2008 Happenings

I’ve seen this done on a few other blogs and thought it was a great idea.  Here is a look at what happened in 2008 in my life.

January

My dd turned 9.  Her last single digit year.  She is terrific daughter.  Loving, caring and really has a soft spot for animals (real and stuffed!).  She and her big brother get along really well and are great pals.  I love that!  January was also the start of a “year without surgery” (my goal for 2008, which I did reach!).  I know that seems silly, but I had five surgeries (two of them major) in 2007 and many, many weeks off work to recover.  I also started my second quarter of my back to school routine.

February

My ds turned 11.  It is hard to remember when he wasn’t in our life.  He is a great kid.  I’m continually impressed by how smart he is and how wonderful he is to his sister.

March

My dh fulfilled a lifelong dream of having a fishing boat.  He has spent a lot of 2008 making it perfect for him and has taken it out quite a bit.  It isn’t my favorite outing, but he and the kids have a great time going out to the lake and exploring.

We also had a family trip to Tahoe.  The kids loved playing in the snow.  We rented a really fun house with lots of arcade style video games.  Everyone had  a blast!

April

According to Picasa we didn’t do too much.  A quick outing to Super Franks on a cold day.  It’s a bit like Chuckie Cheese but more bearable!  I’ve included a photo of one of our cats.  Sammy, the 21 pound monster!

May

May found us visiting the beach, celebrating Mother’s Day, doing two major science projects (that netted the both of the kids trophies) and a field trip with my dd to a local park.  I also went to Vegas for the first (and probably last) time.  It was fun, but very expensive!

June

I turned 39 and we celebrated Father’s Day.  The kids went camping with my dh and in-laws.  I had a major work re-org and couldn’t get away.  Truth be told, camping isn’t my favorite so I wasn’t entirely broken hearted.  I did miss them though!  I also finished my first year back to school.  Yahoo!

July

My dh and I visited the De Young Museum to see the Chihuly exhibit.  I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of his pieces.  Incredible!

I finished the only quilt I finished all year in July and sent it off to my best friend for her birthday.  It was well received for sure!  We also celebrated a 50th wedding anniversary in the family.  Fun!  The kids went back to school (year round).  DD started 4th grade and DS started 6th grade.  His final year at this school.  Wah!

August

We went on a weekend rafting trip with my brother’s family and cousin’s family.  While the rafting wasn’t my favorite, the weekend was really nice.

September

I started back to school for my second year.  We also lost our 17 year cat. =(

October

Family trip to Disneyland.  It was my niece and nephew’s first time to the Big Mouse’s House.  Great fun was had by all!  Was pretty sure that my accounting course was going to kick my ass!  I also went on a field trip with my DS to the Egyptian Museum.  Mummies!

November

Another low picture month in Picasa!  It was pretty much a blur with Managerial Accounting continuing to kick my ass!   My dh and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and 18 years of being a couple. =)

December

The highlight of the month was my dh’s 40th birthday party.  We had a Mexican themed event, including a 3 piece Mariachi band.  Very fun!

We also did our annual gingerbread house decorating event with the cousins.  I actually made the houses this year instead of buying a kit.  They were delish!

All in all 2008 was a great year.  I normally do not make resolutions, but I feel after working in my house for the last two weeks getting it organized, that I must make a few.  No more magazine and book purchases.  I just don’t need anymore since I’m really not reading right now unless it is for school.  I also want to start saving more money, which will be easier if I’m not spending it on magazines and books!

Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old dd!

My sweet girl turns 10 years old today. I can hardly believe it. She is just so beautiful and kind and wonderful. I guess I better think like that because she is MINE. =)

Craftyness & Winning!

Here is a picture of my two children, with my niece and nephew.  I made the girls poodle skirts a couple of months ago in anticipation of Halloween since I knew I would be too busy with school to make them closer to Halloween.  Thankfully they both fit!

I won a blog contest a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry I haven’t thanked Susan before this.  I blame it on being busy with school.  I really appreciate your mailing this prize so quickly.  I adore Vera Bradley.  This luggage tag is so cute!  Thanks again. =)

I knew that was going to happen

Sorry for the long delay in posting.  It’s been a six weeks or so since I last posted.  I started my final accounting course (Managerial Accounting) and it is seriously kicking my ass.  I have a suckass professor that is condescending at best.  I only have one more discussion posting and two midterms to do and then I’m done with accounting and this professor!

We also went on vacation to Disneyland and had a great time.  I love that place and would visit often if it weren’t so darn expensive.  Oh well, we got our fill this time which is good because we aren’t going back for at least two years.  One of the very coolest thing that happened on this trip is that we got to stay in the park for an hour after it closed because we won “A year of a million dream” passes.  It was the final night of the trip that my brother, his wife and two kids were joining us (we were staying two more days after they left).  It was a lot of fun to be in the park after everyone else left.  They only gave out 3,000 passes and we had heard that there were 40,000 people in the park that day.  The bummer was that we had the bright idea to ride the newish Nemo Sub ride.  Well because it is such a slow ride and lots of other people did that, we only rode that one ride.  A couple on the tram back to the parking lot said they rode Matterhorn twice, Indiana Jones and then stayed on Thunder Mountain four times in a row.  But it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we would not have seen Nemo any other time during our trip because the lines were two hours long.  No way!

I’m bogged down with school work so there is nothing crafty to show you.  I’ll post a picture of my dd and niece in their poodle skirts that I made them for Halloween tomorrow or Saturday.  Stayed tuned…

Sabrina

My sweet 17 year old kitty crossed the rainbow bridge tonight.  She steadily went downhill from last week and stopped eating.  I took her to the vet tonight.  She agreed it was time.   The kids are sad.  Especially my 9 year old dd. =(

Strawberry & Scissors

Like my new strawberry pincushion?  =)  I had to find the perfect pincushion/fob for my cool new scissors.  I ordered these from a French website about 6 weeks ago and they just arrived.  I had nearly forgotten about them!  Ordering from this website is not for the faint at heart.  Every correspondence is in French.  Thank goodness for online translators!

The pincushion is designed by Heather Bailey.  I adore her patterns and fabric!  You can find the pattern and kit in her new online store. This pincushion was fun, easy and fast to put together.  I highly recommend it!  I made one change to the directions.  Instead of using the fiberfill that comes with the kit, I used crushed walnut shells.  I picked up a 5 pound bag of them at the pet store this week for under $4!  It is the nicest pincushion filling. Love it!

Elated and sad

First, I’m elated because I’m doing great in my English class.  I’ve turned in three postings and received full credit for each one.  Yay!

I’m sad because it is just a matter of timing before I lose my 17 year old cat. =(  She came to us 6 years ago and she is such a sweet old girl.  But she is OLD and she is losing bladder control.  I was waiting to see if she would pass peacefully rather than taking her to the vet, but I can’t let her suffer anymore.  *sigh*  This is the suckiest part of having pets. =(

Sewing HD!

New Skirt!

This skirt is made from Butterick pattern B4722, view C.  The fabric is Farmer’s Market.  I used the pink medallion print.  The ruffler made it a million times easier but this skirt still took a few hours from start to finish.  My dd loves it and I think it looks darling on her. =)

I just noticed the first picture I posted is blurry.  Here is a closeup of the skirt.

Clever!

Months ago I ordered a ruffler for my sewing machine.  I tried it out a couple of weeks ago and it just did not work. Boy was I disappointed.  Especially because I was trying to make a skirt for my dd and the thought of ruffling that much fabric made my head hurt. lol

I decided to not give up though and discovered that I might need a low shank ruffler.  It arrived today!  Sure enough, it works.  Like a charm.  Check out this cool ruffle!

Ruffles!

If you are interested in one.  I got mine here.  Stay tuned for my dd’s new skirt.  Hopefully I will get it finished during this nice long holiday weekend, made extra long by taking tomorrow off! =)

Much harder!

Cupcake Pincushion

This pincushion was much more difficult.  I couldn’t get it to go together smoothly.  It’s totally wonky.  Ugh!  If you want the pattern, you can find it here.