not that long ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

the best laid plans

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

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

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

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

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

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

next week at this exact time

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

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

:)

thanks vicki, i can hardly wait.

eep