No Place Like Home #2

I stitched my second "No Place Like Home" by Pine Mountain Designs on 14ct Parchment aida with DMC threads. It took about the same amount of time to stitch up as the first one (7.5 hours). I'm debating on whether or not to frog the windows and restitch them in ecru. Opinions?

Mini Elephant Ears

It's county fair time, and what's one of the things you find at the fair? Huge as a paper plate, Elephant Ears!!

I have my own version in the miniature size...



MINI ELEPHANT EARS

White dinner roll dough (10 rolls)
Cooking oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter (melted)

Thaw dough at room temperature for 2 hours. Heat oil in electric skillet to 375°F. Combine sugar & cinnamon; set aside. Flatten each piece of dough into a very flat ear shape. Fry, a few at a time for approximately 1 minute per side until browned. Drain on paper towels. Brush each side with butter & sprinkle generously with cinnamon-sugar.

Enjoy!

What Is This? 8/18/07 Answer

A couple weeks ago, I put out a "What Is This?" challenge.

It's my lawnmower! A couple years ago, I needed a lawnmower and Freecycle came to my rescue! Actually, the freecycler had two mowers, neither of them worked. However, my Dad used to be a small engine mechanic and for about $2 he got this one running for me. It's worked great since then! Not bad for an 18yr mower, eh??


Have I said how much I like Freecycle?!?

Now for the really fun part. I really enjoyed the "creative" stories I received in response to the challenge! Thank you ladies. :) As promised, I put all the names of those with the correct answer in a "hat" for a prize from my stash.

The winner is....

*drum roll*

Anita Sorrells!!

Home Buying Update

Just a little update on my home buying process...

I talked to the mortgage specialist today and he said that everything is good to go. He is waiting on getting confirmation that my homeowner’s policy is paid and in effect. The insurance agent said she put the paperwork in the mail today. So, I am *that* much closer.

I received a letter yesterday from the bank informing me of my FICO score. I have a great score, but found two items to be interesting *shrugs*:

Code 05: You have too many accounts with balances. I have just 4 accounts with balances. Three of those are less than $100.

Code 30: Time since you opened your last account is too short. LOL, I thought a person wasn't supposed to be opening new accounts when trying to buy a house?

The appraisal came in for the house at $3000 higher than my offer! The title work came back clean, which I expected. Before I made an offer, I visited a title company I used to work for and did a preliminary title check.

It's been a week since the landlord received notification that I'm moving out at the end of September. They still haven't contacted me about it.

Several people (online and off) have offered to put a flaming bag of doggie doo-doo in front of my neighbor's door after I've moved out. Bad people... LOL!

On a sad note, I’ve found out that my realtor’s mother has been hospitalized with cancer in the esophagus. From what I understand, she’s very sick.

Monday Update 8/27/07

Health
My neck and shoulder pain is getting better. A week of chiro and electro therapy will do that, I guess. I'm still in constant pain, but it's not nearly as bad as it was the beginning of last week. I try to put ice on it three times a day and it temporarily makes the pain go away. I find myself compensating by using my left arm a lot, which is very awkward.

I have a follow-up CT scan on my sinuses on Friday. This is to see whether the 21-days of antibiotics did anything. The doc told me on the last visit, the next step would be surgery. I'm not sure I want to go that route. *sigh*


Moving
No, not me... not yet, anyway. My brother is selling his house and has to be out by Tuesday. Over the weekend, I helped him pack and clean. He made it clear to everyone that I was not to be lifting anything because my neck and shoulder is messed up. Again, I did a lot with my left hand. By Saturday evening, my shoulder was a hurtin’ puppy. Sunday, wasn’t too bad.


Suzy Homemaker
Remember all the tomato pics from last week? I picked those luscious, ripe, red tomatoes and made salsa. Actually, I canned it. I ended up with 7 pints of salsa. I think I used too much cilantro and it could use a bit more spice, but for my first time it’s pretty tasty!

I also used up the cucumbers that I got from a lady on Freecycle. (Have I said how cool Freecycle is?) I ended up making 2 gallons of yummy, crispy refrigerator pickles. They won’t be ready for at least a week. Ohhh... the tortuous wait... :)


Stitchy Stuff
In addition to starting and finishing “No Place Like Home” (see previous post), I started a second one. I’m about 1/3 of the way done with it.


School
The fall semester started last week. I’m taking an online Beginning Excel class. At the end of Week 1, I managed to complete seven assignments and one quiz. I’m over halfway done with what is required for the class. My intention is to finish this class before I move, so that I don’t have added pressure. I was informed by the instructor that the Advanced Excel class can be taken online by instructor permission. I may go that route since I’m signed up for the on-campus class.