wip

It's not oilcloth!

2009-04-24T08:11:00.005-04:00

A cute little baby gift for Sheena at JoAnn Fabrics. I have mentioned Sheena before but I'll refresh for any new readers. Sheena is a super-friendly young lady that works at my nearby JoAnns. She has a smile that lights the entire store and talks to everyone that she sees and if she really likes you she will hug you hello and goodbye. (she must like me cuz she's always hugging me!) Sheena is having a baby girl in a few weeks and they are giving her a little baby shower today in the store. I whipped these up last night while watching CSI. I tend to avoid pink gifts because it's usually been done to death.
Hope she loves it!

While I have you, I would like to talk about a new series that I will be chatting about called "Life downstairs". I live upstairs from my parents, you can call them Frank and Ro. This adds a bit of interest to my daily life. Here is an excerpt:
Tomato plants were "buy one get one free" last week...this is huge in "life downstairs".
Frank- Hey Ro, I'll go buy 2 and then when I come home you go buy another 2 and then when the shifts change I'll go get another 2.
Ro- *grumblegrumble* OhforcryinoutloudFrank!
Later that day Ro realizes that Frank bought yellow tomatoes and now has cause to torture him all day.
Frank- Hey Ro, I think we should plant these now
Ro-*grumblegrumble*OhforcryinoutloudFrank! It's too soon, even the idiot on the news said so.
After an entire day of heated discussion Frank has a plan.
Frank- Hey Ro, let's keep the tomatoes in the wheely cart in the garage and bring them out during the day.
Ro-*grumblegrumble*OhforcryinoutloudFrank! Fine.
So, everyday at 9:00 am the tomatoes come out and Frank lets Ro know when the sun moves so she can wheel the tomatoes to it. Every night at 5:00 the tomatoes get put back in the garage.
This is life downstairs.

Ridiculously cute updated 04/14

2009-04-13T06:31:00.005-04:00

I know that dishsoap bottle aprons are a little cheesy but they are just so cute in oilcloth and all hung up together!

Thank you for your nice comments. I have licked my wounds and am over it now. I tried to email the editorial assistant and it seems that she may have blocked me because it kept coming back undeliverable. Oh well.
I saw an interesting comment from Tracy at fabric.com saying that she has a gift for me and my readers...I'd better go email her!
****UPDATE*****
Tracy from fabric.com would like to offer my readers $5.00 off their orders this week only The coupon code is "blogwork" and expires 04/21/09. You should check them out, I always shop their clearance first and find amazing deals and the service is always excellent.

This isn't going to be pretty

2009-04-03T05:58:00.005-04:00

I was so excited to come here with some happy news after a loooooooooooong absence. You see, I figured it was better to stay away until I had something nice to say... that ain't happening today unfortunately.
A while back I was approached by the editorial assistant at a certain magazine and asked if I would like my bags to be in an article about gingham. After "I came to" I whipped up a few and sent them off awaiting the May issue. I didn't tell many people because it would be kind of braggy and I'm really not like that. I saw the new issue at JoAnn's yesterday and ran to it (imagine slow-mo with music in the background). I could hardly keep my hands from shaking as I found the article.

My bags aren't there.

There must be more at the back of the magazine...the back is still good, I'll settle for anything... There were 5 more gingham products in the back.

Again, my bags aren't there.

So, I am sad. Life is a struggle at best lately and this was something I was really looking forward to. Something actually about ME in a world where nothing is about me ever.
ok, I need to go sew now. I'm sorry to dump my pity party on you.

Still not dead...

2009-02-26T11:28:00.002-05:00

...but not quite "living" either :(
I'm working aaaaallllllllll the time and honestly haven't even read a blog in months. As soon as I can come up for some air I will be back.
I miss all of you!!!!!

I'm not dead!

2009-01-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

Just insanely busy!
Pictures and a blog post soon....

More new stuff!

2008-10-24T11:47:00.003-04:00

What else can you do with oilcloth, you wonder?
How about reusable sandwich/snack bags?

Here is what my listing says:
This idea was kicking around my head for a while and then a customer asked if I could make them for her and here they are. I wanted to wait until we used them for a while before putting them up for sale and they seem to work just great. I tested them with sandwiches (the bread stayed soft), cracker-type snacks (stayed crisp), and even grapes (stayed grapey). My customer had this to say:

“I was waiting to leave feedback until I had used them enough...but honestly...I LOVE THEM! They make life so easy, are so adorable and everyone who sees them, loves them! Thanks so much, I am over the moon about a snack bag.”
Caring for the bags is simple: wash in your sink with warm soapy water and hang to dry. The sewn seam is on the outside to prevent any bits of food from getting stuck anywhere.
They have a nice, strong Velcro closure and double stitching. These bags will last a long time.
No need to limit their use for food; these bags are useful for so many things!
Appr. 7” square, just like a plastic ziptop sandwich baggie.

the ever-evolving lunchbag

2008-10-23T11:33:00.004-04:00

A year ago, I bought my Singer Futura for the sole purpose of doing monogrammed things. What a pain! First of all, I don't have a laptop so it involves dragging my sewing machine and all of its parts into the living room atop a shakey card table. Second of all...well, that's it but it's a huge pain. Everytime I tried it out, I ended up SO frustrated that the Futura almost went out the window so I didn't try again until recently. Now, I have the hang of it and it's kinda fun! I still wish I had a laptop but at least I have it working.
I am now offering monogramming on my oilcloth items, check out these custom bags that are also insulated-

Thanks for all of the nice comments about Julia's Halloween costume! She even got a mention on Craftzine.com blog
woohoo!

I love Halloween!

2008-10-21T07:08:00.003-04:00

How cute is this? I'm not sure how exactly we came up with the idea but we always get a good one in mid-summer. So, how come if we get the idea in the summer, I am sewing the darn thing as we are walking out the door to a party?? I didn't actually sew much; a simple skirt, half apron, rickrack on a t-shirt and lace on socks. The bonnet was a purchase from a wonderful seamstress at GrandmasGirl on Etsy. I could have never made it even half as nice as Julianne did...this woman can sew!
I tied some fake grapes in a basket and we threw in some raisins just in case no one could figure out who she was supposed to be. As if!

We already have next year's costume planned but it's a secret.

overheard conversation

2008-10-13T07:02:00.003-04:00

15 year old daughter sitting on porch waiting for her ride, her grandmother (my mom) sitting on the porch knitting.

Grandma- "Sam, how long before your ride gets here?"
Sam-"I don't know, they are running a little late"
Grandma-"Do you want to learn to knit?"
Sam- "why????"
Grandma-"Maybe someday when you have a boyfriend you can knit him a nice sweater"
Sam- silent and texting
Grandma-"what are you doing?"
Sam- "Asking Rachael to please hurry because my grandmother is threatening to teach me to knit"

free time?

2008-10-07T21:11:00.004-04:00

Ok, so when you lose your job you'd imagine that you'd have all sorts of free time, right? Hmmmm, not happening.
I'm done being sad for now (I think) and I'm not yet panic-stricken. I've been busy with oilcloth, doctor, dentist, etc. David actually loves having me home, there's a nice dinner every night, we aren't scrambling for clean clothes at 5:00 am, and I am just more relaxed. If only that paid as well as my old job.
I can't post without a picture so check out this manly lunch bag

And check out this etsy shop, I don't know what my fascination with nuns is but this stuff is great:
www.nunofakind.etsy.com
If you are on my Christmas list, you may be getting a sister!

So...

2008-10-02T12:49:00.002-04:00

I lost my job yesterday.
Me an 3 others.
It sucks.
I'm sad.
The economy sucks.
George Bush is an asshole, pardon my french.
Not sure what I am going to do now.
It's been said that you have to hit rock bottom before things get better.
It was pretty low already.
I'm not in the mood to string full sentences together and make them flow.
My job paid for 3 tuitions.
Public schools in my city are a joke.
The thought of sending my girls there makes me ill.
Cops with guns, metal detectors, drugs, violence. no thank you.
I'm not going to worry until Monday, then I will go into full panic.
Until then, I'll sew, clean my house and bake cookies.

huh?

2008-09-30T06:32:00.004-04:00

Keep away from beat? I'd better keep the volume down on my radio while I'm sewing, who knows what will happen!

If you have Fray Check, do me a favor and see if it's just my bottle.

fall favors

2008-09-25T06:25:00.002-04:00

We are celebrating the upcoming wedding of one of my coworkers on Friday so I got to play at work all day yesterday. I stayed behind to man the fort while the entire office went to NYC for advertising week festivities. It was fine by me because I got to make fun stuff for the surprise "shower" we are having Friday.

I dipped small pretzel rods in white chocolate, decorated with fall sprinkles and bagged them. Then I added a fake leaf and velvet ribbon and TA DA! We have pretty fall shower favors!
Did I show you my new Oilcloth Halloween Banner?

The rest of my life is just general busyness, oilcloth and the pursuit of not being dirt poor.
How about you?

nine today!

2008-09-16T16:43:00.004-04:00

My baby is 9. Almost double digits. Nine years ago she was born during hurricane Floyd...which was actually downgraded to a tropical storm here in CT. I kept telling the nurse to get my doctor because I was ready to push and she told me it was too soon. The nurse told ME that I was not ready to push after I had done this twice before. Then she told me I could "push a little bit". hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Yeah, that was a good one- "push a little bit".
All of a sudden she saw my face was bright red in full "push" expression... Nurse Know-it-all went crazy screaming for my doctor. He barely made it in the room and never even got both gloves on before all 6lbs of squirmy Julia shot across the room. Seriously, she nearly fell on the floor, that's how fast she came out.

Happy birthday to my sweet girl!

We made these fun cupcake pops to bring into school- courtesy of Bakerella.com
They are a bit of work but well worth it. YUM!

Oh my!

2008-09-14T08:36:00.003-04:00

What happened to my baby? She's growing up, that's what...I guess. I'm dealing.

Last night was a birthday party for one of her friends. This friend (not pictured) is a cancer survivor and her parents have the means to celebrate BIG every year for her birthday so you can only imagine how big her sweet 16 was!

It was at a fancy country club and all the girls were asked to dress in pink to party. I have never seen so many little pink dresses in one place ever, it was like pepto club.

While the girls were partying it up, the bumble and I actually went out. Without kids. Just 2 of us. Like adults.

We went to the theater and saw "Late Nite Catechism". I laughed so hard that my face hurt and my throat was sore. If it comes to your local theater, GO! Even if you aren't Catholic, you will laugh your ass off, I promise.
Other than that I have been trying to get some Halloween stuff made for the old Etsy shop.

I really have some catching up to do on your blogs, I feel like I've been gone for a while...
have a great week!

and they're off...

2008-09-05T16:18:00.005-04:00

School's back for all 3 girls now. Talk about getting slammed back into life, sheesh! I feel like a hamster on a wheel, just running for my life and never going anywhere. It's hotter than hell here in CT, but the effects of Hurricane Hanna should blow all that away tomorrow. Luckily we aren't getting the full storm.
I'll be sitting in my leaky sewing room, sewing away again this weekend. I whipped up this cute little pincushion last week when I couldn't find mine.

Naturally, I found mine 30 seconds after finishing this one but a girl can never have too many!

What's everyone else doing this weekend?

Today is the day!

2008-08-30T06:54:00.013-04:00

I'm excited about this but I really wasn't trying to string you along and build up hype, honestly!

I now have a "Sew-it-Yourself Lunchbag Kit" for sale at Handmade Parade

This is perfect for you crafty types who want an oilcloth lunch bag that you have made yourself. The kit includes everything you need including easy directions with pictures.... because I need pictures when I make something.
The kit also comes in 16 fun patterns!
So, there you have my big secret. Now go tell all your friends!

tomorrow

2008-08-29T06:05:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I should be able to give you details about my little project. The woman I have been working with has been busy giving birth...hence the hold up. See, I am not trying to build up hype!
Until then, please enjoy this CUTE fabric that I received from my friend Alison at starlitnest.etsy.com

Go on, go see what other cute fabric she has!

Have you all been watching the Democratic Convention? At the risk of making my crafty blog a political place...
HOW ON EARTH CAN ANYONE IN THIS COUNTRY NOT BE INSPIRED BY THE SPEECHES WE HAVE HEARD THIS WEEK???????? Hillary, Bill, Joe, Barack, Beau, Michelle- well done!

I'm done now. See you all tomorrow, I hope!

tap, tap, tap

2008-08-20T11:03:00.002-04:00

I'm waiting patiently to tell you about my new project.

I am not trying to be elusive at all, I really thought I could bore you all to tears about it over the weekend but I am still waiting to hear. Now there is all this build-up and it's not huge, exciting news... well for me it is.
I'll be back when I can share. In the meantime I am sewing a 30 lunchbag order for someone's company outing next week.
WooHoo!!

fun!

2008-08-14T06:33:00.003-04:00

Look what I found at Michael's last night:

Project Runway paper dolls! Julia and I Looooooooooove to watch Project Runway together. I only wish that there were Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Korrs dolls too. We are, erm... I mean Julia is going to have a lot of fun with these!

Stay tuned this weekend, I hope to have a new and exciting oilcloth item to announce!

shameless self promotion

2008-08-12T19:43:00.005-04:00

Look! I was featured on The daily swank at Vintage Indie:

http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/08/the-daily-swank.html

Yay me!

carry on with whatever you were doing...

not much new going on

2008-08-10T09:33:00.002-04:00

Busy week of work, sewing, haircuts, rained out softball games, church carnival. We had a nice visit with the family last Sunday and went to see the gorgeous home where my sister was staying...WOW!

I managed to sneak in a trip to JoAnn's yesterday. Is it wrong that they run to me and hug me when I walk in?

these will make some cute baby blankets!

I made this little set yesterday, fun!

and look at my baby's big girl haircut, wah!

Finally!

2008-08-03T11:43:00.003-04:00

I am as frugal as they get when it comes to my fabric scraps, I only throw pieces away once they are smaller than a 2" x 2" size. I sort each scrap meticulously by size with hopes of finding the perfect use for them. This usually isn't hard with cottons but oilcloth has had me stumped for a while now. I sort oilcloth scraps a little differently according to lunch bag pieces they can become. Once they are smaller than a square-pocket or handle-strip size I toss them in a box together.

(yes, this messes with my OCD nature)I walk past the box and it gives me anxiety because I can't toss it...you never know if you'll need it!
Finally, it dawned on me. I know it's not rocket science or a brilliant idea but I am so excited to use up these scraps:

Thank you tags for my lunchbag orders! As a bonus, I use up ribbon scraps as well. This is therapeutic crafting at it's best.

I am super-excited to see my sister http://debnstuff.blogspot.com/ and family today, it's been a long time. Julia and I just made this yummy edible bouquet for an appetizer:

My boss gave me the idea, so I can't take credit for it but isn't it pretty?
Grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella balls, and basil leaves on skewers. Just stick them in a pretty vase and serve with some olive oil for drizzling...YUM!

interruption-free

2008-07-28T06:35:00.003-04:00

Julia spent the weekend on my brother's boat this weekend playing with her little cousin, the 2 big girls were out and about with friends, The Bumble was working, and just look at what I accomplished:

I actually sewed more lunchbags but they are more of the same.
It's amazing how much you can get done when no one is interrrupting you, I had forgotten what it is like...it's been over 15 years! I sat at my sewing machine for 12 hours on Saturday only leaving for coffee and a snack and to list Etsy items. It seemed like no time at all. I did miss my Julia, she is my constant companion and quite a chatterbox.

What did you do this weekend?

who knew?

2008-07-25T06:40:00.002-04:00

I didn't!
Maybe this is old news for some of you but did you know that Walmart carries Martha Stewart crafts now??? it's true, look:

Julia wanted this cute little set and I couldn't say no. They also carry a lot of paper craft supplies; stamps, punches. glitter, ribbons, etc.
Awesome! Now I get to hide some crafty purchases in the walmart shopping trip where I buy my paper goods, snack foods and shampoo. Yes!

new things

2008-07-20T06:42:00.003-04:00

Hi there~
I just thought I would pop in before I retreat to my air-conditioned sewing room for the day (thanks to my husband!)
I spent yesterday sewing lots of oilcloth items as usual but there were 2 new ones I tried for some nice etsy customers:
a custom oilcloth & rick rack table mat

a custom oilcloth bib

Bias tape gives me anxiety but I managed just fine. This won't be a regular item of mine any time soon.
I made Julia a new camp tote from a cute dishtowel

And just look at this BEAUTIFUL necklace that I found at kneehighsnpigtails.etsy.com

Camille makes such nice pieces that are just my style. She also makes the chain any length you want, what service! I tend to wear a lot of solid colors to work and like to use an interesting necklace to liven things up. I bet I will get lots of compliments on this one.
Have a good day~

2 more weeks

2008-07-18T07:07:00.003-04:00

Have I told you about my orthopedic specialist? She's 12, ok maybe not 12 but she's young. Now I have 2 specialists that are much younger than me. What the heck???
Anyway, she's a young, hip, surfer type girl. She has a great staff and they all love her. There are fresh baked, homemade cookies and gourmet coffee in the waiting room every day. It's almost a pleasure going there, EXCEPT I still have to wear this damn boot. We are on an every 2 week basis until it is better. I was certain that it was going to be all better on Monday so I cleaned my house bootless all weekend.

Dummy!
Nothing else is going on here, still sewing oilcloth everyday and sweating in the heat.

I hope you are well and staying cool. Have a great weekend!

more goodies from the mailbox

2008-07-13T08:16:00.002-04:00

I guess I've been on a little "binge" lately. I have been tightening my crafts-pending belt here at WIP but every now and then I've got to spend some of that PayPal loot before sending over to the bank for bills.
How on earth could I possibly resist the new Sublime Stitching patterns???

Oh, I know, I have not even threaded my embroidery needle in months but still...Russian dolls, Black Apple????? I had to.

And then there was a sale going on at Z&S fabric...

Look at these prints! How cute will tote bags made from this be??? Pretty cute, right? And just look at how nicely they wrap it up for you :)

I couldn't pass on these either...

There won't be any/many sewn items coming from me this weekend. This is the first weekend in MONTHS that my calendar has been empty and the house desperately needs someone to clean it. That would be me.
Tomorrow I go back to the dr. for an ankle x-ray, wish me luck!
Happy Sunday friends!

Good day for mail!

2008-07-09T14:43:00.003-04:00

It's 90 degrees
It's 70% humidity.
I have the boot.
But wait...the mailman brought lovely things for me today!
I won a drawing over at casa calamity
http://calamitykim.typepad.com/calamity_kim/ and the prize was a copy of Cloth Paper Scissors featuring Kim herself

(yay Kim!)
In true Kim fashion, she sent me a sweet little package with a nice note, a packet of tea and my very own Calamity Kim Art Doll!!

It says to collect or trade, I'm keeping mine :)

Thanks Kim, you're swell!
Then there's a package from my long lost friends at
http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/index.aspx
I bet they missed me since I've been on a fabric diet! Anyway, they had a pretty good clearance sale going on and I was able to snag charm squares for $3.98 a pack. You've got to love that!

Suddenly everything seems more bearable.

Healing nicely

2008-07-08T06:58:00.003-04:00

Thanks so much for all of the get well wishes!
Julia is healing nicley and is happy that she can swim with her cast. We are very happy that she can swim with her cast!! I am still lugging this awful boot around, UGH! I keep telling myself that it is better than having a cast on 24-7 but it really just sucks.
The quilt was well received at the shower on Sunday, I really think she liked it. I also made and gave a belated baby gift to someone at the shower:

Other than that, I have been sewing oilcloth like crazy. For some unknown reason I had a record amount of sales over the weekend. Woohoo!
Here's the new additions:

I hope you are all staying cool, thanks for stopping by!

Just got worse...

2008-07-02T05:54:00.003-04:00

So, I am hobbling aroung work yesterday (totally miserable with the boot)when the camp director calls me. Julia fell at camp and hurt her arm, they iced, splinted and slung it, gave her a slushy, but she should see a doctor.
After 3 hours of doctors and x-ray and a trip to a new orthopaedic (boot on, boot off, boot on, boot off, boot on, boot off, boot almost out the window...)

She's broke!
Poor Julia has a fractured wrist. What a sight we are together; like we survived a bus accident or something, sheesh!
Anyhow, she's a real trooper and isn't in a terrible amount of pain. The worst parts of the experience for her were that the boy she collided with didn't care that she got hurt (ouch!) and today is rollerskating day at camp and she has to stay home (double ouch!).
PS- yeah, that's sharpie marker all over her shirt, somebody missed. A lot.

it could be worse

2008-07-01T07:32:00.003-04:00

Rewind 2 months ago: I woke with a sore ankle (for no reason) and walked 2 miles in the opening day parade for Little League.
Rewind the last 30 years: I have had a lot of foot surgeries so I wasn't alarmed at the pain.
Anyway, I got home and my cankle was HUGE and killing me and has been swollen and hurting ever since. I finally went to my regular doctor who said "hmmm, something is really wrong here, you need an ankle specialist". I went to see my new 12 year old orthopeadic specialist ( I now have two 12 year old specialsts, wah!) and she's pretty sure I have a stress fracture. I need to wear this damn boot for 2 solid weeks and go back for an exam and x-ray. Two solid weeks except for sleeping, showering and driving. The worst part is driving. Take the boot off at the car, drive, put the boot on, do whatever I went there for and repeat. THIS SUCKS! It is also very hot, and itchy. WAH! Oh yeah...I have to sew left-footed now. WAH! Did I ever mention that I live and work on the second floor? WAH! One more thing, I will probably need to continue wearing this another 6 weeks after. WAH!
I am however an optimist...shut up, I am!... and am so happy that I don't need more surgery. Yay!

"something blue"

2008-06-30T08:29:00.002-04:00

It's done!
I slapped the binding on last night, tossed it in the washer and dryer and here it is:

The fastest quilt I ever made, no doubt. It's throw size 60x50-ish I normally like to hand quilt but there was no time for that. I am sooooo glad that it is finished and that it's not hanging over my head all week. I hate to pat myself on the back but I am quite pleased!
I will try to get some better pictures of it if I have any good weather and light and time all at once.

the family suffers

2008-06-29T14:58:00.003-04:00

...but the quilt gets made. I am one bad-ass quilter when I set my mind to it!
I spent all of yesterday arranging and sewing squares

I machine quilted (rather lamely) after church today

And now I am ready for binding

But this must wait because we have a birthday party this afternoon.

Pressure!

2008-06-28T07:02:00.003-04:00

Some people love to work under pressure. That kind of people is not me. I like to have some kind of a plan and an ample amount of time. I like to be finished with an assignment well before it is due. It helps me to sleep at night and also keeps me sane. This quilt needs to be finished by 2:00 next Sunday and is causing me a bit of anxiety! *breathes into a paper bag* This would be totally fine and it could be done if my world would stop for a few days.

On the other hand, I am glad that I won't have too much time with it because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it already and I will have a hard time parting with it. After sewing oilcloth every day for a year, it gives me so much pleasure to sink my sewing machine needle into cotton...don't get me wrong, I still loves me some oilcloth but it's not cotton, Amy Butler cotton at that. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

It was another busy week here at Rick Rack Central; lunch bags are selling, dance recital, softball, summer work party and xrays and doctors appt that I will fill you in on after Monday's visit.

the game

2008-06-24T06:53:00.002-04:00

I stopped by The Happy Zombie's blog and she had this fun flickr game going on, so i thought I would waste some time playing this morning.

The Game:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Carol
2. What is your favorite food? Italian
3. What high school did you go to? Derby
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jimmy Smits
6. Favorite drink? Seltzer
7. Dream vacation? Private Island
8. Favorite dessert? more wine (don't judge me!)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? comfortable
10. What do you love most in life? My family
11. One Word to describe you. Frazzled
12. Your flickr name: cbcyr

For bonus points… put “sign” behind your answer and make another mosaic:

Let me know if you do this, I want to check yours out!

Many thanks

2008-06-20T18:38:00.005-04:00

Thanks for the birthday greetings! They were much needed and appreciated. The day got better. The family realized what day it was, I got to work and there were flowers and balloons along with my coworkers singing to me. (Yes, Deb I got your singing voice mail...keep up with those lessons, you're coming along great!)
Here's a quilty preview:

I'm sad about this one. It's a shower gift for someone who doesn't like me very much. This person also doesn't particularly like handmade things very much especially when made by someone who is me. Before you say, "Don't even go to the shower", "Don't give her any gift"; I have to go, there's no way around it. So, I am using my very nice fabric in colors that she loves and I will make a very nice quilt, all the while knowing that it may end up in Goodwill. (Yes, I will haunt the local Goodwill stores after the shower and buy it back)
Sorry to be so vague here but it's all I can say.
Keep watching for quilty progress!

It was 43 years ago today

2008-06-19T06:53:00.003-04:00

I bought myself this gorgeous vintage towel a few weeks ago with my upcoming b-day in mind.

I planned on turning it into a calendar tote for myself to carry on my birthday.

well, today is the day

No tote for me!
OK, I know this is a shameless attempt to have my birthday acknowledged but so far 3 people in my house have awoken and not remembered :(

teacher for the day

2008-06-17T14:06:00.003-04:00

My Julia won "teacher for the day" in her 3rd grade class. You win by getting the most 100%'s on your spelling tests and she didn't miss a single one all year!
She found out on Friday and worked on a lesson plan all weekend:
early snack time
first recess
movie
late snack time
2nd recess
fun
fun
more fun
the best part is that her teacher is a student for the day...gym uniform, pig tails and all

I'm finishing up the teacher's scrapbooks tonight and then I may start working on a quilt...
stay tuned

Novelty Fabric Junkie

2008-06-13T06:27:00.003-04:00

Yep, that's me. I used to think I was just a plain old fabric junkie, but at my core it's all about the novelty fabrics.

I am drawn, I can't pass them up when they are on sale. The kitschier and quirkier the better as far as I'm concerned. I almost never have any idea what in the heck I am going to do with them, but yet I must have them. Some day, I will come up with something fabulous...watch out!

Interesting

2008-06-09T06:17:00.003-04:00

I just stopped by Casa Calamity and read about her most interesting Flickr pictures and decided to copy her. It is most interesting that these are my most interesting photos because I never embroider or quilt anymore. *sigh*
1-Deb's birthday quilt

2-again

3-embroidered onesies

4-craft room

5-olive

6-doll quilt

7-stitchette

8- craft room

9-embroidery

10-handmade cards

Your turn...
what are your most interesting flickr photos?

I can do it!

2008-06-08T07:00:00.002-04:00

I can make 2 scrapbooks by next Monday, I can, I can!

I probably wrote about this last year but I will again. About 5 years ago I thought it would be a great idea to put together scrapbooks for my kid's teachers from the class. I have each student send in pictures and messages for their page and then I create a personal page for them. This was so much easier when I didn't work 2 jobs and didn't have such busy kids.Anyway, it's become one of those things that once I started it, I can't stop because the teacher's and kids look forward to each year. Oy vay!
Did I mention we are having a heatwave? Did I mention yet this year that we don't have AC? Yeah, I'm pleasant right now.
Last week was so bad, we ran day & night every day. My biggest kid turned 15 on Tuesday and we still haven't had her icecream cake that's sitting in the freezer.

Bad family!
Yesterday, however, was a great day. Julia has been taking voice lessons since February and did so well so quickly that she was asked to be in the recital. She did an amazing job singing "Ten Minutes Ago" from Cinderella and "Maybe" from Annie. To say i cried would be such an understatement.

you still there?

2008-06-02T18:36:00.004-04:00

I think this time of the year is more hectic than Christmastime.
Honestly!
Lots of softball, lots of school activiities like today's pinning ceremony:
Gabby and her 7th grade class received their 8th grade pins today. It's such a nice thing. Each 8th grade student "pins" a 7th grade student.

Sorry, no cool crafty pictures, I've been churning out oilcloth bags per usual.
I'll be back soon, I promise!

Half-assed winner

2008-05-24T13:42:00.002-04:00

Me: Julia, quick, pick a number 1-13
Julia: (dressed in game uniform shown here) Um, one.

Congratulations to Sarah http://thehouseofkrom.blogspot.com/
She was comment number 1 and therefore wins the half-assed bag contest! I have your address on file already and will mail it out on Tuesday.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by!
Happy Memorial Day.

200th Post!!!

2008-05-22T06:13:00.003-04:00

Hi there friends,
Welcome to my 200th post. Grab a cup of coffee, call in sick to work and prepare to read 200 amazing and rare facts about ME!
Kidding!
I would like to take a few minutes of your time to say thank you. Thanks for stopping by and for leaving me comments even when you know that I almost never respond. In my perfect world, we would all walk in each other's kitchen doors and grab a cup of coffee sit down and chat for hours...you know, like those 1950's housewives. Alas, that is not how it is. I have 10 minutes to publish a half-assed post, you have 2 minutes to read it and comment and we all move on. I love to read each comment that is left, (except from that spammer guy named Adam) thank you for taking the time, it makes me so happy :)

How about a little half-assed giveaway contest?

Cute bag, why is it half-assed?

Because I never plan things out and I don't draft patterns.

Because I sewed one part of the handle fabric insideout (but it doesn't really matter much)

Because I said I would give a lunch bag away but I am up to my arm pits in oilcloth orders, it's the last thing I want to do for fun right now.

Because I love to give failed prototypes away.

Because this is already made and that's easy!
So, if you like this dishtowel grocery bag-style tote (that's what I was shooting for people!), leave me a comment and I will draw names on Saturday morning.
Thanks for reading!

thirteen

2008-05-17T07:02:00.003-04:00

I have 2 teenage daughters now, Gabby turned 13 yesterday. She's so cute, we still have to bake pink cupcakes to bring to school. I'll bake her pink cupcakes for as long as I'm able, just to make her happy. We had Gabby's first emergency room visit last week. She was jumping on Fabio's trampoline at his beach house(seriously, I can't make this stuff up)and she hurt her ankle and had to be carried home by her friends. Anyway...no break but she spent a few days in an aircast and on crutches.
There is also a rumour of a boy that "likes" my Gabby.

I have TWO teenage daughters now.

Lots of busy-ness around here this past week. My shop got blown out again (yay!), softball games, sports banquet, field trips to Boston and Newport RI, yesterday's b-day and another in 2 weeks, emergency room, etc. etc.
Enjoy your weekend!
PS-
My next post is 200...maybe there will be a lunchbag giveaway...just saying

Open Letter to My Neighbor

2008-05-12T06:22:00.003-04:00

Dear kooky neighbor,
You've got to know that you're house is falling apart, right? I mean, do you just not care? You're cement porch is crumbling, You're roof was so bad, the roofers felt bad just slapping on a sixth layer of shingles. Roofers don't really feel bad about much...no offense to roofers but they typically do the job and leave without saying much, I heard these guys arguing with you and saw them shaking their heads. Your chimney is about to blow off the house.

You have birds living under your siding, in your AC, in the eaves. You have squirrels living in your attic!
You make a nice living. You don't pay a mortgage. You received an inheritance. Why do you want to live in this eyesore, fire trap?
Sincerely,
Carol who prays the tree between us doesn't ever come down.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T07:42:00.004-04:00

Happy Mother's day to all you moms!

To those of you that aren't moms...go find a mom and give her a hug.

I am off to church where we will have the May Crowning, celebrating the Mother of all Mothers.

Julia and the other communicants get to wear their dresses again and crown The Blessed Mother while singing my favorite church song, "Ave Maria".
*weep*
Have a great day ladies!

Open letter to all of the idiots that can't merge on I-95

2008-05-07T12:29:00.002-04:00

So, you all thought it would be a good idea to have a little fun with me on the highway the other day? Pretending like you never merged onto the highway before, what a hoot!
Balding guy in the pick up truck- you were really great with the hand gestures and yelling, after you nearly killed us both by dropping your speed to 10 MPH after you got in front of me.
Polite older woman in the sedan- have faith and just trust that you indeed can do it. You just accelerate and merge, not crawl and stop. You confused the hell out of everyone around us. Sheesh!
Middle-aged mom in the minivan- Perhaps the kids were on your last nerve, so I will cut you some slack. For the love of all things good, please don’t hesitate when merging. Be assertive and go! You had plenty of time and I was waving you in for crying out loud!
Young, scary thug boy- where on earth do you have to be in such a hurry that warrants you to cut me off and weave in and out of cars. You are a moron and I hope all your tires are flat.
Who was it that sent you all to annoy me? C’mon, you can tell me…I’ve calmed down considerably now and I won’t be mad.
Elderly couple in the middle lane along side of me- I’m terribly sorry if you heard me screaming obscenities, I am PMS’ing something awful and I really couldn’t help it.
Sincerely,
Road Raged Carol

The last of our 1st communions

2008-05-03T14:41:00.003-04:00

Not sure if that's a happy thing or a sad thing.
I do know that we were very proud of Julia today.

She did a very long reading at the mass today and was a total rock star. She stood on the step stool at the pulpit and read loudly and perfectly to hundreds of people without the slightest bit of anxiety.

Julia is a seriously picky eater, honestly, she has major food/taste/texture issues. It's really bad. Anyway, we were so afraid that she would gag on the host and spit it into her hands and we would have to change churches at the very least, possibly change religion but she did it!

We came home and had a lovely little brunch with immediate family and a few friends and in a little while we're going out for dinner. The 1st Communion girl picks Outback Steakhouse...yum!

The old soul

2008-05-02T18:31:00.003-04:00

Just look at her. Curlers in her hair, wearing an apron, curled up on the couch with a magazine on a Friday night.
Actually, it's Ms. Julia's 1st Holy Communion tomorrow morning and we have been busy baking and hair curling for the big day.
More pictures after tomorrow!

not much excitement

2008-04-30T06:27:00.003-04:00

A little remnant bin therapy:

I had to stop by JoAnn fabrics to see my favorite employee, Sheena, and gift her with an oilcloth lunchbag. Sheena is a college age girl who is ALWAYS happy and smiling. She hugs her favorite customers at least 3 times each visit. I wish I brought my camera with me so you could see her!
I gave her a bag like this:

I thought she would cry.
Other than that, my life has been all about softball. Here's pictures from Julia's first game (they won!)

Gabby's team is undefeated 3-0 and Sammy's team doesn't start games until June.
Yikes!
I need to make lunches...have a great day :)

moo

2008-04-26T09:58:00.002-04:00

Just a quick hello before I run out the door for a marathon weekend of endless softball and birthday parties. I would also like you know the level of my insanity. My house is in shambles, mountains of laundry to do, I don't have a gift for the party at noon BUT I did take 5 minutes to manufacture this tiny moo card case (you know... those cute little cards you buy on flickr?). There's a mom that will be at the party that is interested in some of my crafty stuff and asked me to bring a few cards, I didn't have an appropriate moo case but I had an idea for my tiny scraps of oilcloth-
ta da!

It needs tweaking but that's for a day when I have 10 minutes.
Have a great day!
xo
Carol

woohoo!

2008-04-20T07:20:00.003-04:00

I am so proud of myself!
Cindy-Lou, over at the http://apronista.ning.com makes these super-cute, chubby chick aprons and she posted a tutorial.
Look what I made:

I LOVE this apron and I can't believe that I actually made something garment-like, it is something new for me...all the sizing, gathering,and whatnot.
Today is valances and panels for the pantry...maybe an oven mitt, dishtowel...I have lot's of yellow fabric.

possibilities

2008-04-19T07:00:00.003-04:00

New kitchen valances? New panels for my pantry cabinets?
New apron? (I'm dying to try the instructions for "The Chubby Chick Apron" on The Apronista ning)
I have 5 yards (for $11.00 at JoAnns!)so I think I can do it all.
After Little League Opening Day festivities, that is.

I forgot...

2008-04-13T07:34:00.003-04:00

what it felt like to sew cotton! I've been cranking out oilcloth stuff for so long, I needed a little break from it.
Over at http://apronista.ning.com/ there is a monthly project. April's was to use Recycled/repurposed/vintage fabrics.

I had the vintage table runner with pink crochet trim (maybe from my sister's MIL?) and I have been looking at it forever, knowing that it wanted to be something else. I just couldn't take scissors to it (I'm funny like that) and then it hit me... turn it sideways, gather it and it will be an apron!!! I added an embroidered hanky from my sister and Calamity Kim's shopping exursion in Sarasota last year. The waistband is new fabric.
It felt so good to run cotton through my sewing machine.
My little friend Hope is doing amazingly well. She had her surgery on Thursday and is recovering at a much better rate than anticipated. They are hoping to be back home in a few weeks. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, I really believe they work.

Etsy Secrets

2008-04-08T06:26:00.002-04:00

Lovely Lotta at http://mom-o-matic.blogspot.com/ hooked me up with this "Etsy Secrets" website:
http://etsysecrets.blogspot.com/
(sorry, I still can't embed links for some reason and I don't have the ambition to look for the problem)
Go check it out, there's all sorts of good coupons there!

getting by, and you?

2008-04-06T08:36:00.002-04:00

It's been a tough couple of weeks around here. My husband was sick for over a week with a cough that shakes the windows, makes his ribs feel broken and rattles my last nerve. He wasn't sleeping...I wasn't sleeping, he was sick and cranky...I was cranky. He's back to work but still not feeling 100% so I have been doing my normal thing plus what he couldn't. I always appreciate him but I have a deeper appreciation after my gas light in my car has gone on 3 seperate times (he puts gas in my car), I've been to the grocery store 4 times a week for work and home (he picks up groceries), emptying the litter box (ugh), doing all the driving of all the children all the time, etc., etc.
All this with raging PMS! How am I doing? getting by, and you?

It can always be worse though. I made this super soft fairy princess blanket for my coworker's 3 year old daughter. Hope was born with a heart deformity and needless to say, has had lots of medical issues throughout her little life. She goes for a major heart surgery on Wednesday. I always struggle with "what to do" in these situations so I usually turn to my sewing machine. Hope loves to dress up like a princess every day, I think she may actually be a princess. Please keep little Hope in your thoughts and prayers this week.

bags bags bags

2008-03-29T07:49:00.003-04:00

Yeah! I'm done!

I love how they look all together but now it's time to flatten them and ship them out. What a great feeling to have this job done.
I have no obligations this weekend, it's just me and my machines...sewing and washing, that is.
Have a great day :)

Easter Recap

2008-03-25T06:05:00.004-04:00

Thanks for all of the nice comments about Winston. This week will be much easier at work, I think. I don't really cope with loss all that well.

We had a nice Easter here although it was much smaller group than our usual holiday dinners. I gave my mom the day off from cooking and she was actually happy and relaxed as opposed to her less than happy and relaxed self of late.

Honestly, I was so stressed out last week, the last thing I wanted to do was plan a menu, shop and cook all weekend but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I really hate to come here and complain about how busy and stressed I am but I really thought I was going to snap.

My etsy shop is bare, I have a big order I am finishing, I had a work party to plan, another party to attend, kids birthday parties, Holy week at church, Easter dinner, plus all of the normal daily stuff. I really thought I was going to lose it. Thankfully I had this little girl around:

Not only does she like to help...she's really good at a lot of things. She made this eggplant rollatini from start to finish (I made the sauce and fried the eggplant) with a 2 minute lesson and minimal supervision. It was delish and she is still so proud of herself. My camera shy 12 year old made a pie all by herself and the teenager...well she didn't ask for any rides this weekend. David (aka my Bumble) was also an enormous help by letting me boss him atound more than I usually do.

This boy loves to hide and get into places! We were looking for him and found him in "the wine cellar" (it's actually a cold closet in the basement). How funny is he?

Winston

2008-03-20T06:14:00.003-04:00

This has been the saddest week at work. Our coworker "Winston" has passed away, he lived a wonderful 14 years but it is so devastating that he is gone. I can't even go near his owner because all we do is bawl.
*sigh*

ya know...

2008-03-16T07:50:00.003-04:00

...how when you turn on the vacuum, you always think you hear the phone ringing? Well, as soon as I step on the presser foot of my sewing machine I swear I hear one of my kids yelling "MA" from the other room. That's just cruel, isn't it?
Anyway, I went for my nerve test (which was NOT fun for the record!)and Dr. Neuro says there's definite "ulnar neuropathy" and I should have surgery. I am going to think about it for a while and make a decision within 6 months. The good news is my carpal tunnel is not severe enough for surgery so I will only be fitted for a night brace.
We went to our friend's annual Easter Egg Hunt yesterday. It was COLD, WINDY and not very spring-like at all, but a good time nonetheless!

Today we are celebrating Palm Sunday, St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day...that's a lot of holiness!

The nerve!

2008-03-14T07:33:00.003-04:00

If you live in my house or are ever in earshot of me, you have heard me say at least a bajillion times "You are on my last nerve!". My husband fears the day that last nerve snaps. I don't know where I picked this up but it has kind of stuck. My sweet littlest daughter has even gone to her grandma and said "we are on mommy's last nerve again". Anyway, there may be some truth to this... while I was at my neurologist 2 weeks ago he noticed some weakness in my hands which I quickly brushed off as "oh it's just my carpal tunnel". He pinged my elbow and declared that there is some nerve damage and the fact that I can't type with my ring and pinky fingers should have tipped me off, apparently. So, I have to go for a nerve test today, which totally cracks me up. I may even ask him exactly how many nerves I have left.
I have been busy trying to fill my empty little etsy shop. I really wish I had some time to get a good chunk of stock made. Most of what I am doing is custom requests (which is great) but I feel as if I am losing it on the other end.

I am also working on a consignment order of lunch bags (which I am excited about)that I am chipping away at each night...one bag a night.

My fabulous sister is here visiting for the week and that makes me so happy. We will all have dinner together tonight and perhaps a glass of wine or two...
I already informed the 2 big daughters that mommy and daddy will NOT be driving them to the movies/bowling/friend's house, etc.

Have a great weekend friends!

blog slacker!

2008-03-02T06:04:00.003-05:00

Yep, that's me! I really don't have much to blog about these days I guess. I have 2 sick kids; high fevers, sore throats (no strep). So far I am the only one in the house who has not gotten sick. Wish me luck, actually wish my family luck because if I go down, they are all on their own.
Basketball season came to an end this past week; the girls made it 2 games into the championship before getting knocked out. As hard as it is to go out in the cold at night, rushing through dinners, etc. to get Gabby to practices and games, I will really miss it! Next up...softball season...3 girls, 3 different leagues. This will be interesting.
I've been busy doing some custom work for people at work:

Plus I have 3 custom lunch bags through etsy to get done today. My little Etsy shop never seems to get full, no matter how much I sew!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Oh Sandy!

2008-02-23T07:22:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,
I interrupt your busy weekend to tell you about a cool website I stumbled onto.
Everyone, this is Sandy

http://iwantsandy.com/home
Sandy is my 'free' personal email assistant. She kind of works like that girl at your dentist's office- the one that calls and reminds you of your appointment, except Sandy is far less bitchy than that girl and she reminds me via email not the phone.
Sometimes I need more than a calendar and this is where Sandy comes in. Say if I need to remember to call to make an orthodontist appointment on Monday...I know I will forget by Monday morning at work but if I send Sandy a simple email, she will remind me at the exact time I want. My old way was to leave myself a voicemail message but that kind of creeps me out to hear myself talking to myself.
Silly or useful? You tell me.

So, I made this cool gift...

2008-02-19T06:58:00.002-05:00

and I forgot to take a picture again, DOH!
I have a coworker who just turned 30. She's super-organized, very efficient and sends out greeting cards to all her friends and family (like it's her part-time job) for every holiday. She comes to work with a stack of cards, stamps and corresponding stickers and gets them all mailed out in time. It's very sweet. I was shocked when she told me that she throws out her extra cards and stickers because she doesn't have a system or place to keep them.
Sooooooooo, I found really pretty expandable file boxes at Target and set up the tabs by holiday using some pretty scrapbooking papers and a P-Touch Labeler. I filled it with some stickers, cards, stamps, etc. (pretend you can see a picture)
and also some of these handmade cards (that I did take a picture of)

I spent my long weekend cleaning my sewing room, it was long overdue and it was all spilling into our bedroom. I have a little more finishing up to do and maybe I'll snap a few pictures.
Have a good day :)

Science is so for girls!

2008-02-14T21:11:00.004-05:00

A little blog brag for my middle daughter:
She won third place in the science fair!

Gabby was horrified to learn this because you see, she had a strategy... do a good enough report and board to get an A but not good enough to get an award. This means she will go on to compete with other schools and Gabby pretty much likes to go through her life blending in being un-noticed. I am very proud, of course!
Hey, while you are here, check out this chicken cutlet from tonight's dinner:

It was purely accidental that it turned out heart shaped!
I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day.

aww, you guys!

2008-02-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

Thank you for leaving me such great comments. I felt like such a whiney brat the instant that I clicked "publish" but it was a necessary post. I was coming off a particularly grueling week and gearing up for a marathon weekend of basketball, birthday parties, highschool dances, church, cheerleading, science fair projects, softball clinic, etc. Aside from sleeping, I wasn't at home for any longer than an hour at a time all weekend. I was ready to snap by Sunday night. I wouldn't say that my kids are indulged; but there are 3 of them and they are very social. Even if we share the driving, we are still in the car a lot. They are indulged in expensive education, I will admit to that, but we aren't willing to turn them over to the public schools in our city (it's really bad!) or let them be taught by some raving lunatic at home (that'd be me). So, we work like idiots and I have meltdowns. Thanks for listening.
In between running, I made gifts for parties. Here's one:

I forgot to take a picture of the other one. It was a cute one too, darn it!
Anyway, thanks again for your comments. You are all so nice (and funny!) I am awful at responding to people but I always smile when I read comments and am happy that you stop by.
Have a nice day:)

Ugly rant- Beware

2008-02-09T06:57:00.000-05:00

I'm cranky.
I'm tired, run down and cranky.
This isn't a fun post, sorry.
I scored some good remnants from the bin:

But it didn't do a thing for my disposition.
I got this surprise assortment for next to nothing from fabric.com a few weeks ago:

and it barely excited me.
I got this fabric super cheap:

And all I can think about is how little time I can find to use it.
It's been a rough couple of weeks. Home life has been extremely busy, all of our schedules have been full and we are all on edge lately. I usually love my job but that has been a source of anxiety as well. I only work 5 hours a day but lately I have 8 hours worth of work to do.
Each day I get up at 5:00AM and spend 1 hour by myself; I have coffee, watch tivo'd Martha, check email, etc. Come 6:00AM, it's all about everyone else all day. My function at work is to make everyone's life easier and keep them going in the right direction...so I'm even the mom there! When I'm all done feeding, driving, doing laundry, etc. I sit at my sewing machine at night and try to get a business going because money is a constant issue that stresses me. At 9:00PM I am exhausted and cranky, all I have to look forward to is 5:00AM tomorrow morning. I don't have a day off unless you count Christmas and Easter and I'm not sure what I would do with a day off if I even had one.
I don't know what I think is fun anymore. I am a robot! I'm not trying to say my role is harder than anyone else's, I'm just having a tough time of right now.
I'm sorry to be so negative but I need an outlet and I really shouldn't drink wine at 7:30AM...I wouldn't have time to go to AA meetings if I became an alcoholic.

Happy Birthday Deb!

2008-02-05T06:28:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to my fabulous big sister Debbie! http://debnstuff.blogspot.com/
We couldn't be more different...she loves Florida- me not so much, she loves dessert more- I love dinner more, she's a republican- I'm a democrat... But I love her so much and couldn't have picked a better sister.

PS- I suck and I'll owe you a gift when I see you!

Breaking News!

2008-01-31T06:15:00.000-05:00

Michael Miller makes fabric rickrack!
Michael Miller makes fabric rickrack!
Michael Miller makes fabric rickrack!

Don't even tell me that you knew about this!

weekend recap

2008-01-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

whew!
Business is booming, I am nearing my 100th sale on my etsy shop!
I am starting an oilcloth lunchbag revolution...I hope my lower back holds up. I am having a lot of trouble keeping up with the demand, just as I get 6 bags in the shop they all sell and I have requests for 3 more. I need more hours in the day and one more day in the week that no one in my family knows about.
I ventured away from lunch bags for a bit today because I don't want to start to resent them...they should all be made with love you know...

But I couldn't stay away all together:

Look at these two boys:

Whenever they find this laundry basket on it's side they race to get inside it. (we call it the kitty cabana) That's Leo inside of it, he usually never gets there first being the chubby one. Gilbert is the one on the top, he's too cool for everything. I'll let you in on what a dork I am...I imagine that if Gilbert could speak, he would sound just like Tim on "Project Runway", so I will often speak for Gilbert in Tim's voice when I think he has something to say.
I've said too much. Must be the oilcloth fumes getting to me.

Not the same old cookie

2008-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

We had a "Cookie Walk" back in December at the kid's school and a few moms dropped off these Peanut butter, Hershey kiss cookie... you know the one, you've all had or made them. I am not a huge fan of this cookie. That is, until I tried Corinne's mom's recipe!
People told me they were great and I would love them. I scoffed, being the cookie snob that I am. I was so wrong.
Look at this beauty:

They taste better than any version of this cookie that I have ever tasted. I begged Corrine's mom for the recipe and she whipped out a sharpie and jotted it on an envelope for me.
Look at the 3rd ingredient:

Bisquick??? In a cookie??? Are you kidding??? They are moist and chewy on the inside and have a good crunch on the outside. YUM!

sign me up for the airline tickets please

2008-01-23T07:09:00.000-05:00

Oldest daughter's private highschool is having a big Fancy Pants Silent Auction (that we won't be able to afford to buy tickets for mind you)and each girl is required to donate one item with a $25.00 minumum value. So, I was reading through the list of suggested items for ideas:
Limosine service- nope
Ski packages- nope
Laptop- nope
Wine- with all due respect- BACK OFF MY MERLOT, SISTERS!
Airline tickets- nope
Patio furniture (new)- oh, never mind
Jewelry, watches, handbags- nope
Set of golf clubs- David would kill me
Handmade items- scarves, quilts, etc.- BINGO!

Don't mind the crappy pictures, they were taken in the dark with dying batteries. It's really cute in person!
This is what they are getting from me because I just couldn't find where I put those extra airline tickets to Switerland in time!
Oh yeah, wanna know why I made that little fish? It was the cut out neck portion of the bib and it was a perfect fish shape, I just had to do it.

Oh, that Martha!

2008-01-15T06:06:00.000-05:00

She trips me up all the time!
We had a "snow day" yesterday, except by daybreak there wasn't a trace of snow on the ground. It's a hard call to make here on the shoreline. If the wind shifts in the slightest or the temp rises a bit we end up with rain or nothing sometimes. The rest of the state got a good amount of snow. I am not complaining at all. I had a busy weekend at the sewing machine with a box of kleenex.

Anyway, I was looking forward to having one more day off as I was still not feeling great and I had tons of laundry left...there I was moving along quite nicely. I had a plan, I was sticking to it and it looked as if I might even get the bathroom cleaned UNTIL the mail came and delivered "Martha Stewart Living".
*thud*
I put on coffee and forget about any plans for the day.
Look at these cute things!

Of course I had to stop everything and get some of these made for Valentine's Day!

I am way too stingy with my wool felt so I used some cotton with a thick interfacing. I was thinking they will make a great 3rd grade valentine this year! Just as I had that thought, I remembered what was on my list of things to do before Martha dropped in unannounced...make a birthday gift for a 3rd grade friend! CRAP! Back to the sewing machine last night

This is "the" gift among the 3rd grade girls. They can't wait till they all have them at the lunch table. I think I have 5 or 6 girls left.
Have a lovely and productive day everyone :)

I miss my sewing machine!

2008-01-09T18:09:00.000-05:00

Boo hoo hoo!
I am having a heck of a time dealing with my loaner machine(a Baby Lock?)while my precious Singer Futura is back at the factory. As you know, I sew a lot of oilcloth and this machine must have lived a dainty little life before it met me. I cannot get the tension right on this thing to save my life! The top thread keeps bunching on the underside of what I am sewing after a while no matter how I adjust. It is so frustrating especially because someone bought out my entire supply of lunch bags from my etsy shop and I really need to make more fast!
This little bag may look all innocent and sweet but it had me swearing like a truckdriver! I flung my seam ripper across the room and I think it is hiding from me now.

How is everybody else?
I miss my blog pals, Life has just been too busy lately! I'll try to visit on Saturday morning.

Things are great in 2008!

2008-01-03T15:31:00.000-05:00

1. The AH Merchantile Company is reimbursing me my money thanks to PayPal. I am happy but I am still completely annoyed that they lied and didn't apologize. I would have much rather gotten my merchandise!

2. My brand new Singer Futura needs to go back to the manufacturer for repairs but the nice people at JoAnn's gave me a decent loaner.

3. My very nice coworker had to go to Japan the day after Christmas for her Father-in-law's funeral, he died after a long illness and yet she still took time to think of me.

She brings these awesome craft books back for me everytime she goes to Japan but I never in a million years expected that she would this time. Thanks a bunch Janet!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T06:27:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had an enjoyable New Year's Eve. Ours was low key as usual...just the way we like it. I have never liked New Year's Eve much. I think it's too much pressure to have a great time if you go out, I have a problem with "forced fun" and besides that I have had too many miserable New Year's Eves in my younger days.
Anyway, we had a fabulous dinner with the kids and the parents. We lingered at the table with some very nice wine and good dessert a bit longer than usual. It was very nice and THEN we went upstairs to our house and things got crazy. We began our family's first annual "New Year's Eve Wii Sports Tournament". Here's what I look like on Wii, my name is Mad Martha.

The tournament was planned by my husband with winner's and loser's brackets, teams, points, it was Little ESPN here. I am sad to report that Mad Martha sucks at Wii Sports and came in dead last. Oh well.
Happy New Year everyone!

business

2007-12-30T06:27:00.000-05:00

Bad business!

This is the worst company I have ever ordered from online, and I shop online alot. I was drawn in by their oilcloth that I haven't seen anywhere else and these retro ice bags. They looked like a decent place, they have a good sounding name, everything felt OK. On 11/11/07 I placed a $60.00 order and paid through PayPal, they took my money immediately and then NOTHING. No confirmation email, no shipping email, backorder email, no "drop dead sucker, we took your money and ran" email, nothing. I called and emailed their bogus customer service daily and never spoke to a live person. My account showed that it was processing until 11/27/07 and then it switched to "shipped". I felt relieved for a second until I saw that there was no tracking number. I continued to call and email with no luck. Now I have filed a claim through PayPal. We will wait and see what happens. UGH,I just wanted my damn oilcloth!
In keeping with the business theme:
I was trying to tidy up around the tree (ha ha ha ha ha)and I found this

Julia means business! This just cracked me up for some reason.

More business...
My brand new machine is going back to the store today because it has decided to stop winding bobbins. Unbelievable! They had better give me a loaner or I will be back ranting about JoAnn Fabric's (or whomever it is that sells machines in the store)next.
Happy New Year's Eve Eve.

Things I forgot to say yesterday...

2007-12-23T10:18:00.000-05:00

Look what my Bumble found-

The Advent thingy that I had lost and was so upset over a few weeks ago! Julia has been very happy to have it back. Notice all the cards around it...thanks to my kind friends(real life and blog) and family! Each one gave me a HUGE smile on my face when I received them.
Here's last night's accomplishment-

Julia refers to this as "the ultimate girl gift set" and she would know. I almost feel guilty about this gift because the fabric came from the remnant bin and cost less than $2.00, but it is totally cute and appropriate for the recipient.

How's everyone holding up?

2007-12-22T14:37:00.000-05:00

I'm doing ok here. I have successfully avoided a major nervous breakdown, I think I will make it to Christmas with my normal about of sanity in tact!
This week has been all about 16 hour days of work, shop, cook, drive, sew. Notice I didn't say anything about cleaning or laundry, that's today.
Here's a sampling of the handmade gifts that I have finished this week.

We had an awesome holiday work party on Thursday. 27 of us went to Chef Silvia's house http://www.chefsilvia.com/ where we learned to prepared a 5 course meal together while drinking wine and exchanging gifts. It was so much fun until we got stuck in 2 hours of traffic on the way home. When I got home Gabby was waiting at the door for me with basketball bag in hand...

Ugh, she had a game. It was a very long day. Great picture of her, huh?
OK, get back to work!

A strange calmness...

2007-12-15T14:35:00.000-05:00

...has settled over me. It may be residual effects from the snow day, I don't know.

This little scene from my village makes me happy, I love looking in this little window.
Last night I actually had the mental capacity and 1 hour to figure out the embroidery part of my machine.

This was my test, it's such a cool thing! I doubt that I will ever do much in the way of picture type embroidery but I love having the ability to personalize things. I already have a few jobs lined up!
Speaking of embroidery-
About a year ago Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitch asked for tea towel testers and I was lucky enough to get in on it. Unfortunately, one of the testers flaked out and kept the nearly finished towel and it never got sent back to Jenny. (Grrrrr)Fortunately, most of the original testers agreed to stitch another towel and send it to Jenny because she was very bummed out about it. As my luck would have it, it's my turn- right before Christmas!!! I got started on it last night, I'm keeping it simple and doing pretty much the same thing as last time.

I'll show you when it's done and after I sew some chenille rick rack on it :)

Why Martha?

2007-12-13T19:41:00.000-05:00

Why would you trick me in to making these cookies?

I mean they are OK but I would never bother making them again. The dough tasted really yummy but the cookie...not so much. They just sounded so much better than they taste. Now I need to find another kind of cookie to make 12 dozen of by tomorrow night. Oh well.
Happier news:
We had a snow day today!!! Yippee!!! Aside from the wasted cookie time, I had a fantastic day. Just knowing that there was NO WHERE that I had to be all day and night was heaven. I cleaned the disaster that was my kitchen counter, I organized the disaster that was my sewing room spilling into our bedroom, I finished up a few gifts including this one for my sushi loving niece.

I think I will tuck a free babysitting coupon in the oven mitt so they can go out for some sushi.
I hope you are all well and thanks for listening to me whine the other day :)

Ranting ahead...enter at your own risk

2007-12-10T19:49:00.000-05:00

I am whiney, crabby, tired, over-worked, under-appreciated,in desperate need of a dye job and an eyebrow waxing.
My calendar sets me spiraling into a panic attack everytime I look at it.

I can only look at one day at a time or I may hyperventilate. This is my kid/school activity one, I have my planner in my purse that's even scarier...it's the mother of all calendars.
*shudder*
Here's where it's gonna get ugly, you may want to leave now, it's ok.
So, the reason I feel like a piece of crap is because:
1-I buy Christmas cards almost every year and never write them, address them or send them. And now because I fail at Christmas cards, I have been removed from almost everyone's Christmas card list. Serves me right. I used to love getting cards.
2-I lost my advent calendar thingy.
Julia is by far the sweetest and most sensitive of my daughters and she LOVES preparing for holidays. She started begging me to get started on it after Thanksgiving and I kept growling at her (from my calendar, no doubt) that I didn't have time yet. She very sweetly said that she understood "but could we at least do the advent calendar thingy on December 1st?" and she would be happy with that.
I lost the advent calendar thingy. I cry every time I think of this. I'm crying as I type this.
3-I missed my cat's yearly vet appointment in September and I haven't rescheduled.
4-Worse than that, is that I put off Sammy's doctor appointment after her scoliosis screening at school... and come to find out she has scoliosis, yep, a 17 degree curve going up her back. We have an appointment with an orthopaedic on Thursday. (It's on the calendar!)I suck.
5-My workload at my job is getting crazy, I'm becoming frazzled there too. It's review time, I'm not sure how that's going to go. I'm sure they would like it if I could work full time hours but HAVE YOU SEEN MY CALENDAR???????

OK, that has just scrached the surface. You guys aren't ready for any of the other layers, I'm not ready for any of the other layers!

Let's change the subject because I don't want anyone leaving here mopey. Has anyone ever done business with this company? http://www.ahmercantile.com/catalog/
I am getting a very bad feeling about an order I placed with them. They will not return my emails or or phone calls.

Thank you!

2007-12-08T07:52:00.000-05:00

Look at what came to my door from Old School Acres this week:

Her name is Daisy. Here she is on the tree all by her self...for now

Thanks Laurie, I want to be just like you some day!!!
I also received a very nice surprise from an old Flickr pal

Thanks Leeanne! I can't believe how nice you are to me :)

Here is where I will end this post because it will only turn ugly. I am COMPLETELY overwhelmed and feeling like a terrible mom, wife, employee, neighbor, friend, daughter, citizen, pet owner... you name it, I suck at it.
I'm off to try to change some of it.
Have a great day.

Fear not.

2007-12-04T06:40:00.001-05:00

Originally uploaded by cbcyr

I'm still here!
Today I am taking the day off from work to Christmas shop. No fake french accent, no Bumble, no fun.

*****update****
I wore my badge with pride today. I just got off the phone with the evil empire that is WalMart:
me: hi, I was there this morning and I'm pretty sure one of my bags didn't make it in my cart.
nasty customer service girl: uh huh
me: um, it had blah, blah, blah in it
nasty customer service girl:: yeah
me: do you have it?? (annoyed now)
nasty customer service girl: yeah
me:: good! Gee, you'd think when someone is paying $400 for an order the cashier would go that extra mile and make sure you have all your bags.
nasty customer service girl who is chatty now: well you'd think that if someone is paying $400 for an order they would make sure they have all their bags. (I just know her head was going side to side)
me: um, can I speak to your store manager?
nasty customer service girl: CLICK!
UGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I went through a half hour of trying to reach this guy. At one point a young guy picked up the phone pretending to be the store manager. I asked what his name was and he said, "CSS". I screamed, "Your mother named you CSS??? That's your title not your name, kid!" I want to speak to the store manger NOWWWWWWWW!!
CSS told me that the manager was too busy working to speak to me.
Long story short...I finally got him and screamed at him for 8 minutes and I feel better. The bumble needs to go pick up my bag because I fear for my life now.

Black Friday, Sewing in my sleep,& The McDreamy trifecta

2007-11-25T07:37:00.000-05:00

Huh, You say?
Let's start with Black Friday. I have not ventured out with the crazies in YEARS. I'm not sure what came over me this year but I decided that me, the Bumble, and my neice Katie should go shopping at 5:30 am and leave the kids with my mom. For some reason we decided that we would speak with french accents and end every sentence with the word "no". Like this:
"We should go to...how you say...Deeek's Sporting Goods next, no?"
We laughed so hard all morning that our sides hurt more than our feet.
I was also testing good Karma buy donating a dollar here and there and directing people to shorter lines and it paid off big time, I scored the very last of a certain kid's game thing that we waited in line for. Karma, she works, no? OK, I need to stop.
The last store we stopped in was Joann Fabric. They had flannel for 99 cents a yard, I was late getting there but they still had some:

This brings us to sewing in my sleep, which I will get to after I explain The McDreamy Trifecta. I had mommy guilt after shopping half the day so I thought a matinee was in order. "Enchanted" it was!

It was a cute movie, I recommend it. We came home and I hit the couch with the Tivo remote and watched a recorded Martha Stewart...with Patrick Dempsey and after the kids went to bed we watched Tivo'd Grey's Anatomy from the night before...with Patrick Dempsey...hence the McDreamy Trifecta!
After all that McDreamy I go to sleep and start sewing flannel in my dreams. I have problems, no? I had flannel blankets in mind when I purchased it but I couldn't get the thought of this one and how it would match with Julia's coat out of my head.

I was right, It matches perfectly.

I whipped up a set including a scarf, mittens and earwarmer headband yesterday morning.

They are all fleece lined and reversible!

The Holiday

2007-11-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

When we say "The Holiday" in my family we are referring to a room, this room...

and not an actual holiday at all. This room is the basement floor of my parent's house and the pictures were taken by Sammy at their request(these were the least blurry and I wish she shut the furnace room door). It is a very cool space and you almost feel as if you are in a ship. It has a small kitchen, a sitting room and a dining room. We have all of our holidays here and that's how it got it's name from my oldest daughter (Sammy) when she was around 3. This can be very confusing to newcomers and teachers. When Sammy was in first grade they had to write about ways they help people. She wrote in her very best printing "I help my Grandma dust the holiday". Mrs. Conte corrected her paper in red pen and said something to the effect "You help your grandma dust for the holidays". Well, Sammy was furious when she got that paper back and I had to write a note explaining "The Holiday" to Mrs. Conte. She called me laughing and apologized to Sammy. So there is the story of "The Holiday".
How was your holiday?
I love, love, love, love, love, love, love Thanksgiving! This one was very nice except for missing my sister and brother-in-law. Look at how sweet my little helper looked

We even went out shopping with all of the crazies yesterday morning. More about that tomorrow.
Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Where do I start?

2007-11-18T07:02:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday night my sewing machine broke.
I KNOW!!! The feed dog plate had been dropping a lot and I was able to deal with that but then I went to reverse stitches and the lever snapped off. I FREAKED! The bumble, who is very handy, looked at it and determined that I should just get a new machine. Again, I FREAKED! "OMGOMGOMGwedon'thavethemoneywhatarewegoingtodoOMGOMGOMG"

I calmed down enough the next night and I got a new machine! I would have never splurged on one like this if he weren't with me. I have the best husband ever. I haven't even begun to figure out all the things this baby can do (the machine...not the husband)but I got some straight stitching done.

Apron gifts for my mom and mother-in-law. My mom gets the tan one for Thanksgiving because she gets very messy when she cooks. I will make her a pretty one for Christmas.
It even sews nicely on oilcloth (this is crucial!)

I'm sure you've all gotten this one..."You sew????" "Can you sew_________for me?" Enter 4 cheerleading skirts, 2 loose emblems and 2 too-big tops.

How do you say no?
Moving on.
I've told you how amazingly talented Gabby (12) is but just look at the stuff she does while watching TV and reading magazines.

I used to make these origami boxes about 5 years ago to hold 3 marble magnets. Gabby was 7 at the time and would sit and watch me fold the paper for hours and then she became the master. We haven't made these in forever and I'm not sure if I could pick it right up again. 2 nights ago she was sitting on the couch curled up under a quilt, she emerged hours later with these teeeeny little boxes made from thick cardstock fall-out cards. I have no idea how she got them so small. That little one can hold a piece of rice or two. Makes my fingers hurt just thinking about it!

the blog suffers...

2007-11-11T06:05:00.000-05:00

...when life gets too busy.
I finished these

to go along with the lunch bags I made last week for this birthday party

The kids had a blast at this place. Whoever thought up that idea was a genius and is now a billionaire, no doubt.
I spent yesterday sewing.

This is all I have a picture of right now because of the damn daylight savings time and it gets dark at 4:30! Ugh, I wish they would leave the clocks alone, it really screws up my inner clock too. I have been waking up at 3:30-4:00am every morning because I am a robot. Fall back, my ass. It makes for a long day Ben Franklin!!! Um, it was Ben Franklin that invented DST, right?
On the home front-
High school has been much better for eldest daughter since report card day. You see, she has been moaning about how hard it is (it is, it's college prep) and that she feels dumb now and she wants to go to regular high school (our public high schools are awful and have rankings to prove it). Anyhoo, report card was great- 3 A's, 2 B's and 1 C... not too bad Ms. Drama Queen. She's all better now, confidence has been restored.
12 year old daughter has a social life now. WAH! Movies, bowling, hanging out with friends....half are boys WAH! Looks like the taxi will be working overtime.
Poor little daughter is sick. Fever, sniffles, cough. Poor baby. At least she got to go rock climbing.
My machines await me, have a fabulous Sunday.

Trying something new

2007-11-05T05:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever done this-
You spend the entire day sewing and at night you hit the bed hard and you are still sewing "mentally"? I did this on Saturday night.

I was thinking about gifts I was going to make on Sunday and I was matching, measuring, and cutting fabric "mentally" until I finally fell asleep exhausted. Somebody else has done this, right? It's not just me.

OK, How about this one, has anyone else done this-
You decide you are going to make something very simple...so simple that it doesn't need a pattern which is a good thing because you don't follow patterns very well anyway...and you use your good fabric and you make a BIG mistake that can't be undone?
I guess that's why you shouldn't sew in your sleep! Yep, I wasted a good amount of Heather Ross fabric that I bought specifically for one of our twin friends gift. Some of you will remember the twin horse quilts from last year- http://workinprogress-wip.blogspot.com/2006/11/three-days-to-spare.html These girls are turning 9 this week and I am making much simpler gifts this time around. Both girls still love horses but one has a thing for bugs and frogs and such.
OK, back to the lunch bags. They are fun! I love the way Heather Ross fabric feels too. Is it brushed cotton? Whatever, but it is SOFT! I'm sure there is an easy pattern out there for making paperbag style lunch bags but once I learned from my mistakes the first time around (grrrr, I should know better) I got it down. Beware, I think I might make 100 of them.
My Bumble was off from work last week and spent a lot of time cleaning up some trouble areas in the house for me, What a guy! Here is a picture of my little pantry (sink and counters circa 1959)that he reorganized for me. I figured I'd better take a picture before it gets a mess again

Halloween Recap

2007-11-03T07:19:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! It's been a crazy but fun week around here. I hope you all had a fun Halloween.

I've mentioned before that our community does an awesome parade at our seawall. The children line up by grade, march down the street and stop at the grandstand where their costumes are judged. The winners are almost always wearing a one of a kind or homemade costume and people get really creative. *cough cough my kids are 5 time winners cough cough*

Miss Julia took 3rd place as Orphan Annie in the 3rd grade category

My nephew Jacob was very cute as a police officer. My older girls were pretty lame; one was a football fan and the other was a mess.
Check out one of the nuns at Sammy's school. She dressed up as a biker. She is so much fun, really she is...the girls love her.

I wanted to show you what I made for Julia's class but Sammy stole my camera before I could snap a picture. I made these goodie bags ala Martha Stewart. They were super easy and very cute!

And lastly, look at my friends house all decorated for Halloween. I love the cat eyes in the window!

Time to hit the sewing machine, have a great weekend!

Chalkcloth is Cool!

2007-10-28T20:04:00.000-04:00

I bought a half yard of chalkcloth a while back and finally got around to trying it out. 10 minutes before leaving for church this morning I figured out what I wanted to make with it.

Don't worry, I paid attention and I hardly fidgeted at all during mass :) I seem to get most of my big ideas at the worst times.

Yesterday I made Julia a chalkcloth mat.

It's ok, I mean- it's a big rectangle, not very interesting!
Have a great week everyone.

Wonky happens sometimes

2007-10-25T06:15:00.000-04:00

You'd think after making what seems like 4,050 oilcloth lunch bags, I'd have it down by now. Not so.

I know it's hard to tell in the picture but this thing is absolutely insane. No matter how you turn or twist it, it just won't square up. It's wonky! It's ok, I really fell in love with the color combination while making it so now it's mine!
Speaking of Wonky:

Julia planted watermelon in the backyard at the beginning of summer and never even got a flower. Yesterday she found this guy. It's the size of a softball and was yellow and bitter inside. She was happy anyway.

Let's take this wonky thing one step further because I have never been one to know just when to stop. I may have mentioned previously that I take Topamax for migraines and it really works for me. I am down to one migraine per month...I get one the day before Aunt Flow comes to visit *wink wink*. Wellllllllll, it seems my little biopsy last month screwed up Aunt Flow's travel schedule and she's running 8 days late (don't even go there, there is no way I am pregnant) which means I have had an 8 day migraine! Wonky and awful.

Embrace your wonkiness today and and if you see Aunt Flow tell her to get her ass over here!

A much needed mental health day

2007-10-23T05:58:00.000-04:00

I had a real crappy night's sleep and a migraine so I took the day off from my paying job yesterday. It wasn't really a sick day as much as it was a mental health day. It was very therapeutic
Did I curl up on the couch under a quilt with Dr. Phil or Harry Potter?
Nope.

I actually worked my tail off tackling the laundry mountain and organizing my sewing room for 5 hours BUT it was just what the doctor ordered. The kids were at school so I didn't have to settle arguments, listen to tattling, break up fights all day...that stuff really eats up your time. I love them dearly but I am never free from them, when I am home they are home...all the time...everyday there is at least one of them with me at all times. I needed a day off. I also know my life is out of control when my sewing room is as much of a disaster as the rest of the house. This is MY place that I can control.
Things have been bad.
I need to take a day off every now and then but I need the money so I save my days off for when the kids are sick or have some "teacher in service" day off from school so then I never have a day to myself.
This is a problem.

hmmmm, I started this post because I felt so much better after my mental health day and now I feel all whiney and pitiful again. I am becoming a terrible bore! Just look at the pretty pictures, I'll snap out of it, I'm pretty sure it's mostly PMS :/

Pre-Halloween Fun and Stress

2007-10-21T07:08:00.000-04:00

I am a planner and I am truly an organized person...just don't look around my house...but I really am a bit OCD about things, I just have to let them go until the children move out.
*wringing hands and twitching*
Anyway, I knew this Halloween party was last night and I knew I had to search for costumes in the attic and I forgot to ask my Bumble to get them for me because he is the attic-putter-awayer (as all Bumbles are) and knows where he puts all the stuff...I'm rambling...

I spent my Saturday stressed, sweaty and dusty looking for costume things in the attic, in between baking cupcakes and shopping for juice boxes because volunteers bailed (grrr I hate that). It was worth it. Look at Julia's get up:

She was Orphan Annie (using a recycled dance costume) and was thrilled when she won 2nd place in the costume contest!

Gabby and David (aka Bumble) were in the cast of actors in the haunted school and did an awesome job scaring the bejeesus out of people, seriously, they were very frightning. Sammy and her crew were a bit to cool for all that.

Today I am going to spend some quality time with my washer, dryer and sewing machine and perhaps admire my newest fabric therapy acquisitions that came in the mail yesterday

*please excuse the blurry photos, my batteries keep crapping out on me!

Go ahead try saying it

2007-10-19T07:53:00.001-04:00

Try saying The Thesaurus.

Can you do it on the first try?

This always causes fits of laughter in our house when one of the girls asks "where is the thethorus?"

Moving on...

Have you ever tried this stuff?

I would have never tried it on my own but my bumble got this at a grocer's food show and we tried it...YUM! I am usually not one for any kind of sweetness on my salad but this is awesome stuff with grilled chicken, croutons, crisp veggies on a bed of dark greens. MMMMM!

Gotta run, but I want to say thank you for all of your kind words on my last post, you guys are great!!!

One year ago

2007-10-15T06:39:00.000-04:00

Last October 15th I started this humble little blog. I remember being so hesitant to click "publish", what if no one ever reads this, what if someone does read this, what if I don't keep up with it, what if, what if....here we are. It is just what I want it to be, a place to share, to vent, to connect, to be happy, sad, angry, excited, a place that I can keep organized. This is where I can be me without pressure.

I really suck at responding to people. I'm sorry. I read every response and am grateful for each one. So, that's my Big Blogaversary Edition, no giveaways, contests or any fun stuff, my life won't allow it, just a great big thanks for coming here, it really makes my day!

(The picture above is from my driver's seat going to pick up Sammy from her awesomely fabulous private high school that we break our butts to pay for that she thinks she doesn't want to go to any more because it's too hard. I can't talk about it yet...)

I had a busy weekend of sewing, enjoy some pictures:

2007-10-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

I am still here, just insanely busy with life...I won't bore you...much.
How do you people do it?
Please tell me!
How do you work, have kids and get them places, cook, get and keep the house clean, deal with mountains of laundry, etc. and somehow stay sane? Someone? Anyone? Words of wisdom? Magic potion?...legal or illegal at this point. I think I know where "Wits End" is because I may have reached it!
OK, let's look at a pretty picture while I melt down:

This is part of Gabby's math project that we worked on last night and then managed to eat dinner around the pile of components. Don't ask what shrinky dink flower pots have to do with algebra, I don't have the energy to explain, they're pretty cute though, huh?

*Thanks for all of the Mom sympathy on the last post. I feel guilty even typing stuff like that but this is my outlet. I think her negativity and my lack of tolerance for it comes from us being so close all of the time (we live upstairs from them) and she doesn't feel the need to put on the happy Mom face for me.

PS- Good news, my biopsy results came back A-OK!

Forcing Fall

2007-10-06T11:32:00.000-04:00

Fall in New England should be cool crisp air, changing leaves, bright blue skies...NOT Hot, humid and 80 degrees. Yuck!

We did enjoy a local apple festival this morning despite the summer like weather. I took along my niece (she's feeling much better Deb!) and my Mom who is 72 today.

Mom is becoming quite a challenge these days. She is in perfect health, has all her wits about her, reads a 900 page book every 2 days and can knit or crochet circles around anyone yet she is completely miserable about everything. She can just suck the happy right out of anything lately. We only stayed at the fair for about an hour before we left because she just stood there having something negative to say about everything. Mom, do you want cider, cakes, muffins, etc? "nah, I can make that" Mom, why don't you let me get you that inexpensive cute thing you're eyeing for the front yard? "Nah, someone will just steal it" And so on and so on... Enough of that, I'm just a bit down lately because of this. Sorry to vent.

They had a great Farmer's Market at the fair, look at this bounty:

Sorry for the blur!

Take a look at the size of that cauliflower!

I put an apple next to it for perspective. I can't wait to cook it tomorrow. Here's my favorite way:

Preheat the oven to 375. drizzle a cookie sheet with olive oil. I remove the core and slice the cauliflower into 1 inch slabs and place them on the sheet. drizzle the tops with olive oil and season with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until really golden brown and turn. Season with salt and pepper and continue to bake this side for another 30 minutes until done. Try it, I promise that you will be a cauliflower fan if you weren't already!

Now I must leave you as I have birthday parties to run to. Please enjoy the goofy October calendar.

wip