Rainy Days and Wednesdays. . . .

Yesterday was definitely a rainy day. . . and it was Wednesday. . . and it wasn't a happy hump day. Rod was on his way home from work just before lunch time and there was so much water on the roads. Luckily at this time there isn't a lot of traffic, because our car started to hydroplane and Rod wasn't able to keep it under control. The car turned 180 degrees and slammed against the guardrails. The entire driver's side of the car is severely damaged. Luckily, Rod wasn't hurt -- thankfully he always wears his seatbelt. He managed to drive the car home, although there is a bad shimmy when you get above 50mph. But it is at the repair shop, we have a rental, and we haven't heard yet whether it will be repaired or totaled. Mary left work early, and she and the twins cooked dinner for us. They said it was a celebration dinner, because if their Daddy had been coming home as usual during rush hour, he probably would have been seriously injured or worse. He works today, but then tomorrow we are going to Hershey for the weekend. And I think we both need this short vacation. But this accident certainly puts life into perspective. See you next week, hopefully with some photos.

Catching Up

The company picnic was on Saturday. All day the weather looked like it could just pour, but held off and we had a wonderful day. The food this year was exceptionally good, and the kids and grandkids really enjoyed the bumper boats and go-carts. And,no, we didn't win a door prize this year. Spent quite a long time with Rod's boss, Dave and his wife talking Disney and quilting. Debbie is a new quilter and has only done hand piecing, so she was pretty impressed with my appliqued Disney blocks. We're meeting them at the Hershey quilt show on Saturday. It's their very first quilt show, and I think they will be very impressed.

Mom had her surgery yesterday. We had to be at the hospital by 6:00 am, it's an hour's drive, and whose idea was it to make it so early???? She was first on the schedule, partly because the Dr. had a very complicated surgery following hers, and partly because Mom was so apprehensive and the Dr. didn't want her to have to wait and worry. I didn't get to meet him, but I appreciate his thoughtfulness. She was out of surgery by 8:15, and although she was sore, she was already talking and eating popsicles when we left at 10:30. She will come home to her assisted living home today.

Yesteday Rod and I had manwiches for dinner. Boy do I love those!!! Silly, huh. Have to see if the kids are coming for dinner tonight, and then decide what to make. Supposed to be really warm today. Seems that summer has finally arrived. Quilt on, my friends.

Another Friday

It's Friday and another week has come and gone. Why does it seem that July is just flying by?? Next Friday at this time, I will be on my way to Hershey for the Quilt Odyssey. I really love this show. The sights are great -- fabric everywhere, but also it smells so heavenly. You smell chocolate everywhere you go. I almost feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, except I say "Reeses, and Hersheys and Kisses, Oh My"!!

Most of the mess in my sewing room has been cleaned up, but still no laptop pattern. However, I should find it really soon since I ordered a new one yesterday. DD Mary had asked me to make a case for her also, and since I needed to order the hardware and the foam interlining, I just ordered another pattern. Rod said it just wasn't worth the frustration and that I should just ordered a new one.

Tomorrow is Rod's company picnic and we're hoping to win another fantastic door prize. Rod had worked for this company for 4 years as a temp. The company has a policy that only direct employees are eligible for door prizes at the picnic. In 2007, Rod went direct on a Thursday (the one just before the picnic). Well, at the picnic, his name was the first drawn for door prizes and he got to pick his choice from the prize table. And that's how our 36" flat screen, HD TV came to live at our house. Last year, Rod's name was second drawn, and although the TV was still available, Rod chose a Dyson sweeper. And we love it. This year we would love to win a camcorder, but we don't want to be greedy. All the kids and grandkids are going this year, so we get to show them all off. The picnic is held at a park where there are go carts, bumper boats, and miniature golf. Some of the kids are really looking forward to the activities. I just look forward to talking with some of the other wives. We only see each other twice a year, and this year we will miss the Christmas party because of our Disney trip.

On Sunday, however, I hope to get some sewing done. I may work on some of the Disney blocks since I can't start the laptop bags yet. Last weekend we did a ham in the smoker, and it was delicious. Maybe on Sunday I'll try a pork tenderloin and do some macaroni or potato salad. Easy dinner so that I can sew. Hope your weekend is a great one.

My mom goes into the hospital on Sunday in preparation for her surgery on Monday for cancer. The Dr. says that ordinarily it's not a serious surgery, but with Mom's age and physical condition they aren't taking any chances. I hope everything goes OK. She just seems so weak, not nearly so strong as when she went into the assisted living home in April. She has arthritis so badly, and uses the wheelchair most all the time now. Her pain is almost unmanageable. Say a prayer for her if you can. Have a good weekend.

Who Made this Mess???

That is the question of the day!! Was there a tornado in this room? Were there gremlins at work? Perhaps an earthquake. . . . nope, it was just me. My sewing room looked so good when it was all redone. But I have this terrible habit of only putting things away when the project is finished. At the present time, I have been working on my Disney quilt, then I started working on the quilt for Bubby's birthday. And bandanas were stuck in the middle. And since nothing has been finished, nothing has been put away, or even folded and stacked neatly. I just practice the Eleanor Burns method of tossing things over my shoulder in the general direction it should go.

On Sunday I wanted to start something new and fun -- the first thing that came to mind was my new laptop case. So I went to the sewing room and hunted up the fabric, the foam batting, all the hardware for the case. But where is the pattern? I don't know, do you??? Beats me!! This plastic box with the blue lid is where all my patterns are supposed to be kept, but it wasn't in there. And so the hunt began. I looked in that blue bag sitting beside the pattern box, but no luck. I looked in the basket I usually put new patterns in --not there. I looked in the drawer where the quilt patterns for the kids' birthday quilts are, but no laptop case pattern.

T'is certainly a mystery. Now I'm really getting angry with myself. Why don't you put things away when you're supposed to and where they are supposed to go. I just shrug my shoulders. Don't give me that attitude, I tell myself.

So, I say, maybe it's in one of the drawers in this plastic stack unit. And I search all the drawers, but no pattern. Finally this morning I tell myself (not so nicely, I might add) that this clutter must be put away before anything else is done in there. Because,in just two weeks, there's another quilt show where I'll probably buy more stuff and add it to the mess. So this morning, I started to refold all the fabric and straighten up the shelves before I put the newly folded fabric on the proper stack. And it's starting to look better, but there's still a lot to do. But still no pattern. I know it didn't just get up and walk away, so evidently I didn't put it anywhere near where it's supposed to go. And so the search continues. Will keep you posted.

One of my Fav Recipes

Yesterday we had a great dinner -- ham, cheesy bacon potatoes, corn on the cob, and a cake. Haven't baked a cake for a while but this recipe is the easiest and most versatile I have. It's a pound cake recipe which I got from a dear friend who has passed.

Pound Cake

1 cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)

1 box instant pudding

1/2 cup oil

1 cup water

4 eggs

1 can pie filling or drained fruit

Directions: Mix all ingredients except pie filling in a large bowl. Beat with mixer until well blended. Fold pie filling or drained fruit in by hand. Put in greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350degrees for 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto plate.

The reason I haven't given flavors is because that's where the versatility comes in. My fav is a chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding and cherry pie filling. But, I have also done lemon cake mix, vanilla pudding and blueberry pie filling; spice cake mix, pumpkin spice pudding and apple pie filling; french vanilla cake mix, cheesecake pudding and strawberry pie filling. For the company picnic this Saturday, I think I'm going to try a pineapple cake mix, banana creme pudding, and drained crushed pineapple. And the best part is that you don't have to ice it because it is so moist. But, if you absolutely love icing --- have a go at it!! Any new ideas for combinations from you would be appreciated. Enjoy!!

It's Friday

Wow, another week come and gone. Looking forward to the weekend and hoping to get some sewing done. I have a facebook account now, and am addicted to FarmTown, I'm afraid. I really need to get off this kick, and start doing some sewing. I fell in love with the African fabrics after seeing Lion King - Broadway at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. And at the quilt show in Lancaster in April, I purchased some beautiful fabrics to make a laptop purse. I really need to get started on that. Especially now that we're staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge while at Disney. But I'm still stitching on Bubby's transportation quilt. Check back next week, and hopefully I'll have some photos posted. Have a great weekend.

Whew!!!

Here's the poop --- my booboo's are getting better. In fact, my leg is definitely a "Steeler" leg , you know, black and gold, well yellow. My face is still a little green, but I'm on the mend. Oh, no -- don't say mend. I hate to mend!!!

What a great day -- yesterday at 2:00 pm, I finished the multitude of bandanas for the craft festival that DD Kris's vet clinic is doing. Last Tuesday, she took the fabric for MY bandanas home and cut them for me since I was busy serging for her. The kennel bandanas (my job) were delivered on Friday AM. So by taking it one step at a time, I made it through the entire pile of bandanas. And so today, I can return to the fun stuff I do - applique. I need to finish the blanket stitching on Bubby's quilt and put the top together. I hope to put it on the quilt frame this weekend.

And here's the greatest part of the post. Look on the sidebar and you'll see a countdown calendar for DisneyWorld. I had told you that with Mary's code we were able to get discounted rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge (my dream). Last night, while reading on some of the Disboards, I found a code for a discount of airline flights. Mary checked it out, and we booked our flights at a considerable saving. She called AirTran and got all the information for taking my cart since there's a layover in Atlanta on our trip down. It's all starting to fall into place. We can't book our dining reservations until Sept. 3, so we continue to peruse the menus and plan our itinerary, so that, when that day comes, we have a definite plan for securing the restaurants we want. Disney -- here we come-- just not soon enough. Have a great week.

Here and There

On Monday, I fell in the living room. Don't know how it happened -- One minute I was walking, and the next I was heading face down onto the carpet. I'm very bruised, I have a black eye, and I am really sore -- but I'm ok otherwise. A friend asked if I was "break" dancing, and I told her that no I was "tripping" the light fantastic!!!

Have you ever had so much to do that you felt really overwhelmed??? That's how I feel today. As many of you know I make dog bandanas and sell them to a local kennel. I used to sell them in the vet office where my daughter practices, but when the clinic was sold, the new owner didn't want my bandanas there. So, they were sent back home. Now the clinic has decided to sell bandanas at a local festival to raise money for their free care fund. And, my daughter the doctor has purchased almost $400 worth of fabric to be cut and sewn into bandanas before the festival on July 16th. She's cutting them, but since I'm the one with the serger (which is often less that cooperative) guess who's doing the serging. Not much of a problem -- I just put everything else on hold to do this for Kris. But here's the catch -- yesterday the kennel owner called with an order for bandanas. Now this is a great money-making activity for me and I've been selling to this kennel for about 12 years. So, do I put Kris's project on a temporary hold and concentrate on my own bandanas??? I've decided that is exactly what I need to do!! After all, the kennel is a regular customer, and I feel I need to take care of my clients. And I still am working on Bubby's birthday quilt for August, and I have one to make for Izzy's b-day in late September, and one for Krissy's b-day in early November. So, I guess the only way to tackle all this is one step at a time. Wish me luck!!

Massive Construction Plan

The last few days the kids have been playing with the large container of MegaBlocks we have. There has been so much construction that I've almost erected a sign. Here you can see how seriously they are working on their projects.

Things are beginning to take shape, and they aren't fighting yet!!

Krissy has been working on making a tower that's taller than she is. And, she's so proud that she finally made it.

But even the best built towers don't last forever, and Krissy's falls -- right on Bubby's head. You should have heard the giggles that followed.

Izzy is just so happy to see the blocks all over the floor. She only makes "castles" of one block widths. Then she breaks them and yells, "Oh no, my castle is broken". So then we have to fix it.

And finally, Bubby shows off his castle. We had a great time,and the kids picked up all the blocks when they were done. Don't I have a great job!!!