Our Progress

Progress is being made with packing. We've packed up 2 large suitcases, two small suitcases, and 3 footlockers so far. It looks like we'll end up checking 6 footlockers and 3 large suitcases while carrying on 3 small suitcases and 3 personal bags when we move overseas. The fact that Ava will have her own ticket and seat (therefore, her own allotment of baggage to check and to carry on) is an advantage. So, 15 bags total.

We're making some slow progress with selling our furniture. We've gotten rid of our china hutch, a dresser  two dressers now! - and two night tables. Some other things have been spoken for but are still in our house. We need to sell Ava's crib and stroller/travel system. There are still some things that we've yet to post on Craigslist.

Progress. That's all.

Restaurant Cards for Celiacs

I found this website where you can print a restaurant card in a language of the country that you're visiting. Here is what the website says:

"These Celiac Travel-dot-com gluten free restaurant cards are for you to print out and take with you when you dine out at a restaurant, either at home or abroad. The great thing about being able to print your own is you can give them to the waiter or waitress to take to the kitchen. The most common problem with getting gluten free food when dining in restaurants is that your message gets lost or corrupted on its way to the kitchen. "

Very handy. The address is celiactravel-dot-com. Pass it along.

Banana Yum-Yum and Two

I made some gluten-free banana muffins yesterday. They're a big hit with A. I have literally had to hide them from her. Here's my favorite recipe for all youse who know gluten-free peeps and can pass along:

Gluten- Free Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

2 cups sorghum flour

1/2 tsp GF baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp GF vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup finely ground pecans

1) Preheat to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat sugar and oil. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Add mashed bananas and mix well.

2) In separate bowl, sift together sorghum flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture gradually to the wet banana mixture, beat until combined.

3) Next, add milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon; beat until mixed well. Fold in pecans. Bake in a loaf pan for 35-40 minutes until an inserted knife comes out dry and clean. For muffins, bake for 25-30 minutes. 

*Note: you can substitute the sorghum flour with something else. Sorghum flour is sweeter than most gluten-free flours so it's used often for baking sweets. I have used flours from beans and rice and they make the banana bread taste different so you will need to experiment. 

Credit: (I've been using this recipe for over two years and can't remember when I got it from; possibly from www-dot-celiac-dot-com.)

A little quick sewing project tonight: an applique on a shirt for A's second birthday next week. I know every mom says this about their own child and I will say it, too: "I can't believe she's turning two!"

Sorry for the yellowish tint -
I usually sew at night and take pictures of my projects at night.
At least you can make out the "2".

Spring and Waffles

Spring is coming! It was gray for a few days when I bought the hydrangeas to cheer us all up and they were gorgeous.

We ordered a non-electric waffle iron and tested it for the first time this morning. It is a non-stick Belgian-style waffle iron. It's flat and fairly light that it's perfect for taking overseas without any worries about plugging into different outlets and electrical systems. You can heat it on the electric or gas stove.

Cooking....

Voila!

My first gluten-free homemade waffles

The waffles turned out golden, fluffy, and delicious - thanks to G, the breakfast guru in the house. We made this with Bisquick's gluten-free pancake mix which we have found to be the best among gluten-free pancakes mixes and recipes that we have tried. I think we made a good investment in a waffle iron and it'll be a treat to have waffles every now and then overseas.

G and I have officially received full approval from our company to go overseas. There was a ceremony with pomp and then we came home two days ago. We will head to training on April 25. As you can guess, we are just a mass of mixed emotions. The emotional roller coaster that we are sure to embark on hopefully won't be drastic with extreme highs and lows but I am sure some of that will be inevitable.

Ending on a lighter note, I will repeat the introductory sentence of this post: spring is coming!

Sewing Hall of Shame Commences

I plan to document sewing projects that I've botched. Nothing like that to keep me humble. I was making a sleeve for my Kindle and wanted to use this bird fabric with a white background that I had in my fabric stash. Bird fabric are all the rage right now and I've jumped on the bandwagon. Anyway, I was worried about the predominantly white fabric getting dingy quickly from lying around the house, from Ava's grubby hands, and riding at the bottom of my bag along with sticky Cheerio crumbs.

So, I decided to laminate the fabric so I can just wipe it clean. I used iron-on vinyl for the first time. Easy as pie. I looked at a free tutorial online briefly and then just made the Kindle sleeve my own way. It didn't turn out well because the opening of the sleeve was so tight and could barely fit the free arm of my sewing machine to get underneath the pressor foot. That caused the gigantic wrinkle that you can see in the flap.

I can't rip out the seams and try again because that ruins the vinyl. I'd already nicked one part of the sleeve with a hot iron and melted the vinyl. Bleh.

So, my friend Carrie felt sorry for me and offered to make me one since I had no time to sew another one before I headed out of town with my Kindle and no protection for it. She did a far better job and no ugly vinyl:

Note the compass lining fabric. Very appropriate, isn't it?

I love my Kindle cover!

Men Are From Mars

And women are from Venus. I guess y'all have heard of that book. This title came to mind because G and I have started packing and we are definitely learning that we both think and pack differently. Our most recent challenge was centered around our collection of books and it wasn't about which ones we wanted to store and which we wanted to take with us. We were very agreeable in that sense. The challenge was how we wanted to catalogue and pack them. I was vexed because I wanted to immediately take the books off the shelves straight into boxes to be catalogued while G wanted to catalogue them and then put them into boxes. I had visions of books being strewn everywhere as he catalogued. It took about fifteen minutes of...slightly heated conversation for me to realize that I didn't care about how they were catalogued and packed. I only cared that they were not strewn around the house while being catalogued and packed. G came up with a solution: designate shelves in the bookcase for books to be stored, to be taken overseas, and to sell. That made me perfectly happy and we set to work sorting the books into three piles and putting them on designated shelves. I was a happy camper because there was no mess and G was happy because he kept his system of cataloguing.

Let's put the subject of packing aside. I ordered a beautiful fabric - not quite sight unseen but "touch unfelt" - which I was nervous about but I was not disappointed when I opened the package. It's voile which is the lightest, smoothest, softest, silkiest cotton of quilting weight that I'd ever felt in my short sewing career. I want to make a light summer kimono-style wrap in a serene color from Amy Butler's "In Stitches" book and wanted something soft but not silk. Most quilting cotton isn't the most pleasant fabric to wear and I'm not a fan of making garments for myself from quilting cotton. I put this summer wrap project on the back burner until I discovered viole.

This voile is called "Diamond Mine" in Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks fabric collection. I wish you could reach through your computer screen and touch the fabric and marvel at how soft and smooth this cotton feels.

Frenzy

Last week, we suddenly realized that time was slipping away quickly and we were woefully unprepared for moving. G is still working so that leaves only me to do a bulk of it. That catapulted me into feeling overwhelmed with all that we had to do. My normal reaction to feeling overwhelmed with a laundry list of tasks is to immediately attack the list with single-mindedness. Then I realized that I couldn't do what I normally do because of a toddler. I can't expect A to patiently endure being unstrapped and strapped into her car seat over and over without a meltdown as I run errands all over creation. I can hardly do much around the house while A's awake. Whatever I can do takes longer because of the said toddler. I know mommies of toddlers reading this post are nodding their heads in agreement. So, I nearly fell into a pit of stress and discouragement. Actually, I must confess that I did but only indulged it for a day.

I hate asking for help but ask for help I must. I have sweet friends who have offered to watch A while I run errands, shop, write letters, pack, attend to a myriad of things. They are dear lifesavers. I'm looking forward to getting rid of things and simplifying our life. I'm not looking forward to any anxiety A may have about the changes happening around her that she can't understand. She just recently got over a bout of separation anxiety and I expect it to come back in the next two months.

Well, no worries. I think we have a handle on everything. I just wish time will slow down so we can accomplish what we need to do and at the same time, I wish time will speed up so it can all be over with.  Have you ever felt that way?

So, this is the current state of affairs over here in this household: controlled frenzy.