Still Here

I'm still here. Reconnecting with my adorable hubby after feeling like a single mom for 3 months. Since May, he has studied, studied, studied, and it definitely paid off, but I've been forgoing the computer to be with him and the kids and spend family time. Tonight was a very cheap dinner at Burger King and the $1 movie seeing Marmaduke (cute for babies toddlers and for not paying full price, lol, not for the average thinking human). It had some cute parts and my 3 month old loved the ending, hubby and I were not impressed.

I'm working on this new pattern, I hope to have a sneak peek picture up by the end of the week. I'm really liking how it's turning out so far, no hitches yet, lol.

I just finished this book last week, and it's a really good read. I just wish it had about 500 more pages, I want a continuation of the story. It's about reincarnation. Most everyone forgets their past lives, but this man, Daniel, remembers them all, remembers everything, languages, places, his past livelihoods, and his love. He first saw Sophia in 500 A.D., and in nearly every life he lives he sees her soul again and again. Each time it is as if they almost get to each other, but something always hinders it, a brother, a death, vastly wrong ages, every time. And finally, in present day life, they are at the right time and ages to fall in love and be together.

It's suspenseful while they find each other again in this life, but then you're wanting more and more. I do hope there is a sequel to this book. I really enjoyed it.

And he passed...again!

Today my husband took his series 63 licensing exam, the last exam he currently needs for being a stockbroker, and he passed it as well.  I am so proud of him!!  He has just amazed me with this new job, and I'm so glad he loves his job and the people there.  He has studied so hard...and he can finally rejoin our family again.  It has been since May that he has been studying for these exams every single day, night, weekends.  We've tried our best to stay out of his hair doing things without him, so he had lots of opportunity to study in the quiet without a baby and kids and wife making too much noise.  And now he's done and can go do all the fun stuff with us again.  Yay!!

So for passing his tests, I got him a surprise.  Well....he's gotten a few surprises for passing his tests ;) but I had to think long and hard for something just for him.  He loves music and plays the guitar, and he subscribes to some musicians on YouTube who play the ukulele, so I did some research and found out it's very easy to play one, so it arrived a few minutes ago.  I even researched the best beginning one with the right strings.  I hope he enjoys it, and I have a feeling we're going to get a 5 hour concert series tonight with his new toy. 

This is Where We Live

I picked this book up at the library last week.  It was a very quick read for me.  It's about a mid 30s couple who are trying to follow their dreams.  The wife is on a journey to become a successful director while the husband is in a band who is working to finish an album.  Then real life hits and her movie bombs at the box office, and he hasn't been paying the adjustable rate mortgage (gotta love those!) because it adjusted, lol, and he was waiting for her huge deal with a movie company to pay it off.  It just goes downhill from there as the husband begins a midlife crisis.  This book was painful to read.  The turn of the story happens when the husbands ex-girlfriend, a successful artist, contacts him to just "see" him while she's in town.  The ex-girlfriend is the antithesis of his wife, not to mention completely nuts.  He has built her up in his head, and when she offers him the option of coming with her to Paris, he leaves his wife. WTF?  For me the ending was a bit to quick and didn't seem to flow, but the rest of the story was good. 

It was a definite page turner,  and I enjoyed reading it.  But this type of story is usually very emotional to read for me.  I feel the characters' pain so strongly I have to get through it as fast as I can to get those feelings away from me.

Let's Face It, I'm a Mess

I'm just curious if I'm the only accident prone idiot in the kitchen? I apparently am incapable of making anything without A) getting it all over the front of my shirt and said shirt becomes permanently stained; B) getting it all over the counter and/or stove top; and C) dropping at least 3 things on the floor, be it utensils full of whatever I'm making or the actual food itself, where without a doubt, it usually bounces about 3 times spreading the mess in all sorts of crevices around my kitchen.  This is seriously cutting into my wardrobe as I cook every day.  Argh!!

I'm not sure how to prevent my klutziness, but I've decided to fix part of this problem by making myself some aprons. I think I've settled on this one for my first one or I just might whip something up off the top of my head, not sure yet.  But this is my task for this week between dentist appointments and registering kidlets for school. Here are a few more free apron patterns/tutorials I found from a list on The Apronista. Pictures to follow in the next few days.

I made Raspberry Lemon Muffins on Sunday morning.  They were not a kid favorite, but my husband really liked them.  I don't know if I've ever made something with flavors that hit your taste buds like these do. First, you taste a hint of vanilla yogurt, then the raspberries, and then this sudden zing of lemon hits your tongue and you feel like..."wow!"  I liked them, too, especially topped with a bit of cream cheese.  This is the recipe I used:

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
2 egg whites
3 tbs oil
1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon peel
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup frozen raspberries

Topping:
2 tbs flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix yogurt, oil, egg whites, and lemon juice together.  In separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon peel.  Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.  Then gently mix in berries.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Mix together topping and sprinkle on each muffin before baking.  Bake for 16-20 minutes.  Immediately remove from muffin tins and serve warm.

This recipe yields 12 muffins.

Peasant Top Tutorial

Check out this peasant top tutorial to make yourself without a pattern from Joann.com.  I see definite nursing shirt potential in this one.  If my dear cranky baby gives me sometime this week, I think I'm going to try this one.

Peasant Top Tutorial

Sewing Pattern Sale - up to 30% OFF

While I work on 2 new patterns, I thought I'd have a sale for the current patterns. All sewing patterns are on sale and it will go through the entire month of August.  Below are the coupon codes, please enter the correct one in the shopping cart.

Take 20% off orders up to $14.99!!  Coupon Code:  TPN100801072004

Take 30% off orders $15.00 or more!! Coupon Code:  KST100801071930

The patterns are listed to the lower left under "Sewing Patterns" or a direct link can be found by clicking here.