You Belong in Winter |
 Quiet, calm, and totally at peace... You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter. |
Friday, July 25, 2008
I always did like the winter...
Note to Self:
22 random lessons I've learned this week.
1: Sometimes a $5 jewelry-and-beads-grab-bag is worth it.
And sometimes it isn't. I used to be a Nurses Aid and I can handle just about any human waste and/or fluid that comes my way except for phlegm, snot, drool, etc... And I don't abide sharing lip balm or public pens. This just creeps me out! I couldn't even touch it when I found out why it was so greasy. Ewww. And sometimes the treasures come from unexpected places.
I could ditch the rest of the strand, but I love these blue striped beads!
2. Read the fine print.
(They get away with it by calling it honey SAUCE)
3. Size does matter.
When I hand sewed everything (like, a month ago) it didn't matter how short my simple little pins were. When I bought the Grabbit, it came with a few of these longer pins and now I won't go back, I hate it when I run out of the longer ones and have to use the short stubby ones!
4. Caffeine Free Pepsi really does taste better in a wineglass at the end of a hard day.
5. Just because it's a farm stand doesn't mean it's locally grown. Or ripe.
This peach was so hard, I had to cut it in four before I could leverage one of the sections off the pit! I still ate it. See Blue Yonder's boy's comment about unripe peaches. I wholeheartedly agree! Turns out, this peach came all the way to New Hampshire from South Carolina! What, South Carolina didn't want it?
6. People care. They really do.
7. The remnant bin is still a good substitute for ice cream.
8. Don't try to get fabric cut on lunch break. I have no picture of this because I didn't have the fabric I wanted cut because I ran out of time because there was THAT lady in front of me with seriously two stacks, STACKS, of fabric bolts about two feet high EACH that she wanted 1/2 yard increments of. Two!!! If I'm ever THAT lady, I pray it's at the least busy time of day! Sorry, those of you who are that lady, I'm sure you had fantastic excuses and really really tried not to go at the BUSIEST time of day. Thank you for letting me vent. Not that you had a choice...
9. No handles = more effective clutter control.
(Note the box, not the pretty stuff inside it.) I used to use a basket for the purpose of corralling all the little things that end up in the car. I'd bring it inside, unload half of it, load it back up the next day, (with 1/2 the basket still full of things I'd brought in the night before) and bring it out the the car, and so on...but a shallow box with no handles = harder to tote back and forth = makes me think twice about bringing things in and out and in and out...
10. Darning socks isn't just something Gramma used to do in the olden days.
It's a really great idea.
11. Crying is good. It's really really good. No picture for this one either. You'll just have to take my word for it.
12. One woman's loose change is another woman's foreign coin. I found this among my shell collection. I have no idea when I stumbled upon it, but it reminds me that I'm now a part of a global network of friends and acquaintances. (Of which I'm incredibly grateful!)
13. Small and thin really is beautiful.
(Although it's not the ONLY beautiful thing on the face of the earth)
14. Men like to get together and look down holes. And when the storm drains fill up, sometimes it finds the path-of-least-resistance right into your next-door-neighbor's house via the bathtub. Oi.
15. You don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes you get more. I found this at a yard sale for 50 cents a few weeks ago and just got around to tracing the symbols stamped on the bottom. It comes from the Lawrence B. Smith Company out of Boston, Massachusetts which was in business from 1887 to 1958.
16. I don't always get what I ask for, but I really don't think it's because I offended God by calling Him "Honey."
17. I really really need to cut down on some of the things on my sidebar. (You know what I'm talking about.)
18. I not only enjoy cross stitch, I miss it too. A lot.
I love the texture of the Irish linen that I prefer to use, I love the softness of the floss, I love the feel of the finished stitches, I love completing the project, I love giving of my time and talent to show people that I love them, that I'm thinking of them, and that they are treasured.
19. And I miss my little Korean sister. I've mentioned her once before, I'll tell her story here since I miss her so much. Hyung is living with my parents during the school year (which runs from the end of August to June here) for three years until she graduates High School. When she comes back next month, she will be in her Senior year! When we first met, we hit it off right away. She says and does so many things that remind me of how I was at her age. This past school year we spent even more time together than the first year. I got a text message from her yesterday while I was on my lunch break. It was so good to hear from her!
She makes me feel good about myself. Not by telling me I'm great and encouraging me, although she does that too, but she laughs when I'm trying to be funny and she asks me hard questions and I manage to answer them and she's so grateful. She tells me she can be herself when she's around me, she is fiercely loyal to me, and so proud to call me her sister.
I miss her a lot, and hopefully the next month will go a little faster than the last one did!
21. A princess never hurries. I don't remember the exact line, but it comes from the movie The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway. I was moving small furniture items Tuesday night and was told to take it slow or I'd get hurt. I just didn't want to seem like I was working half-heartedly (especially since I couldn't really pitch in like I wanted to) but it reminded me that life is not a sprint.
22. I really REALLY don't like it when people pat me on the head. Right after the older guy (but not much older) told me not to hurry, he patted me on the head. Now I know why my mom never liked that. Since I'm short, I get it more often than I'd like to admit. And when I'm not wearing makeup or dressed professionally, I look about 18-23. Seriously. The head patting thing gets old quick when you're 30+!
So far that's all I've learned this week. I was shooting for 10. I guess I exceeded expectations!
1: Sometimes a $5 jewelry-and-beads-grab-bag is worth it.
And sometimes it isn't. I used to be a Nurses Aid and I can handle just about any human waste and/or fluid that comes my way except for phlegm, snot, drool, etc... And I don't abide sharing lip balm or public pens. This just creeps me out! I couldn't even touch it when I found out why it was so greasy. Ewww. And sometimes the treasures come from unexpected places.
I could ditch the rest of the strand, but I love these blue striped beads!
2. Read the fine print.
(They get away with it by calling it honey SAUCE)
3. Size does matter.
When I hand sewed everything (like, a month ago) it didn't matter how short my simple little pins were. When I bought the Grabbit, it came with a few of these longer pins and now I won't go back, I hate it when I run out of the longer ones and have to use the short stubby ones!
4. Caffeine Free Pepsi really does taste better in a wineglass at the end of a hard day.
5. Just because it's a farm stand doesn't mean it's locally grown. Or ripe.
This peach was so hard, I had to cut it in four before I could leverage one of the sections off the pit! I still ate it. See Blue Yonder's boy's comment about unripe peaches. I wholeheartedly agree! Turns out, this peach came all the way to New Hampshire from South Carolina! What, South Carolina didn't want it?
6. People care. They really do.
7. The remnant bin is still a good substitute for ice cream.
8. Don't try to get fabric cut on lunch break. I have no picture of this because I didn't have the fabric I wanted cut because I ran out of time because there was THAT lady in front of me with seriously two stacks, STACKS, of fabric bolts about two feet high EACH that she wanted 1/2 yard increments of. Two!!! If I'm ever THAT lady, I pray it's at the least busy time of day! Sorry, those of you who are that lady, I'm sure you had fantastic excuses and really really tried not to go at the BUSIEST time of day. Thank you for letting me vent. Not that you had a choice...
9. No handles = more effective clutter control.
(Note the box, not the pretty stuff inside it.) I used to use a basket for the purpose of corralling all the little things that end up in the car. I'd bring it inside, unload half of it, load it back up the next day, (with 1/2 the basket still full of things I'd brought in the night before) and bring it out the the car, and so on...but a shallow box with no handles = harder to tote back and forth = makes me think twice about bringing things in and out and in and out...
10. Darning socks isn't just something Gramma used to do in the olden days.
It's a really great idea.
11. Crying is good. It's really really good. No picture for this one either. You'll just have to take my word for it.
12. One woman's loose change is another woman's foreign coin. I found this among my shell collection. I have no idea when I stumbled upon it, but it reminds me that I'm now a part of a global network of friends and acquaintances. (Of which I'm incredibly grateful!)
13. Small and thin really is beautiful.
(Although it's not the ONLY beautiful thing on the face of the earth)
14. Men like to get together and look down holes. And when the storm drains fill up, sometimes it finds the path-of-least-resistance right into your next-door-neighbor's house via the bathtub. Oi.
15. You don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes you get more. I found this at a yard sale for 50 cents a few weeks ago and just got around to tracing the symbols stamped on the bottom. It comes from the Lawrence B. Smith Company out of Boston, Massachusetts which was in business from 1887 to 1958.
16. I don't always get what I ask for, but I really don't think it's because I offended God by calling Him "Honey."
17. I really really need to cut down on some of the things on my sidebar. (You know what I'm talking about.)
18. I not only enjoy cross stitch, I miss it too. A lot.
I love the texture of the Irish linen that I prefer to use, I love the softness of the floss, I love the feel of the finished stitches, I love completing the project, I love giving of my time and talent to show people that I love them, that I'm thinking of them, and that they are treasured.
19. And I miss my little Korean sister. I've mentioned her once before, I'll tell her story here since I miss her so much. Hyung is living with my parents during the school year (which runs from the end of August to June here) for three years until she graduates High School. When she comes back next month, she will be in her Senior year! When we first met, we hit it off right away. She says and does so many things that remind me of how I was at her age. This past school year we spent even more time together than the first year. I got a text message from her yesterday while I was on my lunch break. It was so good to hear from her!
She makes me feel good about myself. Not by telling me I'm great and encouraging me, although she does that too, but she laughs when I'm trying to be funny and she asks me hard questions and I manage to answer them and she's so grateful. She tells me she can be herself when she's around me, she is fiercely loyal to me, and so proud to call me her sister.
I miss her a lot, and hopefully the next month will go a little faster than the last one did!
21. A princess never hurries. I don't remember the exact line, but it comes from the movie The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway. I was moving small furniture items Tuesday night and was told to take it slow or I'd get hurt. I just didn't want to seem like I was working half-heartedly (especially since I couldn't really pitch in like I wanted to) but it reminded me that life is not a sprint.
22. I really REALLY don't like it when people pat me on the head. Right after the older guy (but not much older) told me not to hurry, he patted me on the head. Now I know why my mom never liked that. Since I'm short, I get it more often than I'd like to admit. And when I'm not wearing makeup or dressed professionally, I look about 18-23. Seriously. The head patting thing gets old quick when you're 30+!
So far that's all I've learned this week. I was shooting for 10. I guess I exceeded expectations!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Fun & different condiments for Saturday's picnic
All of the following recipes were taken from "Gifts from the Kitchen" by Ann Kleinberg. (I couldn't find it on Amazon, but this is Ann's website - cool chic!!!)
Most of the recipes I've adapted for my personal taste (and what I had on hand), and I'll note when I've done that. The one exception is the stuffed olives. That I came up with on my own, though I realize now that I wasn't the first to think of it!
Pineapple Corn Relish
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup pineapple chunks
combine corn and pineapple, set aside.
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Combine olive oil, vinegar and honey. Pour over corn and pineapple and mix. Chill, covered, and let marinate several hours.
I adapted it to suit my preferences, but Ann adds 1/2 red onion, 1 small red hot chile pepper and 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
Pickled Radishes
2 cups radishes, chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Chop radishes and place in a jar. Combine vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the radishes. Cover and chill at least overnight.
Ann actually calls for sliced radishes but I don't have the patience for that! She also adds 2 small red onions, 2 tbs salt and 5 whole black peppercorns.
I stuff green olives with Gorgonzola cheese. I thought this was pretty self explanatory, but as I was doing it I realized there are a few tricks to it. Usually I get my pitted olives in a brine. Drain the brine from the container and then stand the olives on end so that the inside of the olive drains as well (see first olive picture). I have always used pre-crumbled Gorgonzola in the past, but decided I didn't want to pay extra for it. Purely by accident, the cheese was slightly warm when I got to crumbling it and it was actually at a lumpy-but-spreadable consistency. I think it was out of the fridge for about an hour by that point. It was much easier to use softened than even crumbled.
My first time trying this!
Onion Jam
2lb Vidalia onions, chopped
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup Marsala wine
Heat the butter in a large skilled over high heat.
Add the onions. when they start to turn translucent, add the sugar. Lower the heat to medium and cook covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the vinegar and wine and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about an hour.
The mixture should reduce and take on a jam-like texture.
Ann actually calls for dry or semi-dry white wine, but Marsala was all I had in the house. She also calls for red onions and adds "(or white)" in her recipe. The only type of onion I like is vidalia, so that's what I used!
I can't wait until Saturday!
Most of the recipes I've adapted for my personal taste (and what I had on hand), and I'll note when I've done that. The one exception is the stuffed olives. That I came up with on my own, though I realize now that I wasn't the first to think of it!
Pineapple Corn Relish
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup pineapple chunks
combine corn and pineapple, set aside.
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Combine olive oil, vinegar and honey. Pour over corn and pineapple and mix. Chill, covered, and let marinate several hours.
I adapted it to suit my preferences, but Ann adds 1/2 red onion, 1 small red hot chile pepper and 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
Pickled Radishes
2 cups radishes, chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Chop radishes and place in a jar. Combine vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the radishes. Cover and chill at least overnight.
Ann actually calls for sliced radishes but I don't have the patience for that! She also adds 2 small red onions, 2 tbs salt and 5 whole black peppercorns.
I stuff green olives with Gorgonzola cheese. I thought this was pretty self explanatory, but as I was doing it I realized there are a few tricks to it. Usually I get my pitted olives in a brine. Drain the brine from the container and then stand the olives on end so that the inside of the olive drains as well (see first olive picture). I have always used pre-crumbled Gorgonzola in the past, but decided I didn't want to pay extra for it. Purely by accident, the cheese was slightly warm when I got to crumbling it and it was actually at a lumpy-but-spreadable consistency. I think it was out of the fridge for about an hour by that point. It was much easier to use softened than even crumbled.
My first time trying this!
Onion Jam
2lb Vidalia onions, chopped
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup Marsala wine
Heat the butter in a large skilled over high heat.
Add the onions. when they start to turn translucent, add the sugar. Lower the heat to medium and cook covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the vinegar and wine and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about an hour.
The mixture should reduce and take on a jam-like texture.
Ann actually calls for dry or semi-dry white wine, but Marsala was all I had in the house. She also calls for red onions and adds "(or white)" in her recipe. The only type of onion I like is vidalia, so that's what I used!
I can't wait until Saturday!
think about it
The following was sent to me in an e-mail awhile back. I go back and read it from time to time. I think it's time to share it. Feel free to copy and paste it...
When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return.'You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board which can treat several hundred people. They are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities. They have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day. They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships. How many does France have?"You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference which included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers which included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.He then asked, 'Why is it we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
.You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on.'You have been to France before, Monsieur?' the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted he had been to France previously.'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, “The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.”
'Impossible! Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France,' stated the customs officer.
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.'
.You could have heard a pin drop.
When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return.'You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board which can treat several hundred people. They are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities. They have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day. They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships. How many does France have?"You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference which included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers which included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.He then asked, 'Why is it we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
.You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
.
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on.'You have been to France before, Monsieur?' the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted he had been to France previously.'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, “The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.”
'Impossible! Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France,' stated the customs officer.
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.'
.You could have heard a pin drop.
MJ? Really?
Okay, so my friends don't call me MJ.
But I wish they would.
Ever since junior high, I've wanted to be called MJ. But then I'd be a copy-cat.
See there was this guy that actually was called MJ. But it'd be a strange co-incidence to have two MJ's in the same graduating class. Especially if they're of different genders! I guess not so strange. My brother's name is Erin. Yes Brother. Yes Erin, not Aaron.
But still, I'd be a copy-cat.
So on blogger, I got the chance to call myself anything I wanted to. Anything at all! And after all these years, I finally get to be MJ.
Those are truly my initials though. And I really do sign my cross stitches with just my initials and the year.
The funny thing is (yeah - this is the one funny part!) (I don't know if the sarcasm is showing through or it's just wishful thinking...)
Ahem...the funny thing is, I really like my actual name too!
But I wish they would.
Ever since junior high, I've wanted to be called MJ. But then I'd be a copy-cat.
See there was this guy that actually was called MJ. But it'd be a strange co-incidence to have two MJ's in the same graduating class. Especially if they're of different genders! I guess not so strange. My brother's name is Erin. Yes Brother. Yes Erin, not Aaron.
But still, I'd be a copy-cat.
So on blogger, I got the chance to call myself anything I wanted to. Anything at all! And after all these years, I finally get to be MJ.
Those are truly my initials though. And I really do sign my cross stitches with just my initials and the year.
The funny thing is (yeah - this is the one funny part!) (I don't know if the sarcasm is showing through or it's just wishful thinking...)
Ahem...the funny thing is, I really like my actual name too!
Grouch alert
Cooking...
I was grouchy yesterday and by the time I got home (late) I wasn't getting any less grouchy, so we had what I'd dubbed growing up as the "Christmas Eve Special" because it was what we ate while we decorated the Christmas tree and Christmas Eve Special just sounds better than Christmas Tree Decorating Special. This consists of a very grueling preparation of... kielbasa, sliced cheese and crackers. My hubby likes to add horseradish to it. I like kielbasa with horseradish, but it wasn't working with the cheese for me.
I even broke out the paper plates for this one and pulled out the step stool so I could reach the wine glasses. Due to health complications I can't have alcohol, but caffeine free Pepsi is somehow just that much more enjoyable in a wineglass after a grouchy day! Needless to say, I didn't get around to making my special relishes and olives, but then again, I have time tonight...
Free stuff...
Here are some things that should have cheered me up:
Two Totally Free Finds! Thanks to freecycle.com, I won a very large bag of used nursing scrubs and another bag containing two Batik sheets. Two totally separate offers on the same day. Go me!
Sewing...
Then I learned how to darn socks! I googled it and went to a totally random site and I'm not going to give credit because quite frankly, the directions weren't very good. I'm sure there are others out there if you google them and you'll get better directions!
But it was good enough to get me started and I figured everything else they left out on my own! A good tip I got from the site: In leiu (anyone know how to spell?!) of going out and purchasing a darning egg and needle, a light bulb and the longest sewing needle you have will do the trick too.
Normally I'd use a color matching the sock, but for my first time I wanted to make it easy on myself so I used two contrasting and bold colors. There's actually a few things I see wrong with this darning job, but for my first time, I'm psyched! One tip I learned on my own:
If your sock is long enough, make a loose knot over the end of the light bulb. This keeps everything steady; just be sure not to make the knot so tight that it stretches the sock too much. It should be secure enough that the bulb isn't moving around inside the sock but with ease enough that it isn't pulling at the hole. If your sock isn't long enough, I imagine a rubber band or just tying it off with strong floss or ribbon will do the trick as well.
I felt guilty about laundering my new fabric finds while there was a monster-sized pile of regular laundry to do, so I worked my way through that pile last night and found three more holy socks, so I'll get lots of practice in the next couple of days!
Play time...
Then I played with my camera taking ubber close shots of my shells. So cool!
I can't recall where I found these tiny shells, but I absolutely adore how small and thin they are!
And my very first Lazy Daisy. Room for improvement but not a total failure.
There's something about the texture of finished cross stitch and the softness of the floss itself. I just love it!
Then I pulled out of storage the one piece of my finished cross stitches that I have in my possession. This was supposedly a gift to my hubby after our first year of dating. Yeah, giving a guy a cross stitched pillow case and pillow...not exactly a thrill for him. I quickly got it back! Well it gave me great pleasure to photograph it and recall all of the fun things we did that first year. I think I'll post about that back story separately.
TMI?...
I've been pretty teary these last couple of days and that tells me the depression is here and strong. In thinking about how I'm doing socially, how often I choose NOT to withdraw, and when I do...I also do what I can not to get "sucked under" so to speak; I think I'm doing okay considering. In the past I'd be making excuses not to get together with the ladies this weekend no matter how long it had been since I'd seen them. I'd say I was sick and couldn't help out at church on Sunday. I'd tell the outreach director some story about stress at home and work and say I couldn't take on the furniture ministry right now.
But I'm not doing any of those things. I can't say I'm exceeding expectations in any given area, but I'm not ducking out of LIFE. I'm still staying with it, still fighting. And God, how hard is it?! But I'm not giving up. Not this time. It's not going to steal my life away again!
I was grouchy yesterday and by the time I got home (late) I wasn't getting any less grouchy, so we had what I'd dubbed growing up as the "Christmas Eve Special" because it was what we ate while we decorated the Christmas tree and Christmas Eve Special just sounds better than Christmas Tree Decorating Special. This consists of a very grueling preparation of... kielbasa, sliced cheese and crackers. My hubby likes to add horseradish to it. I like kielbasa with horseradish, but it wasn't working with the cheese for me.
I even broke out the paper plates for this one and pulled out the step stool so I could reach the wine glasses. Due to health complications I can't have alcohol, but caffeine free Pepsi is somehow just that much more enjoyable in a wineglass after a grouchy day! Needless to say, I didn't get around to making my special relishes and olives, but then again, I have time tonight...
Free stuff...
Here are some things that should have cheered me up:
Two Totally Free Finds! Thanks to freecycle.com, I won a very large bag of used nursing scrubs and another bag containing two Batik sheets. Two totally separate offers on the same day. Go me!
Sewing...
Then I learned how to darn socks! I googled it and went to a totally random site and I'm not going to give credit because quite frankly, the directions weren't very good. I'm sure there are others out there if you google them and you'll get better directions!
But it was good enough to get me started and I figured everything else they left out on my own! A good tip I got from the site: In leiu (anyone know how to spell?!) of going out and purchasing a darning egg and needle, a light bulb and the longest sewing needle you have will do the trick too.
Normally I'd use a color matching the sock, but for my first time I wanted to make it easy on myself so I used two contrasting and bold colors. There's actually a few things I see wrong with this darning job, but for my first time, I'm psyched! One tip I learned on my own:
If your sock is long enough, make a loose knot over the end of the light bulb. This keeps everything steady; just be sure not to make the knot so tight that it stretches the sock too much. It should be secure enough that the bulb isn't moving around inside the sock but with ease enough that it isn't pulling at the hole. If your sock isn't long enough, I imagine a rubber band or just tying it off with strong floss or ribbon will do the trick as well.
I felt guilty about laundering my new fabric finds while there was a monster-sized pile of regular laundry to do, so I worked my way through that pile last night and found three more holy socks, so I'll get lots of practice in the next couple of days!
Play time...
Then I played with my camera taking ubber close shots of my shells. So cool!
I can't recall where I found these tiny shells, but I absolutely adore how small and thin they are!
And my very first Lazy Daisy. Room for improvement but not a total failure.
There's something about the texture of finished cross stitch and the softness of the floss itself. I just love it!
Then I pulled out of storage the one piece of my finished cross stitches that I have in my possession. This was supposedly a gift to my hubby after our first year of dating. Yeah, giving a guy a cross stitched pillow case and pillow...not exactly a thrill for him. I quickly got it back! Well it gave me great pleasure to photograph it and recall all of the fun things we did that first year. I think I'll post about that back story separately.
TMI?...
I've been pretty teary these last couple of days and that tells me the depression is here and strong. In thinking about how I'm doing socially, how often I choose NOT to withdraw, and when I do...I also do what I can not to get "sucked under" so to speak; I think I'm doing okay considering. In the past I'd be making excuses not to get together with the ladies this weekend no matter how long it had been since I'd seen them. I'd say I was sick and couldn't help out at church on Sunday. I'd tell the outreach director some story about stress at home and work and say I couldn't take on the furniture ministry right now.
But I'm not doing any of those things. I can't say I'm exceeding expectations in any given area, but I'm not ducking out of LIFE. I'm still staying with it, still fighting. And God, how hard is it?! But I'm not giving up. Not this time. It's not going to steal my life away again!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
...and then I found the macro button!
Another rainy Lunchcapades in New England.
And what would I make with all of these?
Lots of stuff! Tonight I'm making a bunch of jars of gourmet condiments. Including gorgonzola stuffed olives, pickled radishes, onion jam, corn & pineapple relish, spicy olives and my homemade creamy caesar dressing!
Of course, I stopped at the farm stand across the street from work for fresh corn on the cob. I'll steam it up, slice off the kernels, and pop them into the relish.
Saturday I plan to picnic with three other ladies I haven't seen in a year and we are all bringing something fantastic to eat! Leah is bringing authentic Puerto Rican sandwiches with avocado, tomato and onions pickled in lime juice or cider. Mmmmm...pickled avocado. She's been to PR twice this summer with her family. I can't wait to hear all about her travels! Mimi says she found a great coconut cake recipe she's been dying to try out, and Jewel makes great iced tea! I'll be sure to take lots of pics and get recipes of everything! I'll be making fresh dough for rolls Friday night to pop in the oven before I leave Saturday morning so they're nice and fresh! (warm rolls with onion jam...)
The rest of my break I spent fiddling with my "made by" tags. I decided to follow the route I've gone with my cross stitching. I'll just do a simple tag with my initials instead of making a big deal out of it. I may do a simple border as well, but no extra words. Not that that isn't nice, it's just not my personal style. I acutally adore a lot of the customized tags out there, but for my stuff I think simple is the way to go. So I started shooting pics of it, fighting with my camera, mad because I know there's some setting I can get to somehow that will allow me to get ubber clear close-up pics but I've changed all the internal settings and it isn't WORKING for me!
Then I found the macro button! And it couldn't be easier if it said "hit this button for close-up shots!" **shaking head**
Then of course I had to take close-up pictures of everything!!
And what would I make with all of these?
Lots of stuff! Tonight I'm making a bunch of jars of gourmet condiments. Including gorgonzola stuffed olives, pickled radishes, onion jam, corn & pineapple relish, spicy olives and my homemade creamy caesar dressing!
Of course, I stopped at the farm stand across the street from work for fresh corn on the cob. I'll steam it up, slice off the kernels, and pop them into the relish.
Saturday I plan to picnic with three other ladies I haven't seen in a year and we are all bringing something fantastic to eat! Leah is bringing authentic Puerto Rican sandwiches with avocado, tomato and onions pickled in lime juice or cider. Mmmmm...pickled avocado. She's been to PR twice this summer with her family. I can't wait to hear all about her travels! Mimi says she found a great coconut cake recipe she's been dying to try out, and Jewel makes great iced tea! I'll be sure to take lots of pics and get recipes of everything! I'll be making fresh dough for rolls Friday night to pop in the oven before I leave Saturday morning so they're nice and fresh! (warm rolls with onion jam...)
The rest of my break I spent fiddling with my "made by" tags. I decided to follow the route I've gone with my cross stitching. I'll just do a simple tag with my initials instead of making a big deal out of it. I may do a simple border as well, but no extra words. Not that that isn't nice, it's just not my personal style. I acutally adore a lot of the customized tags out there, but for my stuff I think simple is the way to go. So I started shooting pics of it, fighting with my camera, mad because I know there's some setting I can get to somehow that will allow me to get ubber clear close-up pics but I've changed all the internal settings and it isn't WORKING for me!
Then I found the macro button! And it couldn't be easier if it said "hit this button for close-up shots!" **shaking head**
Then of course I had to take close-up pictures of everything!!
There's something that just makes me giddy about cross stitch. Perhaps I'm spreading myself too thin trying to master every thread and bead artform there is!
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