Mother's Day is fast approaching.....

And this is what I want!!

*HINT HINT*

Wind, Heat, Happiness and Disappointment

Today was hot. Not just warm, but above 70 degrees and stifling hot. On top of that, it is very windy where I live. You'd think the wind would make it cooler, but you would be wrong. it was still hot. And, it was so windy that the trees outside our apartment building were almost bent in half. Wind and Hot. I hate it.

Our knob for our washing machine came today. I was surprised, because it was a day early. But I didn't mind. Mike put it on the washer while I was at work. Then he called me. The call went something like this:
"Hi! Your knob came today!"
"What knob?"
"The washing machine knob. I put it on, and now the washer looks all old and crappy because the other knobs look really bad"
"Oh, yeah? Cool"
"Okay, I'm gonna go watch Judge Judy now. Just thought I'd let you know. See you later!"

That is why I am happy. I did a load of laundry tonight, and I didn't have to struggle to turn the washer on. I turned the knob to the cycle I wanted, and pulled it out to start the load. Aaaah. It was nice.

As for the disappointment today....I got another phone call from Mike while I was at work. It went something like this:
"Hello?"
"Hi! Your slipcovers for the couches came. I opened them and they are hideous."
"Really?"
"Yeah, they are lime green and they don't fit."
"Really? Shoot! Are you sure they are lime green? They are supposed to be sage."
"Yeah, they're lime green. And they look like a couch that my grandma would have in her living room. It is butt ugly."
"Shoot. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Just call tomorrow and get an RMA. And we won't worry about new slipcovers. I'm okay with the ones we have now."
"Okay."

I got home, and he had left the slipcovers on the love seat and the folding chair. The folding chair was awful! It didn't fit at all! If I had tried to sit down, it would have definitely ripped!! As for the loveseat, it was AWFUL. Not quite lime green, but more of a bright yellow-kelly green. With the most hideous floral pattern I have ever seen. The website picture led me astray. I am so sad. And he was right, they don't fit at all. Apparently we don't have conventional t-cushion couches. I re-packed the box, and am calling first thing tomorrow for a return merchandise authorization. UGH! I was so excited for them too! Oh well, I guess we'll just have to watch for unconventional t-cushion couch slipcovers. Or save up our money to make our own. Or just buy new couches in a couple of years. We'll see. (I was going to take a picture of the slipcovers, but I forgot until after I had repackaged everything into the box! Sorry all!)

Another few reasons why Mike is so MARVELLOUS

If you'll recall, last week I labelled Mike as marvellous. Well, here it is another week and he is still marvellous! Today he went to Ikea on his way home from work and bought a new entertainment center (pictured above). It weighed 140 lbs, yet he trucked it out to the Trail Blazer, laid his seats down, took out his cage (it's the thing that stops your stuff from flying from the back and hitting you in the head in case of a collision....it looks kind of like the cage that is on cop cars) and loaded the heavy 2 boxes into his car. Apparently this was all very difficult. Mike said "If the boxes had been another inch longer I would've had to lay down the fron seat too!" He also hauled the heavy 140 lbs up the stairs. I had to move the smaller of the boxes, and it was quite the hefty box....HOLY COW!

About 3 hours later, our new beautiful piece of furniture, which matches the coffee table and end table PERFECTLY, was set up with all of the equipment in it. I never realized how many cords we actually have plugged into the tv and the power strip until today. There are sound cords for the XBOX 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. Then there are power cords for all of the above plus the XBOX HD DVD drive. Then we have the wireless game adapter, Wii sensor bar, PS3 control charger cable, and the XBOX 360 battery charger. I am impressed and amazed that the stand not only can accomodate so many machines, but that it can hold all of the cords, too! It has smoked glass sliding doors to cover the shelving areas, and then two drawers in the middle, which hold most of our games, and the rest of our movies that don't fit on our DVD towers.

This is definitely an upgrade for us. You see, until today, cords have been sprawled across the floor. Machines placed everywhere. And we haven't had an end table. This is because our end table used to hold our TV (end table pictured below).


This tiny little end table surprisingly held the TV up well. Although, the TV stuck out on each side, and there were no shelves or drawers, and on several occassions I would kneel down to pick s0mething up off the floor and bang my head on the corner of the TV (But don't tell Mike! He's anal about not touching the TV screen!)

In addition to being marvellous for buying a new TV stand, Mike also got our Roomba up and working. Now I only have to spot vacuum in the kitchen, living room, and hallway. The Roomba runs every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 10:30 AM. It is truly fabulous!

Impatiently Waiting

Have you ever ordered something online, and then discovered that it had online shipment tracking? That is my favorite part of the whole ordering process, next to actually receiving the merchandise. Whether it is UPS, Fedex, or DHL, I love checking my order status. Sometimes I get anxious and I check it several times a day. I used to check the USPS tracking, but they only update it once it is picked up and once it is recieved. I figure, if I have it I'm pretty sure I know it's here! The only thing that drives me crazy is when the delivery company takes a route that doesn't make sense. Like, why drive from Missouri up to Wisconsin? I live west of Missouri, not north!

Well, this week is going to be a fun one, what with all the fun stuff we have coming to our house! Okay, okay, so the diapers.com order (diapers in bulk at a great discount, plus free shipping when you order over $49.00! Use referral code: JXPE6842) that should be arriving tomorrow isn't exactly "fun", but it's coming in a big box....and that big box can sure be used for some fun!

Also, my slip covers for my couches and dining room chairs should be arriving Tuesday or Wednesday. I bet you are asking yourselves: "What? You aren't going to make your own slipcovers like you said?" Well, no. I weighed the cost (about $600 for materials) and time (probably around 2 weeks if I sew uninterrupted, which we all know won't happen) and effort (lots and lots of effort as I am new to the upholstery game) and frustration (TONS and TONS) and number of curse words that would probably leave my lips (I would say at least 5 with a probability of more) and decided that it was definitely NOT worth it. For a fraction of the cost ($100 plus shipping at surefit.com) I could get a slipcover for my sofa, loveseat, and my 4 dining room chairs, all in a nice looking, machine washable fabric. I couldn't even cover my loveseat for $100....especially when the fabric that I liked (not loved, just liked a little because it was on sale) was $10.95 a yard and I would need at least 13 yards for the loveseat. Plus! It wouldn't be machine washable.

On Thursday my new washing machine knob arrives! YAY!! I'm so happy! No more using a wrench or pushing really hard on a flat surface with my fingers to get the dial to turn to the correct cycle! HUZZAH!

Well, now that I've talked about all the fun things I'm so excited to recieve (mostly my slipcovers!) I guess I'd better go check and see where they are!

What I Did Today

Today was the prom. I work at a floral. This means that there were 120+ kids picking up their prom flowers....which are really just a nice gesture, not necessarily an accessory that has to match perfectly. Apparently some people don't get that. I had one lady who complained a lot. First because we forgot to put in the purple accents. Then, because the purple accents were too dark. Like it's even going to matter! The girl's dress was silver and cream!

Another lady called at 10:30...."Do you have any extra flowers? We ordered one from somewhere else and it is awful." I sold her the last one we had....light pink with silver ribbon. It, luckily, even matched her date's flowers for her (he happened to order them from us). When she came to get it, at 1:45 (we close at 2), she was mad because "her dress is hot pink and this just isn't going to match". First of all, it's a bout. She doesn't wear it, he does. His tux was black. It isn't going to matter. Secondly, it matches what he got for her. I had told her this several times. She ended up deciding it was okay and took it with her.

At about 2:30, we finally got all of the prom flowers picked up, and we were able to leave. YAY!! We went down to do some cleaning at Mike's parents' house.

This is the new color of paint we've painted on the walls. We took the wallpaper off and have repainted the living room. We put the picture, which has what we thought was a white frame until we put it next to the wall, up so it could have some contrast. The wall used to be the color of the mat in the frame, actually. The new color is really nice.

Hints of Spring

This is a flowering tree in the front yard of the house we used to live in....courtesy of Mike's parents. (HUGE THANK YOU TO YA, by the way!) Every spring this tree gets full of beautiful little pink and white blossoms. It is so pretty. I wish it hadn't been so bright outside, so that the colors showed up better in the picture. Considering that it SNOWED on Thursday, it is still looking like it feels like it's springtime!

Benefit Concert and other STRANGE news

Tonight was the benefit concert, in memory of Colton. It was put on by some of the bands from the local high school, and was actually pretty good. I don't usually listen to umm...punk/ska/metal/techno music. We didn't stay the whole time, because my parents were babysitting, and we didn't want them to be out too late as they live half an hour away. We did manage to listen to three of the four bands, and I have to say that my favorite was the third band. Good job boys! It's kind of what I imagine a techno-club would play, but it was really kind of catchy and had a good beat to it. It was fun to see how many of the high school kids came out to hear the bands. One of the friends, Kyle, even got up and sang a song. It was AWESOME! And then, towards the end, he ripped his shirt off.... pretty hilarious.

Elsewhere, in the world of STRANGENESS:

Watching the local news tonight, we were informed that actor Gary Coleman would be on Divorce Court May 1st and 2nd. Oooh! I usually don't watch it, because it makes me sad that people can't find ways to get over there own selfishness and pettiness and be a good marital team. BUT! I think I could make an exception. I've seen snipets, and I know that Judge Toler does not tolerate any crap. She is like a mixture between Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown (who is my favorite, BTW...he is HILARIOUS!). Anyway, if you want to see Mr. Coleman on Divorce Court, it'll be on the Fox network on May 1st and 2nd, according to my local news....I suggest you check your local listings for accuracy, however.

Also from the world of STRANGENESS:

A teenager (16) was arrested for using a fake ID to work at a local strip club as an exotic dancer. Now, who in their right mind, especially a 16 year old, is saying to themselves "I'm underage but gosh it would sure be swell if I could work at that strip club!" And what was she telling her parents?? And did her parents even care?! Now, the town she is from is a little off...I have worked there and a lot of the girls that I met were kind of umm.....trying to be polite but can't find the words..... skanky? I know that's no excuse, but she is just making it easier for us to stereotype this poor city. Anyway, I feel bad for the girl's family if they didn't know what she was up to. Also, I hope that maybe she can get her life straightened out and aspire to something a little higher....like finishing high school for starters. If you'd like to read the story you can find it here.

In a related news story from the world of STRANGENESS:

The reporter who broke the story above also interviewed several police departments across the county. None had ever encountered the above mentioned use of a fake ID, but one had said that someone wanted to join the army so bad that they used a fake ID. Now that is PATRIOTISM!

More interesting news from the world of STRANGENESS:

Did you hear about the shark attack?! Holy CRAP! Yeah, this is definitely why I do not swim in the ocean. Sharks and Jellyfish and Stingrays. Yep. And seaweed, because it feels gross on my legs and I can never tell if it's seaweed or something else. So yeah, now I'm definitely not going into the ocean for another few years.....or maybe NEVER. We'll see what happens.

And the final tidbit of news from the world of STRANGENESS:

Alli (that semi-new diet drug that is supposed to help you loose weight when paired properly with diet and exercise) is being studied. Some studies have shown that one of the active drugs in Alli could maybe possibly be linked to cancer. The news article said that people will have to start weighing the risks. "Do I get cancer because I am obese, or do I risk getting cancer because I take this drug?" The report said that the FDA thinks that there is not enough evidence yet to support the linkage to cancer theory. Well! I will just say that in addition to the frequent trips to the bathroom, and risk of oily discharge should your fat intake be too high, I don't really think I want to add cancer to the list. I think if I do decide to take a diet pill I will take that one with the cartoon/stick figure lady on the ad. Oh! And the link to the news story is for Part 2....it was a 2 part story, and I'm pretty sure you can link to part 1 from the site, but just in case you can't, you can watch it here.

Thank You

I would just like to give a big shout out and THANK YOU to WebMD. Have you tried their symptom checker? It's great fun....especially if you have like muscle pain in your arm and want to see what is causing it, but then find out you could have one of the following:

fibromyalgia
median nerve injury
shingles


or, and this one is my FAVORITE:

chemical burns.

Don't you think I would know if I burned my arm with a chemical or damaged my nerves?? All I really wanted to know was why my arm hurt. I was hoping they'd tell me which muscle I pulled.

SO, here is a BIG FAT THANK YOU to WebMD for SUCCESSFULLY and TOTALLY FREAKING ME OUT! It's a good thing I just went to the doctor and she told me my heart and lungs sounded fine, because when you search for heart burn you get a whole bunch of scary diseases!!

My best advice? If it keeps bugging you after a week, call the doctor. If it hurts enough to make you cry, go see the doctor ASAP. Of course, that's just me though.... to each his/her own!

Marvellous Mike

Don't you just love this picture?? This is Mike. At our wedding. Eating food. It makes me laugh.

I am married to Marvellous Mike. He is marvellous for many reasons. I think lately his marvellousness has stood out a bit more than normal. I'm sure it's because of our apartment.

We like our apartment, but we wish there were some things we would've been told before we signed the contract....like, the fact that all of the carpets smell like cat urine (YUCK!)... or that the lady who lived here before us NEVER cleaned her lint trap.... or that she never cleaned the blinds and that she didn't use a level when hanging the curtain rods or that she had totally messed up the vertical blinds in the master bedroom...... or that she left the laundry closet smelling of mold, mildew, and icky broccoli (Mike says he didn't think it smelled like broccoli, but it did.).

Mike is marvellous because he has tried to fix all of these problems....well, as many as he could. Where the blinds are concerned, well, I cleaned them. As for the curtain rods, we are dealing with crooked curtains. He really has been amaz-a-zing. The washing machine knob was broken off (you know, the part you push in to turn and then pull out to start the cycle) and he got online and found it and ordered it. It will be here on Thursday. The washing machine smelled like nasty mold. He fixed it with a little bleach, hot water, and vinegar (added in a way so as to not produce chlorine gas and kill us all). The dryer was disgustingly full of landlady's lint....EWWW! He tore the dryer apart... TWICE .... to fix it (the second time because I asked him to!) The laundry closet drain smelled awful...awful enough you had to take a deep breath and hold it as you walked down the hall. He moved the appliances and took care of it (he poured a pitcher of water down the drain....smell is gone!) The carpets we can't really do a whole lot about, but he did buy us a really awesome Bissell Pro-Heat 2x Duo last year that will help a little.

Isn't he great?? I haven't told you the most marvellous-est part. Are you ready? You should probably sit down to read this, as it will be quite the shocker.

This morning, at like 5 AM when he was getting ready to leave for Logan so he could do his "Can you hear me now?" tests, Marshy-marsh woke up and was crying for a bottle. Due to the fact that I was totally passed out asleep and dreaming of warmer climates, and the fact that the humidifier in our room was turned all the way up (it is quite loud and does a really good job of drowning out the trains and everything else, including Marshy, at night), I didn't hear Marshy's cries for ba-ba (bottle). Mike GOT HIM A BOTTLE! How freaking marvellous is he?? HE IS MARVELLOUS! AND! He let me sleep in. Usually he calls at 8 saying "wake up wake up wake up!" but today he didn't call until 9:45....by which time I was already up and in the shower, but still....I got to sleep in.

And this is why I am married to Marvellous Mike, and why Marvellous Mike is truly MARVELLOUS.

I LOVE YOU SWEETIE! {MUAH}

America, You got it WRONG!

UGH! This season of American Idol is reminding me so much of last season with Sanjaya. Why does America put some of the best singers in the bottom two, yet keep the crappy ones??? What the HECK!!

I used to like Brooke, until she started sucking EVERY week. As for Jason, I understand that he has those dreamy eyes and nasty dreadlocks, but he has not been very good recently. As for David A., I am very glad that he has stepped it up and is being a little more consistent. David C. is AWESOME! I don't think he's done a song that I've hated, yet. Syesha had her best performance on Tuesday. She really was in her element, and the performance was definitely sexier than we've seen before. Carly did really well too! Why??? WHY??! WHY?!!

America, honestly....pay attention to the judges. When all 3 judges say "That was a good performance" then you should vote for those people. When Paula says to never start and stop and start over, that is a bad sign. Paula is always ALWAYS nice and positive. I don't think I've ever seen her act quite like she did Tuesday night. As for Simon, he is usually right.....especially when it comes to telling if you are in the performance or not. Jason was NOT. I couldn't stand to listen to his performance, and changed the channel. I opted to watch re-runs of 8 Simple Rules on ABC Family instead of his performance.

Okay, I'll stop talking about Idol now. I just hope that America gets it right next week. Brooke or Jason have to go....unless they step it up BIG TIME. Especially Brooke...Jason at least has done more good performances than she has. Well....we'll see what happens.

Marshy-marsh got tagged!

So, Marshy-marsh got tagged by Jackson (son of my former roomie Amber). Here are a few things that some of our friends might not know.

1) Marshy-marsh was born September 30, 2006 in the Timpanogas hospital in Orem, Utah.....three weeks early.
2) Marshy spent the first week of his life in the Level II nursery....not quite NICU, but not the normal nursery at the hospital. His respiratory rate was way too high, and he had jaundice. He had to stay under a sun lamp for several days, and was on monitors, feeding tube, and IVs for a week before they let us take him home.

3) Although Marshy is only 6 weeks older than his cousin, Baby Turtle, he is three times as big! In fact, he weighs as much as his 4 year old cousins, and is as tall as his 2 1/2 year old first cousin-once removed.
4) Marshy loves to sweep, vacuum, and pretend like he is cleaning. We had to buy him his own little broom so he would stop stealing our brooms at the shop (not pictured above...it's green and giggles and talks.) He also loves the carpet sweeper.
5) Marshy doesn't like to brush his teeth unless he can use his daddy's electric toothbrush!


6) Marshy loves bath time, and always has to have his washy, ducky, and a cup to play with.
7) Marshy has to have his puppy with him when he goes down for a nap or for bed. He has one that kind of looks like the white puppy, but it that will not do! He has to have white puppy or there is NO sleeping!
8) Marshy loves to ham it up whenever he sees the camera. He is so photogenic, and has the BEST smile!

9) Marshy loves his "brother" Sparky. He misses him now that we don't like where Sparky does, and is always so excited to see him when we go back to Sparky's house. He gets a big smile and says "Puppy! Doggy!" He tries to say sparky, but he doesn't have the sp and rk sounds down yet.
10) Marshy loves to play with his Daddy. He can spend all day playing with Mommy, but as soon as Dad comes home that is all he wants is to be with his Daddy. Daddy loves playing with Marshy, too....even though sometimes he doesn't act like it!

Marshy wants to tag Baby Turtle, Gabby and Max, Ty-Ty, Jenny's baby James, and Jamie's baby Maleia. Have fun guys!

Projects Progress

I have made significant progress with all of my projects lately. I've had a few days to stay at home and work on them, and I have done quite a lot in the last few days. For starters, I made a few more of the Mary apron. Which reminds me! I entered it into the Sew Mama Sew! tutorial contest. If you haven't been over there recently, you should go check out the cool tutorials people have entered. There are some really good ideas.

This one was really fun to make. It ended up being a little bigger than the one I made for my tutorial. Also, the waistband ended up being a little shorter than the apron skirt itself, so I adjusted the pattern and put in a small pleat on each side, about 1 inch in from the binding. The fabric looks blue in this picture, but it is actually a really pretty lavendar. The striped fabric has some tan in it. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and how well the fabrics and the prints worked together.

This is the other apron I made. It has really cool red prints. The middle fabric is my favorite, because it has giant blue flowers on it. I had some of the same issues with this one as I did with the purple one, only it was the same size as the first one I made.

In addition to the cool aprons I made, I finished the quilt top I started for my aunt. Their newly adopted son, Oliver, is two. I am so excited to finish this quilt. I can't wait to get it onto the Gammil and quilt it up! I used the Yellow Brick Road pattern, only instead of using borders and cutting the extra 4 squares to be corner squares, I just made a 5th row. I wanted to avoid having the same color touch itself, but that proved to be impossible! It seemed the more I tried to avoid it, the worse it got, so I finally just gave up and sewed it all together. It turned out pretty cute, I'd say!

My goal for tomorrow is to get the three finished baby quilts quilted, and take lots of pictures of items I need to sell on ebay for work! It will definitely be a long day, and I don't know if you'll see me tomorrow at all, but it will be worth it to get everything done! Here's to hoping.

Me vs. The World

Today must be "everyone go out of your way to make life hard for Busty" Day. I had today all planned out. It was going to be an uneventful day full of grocery shopping, housework, and sewing. Looks like what I had planned doesn't matter.

Round ONE:

I was almost out of gas. I started to drive down 900 W toward 300 S. I missed my turn. At 400 S I realized I had missed my turn at 300 S, flipped my blinker on and turned left. Then, at 700 W I came to a stop at a stop sign. I flipped my blinker on. Marshy-marsh was crying because he had thrown his ball up into the back window and couldn't reach it. I leaned back and pulled it out of the window. That is when I noticed the squad car. Now that there was someone behind me at the stop sign, and no oncoming traffic, I figured I should probably hurry and turn. Well, as soon as I turned the squad car flipped his lights on.

OH CRAP!! I was getting pulled over! For what? Not putting my seatbelt on? Did I go too fast past a school? What did I do?

Officer walks up to my car. I roll down the window. The following is our conversation. Please note: all sarcasm (in italics) is strictly editorial, as I was a perfectly compliant citizen.

officer: Where you headed today?
me: the gas station, 7-11 over on 3rd.
officer: Why you going to the gas station?
me: For gas. What else is there to get at a gas station, you moron!
officer: oh.
me: Gas up where I live, off the center street exit, tends to be a lot more expensive than it is over here.
officer: well I'm going to need to see your license, registration, and proof of insurance.
me: okay.

I dig through the glove box looking for the registration, and hand it all to him. He looks over everything.
officer: Who is Michelle?
me: Oh! That's my husband, Michael. How in the world do you get Michelle from Michael? What are you? Dumb?!
officer: okay, well just sit tight.

20 minutes later, officer walks back up to the car and hands me my paperwork.
officer: well, do you know why I stopped you?
me: I have no idea actually.
officer: well, back when you turned onto 4th your blinker was on but it wasn't on for 3 seconds before you turned.
me: oh no!
officer: And then back here at the stop sign, your blinker was on but you were stopped next to the sign, not behind it.
me: oh shoot. You have got to be kidding me. You pulled me over for technicalities? It must be a slow month for the Provo PD.
officer: both of these are citable.
me: okay
officer: But I'm not going to cite you today.
me: Thank you so much!
officer: Just be careful and make sure you stop behind the stop signs and your blinker is on for at least 3 seconds before you turn.
me: Yes sir. I will. And thank you. Honestly, he was crying and I was just trying to get him to stop, so I didn't even realize. Thank you so much.
officer: have a good day now.

I drove off. Honestly, I can't believe that he pulled me over! What a jerk! My dad agreed with me when I called and told him the story. He also agreed with me that had I actually been ticketed, I would have had to fight the ticket in court because that was ridiculous.

Mike, however, when told the story said "Well, you do fit the meth addict profile. He was probably looking for probable cause to pull you over after he saw you reach back into the back seat. I bet he thought you were stashing something."

GREAT! Now I kind of know how the Arab people feel. They get profiled a lot at the airport, I'm told. I guess I'll be profiled in this area of town for being a meth user. Good thing I did my hair, makeup, and was wearing a really cute outfit. I'm pretty sure that if that was the reason, the officer realized I wasn't a user as soon as he saw me. No meth mouth, no scratch marks, cute outfit....Pretty sure meth users don't have money to spend on nice clothes if they're blowing it all on meth.

Round TWO:

I went grocery shopping at Wal-mart today. I had all my groceries, I got through checkout, had them all bagged and in the cart, and the check all written out. Now, Mike hasn't officially added me to his bank account because you have to actually go inside with the person, you can't just call it in, during business hours, which is when he works. Kind of dumb. However, since we have several other accounts together, Equifax always approves my ID with his checks. Well, Wal-mart uses the electronic check thing-a-ma-jig, so they have NEVER asked me for ID. Not even when they didn't use electronic check!

Well, I hand the cashier the check.
cashier: Who is Michael
me: That's my husband.
cashier: Well do you have his ID?
me: No, but I have mine. All the information matches.
cashier: Well I can't take this without his ID.
lady behind me: Good for you!
me: Are you kidding? They have never asked me for ID before.
cashier: Then they're not doing their job.
lady behing me: Good for you! You're supposed to ask for ID you know.
me: but don't you do electronic checking? I mean, I'm on the account, and my ID will work with it, we just haven't ordered new checks yet.
cashier: I'm sorry, I'm going to have to get management approval for this. I'm not supposed to take it.
me: Listen. None of your other stores ask for ID. I have been to Payson, Springville, and here, and they have NEVER asked me for my ID.
cashier: Well I'm just doing my job, and they aren't. I'll make sure to bring it up in our meeting this afternoon. Besides, I'm really paranoid because I was the victim of identity theft last year and I lost $7000 in tax money.
me: blah blah blah shut up! But if you look at my ID, I mean my address matches, and my last name is the same!
cashier: Well there are lots of people with the same last name in the world.
me: but the address is the same!
cashier: That doesn't matter. Hey *manager* I have a question.
lady behind me: You really shouldn't write checks that don't have your name on it.
me: shut up and mind your own business lady!

manager walks over. She is an older lady, and looks like she might be willing to hear my side of the case.
cashier: She has her husband's check and his signature is on it, but he isn't here with her.
manager: Does she have her ID?
me: Yes, see! And all the information matches!
manager: Then take her check!
cashier: Oh, okay.

I sign the electronic check receipt, get my check back and my receipt and go to leave. The manager walks up to me and smiles.
manager: I just wanted to let you know that you were totally right.
me: Thank you! I knew you didn't normally ask for ID because I've been to Payson and Springville and here a lot and no one has EVER asked for my ID.
manager: If I had been in your situation, I would've been so burning mad! If I had my husband's check there's no way they aren't letting me use it!
me: Thank you so much!
manager: Just wanted to let you know that's not our policy, it's just the cashier.
me: Thank you!

So, I guess that turned out okay. But honestly, something that everyone else just accepts made me stand in line for an extra 10 minutes!

I can't wait to see what Round THREE will be!!

Things I Learned Today

Today I learned a lot. Not from watching an educational program or reading a book or an article on the internet. I learned this new knowledge from my 18 month old. Here is what I learned:

1) "No" mostly means "Yes"... example: mom: "Are you having fun?" Marshy: "No" said with a big smile.

2) Mom is a couch, chair, toy box, and basically something to jump on.

3) anything with 4 wheels, or anything that will fit on the race track, is a "wee-ooo" (emergency vehicle siren noise)

4) if Dad is laying on the couch then there MUST be something cool outside the window, like a choo choo

5) Baby may be tired, but he really isn't. Even if he does act like he's going to go to sleep, it's all a charade.

6) Balls are not the only thing that can go down the ball tube. If it is circular, pretty sure you can find it jammed down there.

He's pretty smart, isn't he? I always knew he was!

WHEW! What a day it has been!

So, starting last night, I decided to see how much of my project list I could actually get done this weekend. I've quite surprised myself at how much I can accomplish once I set my mind to it. First of all, one of my projects has been cancelled, which makes things a little less hectic for me.

I decided to start on Chelsey's quilt. She is a "friend" of ours, and she just had a baby girl in February. I know, I know, I'm way late with the whole baby quilt thing. I'm trying at least, that should count for something, right?! Anyway, I had half of the blocks sewn together. It really wasn't a difficult quilt. It's a nine patch that you cut apart, rearrange, and sew back together. It looks really cute when it's done. One of my clients brought me the pattern, and I thought I'd try it.

Well, due to a cutting miscalculation, which tends to happen a lot when I am cutting late at night. Just ask Mike or Angel's son Jase, I ended up cutting my nine patch down to 11 inches, I cut it down to 10 1/2, which is what it ends up at once you've sewn it back together. OOPS! Well, I decided to make half of the blocks nine patches, and half the sewn back together nine patches. It actually turned out pretty cool looking, I think.

It kind of looks like it was one of those really hard and tricky quilts to put together, but in reality, it was really easy!
This is a close up. The backing fabric is a really pretty dark purple with cream colored stars all over. I just bought the binding today, and it is SO CUTE! It is a hot pink with dragonflies! I'm so excited to quilt this one and get it bound. It will be so cute when it's done. Don't worry, I'll include pictures! :)

The other progress I've made is that I have completely cut and sewn the quilt I'm making for my Aunt Judy. She and her husband, Tom, just adopted a 2 year old baby boy from Guatemala. I guess it has been a trial to get him home, but they finally have him. He may be 2, but he is still getting a quilt! It is cute, too. I used bright colors with fun patterns. I found the backing and binding fabric today, and I absolutely LOVE it. I will have pictures tomorrow probably, when the quilt top is all sewn together and the back is seamed.

In other news...I spent WAY too much money at the fabric store. I just kept finding fun things and cute fabrics! The girl at the cutting counter looked like she was about to die when I handed her the muslin I wanted and told her 9 yards. "9 yards? Are you sure?" she asked. "Yep!" I smiled back. She had to remeasure three times before she got it right and dared cut it. I felt really bad. Plus I had about 10 other things of fabric I needed cut. She was probably wondering why she got stuck with the "demanding" lady with all the fabric. (I was demanding because I needed exactly three yards of this one fabric, and despite her efforts to try and sell me all 2 3/4 yards of it, I would have none. I used a different fabric instead. I don't think she was too happy with me.) Oh well. Joann's Fabrics in Orem sure will have lots of business from me now that I am making aprons and quilts and slipcovers and pillows and curtains and all other sorts of crafty crap that I probably don't need! hahahaha

More updates later! For now, it's time to go cut or sew something!

Oh what have I gotten myself into?

Last night I started organizing all of my projects that I need to finish. Let me just say, again, that I am CRAZY!! I sat on the floor in the craft/piano/storage room last night trying to make some sense of my mess of projects. Mike stood over me saying "What are you doing? Why do you have so many projects?"

So what are all these projects? Well, I will tell you.

Numbers 1-8 involve the making of quilts, whether it's actually sewing the quilt tops or just quilting the quilt. Numbers 9 and 10 are Mother's Day gifts for relatives. Number 11 involves finishing a baby project that I started in November. Number 12 is making slipcovers, pillows, and curtains for the living room, although I've never done slipcovers or pillows, so we'll see how well it works out. Finally, Number 13 involves things for me that I have started but need to finish. YIKES!

I'm hoping to get 3 of the quilting projects ready to quilt today. I know for sure that one of them will be, but the second and third ones still need some sewing and cutting! As for the rest of the quilting projects, 3 need to be cut, 1 needs to be sewn together, and 1 is waiting at the shop to be quilted whenever I have time.

I will post pictures of my progress later. WISH ME LUCK! :)

Curtains

I finally put Marshy-marsh's curtains up. They look pretty good, considering I have no curtain-making experience.

This is the fabric I used. It's navy blue with really light stars. I bought all the material the fabric store had, just under 2 1/2 yards, and it was barely enough!

This is with the curtains open. They are about an inch too short, but I suppose that is due to the fact that the curtain rod is hung about two inches above the window.

This is with the windows closed. I forgot to close the blinds behind them, so the light comes in quite a bit. But, Marshy-marsh slept well into the morning like he used to this morning, so I guess they did a pretty good job of keeping out the morning sun. YAY!

What I did today!

Today was my day to stay home and work on projects and see how much I could get done. I got a lot done today, so far. I made curtains for Marshy-Marsh's room (pics will be posted when I get the curtains up). I also made my very first ever Jenny Bag. Lola made the pattern, and has a great tutorial on her blog. Go check it out, if you haven't already!

Well...I did it

Many years ago, when I was young, immature, and worked at the mall, I remember seeing parents with their children. There were happy families with kids in strollers. Screaming moms and dads chasing their kids down the mall "You get back here this instant!" And then there were the parents that I believe I called "evil". You see, they were evil because they had put their children into a harness-leash type contraption. I remember thinking to myself "That is so cruel! Why would you want to leash your kid up like a pet?"

I KNOW WHY!!!

We went to the zoo the other day. It was nice and warm and sunny, but not too hot or too sunny. Just perfect weather to go to the zoo. We renewed our zoo pass for the year (had to upgrade to family because Marshy is older now), and headed in to the zoo. We had Marshy in the little umbrella stroller. Of course, this didn't put him at a good enough height to see the animals, so Mike got him out almost immediately.

Marshy did really well. He held our hands...for the most part... at the beginning. We saw the geese (scared Marshy pretty bad), the peacocks (scared him more). We saw the Ghost of the Bayou (white alligator and yes, it freaked Marshy out). We talked to the monkeys for a while. Saw the black bears (had some good memories and laughs). Watched the elephants eat hay from a basket hanging from the roof of the enclosure. We saw the Pallas cat stalking the local songbirds that happened to land in his pen (this was the first time he had ever been awake, and was quite fun to watch). We saw the Lynx out of their enclosure. The tiger who happened to be on a spraying spree (which is why we didn't hang around....I know he's no Liger, but we didn't want a repeat incident!) Then we went into the reptile house. Now, it's not all reptiles. It has birds and snakes and meerkats and porcupines and rabbits and little cats. There are signs everywhere:

"Please don't tap on the glass"

and

"Please keep your voices down"

Needless to say, Marshy broke both these rules. He would run to one enclosure, bang on the windows, and then scream at the top of his lungs while he ran to the next one. Mike and I followed behind saying "Shhh! Don't do that! NAUGHTY!" Our stay at the zoo did not last much longer. We went back outside and put him in his stroller and walked to the exit.

The next day I bought a harness-leash contraption at Wal-Mart for $8.95 (they must be on sale at my Wal-mart because they are more expensive online). It is a monkey backpack, with a pocket and everything. He loves it. I still feel a little bad about the whole restraining him thing, but . . . . At least I don't have to run around after him like those parents I saw at the mall. No more screaming "NO! You stay by mommy!" or "Don't run out into the parking lot!" Those days are over.

THANK GOODNESS!

The "Mary" Apron: Tutorial

This is my very first tutorial, so hopefully it makes sense! What we will be making is an apron for gardening. This pattern is for personal use only. Also, I would love to see finished projects, for any of you who decide to make my little garden apron!

SUPPLIES:
Rotary Mat and Rotary Cutter
12 1/2 inch square ruler. I use one by Omnigrid
Yard Stick or longer ruler. I use an Omnigrid yardstick
Tape measure
Scissors
Seam Ripper
Spools of matching thread
1 package 1/2 inch double wide bias tape
3 Fat Quarters in coordinating colors - 1 main color, and 2 colors for the pockets
2 yards of 7/8 inch ribbon
Not shown: chalk and starch (both are optional, but I use them all the time)

You'll also want a trusty iron and a good, steady ironing board. I have two irons, a Black and Decker, and a Rowenta Latitude. I prefer the Rowenta. It is a lot more reliable.

These are the three fat quarters that I used. I picked garden-themed prints since this is a gardening apron.

STEP ONE

Square up your fat quarters. For help with this, see the Purl Bee. They have a great tutorial on rotary cutting and squaring up fabric here. When squaring your fat quarters up, try to trim off as little as possible. My 18x22 fat quarter ended up aroung 17 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches.

STEP TWO

Cut your main fabric into a 12 inch piece. Set it aside for now. Keep the remaining fabric. We will use it later.

STEP THREE

Cut your back row pocket fabric into a 9 inch piece. Set it aside. Take your front row pocket fabric and cut it into a 5 inch piece. Set it aside.

STEP FOUR

Now it is time to make sure your machine is ready to sew. Make sure your bobbin and top thread match. I picked a green thread that matched my bias tape as close as I could.

STEP FIVE

Layer your three fabrics on your cutting mat in this order: main fabric, back row pocket fabric, front row pocket fabric. Cut through all three layers so that the edges are even. Mine ended up at 17 inches.

STEP SIX

Measure out your bias tape to the front row pocket fabric.

Pin it to the top edge of the fabric.

Make sure that you place the loner edge on the back side of the fabric.

Stitch close to the edge of the bias tape.

Trim even to the edge of the fabric. Repeat for the back row pocket fabric.

STEP SEVEN

Layer the front row pocket fabric on top of the back row pocket fabric.

Baste the two layers together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Repeat with the other fabric piece. Note: If you want to, you can combine this into one step and baste only one time.

STEP EIGHT

Decide how big you want your pockets to be. I used seed packets and scissors to help me decide where I wanted to stitch my pocket lines.

STEP NINE

Using chalk and a straight edge mark the stitching lines for your pockets. This step is optional, but it is nice to have a guideline just in case you aren't too sure of how straight you sew.

Stitch the pockets.

You should now have two rows with several pockets stitched onto your apron.

STEP TEN

Trim up the edges of the apron so that everything is even.

Bind the outer edges of the apron with the bias tape. You can either round the corners and not worry about mitering them, or keep them squared and do a mitered corner. I chose to do a mitered corner on mine. Here is how I did it:

Apply the binding up to the corner of the fabric. Turn the binding, and lay it open underneath the fabric. See how it causes an angle to appear? You are going to fold the binding closed now on the other edge of the fabric.

This is what the back of the fabric with binding will look like.

Here is your mitered corner. Make sure you pin it in place so it doesn't come apart while you are sewing!

Continue applying the binding to the rest of the edges.

This is what it should look like when it is done.

STEP ELEVEN

From the main fabric color remnant, cut one 5 inch by 17 inch piece.

STEP TWELVE

On the short ends of the 5 inch wide strip, fold in 1/4 inch. Press with an iron.

With right sides together, sew the strip to the top edge of the apron using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. This is now the apron waistband.

Press open like this.

STEP TWELVE

On top edge of waistband press under 1/4 inch. Fold another 1/4 inch over and press again. You should now have a clean, pressed top edge with no cut edges showing on the back side of the waistband.

Fold the waistband over on the back side of the apron so that it is even with the edge of the seam between the apron and the waistband. Press.

STEP THIRTEEN

Measure out your ribbon into desired lengths. I used 2 pieces each at 36 inches (1 yard) long.



STEP FOURTEEN

Open waistband. Center ribbon on lower half of the waistband. Put the end of the ribbon about 1 inch in from the edge of the waistband. Anchor in place using a 1/4 inch seam allowance taken from the edge of the waistband fabric.



STEP FIFTEEN

Fold the waistband back down.

Stitch the edges closed at 1/4 inch and close to the edge of the fabric.

Stitch along the bottom edge close to the edge of the fabric.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are finally finished. Once you get started, it really doesn't take too long. I think it took me just under an hour, and that included stopping to write down the instructions and take all of the pictures.