Lab Quote Friday #11

I broke a promise.  I said I would start up lab quotes again in the spring.  Well, here we are finishing our 6th week of class and I haven't delivered.  Here are my excuses-
1.  I haven't spent as much time around the students this semester
2.  When I have been in the lab, I haven't witnessed too many funny things
3.  The funny things I have seen have already been blogged about

So while I'm obviously not going to be able to post every week, I promise to post whenever I get some good material.  Like today!

Lab Boy:  "I know propyl means it has 3 carbons, and butyl means it has 4 carbons, but how do they look different?"

Lab Girl sees me carrying a large container of acid into the lab to refill their supply: "Dude!  Did you see that huge jug of acid!?!  I could, like, smell it way over here."
Me thinking:  It wasn't nearly that exciting and no, you could not smell it.  I don't want to know what you were actually smelling.

And this is a repeat, but it still cracks me up every time.  2 groups of students were trying to use their thermometers while they were still in the cases, and 1 group had theirs upside down.  Somehow their experiment just didn't work as expected!

In other lab related news, our mascot is getting old.  On top of a graying face and balding belly, Titus now has arthritis.  His new nickname is Arthritis Titus.  Poor pup!

Remembering Grandma

Thank you all so much for your kind words you have poured on our family during my Grandma's loss.  We had a good weekend with family and a short service at the DFW National Cemetery on Monday.  It was fun to look through old pictures as we put together some picture collages for the viewing.  I thought I would share these 2 pictures with you.
This first one is proof of something I mentioned in my previous post.  This is Grandma wrestling with my Dad and brother back in 1990.  Notice I was not involved. 

This second picture is special because I think it is the only other time I ever made cinnamon rolls with Grandma other than last October. 

Flash forward a few years.  Grandma getting dirty, me adding flour, same positions, different house.  Great memories.

Sweet Grandma

It's so hard to believe that just a few weeks ago Josh and I were eating, playing cards, and visiting with my grandparents.  It still hasn't quite sunk in that Grandma passed away yesterday.  Everything just happened so quickly.  Our family is so thankful for all of your prayers and encouraging notes. 
Grandma was such a fun lady to be around.  If you ever knew my Dad, you should know that he got all his goofiness and laughter from his mom.  I remember the 2 of them wrestling when we were younger and being worried that Dad might hurt Grandma.  She would just laugh and scream.  For most of my life, my grandparents lived on a lake east of Dallas.  We always looked forward to fishing with Grandpa and then eating a huge dinner of bass, crappie, or catfish prepared by Grandma.  And I just loved Grandma's cooking- cinnamon rolls, cookies, big breakfasts, banana pudding, fudge, fish, etc.  It's sad to think we will never enjoy another meal prepared by our Grandma. 
Over the last 2 years since my Dad passed away, Grandma has told me countless times how much I take after him.  Well I think that he took after her, so I must have a lot of my Grandma in me.  I definitely inherited my Dad's nose, but can you tell where I got my eyes?

July 2010

I also got my Grandma's big toes.  I won't share that picture.  You're welcome.  Let's just say my brother calls them "paddle toes" because they are the shape of ping-pong paddles.  I don't really care.  When I look at them I think of my Grandma and smile.
Here are a few recent pictures.  Sweet Grandma, we will miss you.

July 2010

Making cinnamon rolls- October 2010

November 2009

Apron questions answered

I have had several people ask about the aprons I made last week.  Let me clarify- I did NOT come up with this idea, I am certainly not that creative.  My sis-in-law sent me this link that I pretty much followed.  I thought the directions were a little confusing, but it was such a good idea.  Basically you just cut off the front of the shirt and use an apron that fits you as a pattern (adding in a seam allowance).  I used the flounce pattern from this tutorial and adjusted the pattern to fit the bottom of my pink apron. 
The reversible apron is made from the backs of 2 shirts.  It's the same size as the pink one, but the top is cut off and replaced with straps.  Just sandwich all your straps and ruffle facing inward between the 2 shirt pieces that are right sides together.  I sewed the ruffle and all the straps in place first so that they would stay in place and be reinforced.  Sew all your edges leaving an opening at the top for turning inside out.  After you have turned the apron right side out, iron the apron and top stitch all the way around making sure you close up your opening at the top. 
I was just experimenting with these 2 aprons.  I hope to make some much cuter ones in the future.  I have some other ideas for reusing some of Dad's clothes too, but I haven't found the time to work on those projects yet.  Stay tuned for more...

Six-Day Weekend!

Due to a thick layer of ice, several inches of snow, and below freezing temps, school was canceled for 4 days last week (Tues-Fri).  Several people suffered from cabin fever, but I was perfectly content.  Here's what I did to keep busy:
Day 1- Tuesday:
We jumped in the car (outfitted with snow tires) in the morning and headed out to take pictures at Fort Phantom.  Here are some of my favorites.

After pictures, I whipped out my sewing machine.  This day would have been my Dad's 60th birthday, so I worked on a little project in his honor.  This apron is made from one of Dad's dress shirts.

Day 2- Wednesday:
I stayed in the sewing mode and whipped up a 2nd apron from a couple of Dad's dress shirts and scraps left over from Tuesday.  This apron is reversible.

Refusing to leave my craft room, I decided to play with one of my favorite Christmas gifts. 

My Mom gave me this wonderful set of presser feet for my sewing machine.  Now I can make buttonholes, sew on buttons, do serger-like stitches, make blind hems, make 1/4" rolled hems, apply zippers, etc.  I am so excited!!  I spent several hours experimenting with my new toys and even hemmed 2 pairs of dress pants with a machine stitched blind hem.  Josh even got in on the fun and helped me figure out a few of the functions.  Fun fun!!

Day 3-Thursday:
On this day, I tried out another Christmas gift.  I received this beautiful pasta roller attachment for my mixer from my brother.

Using this roller was so much fun!  I had 2 large sheets of pasta rolled out in a matter of minutes.  I think if I hadn't run out of eggs, I could have kept going all day!
The rest of Thursday was like Spring cleaning.  I did some of those chores that I only get around to about twice a year like vacuuming the blinds and baseboards.

Day 4- Friday:

I did a little more cleaning and Super Bowl food prep, and then we ventured out to see if we could make it to town.  Roads were clearing up, so we ran a few errands.  Hobby Lobby was one of our stops and helped me on 2 more little projects.  Josh discovered this as we were looking for hooks for my new aprons:

It was perfect for our kitchen!  Now our aprons have a pretty spot to hang.

We also picked up a piece of scrapbooking paper and a picture frame so that I could get my great-grandmother's handwritten cinnamon roll recipe hung.  Now my kitchen feels more complete.

Day 5- Saturday:
Bath day for Titus.  I also did my normal weekly cleaning, and our washer drain pipe finally thawed so I could catch up on laundry. 
Saturday night I went out with a couple of friends.  We ate at Carino's and saw The King's Speech.  It was great!

Day 6- Sunday:
Church as usual then Super Bowl party!  We hosted a party at our house this year and invited young marrieds/singles.  We had a really great time and appreciated everyone braving the weather (it rained and snowed again) to join us.

So that was our 6-day weekend.  Josh kept the fireplace going which kept us nice and cozy.  Of course we went outside and played in the snow and took walks around the property every day as well.  Titus is wiped out, and I think he was glad to see us leave for work this morning.  Now he can get back to his regularly scheduled 10-hour naps.