!), but my swap partner hasn't posted anything new to her blog since late July- and I haven't heard any response from her either. I didn't label my quilt, but I did enclose a note telling her who it was from. I sure hope she likes it!

(She said she likes "pink with orange, deep blues with deep purples, and bright orange with bright red"...)

Yes, I've been enjoying my new job as a bartender. I've done restaurant management most recently (no, not using my education at all!), but remembered that I used to think that I needed to be behind the bar again the next time I worked in a restaurant. The bartenders typically make the most money and have the most fun anywhere in the place- I think it's the place to be. I've put in about 40 hours/week for the last couple of weeks, which is a huge adjustment for myself and my family!

(Shamelessly stolen photo of ME- thanks, J!)

I'm hoping to get back into some sort of schedule soon and plan to begin posting regularly again, too- I'm sorry I haven't been here much!

Pumpkins Gone Wild

2008-08-05T16:11:00.004-05:00

Have you seen Pumpkins Gone Wild? It's by Sandy Gervais, printed by Moda. I found it at a quilt shop while we were on vacation and I LOVE IT.
A LOT.
Not so excited about the pumpkins and the Halloween theme, but there are plenty of fabrics in the line that are not Halloween-y and have fabulous colors and designs.

The colors in the fabric are gorgeous! This picture does them absolutely no justice.

I haven't bought any of this yet, but I know that one of these days (when I've finished a few more things from my to-do list!), a quilt for my family room will be born from these fabrics. The room has pumpkin walls, black furniture, a darker oak trim, and khaki, red, and sage accents- the colors of Pumpkins Gone Wild will complement the room perfectly!

A Change

2008-08-02T14:59:00.001-05:00

Folks, it is time for a change in my life. I have been primarily a SAHM for the past 5 years, before that I worked in restaurants (serving, bartending, and managing), and in aquatics. During my time as a SAHM, I've worked part-time for the Red Cross, and I even had an 8-month stint as a manager at a local fine dining restaurant (I quit because the hours sucked big-time).

We've decided that I need to go back to work, and I decided to get back into a restaurant- mainly because the hours are somewhat flexible and they are definitely NOT non-profit (like the Red Cross or most places where I could use my education). I wanted to stay close to home to save on gas, and a friend got a job working at a new place that's opening pretty close to home... it sounded like a fun place to work, so I applied too- training starts Monday! I'll be working nights and weekends, so Hubby will have to sacrifice some of his Masonic activities to stay with the kids, but I think this will be good for us. I'm really excited about working in a restaurant again, especially about being just an hourly employeee- management is nice because the pay is steady, but the hours are terrible and often the waitstaff makes every bit as much (or more) as the managers do.

The thing with working in a restaurant is that you're always around food. I happen to like food. Fortunately, I've been reading Kath Eats Real Food and have been trying to eat more like Kath does lately (she eats "real" food- less grease, more purpose); her choices must be rubbing off, because as I look at the menu of this restaurant, there isn't much that really interests me. It is typical American fare- lots of grease and fatty stuff, not much on the healthy side, though there is a salad bar. Hopefully I'll be able to withstand the temptation and continue in my quest to eat healthier. In an effort to do so, I am going to take an idea from Kath and attempt to photograph everything I eat. (Yes, she really does post a picture of everything she eats!) If I'm going to be working in a restaurant and trying to be accountable for what I consume, this makes sense to me- be accountable to myself and to the internet for what I eat. Maybe I won't be successful at this... I'm sure Hubby will laugh... for sure I'll get some weird looks as I snap photos of my food... but if that's what it is going to take to hold myself accountable, I'm sure willing to try. I'll be posting these photos on my other blog, if you're at all interested, please check it out. I haven't posted over there for a few months and have surely lost all 3 of my readers...

How's your hair?

2008-08-01T17:34:00.003-05:00

Are you in central Iowa? Need a new hair stylist/colorist? Hubby's best friend is getting started at a new salon and is working to build a client list.

He has worked with Jose Eber and spent 6 weeks this spring training at the L'Oreal Institute in Paris doing specialized color training. He has been working in Las Vegas for the past few years and recently moved back to Iowa to be closer to friends and family.

Would you be interested in giving him a try? He does a great job and can do men or women's cuts, though he specializes in color. If you're interested, please email me and I'll send you the link to his website, where you can book your appointment online!

Thanks for the help!

Swimming

2008-08-01T17:31:00.002-05:00

We went swimming the past 2 days- yesterday at one of the area aquatic centers, today at MIL's backyard pool. Some pics from today (taken with my iPhone!):

Row your boat

2008-07-29T20:13:00.002-05:00

While we were gone, my friend A (the Prince's little girlfriend's mom) taught the Prince and I a second verse to the Row, Row, Row Your Boat song. I love it and wanted to share.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
And if you see an alligator
Don't forget to scream. Aaagh! (You scream!)

This is the last contest from me for a while...

2008-07-29T19:05:00.003-05:00

Remember this?

SuzyQ, please email me with your snail mail address!

Pink Christmas

2008-07-28T14:59:00.003-05:00

Have you heard of this? From their site:

Pink Christmas - What is it?

Pink Christmas is a annual Girlfriend Give and Get. You make a handmade Christmas Gift(or you can purchase a handmade gift from one of our sponsors if you want to join but don't think you are crafty) for a mystery girlfriend around the world and another girlfriend will be making something for you - only to opened on Christmas morning.

It is only an optional $15.00 donation to sign up. Sign up fee is donated to the Pink Christmas Family for 2008.

This year Pink Christmas will be sponsoring a entire family - they are amazing. They have immigrated to Washington D.C. from Africa and are beginning their new life. They have 4 amazing children. Ages 12, 8, 2 and just a few months old. The sweet mother just had twins but one passed away and the other little boy is still in the hospital weighing just a few pounds. They need everything that you could think of to begin a new life in a new home. All the money will go to helping them get the necessities to do just that.

I think this sounds like a really neat idea for us craft bloggers to get behind. I signed up a few weeks ago and wanted to get the word out there before sign-ups are closed (this Thursday, July 31st!). Just go to the Pink Christmas blog and follow the directions to sign up- partner for the give-and-get will be announced by September 1.

I'm Home!

2008-07-28T14:25:00.002-05:00

Wow- It's been almost a week since I've posted anything! I'm sorry that I've been neglecting this blog... vacation was great and we've spent the past few days recuperating and entertaining out-of-town relatives. Also, I've spent the past few days fielding phone calls and emails about the townhouse that we rent out; it looks like I've found a new tenant that will move in as soon as the current people move out- this is great news for me, because I really don't like the process of finding a new renter.

A few final pictures to share from our week away:

The Prince went on his first canoe ride. It kinda freaked him out, to be sitting on the floor of the canoe and that close to being in the water... he had them let him out before they were done with their ride.

With his 2 buddies. He tells me that she is his girlfriend... she's 4 and he's 5!

This picture is 2 years old- I'm showing it to you because this is the Prince kissing that same girl- when they were 2 and 3 years old! Thank goodness he doesn't have any girlfriends around here- I don't want him kissing girls all the time! LOL

Blogging during class

2008-07-22T10:27:00.002-05:00

Our annual family vacation is to a Family Camp at a church camp, I've come every summer for 20+ years. Between breakfast and lunch is bible study time, broken up by age groups. The adults always have a speaker- the past two years haven't been fantastic. (So I'm blogging.)

I wanted to share some pictures from our day yesterday- we had a fun, hot day.

Princess in her pigtails

The Prince got to try archery!

The kids LOVED our boat ride!

DQS4 progress

2008-07-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

I was able to make some progress on the binding for my doll quilt this
morning. I hope to finish it in a day or so. The problem is (why I'm
going so slow) is that I jammed/sprained my pinkie a few days ago and
it HURTS!

I'm outta here!

2008-07-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

I've been busy all week- and not a great blogger!- getting ready for lots of friends over Friday evening and a week away starting in just a few minutes!

We're going to spend the week at Family Camp at the church camp that I've been attending since I was 7 or 8. Hubby has been coming for about 12 years now, and he's a regular "old-timer" amongst the group... the same families come back every year, it's like a big family reunion.

I'm going to attempt to blog at least once or twice while we're gone. I've set up mobile blogging on my (YAY~ new to me! iPhone*) and also set up Twitter on this blog. We'll see if either one get used...

*Hubby decided to upgrade to the new 3G iPhone that came out last week, so I got his older iPhone. It's less than a year old, and I'm totally loving it so far! I don't need all the bells and whistles of the newest model, this older version is perfect for me.

I'm a Winner!

2008-07-20T00:06:00.004-05:00

YAY! I won Tina's Pay It Forward contest and my package arrived a couple of days ago- I'm terribly sorry that I haven't blogged about this earlier... but I haven't blogged at all recently. :(

So. Back to my surprise. The UPS man brought me a big box:

and I was confused until I saw the return address label (I wasn't expecting anything that size/shape from UPS!). When I opened the box I found all kinds of goodness inside! Crafty stuff for the kids:

They will LOVE those! I've decided to save them to spice up a boring day in the future.

Also, There was a book (looks good!), a sweet note, some beautiful fabrics (I've already used one FQ!), and a package of notecards (I always need more of those!):

My goodness, did Tina spoil me- because that wasn't all in the box! Oodles of scrapbooking fun:

WOW. I was totally blown away when I got through this box! I feel like I really was a winner... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Tina!

Now... that WAS a Pay it Forward that I won. And even though I also had a PIF, I really need to hold up my end of the deal here. Leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favorite food is that you ate growing up. I'm out of town all week, so I'll close comments at midnight (Central time!) Monday night (7/28). The winner will be announced by Wednesday, 7/30. Good luck!

Testing Mobile Blogging

2008-07-19T20:29:00.001-05:00

I'm leaving in the morning for vacation, so I'm trying out blogging
from my phone...

I was just playing!

2008-07-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I decided to surrender on the Two-Color project was that I was sick of looking at blue and white fabric. I wanted a change, wanted to have some fun with some fabric that was NOT blue or white.

I pulled out some scraps. Some of the bigger scraps I crazy cut into smaller scraps. Here is my pile of scraps:

I wanted something fun and easy and simple and free. Just to play around and enjoy myself, you know? Aha- lightbulb moment- I remembered the bag method. No idea where I read about this, but I know I read about it on a blog somewhere along the line. My pile 'o scraps went into a bag next to my sewing machine. I sat down and pulled out two pieces of fabric, sewed them together. Pulled out two more, sewed them together, repeated this until I had a long strip of sets of two fabric pieces (and the bag was empty). I snipped the threads and ironed the seams, then put them back into the bag and repeated the process, again and again until the pieces were sewn into one big piece. I cut this piece into squares and decided that it needed a bold sashing. I was having fun and just playing around, but was also really liking the results. I had a larger piece that I thought would make a great backing, and I machine quilted the whole thing together:

And after just a short while of playing around, I have a doll quilt almost finished! It just needs binding, but I'll do that next week while I'm on vacation. I'm actually planning on finishing it, photographing it, and dropping it in the mail while I'm gone- that way it won't get forgotten about once I get back.

Hubby is sick of the F word (fabric!) and the Q word (quilt!), so I want to stress that I hadn't planned on doing this, I really truly sat down to play around with some bright colors. I had a blast making it, I'm happy with the machine quilting (which is something I want to work on... if it isn't stitch-in-the-ditch, I need practice!), and I ended up being able to cross something off of my August to-do list!

Waving the White Flag- Two Color Challenge

2008-07-14T16:46:00.003-05:00

I've made the decision not to complete the Two Color Challenge. I'm so sick of this quilt, I really need to take some time off and do something else for a while. While I'm bummed that I'm not going to have it done for a while, I'm ok with it- because when I come back to this project, I'll (hopefully!) be rejuvenated and ready to push forward. But for now, this project has been carefully packed away.

Wardrobe Refashion, take 1

2008-07-11T15:55:00.003-05:00

My first attempt at re-fashioning an item of clothing. I bought these khaki jeans at least 6 years ago and haven't worn them in quite a while (they are a little short).

Following this tutorial, I created a skirt that isn't too bad. It isn't fantastic, but for a first attempt I'm pleased.

I cut the legs off pretty high- just above the crotch. I didn't want to have to resew the crotch like Procraftinate did.

Oops! Be careful when cutting the legs off... I cut off a corner of a pocket, too!

I used the legs of the pants to lengthen the skirt- I cut them lengthwise, then sewed them together to form the body of the skirt. Then I lined the body up with the top half, pinned them together, and sewed.

Finished front view photo taken by the Princess

Finished back view photo taken by the Prince. To finish the bottom edge, I carefully trimmed along what used to be a heavy side seam- now it is a nicely finished bottom edge!

Sad-ish

2008-07-10T10:09:00.003-05:00

I'd planned on the Pay it Forward contest also celebrating my 100th post, but then I tidied up a bit (deleted some draft posts) and found that I was farther away than I'd thought... but in my defense, I've just recently done 2 giveaways (Pay it Forward and Help Me Replace My Bookmarks!)

This is #101, which means that my little link about how many words I can type in a minute was #100- which is a bit sad, in my book. Sorry that I didn't have anything more exciting for the big 1-0-0... maybe for 150 or 200, right?

Not too bad!

2008-07-10T10:06:00.001-05:00

61 words

Speed test

Pink is the new green

2008-07-09T20:39:00.001-05:00

I've been looking at some beautiful handmade tote bags all over blogland recently, considering making my own. (But what fabric to use? So many choices!)

I'd love to be using reusable totes for my shopping (Target and groceries), but the reusable ones sold in those stores are pretty ugly (and everyone uses the same thing! I'm all for fun and originality...)

I was perusing the Dollar aisle at Target this evening and came across my new reusable shopping bags:

They also had a similar design in black with white flowers, but I thought these were really cute. I used them for my purchases today and they were perfect!

Progress

2008-07-08T10:39:00.003-05:00

This quilt is killing me. I'm sick of working on it and I JUST WANT IT TO BE DONE.

I've done quite a bit since I posted about it last. The top has been all laid out, and is in the process of being sewn together.

Today is our anniversary- I'd wanted to have this finished (totally, completely!) because I was doing this quilt for us... I thought it'd be nice to have this finished by now. Oh well, getting closer I suppose.

Pay It Forward Winner!

2008-07-07T00:11:00.001-05:00

So I've been trying to figure out how to email my winner personally, but apparently I'm Blogger-challenged. I can't find any evidence of an email address on her blog, either, so I'm announcing her here and asking Swistle for her help as well.

I used random.org to choose a winner from the comments on this post, and EMama at Righters' Writings was the winner!

EMama, please email me with your snail mail address!

Happy Fourth!

2008-07-04T15:33:00.004-05:00

(I found this picture on my city's website. The family pictured is NOT my family.)

The city I live in (a suburb in a larger metro area) is VERY patriotic. The high school's school colors are red, white, and blue. There is a 4th of July celebration (lasts 3 days!) every year, which includes a carnival, street dance, bike and running races, a ginormous parade, and much more. The parade usually lasts about 2 hours. I thought you might like to see some pictures...

Waiting for the parade to start

Hooray! It's coming!

Hubby and the Princess, watching the parade

A rare photo of Blondie with the Prince and Princess

The Prince enjoying a carnival ride

I decided last night that my kids NEEDED their very own reusable candy bags for the parade today. We went to the fabric store and they picked out their fabric- all their choice, not mine- and I whipped up a couple of bags last night. They are about 12" square and were perfect today! Trying to get a good picture of both of them with their bags wasn't quite so easy.

Just call me Meanie

2008-07-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

Funny story. There are several local aquatic centers nearby, including one that we frequent (and have a season pass to). Last year I taught a class at this this facility, the class was mainly comprised of that facility's staff. This spring I've already taught 3 more classes at the same facility, again all mainly filled with the center's staff.

Of those 4 classes, 1 of them was the Lifeguard Instructor (LGI) class- a class that will prepare and certify those that want to teach the American Red Cross Lifeguarding course (so I'm teaching them to be teachers). The other 3 were WSI classes, a class that prepares participants to teach American Red Cross swimming lessons. I think that the WSI class, while important, is more of an easy-going and laidback class- but the LGI class is more of a life-and-death class... there are more serious consequences for being a poor Lifeguard Instructor.

With that in mind, I know that I'm a very picky trainer for the LGI class. I know that I want their skills to be perfect, and I know that word has gotten out around town that I'm a tough teacher. I don't pass everyone that takes my class, I expect my students to be successful and demonstrate their abilities. Passing my LGI class is something that must be earned. I try to make the class fun and offer tips, tricks, and trivia during my class. I want it to be a worthwhile class and I want my students to feel as if they are bettering themselves and getting their time and money's worth.

So. I took the kids to this facility yesterday to play in the water. The Prince spent most of his time in the deeper water with a friend, the Princess and I stayed in the shallower water. We had a great time and it's pretty obvious to me that she inherited my love for water. While we were playing, one of my students, S, (in the LGI class, she works there) came up and chatted for a while. A few minutes after she left, her brother, L, (also works there, also in the LGI class) came up to chat. L said that they were in the lifeguard room and S told him that "Blondie is here, in the leisure pool with her kids". Some of the other guards that were in the room said "Blondie? You mean Mean Blondie?".

Nice. Now I'm Mean Blondie. Apparently my reputation for being a hard-ass teacher has reached farther than I'd realized.

Men's Room Humor

2008-07-01T21:20:00.003-05:00

Queenstown, New Zealand Hotel Unzips Eye-opening New Loo

Hong Kong's Peninsula Hotel and the Sofitel Melbourne often attract visitors from around the world who want to visit a loo with a spectacular view. Now Queenstown's newest hotel, Sofitel Queenstown, is joining that prestigious list with the most eye-opening male toilet of them all.

The second floor men's toilet, which services the complex's restaurants including Bezu and Fatz Cat, has been tastefully and aesthetically designed by the complex's developers Cam Marsh and Mark Perriam of Perron, and Brett Taylor of Group CDA. It features six unique individual 'stands' manufactured by Three Sixty Limited in Auckland.

But it's not the tasteful design or subtle lighting that has tongues wagging in the New Zealand resort town.

It is the six-metre long backdrop of life-size photographs featuring local models in varying poses directly behind each of the six stands - each with a full view of the action.

One has a tape measure out, one a pair of binoculars, another has a camera, a fourth is peering over her glasses and so the list goes on.

Queenstown photographer Sheena Haywood shot the images of models from local agency Ican -- after Auckland model agencies turned down the job when they heard where the images were going to be placed.

'We had a lot of fun with the shoot, made all the better for the fact that there weren't any men there when we did it,' said Sheena.

Queenstown Signs made up the huge posters which are protected (naturally enough) by a backlit glass wall, and there are plans to change the images on a regular basis.

'We were casting around for ideas with our Auckland creative agency Ideology to do something a bit different in the men's room when we hit on this,' said Perron Marketing Manager Peter Dallimore.

'The wall has only been in place for just over a fortnight and we've already had some very funny feedback. It's used by guests or visitors to restaurants and bars within the Sofitel complex.

'One guy said it was a bit disconcerting to be 'going about his business' and to have so many pairs of eyes watching him, a bit like the Mona Lisa effect. Others have called it 'hilarious' or say it makes them feel like going to the gym.'

Flush with success, Sofitel General Manager Mark Wilkinson said the men's 'loo art' had been a great talking point.

'It emulates the 'signature toilets' of some great hotel complexes around the world such as those in Hong Kong's Peninsula hotel, and the 35th floor toilets with an amazing wrap-around view in the Sofitel Melbourne.

'It's just a bit of fun and there have been big queues outside ever since word got out. We plan to change the look on a regular basis.'

Mr Wilkinson said he was now under pressure from those of the female persuasion to decorate the neighbouring women's toilets with something equally eye-catching.

'Christmas is coming so watch this space!' he said.

Swistle Groupie/Pay It Forward

2008-07-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED ON THIS POST!

So Swistle decided that a group effort Pay It Forward would be big fun this summer. All sorts of Pay It Forwards happening at the same time, then domino-ing and being a big fun summer fun thing... read about it here and here.

What will you win? Ummm.... I dunno. Maybe a collection of junk drawer/fabric stash/greeting card collection/Target. Maybe homemade cookies. Who knows? I'll figure that out and surprise you- I won't even post about your surprise so you can have fun opening your gift!

Enter by commenting on this post, with an answer to this question: It's Saturday afternoon and you have the whole afternoon to yourself- what do you do?
Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM CST Friday, July 4.

Awards, awards!

2008-06-27T22:43:00.008-05:00

Wowzas... I have been given 3 awards recently! QuiltDad chose to give me the Arte Y Pico award a couple of weeks ago, and Jay at Bailey's Buddy chose me for the same one tonight!

Also tonight, as a tongue-in-cheek response to all of these blog awards, Kurt bestowed upon me a very special award: the Grand Illustrious Most Excellent Blog in the World Award.

I feel so very appreciated!

So. The rules for the Arte Y Pico award are:

1) Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog.

Jay tried to give this to blogs that hadn't yet recived it- I apologize, I've just been behind on posting about it! I am also going to avoid giving this to those that I know have received it... though I know that they might just be like me and haven't mentioned it yet. I am choosing seven bloggers for the Arte Y Pico award, because I can't really choose 7.5 (which is a nice compromise between 5 and 10, because I've been given this twice).

1) Lera at the sky is pink is one of my favorite bloggers. She's a creative gal and accomplishes a lot for being a mother of 6. Even hubby has been known to read her blog!

2) AmandaJean at crazy mom quilts is so inspiring! She creates beautiful quilts, and is leading her own online quilt-a-long, all while being a mom to 3 young kids. I wish I knew how she finds the time to do as much as she does.

3) Jen at AmazingTrips is pretty amazing herself. She has triplets (age 3) and a 1-yr-old son. She has just gone back to work (to help pay for preschool!) and seems to be coping with work and home pretty well.

4) Jill and Meg at Bee-Boppin' the Boroughs. These gals are working their way through an NYC guidebook and blogging their experiences for us! Having only spent a short amount of time in NYC, I enjoy their walks through the city. Jill also has a crafty blog, where she recently announced her pregnancy- congratulations!

5) Finny at Finny Knits is a funny gal, and in her words, "not for everyone". When it's growing season, she offers many pictures of her gardens and the food that she creates from her garden (and a farm share)... when it isn't growing season (and sometimes when it is!) she shows off her creative side, complete with an honest rundown of her thoughts of said project.

6) Mary at MaryQuilts- Making Scraps Quilts from Stash does beautiful longarm quilting, and does quite a bit for the HeartStrings Quilt Project. She is getting to know a new city, and posts beautiful pictures of the scenery that she is enjoying.

7) Nanette and her daughters at Freda's Hive are so creative and always have interesting photos to share- from their own projects or those of their friends. Their first post is one of the better first posts I've read- a sweet story that explains the name of their blog.

Thanks to you that I'm nominating for brightening my days.
I have ~~too many~~ several blogs in my reader and it was hard to decide which 7 to choose.

My Spoonflower Fun

2008-06-25T14:24:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I got my email from Spoonflower, allowing me to try out their new site. I'd registered a month or so ago, and they're sending out these emails so that they don't have a barrage of new orders all of a sudden- it's a new company and they'd like to be able to keep up with demand.

I wasn't ready to place my order when I got the email from them, but just a couple of days later I noticed their blog entry, asking for all orders by the next morning if I wanted it mailed that upcoming week. And I did. So I sat down and worked up a little order, stuff that I'd been thinking about- labels. I made labels for stuff that I make for myself and my family, labels for the internets (these say "BlondieSpeaks"), and a quilt label for that massive quilt that will be done soon. I followed all of their directions for colors and pixels, etc, and uploaded my order- just an 8x8 swatch. A mere $6 later, I had my order placed and it was "in process". According to their blog, orders from that week shipped the following Friday, my order arrived the next Monday- so about a week after I placed it. Not too shabby!

I opened the envelope and all of this was in there:

I ripped open the nicely wrapped package of tissue paper to reveal my first-ever custom fabric:

Kim included a personal note, which I thought was a wonderful touch:

Here's a close-up of my quilt label and some of the Blondie labels. Photoshopped to protect my anonymity.

The white writing (which I used on all three designs) didn't turn out quite as well as it showed on my computer screen. The quilt label looks pretty darn great, except the smaller white writing on the bottom- which is kinda hard to read.

I love this method of creating a quilt label, and will likely plan ahead and use Spoonflower for future quilt labels. This particular one has already been sewn into a block and will be used as a part of a pieced back, but I'm sure that it could be appliqued onto a quilt without any problems.

My biggest complaint/concern? Shipping for swatches is $1 during their beta testing period... regularly close to $4. According to the postage label on the package, shipping cost Spoonflower $0.59. While I understand about "handling", this is likely to upset some people. Good to know in advance.

Happy Belated Birthday, my man!

2008-06-25T14:06:00.003-05:00

My sweet Prince turned 5 last week. (The day my computer died.) He had a birthday party the weekend before with his friends, and another one this past weekend- admittedly, this second party was more for Hubby and I, as it was our friends and adult relatives that attended. (But hey, they brought him presents, so he didn't complain!)

My sweet boy doesn't get quite as much press here as he is so much easier to live with than his sister. He is a good boy and is much less daring than she is. He is also my firstborn and I love him dearly. I can't believe that it was five years ago that he made us Mommy and Daddy. It seems like such a short time ago, yet it is hard to imagine life without him.

I've picked out some of my favorite pictures to share with you as I remember what fun we've had so far.

Not Purple or Paisley, but on it's way!

2008-06-24T14:37:00.002-05:00

In the mail to Purple and Paisley...

It's far from perfect, but this model has fewer "yuckies" than my first attempt (which I'm keeping for myself). The pattern said to hand-sew the handles, but I couldn't figure out how that would work- and I didn't think that anything I came up with would be nearly as strong as my machine stitching, so I tried to make it look nice.

Brand-new labels! Fresh from Spoonflower! I got my first order last week and have been waiting to show it off... it came right when my computer started to blip. I plan to do a post on the whole process soon.

I know it isn't purple or paisley, but I love the blue jacks fabric- I hope you like it!

WINNER!

2008-06-23T10:38:00.004-05:00

This post is going to be super quick, more coming later today, I promise.

Imagine this bag in these fabrics:

To be completed today. Photo coming asap.

And now for the exciting part... drum roll, please...

Purple and Paisley, please email me your snail mail address! Congratulations!

HELP! TOTAL COMPUTER FAILURE! .... and my first GIVEAWAY!

2008-06-18T17:07:00.004-05:00

PLEASE HELP!

I haven't been around blogland much in the last couple of days- I know that several people have left comments and I haven't had a chance to respond to them... I'm really sorry! I have a good reason, though, and I'm begging for your help!

My computer suffered a heart attack Monday night and yesterday it was wiped clean and revived. I have spent the better part of the last two days working on it and have it almost back up and really going... but I lost ALL of my bookmarks.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but I had a lot of bookmarks.

Please help me replace them! I would love it if you would leave a comment (or several), recommending sites that I should visit and bookmark. Here I'm really looking for crafting/quilting/sewing sites and blogs. I know that I had several tutorials bookmarked- the Everything Bag, a tute that explained how to figure how much fabric was needed for binding, some quilt patterns for charm packs, and so many other great things. I'm so bummed that I've lost all of those links. Thank goodness I didn't lose my reading list- Google Reader has kept that safe for me!

I'm trying out Firefox (I've been a Safari user for years), and am using a plug-in that saves all my bookmarks online... so I should never have this problem again.

So you want to help me, right? Let's have some fun with it! Comment with a suggestion or two (or three). If your suggestion(s) is a new one (not already mentioned by someone else), you'll get a chance in a drawing. One chance per original site suggestion, up to three.

Mention this on your blog and refer others here... you'll get another chance in my drawing for each commenter that says you referred them. I'll leave this open until 6 A.M. (Central Time!) on Sunday, June 22. A prize has not yet been determined... I'll let you know asap! (Give me a break- I didn't plan on having this problem, so I didn't plan on a giveaway this week!)

If you have weight loss/weight watchers/healthy recipes sites or blogs that you'd like to share, I lost all of those bookmarks, too- and would love it if you'd leave those on my other blog. Sorry- I'm not doing a giveaway for those, just here for the crafty sites. Thanks!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

The Future of Hair

2008-06-16T15:16:00.004-05:00

I'm re-posting this from Kurt's blog. I know both of these guys and I'd love to see this new company succeed.

Revolutionizing Hair
Today was a momentous occasion for my friend Tim and I. Tim and I have been the best of friends as long as I can remember, through thick and thin. He was my best-man, and we've been friends while he's lived in Italy, New York, Los Angeles, and most recently Las Vegas.

Well, Tim is a hair stylist, and a very good one to boot. He's worked for Jose Eber, and has studied at the L'Oreal Institute in Paris.

Tim has come up with the latest innovation in Hair Brushes. I don't know much about it, but he's just finishing up the patent process on it. It will revolutionize the way stylists practice their craft.

So, today, Tim (with my assistance) started Severn Salon Systems, LLC to serve as the company that administers, brands, and distributes the product. The brush is just the start, as Tim is already working on the next idea.

He's moved back to Iowa, wants to settle down and start a family, and is looking for a salon to work at for now. (If you know any salon owners who are looking for a top-notch stylist, let me know).

Next, we need to write a business plan, get funding, and start manufacturing. If any of the readers of this blog (both of you), know an American (Tim wants all manufacturing to be domestic) injection molding company, please let me know. We'd like to keep the manufacturing in Iowa if possible, and that manufacturer(s) are ISO certified.

Iowa Weather Pictures

2008-06-15T12:03:00.009-05:00

I live in a metro area that has experienced significant flooding. 15 years ago- 1993- we had what they called a 500 year flood... and this year's flooding has topped those records. 15 years ago we lost power and water, efforts were taken to protect our city in the event this flooding would happen again. The waters have began to subside, and we have not had issues with power or water this time around. (Thank goodness!)

Our house is not near the areas of town that are experiencing the flooding. We have a creek in the backyard that tends to flood with heavy rain, but it has been ok- we've just had to make sure that we're keeping it clear of sticks, etc, and that the pipe that carries it under the walking path behind our house is clear. If we don't keep that pipe clear, the creek will overflow into our yard.

I thought I'd share some photos from around town. I found these photos on the local paper's website, all were taken over the last 2-3 days.

Please note: I DID NOT take any of these photos... some were submitted by readers of the local paper, others were taken by staff reporters. The very last picture in this post was sent to me via email, I do not know who the photographer was.

Little League fields are totally submerged.

This bridge usually goes over a lot of land- it's the Mile Long bridge over Saylorville Lake.

The water has already started subsiding. The arches on the bridges had been totally underwater. This is downtown Des Moines.

Just outside of downtown Des Moines.

Flooding very close to residential backyards, suburbs of Des Moines.

Downtown Des Moines

Downtown Des Moines

The same area, without flooding.

The building just right of center is North High School in Des Moines, Iowa. A portion of the levee failed early Saturday morning and this area was overtaken by flood water.

This is inside a home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My heart goes out to those people who have lost so much from these floods.

This is the tornado that killed 4 Boy Scouts at the scout camp in Blencoe, Iowa. I got this over email from Kurt.

I found many more pictures here.

Progress

2008-06-14T00:25:00.001-05:00

I've sewn some of those white blocks and couldn't wait to lay out what I've down and show off my progress!

Right now it's about 70" square... when it's all sewn together, it will be about 110" square- so I have a way to go.

I'd planned on doing this on point (like the top photo), but I kinda like it just as squares. What do you think?

Cutting and Sewing and Cutting

2008-06-12T01:07:00.002-05:00

More progress on my blue and white quilt. Today my niece and nephew were here and played with my kids for quite a while, then the Prince had a friend over all afternoon- so I had some time to cut more strips. I have 20 white blocks completed and sewn, and my most recent calculations indicate that I'll need 64 of these blocks... and I've just finished cutting out the remaining 44:

Hopefully I'll get a good start on sewing those in the morning. I'll need about 40 more of the blue blocks, then I've decided that I'll do a border of solid white (no blue interiors) blocks- I'm not going to start on those border blocks until all of the "regular" ones are done.

Father/Daughter Talk

2008-06-11T10:30:00.005-05:00

Got this over email a while ago.
As I don't usually talk about politics here, I might delete this post in a day or two.

Edited to add: But I really like this... it might stay!

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so
many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal
Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of
higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words
redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch
Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures
that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a
professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil,
selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher
taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The
self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be
the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking
how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA,
and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she
was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying,
which left her no time to go out and party like other people she
knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really
have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, 'How is your friend Audrey
doing?' She replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are
easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She
is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always
invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show
up for classes because she's too hung over.'

Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's
office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your
friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and
certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.'

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily
fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, and how would that be fair! I've
worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a
lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree.
She played while I worked my tail off!'

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to the
Republican party.'

If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between
Republican and Democrat, I'm all ears.

Goals, Weather worries

2008-06-10T11:35:00.003-05:00

My craziness has subsided a bit, and I'm home again for a while. I have some WIPs that I really want to get finished... so I have a couple of goals.

First, I'd like to finish up the top for my two-color quilt. I finally finished those blocks this weekend, but I'll wait to lay them out and post another picture until I have more whites finished (the ones that I did had a blue border). I'm waiting on that picture because it'll be easier to see progress with more equal numbers of blue and white squares.

Second, I need to get prepared for the Prince's birthday party. We have several 5-yr-old boys coming over on Saturday and I'm not sure what to do for party favors. I sense a Target run in my future. Provided the weather cooperates, the boys will be outside most of the time...we've asked them to bring their bikes!

My third goal is to get caught up on the SQAL. It isn't as much of a priority for me and may wait until the two-color top is finished. Don't get me wrong, I want to finish the SQAL, but I need to do the other things first.

Speaking of the weather, it's been nasty. Tornadoes, flooding, fun stuff. 15 years ago we were under water... many without power as well. Our water works was under water and the area was without running water for 12 days. Yes, folks, a large metro area without running water for almost 2 weeks. Drinking water was brought in from all over the country. It looks like we're on track for the same situation again. Thank goodness my house is on a hill, though my backyard isn't so fortunate. The creek in our backyard has seen lots of heavy water lately, flooding so much that the terraces and retaining walls that hubby built have been washed away.

The prince and princess aren't sleeping very well lately with all the thunder, and the prince is old enough that he's been freaked out recently by the weather radio's alerts- and when we had to go to the basement because a tornado was in our area. Several times in the past week or two we've awoken to find both kids sleeping in our bed with us- good thing we've got a king!

Quilting Bloggers

2008-06-05T09:45:00.002-05:00

There is a new site out there for quilters- Quilting Bloggers. There is a lot of great stuff on the site, plus you can search the site for quilting bloggers in your area! The more people that get signed up to use this site, the better it will be. Click on the graphic to go directly there:

I've added the link to my sidebar, it will stay at the top for a week or so and then I'll move it downwards- closer to my other links.

Still not sewing, Just trying to breathe

2008-06-03T14:00:00.003-05:00

I mentioned that things have been busy? And that it might be a few days until my next (this) post?

Well. I left home Friday morning to drive 3.5 hours to a church camp, where I spent my weekend. I was on camp for 50 hours and 25 of those 50 hours were spent certifying the camp staff in American Red Cross Lifeguarding, CPR, and First Aid. It was a good weekend, very productive, but long and hot. It was also the longest I've ever been away from my kids, which was really tough- good thing that I was so busy, because it was hard to be sad when I had to focus on the task at hand.

I was exhausted when I got home Sunday evening, and fell fast asleep just a few hours later. The kids were extremely excited that I was home, and hubby was thrilled, too- but he was thrilled for some relief from parenting more than anything, I think. Yesterday morning (Monday) I was scheduled to teach from 8-12 in a small town about 45 minutes south... so I spent another 5.5 hours away from the family, and then I taught another class last night (from 5-10). Not enough time with my kids, and too much time teaching! Today I also had the two classes, and for the rest of the week I'll be teaching in the evenings. This coming weekend I'll be gone Saturday evening and all day Sunday. Hubby is not happy. The princess is 2 and has driven him totally bonkers over the past few days...

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to next Monday, when I'm done with this nutso teaching-all-the-time schedule that I've had recently. It never looks too bad when the schedule is being created, but when it actually gets here it seems to really suck!

In the past week, I've done virtually no sewing, cutting, or anything else crafty. Those darn blocks haven't changed at all- they still look like this:

I'm a week behind on the SQAL, but a week ago I cut out the pieces for last week's block... maybe this week it will get sewn... or not.

Busy Season

2008-05-29T15:30:00.003-05:00

This is a crazy time of year at our house. It's the beginning of aquatics season, and my job is basically to help prepare the staff at the area pools for the season. Things get busier in early spring, then I'm jam-packed crazy in May and return to almost nothing in June. This week and next are insane... and I'm not having much time to post or sew these days. Those blocks haven't changed at all since I finished cutting them.

Not sure really when I'll post next- tonight, tomorrow, next week... but I'm here and still (at the very least) skimming my reader.

SQAL Block #4

2008-05-29T15:14:00.001-05:00

I wanted to post this yesterday, but the camera was hiding...

I really like how this block came out! Block #5 has been cut and is partially sewn, hopefully it will be done and I'll post it tonight.

More Cutting

2008-05-27T13:35:00.005-05:00

I finished sewing all of those strips that I'd so carefully laid out, and almost immediately began cutting more strips.

That picture is 25 more blocks, all ready to sew... this project seems so huge now, I'm glad that I'm doing this challenge to keep me on track. Also my hope to have this done soon so I can bind on vacation seems to be helping, but goodness- I have a LOT more of these blocks to do. I can already tell that I don't have enough white fabric and I'm not sure about the blue... but I'm going to use up all that I have before I worry about having to get more. I sat down yesterday and did some figuring, I'll need 81 white squares (white outside border) and 81 blue squares (blue outside border)... when these 25 are sewn, I'll be halfway done with the blues.

At this point, I just want to work on these blocks as much as possible and finish this top! I have a feeling you'll be seeing updates on this quilt pretty often for the next week or so...

Four Men and Two Trucks

2008-05-27T13:26:00.003-05:00

Our neighbors moved this weekend- a Penske truck was across the street most of the day for 2 full days. Not a small truck- a big, long no-nonsense truck.

This morning we looked out the window and saw not one but TWO trucks:

She had joked that she was going to hire "Four Men and Two Trucks", but I didn't really believe her... I guess I should have!

Anyway, this isn't something that you see everyday, so I thought I'd share.

Cutting and Sewing

2008-05-25T21:56:00.005-05:00

I've spent quite a bit of time today cutting and sewing strips for my Two Color Quilt.

I'll be doing lots more sewing the rest of the evening.

Matchy-matchy Complete!

2008-05-24T21:31:00.004-05:00

I finished all 3 shirts that I was working on- and just in time, too. Our picture appointment was at 12:30 today and the shirts were totally done at about 11:15... and I hadn't showered yet or anything (I'd been working on finishing the shirts since I'd been up!) They really turned out well and my friend really liked her shirt, (and it fit!!!) so that was good. She lives too far away for us to get together very often, so I used my best guess for her size. The princess' shirt was a perfect fit, so I think I've figured out good alterations to the pattern to fit her right... I know I'll be making more of these!

The whole reason for this matchiness, remember, was a photo for my dad, for an early Father's Day gift. It turned out better than I could have hoped, just a really fantastic result. I'm so happy with this picture that I was almost glad when dad took it home tonight, I kept going over and staring at it. All three kids behaved well and looked great, which was way more than I had hoped for... I'd really been hoping that none of them would be crying in this photo (I have several like that).

Isn't that just fantastic? They did a really great job. Even better, I had a coupon for a free 8x10 or 10x13 (no sitting fees), and I stood my ground and didn't give in to their up-selling... so our cost for the actual photo was $0.00!!! She and I went and bought a frame and mat, so our total cost was about $20. What a deal. Dad loved his gift, and we all got to watch his reaction- it was a great day.

Leaving Preschool

2008-05-23T12:25:00.002-05:00

Today was the last day of preschool for the Prince. Next fall he'll go to an optional kindergarten program, then on to "regular" kindergarten. The optional is for kids that aren't ready for regular kindergarten for a variety of reasons (including having summer birthdays and parents who would rather them wait another year!).

Saying goodbye to the teachers was tough, my eyes actually got watery when I was thanking them and saying my goodbyes. The princess will go to school there in another year, but it's still hard to leave such a great school.

The prince with his two main teachers

Hugging a teacher that helped out regularly

She also taught the playgroup that ThirdKid participated in... we all really liked her

They had ice cream at their goodbye picnic, this was too cute not to share

Matchy-matchy

2008-05-22T13:39:00.008-05:00

I'm making 3835 again. This time I'm adding an inch in width to both the front and the back, and 2 inches to both the length and the sleeves. I'll put in side slits again, probably 3-4 inches.

all cut out, ready to sew

I'm making a matching shirt for a dear friend (but I'll skip the extra width for hers!), and a matching 4206 for the Princess (I'm adding 5 inches to the length and an inch in width to my pattern that is 75% of the size 3).

the photo makes the design clearer than it really is- in person, the contrast isn't nearly as obvious

I'm making all of these matching shirts for a group picture. We'll be in these shirts and jeans, the boys (Hubby, friend's hubby, their son, the Prince, and my brother) will be in black t-shirts and jeans. The fabric I'm using for our shirts is black with a gray/black floral print... I couldn't bring myself to make these out of a solid black. I think that we'll look nice, my mom thinks we'll look like "gang-bangers". My dad considers all 8 of us to be his "kids"... this picture will be a Father's Day gift for him.

When I have these shirts done, I've still got a long list of things to work on- I'm still here, just busy this week!

Kitchen Facelift

2008-05-21T16:15:00.002-05:00

Before:

dirty, kid-stained chairs

another stained chair and the ugly curtains

the ugly curtain over my kitchen sink

After:

new full-length curtains over the sliding door

the new curtains have a nice strip of dusty purple at the bottom; also notice the newly reupholstered chairs- they have a thick clear vinyl over the fabric (to protect them from my children!)

I made tie-backs for this curtain and the one over the kitchen sink... I love it when they're open!

kitchen window

My kitchen is purple- I love how the fabric matches the paint!

Conclusion:
I love my much-needed kitchen facelift!

I Learned that in Elementary School!!!

2008-05-20T13:07:00.002-05:00

I really try very hard not to discuss politics with friends. And I consider blogland to be a friend. I don't have those discussions because I value my friendships more than I would enjoy participating in a debate about politics.

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF PETE.

SERIOUSLY.

This candidate wants my vote?! This candidate is running for President of the United States of America- that's 50 states, folks- and DOES NOT KNOW HOW MANY STATES THERE ARE!?! Give me a break.

Of course, the media didn't pick up on this. The media is very one-sided, politically. I heard this on talk radio last night.

For the record, I'm not happy with any of the candidates. I know which one I'll be voting for, but I will be voting for the candidate that I consider to be the best of three not-so-great options.

SQAL Block #3

2008-05-19T00:59:00.002-05:00

I know, I know... It's practically Monday already (directions for block #4 will be posted in a few hours!), and I'm just now getting block #3 posted here! But I've had a busy week. And this has been finished since Tuesday- I just never got around to taking pictures and blogging about it.

This photo turned out a bit too dark- I should have used the flash.

This is a close-up, it's a much more accurate representation of the colors.

Cosby Night

2008-05-17T22:38:00.003-05:00

Tonight we went to see Bill Cosby. We were really looking forward to it, but honestly were disappointed. I laughed the hardest at the end, when he'd run out of new material and talked about going to the dentist- a routine of his that I've heard several times.

He started out talking about Thanksgiving turkey, a topic he wound throughout his entire routine... during which he spent about 45 minutes talking about a colonoscopy (Blogger's spell check is clueless with that one!). Really, Bill? Not really a topic I wanted to hear so much about.

Yes, I laughed quite a bit through the evening, but I don't think I'll pay to see him again. I really enjoyed the 5 minutes that he spent talking about his grandkids.

In other news, I've started reupholstering the kitchen chairs, and will also replace the curtains. I plan to post pictures asap- hopefully this project will be done soon! I've hardly had any time to craft or sew at all the past few days, I've been working every night this week. I have a list about a mile long of things that I want to get done (oh, like yesterday!), which includes additional blocks for my Two Color quilt. I'm really hoping to complete a few things tomorrow.

Aack! I'm 12 again!

2008-05-17T14:00:00.004-05:00

Omigod, I just laughed so hard! My friend Sara just posted a video on Facebook and sent it to me, I'm telling you, I feel like I'm 12 again! I was totally gaga for New Kids on the Block when they were popular- Joey was SO cute! They were my first concert- I still remember so much of that experience. I'm almost positive that Boys II Men opened that show for NKOTB... can you believe that?!?

So I had no idea that they were singing together again, and to see this video- singing parts of their old hits- brought it all back, I laughed, I smiled huge, I sang along, it was totally geeky and absolutely hilarious. Thank goodness I only had the Prince to laugh at me... The one thing that really struck me, though- how old they all look. OLD. Entirely too old to be using the name "New Kids on the Block"... but it was still a great way to spend 5 minutes.

Finished Shirt! OR 3835 Take 1

2008-05-14T11:09:00.004-05:00

My first attempt at Simplicity 3835 is done! I used a fabric that I love (but haven't had a use for), and was really hoping that it would fit... it does!

I added 4 inches to the length, 2 inches to the sleeves, and a 6 inch slit on each side (for ease of movement). It fits really pretty well! At first I thought it felt a bit snug in the sleeves and chest, but after wearing it for the past 20 minutes or so, I'm quite comfortable. It fits like a t-shirt, but doesn't have the give that jersey knit does- very helpful in putting it on and taking it off...

I wanted this to be a bit long, but I probably won't add quite as much length next time- maybe I'll try 2 inches.

Isn't it purdy? :)

WIP Week

2008-05-13T14:20:00.003-05:00

This week I'm focusing on making progress and finishing some unfinished projects.

Being a bit of an overachiever, I'm almost done with all 12 setting blocks for the SQAL. They just need to be stitched together (each block is currently in 3 pieces, I'll chain-stitch them and it won't take long to finish):

This week's block for the SQAL is done; but I didn't like how the last row looked, so I'm ripping out the seam and I'll re-stitch it.

I have a shirt that I started at least a week ago, I'm hoping to get back to it and finish it tonight or tomorrow.

The prince has a project he'd like me to do. He wants a tower to go with the rocket that I made a while back... please don't laugh too hard at my slightly-abstract rocket.

I'd like to make several more blocks for my two-color quilt. I really would like to be making at least 5 blocks every day. The strips are cut, they just need to be sewn together. Unfortunately, I've put this project on the back burner and haven't touched in in at least 3 weeks. Still have a goal of having the top done by the end of this month.... fingers crossed, nose to the grindstone.

Beautiful Mom's Day Weekend

2008-05-12T14:35:00.003-05:00

Yes, I got my Mother's Day gifts last weekend (and I'm still SO excited about them!!!), but this was a great weekend, too.

We bought and planted flowers in the planters by the front door:

I have a Stella D'Oro Daylily

that I planted last year. It did very well and I really liked it, so I decided to try another version of daylily in the planters across the walkway from it:

These are supposed to be a pink-purple color. Can't wait to see them bloom!

Hubby bought lots of mulch and did a lot of work in the backyard:

He also purchased flowers and planted our windowboxes:

A very sweet man- friend of hubby's- gave me flowers for Mother's Day:

My favorite flower is daisies, and I love the purple, too- so these are really great! Thanks, again Jay!

Hubby reminded me that I wasn't getting a gift from him this weekend because I got my bike and the trailer last weekend. I remembered, and it didn't bother me at all. I think we had a great weekend.

Oh- and I treated myself to a yard of a fabric that I've been drooling over. I really wanted this with a blue or green background, but I guess it's been selling out all over the place- red was my only option. If this came with a purple background, I'd buy it in a second- I want it in my kitchen! As it is, I'm considering re-painting my purple kitchen just so I can use this fabric because I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

Mary Engelbreit rocks.

How'd you find me?

2008-05-12T13:13:00.003-05:00

I've noticed quite a spike in my daily visits over the past 4-5 days, and this really intrigues me.

Is it because I've been commenting more on other blogs and you're following my comments? Is is because I'm doing the Quilt-A-Long and the Two-Color Quilt Challenge? I'm interested. Please comment and let me know how you found me. Thanks!

HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP.

2008-05-09T14:11:00.002-05:00

'nuf said

Thrift, Schmrift

2008-05-08T19:17:00.003-05:00

I keep reading about what other bloggers have found thrifting... many, many sheets seem to have been purchased at thrift shops somewhat recently. These sheets seem to have been used mainly to make quilts and shirts and dresses and skirts.

Thrift shops are fun, no doubt; but I have young kids and they make any shopping a bit stressful- I'd rather not take them with me to look for old sheets and other fabrics.

I KNEW we had some old sheets buried away in a box in our basement, I just needed to dig them out. I was picturing one sheet in particular that I wanted to make a shirt out of, and was hoping to find said sheet in that box. Tonight I went searching and found sheets that not only had I completely forgotten about, I don't remember ever owning!

I now have a pile of sheets, ready to become a new spring wardrobe of shirts (and a skirt, maybe a dress or two... and definitely another pair of lounge pants).