Ready to go on the quilt frames

Here is the next quilt top to go up on the quilt frames. It is going to have a beautiful quilt motif in the middle of each wine coloured block, wrapped in lovely ribbons of blue.

Government Services

Have you had a good experience dealing with government agencies or services. Today I went to apply for our passports. These will be required by June 1, 2009 for everyone wanting to cross the U.S./Canada border. Since our karate kid is competing almost every week at tournaments in the U.S. we needed to get this taken care of pronto. We have a small window of time before the next tournament so I thought if we had to surrender our birth certificates and be unable to cross the border, now was the time. So I went this morning, got a parking spot, paid for 2 hours parking and headed to the office. Let me tell you, they were so friendly, so fast , and so efficient. I forgot to fill out a part on one of the applications which required my hubby's signature, so we got the other two applications taken care of. Then I went to hubby's work (15 minutes away), got his signature, got back to my parking spot downtown, went back to the government office, and finished the application process. We even get to keep our birth certificates. I went back to my car and handed my parking receipt to an older couple who had just parked. I still had an hour left on that ticket! Wow, now that's service. Passports should be arriving at our home in a couple of weeks. I am very, very impressed.

Crazy for KD?

Great old Mac 'n Cheese has been a family favourite forever. I am perfectly content to eat it straight up, my son has to have the ketchup on it, my daughter likes to experiment with all kinds of concoctions.

Here is my entry to the Kraft Dinner contest. The draw is on Friday and you can win a year supply of Kraft Dinner, a case of 35. Actually that would probably be polished off in a couple months at my house.

Another Tournament under his belt.

Ben competed in another karate tournament after having a couple weeks off. He came back stronger than ever. He brought home four more trophies to add to his collection. He won 1st in Individual Forms, 1st in Team forms, and 1st in Sparring as well as 3rd in Weapons.

There was a bit of a scramble at the beginning, he was being called to 2 rings at the same time, so he was running back and forth literally between Team Forms and Weapons in separate rings. He signed in at each ring, ran back to Weapons and performed, ran back to Team Forms and performed, ran back to Weapons for scoring, ran back to Team Forms for scoring, ran back to Weapons to place and then back again to Team Forms to place all within a few minutes. It was crazy insane pressure but he did amazing. The day sure went by quickly.

Marley and Me

I went to see the movie Marley and Me yesterday. I had read the book a million years ago and remembered that I had enjoyed it, and it's been forever and a day since I had been to see a movie. The commercials looked funny and I really like Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson is pretty funny too. I thought, oh this will be a great light hearted show to see. I love Marley, his antics hilarious, unless you're the one who has to clean up after him. The one thing I forgot, I cried when I read the book. I found the movie to be even more intense, I couldn't just hit the pause button and step away from the screen when I felt the tears welling up, like I would set the book down when I got to the emotional parts. I must have teared up a dozen times during the movie. Wow, what has happened to me? I've turned into such a sap. Oh well, I know I wasn't the only one. Anyone who has ever owned a pet can relate to how attached we get and how emotionally invested we are in these creatures.

Happy Birthday Snickers

Wow, look how much she has grown. This picture was taken when we first brought Snickers home.

Here she is today, showing how tall she is on her 1st Birthday.

Happy Birthday Snickers!

The Purina website mentions that a cat's first 2 years is equivilent to 24 years to us and that they age 4 years every year after that. So that means Snickers is almost a teenager.

The Easter Bunny is coming to my house!

I entered a giveaway from feltmeupdesigns and I won this most adorable little felt bunny. Check out this shop, there are the most wonderful little critters sure to make you smile.

HDTV

Look at my goofy rabbit ears! This is what I have resorted to in order to keep up with technology and to keep up with my Survivor, Amazing Race and other beloved tv shows. My old tv isn't HDTV capable and because our rooftop antennae is also old and missing a few prongs rendering it incapable of pulling in the signals we have had to hook up these handy dandy rabbit ears along with the HDTV converter box.
So I was curious as to why we are all being forced into this new wave of program viewing other than "you get a better picture and more channels" since that answer didn't cut it for me. I was perfectly happy with my fuzzy few channels. So this answer made me feel much better about the whole situation:
Converting to DTV will also free up parts of the scarce and valuable broadcast airwaves. Those portions of the airwaves can then be used for other important services, such as advanced wireless and public safety services (for example, police, fire departments, and rescue squads).

Amazing Giveaway from ByHand Members

Look at all the wonderful goodies in this:

Isn't this a beautiful, fantastic, awesome giveaway?
How sweet is this?
Hurry to enter by March 18. Good Luck!

Don't forget to register at Made by Hand by Me

Flying Kites on a Sunny Day

Thats the name of this new rag quilt. I love the print. Daydreaming about a bright sunny day with those white puffy clouds floating around, running barefoot through a grassy meadow, laughing, giggling and watching as kites catch the gusts of wind that keep them soaring higher and higher 'til they almost touch those clouds above.

Paraskevidekatriaphobics

There you go. They actually have a word for the "Friday the 13th" superstition. Paraskevidekatriaphobics, don't ask me how to pronounce it or to say it ten times fast, I can't even spit that one out once. Some believe that in the Bible, Christ was said to have been crucified on a Friday and the number of guests at the Last Supper were 13 and this is where the ‘Friday the 13th' reference originated from. The number 13 seems to be such an unlucky number that their is rarely a 13th floor in taller buildings. This is the second Friday the 13th this year and if we manage to get through this one relatively unscathed, we are free and clear until November. So cross your fingers, steer clear of ladders and black cats and have a great day!

Treasury

Dear Sweet Audrey from AudreysCountryCrafts has included my quilt Diamonds in the Rough in her Treasury. I seriously feel so honoured and grateful. Thank you Audrey.

Meet the Teacher

Progress reports came home yesterday and today is meet the teacher night. I am so grateful that my son has always had amazing teachers. He enjoys all his classes and is continuing to maintain a 90+ average for second semester.

Maury

Okay, I confess. I get a kick out of watching Maury, in particular the paternity shows. Sure makes the time pass quickly while I'm on the treadmill. So on todays episode, we have Tory and Vanessa (I think those are the names) who have been together for eight years. They have 5 kids, ages 11 months, 2 yrs, 3yrs, 4yrs, and 5yrs old. They are all cute as a button. Story goes, some guy came to the house and told Tory that 2 of the kids belonged to him. So Tory got to wondering if any of the kids were his. He starts thinking that they don't really look like him. Vanessa just flips. She says, "I've been pregnant for six years! All five of those kids look alike! They could be QUADTRIPLETS!"
Well, the results are in. Tory, you are the father, you are the father, you are the father, you are the father, you are the father.
And they all lived happily ever after.

TaDa! Whistlestop Station complete

Do you love it? I do. This quilt along with the fabric book is going to get a ton of snuggle time.

Sneak peek, Whistlestop Station

This was too cute to pass up. I usually piece quilts, however, I fell in love with this panel quilt top. It has the cutest bunnies on it with the Whistlestop Station theme. In addition to the quilt top panel, I got the cloth book panel and made a little story book which matches the quilt. I could just imagine when my daughter was little, she would play endlessly reading stories to her "baby dolls" with blanket in tow.

I finished making the fabric book and now have the quilt up on the frames.

New Month's Resolution

What on earth is that beastly contraption in the deepest darkest corner of the man-cave?
Spring is nearly upon us, which means shedding those winter coats to unveil any extra pounds that may have accumulated during winter hibernation.
My new month's resolution is to get on the treadmill every day, even if it's only for a half an hour.
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Notice the stars above. I have been adding those each day when I have completed my walk. I have managed to do an hour each day so far. Thank you for the encouraging comments!

RRRRRoll up the rim

Okay someone out there is winning and it's not me. Sure would be sweet to win a car, our vehicle lease is almost up and the timing would just be perfect. $10000 could sure pay down some debt, I could handle that. Oh, who am I kidding, I would get excited to win a ding dong donut for crying out loud! Funny thing is, I normally don't drink this much coffee, but when rrrrroll up the rim comes around every year, my intake skyrockets. So what are the odds? Right now I'm at about 0:20 since it started.