Competitions- Olympics, American Idol, & Jewelry

I did it!  I managed to watch both the Olympics and American Idol last night.  Even without TiVO or a DVR.  I did it the old fashioned way by switching back and forth from 9-10 pm.  I may have missed some bits and pieces of both, but I didn't miss anything major.
First, the Olympics.

This was probably the biggest night so far.  Gold medals won by Lindsey Vonn for downhill skiing, Shaun White for snowboarding, and Shani Davis for speed skating.  Then Julia Mancuso won a silver medal for downhill skiing, right behind Lindsey, and Chad Hedrick won a bronze for speed skating with Shani.  And my favorite, Apolo Ohno, he is so cute, qualified for the finals on short track.  I don't think those finals are until next week. This was so exciting.  I love to hear the personal stories behind the athletes.  How their parents worked several jobs to be able to afford to keep their child in their sport and how they drove their child hours and hours to practices.  The injuries, the training schedules, etc.  This is the real thing in reality TV.  Now tonight USA's Evan Lysacek goes against Russia's Plushenko in men's ice skating.

Then for an hour I had to switch back and forth to American Idol. 

 They were picking the top 24 and I couldn't miss it.

And keep in mind that I was also making a new pincushion while watching both shows, and two dogs laying beside me.  Talk about multi-tasking!

Anyway, my favorite picks from the very beginning are still in:  Casey James, the cute, long blond hair guy; Andrew Garcia, the father that wants this so bad to give his family a better life; Big Mike, whose wife had their first baby during Hollywood week; and Crystal Bowersox, the mother of a baby boy,  Janis Joplin/Carol King look alike.  I also like Lacey Brown, Siobhan Magnus, and Todrich. 

I feel so bad for those that made it up to this point and then told they weren't going any further.  Oh, I just wanted to cry with them.  I understand that Ellen is going to have a few of these talented people on her show that were cut already from American Idol.  I know not everyone is a fan of Ellen, but I think she's great.

This last competition is a little closer to home and one we can all enter.  It's a $5,000 jewelry sweepstakes by LuShae Jewelry that I'm helping to promote. 

You can enter here:  http://www.jewelryartdesigns.com/jewelry-jad.asp?p=Win-Jewelry&xref=newagegrandma.blogspot.com

 for the $5,000 in cash, and by entering you also receive a 15% discount on any jewelry order.  The jewelry is very pretty and not expensive at all.  You'll also see links on my sidebar.  Good luck!

I'll keep you updated on all of the above.

Valentine's Weekend is Over!

Thank goodness it's Monday.  These weekends  lately have not been relaxing at all.  This was a good weekend, with the kids here and Valentine's Day, but I'm glad it's over.  I love having them all here, but they do wear me out.
Friday night we had a pizza and wing dinner.  Not very nutritious, but who cares, it was a Friday night.  Then we had our ice cream sundaes with hot fudge, whipped cream and valentine sprinkles.  May as well have all the junk in one sitting.
Saturday, Melissa and I spent the whole day at their old house and we got the main house all clean.  Now this week the carpenter man is supposed to come to make a few minor repairs.  Austin showed up after dropping the boys off at a friend's house to play and he got everything moved out of the guest house and into the garage.  I was so tired by the end of the day I told them they were on their own for Sunday's cleaning of the guest house.
Sunday I stayed home with the boys and made a roast and mashed potatoes dinner.  Austin and Melissa came back home with a pretty little flower arrangement for me for Valentine's Day and to thank me for everything. 

Isn't it sweet?  I really appreciated that.

 We had a very nice dinner with them before they went home.
Those boys are so busy and loud, but we can't help but laugh at them.  They just come up with the funniest things.   Logan spent the day watching Cartoon Network with a movie marathon going all day.  He watches a lot of TV and his mom and dad really limit his television time during the week.  Bob asked him why he was such a TV kid and his reply was, "Because when I was in my Mommie's bellie I watched TV in there".  Now where in the world did that come from?  We laughed so hard.  It makes you wonder what all goes on in those cute little heads of their's.  Then Austin came home with a whoopie cushion for Landen because he's going through a phase right now where he's just obsessed with poop and farts.  It seems like that's all he talks about.  And I guess we all don't do much to discourage it because he's so funny about it.  Austin put the whoopie cushion on Landen's chair as we were sitting for dinner and he got the biggest kick out of it.  So then he thought he was "surprising" the rest of us with it as he put it on each of our chairs.  Of course we acted like he was tricking us all. 
The boys got their bath and pajamas on for the ride home and then they just had fun blowing up the whoopie cushion and sitting on it themselves as I finished cleaning the dining room and kitchen.

Today I took all the Valentine decorations down, which also got rid of all remnants of Christmas that was still hanging around.  The Valentine tree was completely taken down and put away.

I was ready to see it gone.

All the other Valentine decorations are put away.

All gone. 

                                

The only thing left hanging is my Valentine quilt.  I don't have a St Patrick's quilt and my Easter one will go up shortly.  I may just leave this up for another month.  I'll have to think about it.  It'll probably bug me, though, so I'll have to find something else to go up for a while.

Mom and Dad also got back safe and sound from Florida.  Now everything seems all back to normal again.

I'm looking forward to a quiet evening of Olympics and knitting.  Uhhhhh! 

Kids are Coming Early!! Oh No!!

Oh My!  I just found out the kids are coming home today for the whole weekend.  I thought they were just coming up tomorrow.  I love them and love to see them, but the whole weekend? --- I have to gear up for that.  And by kids, I mean Austin, Melissa,

Logan age 5,  Landen age 4 in two weesks,

and two hyper dogs.  OK, I can do this, I can do this, yes I can!

I was planning fancy ice cream sundaes for tomorrow night for Valentine's Day, but I don't have all the stuff.  So I just got in touch with My Bob since he's not home yet from appointments and asked him to pick up all the sundae makings that I didn't have yet.  We'll have these for tonight.  Austin and Melissa asked if I minded that just the two of them go out to dinner tomorrow night for Valentine's Day.  Of course I don't mind.  I just wasn't quite prepared. 
I'm a planner.  I always like to know ahead of time what's going on and what I'm going to be doing, and everyone else's plans if they concern me at all.  So I'm cleaning bedrooms and bathrooms today.  This was on my list to do tomorrow morning.  I'm doing good now, though.   Got the cleaning done and dessert being picked up.

The reason they're coming home is to hopefully finish cleaning their house out that's going up for sale.  I don't know yet if I'll be helping to clean or staying home with the boys. 
Some real good news that we're very hopeful about is that we think the house may be sold already without it even being listed yet.  I was talking to a florist friend of mine and it just so happens that her current lease for her flower shop is ending in May and she wants to find a better but less expensive space.
 I told her about my son's house coming up for sale since they had to move an hour and a half away.  The house comes with a separate garage and office/guest house.  This is where our insurance agency used to be.  She and her husband asked if they could see it right away and they decided they want it and they would move her flower shop into the old office building.

This is what my florist friend and I imagine it could look like.  Very cute! 

Then they would rent out the main house.  We were all excited about the transaction until we double checked with the city zoning board and since it was never zoned commercial we now have to go through this riga-ma-roll of paper work, variances, exceptions, legal postings and a meeting to have it voted on.  Jeez!!
Since my grandfather built the building in 1958 and had his insurance agency in there at that time it was just "grandfathered" in as an insurance agency.  Actual zoning laws went into affect in 1964. 
So that's where we're at.  My Bob and I are doing the paper work and leg work on the matter and the meeting is now scheduled for a week from Tuesday.

As my Grandma always used to say, "Life gets tedious at times".

Snow Day and More

Snow, snow everywhere.  It's been quite a few winters since we've had this much. Just take a look at my Winter Wonderland picture on the sidebar and add about another foot of snow to it.   And today it's not just snow, it's 10 degrees and we are right on the border of blizzard warnings.  Everything is closed.  Schools, stores, roads and highways.  Perfect day for me because as you know, I love to stay home.  I feel so bad for those that have to be somewhere or go outside for whatever reason.  My son, the Air Force Recruiter, had to walk to work.  Thank goodness he moved, because now his office if only about 1/4 mile from his home.  He was supposed to take a couple recruits to Pittsburgh for testing and physicals, but that's not happening.  The testing place is closed and I think the roads to get there are closed.
I really feel sorry for animals that are outside.  This was brought to my attention by my new blog friend, Maggie, at http://maggiesraggedyinn.blogspot.com/2010/02/homeless-cats.html.  Her post really made me think about this and made me feel so bad.  Pets that are ignored or left outside by their owners is just so sad.   I don't personally know of any or see any in my neighborhood, but I know there are plenty out there.  Please bring them inside people!  My own little Fergie, the 5 pound toy poodle, won't even step out the door when the weather is like this.  I lay newspaper by the front door for him.  But so far today, and it's 11:20 am, he hasn't done a thing since he got up this morning.  I keep looking and sniffing around the house but I'm not finding any messes.  He's sleepinig in between his pillows on his little bed right now.

Yes, he has a four poster bed!  He's the little apricot colored ball laying in there.

OK, so now what about American Idol last night.  I wish it were on for two hours.  They just don't have time to show everyone.  Here are my picks from last night:  Andrew Garcia.  He was the very first one.  A father that wants a better life for his little boy;  Casey James.  Real cute.  He took his shirt off at the original try out, and he plays the guitar.;  And Crystal Bowersox.  She had her son's name tatooed on her neck right before the show and she sounds like Carol King.  We'll see how good my predictions are.  Don't forget to watch tonight.

An update on Mother Millie (MIL).  She has a doctor's appointment today and my sister in law is taking her.  The doctor is recommending that she discontinue the chemo treatments and let hospice now come in to keep her comfortable.  This is very sad to come to grips with, but Millie has accepted this fact.  They are going to increase the strength of her Oxycodone to alleviate more of the pain that this pancreatic cancer is forcing upon her.  It's just come to the inevitable point of nothing more can be done except trying to keep her comfortable.  Why her?  This cancer question still really puzzles me.

Here's my newest knit hat I just finished.  I don't think I'm going to sell it or give it away.  It is so warm and comfortable.  I need it for myself right now.  It's knit from a a tweed washable wool and the buttons I used are all from my grandmother's button collection kept in an old tin that I inherited. 

I think I'll make some hand warmers to match.

Now I've come up with this new idea to make cute little pillows and sachets.  I made this one for Valentine's day for myself. 

 I'm going to make some more to sell on Etsy.  I am trying to get some dried lavendar to fill them with.  In the meantime, I'll just have to use Poly-fil.  I love to use ribbon, lace, buttons and charms to embellish.

American Idol

Twenty minutes until American Idol starts.  I look forward to 8:00 every Tuesday and 9:00 every Wednesday.  It's so entertaining to me.  Tonight starts Hollywood week with Ellen.  I was the same way with Star Search years ago.  Anybody remember that show?  I think it was on Sunday afternoons and My Bob and I always made sure we were home to watch it.   Bob isn't addicted to American Idol like I am, but it is one show he's willing to watch with me.  And since he's willing to watch it with me I try to refrain from going up to my sewing room and we hole up in bed together while it's on.  I still sneak my knitting into bed with me.  Don't call me, though.  I won't answer the phone.   Shortly after the show is over, he's snoring away, and then I'm right back into my sewing room until about midnight.
I think I really like to see someone go from obscurity to super stardom in a matter of months.  Isn't that just amazing?  It's fun to watch it happen.  I'm going to keep track of my favorites as the show continues and we'll see how they do.
Olympics start in a couple of days.  I'm the same way about watching them. 
I never can just sit and watch TV just by itself.  I have to knit, sew, or make something.  Bob doesn't quite get how I can pay attention to a show while I'm doing other things.  But I do. 
Just a gift I have!