March Madness

Hey Y'all!

Do you remember me? I hope so! Things have been pretty hectic in my part of the world and I have also been fighting with some SERIOUS exhaustion. So most of the time, a nap wins out over updating the blog! I am eight days shy of my spring break and I am so ready for it! The warm weather is visiting us for a wee bit and I have enjoyed getting out in the sun and taking Pitty Pat for plenty of walks. He likes it too! I don't do well in cold weather and this winter has been lots and lots of cold weather. Over the next few days we are supposed to go back to cold weather and I am not looking forward to it. I am ready to pull out my spring clothes and shorts!

I have also been doing quite a bit of reading since it has been so chilly. Right after Christmas I got addicted to Maggie Sefton's knitting mysteries that take place around a knitting store. In each new book there is a murder mystery and lots of knitting talk too. I am on the 8th book in the 10 book series. I am not sure what I am going to do when I finish them. It has taken up many nights! But they are great little reads and I can read one in two or three days.

In health news, I met with my general doctor last Friday. I had some bloodwork done recently and he wanted to go over it with me. I was really worried about my results. It turns out my cholesterol is looking good and I am in good shape overall. I am still very anemic, but that is never going to change. My SED rate is high, but with Crohn's that is to be expected. I am going to have to make a trip to Charleston soon because I am having some issues. I am just thankful I don't have to change the way I eat! That would be really hard for me since there is so much I can't eat! I am very relieved that waiting for those results is over! I still have to come home and take at least an hour or two nap every afternoon after school. But, if that what helps, then I am going to stick with it!

I have been very busy on the knitting front. Since the beginning of the year I have made several hats, cowls and I am even starting a sweater! Right now, big, fat, fluffy yarns are holding my attention because they are so quick to knit with. I just love casting on for a cowl one night and wearing it the next day. That's my kind of knitting! Here's a cute little hat that I like to call "Pom, Pom Goodness!"

One exciting thing that has happened since my last post was WE SAW SNOW! Pitty Pat and I were very excited! I love snow. The last time we had a good snow here at the beach was when Pitty Pat was a puppy. This time he really enjoyed getting out in it! It was so relaxing to watch the big, fat snow flakes fall. I wish I lived part of the year where it snowed, just a little bit!

The other exciting thing that happened is PITTY PAT TURNED FOUR! My baby is four. He had a great birthday. I gave him a squeaky cupcake for one of his prezzies. It lasted all of 5 minutes. But, at least it was a cute photo op!

Over Pitty Pat's birthday weekend, we had our annual Girl's Weekend Spring Palooza. This year was very different in that one of my friends could not make it AND since I had really been feeling run down, I didn't cook. But, we still shopped until we dropped! While we were out I stumbled upon a WALL OF PITTY PATS!!! Take a look....

It was quite a sight! I had to pick one up to make sure it wasn't the REAL thing!

I am still doing my thrifting thing and I have found lots of cute stuff. Since the weather is *hopefully* about to change I am kind of taking a break from it. I have really enjoyed spending our few warm Saturday's outside with a good book or knitting. I can't wait until it is warm enough to go to the beach!

One last cool thing.... in my last post in February  I was attending a technology workshop. During the workshop I learned about a free website builder and hosting service. Weebly is a very easy site that helps you build a professional looking website and hosting is free. I am in the process of building a website of all of my knits. I can't wait until it is ready to publish.. maybe in the next few weeks. I hope over spring break I can get it up and running.

Well, let me run. My Monday night shows are getting ready to come on. I have a feeling I won't make it through Castle tonight... tomorrow is my early morning duty day. Come on spring break!

Tootles!
:) JKP

My Early Christmas Present, Girls Weekend Christmas Palooza Recipes and a Texas Toast DEBACLE!!

Hey Y'all!

Sorry, I took the day off yesterday. Literally. I took a personal day and had a wonderful day! I picked up a piece of furniture from a consignment store, did some shopping and enjoyed the beautiful weather! In fact, yesterday afternoon I pulled out my beach chair, poured myself a glass of lemonade, grabbed my kindle and sat my happy hiney on my patio in the sunshine for a few hours. It was so relaxing and I finished a book... True Devotion by Dee Henderson. It is a really good read! Everybody needs a relaxing Monday every now and then!

And, sorry. There is no Christmas Sock of the Day for today and yesterday. It has been in the 70's here and my toes have to be free! They say the colder weather will be back by the end of the week. I can't wait to show off my precious socks that I got this past weekend!

Now!!! If you have ever been to my house, you may notice how much yarn I have. At times, I probably could appear in an episode of hoarders. :) I am not that bad. My yarn is pretty much organized by project and color in my upstairs craft closet. However, I do keep a basket downstairs by my sofa and recliner with all of my current or about to be current projects. Ahem. Recently this basket has gotten OUT OF CONTROL. And, it was an eye sore in my living room. While out shopping with the girls this past weekend, I came across the perfect solution. Since I knew I couldn't fit it in Mitzi Mazda without tying Marie or Toni to the sunroof, I decided to think about it and come back on Monday. If the basket of shelves was still there.. then it was meant to be!

And guess what it now in my living room????? To understand the hideousness.. you must see a before and after shot...

BEFORE.......ACCCCKKKKKK!!!!! My yarn has been multiplying!

AFTER........ SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!

My living room is much happier now! And, so am I! Santa came to see me a wee bit early! :)


And, now what you have been waiting for! Girls Weekend Christmas Palooza Recipes!
Now, my two favorite recipes I used, I found on Pinterest.. and those folks have blogs who have documented each recipe. Since I was cooking for company and I was under a deadline (read, I hadn't had ANY coffee while I was cooking on Saturday) I forgot to take pictures. So instead of re-inventing the wheel on my blog, I am just going to link to the recipes. I hope you guys really enjoy them! :)

Our favorite part of breakfast on Saturday had to be the make ahead French Toast Bake. Now let me tell you... this recipe calls for Texas Toast. But there is a Texas Toast debacle. After searching several stores for Texas Toast... that I had only seen a few weeks ago, I kept coming up empty handed. Finally the deli manager at my local Food Lion took pity on me and explained what was going on. You see, most Texas Toast in our country was made by Hostess bakeries. And now they are closed. NO MORE TEXAS TOAST FOLKS!!!! So I substituted Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White Bread to make my french toast and it turned out great. You could use any hearty bread and I am sure it would be fine. But we really liked the Pepperidge Farm! I also left the crusts on my bread. I am normally not a crust eater... EXCEPT when I eat french toast. The recipe on the blog cuts off the crusts. Don't do it! :)

Here's the link to step by step directions for The French Toast Bake. Make this. Make this for Christmas morning! You won't be sorry!

The other recipe I tried was called Bird's Nest Breakfast Cups. It is a hashbrown base, baked in a muffin tin. Then you add egg, cheese and bacon. It is a great option for protein in the morning and it is easy to make!

Check out Bird's Nest Breakfast Cups here!

Alrighty, Rizzoli and Isles is on and I've got to watch it. I hope y'all have a good Wednesday! We have 10 more school days until Christmas break! :) YAY!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Girls Weekend Christmas Palooza- 2012 Edition!

Hey Y'all!

Wow. I have gotten behind on my Christmas Sock of the Day postings! Last Thursday was a pretty rough day and I was not feeling the Christmas Spirit at all. Then on Friday I kicked of Girls Weekend Christmas Palooza 2012! Y'all know I love to have company and entertain, so Friday was a busy, busy day!

We will start back with the Christmas Sock of the Day tomorrow. Ahem. I may have purchased a few more pairs this weekend. But I say, if it makes you happy and it doesn't hurt anyone else... GO FOR IT!

We started off our weekend with a yummy dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. I won a gift certificate for a free meal at our last faculty meeting and Friday was the last day I could use it. After dinner we hit a few shops and then closed down the mall!

Saturday we slept in a little and I made a yummy breakfast. I make Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread.. that is a must have on our weekends! This year I also ventured on to Pinterest and used a few recipes too! I made make ahead French Toast, which was DIVINE, and so easy to do! I also made a hash brown, egg, cheese and bacon "muffin" of sorts, except it wasn't a muffin! I will be back to post the recipes and links tomorrow.
Here's a shot of our yummy breakfast!

That got us off on the right start! We did a lot of shopping and got a lot accomplished. We ended up at one for my favorite places in Murrells Inlet for lunch- The Dead Dog Saloon! We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and just enjoying hanging out!

This morning the girls were ready for breakfast leftovers and then they needed to hit the road. Sadly, we did not get the annual Julia and Pitty Pat Christmas Card photo taken. I am not sure about cards this year. If I do them, they may be New Year's cards... I am just not sure!

I have taken tomorrow off to rest.. I have been really tired again lately, and running around this weekend was fun.. but tiring! I plan to take it easy tomorrow and work on a few Christmas gifts. I even hit a consignment store or two! But I am really looking forward to just taking it easy!

Tonight I plan on watching a couple of Christmas movies and bonding with Pitty Pat and my knitting needles!

I hope wherever you are you are enjoying this evening! I'll check in tomorrow!
Tootles!
:) JKP