Snack Station {Halloween}

Hello, happy Friday and happy kickoff to Halloween weekend!  I know, I know I’m rarely on here but I finally got a light under my butt to post.  I guess what really inspired me to do so is this really cute snack station I set up for my kids decked out in Halloween décor.  We already have a snack station in our kitchen but this one is just too cute to not share with y’all. Look at what this mama did for her kiddos (and herself). 

I guess you can say what started this whole décor area is that I bought a spider-web cake stand from Target (dollar spot area) a few weeks ago and I was determined to use it and not just wait for when I baked a cake.  And since it’s a spider-web I knew I had to put it to use somehow before Halloween.  Well I always have small mandarins for the kids to snack on and the whole idea grew from there.  First, I thought I would just stack on the oranges then it hit me that I could draw them like jack-o-lanterns like I’ve seen many times before.  Ta-da!

I knew my daughter would love it and she is actually the one that drew all of those cute faces.  I mean look at her designs. Too cute! My son is now a cool 13 year old so I didn't think he would be as excited but he said it was pretty awesome and "it was so lit." Holla.

I also used this spider candy dish for their fruit snacks.  I got it from Kohl's a couple of years ago (after Halloween clearance).

And this is a candle holder I got on clearance a few years ago as well.  Hobby Lobby I think? I stuck a few of Ghirardelli chocolates in there because why not?

Here is a different angle of the snack station.

To the far left is a sugar skull that I (in a decent attempt) decorated at a local bake supply store.  I love that place!  I have it sitting on my food scale and next to it is a vase (similar to this one) I filled with candy corn and stuck in some Halloween sprays I got from Michael's.

That's it.  I wanted it to make it cute and fun while still having all of their go-to snacks in easy reach and I think I accomplished it.  Now I need to think of a Thanksgiving/Fall and Christmas set-up.  Happy Halloween!

Foodie Friday: My First Real Starbucks Coffee?

Okay so maybe my title is misleading or incorrect but hear me out.  I'm not a regular coffee drinker.  Not the kind that wakes up needing coffee every single morning.  You can say that I'm a seasonal coffee aficionado.  I like to drink coffee once the seasons change and the weather is cooler and crisp.  I drink it for warmth and comfort.  Once the Texas heat is back (which can sometimes be year round) I go back to cooler drinks.  And when I do drink coffee, I like it with half and half (not the yucky powder stuff), sugar and it's got to be decaf. Gasp! 

Why decaf?  Well when I was pregnant with my first child, my doctor said that she would prefer for me to drink decaf on the occasions I did have a cup or two.  I did as she asked and guess what?  I can't go back to regular coffee because I kinda get the shakes and I don't like it.  So decaf it is and it doesn't bother me because I don't need it to wake up.  Like I said, I drink it for warmth and comfort.  Coffee snobs have poked fun at me and asked me what was the point in drinking decaf if I was not going to enjoy the real stuff.  Meh, whatevs. I flip my hair and say, "at least I woke up like this."  I kid, I kid.

So earlier this week I found this on my desk.

My sweet co-worker surprised with my very own white chocolate mocha grande in a venti cup with extra whip.  For you Starbucks virgins, did that name/description/order confuse or intimidate you a bit?  It did me.  The reason I rarely go into a Starbucks is because I don't know how to order the fancy schmancy one pump two stuff and much less in a venti!  What?!  And is mocha a type of coffee?  Oy.

My co-worker had the exact same drink the day before and I told her that McDonald's decaf coffee is my jam but I have no clue how to order at Starbucks because all of that lingo is Greek to me.  She told me what she was having, I said it sounded delicious, she offered me a sip and I loved it.  She then told me what it was and I was like, "yeah I'm not going to remember any of that and I ain't looking like no fool in there."  She laughed and wrote it down for me on a little post-it note (seen in pic above).  

So tomorrow morning while my daughter is at ballet class, I'm going to walk down to the nearest Starbucks and with my big girl panties on I am going to order my very own fancy schmancy cup of joe with cheat sheet in hand.  I'll throw in a hair flip too.  :)

Slacker Mom = Tasty Cookie {recipe link}

Huh?  Confusing title, I know, but it turned out to be true for me the night before my daughter’s Valentine class party.  You see, I totally slacked this year for Valentine’s Day.  No home décor, no crafts, no cute and fun treats for my kids to give to their friends or teachers.  Nada.  So when I realized on Thursday night (February 12^th) that I had not done a thing for my daughter to take to school I panicked at the disco, y’all.  And when I say it was Thursday night I mean it was like 9:35 p.m.  Slacker mom.  Especially since I made it a point to watch Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal (no slacking there!).  Side note: I get my kids ready for bed on Thursday evenings during commericals. #dontjudge #youdoittoo

So like I said, I was in a panic and quickly decided that I would make sugar cookies and put them in little sandwich baggies with curled red ribbon.  Easy enough BUT it was already late and although that is a simple recipe I did not want to take the time to soften the butter and I changed my mind about bagging them all nice and pretty.  It took a nano second to scratch that idea.  I then remembered that I had a box of devil’s food cake mix and that I had a seen a recipe for cookies on the back of the box.  Boom!  Here is what I had less than an hour later.

And as the title of this post says, they were tasty and I was pleasantly surprised.  ---> I may or may not be a cookie snob and prefer from-scratch recipes. J  I followed the recipe as stated on the Duncan Hines website except for two details.  It said to use ½ cup walnuts and ½ cup chocolate chips but since it was for Valentine party, I opted for mini red M&Ms. And of course I avoided the nuts just in case anyone in the class had a nut allergy.

The recipe was not on the box with the picture but it referred to their website.  I didn't understand why they wouldn't just slap it on the back of the box but it turns our there are a few cookie recipes to use for this cake mix.  Here is the one I used in case you too are having a slacker moment or whatever. J

Duncan Hines Fudge Cookie Recipe.

What about cookies for my son, you ask?  Um no.  He's in middle school now and they don't do that.  (Insert a middle schooler's voice and facial expression here).

Just a Little Cubicle Decor {Fall/Autumn}

Happy Hump Day!!  And depending what calendar you look at, it's the third day of Fall or the second day.  At least that is what confused me.  Anywho, I wanted to share a quick little autumn decor that I put up in my cubical at work.  Ain't it pretty??

The owl is from WalMart and the beautiful, golden leaves are from Hobby Lobby as well as the pumpkin pick (40% off).  And that's it for this post.  Just a short little showing of how I dressed up my little work area.  I plan to do more next week for Halloween but now I'm leaving it like this.  The owl is too pretty though so I'm going back to get one for my house.  And I'm off!

Beauty Talk: NYM Texturing Spray + Swisspers Blotting Paper

Happy Saturday!  And happy to be chatting with you all.  Finally.  Again.  

I wanted to talk about a couple of beauty items that I recently bought.  One at Ulta and the other at Walmart.  First off, Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturing Spray.  

OMG I love this stuff and I've had it less than a month.  And I only bought it because I had a Ulta coupon for $3.50 off $10.  I needed bobby pins and hair spray and then I saw the NYM products.  The packaging caught my shopping eye, I decided on two items and off I went.  The other NYM product I bought is the Beach Babe conditioner but I have yet to use it.  Okay so per the directions on the bottle, you spritz it in your dry or damp hair, style as you wish and you're done.  I only used my hands to style it. I worked it in and "crunched" my hair here and there and voila I had a little hotness on my head and I was digging it.  My hair naturally has a little oomph to it but this stuff really kicked it up a notch.  See?

Don't believe me?  Here's a pic of my hair with no product.  

So Not Your Mother's gets a big thumbs up from me on this one.  I most certainly plan to buy more products and give those a try.

Okay and now for the product that failed me and did not leave me with a shiny(less) happy feeling.  Let me just start off by saying that I have a very oily face.  In my teens I noticed that I had the common T-zone face but over the years and especially after my pregnancies, my face has gone full blown super oily.  I mean get the Ewings out here 'cause I'm sure they'll keep making their millions.  Ugh.  

For years I have been using Clean & Clear oil blotting sheets (they're blue) to wipe the oil off my face a couple of time of day.  I even use the store brands by CVS or HEB.  This past week I bought a completely new-to-me brand while at Walmart.  I went to grab the Clean & Clear per usual but they were all sold out and there was no store brand next to it.  So I look around and came across these Swisspers near the nail care section.  Out of desperation and short on time and I grabbed them and off I went.  I used them as soon as I got in the car and right away the blotting sheets began to tear and they tugged on my face.  What the what?  With the Clean & Clear (or store brands) I only needed to use 2-3 sheets at a time.  I've used about 5-6 sheets per use with Swisspers.  I even keep them layered to see if that will prevent them from tearing.  Nope.  

And they don't "soak" up the excess oil from my face like my little blue sheets.  Not.at.all.  I'm going back to the store to get my usual and I'll hold on to these for the occasional emergency.  Sorry, but I say save your money on this one if you've got oil rigs on yo face like me.  Anyone else not like these?

You Done Me Good, Mr. 13"x9"

So back in March of 2001 my co-workers had a lunchtime bridal shower for me. I remember it well.  Lots of (potluck) food, a crowded conference room and many gifts.  A lot of those gifts were Pampered Chef items.  Not only did the hubby and I have a store registry but I was able to put a wish list together from one of the ladies at my work that sold Pampered Chef.  Of course there were folks that chose to go that route because it was easy peasy shopping.  They just walked over to her desk, picked something from my wish list and wrote her a check.  Super easy bridal shower shopping for them and more PC goodies for me.  Oh yes I was happy to open all of those gifts that were from The Pampered Chef.  Before my bridal shower I had already attended three PC parties but I didn't buy very much because I was a bride-to-be on a budget so I only bought the knick knack stuff.  You know like that orange peeler that everyone hopes to win as a door prize?  Well at least that's how it was when I attended the parties. That little orange peeler sure was popular (and cheap) but everybody wanted to win it.  It really is the little things that thrill us.  :)

One of the many Pampered Chefs gifts I received was the 13"x9" stoneware baking pan.  I absolutely looooooved it and I used it hundreds of times over the past thirteen years.  I mean I really, really loved it so you can imagine how sad I was when I pulled it out recently to make my Baked Penne Pasta.

You should have seen me.  I was a little ridiculous for a few minutes.  And I do mean a few minutes.  I acted as if the world was over.  It's not but the use of this awesome stoneware is and lemme tell ya, it's not the same with those glass pans.  Even though the measurements are the same for this stoneware and my glass baking pans, this one definitely has more room.  I don't know why the measurements are the same because this one was always more reliable when it came to my "hefty" dishes like the oh so good Baked Mac n Cheese thanks to Mr. Alton Brown.

I guess I have to buy another one even though this one is guaranteed or has a warranty or something like that.  Although it is an obvious Pampered Chef product, it won't be replaced because I don't have the receipt. Yeah right because that's what people do when they gift this things. At the time there were no gift receipts for PC products and I don't know if they have them now.  Oh well.

My 2014 So Far

Hey there.  Long time no bloggy.  No excuses this time like how I've said before.  I just got lazy.  For the most part I was lazy but I had a couple of people tell me lately that they miss reading my blog.  That made me feel good and it was quite sweet of them so I told myself, "Self, got off your arse and just type something."  So here I am.  We are what 5, 6 weeks into 2014 so I thought I would tell you what I have been up to as of late.  

New Year's Eve-
First off, we kicked off the new year at the home of our BFF's out in Elgin, Texas.  As much as I would love to get dolled up and have my man take my out to fun NYE gala or a club well it has yet to happen.  I feel too guilty being away from my babies on that night so we're always together.  It was very low key with just our two families but we had a fun, intimate night filled with lots of talk, gossip, laughs and the kids popping fireworks.  

See our picture here?  Notice that my girl is way down front and the rest of us are in the back?  Well the plan was for the four of us to stand together and hold sparklers.  I thought that was a great photo op but nooooo my girl had to get scared and refused to stand by us with our sparklers lit because she was afraid that we were going to burn her down.  Oh my gawd child.  Burn her down?  Umkay.  For the record I made sure we were all holding the sparklers within a safe distance from one another but that was not good enough.  So down front she went and my friend, Claudia, snapped away.  This picture was the one that made the cut on my Facebook & Instagram pages and of course she turned out to be the star.  I guess it pays to be a drama queen.  :)

Remembering the Epiphany-
Many folks had their Christmas trees and decor down and put away the day after Christmas or New Year's Day.  Not me.  I like many other people had my tree up until the Epiphany.  I am of the Catholic faith and it is important to me that my children know Christmas does not end on December 25th.  Not trying to be snooty or goody two shoes but the Epiphany is very important and I strongly feel it should not be ignored because December is over and gone.  So as usual we kept watering our tree (we buy a fresh one) and kept lighting it until January 6th.  After that we took down the ornaments and took the tree to recycling for mulch.

My forever chores-
I posted this picture on my Instagram to vent a little and just let my followers know that I have no choice but to keep it real.  My wifely and mommy duties are forever constant and a daily thing.  I'm not complaining but I'll be honest and say that I am seriously considering hiring a cleaning lady to come at least once a month and help me with the nitty gritty stuff.  

A funeral-
We were getting ready to attend Mass one Sunday morning when my mom called to tell me that our good family friend, Bill, has passed away.  Bill was like an adoptive uncle for my sisters, cousins and me.  He was my uncle's best friend, co-worker and partner in crime.  His co-pilot as he put it.  What can I say, Bill was quite the character.  Bill could talk for hours and in the end he had nothing to say.  That was the running joke anyway.  He even talked my grandparents' ears off and they only speak Spanish.  It was hilarious to watch Bill talk to my grandfather and hear my grandfather say, "si, si, okay, si."  I always got a kick out of 'ol Bill.  Always laughing, joking, talking, helping out, beer in hand and a cig on the side of his mouth as he painted.  He and my uncle painted houses and such for a living.  Many of their clients became close friends.  An abundance of those clients turned friends were present at his service.  The funeral was absolutely beautiful, filled with so many people that loved Bill and had much love and respect for him.  The stories they all told were so Bill- funny, thoughtful, caring, and loving life. 

The year my friends and I turn 40-
My BFF, Claudia, celebrated the big 4-0 in early December but the rest of my friends and I will reach that milestone this year.  Cracking knees and all.  My girl, Sally, was the first one to cross the forty and she had a blast of a party to celebrate it; but first we had a small, intimate dinner celebration at our friends' house, Jorge & Elaine.  Getting together with my church friends is always the best and this night was no exception.  Like always we prayed, talked, laughed, joked, drank and indulged in some birthday treats.

The hubs and I were miserably sick-
Oh were we sick.  The hubs was sick while we celebrated Sally's birthday and stayed sick for well over a week.  I started feeling bad a few days after he did and it just went downhill from there.  I was quite sad because I thought I was better the day of Sally's big party but it was just my body playing tricks on me.  I didn't care and I went to that party determined to have a good time but it was a big struggle.  Blah!  We were absolutely miserable.  For reals.  The day this photo was taken (by our son) was the worst.  We fed the kids McDonald's and let them do what they pleased the rest of the day.  It was that bad but they were actually great.  Our kiddies took care of us.  Well in between playing, watching t.v. and being on the iPad.  :)

We are so Austin, We are so Green-
We have been a recycling family for some time and this year we started making weekly trips (mostly) to Ecology in Action in downtown Austin.  We used to go every month but the recycle over flow caused an eye sore.  Our trash company does not provide a recycling service so we do it ourselves.  Tisk, tisk on our trash company!  It's a little bit of a nag sometimes but it makes me feel better to do my part and teach my children how recycling helps Mother Earth.  Yeah, there are lots of smart-ass cynics out there about this but oh well.  Don't bother me none.  Word to your mother (earth).

Our Family Birthdays-
My honey turned 39.  Yeah, I'm rocking the cradle by a few months.  :)

The kids devoured his dessert.  :)

And baby girl turned 6.  Oh was she happy to be more of a big girl.  Not mommy.  Wah!!!!

and she's back at Ballet Austin after being on the wait list throughout the Fall semester. Yay!

And this past weekend we saw Frozen-
The kids and I saw Frozen the first day it was released and the three of us LOVED it.  Then we found out that it was going to be released as a sing-along and we were there again.  It was my husband's first time seeing the movie and he too enjoyed the movie.  Now I'm patiently waiting for the DVD release in March.  Yes, I secretly belt out "Let it go" whenever I can like in the shower or in the car.  All you Frozen fans do too.  :)

 

Oh so far we've had three "ice" days here in Austin with a couple of more work & school delays.  We're cold weather weenies and really we don't care.  And we like to make fun of ourselves. :)

Let's see how the rest of the year goes.  Stay warm, ya'll!  We're finally going to have 70 degree weather this week.  Yayuh!

My Autumn & Thanksgiving Decor

Y'all!  It's almost Thanksgiving!  Am I the only one that is more excited to eat stuffing than turkey?  I mean I eat turkey year round, but stuffing ohmygawd I love stuffing.  And the stuffing I love to eat the most is my mom's and my hubby's Nana's stuffing.  Two different recipes but equally delish.  I look forward to that dish(es) in particular every Thanksgiving. Mouth.Is.Watering.  Okay on to my little bitty decor I have to show ya.  

I know lots of folks are already decorating for Christmas but I like to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to bust out my jolly decor.  And since it is Thanksgiving week and I never got to show you guys what I have, well here it is.  No drum roll needed.  I don't have a lot but I like to make my mantel and fireplace look cozy with what I do have.  

Most of what you see here was purchased at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or the dollar store over the course of a few years.  And the majority of it was purchased on sale or clearance.  But of course.

On the mantel I have two pictures of what I am most thankful for: my husband and our marriage...

and a picture of my babies.  One of my favorite pictures of those two.  :)

and here's a close-up of the fireplace area.

This broom was purchased from my local grocery store (HEB) a couple of years ago.  It was cinnamon scented and the smell was quite strong.  Nice but strong and it took a couple of years to actually wear off.  I stuck a couple of autumn picks in the broom to dress it up for the season.

My dining room table is plain Jane compared to others I have seen.  You see, we don't have Thanksgiving at our house.  We always go to our parents/grandparents homes.  So that is one reason why I don't have a table setting but the other is that I'm just not fancy like that.  We had turkey day at our house once and it was only a few family members.  We totally did the sturdy paper plates and plastic cups.  And it was buffet style and sit where you'd like style.  Maybe one day I'll go all out but right now this is the real deal.

Another reason why my dining room table is plain.  It doubles as a homework table.  :)

But do you like my cornucopia and owl table runner?

I scored that owl table runner at my local Dollar General store.  I snatched it as soon as I saw it.

And I know other parts of the country get some beautiful autumn colors this time of year; but it is not too common here in Texas (in my neck of the woods).  But because the central Texas area has received so much rain lately, our tree leaves have been able to produce these gorgeous bronze-like colors and I'm loving it.  Here are two trees on the side of my house.  Beautiful!

I posted this pic on Instagram (@pinktexaschick) and used the Kelvin filter to bring out the gorgeous color.  I ooohed and awed the first few days because we never get to see such gorgeousness.  

How about some straight up cuteness?  My friend's daughter made this adorable candy turkey centerpiece.  Seriously.  I could eat it (pun intended).

Sorry,  I have no step by step pics but the body and head are made with styrofoam balls.  The head is a 3" styrofoam ball cut in half and secured with toothpick and a low temperature glue gun.  Obvisouly, the rest is candy and sadly this is not in my house.  I just wanted to share with you all the talent of  an artistic 6th grader.  What a  great centerpiece for a kids table! 

This wraps up my short show and tell.  I really wish I could deck out my entire house with gobs and gobs of autumn decor.  Every year I buy a couple of things here and there and I patiently build up my stash.  I hope you all have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday.  Peace.

Cookbook and Magazine Organization

Hey y'all.  Right now it's like fifty something degrees out and yes I am cold.  Insert hashtag #nativeTexan and #coldweatherweenie right here.  Yep, that is me.  So with the cold weather upon us I started looking through my cookbooks and magazines to find some new soups and stews.  This is when I realized that I really needed to hunker down and organize this growing collection of mine.  I hit up the Container Store and bought some bins and magazine files and now my all-things-cooking-and-baking resources look like this:

DIY Kitty Cat Costume & Makeup {Halloween}

Happy almost Halloween, y'all!  Okay so I told you all a few weeks that I was just learning how to sew and after those lunch hour lessons I decided to tackle my daughter’s Halloween costume.  She told me that she wanted to be a kitty and soon after I started looking for costumes on the web.  After some searching and not really finding what appealed to either of us I told myself: “Self, you just learned how to sew now show the world what you can do!”  Well I can’t do much but I was confident I could accomplish this mission so off to the store I went and in the end this was Kitty Cat costume I “created” for my baby girl. 

bad quality pic, sorry!

Fast and Simple Halloween Decor

Hey friends!  Guess what?  I'm just getting around to decorate for Halloween.  Finally!  I'm a little disappointed in myself because normally by October 1st I have the house decorated and in full Halloween spirit.  But for the second year in a row I'm off to a very late start, ugh!  The ONLY Halloween item I have in my house right now is the vase I put together a couple of weeks ago.  Now I have my second Halloween decor out and I put it together this past weekend in less than 10 minutes.  My girl helped me and she had lots of fun doing it.  It was easy & fun for her and there was no mess.  Yay for the both of us!

I wanted to "make" something that was quick and affordable.  So I got lucky when I walked into Hobby Lobby and found all the supplies for this little project on sale 40%-50% off (the mason jars I already owned).

Ready for the directions?

• clean mason jars
• open & pour Halloween popcorn into jars
• decorate jars with stickers
• insert battery in candle, turn on and place inside jar
• Voila!

The supplies I used were two jars, a bag of Halloween popcorn (Styrofoam balls), scrapbook stickers and orange candle lights:

I placed them on my bookshelf with a pumpkin and a skull.  My girl loves coming home everyday to turn on the pretend candles.  And both my kids like they way it looks when the house is dim.  It gives it the "safe" eerie feeling.

Now I need to get going on the rest of the house even if the Halloween decor will only be up for a week.  Better late than never! :)

P.S. - Sorry if these pictures seem to small.  I'm trying to fix it! 

Lunch Hour Sewing 101

Hi. My name is Debbie, I am 39 years young and this is me learning how to sew by hand.  Yes, I am learning how to sew by hand.  Finally.

And here's me proudly displaying my practice work and a few stitches.  Like five or six stitches.  Really.  And yes I did practice sewing a skull and bones patch on a napkin.  But hey at least it was a great hair day.  :)

Okay so here’s the thing.  My kids think I’m the bomb diggity.  I’m all that and a bag of chips (Doritos nacho cheese flavor); and according to them I know it all and can do it all.  My daughter says I’m the best cooker and baker.  My son thinks I know everything.  Oh what sweet creatures they are to me.  If they only knew I was just faking it to make it. For reals.

What they don’t know is that Mama doesn’t know how to sew.  I’m not talking about machine sewing which is true (more on that later).  I’m talking about grabbing a needle and thread and replacing a button on a shirt or sewing a patch on um, let’s say a Cub Scout shirt or vest?  My boy has been a Cub Scout  since he was in the 1^st grade.  I have yet to sew on a patch for him.  Embarrassing I tell ya.  We had my son’s patches on his first Cub Scout shirt (navy blue) sewn on by the ladies at the Scout center store here in Austin and my co-workers mom. 

Last year he became a Webelo which meant he now had to wear the khaki  colored shirt.  Once again we went to the Scout center and had the necessary patches sewn on but there were a couple of more to come.  Most of the badges my son has earned belong on the patch or brag vest.  That vest has been in it's original package ever since we bought it way back when my boy was a first grader.  He is now a fifth grader and all of the patches he has earned have been collecting in one of his dresser drawers.  Oh how pathetic.  

I could not take the guilt or embarrasment anymore so I bit the bullet and asked my co-worker to teach me.  I did the pretty please thing too.  Like in I'm-a-desperate-mom kind of way.  Lucky for me we are buds and she loves to sew so it was a win-win.

So here I am at my second lunch hour sewing class.  The face was serious and the hair was not having it.  My hair appointment can not get here fast enough.  

I mean how obvious is it that I am such a beginner? Look at the major concentration just trying to tie a knot and then thread the needle. I'm hard core determined like that. 

Just like my first lesson, I was only able to do a few stitches.  Probably because there was a lot of laughing and joking around and maybe a little office gossip. heehee.  But as you can see this was the real deal.  No practice patch on a napkin. 

Right here you can see my progress so far.  It took me 40 minutes just to get to the halfway mark.  And of course there are obvious signs of a beginner.  One that you can't see is that the thread kept escaping from the needle. 

So I have half of one patch down and many more to go.  Look at all of these symbols of achievement waiting to get their spot on that red vest.  Actually these are just some of them.  There are lots more.  Oh boy.  

Lesson learned and lesson learning all in one. Note to self: don't ever procrastinate again and don't be so afraid to learn something so basic and useful.  Now I'm off to buy some band-aids because that needle poking is no joke.  Hey give me a break, I'm just a beginner.  :)