What I Am

This is absolutely my favorite song. I love it.
I had to work pretty hard to find a way to download it as a song to my iPod but I finally did. Although I cannot remember how I did it so I am no help to you. It was created specifically for this show, so you really can't get it anywhere else. (This is Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas. I am now crushing on him, because of this song.)

It was one of those morning I was watching Sesame Street with the bug and it came on. And it just stuck. I play it when I need to smile.

Oh, and it cuts off on the right side. Sorry. I can't figure out how to change that.

(Linda, I am sending this out to you today.)

Gift Catch Up

I didn't realize I hadn't shown all my gifts I made for Christmas. Which to be honest really wasn't that many. Or rather, it was a lot, but for a small group. I have no idea exactly when it started, but for Christmas I make a 'small' gift for the people I work with. Some of the people I work with. About 8 of the people I work with. This year it was a set of pot holders. So that is actually 16 pot holders.

In years past I made bracelets for the women, knitted scarves for the women, did a whole homemade lavendar theme gift for the women, etc. Last year I bought a christmas panel with 8 designs so I made 8 small wall hangings. I let them choose their style. I just added small borders, quilted around some of the design for effect and bound them. It seems like such a small project, and then you multiply it by 8. But if you can get started early enough, it can be done.

Each set had one pinwheel

and a variation on a disappearing nine patch.

simple backs.

I only wish I had made a set for myself.

I'm not liking this...

December 20, 2009 started a very bad time on our lives. And it still lingers. I realize this is a part of life, but we (the man and I) have been sheltered from this aspect for the most part for more than 40 years. We are both very lucky in that regard. But it feels like now we have to pay for all of that sheltered time. And of course this is from my perspective which is admittedly somewhat narrowly focused, feeling very selfish and self-centered and luckily still slightly removed.

Anthony, our 8 year old nephew, was killed in a tragic accident on December 20th. A week later my dear 'Auntie' passed. Within two weeks of that we found out that three people close to us were diagnosed with cancer. Today the second of the three passed. (The third seems to have won his battle for now, thank you.) Unfortunately we had other losses in that time as well. But the news continues: My cousin will start hospice tomorrow and his immediate family is gathering around him. The man's dear college friend is fighting a loosing battle with ALS.

Anthony, Jenifer, Don, Cooper, Dick, David, Larry, Alvah, Stephen, Dave Jr. EDITED: My cousin passed. Very quickly which was good as he was in pain.

Crafty Goodness

While it may not appear so from the posts as of late, I actually have been getting a few things done in the crafty, quilty arena. Soon, very soon, we will actually have some photos of quilt type things. Hang in there....

Do you know what happens when you throw socks at the ceiling fan?

A whole heck of a lot of fun!

Granted it does take quite a bit longer to get the laundry folded. But it was worth it. I think I keep forgetting that I am actually the mom in this house and I can break some of those 'rules' if I want to. Like throwing socks at the ceiling fan. The man was not too thrilled, at first. But the giggles coming out of Bug loosened everyone up. So much fun. Interestingly enough quite a few just drop right through without hitting a blade. But we got a good technique down. Throw the sock basically up and over the blades so they land on them, then they get winged around and spit out. You can't help but wince a little as they come pelting at you, then you realize it is a sock. Duh.

Give it a try. Break the 'rules'. Laundy can actually be fun!

Oh, and he says he is now missing one of his favorite socks. Granted socks get eaten by the wash all the time. Not sure which element this one is a casualty of.

Scavenger Hunt

I had to travel over Valentine's Day this year. So I created a scavenger hunt for the Man and the Bug. I think it turned out great. And I am glad I had fun creating it because I'm not sure how into it the Man was. And I don't really know how much the Bug got it.





The first clue was in my office.




And then we went around the house.











I didn't realize I could come up with so many rhymes.








I was using our guest bath tub as storage for a bunch of pillows as we were working on the guest room. So that is where the final big basket of goodies was.





I need to start scheming for more of these. I had so much fun.

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Shhh...don't tell my boss

I knit while I am on conference calls. And since I am on the board of two industry organizations it can sometimes be a conference call kind of week.







At least my Christmas crafts are getting a good head start. The "plan" is wash cloths with some homemade soap. I find I can get three cloths from one skein of Sugar N Cream yarn. (25 stitches, seed stitch until square.) At something like $1.99 a skein or so, not bad. And my fingers stay busy and I stay creative.


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Beautiful smoke

This photo is just beautiful. You can see the steam coming off the fence against the bougainvillea in our neighbors yard. Pretty dang cool. And just pretty dang pretty.




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