I Was Her FIRST Fan!

This past weekend, Beth and I went to a book signing of a little known blogger named Ree Drummond, a.k.a The Pioneer Woman. 

I had read other bloggers’ tales of how the lines were so long and the wait time was extremely long, so I got it in my head that we had to get to the book store at the butt crack of dawn. 

I was wrong. 

I didn’t mean to be the first fan to the parking lot that day, but I was.  I even beat the store manager.  Beth forgave me, eventually, for getting her out of bed earlier than she gets up on her work days. 

It turns out, not many people knew that the store was handing out tickets for the signing as early as 9am.  And they didn’t realize that the earlier you came, the closer to ‘first in line’ you could be.

While I may have been the first person in the parking lot, I was not the first person in the line.  We went out to get breakfast, then sat in our warm car and waited until the store opened at 9.  When one person walked to the door to get a ticket, the few others who had arrived and been waiting in their warm cars flooded the doors before we could even get our seatbelts unbuckled. 

But there weren’t too many ahead of us that morning.

After we got our ORANGE tickets (they went by color, so we were in the second color group – so much for being first in the parking lot!), we headed down the strip to Target.  FUN!

Beth and I spent time trying on clearance items and looking around at nothing we needed.  Then she realized she was going to be late for a date, so she ran out of the store, leaving me to wander the aisles of a store that can take money out of your pocket faster than an underage pick-pocket in the streets of London.  Scary.

I did find some great bedding ideas for Jack’s big-boy room.  Hopefully that will happen sometime this year.

When I finally went back to the book store, I had 3 hours to just sit and wait.  They had set up her signing table at the front of the store.  I sat and read a book and waited.  I was waiting for Beth to get back to the store, waiting for Ree to show up, and waiting for my coughing fits to scare everyone out of the store.   Two out of  three ain’t bad.

 

Without any fanfare or any announcement, Ree walked in and sat down at the table. The lines started forming, and she was off and signing.  She was poised, beautiful, and friendly to everyone who came to see her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were so many cute kiddos there just waiting to make her ovaries quake. 

Finally, I got to ask her to sign my books, one she signed twice because I asked her to sign a page other than the one she was automatically programmed to sign first, and I got to talk to her like I was a raving lunatic.  I told her she was the first celebrity I’d ever met, and that I was nervous to be there next to her.  I also complimented her on how beautiful her oldest daughter is – has anyone else noticed that?  She’s such a beauty.

Beth and I got our books signed, then we were herded out of there like sheep.  That was that.  It was over.  My grin wasn’t TOO huge, like it could have been, and the lady who took the picture with my camera got a clear shot.  Yippee!!  (though, now that it’s cropped a bit, it looks a tad fuzzy to me)

It was a bit anti-climactic in the end (much like this post), but it was so fun spending a day with Beth (who ditched me for a date, but I’ll let it slide since it was a FIRST date), seeing a huge blogger who I admire, and getting my cookbook signed by the author.  That’s a good day in my book!

My Friend Could Use a Hug

Heather is one of my dearest friends.  Right now she’s helping me get Jack through the winter sickies with her stash of essential oils.  Thanks to her, my house smells like oregano, garlic, peppermint, lavender, and melaleuca (a plant I’ve never heard of).  Jack loves when I put the ‘medicine’ on his feet.  He puts them right up there for me.  So cute.

But the reason I bring her up right now is because I just read her most recent blog post and all I can think of to do for her is give her a huge hug!  Since I can’t do that (she lives a half hour away), I’m offering up my prayers for her instead.  And I thought I could see if you would offer up your prayers too.  And your internet hugs.

It’s nothing life shattering that she’s going through, though losing an oven can seem life shattering to someone who uses it nearly every day, but she’s had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for sure and could use a bit of cheering up.

Could you pop over to her blog and give her some bloggie support?  That would be awesome.  Her writing  made me laugh out loud and want to squeeze her in a big sympathy hug all at the same time. 

And maybe you have a vacuum recommendation for her.  She could use it.

Sewing Machine Cover

I made something again!

You’re going to think I should change this blog to something crafty, but really, these are all Growth Chart Moments in my life.  I’ve never been friends with a sewing machine.  I’ve always wanted to be crafty but have never found anything that I was good at.  I’m not saying I’m all that good at sewing, but at least I’m really enjoying what I’m making.  I can’t describe the sense of pride I feel when I’ve completed something that resembles what it’s supposed to be and is functional.  It brings a big goofy grin to my face!

Anyway, on with the latest project.

The other day I was at JoAnn’s with my friend.    A few seconds after I fell in love with the cutest little boy fabric ever, I fell in love with the cutest antique sewing machine fabric ever.  I’ve had “make a sewing machine cover” on  my to-do list since I bought the thing last summer, but I had yet to actually make anything.

Until now when I was inspired by the cutest sewing machine fabric ever!

I think my friend sent me a link to this tutorial when I first bought the machine, so I knew this was what I would do with the fabric whenever I found it. 

This isn’t a tutorial, just a chance for you to see the way I work. I have decided that to cut my fabric correctly, I need to iron where it needs cut, then take the scissors to the fold line and cut away.

That’s not very professional, is it?  I have a roller cutter thing, and I have a very short cutting mat, but I seem to like this method better. Is that strange?  I really have no idea how most people cut fabric. 

After I figured out which way to sew the sides on to the main portion of the fabric, I realized I should have pinned the entire thing together instead of just a few parts at a time.  It may have made my seams a little neater.  Maybe not.

 

You know how I mentioned in my last post that I find it’s better to over-buy fabric than to under-buy?  Well, I evidently didn’t heed that advice this time, since I didn’t have enough fabric at the bottom to hem.  It’s all raw edges at the bottom.  I’m used to these imperfections of my work.  It gives them character. And I’m easy to please.  I now have a cute cover for my sewing machine!

Jack’s Pillowcase

I made a pillowcase.  Is that not the most impressive thing ever?  No?

Well, you don’t know me very well then.  That’s okay.  Most people probably think making a pillowcase is the easiest thing in the world to do.  They’d be right, you know.

The short story is that I was at JoAnn’s with a friend the other day and saw this adorable fabric.  Jack loved it immediately and wouldn’t let me put it down.  So I bought some thinking I could certainly make a pillowcase with it.

The long story is that I have no idea how much fabric is needed to make a pillowcase.  So, I called another friend and asked her how much yardage I would need to make a pillowcase.  She was a genius and said to go find a pattern, read it and buy that much.  So I bought WAY too much fabric (because in my opinion it’s important to overbuy than under-buy fabric when you’re as clueless as I am at sewing) and found some matching colors for a border.

When I got home, and a few days later when I had the time, I sat down at the computer to find a pattern or video that would help me sew a pillowcase.  I knew it couldn’t be that hard, but I really had no idea how to start.

I found this video and this video on Youtube (which really say the exact same thing, but it helps to have two different perspectives when doing a project, right?) and was able to knock out an adorable pillowcase in just a half an hour.

As with any of my projects, you don’t want to get too close.  You will see just how bad it really is.  From afar, it looks adorable and pretty impressive.  Up close, you can see that it is uneven and has edges showing when it’s not supposed to (I did something called a French seam which is supposed to hide all the edges) Jack really doesn’t care about the uneven border or the frayed edges showing.  He’s excited to name all the trucks, diggers and cranes on his very own pillowcase.

One Plate Wonder….

….and other ways I’m trying to loose weight.

I need to loose weight.  What woman doesn’t?  Even skinny girls feel like they need to loose weight (or so I’ve heard).  I’m no skinny girl, so let’s just say I need to loose a lot of weight.  Probably a good 50lbs to get to a good healthy weight.  I’m a horrible dieter and exerciser (especially in the winter), but I think I’ve found something that might work for me.

Enter my sister and brother-in-law:

My sister is 4 years older than me, a mom of two pre-teen boys, and a pioneer woman who spins her own yarn, weaves on a loom, knits, quilts, cooks, and creates –anything. 

My brother-in-law is a computer nerd, pioneer man who chops firewood to burn in their wood burning stove, and talks a lot.  A. Lot. 

Both of them went on the Atkins diet last year and lost 50-60lbs each.   The Atkins diet in its most general sense is to eat no carbs all day until your 1 hour reward meal where you can essentially binge on whatever you want after eating a sensible protein and vegetable.  The theory is that your insulin will be under control and you won’t crave carbs for that reward meal after a while.  It is amazing how much weight they lost, how good they feel and how great they look.  My sister has inspired me, My brother-in-law inspired Rick, and we’re ready to get on the healthy weight loss bandwagon!

Last September, we started the diet and the weight melted off of Rick immediately.  He lost a pant size in a little over a month.  It was awesome.  For him.  I on the other hand, lost 10lbs and put it back on over Christmas.  I couldn’t get the reward meal controlled and ate so much crap during my hour that the weight never really left completely.

But now, I have a plan!  I like to eat my reward meal for lunch.  That leaves my dinner either non-existent because I’m not hungry later, or light because I can’t have any carbs.  For my lunch, I crave apples and peanut butter.  I could eat apples and peanut butter for every meal and probably be content.  After I would finish my (LARGE) apple and peanut butter, I used to raid the cabinets and pantry for any and all chocolate, carbs, or treats I could find.  Now, I have a plan – wait, I already said that.  Let’s get to the plan, shall we?

I put everything that I’m planning to eat for my lunch reward meal on one plate.  That’s it.  That’s my plan. 

I pile everything I can on that plate.  After lunch, I’m not allowed to go raid the cupboards for anything else.  If I want to eat it today, I must plan for it at the beginning of my meal. 

It’s really worked for me.  I can now control my reward meal so that it is no longer packed with so many calories.  I’ve lost about 6 pounds in one month, so it seems to be working much better than last time.  I’m very excited to stay on this path of weight loss and be a inspiration to someone else – like my sister is for me.

One day I’ll have an ‘after’ photo to show you.