What's the DEAL with John?

Next month my brother John turns 60 but this past Saturday night was a surprise party for him and boy was he ever surprised! The poster he is holding is a game I made up as a goof. People had to determine if a statement about him was DEAL - (True) or NO DEAL - (No way, you got to be kidding) and place it where they thought it should go. We had a good laugh over some of them!
Oh, and the little paper you see stuck on the corner was from a "Pin-the-Don-Ho-Shirt-On-John" game to tease him about his admitted collection of 46 of those type shirts!
(Long story short, the overalls were part of the premise to get him to the house where the party was.)
Copyright © 2006 Deborah Sharp Loeb
Can you tell just how surprised he was from the picture below?!

Flowers and Hymns

Yesterday, October 29th, would have been my mom's 86th birthday. She's gone 17 years now. The flowers you see pictured above are the altar flowers from church. I had the idea of specifically requesting, sunflowers, as she was from Kansas. Another thing we got to do is pick the hymns for the church service.** This really made it such a special way to remember our mom. Parishioners came up to us after the service with just the nicest things to say about how much they had enjoyed the service.

"Those hymns were favorites of my mom's."
"I love I Sing the Song of the Saints of God too."
"I had such tears in my eyes I could hardly see the words to sing."
"That was a beautiful selection of hymns."
"You raised us up in the beginning and had us on our knees by the end."

Here is what we selected:

Processional Hymn - (293) I Sing A Song of the Saints of God

Sequence Hymn - (LEV* 38) Old Rugged Cross

Anthem - Blessed Assurance

Offertory Hymn - (LEV* 60) How Great Thou Art

Communion Hymns - (178) Alleluia, alleluia Give thanks to the risen Lord
(602) Jesu, Jesu fill us with your love

Recessional Hymn - (473) Lift High the Cross

[*Lift Every Voice and Sing Hymnal}


The Saints of God is a childhood favorite. The two selections from the LEV Hymnal were especially for my mom. They just felt right. Perhaps we just remembered them from childhood summers out in Kansas.
Alleluia, alleluia and Lift High the Cross were used at my mom's funeral.
The rest my brother and I chose because we liked them and he figured out the sequence.
He also served as Lay Euchararistic Minister (with friend Peg Jarvis) and read the prayers of the people.
After church we took a drive through the country with my dad, enjoying the fall foliage, ending with a nice dinner at one of my mother's favorite restaurants.

Copyright © 2006 Deborah Sharp Loeb

(**This was the ingenious idea of Dave Diehl, choir director at St. Luke's, Metuchen, NJ which he started just a few weeks ago. For a period of time he's opened up the selection hymns to the congregation. Just sign up for the Sunday you want and select your favorite hymns.)

Practice Carving Your Pumpkin

Want to figure out the face for your pumpkin before you start to carve it?
Go to this link:

http://www.abcya.com/pumpkin_carving.htm

Halloween Hangman

Here's something fun. The words are Halloween related.



Thanks to my brother, John, for passing this along.

Label the States

Can you label all the states on the map within the alloted time?
Good practice for the kids!

http://www.jayzeebear.com/map/usa_2.html

Turkey Placemat - Almost There!

Five Little Pumpkins

Do you remember this one from your childhood?

Five little pumpkins
Sitting on a gate
The first one said,
"Oh, my it's getting late!"
The second one said
"There are witches in the air!"
The third one said,
"Well, I don't care!"
The fourth one said,
"Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said,
"I'm ready for some fun!"
Ooooo went the wind
And out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight.

For some others go to:
http://www.pickens.k12.sc.us/hesteachers/laboonac/web%20pages/halloween%20poems.htm

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time ends this coming Sunday, October the 29th.
So don't forget to change your clocks when you go to bed Saturday night. Also don't forget to reset the clocks on the microwave, car, etc. too. "Spring Forward, Fall Back" as the saying goes. Also it is the time of year when you are reminded to check the batteries in your smoke detectors. I also ask if you missed my piece on Thursday, September 07, 2006 about the Carbon Monoxide Detector, to please go back and read it and pass it on.

Beginning in 2007, daylight time will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. Yes!

For more about the history of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. go to:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/daylight_time.html

Yahoo Time Capsule

There are just 19 days left to be a part of the Time Capsule.

To learn more go to:
http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/capsule.php?l=en&intl=us

Here's what it's all about from the website.

The Yahoo! Time Capsule: One World. Many Voices.
You and what matters to you.
Like everything Yahoo! does, it’s about you – our amazing users. We think there’s no one better suited to teach future generations what the world was like in 2006. For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio – even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.

In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the world.

You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation that is just as revealing and important as any of the content you’ll witness.

And by November 8, you will have helped create a digital legacy of our times, a mosaic of revealing snapshots that will be sealed and entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history.

Finally, to thank you for your contribution to the Time Capsule, you’ll be asked to help us select how Yahoo! will donate $100,000 to seven global charitable organizations.

No-Sew Slipper Socks

I found this on Martha Stewart's website and thought it would be a nice and easy family craft project if you'd like to make some homemade gifts for the holidays.
Just go to this link:
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel191881&catid=cat268&navLevel=3&rsc=livcontent

Free Hugs

Turn on your sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

(Thanks to my friend Helen for sending this along.)

Materials to Make Turkey Placemat

Here are the materials I bought to make the turkey placemat.
At the top and a little hard to see is dark brown corduroy
for the body.

Virtual Carebox for US Military Service Members

"Operation AC offers the premier method for Americans to adopt US Military Service Members online in realtime, shop for their needs in the Virtual CareBox, Operation AC staff packs and ships everything for you and your service member gets their Virtual CareBox from us expedited. ALL purchases for your adopted service member are 100% tax deduction eligible. Operation AC is a non-profit 501(c) charity."
To learn more go to:
http://operationac.com/index.html

"The Sandbox"

Comic strip "Doonesbury," creator Garry Trudeau is now offering readers a chance to get a closer look into the lives of those in the military. A new addition to his Doonesbury Web site, "The Sandbox", lets people read a view of troops' experiences in their own words.
He says he hopes to let readers see "the unclassified details of deployment — the everyday, the extraordinary, the wonderful, the messed-up, the absurd." The postings will be "lightly edited."
Go here to check it out or contribute:
http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/

Turkey Placemats

There were 2 turkey placemats posted last year one on 9/16/05
http://geraniumfarmhodgepodge.blogspot.com/2005_09_11_geraniumfarmhodgepodge_archive.html
and the other on 9/22/05.
If you start now you can have them done on time for Thanksgiving!
For the link to see a picture of the second one go here: http://www.whitesewing.com/projects.asp
It called "It’s A Gobble, Gobble Thanksgiving"

Completed Quilt from Kit

Backing is flannel in the larger spot print. I was able to make this in a few hours starting it yesterday and finished it today. I stitched in the ditch to hold it together. Crib size batting folded in half with a little trimed off was used as the filler. Size 28 1/2' x 35"

Quick and Easy Baby Quilt Kit

Want to make a baby quilt as a gift but don't have time to do all the shopping and figuring out? I found this at my local Rag Shop. It includes the directions, fabric, border, and backing for $24.99. You supply the batting. There are a dozen or so designs.

Indian Summer

Whenever anyone asks me my favorite time of the year I say, Indian Summer. Which just happens to be the type of weather we are having today.
It is that time of the year of given to warm, sunny weather that occurs in autumn, usually in late October or early November. The earliest know use of the term goes back over two centuries ago in 1778 to French American writer St. John de Crevecoeur in rural New York. There are several theories as to its etymology.
Interesting in reading more?
Go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer

A New Way to Label Your Quilts

This is a baby quilt I just made. Along the seam line I put a small strip of Velcro and sewed in a little flap of fabric. On the back of it I signed and dated it. On the blank side shown the baby's name and birthdate can be written. The ribbon was added as something to grab onto to pull the flap out but it could be left off. It can all be tucked back in and "sealed", creating a secret little record about the quilt.

So You Think You Can Dance?

Last night my friend Diane went with me to see the road show of "So You Think You Can Dance?". (The one that sold out in 11 minutes!) I had followed the series this past summer. Diane hadn't seen the series but did see a tape I made of the last show so she got to know the dancers a litle before the show. It was a 2 hour show with an intermission. Some of the series was show during the show giving the dancers time to make costume changes and a chance to catch their breath! Even if you hadn't followed the series and got to know the dancers you'd enjoy this show. The audience loved it and there were several standing ovations throughout the program. If you can still get a ticket, try to see this show.

Benji and Travis

Digital Mammography

This is important to read and pass on.

Digital Mammography Trial Results Announced: Women with Dense Breasts, Women Younger than 50, and Those Who are Perimenopausal May Benefit from Digital Mammograms

To read this article go to:
http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/DMISTrelease

For a Q & A on this study, go to:

http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/DMISTQandA

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and each time you buy one of the specially marked bags of M&M'S® Chocolate Candies they'll make a donation to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Help support breast cancer research and outreach programs while satisfying your sweet tooth!
When did you have your last mammogram?

Pink ribbons on lamposts line Main Street
Metuchen, NJ in support of breast cancer
awareness month.

How Stuff is Made

Ever wonder how something is made?

This website explains and details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery. There are step by step descriptions of the assembly and the manufacturing process with illustrations and diagrams. Also included is related information such as to the background, how the item works, the inventor, materials used, product applications, by-products, possible future developments, quality control procedures, etc.

"This searchable site is suited for a general audience and the descriptive language of this reference material is easy to understand and to follow. So go ahead we invite you to learn about How Products Are Made!"

http://www.madehow.com/