Salsa!

HA! See what perseverance will get you? A picture, not like you needed it or anything, but I sure do feel better!
Tonight was a big Pay-Per-View, so we had a few friends over and had the traditional fare...nachos. We made homemade salsa, beans, chicken fajita meat, and Rico's. And the scrumdillyicious cookies.

Here's the Salsa recipe:
1 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes (diced, whole, whatever floats yer boat)
2-3 jalapenos (3 make it really hot!)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic
pinch of oregano
1 tsp. olive oil
chopped onion (calls for 1/2 cup, but that was a little much for us)
2 Tblsp. fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
throw it all in the blender and that's it! Yum-yum-yummy!

Apron, Revisited

Wow....I wasn't expecting such an overwhelming response to the apron! lol

I used the pattern from Amy Butler's In Stitches. There aren't any pattern pieces, just measurements, so I got to use my trusty rotary cutter.

Here's the whole thing (no peeking Leigh!). Please excuse the wrinkles! The front has a pocket. If I making you one, the pocket will be bigger (I didn't like the small size of this one), and I will add a pocket on the other side, as well. I'll be heading to Hancock's tomorrow for fabric for the two orders I have so far, if you want one, let me know what color! :)

Apron

Here's a peek at the apron I just finished for my most recent swap pal, Leigh. She said she likes green, I hope she was serious!

I got to use the embroidery function on my new machine to decorate the edges.

I didn't feel like the fabric I chose was thick enough, so I added another layer which actually made the apron reversible.

I'll post a picture of both sides after I'm sure it has arrived safely at it's new home.

It's Here!

As you recall, my old machine is on it's last leg. So, I ordered a new one which arrived yesterday!

SO exciting! It's a Janome Memory Craft 4400, obviously.

Now taking orders!!

It came loaded with all kinds of accessories (including a walking foot, a 1/4 in. foot, and a free motion foot).

And would you look at all those stitches I can do!? Wowsa.

Only took me a few minutes of reading the directions to write my first few letters....it's going to take me a little while longer to try them all out. You can elongate them, as well.

Here's my first seam with it. It's beautiful. It beeps when you turn it on! The needle will remain up (or down) when you finish sewing depending on which you want it to do, the bobbin cover is transparent so you can see when it's about to run out, you can wind a bobbin without unthreading machine, it's quiet, it has a needle threader, wow. This is the best machine I've ever had. OK, so, I've only had three, one from a garage sale...but, still!

The only thing that I'm going to have to get used to is that it's not as fast as old faithful. And as my friend Julie likes to remind me, I'm a little ADHD. Maybe that's where my son got it!

OU Fans

After Sallad's comment on my last post, I felt I should expound a little. We're from Texas. We've got UT, A&M, TCU, NTSU, all kinds of schools. The biggest rivalry we have is UT/A&M. It is friendly, a big game, yes, but nothing compared to moving to Oklahoma. These people are nuts. I mean crazy. People are OU fans that have never even gone to college, much less OU. There is another school here...OSU, but it's kind of like UT/A&M. There's nothing else to do here. As of yet, no professional Oklahoma teams to route for, so there you have it.
After being here a little while, and people finding out I was from Texas, I began really playing up the whole UT thing. I didn't go to UT. Could care less about UT. I lived in Austin, UT's a great school, very prestigious, but I never had a desire to go there. But, I *love!* messing with my Oklahoma friends!! It's so much fun. Each year at the weekend of the Texas/OU game we have friendly wagers. This past year, yes, it's true, I had to wear an OU shirt.
I don't have many pictures, but I have seen OU painted houses (well, red and white), an OU casket, OU easy chair, numerous bumper stickers. My friend even told me once that she doesn't think she could even step foot in Austin. What!? LOL
So, now I make these quilts for OU friends. They love them. It's even funnier that I make them. Hubby says I need to quilt a longhorn in there! Great idea!!

Wordless Wednesday

Annoying OU fans.....

Baby Cardinal

I know this is a terrible picture, but I didn't want to chance actually going outside to take the picture because I was sure they would fly away. This pair of cardinals has been hanging around for the past few weeks. Yesterday, my husband and son went to investigate a sound. At first he thought it might have been a baby cat separated from it's mother, but then they saw the cardinals flying around. They never found the nest (it is in a stand of trees/bushes that line the side of our house), but we figured out we must have a baby cardinal nearby!! Maybe we'll see it yet...

Ouch and Happy Father's Day!

I try to keep in contact with my sister fairly frequently, so I called yesterday to check on her since I had been negligent for over 2 weeks. She said, "You'll never guess where I am." Turns out my youngest nephew fell and cut his head open and had to get four staples. Poor little guy. By the time I talked to her last evening after all the excitement died down, he was up walking around playing the kazoo! I bet it's sore today, though!

Happy Father's Day!! I hope all the dads and pseudo-dads (anyone who has influence over someone else, which is the majority of you, even if you're not dads yet) have a nice relaxing day. Don't know if we're doing anything yet, but we'll be relaxing, that's for sure! Enjoy!

Old Faithful

This is my sewing machine. A couple of months ago, the rocker part on the end that you press in to wind the bobbin wouldn't stay in. A minor inconvenience that I solved by simply holding it in while winding the bobbin. Unfortunately, it began popping in at random times while I was sewing, making loud noises and scaring the pants off me. So, today I finally took it in for the service guy to take a look at. I was thinking a gear was broken or something simple like that. Nope, the rocker needs to be replaced, but they don't just make that part any longer, so I have to replace the whole turning mechanism on the right side. Around $150. Which would be fine, except the man kindly says the machine isn't even worth that much. I've been contemplating getting a new machine anyway, so now I'm wondering should I fix this one and save a little longer, or borrow from the savings account and pay ourselves back when I get my summer school check. I asked if it would keep getting worse if I continued to sew on this one, and of course, yes, it will eventually stop sewing altogether. He said this machine was made to sew a little girls dress on, and he's surprised I've gotten this much use out of it.
Countless quilts, tops, shirts, pants....I've gotten a lot of use out of Old Faithful, here. Part of me wants to just fix it and keep it for posterity's sake. Maybe someday it'll be really cool like the old metal ones my great-grandma used to have. Wish I still had hers. I bet it would still work.

A's License Plate

My son is attending a 'camp' at our local school districts Technology Center. I know...mean mom and dad made him go. They were to chose 5 things and they will attend three days of (hopefully) their top three choices. He has Auto Detailing, Computer Applications, and Auto Body Repair. This is the license plate he made in Auto Detailing. I was pretty impressed for his first try with the air brush machine!

Table Runner DJ Update

Here are the latest installments in the table runner I am working on.

It's really kinda sad that I thought they were looking pretty good. The camera picks up every little flaw! The lady at the quilt store says when someone asks her if they should re-do the seam, she tells them to think about the blind man on a galloping horse. I said, what is that? She says, if a blind man on a galloping horse goes by, will he notice the imperfections?

Hmmmm. Well, then you'd never re-do anything! LOL I do have some standards. But some of these little pieces certainly are tricky!

Rejected

When we first moved here, I thought..."OK! I'm near a large university, this is the opportunity I need to get my Doctorate degree." I researched online the degrees offered and decided I didn't like the Special Ed. option because it focused on the legal aspects of it and I still want to work with the kids, or at least teach other people to teach this kids I love. So, I contacted the professor in charge of the Early Childhood PhD to inquire whether or not I could take special ed classes for all the electives. She assured me that would be fine, and so I proceeded to write the required papers for admission and took the GRE again, since my scores were over 5 years old. I did well on the GRE, so I sent all the requirements only to receive the above letter. Not you're not smart enough, no.... My goals do not match the program they can provide. I assume they meant that because I had written goals for special education, but I had already talked to the professor. I was extremely bummed for about three days. Then I decided to get on over it. It wasn't meant to be at that time. Which was fine, I guess because my husband left for the desert soon after that and my daughter ran away.
Maybe someday......Or, if I win the lottery I can do it online. Vince didn't call last night, btw.

Head Ick

That's what my son used to call a headache. I have head icks. Migraines. I vividly remember my first migraine, almost 20 years ago. It was excruciating, I was even sick to my stomach and eventually threw up. I felt much better after that. Luckily, I have some good drugs now. Maxalt. It really helps the pain. Initially it makes me very sleepy, so I was in bed by 8:30 last night. The bad part is, a few hours later, I can't sleep. Last night, I vacillated between fitful bouts of sleep dreaming about a selvage quilt, and untold minutes of staring at the ceiling listening to my dog's stomach growl and hoping the air conditioner would come on. Then the next day it either starts all over, which is infrequent, or I have what I've dubbed a medicine hangover. Unfortunately today may be one of those infrequent days, I have a little niggle behind my right eye.
Tons O' Fun!

Maybe Vince McMahon will call me tonight and say that I have won! My luck it would be the $2.00 prize!

Update on the Autism Walk: Over 4,500 people were there and we raised $168,373! Ya-hoo!

Autism Walk

Today was the annual Walk for Autism. I attended last year, as well, but this year's was much bigger! There were at least twice as many people this year. Most people make teams to represent their loved ones or students, so it's kind of neat seeing all the team t-shirts. This year it was held at our local ballpark. I saw current and former students and friends. It was a great time. I hope they raised lots of money!

I so look like my mom in this picture! Hi Momma!! :)

Sex and the City

We have this new theatre in town and it has 'upstairs' seating that is posh and comfy with little tables and you can page the wait staff to bring you things, so my friends and I were going to go see Sex and the City there. The upstairs for the show we wanted was sold out, so my girls wanted to wait until the next show which was 3 hours later. Not to worry, there's shopping to be done! Don't you love those tags!? LOL













And yummy spinach artichoke dip to be eaten....






















And drinks to be had.

I've seen maybe 5 episodes of the TV series, but the movie was great, and I got to hang out with my two best buds!


Yes, I'm very sore today!

Holy Smokes!

Well, this whole kickboxing thing is evil!! I actually made it through the kicking/boxing part today and I was so proud of myself....then she had us get out the steps. Oh my golly gosh! After about 5, 632 steps I thought, I'm not going to be able to walk in the morning. Then she says "Your legs will probably be sore tomorrow!" Yeah, ya think!? LOL But, we have a three day weekend, so that's good. My pal and I decided lunch was in order to celebrate a successful week in both summer school and kickboxing class. Tonight, we're going to see the movie!

Was It a Ficus? Wordless Wednesday

Class

Kickboxing....kicked my butt. It was like, for real, man! I'm thinking Billy Blanks Taebo or something, no, real gloves and wrist wraps hitting the punching bag. It was a lot of fun! We'll see if I can do it again tomorrow!

Stolen Idea

My creation
Originally uploaded by miadca

It is a very cool idea, though.....check Sallad.

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image. (Ok, I cheated on this one, some of them I had to look at the second page)

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

Weekend

Been quilting all weekend, here are some pictures. I need to go buy some more fabric for the hourglass one.

While jogging/walking, I always wave at the people (mostly children) that are out. Last night, I waved at three children playing in their driveway. They continued to stare at me as I walked by, so I said, "How are you guys tonight?" And the little girl said "Fine, what's your name?" I said "Michelle, what's yours?" She told me, we shook hands, then she said, "What are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm just jogging around." She said, "Oh, when will you be back!?" LOL I love kids. Sometimes I like them better than people my own age!