I won the lottery!!!

Okay, so it's not the real lottery, but look! Those are two real life, limited number, can't be purchased tickets to the Antiques Roadshow in Wichita, KS on July 12. And they came in the mail in an envelope with my name on it. I am running around doing happy dances and high kicks and giggling like a little girl with tickets to Hannah Montana.

My husband's eyes are rolling so much I think they might fall out of his head.

I applied for these tickets a month or two ago, but didn't really think I would get them. Basically, you apply and then wait to see if your name is drawn. The tickets are free, but they only give out a limited number. The only other way is to get them is to donate a pretty hefty sum of money. When I applied, they'd already had over 12,000 people put in their request, so it really is a minor miracle that I was chosen.

Okay, gotta go fondle and gaze at my tickets some more!

A Break Through

I did it! Last night I sewed a purse! And it wasn't even my simplest style. It was one of my Thornfield bags that have two handles, two sets of pockets and a magnetic closure. I enjoyed every last minute of it! (It helped that the whole thing went together very smoothly with no errors!)

Now, I'm all jazzed to go home tonight and start another.

Another positive for today: The new Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel comes out today. That is my mission for the lunch hour - obtain copy of said novel. And buy bread.

I have been completely uninspired for the past few months whenever I even think about sewing purses! In fact, I haven't felt like sewing much of anything, although I did make myself a skirt the other day, and I did stitch up a crayon caddy for a customer request.


Craft show season is going to be here before I know it, and I just cannot stand the fact that I have absolutely no back stock! Both shops are practically bare! Last night, I sat down with my sister and we decided which shows we want to do this year. We're only going to do two. We'll do the local show in October and, hopefully, the huge outdoor show in Hillsboro, Kansas the third Saturday in September. Unfortunately, the application deadline has come and gone for Hillsboro, but I checked in with them today and they are still taking applications for their waiting list. If that doesn't pan out, we will probably do Art in the Park in Marion, Kansas on the same weekend. (They have a much later application deadline!)


With that decided, we absolutely must start sewing our little behinds off! To inspire myself, I took a little trip down to my local quilt shop. I hadn't been there in months, so I was treated to a huge selection of new fabrics that I had never seen before. These were the three I walked out of the shop with. I could have left with much, much more, but I have a huge tub full of fabric at home that needs to be worked through first. These are just to jumpstart my creative mojo! Aren't they fabulous? You'll probably see one or two of them in my shop soon. The plan is "one for the shop, one for the shows."

I am really excited to get home from work tonight and get to work on these new bags! Hopefully, my dry spell is over for a few months!

Walking with Dinosaurs Live

This past weekend, we took Lil' Kay to Kansas City to see the BBC tour of Walking With Dinosaurs Live. We were a little nervous about the fact that we spent so much money on the tickets after taking him to the T-Rex Cafe over Memorial Day weekend. At the Cafe he was terrifed of all the animatronic dinosaurs and other creatures. He refused to come look around with us. At that point, Mr. Kay and I looked at each other and thought, "Oh my gosh! We've spent $185 on tickets for a show, and he is probably going to spend the entire time with his head buried in his seat!"

The show was supposed to be a surprise, but at that point, we decided we better start preparing him for what he would see. We showed him pictures and YouTube clips and kept reminding him that they weren't real, and Mommy and Daddy would never take him anywhere dangerous. By the time we got to the Sprint Center on Saturday night, he was ready for it.


Outside the Sprint Center, it was like a convention for 5-9 year old boys. They all walked around comparing t-shirts. "That boy has a velociraptor on his shirt!" "Hey! He has a T-Rex!" I got to listen in as Lil' Kay had a discussion with another boy about their favorite scenes from the various Jurassic Park movies. "Remember that part where..." "My favorite part is in Jurassic Park 3 when..." You could just tell that he was thinking, "I've found my people."

When we got inside, he immediately wanted to find out where he could buy a dinosaur toy. How did he instinctively know that there would be overpriced merchandise available for purchase? Why do kids' t-shirts cost $25? He ended up with a plush velociraptor for the bargain price for $25!?! After we saw our neighbor's $20 program, we had to have one of those, too. Truly, it was probably our best deal. Lil' Kay will spend hours pouring over those glossy pictures.

The show was absolutely amazing! The creatures all looked so real! Lil' Kay just soaked it all in. He couldn't sit still, because he was so excited. There was not a bit of fear in his eyes. He couldn't get enough of the dinosaurs. He has his own copy of the BBC Walking With Dinosaurs series on DVD. He watches them constantly. At one point, he was so excited that he was literally screaming information into my ear about the stegosaurus's plates. And, guess what, he was right! The narrator confirmed his words shortly thereafter.

I was able to capture a few decent pictures. We had pretty good seats, but taking photos in an arena is always a challenge. There are a lot of clips on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oKftaMLLvo&feature=related

Totally worth the ticket price, especially if you have your own little dinosaur junkie!

10 Years

Today's my anniversary! Mr. Kay and I have been married for 10 years! Hard to believe it's been that long, and yet, I can barely remember when I wasn't married. No big plans for celebrating, but he did send me a bouquet of red roses! "10 Long Roses for 10 Long Years" Yeah. He's pretty funny, isn't he?

I also got a funny card from my brother and sister-in-law. It says, "She looked at him. He looked at her. And everyone who saw that look wanted to throw up a little." Priceless. The best anniversary card ever!

So this weekend, we're having another garage sale. Mr. Kay and I are arguing about the best methods of setting up said sale. We don't have a garage, so I guess, it's technically a yard sale. The problem with that is that we can't set up anything tonight. We will be up at the crack of dawn, hauling all our crap into the yard.

And, because we are the masters of cramming as many events into one day as possible, we are supposed to be in Kansas City tomorrow night for the big "Walking with Dinosaurs" show at the Sprint Center. It's a three hour drive, and the show starts at 7:00. It's going to be a short yard sale.

Oh yeah! Remember the big "severe weather event"? It totally missed us. There was some damage to surrounding areas, but our little spot in Kansas was skipped over. The weather last night was pretty boring by Kansas standards. Some rain, some wind, but that's about it. I'm sure the folks who did endure some of the nastiness are wondering what I'm complaining about, but I would have liked a little more excitement.

I tried to scan in my wedding photo, but failed, so no picture this time! Sorry!

Severe Weather Event

Yesterday, it was announced that all the indicators point towards a "severe weather event" occurring in the mid west today. It's 4:30, and I'm still waiting for the "event" to begin.

I'm a storm junkie. There is nothing I like more than a big thunderstorm with lots of lightening, wind, rain and hail. Unless I'm driving in it. I've done that a couple times and it is not fun. I'm a born and raised Kansan, so we get our share of storms. I have to admit, though, that I have never seen a real life tornado. And I really want to. Now, I don't want to see it up close and personal, mind you, but across a wheat field in a rural area would be okay.

Supposedly, the conditions are right for tornadoes to be popping up all over the area today. We'll see. Meteorologists tend to get us all excited and then nothing happens. But, I'll be watching the skies this evening for low hanging clouds with a bit of rotation!

My Kid is Funny

A couple weeks ago, we went to Kansas City to visit my in-laws. Saturday was my sister-in-law's birthday, so we all went out to a Japanese steak house for dinner. This is one of those places where they cook your food in front of you and put on a little show. Lil' Kay had never been before and was totally in awe. Watching the chef, he pipes up, "Are there any chocolate chip cookies coming up?"

As the cook was making the eggs for the fried rice, he whispered to me, "I think I'll just have scrambled eggs." I swear, that kid makes me laugh almost everyday!

On Sunday, we headed up to Legends to visit the T-Rex Cafe. On the way he explained to me that sometimes, when you birthday is over and you've had your party, you get to have a "sequel birthday". A sequel birthday? As in Lil' Kay's Birthday II? Seriously. Where does this kid get this stuff?

Conquering a childhood monster

For Christmas 1985, I received a Sears Lockstitch child's sewing machine. I was so excited, because my Aunt Fern had her own sewing business, and my sister and I would sometimes go to her shop after school and go through her box of fabric scraps. I really, really wanted to learn how to sew, and now I owned a real life sewing machine of my very own. I couldn't wait to get started sewing clothes for my Barbies and dolls, making my own dress-up clothes and maybe even real clothes.

Well, guess what. I never could get that silly machine to work right. I would take off stitching and the little monster would create a mess of loops and tangles on the back of my fabric! Shortly after I got it, that machine went back in its box and stayed there. We moved and that box sat in my closet at the new house and stared back at me mockingly everytime I opened the door. I was convinced that the machine was a piece of junk or I was never destined to be much of a seamstress. I didn't learn to sew until I was in the seventh grade and got to take a home ec class. Turns out, I was pretty good at this sewing thing. The Sears Lockstitch stayed in my closet in the box.

Several months ago, my mom sent the little monster home with me so it could now live in my adult house. I couldn't believe we had never gotten rid of it, but I know I kept it because I felt guilty selling a gift that my parents had given me, thinking I would love it. Plus, I felt guilty selling anyone a piece of crap sewing machine that never worked right. I didn't want to frustrate some other little girl! We were getting ready for a garage sale about a month ago, and the Lockstitch box came out of my cupboard. I left it sitting on the floor for about a month, thinking I would eventually open it and see what kind of condition it was in.

So, this weekend I opened the box and pulled the little monster out. If I could not figure this machine out as an adult, then it really was a piece of junk. I loaded it up with 4 D batteries, read the instructions carefully, managed to get a bobbin wound and set it up next to my big adult Singer. Guess what. A beautiful, perfect straight running stitch with no weird loops and missed stitches. I was thrilled! Even though I never played with it much as a kid, the Sears Lockstitch is staying with me. Granted, I'm probably not going to use it much, but at least I can use it as a fun little, retro display piece, without it bringing back sour childhood memories. The monster is conquered, and now I can enjoy its pink, plastic cuteness.

Seriously. It's cute, right? I love the pink plastic cover that it came with. I had to laugh, because it really is in collector's condition! I only used it a few times before I became totally fed up with it. The box still had the original instructions, three bobbins, a spare bobbin cartridge and two spare needles - all original! Not to mention samples of the stitching that drove my 9 year old inner seamstress to tears! But, we've made up and are friends now.