From This Day Forward

On Saturday, my oldest granddaughter (step) married her soul mate.  I know you hear this all the time, but in case it's really true.  These two have been together for what seem's like forever and have survived so many bumps in the road.  Mandy was friends with my twins in middle and high school, and for many years was almost like another daughter.  So when daughter Kristin married George, I was blessed to inherit Mandy as a granddaughter.  I don't know Brian very well, but I hope that will change.  He adores Izzy and Jake, and that makes him great in my book.  These two are so good together, and we wish them all the good things that life has to offer.

It was a different kind of wedding.  Although Mandy and Brian don't hold to all our religious beliefs, they are so kind and loving that you just don't care.  They perform in rock and roll bands.  You respect their lifestyle, and all that comes with it.  Mandy wore a black dress, and red sneakers.  Brian wore a black coat reminiscent of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover along with red sneakers.  The bridesmaids wore red jeans, white tank tops, black blazers and black sneakers.  The groomsmen wore jeans, black shirts, white ties, and black sneakers.  Izzy was partnered with her big brother Drew.  The favors were champagne flutes engraved with "All You Need Is Love".  The food was simple, and absolutely delicious.  Trays of gourmet filled cupcakes, in flavors of chocolate oreo, white oreo, and creme brulee were on each table.  Kristin's MIL made the cupcakes and they were awesome.  And to top off the evening, music was provided by a Beatles cover band.  It was an evening that made any child of the 60's very happy.  It was probably the most relaxed wedding reception that I've ever attended.  And it was so much fun.  Kudos to the happy couple for doing things "their way".

Congratulations, you two.  Stay as much in love as you are today.

Neck Wallets are Done, well almost.

I still have to sew the Velcro on.  I'm doing it by hand since I sewed one of the pockets shut when I used the machine yesterday.  Here's a few shots:

This is the back of my Finding Nemo wallet.  You can see there's a pocket in the back for my IPhone, and two pockets for pens or Sharpies.

This is the front of the wallets.  You can see the bottom panel is made of clear vinyl.  I chose this fabric for the binding because I love orange, and these looked a little like bubbles to me.

The twins chose Sheriff Woody fabric for their wallets.  I chose to use fabric with branding symbols on it for the binding.

This is the inside of the wallets.  I put a pen into the top pocket, just to show that there is one, and the zipper pocket is just underneath.  And of course, you can see the vinyl pocket on the bottom.

This is Bubby's Buzz Lightyear.

And here's the last two.  The Lion King wallet is for Krissy, and the pink Mickey Mouse is Mary's.

The pictures don't show the swivel hook very clearly, but they are there.  I wanted a wallet that would attach to the lanyard that I use to put my pins on.  But there are so many other uses.  The hook works really well to attach the wallet to the grocery cart, thus freeing up your hands for shopping. Your driver's license, and debit and credit cards can be put in the vinyl pocket, and cash can be stowed in one of the other pockets.  On the back, stash your grocery list and a pen for crossing off the items as you pick them up.  After my trip, I plan to make some out of other fabrics.

It's Raining, It's Pouring. . .

I wish I were snoring!!  Dreary, rainy days always make me sleepy but when the temps are heading toward fall, my body believes it should be preparing to hibernate.  But, I'm awake and so I will watch a little GMA to catch up on the overnight news and then get my day into gear.  Just got a text from Mary with this photo of the "Hot Dog Dance" from the kids' show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She attached a note saying that we are in single digits until our trip, and that we should all be dancing.  I'll just give a big WAHOO.  Now we can begin checking the 10-day forecast for Florida to see what weather we can expect.



I have some ham dices in the fridge that need to be used, and had contemplated German Potato Soup for dinner tonight.  But with temps in the high 60's, I may be rushing the soup season a little.  Today is Kris and George's anniversary, so we have Jake and Izzy for dinner.  I'm debating making fried potatoes and eggs with ham, or mac and cheese with ham.  I know they both eat the potatoes and eggs, but I'm not sure about Jake and the mac and cheese.

I'm hoping to finish the neck wallets today, and will post a photo.  I would like to have a cute little name for them - thinking about Itty Bittys, but am open to suggestions.

It's Getting Close

Two weeks from this moment, I should be on my way to Walt Disney World, one of my favorite places on earth.  But I still have so much to do.  All the tee shirts are done.  And I have some of our neck coolers that are started, but need to be filled with the Watersorb crystals.  And as if I don't have enough to do, I have decided to make a revised neck wallet.  The neck wallets that we receive from our travel agency are very similar to this one.  I found them to be very handy, but with the string, they were a little uncomfortable and were always getting tangeled with my pin lanyard.   To solve this problem, I decided to make a neck wallet that would hang from my lanyard.  I have made the flap a separate piece from the back so that I can insert a tab with a swivel hook.  And, the back pocket will be a proper size to hold my IPhone.  I have figured out all my sizes, drawn my patterns and have them ready to cut out of fabric.  I think they will be a little cooler and more durable made of cotton fabric.  If they turn out as well as I hope, I may finally put something into my Etsy store.  I ordered swivel hooks and assorted colored zippers, all of which should be delivered on Saturday.  

On Wednesday, which was Kristin's day off, I managed to get all my tee towels sewn and will begin to embroider them this weekend.  I also ordered all the fleece I need to complete all the Christmas quilts.  Now, all I need to do is finish the tops!!  But they will have to wait until after my vacation.

I've Got a New Attitude

I've not been feeling too well the last few weeks.  Couldn't put my finger on it, just didn't feel like me.  Started reading a publication on Beating Diabetes -  I feel like it's been kicking my @$$.  I told daughter Pat that I felt that diabetes was doing the kicking, she replied, "Then it's time to start kicking back".  And believe me, the kicking has begun!!

I began by eliminating medications from my daily regime.  My oral diabetes meds have stayed - nope you don't mess with them!  My daily multi-vitamin has stayed.  And of course, the blood pressure med, the daily low dosage aspirin, and the allergy med has stayed.  But everything else has been kicked out of the house.  I've been on glucosamin for quite some time, and like the orthopedic dr. suspected, it hasn't helped.  So, bye bye.  But the naproxin is still welcome.  And the cinnamon capsule that has been giving me heartburn, see you.  The aforementioned publication said that I should be drinking 3 glasses of milk per day, and so I have been doing that and eliminated the calcium supplement.  And I've been pushing myself to move more.  And, ta-da, I'm pleased to report that my fasting blood sugar number has gone down 40  points in the last three days.  It still has a ways to go, but it's a start.




But to go along with the changes, a new hairdo, a new color, no more gray, and voila -- a new attitude.

Thursday Tabulation

My accomplishments for the past week:

        Cut and pressed my towels for the towel swap.  They are now ready to hem, and then I can start the embroidery designs (hopefully this coming weekend.)

        With Pat and Pam:  printed, cut out, peeled and pressed the transfers onto our Disney shirts.

        With Pat, Pam and Mary:  Did the tie dyed shirts for Disney.  The Mickey heads on some didn't turn out right, so I appliqued a Mickey head over the muffed one.

          Finished the appliqued Disney shirts for Pat, Pam and Mary.  Appliqued heat set crystals to Mary's Minnie Nerd shirt, and to the crowns on the twins' Twincess shirts.

I still want to make a few more neck coolers, and I have to print envelopes for our housekeeping tips before our trip which begins three weeks from today.