Day 267 of 365

Thanksgiving is simple around our house every year.  You'll find no card games, no people cheering loudly as they watch a football game. Every year it's just us. My husband, my daughter, and I. If it's a year my mom is around (like this year), she'll join us too. No people bringing food, no extra dishes to wash up.

Despite all the pies and prep work my daughter and I did earlier this week, today was a party of four. Packed up enough leftovers for my daughter to have meals at work for the next four days. Plenty of turkey for sandwiches and soups and enchiladas and anything else turkey we can come up with. Slices of pie sent with my daughter for her and her boyfriend and my mom.

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry relish, homemade rolls. Our standard, simple fare.

Whether your day was a quiet one, a loud, boisterous one, or somewhere in between, I hope it was shared with family and friends.

Speaking of sharing, my husband shared his plate for today's picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 266 of 365

This notice is to inform you that the request for benefits has been denied based upon our review of the information provided. Infusions and all associated charges-benefits are not provided for the proposed service, supply, drug or other charge that is not medically necessary.

According to my insurance company, there will be no infusion-type treatments for my rheumatoid arthritis. I guess they'll have me keep taking what I'm taking - a combination of two weekly injections that have not improved my condition. I can't blame the insurance company for not wanting to pay. Thousands of dollars a month for one medication?

I'm a big believer in things happening for a reason, so I'm going to take this as a sign that at this point I don't need to be pursuing this particular treatment.

I have an appointment with the rheumatologist next week and will find out if his office is planning an appeal. I'm certainly not. In fact, I'm getting close to pulling the plug on the whole darn thing. I'm tired of having bald patches, I'm tired of intense headaches, I'm tired of being sick, I'm tired of being tired from medication. Having all the side effects from the medicines without seeing any benefits is getting old.

Working with my daughter in the kitchen keeps my mind off things. Yesterday, in preparation for Thanksgiving Day we made:

• Berry and cherry pies (from a frozen state).
• Lemonade pie. (From Day 202.)
• More pumpkin puree. Cooked up the pumpkins and froze the puree for later.
• Homemade rolls.
• Homemade pumpkin pies from our pumpkins from the garden.
• Pumpkin seeds. Again, from the pumpkins from the garden.

Everyone kept their hands off everything. Almost. The pumpkin seeds have been dwindling quickly. My husband loves them, my daughter loves them. And I figured I better take a picture of the seeds before they disappear completely.

Make Easy Homemade Fabric Bookmarks - Day 265 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I'm an avid reader. Or should I say, I used to be.

As a kid and as a teenager I read a lot. Not just for school work, but because of my interest in knowing more things. I used to keep a list of all the things I wanted to know more about and would get books and magazines on the topics. I'd read after homework time and would read all summer long. I also kept a list of all the books I'd read after I read them. (I'm not sure why I did, but maybe it was so I could impress myself with my knowledge.)

As an adult my reading waned. Although we have many bookshelves with many books, I've tended not to read as much. I think it's because of the type of books I always buy. While I may have a couple fiction books, the bulk of the collection is self help books, inspirational books, how-to books. Reading isn't nearly as relaxing when every two pages I'm given an "assignment" of something to write down or do or whatever.

The only other type of books I read are mostly non-fiction biographies. Those are more relaxing to me, less work, and I can get into them. Knowing Christmas is coming and our Christmas Eve tradition of giving books is coming, I'm on the lookout for another one of interest.

I need another book anyway. I just made some super, super easy bookmarks with some scraps of fabric. Don't want them to go to waste!

In addition to the standard sewing supplies, for this project you will need:

• fabric 
• two-sided fusible stiff interfacing
• Pinking shears or scissors
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

Now available in my Etsy store as a digital download with the written directions, step-by-step photos, printable templates, and link to the tutorial video. Click to find out more!

Looking for a different bookmark? 

Check out my other bookmark projects!

Otherwise, find the step-by-step how to tutorial for making your own homemade quick and easy fabric bookmarks right here:

Day 264 of 365

I'm tired of being cold.

The weird thing is that I didn't really realize I was tired of it until yesterday. I always have goosebumps. My toes are always cold. My arms are always cold. My nose is always cold. And I just figured out why.

It's cold in my house.

At night the heat doesn't ever kick on since it's set for 55 degrees and during the day the setting is the same. The days I'm home I override it and set it anywhere between 64 and 67, but never, ever, have we ever, no matter how cold it is, had the heat over 69 degrees.

But here's where the bigger problem lies. I spend most of my days at home wearing either jeans or sweats. And a t-shirt. No sweatshirt, no fleece. A t-shirt. No wonder my arms are always so cold!

My husband owns probably a dozen or more sweatshirts and fleece. I own one sweatshirt, and I keep that one downstairs for when I'm in the basement. So each and every day when that heat is setting at 64 or 65 or even 67 I'm in my t-shirt. And I'm cold.

Since turning up the heat isn't an option because of our power-conservation attempts, today I am going shopping. Shopping for something to wear with my jeans and sweats. Something that won't pick up all the extra thread I accumulate as I'm sewing. Or, if it's warm and snuggly enough, something that can pick up as many extra threads as it wants.

I'm on a mission to be warm.

I'm also on a mission to start hubby's baseball quilt. Have lots of big squares cut, but haven't figured out what I'm doing with them yet.

Day 263 of 365

Who could have predicted that something that happened in 2007 in Indianapolis combined with something that happened in February of this year would come full circle today.

Back in the summer of 2007 we took our cross-country tent camping trip across the United States. From Idaho to Maine and all the way back. Lots of miles, lots of campgrounds, some hotels thrown in, restaurants shown on the Food Network and Travel Channel, and touristy-stops along the way. And in particular, lots of sports-themed stops.

Turner Field for an Atlanta Braves baseball game. Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. National Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Field of Dreams (from the Kevin Costner movie) in Iowa. Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was of particular note. Being a non-race car fan I've watched the Indy 500 a couple times but haven't been too interested. But when we stopped at the raceway and a Richard Petty Driving Experience was happening, my husband made me take lots (and lots) of pictures of cars. He especially wanted Tony Stewart's car. I had not a clue who Tony Stewart was.

Fast forward to February of this year. Recovering from shoulder surgery, in a sling, unable to drive, sitting at my daughter's apartment while she was at work, and no cable TV. Flipping through the channels and finding the Daytona 500 about the only thing on. I sat there and watched that race. And enjoyed it. (Granted I was on pain pills at the time.)

Right before I started this blog in March I was able to move back home. Told my hubby about enjoying the race. He suggested we start watching those NASCAR races. So we did. Every weekend they've raced since March, I've settled myself into my recliner to watch the races. For the first few weeks, I always picked who I thought would win the day's race - based on who had the prettiest car. Wouldn't you know it, for several weeks in a row I was always right.

After a couple months, I started liking one driver over the others - Carl Edwards. He won quite a bit and had great poise off camera. So I started rooting for Carl every week. My husband kept rooting for Tony Stewart, even though he didn't win a race all season - until these last few weeks.

Tony and Carl have been close in points through these few weeks. Today was the last of the Sprint Cup Series Championship races. Who could have predicted that the two drivers - my husband's longtime favorite racer and my driver who had lots of pretty cars throughout the season - would wind up in a tie in points. Except...

A tie in the series goes to the driver with the most wins in the Championship Series that was held these last few weeks. That would be the driver who won today. Tony Stewart.

So congrats to my husband who has been cheering his driver on for years. Now I know why I took all those darn pictures years ago.

I don't know why I took today's picture out my den window, though. Sun rising in the east shining on the dusting of snow on the mountains to the west.