Guess what I'm up to ...

 

Oh yeah ... this is "real life" for me right now.

Every night, after I get home from work, I try to unpack at least 2 boxes.  Sometimes, this actually happens.  Most times, not.  Not because I'm tired (I'm exhausted actually), but because I'm busy making dinner, chasing kids, paying bills, and all the other duties that are involved with setting up a new house. 

First order of business this week though is finishing the unpacking.  I can't stand seeing another cardboard box for at least the next decade!  Ugh!!  My goal is to have everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner at my new place.

Wish me luck ... I think I'm gonna need it!

I did manage to at least get the tree put up, with the help of my Little M.  This year, his ornament purchase was "Baby Sockey Monkey".  Every year, I let the little guys pick 1 new ornament for our tree.  Big T wasn't feeling it, but Little M was all over this monkey the minute he saw it at Cracker Barrel (of all places).


So, from our (new) house to yours - Merry Christmas!

Midnight snacks ...

Since I'm sleeping like ... well, I'm not sleeping really, so why bother pretending.  Rather, I've been up late at night, getting in some sewing. 

Like last night ... I went to bed at 1 a.m.  Why?  Because I was up making a sandwich.  Not just any kind of sandwich, but the good ol' quilty kind. 

I figured this was the perfect opportunity to finish one last project in my studio (not including the quilt blocks that I owe to my bee peeps).  I'm talking one last, honest to goodness, quilt for yours truly. 

This quilt was actually started this time LAST year.  So, I guess it's time to finish it anyway.  Right?  And who is really going to pay attention to the fact that the label was incorporated into the back piecing of the quilt (last year) and that it's dated 2009 ... no one's going to look at that, right!?

It's good to stay up late and get things accomplished.  Now if I could only feel that way about packing ...

I have no words ...

I have started, and stopped, this post about a million times in my head.  How do I say the words?  How do I explain what's going on?  I feel like I can't.

What I can tell you is that my husband isn't here. 

He hasn't been for about a month. 

Yes, I am still married, but I'll be doing the "single mom thing" for a while.  And I hate it.  I don't know how you single moms out there do it.  Granted, I was a single mom before I married my husband, but that seems like ages ago, and things have changed (gotten harder) due to the economy. 

I just have no words right now, but please understand that I'm still here, still sewing (when I have time), still working, and still holding the fort down.  I just may not be posting as often. 

Hope you all are doing better than I am!

We'll talk later ...

Winner!!

Sorry for the lateness in my announcement of the winner ...

So I went to random number generator, put my data in, and it picked lucky #13 as the winner!  Which happens to be:

Patty said...
Yes you truly are awesome. Thanks for the great giveaway.

September 4, 2010 3:50 PM

Patty, thanks for telling me how awesome I am (I don't feel like I am most days, but it's nice to hear, isn't it??) ... make sure you contact me with your mailing address so I can get these goodies out to you!  

:o)  Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Tomorrow is giveaway day!

Don't forget - the winner of my little giveaway will be announced tomorrow night!  Make sure you get your entries in before the deadline (9 p.m. EST).

And because this is a buyer's market, I figured I'd put this out there ... Anyone looking for a gorgeous house?

It's GIVEAWAY time!

I have been frantically cleaning up my studio, and I'll explain why in another post at another time, but I have been putting together this awesome little pile of goodies for you guys. 

How would you like to have these bad boys in your hands?

What you're looking at is:

"Pretty Little Cozies" which is chock full of little doodads and cutsie little things you can make for yourself or loved ones.  (Whoever wins this giveaway:  I hope you make me a sewing machine cover because I never made one for myself, and that was why I bought this book ... just sayin').

"The New Handmade, Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style" ... I bought this one for no particular reason, but it's also filled with goodies that you can sew up for gifts.

"Lots of Dots, Quilts & More" by Cotton Way.  Need I say more?  Bonnie is a genius and this book has several easy patterns to prove it - all with, you guessed it, dots!

There are 4 random quilt patterns, 1 of which is an adorable paper piecing project by Paper Panache!

And of course a beautiful charm pack of Fresh Cottons designed by Joanna Figueroa (Fig Tree & Co.)

So ... there's quite a bit of inspiration packed into this giveaway, and it's all going to go to ONE lucky person.  Want to nab it for yourself?  Here's what you do ...

For ONE entry:  Leave a comment for this post.  Tell me how awesome I am, or how awesome you are ... or anything really.  Just leave a comment.

For ANOTHER entry:  Become a follower of my blog.  It's easy - just click the button right over there (yeah, the one on the right, under the other followers).  Leave a second comment letting me know that you're a follower (or already were a follower).

For a THIRD entry:  Blog about this giveaway.  Come back here, and leave a third comment with a link to your blog - hey, I want to see it, and become one of YOUR followers (if I'm not already).  It's only fair, right?

So, you have 3 possible chances to win.  I can assure you that I will probably ADD to the stash of goodies before it goes out, so I'm going to let the giveaway run a FULL WEEK to give me a chance to go through my stash of stuff in the back.  I'm not going to post about the extras that were included for the winner, you're just going to be surprised if you win.   ;o)

That being said, the winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator on Friday, September 10th at 9 p.m. EST ... give or take an hour or so.

GRADUATED!!

This evening, I graduated from The Salon Professional Academy in Tampa as a full specialist.  It was a bittersweet event.  Good, because now it's finally over ... and sad, because now it's over.

As a graduation gift, my husband told me that he bought me one of these:

This little phrase is popping up all over our house.  I have it hanging in my studio, there's a postcard hanging on the fridge ... you get the idea.  I say it a lot too.  Whenever someone is having a bad day, life is throwing lemons our way, or just as an everyday little "pick me up" ... there's usually not a day that goes by without one of us saying this catchy little phrase.  It's only fitting that I should be wearing it around my neck too.

If you find you need one of these too, you can find the Etsy seller here.  She makes them in all kinds of colors.

And on another note, stay tuned and make sure you visit me on Friday.  I'll be updating with the giveaway information!     :o) 

A productive day

I finally managed to lock myself in the studio long enough to get caught up with my bee blocks. 

Ahhhh ...

That's me breathing a sigh of relief.  One commitment down, only a gazillion to go.

I was thinking that I might rip apart Big T's closet to make it more of an office.  Here's my inspiration picture:

Here's what I'm working with:

Yep, it's going to be quite a feat!  First order of business is buying primer & paint and finishing his God-forsaken walls.  Those have been khaki and yellow for longer than I care to admit.  The hubster managed to prime the trim forever ago (think about how long ago he was laid off and you're somewhere in the ballpark of that time).  We haven't done anything else to them since ... yikes!

His closet is actually roomy, so I don't for-see having a problem getting this sort of design to work.  Now, if I could just get him to keep it organized, we'd be in business!

So, first order of business is painting the walls, taking down the closet doors, uninstalling the closet system, and THEN building his new computer area.  Little does he know he's getting a laptop for Christmas (I can say that here because he's NEVER visited my blog - it's too girly for him).  And by laptop, I mean one that we've had and don't use anymore.  His grandpa is going to fix it up for him (clean out the hard drive & make it faster).  But, it's new to Big T, so that's what really matters.

I'll be sure to chronicle the progress, so stay tuned!

And I haven't forgotten that I mentioned having a giveaway ... I'm still looking around for goodies to include!

It's the final countdown!

As of today (8/18) I have 7 days left of school before I can proudly call myself a full specialist!  Of course, 4 of those days are me busting my hump to get my services in before I can sit for finals on the other 3 days ... ouch.  I still need about 20 services (mostly acrylic nails and fills). 

So, for the last 3 months, my house has suffered, my kids have sacrificed, my husband has become slightly disgruntled over my lack of house cleaning ... BUT it will soon be over.

I've had 2 interviews, dropped off my resume at a few places, and talked to a few salon owners.  The prospects for finding work right out of school are amazing!  And I am so excited!

I hope that you'll continue to bear with me through these final 2 weeks.  I promise to get back to my more crafty side then and I'll celebrate with a small giveaway! 

Until then ....