The Sewing Mom

We got our van serviced on Monday. The oil was changed, new transmission fluid, the a/c was checked and fluids added and we even had new windshield wipers installed. On Tuesday, my husband drove it out to the airport, about 50 miles, and he said he couldn’t believe how much better it drove, it was almost as if it had been turbocharged!

No matter what car you drive, you can have an audi turbocharger or a big conversion van like ours, it’s always good to keep them serviced. Our van is now 8 years old and so it was time to do some of the other things, not just the regular oil change, especially since I’m going to be driving to Tennessee and Kentucky in a few days.

If you really want to turbocharge your own ride, check out www.turbochargerpros.com

My next door neighbor has placed a Little Tykes slide down at the curb for trash pick up.  I really want to go pick it up and take it to my niece who is just about 18 months old.  It would be perfect for her.

How would you feel if your neighbor took your trash?  I don’t think it’s broken or anything, I just don’t think they’re using it anymore.  I’m thinking I might wait until it gets dark and then go get it and put it in my garage.  I’ll be seeing my niece next week, so I could take it to her.

I’m just not sure how my neighbor will feel about it if she sees me with it.

Okay, I’ve never been a big fan of Quiznos, although I have eaten there on occasion. I now have a bigger reason to not eat their food. My blogging friend Monique had a bad experience while eating a salad from Quiznos yesterday. Read about it here and you will understand.

I feel she did the right thing by calling to let them know what had happened. I don’t feel that Quiznos handled her complaint in the right manner. If we bloggers band together, maybe Quiznos will learn to treat bloggers better, not to mention, learn to handle their foods better.

I feel very fortunate right now to have health insurance, there have been times over the years when we didn’t. This year alone, we’re dealing with my daughter’s orthodontia work on her teeth, my eyes and my husbands digestive issues. Having health insurance allows us to get these issues worked on and tested without the stress of how we’re going to pay for it.

As I’ve said, there have been years that we’ve not had health insurance. Thank goodness we didn’t have any major medical issues during those times. Others are not so fortunate. I just read a website, www.hollysfund.com, created to explain the situation of one such person.

Holly has been diagnosed with breast cancer, but has no insurance. I have a very dear friend who has been battling breast cancer for a number of years now. Without insurance, I’m not sure what she would have done. With insurance, she’s been able to stay on a treatment regimen that includes daily medications, monthly radiation and/or chemo treatments, plastic surgery, wigs to cover hair loss among other things.

Holly is not fortunate enough to have health insurance to cover the cost of all these treatments and tests. By visiting her site, you may want to choose to donate to her fund which will help her to cover these costs. Or, you may want to go directly to The National Breast Cancer Foundation which supports research and helps those fighting this cancer, and make a donation.

Whatever you do, please consider helping. Holly could be someone you know.

Since moving to Texas a year ago, I’ve been battling sinuses and allergies. It has played havoc on my head and eyes. For the past several years, my eyes have been so dry and since moving here, they’ve only become worse. I can no longer wear my contact lenses and am forced to wear my glasses, something I used to never do in public.

I don’t really like wearing my glasses because I don’t feel I look good in them. I have a small face and it’s difficult to find glasses that compliment. In fact, I wear glasses that are mostly rimless in an attempt to make them less noticeable. Unfortunately, because I also need bifocals, the lenses have to be a little bigger than I would like, so I can’t get them too small.

The other thing I’ve had to stop doing is wearing eye makeup of any kind. My eyes are itchy 100% of the time, so it’s pointless for me to wear makeup on my eyes, I’d simply end up rubbing it off. It frustrates me because I think wearing glasses also makes me look older. Since I am getting closer to the big 5-0, I don’t want anything making me “feel” older!

This morning I entered a Makeover contest that, if I win, I believe would really improve me self-confidence and maybe even allow me to get something done about my dry eyes! I’ve recently spoken to an optometrist who suggested plugs to help maintain what little natural moisture my eyes create. I’m hoping a $10,000 makeover could include such a procedure.

That’s right, this contest is for a $10,000 makeover! The contest is only for women who are over 35. Entry is very easy, fill out the typical name and address form and then write a short, 500 words or less, essay on how a makeover would benefit you.  Submit your entry online and you can even include a photograph of yourself if you would like.

I just submitted my essay and talked about my eyes and my dislike of wearing glasses. Wish me luck!

I want to once again apologize to all of my Entrecard visitors.  My laptop lost its wireless connection once again yesterday afternoon.  I had spent the morning dropping cards, left to go run errands and when I returned, the wireless connection was gone.  That is my only access to the internet from that computer.

My laptop is my primary computer.  It is faster, it has better graphics, and it uses Firefox which is so much better for viewing and dropping Entrecard. 

After several hours of trying to fix the problem, I finally got on my desktop to try to drop cards.  Unfortunately, my desktop doesn’t like having too many windows open at one time and it took me approximately 45 minutes to drop 25 cards.  Plus, I couldn’t seem to get the EC site to load my inbox properly and was having to go to blogs directly and drop and click on adverts to drop on the next one.  I know I missed a ton of my regular droppers.

My laptop is still out of commission today and I am very frustrated.  I will do my best to get cards dropped, but if I miss you, please be patient.

I originally wrote this review on my other site, Itsmyimagination.com, but I am so intrigued by this product and what it does, I’ve decided to reprint the review here. I am going in on Monday for my eye exam and I keep thinking about these pinhole glasses. Let me know what you think of this product, leave me a comment.

I began wearing prescription lenses for my vision when I was 25 years old. When I was 30 I began wearing contact lenses. Over the years, my vision didn’t change too much, until I was around 40 and I had to get bifocal lenses. I don’t mind that much that I don’t have perfect, but it can certainly be expensive to make a visit to the eye doctor, which I attempt to do on an annual basis.When I go to the optometrist, my insurance usually covers the cost of the eye exam. The insurance will also cover a portion of new frames and lenses. But, like buying a car, by the time I’ve added on all the extras such as scratch resistant lenses, bifocal lenses, lightweight frames, etc., I can spend a small fortune.Prescription eyewear is also called “corrective”. It makes it sound as if wearing glasses is going to “correct” your vision. I guess it does, but only while you’re wearing them. Once the lenses are removed, your vision is blurred. Basically, once you’ve been diagnosed with a vision problem you can pretty much count on wearing corrective lenses for the rest of your life. Unless you have surgery done, your vision is not corrected.

I have discovered a unique product, pinhole glasses, that are designed to restore perfect vision, not just correct your vision while you’re wearing them. These eye glasses are unique because they “use the principle of sight to let in only those rays which are capable of forming a clear image on the retina”. According to their website, www.pinhole-glasses-direct.com, wearing pinhole eyeglasses is scientifically proven to improve vision in cases of Myopia, Presbyopia, Hyperopia, Cataracts and Astigmatism.

Pinhole glasses are lightweight, durable and inexpensive. They do not have glass lenses and could last a lifetime. These special glasses have regularly spaced holes of 1-1.5 mm that direct light rays to your pupil, preventing rays from entering the pupil from extreme angles. Angled light rays can result in a distorted image to be formed by the retina resulting in blurred vision.

While pinhole glasses should not be used when driving or moving around (such as when playing a sport), they do work with all distances and so work for reading, watching television or working on the computer. At $14.95 a pair, I think these are a fabulous deal.

It’s Friday! This week seemed to go by very quickly for me. Perhaps it is because I have so many things I’m trying to get done and I’ve stayed very busy this week. One thing I love about Friday is doing this meme sponsored by Valmg at Fun, Crafts and Recipes. If you’d like to play along, head on over to her site for the rules and questions and leave her a comment to let her know you’ve participated.

So, here are this week’s questions and my answers.

#1. Name one cookbook, cooking website or food blog that you frequently use. I actually use 2 cookbooks on a regular basis, one is for crockpot cooking, the other Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, is an old standard. I’m not even sure how long I’ve had this one, I may have received it as a wedding present, but it’s got the most basic recipes and uses the most basic ingredients. I wouldn’t want to be without it.

#2. Do you watch any cooking shows on tv? Which ones? I watch a couple of shows where they cook, Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, but I’m not learning how to cook from them. I do learn how to scream, yell and cuss in the kitchen though!

#3. Are you in a cooking rut? Name a food or dish that you’d like to find a recipe for. I’m not really in a rut lately, although I’ve been there in the past! I see them cooking this dish on t.v. a lot and wonder how it’s done, so I’ll say Beef Wellington.

#4. Share a recipe created by somebody else that you haven’t tried but would like to. This is a recipe from my mom and I’m really not sure why I’ve never tried it. Maybe I’ll get my daughter in the kitchen today and we’ll make it together.

Lemon Pudding Cake for 2

1 egg (separated)
2 T flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T lemon juice
1/3 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt

In mixing bowl, beat egg yolks. Add sugar, milk, flour, lemon juice, and salt; beat until smooth. Beat egg white until stiff peaks form; gently fold into lemon mixture. Pour into 2 ungreased 6 oz. custard cups. Place cups in baking pan and pour boiling water into pan up to 1 inch. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Recipe may be doubled for 4.

Less than a month now and I will be heading to Tennessee. I’m really wanting to go a little bit farther and go to my sister’s in Kentucky, but with the cost of gasoline, I may not be able to do it. That would probably add at least another tank of gas to my expenditures. That doesn’t sound like much, but at $4.00 a gallon, that’s $100 to fill up the tank in our van.

We have been somewhat kidding around lately about ways to cut back on our gas consumption. My daughter and I all ready own electric scooters that we ride around the neighborhood, but they’re not street legal, so we can’t go out of our subdivision. I think that conversation led me to start dreaming of motorcycles. I’ve heard that sales of motorcycles has increased lately and that’s really no surprise.

Truthfully, if I didn’t have so much stuff to take with me on this trip, I think I would look into rentals or sales with Motorcycle Tours. I can just imagine myself being an Eaglerider! My sister all ready owns a Harley, and so does her husband, so I’d fit right in with them! Maybe we could all rent a motorcycle while we’re in Tennessee to save on gas while we’re there. There are some beautiful winding roads to motor on in the Great Smokey Mountains. Of course, I’m not sure what my husband would think of the idea though, I haven’t shared this particular dream with him. Maybe he’d feel better if I just rented something smaller, like a scooter!

People are often surprised to find out my husband is over 50 and I am quickly coming up on the big 5-0. I don’t think either one of us look our age and, having a 12 year old daughter definitely helps keep us young. We have to keep up our energy in order to keep up with her!

For me personally, I try to do a lot of things to keep my mind sharp. I’ve always heard that keeping your mind active helps with your health and keeps you younger. There really are so many things to do, but having a hobby is a huge part of this. My sewing works wonders for me. Not only do I have to do planning, using numbers to calculate fabric quantity and reading of patterns, but I do occasionally take classes to learn new sewing techniques and methods. I even bought a complicated sewing machine that also has computer software. When I use that software to create embroidery designs, I am really working to keep my mind sharp!

I also like to play word games which I do a lot with my daughter. One of our favorite games to play together is Brain Age Academy. She usually is much better at it then me, but I’m always just happy to be successful at the game, even if I’m not the winner.

Physically, now that it’s summer, we work out a lot outside in the yard as well as in the swimming pool. I do have a treadmill too, and it hasn’t collected too much dust lately. My daughter also got me hooked on Dance Dance Revolution which is a fantastic way to keep in shape. I’ve burned a lot of calories, even if I’m laughing the entire time due to my lack of coordination!

Eating healthy also plays a large part in keeping our minds sharp and bodies healthy. I try to make sure that most of our meals are well rounded and balanced with plenty of vitamins. Fruit is pretty prevalent in our house too, there are too many health benefits to mention with fruit, but the natural vitamins you get from eating it are a huge part of why I eat it.

Vitamins such as B12,B6 and Folic acid are known to help keep the mind sharp, and promote energy and stamina. B12 isn’t the easiest vitamin to get and I hate shots, so the thought of receiving vitamin B12 shots is not a pleasant one. Sublingual B12 though, is designed to go under the tongue and directly into the blood stream. A much better, and safe alternative to B-12 shots.

Having a 12 year old means wanting to be around for a very long time. We need to do what we can to stay healthy and energetic. How about you? You can Try Sublingual B-12 from Trivita today.