ACC stands for "Also Churchville-Chili"

Growing up, it was the joke that MCC (Monroe Community College) stood for "More Churchville-Chili," which was the name of my high school. Well, I went back in time last week and attended my first class at Austin Community College. Woo, I can now legally get a student discount!

I'm taking American Sign Language. Prior to ACC, I've taken a few Community Learning classes for ASL. The benefits of ACC: (1) I'll be in class 3x as long each week, (2) My company will pay for the class if I get a C or better (I still have to pay for the books), (3) I won't learn bad words on a weekly basis. Really, there's no need for the instructor to tell me about what drugs he was addicted to, (4) I will re-live high school because there's enough drama in any given classroom for it to be Also Churchville-Chili. (The benefit now is that there are actual ceiling and floor tiles, and so far, I have not had a conversation of classmates where they talked about hitting a cow with their car. I conclude this with saying, "Yes, my high school experiences were interesting.")

I've been signing some words to baby Emma, and for Christmas I gave her the first DVD in the series "Baby Signing Time." So, here is the ASL alphabet. Now you're hooked, right?

"I'll just put Chuck in with my pants."

It was hard not to chuckle in church when Elizabeth said that. (I swear, Nathan, I was paying attention to your organ-playing.) I would have laughed out loud if she didn't say "with." Please note, Chuck is a TV series she has on DVD, not an actual person. The (PJ) pants were my Christmas present to her - they were in a bag, she was not wearing them when she put the Chuck DVD with them.

I finished Elizabeth's Christmas present - within a month of Christmas! She reads my blog, sees my sewing progress, and hears all these stories about sewing stuff I do for baby Emma. I thought it was about time I made something for her!

Elizabeth's complaint about her current PJ pants was that they were too long. (She's a bit shorter than me.) So I shortened these AND made it so she could fold them up, if needed. Luckily, I realized this was a unisex pattern before I started sewing too much. I cut off 6-10 inches of the length. I'm not sure how the width turned out - a text from E said it was roomy. Elizabeth, I can take some of that in if you want. We should have had a fitting or two.

Adventures of a Blonde in Denmark

Today's blog post isn't about me. It's about my excitement for my sister and her new husband-to-be. I always wondered what it would be like to have a brother that didn't pick on me as a child! (Thanks for finally stopping that, Brad.) Who is this lucky foreigner that has chosen to be a part of the Kasiske family?

Henrick won the heart of my grandmother (my dad's mom) the second she heard his accent. He won the heart of my parents when he invited them to visit his apartment in the French Riviera and introduced them to wine that doesn't come in a box. (My dad mentioned he might give Henrick a Michigan Tshirt to welcome him to the family. Gee, it took me 3+ Christmases to get a Michigan T!) Henrick is Elvis's biggest fan, which won the heart of ... Topaz, my sister's fat fluffy cat. ("Blasphemy! Topaz is not fat" - sorry Henrick.) And he won the heart of my sister (I know, this is getting a bit too mushy) - I don't know the exact moment, but I'm fairly certain she's smitten with that rock on her finger.

The proposal took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. (I initially assumed it was in Germany because that's where Henrick is working.)

Alison's Awesome Apron

I think my sister is avoiding my phone calls because I didn't finish her apron (or start) before the new year. I talked about it a few posts ago. Here's the finished product, and maybe she'll talk to me again! (Just kidding, Alison. I know you're busy with work & Sean & trying to beat my Wii Fit Scores.)

A few comments about making it:
(1) I love using a pattern, but I also like personalizing it by going off-pattern or mixing up the suggest fabric/pattern.
(2) Ruffles are so easy to make. I ruffled the top around the bust, and the 3 ruffles on the bottom.
(3) The back of the apron is lined. If I make this type again, I won't cut out the back until I've pieced the front all together. Somehow my fabric stretched and shrank (stretching from the brown piping, shrinking from the waist pleats). It just ended up being an awkward sewing job at the end.

(4) The straps criss-cross in the back and tie at waist-level.
(4) I still don't like ironing.

Hello 21st Century!

Recession? What recession? The parking lot of Best Buy was packed on Sunday afternoon. As I waited in line to check out, I noted several large purchases of the co-shoppers around me: A loaded GPS, several PS3's, Guitar Hero, a flat screen TV, etc. There I stood around them all with my measly $30 purchase.

I called my brother while at Best Buy (Yes, Mom, I am growing up!) to get his advice before I purchased. (I really don't know anyone who doesn't have cable.) The Best Buy guy was not very helpful because all he did was point down an aisle, so I wasn't going to ask him about the difference between the $10 and $30 models. I went with the $10 (of course!). What did I buy? I would like to announce that I am now in the 21st Century. Yes Virginia, I bought a TV antenna, so I now get your basic TV channels & in HD no less. (Can you see it up off to the right of my TV? Unless I want to watch MTV3, I'm going to retract & hide them behind the tele.)

Although I haven't had television for 3 years, I've come to a sad discovery: I'm old. I noticed myself pausing at a few different (less cool) stations to watch documentaries about how a hummingbird hibernates at night to conserve energy and the DNA of a woolly mammoth. Is anyone game for an early bird dinner tonight?

An Apron for Alison

My little sister (Hi Alison!) wanted an apron for Christmas. It wasn't your ordinary apron: it was red polka-dotted and had ruffles. I don't know if you know this or not, but redheads don't usually wear a lot of red, so I figured she wanted it for the ruffle and not for the red. Thus, my gift to her was a fun, funky apron (ruffles and polka dots included). We had a trip to JoAnn's when I was in Churchville for the week, she picked out fabrics, and I got started. Unfortunately, I enjoyed relaxing on the couch too much because I only pre-washed the fabric before my flight back to Austin. I'm planning on finishing it this weekend, and it'll be mailed off next week.

Since I'm a beginner, I thought a pattern could teach me a bit, and I could have six ideas for Christmas presents next year. Here are the aprons from the book that I bought. Alison's is the A-2 blue with blue/green/brown fabrics, and a modified heart-shaped top.

In other news, it was 25 degrees when I drove to work today. Luckily, it is colder in the last 3 cities that I've lived in (OH, VA, & NY).

VT Koozies!

On New Year's Eve, I was in JoAnn's & had about 15 minutes before the store closed early. All their yarn was on sale, so I picked up two giant skeins of orange and maroon. I had Virginia Tech on my mind since it was 30 minutes away from our Bowl game. (Yes, we dominated Tennessee.) I spent Saturday morning in my PJ's, watching a movie, and trying to knit "refreshment" koozies. Ideally, I'd like to make some for my kickball team, but (no offense to any Triple Star Kickers) I'd first like to have a VT koozie to be stylish. The first that I made is the one on the right. You can see I had a bit of trouble on the third row of the VT lettering. I ended up re-doing the orange one three times to make sure I got it right.


The best part: this is probably the least expensive craft I could do. $5 for almost 2,000 feet of yarn. And unlike scarves, I can make it in one sitting.

Creative Gifts & a NYE Ball

I'm not the only creative one in the family. I mentioned that my brother is (still) in the process of making me a wooden dartboard cabinet. My little sister made bowls made of old records (those were the things that were pre-iPod, pre-CD, and pre-cassette tape) and cookies for my soccer-playing, ballet-dancing, and horse-riding cousins.


Elizabeth, the oldest in the picture above, has always been creative at Christmas time. I have a fleece blanket and knit scarf from previous years. This year, she made the ladies necklaces or bracelets (you can see some in the pic below). Her younger sister, Julianna, made fleece hats - can you tell she picked out the fabric? The peace sign & rainbow hats will definitely fit right in in Austin!

During after-Christmas shopping, we found this giant ornament turned New Year's Eve ball. My dad rigged it so that they could drop it while the real ball. I may or may not have gotten a call at 12:10am EST from a somewhat tipsy parent - it must have been a hoppin' party! (I was told no one at my parents' party needed a nap before midnight! Congrats for being great party planners!) I celebrated NYE by watching Virginia Tech cream Tennessee, and then played the Wii with Elizabeth and Leah.

The Kasiske Challenge

If you know me at all, you know that I've worked hard in the past year to get fit and lose some weight - over 20% of my body weight.

To help motivate my parents to head to the gym too, I'm creating the Kasiske challenge. The winner gets bragging rights, maybe an extra green apple when we play Apples-to-Apples, and a better looking body. If you're not a Kasiske, feel free to play along too, you just might not be able to get the bonus Apple card.

Here are the rules:
- For every minute you work out (cardio, weight lifting, etc, but sitting in a sauna doesn't count), you get a point.
- For every week (Sunday-Saturday) you exercise 4 days, you get an extra 5 points.
- As far as Wii games are concerned, they don't count. Boxing may make you sore, and there is jogging in place, but taking the extra step to do a Tae-Bo DVD or getting onto the treadmill is better.
- For every pound you lose (From your weight on Jan 1), that's an extra point. If you're at or near your ideal weight, don't let this deter you from exercising.
- If you quit or give up, you're not allowed to eat Chocolate French Silk Pie until 2012.

There should be no excuses. Be sure to take a before picture because I want to see some results when I head up to Churchville in July!