our world

this feeling

2011-09-27T17:21:00.001-07:00

i can't quite shake this weird anxious feeling lately. at the beginning of the year i opted to live life differently and changed the direction things were going. i went back to an hourly rate at the clog store and stepped down from the role of general manager. i took a pay cut with this choice, and i knew it would mean i'd have to find the money elsewhere.

i started selling glasses direct to people for Amy Sacks Eyewear, a local Portland company. sales have been going well and i can see the potential of it growing to something really great. the only thing i'm having a hard time seeing is how to garner interest in hosting a trunk show (still not sure what i want to call them, but not parties). so far, i've had two people host events and one won free frames. at the one get together i had at the house, and drew a name for who would play "host" to it, i had a friend win a free pair.

i also worked in the world of tv production on the craft service team for a show that tapes here in pdx. it was awesome and exhausting and fun all at once. there is a season, for the filming of things, and we're about to hit the slow season. i guess i got in late in the game? i'm hoping that there will be a commercial or two i can work on, to earn some extra cash.

meanwhile, i'm just trying to rid myself of this feeling of a low dose of adrenaline being constantly let into my system. it isn't a good feeling and i wish it would go away.

any suggestions on how to get people intrigued by the idea of hosting an event...

oh life, how fun it is

2011-06-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

many of my friends and family have been wondering what all my posts on facebook have been about, with the overnight jobs, etc. i figured i should just blab a bit here...

i still am working at the shoe store (where i have the worlds most awesome boss) on a part time basis. i have a few floor days, but also have a floating office day. my boss has allowed me to step down from some responsibilities that were no longer fun for me (and quite overwhelming since we have grown to 7 stores over the past 10 years...what, with increasing his staff from 3 to 26). the office day can be divided up between writing checks and filing and being creative in the stores and on the web.

back in october of last year, i helped a friend on her wedding day by overseeing every little detail so she was allowed the luxury of being a bride and enjoying her guests. she said it was perfect, which swelled my heart. :) why am i telling you this? well, she owns her own business, old school craft services. some of their guests were people they work with in the industry (her husband works along side her). many asked her what production company i worked for and they all were a little surprised to hear i sold shoes. never, in a million years, did i think that day would be the biggest job interview i would ever have. i've been training with her since march, anytime she can hire me on. it's been exhilarating.

and as if that's not enough? i started selling eyewear (which most of my dear ones know about already). check out amy sacks for more of that.

there are many stories, but i'm too pooped to tell any right now.

"[they go] up to eleven"

2011-05-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

happy eleventh, bay-bee!

Eleven years ago today, I was given the most beautiful rings as a token of my dear Kevin's love and commitment.

The rings that, after the first year of wearing them, I developed an allergy, making wearing them sporadic.

The rings that, after losing 45 lbs, are now too big and slip and slide around on my finger, when I can wear them.

The rings that I love so very much from the man I love even more.

I've had to put my rings to bed, as I don't think we should spend the money resizing rings that make my finger break out into a lovely rash every so often. Mmmm, rash.

Happy Anniversary, My Love...

my world, upside down

2011-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago now we learned the dog has become diabetic. i think, honestly, we were pretty close to losing her. thankfully, we now have her on an insulin injection, twice a day. unfortunately this means we have to give her shots, twice a day. she's a whole lot of awesome, and allows us to give her the shots easily, but on two occasions i have gotten a small yelp out of her. talk about heart breaking.

i also recently started selling Amy Sacks Eyewear directly to people. this venture allows people who may want to buy new glasses, but the normal cost (average cost for new frames and lenses is close to $450!!) isn't even a blip on the radar. just sold a complete pair, with the addition of a hard case for $10, all for the low price of $145.50!! the girl was flabbergasted, to say the least. i gots to keep that dog in insulin, people!

interested in learning more about it, visit the blog i've started writing about my adventure. the eyes have it.

you can earn some nice extra $$ with a little work (but mostly fun!).

the year of personal change

2011-01-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

i had an epiphany of sorts the beginning of this year. i walked into our bedroom and saw the pile of my clothes next to the bed and i thought to myself, "really? this is how i want to live?"

it was that moment i decided i was done being a slob. i think it's safe to say that we all have fallen prey to that life now and again. a dish left in the sink overnight, crumbs not being wiped from the counter, bed going unmade (i swear, getting into a made bed beats trying to navigate the mess of sheets and blankets if you don't make the bed). it started to make me realize at the age of 38, i have to grow up and stop being lazy.

i shared this with kev and i have to say, we've both been doing our part (with one or two slip ups here and there). it's felt good. i feel like i'm being present in my life again.

this is the year i stop living lazy.

"things are gonna change, i can feel it." Loser by Beck

yes, it's been a while.

2010-11-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

so i know it's been a while since i've written anything. i call it, lack of inspiration...

until two days ago. i had a total FML (Ef My Life) moment.

i walked in the door, the smell was there. cold dog shit. i looked all around and instead found slimy dog vomit. start cleaning that up (after donning rubber gloves) and when almost complete i notice the second spot of old dog vomit. i wonder how we both managed to miss it and walked towards it, ready to clean. that's when i saw...the mother freaking load of dog vomit.

it was like a comedy at this point. i was waiting to turn yet another corner and find dog shit. thankfully i didn't. josie's acting fine, not out of sorts. i've started giving her smaller portions and so far, knock on wood, she's not had another incident since.

yeah, it takes dog vomit to inspire me. what kind of a sick person am i?!?!

thanks dad

2010-09-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

we had our first photo shoot today. she does nice work. no broken images when transferred from camera to computer. yea! didn't have to do too much tweaking of the images, either. pretty happy about that, must say.

thanks, dad, we still need to talk price. love you.

dog in jail

2010-09-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago we had ian and seth sutton from sutton landscape come and finish fencing off our backyard. lately josie's taken to wandering off when she's back there. we're good about keeping our eyes on her, but when gardening it would be easy for her to slip off to the front. not wanting her to get hurt chasing a neighbor cat (nor would i want jasper or butch to get hurt) we opted to finish off the fence behind the garage and put a large gate by the trellis.

we didn't want a solid wood fence, as the backyard needs all the light it can get to make our garden grow. it turned out really fabulous. i couldn't be happier.

josie can see out and lost of light can shine through. the artichoke is right there and how the sun hits it, a full wooden gate would have killed it.

i love that josie can't wander off. also, both parts of the gate will open, the one that tends to be stationary can also lift off the hinges. the gate swings freely and easily. we didn't use self closing hinges and i'm 100% okay with that. sure, we have to remember to close the gate behind us, but i think we can do that.

update of sorts

2010-08-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

gardening in the pacific northwest this year has proven to be a difficult task.

with the plentiful rains this spring came the slugs. they gorged themselves on been sprouts, corn sprouts and zucchini sprouts. we replanted all three, but the zucchini is the only one that we've gotten any bounty. the corn is growing and there are a few ears on the sad stalks, but we're not sure they will be fully developed. it will be an interesting study when we pick and shuck an ear.

the greenie beanies have done not much. the plants are growing and lovely, but there are no beans...our neighbor (whose plants did not get eaten by slugs) has had beans for quite a while now. i am sad. i love beans.

the walla walla onions are doing really well, though! nobody has attempted to eat them. we also have had a few meals worth of golden potatoes. oh may word! home grown potatoes are the best! they have a texture of velvet on my tongue...

the moby grape tomatoes are growing and producing. although they are not as sweet as the bessers we had a couple of years ago. and our romas are starting to ripen (if all that is on the plant now ripened, i would have more than enough for salsa!). the goliath are looking good. santiem are looking a little sad, but there are many green fruit on all six of our various tomato plants so i am hopeful.

that's about all i have for an update.

with a few simple words

2010-08-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

last year a family who lives not too far from us lost their house in a fire. sadly, they lost their beloved dog, too. i did not know this family, but my heart ached for their loss of their dog. the pain it had to endure, the loss they felt. at times, it was overwhelming for me.

tonight kev rode his bike past the house, over to ne portland, to grab a beer with a friend. i got the following text:

"Fyi the people on 60th with the fire have a new puppy."

i love kevin for knowing that i needed that. in a few simple words i am reminded how much he really does love me. in a few simple words i am aware of how lucky i am.

what to write

2010-08-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

it's always tough for me to figure out what to write after a slightly heavier post. i don't want to appear as callous and over the feelings, but i also don't want to wallow there either.

that being said, let the next post begin...

on sunday kev and i had a whirlwind day, okay I had a whirlwind day. kev got to sleep in and have a leisurely afternoon. anyway, i got up early, showered, and walked over to sweetness bakery to meet a couple of girlfriends. after we shared conversation over pastries and coffee, i bid jill adieu and jenn and i scooted off to pick blueberries. her family has friends who have a you pick place west of the river, where she grew up. we got a heck of a deal on some of the best berries i've ever tasted! that is saying a lot because i'm not such a fan of the plain blueberry. give them to me in muffin, pancake, crumble...form and i'm fine.

after that fun excursion, leading me to have almost 17 lbs of blueberries and owing jenn $$, she and i went back to her house. kev came to pick me up, but i told him to give me some time because i was going to walk up to close knit to get a notion i needed. that took about an hour or so. by this time i am needing another shower, the berries made my hands dirty and quite frankly the walk left me a bit sweaty.

i had a little bit of time to get cleaned up and ready for our next date, dinner with our friends christie and scott and lil' t. kev and i decided to bike down, roughly 58 blocks, and were crazy early so we tooled around this wild labyrinth part of town called ladd's addition. it was beautiful, the streets are mostly covered by tall trees making for a lovely ride as it was sunny and quite hot.

finally it was closer to time and we decided to head to the carts. there's these food carts at 12th and hawthorne in se portland that are open on sundays. man, i finally got to try poutine. holy hell, i am in love!!! kev and i shared a medium sized portion before getting a couple of mediocre tacos and ending the whole experience with the fried pies. thankfully we worked some of that off on our bike ride home, which was mostly up. happy to report, neither one of us had to get off our bikes and walk. :)

anyway, we got home from a great early evening with our friends and drop our bikes off, fed the crew and headed over to celebrate with a new ten year old and his family and friends. man, it felt good to sit still when at the house, but those boys were crazed. running, singing, i'm pretty sure they were all wearing underwear on their heads. and that was all before the cake! it was fun, none the less.

i don't think i've ever slept so soundly as i did that night. i'm still kind of recovering...

can you hand me that funnel?

2010-08-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

all too often we let time get away from us. we have the best of intentions to reconnect with old friends and then something happens to make it so you can't...

i learned this morning that one of my all time favorite instructors from my high school days passed away. he was only 44. i had so many things i wanted to share with Mr. Dunlap, but now won't ever get to.

memories flood my mind as i think about him and what i learned. more than just how to process film, set type, and how to debate. i learned compassion, love and understanding.

let this message be heard loud and clear by all that read it...

don't let time pass you by! tell those who influenced your life, in any way, thank you.

thanks, Mr. D! i will always have fond memories of inside jokes and oddly sung songs.

where is my moon?

2010-08-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

where is my moon? it's got to be in some wacky house or all akimbo somehow, because i've had an off kind of week. not remembering things at work (which is really unlike me) and feeling rather tired and lazy around the house. before anyone goes there, i am not pregnant. that's not really an option for me.

it has to be with my moon. or i'm just having an off week and it will all get better soon. it will get better because i am going to make it better. in fact right now, i'm logging off this computer and making a pie crust for a quiche i will make later.

take that, moon!

who knew?

2010-08-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

i am a person who even though i chat a lot, i really like quiet. when i get home, i often times don't turn any music or television on for hours.

the morning hours are often my favorites because everyone is still sleeping (aside from Chloe who hangs with me most of the time). there is a hush over the house, except for the clacking of the keys as i type.

at work my friends/coworkers there see me being my most 'on' self and honestly believe i am that way all the time. sure, i am that person, obviously, but being 'on' all the time is hard and tiring. between my 'on' persona and my relaxed self, it's either lots of chatter or nothing at all. the nothing at all freaks people out, i am sure. i don't think people know that i'm not 'on' all the damn time. and when they argue with me about who i am when they don't see me...it's frustrating. i mean shit, who should know me better than me?

this girl must turn herself down from being at 11 at all times. it's exhausting people!

so if you invite me out and i say no, it's not that i don't love you or want to hang out, it's just i've had a tiring 'on' kind of day...and just need to be quiet. seriously.

and the winner is...

2010-07-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

so the guesses are all in, the polls are closed, and we have a winner!!!

so listed from lowest guess to highest:

jwo-210
david- 244

mother hen- 250

lily- 282

monika- 288
*gail- 300

mishi-316

terri- 360

jgreg-447

tami- 475

dad-500
**rois- 540

*(changed when # of beds told)
**(# became available when gail changed her guess)

and the winner is...

ROIS!!!

there are 541 bottles total used around the beds. 540 are wine bottles (well, some are san pelagrino bottles and there are a few champagne bottles) and 1 was a gin bottle.

i will let you know when your wonderful prize is ready and we can either get together or i can mail it. i vote for getting together...for a cookout...with the fams. :)

one out of ___?

2010-07-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

one last bottle needed.

i thought i had enough, but obviously i am one shy. so very close to the end of a rather long project. i must say i am proud of it though.

what is this project? some might ask.

well, it started with me wanting to find an economical way of bordering in our vegetable beds because the fabulous soil was being washed away with each winter. i didn't want to use wood because face it, in the pacific nw it can be rather wet.

i had an idea out of the blue. wine bottles. the perfect solution. most of our friends drink wine. only a few loads were from people we didn't know or neighbor's recycling. kev only picked up a few that way once or twice. they warm the ground and help keep the roots toasty.

i know how many bottles were used in the bed project. i've counted twice.

Guess how many bottles used in the 6 beds
and win something fabulous and wonderful!!

Guesses must be made *HERE by next Sunday, the 25th. 8:00 am pst.

* comments left at the fb posting won't be counted. i want to make this easy on my brain people!

garden photo catch-up

2010-07-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

i finally got a chance to get out and take some photos of the life in the garden. it's not going to be a huge harvest year, i fear. i am happy for what is growing, though...

the moby grape tomatoes are doing fairly well. they're looking the best out of the six planted this year. one of the romas have thrown some fruit and my oregon spring, but that's about it so far.

the zucchini looks to me as though it is holding court over the rest of the garden. perhaps he is cheering the rest of the plants on, giving the shout out of positive words? we lost the first batch (of most everything) to slugs (rat-bastards) and had a few zucchini plants sprout and survive the second sewing. we plucked all but one...we're no fools.

and surprise! artie came back this year! i didn't think it would survive after the really wet winter/spring, but it did. and there are two blooms waiting to be either picked to be eaten or to open wide to the skies. i might suggest to kev that we eat these and let the other blooms open for the bees.

i love the pom-pom top of the flowers from garlic. they bring a smile to my face, but what in my garden doesn't? (besides the slugs, small pepper plants, and one garden bed that is awaiting three more bottles to be complete)

we got some volunteer garlic this year. it's a good thing, because we didn't plant any last fall. we learned our lesson, though, and will be planting some this year!!

my favorite shot of the morning has to be this last one, though...i love daisies. they are happy flowers, one of my favorites. i love how the buds take on almost an alien spaceship feel. our shastas are crazy tall. i did not bend down for the taking of this photo. i am 5'10"...

so that's the garden in a nutshell. beans are giving me a little hope, but i don't think we'll have enough to put up for the winter. only about 5 of the sprouts are pulling through. i will take what i can get, though.

why hello

2010-06-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

meet Abe. he is my new friend. no, he does not live with me. i just met him this morning as he and his family were standing out front of the store. i rushed out to meet him and fell head over heels. his fam said they'd make sure to stop by again so we could see each other.

they kept saying how much he seemed to like me as he perched on my shoulder. he washed his face while sitting there.

i am happy that they will bring him back around this summer. he had my heart the moment i saw him.

the nose

2010-06-14T07:43:00.001-07:00

gimme kiss
Originally uploaded by chlortence

Kevin was looking through old photos on the desktop computer and was talking about how different we all looked, animals included. i decided i wanted to look at the shots on the laptop to see what i could find.

well, one giant diggity dog nose. this is often a sight we see just because she loves poking us with that big wet nose to get our attention. trust me, it does!

i just couldn't resist posting a shot of my Josie's nose. doesn't she just look ready for a kiss?

nutsy

2010-06-06T20:26:00.001-07:00

nutsy
Originally uploaded by chlortence

today was the day i helped the daughter of my deceased neighbor clean out the craft room. it was quite full, but i got there around 11:00, set us to task, and was home by 3:30. she admitted that she'd feared we'd be there much later than that. i knew we'd be done around then.

as we cleaned and organized things for the estate sale, she told me to take things if they struck my fancy. and i will admit, a few things did follow me home.

this little guy is one of them. my first thought was that i should send it to my sister in california because when she was pregnant she loved them. now every time i see a squirrel i think of her. which leads me to the second thought...i also kind of want to keep him because of the fact that i think of my sister when i look at him.

if i kept him, i might put him out someplace in the garden. (maybe the slugs who ate our corn, beans and zucchini will think it's real and stay the hell away from the second plantings...bastards.)

anyway, what do you all think?

A. send to my sister? or

B. keep because he reminds me of her?

purdy

2010-06-03T16:55:00.001-07:00

pretty fence
Originally uploaded by chlortence

for a little while now Kev and I have talked of finishing the fence around the back yard (we have two small sections to do). it seems that Josie wants to hang a little more back there, but since she is a dog she tends to wander. not wanting to have a dead dog, lost dog, no dog...we opted for fencing. :)

we met some friends out for a beer last night and stumbled across this gorgeous fence. it is exactly what we would like our fence to look like. i sent a photo of Kev standing next to it to Ian and he said it was exactly what he had in mind. pictures as it happens...

not that long ago

2010-06-01T18:28:00.001-07:00

not that long ago
Originally uploaded by chlortence

how i long for the warm days again. i will admit i am more than a bit "over" the rain and clouds. i've done fairly well not complaining about it too much, but then i saw this picture on my phone that i took this APRIL. i am pretty sure that was the straw that broke this camels back.

right now? it's raining and mid 50s. i have a sweater on. isn't it June already?!?

meh.

where i write

2010-05-31T16:41:00.001-07:00

desk
Originally uploaded by chlortence

i started thinking about the space of this house and how we could better use it. we live in a two bedroom home. one is larger, the other smaller. pretty typical. for some reason we always gravitate towards the larger bedroom to use as our master. not sure why people do that...

anyway, i used to use my yarn stash box in the living room as a desk and would sit hunched over, often tweeking my back, as i pecked away on the computer. it wasn't very comfortable, to say the least.

last night i started thinking about the two rooms and how to best utilize them. i laid down in the bed in what was the guest room and got a great feeling of calm. the garden window acts as a sort of headboard now, although that room needs paint, drapes, etc... i get to wake up every morning and see the glorious view.

i also get to turn on the light to check out what clothing i want to wear to work since my closet has remained in the now guest room. it's nice i don't have to pick things out the night before like i used to. the larger room just made sense to be the guest room/upstairs off/dressing room.

i am rather smitten with my little set up. kev sent a thumbs up from work. i sent him pictures of both rooms.

must eat a little something and then, i am going to bake a blueberry cobbler.

found

2010-05-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

for years now i've been searching for someone. someone who was quite dear to me all throughout my college years. he was my sanity in my senior studio classes, my rock, my source of love and laughter. it was hard, going to art school without the intent of becoming an artist. almost got into a fight with a girl who couldn't believe i didn't want to be an artist. i enjoy being creative and David understood why i was there. we were two birds of a feather.

ever since i joined the Facebook scene i've searched for David. i couldn't believe my eyes when FINALLY i found him! there he was, sitting in a chair with a schnauzer on his lap. that was my David!

i instantly sent him a message, asking if it was the same David with whom i'd gone through school. it was!! i can hardly believe that all my years of searching are over. i am sooo so happy that they are!

he still lives in the KC area so when we make it back that way, add another person i have to go visit to the list. i hope he and his partner make it out to Portland at some point, too.

i don't know if he ever knew how much he meant to me. i'm only sorry that after i graduated we didn't stay in better touch. but now, we have all the time in the world to catch up and reconnect.

my heart has never felt fuller.

OnPoint Contest - Excellence in Education - Teacher Award

2010-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

OnPoint Contest - Excellence in Education - Teacher Award

Go there and please vote for Brett Bigham. He is not only my neighbor, but he is my friend.

Recently he received a grant so that he could put on a Prom for his students (Brett teaches Special Education). He not only put in the time while at work, but his days off as well. He made over 300 corsages (with a little help from the school's receptionist and me) so that every single person attending could have one to remember their fun evening.

He strives to provide his students with stability and "normalcy". He treats them as he would any other human on this earth. With dignity and respect, which many of these kids never really get elsewhere (I worked with the population back in Kansas and loved every single second of my four years at CLO...purely because of the individuals and teachers).

The grand prize is pretty spectacular and I can't think of anyone more deserving than Brett.

I am proud of him and am honored to be able to call him my friend.

the garden

2010-05-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

the little guy there at the end...

he hangs with me every time i am out in the garden playing in the dirt. he eats the grubs (as well as a seed or two i'm sure). he just hangs, waiting for me to be done in an area before swooping in and munching.

it has sprung

2010-05-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

tonight is perfection. perfection i tells you! the air is warm with a hint of a chill. the sun was bright and still fills the air with light, although it is starting to fade.

i spent a good chunk of the night sitting on my neighbor's porch, drinking a beer and chatting. we spoke of the garden and how we have things planted. finally! five kinds of tomatoes, six plants total (can never have too many romas for the salsa!). three types of peppers, spinach, romaine, potatoes (it may be too late for them, but we're keeping fingers crossed), walla walla onions, zucchini. garlic is up and will be ready later this summer (although we failed to plant more this crop seems to be volunteer). and we have leeks! typically a fall harvest, we have many that are ready to be plucked from the earth and enjoyed.

currently i am making a potato, leek, and ham gratin. we'll see how it turns out.

kev's work is in the process of changing a bit. he's staying with the company, just changing locations. until he is there permanently, his schedule is all wonky. i think we get one maybe two evenings a week together. but we know it's only temporary. meanwhile, i will be making soup to freeze for the winter with more of the leeks. it's nice to cook in the house alone sometimes. although i would prefer to get to hang with kev...ah well. this too shall pass.

ten

2010-05-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

ten years ago today i was all aflutter because i was going to be walking down the aisle to marry my best friend. i can hardly believe it's been ten years already. it seems just like yesterday when we even met...

when we did meet he thought i asked too many questions and i thought he was cute but not my type. at least only one of us was right. :)

i can't imagine my life without my dear husband in it. he's kind, compassionate, scattered, absent minded, beautiful, funny, everything all wrapped up into one amazing person. i thank my lucky stars that i listened to my friend mark about applying to work at CLO in lawrence. had i not, i might not have met kevin...

oh oh oh! i forgot an ort!

2010-04-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

i forgot to mention that we have had some asparagus come up already! i am pretty sure we had a mix of one and two year crowns so we are getting some to eat and will let the others fern out again this year.

anyway, we've been able to harvest a few spears to eat.

oh. mah. word.

i don't know if i will ever want to eat store bought again. there is a smoothness to the flavor of the home grown. the store bought has a sharpness to it that is hard to explain. i am so excited to be having home grown asparagus for the next 14 years...

oh the posts i've written

2010-04-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

i write posts, but mainly in my head. then, when i sit down in front of the computer i become a raccoon and all the shiny things distract me. and the internet is full of shiny things.

so orts, here we come.

~mom nature seems to be laughing in my general direction. so far every day i've had off this spring has rained. and as soon as i go back to work, it's sunny and lovely. we'll see what it does this week whenever i get a day off.

~my allergies have been rather quiet this year so far. i'm not holding my breath, however. i'm sure i'll be a wreck soon enough. (okay, scratch that...my nose started running almost as soon as i wrote that)

~i had a complete stranger ask me to post the pattern to the skirt i knit because she wants to make one for herself. eep!

~i have worked more days on the sales floor than i have in a long time. we'll be hitting 7 or 8 by the time i get a day off (i hope). if my co-worker can make it through tonight (she had oral surgery) and be okay for tomorrow morning, i will have tomorrow off. if not, i will be opening that store and not having a full day off until thursday. however, i'm not complaining about it. it's been fun. tiring, but fun.

~i have reconnected with people from my past who i my past, would never have really given me the time of day (or vice versa). i am happy to have reconnected with them in a positive way. i'm glad we've all grown up.

~when someone tells me, after looking at an old picture of me from my high school days, that i've not changed a bit i get a little sad. cuz i think i have changed...for the better!

~i am married to an amazing man who made sure he went to the store and made me dinner last night. see the note above about the amount of time i've been working.

~my mother-in-law received a very special gift from me. she saw something i'd knit that she really liked and commented on it. since i'd not worn it in a while, i sent it off to her. she sent me pics and texts saying how much she loved it. i love her so very much and am one of the luckiest gals around! i don't know what i did to have been lucky enough to marry into the family i did.

~the shoe store is a funny place. i've met some great friends there. i had a girl ask me to be her friend when i was working yesterday. she'd moved to pdx a year prior and said she had a serious lack of girlfriends here. i told her to look me up on facebook.

~i need to go blow my nose...dammit, stupid allergies.

a confession

2010-03-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

i have a confession to make. i am addicted to something. it's been a little while in the making, but it's full blown now. i don't know what i did without it before. i can't imagine life without it ever again.

i'm addicted to...

debbie bliss prima yarn. it's drape, it's weight, it's warmth without being too warm. the only thing i am not in love with is that almost every single ball has at least one knot in it. BUT i don't let it sway me away from using it. because of the amazing qualities of the fabric it makes.

there is a slight sheen to it, too. as soon as i finished flirt, i went to the website where i had gotten the purple yarn on sale and saw they had more than enough left in brown. and it was still on sale! i just went shopping for our spring wardrobes and felt as though i was still missing something. a brown, bamboo and merino wool skirt! so yes, eventually i will make another. but not before i get a certain someone's blanket done. and i'm rapidly approaching that point...

don't send help...it's too late for me.

meet Flirt

2010-03-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

the best laid plans

2010-03-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

while i was at work i had thought about coming home today and getting out in the garden to till up the soil. i thought about planting a few bottles (yeah, cuz that project WILL be finished this spring) and even getting others soaking again for easy label removal. when i drove home, with my music blaring and singing along loudly (must be in the air), i thought of getting some weeds yanked while i was at it. however all those thoughts went out of my mind when i got home and saw my deceased neighbor's daughter's car in the drive (correct apostrophe usage, kids?). i knew that she was going through the things in the house. she had once offered to let me to go through the craft room whenever i pleased. she mentioned it to kevin when she saw him last week.

the room will be a challenge, but i will help her go through it.

spring is in the air

2010-03-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

today i could feel it. the air was warm. people were smiling. dogs were all over the place. it's spring. it's beautiful. i reminds me that i have a hell of a lot of work in the garden that needs my attention.

it's funny and sweet

2010-03-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

so last week i got an out of the blue email from a reader of this here blog who lives a few hours away. she and her husband were overnighting it in my neck of the woods for a conference he had to attend. she was going to shop at one of our great Asian markets since where they live they have ZERO and would i want to meet for a beer.

i thought about it and thought, why the hell not? we've emailed back and forth for a little while now and honestly, it's kind of neat...meeting someone with whom you've only shared emails/blog comments (isn't it, B?).

i had a *dentist appointment at 11:20 (yea no cavities! just two old fillings need replacing...one of which has just fallen out) and i told her i would call her when i was done.

we met close to one of her favorite markets (it's HUGE) and grabbed a bite to eat. it was so so sweet to meet you V!!!

we talked of knitting, great Thai places to eat in town (glad to hear you liked it too, V), as well as our lives. it was so easy to sit and chat with one another. a new friend in this life i live. it's funny where and how we meet people. isn't it? funny and sweet.

we'll do it again sometime, i'm sure.

*any people in pdx who need a dentist...i've got your man!

i make things

2010-02-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

from time to time i like to knit things. okay, maybe that's a bit of an understatement. trust me when i tell you, i have a knitting project of some sort with me at all times. unless i am going to the vet like this morning. nothing major. just josie's annual. she's doing really well. doc said so.

anyway, last winter i made scarves for a couple of lovely ladies in my life. i liked the giant cable idea, but also wanted something small and snuggly that didn't have the lengthy tails of a regular length scarf. so i came up with a shorter version, added some buttons and voila! a neck warmer.

i made jill's out of alpaca. she took it away from me before i could add the buttons siting she had the perfect ones. i would agree with her. only one is functioning, the other is decorative, but i think it works well!

i have a few things on the needles right now. one is a lap blanket that is inspired by the one i made my nephew. i picked out the majority of the yarn when i was visiting him when he was just 8 weeks old. i sent it to the family with my parents this holiday season. it was a labor of pure love.

the one i am making mom is all the cream color and the blocking is a little different. i am just about halfway there. i have to get more yarn from a friend...must remember to email helen.

i also have a skirt on the needles for myself. it was the project i took with me on our trip (the blanket was getting a bit too big to be a traveling project). i got quite a bit done, but that is easy when all you have to do is sit and knit between going out for food, golfing, lazing around a "river". sadly, i've got no pictures of it, but it is a beautiful purple color. i can hardly wait for it to be done (hell on that, i can't wait for both projects to be done).

and let me not forget the putter cover a certain father-in-law requested. it's not on the needles yet, but it's on the brain.

it was a grand idea

2010-02-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

i had this idea that i would come back from vacation and give a grand recap of the events. i was going to write of the sky divers we watched land on the day we arrived. my favorite part was when i called out, "i think the plane is pooping people!" it was kind of hard to see them as they fell out of the plane (until their chutes opened). i also had ideas of telling you of my love for the lazy river. she was a beauty that held us captivated for three rounds, until the gaggle of tween girls and boys arrived. then we high tailed it to the water slide! there was a family cookout where everyone gathered together for great food and relaxed conversation. the burgers, they may have been some of the best we've eaten. but even so, i will continue the quest to find the best (what, i like burgers?) i think we even golfed. 9 holes. par 3 course. i golfed a 52. yeah, you do the math on that one...we ate and drank and were merry.

that was my intent, but instead, i came home and threw myself back into work and life. it's been busy. and that is grand.

leaving on a jet plane

2010-02-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

although i do know when we'll be back again. late on thursday night.

we're heading to arizona to visit with family. kev's dad and step-mom live there as well as his little sister (and her beau, whom we've not met yet). his mom and step-dad are joining the fun, too. they actually got there yesterday (assuming they could get out of their snow bound house in arkansas).

a few days in the sun, relaxing, laughing, enjoying one anothers company...sounds perfect.

but today, today i must work. 10-7. then we have friends coming for dinner and we're having a slumber party! our house sitter is going to stay the night tonight because we leave so dang early for the airport and josie has pills that she needs a bit later than the time we leave, so he'll feed them when he gets up at a normal hour (perhaps i mentioned that here before).

i am almost finished packing. just have the toiletries that we'll still need in the morning to plop into their ziploc bag and then into the suitcase. one little wheelie for the two of us. rolling your clothing really does make a difference. i can't believe what all i got into the case! so kev will lug that and i'll have the big bag of snacks and entertainment (books, crosswords, knitting) as well as my purse. the last two bags aren't finished being packed yet because the dog would get into the snack bag and we'd have no snacks and i am using my purse.

this is real exciting stuff to read, isn't it?!? compelling, i am sure.

so yes, we're taking a vacay! a much needed vacay. must remember to print boarding passes when i get to work. we're out of flipping paper here...bah!

it arrives! a photo story...thank you vicki

2010-02-12T08:04:00.001-08:00

next week at this exact time

2010-02-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

we are heading to arizona to see family on sunday morning. early. so early i don't even want to think about just how early i will have to get up and function. we will be parking at the airport because quite frankly, we can't trust that a cab would show up (never have they showed up when we depart as early as we are). and we didn't want to ask anyone to take us...trust me, it's early.

most who know me know i am a planner. i love trips because they allow me to plan, think, and sketch what i am going to wear the entire time i am gone.

today has been a day of washing clothing and getting the house ready for our house sitter. he's coming over the night before we leave because we have to go so early that it's too early to feed them. yeah, it's early.

anticipation

2010-02-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

i never enter blog give-aways because normally i tend not to win.

:)

thanks vicki, i can hardly wait.

eep

the muse

2010-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

i received an email from a dear friend, lily. she was saying that she missed getting to catch up with what is going on in our lives here. i told her at the time that my muse had simply fluttered away for a bit. not sure where she went, nor when she shall be returning.

lily assured me she meant no pressure and that she was just curious (i lived across the corner from her in my parents house during the summers between freshman and sophomore year). i felt no pressure, in fact i felt the love with which she was writing.

let me tell you of my relationship with lily...

she is the sweetest woman i have had the good fortune to meet. she became a second mother of sorts, i'd wash her car, she'd pay me. she always wanted to see any crafty thing i was working on, giving me praise or pointers. she and her late ex-husband were great friends of my parents. i loved getting to be part of any dinners, parties, anything where we got to spend time with them. he'd give me shit, i'd give it back. she would make sure we were all taken care of, which we were.

any chance i'd get spend time with her in her sewing room i would run to get there. it was such an amazing space. all the fabric, custom cabinetry for the sewing machine, little drawers for embroidery floss...sigh. when they sold the house i was quite saddened (although the couple who moved in have become quite dear to my parents as well as myself).

i am thankful that she's come back into my parents lives again (and consequently into mine).

full of good

2010-01-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

work today was pretty fantastic. i got to look at fall 2011 dansko styles. fun stuff coming in ladies and gents! fun stuff indeed.

had lunch bought for us by our new rep. the cajun catfish po-boy at bridgeport was amazing!! holy moly so damn good.

got back to the office and took care of the things my boss asked me to, setting up meetings for next week to talk about advertising, writing checks, etc. helped the associate who was working the sales floor downstairs from the office rearrange and break down a ton of extra boxes we never seem to need.

am home now and am listening to a playlist of music i made called "busy". all songs are upbeat and motivating. of course sitting here writing isn't what i was intending to be motivated to do. the laundry calls and some dishes need to be washed by hand (pots and pans).

but even in those chores we love to hate...there is joy.

a conversation

2010-01-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

my boss came by the store i was working at yesterday and actually sat and chatted with me for a while. it was a painfully slow day at the store so i was happy for the conversation.

he said to me, "you shouldn't complain about your life...you have it really good."

my reply to him was that i KNOW i have a good life and i try not to take it for granted. (for the record, i wasn't complaining about my life when he said that). he smiled at me, almost beamed, and said, "good. it's good you know this. not enough people with good lives know this."

it got me to thinking about the life i live. it is a good one. i might even say it is great.

i am thankful that i have a great boss, who is always challenging me. i am grateful i have an amazing family, which always supports me and my ideas. i am honored to have such fabulous friends, who are there to lend a hand when needed. and my husband...i can't imagine what i did to get so lucky to have met and married kevin. but i am thankful indeed!

what is something (or who is someone) you are thankful for?

the one where i reign victorious

2010-01-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

i had sent a message to a friend yesterday about the damn dishwasher and the wiring and the errors of my ways. she called saying, "i am pretty sure we can fix that." and we were off to the races. she was ready to come over on new years day, but sadly the home depot was closed and we had to get wire.

so we settled for yesterday. she picked up a few supplies on her way over and we met at the house. it took us just around two hours, including a trip to the deep hole to get a hose extension. it seems that where the water goes into the dishwasher is in a different location than our former one making the 72" hose (which is the longest dishwasher hose they make, i've searched) too short. nothing a trip to the deep hole couldn't fix.

came home, she climbed under the sink and bam, we were in business. shoved the machine under the counter (okay, nudged it under making sure it was level and not kinking any wires or hoses), flipped the breaker back on (saying a little prayer) and we had lights!!

we filled it before we went to dinner. tanya had to get home, but we'll do dinner sometime soon (with her husband even!). when we arrived home we put the soap in and ran it. we purposely did not clean the dishes before putting them in (you know the wash before you wash). we had some tomato cream sauce that had baked into the pan a bit...gone. every last bit of it! and we didn't even use the pre-treat option!!!

it feels good to have it done.

it'd be done by now

2010-01-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

i must admit that i am disappointed that i can not install the dishwasher myself. i am waving my white flag and kicking my own ass because i didn't shell out the money to have it professionally done. kev said it right this morning as i was admonishing myself to him, we make a good team. this was one of those shopping trips it would have been a good idea to have the whole team there, but because i had my parents in and we were wanting to do things...i am disappointed in my half of the team. she should have waited for her rational half to be able to go to the deep hole.

i feel like i was duped, in a way. just the way jim said it wasn't a difficult thing to do, playing to the ego of my home improvement self. surely it will cost us more now to set up an installation...and there will be rewiring needing to happen (don't ask, please).

i will be calling in the morning and discussing the fact that i need someone to take care of it for me, someone who knows what they are doing. and i will tell jim that in the future he should suggest people really do pay the extra $100...of course i have to wonder if he gets some kind of kick back if people have to arrange after delivery installation. i am sure it will cost more than the original $99.99 if you had it installed upon delivery. disappointing because he seemed like a likable kind of guy.

so i am on dish duty until it gets taken care of. my penance, if you will.

farewell adobo

2009-12-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

when we moved into this house about two and a half years ago i met a little black dog named Adobo. she was spunky and funny and would ruuuuuuun to greet me when she saw me. that was until she realized i would tattle on her as soon as i realized she'd snuck out. and when she became cognizant of the fact she'd been caught she'd feign as though she was both deaf and lame.

she was the biggest eloper you ever did meet.

gate left open? SCORE!

10 foot fence? no problem.

this week she started moving much slower and her little 14 year old body decided it was no longer able to keep going. i got to see her a few more times, last night she even gave me a slight little wag of her tail.

i loved that dog.

with tears in my eyes and love in my heart i say, rest in peace Adobo...

noon to four

2009-12-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

i will be heading into work shortly to get a few loose ends tied up before opening at 11:00. around an hour later i will be heading home to wait for our new dishwasher to be delivered. i opted not to pay the extra $100 to have someone else install it. jim, the gentleman who sold me the new washer, peered over his glasses when i originally said i wanted them to. he said something along the lines of, "really? you really want to pay us $99.99 to install it? it's really not that hard if you're handy." well, anyone who knows me knows that that was the invite to do it myself.

i fancy myself a tool belt girl. i can get jobs done and done right the first time. hell, between myself and my bff we retiled the kitchen backsplash. and people tell us it looks like a pro did it!

so last night i embarked on the uninstalling the old washer (who had decided that it wanted to be persnickety and be incredibly difficult to open). we decided to use some of our xmas money we were gifted towards a new dishwasher. i can hardly wait to get it in the house...it's just that pretty.

let me tell you, unhooking the old washer wasn't difficult to do, but it was a tricky angle to do it. i did some amazing yogic poses when i wasn't even trying. i didn't realize i would fit under the sink and around the disposal. but somehow i did and the water is turned off, hose unhooked, and the return hose is also pulled out. i just have to cut the power and then cut the wire. sadly it wasn't simply plugged into the wall via a socket and i will have to do a bit of splicing. but jim assured me this was an easy task. same to same and we bought the installation pack for doing such, just in case.

i will kick ass. i will get this bad boy installed tomorrow (unless i get the wild hair to do it today). it's official, too. i am an adult. i've never been so excited about an appliance....

just wait until we get a new range.

happiest of holidays

2009-12-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

the fire is burning.
mom and simon are napping on the sofa.
josie is guarding her new toy which gifted to her from our neighbor's dog, adobo.
dad is loading photos from this trip onto his computer.
kev is doing crosswords.
chloe is sleeping on our bad.
i am thankful for a full house.

hope you and yours are having the loveliest of lovely days.

the menus are set

2009-12-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

next week my parents arrive. i am so excited i can hardly stand it. they will be here for a whole week. of course i have to work a few of those days, but they understand it is what i have to do during the holidays.

anyone who knows me, knows i'm a planner. well about certain things. menus for upcoming visits, outfits to pack for trips that are months away, knitting to take on those trips...yeah, a planner.

i've got the dinner menus set for my parents visit.

the night they arrive, kev is working late. so it will just be the three of us for dinner. a few months ago kev made an amazing baked ziti with scallops and shrimp. i think that would be a great first dinner of the visit.

the next night we are having my best girls (from college) over so we can all visit. chunky black bean chili in the slow cooker. i'll make a double batch of corn bread, too.

on thursday that week my plan is to make a bean and corn soup. i am thinking there will probably be corn bread left over.

friday is the main event and i am going all out. a molasses brined turkey, mushroom and bacon stuffing, mom's potatoes, green beans, rolls, ginger snap gravy, with shoo-fly pie for dessert.

saturday we will not want to think of cooking so kev will bring home pizza from work.

sunday we have reservations at The Chart House. i've never been, but mom and dad went last time they were here. they have friends who moved out here a few years ago. she actually was my science teacher for about a week in jr. high school.

monday, their last night in town, kev is going to make his amazing vodka penne. i crushed some tomatoes this fall and added seasonings so kev could make it for them. it's so damn good.

like i said, i can hardly wait!!

pie on the mind

2009-12-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

one of my fondest memories from when i was a little girl is sneaking pie with my grandpa. nobody knew what we were up to. he'd stand guard and i would creep under the table to the cabinet where grandma would put the desserts. the cabinet was built into the table. shoo-fly pie was our favorite. still is mine.

last week i made one and while the actual filling was perfect, the crust was not. it was too thick and took away from the flavors of the pie itself. i hadn't been able to locate a great crust recipe i'd found online, nor could i remember the site or find it in my history.

today i decided to start thinking about the holidays and what food i shall be making. the menu is coming along quite nicely, i must say. what should i find in the bread section of my recipe box? that crust recipe!!

so, even though i made the pie just last week, i think i must make it again. to see if i have truly perfected it.

and we were thankful

2009-11-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

yesterday we hosted our annual "stragglers thanksgiving" dinner. last year it was interrupted (happily) by my family visiting and my having to feed us all. man, that was fun.

this year we had our friend michelle and her 15 year old son, gage, over as well as tami (who i work with) and her beau, keith.

i texted mick a few weeks ago asking her what their plans were. she said there was another offer on the table, but that she would check with the kid. he answered with a resounding, "kev and shan's!" i kind of figured that would happen. :)

earlier this week it dawned on me that one of the girls i work with and her boyfriend might not have plans, but want copious amounts of food. they were on and off the fence not sure what they wanted to do, but at 3:00 sent a text saying they were on their way. i also kind of figured that would happen...what, with the lure of a huge home cooked meal?

it was such a lovely day. no crazy rush to get things cooking, just a glance at my time-line on the fridge and i knew i could have a leisurely day cooking. the turkey was 18 lbs. it was one our neighbors had stored in our freezer last year. they'd gotten it for free, but had no space last year to put it in their tiny freezer. we offered up storage, thinking they'd want it for the holidays. nope.

i told brett that we were cooking it and he was surprised we'd not already. a year is my limit on freezing a turkey for someone before it becomes fair game (no pun intended). we'll have them over for soup.

we played a game for a while, in front of the fire, but we ended early because it was kind of boring...why didn't we play quelf?!?

everyone had a good time anyway. it ended up being an earlier night, but that was okay. we all were full. not only our bellies, but our hearts (well mine was).

this morning i woke at the leisurely hour of almost 9:00. i've got plans to make the turkey stock for soup. i may not get out of my jammies, jury is still out on that call.

happy birthday, bay-bee

2009-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

35.

i have now known you for 13 of those 35 years. how did i get to be so lucky?

when we first met i wasn't sure you were my type. when we first met you thought i asked too many questions because you just wanted to go home. it was at work, where we met.

you make me laugh. you make my life fuller. you make the sun rise and set, according to the dog. i suppose the cats and i agree. you are pretty darn special.

i love you, kevin. possibly more than you might know.

the quiet of the day

2009-11-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

it's a nice quiet day around here. kev has been out and about running a couple of errands. i got to stay home and start some chores. the house is now vacuumed and the laundry is underway.

i am knitting and listening to music in our living room. it's nice that i am finally using this room more. we've lived in the house for a bit more than two years now and it's been the room we've never really utilized. i'm glad it's starting to get a bit more play these days. i do think i want to hang heavier curtains in the winter, however.

kev's birthday is tomorrow. we decided to go to dinner last night at a fancy steak house with two of our closest friends. man, it was goo-ood. petite filet with a bleu cheese crust...perfectly steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms (left whole), and meh potatoes (was unanimous).

i can't believe that when we first met kev was only 22 years old, i was 24. seems like yesterday sometimes, and others it feels like forever ago.

it makes me happy, knowing i married my best friend. i hope your birthday is what you want it to be, kev. i love you.

it's the holiday season...

2009-11-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

working retail during the holidays can be crazy. being a manager is almost even crazier. staff want off to spend time with their family and i try to accommodate as best i can. this year i've only had to tell one person that they couldn't have their original desired date off, but we compromised and adjusted the schedule so she would get an extra day to go see her family and her beau's family. thankfully the crew knows i am one person and most of them are willing to cover for a coworker now and again when i am already on the sales floor.

starting tuesday, i'm working a nine (9) day stretch on the sales floor. leading right up to turkey day. i've got the menu set and the shopping list compiled. all kev has to do is go on monday before the big day to get everything on said list. one of the evenings i will make the cheesecake. and we have to remember to take the bird out of the freezer on the sat prior to thanksgiving. it's an 18 lb bird. i hope that the 14 year old boy, 16 year old girl and their mother who are joining us for the big day are hungry. cuz i've got a feast planned.

i'm glad to get the tradition of "stragglers thanksgiving" back into practice. michelle, gage and mallory will be a welcome addition to our feast.

a slow morning

2009-11-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

it's a rainy monday in portland. the color of the leaves that still stay attached to the japanese maple is vivid and lovely. pops of orange, yellow and red against the cold grey skies. there is a chill to the air in the house.

i long for a day in jammies, but know we have errands that must be run. that's the problem with living in the rainy climate in winter. you don't ever want to leave your house on days off. we will get out, errands will be run. but the desire to start a fire so i can sit and knit in its warm glow is strong. of course that would mean having to go out to the garage to get some wood. and my fire starter is still in bed.

so instead i sit listening to the sound of the rain on the roof and the trees, thinking of turning the heat up a bit (it's set to 62) so i can work on a fun little project for someone i hold dear to me. i have a looming deadline, this weekend. eep!

life is good. i am thankful.

a post of eclectic

2009-10-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

i am looking forward to what today holds. i will be zipping between stores a bit, but also going to ellington to look at the purses again. i went last week, but honestly didn't get to dig in the bags and really inspect them as i would have liked. my rep is a lovely woman, but it was hard to really play when she was there. don't know why that was. ah well, at least their store is open weekly and i can go anytime i want. :)

the dog is driving me batshit crazy. she will guard her breakfast for a while before finally settling down and eating it. she acts as though i am the meanest person in the world when i make her go out to potty before she's eaten. she tucks her tail a little and acts like i'm scolding her. i try to keep my voice upbeat and free of the annoyance i am feeling, but somehow she knows.

for some reason simon allowed us to sleep until the alarm sounded this morning. not sure what's up with that cat. he hasn't used his voice much at all today. not that i am complaining because the other one, chloe, is taking up the slack for him. whine whine whine as she sits behind me, staring at my head.

the rains have arrived. how can i tell, besides the drops of water falling from the sky? people aren't out and about. it always happens each year when they return. we forget what it's like to have rain and we freak out, hiding inside. this will change after a couple of weeks and we realize it's not going anywhere.

kev has to work on halloween. i don't think i am going to hand out candy. i just don't need it in my house and last year we didn't get all that many kids. and honestly, kids don't need the candy either... i think i may go hang with the neighbors. i suppose i should make sure they are down with that idea. i do have a party we got invited to, but i'm not sure i am going to go.

i have signed up at this site called opentable.com that my sister told me about. it's pretty cool. you make reservations, they give you points. the points turn into $$ you can spend at participating restaurants. pretty neat, huh? i also signed up at upromise.com to help save money for my dear little nephew's college fund. i've got a total savings of $7.38 thus far!! :) it makes me feel good contributing to his future.

knitting is coming along and i have only a couple more blocks to make for the blanket i'm doing for my dear little nephew. it's pretty exciting, really. i am hoping to have it down to them mid december at the latest, although part of me is thinking i should wait and send it down with my parents when they go down after xmas. we'll see how much space they will have. i just fear it getting lost in the mail. and since that voice is calling, perhaps i should listen and ask mom and dad. :)

work is calling...must go in now.

today was a day

2009-10-19T16:26:00.001-07:00

we decided yesterday that we'd start winterizing the garden today. we finally had a day off together that was somewhat nice. we did the responsible thing by getting up and getting outside. we cleaned up the beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and weeded around the asparagus (the ferns that is). we discussed what we'd like to see happen back there next year as far as the paths go. i don't feel like mulching every couple of years. we did it last year, our first summer, and as i recall i ended up doing most of it.

i am going to play with it tonight i think. put pen to paper, if you will. in fact, i think i am going to get my graph paper right now...

make me a chicken pot pie!

2009-10-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

kev surprised me with a food processor this year for my birthday. i'd told him that the trip could be my present, but he did research and found a great deal at macy's for a 7 cupper. i made tiny pies tonight to freeze for later in the winter.

i added sage to the pie dough recipe because i thought it would add a lovely flavor to the meal. i only made enough dough for six of the wide mouthed 8 oz jelly jars so i threw some biscuits in the oven while i filled the jars with the mixture since there was extra filling...

when the biscuits were done i split one on the bottom of each bowl and spooned the filling on top. the recipe was quite tasty.

i am looking forward to trying the tiny pies soon.

hello there stranger

2009-10-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

time has passed. funny how it does that.

1. i went to california to visit my sister, her husband and my 5 month old nephew last weekend. i was in heaven. from the moment he laid eyes on me E got a huge grin on his face and his eyes lit up. i am sure my face did the same.

2. i am surprised the kid isn't chapped from head to toe since i kissed every single inch of him multiple times. he didn't seem to mind. in fact, he giggled everytime i gave his belly zerburts. but then again, who wouldn't?

3. i came home to an extremely clean house. it has promptly gone down hill. i've worked every single day since getting home, some days were 10+ hour days. i promise to clean it tomorrow.

4. i am chugging along on the next sweater/shell i am knitting myself, but have to set it down now to work on the blanket once more. i didn't want to take the gift with me because it would spoil the surprise and it has gotten too big to be a traveling project.

5. our old tv finally died. kev did research and found us a new tv at a great deal. it's puuuuurrrrrty!

6. i don't have a sixth thing in my mind right now, but it's my favorite number so... 6!

four more sleeps and other orts

2009-10-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

i am going to visit my sister and her family on friday. i can hardly wait to get my arms around my nephew. it will be the perfect ending to what promises to be an exhausting week.

i've been redesigning the office and it is now time to put the plan into action. that means, office is getting cleaned out, old furniture removed, new furniture purchased and constructed...all before wednesday's meeting which is at 1:00. i can do it!

knitting is going well, except for the fact when we walked in the door saturday night kev's first words as he opened the door were, "uh oh! you are not going to like this..." josie had pulled all the yarn out of the bag that held the blanket i am making for eli and family. josie basically pulls out the balls of yarn and tosses them in the air, which makes them all fall apart...so she gets the next one out until it's nothing but a mess. all in all there were four balls of yarn played with and only one had been broken (meaning the yarn was cut essentially). thankfully, she didn't put a hole in the blanket.

i have a different project to take with me on the plane since the blanket is to the size where it just wouldn't travel well (can't imagine knitting it on the plane really). and since i don't want to work on it in front of my sister and her family...it stays here so i can finish it and ship it before the holidays. she knows i'm making it, but she doesn't know what it looks like. man, it's turning out beautifully and i think she will adore it!!

the type of people we live near

2009-09-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

we went to get in our car yesterday morning. i noticed something on the roof. at first glance it looked like a dead bird. at second glance we realized it was just a dead birds head.

sent text to neighbors: "tell your cats thanks for the gift of the bird head on our car"

sign on porch when we returned from the coast:

"LOST BIRD!!

Have you seen our beloved Chirpie?
Our parapelegic daughter's bird Chirpie escaped last night.
Last seen flying into a tree at (intersection where i live).
My wife gave Chirpie to my daughter last Christmas. An allergic
reaction to the bird killed her mom and now all little Collette has is
Chirpie. She hasn't stopped crying since last night.
Have you seen Chirpie?
Bob (and a fake number)"

the quiet of morning

2009-09-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

there is something lovely about the quiet of this house before everyone is up and going. chloe sits next to me on the couch. if i'm lucky, she sometimes sits on my lap. simon, kev and josie are all still in the bedroom snoozing. if i go in there, i can hear the symphony of their breath. it's a lovely sound.

today is a rainy morning. the kind that makes you wish you didn't have to go into work, rather you'd love to just sleep in, waking when you want instead of with an alarm.

i'm working at the new store today. and for the first time since training the newbie, i've got someone working with me for a few hours. i just hope it proves to be a good idea to have someone with me for a few hours in the middle of the day. i have projects already figured out in case it is slow.

jill came over last night. it was rather impromptu (which is often the case). we had a lovely dinner, shared a nice bottle of wine, and watched project runway. spending time chatting and just being with each other in the same space. i'm a lucky girl.

tonight, i'm not sure what it holds. i know kev is talking of meeting a friend for a movie (kung fu, so i may pass) but i don't know what i want to do. should i text some knittah friends to come over and knit? maybe that's not a bad idea...the texts shall begin once i am at work (and after i make sure that kev is going to the movie and hasn't decided he wants to hang with me instead...which would be fine by me, too).

what are you doing tonight?

and breathe

2009-09-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

i am finally getting to sit for a little bit today. it's nice.

so, what's been going on? you wonder. well, work. and life.

i've not caught myself thinking about writing as much lately. sometimes i get an idea running through my head, but more times than not i forget it by the time i get to sit in front of my computer. and then i get sucked into other things that obviously are more demanding of my attention. but when i get a quiet moment, when i am alone upstairs, my muse sometimes visits.

sadly, now is not one of those times. i just wanted to pop in and say hello. hope all is going well with you all. will write when i can and when i have things to say.

until then, be well.

harvest

2009-08-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

this is one of my favorite harvests. those potatoes were like velvet in my mouth. the onions were sharp and wonderful (albeit small), the peppers had some kick to them (which made for amazing salsa).

i have a list on the fridge of the veggies we'd like to plant next year for the summer harvest. i've been remiss about doing a fall crop. i'm not a huge fan of the butternut squash and other fall harvests. but i still feel as though i should have planted something...

oh and next year, we're planting the same type of green bean as last year. not a fan of the taste or the small harvest of the ones we planted this year. the latter of which possibly has to do with the odd weather we've had this year.

days off blogger

2009-08-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

it would appear as if i've become a "weekender". ah well, such is life. work has been quite busy, but in this economy (while working retail) that's a good thing! trust me, i gots no complaints!

so, instead of rehashing all that i've done this work week, perhaps i will make the list of things i'd like to get accomplished today? or maybe just talk about a few of the things. i don't want to pressure myself.

i'd like to make salsa today, but it requires going to the store. i need a bit more cilantro, another onion, some habeneros (to go with our jalapenos and anaheims), and limes.

i am really hoping that we get the diggity dog out (that'd be josie) on a light hike. we've not been all that active this summer (other than walks around the 'hood) so i want to take it easy. no devil's rest!

i also hope to have time to do is knit. i've got patterns of sweaters swirling in my head...but i've not seen them anywhere, so my brain is working overtime doing math and such.

ooh! and coffee. i'm going to make coffee! the grinder is using less beans for a really lovely pot of french press than my previous blade grinder. this will prove to be a great thing.

that's about it, yo.

today might just be a perfect day, with a couple of exceptions

2009-08-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

i got to sleep in. (perfect)
i did not get to have coffee after waking, for the grinder has passed. (so NOT perfect)
i took the dog on an hour long walk. (perfect)
i did get to run errands with jill today. (perfect)
i did unload three enormous zucchini to the lovely kay at sweetness bakery. (perfect)
where i did get a non fat, iced, latte. (perfect)
i found fabulous new dishtowels that were also inexpensive, but not thin and crappy. (perfect)
i got a burr coffee bean grinder that did not cost an arm and a leg, by black and decker which makes me chuckle for some reason. (perfect)
i had a rubinator in the middle of the day, with jill. (perfect)
i left my grocery list at the bar. (NOT perfect)
i remembered everything on it. (perfect)
and tonight i have date night with my husband where he will make me vodka penne with tomatoes out of our own garden. (perfect)

pulse

2009-08-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

i just got home from taking josie on about an hour long walk. we walked over to jill's house to see if she wanted to join us on a walk back to our house before running errands. we knew, when we arrived, the answer would be "later" because jill had paint in her hands and the window trim was all taped and ready.

we chatted with jill for a little bit, and jill shared this story:

background: we needed jill to feed the crew last night because we both worked closing shifts

"your dog is a smart dog! i walked in, she didn't bark. we all went downstairs and she sat down. i asked her 'oh, do the cats get fed first?' fed the cats. asked josie, 'bagged food or binned food?' and she sniffed the bag with her nose. then, she went upstairs and sat by the door waiting to go out. she peed and then i asked her, 'do you have to poo?' so she turned around and went poo. "

i'm impressed by josie so often, but this made my heart swell with pride.

after we chatted josie and i walked home. we popped (well, i did) into sweetness bakery to possibly get an iced latte. line was long! (yea!!) so i told kay i would see her later. she reminded me i had zucchini for her. i will take them by when i get jill.

now, i am cooled off, but need to get cleaned up. the air is already getting warm (hence the walk this morning). heat wave 2.0 is approaching.

life back to normal!

2009-08-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

this morning i woke and fed the crew. simon was a little annoying this morning, but just in spurts of it. not constant. i had an odd dream, but can't really remember it. just the feeling is left over.

i got myself caught up with my blogs (google reader is a blessing and a curse. for when there are 40+ posts over the past few days to get caught up on, daunting). i've had my regular half a bagel (one half of the half with peanut butter, the other with butter). i'm sipping on my coffee and there is a chill to the air.

today is going to consist of the following (well, some of it at least)

weeding the front yard (why does it always come off my fingers as wedding...)
buying a new coffee bean grinder (there was a mishap)
lunching with kiley (yea!)
hanging with chuck (yea squared!)
canning of tomato sauce (possibly)

and lounging. a lot.

you?

won't bore you with the details

2009-08-05T18:06:00.001-07:00

work has been crazy busy. we're getting ready for several events within a two week time period (some are overlapping).

one of those events is a sale at the kids store. i offered to make fabric banners for it, so that we have reusable ones for years to come. i am in the home stretch, and the good thing is they aren't needed for another week. yeah! being ready in advance! go me!

the thing is, sewing on those banners has made me itch to make something. perhaps a pillow. i've always adored making them and our house could use a little updating. also, was thinking i have some friends i've never made one for that should receive one.

i think i am going to have my friend, who is coming over shortly, look at my fabric stash. it's the stash that has gotten out of control before, but has since been reined in...and it's why my yarn stash stays small (i learned). perhaps i will do a little embroidery too? i just don't know. all i do know is that knitting makes me warm and i am itching to do something a little different (although i can now honestly see a cream colored stockinette stitch pillow with big wooden buttons...kill me).

so yeah, i think i'm going to pull out the fabric stash and dream.

the heat has left the building

2009-07-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

this past week i am sure most of you have noticed we got really hot up here in the pac nw. not just hot, but f*cking hot (sorry 'rents). it was all we could do not to melt each and every time we would step outside.

i got home one night and the thermostat in the house read 98F. 98! what is that?!? this morning, i awoke and was slightly chilled by the air coming in through the bedroom window. it was a feeling i'd not felt in a while. it felt amazing!

the clouds are still hanging in the sky (i am sure most of us here would love it if they stayed all day). the garden is looking a little droopy, but we've watered and we are starting to see some tomatoes ripen. i'd have thought with the crazy heat and sun that all of them would have ripened in a second. thankfully, they seem to be ripening at different intervals.

on a side note, have to say i'm a bit disappointed with our oregon spring tomatoes. they didn't ripen as early as last year, and they are getting weird and mis-shapen now. they almost look like the brandywine we grew last year. kev's suggesting there was a mix up last year and the weird oddly shaped ones were probably really the oregon spring. i disagree with him. i think we had a cool spring and our summer finally hit this week. i think the weather played a huge part in why they grew but didn't ripen yet. i am just ready for a ton to do so so i can make salsa. our jalapenos are growing by the bushel full!!

i need to make sure to take a sweater to work today, the mall store gets really cold (why i did not mind working there all week while one of the women who works there is on her honey moon).

done and done

2009-07-29T10:38:00.001-07:00

i didn't get that many photos of me in the dress at both weddings this past weekend, but this is the one that i did get.

it was so much fun to wear! the next night i paired it with a burnt orange necklace (think lots of rocks) and a camel colored pair of sandals. i got many compliments on it, which kind of made me blush.

hit a yarn sale at one of my favorite stores on saturday and bought enough yarn to make just the top of it. my neighbor told me that i had to start making all my own sweaters because this dress fit me so well. i will make another dress, that is certain.

i can't believe that i knit a dress!!!

lest i forget

2009-07-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

i could easily complain about the heat here (it's broken 100 two days in a row and we're going for a trifecta tomorrow) but i won't.

i'd forgotten that i am slightly allergic to the bean plants. any skin that touches the vines gets itchy. really itchy. it goes away rather quickly, but i'd totally forgotten about the fact it even happens.

i am sitting at jill and mark's house. in the "cool" seat. the one that's right next to an air vent. man, i'm glad for good friends. i sent jill a text asking her what time i should be over tonight...we'd not spoken of getting together prior to the text. she sent one back a while later asking if i needed air conditioning.

i brought one zucchini and some greenie beanies. they've got tomatoes already (color me green). so who knows what we will do for dinner tonight. she should be arriving anytime now.

work is going well. i'm on the floor this entire week at the mall location. the only thing i don't mind about that is the fact that the a/c is rockin! and i have to take a sweater. so that makes up for how slow it is out there. at least the next three days i will be training someone so i will have company.

well, going to get myself a large glass of water and knit some in this cool, cool air.

a single moment

2009-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

i have this one tiny moment where there is nothing to do. there isn't enough time to start a project because at about 2:30 i will being the process of getting ready for a friends intimate wedding. there are forty guests. i feel lucky to be invited to share this special day.

the dress has turned out perfectly. i couldn't have asked for any better. i couldn't have shopped for anything better. i do not have pictures of it yet, other than shots i took with my phone's camera when it wasn't finished.

i bought more of the same yarn, different color, to make the top of it (which was sizzle from wendy bernard). my friends are asking me to write up the skirt pattern. i will, i promise! and i'll share. it really turned out special.

last night i roped jill into going to nordy's with me (really, all i had to do was ask her to go with me and help shop for something to wear under the dress). what i got ain't sexy, but it sure helps the dress look hotsie totsie!

and the time goes where?

2009-07-14T07:53:00.001-07:00

i am going to be m.i.a. for a little bit. we're getting ready to open a new store. i'm covering the floor more. i've got three weddings to attend over two weekends. somewhere in there, i am going to remember to breathe.

oh and no, i didn't finish the dress i was hoping to have knitted for the weddings. and i'm okay with that.

one week old

2009-07-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

i am such a jerk. sorry. i tantalize you with a photo of pearl's right eye, with promises of more to come...and then i disappear.

work's gotten crazy. we're in the process of opening a new location so busy is my middle name.

so without further ado, i give you pearl. my 09 honda fit sport.

wink

2009-07-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

kev and i decided to go look at cars last night. we were only going to actually buy something if it was THE car we wanted. no settling!

trust me, i didn't settle!

meet Pearl...

she's a little shy. i'll have to try to get some more shots when she's not looking.

found one!

2009-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

being a lighter shade of blond, it is hard to really see if/when i've got grey hair. well, this morning, i found my first...

i've always thought when it happens, it will come in rather white grey. it seems as though those thoughts may be true. it looks rather light, doesn't it?!?

honestly, i feel like celebrating! it's a lovely shade of grey.

can you see it? it even has a little bit of body to it! eep!!

quiet mornings

2009-06-25T08:03:00.001-07:00

the house is getting going rather quietly this morning. a departure from yesterday. eli is with his mom in bed, getting fed. his dad is getting ready for yet another day at work. his uncle is sleeping still, while i am up making coffee and doing some light cleaning around here. today, i will remember to vacuum the house and wash the dog.

speaking of the dog...oscar has been my favorite dog for a long time, well favorite boy dog (sorry edgar). he is the reason i wanted a dog in the first place.

i remember the first time i met him my sister said, "he's a little wild and he will probably bark at you for quite a while, just ignore him." i walked in saying, "oscar oscar oscar" and he walked up, to me quietly, turned and barked at her. he and i have been friends ever since.

that was a long time ago. the old man is now eleven and a half(!) years old. i can hardly believe it when i watch him tear off through the backyard. but then, if we play too hard, the arthritus in the hips starts to act up and it's more evident. of course, the white mask doesn't make him look any more puppy like, but he still has faked people out.

he is a great dog with the baby. as soon as eli cries, oscar is up and by his side. he listens when we tell him no licking the baby. he moves out of the way when asked. he's just a great dog. i will miss him when we leave town tomorrow. i will miss all of them when we leave.

i miss them already...

smit-ten

2009-06-22T19:21:00.001-07:00

yes, i am in love. he's my little bug. he had just been getting fussy after a lovely moment with his mom getting fed in their bed. she was hoping to nap, but alas...she ended up using the time to go through a box of table linens while he and i danced around the room to james brown.

at this point i asked my sister to get into my purse and pull out my camera to capture this shot. i'm glad i did.

he is such a snuggle bug!!! i love him ever so much. my little guy.

if i didn't love my life in portland so much i'd move here in a heartbeat. of course, i was hoping they would move up to where i live...but no such luck. ah well, such is life.

made it

2009-06-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

i am sitting in the family room at my sister's house in los angeles. i arrived yesterday after a roughly 16 hour drive. i am thankful for chuck and gage and their willingness to make the trip with me. it was not too bad. i didn't ever feel like i wished it was over until we got into the city and i was driving. man, i can't imagine driving in that kind of traffic all the time.

can i just say, the drive was worth it?!?! i think you can get that from the photo, though.

i made my sister leave the house solo today, while david had to finish some things up at work. (actually, once i proposed that i stay home with the baby and allow her some time to herself, she ran to the store to pick up the last few things for the first dad's day dinner. i was the lucky chef) he was a little fussy in the beginning, but after a few burps and one spit up, he was sleeping soundly. then we had our first photo shoot. i love looking into that mirror and seeing myself holding him. he's everything i knew he would be.

it's been a lovely evening. watching my sister and her husband with their son is a truly wonderful site to behold. they are natural parents. and it was an honor to get to cook something that they both truly enjoyed (even though they had to eat in shifts...).

i can hardly believe i am an aunt. i love him more than i can express in words.

i smell like a dog

2009-06-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting on the couch, watching some silly and stupid tv program. josie is resting quietly on the floor by my feet. all of a sudden, she jumps up with her nose held high in the air. she starts walking around the house this way. i think to myself that somebody must have gotten sick and as soon as i stand to investigate, i realize that i smell it as well.

i swear, i have the olfactory system of a dog.

friends are a'comin

2009-06-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

we are having some friends over tonight for a little bbq. really, we originally were just having the friend who will be house/animal sitting while we are in los angeles (where lily, yes, we'll be meeting our new little nephew, eli) over to show him the ropes, but that turned into "hey, we should have other people over to eat too!"

only one couple couldn't make it due to prior engagements, but they were over last night.

kev is such a good sport about stopping and getting groceries on his way home. he works near a haggens market and quite honestly, the produce there is much better quality than the two stores near us. plus, i still don't have a car so it makes it easier on me if he goes and does it on his way home.

speaking of the car, we're still waiting to sign on our re-fi. there were so many people trying to take advantage of the lower rates that the banks are swamped. our broker has the locked in date past the time when we are gone, so we can sign when we get home (unless she emails us and tells us that we can sign this week). i'm not too worried. so i'll drive the subie down (i adore it, vicki!!)

all i have left to do today before everyone gets here is move the furniture back downstairs (when we rock band, we move things around to make space) and finish cleaning up the kitchen.

oh, and sneeze...a lot...blasted allergies.

i took photos of the garden yesterday, but kev took the camera to work and i didn't get them loaded to my computer before he had to leave. i promise to share when i get the camera back!!

clean

2009-06-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

there is nothing more satisfying than sitting down in a freshly cleaned house. we took the subaru to the dealership today to get the power outlet installed. it'd had a defunct lighter when we bought it used a few years ago and up until this point we hadn't needed the power for anything. however, with my driving trip coming up in just over a week, kev thought it'd be a good idea to get it taken care of so i can charge my cell phone. while there the battery died. honestly, can't think of a better place for it to up and die than a place where they sell batteries. they said it looked like the original battery, which means it was seven years old. pretty old for a car battery.

we got home, ate a little breakfast and decided to go ahead and clean the house in anticipation for a couple of friends who are coming over this evening. i am a big fan of getting the cleaning taken care of early in the day so that the rest of my day off can be spent relaxing. perhaps i need to make a facebook fan group for that? it seems like there are fan groups for all kinds of things there.

i'm really looking forward to the drive to los angeles with our friend chuck. it was a surprise that he was able to go with me down (and both of us coming back). i simply suggested that prior to him finding a job he might want to go visit his sister who lives there. he talked to her and the dates worked well. this made many in my family happy, knowing i would not be driving alone. kev will be joining me there, but he flies down a few days later because he can't take too many days off work.

so now what? perhaps i can cajole kevin into some rock band? it's a bit too rainy for yard work...

the circus is in town

2009-06-05T16:47:00.001-07:00

i looked outside yesterday morning and saw that the circus had arrived.

when we first bought the house this bush was not blooming. we had no idea what was in store for us the following spring.

it is the coolest flowering bush we've ever seen. still have no idea what kind it is. we will be taking a clipping to the local nursery to see what they say.

we've been getting rain these past couple of days. i love free water!! :)

the woman i call friend

2009-06-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

last week jill asked me when *we were going to paint our upstairs bathroom. she suggested we do it on a monday or tuesday soon, because currently she's only working wed-fri and isn't sure when that might change.

i told her we'd do it next week. today was the day. galveston gray from benjamin moore. we are in love with it! the cabinetry will be going white in the very near future, for which she has also offered her services.

jill is one of my closest friends. with each other we know that all we have to do is ask and we're there. for whatever project either of us have to do. even if that project is simply sitting on the back patio with a gin and tonic.

*we= the two of us, not me and kevin...who hasn't even seen it yet as i write this. i think the photo turned out pretty okay considering i took it with my phone!!

they're starting to bloom!

2009-06-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

this is one of my favorite flowering shrubs on our property. when all of them bloom it's wild. no worries, though, i will share when they do!

it was a lovely day today. work was productive and went by quickly. i got to meet up with a friend i've not seen in probably over a year and a half. otherwise known as TOO LONG!! amanda, it was great to see you again and we'll do it again real soon!

tomorrow jill is coming over to help paint the upstairs bathroom. tonight i was supposed to start taping off parts, but honestly, i lost steam. instead i sat downstairs for a while watching dvr'd what not to wear while knitting. i've started cleaning up the kitchen, but again...the steam is not there.

i'm happy to say i have the next two days off. i do have to do a little bit of work tomorrow (just fielding a call from an employee who was sick today, has called off for tomorrow, and possibly will be calling off for wednesday as well) but it won't take long.

have we talked about the potatoes?

2009-05-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

we decided to try our hands at growing potatoes, too. i figured that the odds were in my favor because my late grandfather was a potato farmer in pennsylvania.

mom thought the potato we had looked a little sad and it might be too late to plant. well, our potato had other ideas. we planted four chunks, all which had really strong eyes. three have shot forth and become these beautiful plants. one is slower, but it's there.

each time i see the growth, i cover it...as i am supposed to. and each day i go out to visit my plants, i am amazed by how much this little guy is poking out. so i cover him up again. i need to drag the bag of really amazing dirt out of the potting shed to have on had 24/7 by this guy. the mounds will have to be quite big soon.

i can hardly wait!!

the rise of the greenie beanies

2009-05-28T08:07:00.001-07:00

hello big world.

greenie beanies will grow again.

this time, even more. planted the entire length of support, instead of just half like last year.

beans coming out of my ears, you say?

yep!!

i spy with my little eye

2009-05-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

can you see it? i know you can. if not, click the pic to make it bigger.

you see now? two little sprouts. what are they?

CORN!!!

i planted roughly 40 seeds (two rows) and we have about 10 coming up right now, with hopes for more.

our zucchini sprouts have started too. out of the 9 i planted, 2 are emerging. we'll probably even cull that to one plant (will let the little boogers grow to see who is going to look the strongest).

i could hardly believe my eyes when we took the tour last night. i swear, every single day i walk through the garden i spy something else new and beautiful.

we've got quite a bit of garden work that kind of dropped in our laps last night, however. the tiny italian plum tree is covered in aphids. we have rock to spread. there are always weeds to pull (but that isn't new, so not really something that "dropped" per se).

look ma! i weeded

2009-05-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

when mom and dad were here we worked our fingers to the bone. we weeded almost every single day, or at least it felt like it. there was one spot mom really had wanted to get to, but her hips were hurting and she was done. so, with the aide of some amazing tools provided by my neighbor, i did the spot last night. the garden weasel and a claw...

got that space nice and neat, didn't it?!

perhaps that is the reason i am tired today? all this playing in the dirt?

i also trimmed up the grape vines that were obstructing the view of the garden from our kitchen. we can have none of that!!

so what do you think, mom?

thank you garden

2009-05-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

i got to harvest some spinach tonight. the first of hopefully many. there wasn't a whole bowlful, so it was lucky i had some more in the fridge we bought when mom and dad were here, but what i had was amazing. so meaty yet tender.

i look forward to more from our garden this summer. we've gotten our beans and corn planted as well as potatoes (not sure if it's too late or not to plant those, so we'll see). all nine of the asparagus crowns i planted have sprouted, just about half are ferning out (which is necessary to allow happen as to strengthen the root systems). our broccoli hasn't put up any buds yet, but all six plants are looking healthy.

our garlic will be ready to come out right around july. i am looking forward to it because we have none left from last year's harvest.

thank you, garden.

for my knittahs!

2009-05-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

i've been remiss. i've failed to keep you all updated on the progress of the dress. it is coming along quite nicely. i did get to try it on at one point, when i'd just finished the top but hadn't started on the skirt yet. it looked great. took a photo with my old phone, but can't get it off that one.

anyway, i took a couple of shots today. the sun was just lovely, a breeze coming in through the window. i'm happy to say i got to work on it almost every day my parents were here.

i kind of changed my deadline from the weddings i have in july to going down to california to meet my nephew. i can hardly wait.

yeah, i might be nuts, but i really think i can make it. the thing that will be hardest is weaving in all those ends and picking up the stitches around the neck and arms.

speaking of my beautiful dress, i think i shall go sit with it for a while. the simpsons are on, the breeze is still coming in through the windows while the sun is shining in the sky.

we've got friends coming over to help eat some of the amazing leftovers we have from the visit in a while, so i have to get a few minutes in...

then it's lakers with the asatos.

busy bees

2009-05-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

mom and dad left this morning. tears came to my eyes this time. not sure why, other than i will really miss them. they are such amazing people.

we had many bottles they brought with them, most with labels removed. we finished the tomato bed and started in on the lettuce/asparagus bed yesterday.

we also started clearing out a bunch of weeds in the back to create a zen garden. a little earlier than planned, but ian (our landscaping neighbor and friend) gave us a bunch of crushed rock and i want to get it out of the driveway. we still need to get the weed barrier as well as more rock. will have to ask ian where he got the stuff he gave us so we can get more to match.

mom, dad...thanks for everything. we love you both so very much! still wish you lived closer...

planted

2009-05-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

well, mom and dad are here and we've been busy already...

today we were out pulling weeds, planting veggies (tomatoes, hot peppers, corn, beans, zucchini) and cutting back some plants. we're all hot and dirty. well, dad's not anymore since he was the first in the shower.

we're going to have a light dinner of spinach salad with grilled chicken.

kev should be getting home from work shortly and perhaps we'll get to play a game. and drink wine. we need to make more empties for the rest of the beds.

i think it's my turn to jump in the shower...

they're on their way

2009-05-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

just spoke with my parents and they were getting ready to leave sacramento. it is just over 600 miles from there to hear and if we average the speed to be around 55mph, it should have them here near 6:00 tonight. i get off work at 7:00 so i will have to remember to put the key out in its hiding place. of course they do have to stop for meals, so we might all be pulling up at the same time. that wouldn't be so bad, either.

the house is as clean as it is going to get before they get here (although i am really hoping kev makes the bed when he gets up...). their room is all ready with the new sheets on the bed, towels fluffed and waiting, and a drawer in the guest dresser is empty awaiting their things.

i am excited. i just hope that time flies today. who knows, maybe my coworker will offer to stay the last hour if i mention the time they are estimating their arrival.

i do still have to work tomorrow and monday (since they were originally arriving on sunday, monday is not a surprise to them, but saturday...they'll survive, though). but after that i've got a couple of days off (remind me that is why i worked a 6 day work week) and plans to play in the dirt with them! i hope they remembered to pack their gardening gloves and clothing! :)

speaking of the garden, kev had gathered more bottles the other evening. he sunk them all yesterday!! i was honestly very surprised by that. he soaked them, removed the labels, and arranged them in the ground so perfectly! then, then he sent me a picture. i love my husband!

it's what you do

2009-05-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

i have a friend named amanda. she and i were friends in high school. when she went away to college we tried to keep in touch, but in 1996 we spoke for the last time. it wasn't like we had a fight and we screamed and told one another we hated each other. on the contrary, i still adore her...and i hope the feeling is mutual.

imagine my surprise last friday evening when i got a phone call. it wasn't a number i recognized so i allowed it to go to voice mail. let's just say, i've since added the number to my phone. amanda, after 13 years. she was calling to say she was coming into town and even though she knew it was last minute and i might already be busy, she thought she'd call and say hello (the plane was getting ready to take off at this point so she said to call or text if i got the message). as soon as i hung up the phone from voice mail i typed in the text, "i have no plans, you are now my plans! call me when you land."

she had no definite idea where she was going to stay, nor how she would get there once she figured that out. she came here without much planning (hell, she'd bought her ticket that morning at 1:00 am) to help a friend. she called, i asked, she had no clue where, i told her i'd be there in twenty and she'd stay with us, at least the first night.

i warned her that josie would probably bark and be weird, as she often is when meeting new people. yeah, josie proved me wrong. she adored amanda, which honestly now that i think about it, doesn't surprise me at all. in fact, the next day while kev and i were at work, before she hooked up with her other friends, the two of them went on a walk. it made it that much easier to have company over later (it was the night of the fab dinner party) as josie wasn't all stressed because she had too much energy.

it was sweet and funny and not weird at all to be talking with this woman whom i'd last seen on her wedding day in 1996 (the wedding where kev and i had just started dating and her mother asked the two of us if wedding bells were in our future...). she is no longer married to him, but from the sounds of it, it is for the best.

we found out we are both doing the garden bed bottle border, although she is thinking she needs to drill holes in the bottom of the bottles so water doesn't collect and give the mosquitos down in texas a place to breed. i don't think that will be a problem, as the wells aren't all that big and as soon as the sun is out the water starts to evaporate.

anyway, after all those years we found we had grown in very similar ways.

beautiful, no?

i could have laughed all night

2009-05-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

we had a little dinner party last night with two other couples. our dear friends jill and mark, and the woman who helped us find this amazing house and her boyfriend, alia and asit. alia hadn't seen the house but once since we'd moved in and asit hadn't ever seen the house. she couldn't wait to see the kitchen and show asit the "man den" in the basement!

last night kev asked if i'd taken a picture of the table. i brushed him off saying, "no...no...i don't need to" but now i wish i had. it was quite lovely. imagine, if you will, an 8 foot long table with a table cloth. candles running the length, with beautiful little purple flowers lying down between them and the plates with the oil and vinegar for the bread. oh, and imagine this table outside on our back patio.

i had so much fun getting that table set up. when they all arrived the oohs and ahhs were at the right times by the girls as they saw what we'd done. the conversation flowed so easily between the six of us. laughter filled the night air. the din of jazz music filled any silences, but honestly...there really weren't any.

when everyone left kevin and i just looked at each other and smiled ear to ear. THAT was a dinner party! our first real grown up dinner party. i was sure my sides would hurt this morning for all the laughing we did...

new post

2009-05-08T18:56:00.001-07:00

i took my mamasita-in-law to the airport this morning. i told her that next time, she better plan on more than two full days book-ended by travel days. i would have no more of it! i want to see her for longer. she's a pretty fantastic lady.

let's see, a recap of our events:

tuesday i picked her up at the airport. jill came with, which was a surprise for mamasita. the three of us headed to dots for lunch (yum) and then we dropped jill off at home and got the tour. mamasita loved it, with good reason. the two of us headed home and kev arrived shortly after we got in. he brought an unbaked pizza home from work for dinner. that will happen again in the future for sure! quite possibly the best pizza i've ever had. (yes dad, i'll put in the request to him now) but before we had dinner we walked over to north (bar) and had dollar pabst with one of kev's friends from his last job. it was really fun.

on wednesday we went to sweetness bakery, oh mah gawd! and while there we decided to go to the japanese garden, despite the fact it was a little drizzly. the gardens were gorgeous, even when the rain picked up. afterwards we went to mother's bistro for our anniversary lunch. yum! i had a bowl of stuffed potato soup with a salad. then the three of us shared a dessert. from there we headed to ikea, since mamasita is not near one where she lives in arkansas. that evening we went to the stone for our anniversary dinner. it was the perfect low key night.

thursday we got up and decided to go on a light hike in the gorge. such beauty. josie was thrilled to be along for the fun. well, until the skies opened up and dumped on us. big, fat, juicy rain drops. we were all soaked by the time we got back to the car. hungry, too! we grabbed lunch on our way to the house (one of the rare times i will eat fast food, and it was burgerville so not as bad as some). after we all were clean and dry we ran to the grocery store as well as target and tuesday morning. we got things so i could make lasagna, which turned out really good.

this morning we just got up and ate a light breakfast at the house before having to get her off to the airport. i am sad she's not here tonight. i missed her the moment i woke up this morning.

love you mamasita! i'm serious about next time lady!!

in a few hours

2009-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

i got an email this morning from my mother-in-law (let's call her mamasita). it was two lines...

"on plane. see you soon."

i can hardly wait until 11:20 for that is when i will be standing in the airport waiting for one of the most amazing women i've ever met. she jokes that "what woman would want her mother-in-law visiting during their anniversary?" well, without her, i wouldn't be having an anniversary. i mean, she did give birth to kevin...

mamasita, this woman wants you visiting for her anniversary! i can't imagine a better gift!