Off to Florida tomorrow!

Even though our winter has been so warm and mild, it will be great to be in Florida with my mom and dad for a week. They will spoil us terribly and then send us home. My friend is coming with me, so that makes it even better. Just two grown-up girls out for some fun in the sun.I will post some pictures and notes when I am on vacation.

Hope you are all enjoying your Valentines Day! One of my students did the nicest thing today!! She knows I love cupcakes and never got to give them out in school when I was a kid (July birthday) so she made me some and gave them to me today. Then she told me to make sure I went around to my friends to give them out! A few of the kids decorated my room for Valentines Day during lunch too. What a happy time we had in school. The kids I teach this year are so thoughtful and fun.

Winter warmth for a friend!!

We had a winter block swap at MJF and all of us made extras so that we could make a quilt for a friend who is battling with cancer. The swap leader put them all together and sent it to me for quilting. I tried to make an original quilt design in each block. Then I did an allover pattern of loops and hearts. It was relaxing to work on this for the past two weekends since I was thinking about our friend the whole time.
I embroidered each girl's name using multicolored thread. (It looks great in person...sorry I am not much of a photographer yet!) I also included the recipient's name and the year of the quilt.

Some examples of the quilting. I hope she likes it!!

Valentines Day is here!

A bunch of us at MJF make cards for Valentines Day. Here is my pile of supplies.
A pile of cards done!! They are fun to make and really make watching tv less boring.
A close-up of a finished card. Sorry it is so shiny. I went with a blue and white color scheme on this group. They are all in the mail as of today. I have already received a bunch of them!

Halloween All Year This Year!!

This year I am dedicating my sewing/embroidery time to one holiday so that I can have a whole bunch of stuff when it comes. Usually I am trying to make one thing for each season or holiday and then I cannot find it when I want it, so this year I will do fall/Halloween stuff all year and keep them all together. Then in September I will be able to go crazy decorating each room. I am working on this witch teatowel right now. I love her!

White Trash No More!!

Finally!! After talking about this for about two years now, we broke down and bought two new couches. Let me tell you, we waited about five years more than we should have, but at least these will be around for longer since we waited longer. How is that for justification of procrastination? Our couches have been trashed for years due to the dogs and constant use. They were extraordinarily expensive when we got them about 12 years ago and started to look like doodoo within a year or so. They faded within 6 months and then one of our dogs put a tear in the cushion and you know what happens when there is one tear...before you know it, you have ten. So, they have had blankets and sheets covering them for a very long time. Whenever my friend Deb comes over she says, "Hey! It's time!!" LOL

Here was the problem. My husband is like the Princess and the Pea! He can "feel" if something is not perfect, so picking out a couch (or most anything else for that matter) can be like, well...Hell on earth. To make this easy for me, I told him to go shopping, find one he likes and then I will go and choose fabrics with him. The couch had to be a certain size, feel and shape for his comfort, and I will lay on a rock to relax and be happy, so this was a great compromise. Also, my mom likes the ones we have because they are still very comfy and large enough for sleeping when she comes. With the back cushions off, the couch is the size of a twin mattress! We had to have that again, of course. Where would the dogs fit otherwise?

Six weeks from now, I will post the before and after shots, so you can judge for yourself. All I can say is that I will be mortified to put these out by the curb! People will most definitely talk!

I have been tagged!! I don't know who to tag though!

I got tagged by my friend, Beverly, yesterday and now I have to tell you seven weird things about myself. I am supposed to tag seven more people, but I think all of my friends have already been tagged. Thinking about seven things that are odd about me should be easy since all day long people say, "You are just so weird!!" But I am having a hard time thinking...

ONE: My car looks like a homeless person lives in it. I do not clean it and I just keep bringing more stuff into it with the idea that someday I will clean it out again!

TWO: I laugh when I make bubbles in the bathtub the "natural" way.

THREE: Paying bills is not my thing, so finally had to get the automatic withdrawal thing on my account so they pay themselves.

FOUR: I don't wear deodorant. (Usually, I don't stink though)

FIVE: I don't shave my legs from September through June

SIX: Mice terrify me

SEVEN: I love dark, rainy days and nights

Do you think I am weird, too?

Ken Can Cook... And who exactly is that turtle on the road behind me?

A few weeks ago, I signed my husband up to help out at my church's annual spaghetti dinner. No biggie, right? Well, it wouldn't be except for two things:

1.He hates (that is not a strong enough word really) to cook!!

2. As a Catholic, he has serious issues with organized religion ever since the whole priest scandal began a while back. While my church is not Catholic, he still views most churches with skepticism.

So, we decided to ride in separate cars so that he could make a dash out of there as soon as he thought he was finished. Well, Mario Andretti decided to obey all vehicle and traffic laws on the way. Totally stop at all stop signs; obey posted speed limits and to help wayward turtles off of the dangerous roadways. I kept losing sight of him on the way and could not believe that he was driving like the turtles he is so fond of assisting.

Once, he did catch up to me and I waved at him from my truck. I think he waved back, but it was not a cordial wave of the hand...if you get my drift. Now, ten years ago, he would have NEVER attended this event,and I would have had to listen to him rant and rave about me trying to get him into the church in a backhanded kind of way. He would have acted like I was going to have him baptized against his will or something!! He was actually almost accepting of his forced duty, although he reminded me again and again NEVER to sign him up for anything ever again. (Maybe he will forget by next year, huh?)

Well, here he is cooking pasta!!
He even has an apron on!! WOW!!
After FOUR hours of cooking, everyone is done and ready to leave. He is still chatting about hunting and fishing with a friend. So, I actually ended up leaving before him!!

Except for a few "minor" incidents, this was a great night! So, here is what happened:

1. He cooked about 25 pounds of pasta.

2. He lost about 3 pounds from sweating.

3. He caught on fire (oh please...his friend was there to put out the flames on his arm hair!)

4. A rubber glove was "steamed" onto his flesh (again, his friend helped him remove it)

5. He lost all hair on his right arm from incident #3...

6. If it is possible, I love him even more for doing something against his will just to make me happy. (See ladies, don't give up if your man has certain things he claims he will never, ever, ever do! Sometimes, it is just a time issue...keep waiting)

Our kids were shocked that:

A. Their dad was going to the church

B. Their dad was going to COOK at church

C. Their dad was not home within 30 minutes

All was right with the world...Amen!