Just in Case You Were Wondering

How Netflix makes ANY money at all!?!

It's us.

I was just looking at our queue and noticed that the movie we just returned *cough*Monday*cough* was sent to us on January 9. It wasn't even good either. Oh well at least there aren't late fees$!$

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

WOW That was FAST!!!

Taxes 2007

Filed them
Received them
Spent them

All in 10 days!

Phew...

(Yes I know, we're those disgusting people who file early)

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Plagiarizing Outright

I'm stealing this directly from Dioramarama (who I borrowed it from someone else so it's only fair *grin*) It's a list of the AFI's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. I've seen VERY few of them and it makes me wonder WHAT the heck I've been watching - oh yeah CSI and Law & Order. Really I do watch movies - for instance I've seen all the Tammy movies and most of the Gidget movies. I've also seen An Affair to Remember and Anne of Green Gables about 100 times each. There's also Mary Poppins (which I think should have made the list), Sabrina, The 5th Element, Ferris, Serenity, and dozens of others I could (and do) watch again and again.

My favorite from the list is definitely "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

legend:
black=seen
red = never seen

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin' In The Rain (1952)
6. Gone With The Wind (1939)
7. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
14. Psycho (1960)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927)
19. On The Waterfront (1954)
20. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
22. Some Like It Hot (1959)
23. The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
25. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
26. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. All About Eve (1950)
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
34. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
36. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
38. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. The Sound Of Music (1965)
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. Shane (1953)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Rear Window (1954)
49. Intolerance (1916)
50. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
51. West Side Story (1961)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
53. The Deer Hunter (1978)
54. M*A*S*H (1970)
55. North By Northwest (1959)
56. Jaws (1975)
57. Rocky (1976)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Nashville (1975)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
61. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
63. Cabaret (1972)
64. Network (1976)
65. The African Queen (1951)
66. Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
67. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
69. Tootsie (1982)
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
74. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
75. In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
76. Forrest Gump (1994)
77. All The President's Men (1976)
78. Modern Times (1936)
79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Apartment (1960)
81. Spartacus (1960)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. Titanic (1997)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
85. A Night At The Opera (1935)
86. Platoon (1986)
87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. Swing Time (1936)
91. Sophie's Choice (1982)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
93. The French Connection (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. Do The Right Thing (1989)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Toy Story (1995)
100. Ben-Hur (1959)

What are your all-time favorite movies On the list and Off?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Overheard...

I love to listen to my kids as they play. They don't know I'm listening (a Mommy secret of the ages) and I learn so much. Usually I just giggle at their daily antics, but some days are real treasures.

Yesterday, my love - Toby got angry with Anna as they were playing. He threw his toy down (there was a talk about that later), stomped his feet and said ,loudly, to Anna "I DON'T LIKE YOU! BUT I STILL LOVE YOU!" I thought my heart would burst.

And as if Toby had not been on sweet overload all day...

We went to Joann's and neither of the kids wanted to go in. I told Casey that was fine - he asked "you won't be lonely?" Toby replied "No. Because she has my love." Really - who could be lonely after that?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

I LOVE Weekends

I do. I always have.

I used to cram weekends full of "To Do" items simply because doing anything with two rambunctious children is easier when not outnumbered. For the past few months, and especially lately, I've tried to keep our weekends as free as possible. Saturdays still hold a few "to do" items, necessities like hair appointments, and some fun errands (though Microcenter is only fun for one of us, but he goes to JoAnn's so it's not really a chore). But Sundays?

Oh Sundays! Quiet and peaceful with good food to cook and eat and movies to watch or books to read and lots of music always. We play games and Wii and take naps, do school lessons as a family, craft, Bible study and just enjoy our family. Yes, Sundays are the best.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

You are Evil and You Must Be Destroyed!

WARNING: The following information is not for the faint of heart and MAY cause dependency and/or late-night cravings.

Three Little Words

Pecan Pie Cookies

Let me tell you first hand that these are a problem. Harry's (Whole Foods) makes all kinds of sweets and baked goods and for the most part I do ok to just get our ciabatta bread and perhaps a baguette and some muffins for the kids - then I move on (past the cheese counter which is my REAL weakness, but...). Then, there was Andrea - damnit - who in the past heralded the praises and joys of said Pecan Pie Cookies. Then there was a call from my father who has brochitis "can you please bring me... various list of get better things..."

So there I was, at Harry's, IN front of the cookie and muffin case. I had already passed the fancy chocolates corner and only picked up a milk-chocolate with almonds for my sick father - good me! I think (probably out loud at this point after being in the grocery store with two children for the better part of an hour) "Oooh! Pecan Pie Cookies! I should get some of those for Daddy - he'll love them; after all, he IS sick." Right so of course I get him two and pick up two for myself while I'm at it.

Of course I "try them out" in the car. Granted I was hungry, but there is NO picture because the cookies didn't even make it CLOSE to home. In fact I considered turning around and going back for more, but then I thought better of it (read - I was on a deadline to get lunch to my dad and couldn't swing it). Damn those cookies are good. Pecan Pie Cookies are like make you leave the house at 10 p.m. (if Harry's were open @ 10p.m.) kind of good - like Hot Krispy Kreme - ooh Krispy Kreme. I'd better go make dinner now - I seem to be hungry.

BTW - Daddy LOVED his two cookies too and he's feeling much better - must have been the cookies right?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Trashy

Thursday is trash pick up day at our house ('cause I knew you were dying to find out). I was thinking this morning and considering all the trash our household of 4 people and 5 pets generates. And here's my secret (shhhhh): I'm a closet environmentalist - ack!

Yes it's true. I could be a total "green freak" if I allowed myself (because I am obsessive) - no because I care. But I am NOT a total "green freak." Good for you (and all of us) if YOU are & thanks - truly. Maintaining my sanity (shut-up!) and marital bliss (I'd make him even crazier than I already do) requires a different approach to "green" in my life.

I carry my box in and out of Harry's (and other places too) and I buy organic as much as possible, heck we're even buying a Prius in a month or so (gosh how average is that?). I have been evaluating my reasons for all of this during the social climate of "green" being trendy and "in."

Well as you know I care NOTHING for being "in" or trendy so I asked myself "Self? Why or even ARE these things important to you?" I'll stop recounting the quoted conversation I had in my head - you can relax I'll just get to the point (in a minute or two).

Being "green" for me is almost a selfish choice (maybe it always is?) in that I carry boxes into Harry's because it's easier and I don't have to figure out where to store or toss all those plastic baggies. I buy organic because it tastes better and if I can cut out at least some of the chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones pumped into myself and my children - WooHoo I'm doing it. We're buying a Prius because it's cheaper on gas with Casey in Atlanta rush hour daily and let's face it (for gadget and techno freeks like us) it's really cool! I take a short shower (usually) so that I can have some quiet time to myself before the kids wake up. I turn out lights because they give me migraines (and I hear my father's voice in my head when they are left on, but I think that's another post).

I don't compost (though it might be fun), or garden, or reclaim rainwater (like it rained here this year?!?), or ride my bicycle to make my ginormous T.V. work (though my a** would be smaller if I did b/c I LOVE T.V.), or use biofuels (don't even get me started on why ethanol is EVIL), heck, I don't even recycle on a consistent basis (SHAME). I AM more aware and more cautious about what we put in our bodies and in our homes. I "go green" where it is reasonable for us at this point and always strive for more (without being my completely obsessive self) incrementally. I admire those who do more and those who go all-out; I understand those who don't and those who don't care. I'm somewhere in the middle - do what I can where I can as I can - and it's enough.

I do have a goal of reducing the amount of garbage we generate (again selfish, as we just plain have too much stuff) which means I have to remember GIGO, but I can work on that and I'm sure my garbage collector (they don't pay those guys enough) will be appreciative.

When I doubt myself I just remember the immortal words of great thinker Kermit the frog "It's not easy being green."

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

I Wish To Read

I wish I could be IN that photo to do it too.

For 2008:

• My Sister's Keeper
• The Knitting Circle
• Anne of Green Gables (again)
• The Kite Runner
• Anna Karenina
• Water for Elephants
• The Golden Compass 1, 2 & 3
  
• Grace Walk
• Wicked
• Death's Acre
• Eat, Pray, Love
• Emma
• The Time Machine
• William Faulkner & Southern History
• The Island of Dr. Moreau
• A Thousand Splendid Suns
• The World Without Us
• The Measure of a Man
• No One Belongs Here More Than You
• The Call of The Wild (again)
• The Nine
• A Walk Across America
• A Touch of Wonder
• The Pillars of The Earth
• A World Without End
• As I Lay Dying (again)
• My Antonia

What do you wish to read this year?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Vicodin Good!

Makes me Love EVERYBODY! And it quells the migraine.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Square Pegs

"Square pegs, square pegs, square, square pegs..." You remember that show? Yeah - I know - that song is going to be stuck in my head all day too.

I've been thinking lately (nearly burned the house down *grin*); soul searching one might say - not me, but 'one' might. I've come to this:

I don't fit in!

It's something I've always known and am quite satisfied with. For the past few years I've found myself straining to "fit" somewhere and I can't really figure out why I've been trying. I like not fitting. I like going against the grain, ruffling feathers, marching to the beat of my own drummer, rocking the boat, using lots of idioms... Really I have always been happy on the outside. True, sometimes the outside is lonely and often it is scary. Ultimately 'outside' is where I belong and where I am happiest.

I have struggled against my own nature to 'fit' myself into this group or that group even into 'typical' social roles - it doesn't work. I don't fit in my church groups, small social groups, large online forum groups, heck I didn't even fit in my Girl Scout Troup nearly (ack!) 30-years ago. For better or worse I'm just me; quirky and creative, opinionated (cough *understatement* cough) and loud, kind and generous, gracious and stubborn, smart and funny (sometimes).

My sister-in-law, who struggles with self-certainty, maintains that I don't care what other people think of me - not exactly. More accurately, it doesn't matter if others LIKE me. If someone likes me that's their choice - if they don't that's fine too. I don't waste time and energy 'fitting' myself into someone else's mold or idea of who he or she thinks I should be.

I truly am a "Square Peg"; you know what? I like it.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

What? Snow? Here?

It's snowing.

It's pouring.

This blog post is boring!

Last weekend's wintry loveliness.



I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

All's Quiet on the Eastern U.S. Front...

Been reading. Can't talk and read. Can't knit and read. Can't sew and read. Can't watch T.V. and read. Can just read and read.

Read this:
And This:
I know I'm behind on the knitting book. And HEY!!! Someone could have warned me!

Read LOTS of children's books (we read at least 5 everyday) and we're listening to The Golden Compass.

Now I need to find something else off my shelf to read - probably Tuesdays with Morrie. I could knit or sew something before I begin the next book, but it's so cold here lately that I just want to sit on the couch with my quilt and read.

What are you reading? Anything good?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Toby's Favorite Trick

Disturbing No? He's 4 there. Loves to show that to everyone he meets. He always gets a laugh. For an encore he sticks his tongue UP his nose.

We're so proud!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Amy Sews

I made some things for the kids today:

A Skirt for Anna out of mini-cord (McCalls 5168)




And a Camp Shirt for Toby out of a Cotton Jungle Print (Butterick 3475)




Both projects were simple, but had some details that made them fun. I love sewing for the kids and sewing in general.

I will have many more items finished over the next 6 weeks or so b/c a group I am a member of is having a "Stash Game" in February and it's a competition. Many of you may not know me well, but I am fiercely competitive and I want to WIN. So sewing is going to feature strongly in February! Better watch out SewingMamas!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Anna Sews

We bought Anna a new sewing machine; a Janome Jem Gold 2. It is perfect and easy to use and lovely; a little (and big) girl's dream machine.

Anna wants to sew all day everyday - like this:


and this (finishing by hand):


She makes things for herself, her brother, just because, but mostly for - the cats - like all of these:




The quilt blocks were in the scrap bin, a long-ago abandoned project and Anna made them into pillows herself.

Apart from keeping her safe with the machine, I don't help Anna at all (like she'd let me)and she just goes to town with her imagination and her new machine.

I'll Keep You Posted!


AmyDe

Reminders of Home

Dinner was simple, easy, familiar; a meal I remember from childhood. Tonight we ate "Pepper Steak."

Pepper Steak is a classic American 1950's dish of hamburger patties, tomato sauce, green peppers and, as my Mom did, served with rice and green beans. As I was putting this meal together I was uncertain of a few steps. Nearly two years later I still almost picked up the phone to call my mother. It's strange how, if only for a moment, a meal from my childhood made me feel so grown up and alone.

I am thankful for the moment; the bittersweet memory. I am thankful for the recipe and knowing my way around the kitchen. I am thankful for all the things of me that are "Hers." I pray daily that I give my children as much as my mother gave me.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

L.E. Funt, Thy Name is "Trouble"

Here is what should have been a really cute project.





Instead it's really NOT. It's just weird.

The pattern is from my new book Toys to Sew. The pattern itself was horribly vague. Neither Andrea, an excellent seamstress and smart lady, nor I could decipher the written directions fully. We went with what we know about sewing and finally got things together. It's still weird. I tried to put it into the "Throw me away, I'm really UGLY" bin, but Toby loves him.

I'm glad Toby loves him, even if it's just because he's "Mommy made"; in the end I guess we all need to be loved.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

What will $2.25 and 15 Minutes Get You?

Get your minds out of the gutter! What is it with you guys *grin*?

A Cute-as-can-be girl's top that's what! I made 5 of these this morning for Anna. For her size it's a top, for a toddler, a cute spring/summer dress. Completely adjustable and completely easy either way!

Here's what I did: (yes, it's officially a tutorial)

1. Start with two regular bandannas (22" x 22") from the craft or discount store and 1-1/4 yards of coordinating ribbon (about 1" wide) cut into two equal pieces.



2. Fold and press a 1-1/4" (approximately) hem casing on each bandanna. I don't measure OR pin, but feel free.



3. Stitch casing VERY close to original hem line. Be sure to back-tack at the beginning and the end. Repeat for bandanna #2.





4. Thread (test) ribbon through each casing with a large safety pin. Tie off one shoulder side.



5. Adjust gathers around neck and tie off shoulder #2. Pin fit underarm at point where side seam will begin.



6. Remove test ribbon. Sew side seam (right sides together) very close to original hem lines. It need NOT be perfect - this should be easy and the original bandannas are not "perfect" anyway.



7. Press hems open.



8. Thread "actual" ribbon through casing and tie one side. Fit on child and tie side two. Trim excess ribbon. Adjust gathers and admire your work (the sewing's pretty good too huh?).



9. Side/Underarm view



10. Back view



11. Tack edges to ribbon and you are finished!



These are Fast, fun, and easy to make. Anna will be wearing these this spring and even now over her turtle necks. I can think of so many fun things to do. I can't wait to get some orange and white bandannas and make UT tops for Anna and a UT dress for a friend's toddler.

Let me know what you think!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Gift Bin 2008 Begins

These are ready made denim totes embellished with silk kimono scraps. I used a raw edge technique to apply the silk. They were fun to make. I used items I already had on hand. I FINISHED them, AND I really like the turn out. All in all I am very pleased! Off they go into the gift bin.




I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Looooooonnnnngggg Weekend

That's what it feels like and it's wonderful! Casey got off work last Friday and doesn't go back until the 2nd. Yippee! I LOVE it! We're all having fun sitting around in our p.j.'s and playing games all day.

I did run out to the fabric stores with Andrea yesterday and we had a blast! I picked up this:

and Andrea got this:


I see lots of cutie-pies in our future!

Christmas was wonderful - nice and quiet. We played and played and will be doing more of just that all week/weekend. I can't wait!

I've been sewing some as well and it's bliss. I can't wait to finish things up and have photos to share. Soon.

I'll keep you posted!
AmyDe