Final Countdown

Only 10 more days 'till Christmas.

I thought I was done with all the shopping. I just needed to wrap and check off the list of names as I went along. That was until I started trashing my sewing gifts. Now I need to either go out and shop or come up with something else to make at this stage of the game. I am leaning towards restaurant gift cards. We shall see.

Last night I won a minor skirmish with the sewing machine but the war is far from over. I was able to produce 2 decent looking items out of 4 that were attempted. I only trashed 2 last night. People that's progress. Truly. They aren't done yet. I need to do some final hand stitching and press them before they are ready to give but I think they may be giftable (yes, I know that's not a word but it should be) and that pleases me to no end. You honestly can not imagine.

I think I am going to give it a rest tonight and finish the Christmas cards so that maybe people will get them before the end of the year. I will feel a sense of accomplishment and then I can go back to the sewing tomorrow. The goal is to be done before the weekend so that I can spend it doing the final baking. I give cakes as gifts to some neighbors and doctor's offices so they can be shared by many. So that's the plan but I always have a plan don't I just like last weekend when I wasn't going out and I didn't get home Sunday until close to 1:30 and lost half a day of doing stuff at home. Oh, well. I can only do what I can do. Gimme patience.

Sew Easy, NOT!

I am almost ready to give up. It is not coming to me. I have been trying off and on for months now. I have stitched, ripped and re-stitched I don't know how many seams. I have bought books, I have read instructions online, I have bought kits of things to make "in an hour" and worked on it forEVER to only end up trashing it. I have taken apart things I no longer fit in and not been able to put them back together. I am NOT getting this and I don't know why and I am getting very frustrated.
I was originally giving quite a few gifts sewn by moi for Christmas this year. So far, I have thrown out 4 and actually finished 1! I am going to do my darnedest to try and finish another one tonight. And then I think I will put the sewing machine away maybe forever or at least until I can take a class which at the rate I am going could be forever from now.
I keep being told that it's easy. Well, it's only easy if you know how to do it and I don't know how, so it's hard!
Gimme patience!

I am NOT! I am!

I am not going out this weekend. I am not running any errands this weekend. I am not leaving my house this weekend. I am not going out this weekend.

There! It's in writing and on the Internet, therefore, it must be true.

I am going to stay home this weekend. I am going to finish my gift sewing this weekend. I am going to do all the Xmas cards this weekend. I am going to start wrapping this weekend (especially those that must be mailed). I am going to get lots and lots of baking done this weekend. I am going to be exhausted and satisfied after this weekend.

At least that last line if true... Tis the season people! Gimme patience for all this comfort and joy!

YEAH CMAs!

Did anyone watch the awards show last night? I did not because I cared who won what but to hear and see dome performances. I never watch music videos, I rarely watch any live performances on TV so the awards shows are pretty much it for me with the exception of shows like DWTS and AI who regularly have guest performers.

And I would like to personally thank the CMA show creators for NOT putting together any oddball combinations a la Stevie Wonder and J(I refuse to put their name here, I don't want the hits) Brothers. The combinations they had were perfectly acceptable, Martina McBride can surely sing with George Straight and even the combination of Daughtrey (sp?) and Gill was better than I expected.

I would also like to thank them for the sheer number of performances. There were (precisely) a bunch. Honest. It was really nice. It was not a boring show as award shows can be on occasion and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The other thing I did last night was a pañal, a Cuban receiving blanket for lack of a better translation. I am making a couple for the sister of a friend and I need to get them done this weekend. So now I just need to add the appliqué and 1 will be done. The goal was 3, I will be happy with 2, there will probably be 1. We shall see.

Only Fun

It's Monday again and since I didn't win the lotto over the weekend I had to drag my butt out of bed and go to work which totally interrupts the flow of fun I had all weekend. That list of things to do I posted is pretty much still intact. I only did the social/fun stuff.

I went to game night and we played Cranium. It was fun. I had a great time and saw some girlfriends that I swear I don't think I had seen in a year. My dad came over and taught us how to make a traditional Cuban picadillo. It was much better than mine. I don't like mine at all. I am going to try to duplicate this on Wednesday for dinner. The recipe should by up soon on the Cuban Food blog. So, check it out when you can. Then we went to my in-laws house for dinner and to look at vacation photos. My FIL took 1600 photos! That is not a typo. They had a great trip to I don't even remember how many parks and canyons and mountain ridges and ranges. It was his favorite vacation ever. 1600 to prove it. News flash: our grass is as green as it is over there. It was nice to see him so enthusiastic about something. Truly. Then the weekend came to a lazy close with me sewing ALL day. I made a poncho out of this great pink flowers fleece for my niece. It's got a hood and fringe. It came out super cute. I did make a couple of mistakes which I now understand but I think a 5 year old can totally wear it. A girlfriend came over and we made a pillow with tassel in each corner. That came out great too even though one tassel isn't in the corner. It gives the pillow character! She's had this material in her closet for 2 years and found it cleaning things out and voila we made a decorative pillow. I also mended a blouse and a pair of pants. After dinner we all watched the movie 23. It was weird but good.
A terrific weekend that could only have been topped had I actually won the lotto and been able to continue the fun and not have to interrupt it with you know, work.

Dots of the in-between stuff

In between work, hospital and regular home stuff I have managed to do some other things (not sure how) and here they are:

* Made a strawberry pie. It was low on strawberries because I didn't realize it called for so many and the kids have been picking at the pints in the fridge but it was still good, quite tasty. I want to make another one this weekend with the bajillion strawberries it calls for.

* I finished one book (The Geography of Bliss) and started another (The Last Lecture). Reviews will follow.

* I made a dress for my niece. She's 5. It's a sun dress. Don't think wow! now she can sew or anything. Frankly it was 2 seams. One up the side and the other the hem. BUT the hem came out real nice I doubled it over so there wouldn't be any fraying edge. It was good practice and helped me get familiar with my machine. I should take a picture and post it. Hmmm...maybe this weekend.

* I saw a few movies from NetFlix...Rent and La Vie En Rose. LOVED both of them. Hubby actually sat through both of them with me and didn't hate them. He didn't love them but he got through them. Yes, that was 2 movies in a row that were basically for me but remember it's June and June is mine.

* I have been delivering Orchids and Bromiliads that 15s Cross Country team is selling as a fundraiser. I thought it was clever. Would have been nice to do it before Mother's Day we could have sold a ton on Orchids then. As it is we've done very well. We are hoping that it will defray the costs of a trip they want to take this summer.

Can't think of anything else. I want to work on pictures this weekend. I want to put some on a CD for my brother and mail it along with the dress. If I do that, make the pie and get some rest in between GM's drama it will be a good weekend.

And in case you are interested, the sun is out and the headache is gone!

Balance?

I laugh in the face of balance! Who needs you?! I certainly do not!
Fri...
Bought/gathered the goods to make the pañales, cut up and sewed the hems and prepped the rest for the road trip, up until midnight when 15 and his friends got picked up for his weekender (I didn't see him again until Sunday at 10:30- when I got home), forgot to make Sat's dinner. The best laid plans....
Sat...
Up at 4:15 making breakfast to fuel a long distance runner, left the house in the dark at 5:45 with hubby to Sebastian thinking I'll keep sleeping in the car. The rainstorm of the century decided to come down upon us and I was wide awake with hubs trying to make sure that we stayed in our lane and not hit anything. Everyone driving with their hazards on at 20 mph with minimal visibility. Are we having fun yet!? We did that forever (read: a good hour) and then it finally started letting up. Who can sleep now? I'm wide awake so begin crocheting in the car. WE finally make it to The Meet miraculously on time, with 15 minutes to spare. It's freezing! The wind it blowing 30 mph (read: 30 mph- seriously!) Gratefully, I find a windbreaker in the trunk of the car because I'm in short sleeves and brought a broad rimmed floppy straw hat for sun shade! We find the team and settle in the bleachers, 18 is in the first race the 4x800. He runs well but the wind made a difference in the times. The team came in 6th in that event. Well, we got points for the team. I spent the entire day sitting in the stand crocheting off and on, tossing drinks down to kids on the track, handing out snacks and food in the stands, hubby made a run to the grocery store, we all got sunburned and were cold. Lots' s of good fun. The races were awesome. We placed in everything we competed in except the discus and shotput. We were in 1st or 2nd place the entire morning. After the lunch break we were in 1st but only by a few points. It was tight all afternoon. The final race, 4x400, we are up by only 6 points. Our cross-town district rivals are in second place, this is their best event. 18 was the first leg, he ran a close 2nd, we ended up in 7th place giving us 2 more points and our rivals came in 2nd place giving them the 9 points they needed to win The Meet by one point! it was very exciting. Our boys ran their hearts out. We drove back, beat just beat! Showered while dinner got delivered, ate and to bed.
Sunday...
Slept in till 9:30. Nice. But by the time I came out of the bathroom hubby tells me its 10:40. WHAT! I was in there for 10 minutes not an hour! He gives me some crap about Spring forward. Whatever! After breakfast, I proceeded to wash, dry and fold 637 loads of laundry (precisely that many), make a grocery list for hubby, pick up for the cleaning lady that's coming on Mon., all while watching The Bridcage. I love that movie. It's hysterical! I cooked the meat for tomorrow's dinner...yeah! and left at 5:00 to go have amazing Indian food with my girlfriends. Boy was that delish!
Not exactly the balanced weekend I planned but there ya go. Life got in the way again. But it's all good; a good time was had by all.

Weekend planning

So, as you know it's off to Sebastian, FL tomorrow for the Track Meet. I bought some crochet thread in a seafoam green to crochet a border for the baby blanket. Well, it's not a blanket I think it may be called a Receiving Blanket in English. It's made of diaper cloth. Anyway they didn't have the diaper cloth at my craft store. I will try to go after work to another one that's sort of on the way home. If not then I will embroider a design on a bib. I have a yellow bib at home a gajillions of pattern and thread. So between that and the book I need to finish I am good for the trip.

Tonight I am making Carne con Papa to leave done for tomorrow's dinner. That way we have food ready to eat when we get home for dinner. Tonight I am making fish for me and dad and Shrimp Alfredo for the runner because he needs the carbs. Plus I will do a little scrapping after I get everything ready for tomorrow.

Sunday, I want to sew. I have some pillow forms and a pink fluffy material that I bought a while back to make pillows for my niece. I am also going to dinner with my girlfriends. We are going to try a vegetarian Indian restaurant. I also need to update my agenda with dates for other track meets and a few other things the kids have told me about. Plus I have some Thank you cards to send out.

If I actually do these things then I will have actually done like all my favorite things in one weekend! It sounds like an aggressive list to me. Let's see how it turns out.

Quick list

I haven't had time to properly blog but have things to put out there so here's a quick list of bullet points.

* Why am I busy? Because next week if the banquet for 18s football team and I am the coordinator and it's for like 200 people and I haven't got the food set yet and so far I really only have tablecloths and plates and we need to finish 30 scrapbooks for the Seniors and I don't even have all of the collages yet or enough refill pages for all the scrapbooks and and well you get the picture.

* After living in Miami since 1983 I finally went to Knauss Berry Farm. Friends took me on Saturday morning. It's a lovely ride to a fresh fruit, veggie, baked good stand open only for a short season run by what a friend endearingly calls quasi-Amish. I bought their famous and delicious sticky buns, key lime pie, cherry pie, raisin bread, 9-grain bread, strawberry jam, hot pepper guava jam, strawberries, tomatoes (red & green), scallions, zucchini, yellow squash, green & red peppers, oregano, cilantro and a bag of mixed salad greens. I think that's everything. It's all yummy! and I so enjoyed it and now I know where it is and can go whenever I want. YEAH!!

* I had to send my sewing machine back because it was missing some accessories and apparently its a bundled package and they can't just send me the missing parts but have to get this one back and resend a whole new one! Whatever, they are paying for the shipping since it was their mistake.

* I went to a book reading. The book was "The Geography of Bliss". The author is a friend of a friend. The subject sounds fascinating and I can't wait to read the book. I have been thinking about it a lot - being happy that is and I think it will be interesting. Granted he told us one of the things was to not over think it but I think I need to think about it. I'll let you know how that works out.

*18 has now been accepted at 3 universities, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Loyola in New Orleans and FIU in Miami. AND Union College in upstate NY is going to fly him up to see the school. They are interested in him playing football. Catholic University in DC is also interested in him playing football but they told him they didn't have budget to pay for a visit. We shall see what happens with all of that.

* I have talked about learning to cook Cuban food for a few years. I have wanted to learn all the home recipes from the moms and grandmas but it never happens. Well this year its going to. I've gathered a small group of friends and we are going to use our moms and inlaws to teach us their recipes to pass them on to the next generation. I am so looking forward to it. We are starting with croquettes. Trust me you will hear much more about this.

* I recently saw the movie "Zodiac". Obviously, the topic is uber-scary as it's about the Zodiac killer. The movie is very well done. The camera work is excellent. It starts in 1968 and goes well into the '80s and maybe even '90s I forgot already but it is really well done. They were never able to convict anyone or even arrest anyone for all those murders but it shows you how it haunted and affected so many how were investigating it. How they were convinced of a suspect but frustrated at not being able to prove it. I don't know what's up next on the Netflix queue.

* I'm excited about Masterpiece Theater airing all of Jane Austen's novels. I Tivod the first one Persuasion. Who knows when I will be able to sit and watch it but I'm looking forward to it.

That's all for now....

Last day....

I did all of my hobbies Sunday! I think that is just too cool. In the morning I did some scrapping, I laid out 2 pages. I used my sewing machine for the first time. I made a custom "table" cloth for a built in that I have. Each of the sides has a different stitch because I was playing with the machine learning how to use it but no one will notice. Then in the late afternoon I made guacamole (becuase I had a couple of avocados laying around) which I will serve for at the New Year's Eve Party at my house tonight.

The bad part of the day was finding out that a friends mom fell and fractured her hip and requires surgery and she spent the day in the hospital and that sucks.

I am working today, I have between 70-80 people coming to my house tonight and I am working. Everything is really done, I mean hubby is just cleaning the plastic chairs and setting up tables outside. Everything else is done. The cleaning lady is there today and she will clean the bathrooms and give the kitchen a final once over and I will come home to a freshly cleaned smelling home. Too bad we are going to undo all that a few hours later. Oh well! C'est la vie!
I sincerely wish everyone a new year of good health and happiness!