Sunday, April 26, 2015

A Funny Coincidence in Pensacola

But first: Lucas had to make a poster to run for student council Friday, and apparently the point is to be as funny and cool as possible. I remember at my high school, I always voted for the funniest speeches. One guy made the audience stand up then sit down, and said something like, "Remember that you stood up for me." Another kid told us all to scoot to the left of our seat, then the front, then the right, then all the way back, and said, "Thanks - you just cleaned every seat in the auditorium." Good stuff back then. Well, this is what Lucas came up with for his poster. Photoshop is just invaluable these days...like the Worldbook Encyclopedia was to kids in the 80's.


SO, my MIL mentioned she wanted a new sewing machine to replace her little $50 one that broke, and really wanted an automatic needle-threader, and Dean and I thought that would be a great Mother's Day gift for her. I started researching machines, and decided to get her a Janome in Pensacola, where they have an actual Janome dealer, and she can drop in for service or classes or whatever. So Saturday I head to the dealer, which I shall not mention by name here, because their website and Google declared them open 10-3, but when I got there they were closed. AAAAGHHHH! (That's a one-hour drive, people.) I decided I'd head to Joann's to get a knitting needle I needed for my sweater, but I came across Hobby Lobby first. Guess which size was the only one they didn't have - yep, you guessed it. So on to Joann's after all. Got my knitting stuff, then wandered over to the sewing section to see if they sold Janome's or not. A saleslady was putting a machine in a buggy, and said, "I'll just put it in your buggy for you. Is this your buggy, Keiko?" Now, how many people do you think are named Keiko besides my MIL?! Sure enough, there she was!


I yelled, "Keiko!!!" The saleslady, who had her back to us, immediately said, "Oh, I'm sorry I mis-pronounced your name." (I just now realized that she thought my MIL was correcting her on how to say it - haha.) Would you believe that she had just bought that machine? So what are the chances that the store where I might have bought her a machine was closed, and I ended up in Joann's at the moment she bought her own - astronomical! So I figured God wanted me to do something else, and sure enough, she asked if I could show her how to use the needle-threader next time I came over. Well of course I followed her home and we set that sucker up, plus I got a home-cooked meal out of it! Just too funny. Here's another funny story about a gift from my in-laws, if you need a laugh.

And now to the sweater, which is coming along just swimmingly now, though I was a'might nervous about starting the sleeve. You use a second circular needle to knit the sleeve with, and it was very dicey holding 3 needle tips to start, but I think I did it right. I should've gotten Lucas to take a better picture so you could appreciate the complexity of it. I'm making good progress on the sleeve, and I think it's going to be gorgeous!!!


Now do you have a funny gift story?

Friday, April 17, 2015

Rest of Spring Break 2015 *Graphic Pic Warning

(Do not scroll down if you are sitting in a busy waiting room or you have a weak stomach - you have been warned.) We came back from 50-degree weather in Wisconsin and headed for 70-degree weather at the beach. A little cool for swimming, but nice enough to take the dog for a paddle board.


I met my sewing buddy Robbie at a nice restaurant for lunch, and was planning to do a nice review of them, so I took a bunch of pictures. This is the cool fish tank with stingrays and all kinds of fish you can pet...I guess.


These were the cool light fixtures, and the food at lunch was GREAT!


Love the decor! Alas, I took the family back for dinner the next night, and was really let down, so no big review now. But if you're in a boat in Wolf Bay and want to dock at the Cayman Grill, definitely stop for lunch on the deck. If it's nighttime and you want well-cooked fish, keep on going! One funny story - the waitress, who seemed to be from another planet, took our drink orders, then brought the boys' Cokes in tiny kids' cups with bendy straws. Lucas, the 12-year-old, would've been offended if this happened just to him, but it also applied to 18-yr-old Drew, who's 6'2 with a buzz cut. We all cracked up and Drew immediately Snapchatted a pic to his friends. Then when she took our food order, she actually asked him if he wanted the adult pizza or the kid's pizza! The hilarity did not quite make up for the overcooked, unseasoned fish, sadly.


On Saturday, I got up at 6:30 AM to run a 5K - go me! Unfortunately, I came down the stairs in my sock feet, which is a big no-no for someone with Mad Cow disease, as you can see from previous posts. So one foot flew off the step and I fell straight back onto my derriere and right hip, which were clothed in slippery running shorts, so I proceeded to bump down 10 steps as if on the lubed-up sled from Christmas Vacation. My forearm banging on each step didn't even stop me, but THIS time (yes, this was the second time I did this) I didn't bruise the arm up, at least. So I was trying to dress and leave the house quietly, but Dean did jump up to come check on me. I walked around and didn't seem to have broken anything, so I went on and ran the 5K - booyah! Even shaved 3 minutes off my time (33:46), but this was because there were only about 25 people running, and I didn't want to be the last one. Now hold the phone, because I just checked the results, and would you believe that I came in 3rd in my age group?! I'm going back to count - I bet there were only 3 of us.


Okay, back to my Mad Cow. I came home, ate a nice breakfast Dean made for me, loaded up with ibuprofen for the hip pain to come, got in the bed, and proceeded to have that hysterical laughing then crying thing I do after falling - it was just delayed a little because of the 5K. It seems to be a combination of happiness that I haven't broken anything when I fall, and sadness at the inevitability of a broken hip in my future. Whatever...here's that graphic pic I warned you about. It's quite educational in what happens to your leg when you fall down and you're on aspirin. I'm hoping gangrene doesn't set in....and that Giovanni Ribisi doesn't show up and declare my leg "south of cheese."


There was another large bruise perfectly outlining my coccyx down to the 3 spinous tubercles, but I'll leave that one to your imagination. Here's the anatomical diagram. (Yes, if you Google-image that, somebody posted their actual bruise.)


Let's leave you with something more appetizing - this is how Dean fixed Cuban sandwiches for us when we had to come back to the real world of school and work. The man is a whiz with cast iron pans!


Now what are you doing this weekend?

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

First Half of Spring Break 2015...

And we spent it in Wisconsin with my sister's family. Poor Dean had to work, and it's mighty hard to get to Sparta, so he stayed back. The boys and I flew into La Crosse, which is a lovely city, though they're working on the airport....ahem.


We ate at a great Mexican restaurant called Manny's, in Onalaska I believe, where the bowl of queso dip dwarfs what we get here in Alabama.


And the next day Tracey made delicious crescent rolls with homemade cinnamon filling and glaze - YUM.


Here's a bat in the barn - did I mention they live on a farm now? I declined to climb the ladder for a shot of hundreds of bats - sorry.


This is where they used to bring the cows for milking...now it's bike storage.


The boys got to experience chickens for the first time ever - whee!


This is called an ugly-neck, or something more official, because it doesn't have any feathers on parts of its neck.


Their snow just recently melted, and we had great weather for getting outside and playing Frisbee and riding bikes.


I did attempt a chicken-selfie (is that a thing?), but she was staring at me a little too intently, so I was a'skeered of getting pecked.


Joe had a little White Lightnin' from Tennessee, so we had screwdrivers - very smooth!


We drove into Cashton to sample some cheese and look at Norwegian gifts, and I saw a windmill for the first time in person - is that what you call this?


We found an antique store that had vintage patterns, so I bought these 3, but I need to talk to you vintage pattern-buying women, because I was under the impression you could get a bundle for a few bucks. These were $3 a piece! I was especially dismayed when I found out the woman double-charged me, and we had to go back after lunch to straighten that out.


When we got back home, Tracey and I put on our running gear and headed out for a "shuffle," as she calls it.


I don't what you'd call this, other than silly.


And fun, actually.


Drew had the most fun petting their cat, oddly enough.


And on the way to the airport, we stopped at Fitting Knits, one of two LYS in La Crosse, where I bought these 2 skeins on clearance.


So that was a short but sweet start to our Spring Break, and now we can say we've been to Wisconsin! Now to start the beach portion of our week, and I'm running a 5K on Saturday, since I MAY be in training for a half-marathon in Amish country in September!!!!! More on that later....what are YOU up to this week?