Back to school, migraines, and new adventures!

Custom bag I made for the football auction this past week.  I also had another auction item with a blank bag that the person who won it can have customized however they wanted.

It is currently 12:30 in the morning.  I am awake...and on the computer because I don't feel like sleeping right now since I am a little keyed up from having a migraine all day.  I always feel like I am so behind after I have a migraine since I just don't really feel like doing anything when I have one.  Today's migraine was not that bad, but it did make me nauseous and just blah.  I did manage to organize my craft room a little bit, mainly because it was in such disarray from all of the last minute things I finished up for the Friday Night Lights auction for my son's football team.  I was one of three moms who helped to organized the event.  We also had the head coach and several other staff members who also helped, but there were not very many of us so it was a little hectic this past week.

My youngest son, who is 16 starts school on Tuesday...the summer went by really really fast!  I am both excited and nervous about this school year.  This is the first time in several years that I am not starting the school year as well because I resigned as the library paraprofessional at the high school.  There are so many emotions I have about not going back this year.  Mostly I am just thankful that I have decided to take care of myself and my mental health.  There is an overwhelming sense of calm that I have knowing that I am no longer on someone else's schedule anymore.  Of course there is also an extreme sense of dread and uncertainty as well.  I have been up to the school for some things relating to the auction and talked to some of my former coworkers at the high school and I am really sad that I won't see them every day.  The people-pleaser in me is feeling bad that I won't be there to help them with their technology needs like I have in the past.  I feel especially guilty that the librarian is basically on her own now because the person they replaced me with is likely only doing "technology" things not library things like I also did.  I can't let that stop me from doing what makes me happy and brings me less stress though...even if that is going to be hard for me.  

Another thing I managed to do today was start designing a t-shirt for wearing to my son's opening varsity football game against our rivals this coming Friday!  Our football team is a big family and they share meals together on Thursday and Fridays during the season.  I took the word FAMILY and added the football stitching to the words and will cut out with my Cricut Expression using our team colors (purple and gold)...and I will probably use the glitter version as well!  I made my first iron-ons this week and am in love with it!  I am super excited about my new adventures in crafting and being able to focus on getting my business started now that school is starting.

Using Nuvo Mousse on a wood sign

The piece "in progress".  Waiting on the yellow Nuvo Mousse to dry.  

I bought this sign on clearance from Hobby Lobby and am customizing it for the Friday Night Lights Silent Auction for my son's football team.  I have actually had this one and several others (different ones) for a couple of months I think, but I have been focused on other things.  Since the auction is in just over a week I figured I had better get in gear!  

ACK...it ripped the paper off of the sign so I had to improvise!

Up close of the purple corner.  I am going to attach the clip to the sign and print out some of the football pictures I have taken and include them on the sign. (I think this will entice parents to buy!)

Here is a close up of what the bottom, gold corner might look like after I attach the clips.

Super up close shot of the "texture" in the gold section.

I also made a quick video and uploaded it to YouTube (I did not edit it...)

This short video shows the "in progress" piece a little more in depth...and my extremely messy craft table!  I really have to organize (again...) but that won't happen until next week AFTER the auction!


My previous video on my "old" channel

Mowing adventures

So the other day I mowed the lawn...for the second time this season.  I had managed to avoid it all season because my son or son in law would do it.  My husband bought a new mower this year so I did not know all of the details about how it worked. After I took a water break I started mowing again and noticed that there were two bars on the handle.  I squeezed the "new" one and lo and behold...the mower nearly shot out of my grasp! I had been mowing manually!  The second half of the yard was a lot easier to mow at least!  Not long after that I went to mow around the side of the house and came across a bunch of weeds growing around the water meter.  I figured I better weed them out so that if the water meter needed to be read then they could actually access the meter.  I just started pulling them since I had gloves on and I had tried to use the weed eater and it had like 78 instructions on the side and I was like...um, no, ain't nobody got time for that!   I forgot to take a before picture...but it so overgrown that you could not even see the meter or the side of the house even.  The bush/weed was taller than I was!  I started to break the branches off and then I found a meat cleaver on the ground...not sure where it came from (probably fell out of the trash?)

 

However it got there... the meat cleaver came in handy!  Oh..and I also discovered a snake in the yard while I was mowing! It was an adventure for sure!  

Changes

Lots of changes since I last posted an update! Here are some (in no particular order!)-

• My daughter, Cat married Brett!  Yay!
  
• I am no longer working full time!  YAY times infinity!!!
• I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called Salzmann’s nodular degeneration
• I found a second doctor who agreed with the diagnosis and HELPED me tremendously!
• I decided to start a crafting business (still unnamed!)
• To that end...I reclaimed the wreck room (yes, I meant to spell it that way, ha ha) as my craft space
  
  
  
  
• Maeghan ...and Chris graduated high school!
• There is probably a TON more...but I need to get some actual crafting done instead of watching Melody Lane "Twitch for the first time, or watching Jennifer McGuire Ink, or Prairie Paper & Ink or Daniels Krafts

But at least I am not adding anymore to my craft stash today...

1 to 1 technology

I recently started working in the library at a high school as the person in charge of MacBook Air daily check outs for students.  This is the first time our school district has implemented a 1 to 1 program with MacBooks, so we are sort of making things up as we go along...see the picture above!  This is what I came back to after being out of town for a funeral.  Fortunately we came up with a better idea!

 

Baked Corn Beef and Cabbage Sliders

Ingredients for the sauce for the Baked Corn Beef and Cabbage Sliders (brown sugar not pictured).

So I have made Funeral Sandwiches before...but I thought I would try something a little different this time seeing as I have a bunch of leftover Corn Beef and Cabbage and we have a pot luck tonight at home group!  I even had the Kings Hawaiian Bread already! ( I picked up 2 huge packs from Sam's Club for our family dinner the other day and no one even opened them because they were eating Corn Beef and Cabbage).

The sauce ingredients are :
1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons Worsetsire Sauce
2 tablespoons Horseradish sauce
2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons Onion Powder
3 tablespoons Chopped Onions
1 tablespoon Steak Dust*
1 to 2 squirts Dijon mustard
1 to 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Ingredients for the rest of the recipe:
1 pack (from Sam's Club) of Kings Hawaaina Rolls
1 whole red onion diced finely
about 2 cups diced cooked Corn Beef
about 2 cups diced cooked cabbage
10 slices Provolone cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Mix all sauce ingredients in a large bowl with a wisk and set aside.  Cut Hawaiian Rolls in Half, layer Corn Beef and Cabbage, onions, and cheeses and then top with the Hawaiin Rolls.  Now pour the sauce all over the top and spread with a basting brush.  Cover tightly and let marinate in the fridge for 4-12 hours or overnight.  Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to 30 minutes.  I put poppy seeds on one half of the sandwiches. 

 * Steak Dust is the most amazing seasoning...I use it on so much!  I first discovered this a few years ago when it was on clearance at the end of the summer at Sam's Club.  Now I can only find it online.  One large container costs about $35 on Amazon!  When you buy a 6 pack at Sam's club it is much cheaper!  It worked out to be just over $10 per container when I bought the 6 pack from Sam's. 

This was the leftover Corn Beef and Cabbage I had from our family dinner. 

I made 6 Corn Beefs for our family dinner.  I looked all over town...and everyone that had Corn Beef at a cheaper price ($3.99 or less) was completely sold out.  I finally found it at a local Super Target...and it was only $2.99 a pound!  So I bought all 6 that they had left. 

I cut the whole thing like a big sandwich...ignore the fact that I cannot cut straight!

I cut the whole thing at the same time to sort of make one big sandwich.  As you can see from the second picture I am not that great at cutting a straight line, lol

Using my mandolin I finely diced a red onion and spread it all over the bottom layer of the bread.

I love my mandolin and use it whenever I can (or I remember, lol) to save myself time in the kitchen.  The diced onions literally took like 10 seconds to do and were perfect!  There were no tears either!  I used the small dice setting.  I think that diced red onions will add a nice kick as well as a crunch.  I am a big fan of onions any way you slice...or dice 'em!

Next came the diced up Corn Beef and Cabbage (I put a lot more cut up cabbage than what is pictured)

I diced up some of the leftover Corn Beef and cabbage and spread it liberally on top of the onions.  I tried to cover as much of the bread as I could and also make the layer even so that each sandwich would have both Corn Beef and Cabbage.

Next I layered Provolone Cheese slices and shredded cheese (again, I put more than what is pictured.)

10 slices of Provolone Cheese covered the Corn Beef and Cabbage...then I covered that with a layer of Shredded Cheddar Cheese and then topped it all with the top "bun" (the top layer of the Kings Hawaiian bread that I cut earlier).

Pour the sauce all over the assembled sandwiches.  I used a basting brush to spread well over the whole top layer.

Press down on the lid to get everything all well mixed and marinated.

I only left the sandwiches marinate for about 4 hours before I cooked them,  It is good if you marinate them over night, but I did not have everything for the marinade the night before so I had to wait until after I made a run to the store.

Fresh from the oven.  WHOA, these turned out AMAZING! 

I cooked these for 15 minutes uncovered and then 15 minutes covered.  I also cut them before I served them to make them easier to eat.  These are sure to become a St. Patrick's Day favorite around here!

WOW...I have not posted in awhile!

I am doing a "project" where I guest post along with others about Learning Hospitality.  When I posted the link to this blog I realized I have been very remiss in posting updates!  I have been Facebooking and started as Tumblr, but I have not updated here...so here I am.  In the few minutes I have before I run out to Mr. BHS at the high school- a fundraiser for our Drama Booster group.  Ah, the life of a busy mom.  Tomorrow I am leaving for the Women of Faith conference...a much needed break!  This last week I was in the ER with a migraine...first time I had to go to the ER for a migraine in about 8 years!