Did you have a bad day today? Then watch these Chilean miners be rescued. It is one of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen.
I just watched Miner #2 come up from from more than 2,000 feet underground. He was so exuberant after 69 days of trapped life in a collapsed mine. I feel for Miner #33, and the last rescuers.
Thank goodness for tenacity. Thank goodness for technology. Thank goodness for humanity.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
On Overload
Lately, everything seems to be broken or a mess. From the car to the cell phone to ear phones...it never ends. It's got me a little discombobulated.
On top of that I haven't had much home-time recently, and I've got a project that I want to finish before my mom gets here. She gets here in about a week. The project is still in pieces. Some of them have been sewn together, but some of them have not. It still counts as being in pieces.
And then I want to clean the house before my mom gets here (it's really embarrassing for "guests" to see how we really live). This is something I would normally do over the weekend, but this weekend also happens to be one of the only weekends for us to go tailgating in SoCal. So, we're tailgating in SoCal. There will be no cleaning of the house this weekend.
On top of all this, I am still grasping onto my books. Yes, I must read. I need something to occupy my mental hamster. It's too bad I'm struggling with the book. So now I'm reading two.
This makes no sense. But, sometimes, this is how I roll through the mess. Burn the candle at both its proverbial ends.
On top of that I haven't had much home-time recently, and I've got a project that I want to finish before my mom gets here. She gets here in about a week. The project is still in pieces. Some of them have been sewn together, but some of them have not. It still counts as being in pieces.
And then I want to clean the house before my mom gets here (it's really embarrassing for "guests" to see how we really live). This is something I would normally do over the weekend, but this weekend also happens to be one of the only weekends for us to go tailgating in SoCal. So, we're tailgating in SoCal. There will be no cleaning of the house this weekend.
On top of all this, I am still grasping onto my books. Yes, I must read. I need something to occupy my mental hamster. It's too bad I'm struggling with the book. So now I'm reading two.
This makes no sense. But, sometimes, this is how I roll through the mess. Burn the candle at both its proverbial ends.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Seattle in September
About a week ago, Seth and I were in my favorite city-to-visit, Seattle, Washington. We were there for a wedding, and unfortunately couldn't stay for very long because of my work schedule. However, we made the most of it, and enjoyed our weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
One of the most memorable parts of our trip was the dinner we had on our first night. Thanks to a last minute recommendation we headed to The Kingfish Cafe for some Southern food. I will admit that we were starving, but I have had plenty of unsatisfying meals while hungry. This dinner was de-li-cious! Seth got the gumbo and I got the buttermilk fried chicken. They were both yummy, and the chicken was cooked perfectly. Then there were the mashed potatoes and collard greens. Yum.
After dinner we had the red velvet cake (at the recommendation of our server). This cake was amazing. This extremely large piece of cake was served on a dinner plate, with three dollops of whipped cream, strawberries, and drizzled in some sort of butterscotch heaven. The cream cheese frosting was divine. Seriously, if you're in Seattle, look this place up. The atmosphere was relaxed and hip, and it's not a touristy spot. And save room for the cake.
Oops, almost forgot about the rest of the trip. On a beautiful and sunny Saturday we walked down to Pike Place Market and stumbled upon the Artisan Food Festival and a wine and beer garden. Then we traipsed over to the Fox Sports Grill in time to see UCLA hook those Horns. Sunday ended up being totally overcast, but we walked to the International District for dim sum at Honey Court; stood outside of Qwest Field and debated trying to get tickets and watch Seahawks vs. Chargers; and took the Seattle Underground Tour.
All of a sudden it was time to go back to the Bay. And I didn't even get to drag Seth to Forks.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
My Grandma. In Her White Car.
Yesterday, my dear friend, author of the Footprints blog, shared a story about the car her dad drove. This immediately reminded me of my most embarrassing moment with my grandma, and this is something Mrs. S. wants me to share.
My story also involves an oh-so-shame car.
Let me start with this: my grandma is freaking awesome. She is one of the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever known. My grandma epitomizes the word, "grandma." From elementary through the early parts of high school, she picked us up from school everyday in her white 1960s Plymouth.
The embarrassing moment came on one of those days, in that car.
So the car was this huge, white, 1960s American behemoth. As a kid, it was embarrassing because it was so old. On top of that, my grandma drove extremely slow (she got her license late in life, after my grandpa's incapacitating stroke, and she never drove on the freeways). I always felt bad for the people behind us. Of course, my grandma was oblivious.
Then one day, someone did something that made her mad, and out the window she yelled, "DAAAMMNN YOU!!!" She may have shaken her fist out the window.
Are you sinking down a little in your chair for me? Maybe covering your eyes? I know I did. After all, she was driving so slow that you could see all the people on the sidewalks turn and look.
Can you even imagine my sweet grandma bellowing those words out the window of her car? Well, she did.
My story also involves an oh-so-shame car.
Let me start with this: my grandma is freaking awesome. She is one of the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever known. My grandma epitomizes the word, "grandma." From elementary through the early parts of high school, she picked us up from school everyday in her white 1960s Plymouth.
The embarrassing moment came on one of those days, in that car.
So the car was this huge, white, 1960s American behemoth. As a kid, it was embarrassing because it was so old. On top of that, my grandma drove extremely slow (she got her license late in life, after my grandpa's incapacitating stroke, and she never drove on the freeways). I always felt bad for the people behind us. Of course, my grandma was oblivious.
Then one day, someone did something that made her mad, and out the window she yelled, "DAAAMMNN YOU!!!" She may have shaken her fist out the window.
Are you sinking down a little in your chair for me? Maybe covering your eyes? I know I did. After all, she was driving so slow that you could see all the people on the sidewalks turn and look.
Can you even imagine my sweet grandma bellowing those words out the window of her car? Well, she did.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Come On People
There are days when all I can do is roll my eyes, sigh and angrily grumble, "People suck." Unfortunately, it feels like these days happen on a much-too-frequent basis.
Yesterday was a "People Suck Day" after I read a high school friend's status update on Facebook. Some people broke into her grandma's house and robbed it. Included among the stolen items was the urn containing her grandpa's ashes; which also happens to be the one and only thing they want back. Their story is making it's way through the news reports in Hawaii, and hopefully the thieves see the story and the message sinks in. Just give back the ashes and the urn.
It is awful enough to be robbed. Not only are you missing things of value, you are left with a tumbling mass of helpless frustration, anger and emptiness. It would be infinitely worse to have something of such great sentimental value stolen. People really need to start thinking about other people and how they would feel if the roles were reversed.
Yesterday was a "People Suck Day" after I read a high school friend's status update on Facebook. Some people broke into her grandma's house and robbed it. Included among the stolen items was the urn containing her grandpa's ashes; which also happens to be the one and only thing they want back. Their story is making it's way through the news reports in Hawaii, and hopefully the thieves see the story and the message sinks in. Just give back the ashes and the urn.
It is awful enough to be robbed. Not only are you missing things of value, you are left with a tumbling mass of helpless frustration, anger and emptiness. It would be infinitely worse to have something of such great sentimental value stolen. People really need to start thinking about other people and how they would feel if the roles were reversed.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Mindy Metivier Photography
My sister posted her first blog last week, and I neglected to mention it. I blame it on a hectic work schedule (we were in week-before-event-mode) and a throw quilt project that I had to finish in time for a September 25 wedding. Excuses, excuses, I know.
At any rate, the Mindy Metivier blog is running, so please check it out. She is posting some of her work, as well as telling you a little bit about herself. What I like best is that her blog is so Mindy. From her "!!!" (she is enthusiastic and dedicated) to her post about her prior life as a teacher, you truly get to know my sister.
She is doing what I think we all want to do &mdash work that we love. And Mindy undoubtedly loves babies, kids and photography.
At any rate, the Mindy Metivier blog is running, so please check it out. She is posting some of her work, as well as telling you a little bit about herself. What I like best is that her blog is so Mindy. From her "!!!" (she is enthusiastic and dedicated) to her post about her prior life as a teacher, you truly get to know my sister.
She is doing what I think we all want to do &mdash work that we love. And Mindy undoubtedly loves babies, kids and photography.
Friday, September 24, 2010
And It Only Took 42 Hours
Truly, I have embraced the art of "just-in-time" manufacturing when it comes to making quilts for wedding gifts. This particular quilt is for a wedding in Seattle, and let's just say it's very soon. It took about 42 hours, but I finished.
Just in time.
This is actually the first time I have ever timed myself making a throw-size quilt. I am still a little amazed at the amount of time it took. There were some glitches along the way, but the big one occurred when I struggled with quilting the border. If only I had figured that out sooner, I would have finished this last night. After trying variations of circles and then hearts, I finally settled on making leaf-like shapes using a circle template. Since most of the fabric patterns contain plants or flowers, I felt like a leaf or vine motif would complement this best.
Since the quilting was all done by hand, I had to draw directly on the fabric with a disappearing ink pen. On the purple border I tried out the white marking pen by Clover (the ink disappears when you iron the fabric). It was a bit pricey at $6.99, but with a 40% off coupon from JoAnn, it was a great investment. The pen worked out well--the ink did not rub off, and it disappeared just fine with the use of my iron.
All-in-all, I am pretty happy with this project. Which is pretty amazing considering that I was very worried when I cut the squares. I was not pleased with my fabric selections (the black background fabric had more green in it when cut down to a 6 1/2" square). I am still not loving the fabric, but basting the quilt top with the batting and backing went well, and because of that, so did the hand-quilting. The basting and quilting are what I am most satisfied with...well, other than finishing it.
By the way, the wedding colors are green and purple, so that explains the color scheme. The fabric came from The Cotton Patch in Lafayette, JoAnn stores in the Bay Area and Bolt's End in Castro Valley.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)