The Sewing Mom

Three weeks ago, I cleaned my sewing room, top to bottom. I wish I had taken a photo of it before I started, but unfortunately, I can only attempt to relay to you a mental picture of how much stuff was in the room, in what I can only call a somewhat organized, and yet chaotic fashion. The furniture in the room consists of a daybed, an old computer hutch currently being used to store fabric, and a craft cabinet where I store most of my sewing supplies. With just those 3 pieces of furniture, the room is actually quite roomy.

However, after several months of frenzied sewing projects going on both pre-holiday as well as after the holiday, my pretty sewing room had become quite cluttered. There was so much fabric stacked up on the daybed, the bed itself was invisible. The cabinet doors on either cabinet couldn’t be closed because of all of the supplies and fabric spilling out of them. I also had 2 folding tables set up in the room, one that my sewing machine was sitting on with a rolling desk chair pulled up to it, and the other I used as my cutting table. In the middle of all of that I had my ironing board set up. I had just enough space in the room to walk through, sideways, stepping over the cord to the iron.

I knew the room had to be cleaned up and reorganized, I just hadn’t intended on letting it reach the point that I was going to need construction trucks or specialized equipment like a TSE trailer to haul it all out! Seriously, I think a digger truck would have been very helpful to load up all of the fabric and haul it out just so I could get a handle on the rest of the room. I really though I was going to have to rent a bucket truck from Asher & Sons in order to get to the top of the fabric pile!

Of course I doubt I would actually ever have to rent a truck to help clean my sewing room, at least I hope not,  but at least I do know that Look to Al Asher & Sons is the place to go for a large, diversified inventory of late-model, pre-owned bucket trucks, digger derricks, stinger cranes, cable pulling and transport trailers, crew trucks, and specialized equipment from many well-known manufacturers.

My evening ended just as my day began, with a nice surprise. This time it was a lovely German chocolate cake that my husband picked up on his way home from work. German chocolate is my very favorite, so I was quite happy and stuffed once I ate a big piece of it!

Yes, it’s once again that one day of the year that causes me to shudder and want to hide. It’s my birthday. I don’t care to celebrate, I really would be happy to just hide out and get through the day unnoticed, but there is no denying that I am now another year older. So today, I am tackling my birthday head on.

I slept in about 20 minutes in honor of my birthday. I then got up & got showered and dressed and when I came out into the kitchen to make my coffee, this is what I found. I have to tell you, this was the BEST way to start my day, the day I usually try to avoid. It put a huge smile on my face!

I want to thank my husband for being so sweet for doing this. It may seem like a small gesture to many, but this is exactly what I needed to get my day going on a positive note! Thanks also to my sister Karen who just called me and sang a beautiful rendition of the birthday song to me! Happy Birthday to me!

I heard about this and I have to share. It just sounds like way too much fun not to go to Branson and check it out, so I’m thinking that maybe we’ll make this our Spring Break adventure. What am I talking about? Well, I’m talking about the Branson’s First Annual Great American Pie Show in Branson, Missouri.

The Great American Pie Contest is taking place at the Branson Convention Center which is adjacent to Hilton Branson Convention Center, April 24-25, 2009. This is a national pie recipe contest featuring none other than NBC’s favorite weatherman, Al Roker as its spokesperson. This is a serious pie competition with $2,500 being awarded to the 1st place winner plus a a trip for two for a 4-day/3-night vacation in Branson.

Of course, as I’ve said before, there are plenty of other fun activities to do in and around Branson, including the FLW Bass Fishing Tournament and the first ever Branson Air Show. The Branson area is surrounded by beautiful countryside include many lakes, parks and outdoor activities. There are several championship golf courses in the area, several museums and 40+ live entertainment theaters.

If you have Spring Break in April, this is a family destination that should seriously be considered. The Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel has reserved a block of rooms for April 20 – 29 and is offering a special room rate that will be available until March 22nd or until the group block is sold-out! With rates starting at only $109/night, what are you waiting for?

This week has flown by and I can’t believe it’s Friday! I have to work both days of the weekend, so I’m not really celebrating the end of the week, however, it is still time for my favorite meme and so, here it is.

If you would like to participate in Four Foods on Friday, head over to Fun, Crafts and Recipes and check it out!

This weeks questions and my answers:

#1. Coffee. Do you use ground, bean or pods? I use whole bean and grind one bag at a time. A bag usually lasts us about a week and a half.

#2. Coffee filters. Do you use paper, gold or other? I use filters made from recycled paper.

#3. Tea. Do you prefer tea bags, loose tea or something else? I always use tea bags, I’m not good at measuring tea to get it the right strength.

#4. Share a recipe for something you like to eat with coffee or tea. Well, my favorite thing to eat with coffee is probably the frosted lemon pound cake at Starbucks. I’ve never actually made it myself though. I don’t even like the coffee at Starbucks, but will occasionally get a cafe mocha latte there though.