What makes a Good Friday a Great Friday?

 Good Friday!!!

Robb (or rather DQ) minted the phrase SEVERAL years ago...

What makes Good Friday, a GREAT Friday?

Besides Jesus sacrificing himself to take away our sins?

Chili dogs at the DQ!

So after church tonight, I'll pick up enough for whomever wants them and enjoy one myself.

Leon and I, and maybe one or two others, will decorate some eggs tomorrow morning. I found that Kwik Star has them for $3.99 per dozen!  Not sure if egg prices are actually coming down, as I haven't been in a grocery store for almost a week, or if K-S is just using them for a loss leader.  Either way, I'll take it!

The kids will all be here on Sunday for lunch and shenanigans. :)

Looking forward to it!

Leon and I hit K-S up every Thursday after school for their $1 off Fresh Blend smoothies.  They have two Fresh Blend machines right next to each other and we like to race.  Turns out the one on the left is a LOT faster than the right one.  consistently.

My favorite is the Lemon Creamsicle. mmmmm

Leon started seeing videos about the tv show The Rookie and asked that we make that our new together show.  I guess he was getting tired of The Middle, Dr. Who, The Office and another one that we abandoned along the way.  I found out where it was streaming and we're several episodes in now. He is loving it.  And he found out a friend from school is watching it too.  He thinks he'd make a good policeman!  In our town, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as downtown L.A. and he wouldn't get a body cam.  But I'm guessing he wouldn't apply here. :)

I'm enjoying recognizing where they are in L.A.!  Hey!  That's the Hollywood sign!  Hey! That's Muscle beach near the Venice canals!!!

 And when you look it up in google maps, you can see the exact spot they sat and an identifying graffiti wall right behind them. Yep!  I was right.  

If only they'd go into the tiny fabric shops in the fashion district where they measure the yards by the arm's length for $1 per arm.  Because then I could say, "Hey!  I bought THAT fabric!!!"

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Onto a beautiful weekend!  

Happy Easter!

Eh Eh Eh

 AND once again, I'm waiting to use the restroom until I have my blog post done.  I was in earlier so it's not as long... :)

Work yesterday was crazy busy and started an hour earlier than I usually start.  Around 4:30, I said ENOUGH!!!  and went in the house, settling on the couch to watch another episode of Modern Family and relax a bit.

Ryan saw me and plugged in his new Dune movie, (with Jason Momoa) thinking that's why I was in there.  He REALLY wants to share it with me.  Nope.  I think I offended him but I really wasn't in the mood to watch a complete movie.  I can only handle bits of shows right now, unless it's a comedy and I have no other plans for the evening.

As it stands, I HAD no other plans for the evening and binge watched more of my show until almost 10.  sigh.  Oh well, I am in the 11th season of Modern Family and am starting to see why they decided to end it.  I'll stick it out and finish.

This part tho made me tear up a bit.

Robb always did voices when he read books to the kids, especially Amelia Bedelia.  Amelia's voice sounded quite a bit like Anne from Little Britain. 

   

 Eh Eh Eh

Day 2 of quarantine - Distraction Techniques

 I made sugar free jello in cute little half pint jars this morning.  I'm getting addicted to them with some sugar free whipped topping that we still have leftover from the holidays.  Don't remember exactly which one...

Last night I was determined to find some cottage cheese that I was positive we had in the fridge and mix it with some sugar free whipped topping and maybe some jello mix, but all I found was cottage cheese that had expired in October and was frozen...  and a cottage cheese container with rotten rotel in it.

I think my next cleaning binge needs to be the fridge.

Maddy and Matthew stopped by last night for a couple At Home Covid tests that I had.  I waved to them, yelling "I love you!"

A church friend stopped by for some winter tires he had stored in my garage.  I'd pulled them out earlier and yelled "How are you"s from the porch.

My socially distanced life is HOPPING!

I'm sure I'll be calling out people walking past just for someone new to talk to soon.

Streaming everything is becoming old... Everything at the tip of my fingers and nothing to watch.  And since I had some rabbit ears sitting there collecting dust, I decided to see what's happening in the real world.  I mean, HOW would I get an accurate picture of what the weather will be if I'm hearing it from Facebook who has NO idea where my podunk little town is?  I want to hear it from our local news people and see the moving radar screen for MY area.

SO...  I hooked the rabbit ears up and suddenly got a feeling of being in a hotel with no clue what channels are what.  And why are there so many channels about shopping, skin care and solving old mysteries?

SO.. I went one step further and plugged in an old Tivo that I found stuck in Robb's closet.  It had a lifetime membership on it so really was just plug and partially play. 

It used to be Meri's when she was a pre-teen.  It has Aquamarine, Walking Dead episodes and the 70s version of The Poseidon Adventure recorded on it!!

 Of course, that's when I realized it needs a digital/analog converter box.  I ordered one on Ebay and it'll be here Monday.

Woohoo!  I so miss the built in TV guide from my Tivo years!  

I can't wait to speed past the commercials again!  They still haven't improved much...

Well, back to work.  Need to write code to zip up specific files today in a timely fashion before I get distracted again...

Maybe Regifting

 So much to do today...  

Knocked a few quick things off my list so far, but they were easy ones.  

Move laundry ahead

set up a dr appt

list something on FB Marketplace

Wouldn't you know it, the only response I've gotten from that so far is from my daughter.  

Ummm What do she need with 4 Tivos???

I replied with "What do you need them for?"

and

"Don't be offended, I ask everyone this..."

Every week or so, Robb goes out to my bestie's husband's house and fills up his Tivo.  Once upon a time we got Mike hooked on it.  He records from antenna to the Tivo so he can watch regular old tv channels when he wants.  Unfortunately they don't have internet at their place, so Robb uses his phone as a hotspot and fills it up again.  It also gives them some time to visit.

But time moves on and Tivos break.  SOMETHING happened to Mike's and it won't show anything anymore on the guide.  Shoot.

And since our cable company moved on to a different recording style that doesn't allow Tivo, we have since stuck ours in the garage office intending for me to sell them on Ebay or FB marketplace.  Well, who has time for that?!

Mike's Tivo was special in that it had a lifetime account set up with Tivo, so no monthly bills.  Robb had bought it on Ebay along with another one that with the same setup.  So Robb brought Mike's home to see if he could get it working this weekend.

He couldn't.  So he asked that I bring the others in and he could check each of them for the other special one.  I dug around and found 4.  Of course NONE of them were the one.  REALLY?!  JUST how many DID we have??!  

I guess the answer is 5 and the 5th one is being illusive.

I'll track it down.  But in the meanwhile I have 4 Tivos with nowhere to go.  I considered pitching them, but thought, eh...  I'll offer them on FB marketplace.  Maybe SOMEONE could use them locally...  For parts or whatnot.  There are some GOOD shows recorded on these!  Elf, a tv version of Love Actually and the episode of Dave the Barbarian with Donkey singing "Baby... You're my only DONKEY!" in the style of Barry White.

 

 Classics...

But if the only person replying is Meri...  I might just wrap them up and put them under the tree for her.

Random Bits of my Life

 I completed a Sexual Harassment Course for work.  Was a little surprised to see David Schwimmer in a little video clip!  HEY!  I KNOW him!  Well.. from Friends...
According to the video... he's a womanizing jerk!

Maddy and Matthew won't be able to have us the weekend before Christmas. Bummer!  Maddy called last night to break the news to us.  So I'll complete & wrap their gifts and get them off in the mail by the end of this next week. hopefully...

 Robb gave Meri a pre-Christmas gift of a Weeping Angel ornament. :) She was always a big Dr Who fan!  For maybe just that season, but she'd loved it.  DON'T even blink!

Robb was gifted a free flat screen tv and he set it up in the living room on the coffee table and was "casting" shows from his phone to it.  Ummmm  hmmm...  We've never been "living room tv people" before...  but I'm pretty sure the coffee table isn't the best place for one.

I suggested that we move it back behind the second couch on the far side of the room and he thought that with our aging eyes, that little screen wouldn't be big enough.  So he ordered a 50" tv for our living room instead.  And set up eye appointments for us.

We're getting more pre-Christmas gifts this year than ever before.

Leon is eyeing the older free one for his room.  ummm.. hmmm. probably not happening.

So now we have a 50" tv on the coffee table.  As seen below.

We have our old non-working stereo system behind the couch right now and with the help of a saw and an old skinny closet door from the garage, I was able to get the tv back there. BUT it was wobbly.  shoot.  AND if you tried to use the remote from the big butt chair next to the tree, the electronic eye couldn't see the eye on the tv.  

*gasp* 
you'd have to get out of the chair and turn the tv on manually...    like a BARBARIAN! 
*again gasp*

So it's back on the coffee table until  solution could be found.  We DON'T need more furniture...

I purchased some risers for the stereo but it's even more wobbly now.  shoot.

So today I purchased this.

It'll be here in 7 short days...  I am convinced it will change our lives and the layout of the living room.  I'm sure, as a woman, the living room will be rearranged 16 times before it settles.  Like a cat! 

But that will be after Christmas when the tree comes down.

Cat Scratch Flying

 Goodness!  The day is getting away from me!

I was down a whole pound this morning!  I was up 3.5 pounds since the day before Thanksgiving... And now I'm only up 2.5...  It'll happen.   

Frank, the cat, has been having more fun in the garage these days.  Ryan has been letting him have fun out there exploring. Which is fine as now I don't really have to struggle too hard to make sure he doesn't escape out, but it's annoying too.  

As I sat in my office talking to a co-worker today, Frank managed to get between the screen door and the main door of my office (from the garage).  He scratched and mewed a bunch at the bottom of the door and I thought he was going to scratch his way into the crawl space beneath my office!  When all of the sudden, he jumped up with his sharp little claws and perched himself precariously between the door window and the screen.  

Then just as suddenly, he fell. lol!  

I heard Ryan yell for him and then he was gone.  Whew!

Scritch scratching cats can be so distracting...

I did some deep cleaning yesterday and in a closet under some stairs, which we rarely go into, I found a ton of Meri's barbie dolls and paraphernalia.  A barbie convertible and the barbie airplane for the flight attendant Barbie.  We had them all...  There are STILL more in a box in the garage.  Frank has probably come across them...  But Meri was thrilled to get them for her daycare kids!  She has two little 3 or 4 year old girls that will adore them as much as she did.  Maddy used to love them but can't stand dolls now.  She might get over that when she has a little girl of her own who might love dolls.

Maddy had a Barbie Makeup Sleepover party when she turned 6.  Out of the 15 girls that showed up in their pajamas, only 1 actually stayed overnight.  But that party alone scored Maddy a bunch of varieties of Barbies.  If your kid loves Barbies, you might need to throw one of those kinds of parties!

Speaking of flight attendents, Robb and my "together" show these days is the Flight Attendant with Kaley Cuoco.  If you don't like a lot of swearing and sex all wrapped up in one show, this might not be for you.  Oh and she drinks... a lot...  It's like watching a train wreck and you all love to watch those!  I really don't think Robb likes it much, but he's going along with it for my sake.  

It's not your mother's Silver Wings For Vicki story... ;) Of which, I've read them all!  and loved them.  For a long time I was going to be a flight attendant.  Nine years old laying on your back on the yard and watching the planes and their trails in the sky and dreaming about traveling. Because I was sure EVERY flight would bring an adventure.

Anyway, that was my day.  Looking forward to some quieter days to come.  At least I hope.  Too much hopping and cat stress today.

SUCH FUN!!!

Here is my stash from L.A. that only just recently were rescued from Abby's trunk.

7 items.  I really thought there were more, but I guess I did take a few things home in the carry on luggage...  

So anyway, now Leon has claimed the snake skin cotton and he wants me to make him a costume.  Not sure about that...  But also not sure I want to look like a snake.

hmmm.. That fabric might want to marinade in my stash for a while.

Speaking of binge'ing...

Lately I've binge watched the 3 season, Amazon Prime series of Miranda. HILARIOUS!  It's centered around Miranda, who is a 6' 1" tall woman, who is very awkward.  

Why is it that I can relate to her so well?...

I loved how she talks directly to her audience when she's shocked. 

Plus, the 30 minute episodes were the perfect chuckling chunk of a show for me.

"what have you done today to make you feel proud!"

Anyway, I thought she looked familiar, so Robb checked her out on IMDB and listed off the shows she's been in.

Oh yeah!!  Spy

 And OF COURSE!  Call The Midwife

Well, NOW what am I going to watch?  

The Impressionable One

So I've been watching a lot of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime.  Aside from the foul language and a bit of boobage on the first episode, it is great.

Robb can tell when I talk to a certain sister because I start up on the witty come backs.  I can tell when I've been watching Mrs. Maisel, because even I can tell that at least I'm thinking I'm funny. snarky, whatever.  I'm sure everyone else in the house knows too.  That's I've been watching that show I mean.  No one thinks I'm funny.

I'm beginning to doubt it now too...

I won't quit my day job!

Anyway, the temp here has been cut in two.  And by that I mean that it was 62 yesterday, so you do the math.  Leon's eyes froze in the two minutes we were outside this morning, so he did laps to the mail boxes and back until the bus came.

I rue the day when I have to drag an electric blanket and extension cord across the street so his little tushy can stay warm...  And it will happen.

He hasn't been sleeping in his bedroom for the last couple months.  Halloween really did a number on him and since we have the couch in our bedroom now, he whines that his bed is SO uncomfortable and the couch doesn't hurt his back.  What is he??  51?  Nope, that's me.

Last night, Robb had to go pick up a kid, so I pulled out a chapter book and with my flashlight, I lay on the bottom bed and read aloud to him two chapters out of the Bobbsey Twins.  I hadn't realized how boring that book really was...  But I did realize that the dogs hadn't been put out yet, so I told him I was going to take a break and run take care of them quick.  I'd be right back.  

No sounds from the loft...  I thought he was putting me on!  So I took care of the dogs and came back, still nothing.  I almost shook his foot to test him.  He was either faking REALLY good so that he could come into my room in two minutes with a wild story of a made up scary dream (he does that) or he was reallio and trulio asleep.  

I guess he was trulio asleep (I was wrong. Bobbsey Twins rock!) because he didn't come into our room until 1am and I got to watch another episode of Mrs. Maisel before Robb got home.

So now, I'll just be cracking myself up over here all by myself all day.

I am hysterical!  Just ask me.

Rampant Nostalgia

I'm getting sick of modern day tv programming and movies.  Anyone else with me?  Sure it's slick, trendy and well made with grandiose plots, but it seems to me, it's getting super duper preachy and telling me what to think.  

NOPE - not all of it's for me...  I can deal with zombies however, so don't take the Walking Dead away just yet. 

So I got nostalgic yesterday over lunch.  While I worked on my super huge salad that probably had as many calories than a big Mac, I worked with my Alexa firestick and asked her to find me "tv series in the 70s".  

"Hmm, I can't seem to find that."

sigh.  I'm not giving up.

"tv in the 70s"

"Here you go."

That search didn't bring any old ones besides a lot of nostalgic flash back clippy shows, that 70's Show and then finally the Waltons.  

I wasn't in the mood for goody two shoes tv, but I picked it anyway to see what other people chose in addition to the Waltons and hit the jackpot.  Woohoo!  Rockford Files?  Yes please!

Dang, James Garner just died a few years ago...  

His suits were total SWANK!...

I don't even think the Goodwill sells them anymore.

I watched the first episode during lunch, sewing and early this morning.  Here's what I noticed that is so different than today.

1) no multiple or too deep underlying plots, in addition to the main mystery, to keep my mind scattered in all directions.  No wonder there's so much ADHD these days... ;)

2) no cell phones.  But the main character can get tracked down anywhere he goes anyway.  My mom could do that too.  I could be stopping at Dominic's grocery for a candy bar on my way home from college and my name would get paged to bring home a gallon of milk...  

3) the killers are pretty dumb.  Flashy dressers, but not very bright in the head.  And they drove flashy cars and weren't very good at tailing someone.  This guy wore snazzy red pants and shiny black platform shoes.  Yep, that guy HAS to be the killer!!

4) The women's clothes are fascinating!

I noticed that I was watching it for the fashion that Lindsay Wagner wore.  Neato cape style blouse!  How can I make THAT?!  I figured it out in my head and will file it away for future reference.. .  It's not the one from the photo above.  

It's just comfortable to watch something that brought back my younger days so vividly.  Am I getting old?  Probably, but not in MY head.  At least I'm not NEARLY as old as my sister who has found that she enjoys watching Matlock!  I guess I have 1.5 years before I have to do that.  But I was never really a Matlock fan, so you'll have to force me to watch it.

I'll stick with the 70s for at least the next decade.  If only I could find the original Starsky & Hutch!

Eclipsed by a Tree

On the drive home from Wisconsin, Robb did all the driving and I just tried to stay awake.  When I was kid, I could fall asleep in the car at the drop of a hat and when we woke up, we were there.

Kind of like MAGIC!  

BUT I knew Robb hadn't had a lot of sleep over the weekend so I figured I better stay awake and keep him alert. 

I mostly ate.  Maddy and I had found some FRESH cheese curds and I thought Sluggy was lying when she said you can tell how fresh it is by the squeak.  What??!  But she's RIGHT!  This was the squeakiest cheese I'd ever eaten and wow was it good!  We split up the package and she kept some there.  I finished off my pack before the Iowa border.  Well, probably before Madison...  

We got to Iowa and still had three hours to go.  I had cracked open a sewing book and knew Robb would think I would just sink into it without talking to him for three hours, so I deliberately put it on the side burner and talked.  

What tv shows did you watch as a kid?  We shared our favorites that we could remember and he brought up one that I'd never heard of so he told me to look it up.  I did on IMDB and still didn't remember it.  That probably wasn't on the four channels that we got at my house.

In the IMDB search engine, I plugged in 1980 and it listed all the movies and tv shows that came out that year, so I quizzed him.  It brought up lots of fun memories about various shows we watched, who we watched the movie with and the genre of shows that shaped us.  

He saw a LOT of movies with an old girl friend...  :)  

But by the time we got to the late 80s, most off them were with me. or his sister or college friends.

I had my head buried in the computer for almost the entire 3 hours. Yay for internet devices!  I realized that we'd never even stopped for supper!  Not surprising though for all the snacking we'd done.  We got home around 9pm, exhausted.  

Meri had already picked up Leon and they were camping out in the front yard in her tent.  The firepit was lit and they'd littered partially cooked marshmallows all over the driveway.  The ants love us this week...

They gave up camping around 11pm when we heard them come in and she plopped him into his bed.  During the night, it rained like cats and dogs with lots of lightning and pouring rain.  I'm so glad they came in!

Monday was, of course, the eclipse day.  During the morning, it rained off an on and at around 10 or so, the wind SUDDENLY picked up and roared like a hurricane outside.  I heard a snap.  A little while later, we found out why.

Yeah, the dead tree in our front yard is no more...  Robb cut it all up and we pulled it back onto our yard until we can move it to the land fill.  

So.many.twigs...

It fell in exactly the same place as the tree earlier this spring!  What were the odds!?  

AMAZING...  A foot to the right or left would have been disastrous.  Or if it had fallen the OTHER direction, Meri's car would have been nailed...

Is there any doubt that God takes care of us?  I'm learning to trust better these days.

Oh! While Robb cut the tree apart, Leon and I did a science experiment with the eclipse.  When I was in elementary school, there was an eclipse.  I'm guessing 1979.  I remember we used paper cups and saw the eclipse through shadows.  I knew we could do it now too, so I googled it.  

Yep!  Eclipse watching for the people who don't plan ahead.

Colanders aren't just for spaghetti anymore!

Ok, enough randomness.  Enjoy your Tuesday and remember, no matter what gets in the suns way, there is nothing new under it. :)

Talk about Strange...

Friday night after visiting my bestie for a little bit, we picked up some pizzas and headed home.  Meri showed up and we all watched the first two episodes of Stranger Things.  Maddy had wanted to do a marathon this weekend.  It's my third time seeing it... her first.

The things we do for our kids... 

Oh and the black lace showed up!!!  Woohoo!  It's still in the package.

So we watched two episodes of the series that night and the next morning, Robb and I got up at 4am so Robb could make a fantastic breakfast casserole (not to be confused with an egg bake because he hates that term).  The casserole had biscuits and gravy on the bottom and an egg mixture with cheese and other yummies for the top and then baked.  It was for the kids trying out for All State and the kids were going to be leaving the high school at 5:45am, so so we thought.

I was in charge of delivery.  As soon as it was done and Meri was sent out the door, I headed over myself with the casserole.  The kids all went back to the choir rooms to practice with the teacher and 

THIS was the cafeteria at 5:50am.  

A neighbor couple stopped in to bring their freshman daughter and food too and then a little later another mother.  We just sat around and talked while the food that everyone brought got cold.  The bus driver turned out to be Leon's preschool bus driver and told me some stories about that kid...

Leon is famous now.  Actually, he's INfamous, which is even more famous than just normal famous.  No one can forget the kid that flew like a ninja from one bus seat landing on another that was full of girls.  We're working on bus manners with him...

The high school kids FINALLY came into the caf at 6:30 to eat.  Whew!  At 7 they were finally loading up all the leftover breakfast items to be used for snacks later onto the bus and then they were off.  

I got home and got a load of garbage down to heat or electify the next town and then Robb, Maddy and I went to pick up two cars that were at our Car Guy's place.  Can I just say, this guy is awesome...?  My van doesn't leak when the air conditioner is on anymore!  WOOHOO!  It was beginning to feel like a humidifier was running overtime in that thing.

Robb didn't want to watch any more of the marathon, so Maddy and I did.  Meri had to work.  She and I watched five more episodes mixed in with some yard work all after noon and evening.  I've never sat so much on a Saturday!  We had a super secret speedy steak night and got back to the show.  

On Sunday, I whipped up a crock pot full of chicken noodle soup for the potluck after church.  Tip for you if you bring that soup for a potluck...  Putting the noodles in before Sunday school was a good idea, so they won't turn to mush for the dinner.  BUT don't put it on high like I did.  The noodles dissolved when a ladle hit them and it was basically chicken noodle sludge.  STILL good and will STILL clear your sinuses, but weird.

I'll be eating it for lunches all week.  Except for today, because I'll get new food for my lunch date with Ada.  

Finished the last episode of Stranger Things with Maddy when we got home and after hunting for a missing pair of sweat pants for a while, she found them and then she was gone.

I get to see her again next weekend!!!

Leon got home late last night and he was wired.  He'd been trick or treating with his mom at the zoo all afternoon.  It took so many Grandma Val Baby stories and 6 renditions of Jesus Loves Me or Onward Christian Soldiers to get him settled, but then all that was for naught when we saw that his dad had just gotten home from work.  DAD!!!!!!  

Tag.  You're it!

Only THEN could Robb and I watch a little of the season premiere of The Walking Dead together.  And the DVR only got the first 60 minutes.  It was 90.  sigh.  I was so upset from the 60 minutes that another 30 would have probably killed me.  

I'm just glad Daryl is ok!!!  Sorry...  I hope I didn't spoil it for you.  Shouldn't have!

But I'm with the crowd, "If Daryl dies, we riot!"

Not really, but he's so cool and Meri wants to marry him someday, so we can't let them kill a future son-in-law!

Strange thinking?  I don't think so.

Spoiled Quilter

I started watching a Johnny Depp thriller from around 2004.  I THINK I've seen it before, but don't remember what the twist was...  I'm half way in, don't spoil it.  

It pays to be forgetful sometimes!  

Robb and I had watched half of the season finale of Suits from Wednesday night and didn't get to the rest until last night.  The Suits FB page posted a spoiler yesterday...  sigh. really?!...  But I watched it anyway and didn't tell Robb I knew part of the ending.  

Oops.  I guess he knows now...

The pair of shorts pattern that I cut out a few days ago is going to take a back seat for a while.  I've got a laundry list of sewing projects coming up, so I want to get Meri's prom dress done now.  

Unfortunately just as I was fixing up the pattern pieces from our sample dress, I realized that I hadn't gotten the muslin squares cut out for my siblings.  So I put aside her pattern pieces again and dug out the muslin fabric I bought on Wednesday.  I am two squares shy of the number that I need.

We're making a hand print quilt for my parents for Christmas.  Well, one for each of them since they live apart these days.  There are 40 grandchildren...  So they'll be big twin sized blankets...

Thank goodness it's an even number!  Unless I counted all my nieces and nephews plus my kids, incorrectly

The quilts will have hand prints of each grandkid in each square.  If that kid has kids, then there will be smaller hand prints over the top of that hand print.  

Sound confusing?  

 I pulled these photos off of Pinterest this morning so you'd get the gist.

You bet!

I've got about 8 packets of squares to mail out sitting on the dining room table right now.  Only one needs an address.  But I'm waiting on a print out to stick in to each one and my printer is on the fritz, so they'll mail on Monday.

As soon as I get them back, I'll sew them together and then get them to a business that does the quilting part professionally.  Since it will take at least 5 weeks to get them quilted, we need to get it going soon.  

A niece had discovered it on Pinterest and asked if we could do this this year.  

YOU BET!  

I think they'll love them.

I hope so.

I'm kind of loving this one, as you don't have to be perfect or match up each corner exactly...

Hmmm.  I won't buy the matching fabric until I see what colors come back.

Don't tell them and spoil the surprise!

It's Curtains For Some

I can't believe it's Thursday and I've been working almost non stop on a work project that should have been done Tuesday, but I keep having to bat off crisis' right and left to get back to it...

Something else random...  thanks to my post yesterday, someone took offense at my remote comments and I haven't gotten a chance to touch the thing since unless I'm by myself.  

"no no!  I'll get it eventually.  Nope wrong button. Just just wait!!  I've got this! Turn on the light."

I did discover that I can't "undelete" something anymore with this new doodad.  yuck.  

What happens when it's an accident?!

AND I've rediscovered some old favorites.  The Carol Burnette show!!!  The first old episode I watched had so many sexual innuendos, I figured maybe it had ALL been that and that humor had just gone right over my head when I was 7.  My parents just chuckled...  I almost deleted the series from taping this week.  BUT I decided to give it another go.

Hilarious!!!  With so many old celebs, besides the main cast, that I knew and loved too, like Madeline Kahn, whom my daughter was "kind of" named after.  Sammy Davis Jr and others.  The synopsis of Gone with the wind was great too.  I'm studying how Carol dressed for that show and two of them, in a row, she wore the same gown for the opening.  Amazing!!!  Actresses now would be shunned if they re-wore an outfit.  LOVE Carol!

I thought I'd missed In Living Color, but in watching it now, I feel old.  I just can't watch this anymore...  Too hip hoppy.  And I don't know how to delete the series yet, so it keeps popping up.  I DID get to see the episode where they introduced their new Fly Girl, Jennifer Lopez, so that was a historic moment, I suppose...

and that's TWO snaps aROUND the world!!!

Back to reality and work.  darn.

Don't shoot me if I don't visit you today.  I will try and carve some time out this afternoon and get around to you guys.  

Old Dogs

The cable guy arrived on Friday and upgraded our cable...  It was neither Jim Carrey NOR Larry the Cable Guy.  It took ALL morning for him to install the new boxes everywhere in the house...

And the screens have NEVER been clearer.  

I can see the anchor man's sweaty pores and even up his nose if I tilt the screen.

But with new technology comes great responsibility. 

Since then, I've been called every day by my MIL to explain how to turn it on, turn it off, etc.  

Anytime Robb wants to see what's recorded, he hands me the remote because he doesn't want to take the time to learn.  

I guess this upgrade has made me more powerful than I'd imagined...

Left one is our old Tivo remote that we all knew and loved and now miss.  The one on the right is the new one.  And the recorded button is the bottom leftest most button.

For the record.

I rue the day when the labels wear off the remotes.

Oh!  I found the pics of Leon in the car after the wedding.  He was thrilled about a Pokemon Seek & Find book I'd picked up for him during my free afternoon in a big city with nothing to do.

That lasted about ten minutes and by the last exit to said Big City, he was out.

During that afternoon, I got paged and spent an hour working on my laptop in a Subway with a tall lemonade.  I picked up a small kit of Legos for a young man I know who may or may not need it as bribery to behave during a wedding...  

He did.

I also spent 45 minutes lost, trying to find the D.A.V. Thrift store that I KNEW was around there somewhere...  I'd taken the wrong exit and trust me, it was not NORTH of that exit.  It was actually a block south of where I turned north.  

Those who wander are not lost, just killin' time I guess.

Or just trying to figure out the new remotes of the world.

Cinco de Cuatro schooling

Did anyone ever watch Arrested Development?  We loved that show and quote from it all the time, when we're not quoting Princess Bride, Star Wars, any John Cusack movie or Stripes.

various quotes besides the "There's always money in the banana stand."

Maebe: Do you guys know where I could get one of those gold T-shaped pendants?

Michael: That's a cross.

Maebe: Across from where?

Lucille: You tricked me.

Michael: I *deceived* you. "Tricked" makes it sound like we have a playful relationship.

"That's all I've ever wanted from you, Daddy- for you to spend money on me."

"There's more to life than strippers and booze and buckets of blood. Why do you guys have buckets of blood?"

But anyway...  the well-to-do family was angry about their housekeeper always wanting to take off work on Cinco de Mayo every year, so they decided to combat that holiday by making their own a day before.  They invented Cinco de Cuatro, which unbeknownst to them really means 5 of the 4th.  They were kind of stupid...  They would buy up ALL the Mexican decor that they could find in an attempt to kill Cinco de Mayo.

According to the article about it...  

“Over 30 years, however, it grew, and was soon embraced by the Hispanic community, for financial reasons,” the narrator (Ron Howard) explains.

So apparently you can buy your taco pizza or Taco John's tacos on either day and still be ok.  However I did get chewed out by the pizza guy at Casey's one year for telling him that's why I was ordering the taco pizza.  Let's just say "he schooled me on history"...  

And cured me of taco pizza for at least a week.

Just don't tell why you're buying that particular food.

FEAR to my advantage

So to tide us over on zombie shows until The Walking Dead starts up again in October, we've been watching the new spin off called "Fear the Walking Dead".  It's basically how the zombie/walker apocalypse supposedly occurs.  Slowly...  

The characters "think" the neighbor is getting beat up by her husband and stay out of it, where it's really that her husband is a walker now and attacking her.  And why wouldn't they help her if he was just beating her up???!  What is this teaching our society??

They "think" another neighbor is just trying to get help by reaching through the fence towards them growling.  Um yeah... she's not just sick, she's dead...  and wants your brains...

It's aggravating that WE know what's going on, but the characters just think there's a virus going around and it's going to blow over.  And once the military rolls in everything will be ok.

The characters really need to check out the title of their show...

Wake up!!!  It's "FEAR"!!!!

Speaking of Fear and zombies, I saw this great cruise that's going to go on in January!  It would be a perfect birthday gift for my daughter who turns 16 that month and is a zombie connoisseur.  a Zombie cruise...  She's already rounding up friends to go with her.  I really hope it's only like $10 per person...

It would be a blast!  If you enjoyed zombies...

For me??  nah.  I do enjoy the low key zombie show every once in a while, but I think I'd just like to send everyone else in the house on the cruise and stay home by myself and sew.  

Ahhhhhh.....

Random Hineys

FINALLY got a chance to breathe just a little...  It's been a long day.  I got called in to work early and BEFORE I had a chance to finish up my morning chores.  I managed to squeeze in a restroom break around noonish and grab something to eat before heading back out.  Didn't even get my usual big glass of iced pop for the morning, which is just as well, or I'd be needing breaks more often...

My boss needed me.  He's onsite today and it looks like the same for tomorrow.  

But two thirds of the install is done now. 

WHEW!  What a wild ride!

Went to a viewing that night of an old co-worker from my last place of employment that passed away over the weekend due to a long illness.  I think his family is going to be OK.   I think the last time I saw his kids, there were only 3 or 4 feet tall.  Now all three are out of college and a lot taller.

While there I mistook one of the visitors as one of my old clients and acted enthusiastic to talk to her, but she kind of just smiled and backed away...

Only when we got to the car, Robb said, "You KNOW that wasn't Renee... right?"  dang.

Oh yeah!!! I used to work out with her at Curves!!  Oops... Now she thinks I'm creepy...

Oh well.

To lift the moods, I'll let you in on the result of a conversation with my sisters.  I asked that one sister make me a matching dress like she did for her girls but I wanted the Hubba Hubba Hiney built in.  She had no clue what I was talking about.  Another sister asked for a push up bra built in.   

So here is the origin of the Hubba Hubba Hiney.  I think that would be a blast!!  JUST to walk around the house with!  And my kids should be so sad that they've never seen a single episode of Laverne & Shirley!!!

I wish it was on Netfix.  Those two remind me a little of Maddy and her roommate.

Now I'm thirsty for a milk & Pepsi...

Well, back to the grindstone for another hour and get some things wrapped up that got pushed by the wayside when things went all crazy for a while.

I'll be SO glad for a weekend.  But then again, when AREN'T I?

Witch Ahead

Do you know what these tiny things are?  They're the capacitors of a big screen tv.  If they go bad, you get a flickering screen of death and eventually it won't turn on at all...  

 

We were given this big screen tv by a co-worker of Robb's that got fed up with the "Blair Witch Project" style flashing and had bought a new one.  Since these have no trade in value, he was going to pitch it.  After some research on the world wide interweb, Robb found that the problem was probably these little doodads and he brought the tv home.  It sat in one person's bedroom for many months with the promise that we'd order the capacitors and fix it for her.  It eventually died.  And we didn't remember to order the capacitors until this past week.  They took a while to get here but finally arrived late yesterday via UPS.  

The new ones were too big.  Almost twice the size and thickness of these...  I decided what's the worst that could happen??  It was already broken.   I had to do some creative tilting with the new capacitors.  

Sorry I didn't get a pic of THAT!  It looks hokey.

I got our trustworthy 50 year old soldering gun and got to it!!!  When I first started working at the job where Robb works, way back 25 years ago, I was given the job of learning how to solder computer cables.  It was the way things were done back then!  Well, the soldering iron isn't as trustworthy or hot as it used to be.  I was lucky to get it to melt the old solder at all...  It worked intermittently, so I "simply" "patiently" "may have sworn once" and let it heat up the old solder and I used that same solder to weld the new ones in.   

Held my breath as we plugged it in and voila!!!

The tv works now!!!

WHO'S the MAN!!!  Well, I am... sort of...

Have a great weekend full of things that work!

It's my tv, I can cry if I want to.

The last several days I've been frantically trying to get a program completed.  I think late yesterday I did succeed!!!  So, I am sorry I haven't been around much to see you guys...  Today I get to make 2 more programs that work similarly to this last one.  All.in.one.day.  So it's going to be crazy today.  

It's either today or I work all weekend.  I've got co-workers depending on me to have all three done and ready for them on Monday when they're on-site.  Should be a FUN CAFFEINE FILLED DAY!  

And I'm so glad my computer FINALLY got it's updates done last night!  I've been killing the updates lately because my computer acts so clunky slow when they're running.  I rebooted after work last night and let it update throughout the night.  And because I was killing the processes, my sound didn't work...  

Couldn't even listen to Christmas music!!!

So the tv show The Middle was on the other night.  I couldn't watch it at the scheduled time, so did over lunch yesterday.  Hilarious!!  and it made me cry... The song Cat in the Cradle always does...  Darn pine needles...  So the last bit made me laugh through my tears.  I recorded it for you in case you missed it.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Nobody loves me, Everybody hates me.

Lately, Robb and I have started watching a BBC program called Doc Martin.  Apparently there are more than 6 seasons, so this will last for a long time!

Here is what Netflix has for a description.

Crippled by a sudden and inconvenient fear of blood, flashy surgeon Dr. Martin Ellingham abandons his bustling London practice and sets up shop as a country doctor in this medically minded British sitcom.

The scenery is gorgeous!

It's kind of a cross between Northern Exposure, House, Father Ted and Greys Anatomy... 

 If you can imagine...

 

He makes me think he's a close relative of the Mr Bean fellow...  

His self appointed incompetent receptionist was one of the step sisters on Ella Enchanted, but now she has braids/dreadlocks... LOTS...  

If you think everyone in town hates you...  you just don't know how bad it COULD be...