Magic Potholder

So, I've managed to rearrange what's on my schedule a bit this weekend, thanks to a little stomach bug. My new friend. And this is what I was working on last night...

I had to refer to the video tutorial this morning because I kept getting stuck on round two. (This is the author's completed potholder, made by Teresa at the Art of Crochet.) Mine is with a really soft red yarn and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

It's soooo soft and thick, and reminds me of lots of little goodies from Anthropologie. What can I say, that store and their catalogs just offer me tons of inspiration, in probably more ways than the creators ever intended!

Have a wonderful weekend! Me and Stomach Bug wish you well!

Another Friday!

As you may remember from past posts, I love it when the week hits the Friday mark. I always look forward to my weekends and all the things I need/want to accomplish. This weekend is going to be a busy one, though. It seems that we have one thing right after another to do or someplace to go, which always makes the weekends go way too fast. (Hubby's running his first marathon tomorrow morning, so the Little Guy and I are playing photographer at the finishing line, the Little Guy has baseball practice, supposed to go see my sis-in-law and her new baby, go to a women's group party tonight, church service tonight, meet up with my sis tomorrow, work on yard & home improvements on Sunday, between church and my book study...) I'm already strategizing on what I can do to cut down on the weekend workload... let's jump to another subject, shall we?

Today I love, love, love my outfit! I'm wearing my favorite Donna Reed-ish skirt, with a black & white bustier and a black velour shrug. I look like I should be heading to a dance or something, but I love this fun little combo! Yesterday I just totally bummed out to work in a plain sweater, jeans and ballet flats, so it is nice to do things up a bit today.

Last night I was looking at a sewing book and now have tons of ideas for things I would like to make, or things I would like to modify that are in my wardrobe already. I'm trying to work up the courage to get started. I have some jackets I would like to embellish with embroidery, but I'm still a bit of a novice with that type of stuff. Who knows...I might just dig into a new project this weekend at some point. Oh yeah, there's that quilt I need to finish. (hurumph....) And, then there's all that time that I don't really have. Geeze....

Is your life like this, too? Jumbled with tons of activities and commitments and places to be, people to see, things to do....

The Big Winner!

First, please accept my sincerest apologies for being so MIA. Work has been super busy, and Hubby and I truly knocked out our taxes this past weekend. Whew! For anyone considering using Turbo Tax for business and/or personal taxes we highly recommend it. The only downside was that Turbo Tax charges an additional fee to process your refund electronically, and I think it was an extra $29.95. We were a bit peeved when we discovered that at the end of all of our hardwork (as if we wouldn't hit "submit" after all that paper shuffling), but even paying $60 to process our taxes ($30 for our type of return then $30 for the processing) was a heck of a savings compared to last year's $300!

Ok, so you're dying to know who won the Smashbox make up and brush set, right? Well, Elle-Tn you are the big winner! Please email me at cloverschick@gmail.com with your address and I'll ship it to you.

Thank you all very much for participating in my little giveaway. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading so many comments and seeing so many new followers come and join me. And for those who've added my beautiful little button...well, an extra big thanks to you! You know how some people like to say, My cup runneth over? Well, my head swelleth large. Thank you!

The Rambler and I are working on finalizing our virtual bloggy dates to each other's state of residence, so be on the look out for that upcoming post.

I hope you all are having a great week, and I'm looking forward to my job workload settling down a bit so I'll have more space available in my brain to get back to blogging regularly!

Any big weekend plans?

So, it's Friday! yeah! I'm almost to the official start of my weekend. What about you? Do you have any big plans??? I know you are dying to know what I'll be up to...

TAXES!!!

Doesn't that sound terribly exciting??? I know, I know... you're insanely jealous of MY plans. You are already beginning to rethink your options so you can follow my lead because you hear a choir of angels singing. That's ok. I'm honored to be of assistance in encouraging anyone to follow their civic duties. (Yes, yes, yes...you're telling me you've already completed yours and gotten a refund, right?)

Seriously though, the entire weekend hopefully will not be consumed by tax prep. Hubby and I are hoping that TurboTax helps us to meander quickly and efficiently through business taxes and personal taxes so that we can move on to house projects. (Typically we take this stuff to our CPA, but after last year....spending $600 after 1 hour's worth of work for both sets of taxes and listening to her talk about her 19 day vacation to Yellowstone....nope. Someone else can fund her next adventure.)

On a lovlier note, post-tax prep I'm hoping to talk Hubby into helping me paint my utility room. He's not sold on the idea yet, but I'm pulling out every persuasive idea I can think of. But, taxes and business stuff has to be taken care of before we can jump into this project. And, we have gardening stuff to attend to! Still!!!

Wish me luck. I'm hoping I'll have pics to post of a utility room make-over soon! Or some containers that are garden-ready... Stay tuned!

This American Life

You may already be a fan of a public radio broadcast called This American Life with Ira Glass, but if you're not.... well, let me just be the first to tell you that you are missing out on a great thing!

This show airs on Saturdays at noon in my broadcasting area, but you'll want to check with your public radio broadcasting station to see when its on in your area. It's a weekly show, usually divided up into "Acts" where various stories are shared about real people around our country. Sometimes the stories are hilarious, sometimes they are spooky, and sometimes they are just down right sad. But they are all real.

I download the podcasts of This American Life and listen to them while I commute. When I think about it on Saturdays, and am around a radio, I tune in for the actual broadcast. I absolutely LOVE this show. It is very eye-opening and enlightening. And, being the big RETRO fan that I am, it takes me back to what the old days must've been like when people gathered around the radio for a favorite show. It reminds me to visualize, to imagine, and to take myself out of my own reality and become part of someone else's for a little while.

Granted, tuning out of my own reality while I'm commuting each day to work is probably not the safest of driving habits. But, hey... I can't win 'em all, right? It does keep me relaxed and out of road rage mode, that's for sure. So maybe that's a good enough trade off.

Check it out. And, if you like them... donate $5 to help keep the podcasts free. As with a lot of businesses in our economy right now they are also being effected by a lack of funds and having to lay off some of their staff. This American Life is a great asset to free entertainment. In case you didn't get my message before... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BECOMING A LISTENER!

Have a great day, my friends!

Calling all Business Minds!

Blogging friends, I need your input. If any of you have links to great sites, book references, or anything along those lines, on how to calculate Labor Utilization Rates and/or Labor Efficiency Rates please send them my way. I'm part of an implementation process at work where we're trying to more effectively calculate this type of data. I'm not a finance major...I was into Poli Sci....so I'm a bit lacking in this area, other than the basics that I am familiar with every day at work.

Any input you might have on this type of calculation would be GREATLY appreciated! I'm planning on heading to the library, but just picking up books willy-nilly style could potentially be a huge waste of time. I'm looking to maximize learning as quickly as possible, hence why I'm seeing if you guys have any good recommendations.

And, on a more fun note... don't forget to sign up for my giveaway! Deadline is midnight this Friday night...

Hope you are all having a great week!

I think I saw my future this morning.

And, I'm not too thrilled! My ten year old son went psycho teenager on me today.

I haven't mentioned it in awhile, but some of you may remember that my son lives with me & Hubby for seven days then with his biological dad seven days, as we have joint custody. This has been our arrangement for six years. I always look forward to the Monday when its time for the Little Guy to come home to me, and always get a bit sad when the next Monday comes and he's got to go back to his dad's.

This morning was a "return to dad's" Monday, and the Little Guy is out of school. His dad is off work so they had big plans for how they would spend their day together. I'm happy about that. However, on the ride to his dad's house this morning is when I caught a glimpse of my son as a teenager. He was gripey because he stayed up late last night watching a Harrison Ford movie, and I had to wake him up early to drop him off since I had to work today. He didn't want to have breakfast with me, so I let him snooze until it was time to go. When we were getting in the car I was saying my usual "I'm going to miss you" statements and he usually responds with saying it back to me. But, today he was upset about his boxers not fitting in his athletic/sweat pants very well...he was uncomfortable. I was trying to remind him where his other undies were in his suitcase and he could change when he got to his dad's, but he interrupted me with, "OK,OK,OK,OK!"

I was speaking all nicey nice. Where did that come from? I felt my teeth grit, I mumbled the word boy...... It was a silent ride the rest of the way down the street to his dad's.

Did the Little Guy apologize? No. Did I try again? No.

When I walked him in I had to ask for a hug. I got a stand-in-front-of-me-pouting kind of action where his arms were not involved. I then reiterated my statement of, "Can I get a HUG before I leave?" I said good-bye and I love you. I think he mumbled it back. I went on my way feeling yucky. I kept thinking that I would get a phone call with an apology. I did get a phone call, but the little voice was only calling to tell me that he left his phone in his bedroom. I did hear a bit of sweetness return to his voice, but not completely.

Hopefully he went back to sleep and slept off his moodiness. Geeze.

On a happier note.... don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!

giveaway!

The day has arrived.... it is time for me to offer my first giveaway!
You can enter to win this eye shadow and brush collection from smashbox. It includes eight eyeshadow duos... Grace, Splendid, Enchanting, Desire, Dreamscape, Delightful, Twilight and Gala... along with both the eyeshadow definer brush #15 and the shadow brush #32.

Enter to win by doing one or all of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post for one chance to win.
2. Become a follower of my blog for a second chance. (If you already are a follower you automatically get the second chance when you post a comment.)
3. Grab my button from my sidebar and add it to your blog and receive a third chance to win.
4. Post about my giveaway on your blog and receive a fourth chance to win.

That's four chances in all to win!
(Be sure to note in your comment if you are doing numbers 3 & 4 so I won't miss it.)

The drawing will be held next weekend so make sure to have your entries in by midnight this Friday, February 20th. Thanks for playing and good luck!

Valentine's Treats

I can finally reveal my Valentine's creations! Which I'm glad I waited, because Hubby and the Little Guy made Valentine's for me, too. So here is what our morning consisted of!

First, let me show you the cards that I embroidered for Hubby, the Little Guy, Mom and Sis... I didn't take a picture of the inside, but I used some Valentine scrapbook paper to cover up the back of the stitches. I found inspiration for the doves and for the swirly hearts from craft blogs online that have been posting ideas for what to make this Valentine's Day.

The other picture shows the treat pouches I made for Hubby and the Little Guy. They were just made from felt, some embroidery floss and a couple of buttons. Unfortunately they wouldn't sit up to show off their contents, so I just laid them back and let the goodies flow out. (Hubby had a bunch of Haribo gummy bears in his pouch (one of his favorite treats) and the Little Guy had two Japanese drinks that he loves to partake of when we go out for Sushi). Also running through the middle of the display is a little heart shape garland that I crocheted. I got the idea from Simple Beans, but realized this morning that I didn't really have a good place to hang it. Perhaps I should've made it longer and I could've draped it across the room.

You can also see what the guys made for me! They made those beautiful paper flowers (inspiration from Maya*Made) and both of them created their own Valentine's cards for me. Hubby printed his beautiful design of red hearts on the purple background from an Adobe Illustrator program, and the Little Guy made his from scratch and cut it into a wonderful heart shape. They also gave me the cute little pincushions made to look like Hershey's kisses from Lauren's post on Pimp Stitch. I loved how everything turned out and told them that we need to make our Valentine's gifts from now on! This was the best Valentine's ever! (At least for me...)

And the Letter "S" sponsored by...

...Mojito Maven! (Wait, was that a Sesame Street reference popping out of my head? I love that show! Ahhh, to be young again and just watch those little programs. A girl can dream, right?)

Ok, so I'm sure you've seen lots of "letter" posts on various blogs this week where the author of a blog assigns you a letter and then you list 10 of your favorite things that all start with that letter. I left a note to Mojito Maven that I wanted to play along, and she assigned me the letter S. Ten of my favorite things are....

1. Snacks! I eat snacks every day...I pack them with my lunch and bring them to work, I throw them in my purse if I'm going to be out for a long period of time, and if I don't bring snacks along I'm wishing that I had them!

2. I love Swallows! As you can see by my tattoo image on my side bar. These birds have made a huge comeback in so many things lately... vintage clothing design, tattoos, home decor... and I love seeing them. I would love to hang little versions of these from my ceilings, but I don't think the guys in my hacienda would go for it!

3. Sending cards... I love writing out cards to friends and family members. Thank you cards, thinking of you cards, etc. But, I also LOVE receiving them! (Hint, hint...to anyone reading!) I actually received a Valentine's card from Mom yesterday and one today from one of my closest friends. Made my day!

4. Sewing. I love to sew. I'm a big chicken and don't really branch out that much to try new things, but I have tons of ideas in my head for future projects.

5. Sliding around in my socks. If I had wood floors I'd be in Heaven! Not to worry... I see a flooring change in my future!

6. Singing in the car. Especially after a glass of wine! Then I sound really good!

7. Sundaes. Hot fudge or caramel. YUM-MEE!

8. Shopping! Granted I don't get to shop too much, but man I love it when I do have the chance! Usually after Christmas I can hit the shops with gift cards and Christmas cash.

9. Skating. Roller skating, that is. It takes me back to my childhood! I used to hit Skateland most weekends when I was in elementary school. I had the white skates with red glittery laces, and big fuzzy pom-poms with little bells in the middle on the toes!

10. Sushi & hot sake! Hubby turned me on to this after we started dating. It took me awhile to really get into it, but now I'm hooked. I actually have a date with Hubby for Sushi next week...can't wait!

A big thanks to Mojito Maven for letting me play along! If you would like to play, just leave a comment and I'll assign a letter to you, too.

"What would you do?" Wednesday

This inquiring mind wants to know.... if this scenario happened to you how would you respond?

(I know this is Jim from The Office, but that's who popped in my mind with this story....just please go with it for now...)

It's one of those days... Mike's stomach is a bit on the rumbly side and its not from being hungry. He keeps wondering if he should stay at work and trudge through this noisy stomach kind of day. He may work in a cubicle very close to a coworker, or he could be lucky enough to have his own office in which case trudging through the day might be a lot easier. In either case, sick days are very limited and he doesn't want to waste one if he doesn't have to. Plus, who wants to look bad by leaving work early, right?

The pile of work is daunting, so leaving isn't really an option unless its an emergency. Mike decides he is going to hang in there. Thankfully the bathroom isn't too far off so if he needs to make a run for it he should be safe, barring any hallway stops caused by other coworkers or obstacles. He dives back into his work and temporarily forgets about the rumblies.

A few hours pass and Mike thinks he's out of the woods. He takes a break from the pile of work on his desk to chat with some coworkers who've gathered in the hall nearby. Someone is telling a pretty funny joke about a dingy blonde and he doesn't want to miss out. He's glad he took the break, the joke is really funny. Lots of laughter follows from everyone who's joined in, but pretty soon the crowd is breaking up and heading back to whatever projects are going on. Just as Mike turns to go back to his desk the unavoidable happens. A small eruption with a slightly audible sound comes from Mike's pants.

There was no rumble from his abdomen. There was no warning that Mike was about to be in a very embarrassing situation in front of several fellow employees. At work. With no change of clothes.

What should Mike do in this horrificly humiliating moment?

Should he:

a. pretend to cough or sneeze, acting as if nothing embarrassing has occurred and walk as easily as possible to the men's room to see what he can salvage of his boxer's, hoping nothing has intruded on his slacks
b. say excuse me to all within earshot and rush to the men's room to see what it looks like down below
or
c. run like crazy for his desk, grab his keys and head straight for the parking garage

Better yet, what would you do if you found yourself in this situation? This is one of those weird and wacky scenarios that I play out in my head from time to time.... "What would I do if...?" Of course, I don't typically follow up with a plan of action like I should. I'm usually just trusting that I can mosey through my days uneventfully. Do you ever think about scenarios like this?

Still to come...

I'm so anxious to let you in on what I've been working on for Valentine's Day, but I don't want to ruin the surprise for my sis or Hubby by posting details yet (they actually read my blog from time to time). For now please just keep in mind that I decided to make all my own Valentine treats for my family members this year. And, I asked for Hubby and the little guy to do the same for me. (The three of us are going out for a nice dinner on Saturday night so that will be our fancy treat to each other.) I'll post pics on Saturday of what I've made.

Another thing I'm excited about is exchanging guest posts with my bloggy friend The Rambler. I'm not sure exactly what day we'll post our stories, but stay tuned for details. We are having a blast planning our topic! A huge thanks to Rambler for playing along with me!

And, I'm preparing for my first lovely give away!
More details to come on this as well!

Speaking of give aways.... Bama Belle is hosting a totally fantabulous give away herself! Have you ever tried Bliss products? I've only been fortunate enough to try a few of them, including the Foaming Face Wash that is part of her package, but have loved what I've tried. Scoot on over to her site and comment so you can be entered in her drawing.

Thanks for dropping by today, my friends! I look forward to surprising you with many great things in the days ahead!

a babysitter's regrets

Do you ever have moments when you are reminded of some pretty embarrassing things you did as a kid? I have many such memories! But, one that haunts me from a time is when I went to a babysitting job with a good friend of mine "H". Her family was a little higher up in the social hierarchy than mine was, so this babysitting job was top of the line in my opinion back then.

The house was bigger than what I was used to, the decor was more tasteful, and H's duties were a bit more detailed. For example, the parents of the house had left her a meal to prepare for their children, complete with raw fish that needed to be pan seared. I remember H called her mom on the phone to help with how to cook the fish. While she was cooking I think I played with the kids, at least I hope that's what I was doing...I can't recall everything since it was around 18 years ago.

I distinctly remember, however one piece of furniture that really caught my eye. I remember it being one of those Asian bureaus with all the little drawers in it. Beautiful red stained wood with tarnished brass accents... very historical looking. I couldn't stop wondering what was in all of those drawers! What would a nice, classy family store in those little compartments? I know if I had that luxury as a pre-teen I would've stashed markers and stationary and make up and hair do-dads in there... my options would have been endless!

After the kids went to bed, or were in the tub or something, I decided to rummage. I announced to H that I wanted to snoop. She looked at me like I was crazy. Which I was. I started pulling open the little drawers and found they were crammed full of a variety of stuff, including the personal check refills that belonged to the parents. I shut the drawers after looking in a few of them, and didn't take any of their contents. I could tell H was mortified by my actions when she told me that I really shouldn't be digging around in their stuff. I'm not sure what remark I might have made to her, but I stopped.

Needless to say I've always been remorseful about my snooping. I didn't do such things when I was on my own babysitting jobs. I didn't even talk on the phone to boys or invite my friends over like other babysitters I knew did. I was a good sitter at all times! Except for that time with H. I'm not sure what caused me to act that way. Perhaps I was jealous of her for her clientele. Perhaps I was just nosy. Or a combo of both. Whatever the case, I'm happy to report that I didn't do that ever again. I wonder, tho, if I will get paid back when my son has a babysitter at our house some time. I'm a big believer in Karma so who knows what's in store for my drawers. I haven't obtained one of those beautiful Asian bureaus just yet, so maybe the temptation to dig isn't at my house yet. One thing is for sure, I'll make sure my private stuff is locked away so that any snoops reminiscent of myself won't have much to find.

Gardening has begun!

Just on a smaller scale than I had previously eluded to. Yesterday we received our first gardening project in the mail, and its amazing because we can grow it in the house. Broccoli sprouts from the Sprout People! I'm not sure if you ever buy these at the grocery store, but we love putting them on sandwiches and salads. They are so healthy and good for you! But, they aren't all that cheap. So, we found this wonderful little kit when I was reading maya*made's blog last week. If you're looking for something to do with the kids then you might want to invest in one of their sprouting kits...talk about a deliciously fun science experiment! And check out the huge bag of seeds we got... we'll be rolling in sprouts for months!!!

I had to show the packing peanuts that the Sprout People used...they are totally biodegradable! We even wet them a little to watch them begin to disentigrate.
It was very cool to see!

Hubby and I are a bit short on time this weekend (and for the next several weekends) so we've reevaluated our original Gardening 101 plans... he has some major web design projects to complete (asap), and I'm all kinds of anxious about planting a regular tilled garden or a raised bed type of garden. First off, our yard isn't the biggest in the world. While analyzing where to put the garden we realized the spots that receive enough sun for optimum growing are quite sloped so we are having a tough time picking where to plant.

Another issue is tilling a garden close to the house. Since we would be watering more and making the soil a bit softer I'm wondering if this will create potential ground shifting issues that could impact our concrete slab and ruin our foundation. The ground slopes downwards from our slab to help with drainage, so if we make that ground flatter we could be creating little pools for water that won't drain. (Maybe I'm just being paranoid.)

Then there's the issue of the raised bed... build our own or buy one. There are some great raised beds already built that we could buy, but it's truly more than what we would like to spend. Even once we settled on just building our own, we were back to the issue of location and the slope in the yard vs. too much shade.

Tomorrow I'm going to just look for some containers and see if we can't make a container garden instead of the other kind. I'm a little bummed about not having a full-fledged garden, but hey... I don't have the greenest of thumbs, so maybe this is the most realistic option anyway. More pics and updates to come... I soooo want this to work!!!

more lovely give aways

For those of you who aren't already "in the know" about According to Nina's great give aways, I'm going to let you in on how to obtain these great little freebies....

First off... Nina is giving away these super cute tea towels. Who wouldn't want them???
Next up...Nina is giving away this great watch.
Notice a trend in the colors? I certainly did! Green is my absolutely most favorite color in the world!

Click on the pictures or the links above them to go straight to her blog posts and sign up so you can try to win, too. I really want to be the big winner so I'm not truly trying to reduce my odds of winning by sending you to the same sign up, but hey... I've got to create some good karma from the bloggy world sometime, right?

Enjoy!

girly valentine give away

So you already know that I'm a fan of the give aways, right? Well, I've been debating on posting about several that I've seen recently. Instead of posting about all of them, and entering the drawing for some things that I really may not actually want or need, I thought I would just advertise for something that I'm truly fond of.

Here it is, ladies.... visit the Blue-Eyed Bride and check out her Hanky Panky give away from Nordstrom. I've never tried these little numbers, but I'm all about finding a great pair of undies. I mean geeze...I do have to wear them all most every day, right?

But, seriously, these are very cute and are such the right colors for the upcoming Valentine's holiday. Hurry and sign up! What's that saying.... "offer ends soon!"

an unfavorite thing to do

The pantry is almost bare... at least of things that are good to throw together for a meal. The freezer is meatless. The cereal containers are empty. The bowl of fruit that serves as our dining table centerpiece has dwindled down to one large orange and one small clementine. All on a Monday.

Fortunately, there are enough ingredients left to make tuna fish with some hard-boiled eggs to serve for dinner tonight. But, after that I'm going to have to head over to the grocery store. It can't be put off another day.

Going to the grocery store on a week night, and after seven o'clock is one of my least favorite things to do. I know Hubby won't enjoy it either, but he's out of luck. I can't stand going to the store by myself in the dark and the cold. Especially now that so many people are without jobs... I always wonder if I'll be struck by a mugger! (Not that I live in a place where that happens often, but hey...anything is possible.)

What is one of your least favorite things to do, but you have to do it anyway this week???

What a weekend...

Talk about a busy last couple of days. I feel like I've been going from one thing to the next! I guess I literally have...

Friday I worked late, headed home then we made dinner and just did some stuff around the house. Saturday Hubby and I got up early and headed to workout. The CrossFit team workout didn't happen...the CrossFit gym was having an event just for fire fighters so Hubby and I did our own CrossFit workout at our regular gym. I hung in there ok...it wasn't a super intense workout but it definitely wore us both out. It was a 20 minute workout, alternating between the maximum amount of pull ups you could do then running a quarter of a mile, back and forth for the full 20 minutes. I can only do about three pullups unassisted so I was utilizing the machine that gives you a boost with a little bit of weight. I'm pretty sore today in my biceps and shoulders, but its definitely a good sore! The running felt good, too, which worked out to about a mile when all was said and done. Next Saturday I should get in another CrossFit workout with the team thing that I'm not looking too forward to.... but I'll go with the flow and let you know what happens.

After that, we came home, made breakfast with the little guy, Hubby went shooting with some buddies and me and the little guy got the oil changed, then hit the mall. He's had some Christmas money burning a hole in his pocket so he got some new DC shoes and a Hurley hat. I must say he's pretty stylin'! Baseball practice was after that, a couple more errands, then home for dinner, after that an old Sherlock Holmes movie from Netflix, and I did a bit of quilting while watching tv.

Today began with CBS Sunday morning (one of my fave shows!), then church, then Hubby took me and the little guy shooting. Once we got back the little guy had to make a project for school and I've been working on laundry off and on. We just had dinner and we are all pooped. The Super Bowl is on and the couch is seriously calling my name...along with the quilt I should be working on and the chores I should be taking care of. I think I may have to doze for a bit then see if I can handle the chores and the quilt.

How has your weekend been? I hope you've gotten a bit more time to relax than what I've made time for!