what i did on spring break....

ok...let me be truthful.  technically i do not have a spring break.  i am not a student.  but, i have students in my house...and some that i still have to drive around to activities.  so, i do get to have somewhat of a break.

now, what i did and what i should have done are two different things.  you see, we will hopefully be moving soon and to a house that is half the size of our current house, no less. so i should have been purging!  and although the idea of that sounds great, it's the means to that end that i do not look forward to...

but i digress. what i really wanted to do was to craft! and craft i did...except i didn't finish two of my projects.  so, those will have to wait until next week.

in the meantime, here is a pictorial summary of my spring break.

MDE's grammy {my mom} honored her with her first high school graduation luncheon.  it was at the zodiac room, neiman marcus--in fort worth.  it was really fun but i must admit that this whole 'graduation thing' is coming a bit too fast for my taste!

i know that wasn't a craft, but we did enjoy it over the break...

the first craft i did was inspired by this cute dress from crewcuts--

can i remind you that i do not know how to sew?  good...because as you can see, my proportions are definitely off because i needed a tshirt long enough to be a dress or tunic.  what i did was to buy an XS tee in the girls' department at target, thinking that the 2 1/2 year old that i was making it for would have the length right but the shoulders would be a bit wide.  then, after attaching two gathered tulle skirts, i felt that if i added a third one, it would really look off.  MFT whose daughter i made the dress for was, of course, very gracious...but you can be truthful--any thoughts, tips, etc?

then, i had promised MFH that i would make her a corsage tee months ago...and so before this type of tshirt goes out of style, i thought i'd better get on it.  oh, and since she asked me, she is now expecting her second child, so i bought a pretty tshirt in the maternity section of target.  i think it turned out a bit 'fluffy', but again, she was very gracious when i gave it to her.  what do you think?

now i have one tshirt to make for my mom and one for MDE that i didn't get too...but those may have to wait a week or so because i am making the cutest little Easter gifts for a few of my baby/toddler friends at church.

oh, and i almost forgot.  another thing i did over my spring break was to attend our local 'funky finds' craft show.  it was awesome...i just love supporting indie crafters and i think when you purchase handmade things from them, the items make such special gifts.

so there you have it...not too exciting, but for me, fun nonetheless.  now it's your turn...tell me--what did you do on spring break?

THIS is the first day of spring?

ok...i tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out--but trust me, it was snowing!  that's right...snowing!?! on the first day of spring!  go figure.  i just hope this might mean that we won't be roasting all summer...

but for those that didn't enjoy the snow, maybe this video will cheer you up--

it's my party and you can't come...

let me explain...
i was sick this last weekend...and i mean sick.  i promise, no details. {but on a side note...did anyone watch house this monday...about the blogger who fell ill?  she was soooo over-the-top}  anyway, i was all set to write a post called-it stinks being sick-


i was going to go into detail about all the wonderful things that i was forced to miss because of this illness.  but as i 'poured that first glass of whine....', i realized that i was alone at the party...this pity party.  wow.  really?  so i was sick.  big deal!  at least mine was only the 'i-really-am-miserable-48 hour kind.  what about all the men, women, and children that face real illness...the kind that they pray a cure will be found before anyone else is burdened with it.


or what about these people in haiti and chile that seem so far away...so far away from our inconvenient power outages, traffic jams, and such as they deal with a true trial of recovering and rebuilding entire cities!


and lastly...my sickness became so absolutely insignificant in light of the unconscionable suffering of Christians in the three villages around jos, nigeria and in northwest Pakistan.  i am without words...

just a thought....

Megan Brooks

Mon Mar 8, 2010 3:46pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Light to moderate alcohol consumption, especially red wine, is not only good for a woman's heart, it's also good for her waistline, according to a study reported Monday.

HEALTH

The study started out with nearly 20,000 trim middle-aged and older women. Over time, women who drank alcohol in moderation put on less weight and were less apt to become overweight compared to non-drinkers. This was true even after taking into account various lifestyle and dietary factors that might influence a woman's weight.

Red wine seemed best at keeping weight in check, but white wine, beer and spirits also had some benefit.

ok...the article goes on and that's all good but when are they going to show that study that reports

ice cream keeps weight in check.....?

or gets rid of wrinkles.....?

         or improves memory....?
                  or even gets you 10 followers
    on your blog...?     

i guess it really doesn't matter....i'm going to always enjoy me some ice cream!

JAT!! 

{that stands for 'just a thought'....i'm seeing if it catches on like BRB or LOL!}

coolness....

i love love this kind of creativity & quirkiness...especially the ending! so fun.  hope you enjoy it too!

...the excellent adventure continues!

when we last left our characters...it was friday--and no school.  MHD went into work...although a very kind neighbor had to help him get up one of the hills, MTSC was in houston at a soccer tournament, and so that just left me and MDE.  well--we did what anyone would do in this situation...we built a snowman.  now it wasn't just any snowman.  no, it had to represent the missing member of our family-MTSC!  isn't it awesome?

we were sure to email the photo to him and a few of the moms' that were able to go to houston so that they could feel our team spirit all the way from the fort!

and it must have worked...they were the 9th seed (dead last) but managed to win their first game....and then, they won their second game. they had made it to the semifinals!

but meanwhile, back in the fort...we still had no power so MDE and i went to chipotle and then i dropped her off at a friend's house where it was much warmer due to the fact that they still had power!  i really don't remember much about the afternoon (maybe i was in some 'cold coma', i'm not sure) until MHD came home and insisted that we go to a hotel.  

it just so happened that the new, very nice omni hotel was offering a 'stay with us if your power is out' deal and upon check in...we saw no less than 4 other families that we know from our area!  MHD was on call, so while he was at the hospital...i was hunkered down in the soft bed, flippin' through channels, and surfin' the web!  i fell asleep not knowing what to expect on saturday....boy, was i surprised when MHD, who had left to go back to the hospital for rounds at 5am, phoned me at 8:30am...

from love field--about to board a southwest airlines flight to houston!!! he needed me to have a rental car reserved for him when he landed so he could zip to the soccer fields.  it seems he just couldn't stand it--with MTSC's team making it to the semifinals against a rival school (of which we have a close friend whose child would be playing...)he just had to go!  and i am so glad that he did...we still had no power, MDE had to work and then had rehearsal...and they won!  up next--the finals!  not too bad for the ninth seed!

now, i wish our adventures had ended there...but no.  the final game was played at 2:30pm.  by then, our boys had already played 3 games and they were so tired.  needless to say, they lost...but a 2nd place finish in division II for a team that really shouldn't have won even one game is pretty awesome!

MHD rode back to the fort with another dad...MTSC rode the team bus.  they didn't get home until 10:30pm...still no power, but too late for a hotel.  so we tucked ourselves in with no less than 5 blankets each and tossed and turned until morning.

sunday morning--still no power, MDE still at a friend's house, MTSC too tired to care that it was 55 degrees in the house, MHD back at the hospital, and me...well, i went to church--without a shower and funky hair.  and just when you think--it may be cold, but at least it's home...although our home is not officially on the market again until march 1, our real estate agent scheduled a showing to a family from out of town.  we couldn't say no...what if they were the ones? 

so, i frantically cleaned the house the best i could with no power...but there was one catch.  the showing was for 1:30pm.  not a big deal, you say?  well, they understood about the lack of electricity (i even graciously set out several flashlights...just hoping  they wouldn't look too close) but the 3 dogs?  i needed to do something with them and 'the back 40' (as we call it) which is where we usually put them, was wet and muddy from all the melting snow. this normally wouldn't be a problem, but MDE and i had tickets to the ballet at bass hall at 2pm!  so after thinking and thinking--i came up with a plan!  see, i would put the dogs in my car, drive to the end of the cul de sac, and let MTSC, yes MTSC sit in the car with the pups and when the showing was over....

drive my car back home and into the driveway!  the fact that he doesn't even have a learners permit didn't matter.  he did fine, we enjoyed the show, and the showing went well.

but...still no power.  by the time we returned home after the ballet, MHD was home from work and a church meeting.  we had tried several times to contact a live person with oncor, but to no avail.  well, that is until MHD, fed up by now, said we had a downed power line.  that worked.  he spoke to someone...but they were clueless.  MDE packed up and went back to the friend's house and we called the omni back.  seeing that it was valentines day, they weren't 'dealing' anymore.  so off to the hyatt place we went.  on the way, we drove around the 'hood looking for an oncor truck.  hallelujah, we found one.  only problem was they weren't from the area, it was pitch black, and they were 'looking for the problem' house to house with two small flashlights.  needless to say, we were not encouraged.

but monday morn after we woke up and drove through chik-fil-a for bfast, we arrived at a home with power!!!

hooray...the adventure was over!  the one thing i have to say after all of this...if i had a nickel for every time i flipped on a closet or bathroom light during this 'throwback to the dark ages (literally)', i would....

have a lot of nickels! haha!

dave & sue's...& ems & charlie's excellent adventure

...and what an adventure it has been!  pull up a chair...this may take a while!!

where, oh where, to begin?  let's see--last wednesday night {feb 10} would be a logical place to start.  as i have stated before, MTSC has had the awesome experience of playing varsity soccer for his high school.  because this school is a small private school, they often have to travel.  well, this past weekend was the final tournament for winter sports.  just so happened that this year the tournament was in houston....and in fort worth on wednesday night, the weather was very cold...and the forecast for thursday was snow.  the coach decided that the soccer team needed one last practice and because it was too cold to practice outside on wednesday, he called for a practice to begin at 7am on thursday.  the team buses would be leaving on thursday at 2:45pm, so that meant that MTSC had to be packed and ready to go to houston early, early thursday morning.  

thursday morning we awoke early to find the ground covered with a beautiful light layer of snow...with more snow coming down.  MTSC and i loaded up the car and left for school at 6:40am...i dropped him off at the gym dressed in his practice uniform with his soccer bag, overnight bag, and backpack at 7am {whew}!  the beautiful snow was still coming down....i headed to my pilates class that starts 8am.  traffic was starting to slow due to the snow and so i was a few minutes late to class.  i was then surprised to hear MTSC's personalized ring tone begin to emanate from my phone!  seems in all our 'packing' and 'planning' for the weekend...we forgot to pack the school uniform for classes on thursday...oops!  so i left pilates...still snowing...and headed home to get the uniform and take it to him to change into for classes.  i had about 45 minutes before classes started--no prob, i thought.  well, remember...it's still snowing and by the time i get home and gather the navy pants and white button-down--i am stranded.  it's just not going to happen.  so i call the school, explain the situation, and hunker down at home.

that is...until noon when they called school off.  MTSC is set...they are sending the team buses early--they load up and head for houston.  MDE, on the other hand, somehow had to get home.  and this isn't just any snow day...this is a snow event.  so MHD was actually able to meet her at school, switch cars {his has front wheel drive}, and get her car fairly close to home...there was no way her car would have handled the two major hills by our house.

thursday after dinner, we get a call from some friends who have recently had a baby.  seems their electricity had gone out....it's still snowing--and they were wondering if they could spend the night.  not a problem at our house where anyone is welcome any time.  well, not a problem until 3am when our power went out.  we all woke up friday morning to a gray sky...it had stopped snowing, but the total snowfall on record was 12.5''--can you believe it?  our friends packed up to go, school was cancelled, and MTSC was safe in houston...

...to be continued