The Sewing Mom

I have yet to download my photos from the trip, but my sister had downloaded my memory card onto her computer while we were there and so this photo was taken by me, and uploaded by Karen’s Road. These are the beautiful shoes worn by the only 4 little girls (in order of age, 13,11,9 and 2)in attendance at the wedding and I just couldn’t resist this photo op. We were standing outside the church waiting for the newly married couple to make their appearance.

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks that led up to us leaving last Friday to drive from Dallas to Indianapolis to attend my nephew’s wedding. It was a whirlwind of a trip and I am still trying to get my bearings. We slept in 4 different cities in 3 different states in one week and now I’m home, in my own bed, waking up in the middle of the night trying to figure out where the heck I am!

So, I spent today just playing catch up. I read 300 out of 500 emails in my inbox (not including spam), did some laundry and played some Wii. I also managed to get the kitchen cleaned up twice today (my husband was cooking) and dealt with a power outage caused by a severe thunderstorm that moved through very unexpectedly.

I’ve been trying all day to come up with a topic to write a post, but I just can’t come up with anything. I had the same thing happen when I went into my sewing room and stared at fabric for 45 minutes today during the power outage. I just couldn’t get my creative juices to flow.

I hope to have more photos soon, along with more creative writing!

Wow!  It’s hard to believe, but today is truly the first day in a week’s time that I’ve had a chance to get on the computer.  We’ve been traveling.

Last Friday morning, we left our home in the Dallas area and headed northeast to Indiana.  We drove for about 15 hours straight and made it to my mom’s house around 11 p.m.   Then we got up on Saturday and, after a nice breakfast cooked by my mom, we headed south to Indianapolis for my nephew’s wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun and I’ll hopefully have photos up soon.

We spent Saturday night in a beautiful hotel in downtown Indianapolis and then drove back to my mom’s house on Sunday.  We spent 2 beautiful days with my mom, sister, brother-in-law and niece, before heading west to the Chicago area, which is where we are right now.  We used to live here until we moved to Dallas 2 years ago.  My daughter has been really missing all of her friends since we left, so we took the opportunity to spend a couple of days here so she could see them again.

We visited our old house, ate dinner with friends, and our daughter had several friends that she spent the day with yesterday, shopping at the mall, swimming at the hotel, and just hanging out in the hotel room.  Three of her friends were able to spend the night last night and I think they’re all still sound asleep.  I’m just happy that she was able to spend time with them.

So, I did bring my laptop on this trip, but today is the first chance I’ve had to even get it out and open it up.  I apologize to all my EC droppers for not reciprocating, I hope to recitfy that soon.  We will be heading south again today, but will obviously not get an early start.  We’ll be spending an extra night somewhere in Missouri before arriving home sometime tomorrow.  I know we will have a lot of work to do around the house with having not mowed the yard all week or cleaned the pool, so it may be Saturday or Sunday before I am able to get started catching up on my blog or anything else.  I also have a 4 hour shift scheduled with work on Saturday, so that will take a bite out of my personal time as well.

So, I hope to share pictures soon.  I forgot my usb cable for my HP camera and my laptop won’t read that memory card for some reason.  So, hope you’ll come back soon! 

We’re heading out of town this weekend, driving to Indiana for my nephews wedding.  I’ll be taking my laptop with me, but not too sure about how much time I might actually have to use it.  I’m sure I’ll be missing many, many EC drops and I apologize for that.

Before we leave though, I wanted to post my favorite meme.  If you’d like to participate, be sure to visit Fun, Crafts and Recipes.

Here are this week’s four questions. Valmg is trying something a little different again to spice things up!

#1. Do you cook items besides meat on the bbq grill, and, do you prefer gas or charcoal grills? I do cook fish and veggies on the grill. I’ve heard of desserts that can be grilled, but I’ve never tried that.

#2. Name a food that begins with A. Avacado

#3. Name a drink that begins with A. Apple Cider

#4. Share  a recipe for something that calls for American Cheese. I just tried this one out for the 4th of July and it was a hit.

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz cooked elbow macaroni (I used the large size macaroni)
4 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
4 slices American Cheese

Mix all ingredients in a greased crock pot. Place 4 slices American Cheese on top. Cook on low 3-4 hours.

I absolutely hate shopping for jeans, always have.  In fact, I place shopping for jeans in the same category as shopping for a swim suit, I HATE it!

I have trouble finding jeans that not only fit, but that look fashionable.  I’m sure most women that have given birth can relate to how the shape of a woman’s body changes and how it can be difficult to find jeans that fit all the new curves without looking baggy or making us look fat and are long enough so I don’t look like I’m wear pants in a flood.  I definitely don’t need help looking out of shape or overweight, I really want something that fits, looks stylish and yet, is still comfortable.

Armani Exchange is selling new Premium denim jeans for just $98 and, I can shop by either fit or wash to make shopping online that much easier. I chose to shop by fit for the Regular Rise, Classic Fit, Boot Cut. I also like the straight leg jean, I’m just not sure if I’m ready to wear the low rise fit. If I spend $100 or more, I can get free shipping and if I purchase a full price pair of denim from Armani Exchange, in store or online, between 7/7/09 – 7/19/09 I will receive a gift card of $20 off you next purchase of $100 or more, valid 7/30/09 through 8/15/09. This offer is available to everyone!

Armani Exchange is also having a text A|X contest to win a pair of jeans. The contest is valid through July and a pair of jeans is given away every day. To enter the contest, simply text “DENIM2″ to ARMANI (276264). Get more information on the contest here.

This is an old photo of our puggle Plinko, but I just couldn’t resist posting it.  She loves our family room sofa because she can mush down the pillows and create a little nest for herself which is exactly what she has done here and then fallen sound asleep.

For anyone looking for a good, smart, cuddly dog, this is the one!  Our is a little bigger than most puggles, she currently weighs in at 40 lbs., but most are around 30 lbs.  She pretty quiet, unless she’s chasing a bunny in the back yard, then the beagle side of her comes out and she goes nuts!