Bad, Bad, Blogger....

I am so not able to post all the time. Well, truthfully, I have the time but sometimes I wonder if anyone will really care what I have to say :)

Lots has been brewing over the last two months since I've written. We've worked at rallying around my mom after my father's death. I worry about her and she spent a good two months really trying to figure out how to be alone but this past week things have clicked for her and she is back to making jewelry to use up some of her free time. I'm hoping with a new focus she'll do better than she has been. We have a vendor event on Saturday so that gives us something to work towards. Her with her jewelry and me to sew.

June 15th, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of my son's death. The weeks leading up to it were full of emotion and my mom took me on an overnight shopping trip on the day of. We spent the day laughing and joking around and a lot of time reminiscing about my Boo. I thought after the anniversary passed I would find myself able to move forward again but the last few weeks have really been hard. I miss him so much and the tears flow freely almost every day. I'll get there I know but some days I really wonder. This is the poem I wrote for the anniversary:

Kyle B. Lenhardt - 10/22/95 - 6/15/11

It's been one year that you've been gone,

one year of many tears.

Your big brown eyes and contagious laughter

we've missed every single day.

The world went on as we stood still,

watching full of wonder.

It took some time to understand

that there would be no answers.

One day I was your mother, taking care of you

then suddenly, there I stood,

I was without a clue.

My heart aches at the things that I will miss

that others take for granted.

What I wouldn't give, for one more day with you.

I'd hold you close, I'd kiss your cheek

and never let you go.

I know that you are out there,

watching over me.

A hand upon my shoulder,

I wish that I could feel.

For now I hold your memory close

I talk, I laugh, I cry.

My love still grows for you each day

as if you were still here.

I need to get sewing for Saturday so I will leave you with my dinner for this evening. We loved this recipe so much the first time we had it and I made it exactly as she has posted. It looks not so appetizing but it is DELISH! So stop on over at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary and try her Cowboy Casserole. 

I "Heart" Pinterest

Pinterest consumes many people's waking moments, mine included. It just amazes me the things you can find on there. Tonight for dinner we tried a recipe from there and also one from Allrecipes  which is  my favorite recipe site ever.

The Pinterest part of dinner came to us from over at Dinners and Dreams and it was marinated mushroom skewers. Now I had to make one of the ingredients for the marinade and I may have not divided stuff right and it was too hot but my husband really loved them. Next time I double the recipe I'll not double the harissa. He dipped them in Ranch dressing to cool them down a bit but he ate them all before going for his second piece of chicken so that's how I knew it was a keeper. Our marinade for the chicken is here at Allrecipes. I didn't have red wine vinegar but did have white wine vinegar so I winged it and used what I had. It was SO good! The recipe made quite a bit so I saved the extra for the next time.

In trying to move forward with my plan to do more craft fairs and vendor fairs I worked off and on all day today on building up my inventory for such things. I am very pleased with what I got done and it is really motivating me to be consistent. I still had a fairly lazy Sunday and relaxed but also was productive and made a yummy dinner. GO ME!

First Spring Craft Fair

I have done several Christmas time craft fairs but decided this year to try something new. My items don't tend to be just for the holidays or holiday themed so I figured why not? This venue only charged $10.00 a table and it was their first Spring Craft Fair ever. They had 30 vendors and I thought that was pretty decent. The attendance numbers were huge but I sell quite a few things and was quite pleased at the outcome. I am not encouraged more to sew and to search around for other opportunities. They do a summer event that is quite large and has been going on for a few years, they have a huge craft fair/vendors and a car show, it's called their Summer Jubilee, and has a large turn out I'm told. I've already signed up for that, it's in July.

On the Remicade front, my insurance has denied me being able to use this drug as I haven't used the daily injection routine first so I am working on getting that started. Not that I'm overly excited about the prospect of stabbing myself every day and hoping it works but I am wanting to get off the steroids due to the decline in my health in other areas from taking them for 4 years. My main goal at this point is to say goodbye to the prednisone which will then allow me to lose the weight I've put on during this treatment and say goodbye to the diabetes (we know this is steroid induced) and the high blood pressure. Hopefully we can also turn around the osteoporosis that is occurring. One drug to fight the Sarcoidosis brings on 10 other health problems. How does that work!?!!? At least we are on the path to getting me healthier.

Belated News

I've been MIA this time due to my step-father's passing. April 5th, 2012 he decided it was time to go. He fought a long hard fight and kept his sense of humor and love for us all until the end. With the help of our local Hospice we were able to keep him at home, surrounded by his loved ones until the very end. I am proud of the work we did together to make that happen and do not regret a day of it. He's with  my son now. Neither of them is struggling to breath and I just know they are doing all the things they never got to do here and they are happy. I just know it. This past year has shown us great loss, much love and a family strength I don't think we knew we had. As we move forward, I hope we don't lose sight of those things.

Take care of my boy, "Poppy"

My First Project Without a Pattern

Normally I troll the internet stealing other's ideas and tutorials to try another day, but a few weeks ago my mother asked me to come up with something for my step-dad. He is pretty much confined to a hospital bed in the living room and spends the majority of his time on his hands and knees as that is how he can breath best. He is starting to get sores so I came up with some pads using super soft minky on the inside against his skin and a nice manly lodge print on the outside using velcro to keep them on. It was a simple process but even so I am extremely proud of myself for figuring this out without using someone else's prototype.

It turns out however that I need to make the leg ones longer but that's ok as I'll make 4 longer ones and then they'll have two sets so they can wash them. It felt really good to do this on my own and to help my step-dad.

Peter Pan Tile Coasters

I think I may be OCD. If something isn't perfect then I don't want to do something half baked. My sewing room still isn't unpacked and organized and because of that I don't want do anything in it, not sewing, not crafting, NOTHING. Now my mind tells me no but my heart wants to craft or sew. I've been pinning things endlessly on Pinterest and am dying to try some of the things I've never had time to do.

Well yesterday I bit the bullet and packed up the things I would need to do some tile coasters and took them to my mom's house to do while I watched over my step-dad. Why should I spend the whole day doing nothing?? The first set I made a few boo-boos . There are several tutorials out there all you have to do is search for them. The one I used yesterday was this one from Blueprint Crafts and after my mistakes actually read the whole thing (cough) and worked on my next set. I'm so excited because I got an entire BOX of tiles for $2.00 at a yard sale last summer and had started picking up a few children's books for about 10 cents that I wanted to use. I LOVE being thrifty. This set is for my daughter Jordayn who is now 20 and in August is moving into an apartment with a friend when said friend goes to college. When she was little she was going to marry Peter Pan. Now you couldn't tell her anything different, she'd put her hand on her hip and stomp her little foot and tell you that yes she WAS going to marry Peter Pan! I cut out the scenes I wanted to use for this and voila!

Now these are in varying stages of drying so they aren't done yet and I don't have a photo of finished project yet because I need to put the sealer on them but her squee of delight was all this mommy needed. She says she doesn't think she can put drinks on them and I told her she could just display them if she wanted hehe. I think you could easily put a hanger on the back of these and hang them on a child's wall, just another idea?

I'm already working on a new project today :) I'll share later!

My New Favorite Friend

Ok so my new favorite blog to find recipes is How Sweet It Is. Last night's dinner came from her as well! Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta was a hit! I made a double batch as we had company and there wasn't a noodle left! The cheese sauce was nice and would make a nice variation without the buffalo wing sauce if we wanted but made as directed was excellent! We'll definitely be making that again. No photo this time, everyone dug in too quickly.

I'm going to try to sew today, we'll see if that actually happens :) Lots of ideas from lots of great sources so here's hoping I can fit some in. I might try to bring a project down that I can do in front of the TV tonight. I've been trying to keep everything in my sewing/craft room and not clutter the house since we've moved but I find that I'm not able to get as much done that way either. I suppose if I take care of things straight away the next morning I won't feel like I'm making a mess.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today isn't a huge holiday for us. We've been on such a tight budget for the last few years so to buy something that isn't necessary isn't on our list of things to do. Don't get me wrong, we told each other we loved one another but other than that it's just another day.

I have been spending a lot of time pinning things on Pinterest and it  is normally my MO to always save lots of ideas to favorites or whatever and never make them, be it a craft idea or recipe. I think part of that is because I try to do too much all at once. Rather than try one recipe a night I try to make a main dish, side dish and dessert all new on the same evening then get overwhelmed and flake out. Last night I decided to start simple and made Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks from How Sweet It Is. I've never had asparagus before and thought I'd try them. I LOVED this recipe and asparagus!!! I served it with a semi boneless ham and baked potatoes.

I have found quite a few good recipes on her site and look forward to trying more. This one is a keeper in my book!