Umbrella? Rake? Snow Shovel?

I’m becoming bewildered at what season it is! We’ve had some c-r-a-z-y weather! Monday, it POURED down rain -- we received almost an inch of the wet stuff. Tuesday it was nice. Wednesday was so nice that I sat on my front step to each my lunch. Thursday morning, the sun was shining. I took advantage of the nice weather to rake the sand from the little piece of grassy area between the curb and the sidewalk. Residuals from winter. Nice...not! Thursday afternoon, it poured down rain again. I was pretty damp by the time I walked from the parking lot to the computer lab for class. As I was pulling into my drive after class, it started SNOWING! Coworkers told me that their yards were white. Luckily, it didn’t stick around at my house. This weekend it’s supposed to be 60F and “shorts weather” the forecasters are telling us. Crazy, indeed!

Just The Essentials

What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

"Essential" is such a personal and relative term, don't you think? In reality, the “essentials” are needle, floss, scissors, fabric, and chart. But, we all have items we *think* we need.

I have much, much more in my stitching bag. I actually have two “bags”. One is a messenger bag that I hardly take anywhere. I bought it for like $3 at the local Goodwill store several years ago.

I love the red lining on the inside. I has several compartments and pockets, which makes it useful for stitch stuff. I think it used to be an Amway bag. It stores my UFO’s, my floss containers, one of those fabric count rulers, and my little bag of gadgets that I might need. I bought this little clear bag at Walmart for $2.

It’s actually a cosmetic bag and it’s very sturdy. Great for stitchy gadgets! As you can see, I keep a lot of stuff in it...

The messenger bag sits on the floor by my sofa so at anytime I can grab it and go, or dig through and get what I need.

My other “bag” is a plastic expandable folder with a ziploc across the top. It’s supposed to be used to store papers, and I got it at Walmart for $2. I use this one quite often when I’m on the go... like all the trips I’ve made to the hospital for my Dad. I keep several smaller projects in it, along with my scissors on a fob and a needlebook. It’s kinda cheaply made and at the bottom where it expands has “air pockets”? where small things could fall out. I tried to find ones that didn’t have those openings, but no luck.

Taco Skillet

Hungry?
I tried another new recipe tonight. Taco Skillet. It was really easy and really fast. What do you think?

Kinda looks like Hamburger Helper...LOL (but without all the preservatives) Sorry about the messy stove. What can I say... I'm a messy cook.

Taco Skillet
1 lb. ground beef, browned & drained
1 onion, chopped fine
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1/3 c. water
1 c. salsa
1 c. frozen corn, no need to thaw
6 flour tortillas, cut into 1" pieces
2 c. Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, divided

Reserve 1/2 cheese for topping. Mix everything else in your skillet. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir again and top with cheese. Cover and cook 2 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Easy Peasy! Rarely do I make anything that's "involved". Fast, easy, and tasty. That's my motto!

Now that I read over the recipe more carefully, I see I screwed up. LOL I didn't mix in half the cheese, I just put it all on top. And oops.. I forgot to add the water.

Here's what else I did: I used ground turkey instead of beef and added chorizo (because I had it on hand). I roughly chopped the onion. Kitchen shears work well for cutting up the tortillas. No need to be neat, you can't tell when it's all mixed together. I also added dried "green stuff" oO(What's the name of it?). Oh yes... Cilantro!

It makes a lot. I'll be eating Taco Skillet for the rest of the week. Anyone care to join me?

WHA-WHO!!

I'm a happy camper tonight! Much to my surprise, I received 93% on my 2nd B-Law II test!

Our tests are handed back in two parts: the scantron sheet and then the written exam. I was thrilled to see that I only missed 4 questions on the multiple choice scantron. In looking over the questions, I saw they were ones I'd had problems with... I circled the problem children when I took the test. Turns out the instructor's key was wrong on one question, so I actually only missed 3 MC!

The instructor handed back all the written exams except for mine. Finally, I got his attention and asked if he had mine up there at his desk. He did, he just "forgot" to hand it back. oO(Alrighty then!) I knew I'd missed at least 1 definition. Turned out that I missed 2. I missed one essay question... big fat ZERO on that one. I really thought I missed more on the essays, seeing as I BS'd my way through a few of the questions.

So that brings my overall grade to a B!

Happy - Happy - Happy! :D

When It Rains... It Pours

Literally.

I could say: "April Showers", but alas we received POURING rain yesterday. Before I go on with my tale of woe, I just want to say that I really feel like I've been whining and complaining too much lately! Do I have some dark cloud over my head that all these "issues" keep happening? I hope not!

Bring on the "May Flowers"! (please)

*slosh, slosh, slosh*

I look down at the passenger side floor of my car as I'm pulling out of the parking lot at lunch time. What the?!?

OMG! I stop and throw the car into park and lift the recessed toilet paper holder -- still in the bag and full of water, waiting to be returned to the store -- out of a 1.5" puddle of water sitting on the floor.

I watch in disbelief as water streams from the box as I say a quick prayer to the customer service gods that it will dry well enough so that it’s still returnable.

I do a quick check to see if the drivers side floor is wet, or any other part of the car for that matter. The rest is good.

After I got home, I hoisted the shop vac up the basement stairs with its hose thrown over my shoulder. Keep in mind, I *AM* in my good work clothes. (Another quick prayer that I don’t get too dirty that I’ll have to change.)

Thoughts often run through my head about what my neighbors think about the various things I end up doing on my lunch hour. LOL

Whoever came up with the shop vac idea is a genius. That thing has saved me on more than one occasion. By the time I finished sucking all the water out of the car, it was time to go back to work. On the way back, I thought I’d turn on the heat and try to dry to carpet.

ACK! In comes more water!! Instead of going back to work, I made a beeline to the mechanic downtown... the one who just replaced my serpentine belt. Bit O Trivia: His godfather is Dustin Hoffman. He set me up for an appointment today to figure out why all that water came in.

Prognosis: There’s a cowl/weather guard that directs water (when it comes down the windshield) away from the car. Did I mention we had a MAJOR downpour yesterday morning? Apparently, the factory adhesive came loose allowing water to go into the blower then into the car. (Which would probably explain why more water came in after I turned on the fan!)

“Do you want me to fix it?” he asks.

Hello? Of course I want it fixed! (I didn’t say that to him, though. LOL)

After I paid the bill, I told the lady at the desk that I hoped this would be the last trip down there for a while. She’s not very friendly. :(

Here's an aside: The mechanic told me that they had 7 cars towed into the shop yesterday. It rained so hard that the tanks at the Philips 66 got water into them (How? I have no idea!). So anyone who pumped gas into their car... Guess what? Water in the the gas tank. People drove a few blocks before their cars died and had to be towed. Can you say UNHAPPY CAMPERS? I'm grateful I wasn't one of them. In retrospect, maybe the water on the floor wasn't so bad.

*doing the hand weighing thing* Water on the Floor, Water in the Tank, Water on the Floor, Water in the Tank. Yep. Water on the floor isn't so bad.

I think I need a vacation...