The Sewing Mom

It’s that time of year, time for benefits open enrollment. It’s also time for tax preparation, softball registration, Destination Imagination Tournaments and birthdays. To top it all off, both of my blogs need to be updated, AGAIN, to the latest version of Wordpress. I thought I just did that last week. Wait just a minute, I did just do that last week! And to think, I’ve been sitting here all day wondering why I had so much trouble sleeping last night, I think I just answered my own question.

Let’s deal with problem one while we’re here: Benefits open enrollment. Since I just enrolled us in the company’s benefits program less than a year ago, I will basically be leaving everything the way it is. I do want to begin contributing funds to a medical saving account so that we can use pre-tax dollars to put braces on my daughter’s teeth this year. So, it’s really not that bad, but I’m concerned because I thought the forms were supposed to arrive this week in the mail and they didn’t.

The other item I would like to check into is our prescription drug program. My husband takes a prescription medication daily for his acid reflux. It wouldn’t be so bad except the fact that the local pharmacy keeps telling him that they don’t carry the generic, so instead of paying a small c0-pay, he is having to pay top dollar for what is considered a premium prescription drug. I am going to have him check other local pharmacies as well as an online pharmacy to see if he can’t find a lower price and possibly even the generic version. I’m a bit leery about ordering medications online, but Edrugstore.md has been online for 8 years and they guarantee the lowest prices on the internet so I think they’ll be on the top of his list to check out.

Well, I feel better all ready, once those forms arrive I just need to do a few small things and send them in. That will be one thing off of my list. My other huge task is gathering up all of our tax documents. I’m quite nervous about that because of several more complicated issues that are coming into play for 2007, including rolling over some of our IRA’s. We may have received some bad financial advice on one of those and it’s our bottom line that will pay the price. That’s another story for another day.

As tired as I was today though, I did manage to get some sewing done. I created my very first quilt block this afternoon and have been placing the applique on it. I’m going to call it a day and will try to finish little project tomorrow so I can share some pictures.

I’ve made this a number of times, my daughter likes it because all of the noodles stick together in clumps, for some reason, she enjoys that!

6 oz. spaghetti noodles cooked

2 T butter

1/3 c. parmesan cheese

2 eggs well beaten

Add butter to drained noodles until it melts.  Stir in parmesan and eggs.  Pour mixture into a 9″ pie plate forming a “crust”.   Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef or ground sausage)

1/2 c. onion

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 c. cottage cheese

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Brown ground meat and onion.  Drain.  Add tomatoes, paste and seasonings.  Cook until bubbly.  Layer cottage cheese on top of noodle “crust” followed by the meat mixture.  Cook covered in microwave, 6-7 minutes.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Cook in microwave until cheese melts.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I’m needing to release some negative thoughts and energy today, how about you?

We had something of a rough night last night. It started out very pleasant, we decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year by going out to dinner at a local Chinese buffet last night. This was our first visit to this particular little restaurant and we found it to be quite enjoyable. We all ate our fair share, and my daughter commented several times on how much she liked their foods. She even tried out a couple of different chicken dishes that she’d never tried before, including the sesame chicken (one of my favorites) and the Kung Pao chicken (a little spicy, not too bad). With the exception of the dumplings, she pretty much ate the same things that I did. Unfortunately, something did not agree with her stomach.

Around 3 a.m., she woke up feeling really poorly. She wound up vomiting in the bathroom, not the toilet, but she did at least make it into the bathroom, tile floor and all. It made it much easier to clean up. After spending a half hour or so cleaning up the mess, I laid down with her until she had fallen back asleep. Then I got up. I was too awake to go back to bed, so I spent an hour or so on the computer. When my laptop battery was about to die, I decided to try to go back to sleep. It didn’t really work to well, I sort of drifted in and out of sleep for a couple of hours.

I’ve spent the morning, since taking my daughter to school (other than being tired, she felt perfectly fine), trying to shake all the negative feelings that seem to come around when I’m feeling tired. I have discovered some very interesting reading on the very subject, it’s called The Sedona Method and it teaches beingness presence awareness techniques. These techniques are basically ways to become truly happy, now.

I think I might also want to take a look at the book, “The Secret” written by Marci Shimoff. In her book, she discusses not only how The Sedona Method has helped her to let go of negative thoughts and feelings, but she also discusses how actress Mariel Hemingway uses the same method to avoid depression. Hemingway’s grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, was plagued by depression.

I’m not sure why I was having so much trouble sleeping last night, even before my daughter got sick, but I do believe that feeling happy for reason aids in sleeping. Sleeping well makes you feel better and leads to living a healthier life. All of these things are connected, with happiness being the key. I’m going to look into this Sedona Method further.

This is a first for me, I’m actually working on two projects at the same time. I’m in the middle of sewing another “jelly” bag, similar to the one I have up for auction (see my auction box in my sidebar), but this morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore, I had to open up the package for block #1 of the Be Attitudes quilt that I bought. It’s a block of the month club and I’m sort of excited about it.

Now, I’ve mentioned before that I am not a quilter. So, why did I join a block of the month club? I fell in love with the finished quilt I saw at the local quilt shop! So, I am going to put my best sewing foot forward and attempt to sew these blocks together. If I can accomplish putting the blocks together, I will then ask my mom (the primary quilter in this family) to put it all together and quilt it for me. Sssshhhhh, don’t tell her! There are 12 blocks total, I currently have the first two and have not yet begun to sew. So, it will be at least December before I will be giving it to her for completing it.

This is my Sew Crafty Friday and even as I type this, my laptop is sitting on top of my cutting mat. I can’t wait to move it and get started!

I keep thinking about Valentine’s Day, a holiday I normally let slip by.  I’m thinking about it so much probably because of the fabrics I’m sewing together right now, a lot of pinks and reds and even some heart prints. You can actually see some of the fabrics in the picture at the top of the Home page, also in one of the bags I have for sale in my auction box.

Something tells me that the holiday hasn’t even entered my husband’s mind. That’s okay, I certainly don’t need chocolates, I am attempting to shed a few pounds after all. He has a tendency to send me more organic gifts for Valentines such as flowers. I absolutely love flowers, my favorites are tulips (notice my blog theme). When I send flowers to someone, I always have such a hard time choosing, there’s such a huge selection. I always try to find out what the person’s favorite flower is and send that, it makes it more personal. So, honey, if you’re reading this, I really love TULIPS!

Now that’s got me thinking about the beautiful tulip fabric I have in my stash cupboard. I need to make a bag or two out of that, it is way too pretty to be sitting there, hidden.

It’s 4:20 a.m. and I can’t sleep. I’ve been awake for a couple of hours so decided to get out of bed and do something. What better thing to do than Four Foods on Friday, my favorite meme?! I enjoy this meme, because it’s simple, fun and I happen to like Valmg, the author.

So, here we go, this weeks questions.

#1. What is your favorite kind of juice to drink? I really don’t drink too much juice, but I do like Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry. I like both the regular and light versions. Whenever I’m sick, that is what I drink to stay hydrated.

#2. Pizza. What’s your favorite? We recently discovered a little Italian restaurant that makes excellent pizza. We usually get at least one pineapple and Canadian bacon and the other varies, but I really like pepperoni, sausage and mushroom. Sort of just depends on what we’re in the mood for. We also found a little pizza joint that does specialty crusts. I like their buttered garlic cheese crust. It tastes a lot like eating a pretzel.

#3. Mustard. Yellow, brown, depends. Neither, I don’t care for mustard. I always have yellow in the fridge though for my husband. There are a few recipes I use it in also.

#4. Share a side dish recipe that uses rice or pasta. A side dish huh? Could be the time of morning, but I can’t think of anything except pasta salad. Most dishes I make with rice or pasta are main dishes, not sides. Although, I love regular white rice served with beef stew. That’s my comfort food.

If you’re interested in joining this weekly meme, create your own post and then head on over and leave Valmg a comment. She gives deep links to those who participate and even puts you on her blogroll once you’ve joined in a minimum of six times!