Happy You Near!!!

No, I didn't misspell my title....This is the way all 3 of my kids said "Happy New Year". I liked the way it sounded then and still do.....

This is my 49th blog and I understand that it is customary in blog land to have a giveaway at 100 posts, so I guess I better get going if I only have 50 days to figure out a giveaway.... Do I give a finished product? a kit? a book? a pattern?
Leave me a comment and tell me what you would like to win...

Have a wonderful HAPPY YOU NEAR!!

Happy Sewing Day!!
Nancy

PS.. My sewing room never got cleaned. I got the creeping crud Saturday afternoon and slept all Saturday night, all Sunday and got up this morning. I feel better, but not perfect. I think I will put off cleaning for another couple of days.

And now on to next year.....

Today I did my first Christmas shopping for next year...hee hee...

I bought the cutest ornaments for the grandkids at Target on the 50% off sale. They are silver wire with clear beads and are fashioned into letters. I got an "A" for Ava and Abigail, "O" for Owen, "J" for Jackson and "G" for Grace.

I decided last September that I am making a lap cuddle quilt for each of the grandkids and my DH next year for Christmas. DH will know about the grandkids, but if I can help it, he won't know about his. I had the pattern decided for me. My quilt guild is making this pattern at our January meeting. We are to have all the strips cut and ready to sew.



It calls for a light, medium and dark of 2 colors and a third solid. In the photo of the book the solid is the black in the largest quilt picture. In my head I have picked black and brown for my two colors and need to go to the quilt shop next week and find them. The blocks are really big, so it should go fairly fast. I plan to have all 6 quilts finished by September 2008.


I have a head start. Last October I made a lime green/hot pink Snapshots for Grace from the book Happy Hour by Teri Atkinson.





I have blue plaids and a pattern by Teri Atkinson called TicTacMo for the boys. Seeing as I live in Missouri I thought TicTacMo was pretty cool. The pattern is named because it is a reproduction of a quilt found in a Missouri antique store.




I think these three will keep me busy for a while. I will post a photo of the fabric I find for Weaver Fever and photos of the quilts as they are finished.

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season...We have one more Christmas celebration to attend this weekend with DH family. It is a small group and only two kids, one is 15, the other 8, so it will be much quieter.

Tomorrow is OFFICIAL CLEAN MY SEWING ROOM DAY. If I make it official, maybe I will actually get it done.. I have to clean it. I have lost a pattern that I need to teach the end of January. I have the fabric all washed and ready to cut, just need the pattern.

Ok, now the plans have changed. Our neighbor just came over and asked if I could babysit his kids tomorrow. SO....from 8am to 6pm tomorrow I will be across the street with 17 mo old twin boys. YIKES!!! Why did I answer the door??? LOL He is in kind of a bind. His babysitter didn't show up today and can't come tomorrow.

So, I am cancelling OFFICIAL CLEAN MY SEWIN ROOM DAY and moving it to Friday...

Happy Sewing Day!!

Nancy

as he drove out of sight.....

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.....

The Postlady saved my hubby's butt....

She drove up the driveway, rang the doorbell and saved my DH butt....He had ordered his $10 family gift exchange and THEN found out it wouldn't be shipped until after Christmas....so I did him some emergency monogramming on sweatshirts....

Now, I can give my Mom the sweatshirts to give my step-dad and DH can give his own gift....

I won't reveal what is in the package as you never know who reads this blog, but it is the PERFECT GIFT!!

In the background of the picture you can see the capon thawing, Snowballs are in the big white bowl and you can see some already baked in the way back right side. I still have some gingersnaps to make and then will be done baking, cut not cooking. I hope to make up some tins or bags of cookies. I am responsible for mashed potatoes, dressing, capon, beef roast and homemade rolls. (Yes Carolyn, I am making the rolls too. Karen is on modified bed rest per me)

I did all the grocery shopping yesterday I THOUGHT!! I had a list, I kept to the list. I forgot 3 little gift bags,3 medium gift bags, 3 little bows and trash bags.
So another trip into town tomorrow and I DON'T WANT TO!! But I need something to put the cookies in and don't have tins, ziplocks or any plastic containers I can use.
Oh WAIT!! I know....I have brown lunch bags, sandwich size ziploads a hole punch and candy canes. I will make my own packages. Will show you a photo tomorrow,if I remember....

Happy Sewing Day!! I have to sew on a button today.
Nancy

I Love the Postman(lady).....

Because today she came to my door, rang my doorbell and asked me to sign for a package from AUSTRALIA!! YIPPEE SKIPPEE!! The book that I won from Lynette Anderson's blog came(http://lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com/lynette_anderson_designs/atom.xml)


Even though I was in the midst of decluttering and cleaning the house, I immediately opened it and sat down with a glass of ice tea to look it over.

It is beautiful!! The projects are beautitful!! I will start one of them as soon as I figure out which one will come first. Maybe I will use the random number generator? LOL



And she signed it.......



Thank you Lynette for writing and designing a beautiful book..

Happy Sewing Day!
Nancy

odds and ends.....

Thought I would catch you up....

Daughter did great with finals. She got A's and 1 B+ in anatomy. She has a couple of weeks off before second semester starts and already has tons of homework assignments.

Cookies are done. Fudge is done. The tree is up. All the presents are bought and most are wrapped. I have the rock guitarist Santa gifts to wrap yet and with only 2 days of school left I will have to do that today or tomorrow. Finals are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday and since he has perfect attendance (and no F's) he doesn't have to take finals and doesn't have to attend classes. I don't agree with the school on that point. I think all students should take finals if for no other reason than to prepare them for other schooling where they don't care if you show up or not.

Still working on Winter Wonderland. I am on block 7 of 11. Will post a photo when done with this block. I am still loving this pattern and can't wait to finish all the blocks and get it into a flimsy. Winter Wonderland can be seen at www.colonialcrafts.com under redwork.

Today I will be decluttering the house in preparation for the Family Christmas this Saturday. I have lists to make, food to buy and dinner tables to cloth...

No sewing room for me today....

Happy Sewing to YOU!!
Nancy

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas....

We are snowed in with about 5-6 inches of the pretty white stuff. We never lost electricity so what's a girl to do??

BAKE!!!!!

I made Oatmeal Crispies yesterday so they are ready to slice and bake. I made Fudge for Dummies, and have Spritz cookies in the oven now. (Santa! if you are listening, I could use a new battery operated Spritz cookie maker. Mine died) They smell so good. They are disappearing as fast as they bake, so I can see I will have to make another batch when everyone is back at work and school.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to make up some trays for friends and family. I can bake cookies, but I am not good with fudge. I either burn it, it seizes up or it just doesn't taste right. I went up to the local grocery and picked up a box mix. It was really good, but way too expensive. It would have cost a small fortune to buy enough mixes for all the fudge I wanted to make. So....I cheated. I bought one box and before making it, I measured all the ingredients. This recipe "Fudge for Dummies" is the result.


Fudge for Dummies -

In a microwave safe bowl put
4 tbles butter (not margarine)
1 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
16 oz Chocolate Chips

Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir to combine and add 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Pour into 8x8 Pam sprayed pan. Cool, cut and enjoy!!

I did do some sewing this morning. I monogrammed two sweatshirts for my step-dad for Christmas. DH drew his name in the $10 family Christmas present. I told him he was in charge of his own gift getting. He surprised me by finding something on ebay that was perfect. Last night I asked him if it had been shipped yet. Our Christmas is this Saturday and it needs to be wrapped. After checking the listing, he nicely told me that the shipper is on vacation until Dec 26th. UH OH!! That won't do...
so I guess I will give monogrammed sweatshirts again this year. Good thing he likes them.

Off to the sewing room as soon as the last batch of cookies is out of the oven.

Happy Snow Day!!
Nancy

Thinking good thoughts......

Today is my daughters last final of this semester. So far she has all A's in her nursing program. Her grade in Anatomy is so good, she will pass the class even if she fails the final today. (but she won't) Tomorrow is her last day of class until January 2nd. She and all her classmates are due for some sleeping in....

At my house today, I will making a master grocery list for Christmas dinner with my family on Dec 22nd. Also need to finish a casserole cover for my sis's birthday.

Happy Sewing Day!!
Nancy

Applause.....Applause.....

Last night I ventured out into the misty rain to watch my niece graduate from Ultrasonography Technician School....YEA MICHELE....
This is a 16 month program through a local community college.
She also got married and had a baby in there....
Today was her first day of work at a local hospital.. I am very proud of her (she is also my goddaughter).

Today I have baked peanut butter cookies and pulled all my cookbooks out looking for other cookie recipes. Suddenly I am in the mood to bake...I don't do this very often so I need to get going before the mood leaves me. LOL My sister is the chef, she loves to try new recipes and bake for special occasions. Me? I only do it if I have to and then try to bake things that I won't eat. I don't like peanut butter, so I am safe making peanut butter cookies. While digging through my recipe books of which I have maybe 10...I found my late mother-in-laws recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This recipe is very good, uses what you have on hand (if you keep pineapple on the shelf like I do) and makes just enough for 3-4 people.

I share it here with you -

Marions Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Preheat oven to 350 (325 for glass pans) Use cast iron skillet or 8 in round cake pan

Put 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar and put into heated oven (or microwave if using glass pan) to melt butter. Stir to mix. Add pineapple rings (save juice)on top with cherries in middle of slices.

In another bowl mix 3 egg yolks (save whites), 1 cup white sugar and 5 tbs reserved pineapple juice. Sift together 1 cup regular flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Add to egg mixture. Beat 3 egg whites until stiff and fold into egg and flour mixture. Pour into pan over pineapple.

Bake 45-50 minutes. Flip over onto serving plate.

YUM YUM!!

Bake to checking out my recipes.

Until tomorrow....
Happy Sewing Day!
Nancy

Me vs The Cable Company

This will be a long post, so stop now if you don’t have time to get to the end.

Saturday my sister and I met to do some Christmas shopping. We only went to a few places before I was done. Then we took off to get some lunch. I drove home in pouring down rain and my little bug was covered in ice by the time the trip was over. Of course, I come in and find out that there has been no TV the whole time I am gone. In order to get the full advantage of this tale of woe, you have to know a few things about my DH.

1. He is partially deaf.
2. Technical stuff drives him crazy. Really, really, really crazy…..
3. He hates to talk on the phone. (to anyone except me)
4. Fox News is on all weekend, even if he isn’t in the room

So imagine the horror when the TV went out and I wasn’t home to call the cable company. He dialed the number and got through to a “real person” and immediately handed me the phone. Ha Ha turns out all he had to do was unplug the TV and reset it….LOL My goodness, wonder how much
Fox News he missed for no reason….

So….I took this opportunity to ask the cable guy if they had any upgrade packages to offer. Told him we were looking to change our cable company as we pay too much each month. I really was only trying to see if we could get something free. Hey, you won’t know unless you ask. TIME STAMP - 1:45pm. (remember this, it will come in handy) Cable guy says “sure, we can upgrade you to a DVR for $99 with a $50 rebate and we won’t charge shipping”. Hmmm……sounds like a good Christmas present for the family..
Me - Ok, can you set me up.
Cable - Sure, you are a previous customer so I have to change you over to a different kind of customer and take $18 off your monthly bill.
Me - Ok. (should have asked sooner!!)
Cable - It might take a few minutes so if you will hold.
Me - Ok.
Cable - well, it is taking longer than I thought for the computer to catch up and I go on break in 10 minutes, so let me call you back.
Me - Ok. You have my phone number and we are getting an ice storm, so I will be home all evening.
Cable - Ok…. I will call you back within an hour.
Me - Bye
Cable - Bye

TIME STAMP - 7:30pm
Me- Gee, we haven’t heard from that cable guy. Maybe I should call him back?
DH - Ok…. (don’t we have fascinating conversations?lol)
Me- **calling**
Cable - (it’s a girl this time) Can I help you?
Me - yes, I was calling to order a DVR and this guy said he would call me back in less than an hour and its been since 2pm.
Cable - Hm….let me put you on hold.
Me- ok
Cable - so, you wanted to update to a DVR?
Me - yes
Cable - Hold please
Me - ok
Cable - Did you order it already?
Me - yes, I think
Cable - Hold please
Me - ok
Cable - I don’t find an order for you, lets start over.
Me - ok
Cable - hold please
Me - ok
Cable - Ok, so you want a DVR? Let’s order that now.
Me - ok (I thought we were?)
Cable - can you hold?
Me - ok
Cable - dial tone…………………she hung up on me……………

TIME STAMP 7:45pm
Me - **calling**
Cable - Can I help you?
Me - Yes, I think I have ordered a DVR but the last cable person hung up on me and we didn’t get finished.
Cable - I am sorry, lets see what we have. (doesn’t put me on hold, button must be broken on his phone)
I have your account charged $339.62.
Me - WHAT!!!???? No, no, no,…. it is supposed to be $99 with a $50 rebate and no shipping charge?
Cable - Huh!? Who gave you that information?
Me - The first guy I talked to at 1:45pm this afternoon. I called in to get help fixing the tv and then I talked to him about upgrading to a DVR.
He told me $99 with a $50 rebate and no shipping and then he was going to set me up with an appointment for the tech to run a second line. The DVR takes a dual line. He had to go on break and was going to call me back but never did.
Cable -oh, long pause….. Let me look and see what you have. Long pause….Well, we don’t have an offer like that. Let me see what I can do. Ok, that will be $250 for the HDDVR with $19.99 shipping.
Me - No….it is $99 with a $50 rebate and no shipping.
Cable - We don’t have anything like that. HDDVR’s are very expensive.
Me - What’s a HD DVR?
Cable - for HD TV’s.
Me - I don’t have an HD TV.
Cable - Oh, then the regular (read ol’fashioned) DVR is $129 with $19.99 shipping. But I will give you Cinemax and ShoTime for free for 6 months for your trouble.
Me - I have a 15 year old son and won’t allow either of those channels in my house.
Cable - oh….long pause……how about 6 months free of cable insurance?
Me - no thanks…I want the $99 with $50 rebate and free shipping.
Cable - sorry, I can’t do that. There is no where on my screen to give you that deal.
Me - Can I talk to a supervisor?
Cable - sure, let me get one for you.
Me - Ok.
Wait….wait….wait…..(not long though, I am happy to say)
Cable - I have the supervisor on the line.
Candace - how may I help you?
Me - I called to order a DVR and a gentlemen gave me the offer of $99 with a $50 rebate and free shipping. I want to order that and get an appointment set up for installation.
Candace - We don’t have a deal like that to offer you. I am sorry.
Me - Well, the guy at 1:45pm said that was deal he could give me, but he had to go on break in 10 minutes and would call me back.
Candace - um…the guy said he had to go on break? And he would call you back?
Me - Yes.
Candace - well, that really disturbs me. We have set breaks, but he never should have told you that. I don’t know where he got his information, but he never should have given you that deal.
Me - well, he did and that’s the deal I want.
Candace - Well, I am sorry, but we can’t do that. However, we can do something to help you. I can put in the order for the purchase of the DVR at $129. Then I can give you a rebate of $10 a month for 12 months. Plus I will give you a rebate of the $5.99 monthly DVR charge for 6 months.
Me - ( in my head I am adding up $10 a month/year and $5.99 a month/6 months.) this equals $120+$36 which is $156. The DVR runs $129.…

OK…..order it up….. TIME STAMP 8:30pm

DVR will be installed on Wednesday. I can’t wait…apparently you can stop TV, go to the bathroom and resume it without missing anything….HOLY MOLY….I can now pee during Survivor and Project Runway….

It only took me 7 hours and 45 minutes to order cable.

SOLD !!

Happy Sewing Day!
Nancy

Oh, the weather outside is.....

CRAPPY, and it doesn't look like it will get better soon!! This is ICE, not snow. It started Saturday and continued through Sunday and today. All schools in the area and most of Missouri are cancelled today. We have lots and lots of households without electricity, including my daughter and son-in-law. They are staying with friends until the lines are fixed.(just so you don't think I am heartless, my daughter,son-in-law and grandkids live 90 west of me) Our local town was without power on Saturday as we found out when we slid over there to get some supplies. All was dark.

The Rock Guitarest thought he would be able to play guitar and be on the computer all day. ME? I had different ideas. First he dusted, then he fixed the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed...What a treat. I am doing laundry which is every Monday and after lunch will head upstairs to wrap Christmas presents. I owe someone a birthday present and need to get that done today.

I am on weather watch for DH. If it starts doing anything, he is to be called immediately so he can come home.

Happy Sewing Day
Nancy

Do you think Santa will mind??

When life hands me this....



I want to tackle this....



However, I will have to do this....




Or no one will have these ....



So, I am off to shop today. I HATE to shop...I would buy everything on line if I started early enough. Unfortunately, I hate to shop and put it off until the very last minute and wind up running around like some kind of crazy lady.

You all have a Happy Sewing (or whatever)Day. I will be a grouch this afternoon.

Nancy
PS Please don't leave a comment that says you are tucked in with a quilt and good book. I might have to look you up....

Do not pass GO!! Do not collect $200

Go directly to Pat Sloans blog (http://patsloan.typepad.com/) and leave a comment.
She is trying to get 1000 comments in one day....Hurry....right now.... there will be a random winner of fabric....

GO GO GO ............

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday to my sister Carolyn....

Happy Birthday to you....

Hey, you are still the OLDER sister....lol

I feel lucky...I feel lucky....

Remember that song from West Side Story??? This week, I have been singing..."I feel Lucky, I feel Lucky..I feel lucky cause I won three times"....Good thing you can't hear me. LOL

I woke up Monday, got my cup of tea and started reading email and then my list of blogs. I opened up an email from Linda of AllStitchedUp and she was telling me to hurry over to Lynette Anderson's blog. What?? I won?? YIPPEE SKIPPEE, (read her blog here http://lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com/lynette_anderson_designs/ ) I won a copy of her book Rainbow Cottage. I love Australian designers. They are so imaginative.
Monday was also my quilt guilds Christmas Party. I just joined this guild in October, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I started out by getting lost. My directions said to "turn right at the Purple House". Hm....I wrote these directions quickly during the meeting. So was the "purple house" a restaurant? a gift shop? I am not familiar with this little town so wasn't sure. Well, I shouldn't have worried. The "Purple House" is just that...a purple house. Bright purple I might add. I turned right, and then the directions said turn right again. Ok, I did and now am at a dead end. I circled around to try again. OH!! I must go OVER the RR tracks. Ok.. I am just a little bit late... Drop off my quart of Veggie Soup, my wrapped pot holder and sit down.... I had a great time getting to know some of the other members. As the newest member, I was asked to draw the winning ticket for the raffle quilt. HA HA....remember the purple house? Her daughter WON!! LOL I got a wonderful pot holder in the exchange and then they drew names for the centerpieces. I won a little live Christmas Tree. How cute is this??



Got home right before 3pm, sit down and download email....Guess What?? I won again... This blog http://apronista.blogspot.com/ is having a Holiday Apron Giveaway. Designers are donating aprons that they made and you too could win!! I won an apron designed and made by Pat Sloan. Yea ME!! Pat Sloan is my favorite quilt designer. I love her free, whimsical folk art quilt patterns. Check her out at www.quiltershome.com and she has a yahoo group too... She also blogs...

I really should have dragged my b-tt to the store and got a lottery ticket..don't ya think??

Happy Sewing Day!! I am off to my Redwork Club Christmas Lunch. We are trading red/white items.

Nancy

Quiet Sunday....

Today has been fairly quiet. We (ok, I) decided that today would be Christmas decorating day. We get a live tree so that waits until just a few weeks before Christmas. Don't want a fire hazard!! But, I do like to put all the little "stuff" around and make the house look festive.

This is the mantle in the family room -



This hangs in the dining room -



This hangs in the front hall way -



And this hangs -




Oh, this doesn't hang anywhere. I made this in the sewing room this morning. It is a casserole cover made from one quilted scallop edged placemat from Kohls and one same size mat with Insul-brite inside. I put a loop on it and I will find a big button this week to stitch to the top. This will hold a 9x13 pan very easily.

I am glad almost all of the decorating is finished. I still have a few things to do since I didn't have any of the command sticky things, need some green string and some AAA batteries. Then all will be finished.

The coming week is going to be very busy. Tomorrow is the Christmas Party for the Pike-Lin Quilt Guild. We are to be there by 10 am with a quart of homemade veggie soup and an appetizer. We are to have a pot holder swap.

Tuesday is sewing day with Miss Nancy and Anne. It is also my DH and I 36th wedding anniversary.

Wednesday is Dr's appt. and some last minute Christmas shopping. Then dinner with my sister for her birthday on Thursday. She will go out Thursday night also, but that is a LONG story and you wouldn't believe it if I told you.

Thursday is Patches Redwork Club Christmas lunch at the Mother-in-law house. We will have a Red and White exchange.

Friday is OPEN....(right now)

Hope you had a Happy Sewing Day!
Nancy