It's been a long weekend!

This weekend was a busy one! The boys went to the Family Sleepover at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Uncle Gary. I was hoping Jordan would take some cool pictures...but, he FORGOT he had a camera....oh well...maybe Uncle Gary will burn a cd with pictures...I'll try to get Jordan and Neil to write a little bit about their "Guy Weekend".

Since the boys were in the ever capable hands of my brother Gary, Jeff and I took the Z up to Lake Tahoe. It was a fantastic ride...I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to feel my butt by the time we made the trip...but, the Z handled great! Especially through the mountains....there was no problems hugging the corners and passing cars in those ever so short passing lanes.

On our way up to Tahoe, we stopped at Red Hawk...what a beautiful casino! And, I found a great video slot...it is a multiple hand blackjack....I loved it...

Jeff played Blackjack Switch at Harvey's and did well....good thing...since I didn't have any luck on the slots and was too tired to play the tables.

We did SURPRISE Lori Pirri up in Tahoe. Lori and her husband Nick flew into Reno to meet Lori's parents who had driven from Toronto. On Saturday night they drove to Lake Tahoe. We weren't able to meet up with them on Saturday...but, surprised Lori at their "cottage" on Sunday morning on the way out. Lori, Nick, "Vivienne" and "Joe" were waiting for the plummer...don't ask...but, Jeff and I couldn't use the bathroom before we hit the road.

Regarding another Lori, the boys met Lori Yoshida on Saturday. Lori had gone to Midori-kai a few weeks ago and picked up some punches and tools for me. Perfect timing since I had to make a birthday card! Sorry the picture is a little blurry, the batteries are dead on my camera and I had to use an old one...(that's also why I have no pictures of Tahoe..sigh, I am so fired!)

SPOOOKY!!!!

My excuses have been pretty lame lately, but, I have been busy getting back into the routine. Today, I had my first session with Heather, the 24 Hr Fitness Personal Trainer. The good news is that I did lose a lot of inches since my last session, but, it may have been the way she pulled on the measuring tape. I don't remember Kyle, my last trainer, pulling so tightly. I had a good session, even though it included crunches, and I have a new routine for the treadmill.

Besides that, I have been sewing away at the quilt kit I picked up eons ago. I'll finish the binding tonight and post a picture tomorrow.

Look what I found when I was cleaning and reorganizing my craft room...my memory wire for wine charms! Luckily, I found some cute Halloween charms. I need to order some more end beads for the rest of the charms, but, I did get five done. Aren't they cute? I did originally have seed beads going throughout the wire...but, I am afraid that it may put too much pressure on the end bead...so, I just partially beaded it. The end result is the same...just not as pretty...but, I am sure the guys won't care...I just don't want Darren stealing my glass....

Royal Flush, Baby Bugs and Cranes....

What do "Royal Flush, Baby Bugs and Cranes" have in common? They have been in my "To Do" pile for a LONG TIME! I finally got some throws made. Actually, the Royal Flush and Crane material were for Quillows...("Qu"ilts that fold into a pocket to make a P"illow" = Quillow)...but, since I know that the people who are getting them won't fold it up, I just "zip-zipped" the sides...add some top-stitching and TA DA!! They are done!
The Baby Bugs quilt took a little longer. I had leftover fleece from the crane blanket, so, I cut it up into squares and made a quilt. It turned out really cute.

What's next on the sewing/cutting table? A Quilt kit and a purse...yup, another one...plus, I ordered some material today from Hancock Fabrics online. So, when the "UCLA" fleece comes in, I will zip that up for a friend.

Since he never reads my BLOG, and isn't on Facebook (oh the horrors!), I can tell you more....(Okay, all UCLA and USC people....beware)...One side will be UCLA fleece (his undergrad), the other side USC. That way he can just flip it over depending on who is over! HA HA HA....Jeff's idea....

Tonight is Jordan's first basketball practice. He is on a combined SACBC and Eden team. He FINALLY moved up to the next level...which means, no more parent Refs (YEAH!), real referees with REAL fouls...this should be enlightening!

I'm such a Diva....HAH!

What I should actually say is "my purse is a Diva Essential Designer Bag"! I finished my first project that I bought in Las Vegas....my Diva Essential Designer Bag.
I just love the print...it's a Japanese floral print in purples (of course), pinks, reds and golds...

It has a really cool and handy zipper that opens the long way....

And, it has lots of pockets...both inside and out. There is a hidden pocket on one side. This pattern was pretty easy...it took me about 3 days from cutting to finishing.

The best thing...I finished it in time for church tomorrow! hee hee...earlier today I made 20+ pounds of potato salad (with Jessie and Hiroko's assistance). It reminded me of the old days when my Dad and Uncles would have the season-end BBQ. What do you put into 20+ pounds of potato salad?

• 20 pounds of potatos
• 30 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 red onion
• 1 head of celery
• lots of mayo, mustard, relish, pepper, and salt

Okay, now I am hungry....night everyone!

Joann's!

After the gym and my pilates class, I met my friend Pam at my FAVORITE store....Joann's! She needed some "creative guidance" for some 1st birthday invites that she is making for a friend...not her baby...just in case someone was wondering. See the stack of foam in front of her? That's what we cut. It was really fast with my rotary cutter.

Since I had my cutting stuff out, I decided to cut out the material and batting for one of the patterns I bought in Las Vegas...I got everything cut out...and most of the lining pieces pinned up...all I have to do is "zip-zip-zip" tomorrow...

Las Vegas Finds!!!

Okay, so my usual strategy is to gamble a little and try to win enough to supply my habit....craft shopping! But, since we had the boys, and it's no fun to gamble by myself...I ended up using my gambling money for my habit. And, boy did I find some stuff!

Unfortunately, my favorite craft and rubber stamp stores, The Quilted Bear and Stamp Oasis, are both closed...but, I did find a great Fabric/Quilt store!

They carry a line of material from Kona Bay...No, I didn't go to Japan, but, Kona Bay does have panels with Japanese motifs, I have been looking for the below panel for a while...it's of Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion. Jeff and I went to see the temple in Kyoto years ago.Fabric Boutique has a large inventory of craft and quilt kits. I picked up these two Santa kits. I gave the one on the left to Jeff's Mom for her birthday, which happens to be today.

Of course, I couldn't pass up the Asian Fat Quarter assortment...the best thing was that it was on closeout...so, it was cheaper than listed on their website. I am going to use a few of these to make some fabric kimonos to quilt next to the Kinkakuji panel above.

They had a huge wall of patterns, mostly quilting patterns, but also quite a few purse/bag patterns. I picked up a few....

On a sad note...I worked on trying to recover my SD card photo images for over 12 hours yesterday...only to find out that (I think) I was scanning the wrong drive....(okay Mr. Collins, let's hear it "USER ERROR")...After I fiddled around with it some more, I found out (after 15 minutes), that all of my images from our Las Vegas / Hoover Dam vacation are on the stick...then I found out that I needed to pay $40 for the license key to "recover" the pictures. Luckily a friend already has the software...and he is going to do this for me....THANK YOU PRESTON!!! I love you!

KA --- at least I have one picture....

Well...we got back from our short hop to Las Vegas. It seemed like we were there for a long time...but, I think it's because we were doing a lot of things...

On Friday, we ran some errands and met one of Jeff's friends, Patty, for lunch at the 4 Kegs. If you are a Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) fan, you may have seen the 4 Kegs on the show. They are known for the stromboli, but, their hot wings sure smelled good! We liked it so much, we got two to go on Sunday night! We had it for Sunday dinner, Monday breakfast and for a late lunch when we got home! HA HA HA! It was quite yummy!

I also found a GREAT QUILT store! I picked up lots of patterns, wonderful Asian fabric Fat quarters, a few kits and I finally found the Golden Pavillion Panel from Kona Bay that I have been looking for!

Friday night we took the boys to go see KA...a Cirque Du Soleil show. It was different from other shows because it was more like a story. I really liked it...and when you stopped to think about what they were doing, you were amazed! Jeff broke down and bought the above picture. It came in a nicely embossed album with two pictures. This turned out great since, I DELETED ALL MY PICTURES ON MY CAMERA!!!!

Saturday we drove to Hoover Dam. This was a really easy drive and it is amazing to see such a enormous structure! Plus, the dam was completed TWO years ahead of schedule, under budget AND the loan was repaid with interest! AMAZING...great tour for the family...

I have to give kudos to Lori's brother Perry for a tip he gave me years ago. If you forget a phone charger or in my case an iPod charger...check with hotel security. They have boxes of chargers that people leave in their room. YEAH!!! We didn't go iPod-less!!!!

Saturday we also ate at Pinks @ Planet Hollywood! I think they were featured on Triple D as well! Jeff actually had the two hotdogs in a tortilla with chili and cheese....it was quite yummy. And best of all...the dogs snapped!

The boys were up early on Sunday to hit the pool...they enjoyed it for quite a while until they got tired of the heat and rude kids. (Please explain to me why parents think that underwear is proper pool attire...gross...the kid also wore diapers...because I saw the father changing him before the pool opened!) After we showered, we hit Main Street up for a nice buffet and a nice walk!

Monday morning we left for home (and the Sheryl Crow concert @ Wente that night). It was a nice and short vacation...but, school starts tomorrow!!! YEAH!!!!!

If I can recover the pictures...I'll post them...until then...night!