Thank goodness it's Friday. I've been looking forward to Friday after 4:00 all week long. It's been a rough one. I've had worse weeks. Nothing really happened to make it a rough one, it just was. I blame the weather. Do you know we hit 80 degrees and it snowed this week? That's not normal. It's throwing me off I tell you. My back doesn't seem to know how to handle it either. My flowers are still alive though, so all is well enough.
I have the itch to quilt again. It's a terrible itch that I know I will scratch, the question is just how long it takes me to crack. I do have to quilt again. I promised to make a quilt for the Literacy Action Center's auction that they have each year. That's not until September, but it's good to think about this stuff ahead of time. I know exactly what I'm going to do too. It's called a Postage Stamp quilt. It comes down to a quilt of 2x2 squares all over. Every other square is a solid color. It's a fairly simple quilt, but I love how they look. I'll do one of those for them and one for me. I'm thinking that I'll also do one for each of my sister Elizabeth's family too, seeing as how we have them for Christmas this year. Dalyn, Elizabeth's daughter, asked me to make her one last year and I just haven't gotten around to it. I think it would be nice to give her one for Christmas. Then I'd do one for Elizabeth, Matt, Rya, Brantley and Laney too. All lap quilts of course, but they are perfectly sized to snuggle up in front of the TV or with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book. They'd even look nice on a twin-sized bed, though slightly too small to count as the actual blanket. Anywho, I plan on doing all 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 quilts all at once - I think it will be easier that way. The faces should sew up quickly, and the quilting I can do on my machine for all but the one I'm doing for J and I, so each will take about a day to do that too. It's the binding I'm not looking forward to. I hate the binding part. Hurts my fingers. I really should start now so I can get them all done in time.
It's an expensive hobby though, quilting. I like using quality fabric and that stuff is not cheap. Maybe I can find a sale. J really encouraged me to quilt in the beginning, until he saw exactly how much it all cost. A simple lap quilt will run upwards of $100-$150 depending on the backing fabric I chose. That's just the materials. Then to quilt myself doesn't cost me more than power and thread, but if I have someone else quilt it, that's going to cost another $200. It's totally worth it though. I love the look of a quilt. The two king-sized ones I've made are beautiful. So beautiful that we almost never even use them. Dad gave me a quilt rack for Christmas so we do display them, but I love the way the look on the bed too. I need to make one that we're both comfortable sleeping with, letting the dogs play on, that sort of stuff. It's so hard though. So much work, energy and love goes into a quilt. It's hard to offer it up to fate and three girls who in times of anger are willing to pee on it just to get back at you for something.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
To Everything
Turn, turn, turn. There is a Season. Turn, turn, turn. True story.
I drive past the SLC airport every day on my way to and from work. This morning as I drove by, I was reminded of my first flight.
I was 21 and I had been called to Arkansas to testify in a divorce hearing. My parents divorce hearing. I was nervous about the flight, though it was a full year before 9/11. I remember paying less than $200 for the round trip, and having to almost threaten to quit work because they were giving me a hard time about getting the time off. I had to have a document faxed to them to prove why I was leaving. Gosh, I hated that job. I can't believe I stayed there for 11 years.
Anyways, my Grandpa Hale said he'd take me to the airport for my 6am flight. My Grandma insisted that I spend the night at their home, and I remember her scurrying in to wake me up at 4. I wonder if scurrying is the right word. Grandma was a little thing. Like, little. Tiny. She had this way of walking, like she was in a hurry but not in a hurry at the same time. Calm urgency maybe? She woke me up and while I got ready for the day, she made me breakfast. After sitting down to eat, she calmly but urgently came up next to me and pressed a $20 bill into my hand. 'If you want a sandwich' she said. I tried to refuse, but you don't refuse gifts in the Hale family. At least, not monetary gifts. I've learned this. So I took the money, put it in my pocket and she whispered, again with calm urgency, 'Don't tell Richard (my Grandpa), he doesn't need to know'. Secrets Grandma? She left the kitchen to finish getting herself ready for the 45 minute drive to the airport.
Enter Grandpa. My Grandpa always wore a white t-shirt and blue-jeans. He'd throw on a plaid button down if he was going into public, but at home it was always a white t-shirt. He also had an impressive belly. Not fat really, just interestingly shaped for a male. I remember taking a friend over to their home once and Grandpa walked through the kitchen. When he left Grandma said 'Oh, I'm so embarrassed....he looks like a pregnant man'. So - Grandpa came into the kitchen, got his coffee and settled down at the table but not before taking out his wallet. He pulled out a crisp $50 and pushed it across the table and said 'You'll need some money for a sandwich. Don't go tellin' your Grandma, what she doesn't know won't kill her'.
Conundrum.
First of all, I'm not entirely sure either of them had a firm grasp on how much a sandwich costs. Sure, it's an airport, but still - $10 tops for an impressive sandwich I'm thinking.
Second - they had both forbidden me from telling the other about my lunch money. I was then $70 richer (I actually did have my own money for a sandwich) and felt terribly guilty about taking the money. They weren't poor and they didn't need the money, it was just the principle of the thing.
So I slipped the money into my pocket, said thank you, and kept eating my breakfast.
Grandpa and Grandma and I loaded up into the truck and they drove me to the airport. This was back when they could accompany me to the gate, so they did and we all sat there waiting for the plane to board. When my time came I grabbed my carry-on and gave them both a hug and a kiss. Each of them whispered to have a good time and get a healthy sandwich, and stood at the window until my plane pulled away from the terminal.
Turns out flying makes me sick so I never got those sandwiches. I did however buy a nice black blazer that I still have to this day and I think of them every time I wear it.
I drive past the SLC airport every day on my way to and from work. This morning as I drove by, I was reminded of my first flight.
I was 21 and I had been called to Arkansas to testify in a divorce hearing. My parents divorce hearing. I was nervous about the flight, though it was a full year before 9/11. I remember paying less than $200 for the round trip, and having to almost threaten to quit work because they were giving me a hard time about getting the time off. I had to have a document faxed to them to prove why I was leaving. Gosh, I hated that job. I can't believe I stayed there for 11 years.
Anyways, my Grandpa Hale said he'd take me to the airport for my 6am flight. My Grandma insisted that I spend the night at their home, and I remember her scurrying in to wake me up at 4. I wonder if scurrying is the right word. Grandma was a little thing. Like, little. Tiny. She had this way of walking, like she was in a hurry but not in a hurry at the same time. Calm urgency maybe? She woke me up and while I got ready for the day, she made me breakfast. After sitting down to eat, she calmly but urgently came up next to me and pressed a $20 bill into my hand. 'If you want a sandwich' she said. I tried to refuse, but you don't refuse gifts in the Hale family. At least, not monetary gifts. I've learned this. So I took the money, put it in my pocket and she whispered, again with calm urgency, 'Don't tell Richard (my Grandpa), he doesn't need to know'. Secrets Grandma? She left the kitchen to finish getting herself ready for the 45 minute drive to the airport.
Enter Grandpa. My Grandpa always wore a white t-shirt and blue-jeans. He'd throw on a plaid button down if he was going into public, but at home it was always a white t-shirt. He also had an impressive belly. Not fat really, just interestingly shaped for a male. I remember taking a friend over to their home once and Grandpa walked through the kitchen. When he left Grandma said 'Oh, I'm so embarrassed....he looks like a pregnant man'. So - Grandpa came into the kitchen, got his coffee and settled down at the table but not before taking out his wallet. He pulled out a crisp $50 and pushed it across the table and said 'You'll need some money for a sandwich. Don't go tellin' your Grandma, what she doesn't know won't kill her'.
Conundrum.
First of all, I'm not entirely sure either of them had a firm grasp on how much a sandwich costs. Sure, it's an airport, but still - $10 tops for an impressive sandwich I'm thinking.
Second - they had both forbidden me from telling the other about my lunch money. I was then $70 richer (I actually did have my own money for a sandwich) and felt terribly guilty about taking the money. They weren't poor and they didn't need the money, it was just the principle of the thing.
So I slipped the money into my pocket, said thank you, and kept eating my breakfast.
Grandpa and Grandma and I loaded up into the truck and they drove me to the airport. This was back when they could accompany me to the gate, so they did and we all sat there waiting for the plane to board. When my time came I grabbed my carry-on and gave them both a hug and a kiss. Each of them whispered to have a good time and get a healthy sandwich, and stood at the window until my plane pulled away from the terminal.
Turns out flying makes me sick so I never got those sandwiches. I did however buy a nice black blazer that I still have to this day and I think of them every time I wear it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Sometimes you just know
It's gonna be one of those days. Today was just such a day. I was ripped from sleep when J came home. I felt like I'd been drugged. In truth I'd taken valerian root last night which is probably why I felt so tired. Anyways, that's when I knew. Today was gonna suck. And it did. Not completely, but enough to be labeled a sucky day. From the rainy gray sky, right down to my disappointing cup of noodles I had for lunch. I mean really, does it get more depressing than cup of noodles? Lucky for me I was able to leave at 3. Cut my losses and go.
How do you end a day of blah? With a torture session at the gym of course. I guess it won't really be that bad, I am not able to actually do anything but sit on the recumbent bike and peddle at a somewhat slow pace - thank you L5 S1. I aggravated my disc again a couple weeks ago (right after joining the gym for the 3rd time), so I haven't been able to do much. I'm feeling up to barely trying though so I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm going with J though, which means I could get stuck there for a very long time. If I wanted to play the martyr I could walk home (or threaten to walk home), but I'm going to try to be a good wife and stick it out. I know his workouts are important to him. He says he does it all for me but come on, really? I love him regardless of how full of muscles he is.
I do think I'm going to bake some cookies when I get home in an effort to eliminate any good I may have done at the gym. My only real hurdle to baking cookies is deciding Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin. I'm leaning towards Oatmeal Raisin. It sounds healthier. It's not, but it sounds that way. Sometimes the illusion is all I need.
How do you end a day of blah? With a torture session at the gym of course. I guess it won't really be that bad, I am not able to actually do anything but sit on the recumbent bike and peddle at a somewhat slow pace - thank you L5 S1. I aggravated my disc again a couple weeks ago (right after joining the gym for the 3rd time), so I haven't been able to do much. I'm feeling up to barely trying though so I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm going with J though, which means I could get stuck there for a very long time. If I wanted to play the martyr I could walk home (or threaten to walk home), but I'm going to try to be a good wife and stick it out. I know his workouts are important to him. He says he does it all for me but come on, really? I love him regardless of how full of muscles he is.
I do think I'm going to bake some cookies when I get home in an effort to eliminate any good I may have done at the gym. My only real hurdle to baking cookies is deciding Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin. I'm leaning towards Oatmeal Raisin. It sounds healthier. It's not, but it sounds that way. Sometimes the illusion is all I need.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
My Quest to be a Domestic Goddess
Yes, I'm on one of those. I'm not doing too badly either, if I do say so myself. I have the home. I have the family (my pups are so much my children, but in a totally healthy way). And now...I have the Kitchen Aid.
Okay, I already had a Kitchen Aid, but it wasn't exactly the one I wanted. You see, I have this problem. I think people refer to it as impatience. I like to think of it as constantly moving forward - even if it slows me down. I can't tell you how many times a week people (everyone - my husband, my friends, my co-workers) tell me some version of 'Patience is a virtue'. I can't help it. If I ask J to unload the dishwasher and I don't specifically say 'Just when you have the time', that means I want/need him to do it right away. So I unload it because I need it unloaded right then. I digress. Kitchen Aids. About 4 years ago I finally bought myself a Kitchen Aid after about 10 years of wanting one (the impatient thing doesn't ALWAYS hold true...though I was 'moving forward' by thinking about it all the time). I bought it because it was the color I wanted, and it was affordable, as affordable as Kitchen Aids ever are. It was not, however, the model I wanted. It took 10 years to get there though, so I was grateful for what I had.
J bought me a professional Kitchen Aid 'just because I love you and it was on sale', and it arrived today! He also got the shred attachment, and I've already shred about 20 baby carrots into little pieces that I then let the pups (hereto after referred to as 'the girls') gobble up.I bought a brick of cheese at Costco - just to shred. I'm really excited about this. It's silver and matches all of my kitchen appliances. It's so much smoother than my old one, and it's SO. MUCH. BIGGER. I love it!
I can put to use all those cookbooks I've been binge-buying over the last year! Recipes that require me to mix this together and that together and then combine the two? Piece of cake! I can make cake! Well...I can make more cake. Bigger cake. BETTER cake. Better how? I don't know! Maybe because I'm happy with my Kitchen Aid - that will translate into my baking. Cook with love and all that. It's a theory.
Okay, I already had a Kitchen Aid, but it wasn't exactly the one I wanted. You see, I have this problem. I think people refer to it as impatience. I like to think of it as constantly moving forward - even if it slows me down. I can't tell you how many times a week people (everyone - my husband, my friends, my co-workers) tell me some version of 'Patience is a virtue'. I can't help it. If I ask J to unload the dishwasher and I don't specifically say 'Just when you have the time', that means I want/need him to do it right away. So I unload it because I need it unloaded right then. I digress. Kitchen Aids. About 4 years ago I finally bought myself a Kitchen Aid after about 10 years of wanting one (the impatient thing doesn't ALWAYS hold true...though I was 'moving forward' by thinking about it all the time). I bought it because it was the color I wanted, and it was affordable, as affordable as Kitchen Aids ever are. It was not, however, the model I wanted. It took 10 years to get there though, so I was grateful for what I had.
J bought me a professional Kitchen Aid 'just because I love you and it was on sale', and it arrived today! He also got the shred attachment, and I've already shred about 20 baby carrots into little pieces that I then let the pups (hereto after referred to as 'the girls') gobble up.I bought a brick of cheese at Costco - just to shred. I'm really excited about this. It's silver and matches all of my kitchen appliances. It's so much smoother than my old one, and it's SO. MUCH. BIGGER. I love it!
I can put to use all those cookbooks I've been binge-buying over the last year! Recipes that require me to mix this together and that together and then combine the two? Piece of cake! I can make cake! Well...I can make more cake. Bigger cake. BETTER cake. Better how? I don't know! Maybe because I'm happy with my Kitchen Aid - that will translate into my baking. Cook with love and all that. It's a theory.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Spring is Here! Maybe...
I went to Walmart on the way home from work to pick up some things we weren't able to get at Costco. Face wash, valerian root, earplugs. I also wanted to get some stuff so I could make a super healthy vegetable soup of my own design. I already had potatoes, carrots, onions and the spices. I just needed some celery, more chicken stock, diced tomatoes and corn. Well - on my way in to Walmart they had the cutest little flowers sitting outside and dangit if I didn't snap up six cartons of whatever type of flower it was. Spent way too much money. Again.
So I got home, let the pups out in the backyard to play and bark at the construction workers, and threw the soup together. J was at the gym so I set the stove to low and went outside to plant my flowers. They are beautiful! I got blue and purple - two colors always missing from my front flower beds, along with the lack of flowers in my flower beds...we just have a bunch of bushes and shrubs. I planted them in two planters we have sitting out - one on the porch and one by the steps.
While working I chatted with Kelly, our next door neighbor. She and her husband and two girls moved in a few months after we did and they are really the only neighbors we talk to on a regular basis. Well, Kelly lost her Miniature Schnauzer Zippy a couple weeks ago, but Letty - their long-haired dachshund - was out with her and that little girl is TERRIFIED of strangers. We've met on numerous occasions of course, but you can't expect someone that cute to remember me from one moment to the next. She clung to Kelly as though her life depended on it. When Kelly let her down, Letty pooped on our front lawn. Classy move there Letty. But she got what she wanted, Kelly took her back into the house.
Anyways, I'm happy that Spring is on it's way and hopefully Ma Nature doesn't kill my flowers. I do a good enough job of that on my own without her help. Maybe 2014's the year I learn how to grow stuff though?
So I got home, let the pups out in the backyard to play and bark at the construction workers, and threw the soup together. J was at the gym so I set the stove to low and went outside to plant my flowers. They are beautiful! I got blue and purple - two colors always missing from my front flower beds, along with the lack of flowers in my flower beds...we just have a bunch of bushes and shrubs. I planted them in two planters we have sitting out - one on the porch and one by the steps.
While working I chatted with Kelly, our next door neighbor. She and her husband and two girls moved in a few months after we did and they are really the only neighbors we talk to on a regular basis. Well, Kelly lost her Miniature Schnauzer Zippy a couple weeks ago, but Letty - their long-haired dachshund - was out with her and that little girl is TERRIFIED of strangers. We've met on numerous occasions of course, but you can't expect someone that cute to remember me from one moment to the next. She clung to Kelly as though her life depended on it. When Kelly let her down, Letty pooped on our front lawn. Classy move there Letty. But she got what she wanted, Kelly took her back into the house.
Anyways, I'm happy that Spring is on it's way and hopefully Ma Nature doesn't kill my flowers. I do a good enough job of that on my own without her help. Maybe 2014's the year I learn how to grow stuff though?
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Let's Give This Another Go
I've missed blogging. I've missed being able to put my thoughts down on the page, so to speak. It's been three years and so much has changed. For starters, my blog address was snapped up by someone else. Go figure. So I'm changing it up a bit - new times, right? I'll still write a little of this, a little of that. Maybe I'll keep it public, maybe I'll go private, the world is my oyster. Oysters are nasty, BTW. I'm changing that to the world is my lobster tail. There...that works.
I'm now a mama to three beautiful dogs. Daysie is a four year old brown Miniature Pinscher, Nimbus is a 4 year old black and rust Miniature Pinscher, and Cadie is an almost two year old Party Toy Schnauzer. They are the lights of my life, my joys, and my test. Yep, I said it. I've decided the beauty of having dogs rather than children is that you can always put the dogs in their kennel when they start to annoy you. It's frowned upon to do that to a child.
J and I got married 2 1/2 years ago. It wasn't romantic or anything. It was more 'we should get married', 'yeah, okay'. Don't get me wrong, I love that man. I just don't think we're romantic people. We're too sensible for our own good. We bought a home in South Jordan and have been here for a month longer than we've been married. We chose a growing development and we got in right when the getting was good (that's the saying, right?). We have neighbors we like a lot, and neighbors we don't like at all. I guess you find that in any neighborhood though, right? As far as I can tell, we are one of the only couples in the area who don't have kids, and since we don't go outside to smoke or drink beer on the front porch, nor are we very active in the community, we've sort of outcast ourselves. That actually suits us just fine as our dream Saturday is having the house clean then enjoying each others company...maybe a movie, a little X-Box for him, a little reading or cooking for me. We've domesticated ourselves well all things considered.
I have been working as a Registration Manager for my company for just under 3 years and I love my work. I have a team (remember how I like to be the boss?) and really enjoy all the people I get to work with. Stressful as always, but again - Remember how I thrive on that? I wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't growing gray hairs.
Well, the hubs and I are headed to Costco - I told you we were domestic. It's good to be back.
I'm now a mama to three beautiful dogs. Daysie is a four year old brown Miniature Pinscher, Nimbus is a 4 year old black and rust Miniature Pinscher, and Cadie is an almost two year old Party Toy Schnauzer. They are the lights of my life, my joys, and my test. Yep, I said it. I've decided the beauty of having dogs rather than children is that you can always put the dogs in their kennel when they start to annoy you. It's frowned upon to do that to a child.
J and I got married 2 1/2 years ago. It wasn't romantic or anything. It was more 'we should get married', 'yeah, okay'. Don't get me wrong, I love that man. I just don't think we're romantic people. We're too sensible for our own good. We bought a home in South Jordan and have been here for a month longer than we've been married. We chose a growing development and we got in right when the getting was good (that's the saying, right?). We have neighbors we like a lot, and neighbors we don't like at all. I guess you find that in any neighborhood though, right? As far as I can tell, we are one of the only couples in the area who don't have kids, and since we don't go outside to smoke or drink beer on the front porch, nor are we very active in the community, we've sort of outcast ourselves. That actually suits us just fine as our dream Saturday is having the house clean then enjoying each others company...maybe a movie, a little X-Box for him, a little reading or cooking for me. We've domesticated ourselves well all things considered.
I have been working as a Registration Manager for my company for just under 3 years and I love my work. I have a team (remember how I like to be the boss?) and really enjoy all the people I get to work with. Stressful as always, but again - Remember how I thrive on that? I wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't growing gray hairs.
Well, the hubs and I are headed to Costco - I told you we were domestic. It's good to be back.
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