The Sewing Mom

When we relocated from Illinois to Texas back in April I had to spend time finding a new insurance policy for our vehicles.  This is such a time consuming activity, one I really don’t like to do.  I started the process by calling our agent and asking for an agent’s name for where we were moving to. Of course they gave me a name & number and I called, spent time giving the new agent all of our information and was then given a quote on our new policy.

Since we were having to set up a new policy anyway I thought this was a good time to get a rate comparison. I went online to another major insurer’s website and found an agent in the town we were moving to. I gave her a call, spent time giving her all of our information and was then given a rate quote. This all sounds very simple, but it was definitely time consuming. It took so much time that I didn’t call any other companies. I really wish I had known about Advantageauto Quotes. I could have simply gone to their website, typed in what state I live in and gone from there. I would’ve only had to give my information out one time and they provide auto insurance quotes from several different companies. They use most major insurers as well as some of the smaller companies. They also insure all types of vehicles and all types of drivers.

It sure would have saved me time and I could have been online anytime that was convenient for me, not trying do all of this during typical business hours when I had so many other things to do to get ready for our move. I could have received my insurance quotes online and saved myself a lot of time. Who knows, I probably would’ve saved myself some money too.

Okay, we didn’t actually see James Taylor but it was quite enjoyable all the same. 

My daughters guitar teacher put on a concert of all James Taylor songs with proceeds benefiting a local music scholarship fund.  Normally I probably wouldn’t have attended, but he had asked me and another student’s mom to make some deserts that would be served at intermission.  Again, not something I would normally do, but I do feel it’s important to give where I can so I agreed. 

I had planned on making chocolate tarts and some tea type cookies.  Unfortunately I have been sick all week and when I dragged myself to Kroger to get my supplies I was unable to find premade tart crusts.  I knew I wasn’t going to have the energy to make 30 individual crusts, so, while standing in the grocery aisle, I had to make a new plan.  I opted to make a chocolate bar cookie, lemon squares and the originally planned tea cookies instead. 

Friday I spent the day mixing and baking.  We had been told to bake for an expected 60 guests, so I made double on the chocolate bars and lemon squares.  The tea cookies were similar to a sugar cookie, not as sweet, made from rolled dough and cut out.  I made them small and my daughter hand dipped them in chocolate when she got home from school.

The concert was that evening in a small building in the newly renovated historical district.  The expected count of 60 quickly turned into closer to 80 or 90 and the room was packed!  The other mom had made 30 lemon tarts and cookies to go with, so thankfully there was plenty to be had.  In fact, there was a few of everything left over at the end of the evening.

There were two guitarists (one being my daughters teacher) and a drummer/bongo player.  It was a small setting, but I really liked it that way, very intimate.  They played for about 45 minutes and then took an intermission.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the variety of deserts and there was coffee and water to go along with the treats.  Afterwards they played for another 45 minutes, and it was all very enjoyable.  Even my husband had a nice time and he never wants to do that sort of thing!  I am anxious to see her teacher on Tuesday and hear his thoughts, I could tell he was overwhelmed by the turnout.   I’m sure it was a succesful evening and the scholarship fund benefitted from it.

Linked to: Electric Venom

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I have learned over time that there are a number of methods for earning money from or with your blog. Many bloggers have even made it their goal to earn their living strictly from blogging. While that is not my personal goal, I wouldn’t mind having an income of some sort and blogging may be a way for me to do that.  I like having my own spending money!

When we relocated from Illinois to Texas in April, I left behind a full time job with the school district. Since we’ve moved, I’ve been pretty focused on unpacking and making our new house our home. While I do still have a bit of unpacking to do and a lot of walls to be painted, I cannot get through my day without spending some time on my computer. It is afterall, my main link to my family and friends. I am not wanting to go back to work full time and for now, I don’t have to. I do have ideas of what I want to do with time and one of those includes blogging.  Why not turn that into a way to earn some money?

Through blogging I have made new friends and I feel that I have been learning many new things.  I am truly enjoying my computer time even more than I did before. One way I can earn money doing what I enjoy is by joining Blogvertise.com where I can write sponsored posts. It is very simple really, Blogvertise.com will email the task directly to your inbox! You then use your own words to review the advertiser and/or it’s product including links in your post. In your post you link to the advertiser at least 3 times and get paid for it.

If I’m writing posts anyway, why not get paid for it?

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I have a very dear friend who, 6 years ago was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went through a mastectomy and did everything she was supposed to do, by the book. Followed doctor’s orders all the way when finally, after 5 years, she was given a clean bill of health. Just a few months later she was suffering from severe headaches. Nothing otc would work so she went to her dr. for a prescription. He tried different sinus medications, but when nothing worked they did an MRI. They discovered tumors attached to her brain. Further testing resulted in the dr’s discovering she now had cancer through her bones, in her lungs and several other places.

Prayers were immediately started by everyone who knows her and prayer chains were sent out across the globe. After having brain surgery to remove the larger tumors and undergoing radiation and chemo treatments, she has received some good news, finally. The tumors on her brain are gone and the other areas of her body are stable. She had been told several months ago by dr’s at the Mayo clinic that there was nothing that could be done anymore. Nothing but prayer. My belief in prayer has strengthened through her ordeal.

I was reading Life in the Country where I have learned of a fellow blogger who has suffered a very similar diagnosis. While I personally do not know this person I do believe strongly that prayer works. It does not require that we know the individual in need, only that we pray. I ask anyone reading this to do just that, please pray for Sepha and please read her blog to learn more about this dynamic individual.

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Today is mine and my husband’s 21st wedding anniversary!  I can’t believe it.  I’m sure anyone that knows us can’t believe it either!  But it’s true, 21 years ago this evening we were getting married aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.  It was a small but elegant ceremony and one even our guests still talk about it because of it’s location. 

 My husband and I fell in love with the Queen Mary when we visited the ship on one of our first dates.  It is a beautiful ship with so much history.  It’s been many years since we’ve been there now, but it used to have a hotel and restaurant on board as well as many areas open to tour and walk around.   If you ever have the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it. 

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Oh how I wish I had had my camera with me this morning.  It’s such a beautiful morning, very low humidity for a change and the temperature is in the upper 60’s!  Unbelievable!  It’s such a relief that I decided to spend some time just sitting outside and enjoying it, put off housework and laundry to enjoy this beautiful day.

So, I’m sitting in a chair with my feet up doing some updating on my blog while my puppy Plinko is running around the yard keeping herself very busy.  She just loves being outside and we’ve learned that the more time she spends outside during the day, the more tired she is in the evenings which is usually when she goes into hyper mode.  So, this morning is a win win situation for the both of us.

I have to take a moment to describe our in ground swimming pool.  It is basically rectangular in shape with a slide on one end and steps on the other.  On one long side it has a small half circle shaped sitting ledge that juts out about 2 feet.  On the other long side is a ledge that runs the full length of the pool, about 8 inches deep in the water.  This same side as decorative stone built up about 12 inches high above the pool with landscaping all behind it, no pool entry from this side. 

Well, with all that landscaping it is actually one of Plinko’s favorite places in the yard to play.  She has also discovered that there are frogs that like to hide out in those bushes and she enjoys finding them.  When she does, they of course dive over the ledge, into the pool.  This is always very entertaining unless you happen to be in the pool at the time! 

Okay, back to the point.  As I’m sitting here enjoying my morning, Plinko is enjoying herself searching through the mulch and bushes on the back side of the pool.  She frequently pops out and stands on the ledge looking at me, just to make sure I’m still here.  Except this time, for some reason, as she was looking at me she decided to take a step forward, forgetting she was at the edge of the ledge and she stepped right off, dropping the 12 inches into the water!  Now, she has been in the pool a couple of times with us, but never by herself, and we’re usually either holding on to her or she’s on a float.  This time, she found herself having to swim, by herself!

I quickly jumped up and ran to the end of the pool closest to where she was.  Thankfully she realized her feet could touch the underwater ledge so she was standing on her back feet holding her front paws against the side of the pool to hold her head up.  I could have stepped into the pool had she freaked out, but as soon as she saw me and I called her name she began swimming towards me, about 4 feet away.  She did it!  She probably actually could have walked on the ledge the whole distance, but she didn’t realize that.  I pulled her out and of course she shook water all over me but she was happy, not scared.  She then zoomed around the yard for about twenty minutes, guess she felt refreshed from her dip!

I think it’s about time to go in for her nap.  I just wish I had been able to get a picture of her swimming, she did just fine!

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I am so proud of myself! I had not really liked my site so much, especially the past few weeks. It’s like looking at artwork on your family room wall that you don’t really like. You want to change it, but you just don’t know what to replace it with. Well, after receiving a small but much needed and very helpful Venomous Bite and a lot of assistance from my sister, I changed my site. I installed a new theme and changed the name. Sounds easy enough, but for anyone who has done this you know that there is quite a bit of tweaking that goes on behind the scenes after installing a theme.

I had to reload all of my directories plus change the site name at those. I reloaded a few buttons and readers as well, also having to change the site name with them. While doing all of this has definitely not made me an expert, I do have a much better feeling of how my site is set up and some of the code that goes on behind the pretty tulip picture! I have a few more items that I am still tweaking, but am glad to have it changed. I feel like I just finished painting an entire room and I really like how it turned out!

Now, before I start feeling too proud of myself, my sister informed me today that she thinks I need to set up another blog! Is she crazy or what!!??

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I can’t believe it but I think I’m almost done with my new theme and all!  I have changed the name of the site, it is no longer The Coffee House, instead it is now The Sewing Mom.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the new name aligns with the existing url which is sewingmom.comand makes it easier to find me.  I’ve spent today adding most of my widgets and feed reader and checking my blogrolls.  I am just about done, just a few things I need to check on tomorrow.  I appreciate any and all comments, this has been quite a learning experience for me!

I really must thank one person for all of her help and hard work and that is Karen at The Pond. She set up my original blog and has been instrumental in helping me with this remodel. Thank you Karen!

If you’ve been to the Coffee House to visit the Sewing Mom before, you’re obviously noticing the new look.  I downloaded a new theme tonight and now have to get all the feed buttons and everything working again.  I’m working on it, don’t give up on me!  There appear to be some Do Follow issues and missing widgets in my sidebar, so hopefully I’ll be able to get this all fixed in the next day or so. 

In the mean time, if you notice anything funky leave me a comment to let me know.  Also, let me know what you think of the new theme.  I am changing the name of the site to The Sewing Mom to match my domain name sewingmom.com.