Craftiness

I have been in the mood for sewing and crafts lately! My car is automatically trying to go to Joann's every time I get in it. Seriously, I have been there three times since last Wednesday!

Here is some of what I've been making:

This started out to be a tote bag for my niece for Christmas. The problem is, I made it for the wrong niece! I thought we had drawn Madison's name when really we drew Shannon's. So now it's back to the drawing board for a gift for Shannon and A just got herself a new tote bag!

This was supposed to be a birthday present for my sister. She is crazy for watermelon prints! It is a notepad and pen cover. This is a picture of the outside. See that dark area right in the middle of the right hand side? It really is the fabric. It was supposed to look like watermelon rind but in the position it's in it looks like a grease spot!

And here is what it looks like opened up:



It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, what with the grease-looking spot and the turned down corners. She will still be getting it, but not for her birthday.

Tomorrow, I plan to do a lot of our Christmas baking so I'll post some pictures of the goodies later!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It is shaping up to be a gorgeous day here in colorful Colorado. It's partly cloudy with the promise of getting more cloudy and that is something I am thankful for.

As it is a day of giving thanks, I am thankful for so much:

• a warm home filled with healthy people
• a good and kind husband
• a smart and funny kid
• happy puppies
• my extended crazy family (both sides!)
• my favorite sister
• plenty of food (more than my fair share, to be sure)

There is so much in every day to be grateful for. Even on the days when we are cranky and nothing seems to be going our way.

A note to myself: take some time out every day do give thanks to God for ALL that you have. Including the little things that sound so stupid (like cream for your coffee and the fact that Costco is once again carrying your favorite brand of feminine hygiene products). Good things are the little things.

Love and happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Happy Hour!

After re-reading my last two posts one right after the other, I think I need to change the name of this blog to "Things that Suck"! Sorry for using that term so much. Can you tell I have a teenager living at home?

So in the interest of keeping with a theme, here is something that I have been LOVING to suck. Oh, get your minds out of the gutter!
I'm talking about a Sonic Lemon-Berry Slush. Or nectar of the gods. You pick. And who else is over the moon that Sonic's Happy Hour lasted longer than the summer?

Mean People Suck

Ok, so I know that I am a big person. And I have occassionaly received rude comments from people driving by or something. But what is happening to my sister in law is really bad.

She has gained weight over the last few years, which is not unheard of once you turn forty. She has been out of work due to surgery twice this year (broken ankle and hysterectomy). After this last surgery, she just started back to work this past week. Within one day she had two separate people come up to her and say something about her weight. The first guy said "Hey! Something about you looks different!" And she said, "Oh, I know! I have let my hair grow out a lot!" (Her hair was super short before and now is about chin length). He said "No, it's because of this" and put his hands out in front of him as if to show a Santa belly. Of course she was horrified and just said "That was not very nice of you to say" and walked away.

Not an hour later, a woman came up to her and said "God, girl! You have really packed it ON!" Um, this is helpful how? And these are people whom she works with? With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Like I said earlier, occasionally I get a rude comment about my weight to my face. And I'm sure people talk about me behind my back. But come on! A co-worker? (Okay in re-reading this I am reminded of a certain man I used to work with who made a comment after I offered him one of the pastries that I had brought in that day saying "No, I better not otherwise I'll look like you!" To which I replied, "Don't EVER be rude to me again!". )

I told her to move back to Colorado because we don't have nearly as many rude folks as they do where she lives. I just feel so bad for her because I know it feels to be judged only by how you look.

How about you? Have you ever experienced anything like this? How did you handle it?

Mean people suck.

Busy-ness

Omigosh, I suck as a blogger! Not that I have tons of readers or anything but I feel like I'm letting people down when I don't post anything. But right now things are crazy at work and I don't really know if I want to blog about anything to do with work anyway.

I don't think I would be Dooced or anything but it's still a little weird to think that someone I work with would even SEE this blog. But I guess it's possible.

So work and marching band competitions are ruling my life right now. Tomorrow is another competition. But then next weekend is State and then I am all done. Not just for this school year but for good. It's kinda weird. We have lived, breathed and eaten marching band every fall for the last four years with A being IN the band, me being on the boosters board and T helping wherever he can. But it's A's senior year and she hasn't decided if she's going to do marching band in college. I guess that will depend on which college she even ends up going to (which is another post all to itself).

So yeah, fall is my favorite time of the year and it's been going by too fast to even really enjoy it. But tomorrow I will slow down, not do any work and try to enjoy my last "Pomona Marching Festival". It'll be good.

Have a great weekend!

Everybody's Doing It!

I know everybody has already done this and I'm sorta late to the game, but it was fun! And you should give it a try and then post it on your blog and tell me about it so I can come look!

Here's how to do it:


a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flicker
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Too Noisy!

Do noises bother you? They do me. I have to sleep with earplugs in no matter what. But today things are really bothering me. So here is a list of things that make me want to stick my head in a vacuum where I can't hear anything.

People chewing with their mouth open.
People chewing crunchy things.
(If a person were to eat Cap'n Crunch with their mouth open, I'd probably have to stick an ice pick in my ear.)
The sounds that some people (mostly guys) make when they have a head cold.
When somebody is listening to music but it's low enough that I can't really hear anything other than a tinny sound or the bass.
Gum chewing and popping.
Snoring (even if I am not trying to sleep).
Dogs licking their feet (or other parts!)
Whispering.
People talking to themselves.
Non-stop barking dogs.

So am I a total freak or do these things bother you too?