Wrapping Up the End of the Year?

Everyone is doing all of these posts where they are reviewing everything they have done in the year, or the goals that they set for themselves.  I'm kind-of scared to go back and review what I said I want to do  ...  I know I have accomplished a lot, but it might not be what I planned, I guess.

I am sitting here, typing away on a new laptop, feeling very spoiled blessed.  I've been wanting a laptop for a while now and even though we could have afforded to purchase it at any point, my husband was wanting to wait until closer to the end of the year.  It wasn't even really a Christmas gift, either.

In the last 24 hours, I've managed to sew up a few small projects:  four pillowcases (one for the husband, and three to go to various other homes), and a pair of pajama pants for myself.  I've had the pattern and the fabric for quite some time now and just finally made the time to sew up the pants.  I used the Sweet Dreams pattern by Make It Perfect.  They came out fine (I know you can tell from the super flattering photo...).  They have a ribbon drawstring that can be inserted in the waistband, in addition to the elastic and I haven't done that yet.  The pattern recommends a 1" wide ribbon, but the buttonholes that you make for the ribbon are only 1/2" and I don't really get that.  I'll eventually put some ribbon or twill tape in...just haven't done it yet.  I don't quite like how wide the cuff trim is... Of course, I don't know that I want to go the minimal effort that it would take to lengthen the pants leg so that I can make a narrower cuff trim.  I just don't hate it that much, I suppose.

I just realized that I have another whole week off of work before I have to go back...that's a definite blessing.  The last couple weeks before break were mentally taxing and I'm grateful for the time off.  I am hoping to get quite a bit of sewing done the rest of the time off.

Oh!  I made some cinnamon rolls from scratch last night... ended up being up until 1:00 a.m. finishing them up (I'm almost never up that late anymore!).  They turned out really well! I will NOT tell you how many of them I ate today...  Anyway, I recommend the recipe.  

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Re-energizing

I spent the weekend visiting with my family.  I had a nice time.  It was my dad's birthday on Friday, so I took him out for dinner.  He was really tired from working all day, so we made it a quick dinner, but it was just great to see him.

Saturday, I was able to spend the day with my mom.  We spent some time at the park with my niece and nephew.  Then, we went out to lunch and just took a drive to look at all of the trees that have begun to change colors.  The photo above was taken at one of our stops:  a park area that has a tower you can climb up and use to look for eagles.  You can also see that there was a nice wooden walkway, so that you could venture out into the park area a bit, if you wanted. 

In the evening, I was able to go to my youngest brother's house and visit with him and his wife.  They  made a fire in the fire pit and made campfire chili.  It was great to be able to visit with them.

Sunday, I was able to go back to my dad's house and spend more time visiting with him. We had to run some errands and ended up and my other younger brother's house and visited and had lunch with them.  Then, everyone congregated and my dad's house to have a fire and roast hot dogs. 

It was nice to be able to visit with my family, with no real plans or agenda...just hang out, I guess.  Plus, I wasn't in any hurry to get home last night because I knew that I didn't have work today (and my husband had been home the majority of the day, so I didn't have to worry about the dog, either). 

I felt so energized today, I was able to nearly finish up two projects that I have felt like were hanging over my head for a while now.  One was the quilt for my brother and his wife.  I really should have finished this one ages ago.  Anyway, now I only need to add a couple more lengths to the binding and then stitch the binding on.  I finished up all of the quilting today.  I did learn that any other bigger quilts I make will be going to someone else to quilt...I don't enjoy quilting the bigger/awkward quilts on my machine. 

I also finished a faux chenille blanket for my husband's cousin (and the soon to be born baby).  I had done all of the stitching quite some time ago, but was waiting to buy a chenille cutter.  I finally purchased the cutter, so all I had to do was cut the chenille channels and then make and stitch the binding on.  I haven't taken photos yet, but I will before I send it off.

Other things on my to do list:

1)  catch up on the embroidery for my Birdie Blocks

2) finish up a pink flannel quilt that I have made the front of

3) make a set of kitchen items that I promised my neighbor for a raffle to help support her daughters dance group/team

4) dish mats (I saw some cute ones made by amylouwho for teacher gifts)

5) hair towels

I'm thinking that if I put my list "out there"  that maybe I'll get the items checked off a little quicker....

Wordless Yesterday.....

A Bit of Randomness....

I have a little bit of this and than to write about this week.

This whole container of snapdragons is completely "volunteer".  The flowers are such beautiful colors and shades, too.  I love looking at them every time I walk about the back door.

This is a photo of a Strawberry Buttermilk Cake that I made to have for our 4th of July celebration.  It was very delicious.  For the sugar that is sprinkled on top of the strawberries/cake prior to baking, I used my Vanilla Bean Sugar.  This cake turned out to be delicious!  The bonus was that it was super easy to make.  I will definitely be making this one again.

Please excuse the quality of this photo, it was taken with my cell phone.  For my birthday (in June), my husband had given me tickets for the U2 360º Tour concert in Chicago.  I had wanted to go last summer, but it ended up that we never got tickets.  Plus, maybe 10 years ago, I had gone to another U2 concert and took my older brother with me.  It was about a year before he passed away and the only concert we ever we to together.  Anyway, U2 was this past week.  The concert was good, after we recovered from the heart attack caused by the $46 parking fee!  The only draw back was that I had to work the next morning, so I was awfully tired! 

Since I had such a busy week, I've spend the last few days trying to catch up on my sleep and haven't gotten any sewing done.  I aim to correct that situation tomorrow.   

This week, I did do something I wouldn't normally do.  I ordered something for myself that I could have also made.  Stephanie at Sand and Starfish has been having a sale in her etsy shop and I ordered myself one of her Vintage Dresden Zippered Clutches.   I had seen them during the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day, I think and just thought that they were so pretty.  So I bought one.  Mine is with an orange zipper and orange accents in the fabrics.  I think that if you go and look at her shops sales, you will be able to see a photo of mine since I haven't bothered to take one.  They are a great size, too...not too tiny.  I could probably fit a book in mine (I carry books around with me a lot).  ***This is not in any way a sponsored shout-out...I just really like my clutch.

An Anniversary Gift

About a month ago, my husband and I had our 5th Anniversary.  It's quite unbelievable how quickly the time passes. 

At the beginning of May, we did our annual flower shopping and I happened to see a beautiful wind chime at the garden shop.  It have been wanting a wind chime for a long time now.  This wind chime had a beautiful sound, but an exorbitant price tag.  So, of course, it didn't make the trip home with us.

However, about three weeks later, my husband surprised me with it as an anniversary gift:

Horrible photo of the whole thing, and what it's hard to see is that this wind chime is HUGE!  My husband had to put some sort of wood reinforcement inside the garage wall  to be able to attach  the bracket and not have it come crashing down from the weight of the chime. 

The hummingbird at the top is so pretty.  There is also a flower at the bottom that is in the same style.

It has actually been cool enough that I can keep our windows open and there is just enough breeze to hear it chiming very softly :-)

A Trip to California

My husband and I recently returned from a week long trip to California, mostly in the San Diego area.  There were so many "wrenches" thrown into our trip, it didn't necessarily end up being as fun as we had anticipated.

1) We almost didn't have a pet-sitter to stay with our pets...which was a bit stressful, leading up to the trip

2) My sister-in-law's mother-in-law unexpected showed up (from IOWA, with about 6 hours notice) a few days before we arrived, so we lost out on the guest room and instead had to sleep on the sofa bed (They had sent her a graduation announcement for her granddaughter, our niece, that she construed as an invitation)

3) A half hour before we were due to leave, I realized my driver's licence was LOST!  Emergency trip to the DMV on the way to the airport.  Amazingly, it only took 15 minutes in the DMV.

There are other things that I just don't want to take the energy to type out.

Highlights of our trip:

1)  We went to Knott's Berry Farm.  Of course, I remembered that I really get pretty scared on roller coasters and don't so much like riding on them anymore.

2)  I got to visit my aunt for several nights and a day (she conveniently lives just 10 minutes from Knott's).

3)  I got to visit my friend, Jen.  We've been friends for 20 years now, and don't often get to see each other.  I think it had been 2 years since I had seen her last.  Plus, I got to see some of the cool and awesome art that she has been creating lately (which you can see on her blog or one of her craft reviews). 

4)  Had my birthday while I was in CA.  As a treat to myself, I went to a fabric shop that I had read about a long time ago on Jaybird Quilts.  I guess it had been nearly 2 years ago that Julie posted about it.  Anyway, it's not far at all from my aunt's house...so off we went.  It still looks just like the photos in Julie's post.  I didn't really dig through the stacks because I had my aunt and my husband in tow...but I still found some great deals on some fabric...  for example, some Anthology fabric for $4.98 a yard and Kona cotton (real RK Kona) for the same price.  I'll try to remember to take a photo of the fabrics and post them.  I could have easily spent the whole day in this shop.

Now, I just have to get back to my crafting.  I have a terribly long "to do" list that begins with the quilting on my hexagon quilt for my brother and his wife. 

P.S. The little snail in my header was crossing my aunt's driveway just before we were leaving.  We don't really have snails around here.

The Reason....

that I have to borrow books like this (photo used from Amazon):

from the library is because I have spent too much money on fabric in the last couple of days.

Okay, so really I just wanted to borrow the book from the library to see if I would really like to have it in my personal collection or not.  I haven't had a chance to really look through it yet since I only just picked it up this evening.

I did however, spend a lot of money on fabric in the last two days.  Granted, I had some "reward" money from my debit card which covered over half of the purchases.  I didn't intend to buy the second group of fabric (Sherbet Pips), at least not until maybe April...not thinking that pre-cuts would come in sooner than actual yardage...but I also didn't want to miss out on this fabric and I thought it is a good way to sample all of the prints in the line.  Then, when the yardage comes along, I can pick and choose which, if any, that I want purchase.

Dear Readers.....

I have been off of work for three whole days (okay, two of those were the weekend...but still) and I haven't managed to do much of anything.  I haven't gotten caught up on my laundry.  I haven't finished knitting my husband's Duffers.  I haven't finished sewing my husband's Travel Bag (that was supposed to be a Christmas gift!).  I haven't worked on the pouches, bags, etc. that I want to give to contribute to the raffle at my upcoming conference. 

We DID go on Saturday to purchase new recliners for our living room.  Currently, we only have one recliner that is on its last legs...every time we move it around we find random screws and other metal pieces underneath.  Our couch is okay, but not my favorite to sit or take a nap on....but there's no chance of getting a new one since this one is a sleeper sofa (which is very nice with an added built in air mattress...and we need it for when we have guests).  We did buy two recliners so that we will both be able to use one.  Originally, we had thought to get a reclining love seat...but they didn't have any that also rock that were in the store to try out...and I really didn't want to have to go to a million stores to find one. (Plus, we decided that two chairs are more versatile)

I DID go to a scrapbook store with my friend and then out to lunch.  Always a nice time.

I DID manage to go into JoAnn Fabrics and leave while only spending less than $10. 

I DID get a box of giveaways out of my house and to the local Goodwill Store.  Of course, I went in to look around...and I DID manage to leave there spending only about $3. 

I DID manage to get some information into the computer for some work meetings at a reasonable hour normally I end up waking up at the crack of dawn to do this).

I am hoping that after tomorrow, I will be able to get a bunch of crafty things accomplished.  I have had about 8 or 9 meetings in the month of February, plus the student teacher, and keep in mind that there were two days off of school for the students, too...  This all makes for a very busy, crammed up month!  The good news to all of this is that there shouldn't be too many more meetings left for me to attend this year.  Whew!  

Things to look forward to:  Spring Break (and a small trip to Las Vegas), Summer Break (a trip to California), 5 year Anniversary with my husband 



A Little Bit of Nothing

I haven't accomplished much of anything lately, which leads to the fact that I haven't had much of anything to post about.

I have finished crocheting a couple of potholders...not these ones, but the same "pattern," just different yarn:

I am working on building up my stash of potholders, which I will probably distribute amongst my husband's family as gifts (maybe for Christmas next year).  So far, I think that I have three sets of 2.  

In other crafty news, I haven't worked on any of those other projects I mentioned in my last post.  The baby shower is this Saturday.  I do have some things that I made a while ago, which will be part of the gift.  I anticipate that I will make the rest of the gift tomorrow night.  There is nothing like being on a tight schedule procrastination.

I did go out and buy the material so that I can participate in Little Miss Shabby's Birdie Stitches Block of the Month.  I'm not using the Sunkissed fabric, mainly because...well, I don't know...I just decided to switch it up.  I am using Sugar Pop! by Moda.  I'm sure it will be great once it is finished.  So far, I'm still cutting my 2.5" squares so that I can piece the block and get January's embroidery design traced on.  I got sucked into inspired to do this block of the month when I saw Ellyn's cute block.  Of course, I guess I was "lucky" that it is still only the first month...otherwise, I'm sure I probably would not have joined in.  I also plan to follow Ellyn's lead and go ahead and make up all of the blocks now so that I only have to embroider the stitch design each month. 

In the non-crafty area, I have been sticking to my resolution of wearing my hair down.  That's been pretty much every work day so far.  I've been making it easy on myself the last week or so.  My hair has lots of natural wave in it, especially as it grows longer.  So, if I just add some leave in conditioner and scrunch it up with some mousse, and throw in a headband...and it looks pretty decent.  The thing I love the most about this "style" is that it takes me all of about 3 minutes!

I'm trying to think if there is anything else I want to say, but I don't think so....

Oh, yes!  We are nearing the end of my third week with my student teacher...did I tell you I was going to have a student teacher?  Anyway, it's going along well, but I am exhausted at the end of the day.  I have come to realize that my time in my car, driving from school to school...that's my down time.  Well, add another person to the car and I am talking all day long and I guess it is just wearing me out!

 

Meandering....

For your amusement, I am including some photos of one of our cats (we're big suckers pet lovers over here):

What you may or may not be able to tell is that Benni is rubbing herself all over some celery that I had not put away yet after a recent shopping trip.  Why, I ask you, would a cat find it necessary to rub all over celery, of all things?  Don't worry, I made sure to triple extra long was the celery.

Anyway, it seems like there isn't all that much happening over here, although it seems like I have lots of things to plan for.  In the working world, I will be having student teacher (starting tomorrow) for the next eight weeks.  I've never been a cooperating teacher before, so this will be a new experience for me.  I am a bit nervous as I want to make sure this will be the best experience possible for the student teacher.

In the crafty world:

1) Baby shower coming up for my step-brother and his long-time girlfriend  (end of Jan.)

2) Conference coming up at the beginning of March where-in they always have a raffle that supports a scholarship fund.  Honestly, the raffle is the funnest part of the whole conference.   One of my near-by co-workers is the conference head and another near-by co-worker is on the raffle committee.    So.....I said that I would make some items to donate for the raffle. 

I had thought of making a throw quilt...but I'm not sure I want to put out that much effort on one item.  We'll see.  Things I had thought of making include:  car garbage bag, pencil box pouches, basic reusable shopping bags (I have won two of the Green Bag Lady shopping bags now, and they are my favorite. I love the fact that I can fold one up and carry it in my purse at all times and it is not taking up a ton of space) .... Any other suggestions?  p.s I plan to embellish the garbage bags and shopping bags with a fabric die cut of the sign language "I Love You" hand shape. 

3) My brother is getting married in May and I want to plan a super cool gift for him and his bride.  I am thinking a queen-sized quilt, but I don't know if I'm getting carried away with myself on that one.

In other news:

In a do-able type resolution of sorts, I have a goal of wearing my hair down (during the work week) more often....let's say 80% of the time or 4 out of 5 days.  I know that lots of people would desperately love to have hair that is as thick as mine.  But, it holds water and takes what seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r to dry.  And, I'm letting it grow.  I'm more of a get-as-many-minutes-of-sleep-as-I-can kind of girl.  I like how my hair looks when I curl or flat-iron it and put on some make-up, but I also think that I look okay with-out either.  I guess I just want to have a more "polished" look. 

I know that I probably have lots more that I want to say, but I can't think of any of it right now. 

I Have Not...

fallen off the face of the Earth, I promise!  I have been trying to commit myself to a minimum of one post a week, but as you can see, I haven't been accomplishing that goal very often.

I have had a very busy fall so far, as far as work goes.  Normally, by this point in the school year, I have had maybe two IEP meetings for students....well, I just counted the other day and I have already had 6 meetings!  That does not count the three meetings that I have coming up this week. 

I've also been trying to commit myself to getting some Christmas gifts made each week.  I had started to write out a little schedule of each week/weekend and which gifts I wanted to finish during that time...big fail.  That's not to say that I haven't finished a few small gifts...but nowhere near what I need to get done.

I've also been trying to get back to the watching what I am eating so that I can begin to lose weight again.  I've had a good week the last week on this front.  I managed to eat breakfast at home each morning and to have a somewhat decent (non fast food) lunch each day.  We've also been doing to many dinners out, so I've been trying to get back to cooking dinners at home. 

A couple weeks ago, I went to Goodwill to drop off a couple small boxes of things.  Then, I decided to take a peek inside just in case there was anything cool.  I ended up leaving with quite a bit of stuff.  I found a great piece of vintage fabric:

I think there is a whole yard here...and it is wide fabric, too!  I couldn't pass it up!

Then, I found these cool dishes!  I love oldish, cool dishes.  Of course, I am running out of space so I won't be able to buy too many more. 

I love everything about these dishes!  They make me wish that I have a full set of them.  The bowls are a bit differently shaped...instead of a curved side, the sides go straight up.  I was able find one "bigger" bowl...maybe the size of a smaller dinner plate, three medium bowls, four smaller bowls (saucer size) and three tea cups.  I never drink coffee and almost never drink hot tea or any other hot drink, but I couldn't abandon the tea cups. 

There were some other bowls and saucers that also made their way home with me, but I didn't snap any photos of them today.

I am realizing that this post is getting rather lengthy, so I am going to end it here.  My plan is to work on another post later this evening (since I do have more to share)...and I will schedule that one to pop in the next day or two.

This Morning

This morning I was awake early and stepped outside. I have a couple of tomato plants in a pot that sit just outside my patio door. I couldn't believe the way the rain/dew was beaded up on the edge of the plant leaves.

                           

Please don't pay attention to the dog hair that you can see stuck to the plant!  We have dog hair everywhere.  Last year, I would brush the dog and leave clumps of hair outside that I would later see headed to a bird's nest!

A Busy Week Off...

I had Spring Break this past week, but did not take any trips.  I just stuck close to home and relaxed, especially for the first few days.  Then, I picked up my nephew and niece and kept them for a couple days.  We managed a short walk to the park, playing with Play-doh, a trip to the zoo, and a day of visiting (when my brother and sister-in-law came to pick them up).  I also made a couple treats to give them.

My nephew told me, "Aunt Sally, I had really fun at the zoo!"  I just loved having so much time with them.

Haven't Posted for a While....

I haven't posted for a while, but then I also haven't done any new crafty things for a while, either. I did sign up for a two session "Learning to Knit" class that begins tomorrow night. One of my commitments for the year is to learn to knit. We'll see how it goes.

There aren't many noteworthy things occurring around here right about now. Last week, I arrived at one of my schools (I am an itinerant teacher), they let me in, and then promptly told me that they were on "lock down." I stayed for an hour and a half and then asked if I could leave since I needed to be at another school to provide services for another student. Luckily, they let me go.

Our kitten is growing like a weed. He gained a pound in the three weeks since he arrived at our house. He runs around the house like a nutcase, at least when he is not being stalked by the dog. He can make his way onto chairs, the bed, the desk in the office....

Tim and I leave late Friday night for Las Vegas. His old boss is getting married and we are flying out to be able to attend the wedding. It should be fun. Plus, it was an excuse to buy a new dress. Of course, it wasn't easy to find a dress for a wedding that is "not formal but not casual". I ended up with a dress I found at JC Penney for not too much money.... then ended up spending more than I paid for the dress to get a decent pair of shoes to wear with it! I also bought Tim a new button down shirt and a matching tie (coordinated to match my dress, too!)