TV Shows I've Been Watching During Quarantine

I'm not even going to PRETEND that I haven't been watching a lot of TV since Michiganders have been told to stay at home.

Sure, I've gotten a lot of other stuff done--I made what feels like a trillion face masks and shipped them out individually; I insulated and drywalled the garage walls (and now working on the ceiling); I've knitted and crocheted a few projects; I built a squirrel picnic table!; I purged a lot of junk that we had taking up space in the garage; and a few other things.

On the other hand, I've spent way too much money on Amazon (my wishlist is about half of what it was before--yikes!); I've spent many hours playing Best Fiends on my phone; and I've watched way too much TV.

Does watching TV while playing Best Fiends count as multitasking? Sewing face masks while watching TV definitely counts as multitasking in my book.

Anyway, it seems that everyone on Facebook is mentioning new shows here and there, so I thought I'd share what I've been watching during quarantine. It's worth noting that I don't really like comedies. I love documentaries, dramas, teen slasher films, and generally any thrillers. As far as TV shows, I mostly watch dramas. I can't even remember the movies I've watched, so here are some TV series...

In no particular order:

Nip/Tuck - This is currently streaming on Hulu. This show is rather old (about 15 years?) but I loved it when it first premiered on FX back in the day. I watched for years for this show to stream, and I was thrilled when it finally came on to Hulu!

In a nutshell: Two plastic surgeons are partners in a practice and each episode typically focuses on a particular client. Aside from that, there is quite a bit of personal drama--each of them have total opposite personalities, so their drama is very different from one another. Some of their patients and choices get them into trouble.

American Housewife - Normally I don't watch comedies, but this show is hilarious! And I can relate to it SO SO SO much. The main character's name is even Katie! If you are a housewife/stay-at-home-mom, you've got to watch this. (This streams on Hulu)

In a nutshell: Katie (the protagonist) is a stay-at-home mom humorously dealing with the ins and outs of motherhood. She jokes about the stereotypical moms with their skinny bodies, yoga pants, Fitbits, and green smoothies. She is very outspoken and unapologetic about what she has to say.

Gilmore Girls - This is the second time watching this series. Surprisingly, Jerry wanted to watch it, so I have been watching an episode or two with him in the evenings (or bingeing on it when he has a day off). I LOVE banter, and this show is the most perfect display of banter I've ever seen. (This streams on Netflix)

In a nutshell: A single mom who raised her daughter alone has a very close relationship with her, and they banter almost constantly throughout each episode. They live in a small town where everybody knows everybody, and everybody's business is public. The banter in this show is so quick and witty--I love it!

Riverdale - I just started watching this one recently; I happen to love teenage dramas and/or thrillers, and this is a good drama. I kind of lost interest after the first season, though, so I don't think I'll finish it. (This streams on Netflix)

In a nutshell - The beginning focuses on the death of a high school student and the circumstances may be suspicious. This plays out throughout the first season. I don't want to say too much to avoid spoilers.

Dead to Me - Again, this is considered a comedy, but I really love this show! It's more of a sarcastic/dark comedy than your average sitcom. I adore Christina Applegate (ever since I watched Don't Tell Mom the Baby Sitter's Dead way back in the day and I wanted to be just like her, haha). (This streams on Netflix)

In a nutshell: A woman whose husband has just died by a hit-and-run is dealing with her grief by trying to solve his death (find out who killed him). She meets a woman at a support group and they become fast friends. There are LOTS of twists in just a few episodes--it will hook you in!

Tiger King - What do I even say? I watched it out of curiosity on the day it was released, so it was before all the hype. And I LOVED that there was hype! Because I was totally feeling the same way. (This streams on Netflix)

In a nutshell: Well, this one just doesn't fit in a nutshell. I just can't.

Ozark - I watched the first two seasons and was super excited to watch the third! I thought the kids might like the show, so we started watching it from the beginning as a family. (This streams on Netflix)

In a nutshell: A man inadvertently gets involved in a money laundering process for a Mexican drug cartel, and his family has no choice but to be involved as well. They move to a small town ("The Ozarks") and try to fit in as a normal family while the protagonist works to launder drug money. I kind of describe this as the money laundering side of Breaking Bad--rather than focusing on the drugs, it focuses on the money.

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So, that's what I've been watching! This doesn't count all of the teen horror movies I watched, too. I'm pretty sure I watched ALL of them in existence. But these are the TV shows I've been watching while I've been stuck at home since the quarantine started.

Feel free to share what you've been watching as well!

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RECIPE: Tortellini & Spinach Soup

This soup is so amazing! I'm not usually a huge fan of spinach, but I don't mind it at all in this recipe. And by using frozen spinach along with the frozen tortellini, it's easy to keep the ingredients on hand!

Here is a printer-friendly copy!

Ingredients:

10 oz. package/box of frozen chopped spinach
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar
1 package (about 2 cups) frozen tortellini (regular or tri-color)
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Remove spinach from package and place in a bowl. Microwave on high until defrosted, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until onion is translucent. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and sugar. Bring to a boil, and add frozen tortellini. Reduce heat and simmer.

When the spinach is thawed, place it in a clean dish towel and wrap it--fold the sides and corners corners up, and then twist and squeeze it hard in order to get as much water out of the spinach as possible. Break up the spinach and add it to the soup pot.

In a small bowl, combine egg with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine well. When tortellini is tender, slowly drizzle egg mixture into soup while stirring constantly (keep stirring to avoid scrambling the egg). Cook two minutes while stirring constantly. Ladle into bowls and serve.

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Kitten Update and Video

Thank you for the empathetic comments on the last post--it seems SO many people are in the same boat or can relate in some way.

It has been so hard to think of new things to write about lately. Even the projects that I loved working on are starting to feel mundane during the quarantine. I have so much more time to work on them, so they aren't as exciting.

I'm dying to start using my garage again, but the drywalling is going so slowly. There is a lot to do--I have to install soffit vents between the joists (36 vents total), then staple insulation across all the joists (the garage is 24 feet by 36 feet, so that's a lot of square feet to cover). And finally, I'll be able to install the drywall to the ceiling. Then tape, mud, prime, and paint. I don't know why I thought this would be an easy project!

Well, it's not that it's "hard"--it's just tedious and trying to move the ladder around all of the crap in the garage is a pain. I wish we had somewhere to store everything until the garage is done. It would go so much faster!

Anyway, Chick and Duck are as cute as ever! They've been super entertaining during this quarantine. I really wish they didn't like to sleep on my bed (Estelle used to sleep with me, and she won't anymore), but they are too cute to refuse. Last night, Duck laid across the back of my neck and slept there with his nose in my ear. I was actually able to fall asleep like that! The repetition of his purr was kind of soothing.

Here is a video of the kittens wrestling with each other. They do this a lot--totally entertaining themselves. Chick is the one with longer hair and Duck is the one that falls off the bed.

Phoebe still hates me since we got the kittens. Most of the time, she won't let me touch her and sometimes she'll even growl and hiss at me. I have just been trying to be extra nice to her, hoping she'll come around eventually.

Estelle has gotten more tolerant of the kittens, and I can tell she's very curious of them; but her pride just won't let her admit it. When she thinks I'm not looking, I'll notice her go up to one of them and smell them or she'll sit and watch them play. I really miss having her sleep on my legs all the time! The second I would sit down, it didn't matter when or where, she'd be there to sit on me. She hasn't done that at all after we got the kittens.

Still, I find it hard to believe that Phoebe and Estelle won't fall in love with these two:

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And with that, I'll leave you with this post that I saw on Instagram by @behaviorhack. I really like it! I actually like this account a lot--full of great life lessons!

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Weight Loss Anxiety: The Monkey On My Back

Oh man, last night's post... haha! I woke up and immediately went to read it because I wondered if it even made any sense. I was deliriously tired and could barely keep my eyes open. I think the lack of sleep finally caught up with me yesterday. I started to write my post and then fell asleep while writing. When I woke up, I was in a total fog.

I really wish that I was able to sleep like a "normal" person. I wake up at roughly the same time every day (6:30-7:30-ish?) no matter what time I go to bed. So the logical reasoning would be to go to bed earlier. But my mind and body are just NOT tired. Reading a book usually helps, but I just can't find one that is pulling me in right now. I need to start a fast-paced thriller.

Anyway, I started to write this post yesterday, but after falling asleep, I knew I couldn't finish it, and I saved it for today...

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Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat. It wasn't so much "sore" as it just felt like I had a big lump in throat and it was hard to swallow. This happens a lot when I have bad anxiety.

Lately, I've been feeling anxious quite a bit. It's the kind of anxiety that has no rhyme or reason... it just is. It's there all the time, and it's frustrating to try to figure out what is going on. I even shared this video on Facebook to demonstrate what it's like to live with constant anxiety, and while it's hilarious, I think it's pretty accurate! (If you watch with sound on, it's even better)



Watching this video is as close I can get to describing what anxiety feels like!

Anyway, the "monkey on my back" is what's really making my anxiety flare up--and that "monkey", as stupid as it sounds, is my weight.

The higher my weight climbs, the worse my anxiety gets. I may not think of my anxiety being related to my weight, but when all is said and done, I know that it really is. Having a blog that has been known as a "weight loss blog" for nearly a decade feels like I'm a fraud. I can't give advice to the many people that ask me for advice, because I just haven't found the answers yet. And I probably never will!

Here it is, 10 years after losing 120+ pounds, and I still haven't found the answers.

Every day, I wake up thinking that this is the day that I'm going to turn things around (something I remember very well from when I was 250+ pounds) and then sometime during the day, I make the decision to "just start tomorrow". This alone causes me anxiety, because it's something I always used to tell myself!

"Just starting tomorrow" is a fad diet way of thinking. And I don't do fad diets. The only time I was successful at losing the weight was when I made the decision not to do anything I wasn't willing to do for the rest of my life. (Those things may change, but the fact remains that I shouldn't do anything temporarily just to lose weight.)

I have given it a try countless times in the past couple of years to get back on the wagon and eat well and exercise. I may manage for one day, maybe two... a whole WEEK if I'm lucky and well prepared. But that stupid monkey on my back is always there.

I never stop thinking about my weight, and it's SO STUPID--I know that. Logically, the thought of having my weight on my mind all the time is ridiculous! But I just can't help it. After all these years of people noticing and talking about my weight loss, I know that it's obvious I've gained weight. Nobody says anything about it, but they have to be thinking it when they see me.

The photo below is from a recent game night with friends via Skype. I was super self-conscious when seeing them for the first time in forever. Luckily, they are the kind of friends that don't care the slightest bit what my weight is.

I know I sound like a broken record by saying that I want to get back at it; I want to lose the excess weight; I want to feel my BEST again. However, I just can't seem to get my mindset to where it needs to be in order to follow through.

Jerry and I have this inside joke where we say, "Just throw strikes!" when people say things like "Just think positive!" or "Don't worry about it!" Because in watching our kids play baseball through the years, I can't tell you how many times I have heard coaches tell the pitchers to "throw strikes".

Well, DUH--what do you think the pitcher is TRYING to do?! So, when people tell you not to worry about something, it's like telling a pitcher to throw strikes. I'm TRYING not worry about my weight, but it's just that monkey on my back that won't let go.

I've written goals up to my eyeballs, I've planned out my diet and exercise for days, weeks... and I just can't seem to stick with it. I have a case of the "fuck its"--"Oh, fuck it, I'll just start over tomorrow". And even though I can clearly see this, when it comes to following through I fail miserably.

I have this nagging thought in the back of my mind that pops up quite frequently. I know that my weight shouldn't control my life; I know that my weight gain doesn't make me less of a person; I KNOW that I shouldn't care what other people think. But it's a lot easier said than done.

Because my weight loss has been so public, I feel like my weight GAIN is going to be just as public. Most polite people won't say anything about it, but I think it's pretty obvious and hard not to notice. Sometimes I want to mention it just so that they don't think I'm in denial.

I'm really starting to get worried that I'll never find my determination again. I want to be as disciplined as I used to be. I miss that sense of control. Right now, I feel like everything in my life is out of control and it's stressing me out.

I think a big part of it is that everything feels so difficult in the beginning. I've gotten used to eating junk food and skipping the healthier foods I used to eat--my palate has literally changed so that I don't enjoy those healthier foods anymore.

I also used to love to cook and grocery shop. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten to the point where I hate doing both of those things.

Running feels so hard. What used to be a piece of cake (running a 9:00 minute mile) now seems impossible. Running a 12:00 minute mile feels difficult! I honestly don't care about my pace right now--I'm completely over the mentality of "I used to be fast!"--my biggest desire is to run regularly and have the easy runs feel easy again. I want to feel like I'm making progress.

With running feeling so hard right now, it seems overwhelming to get back into a routine.

I'm tired of talking about losing weight and my goals and not really putting into action the plans that I make. So, I've come up with some solutions that may make things easier. I'm not saying I'm committing to these right now, but I'm trying to problem solve a little.

1) I don't HAVE to run. I can always do a walking program to get back in the habit of going out and exercising. It'll feel easier and maybe I'll eventually choose to add some running. That's exactly what happened when I was losing weight in 2009-2010.

In 2010, I think I weighed about 160 in the picture below. Jeanie and I walked the Indy Mini (a half-marathon) together. I trained for it by walking for 12 weeks. Walking is good exercise, and shouldn't be discounted. At the beginning of training, walking five miles felt tough! My feet were killing me. But walking the half-marathon wasn't bad at all--nothing like the previous two years. You can read about them here: 2008, 2009, and 2010.

2) I can make a menu for the week that is very simple to cook. Things that I don't have to spend 20 minutes prepping and use a bunch of dishes and make a mess in the kitchen. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is easy!

3) I can designate Jerry and the kids to each cook one day a week. That way, I'm only cooking for four days instead of seven.

4) I can slowly adjust my palate back to healthier foods. When losing weight in 2009-2010, I was still eating junk food--just smaller portions. I also made a couple of healthier changes (like having grapes instead of chips with my sandwich).

5) Eat at regular intervals--I do best with eating four times a day, four hours apart.

6) I really don't like making lunch, and a lot of times I'll just skip it and then eat way too much at night. So I can start buying frozen meals that I actually enjoy (yes, there are some good ones!) and eat those for lunch. They are simple and I don't have to cook--I can just throw them in the microwave.

7) I can make ahead meals for the slow cooker (and freeze them) so that I can just take it out of the freezer and throw it in the slow cooker and not worry about cooking that day. When our kitchen was torn apart for remodeling, I spent one Sunday prepping TWENTY meals for the slow cooker. We discovered some recipes that we really liked!

8) Drink more water. I know that I am chronically dehydrated and I really dislike the way it makes me feel. The solution is obvious--drink more water! I used to drink three quarts a day out of sheer habit. This should be an easy change to make. Even if I don't change anything else, I think this will be helpful and I'll feel better.

So, those are just some solutions that I think will make me feel better about myself. I think if I do some of theses, I'll get rid of a lot of this anxiety, too. Making positive changes always makes me feel good.

I don't want this post to sound negative--I really don't. I just wanted to write about my anxiety getting worse as my weight goes up. An introspection.

And after writing this, I wonder if it's not just my weight, but my actual lifestyle that causes the increase in anxiety. If I was eating better and exercising, I'm sure my anxiety would decrease dramatically even if my weight doesn't change.

I'm going to think about a couple of changes I can make that will help me to feel better about it. To feel like I'm at least doing SOMETHING. The weight isn't going to lose itself. And how can running get any easier if I'm not putting in the effort to do it? If I don't make any changes, nothing is going to change!

For the next three days, I'm going to have two goals:
1) Drink 2 quarts of water
2) Go for a walk or run on each of the three days (even if it's just a mile)

That's it! If I can't do that, then I have bigger problems than I thought ;)

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Oops!

I was in the middle of writing my blog post, which I named "The Monkey on My Back", and I actually fell asleep while I was writing it! And right now, an hour later, I'm fighting to just keep my eyes open. So I figured I'd save the other post for tomorrow or another day. It's a rather vulnerable post, so I want to make sure it makes sense and I don't think I trust myself to do that when I'm this tired.

I scrolled through my phone to find a photo--any photo--to post here as a place holder. I couldn't find anything! This is the worst cop-out ever for a post, but it'll have to do for now. Just looking at this photo from a couple of weeks ago makes me long for my bed, haha. (I already posted this pic)

I don't know what is wrong with me--my lack of sleep must have caught up, so I'm going to take advantage of it while I can. Sorry for this non-post post--I've kept up my streak of posting every day in 2020 so far. I haven't missed a day!

So while this is seems lame, I just had to do it. I'll try and finish my "real" post tomorrow!

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Just Another Lockdown Monday

I literally feel like I have nothing to write about today. The last couple of days have been so... boring, for lack of a better word. The weather has been very rainy and windy, we are still on "lockdown" in Michigan, and I have been SO tired that I haven't had the energy to work on much.

The kittens are seriously like having a new baby in the house! Thankfully, we don't have to wake up every few hours to feed them during the night, but they definitely feel the need to wake us up because they want to play. I'm lucky to sleep longer than an hour without interruption. But they are so stinkin' cute that I can't even be mad about it!

And then during the day, when I simply cannot sleep because my body won't let me, the kittens are more than happy to take over. Case in point:

Yesterday evening was fun because a blog reader (who I'd never met or even really been in contact with) drove down to pick up a couple of masks. The mail was taking SO LONG to deliver the masks, and since she lived about 45 minutes away, she decided to make the drive with her niece. It was fun to get to talk to her (although it felt odd that we had to chat from a short distance in the driveway to maintain social distancing).

Today, I was so tired that I didn't accomplish much. I did remove Eli's mattress from his bed so that I could vacuum really well underneath it (he has a queen-sized bed that is against two walls, so cleaning underneath it is really difficult). That was satisfying--I won't even describe the amount of dog hair that was under there.

Lowe's delivered the drywall and insulation for the ceiling in the garage. I'm SO overwhelmed at the thought of finishing the ceiling. I bought a drywall lift (it was actually cheaper to buy one than to rent one for a week) so that will be super helpful. But cutting around light fixtures and the garage door contraptions everywhere is intimidating.

I'm going to wait for a nice day, move lots of stuff out onto the driveway, and take my time with it. I'll also wait for when Jerry is off work so that he can help. It isn't the hanging of the drywall that is a challenge--it's getting everything out of the way and moving the clunky ladder around that takes so much time and energy!

I made a couple of kids' masks today. Becky asked me if I could make one for Luke and Riley, so I found a pattern that is identical to the adult masks I've been making, only it's for 2-5 year olds. I made two for each of them. The masks are so tiny and so cute!

Here is a photo for comparison in size... on the top is an adult mask and then Luke's and Riley's masks are underneath:

I found the pattern for the kids' masks here, but I didn't make it this way--I made it the same way I did the adult ones (here is the tutorial for making adult face masks). So I just printed out the first page of the kids' masks and used the "face" piece alone.

I have a feeling they are going to be too big (especially for Riley--she's so petite!) but hopefully they will fit. I'm going to bring them to their house tomorrow. If they're too big, they can use ties to hold them instead of the ear elastic.

Anyway, that's about all that's been happening here. I'd like to say I'm going to start prepping the garage tomorrow, but I'll probably only do that if it's a nice day. I like to work in there with the garage doors open.

I'm SO ready for this lockdown to be over! I'm going a little stir-crazy. I've loved having the time to work on projects that I ordinarily wouldn't have so much time for, but there is only so much  to do before it gets mundane.

Well, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I'm thankful that my family has been good so far.

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How to Make a Simple Ironing Board (Tutorial)

This is completely random, but I made a small project yesterday that I thought I'd post.

As I've been making face masks by the ton, I've been using my iron a lot. I never, ever iron clothes, so I don't even own an ironing board. I've only ever used the iron for sewing purposes.

In order to use it, I would place a folded towel on my dining room table. It was super frustrating, because it would never stay in place and it would pucker near the embroidered parts of the towel.

I finally got to the point where I thought "How hard can it be to make an ironing board?" and I used some scrap materials I had to make one. I LOVE how it turned out, so I thought I'd post a tutorial in case anyone else is tired of using towels interested in making one.

I had a scrap piece of 1/2-inch thick plywood, so I figured I could use that as the base; then I could add a padding of some sort and a decorative fabric on the top. Here is what I ended up doing...

Materials:

*1/2-inch thick plywood, 16 inches x 24 inches
*A piece of fleece fabric, about 18 inches x 26 inches
*A piece of felt fabric, about 18 inches x 26 inches
*A piece of cotton decorative fabric, about 20 inches x 28 inches
*Heavy duty staples (upholstery staples)

I used a pneumatic staple gun, because I'm borrowing it from my brother for the insulation in the garage, but a manual staple gun (like this one--Amazon affiliate link) would work fine.

I chose a piece of fabric from the huge assortment that Sarah, one of my blog readers, sent to me. It looks like a bunch of measuring tapes--I thought that would be perfect for an ironing board used for sewing! I had some scrap fleece and felt, so I didn't have to buy anything for the project.

First, I cut the plywood to size. I didn't want anything huge--I basically wanted something the size of a bath towel that's folded in half (because that's what I was used to using on the table). After some measuring, I ultimately cut the plywood to 16 x 24 inches.

Then I rounded off the edges with a router so they wouldn't be as sharp. Not necessary, but nice.

To put it all together, I laid out the decorative fabric (face-down) first; then on top of that, I laid the felt; and on top of the felt, I laid the fleece. I smoothed it out really well, making sure there weren't ANY wrinkles, and then put the board (face-down) on top.

I cut the decorative fabric larger than the other fabrics to allow for folding over the edging (which will make sense in the photos). Once I had it laid out and everything was smooth and even, I cut the corners of the fleece/felt layers like this:

Cutting out the excess fabric will remove bulk so that the board will lie flat when it's done.


Next, I folded the decorative fabric over the fleece/felt fabrics along a LONG edge of the board.

Then, take the fabrics as a whole and fold them over the board. (The double fold is to keep the raw edges from being visible underneath.) Place a staple in the center of the long edge. You'll have to do staples alternately on each side to make sure that the fabric is taut without wrinkles.

Place a staple on the opposite side, pulling the fabric tightly (but not super tight to where it'll pucker or rip).

Staple along the entire edge, alternating sides and pulling the fabric kind of tight as you go along.

Now, for the short sides... In order to keep the corners from being too bulky, cut a small square out of the fleece/felt layers.

Once the corners are cut out, it removes most of the bulk. Next, you'll fold the corners of the decorative fabric over like you're wrapping a gift box...

Then you'll fold the decorative fabric in half, just over the fleece/felt, before finally pulling it over the board and stapling.

Do this with both edges, again pulling it taught before stapling. Reinforce all the edges (and particularly the corners) with staples.

When you flip it over, it'll look nice and smooth--and be the perfect ironing board for small sewing projects! (I texted this picture to Jerry to show him what I made, and he thought I literally took measuring tape and wrapped it around a board, haha)

The bottoms edges will all be nice and even so that the board doesn't wobble--it'll be very sturdy on the table--no legs needed.

This is SO much nicer than using a folded towel! ;)

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RECIPE: Sweet & Sour Chicken

I love Sweet & Sour Chicken! It's usually made with fried chicken pieces, but this is made with sautéed chicken, so it's a little healthier. The calories in this aren't bad at all, actually! It looks like a lot of ingredients, but most of them are things that I typically have on hand.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil (or peanut oil)
3 medium carrots
1 large onion
1 large green bell pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 clove garlic or 1 tsp. jarred minced garlic
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 can (about 15 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained (reserve juice)* (See note at bottom)
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cold water
2 Tbsp. corn starch
Cooked white rice, for serving

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, and add 2 tsp. oil. Slice or chop the carrots and add them to the skillet. Chop the onion and green pepper and add them as well (if you like your green pepper crispier, then add it later--but I like mine to be pretty soft). While those are cooking, cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and add them to the skillet. Add the garlic and ginger.

Cook until the chicken is done, stirring frequently. Add enough water to the pineapple juice to make 1 cup of liquid, and add that to the skillet.

Bring it to a boil, and then add the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and pineapple tidbits. Stir well to combine. In a small bowl, stir the corn starch and 2 Tbsp cold water until the corn starch is dissolved. Then add the cornstarch mixture to the skillet, stirring well.

The sauce will get very thick. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings.

*Note: I love the pineapple in sweet and sour chicken, but my family doesn't like it as much. You can always use half the amount of pineapple, but still use all of the juice for the sauce.

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Sheer Cuteness

I started working on the second part to my post from yesterday, but it just got way too long when I was going through photos. So, I think I'll just save it for another day.

I'm super tired right now (the kittens wake me up so early!) so I am just going to post a few photos that I took today.

Remember a few years ago, when the golden-crowned kinglet bird crashed into my window? He hit the living room window, and I was sure I was going to walk outside to find a dead bird. But it turned out that his claw was stuck in the window screen, and he was still alive.

I gently pulled him off of the screen, and he let me hold him. I was sure he wasn't able to fly, because why else would he let me hold him? I even walked in the house to grab my phone to take a picture (while he was in my hand!) and then went back outside.

I debated what to do with him, and decided to make a little nest for him--and then he flew away, completely unharmed. I was relieved!

And then a couple of days later, I got home after dropping the boys off at school and I saw what I thought was a dead bird on the porch--the same bird from a couple of days ago! I was furious and I thought that somehow Phoebe got outside and killed the bird.

I went to pick him up to move him off of the porch, and he popped right up into my hand. It was the same bird! (At least I'm 99% sure it was.) I have no idea why he was "playing dead" on the porch, but he sat in my hand for a while after that. I just sat down on the steps of the porch and held him. It was so cool!

Then he flew away, and I've never seen him again.

Today, I was working on a blog post and I saw (and heard) a bird crash into the living room window. Again, I was sure I was going to find a dead bird outside, but I found him alive amongst the landscaping. I picked him up and he looked okay. (I have no idea what kind of bird he was.)

I wasn't sure where to put him, and ultimately decided to put him on a bush in the landscaping. I went inside and grabbed Noah's camera to get a picture of him. I took a couple of photos, and then he flew off of the bush and right onto the camera strap!

I started to walk him toward a tree when he finally jumped up and flew away. I was relieved he was okay.

While all of this was going on, there was a family of geese on the dike across the street from my house. We actually have two families of geese staying there--each has four goslings. They are adorable!

Since I had Noah's camera out there already, I decided to try to get a photo of the geese. We have families of geese that hang out here every year. They get really angry when I drive by in my car... and it's terrifying to go for a run next to them, hahaha.

And of course, here is a picture of Chick and Duck. They are SO CUTE I can't stand it! When they sleep, they are dead to the world--they always cuddle when they sleep and they fall totally limp wherever they are. Having kittens is so much fun! (Except when they want to play at 4:30 AM.)

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A Huge Collection of My Crafts Through the Years (Part 1)

When I was looking for some photos on my computer, I came across a folder of a bunch of crafts that I've made through the years. It was fun looking through them!

I have definitely gotten better at things as I've practiced more, and my style has changed quite a bit. I don't own most of the things I've made anymore, probably because I realized it was hideous! Hahaha. It makes me wonder if someday, I'll look back and cringe at the things I make now. (Like my enormous chalkboard clock!)

Anyways, I thought it'd be fun to post pictures of my crafts through the years. I went through phases of knitting, crocheting, sewing, and more recently, home renovation projects. (In this post, I have mostly crochet and knitting photos).

As I got the photos ready for this post, I realized I have way more than I thought! So, I'm going to post this in 2-3 posts. I'll post the second part tomorrow. (Sorry if this is totally boring. But it's more exciting than my groundhog days lately!)

By the way, the patterns for most of these can be found on Ravelry. It would take a very long time to link to each individual one. So, you can find my project page here, which links to the patterns I used.)

This is a sweater beer cozy that I made for Jerry. He LOVED it and still has it. I think I made it in 2007-ish:

This is an apple cozy (to keep the apple from bruising in a lunch box, etc. Clearly, my gauge was off! Or, I just buy small apples. It was way too big:

This is an aviator hat that I made when Becky was pregnant with Luke. She wanted a photo prop for him (and with Brian being a pilot, the aviator theme was perfect). She showed me a photo, and I ended up making this:

This was also for Luke. I made this for Becky's shower, in the colors of Luke's nursery:

These are clearly some baby booties that I made, but I have no idea who I made them for!

A friend asked me to make a baby hat as a photo prop, so this is what I came up with. I wrote out the pattern, which you can find here.

This is another baby hat pattern that I wrote myself. Why were all of my friends having babies and I don't remember who I gave these things to?! (Here is the pattern)

This I actually made about a year ago--it's ugly, but it's not meant to be pretty. I just got sick of having the kids' baseball bats lying around the floor of the garage, so I grabbed a scrap board, drilled some large holes in it, and viola! Baseball bat holder.

Eli was super into Batman when he was little, so I knitted this Batman hat for him:

This is a coffee cup cozy that actually reads "be safe". I am embarrassed to admit that it was a line from the Twilight books that Edward said to Bella. I was really into Twilight back then! (You'll see I have a few more Twilight-related things)

Speaking of Twilight, these are the mittens that Bella wore (I think it was in the first movie). Someone replicated them and posted the pattern on Ravelry. I just had to make them! 

I happen to love this beret that I no longer have. It was my first time doing cables and twisted stitches in the round, and I really enjoyed making it. I like patterns that I have to really pay attention to!

These are called "Pocketbook Slippers" because they fold up to be small enough to slip into your pocketbook. This pattern is one of the first things I ever knitted.

This was an attempt at socks. I just didn't have the patience to finish the first one, let alone start the second one. The only fun part of socks is turning the heel!

A knitted dish cloth. Why I chose brown, I have no idea!

Ugh, this hat! For a while, I was into making hats with a bill on the front. I used that plastic mesh that is meant for crafts like--well, I don't know what--and I was determined to make the perfect hat. But I just never got it right. 

A friend showed me a picture in a magazine of a hat she wanted, including a ribbon butterfly, so I copied it the best I could. I have to admit, it looked nearly identical to the magazine photo!

I made a coffee mug cozy (my own design) to fit a standard mug. I really liked how it turned out, so I published the pattern on Ravelry. You can find the pattern here. 

This is a double-knit (reversible) case for my camera. This was before I had a smart phone. I had a small camera, and I used this cozy to slip my camera into in order to carry it around without it getting ruined. I used this for several years, actually! I had just made a double-knit pot holder--posted somewhere below--and I thought the double knitting thing was cool, so it was a fun project for me.

Another hat with a bill. This one with cables...

This is the same hat in green... and Noah modeling it :)

I made several lip balm holders. I could crochet these in less than an hour from start to finish, and since I'm obsessed with lip balm (Burt's Bee's Original is my favorite), it was perfect. I just wish I hadn't loved the variegated yarn...

I made this one with a thin crochet thread, and it worked out much better:

I knitted a large rectangle with cables, and I had no idea what to do with it. I ended up folding it in half and turning it into a bag: 

Ugh! This hat. It was too short to fold, but too long NOT to fold. So it was pretty much useless.

This hat was on a TV show (I can't remember which show) and someone posted the pattern on Ravelry. I loved the pattern (again with the bill on the front) so of course I had to make it. I never wore it, though--I thought the bill was too long.

I clearly loved making coffee cozies.  These are fun to make because they don't take a long time, they're very useful, and you can make them in several different patterns. My favorite was the honeycomb pattern (the ones on the right):

I think this pot holder was my very first double-knit project. Double-knitting is where the back side is basically a mirror image of the front, and the colors are the exact opposite. It's time consuming, but I always like to try new techniques, so the double knitting sounded interesting to me:

This is one of the very first things that I crocheted. I made it out of kitchen cotton, and it was heavy! It wasn't very practical, so I didn't end up using it. I'm not sure what I ended up doing with it!

This was the first afghan I ever crocheted. I don't normally have the patience to crochet or knit a whole afghan, but since this one was called something like "Five Hour Afghan" it caught my eye. I actually really liked this one!

This is a baby blanket that I crocheted for a couple of friends of mine who were adopting a baby girl kind of suddenly. I didn't have much time to make something, so I chose this pattern which was apparently a quick-crochet:

I have no idea what these baby hats were for. I don't remember giving them to anyone!

I saw this hat on a movie, and I wanted to replicate it. This is attempt one and attempt two. Attempt two turned out better, but I never did get it right!

I made this as soon as I really started getting into crocheting. I needed something to hold crochet hooks, so I made this. I sewed fabric into the underside of it. I loved it at the time!

These were just some random squares that I'd crocheted. I think I had just taught myself to crochet, so I was trying out different patterns. 

No idea why I did this, but I used crochet thread to make a wrist band:

I made this for "a friend's" baby boy (again, I don't know who--my notes just say "a friend"). I can't think of who it would be! But I love how the blanket turned out:

I made this hat for my dad--it's two layers thick, so it was super warm. He'd been wearing an ugly camoflauge hat I made him YEARS prior (when I was in high school, I think) and he swore it was the warmest hat he'd ever worn. I knew he was just saying that to make me feel good, so I made him this one that should have been twice as warm. I should have made the ribbed edging a few inches longer, though, because it was kind of small. Again, too short to really cuff, but too long NOT to cuff.

This one is kind of hard to see, but I was trying out a new knitting technique called entrelac. It was fun to knit! I made another one later where you can see the pattern better, because I used variegated yarn.

And there you have it... I think this is about 40 of 120-ish photos I have of projects I've made! I'll share some more in another post.

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