Shirt Refashion

Back from Reno. I'll post pictures soon. Hopefully a lot quicker than the last road trip pictures were posted. ;-)

The night before leaving, I took this man's shirt:


and made it into this cutey:


Very comfy and Very cool! AND....very easy! The hardest part was getting the straps to be the right length (and I'm still not sure I've got it right, but it's good enough for me).

Our Favorite Muffins

We are getting ready for another road trip - Reno bound this time and all points in between. An important part of our adventures is snacks. Yes, snacks! We can't be without them. Bringing them with us keeps us from having to purchase them along the way for WAY more money. One of our favorite treats to bring with us is Chocolate Chip Muffins. YUMMY!

I ALWAYS make a double batch of these things. They freeze well. They thaw well. They're just great! Here's our favorite recipe (It says it makes 12, but when I double the receipe I usually come out with at least 30. So, I would guess that the original recipe makes about 15 - math genuis that I am.)

Our Favorite Muffins (adapted from 30-Day Gourmet):

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (When I double the recipe, I still only use 1/2 cup and it turns out just fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 oz sour cream (I use the lite kind)
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar, oil, vanilla, salt and sour cream, mixing well. All at one time, add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir until all is moistened and slightly lumpy. Pour into oiled muffin cups (I use Pam). Fill 2/3 full and bake at 350 degress for 20 minutes.

I add 1 cup of chocolate chips, but you could add anything you like, berries, nuts, etc.

I've been wanting to try spice muffins, but we love the chocolate chip ones so much I always talk myself out of it. For spice muffins, with the flour, add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

These are definitely not diet-approved, but hey, we're not eating them every day either.

The dryer has buzzed and that means it's packin' time!

The Library Shelf: Ana's Story

Another one already? Yes! LOVE summer time (well, except for the heat and the snakes and the ugly, dry grass and the no paycheck).

Today's book is Ana's Story by Jenna Bush (Yes, THAT Jenna Bush). This book is based on her work with Unicef. It tells the story of Ana's childhood and teen years in Latin America. She was born HIV positive, transmitted from her young mother, who died when she was only 3 years old. She lives with relatives being shuffled from one home to another, to a detention center and a group home for those infected with HIV. Her's is a long, hard journey.

While this is the story of one girl's life, it is also unfortunately the plight of many children throughout the world who are robbed of the innocence and carefree spirit of childhood due to poverty, illness and abuse.

This is a quick read because of the very short chapters, but it is also intense due to the nature of the story. I enjoyed the book, others may not because it is not sugar-coated but a true depiction of reality for so many young people.

The Library Shelf: Bud, Not Buddy

Up on the Library Shelf today is "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis.
"Bud, Not Buddy" is a Newberry Medal Winner and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It's set during the depression of the 1930's in Flint, Michigan. Ten year old Bud, not Buddy, is a motherless boy trying to find his father. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: advertising flyers for a band. Bud decides to hit the road to find him.

The descriptive language makes you feel as if you are there as "a fly on the wall" watching all the goings-on. Some of it even made me laugh out loud.

The hardships of the depression, the Jim Crow laws and discrimination of blacks are entertwined with the journey of Bud through comedic episodes giving a different insight into the life of an orphan on the run.

This book is actually classified as a Young Adult's book, but I think "old" adults would enjoy it too. It's one of the choices given to the middle school students at CAVA to read as part of their literature course. I'm going to be doing online Literature Circles this coming school year. There are quite a few books on the reading lists that I have not read so I figured I'd better get to it if I'm going to be teaching these things. It's a good read!

Adventures in Tie Dye

Yesterday, DD and I tried our hands at tie dying.

Oh What Fun It Was!

Really!

We gathered a couple of old whitish shirts.

We mixed up three colors of dye (yellow, red, and blue) and we went to town.

We dunked,
we stirred,
we even syphoned with a straw.
See....look here....




Here's what DD's shirt looks like now:



And, here's mine (I didn't do the multi-color thing):



It's a very pretty blue. I love it! Only one problem. I accidently got a little tiny bit of red dye on it. DARN! I have to figure out how to hide it. Maybe a little bit of embroidery magic will do the trick....

Wanna See What We Got?

On Friday, we got a new toy for our Bearded Kitty.



Isn't he the cutest!?!?

He was adopted from in front of Von's. We've wanted a Tiger kitty for a long time and now we have one.

In these pictures, he actually looks big, but he's hiding under the bed and I'm laying flat on the floor so that gives you kind of an idea of how small he really is. Compared to Bearded Kitty OH MY!




Speaking of Bearded Kitty. How does he like his new toy? Well, he was a little apprehensive for the first few minutes......



But, they are becoming fast friends. They chase each other up and down the hallway and tumble around and wrestle and just have a good ole time. Yes, I think Bearded Kitty quite likes his new buddy!

They Paid Me Again!

Today, Rite Aid paid me $1.03 to take home a birthday card, another tube of toothpaste and 2 single scoop ice cream cones!

Lovin' it!