ohmyheckRIGHTNOW!

Backyard Buffet

Ok...I'm probably not going to explain this very well, but roll with me--

This picture is a postcard/invite I got in the mail yesterday. Is this not the coolest thing?  At first I thought I'd have Dan make me one to use as a potting bench, but then my wheels started turning...

I have like 192 of those windows sitting on the side of the house if anyone needs one lol--I originally started collecting them so we could make a greenhouse like this one:

but then I remembered I had a bunch of old 8ft doors collected (just because they were cool and only $5 each--look at the hardware!)

what if I had Dan make a slightly different version of the potting bench and instead of using the window as the back, used one of the doors like we did here:

so the table would then be 8ft long, with the door (in white of course) as the back and it would be a  BACKYARD BUFFET!!!

A week of craftiness

Seems like everywhere I turned the past 7 says, the homemade crafts were abundant:

Started with teaching canvas art in North Carolina at the Inspired Artist Event:

and then I came home and helped the kids in Brad's class paint frames for their moms:

And now I'm on a mission to finally finish and sell all the half done projects Dan & I have cluttering up our small garage. This was the quickest one to start with--Full size headboard Dan made by copying from a Pottery Barn catalog.  One of the first wood projects he ever did.  It was an easy finish--he already had it painted, I just had to rough up the edges and add a 2 coats of Briwax.  I had hoped to sell it on Craigslist, but no bites.  (was only asking $100!!)

NEXT!!  Decided to finally tackle redoing the seats on 2 chairs that I bought for under $10 last year in the hopes of making them beautiful again.  First on the chopping block was this cute little red chair I grabbed for $6 (it had a cute little ruffle on the bottom, but I started ripping it off before I remembered to take pics): 

I couldn't decide what fabrics to use and its so cute, I didn't want to use the wrong ones, so I moved onto my other half finished chair and did the top of it:

Not too bad for a first timer if I do say so myself! :)  I love this fabric and hopefully I'll have enough to finish the seat too--if not I'll use a nice small plaid. 

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Lee's (Dan's bff)for Kylee's bday party(Lee's daughter) (and my belated) and look at the cutest little welcome sign the girls had sitting on the back deck when we arrived:

I was blown away by Marilynne's new blouse -- and of course she MADE IT -- said she was watching Sandra Lee on Homemade Gourmet one day last week and loved her top so much she took a picture of the TV, and then ran back into her sewing room and just made one for herself (she seriously makes me ill)(Lee's mom)

And then of course she made the cakes too:

and if you wonder how in the heck you get striped borders of icing?  "...oh its so simple...you just stripe the bag..." whatever. ;-)

and yes I am officially closer to 40 than 30 now :(

and finally--since Kylee is into tigers right now and Gramma couldn't find any Tiger print paper, she made her own by buying Orange craft paper and using acrylic paints to add black tiger stripes.  WHO THINKS OF THIS STUFF!?!?!  :)  Marilynne Adams.

Every moment is the Guru...

Life always gives us
exactly the teacher we need
at every moment.
This includes every mosquito,
every misfortune,
every red light,
every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss,
every moment of joy or depression,
every addiction,
every piece of garbage,
every breath.

Every moment is the Guru.

Charlotte Joko Beck
American Author and Zen Teacher

apples to apples...

what would you rather have for breakfast on a Sunday morning?

 

OR

its a tough decision I know.

Famous Sticky Buns Recipe:

20 frozen Rhodes dinner rolls (place in 9x13 pan evenly spaced)
1 box dry Cook n Serve Butterscotch Pudding (not instant!)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick melted butter

Night before:  sprinkle dry pudding mix over rolls, then sprinkle brown sugar next, drizzle melted butter evenly over rolls and cover with dishtowel to let rise overnight.  (max of 8-10 hours)
You can also sprinkle on some chopped pecans if your family can stand nuts. 

bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until you can pull one bun away from another and not see raw dough. 

eat entire pan for yourself and hopefully you cooked a second pan for the rest of the folks.  seriously, i'm not even kidding right now.

something we should all remember

This is AWESOME ... something we should all remember.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.

That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.

'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away.. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing.

'Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

The Hormone Guide

Women will understand this! Men should memorize it! Every woman knows that there are days in the month when all a man has to do is open his mouth and he takes his life in his hands! This is a handy guide that should be as common as a driver's license in the wallet of every husband, boyfriend, co-worker or significant other!

13 Things PMS Stands For: 

1. Pass My Shotgun
2. Psychotic Mood Shift
3. Perpetual Munching Spree
4. Puffy Mid-Section
5. People Make me Sick
6. Provide Me with Sweets
7. Pardon My Sobbing
8. Pimples May Surface
9. Pass My Sweat pants
10. Pissy Mood Syndrome
11. Plainly; Men Suck
12. Pack My Stuff and my favoriteone :
13. Potential Murder Suspect

Link this to all of your hormonal friends and those who might need a good laugh... and men who need a warning.

goodbye magazines

Well, they're going away (or at the very least, having a hard time) in the print publications where they've made no attempt to keep up with online ad sales trends, and where advertisers are not treated as partners in the publishing experience. If you treat your advertisers like human ATMs, and treat them differently according to how much they spend, then you know what? Your smaller advertisers are going to flee somewhere friendlier, like Ravelry, with a more equal playing field.

I had a conversation with a yarn company owner last week that pretty much = exactly what I've just said... she felt her business wasn't being valued despite the large sums she spent in the mag we were discussing, and so she went elsewhere. Pretty simple, eh? No one likes to feel as if they are only interesting or useful to a mag when the pocketbook is out.

I'm pretty thoroughly entrenched in the UK mag market right now because of the day job, and what I see happening there is that other mags, in a desperate attempt to get more more more advertising, are taking ads from the most ridiculous, non-knitting-related companies imaginable. (Seriously -- stairlifts and orthopedic shoes? are you stereotyping the knitting audience much?). The readers NOTICE, too. And (mwah ha ha ha) then they buy our mag, which only does knit-related ads and none of this filler nonsense.

Originally posted as a comment by knitgrrl on Kim Werker Blog using Disqus.

this blog makes my ADD happy...

This was my favorite quote:

"But that's the key difference: it only annoys me. It doesn't throw me off balance."

check it out here:
"So I Married an ADDer"

unofficial aunties ROCK!

my inbox was JUMPING tonight while i was cooking dinner!

i got this first---she says later that she was trying to save me-ya whateva! like i needed saving from THIS! :) 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Deena Carver 

Date: February 10, 2009 6:30:55 PM PST

To: Jennifer Grant 

Subject: Call me Beoooch

I need a huuuuge favor.  Actually it's for Shelby.  I think Shelby will be emailing you quick so call me.

and then i got this 4 minutes later:

Begin forwarded message:

From: 

Date: February 10, 2009 6:34:26 PM PST

To: 

Subject: BIG           FAVOR

can you come to my field trip this thursday?

Shelby Dawn

and this would be an instance that i am SOOO grateful and thank GOD i am self-employed.  Field trip?  um--YAY baby! ;0)

ps...its a play at the local community college--Charlottes Web--ShelbyDawn even said I could bring my camera.  cannot wait!

attn: all Twitter haters!

BITE ME.  {ie: tweet THIS sucka's!} {insert evil jack nicholson laugh}

read live article here at TechCrunch

ps...to those who don't know him by name, "Bezos Expeditions" = Jeff Bezos-founder of AMAZON.COM-he just might know a thing or two about the internet.