Isildur's Bane

Isildur's bane was The Ring. My bane? Building clothing. I love saying 'building' clothing because it makes me feel like I work in a costume shop. Yeah, right. Where was I the day they talked about cool careers in high school?

Anyway, I can "build" a quilt any day, but clothing? Not so much. I remember in high school my sister and I would be shopping and she would say "But you can make that!" My response? "Yeah, but I couldn't wear it tonight." (I'm a little ADHD that way...) We also had an inside joke about who sewed all the sequins on, but we won't go there. I have no patience for making clothes. But, alas, every so often I see the *cutest* pattern, and my sister's words come back to haunt me.

Do you see this evil machine? And can you see those threading instructions!?

I was doing fine with the cute pants pattern I chose...the zipper even lined up! So, I thought, I'll get my serger out and put it to good use. It makes such beautiful, straight seams....if you're holding your mouth right. I got two outside seams done when the gremlins came to visit. What did I ever do to them? I didn't put water on them! All of a sudden, the machine stops making it's lovely seams. No particular reason that I can tell. So, I open it all up and pull on each string to see which one is messing up. There are FOUR of those suckers! I figure out it's the purple one. Oh goodie....the hardest one to thread. Out comes the magnifying glass and the foot long tweezers, cuz there's no way you're getting your fat fingers in there. Twenty minutes later, I think I have it figured out, but it's still not working. I give up! I'm sure I'll re-visit my bane tomorrow. Unless I'm at the skate park, which is where I usually spend my Saturdays. Any of you with sergers out there that have made it to the end of this post and have any helpful hints for me, I'm ready and waiting.

And I'll keep you posted on whether or not the pants get finished.

Ice Cream Spoons

Is that not the cutest little Ben and Jerry's you've ever seen!? Hubby is watching the weight, so he said he didn't want any ice cream, but being the temptress I am, had to get him some. I discovered these tiny little guys and they were perfect!

They even came with their own little spoon! How fun is that!? Right in the lid was this little spoon. We got to talking about the little spoons, and my husband's friend said "Remember those little wooden spoons they used to give us in elementary school?" OhH! Just the thought makes me cringe!! I hated those things. I was always afraid I was going to get a splinter on my tongue. Ew. Like nails on a chalkboard! (Did it stop me from eating the ice cream. Ha. Not a chance)

What's something fun/weird you remember from your childhood?

p.s. We're on our *third* day of no school. I don't understand it. The roads are fine. Oh, maybe it's all those people slipping and cracking their heads. I just hope teachers don't have to go to school on a Saturday like we did one year. Sigh. Well, I'm off to run errands! Have a great day!

Wednesday

I know, isn't that a great post title!? I'm so creative

We have no school again today, but the sun is shining brightly and it's supposed to get up to 40, so it's all going to start melting in a bit.

This is one spot in our yard that didn't get any sleet.

I made bread and potato soup for dinner last night. It was delish!

I sewed a bit. These little suckers are a serous pain in the butt, especially this one (it toook me *at least* an hour), and it is frustrating that I'm not getting enough material to square it up nicely. She told me, but I guess I haven't learned my lesson yet.

I also visited a bunch of new craft sites, like I need anything else to do. I found lots of beautiful things that made me happy, though!

We're back to school tomorrow, I'm sure!

Iced In

We are iced in today....no school. I guess that might be OK, other than we'll have to now go to school on a beautiful sunny day. That's OK.

I have to tell you all I'm not feeling this new blog layout. I've been visiting lots of new blogs today and it's sad to say I kind of make my initial decision on whether or not I like the blog by it's layout. Do any of you do the same? If the layout is simple and pleasing to me, I'm more apt to like it. I'm not one to change it very often, but I thought a change might be good, though I just don't know. I also have to tell you, if they haven't spell checked, I'm not likely to stay either!

I have read my first week's homework assignment, and will probably read week two's at some point today.

I hope it's warmer where you are today!

Yay Books!

I finally got my textbook for class! I was getting a little worried. And, now that I have it, it's been sleeting all day and school is cancelled for tomorrow, so I won't need to rush to get the first chapter read. I will, though.

Here's another I just *had* to have. Yeah, right! I was inspired by these lovelies! Though my knowledge and practice of applique could fill a thimble.

Inauguration

One of our students went to the Inauguration. Go here to check it out!

Wordless Wednesday

"Dippy Eggs" from Grandma Jill....my kids still love 'em!

Random Thoughts

1. Congratulations President Obama.

2. Today is my first day of my first class! I'm very excited.

3. My sewing machine is completely gone. I was sewing along yesterday and it stopped and shut itself off. It has never come back on, not even this morning. I'm sad.

4. Both my pals are out today, so I'll be eating lunch by myself. I'm fine with it.

5. Darlene! You're the winner of the magazine! Send me your addy and I'll send it your way. Congrats!

Quote

Ow...

Well, I've a great weekend catching up on this quilt that is a Christmas present (not for Christmas 2009, one I owe for 2008). It's been nice, but today after about the third hour straight, my machine kinda had this whining sound going, and then started producing an ominous odor. Uh, yeah....how does that happen? I guess it's not meant for prolonged continuous sewing. Come to find out, neither is my back! I finally gave it a rest and headed to the Wal-Marts for something we needed for dinner and my back was aching. I guess my machine was trying to tell me I needed a break, as well. Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

Blocks and Feedback

Some recent quilt blocks I've been working on. I've paper pieced all of these, and am pleased with all of them except the Wizard's hat....too many gaps, and I'm not just loving the colors. I'll probably try that one again!

I've gotten some feedback on the new layout, a couple of people have said it was difficult to read....well we can't have that! So, I tweaked a little....let me know what you think.

I'll be running errands today and probably taking my son to the skate park....it's warmer today, which I'm glad of, what are you up to this weekend?

Surprise!

I decided with a year under my belt and a new prospect (school) on the horizon, I'd spruce things up around here a bit! What do you think?

Don't forget to leave me a comment if you'd like to win the subscription to the magazine!

Wordless Wednesday

Giveaway

Hi guys, random giveaway! I have a subscription to Fitness magazine for you. If you are interested, leave me a comment telling me what your favorite workout is and why.
Mine is kickboxing. I really enjoyed the classes I took. It was fun beating the heck out of that bag. I'm going to miss not being able to take it this semester. But, on to more important things. I guess it's the Step video at home! :) Happy Tuesday!

LOTR

Did you have a good weekend? We had a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. We have all three movies in their extended versions and I love them. We didn't get through all three, so I guess the marathon will continue some time this week. The extended versions also have 2 discs each of appendices, which I watched some of while quilting an overdue Christmas present. I've started to read the books more than once, but always get bogged down and stop. My usual reading material is light, easy, and predictable. I started The Fellowship of the Ring again this weekend. We'll see how far I get this time.
I've been skimping on pictures of late because something is amiss with my camera. I delete pictures regularly, but I guess it wasn't deleting them from my card. I put the card in the computer and tried to delete them from there, but now it's giving me an error message. Any ideas?
What did you do this weekend?

It's My Blogiversary

I just made up that word, I think. One year ago today, I began this awesome blog journey! I have learned a lot, met some awesome new friends, and have had a creative outlet that has lasted! When I started I wasn't sure it would stick. Not much does. I'm Teflon.
I thought of having a giveaway, but I've nothing to give away that would be legal (anyone for a teenage daughter?)...Then there was a chance of a new blog starting, but that hasn't come to fruition yet, so I figured I'd share some of the great friends I've found this year! I use the term 'friends' loosely, as some of these people have no idea I even exist.
Top Ten (in no particular order):
1. Ree~my motivation to even think about doing this. If you don't know her, go. Now. We'll wait. On second thought, you could be there for hours. Let's proceed.
2. Scrappy Gal
3. Alex
4. Tins
5. Ryan
6. Diber
7. Jess
8. Post Secret
9. Owlhaven
10. OMSH~though she's no longer blogging and I cry about it frequently....
As you can see I have varied interests. And these are just a few....I could go on.

Here are some people I know that have started blogs this year. I'd like to think I had some kind of positive influence on that happening, but you know, the whole big head thing....plus, half of them aren't even still blogging. Well, OK, not half because that would be 2 and 1/2 and that's not quite possible. OK, so 3 out of 5 of them still are. That's ok odds....
1. Kelli
2. Lisa
3. Caitlin
4. Taryn
5. Heather

Ok, two more, I couldn't resist:
1. Geo
2. Tallgrass~yummy eye candy!

Jokes

My husband can attest to the fact that I am not a joke person. I don't find them funny. I'm usually rolling my eyes....especially at his which are generally my father-in-law's first. But, first graders are very funny about jokes. They are getting old enough to realize the concept of humor, but not quite well enough to completely get it. They've heard jokes and want to retell them, but it quickly deteriorates to them making up their own "jokes." Here are two that were pretty cute before we got completely silly today.

Kid: What word do even teachers spell wrong?
Me: I don't know!
Kid: Wrong! Get it? Wrong? Peals of laughter ensue...

Different Kid: Why did the football coach go to the bank?
Me: I don't know, why?
Kid: To get his quarter back!

Heard any good jokes lately?

Pops and Benjamin

Hi all! I'm so lame during my school breaks. I think I'm going to blog more, but in actuality my brain takes a little vacation, too! I go back to work tomorrow, so we'll be back to our more scheduled random babble.
This weekend, we went to Pops on Route 66. We've been meaning to go for awhile and we finally decided that Christmas break is almost over and we needed one last adventure.
This place is a gas station, and seemingly a favorite of bikers along Route 66. It has over 500 different kinds of soda pop (coke if you're from Texas) and we had a great time. It was a beautiful 72 degree day so during our wait we walked around the shop and sat outside and enjoyed the sun. The building is all glass and there are soda bottles floor to ceiling and wall to wall, but I discovered they are glued down! We got a six pack before we left, each of us choosing two, so we have a little more yet to enjoy.

Last night we went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I loved it. Three hours, so make sure you go to the bathroom first, but it was a great story of life and relationships. Check it out!