Drug Use is Life Abuse!

How to identify a Meth lab....

How cute is this?  My sister in law Shannon sent this to me yesterday!

Tag your it!

    With all of the sewing going on at my place lately, the feeling of great accomplishment and the giving away of my handy work, I decided that my creations needed one more thing before they were sent to their new homes, labels/tags (call them what you want).  Originally, I was searching for a company to make my labels, but after a little research on the internet I determined that there was no reason I couldn't create my own.  So, I gathered my supplies (yes, it did involve ANOTHER trip to JoAnn's), twill tape, iron transfer paper, my iron and my printer.

    Funny story about my printer, a couple weeks ago I was cleaning out my closet and there sat my trusty printer, she (yes, she is a she) worked overtime during college and now was enjoying retirement in my closet after years of use, I kept looking at her, kind of annoyed that she was taking up so much space in my closet and I sat and seriously contemplated selling her on craigslist.  After much thought, I decided to keep her, I have no idea why but she was here to stay for a little longer.  Well my friends, good thing I kept her, she has been put to good use for my latest wild idea!  With a little design using my favorite fonts I came up with my very own label, I know it's not to terribly exciting when you look at it, but I was working with limited space and a new version of publisher that I have not mastered yet, so this is it for now!

I added my blog address, I really need more followers!

My work station, the kitchen table is covered in sewing stuff, so the kitchen counter is where I had to set up shop!

Go Big Green!

Words cannot describe this....

 

This fine piece of man was spotted riding around the RSM lake the other day sporting his green shirt, green shorts, green hat, riding his green bike with green clickers on his tire spokes and a green water bottle with a radio strapped to the handle bars playing his tunes.  All I have to say is "WOW"!  If Kermit the frog saw him he might say "it is not easy being green", lol!  I wonder if he is single?  Kidding, I prefer the boys in BLUE that drive the big red truck!

Birthday Fun!

Yesterday was my brother Ryan's 30th birthday!  So in order to celebrate the family headed outside for...                                                         
                                                                         hopscotch,

scooter fun,

artistic expression,

a game of chase,

tailgating,

tail pulling,

rocket stomping,

 good times with family and friends,

burp cloth giving,

lots of smiles,

present opening,

Mari was so excited, she could not wait for Ryan to open his gift, so she told him what it was!

hugs from Grampy,

and cake eating!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

Sew Fun!

I think I am done, at least for now!!  I spent the last few days hard at work and I need a break, so for now lil Caroline is gonna have to stick to these burp cloths or all of her spit up needs or at least until I get another wild idea in my head and whip out some more!  However, I am leaning towards baby bibs for my next project, I have some good scraps that I can use to practice with.  Did you know that the JoAnn's in Foothill Ranch is a MEGA JoAnn's?  I had no idea until I went there on my dinner break the other night for some more supplies, I was shocked and overwhelmed and so needed more than one hour to scope out the place, good thing I have to take the toll road to get there otherwise I would be there every day!  

Here they are!

Getting My Sew On!

For birthday (September) I received a new sewing machine and today I finally put it to good use.  I have had a thousand ideas floating around in my head of what I want to make, mostly baby/kid things for friends and family and I knew I wanted to start with something simple since I was slightly afraid of my sewing machine. I have been busy practicing with scrap pieces of fabric testing out the settings and different stitches.  Thank goodness the machine came with a DVD on how to work it, I seriously have watched the "how to thread your machine" 100 times, I am happy to report that I have been really successful at this part so far!  So, for my very first project since Mrs. Loyd's 8th grade "Home Economics" class ( A LONG LONG time ago), I whipped out some burp cloths for my sister in law Shannon (click here to view baby Caroline's anticipated arrival)!  As long as you do not look to closely I think they turned out really well, this is one of those, "it's the thought that counts" gifts, cause they so were not done by a professional!  I had a lot of fun making them, I am shocked how much time I spent on each one, I guess with time I will become a lot faster. 



Update!

  It has been almost a week since I made one of the biggest decisions of my life, lol, to turn off my cable!  Lol, kidding!  Actually, I did call to have my cable turned off and Kyle at Cox thought I had lost my mind when I told him "I am just done with cable" and there was no way he could convince me to stay connected.  So, at the end of the day when I got home from work (yes, it is totally acceptable to do these types of things at work!) I turned on my TV and the cable was still on, ok no big deal it will probably go off in the morning, well that was Monday and today is Saturday and my cable is still on.  I called Cox back yesterday afternoon (yes, totally acceptable to make a follow-up phone call to the cable company at work!), spoke to Kyle again and he told me that the request did go through and that I have been enjoying FREE cable all week and the service guys have not made it to my neck of the woods to turn it off.  Well, if Kyle and the workerbees at Cox only knew that there are at least three Cox workerbees that live in my neighborhood (they bring home their Cox trucks), they could of probably turned it off right away and I would not be getting free service!  However, thanks to lack of communication or maybe being low on the priority list, my cable is still on!  So, in a nutshell, I am enjoying my last few days of cable and couch potatoeness free of charge!  

Pool Safety to the EXTREME!

  Yesterday my sister sent me this picture of a pool in the backyard of one of her new clients.  Well, anyone who knows me knows how strongly I feel about pool fences, locked gates and that every child should start swimming lessons by four months old and everyone knows that I do not think I am being ridiculous. Drownings are 100% preventable with proper supervision and barriers around pools. Anyway, for once in my lifetime I am going to say I think this pool owner has gone to the extreme with pool safety, I am not disagreeing with them, I am just not sure how they swim in this pool.  Part of me is wondering if they had a child drown in this pool and this is where the grieving process took them, to completely cover the pool with material that cannot be removed in order to prevent another accident?  Did you notice the creepy little house behind the pool?  I am kind of wondering what has gone on in there?  This whole backyard kind of freaks me out, I wonder what the main house looks like?  I am sure it makes a great haunted house for Halloween! 

What's for Dinner?

Everyday I struggle to figure out what I am going to eat for dinner, it is really hard because I work 10:30am-7:30pm and by the time I get home (8ish) I am tired and the last thing I want to do is start cooking.  So, for months now I have been living off salads, well I am sick of salads and sandwiches for dinner are not on the top of my list, so I am on a mission to find dinner makings that do not require much cooking (only a microwave and toaster oven at work).  Well, yesterday I ran into Trader Joe's for a couple things and ended up coming home with a new dinner idea.  Apparently, I went at the perfect time, it was dinner time and the Trader Joe's peeps were busy cooking at their little taster station and this is what I came home with....

• Trader Joe's "Just Chicken" it is already cooked, ready to go and tastes really good!
• Trader Joe's "Bruschetta" = AMAZING!
• Trader "penne pasta"

All you have to do is cook the pasta, toss in some bruschetta (I drain the oil, before tossing in), add the chicken and voila (sp?), dinner is served.  This worked out perfect for me, I cooked the pasta before I left for work and was able to warm it up in the microwave and the best part was I had enough for lunch and dinner!  I have to say I was a bit unsure purchasing the chicken, but I was really impressed with it and I know that if I go back to my salad dinners, I can throw a some of the chicken to my salad to make it more of a meal.  Yay, for a tasty dinner!

Yum!

I am FREEEEEE!

Today I cancelled my cable and I do not know why, but I feel so free!  It was the greatest experience to call Cox and tell them "I am done!".  It is not like I had some horrible experience with the cable company, like when they mysteriously lose the cable box that you turned in years earlier or when your cable does not work and you look at a fuzzy screen all day. I have just come to the conclusion that I no longer need to pay $$$ every month for a service that really has no productive purpose in life and maybe just maybe I will be able to get some projects completed around my house with my new found free time!  However, I have to say that I am slightly nervous about this decision and afraid of what I miss out on (thank goodness for the internet), but am excited about the new creativity that this decision might bring to me in the near future, I guess if anything my house will be cleaner, the laundry will be folded and the trash will be taken out (who am I kidding, the trash will still pile up!).  So wish me luck, I know that many people in this world manage to get by everyday without cable, so I should have no problem!!   So for now, Cox is no longer my friend in this digital age!      

Adventures in Pet Parenting!

What do these three pictures have in common?

Well, the thing these three pictures have in common is Gracie and I's Sunday adventure!  No, we did not bake pumpkin pies, no, we did not willingly play in the mud and no, we did not nap all day! It all started due to the fact that the rain has finally stopped long enough to let some of the local trails dry out (or so I thought!), so today Gracie and I headed back out to O'neil Park for a much needed hike and that is where the story began! 

  Gracie and I met up with friends early this morning for some fresh air and sunshine, about midway through the hike Gracie found a dead bird and ate it all, bones and feathers included (the thought still makes me want to vomit), that is where the pumpkin comes into play (per the ER Vet, it helps the bones pass through her system, thank goodness it was only a phone call to the Vet).  At the same time Gracie was enjoying her bird, we hit the mud, it was like adding 5lbs. weights to each foot as we trudged through the mud (there was no way around it), as you can see we brought a lot of mud home with us and the third and final picture is of Gracie sleeping on her bed, I can tell her stomach is not feeling so great (she did not ask to eat dinner tonight, that is a huge sign that things are not well), and she has hardly moved from her bed all afternoon and night. Wish me a quiet night and happy stomach for Gracie, cause I have a feeling there is going to be more to this story around 2am. 

Redpenitis (Red-Pen-Itis)

Red-Pen-Itis is a condition when you write a memo TO your boss and he or she reads it, takes out a pen and starts correcting it and gives it back to you to rewrite. 

HHHHEEEELLLLLOOO dude, that memo is to inform you of what is going on, it is not meant for you to edit it and for me to rewrite it!  Yes, this is a true story and this recently happened to one of my friends.  Lets just say his boss is not the sharpest tool in the shed and he just stood there wondering what the heck is this guy doing?  All I have to say that this hilarious and left me wondering who hired this guy?  Clearly, he is not getting paid for his common sense! 

The Check is in the Mail!

All I can say is "REALLY?"....

Look at the mail to and return address, our finance department actually mailed a petty cash check for our New Year's Eve event to me, not sure why!  They could of just dialed 250 and I would of walked the 100 steps to their department and saved them .44, good thing it did not get lost in the mail, that is something the post office in RSM is notorious for or I would of been out of luck.  A week later and I am still shaking my head!

Ryan's first job as a Dad!

My friend Melisa works for the Orange County Sheriff's Department in their crime prevention department and part of her job is to teach new parents the proper ways to install their carseats.  Yesterday, Melisa was kind enough to come over to my house and teach my brother Ryan how to install Caroline's new carseat.  It was fun watching my brother learn how to do this!  First, Melisa had him install the carseat base the way he thought it should go (he did a pretty good job for his first time) and then she showed him how it should really go.  Melisa did a great job walking him through step by step and making sure he understood the importance of each step and things he needs to look for. 

Ryan's first attempt to put the base in.

Making sure it is nice and tight.

Carseat is going in.

Melisa giving Ryan more tips.

All secure, now we just need the baby to put in it!

A Year in Review!

A quick recap of 2010....

January 2010:

I learned how to play the guitar and joined a rock band!

February 2010:

My Dad and I spent many hours together giving my place a makeover!

Started blogging! I'm Just Saying! :)

March 2010: 

Taught this little guy (Cole) how to snowboard!

April 2010:

After my house was finished Gracie got a new house!

Cole turned 5 on April 20th!

May 2010:

Gracie went to her first camp out/bonfire at Doheny State Beach with our friends from South County Physical Therapy & Pilates

Probably not a good idea to have GRACIE tied to the food table!

New friends Oden & Rudy!



Some of the South County peeps!

June 2010:

Gracie and the bag of dog food had a fight, I think the bag won!

Swim season has officially begun!



Auntie Erin took Cole & Mari down to the Huntington Beach Pier for dinner & ice cream!

July 2010: 

Taught this little guy (Brayden) how to swim and climb out of the pool safely!  Did you know that when you teach a 2 year old how to climb out of a pool they transfer those skills to climbing out of their crib?  Sorry Carrie & Ryan!! :)

August:

Celebrated the upcoming birth of my cousin Katie's little boy!

Officially announced that Ryan & Shannon are having a baby!





September 2010:

Cheered on the Green Dragons!

Had a family get together at Mother's Beach in Dana Point!

Celebrated my birthday!

October 2010:

Went on my first cruise with my good friend Elisse Tweet!

November 2010:

Gracie and the dishwasher had an accident!

Helped cook Thanksgiving dinner, the onions were a little too strong for me, thank goodness my sister has some cooking goggles!

Mari going for a swing!

December 2010:

A baby shower for Shannon! 

We celebrated Christmas!

And....

Mari turned 3!



Wow!  This is just a glimpse of all of the fun we have had this year and in a week (hopefully weeks not days, she is going to be a preemie) or so we we will be welcoming Caroline into our family, 2011 is sure to be filled with even more fun!! Stay tuned! 

Happy New Year!