Blizzard of 2011

WOW - what a snow storm - started late on Tuesday, 2/1/11 - wind was blowing hard, started snowing. They we woke up to lots and lots of snow. Two feet or more with snow drifts. Woke up at 5:30 to shovel some paths in the driveway to get my car out. The snowplow makes a huge pile right at the end of the driveway, the worse part to shovel. SO I got my car out, drove down 95th street to the train. Very erie, only two or three cars on the road. I love the morning after a big snow, so quiet. After seeing two parking lots not plowed, finally found one that seemed OK to park at. Train was running on a Sunday schedule and also was running late. So after sitting for an hour at the train station, one finally came and we got downtown around 8. At the start of the morning only 2 of my 7 employees made it in, then another finally got there at 11:00. Trading was delayed to open at 10:00am. Very quiet day, almost not worth going in for. They did let us leave at 3:00, so we jumped on the 2:30 which was actually running late at 2:50 - just made that train. Jason did a great job shoveling while I was at work - it was ALOT of snow - He said he was never shoveling again. We shall see. I enjoy seeing the snow before and after plowing and shoveling, before it gets all dirty and lived in.

WW recipe

This looks tasty - no points

Cauliflower Poppers


Course: snacks
PointsPlus™ Value: 0
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 10 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Great as a side dish or as a snack. An unbeatable combo of flavor, texture and spice.

Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray
1 head(s) cauliflower (medium)
1/2 tsp Durkee Ground Cumin Seed, or other brand
1/2 tsp chili powder, or more to taste
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Cut cauliflower florets into bite-sized pieces (there should be about 4 cups). Place cauliflower in a medium bowl and add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper; toss well to coat.Spread cauliflower on prepared baking sheet and bake until cauliflower is tender, but not mushy, stirring halfway through, about 10 minutes. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

1-1-11

HAPPY NEW YEAR - I can't believe I haven't posted since Thanksgiving - so caught up in the holidays. So this is a new year, new beginnings, new ends, new ideas, new hopes, new dreams, new attitude - I hope to be touched by all of these this year. We shall see how it goes, but baby steps right?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all - I am so blessed to have so much good in my life - my family, friends, my WONDERFUL sons, a passion for being creative and a drive to grow. This holiday always makes me humble and I wish this feeling year round. This is something I plan to focus on for the next year. Today is also my youngest sons 25th golden birthday. I am so proud of him and the man he has become - he lives in San Diego so I miss him everyday. He makes my heart overflow with love and joy. (this is a picture taken in September 2008 of the two of us)



I have also been working on making these fun snowflake garlands that I am selling in my Etsy shop. They are really fun to make.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62867023/snowflake-garland-dictionary-pages
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62867280/mini-snowflake-garland?ref=v1_other_1

December Daily 2010

This is the second year I have done the December daily with Ali Edwards http://aliedwards.com/2010/11/december-daily-2010-qa.html
My album is 6 x 6" in size. This year I decided to do all of the days of December including a day for January 1st, 2011 to capture my thoughts for the new year. I think next year I will also do one for November - for tracking all that I am thankful for or keep an annual gratitude journal.

10-10-10

Today is the Chicago Marathon -If I would have planned better, like first of the year, maybe I could have trained to run this. Just cause 10 is my favorite number and it would have been cool to have been part of it. But it was a little warm for the runners. I did watch it for the first time on TV - really enjoyable to watch. Someday, maybe someday, I will be part of the 45,000 runners.

I have been needing to make a dust cover for my WII fit board. It sits under my entertainment cabinet and gets pretty dusty. SO I grabbed some scrap material I had for years. It is an ivory printed canvas of musical related print. I was thinking I would make a horizontal folder type cover. Didn't work that well. SO I used fabric glue to hold the middle seam after sewing a 1/4 seam all around my 32" x 25" piece of fabric. Then I sewed the one short end. I folded over the other short end about with a 1/4 seam to allow for a draw string. Kinda turned out to be a duffel bag. SO it works for now, I think I will tweak when I start making them to sell on Etsy. My first try turned out OK.

Perfect Protest

I can across This blog of Renee Brown who is promoting her new book. She is having a protest to perfection all week. What a great idea. I am just learning how important it is to forgive myself. This book is coming into my world at a good time I believe. http://www.ordinarycourage.com/my-blog/2010/9/26/the-perfect-protest.html

I will never be perfect - but I am pretty damn good
I will never be wealthy - but I grateful that I am currently employed making a good buck
I am becoming less and less social
I will never be stick thin, but I am learning to enjoy being healthy by eating right and working out. I do this for me !!!
I will never be the perfect mother, sister, friend, aunt, manager, employee but I will strive not to be the worst.
I will never be on the cover of a magazine but there must be people that see beauty in me sometimes.
I am learning to live in the moment because that's where my energy should be. Can't change the past and can't predict the future.
My thought, my choice, my power.
I think meditating will actually improve my life and I need to embrace this ASAP.
I need a relationship with God
I am going to believe in me, forgive me, respect me and most importantly LOVE ME.

Da Bears

I have been wanting to make this for awhile and since football season is here ....
I used some fabrics from a thrift store - a blue checked sheet, a solid orange shower curtain, an orange dotted fabric from my scrap pile and a navy blue twin sheet I had and never used. The flags are 6" wide and 6" high - cut with pinking shears and sewed onto navy blue bias tape. I used white iron on letters and made a brown football from felt with white felt laces. This will be great to use at any tailgate party or even better a SUPER BOWL party !!!! GO BEARS.

OCTOBER

How did October come so fast !! I do enjoy the fall though - I really look forward to cooler weather, warm clothes, comfort food, apple cider and the list goes on.

Today I finished a quick project. I got this teal canvas bag at a thrift store for only .90 cents. I used a fabric scrap that I got a few years ago from the sample sale at 1154 Lill (a great company that makes purses by your design - you get to pick the fabrics). The flowered scrap piece covered the pattern on teh bag and created a nice size pocket on the outside. I also bunched some yellow fabric scraps that I got from the same sale this year. It turned out really cute and it was quick and easy. I will use the bag for groceries, a craft tote or whatever. I need to make some more of these for gifts I think.

Weekend Wrap up

Why do weekends go by so fast ?? Jason was watching Tommy so the house was mine all weekend !!!
Friday - I enjoyed some Chinese for dinner - cashew chicken and orange chicken - my usual
Saturday - went to the 1154 Lill sample sale http://www.1154lill.com/ - It was kinda crazy, ladies hoarding bags in the corners, but I managed to buy myself two bags and a make up bag (which I didn;t need any of them). I also got 8 Christmas gifts. The weather was kinda cool and started to rain on my way home. I did a major no no and got pulled over by the EP cops (turned left on a no turn left) and was lucky that the cop only gave me a warning - I WAS SO LUCKY. I kept saying that all day and thanking the police gods for not giving me a ticket. Then I did some great thrift shopping - I got two cool wool coats (1 was 4 bucks), 2 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters, a sweatshirt, some crafts items to upscale, some material (bed skirt, sheet, shower curtain) to also make something with) all for 42 bucks. Since it was a nice cool day, I stopped to get the fixings to make chili - YUMMY - I rented a few movies.
Sunday - got up to early because of the dogs breaking into my room, watched a movie (Back up Plan - dumb), putzed around my house and did some random chores, watched the BEARS win - DA Bears. And the weekend comes to a close. At least tomorrow I am heading to Columbus, Ohio for a work conference on Tuesday - so it will be a nice short work week.