When will it end?

The forecast for the next week is snow, snow, snow for Northern Idaho! When will Winter finally be over? Tonight they are warning about a possible 6-9"! Monte keeps asking me why I didn't plan our Jamaican vacation for earlier than April, and even though I did have a plan at the time, on days like today I am wondering the same thing.

I did find the perfect candle for snowy weather. I just started burning a WoodWick Candle this week that's called "Snowflake." It smells heavenly, like mint and white chocolate. If you've never tried a WoodWick candle, they are awesome! There is no smoke or black soot whatsoever. I will try to post a picture later of my candle, that has been burning for over 10 hours with NO black around the glass! They really do have a wood wick, which is cleaner and crackles while it burns. Very fun and it makes my whole house smell good!

We are supposed to take the kids bowling this afternoon. Depending on the weather, of course. I prefer not to drive 30 miles in a blizzard! If we go, I'm sure there will be comical stories to tell tomorrow.

My sister and I are having a weight loss contest. She just had a baby, and I just ate myself this way. Every week, the loser pays the other their difference in weight lost. Should be interesting, I will have to channel my exercise diva more often or I will be literally paying the price!

If it's snowing where you are, hopefully you have a warm fire and a sewing machine to cozy up to! I will be cozied up to my longarm all day tomorrow!

Boy is My Bank Account in Trouble!

I've been waiting all week, expecting any day now to see that familiar package in the mail. What is taking it so long??? I'm dying to read the newest Stephen King novel, Duma Key. My book club is supposed to send it to me any day now. I feel an all night reading fest coming on, and I can't wait!!
I been considering trying some audio book downloads on my iPod, after the successful download of the missed episode of Stargate Atlantis. (By the way, I'm NOT the only one, no matter what Monte says. It's #8 on top downloaded shows.) So I decided to browse the selection on itunes, and boy is my bank account in trouble! They have every book you can think of! They not only have every book by Stephen King, but also every other popular author. You do have to pay to download, and Duma Key is $31.95, so I guess I will wait for my $18.94 book.
Interesting, isn't it, that downloads are so much more that the actual paperback? They must be popular, but I think I would miss my all-night read-a-thons. It's been a long time since Lisey's Story, which I read over a few late nights in our camper last December. If I did try the audio version of Duma Key, I wouldn't be able to quilt and listen, in case I was startled by a suspenseful or scary part. How good would my quilting look then?
Even though I'm not ordering Duma Key, I saw about a hundred other books I would love to try. Books by Dr. Wayne Dyer, The Pillars of the Earth, and books about meditation; all things I'm been meaning to try. At $9-20 each, this could get expensive!

She's Baaaaaack!!

Yesterday was the monthly Moda-University club meeting at my quilt shop. It's always a busy but fun day. And guess who decided to show up? That's right, my exercise loving alter ego. Right in the middle of the afternoon, she decides to do more kickboxing. I tried to tell her I had a meeting to prepare for that night, I tried to tell her I had quilts to quilt and dinner to fix, but she just wouldn't listen! So I was forced to do 45 minutes of cardio kickboxing, and I am feeling the results this morning! I am a little less sore than last time, so maybe that is progress?
Moda University is always a ton of fun, it is a great group of ladies. This month starts the second trimester of the Moda-U mystery quilt, "Piece and Plenty." It is getting soooo good, and now I am wishing I had kept up on mine! I decided in month 2 that I just didn't have time to make my own, and I am really reconsidering. The second set of blocks is even better than the first, and the blocks I have seen completed are gorgeous!!! I am a terrible at needle-turn applique, so I will need to work on that before I attempt it again.
After the meeting, I went home and got a little revenge on the exercise diva by eating a giant hot fudge sundae! There was only a tablespoon of fudge left, and I couldn't put it away like that, so it was extra chocolaty and wonderful. (Plus, Kylee thinks "Dad" ate all the fudge) I tried to go to bed around 11, but I don't think I fell asleep until 12:00. This is what was going through my head while I tossed and turned:

We're knights, that's right, we're always polite,
Our knightly skills are out of sight,
We're knights, that's right!

Will has been watching the hour long Backyardigans special 2x every day this week, usually once while I am quilting. And what did I wake up to this morning at 5am? Will was up watching it again! It's no wonder I can't stop singing it! My technique for today is NO caffeine so maybe I can get some rest tonight.

Me-The Next Reality Star?

I love reality t.v. I watch almost all of them, Survivor, The Apprentice, Big Brother....the list goes on. This last season of The Amazing Race Monte even watched with me! He's convinced he could "smoke all those people." Which got me thinking....maybe we should apply. Can we afford a month away from our jobs? No, not really, but the race would be exciting enough to offset the debt. I even checked to see if they are taking applications for the next season, but not yet. I will have to think about this some more.....it's possible there are easier roads to divorce, which is how it might end for us. We are good friends, just not when we're together 24/7!

Last night we caught the first episode of the new game show, "To Tell the Truth." This is the show that's been getting so much negetive publicity for hooking people up to lie detectors and making them answer all sorts of embarrassing questions. Really, is it the show's fault? These people did volunteer, right?

When I mentioned to Monte that the show had people up in arms I told him I heard that they ask a man if he would stay married to his wife if she gained weight. I heard that his answer makes her cry. (Not sure where I heard that, or if it's true) Monte's reply? "If they asked me that question, I'd say "Hell No!" and you wouldn't care, you'd just say "Bring on the money!" Maybe I should reconsider my partner for the race?

A Soundtrack to My Life

There are many songs that bring strong images and memories to mind as soon as I hear them. It may be the same for many of you. One example is the "American Housewife" song that reminds me of finding my ring in the toilet. Last week, I stumbled upon a television presentation of a Sawyer Brown concert. Anything be Sawyer Brown reminds me of my crazy grade school crush on Mark Miller, 2 concerts with my cousin Brandi, and watching "The Race is On" on CMT. Here are some others:

"Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake-when this song came out it was on the radio constantly. My kids love it. It reminds me of driving back to logging camp from Bowle's Cabin, deep in the North Idaho forest, after a day of swimming along the head waters of Dworshak Lake. There were kelly humps every 30-40 yards in the road, it was sunny and hot, and when this came on the radio, my kids were in the back seat singing at the top of their lungs. I eventually bought the CD, and Will still requests it at least once every car trip! Their singing and dancing is hilarious.

"Pump It!" by The Black Eyed Peas-this is another upbeat fun song that my kids go crazy for. We listened to it at least 100 times during the summer of 2005, and I'll never forget the time Kylee asked if I had the "Green String Beans" CD in the car.

"Achy Brakey Heart"-Another early CMT video that was on constantly. This reminds me of a large wall poster that made my sister's Christmas!

MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This"-4th Grade, and a very embarrassing pair of parachute pants. My girls have this song on their MP3's, they think it's funny.

"Yeah!" by Usher-quite possibly the first song Kylee ever sang. She was about 2, and barely talking, yet she could sing along with this song.

I'm sure there are more. The soundtrack for the Anderson Family 2007-2008 has to be Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, followed closely by Jesse McCartney. Who knows what new songs are in store for us! Think back, what are some of yours?

Mmmmm, Mmmmmm!

The past week I tried a new recipe, and an oldie but goodie. Here they are, try them if you want. Remember, I'm cooking for a husband that eats 24/7 and 3 growing kids, so if your family is smaller you may need to 1/2 the recipe!

First, I found this recipe in another Kraft Foods magazine. It took less than 30 minutes, and was a big hit with all of the kids!

3 packages of 3-cheese tortellini
2-3 cups of frozen peas
8oz cream cheese, 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, deli ham

Cook the tortellini according to directions
Drain Tortellini, in saucepan heat 8oz cream cheese, 2 cups of milk, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Add frozen peas and sliced up deli ham (to personal preference, I used ham lunch meat). Add tortellini and heat on low until sauce thickens slightly. Eat & enjoy!

Last night I made a family favorite, Meat Balls and Dill Sauce. My Mom has been making this as long as I can remember, and I still love it! The sauce is also great on mashed potatoes or noodles.

I used 1 bag of already made frozen meatballs, cooked according to package, but if you want to make your own mix hamburger & sausage, add a splash of 1/2 & 1/2 and breadcrumbs, form into 2" balls, and bake until done. (Sorry about the vagueness, I warned you I'm not a good cook, I just fly by the seat of my pants!)
For the sauce:
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 cups sour cream
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. dill weed

Heat margarine, and add flour to melted margarine. Mix well with wire whisk, then add chicken broth and sour cream and heat thoroughly. Add dill weed. Add cooked meat balls, or pour over the top of meat balls and serve!

Tonight, I'm taking the dinner shift off. Watch for new recipes soon, I plan to try a few more later this week!

Toilet Trauma, Part II

Toilet Trauma Part II takes place about a year after the first. It was early Summer, 2007. We were thick in the middle of building our house, working 16+ hours most days. We were exhausted at best.
We were living in a tiny apartment while our house was being built. All 5 of us were sharing one tiny bathroom. Close to the day of this story, my hair pick had gone missing. So, when the toilet started acting funny I had a sick feeling that I knew where my hair pick was! After returning to the apartment around 11pm, we had to fix the toilet. Monte removed it, and immediately could see that yes, the hair pick was the culprit. Due to his weak stomach, Monte refused to reach in and pull the pick out. Instead, he sent me back up to the house to retrieve a garden hose.

When I got back I walked into the most comical scene ever. Monte was outside in the yard, puking his guts out. Monte's niece's husband, Steve, was helping us on the house and staying overnight. When I walked in the apartment, Steve was laughing so hard he was bent over and crying. I guess Monte got tired of waiting, because he had donned a pair of gloves and removed the hair pick himself, which promptly sent him running outside. By the time Monte came back in, Steve and I were both laughing and crying, which made Monte mad. His yelling at us about how disgusting it was and how "NOT FUNNY" it was only made it funnier to us, sending us into new fits of laughter.

Thankfully, Will is out of the toilet flushing phase! Not without effect though. Kylee is still scared to flush the toilet in fear that it will overflow. For now, Monte's days as a plumber are thankfully over. However, the night he found my hairpick will remain in my top funniest moments ever!

Quilting Product of the Week

It's Monday again, so I'm choosing my second Quilting Product of the Week! This week, I have chosen the Fasturn tube turner. I will also be demoing this product at my Moda-University quilt club this Thursday.
At first, it may not seem like tubes come up a lot in quilting. However, every once in a while a tube is necessary, sometimes for a hanging sleeve on the back of a quilt, sometimes for a button loop, sometimes something else. It used to be that whenever a tube was called for, I was immediately turned off from the project. Who realistically can turn a 1" wide tube inside out, especially if it's very long at all? If I couldn't adapt the pattern to not include tube turning, I just forgot about it!
A few months ago I saw a tube turner demonstrated on a quilting show. I'm not sure if they were even using the same one I got, but I was intrigued because it looked so effortless. I decided to give it a try, and I ended up with the Fasturn set. This set retails for just under $40, which seems expensive. However, it was love at first turn! This set comes with several different sizes of tubes, to accommodate different widths and lengths. The first time I used it, I was turning a very long tube, about 6 feet long! It was about 2" wide. The turner turned it perfectly in less than a minute!
I used it more recently to turn a 4" long tube that was only 1/2" wide, and I remain impressed. It was effortless. As it turns the tube, it also opens the seam, making for easy ironing afterward. In my opinion, it is well worth the price. Patterns that require tubes of any size will no longer intimidate me!
If you're interested in ordering this item, please contact me through my website, www.crazyforquilting.com. Although I don't currently stock them, I can have them in about 1 week.

Toilet Trouble

Saturday night I was quilting and listening to my iPod, when the song "God Bless the American Housewife" by SheDaisy came on. This song is especially funny since my son really did once "flush my wedding ring." It's a funny story, which leads to another funny story, that hopefully will bring you a laugh!

After losing the entire center setting out of my wedding ring several years ago, I quit wearing it 24/7 and started only wearing it when I was out. Add this to the fact that I'm slightly (ok, maybe very) scatterbrained, and my ring would end up left all sorts of places. By the sink, on the mantel, in a window sill, etc. It drives Monte crazy, so when I misplaced it and couldn't find it for over a week, he was really irritated. I just kept telling him, "It'll turn up somewhere" because it always did.

About that same time, Will was going through a phase of obsession with flushing the toilet. He would flush it repeatedly until it overflowed, often with paper towels in it. It caused many toilet issues, to say the least! Soon the toilet was completely plugged, and we resorted to removing it to find out what was wrong.
After pulling the toilet from the floor, Monte had to take it outside and use our garden hose to blast water through it, trying to find what was blocking it. Monte has a weak stomach when it comes to bodily functions, so he refused to use it hands. When he was done, he came walking upstairs with his hands behind his back, saying "Come here, I've got something for you." I informed him that there was nothing in that toilet that I wanted in my hands, so he pulls from behind his back my wedding ring. He had found it blocking the toilet, along with a matchbox car, some paper towels, and some Bratz doll clothes. Although slightly banged up around the band, my ring was all in one piece!

We still aren't sure how the ring got there. We know who flushed the rest of the stuff, but I don't know if Will flushed the ring, or if maybe one of the girls was "trying it on" and dropped it into the bowl. So far, no one's fessing up!