This is a feel-good article in today's Houston Chronicle.  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4513180.html

It would be so nice if more schools would get their kids involved in something like this!

I was in my local Dollar Tree store last night and came across a major find!!!  They had Lion Brand Yarn Boucle yarn in about 7 or 8 different colors!   I grabbed me about 50 skeins.  Thank goodness for Christmas money!  I have no idea what I am going to make yet but I am having fun trying to decide.

My neice is raising a pig to show at our local livestock show and rodeo.  My sister had an idea to make a "web" with words to put up in the corner of her pen in the barn like in Charlotte's Web.  She doesn't crochet so she asked if I could help.  My problem is I have never done any kind of filet work.  Is there anyone who could help me figure out a pattern?  We want to have it say "SOME PIG".
Thanks!

What do you do when you have a teenager that is plus-sized but wants to dress like all of her size 2 friends?  My niece is 200+ pounds and carrys most of it in her stomach.  She looks like she is pregnant.  But she insists on wearing low cut jeans and shorts.  If the waist is too high, she will roll it down until it is down to just above her pubic bone.  Therefore she has her stomach pouched over the waistband, hip rolls showing, and showing off the thong.  She is also a tomboyish girly girl. 

The main problem is her parents.  They are constantly telling her how fat she looks.  Her dad keeps buying clothes for her (not taking her shopping, but buying stuff and bringing it home) and then gets mad at her when she won't wear it.  He is very verbally abusive.  And of course with teenagers in general, the more you try to get them to do something, the more stubborn they become. 

I am all for letting her just do what she wants as far as her clothes go.  That's what I did with my daughter when she went through a very dark stage in junior high.  But my niece is in Future Farmers of America and there is a set style that they have to wear when it comes to shows.  She has to wear a white button down shirt, jeans that come close to the waist, belt, and boots.  She refuses to try on any jeans that would be acceptable.  And she hates boots.

All that said...do any of you have any advise I can give her about clothing?  I have told her about looking at it as a uniform that you would have to wear for a job.  It may not be something you wear for everyday, but you put on when you have to.   

Thanks!

http://www.ucomics.com/stonesoup/

Saw this strip in today's paper (4/25/06) and immediately thought of Craftster!

Zara, a friend of mine who is married to my fiance (long story), is in urgent need of prayers and healing.

About three weeks ago, she had a double mastectomy and reconstruction. She is back in surgery today because they found that some of the muscle tissue they moved around during the reconstruction has died. They are going in to remove the dead tissue and to try and save what is left. She has also had two abcesses (one in 1 breast and the other in the abdomen) that are still draining. She is very upset about everything. She was only diagnosed about 3 months ago and hasn't really come to grips with the whole thing. Then to be rushed into the surgery and then to still be in the hospital when she was supposed to be home after a week has been very discouraging.

I want to put together a care package to send to her in the hospital to not only cheer her up but to let her know that we love her and want her to get well and out of the hospital soon.  I think half of her problem is that her mental attitude was poor before the surgery.  She really didn't have time to work through acceptance of the diagnosis before she had the surgery.

Thank you for all your prayers and ideas!

I just have to brag a bit.   

Here in Houston area we have our own version of the Tony awards.  Tommy Tune, a Houston native, started The Tommy Tune Awards for outstanding achievement in high school musicals.  Between 30 and 40 area high schools compete each year in several categories.  This year my daughter's high school performed "Peter Pan".  It was a major production and we even "flew" the main characters. We got the equipment from the same company that handled the Broadway show.

We just got the word that we have been nominated for Best Costume Design!!!!  We also have been nominated for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Orchestra, Best Director, and one of our guys got nominated for Best Supporting Actor. 

My daughter is Head Costumes and was in charge of making all the costumes used.  I did put in many volunteer hours helping also.  We are especially proud of the fact that we did not rent or purchase a single costume used in the show.  The only thing we did purchase was the hat that Captain Hook wore.  Apparently we did such a good job that the judges were going to discount costumes because they thought we had rented all of them.  According to the rules, you can't rent more than 30% of the costumes used in the production.  They were amazing to find out that we had done it all ourselves!

Thank you for letting me brag on my daughter's achievements.

My niece is getting ready for her 8th grade dance.  It is a semi-formal dance.  She is a plus size girl with most of her weight in her stomach area.  My sister says she is a size 15-17.  I don't have her measurements but I have a feeling she is larger than that.

I am looking for suggestions on styles that would work for her.  She is not a girly-girl. Hates wearing dresses.  I would suggest pants but my brother-in-law is old fashioned and I have a feeling he is the one behind insisting on a dress.  I want her to feel good about herself and have fun at the dance.

Thanks!

[AND]

My daughter came home with an interesting challenge.  They are studying World War II in History right now.  The teacher assigned everyone a different country.  They have to do a paper telling about what that country did during the war, with a poster for illustrations, AND they have to prepare a dish from that country.  The dish doesn't have to be something from that time period, just a dish that represents that country. 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a simple dish that could be prepared and transported to school that would not need refrigeration or heating?  I am a sewer not a cooker, so the simpler the recipe, the better.

I have a friend whose uncle recently lost his wife of 60 years.  He is eating a lot of frozen dinners and canned soups because he doesn't know how to cook for himself.  She is looking for ideas for recipes for "cooking for one".  Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks or website links that will have easy recipes that he could make?