What Happened to my Header???

Anyone have any advice on how to fix my header? It's been fine since I changed it, until today when I logged in and Mr G's head is missing. Any technical support you have, please, HELP.

UPDATE: I don't know what the problem was, but apparently the header problem has fixed itself.

UPDATE 2: Well, it looks as if the header just wants to be broken when viewed from certain computers. From home, it looks great. From work, Mr G's head is missing. Seems to be the case for my two blog stalkers as well.

Getting to Know Mrs. G at Christmas Time

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. My Mom sent this to me and instead of forwarding to everyone I know, I will just post it here for the world to see! Feel free to take this and pass it on.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? The gift wrap is part of the presentation. I prefer wrapping paper (and it all has to coordinate), but a gift bag well presented works too, for a neighbor or something.

2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? Fake trees are great if they look real, but my fake tree cost me a whopping $40 dollars 8 years ago, so you can only imagine what it looks like. I've been lobbying for a real tree this year just to mix things up a bit, but Mr. G seems to think the house is going to burn down.

3. When do you put up the tree? First weekend in December. This "after Halloween" decorating phenom is crazy.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day. And I love a clean house!

5. Do you like eggnog? Never been a fan. One year I made eggnog ice cream with my friend Jenny Nelson. We were about 10 years old. I didn't really know what eggnog was then, I only knew that it supposedly taste good, plus it was the middle of the summer, so the thought of ice cream made my mouth water. I didn't know it at the time, but it really tasted like eggnog, just frozen. I've never liked eggnog since.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The cabbage patch doll my Mom made for me and it was dressed in my baby clothes. I still have it.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes! My mother-in-law gave it to me as gift last Christmas. I love it and can't wait to make it the center of attention!

8. Hardest person to buy for? Dad

9. Easiest person to buy for? Mr. G (although he generally just buys for himself. Punk)

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever got? I don't recall ever getting anything terrible. If I did, I've repressed it from my memory.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail is way more fun.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Scrooge, with Albert Finney or the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas cartoon.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Late November, early December

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I recall.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge fudge fudge. I could eat it all day.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear lights on the tree, but I really want to put colored lights (red, green and white) on the house. There are a couple houses in the neighborhood with these lights and I LOVE it! I've been lobbying for lights. I have not won my case yet.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Star Carol, 4 part harmony, a'capella

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I either want to be home or with Mr. G's parents, but probably not on vacation in Mexico.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixon, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I have Obi-Wan Kenobi (really just a vintage Santa tree-topper that when Mr. G first saw asked why I had Obi-Wan on top of the tree) or a star, depending on my mood that year.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One present on Christmas eve, usually pajamas, and let the real fun begin Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds everywhere you turn, and parking is horrendous. Shop online.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Giving

Inaugural Cabin Visit - Thanksgiving Weekend

After the Thanksgiving festivities, Vic and I invited some of the family up to the cabin for the weekend. It was a beautiful weekend with a lot of sun, but don't be fooled, it was a very cool high of 20 degrees outside. Most of the weekend was spent lounging around, watching movies, football, or playing games with each other. Notice how everyone seems to be wrapped in blankets? Apparently we didn't crank the heat high enough. What, 64 degrees isn't warm enough? Grandma brought several crafts for Koree to work on. She had picture frames, 3d puzzles and the most exciting gingerbread house. Grandma struggled to keep the roof together, but apparently she worked it out. How fun, they even hung a wreath on the door!

At any given time you could find Grandpa reading his book, Koree playing her Nintendo DS or all of us gathered around the table for a game of UNO or even better, a mean game of Battle of the Sexes. Dan and Elizabeth donated this game to the cabin and it is obviously going to bring many hours of battling. The questions for the boys are along the lines of, "What instrument does a girl use to dry her hair?" Answer: blow dryer. Easy. A question for a girl might be, "Who was the MVP during Super Bowl XXXIV?" Answer: No girl on this planet knows the answer to this question. This game was obviously created by men.

Crazy lady...see, I come by it honestly.
Sibling bonding...We missed you Rach!Ben, Dan and Randy were instrumental this weekend in getting our satellite dish hooked up to the house. Ben especially wins the prize for standing at the top of a ladder in below freezing conditions, at night, to ensure the dish was installed correctly. It was paramount the dish be installed and working since the Utah - BYU football game was on this weekend. It might have been better just to read a book and forget about the game since the Utes fell apart in the end. Thanks anyway guys!!!Elizabeth and Amy doing some girl bonding...

Thanksgiving Feasts

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There is nothing like having an excuse to eat yourself sick, even though every year you commit to only eating until you're full. The latter is impossible. In our family, we kick off the Thanksgiving holiday the Sunday before Thanksgiving with a feast with Dad, Kathy, the kids and grandkids. We set-up the grub hall in the basement and elbow to elbow we pass around the bird, the frozen jello salad, the stock pot of Stove Top stuffing, 10lbs of mashed potatoes, and don't forget the bean casserole and homemade rolls. You have your choice of beverages (I always take a Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper, but only really drink bottled water). And we mustn't forget the PIE! Good ol' Costco pumpkin pie, each slice the size of Texas with a giant dolup of Cool Whip.

This year we started a new family tradition by going around the table to vocalize what we are thankful for. It seems we are all grateful for our family, our friends and our freedoms, but I think Jasmine said it all when she said she was thankful "for the food." Every year the grandkids (plus Kati, Emily and Riley) get a Christmas advent calendar - the ones where you open the paper door and out falls a waxy piece of chocolate. This is a favorite among the kids. I wanted one too, so while shopping at the Dutch store the other day I picked one up for me and Vic. It will be a race to see who gets that waxy chocolate first!

This year we spent Thanksgiving day with Mom and Randy and the gang. Ben and Laura were in town and joined us, along with Jen and Gerardo and Uncle Mike, and Nic and Jon and their family were at the house for a few minutes before heading to Cushings for their feast. There was a feast similar to Sunday's feast with Dad (really, how much can you mix-up Thanksgiving?). Randy was ambitious this year and cooked up three turkeys - one fried, one baked and the other smoked. All three were so delicious. Again, elbow to elbow we gathered in the dining room and ate ourselves sick. Luckily this year Vic and I ran in the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 6K in City Creek Canyon, so the feast was slightly guiltless.

Notice the red "frozen" Cranberry Salad in the center of the table.

That was my contribution which basically melted before dinner started.

What is up with Mr. Crazy Eyes??

If You Don't Plan Adequately...

I am in the process of making a quilt for a dear friend who had a baby several weeks ago. Unfortunately, because of my poor planning skills I have run into several problems. Here are the top 10:

Planning Problem # 1: It has become a tradition to make a quilt for my friends having babies. The problem is, as I think I've stated in a previous blog, I procrastinate. I never start the project until AFTER the baby is born. If I were a better planner, I would decide on a quilt pattern and gather the materials several months BEFORE the baby is born so upon arrival I have a special gift. Friends that have received quilts can testify the quilt usually comes for the kid's 18th birthday.

Planning Problem # 2: When I go to the fabric store I don't always have in mind the design of quilt I am going to piece together. In this case, I bought the material before I found this really great quilt pattern book. Flipping through the new book I found a fun pattern. I pay no regard to the amount of material I need to purchase for this design since I had already purchased it, but I thought it was cute, so I moved forward.

Problem # 3: I am 12 blocks and 20 hours into this quilt. I plan on continuing to follow the quilt pattern, just shrinking it down to crib size. Too bad I failed to plan on buying the neutral fabric used to actually piece the blocks to each other. Therefore I spend a lunch hour driving to the quilt shop Jenny told be about in Centerville. I spend $18 on two yards of designer quilt fabric that I think will look great with the blocks I've made. I even took a block with me to ensure everything matched (NOTE: this is the only planning moment during this whole project - and, so you know, I never spend this much on fabric, but this quilt is going to be great, right?).

Problem # 4: The fabric I bought to piece the blocks together looks ridiculous. I decide to scratch the piecing material and just sew the squares to each other (draft pictured above). I think this will look much better, but I need to make about eight more squares because the quilt has just shrunk substantially. Too bad I am running out of material to make the blocks and will need to go back to the JoAnn Fabrics to purchase more material to finish the additional blocks.

Problem # 5: I spend another lunch hour at JoAnn Fabrics looking for the same four fabrics I've used to piece the blocks. I have found two of the four quickly, but I can not locate the other two. It hasn't been that long since I bought the fabric. It's not like the two missing fabrics could possibly be that great that they are suddenly sold out. I search every isle at the JoAnns thinking perhaps they have just been stashed randomly in a dusty corner. I even check under the cutting table - perhaps somebody just purchased these fabrics and they haven't been returned to the shelf. Wishful thinking. I can't find the two fabrics and now I'm going crazy because every grandma and stay-at-home mom in the Salt Lake area is at the JoAnns at lunch hour.

Problem # 6: I go to a diffrent JoAnn Fabrics after work. If the Salt Lake store doesn't have it, surely the Bountiful store will. I study the calico fabrics for a good 45 minutes. I make my rounds around the store (the whole idea of them being stashed in a dustry corner). I search through a 10 foot high, 300 bolts-of-fabric pile that have not been returned to the shelf. Nothing. I am starting to get depressed, so I plan (wow, a second planning moment I forgot about) on improvising. I buy two fabrics that are very similar to the fabrics I am looking for. I think I will strategically place the different squares so maybe my friend won't notice which of these blocks is not like the other. On the way home I pass by a Bernina/Nuttall Fabric store that I didn't know was in Bountiful. Feeling lucky that I might find something there, I stop. Nothing again. The lady tells me there's another JoAnn Fabrics in Ogden. Psssfff. I'm not going to Ogden to maybe, potentially, but not likey buy fabric that matches my blocks. One good take-away from Bernina, they did have the special bobbins I've needed for the last 7 years so now each bobbin can have its very own color and the lady said my quilt block was so cute.

Problem # 7: I am not excited about improvising on the blocks. Strategically placing them is not going to hide the fact that different fabrics are used. My friend will know my secret. I can't do it. After work, again, I head to Hancock Fabrics. I now remember why I never, ever go to Hancock Fabrics. Ghet--to. That store is a disaster. Not only is the store a disaster, but they have the worst selection of quilting fabrics, all disorganized and such a racket I feel like I need to shower when I leave the store. Of course, after making 15 laps around the store (checking those dusty corners again) they don't have what I need. What a waste.

Problem # 8: Since I was in the area, I decided I would give JoAnns one more try. Maybe, just maybe, these two bolts of fabric have magically appeared on the shelf. Is it my lucky day?????? I scan the entire store, again. I touch every bolt of fabric, again. I even find one of the fabrics (there is hope!) with the same pattern - one bolt of yellow, one of pink, and one of aqua. I need blue. I almost asked the sales lady with the platinum blonde permed hair and gigantic black rimmed glasses (think female Drew Carey) if I could go into the backroom and search out the fabrics in the dusty corners behind the "employees only" doors, but I am so turned off by fabric stores at this point, I just leave.

Problem # 9: I still don't have the right fabrics. The improv fabric isn't doing it for me either. I am considering stopping by the quilt store in Centerville again. Maybe they have it. Doubtful though - they're all designer and stuff. I am actually contemplating going to Ogden. This is so wrong.

Problem # 10: I told my friend the quilt would be done in about week. That was assuming, at the time, I would be able to jump-skip into JoAnns, buy some extra material and crank out some quilt blocks. The "week" is almost come and gone. The baby may really be 18 before this quilt is done.

Amish Friendship Bread

Earlier this week, Heidi brought a couple of Ziploc bags full of yellowish colored goo to work. After explaining that the goo is a starter for Amish Friendship Bread, which is like an advent calendar for a loaf of bread in that it requires 10 days of fermenting and some human attention (several days of mushing, adding a few ingredients, mushing some more and then baking), she asked if I would take a bag and pass it on, as instructed. I was excited to have the opportunity, as I had only heard of the AFB, but never received any for myself.

I brought the AFB starter home and sat it on the counter. For a couple of days I did as instructed and mushed the goo in the bag. I was really looking forward to the next step where instead of just mushing, I could actually add some ingredients.

The next day I get home from work and notice that Vic has taken the garbage out. Not only was the rank smell emanating from the bag shocking, but even more shocking was the fact that Vic actually took the garbage out (one might think the garbage removal as being a "boy" chore, but it has somehow been generally delegated to me).

Later, as I am preparing dinner, Vic comes into the kitchen and informs me that the house smelled like "ass" when he got home from work. He proceeds to inform me that he looked for anything in the kitchen that might be the culprit causing the smell. Continuing on he asks me, "And what was in that bag on the counter? I think that was what was causing the smell," he continues to say, "and it looked like ass! So I knew that was it, so I threw it away." Wait....WHAT!?! "NO!" I exclaimed. "That was my Amish Friendship Bread!" After having to explain the mushing and fermenting and 10 days of work that goes into the bread, and how disappointed Heidi was going to be when she finds out he had just thrown this away, all I get is, "Well, just get the recipe and start over." Too bad its a secret recipe only known to the Amish!

Needless to say, Vic was very apologetic and walked around with his tail between his legs the rest of the evening. Meanwhile, Heidi and I laughed until we cried, then she promised me she would give me another starter so I can continue with the 10 days of mushing.

And the winner of the costume contest is......

not me. I lost to a banana. I think the voting was rigged.

THE RESULTS ARE IN: Thank you to all who voted! The real winner of this contest, with 100% of the vote, is Britney! Too bad there is no prize attached. Just pride.