It's that time of year again...

Hey, ya'll!  I'm feeling much better today - not that I've been ill, just down in spirit a bit.  I had a good nights rest last night and I woke up this morning and my scale whispered sweet nothings to me!  :)  I've lost another pound!  I've reached my goal for the week - if I can keep it off - or better yet, lose more!  I'm just glad for the chance to get my bonus points on Game On!

In other news, Tori's top is marked and ready to be sewn together.  I hope to have her top finished tonight - maybe more.  Since this will be the 4th top I've made, you'd think it'd go a bit faster.  Here's hoping!

I got a sneak preview of the reception area for Jayde's wedding this Saturday.  It's beautiful.  It amazes me everytime we have a wedding how creative and artistic our church family is.  It's one thing to pay to have this kind of beauty, but when you have people who can do it themselves, the floral arrangements and other design elements - I'm always amazed!

Speaking of creativity, the Craft Sale is just around the corner.  October 21 & 22!  I'm PUMPED!  FUN, FUN, FUN.  No one, and I do mean NO ONE, has more to offer.  We have hand sewn crafts, painted crafts, wood worked crafts, floral arrangements, you name it.  Holiday decor, home decor, office & lawn decor.  Gifts for you, gifts for others. 

Then there's the baked goods - OH MY!  All homemade from scratch!  Cakes - chocolate sheath cake, german chocolate, red velvet, italian cream, coconut, really the sky's the limit.  Pies - apple, pecan, almond torte, peach, BUTTERMILK, and the list goes on.  Homemade breads - dinner rolls, jalapeno bread, and Nina's FAMOUS Cinnamon Rolls.  They are made from a recipe delivered to Nina from the angels!  Trust me on this - I've had them!  There's candy - fudge, pralines, peanut brittle, divinity, caramels - you name it!  Again - HOMEMADE!  And we can't forget the salsa's, the jerky, the jams, jellies & preserves! 

And just when you think you've seen it all - we sell BBQ Dinners!  Your choice of brisket, chicken or links with generous side servings of potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw or salad, a dinner roll, dessert & iced tea!  Or for those wanting something hearty but lighter - homemade veggie beef soup with all the sides.  Adult or child portions are available and reasonably priced. 

Does life get any better than this?  I don't think so.  Food, fun, fellowship, crafts, and all for the work of the Lord!  It's the best.  I hope you guys join us!  Hope to see you all there! 

K.  Bye, now!

One down, 2 to go!

Macy's dress is finished.  It fit perfectly!  I hope to get Tori's top completed tonight after church. 

Other than that there's not too much to report today.  Sorry for the short, short blog!  Hope to have more news soon.  AND I need to get some pics posted!  Bye, now.

Things are looking up

Guess what I did last night?  SEWED!!!  I know...hard to believe.  :)  I am almost finished with Macy's dress.  I have brought it to work with me to finish up some hand sewing and mark the hemline.  My goal is to give her the dress tonight.  I have recut Tori's top and will begin on it tomorrow.  Kirstyn's top was too small, also, but the top I originally made for Tori fit her perfectly, so I am thankful I will only have to remake 1 top!  Thank you, Jesus, for that sweet respite.

My weight is up 1/2 a pound, but my inches are down!  Since the beginning of the game I have lost 2.5 inches in my waist and 2 inches in my hips.  YEA!!!  I'm going to let those results boost me over the increase in pounds. 

Kirstyn & Malissia got home last night safe and sound.  They had a good trip!  Kirstyn went shopping with her birthday money and bought some new clothes & shoes.  She bought me the MOST delicious smelling candle, I can't remember the name, something about Just Like Home.  Whatever - it still smelled wonderful!  She also bought me some fragrance items for my car.  (Is she trying to give me a hint?  JK.  I know she knows how much I love candles!)

I have finished reading The Help.  It was a WONDERFUL book.  I completely recommend it.  Be careful - there is some foul language in it.  Overall, the story was delightful.  It'll make me think twice about eating chocolate pie, that's for sure!  (You'll have to read the book to figure out what I'm talking about!)

Well, I think that's all for today!  Talk to you guys more tomorrow!  Bye, now.

Some good, some not so good

Good news - I got the jackets finished and the tops and waistbands finished.  If all would have gone according to plan all I would have left is to attach skirts, insert zippers and hem!  TaDa!  But that's not how it worked out!  One of the dresses is too small - too small to even let out the seam allowances and make it fit!  FRUSTRATING!  How does that happen?  I measured, I pinned the pattern on the girls, I made notes and cut the fabric out with all the correct measurements and changes to each piece.  AND STILL it did not fit!  Sigh....

So, tonight I will recut and sew this top in correct proportions!  At least her jacket fit perfectly.  I should be back on track after tonight.

For more frustrating news, I only lost 1/2 a pound this week.  That means no bonus points for my game!  My team will HATE me.  Boo-hoo.  On the bright side - I lost 1/2 a pound!  :) 

Does anyone realize that yesterday was 3 months until Christmas?  Just sayin'...

I hope to have more to say tomorrow.  Bye, now.

Typical frustrations

Well, as usual, last night didn't go as planned.  First of all, the bolero jacket has a collar/neckline/darts that are actually just one seam.  One of the jackets had to be widened in the back by about 2 inches and I didn't realize it would affect this seam line.  Well, it did!  So tonight I'm gonna go home and recut the front of this jacket and make that allowance.  This should allow me to finish up the jackets in a few minutes (or at least less than 1 hour!).  The other annoying problem I had was the serger.  One of the threads broke and I had to re-thread it.  Not a big deal - I've done it 100's of times.  But, oh no.  The serger decided to be cranky.  I had to re-thread about 20 time, no exaggeration!  Finally it decided to cooperate and serged beautifully.  After that I decided it was time to quit.  I was getting frustrated and didn't want to make any mistakes.

The girls are leaving today to go to Kerrville!  I know they will have tons of fun.  I hope they get a good blessing, some strength, and an abundance of Holy Ghost to bring back with them!  :)  They need it!  So do I!  Ryan called last night - he cut his hair.  He said he felt like it was too long and he was going to shape up.  Wednesday night he said he prayed through - got the victory!  He said he had some cleaning out to do - his music, his clothes, his heart.  He said his mind is made up!  I'm so thankful to God for working this out!  He said he felt like he was the old Ryan again.  The Ryan he became September of last year is gone.  God is good!  Now I need to ship his Study Bible to him.  That'll be this weekend. 

Best news of the day - IT'S FRIDAY!  WOO-HOO!  Have a good weekend - be productive, stay busy, enjoy life!  See you guys on Monday.  Bye, now.

Zumba, Childrens Church and Sewing

Tomorrow's Friday, peoples!  Yea!  Yesterday was a good day.  Work, home, church.  I did some Zumba (at home) and I'm starting to get the hang of it.  Malissia was supposed to be doing it with me, but she was actually having a hard time following the steps - AND she was really busy saying "Mom, for real - don't do that!"  She thought I was trying to be funny.  If she only knew!  Whew!

Today is gonna be a really good, really productive day.  I just know it.  For starters, the scale and I are back on talking terms.  It finally started going down again, just like I told it to!  You just have to be firm with them sometimes.  Let them know that they are NOT in charge - YOU are!  :)  I won!  This round.

I hope to finish the other 2 bolero jackets tonight.  They are quite simple and I hope doing them assembly line will increase my speed and productivity.  We'll see. 

Church was good last night!  Children's Church was very busy.  We are starting to work on crafts for the craft sale.  The children LOVE doing crafts.  We try to have a wide variety of crafts for all the different age groups.  It really is a joy to work with them.  Some are confident and some are not.  Some are overly confident!  But with a little love and encouragement, they will all participate.  Their personalities are so cute.  You have those who are wall flowers, those who love to be the center of attention (class clowns, brainiacs, impress the teacher), and those who are middle of the road.  Every Wednesday they are different.  Sometimes they are tired, sometimes they are squirmy, sometimes they are totally hyped up!  You never know what you're gonna get.  You just gotta be prepared.  I love working with them.

The Kerrville meeting is this weekend.  My girls are looking forward to it.  Malissia is going Friday afternoon and Kirstyn is going Saturday morning.  That means I'll be all alone this weekend.  WOO-HOO!  Uninterrupted sewing, here I come!  YEA!  I'll be sewing like a mad woman, only better! 

K.  I'm starting to ramble, so Bye, now!  Ya'll come back now, ya hear?  ;)

A little of this, a little of that...

Not too much to report today.  It's Wednesday, middle of the week, and time's running out.  I did ZERO sewing last night.  By the time I got home, fixed dinner, ate dinner, exercised and went to church, I didn't have the brain power left to sew.  I learned a long time ago not to sew when I'm brain tired!  I make really bad mistakes and it takes more time to fix them than if I would have left it along to begin with! 

I hope to get another jacket sewn tonight  At least to have it almost completed.  That would mean the last one could be done tomorrow night and I could sew the dresses Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

I received a wonderful voice mail message from Ryan last night.  He left a message telling me that he went to visit a church in Splendora and the services was "awesome".  His words, not mine.  He met the pastor and the assistant pastor.  He is really encouraged and excited about this.  He wanted to go to the Kerrville meeting, but couldn't due to lack of $$$.  This church has a youth rally in Conroe this weekend, and he CAN afford to go to that one.  He's really pumped up about it.  I hope he uses this opportunity to develop a firm foundation.  He is an adult now - he has to get this faith, this determination to live for God, for himself.  I can't do it for him.  Keep him in your prayers.  He still needs victory - but he is heading in the right direction.

My scale and I currently have a love/hate relationship.  I keep saying "go down" and it keeps saying "I like where I'm at right now".  It hasn't moved a bit in 2 days!  Grrrr....  Something's gotta give and it's NOT gonna be me!  I think I need to pep up my meals a bit.  They seem to be getting bland.  I've lost my focus.  It seems like I had the same problem last round - the first week.  I need to go to the grocery store and get some variables - flavorful variables.  (That's another word for protein and veggies, in case you didn't know that!).  :)

Well, for someone who didn't have a lot to say, I did write a bit.  Gotta get busy now - time's a wasting.  Bye, now.