Ahhh.....Alegria!

Hey Y'all!  Happy Friday!

I hope you're having a wonderful end to your week!
Last week, our school's secretary was sporting some pretty cute shoes!  I loved them and we got to talking about the Alegria shoes.
She informed me that they were orthopedic shoes and they could cost anywhere from $80.00 up.  After I came to with smelling salts, I realized I HAD to have a pair.
Being a teacher, and being on my feet all day long, these dawgs are tired at the end of the day.
I have a plantar's wart on the bottom of my left foot--near my heel.  It is really painful.  Something is also going on with the tendons or ligaments across the top of my foot that runs into my arch.  Getting old stinks, doesn't it?!
SO....Off to Ebay I went, in search of these shoes!
I ended up winning a bid on these for $30.99!!!

Aren't they CUTE?  Today is the third day in a row that I've worn them and my feet do NOT hurt at night anymore!
The sole of these shoes are made of cork and they're wonderful to walk in!
If you're someone who's on their feet all day, I truly recommend getting you some NOW!
Here's a few pair that I love!  I'll be looking for them to show up on Ebay too!

Source: alegriashoes.com 

Especially since I checked the website and they're $119 per pair!  WOWZA!!
So...what are your plans for the weekend?  Anything good?
Me and Ronnie are headed to an auction tonight--the same one where he bought my sewing machine for $40.00!
Ok...have a wonderful weekend!  

Finished Product!

So, I ended up pulling out that horrible row on the square I made last night!  Remember how the verigated yarn made the last row look crazy?

So, I pulled it out and left it alone.  Then I remembered that I had an old shower curtain in my stuff.  I loved that shower curtain's fabric and couldn't bring myself to trash it.  It finally got it's use now!  I used it to make a pillow for the square.  It's nothing fancy, but I totally love it!  Looks great on the couch with all of our Valentine's Day stuff here at The Doublewide!

My mother's mama passed away this past October.  We weren't very close because she lived about 4 hours away and didn't see each other often.  I would talk "crochet" with her and I remember spending some time during the summers as a child at her house.  When the "Mile A Minute" crochet series was very popular, she helped me figure out a pattern and was tickled that she could help me.
When we adopted Robbie, we made the drive to let them meet him when he was about 6-9 months old.  She gave me two different baby blankets for him.
When my sister gave birth to my nephew, the week before Mammaw Doris passed away, Sawyer had some booties, a baby scarf, a hat and a baby blanket that Mammaw made for him.
She never got to see him though.

After the funeral, my aunt sent me a size G crochet hook and a pattern book that was mammaw's.  She said she would go through everything and send more later.
We never heard from her, but that was ok.  I'm still going through stuff from my Mammaw Frances' things and I'm not one of those people who get greedy when somebody dies.
Tuesday morning my cousin gave me this:

Her mother, my mammaw's sister in law, sent this to me.  She said my aunt was handing them out to the brothers and sisters after we all left.
Thank you Aunt Jane for sending this to me.  I am so happy to have it!

Updated to add the link to the heart square:
CLICK HERE

What in the World is a Sea Penny?

Yep...
I asked myself the same thing.
But....
Oh how happy I am that here at The Doublewide, I have discovered just what a Sea Penny is!
Thanks to Julia Crossland for schoolin' me!

Hop on over to her blog by clicking HERE and check it out for yourself.

I have this printed out and have only made three pennies so far.  I'm going to be using the mint green, teal, pink, and white colors and can't wait to finish it!
They whip up so quickly!  This would also be a wonderful way to get rid of your yarn scraps.
Here's my progress...

Yea Yea....I know I have a LONG way to go!

This is my "work in progress" for today.  I have finished this square:

Except...I DO NOT like the last row.  It's a pink/light pink/hot pink yarn that changes colors ever so often.  It looks like I just whacked and pieced the yarn together.  Now that I see the picture, I am going to pull out the last row altogether.  Crazy thing?  The center heart was done with the exact same ball of yarn, but you so can't tell!  I think I'll do the last row over, using white cotton.
I'll be back tomorrow with the link to this pattern and the finished product!
Can you guess what I'm going to do with the square once it's to my liking?  Please comment below and guess!  Maybe I'll send you a ball of this funky yarn as a thank you for guessing!

Reason #453, #454 and #455 Why I Love my Big Daddy!

Hey Y'all!
I hope that at least one of my readers is enjoying some sunshine somewhere.  It's rainy and cold here, but it's supposed to be in the low 60s later this week.  Since that means no snow anytime soon, I guess I'd better just get happy!
This past Thursday ended our semester so Friday and today were teacher workdays.  I managed to get A LOT done in my classroom during these two days.  Big Daddy's mama (Nanny) watched Robbie on Friday and since my favorite babysitter took a ski trip last night, it looked like he was going to have to come to school with me.  I don't mind it, but I knew I wouldn't get a lot done due to having to keep him busy.
Well.....since it was raining this morning, Big Daddy asked his boss if he could take off and spend the day with Robbie.  His boss said YES, so he came back home, before I even got Robbie up.  Big Daddy was so excited about just having a day with Robbie.  I came home to an empty house and after calling them to see where they were, I found out that they were spending the afternoon at Monkey Joe's in Gastonia.  Bless Big Daddy's heart.  He toughed it out because since it is a teacher's workday, you KNOW that place was crawling with kids.  (Reason #453) 

Reason #454:  Big Daddy brought me a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit when he came in this morning.  It was soooo good!
I'll save the best reason for the end of this post....just to make you keep reading!  ha ha ha

Now....for some sweetness!  Since I had The Doublewide to myself this afternoon, I decorated for Valentine's Day.  Here are some pictures:

I just love the colors of Valentine's Day!  Don't you?

Ok..for reason # 455....
This past Friday night we had our friends Vernon, Beverly and their daughter, Payton over for supper.  We'd been talking all week about how we wanted some "Breakfast for Supper!"  It was WONDERFUL!  So much so that Beverly posted this picture on her Facebook wall:

See what I mean?  Yummy!
So after supper, Vernon had planned to go to the auction nearby to see what all they had.  His battery died and Big Daddy went out to jump his truck off and decided that he'd just drive his truck and they'd both go to the auction.
So, when they finally made it back home, Big Daddy walked in The Doublewide carrying this in it's box:

Yup...it's a BRAND NEW Kenmore sewing machine...featuring 54 different stitches.  I have it on the dining room table now and am fixing to try it out!
So there's reason #455!
Crazy thing is that on Saturday night, we went to York, SC to an auction where my brother's bluegrass band were playing.  We missed the performance, because I thought they were singing at 6 but they sang at 4....
The same man was selling at this auction and the same sewing machine went for $65.00.  Big Daddy paid $40 for mine!  BOO-YOW!
Finally, I'll close with something hilarious!
One of my students' mama wants me to crochet a chicken hat.  I looked on Ravelry.com but the one I found isn't cute--it's kindof scary...Aww shucks...here's a picture of the one I found...

Maybe it's just the fact that there are actually legs and feet that will hang down.  YUCKY!
So, I'm trying my own.  I found a pattern for an ice cream cone--thought I could use that for the beak.  Also, she wants the hat to resemble this chicken:



I have such a challenge on my hands.  Here's what I've gotten done so far....
I just have to figure out the eyes and the comb....Any advice?



Y'all have a great evening as we're preparing to get back on a routine tomorrow!

Operation Organization...Sometime..

Hey Y'all!
I hope you've enjoyed your day today!
I slept until around 10:00 AM---Thank you LORD!  I rarely get to sleep that late, and since Robbie was spending the night with his Pop Pop and Mi Mi, I was able to sleep this morning.  I did wake up with a horrible back ache, but that comes with being 40 I suppose.
I got up, made me some coffee, and sat at the computer like a ding-dong for about an hour.
A friend at church had back surgery this past week.  A lot of the women picked nights to take supper for their family.  Me and my friend Beverly signed up for tonight.  She made a huge pot of chili beans and I made a Sun Drop pound cake.  I'd never made one before, but it was wonderful. 
Around 5:30, I threw some clothes on because there's nothing better than hanging around your house in your pj's all day long, and dropped off the cake at their house. 
After coming home, Big Daddy told me that Robbie was ready to come home.  They were ordering pizza for supper, and after picking a little hamburger off of one slice, he announced that he didn't need to eat that much pizza...he thought he'd just wait until he got home to see what his mama was cooking.
Bless it!
So...to the title of this post.
For those of you who crochet, please let me know how you organize all of it!
I cannot stand all of this yarn everywhere!  I have it in tubs, in trash bags, in dresser drawers--just one or two here and there, piled in baskets, wherever...
I checked Pinterest and found some good ideas:
This was supposed to be a wine rack:

Shoe organizers for the closet:

 IKEA shelves.

More Ikea

I KNOW I don't intend on paying $199 for this thing from IKEA.  I'm sure Big Daddy can whip one up a lot easier and for a LOT less money.

I've been working on some crochet today.  I have about 8 orders for hats so I'm looking forward to having Monday off so that I can get caught up.
More than anything else, I'm praying hard for SNOW--and some serious snow!  That seems to be the only time I get in a mood to do any organizing and cleaning!
Gotta go for the night.  My brother's birthday was Friday so the whole family will be here tomorrow after church to eat Chicken and Dumplings!  I gotta get my sleep tonight!!
Y'all take care!

Rain, Bacon, and Daddy

Hey Y'all!

It is STILL raining!  Seriously?  It's been raining off and on since Sunday.  Kills my cheery moods!  Actually, it makes me want to go home, curl up in my puffy recliner, grab some crochet hooks and yarn, and turn on the TV---or just sleep! 
This week I have to be at school early for breakfast duty. 
Robbie spends every Tuesday night with my mama and daddy.  They just live across the road from us, so I send his clothes, and call to make sure they're up before I hop in the shower.  I'm not really sure who enjoys it more--him or them---but I'm glad they live so close and that he's able to get to spend time with them.  I have so many wonderful memories of my Mammaw and Pappaw and I want him to be able to have memories of my parents too when he's older.  So this morning, I went to pick him up and he's sitting in my mama's recliner with a tray spread out on his lap.  He's chomping down on scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast with jelly.  He says, "Mama!  Look!  I've got some of Papa's bacon and YOU DON'T!"  I thought we were gonna fall out laughing!  I made him finish (quickly) and get his coat on.  Once everything was together and we were heading out the door, my daddy meets me at the door with some toast and bacon.  Oh how he made my day!
The funny part....
While I'm getting Robbie's stuff together, I see my daddy go into the kitchen.  Then mama follows right behind him.  She's saying..."Are you going to fix Michelle something?"  He says, "Yep."  Then she says, "Well HURRY UP--she's got to get to school early!"  To which he replies..."Well GET OUT OF MY WAY so she can!"
Even though it's such a dreary day...I smiled the whole drive to school while eating that bacon on toast!

Thanks Daddy!

Homemade Brownies!

Hey Y'all!  I hope you've had a great day today!  After supper tonight, me and Robbie decided to make some homemade brownies!

Here's the recipe I used:

1 stick of melted butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup of self rising flour

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cocoa

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until brownies are done.

Here's everything looking so pretty in my $0.25 yard sale TexasWare bowl that I adore!

And here's that boy of mine that I adore licking the mixer blades and the spatula!

Please ignore the spaghetti all over his face from supper.

Here's Miss Cookie hoping we drop a little taste for her!

And of course we have a pan just for brownies!

So...off to fill our bellies with warm delicious chocolate lovin'!
Enjoy your night!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Hey Y'all!

It is soooo beautiful outside!  I can't believe it's January and I'm tempted to throw the windows open and let The Doublewide air out today!  Think I will!
Anyway...
I've been seeing homemade laundry detergent on several blogs lately and finally decided to make some of my own.
It was so simple!
All you need is:

1 cup of Borax
1 cup of Washing Soda
(This is NOT baking soda--just so you know.)
1/3 of a  bar of ZOTE soap or Fels-Naptha soap.  Any laundry bar soap will do.
All three products were purchased at Wal-Mart on the laundry aisle.

I turned on my food processor and grated the soap after I added the two powders.  Who wants to do that by hand?

After letting the ingredients process awhile, it was ready.  I made three batches so that I could just use the entire bar of soap.
This is what it looks like when all done:

I put it into a large Rubbermaid cereal container that seals to keep the moisture out of it.
Use 1 tablespoon per load!
It sure smells great and I KNOW it is MUCH cheaper than store bought detergent.
YAY for saving the moo-lah whenever you can!

TGIF!

Whew-wee!  What a week!
Tuesday actually began my work week.  It was hard going back to school after being out for Christmas Break, but we survived.
This has been a rough week.  My kids at school have had a hard time getting back into reality.  I didn't assign any homework the week before we got out for Christmas.  They didn't want to do any, and I didn't want to grade any either!
So, as you can imagine, when we got back into full swing, I had several who still weren't ready to get busy. Yesterday THIRTY of my team of 58 kids didn't have their social studies homework completed.  I was so disappointed and aggravated that when I got home, I had to get a nap.  I was physically and mentally exhausted!  I think Big Daddy felt sorry for me because he announced that we were going out to dinner!  So, we loaded up the truck and headed to The Sports Page in Denver, NC.  It was SOOO good!  Check out their menu by clicking HERE.  I got their "Chicken Something" and it was absolutely wonderful!  After the day I had had, it could have been wild onions and fried cow patties and it would have been fine!
Even after all that....

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  We're planning on going out to eat at a pizza buffet tonight with our friends Beverly, Vernon and their daughter Payton.

My Guilty Pleasure

Hey Y'all!
I am so glad this week is almost over with!  It has been such a chore to drag my boo-tay out of the bed this week.  I know that getting to bed so late has been the reason.  Here it is at 1:00 AM, and I decided to write a blog.  See what I mean?
Last night it was 2:00 AM before I could get to sleep.  I am reading a good book--so good that I couldn't take my eyes away from it!
If you're looking for a great read, check out Alice Hoffman's BLACKBIRD HOUSE.
It's so strange, that you can't put it down--at least I think so anyway.

Now...I'd like you to say hello to my little friend....

One Sunday afternoon, we went to eat lunch after church with my sister and her husband.  After lunch, we decided we'd go to Big Lots.  They happened to have these recliners on sale for $199.99, and I instantly fell in love with this one!

I told Big Daddy that I REALLY REALLY needed this!  He has a HUGE recliner called The Cuddler.  Me and Robbie bought it for him on Father's Day two years ago.  It is so comfy, and last year when I had to have emergency gall bladder removal surgery, it really came in handy.   But still...it's HIS chair and he deserves to relax in it after work.
So....
One Friday night, we had a little choir rehearsal and party to prepare for our Christmas Cantata the following Sunday morning.  Every year, the choir takes up money and they give me (the piano player) and our choir director a gift card.  This year, I took my gift card, along with my profit rewards from selling Scentsy, and bought my recliner---immediately after the party!  hahahaha
I love it and have enjoyed plopping my big self in this chair and doing some crochet or spending time with my two boys.
Tonight Robbie is spending the night with his Pop Pop and MiMi.  They are going to take him to school in the morning, so my routine will be totally different tomorrow.
Enjoy your Thursday--however you spend it.

The Weekend...

Hey Y'all!  I hope you did something fun to ring in 2012!!

Here at The Doublewide, we decided to have a little last minute par-tay!

We had a gazillion things to eat and were not able to get everything eaten.  Still there are leftovers in the fridge! We learned how to play the card game 31.  Robbie and Payton had a blast playing together while we all rang in 2012.

Sunday we didn't have evening services at church, so my family got together here at ate the traditional New Year's Day meal for good luck and what not.

Since I just love taking pictures of food, you're in for a treat!

You ready?!

First we had some mixed greens:

Macaroni and Cheese

Black-Eyed Peas

Grilled Pork Loin (Made by Chad)

and great biscuits too!

It was all wonderful and we went to bed with full bellies!
I loved finishing everything off with my pumpkin spice and whipped cream decaf! 

Have a wonderful night!  

Things go back to normal for us tomorrow!  Headed back to the everyday routine of school!  I guess I'm now counting down the days until MLK Holiday or Snow....whichever comes first!