Today is a good day for a wishlist - mine is fairly simple.
world peace,
an end to hunger (which would be relatively easy if the billions spent on armaments were redirected toward food),
education for anyone who really wanted it,
a better environment,
a world in better shape than it is now for the generation to follow...
all of it is more easily said than done...
Monday, September 11, 2006
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
midlife musing
End of the Summer!
I've been AWOL for a while - some minor health issues that just wiped me out and then there is the summer... I still work but DH and DGS do not have school to occupy them selves. So I do the camp shuttle thing for GS, and I find it takes a lot of energy just to deal with the home havoc wreaked by DH's home improvements.
School has started for everyone. Life is good! I have made excellent progress on my ABC Rouge sampler. I have DSL installed which speeds up everything, and I've also started a couple of garment sewing projects with my new sewing machine. Started a stitch-a-long at a semi-local NS on Sarabande, which is just wonderful! The photo does not do justice to the colors of the threads! Very cool! when I have enough to show, I'll post a photo!
I've been AWOL for a while - some minor health issues that just wiped me out and then there is the summer... I still work but DH and DGS do not have school to occupy them selves. So I do the camp shuttle thing for GS, and I find it takes a lot of energy just to deal with the home havoc wreaked by DH's home improvements.
School has started for everyone. Life is good! I have made excellent progress on my ABC Rouge sampler. I have DSL installed which speeds up everything, and I've also started a couple of garment sewing projects with my new sewing machine. Started a stitch-a-long at a semi-local NS on Sarabande, which is just wonderful! The photo does not do justice to the colors of the threads! Very cool! when I have enough to show, I'll post a photo!
Friday, March 24, 2006
In the interest of fairness...
OK - last night when I got home from my EGA meeting, DH had a second present under my pillow - a silver and turquoise necklace. He told me that I couldn't seriously think that he wouldn't mark the day. Which was very sweet.
I'm still going to get the card and birthday cake from the kitties - I got one of the new blue ribbon designs charts that I've been wanting but couldn't justify last night at the LNS, and I will wrap that as a present from the kitties. To make the point, because to date, neither DGS or SD have figured out that they missed the birthday. Also to make the point that no matter what the age of the person, there needs to be a card, a cake of some sort and good wishes. And because SD has not properly acknowledged DH's birthday for years (it happens to be Christmas day, so he gets 2 toiletries instead of one... and this past one, she told him that she knew it was a different type than he asked for, but the department store gave it to her free...) - Tacky. But I am more concerned that DGS get the point that he needs to recognize other people's special events - especially the people who participate actively in his life.
So, I'm thinking either an angel food cake or a carrot cake... :-)
I'm still going to get the card and birthday cake from the kitties - I got one of the new blue ribbon designs charts that I've been wanting but couldn't justify last night at the LNS, and I will wrap that as a present from the kitties. To make the point, because to date, neither DGS or SD have figured out that they missed the birthday. Also to make the point that no matter what the age of the person, there needs to be a card, a cake of some sort and good wishes. And because SD has not properly acknowledged DH's birthday for years (it happens to be Christmas day, so he gets 2 toiletries instead of one... and this past one, she told him that she knew it was a different type than he asked for, but the department store gave it to her free...) - Tacky. But I am more concerned that DGS get the point that he needs to recognize other people's special events - especially the people who participate actively in his life.
So, I'm thinking either an angel food cake or a carrot cake... :-)
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Birthday musings
Yesterday was my birthday - the 22nd celebration of my 29th birthday to be exact. That in itself did not bother me - but here's what did. Until my mother and youngest sister called at 8PM, no one (yes, NO ONE other than the one person I told that the day was my birthday) wished me "happy birthday". Not DH, not my friend I work with, no one. As a matter of fact, until I told DH at bed time that he did not recognize my birthday (after his rant on why I was asking him about the book he misplaced, because he never does) he didn't get it. Not even after the 2 phone calls from my family. (My mom wished me a happy birthday tomorrow on the actual day). DH claims that he thought the 22nd was Thursday (today). He didn't forget the gift - he took me out last Saturday to choose my present (a very very nice bracelet) - but he forgot the day.
I'm not quite sure what my emotions on this are. Somewhere between disappointment, sadness, irritation, and loneliness. My sister asked me if DH had taken me out for dinner or gotten me a cake - No on both counts. Unfortunately, the only way I would get a birthday cake now would be if I made it for myself. DH doesn't think it's important... And he's never quite figured out that I am not like him.
I am irritated with myself that I'm feeling sorry for myself - after all, I am not in Iran or Iraq. I have a good home, loving husband and great friends. Yet, there's this little voice that whispers if DH is so loving, why didn't he say "Happy Birthday"? Why didn't my friends get me a card or call? I guess I'm feeling a bit like the wallpaper - taken for granted. I thought I was old enough to be past needing this recognition.
At least Mama Kitty is always glad to see me, especially now that she's nursing! Enough of the whining!
Happy Spring!
I'm not quite sure what my emotions on this are. Somewhere between disappointment, sadness, irritation, and loneliness. My sister asked me if DH had taken me out for dinner or gotten me a cake - No on both counts. Unfortunately, the only way I would get a birthday cake now would be if I made it for myself. DH doesn't think it's important... And he's never quite figured out that I am not like him.
I am irritated with myself that I'm feeling sorry for myself - after all, I am not in Iran or Iraq. I have a good home, loving husband and great friends. Yet, there's this little voice that whispers if DH is so loving, why didn't he say "Happy Birthday"? Why didn't my friends get me a card or call? I guess I'm feeling a bit like the wallpaper - taken for granted. I thought I was old enough to be past needing this recognition.
At least Mama Kitty is always glad to see me, especially now that she's nursing! Enough of the whining!
Happy Spring!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
March Madness
What can I tell you? Due to years of basketball watching, the phrase is embedded in my psyche. Actually my form of March Madness has to do with multiple birthdays to attend to this month and spring break.
On the home front - Mama kitty (the feral cat in my back yard that I can't persuade to come in) has survived another attempt to increase the wild cat population. In a few weeks I'll know if the kittens did - it was 20 degrees the night she had them! I was hoping that this year the winter would be tough enough that she would be tempted to join her older babies inside.
I've had a great stitching month so far - not in quantity but in quality. First of all, I got to test drive a class for Eileen Bennett last weekend - a blackwork sampler! Wonderful design and we earned our keep, as we found things that we were able to make suggestions for that will improve the course. Eileen's work is always top-flight, and it's a privilege to be able to help her! One of the great perks of belonging to the same EGA chapter that she does.
I have been working on a UFO of an Ellen Chester design for lining one of the mini-Whitman sampler tins. It was an EGA project from 2003 that I had an error on - I frogged that and now I'm almost finished with the stitching. It's all over 1 with 1 thread, which in some ways is easier than trying to get 2 over 2 to lie smoothly. But having to rip out is the pits! I've also been working on Marriage of the Minds one day a week.
Then there's my good deed project. One of my friends asked me to do something about her father's favorite coat that he was given by his father when he was 13 years old. The coat is over 54 years old! That's older than me! And it has been worn fairly frequently over the years without repair. So, this is the good dead - I am patching it, inside and out. By hand.
I have always had tremendous admiration for all of our foremothers who sewed clothing by hand and patched everything to make it last. I have much more now! My hands get sore even with a thimble and needle puller. That surprised me, as I spend several hours a day most days of the week with a needle in hand. But linen is a lot easier to pull a needle through than canvas and wool batting! However, her father is delighted, and that is why I'm doing this.
On the home front - Mama kitty (the feral cat in my back yard that I can't persuade to come in) has survived another attempt to increase the wild cat population. In a few weeks I'll know if the kittens did - it was 20 degrees the night she had them! I was hoping that this year the winter would be tough enough that she would be tempted to join her older babies inside.
I've had a great stitching month so far - not in quantity but in quality. First of all, I got to test drive a class for Eileen Bennett last weekend - a blackwork sampler! Wonderful design and we earned our keep, as we found things that we were able to make suggestions for that will improve the course. Eileen's work is always top-flight, and it's a privilege to be able to help her! One of the great perks of belonging to the same EGA chapter that she does.
I have been working on a UFO of an Ellen Chester design for lining one of the mini-Whitman sampler tins. It was an EGA project from 2003 that I had an error on - I frogged that and now I'm almost finished with the stitching. It's all over 1 with 1 thread, which in some ways is easier than trying to get 2 over 2 to lie smoothly. But having to rip out is the pits! I've also been working on Marriage of the Minds one day a week.
Then there's my good deed project. One of my friends asked me to do something about her father's favorite coat that he was given by his father when he was 13 years old. The coat is over 54 years old! That's older than me! And it has been worn fairly frequently over the years without repair. So, this is the good dead - I am patching it, inside and out. By hand.
I have always had tremendous admiration for all of our foremothers who sewed clothing by hand and patched everything to make it last. I have much more now! My hands get sore even with a thimble and needle puller. That surprised me, as I spend several hours a day most days of the week with a needle in hand. But linen is a lot easier to pull a needle through than canvas and wool batting! However, her father is delighted, and that is why I'm doing this.
One of those A-HA moments
02/16/2006. Thursday, 12:26
Actually I had 2 of them in the past 24 hours!
Work's been slow and the boss is away at a conference, so I didn't go into work yesterday. I had great plans for starting the process of organizing the attic AKA "My Big Mess", but as we were due for a severe winter storm, DH asked me to go to the market, etc., etc. And he let me sleep in until after 9AM! Wow! So off I go to run my errands, and by the time I finish all but 2 of the errands, it is past lunch time. And I'm driving right in front of the Dairy Queen - yes, we have 2 'real' Dairy Queens in town and 1 is open year round, while the other one is on the same schedule as all the other DQ knockoffs in the area. This was the one that is open year round - and there was a special on Blizzards! I swear that the car drove itself into that drive through without any help from me - I was just along for the ride. Of course, I am the one who ordered the extra large Cherry Chocolate Limited Time Special Blizzard flavor! Weight watchers be darned - I was hungry! LOL Then I parked my car, tuned to the classical music station and very slowly savored every bite, promising myself that I would make an extra trip to the gym after I went home and put away the groceries. However, by the time I got home I had the worst stomach ache you can imagine! And so, as I spent some meaningful time in the bathroom, reflecting on how awful I felt, it hit me! I have been betrayed by my body! I actually am happier and feel much better eating healthfully. My body prefers Weight Watchers! I went and took a nap in hopes that the healthy preference messages from my body would go away by the time I woke up, and I am sad to report that it didn't happen - I am going to have to stay with healthy eating thing. I feel much better today! Rats!
The other Ah-ha moment is actually sort of tied to the first one. I got a haircut Monday. I have one of those chin length bob haircuts and my hairdresser spends a lot of time getting the hair perfectly straight and rolled under. Sleek fashion magazine hair, straight part and everything. DH always looks at my hair after a cut and says, what did he do to your hair?!? Then he walks around muttering under his breath: "I don't know about that haircut". I used to wash it immediately to put an end to the muttering, but I've been a bit lazy lately and so didn't wash my hair until yesterday. This morning as I was getting ready for work and brushing my hair, I thought about how Dan manages to make my hair look longer but flatter, and the first time I wash and dry it after a haircut, it's even more wavy than usual and sort of rebellious - Just like the rest of me!
The connection to the DQ incident is that I have driven by that DQ weekly and haven't stopped for anything in months. I can't remember the last time I had anything but a cone when I did stop. But yesterday when I got the idea that DQ is "Forbidden" because I'm doing the WW plan, and I had to get a huge chocolate cherry ice cream thing that I wouldn't normally have eaten, my body said - "Are you nuts!?! I'm not going to deal with this stuff!" And promptly eliminated it! My hair does the same thing - Try to make it into fashion magazine hair with all the goop, and special brushes - First opportunity to escape all that, and I look as if I have twice the amount of hair as usual. Sort of like Hermoine Granger hair in the Harry Potter books! So the moral is that when I try to over-rule my "natural" self, the self wins! So all that stuff about listening to what your body wants - is true!
All I can say is that it's a darn good thing my 'self' enjoys stitching!
Actually I had 2 of them in the past 24 hours!
Work's been slow and the boss is away at a conference, so I didn't go into work yesterday. I had great plans for starting the process of organizing the attic AKA "My Big Mess", but as we were due for a severe winter storm, DH asked me to go to the market, etc., etc. And he let me sleep in until after 9AM! Wow! So off I go to run my errands, and by the time I finish all but 2 of the errands, it is past lunch time. And I'm driving right in front of the Dairy Queen - yes, we have 2 'real' Dairy Queens in town and 1 is open year round, while the other one is on the same schedule as all the other DQ knockoffs in the area. This was the one that is open year round - and there was a special on Blizzards! I swear that the car drove itself into that drive through without any help from me - I was just along for the ride. Of course, I am the one who ordered the extra large Cherry Chocolate Limited Time Special Blizzard flavor! Weight watchers be darned - I was hungry! LOL Then I parked my car, tuned to the classical music station and very slowly savored every bite, promising myself that I would make an extra trip to the gym after I went home and put away the groceries. However, by the time I got home I had the worst stomach ache you can imagine! And so, as I spent some meaningful time in the bathroom, reflecting on how awful I felt, it hit me! I have been betrayed by my body! I actually am happier and feel much better eating healthfully. My body prefers Weight Watchers! I went and took a nap in hopes that the healthy preference messages from my body would go away by the time I woke up, and I am sad to report that it didn't happen - I am going to have to stay with healthy eating thing. I feel much better today! Rats!
The other Ah-ha moment is actually sort of tied to the first one. I got a haircut Monday. I have one of those chin length bob haircuts and my hairdresser spends a lot of time getting the hair perfectly straight and rolled under. Sleek fashion magazine hair, straight part and everything. DH always looks at my hair after a cut and says, what did he do to your hair?!? Then he walks around muttering under his breath: "I don't know about that haircut". I used to wash it immediately to put an end to the muttering, but I've been a bit lazy lately and so didn't wash my hair until yesterday. This morning as I was getting ready for work and brushing my hair, I thought about how Dan manages to make my hair look longer but flatter, and the first time I wash and dry it after a haircut, it's even more wavy than usual and sort of rebellious - Just like the rest of me!
The connection to the DQ incident is that I have driven by that DQ weekly and haven't stopped for anything in months. I can't remember the last time I had anything but a cone when I did stop. But yesterday when I got the idea that DQ is "Forbidden" because I'm doing the WW plan, and I had to get a huge chocolate cherry ice cream thing that I wouldn't normally have eaten, my body said - "Are you nuts!?! I'm not going to deal with this stuff!" And promptly eliminated it! My hair does the same thing - Try to make it into fashion magazine hair with all the goop, and special brushes - First opportunity to escape all that, and I look as if I have twice the amount of hair as usual. Sort of like Hermoine Granger hair in the Harry Potter books! So the moral is that when I try to over-rule my "natural" self, the self wins! So all that stuff about listening to what your body wants - is true!
All I can say is that it's a darn good thing my 'self' enjoys stitching!
March - further adventures
I have been spending a lot of time at Hand-dyed fibers blogging, so this one has not gotten much attention. So I'm going to cheat and copy those last few entries into here!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Where did January go???
Today is the last day of January. Can you believe it? Where did the month go? I did have a project completion this month, and that's great, but somehow I seem to feel that I didn't get enough done this month. Do you suppose it's because of the grey gloomy weather? Hard to say...
I got my most recent order from Vikki at Hand-dyed Fibers yesterday. 10-year old GS thought the Limited Edition Herpetology floss names were sooo cool! Nothing like Snake Scales, Coral Snake and Black Mamba to excite the imagination of a boy!
As it's Tuesday, I worked this morning on a pin cushion with a French pattern (freebie) in conjunction with the French Sampler SAL on Tuesdays! This is "Biscornu de Mamouette" and instead of using red floss on white linen, I'm using some Caron Watercolors in a shade called 'Desert sunrise' on some ivory wool aida that I got somewhere - Silkweaver's, I think, in a grab bag. It's pretty and as I put my old pin cushion away somewhere safe from the cats (so safe that I can't find it now), I decided to make myself one for the sewing room. I'll stuff it with wool roving - it is supposed to keep the pins from rusting.
I got my most recent order from Vikki at Hand-dyed Fibers yesterday. 10-year old GS thought the Limited Edition Herpetology floss names were sooo cool! Nothing like Snake Scales, Coral Snake and Black Mamba to excite the imagination of a boy!
As it's Tuesday, I worked this morning on a pin cushion with a French pattern (freebie) in conjunction with the French Sampler SAL on Tuesdays! This is "Biscornu de Mamouette" and instead of using red floss on white linen, I'm using some Caron Watercolors in a shade called 'Desert sunrise' on some ivory wool aida that I got somewhere - Silkweaver's, I think, in a grab bag. It's pretty and as I put my old pin cushion away somewhere safe from the cats (so safe that I can't find it now), I decided to make myself one for the sewing room. I'll stuff it with wool roving - it is supposed to keep the pins from rusting.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Bumper Stickers
Seen on a very small car: "First draft the SUV drivers!".
Very interesting to think about. Was the driver around when the US still had an active draft? Obviously, the driver feels that the war in Iraq is about oil. And that those who use the most gas should be the first ones to go and fight in the oil war... Interesting.
I may have seen this bumper sticker before and not remember it. I've been reading a book by Ferenc Mate called "A Reasonable Life: toward a simpler, secure, more humane existence" which is funny and provocative and interesting. I didn't like it when I first started reading - too strident and in my face, decrying (truthfully) how the environment has been messed up by the North American/Western lifestyle. I happen to agree, and due to seeing myself as Native American rather than European, I dislike being yelled at. Sort of like when DH gets on a tear about the Bush Administration policies, saying "we can't do this, that or the other thing" - my response (inner and outer) is "don't count me in that action - I didn't vote for the man!".
But Mate has a point which I started seeing when I got past the deliberately provocative start to the book - when we choose to purchase things we don't need, we have created a need or authorized the use of natural resources in that thing. When buy strawberries grown in Florida out of season, I have verified for that producer that it was justified to use hundreds of gallons of gasoline in transporting those strawberries to Michigan... Not to mention the packaging, etc. Involved in transferring out of season produce to my neck of the woods. Will that stop DH from purchasing strawberries in January? I doubt it - but as I am refocusing my attitude about food to consider the quality and quantity I ingest, so too am I reconsidering my shopping habits and following the chain of cost in terms of damage to the environment through use of resources as well as the monetary cost.
Will I make a huge difference? Probably not. Will I make an incremental difference - Yes, I believe I can. One step at a time.
Very interesting to think about. Was the driver around when the US still had an active draft? Obviously, the driver feels that the war in Iraq is about oil. And that those who use the most gas should be the first ones to go and fight in the oil war... Interesting.
I may have seen this bumper sticker before and not remember it. I've been reading a book by Ferenc Mate called "A Reasonable Life: toward a simpler, secure, more humane existence" which is funny and provocative and interesting. I didn't like it when I first started reading - too strident and in my face, decrying (truthfully) how the environment has been messed up by the North American/Western lifestyle. I happen to agree, and due to seeing myself as Native American rather than European, I dislike being yelled at. Sort of like when DH gets on a tear about the Bush Administration policies, saying "we can't do this, that or the other thing" - my response (inner and outer) is "don't count me in that action - I didn't vote for the man!".
But Mate has a point which I started seeing when I got past the deliberately provocative start to the book - when we choose to purchase things we don't need, we have created a need or authorized the use of natural resources in that thing. When buy strawberries grown in Florida out of season, I have verified for that producer that it was justified to use hundreds of gallons of gasoline in transporting those strawberries to Michigan... Not to mention the packaging, etc. Involved in transferring out of season produce to my neck of the woods. Will that stop DH from purchasing strawberries in January? I doubt it - but as I am refocusing my attitude about food to consider the quality and quantity I ingest, so too am I reconsidering my shopping habits and following the chain of cost in terms of damage to the environment through use of resources as well as the monetary cost.
Will I make a huge difference? Probably not. Will I make an incremental difference - Yes, I believe I can. One step at a time.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
January Already!
It's midway through January - which makes me happy as that means it will be Spring sooner, and also makes me wonder where time went... The holidays just put me off kilter due to the DGS being out of school, DH being out of school and the expectations that there are things that I must do even if I don't happen to agree... DH is always much more agreeable when he is back teaching (as of last Wednesday) and settled into a routine. Now I just have to clear the remnants of his efforts to do all the things that come into his mind while he had the free time. The temporary job is going to continue, so there is no respite there and I simply have to adjust! ;-)
Just kidding - I tried not working and went stir-crazy. I'd like to not work full time and I'm going to negotiate with the temp job if possible, but I need the external stimulus and gratification that comes from the job. I'm having fun with it and for the first time, I'm not internalizing all the "stuff" that comes with any job. It's good to be able to keep my perspective.
I'm working on completing a project from a class I took in 2003. Lovely set of smalls by Patricia Preston. I have the needlebook stitched, the front of the pincushion and am 1/3 of the way through the back of the pincushion. After that there's a cute quaker-type scissors fob. All done with a pretty fall-colors NeedleNeccessities floss with perle cotton in sandstone, and silks in green, 2 golds and 3 shades of burgundy on sandstone silk and linen. It also came with a small and large project envelopes to make in a coordinating cotton. those of us who took the class got some more of the fabric, and I have a basket lined to match the envelopes. I am amazed, as I always am, at the beauty of the design as it evolves from the 15 minutes spent here and there stitching. It boggles my mind that someone can create designs like these from their imagination! I so admire the designers who create such lovelies for the rest of us - which allows me to feel artistic and accomplished as I create these small useful things.
Forget "A stitch in time saves nine"! For me, it's "A stitch a day keeps insanity at bay"!
Just kidding - I tried not working and went stir-crazy. I'd like to not work full time and I'm going to negotiate with the temp job if possible, but I need the external stimulus and gratification that comes from the job. I'm having fun with it and for the first time, I'm not internalizing all the "stuff" that comes with any job. It's good to be able to keep my perspective.
I'm working on completing a project from a class I took in 2003. Lovely set of smalls by Patricia Preston. I have the needlebook stitched, the front of the pincushion and am 1/3 of the way through the back of the pincushion. After that there's a cute quaker-type scissors fob. All done with a pretty fall-colors NeedleNeccessities floss with perle cotton in sandstone, and silks in green, 2 golds and 3 shades of burgundy on sandstone silk and linen. It also came with a small and large project envelopes to make in a coordinating cotton. those of us who took the class got some more of the fabric, and I have a basket lined to match the envelopes. I am amazed, as I always am, at the beauty of the design as it evolves from the 15 minutes spent here and there stitching. It boggles my mind that someone can create designs like these from their imagination! I so admire the designers who create such lovelies for the rest of us - which allows me to feel artistic and accomplished as I create these small useful things.
Forget "A stitch in time saves nine"! For me, it's "A stitch a day keeps insanity at bay"!
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