Sew Annoying!

So I'm working on a quilt again and this one might really be my last!! For reals this time. Probably. Maybe.

If I could properly work my stupid sewing machine I might actually enjoy it a little better! But as it stands, if I do not have the following items close at hand while I'm at the machine, I will accomplish nothing but frustration. (And screaming and throwing, hence the reason why our dog runs to the bedroom to hide as soon as he sees the sewing machine come out. Seriously. It's kind of sad)

The Seam Ripper and Scissors are a must because as much as I sew - I do A LOT of unsewing. These are items you are used to seeing in a sewing box. The other items, not so much. Somehow when I sew, the thread in the machine gets wrapped around the gizmos and gets caught up in the joints. So then I have to use the Screw Driver to remove the front half of the sewing machine. I then have to use the Flashlight to find the offending thread and the Pliers to attempt to remove it. It's a scene. A sad, sad scene.

I have to re-thread the machine at least 4 times during a sewing session. This is probably user error but I follow the directions so I'm not sure which step I'm missing. Maybe the machine is a lemon. Maybe I'm not cut out for sewing. Maybe this is normal and I'm just horribly impatient. It's probably a little of all of that.

Sadness.

Until next time...

Bless them!

I love chocolate and peanut butter but I do not love Reese's Peanut Butter cups. The chocolate to peanut butter ratio is off - too much chocolate and not enough peanut butter. I know this opinion is probably blasphemous - whatever.

Well, several years ago, Reese's started making special holiday themed chocolate/peanut butter treats with the PERFECT chocolate/peanut butter ratio. Pumpkins, Christmas Trees, hearts and Easter Eggs!! DELICIOUS!! For the months between Halloween and Easter, I delight in these fantastic treats. And for once I'm thankful stores shove the holiday-a-month-away down our throats so far in advance because that means I get one more month of chocolate/peanut butter goodness.

Last night I had to go to Walmart. I've mentioned my utter disdain for Walmart. This trip did nothing to help with that. Except I turned down the candy aisle and there they were! In all their chocolate/peanut goodness! They come in a box of 6 and I practiced self control and only bought 2 boxes.

Bless you, Reese's! You've given me hope that fall might actually be coming and we might eventually get to wear our cute sweaters and scarves....while enjoying a perfectly created chocolaty treat.

Until next time....

Hey You Guys!!!!

I got away from My Favorite Things. This is me trying to focus. :)

Today it's my movies! I have two MOST favorite and a bazillion other favorites. So I'm going to have to break them down in to sets. This set is my 'Most Favorite' set. What?! I like my stories!

My most favorite movie is The Goonies. I.LOVE.IT! I love the humor, the adventure, the lines. It never gets old! Ever! It's the movie that launched my Sean Astin crush. I've seen the movie so many times, I can recite the entire thing. Yep - it's no fun watching it with me. I quote it all the time - "Dead things, Mikey! DEAD THINGS!" Brilliant! The movie makes me want to hunt treasure and set booby traps. That's what I said! Set Booty traps! Be quiet, shhhhh! :) SO AWESOME!

My other most favorite is The Usual Suspects. I know - the COMPLETE opposite of The Goonies but SO GOOD. It's the perfect 'who done it' with a brilliant twist at the end. This movie launched my love affair with Kevin Spacey. I think he's a genius with a fabulous talent. This movie also has a slew of quotable lines. Benicio Del Toro delivers his "he'll flip ya, flip ya for real" line so simply. :) So great! It's a perfect story with twists and turns and I just love it!

And there it is - the two movies I'd have to have on a desert island with me. Well, my two most favorite movies I'd have to have with me. There are others I'd want to pack as well but I'll save those for another day.

Until next time...

Just a Tuesday

There are moments in life where you will always remember where you were when.

It was a Tuesday. We got up to get ready for class, turned on our TV and watched the world change. It looked like a movie - hijacked planes, burning buildings. I remember thinking Will Smith was going to come swiftly to the rescue and get the girl. Only he didn't. And it wasn't.

We watched the world change live on every channel. We were glued to our TV sets for days watching the destruction over and over and over again until we thought we couldn't cry any more. Only we could because 9/11 is a wound that should never heal. It left a massive scar that will never go away.

We stopped as a nation and cried together. Then we got angry together. Then we came together. This horrible act changed my nation but it also brought my nation together.

And now its been 10 years. A decade. Just crazy.

I was watching a little bit of the ceremony this morning and listened to the names being read. A girl was reading names and ended with her dad's name, she lost him when she was nine making her 19 now. That's a lot of life! That's Junior High, High School, College - all without her dad because some wack-a-doo's had a 'mission'. And it still doesn't make any sense.

10 years later the footage still makes me cry. 10 years later the stories still break my heart.

And I hope it always will.

Until next time....

My Heavy Heart

My heart is broken, y'all. Between the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the fires, I'm pretty sure I'm going to spend the week near tears. I've sat and watched fire destroy large amounts of the state I love in the past few days. And it's still burning. People are losing their homes, their lives and there is NOTHING I can do about it. I'd huff and I'd puff if I thought it would help! I'd give up my favorite pair of shoes for Captain Planet's ability to control water and wind! But none of that is possible. And all I can do is watch. It's such a helpless feeling. We can donate money to the victims and supplies to the people at the front lines and that's helping. But it's not calming the flames any. And that's frustrating.

Seeing the interviews of people who had to leave behind all things precious made me start to think about what I would grab if grabbing was all I could do. The idea of making a "Must Grab" list is heartbreaking but humbling and so very grown up. So I'm making one through my tears.

Every time Texas is in the news 'spot light', my pride in my state grows by leaps and bounds. People have lost EVERYTHING yet they never say "woe is me! where is my help?" They stand and shakily say "yea, we've lost everything, but it's just things. we'll rebuild." You don't see shots of people standing around waiting to be rescued. You see shots of people waiting in line to donate cars full of supplies, Facebook posts of addresses where people have opened their homes to strangers needing shelter, people volunteering to help anyway they can.

Because that's what we do - we take care of our own. It doesn't matter what kind of disaster is thrown our way, we take care of our own. Our hearts are already there and we just can't help it.

I'm proud to be a Texan. Bottom line.

I'm praying for the families near the flames, the families through the flames, their animals who are scared and the men and women who are tirelessly working to STOP the flames. I'm praying for strength and encouragement and success. And I can't help but hope for a big giant rain storm. I'd give my favorite pair of shoes for a nice soaking Tropical Storm to blow in tomorrow. But I fear my shoes are safe, there's no rain in sight.

Until next time....

The Cricket in My Hair

That's a play on the book The Cricket in Time Square which is one of my favorites from my childhood and has nothing to do with today's story. It only provided the title inspiration. Proceed.

I love hot showers. I start every day with one. But today's shower was less than relaxing.

I usually check the shower for uninvited guests - IE: roaches - before I get in. This morning(ish) I didn't. I get in and look up to see a cricket. I'm not sure it was a cricket but it had cricket-like characteristics and crickets seem friendly so I'm sticking with it being a cricket. I mildly panic and go in to immediate survival mode. I try climbing up and whacking it but I almost slip and figure me bashing my head on the side of the tub would be counterproductive. So I decide to glance up every few seconds to make sure my little friend is still there.

I get my hair all soapy and quickly glance up only to see my friend has disappeared. (Insert Day 8 Bad Habit here) Full swing panic sets it - it's in my hair, I just know it. And in the process soap gets in my eye. So with one eye closed, I'm hopping all over the tub looking for a stupid bug. Only it isn't anywhere. I rinse my hair 5 times thinking the cricket would wash out, right? Only it doesn't - cricket's don't lay eggs do they?

I swiftly finish and robe up and go running in to the living room where my sister is. "I think there's a cricket in my hair!" To which my concerned sister looks up from her Words with Friends game, rolls her eyes, shakes her head and goes back to her game. No help at all.

I go back to the bathroom (with one red eye) and brush my hair 6 times and no bug falls out. And I can't find the bug anywhere in the bathroom. ANYWHERE!!

Daniel thinks it crawled back in to the light. I'm trying to believe that.

Surely a bug would fall out of my hair after 5 rinses and 6 brush outs, right? RIGHT?!?!