The Hilltop

Friday night Connie and I went to the Hilltop Restaurant for a nice steak dinner. The filet Mignon was delicious, deep and wide and yummy, and the baked potato with butter and sour cream was fresh and tasty and the salad was large, and just the ticket. We had a lot of fun catching up on news and talking about going to the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee this June.

The Hilltop is a Boston landmark, and almost everyone here has a story of waiting in a two block long line to get in. There are lots of rooms, and over the loudspeaker they call your ticket number; "102 for the Kansas City". All the rooms have names of cities known for cattle. There are placemats with cuts of meat illustrations. The people come in droves, but the wait now is not nearly so long as it used to be.

I have always felt like a tourist when I go to the Hilltop, but I am beginning to call it my own. You always know you are going to get a friendly waitress, a really good steak, more food that you need and often some to take home, and the steaks really are delicious.

I'm glad Boston has a good steakhouse that reminds me of Oklahoma!

Have a great day!

A 12 hour day

I recently worked a 12 hour day, straight through, without a break. Lunch was provided, so I had a very nice egg salad salad and an green apple around 2:00. I learned several things. One, they really can teach old dogs new tricks, and two, I am as good at staying on my feet and staying productive as the next guy. I was tired when I got home, but I survived. I managed to keep my spirits up, and when my energy flagged, my optimism kicked in. After all, 12 hours in a deep dark wet hole would be worse. Think about those men who you call on midnight on Thanksgiving when the power goes out, or the water main breaks. It wasn't as bad as that!

The problem with working long hours is that my creativity suffers. My beading table sits there surrounded with thousands of dollars of beautiful beads, silver and gold, and the powerful OTT lights are turned to off. Nada. Nothing. No jewelry here.

Tonight I get to go home at the regular time, in time for a manicure and a stop at the drug store, and maybe even the time to make a necklace or a bracelet. After a 12 hour day, any day with daylight left at the end of it looks really good!

Have a great day.

Is it ok to go to bed at 8:00?

I sometimes like to go to bed really early. Maybe it is the "couch potato" syndrome, but I'd much rather be a bed bug. Working nine or ten hours each day really makes me long for a nice stretch out. I wish I had time to walk a mile or so each day. That is something that would be far better for me, but ... I'll work on it.

George is off to the Pacific hinterlands, and Thunder and I are enjoying a quiet evening at home. Since I find TV dull and unexciting without George here, it is better for us to read a magazine and have a little stretchy-scratchy time on the bed. The fact that I am allergic to cats is not a problem. Thunder and I have been stretching and scratching together for 16 years and I've been allergic to her the whole time! When I lay my hand on the bed, Thunder has a way of turning her head in the palm of my hand so that my finger goes into her ears. She loves to get her ears scratched in this way, but like dancing, she takes the lead. She delicately twists so that my fingers just are in the right place to rub her ears. What a delight.

I noticed that it was 89 degrees outside today. I left my lunch in my car, and the cooler didn't keep things cool, so I had a hot turkey sandwich and luke warm applesauce; not thrilling, to say the least. I really have to find some time to take off work and go buy myself something yummy to eat. Or better yet, take a walk at lunch time. What a novel concept!

I'm jumping all over the place with this blog entry...so I think I'll go back to the bed for more cat scratching.

Have a great night.

A long flight

George is safe on the other side of the world. He called this morning and said that the flight was long and "grueling" but that he is safe at the Hilton Hotel. Thank God for globalization I say. When you go to a Hilton you know what to expect. My advice to him was to take a long walk down the hallway to the soda machine and buy a few bottles of nice cold water and then go to bed (it was nine o'clock there) with a couple of Advils. He is tall and I imagine that his legs need a good stretch. I hope he sleeps well.

I had two orders for necklaces from ladies at church, so I got up this morning early to finish one, and now I'm ready to go to church, teach Sunday School, and spend some part of the day with my good friend Connie. Not having George here to do things has already taken it's toll. I meant ALL day yesterday to go take the clothes out of the dryer, and they are still there. There's no one here to keep me on track!

The other thing I've noticed is that everything on TV is not worth watching. George is usually in charge of the remote, and often finds things of interest, but for the life of me, I can't find anything to watch. I'm trying to censor myself from the doom and gloom of the news stations, and unless there is a good travel show on, I find that TV is just a big waste of time.

The weather is glorious. Time for a nice walk.

Have a great day.

Aloha George!

George is leaving for Hawaii in the morning. I am sad that he is going and even sadder that I am not going with him. I hope he has a splendid time. In the past he has gone to a lovely store and bought me pearls to make into jewelry, but lately I discovered an online seller of pearls in the Philippines and I have just about as many strands of pearls as a girl needs! They sold $200 worth of pearls for $80, and...I bought some. I also bought many strands of beautiful mother-of-pearl that are gorgeous and I can't wait to start on some new jewelry this weekend.

I will be alone for the next week and a half and will have lots of time to make jewelry. I even might have time to pick up a book and read it! Kitty and I are going to be lonesome around here. And worse, I have to do my own laundry, dishes and cooking! Oh no!

Since I am working again, George is picking up the slack with the housework. I get home later than he does, so he is kind enough to cook, clean, and shop. I'm really going to miss him!

I hope he has a safe trip and enjoys the tangerines and cookies that I'm going to sneak into his carry on. You never know when they will run out of food on airplanes these days.

Have a great day!

Too many beads?

Yesterday I went to the bead shore and bought some beads to make a necklace. I'm not sure, but I think I own too many beads. Putting them away has become a problem. I have lots of divided boxes, containers and cases of beads. And more just keep coming in. Recently there was a sale on pearls, and I ordered many strands of beautiful pearls from the Philippines.

I made a trip to the bead store yesterday and made this necklace. As I was making it, I wondered if my huge collection of beads was becoming a little over the top. Maybe I am a little out of balance. Maybe I have too many beads.

I love 'em. I don't care.

Have a great day.

This is what happens when I say "smile!"

The basket I made for Lucy, George's 4 month old granddaughter

Easter Smiles

Coffee Hour

Easter Day

Coffee hour at church was great. We arrived at eight o'clock and started unloading coffee cakes, cup cakes and cookies. Our oven was on 350 degrees from 11:00 a.m. yesterday until 7:00 pm last night. We made three bundt cakes, two batches of cup cakes, confetti and chocolate, and George made roll'em out sugar cookies.

This morning I made 100 cups of coffee and 30 cups of decaf and they drank every drop. The bell choir played a piece by Handel, Rigaudon, and it all went very nicely. It is fun to play bells when you really know the piece and are confident. I enjoyed every minute of it. The church looked beautiful, everyone was happy to be there, and the coffee and cakes just kept coming.

These red tulips were the centerpiece today. Every Easter George and I host coffee hour, and we always come home a little tired, but happy. Since there are two services, we serve after both of them, so it is like hosting TWO coffee hours. Today we served over 200 people.

Since neither George nor I have family here to visit, it is great to use our energy to entertain at church. It is our Easter celebration. And I can't think of a better place to celebrate.

Have a great day.

Almost Easter!

This is the weekend when we go to church services every night. Tonight was simple and nice, and George and I were happy to be there, and happy to be together. Afterward we stopped at Kohl's and I bought mom an Easter present -- a new blouse -- and George bought me a new gold coffee filter. No one said you can't go shopping after church, did they?

Tomorrow is cake baking day. We will make bundt cakes and cup cakes to serve on Easter morning. It is a flurry of activity at this time of year. We also will make a trip to our favorite Swedish bakery for some bought cakes filled with fruit. Every year we are the coffee hosts and there is a big crowd. It is fun to make special cakes and do things up nice for the hungry crowd between Easter services. We put in the extra effort and everyone looks forward to it.

I am also coloring eggs this year. There aren't any kids here to enjoy them, but I like them! I like coloring them, I like looking at them, and I like eating them...so there.

Have a great night. Tomorrow is Saturday and I've been looking forward to it all week!

Icy Slush Wind & Cold

Right now I'm wishing I lived in Arizona, or Kansas, or anywhere that has some sunshine. The weather today was so dreary and cold and then the big dollops of wet snow came down and created an inch of slush. Looking at the baseball game tonight in Kansas City, and realizing that somewhere there is some sun, made me wish I was still a southern girl.

I'm dreaming of a beach in the summer. I seldom go to the beach, but this summer I'm going to try harder to find some time to lay on the sand. Right now, a day on the beach sounds really good. We could go to Gloucester to Good Harbor Beach and wiggle our toes in the sand. My friend Connie and I made a pact that as soon as summer comes we will find a whole Saturday to spend at the beach. Some day soon the rain and snow will be gone, and it will be sunshiny bright and hot. Oh no. Hot.

Have a good day.

The new baby

A nice reminder

Michael just told me that I have forgotten to write in my blog lately. It is so easy to get out of balance and just forget something. Life is busy. Stuff happens. Oops. I forgot to blog.

Today I received the new Fuji digital camera that Michael bought me for a just because. It is a wonderful gift and I am thrilled beyond words to have such a beautiful camera. I especially like the "view finder" which is the whole width and height of the camera, and looks like a mini TV screen. Michael asked me if there was anything on Amazon I wanted, and it took me about 3 minutes to pick this camera.

I take thousands of pictures. Selling jewelry on Ebay means that you have to have a good bright picture with a lot of clarity. It takes a lot of tries to get such a good picture, and I then load it up, edit it, re-edit it, and tweak it for publication. Sometimes I think I have worn a path from the diningroom to the computer in the den taking so many pictures and running back and forth. This little camera is going to be so much fun to use. When I took my old digital camera to the camera shop to see what was wrong with it, the man looked at me sympathetically and said, "they haven't made these in a long time."

Well, now I have a new camera, and it is a beauty. Thanks so much Michael!!!

Have a great day.

Bracelet Round Robin

Several months ago, I joined a group bracelet Round Robin. To start off, I took a chain, and added a sterling heart toggle clasp and one yellow bead, and sent it to the next person on the list. I added a journal with lots of blank pages where people could write what they wanted and then send it on to the next person. There were 15 people on the mailing list, and each of us would add a bead or two, and write in the journal what we had added, and then mail it to the next person on the list. So each of us added beads to all fifteen bracelets over the course of the six months.

Yesterday the final exciting package arrived! My bracelet! I named this bracelet "Mellow Yellow". A long time ago I had heard that yellow beaded items were hard to sell, and that it was not a good jewelry color, so I just wanted to try it and see what would happen.

The journal is really fun to read and people remembered the song and hummed along as they worked on my bracelet.

It is so full of beautiful beads, and so fun to look at. Just think how many cities it went to before it came all the way back to me! Fun!

have a great day.

Pet Food

This pet food scare has really been scary! George and I were careful to look at all food we had bought and I am throwing out any food that is not what we have always used. I recently decided to give kitty a new taste treat, and bought two small cans of another kind, and I'm not using it. We feed kitty a quarter can of Friskies every day, and she gets Science dry food. The canned food is just for a treat, and also because I heard that wet food is good for them because it has a lot of water and some good nutrients.

Pets are so important. I guess pets are almost as important as people, when it comes right down to it, and I'm sure some folks love their pets more than their people. I feel so badly for those who have lost pets. Finding out yesterday that it was caused by a change in suppliers, and that rat poison is the ingredient that has caused the deaths just irks ms. Companies change suppliers to save money, and now look. Wouldn't you think they would have a chemical analysis done before they put the ingredients together?

Thunder woke me up tonight. She was low on food and her water had almost run out. She lets us know. Older cats seems to need a lot more water than younger ones. I'm happy to hear her meowing, and padding around on little cat feet on the covers at night. She is family.

God bless all those people who lost their pets. It shouldn't have happened!

Weather

George and I call the weather channel the MTV for oldtimers. Today I feel like weather is about all I have to talk about.

I saw a picture on TV this morning of a garden in Atlanta, and it looked so inviting! The snow is frozen to the ground like the icy steppes tundra and no spring has sprung here. The weather this morning is below 20 and not going to rise above 40 today. And then, as is always the case in Boston, the weather will turn warm Boom...and you will be left scrambling for something lightweight to wear. Spring is nice in the south. Once you get above Missouri, there are two seasons, cold and hot.

Spring follows winter, but not until winter is good and ready to depart. And it will...all in one feel swoop some hot and sunny day in the near future.

Have a great day!

Snowstorm

My four leaf clover patch in the front yard is now covered with six inches of snow. This storm is a little more than I predicted. I am awake because of the large snow plow that just forced his way past our house and then loudly backed up all the way back out again. Living at the end of a dead end street means that it is very quiet until the snow plow backs out. Beep Beep Beep.

I'm looking forward to going out on Saturday anyway, and enjoying what there is to do on a snowy day. George fixed the drain in the back of the house with a cookie sheet to catch the water so it doesn't go down in the basement. Seems like a trip to Home Depot is in order tomorrow.

Spring is three days away, but today we shovel.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

No Hula, No Pineapples, No Waikiki Beach

No Aloha

I didn't write about it in my blog, but George was expecting to go to Hawaii last week and he was going to take me along. I didn't write about it here because I didn't want to jinx it. My window of opportunity to go was last week, and if we didn't go then, I wouldn't be able to go. I went from being very sure and excited on Monday to being down in the dumps on Thursday and then pretty resigned that the trip was not to be on Friday. He may still go to Honolulu on business next week, but without me. I was really looking forward to seeing the waves, but ended up riding
them instead. Up, down, go, no go.

To top off the week, George also came down with a bad cold/flu/bronchial infection the last three days, so it would have been a terrible ordeal for him to fly at this time anyway. He has a low fever and is very uncomfortable. Flying for 18 hours would have been terrible.

The downside is that I don't get to do all the things I was so excited about doing in Hawaii, and the upside is that I have a lot of nice new summer clothes to wear here. Yes, I had already done some shopping--of course.

The week was a roller coaster, and we are still recovering. Sometimes things work out for the best, and I think this is one of those times.

Alas.

Have a great day!

Bag

Cat In A Bag

Best Design Competition

I am announcing a winner for my "best in the world design" competition. Here it is from the AP today--an image captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft February 4, 2007 and released on March 1, 2007 shows never-before-seen views of Saturn.

Have a great day.

23 Vegetable Soup

The soup supper last night was a big success. Sixteen people came and there wasn't a scrap of soup left. George had two small bowls and I had one. Everyone ate as if there was no tomorrow. I was sure that we would have leftovers, but nary a drop left. I have enough veggies to make another version for George and I, so I'll make it again just for us.

I watched the Academy Awards the other night all the way through, for the first time ever. I was still knitting at midnight. My hands hurt the next day. But I got to see all the interesting edited clips they showed and made my own list of movies that I just have to see!

Here is my movie list: Tsosi, After the Wedding, Days of Glory, Pan Labyrinth, Water, and Babel.

I also have to see the new movie just out Number 23, because it was Bob Shea's and Bob Wilson's interest in this numerology craziness in the first place that made this movie possible 35 years later. Sometimes it takes awhile for a good idea to catch on. Bob wrote about it, talked about it and laughed about it, and it was picked up and they even gave the authors of Illuminatis! credit in the New York Times last week. Good for them. We were always amazed how often 23 came up in news stories. We have been talking about that for 35 years and now it was made into a movie. The movie may not be any good, but all those years of laughing along with conspiracy theories and 23isms has certainly been worth the trip!

Have a great day!

Everything Soup

I try hard not to call the soup I love to make "kitchen sink soup". It is basically the only soup that I make from scratch. The fact is, that it is so good, there isn't much need to make another kind of soup. It is chicken vegetable soup, but the special thing is that I use so many kinds of fresh veggies.

Today I am making soup for 20 people or so for the Lenten Soup Supper at church tonight at 6:30. I made chicken stock yesterday with a whole chicken. George and I had poached chicken for dinner last night with noodles and mixed vegetables. Now, that's comfort food! Today I drained the stock and added all the vegetables. The list is long, and it is the reason that this soup is not only my favorite, but very good besides!

List: parsnips, carrots, squash, garbanzo beans, green beans, cabbage, carrots, onion, tomatoes with chilis, turnips, broccoli, potatoes and chard. ALL those fresh vegetables (and a small can of diced tomatoes) makes this soup really really healthy and really delicious. I have made it many times in my life, and it just gets better.

I am going to serve this soup with Panera bread, whole wheat bread, oyster crackers and corn bread. Brownies will be the dessert. Oh yeah.

Have a great day!

Boink!

Today our bell choir played during the offering at church. The piece that we played is a level higher than we usually play, and has several chord changes. It was difficult in practice, but this morning at our early rehearsal before church, we played it perfectly and it was beautiful. The director said it was the best we had every played. Quite a compliment. Or a curse.

You know what happened. During church, we played it like amateurs. I had one measure where I play four bells with key changes, and somehow, I picked up the wrong bell and played a flat, (boink) and then quickly changed bells, but that chord had changed too, and I played ANOTHER wrong bell. As mistakes go, I guess this is not a large one, but I was sorely disappointed in myself. Those few tricky measures with several chord changes and playing four bells at a time was fun! I love feeling like I know what I am doing. I practiced and got it right during rehearsal until I hardly ever made a mistake. Until we played today. Some of the other bell ringers got lost, and the melody line got lost at one point, and I just kept counting and ringing until the others found their place. I didn't get lost, but it a long way from our best performance. I guess it wasn't awful...and people said they liked it, but none of us wanted to talk about it afterward. It was such a pretty and challenging piece and we tried so HARD! We didn't have to stop and start all over at least.

But we wished we could have.

Have a great and peaceful Sunday.

Things that amuse me...

Obviously I'm out of it

Every day I hear ads for cell phones and computers that advertise that you need this product so you can record and share music with your friends. That is a concept that is totally foreign to me. I thought the reason we have IPODS and head phones is that we DON'T have to share music with anyone...we can listen to what we like all by ourselves. Marching along to the tune of our own drummers is the point, I thought. Connectivity seems to be what companies are selling...ways in which we can use technology to share with others what used to make us happy to have all by ourselves.

I think that technology is the horse that has gotten out of the barn. Now we have to catch it and see how we can sell it. Surfing the net, watching movies, TV, and sharing music through my cell phone is just a concept that I don't understand. I don't even like it much when the darn thing rings! I can never imagine wanting to share my music with with my friends on my cell phone , saying to George, "Hey, listen to this." It must be a teen thing. Just another way to have something to talk about? Or just another way for a company to sell something more that mom and dad will have to pay for.

Dell's TV ads say that with the new Vista operating system and their new computer you can watch TV, movies and "share music" with your friends. No thanks. Underneath all the buzz about Vista operating system is that everyone who wants to use it will need a new computer.

Do I sound out of it? Probably.

Have a great day.

The new boxes

No problems? Let's make some.

Yesterday I ran an errand to the post office, and decided to stop in at The Christmas Tree Shop to see if they had any containers to use for beads to help organize my jewelry studio. I'm always looking for new ways to organize beads! I found some really nice round nesting boxes which I can use for jewelry. I pack jewelry items in these to take to shows, and then use the boxes themselves as display pieces sometimes. I also use them to organize silver and beads.

Anyway, I had a fine time looking at all the things they have at the Christmas Tree Shop. It is a big import store and you can never tell what you will find there at very reasonable prices. I don't go there often so I enjoyed looking at all kinds of stuff.

On my way out the door I took my keys out of my purse, put my purse and the bags full of boxes into the cart, and wheeled it all outside. I parked the cart by the outside door, put everything into my car, and drove off down busy Route 1. About 10 miles down the road, and almost home, I looked into the seat of my car and saw that my purse was not there. I quickly realized (with HORROR) that I had left my purse in the cart baby seat right outside the store.

I managed a quick turn around in someone's driveway, and headed back to Route One, which is a very busy local highway that is a long divided highway. I had to go all the way back, then continue on to the turn-around in a U-turn lane, and then ALL the way back to the store. I was praying that whole time that the nice ladies shopping behind me would find it and turn it in. It was not a busy day at the store, I told myself. The people who shop there are all nice people, I told myself. I prayed. I tried to drive carefully but quickly, since now I was without a driver's license. I tried not to think what would happen if all my credit cards and drivers license were missing. I realized that I carry too many credit cards with me and vowed to change that in the future. I prayed some more.

At the store I had to wait for the service person to get off the phone. I didn't see my purse at her desk anywhere. When I finally got to tell her why I was there she asked my name. "Oh, yes, we have your handbag at counter 23", she said. She called the manager. WOOHOO!!! They asked me to show my driver's license for ID and out I walked. Indeed, it was one of the very nice ladies behind me who had turned it in. I was very relieved I might say. Thank you again to the angels who follow me around and make things ok again when I do stupid stuff.

Have a great day.

My friend sent me this picture from New Orleans. It is a REAL picture from yesterday!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Everything is better

On Thursday I had an attack of food poisoning. It took all this time to get that poison out of my body. Saturday I thought I was better, and I was able to go out to dinner on Saturday night with no ill effects. However, I was not feeling well on Sunday, although I limped through church and Sunday School, and on Monday I was positively worse. I was going to call the doctor this morning, thinking that maybe I had the flu after all...but today I am back to my old peppy self. Emphasis on old--but peppy too. Anyway, I think my bout with food poisoning is finally over. I was sicker than I thought I was.

On to new things. Today I am playing catchup--which reminds me of a story.

When I started teaching Sunday School about a year ago, I realized two things: I needed a way to make sure I could keep chaos under control and I needed to get to know the kids better. So, I made only one rule for the kids, and only one. It is a rule that I only have to remind them of rarely: no interruptions. This means when I am talking, there is quiet enough to listen, and when they are talking, we can be polite and really listen to what each of us has to say. That one rule has worked wonders on my ability to have control in the class and to keep the noise and rambunctiousness to an acceptable level. I don't ask for perfection. They know that.

In order to get to know each other better, I start each class with about 10 minutes of "Catch-up time". We go around the table and talk about our week. One at a time the kids talk about their week; about tests at school, hockey games, gymnastics competitions, birthday parties, new baby sisters or brothers...on and on. They really look forward to this time. THEY LOVE having people listen to them! It is fun to learn about what their week was like, and it is a great bonding exercise. One of the assistant teachers came in to help last Sunday and he said, "What a nice group of friends." That made my day. They ARE friends--because we have learned to LISTEN to each other! What a gift!

I don't want Sunday School to be like weekday school. I want it to be a little more open, and a lot more friendly, and I want them to WANT to be there. This is probably the only time of the week where they can talk about Jesus, and read the Bible. Their lives are packed with so many activities it is amazing. We do a lot of Bible reading, and digging for meaning, and talking about history, geography and what life might have been like in Biblical times. It is fun, and they are very smart. It is challenging to find material that is good enough to keep their interest. I work during the week to prepare for the class and put together readings and activities that they will enjoy. We learn together.

And every Sunday there they are sitting at the table at 11:00 sharp waiting for me. I barely have time to get a cup of coffee after church. They are eager for Sunday School.

It makes my week!

Have a great day.

Sometimes patience is NOT a virtue!

Last night George and his daughter and I went out to dinner. We do not see her often and this was a chance for us to get together. We went to a Thai restaurant in the next town. It is a cute little place, under new management, and I had been there for lunch once a couple of weeks ago and the food was fragrant and delicious.

We arrived at 7:15 p.m., along with about five other diners. There were 7 tables in the restaurant and it soon became apparent that one waitress was going to serve everyone, (about 14 people) and we were not even sure that there was anybody at all working in the kitchen. In 10 minutes we had three glasses of water. Then, nothing arrived at all for the next 30 minutes. By this time, all the expectant and dismayed diners were looking askance at each other, maybe wondering who was going to get up and leave first. More than one of us had the idea to storm the kitchen and find out what was going on, but our politeness got the better of us. One table of young people were having a great time and seemed in no way dismayed at the long delay in getting dinner. The rest of us started to sulk and look longingly at the kitchen door each time we heard footsteps. After a full hour we got our bowls of soup, and 30 minutes after that our main dishes arrived. It was 8:50 by the time our dishes had arrived and we were eating dinner. The food was delicious, just like I remembered, but by this time, we were all a little weary of the whole experience.

In hindsight, we should have left after 30 minutes when we saw that the restaurant was clearly understaffed. At one point I said that perhaps we should plunk down a $10 bill and leave, paying only for our soups. But, of course, we didn't. We stayed. And stayed. I wanted to order a pot of tea, but was afraid to, thinking that we might not get it until tomorrow!

Later, we found out that there was one waitress and one cook. They were cooking the dinners one at a time, and that is how they were served. As one table got served, you could hear the food hit the hot pan in the kitchen for the next order. The food was fresh and fragrant. However, by this time we were tired of the whole experience. We still had a really nice time together, having such a long time to talk, but after we ate we quickly paid the check and left. As I walked out the door into the night air, I was grateful to be out of there and wondering how long it would be before we went back. Probably a long wait.

Malaise strikes with a vengence

I got sick on Thursday morning and spent the day wishing I wasn't so sick! In the afternoon it hit me...food poisoning. I was so sick! Not much can be worse. I was headachey, with a fever, chills, and all the other dramatic symptoms of food poisoning which I won't go into here. I could barely make it from bathroom to bed, and back again. Wouldn't you know it, last night George had tickets for us to go to a nice dinner, a date, an evening out...and instead he had to go alone to the dinner and presentation about rocket science (no kidding), and I was laying in bed sleeping and sipping Sierra Mist.

This morning I was able to get up and drive to the drug store, and later in the day I actually got out to deliver some jewelry. It is very treacherous out there. What looks like a nice four inches of snow is actually pure ice. The cars are all iced in, the driveway is icy and the curbs are a 2 foot barrier of ice. I walked down to the car carefully and slid the last two feet until I was able to grab hold of the car and get in.

When I got home, I was wishing that I felt better, so I took my temperature again, and it is 100...just enough to make me feel puny and sickly. No wonder I don't feel like doing anything useful.

Better days ahead.

Have a great day.

My Valentine Present

Snowday!

I poked my nose of the front door today to get the mail from the mail carrier and when the sleet hit my face, I quickly shut the door and didn't open it again today. George came home early and did some shoveling until the snow blower broke. I can hear the sleety icy rain hitting the window as I type. George was cold and wet when he came in, and quickly called the hardware store for snowblower repair. They said, "See you next week." I made pork roast in the slow cooker and worked at my jewelry table most of the day. It was a quiet and safe day and sometimes that is enough.

I finished a pair of socks for my mother while we watched two more episodes of "Rome" tonight on DVD. I am really enjoying that too much...and can't wait for the next DVD to arrive.

Mom got a nice bouquet of Valentine flowers from me today. I love my big bouquet of balloons in the living room. My Valentine present from George was some beautiful red cathedral beads and an awesome new Lindstrom jewelry pliers which I am absolutely crazy about. Who needs roses when you can get a beautiful pair of flat nose pliers?

Happy Valentine's Day.

A new bone, ceramic, gemstone, glass, crystal, pearl & fiber necklace

A busy weekend

George and I had a really busy weekend, but boy did we have fun! On Friday night I had a private jewelry showing for some friends at church, and I had a great time showing everyone what I had made. I set up in the library just like a mini-craft show, and laid out all the sparklies. We all really enjoyed ourselves. My friends were a very good audience and good customers too! I have some work to do this week to resize things and make some of their creative ideas for new jewelry come true, so I'm going to be in the bead studio for a few hours this week making it happen.

On Saturday George and I shopped for things for the chocolate fountain. I made a necklace as a gift in the morning and mailed it off by noon while George made the rice crispy bars for dipping. The Hearts Party was a big success, with four tables of card players and a very successful chocolate fountain. The chocolate flowed freely, and all the snacks were tasty. We used up six bags of chocolate in the fountain and threw about four bags worth of chocolate mixed with oil away at the end of the evening, because that is the way chocolate fountains work...a lot of waste...but...it was a hit! The only downside was that we forgot to take the rice crispy bars, but they weren't missed.

Sunday I had 11 energetic kids in my Sunday school classroom, and we made valentines to give to our families and learned about the Prodigal Son. Sunday afternoon was a huge event...a jewelry class with someone who I really admire and who makes really beautiful jewelry...and I made this! A new necklace that is a complete departure from what I usually do. It was a lot of fun to work with someone else's inspiration, and then add my own touches. I finished the necklace this morning with all the tiny wire wrapped shell beads and crystals. I do best when I learn by taking a class. It is worth the money for me to have the beads chosen, a successful project assured, and to meet new people who love to make jewelry as much as I do. It was an exciting afternoon and I can't wait to wear the necklace.

Last night we watched three episodes of Rome, the best TV Show ever, shown only on HBO, which we do not have. So we signed up for Netflix so we could order the disks and see lots of other great movies besides. Popcorn!

It was a wonderful weekend, and I have a great new necklace to wear. Nice!

Have a great day.

Hearts Party Centerpiece

The Hearts Party

Tonight is the annual Hearts Card Party at church that George and I host each year. We bring the tablecloths, napkins and cups, and provide sodas and coffee and everyone else brings a snack or a dessert to share. The food is really good, but the real fun is sitting down to play Hearts with about 30 of your friends. We all bring card tables and chairs. The "price of admission" is a package of new socks for the homeless shelter.

This year we are bringing the chocolate fountain from Mike and Michelle's wedding. I went to the party store and bought six bags of chocolate wafers. I sure do hope that the lady was right and that this is what we need. I have no idea how to make a chocolate fountain work....but we are sure going to try.

We have hosted this party for the past five years and it has been going on annually for a lot longer than that. It is usually the same people who show up, and it is a lot of fun. If you don't know how to play, we teach you, so every once in awhile we get a newbie. At the end of the evening, we tally up the lowest scores and crown a King and Queen of Hearts, who are presented with the Hearts Party mug and a foil crown, which they wear at church the following morning.

It is a fun night and I'm looking forward to it!

I Heart My Heaters

My New Heaters

We have a big house and when it is this cold getting the inside temperature just right isn't easy. Our house thermostat is wired so that the furnace is off during the day and comes on at 5. If I am home during the day, the house gets really really cold. I hate to have the furnace cranking away heating up ALL those radiators just for little ol' me. So, we bought a Bionaire heater. The thing is incredible. I use it in the den, and that room gets toasty warm in minutes. I loved it so much I had George go out and buy another one. I have them sitting side by side, and travel in the house with a heater under my arm ready to be plugged in when I need it.

Then, George found another little heater on sale for $13. It is cute. My idea was to use it at my beading studio in the kitchen. The first time I turned it on it blew a fuse. I traveled down to the fuse box in the basement, hitting my head on the overhead pipe, and figured out how to fix the fuse. I'm not very fuse-box savvy. I went back upstairs, turned off the coffee pot, and a few lamps, and turned the little heater on again. The fuse blew again. So, now I have a little heater in the kitchen that I am afraid to use. Even when I do have it working, it goes on and off endlessly, which isn't exactly what you want. I guess you get what you pay for. But I'm not ready to take that little heater back to the store yet. I've bonded with it. It is my little heater and I'm sticking to it!

Cold will do that to you.

Have a good day.

Knitting a new "helmet"

Super Bowl of Knitting Techniques

Super Bowls are highly overrated I think. This year I was not very interested, and it seemed to me that no how hard I rooted for the underdog (da Bears), the other team (the Colts) were going to win. I'm not a big Payton Manning fan ever since I used to watch him play for the University of Tennessee where the only thing that matched his ego was the size of the stadium. So, yesterday, during the Super bowl, there was a marathon knitting show on the DIY Channel (Do It Yourself) which was awesome!

The designed Lily Chin is a famous and wonderful knitting designer and she was featured in several shows yesterday. She has more tips up her sleeve than any quarterback. We kept switching back and forth. First a fascinating yarn over from Lily Chin and then back to the Superbowl for yet another soggy turn over. (In fact, George and I even had raspberry turnovers for dessert last night...little did we realize at the time the pun unintended.)

I love to watch knitting shows on TV and God Bless the DIY cable channel for putting on true giants in the field like Lily Chin. She knows more in her little finger than I will ever learn, and I have earned the title "advanced" knitter. I can now knit the hard stuff and Lily Chin makes the hard stuff look easy.

So, back and forth we switched, knitting to football and back again. George didn't seem to mind. We are Patriots fans.

Have a great Monday!

Mexican Cream Pie

Party Time!

We are going to a Mexican "Tables of Grace" dinner on Saturday night. These fellowship dinners for a dozen or so people are hosted by church members in their homes and this dinner is going to take place in the parlor at church where there will be plenty of room for everyone and a place for the children to play. We are looking forward to it. I'm sure the hostesses will have the room decorated and all the food will be yummy and the company very fun indeed. We all have been asked to bring something Mexican-themed, and I said I would bring enchiladas and a cake. Martha Stewart's recipe for enchiladas looks as good as anyone else's so I plan to bring a nice flat casserole dish full of cheesy beef enchiladas. Sounds good to me. They look as simple as anything Martha Stewart can be.

The thought process around the cake is a little more complicated. I found a nice recipe for Maple Cake which sounds like it would be good--but I have never made it. George hates coconut, so that's out. I would make a lemon curd cake, but that is a little harder, and smaller, and may not feed the right number of people. I am not in the mood for chocolate. I thought about staying true Mexican and bringing Flan, but that is too hard to make, and the children won't like the burnt caramel taste. So, I am going to keep it simple. I have decided to bring a store bought Boston Creme Pie.

No one makes Boston Creme Pie like Bostonian bakeries and theirs is just as good, if not better, than anything I could make homemade. I'm pretty sure that if I made two large layers of yellow cake and put a creamy custard filling in between, the two layers would slide apart and end up lying side by side on the kitchen counter. Sometimes we do have to learn from mistakes we haven't made yet! George loves Boston Creme Pie, and I don't remember ever having it until I moved to Boston. It is George's favorite treat for his birthday, so...I don't bake many birthday cakes either!

So, Mexican Cream Pie it is. I'm sure it will all be delicious.

Meet Crystal

I have really enjoying going to visit my friend Connie to talk shop about jewelry, swap beads and drink her good coffee. She has a charming cat named Crystal...who found this nice place to sit while we were visiting one day. We tried not to let on how funny she looked!

Passwords

I am really tired of forgetting my passwords. Who knew that along with globalization and the internet would come such a problem of trying to remember our passwords? I shop at dozens of stores and have signed up for hundreds of internet sites. Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, Penneys, LL Bean, a dozen online bead stores, Ebay-- all of them have passwords. And even reading the NY Times online, or writing a blog or posting a picture requires a password. I can just hear Mike and George say, "Why don't you use one password and then you won't forget it." Ha! Well, I do have one password that is a favorite and I use it most of the time. But you can't use that same generic password for anything important like online banking, or Paypal or anyplace that has your real money!

Every time I sign on to something new they want me to create a password. The chances of me remembering that password are almost nil. Some want you to use numbers, some won't allow spaces, some have other obscure parameters like a certain number of characters...just to make life a little more difficult.

I must have about 20 favorite passwords that I keep track of. Today I signed up online for the Mass/Gov/Jobsearch hotline, and...they would not let me use my real name (a favorite trick of mine)...I had to add a number. So, without wanting to, I have another username AND another password to remember.

Even George forgot a password the other day too, so I have company I know. This can't just be a problem for me!

I have not found a solution. "They" won't let you use one password for everything--not going to happen. If you write down your passwords in a little book, you always fear that the robbers to come will find your little book and...pffft, there goes all your passwords. If you give up and just try to log on to something using a new password, that will not work either, because they still have your email on the account. Ok, ok, email it to me once again.

I really don't have the answer. I just try to keep the list of active passwords to about 10. That way, by going the list and trying them all, it should take a half hour or so to get into a site. Just long enough to drive me crazy!!

Have a great day.

No Temperature At All Today

I have a new habit of listening to the talk radio station when I wake up in the morning. Maybe that means I'm getting old. This morning when I woke, the guy announced that the temperature was nothing...no temperature...zero. He was right. It took me two tries with the thermostat to get the temperature in the house somewhat livable. They relished announcing that when the wind is whistling at zero, it means the "wind chill" temperature is something like 30 below. Well, I have news for them. I have lived in Minneapolis when it really WAS 30 below, and it is shockingly cold. Today was nothing compared to that!

I remember when I was living in Minneapolis, at 18 years old, and walking out onto the porch in the morning and feeling like my lungs would go into shock. It hurt to breathe! The air was so cold it just froze in your mouth. We used to wear big fur collars and fur hats and I would tuck my chin into my collar so I could breathe the warm furry air while I walked to the bus stop on the corner. We also regularly wore pants under our dresses, as well as a couple pair of socks, and boots and hats and gloves and ... well, we wore a lot of clothes. Getting out of all those clothes so we could work at our desk for the day was quite an undertaking. I remember the ladies room at the ad agency having a big closet space for all our clothing. It took forever to get dressed again to go to the bus stop and home.

I also remember having to walk down tunnels of snow instead of sidewalks, and having to peer around the corners of the snowbanks so you wouldn't run into someone coming from the other direction. That sounds like a tall tale, but I swear it is true. I'm not sure we have snowfalls that high anymore! Minneapolis is beautiful, but wow, is it cold!

Memories of Minneapolis in the winter make Boston seem positively balmy.

Have a great day.

The Girls Next Door

I am a big fan of the E television show The Girls Next Door about three of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends who live at the mansion. Since I worked for Playboy in the early 1970's, I have been to the Chicago mansion and was at some of the wild parties that they had there. We often went to the Sunday night movie at Hef's house...complete with a fabulous buffet.

Since the bigger parties didn't start until eleven at night, and usually they were on a work night, it was rather hard to attend them without thinking of how tired I would be the next day. I still had a desk and a job to do in the morning. I met my husband, Bob Shea, while I worked at Playboy and even though I was there only a year, I met a lot of friends during that period. I was hired to work in the art department, and worked at the reception desk for a few weeks before that. I met Bob because I was sitting there reading a book of Ibsen plays, which he thought was rather remarkable. I was 21, young, blond and pretty. It was great fun. The Playboy art department was a wild and fun place to work and I have a lot of good memories.

This TV show is fascinating. First, I think it is just great PR for the Playboy empire, and they have had little success in the past with TV shows. These three girls are funny, cute, and rather charmingly pathetic, in a drop dead gorgeous kind of way. It is a strange life, but...Hollywood is pretty strange too. I love the quick cuts and quips and the way the editing is done on this show. It makes fun of the subject without being mean spirited.

Who needs to be mean? As long as there is a Playboy magazine, there will be pretty young girls who are ready to be a part of it--and why not? These three young blond and perky girls are more fun to watch than a lot of stuff on TV these days.

And George likes to watch too --probably for very different reasons.

Have a great day.

Fly fishing on vacation. I wouldn't want to get my feet wet!

Turquoise, pearls, cats eyes, silver flowers, jasper and jade

The Bead Show Adventure

Yesterday George and I drove to Marlborough to go to a bead expo. This is a big hotel, with suites down a long hallway and in each suite there are one or two or three vendors selling beads and all things about beads. George stayed in the car to do some church work, and take a nap. I ventured in and spent a happy hour looking and buying some beautiful new beads. As I was shopping in one store, another shopper reminded me that there were even better prices at "the bead show down the road." I had been there before on another trip, and even though I hadn't planned to go to another show, I thought...why not. I put some things down and went to look for George.

Then the adventure started. I went to the big doors and looked out into the parking lot. No George. I waited. I didn't have my coat, and it was about 7 degrees with the windchill, but I ventured out to the parking lot and looked around. No George. So I shopped a little more. I tried to find a chair so I could rest a little, but there were no chairs. I waited at the door under the heater. I shopped a little more. I waited some more. Finally, George came walking up the walk and I was saved.

We got into the car. The lights had been left on and the car wouldn't start. George pushed us out of the parking place and the car started nicely as we rolled down a small incline. We decided to go to the other bead show.

We pulled up to the big expo center at another hotel down the road and George said that he needed to get gas, so he would just drop me off. I left my coat in the car again. He drove away and I happily walked into the big hall. There was a big sign that said, "Fly Fishing Expo, Tickets here." I was in a big hall with a bunch of men, all shopping for flies and rods!! I couldn't even get in to wait, because I didn't want to buy a ticket. So, coatless, I had to stand outside the front of the hall and wait for George again! Luckily, the sun was shining and it was relatively warm, but I had had more than my share of waiting in the cold already. Fishing! I couldn't believe it.

When we go to New Hampshire I take my fly fishing rod. I know little about it, but I swipe it back and forth a few times just to see if I can avoid the bushes and trees. Here I was surrounded by men who knew a lot more about it than I did. I stood in the sun and hoped that some of their expertise would rub off. But I wanted beads!

George wasn't long, I flagged him down before he turned for the huge parking lot, and we treated ourselves to a coke and a hamburger. I told him that I wasn't leaving his side again that day!

Have a wonderful Sunday. Go Pats!

The "going away" bouquet.

A beautiful new day

My new job ended yesterday. I am not sad. They presented me with a bouquet of flowers and a card signed by everybody. I thought that was very nice of them. I also liked hearing how "gracious" I was and that not everyone would have taken this job change so gracefully.

I like to be called gracious and graceful. There are worse things to be called.

Today is a new day. I am going to rest this weekend and start the job hunt process again on Monday. As enforced changes go, this is a good change, and I look forward to finding another job. I have some ideas and I have a new commitment. I have learned things and I look at this as a learning experience and an opportunity to find a job that is manageable, fun, and healthy.

Today I get my hair done. The best part about getting my hair done is not that I look better afterward, but that I get to read fashion magazines in peace for 45 minutes while the color sets. It is fun to sit and watch all the goings on at the hair salon. People scurry around and customers gossip and I find it just a fascinating place.

George and I and Connie are going to a bead show in Marlborough this afternoon. It is a big exhibit hall kind of bead show, and there are TONS of new beads to be oohed over and a few to be bought and brought home. I took down my Ebay Store for renovation and am going to hang up a lot of new pretties in the next week. It was time to make a change, and this week I have more time to make some new jewelry to show there. I love selling on Ebay. It is the camaraderie of the place that makes it fun. Who knew that online selling would lead to so many wonderful new friends! And I mean real friends!

Tomorrow is Sunday School, hopefully a long peaceful afternoon, and THEN the Patriot's play the Colts in an exciting playoff. People in Massachusetts have seen it before, have heard it before and have felt it before. We are sophisticated when it comes to our sports teams. We are natural born cynics. It is not that we don't WANT the Patriots to win, it is just that we are not blissfully optimistic. We don't walk around in funny hats and yell "Go Pats" at the grocery store. We run our errands as if nothing is happening and then we quietly GLUE ourselves to the TV and PRAY! We are afraid of being let down so we keep our optimism safely under control and go about stoically hopeful. Tom Brady is such a great guy, so easy to like, and someone we can all be proud of. GO PATS!!

Have a great weekend!

All's well, and it is FRIDAY!

The ice and snow that they predicted is one degree from getting here. It is 34 degrees outside, which makes things wet, not too slick. I hate ice. One time I was getting into my car in my driveway and as I scraped off the windshield and walked around the car, I fell--twice! It is humiliating enough to be lying on your driveway flat out, but to do it twice is awful! I also fell once on the walkway going out to the street. There is drainage that runs across the sidewalk in one spot, and it ices over. One minute I was happily walking down the sidewalk with my purse and my totebag and the next I was laying flat out looking up at the blue sky. My arms were spread out like a snow angel. That time I hurt my neck and it was a year before I could raise my head up from the washing station at the hair salon without help.

Today I am going to work, to do the best I can, and to come home elated. It is good. It is Friday. The Patriots are playing on Sunday. I have the popcorn bowls ready. Go Pats!

Have a great Friday.

Rainy holiday at work

Everyone had a holiday except George and me today. I had to work, so George and I carpooled, and he went to his office for a day of extra work. My place of business was one of the few open today, so traffic was light and it was a good thing too, since the morning was a very rainy Boston traffic-stopper.

I have been working very hard and have had little time to do jewelry things. I made three crocheted necklaces while watching the Patriots game yesterday. Go Pats! It was fun to use my hands to make something pretty, and I will take them to the art store on Tuesday. They are selling out of my necklaces, which is a great feeling. I like making them and people like wearing them.

Four more days and I will have lots more time to make jewelry.

Have a great day.

Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser

I am reading a biography of Marie Antoinette that Michael bought me for Christmas. It is a very good read and I am enjoying it. Marie Antoinette didn't have a chance. Life at Versailles was all pomp and circumstance, and no heed was paid to the real world outside the stifling gold walls of royalty. I recommend it. During this time of upheaval in my own life it is good to read a well researched book.

Saturday morning-up up up!

Today is Saturday. I have one more week to do my new job, and then I am on the job hunt once again. Things fell apart, promises were broken, the original job offer was changed and then they gave the job to someone else from inside the company who they said didn't need training. They offered me a 20 hour work-week job, and I said no. I was utterly shocked. Not heartbroken, just shocked. All is going to be well. I am going to re-start the job search and this time I have a lot more experience. I actually enjoy job interviews which is a good thing. And I had three job offers the last time, and unfortunately, made the wrong choice about where to go to work. So,...I will forge ahead and not look back.

Saturday is a good day to do a lot of things that have been put aside this busy and terrible week. I am paying bills, writing thank you notes, mailing presents, baking a cake for a friend, shopping for crafts for Sunday school and reading a new book that I bought yesterday. I also have a new pink scarf started in a very fun 16 row pattern.

I was up and writing in my journal this morning. Flipping back through the pages, I noticed that my entry for January 12 last year was about my mother. Last year my mom was very ill and she had a long recovery time--almost the whole year. This year she is much better. I am so grateful for that, that any other bad news is tempered by the good news. Mom was able to play bridge at the senior center last week. She is 97. How's that for good news!

Have a great weekend.

Stuff Happens

I'm not going to go into it here, but things have not worked out exactly as I planned and I've had to do a lot of mental maneuvering lately. Bad stuff happens to good people, and that is the truth. Tonight, after a long tedious commute home, I walked in to a view of these beautiful amaryllis blooms, which were the most beautiful thing I'd seen all day. Bad things happen, but good things happen too, and sometimes we have to count our blessings.

Years ago, when I was in turns a little more flighty and a little more often furious than I am now, I learned to handle bad things or emotional upsets by going into the bathroom, locking myself in there, and making a top 10 GRATEFUL LIST in my head. By naming to yourself the ten things in your life that you are most grateful for, almost any case of the mads or the blues immediately gets better. This has been a week for the grateful list.

Top Ten:
My family
George, my love, my buddy, and the man who makes my dinner when I'm getting home late
My 97 year old marvel of a mom
My wonderful and loyal friends
My nice red Ford Focus
My ability to mix colors together that makes dressing in the morning a lot more fun
My online jewelry and Ebay friends, who hardly know me, and like me anyway
My jewelry studio in the kitchen filled with beautiful beads and silver and gold
My cute kitty
The fact that I am relatively free of big problems
That I am not addicted to anything and my health is good
Oh,...and the fact that ten good things leads to eleven.

So, with all that to be grateful for, who cares what happened this week~!
Have a lovely day.

Once again - an old friend

Once again my blog has resulted in hearing from an old good friend. (Good ol' friend?). Hi Tim! I am happy to hear from people who I have lost touch with!

Busy week, new job, learning again how to go to bed at 9:30 and get up at 5:30. More later!

Have a good day.

Blogging along through January

I have really enjoyed blogging over the years. I can hardly believe how many posts I have, and how much I have written. I write and someone reads and that is enough. I am happy with simple things. My blog is called flowers and fiber, because that is what I thought I would write about. But that is not the case. I just write about my life. It is enough.

January is like the day after Marti Gras. I like to watch the parade cams that are set up on the parade routes and Bourbon Street in New Orleans on the day after Marti Gras. You can see that the minute it turns midnight the trucks sweep and wash down the streets. All the glitter and romance are gone, and the grit and crud are soon gone too. Good.

The month of January is a time for housecleaning. We have packed up our Christmas tree, and put the ribbon and paper away for next year, and are just sweeping up the little things that said Christmas at our house. The fudge that we got as a gift is gone, thank God, and now we can move on to lettuce and carrot sticks. The house cleaners were here yesterday and our living room looks twice as large without the big tree at one end.

Christmas was fun, and I loved every minute of it, and I'm glad that it is over. It is good to be home, to be warm, and to be busy at work again.

Have a great day.

Happy New Year everyone!