The Sewing Mom

I know, I know! I’m a day late, but I really had intended on posting this yesterday and ran out of time. This is one of my favorite memes and I didn’t want to miss it, yet again! So, forgive me for being a day late, but here goes.

Here are this week’s questions and my answers.

1. Name one bad habit you have in the kitchen. The only thing that comes to mind is that I tend to load up the dishwasher, but the few items that have to be hand washed may sit on the counter, next to the sink, for several days before I decide to run a sink full of dish water.

2. Do you have a tv in the kitchen? No, but our kitchen is completely open to our family room, so I have full view of the t.v.

3. What’s one food you can’t stand cold? I can eat it, but I can’t stand the smell of cold, refrigerated cooked chicken.

4. What’s your favorite juice? Cranraspberry from Ocean Spray

I invite you to participate by visiting Fun, Crafts and Recipes!

This was one of the longest weeks and I am truly thankful it’s behind me.

I normally work part time from home, around 4 hours each morning, then I have the afternoon off to keep up with housework, grocery shopping, cooking and anything else that needs to be done. This week was an exception though. I had to attend a training class all week which meant I had to make the hour commute each morning and spend 8 hours each day sitting in a chair listening to someone talk and. It was so incredibly boring and exhausting at the same time.

Each day ended at 5 and I would then get back in my car to drive home. Now, normally, I would’ve started cooking dinner around 4 to have it ready at 6. Sometimes we eat earlier, depending on what we have going on at night, and, some nights, after dinner I drive my daughter to a variety of practices or events. I can tell you though, I honestly don’t know how people who work outside the home everyday, 8 hours a day, get everything done at home and still have time for family, much less cooking, cleaning and just plain ol’ relaxation!

So, I had to get creative in my cooking decisions and I found myself looking for things that tasted good but were quick to get cooked and on to the table. One of my favorite dishes is stir fry. It’s so easy and quick to make, but I can’t seem to get the seasonings just right when I do it from scratch. Well, I’m so happy to tell you that I discovered Sun-Bird Asian Seasoning Mixes and they have the perfect seasoning mix for stir fry! They have sauce mixes, seasonings, soup mixes and even 3-step meal kits to make cooking Asian food at a home a snap! Sun-Bird has come to my rescue this week! You can find these products at the grocery store and I am stocking my pantry.

While you’re at the grocery store, be sure to get your entry form and enter to win the 15 Blu-RayTM Disc players that Sun-Bird is giving away.. Entry forms can be found at your grocery store, where Sun-Bird seasonings products are sold. Hurry though because the contest only runs through October 31, 2009.

Yesterday was my final day of training and I had today off.   It felt great to not have to drive anywhere and I actually managed to get caught up on the laundry and a little bit of house cleaning.      It’s not like I cook huge gourmet meals every night for my family, actually, I never cook huge gourmet meals! But, I do take the time to cook a balanced meal usually. Life sometimes throws us a curve and takes away our time, so it’s great to have a selection of quick cooking meals.

I had posted about this wall hanging a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to show off the finished product.

I pieced this all together and then mailed it off to my sister Karen at Winding Threads to quilt and bind it for me. I wish I could post a better photo to show the actual quilting, she did such a fantastic job! :=D

I love to travel, do you?

When I was much younger, I was fortunate in the fact that my parents were living and working abroad.  The opportunity for us to travel to a variety of countries was given to us and we took advantage of it.  We visited many places in Europe and even spent 10 days in Kenya on a photographic safari, absolutely amazing!  We never had the chance though to visit any place in Asia  or Australia and I know there are so many beautiful places there and so much amazing history.  I still have these two continents as places I would love to visit.

There are some great hotel deals you should know about if you are traveling to any of the following countries:

• Thailand
• Korea
• China
• Japan
• Hong Kong
• Australia
• Singapore
• Vietnam
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Fiji
• Indonesia
• Taiwan
• India
• Bali

Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific will run from October 27-29 with a million hotel rooms on sale across Asia Pacific and rates will start at an amazing $30 US per night! That’s incredible! Hotels participating in the sale include Sofitel, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons and Ibis hotels. This sale is coinciding with air fare sales to make travel to Asia Pacific super affordable.

So, here’s the deal. Book between Oct 27-29 for a stay between December 2009 and April 2010. This could just be the travel opportunity we’ve been waiting for!

I had several days without my computer last week, so I did get a few other things accomplished, including making myself this small bag that I plan to use to carry my personal belongings when we’re attending softball games. My daughter’s team colors are red, white and black which is why I went with these colors.

This zippered purse is about 8×10 inches and includes a back pocket for quick access to my cell phone. The strap is approximately 40 inches in length for a convenient cross shoulder carry. This makes it perfect for carrying to the games without fear of losing it or setting it down and having it stolen.