A Few Free Things I've Found

BofA Giving Away Free Doses of Culture in 2008
With a Bank of America Card, you can access Museums free on the first Weekend of every month in 2008.

Staples helps you Help Your Pocketbook AND The Environment!
Staples offers a $3 store credit for each printer cartridge you turn in for recycling.

You simply take in the cartridges along with a Staples Reward Card (like a membership card at a grocery store... there is no charge, you just fill out a form). Periodically (once per quarter, I think) you will receive a Rebate Check (Coupon) good at Staples. You may only turn in three cartridges per day per day per card.

Even if you only turn in one cartridge a month, you'll wind up with $9 back each quarter or $36 per year... which is nothing to sneeze at!

Delicious Dinner

Yesterday I started cooking dinner at one in the afternoon. I continued working on it until it went on the table at 6:45. I was on my feet from the time my friend arrived to help at 3, until 6:45. Today I'm sore and tired, but the dinner was DELICIOUS! Here's our Menu:

• Au Jus ala Jessica (see recipe below)
  
• Homemade Buns - Wonderful! Terrific! Amazing! Even great COLD and PLAIN, straight out of fridge, the next morning!
  
• Steamed Rice - A good, simple side for this. Not really necessary, but nice to enjoy sauce on.
  
• Microwave Steamed Frozen Broccoli Pictsweet Deluxe Baby Broccoli Florets) - which was surprisingly delicious!
• Perfect Pie Crust (The Pioneeer Woman)
• Carmel Apple Pie (The Pioneeer Woman)

Actually, the dinner was so delicious, that even thought the pie looked amazing, we still haven't tasted it. After lunch we'll cut into it! ;)

Here's the recipe for the Au Jus & Roast:

Au Jus ala Jessica
by Jessica Cecrle
Summer 2007

Ingredients:

• Center Rump Roast
• S&P
• Onions – 3 med – sliced thinly
• Mushrooms – sliced thinly
• Butter
• Johnny's Au Jus Concentrate

1. Rub generous amounts of salt & pepper into roast.

2. Roast in oven 2-3 hours low heat (250 F' ish) to internal temperature of 145F.

3. Once the roast reaches about 145F, remove from the oven, be careful not to overcook this roast. (It's easy to do!) It should be a little pink when it comes from the oven because it will continue to cook a bit more on it's own. Let sit 10-20 minutes.

4. Thinly slice the meat (which will still be a bit pink – if it's too pink, just warm it a little in an oven),

5. Melt 2 T butter over medium-low heat. Add onions. Sauté slowly, adding more butter as needed until onions caramelize. At the end, add Mushrooms to onions or cook mushrooms separately.

6. Use drippings plus water to make Au Jus sauce according to directions on bottle.

Serving Suggestions:

1. Serve over steamed white rice.

2. Serve with Asparagus or other fresh green veggie.

8-10 Servings

A little something fun.

I found this little video "EepyBird's Sticky Note Experiment" on Thoughtstream's Blog.

It made me smile.

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

I thought I'd share! :D

Freemotion Quilting

I was just reading a comment on Amanda Jean's Blog, Crazy Mom Quilts, and it got me to thinking about taking classes to learn things. I've never been big on taking quilting classes... mostly, I figure it out on my own, with books, the internet, or for a while from Videos of Simply Quilts. In a nutshell, here's what I think about what you need to "do" to learn how to Freemotion Quilt.

• Lower your Feeddogs (if you can, if not, cover them with something like a piece of plastic).
• Be willing to play with your tension to "get it right"
• A stippling foot (either clear plastic or metal shapped like a letter "C") will help TONS!
• A pair of gloves with Rubber Grips is VERY HELPFUL.
• Get your brain past the fact that you have to rev your sewing machine engine, but move your hands slowly.

Maybe take some junk fabric and do some practice pieces, and then donate them to your local animal shelter... the biggest thing about machine quilting is PRACTICE!

That's all I can think of. Does anyone else have any ideas on Freemotion Quilting, or Tips that Help Them? Do Share! :D

A Productive Day

I like it when I have productive days. Today was one, even though, by the end of it, I've realized that just like Jack (Saturday) and Frank (this morning), I'm coming down with a head-cold. Now. As far as The Law of Attraction, I TOTALLY called these colds too us... about four days ago I found myself thinking "it's pretty amazing (considering how busy we've been) that none of us has been sick on this trip." Then I thought "I'm glad that we're all feeling well though." So, whether the thought brought the colds, or I just recognized that we were all completely run down, I knew we were about to be sick.

Even with colds all-around today, here's what I accomplished:

• Made bed (easy)
• Sorted LOTS of laundry with Jack's help
• Washed, Dried, and Put away 3 loads with 1 more still drying (remember, my machine does about 2 to 2.5 "normal" loads... for example, one of my "permanent press" loads had 23 articles!)
• Unpacked and putaway all contents and suitcases - THREE suitcases worth.
• Unpacked another large shopping bag.
• Made Well Visit Appointment for Frank (actually, made it last Spring, but the Pediatrician left town, so I had to find another doctor and make a new appointment).
  
• Packaged and shipped two boxes to my Aunt.
• *Forgot* to pick up the mail at the Post Office when shipping the boxes... picking up our held mail was the whole reason we'd gone out! Whoops!!!
• Researched Halloween Costumes. Looks like I'll be sewing:
  
  1. Jack - Indiana Jones Pouch & Leather Coat
  2. Frank - Ash (Pokemon Trainer) Shirt & Hat & Gloves
  3. Jacob - Ash (Pokemon Trainer) Shirt & Hat & Gloves (I'll just cut and sew these at the same time, Jacob's a size smaller, so, I'll probably serge a bigger seam allowance to make his a touch smaller).
  4. Ariana - Witches Costume - My neighbor friend wants to learn to sew and her daughter wants to be a witch. Mom doesn't want a "normal" tunic witch with a green face. She wants something cute and spunky. The costume she likes is quite pricey ($70). So. Desire + Deadline = Perfect teaching opportunity.
• Had School Bookwork Time with Frank

• Cleaned out the boys' clothes. This was a biggie for me! It included:
  Eliminating a whole laundry basket of size 3.
  Loaning another basket full of size 6 clothes to Jacob.
  Emptying four boxes (with smiley faces).
  
  
  Sorting "keep" clothes by size and season, then folding and storing in smiley face boxes, with labels.
  Sorting through four pair of cowboy boots to find a pair for Jack and one for Jacob to wear.
  Hanging up all the new winter clothes I just bought and/or had on-hand.
  
  

• Dishes
• Garbage
• Visited with neighbor for an hour.
• Watched Pokemon movie with boys - TWICE! (We weren't feeling well).
• Editing and uploading at least 2 dozen photos to have printed for Aunt Lou.
• Called and talked with my Mom.

Through it all, I had a congested/drippy nose, developed a tender throat, AND used my Xopenex inhaler three (or four) times... I've used it more in the past two days than the last six months. Not liking that and trying to determine what the stimulus is that's causing my airway to constrict. :P

I *guess* that about does it for today!

WOW!

Quotes and Thoughts about "HOME"

So, on the drive back to Wyoming I REALLY resisted referring to our new house as "Home". I called in "our house" or "back in Wyoming", but my heart aches at the thought of calling this "Home." Which confuses me, for, I certainly want my boys to have a "home". I just think of MY home as being in Arizona.

By the way, we arrived back at 10:30 pm ... after JUST 14 hours on the road today!

In any case, being so tired from this trip, I wanted to get back to my own bed and my things. But my feeling of rest and home points me back to Arizona. Luckily, my Mom helped me paint a mural with a Sonoran theme. When I saw it I smiled and felt better... I also thought that I should put a heat lamp in the room it's in to make it feel more like a desert (the house was 67 and outside was almost down to 40.) Also, all around Shadona Central Speedway, I have Arizona paintings and pictures. Whenever my eyes rested on one of my Sonoran things, I smiled and felt better. At least I can keep pieces of my home around me.

In any case, I think some of these revelations came after searching out "home" quotes online. Here are some that I found:

• "Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." – William Morris, 19th Century Designer
• A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.- George Moore
• The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes. - Harold B. Lee (1899 - 1973)
• Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
  Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. - John Howard Payne (1791 - 1852)
• My home is not a place, it is people. - Lois McMaster Bujold, "Barrayar", 1991
• Every house where love abides
  And friendship is a guest,
  Is surely home, and home, sweet home
  For there the heart can rest. - -Henry Van Dyke
• "Having some place to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing." – Unknown
• "Home is a magical word - within that mystical circle are comforts and warmth never found outside it." – unknown
• "Home is not where you live, but where they understand you." – Christian Morgenstern
• "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost
• "Home is where there's someone to love, and someone to love us." – unknown

The quote that finally "hit home" (no pun intended) was this one:

• "Home is where your favorite memories are." - Peter-Dirk Uys

and these followed closely behind it:

• "Home is where your story begins" – Unknown
• "Home is where one starts from." - T.S. Eliot
• "May your home be a place where friends meet, family gathers and love grows." – UKNOWN
• "Mighty proud I am that I am able to have a spare bed for my friends." - Samuel Pepys
• "My home is where my books are." - Ellen Thompson 1909
• "Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion." - Leigh Hunt

In any case, I've been pondering the simple little word "HOME" and what it means to us. It's strange how I resist using it because I just don't want to accept this Barren Wasteland as My Home...

So tell me, what does HOME mean to you?

Smallville Series Seven and Eight

Smallville… Last summer I was turned on to it. I watched all the seasons, stopping two episodes before the end of 6. I preordered Season 7 on Amazon and got it a few days before we left on our trip. Each evening, after putting the boys to bed, Tom and I watch an episode… this is the first season he’s watched; Tom saw just a few episodes, here-and-there, before this.

We've now finished a WHOLE season (7) of Smallville, in under three weeks. We accidentally watched the Season Finale last night... usually, we stop one or two episodes before the end of the season and wait for the next disk set to be released...we didn't realize disk 6 is all Extras.

So, this year, Amazon is offering the episodes one-by-one as they are released on TV for $2 each, or the whole season for $16. Tom and I are debating ordering the series on Amazon. It would be kind of fun to watch it week-by-week and be "up with the world" this year. Especially since I hear that this is likely the last Season. What do you think? Is Smallville worth $15 + $30 for the Amazon releases and the box-set? Or, do we wait eleven months to see and new Smallville? Remember, we don't have a TV to watch it on, so, it's Amazon or nothing...