Quilts

I have sewn at least 16 lap quilts over the past 8 months! Quilts for Katelyn, Emily, Joshi, Rachel, David, Jacob, Derek, Brooklyn, Carley, Jentry, Brinley, Riley, Maylen, Kinson, Savannah, and Brixtin.  (There are probably some that I missed...I should have kept track at the start)

These are the latest two that I finished this week.  One is a girly girl quilt and the other is definitely a boy's quilt.  The 8 children getting baptized got a "comforter", and the ones turning 12 and earning their Faith in God Award got a farewell quilt.  So far, I've only had one boy turn 12 & not earn his award, which I think is an excellent track record. If it takes an extra reward to stop procrastination, I'm all for it!

Crazy Number 6???

6. Learn to ballroom dance

This goal sounded great when I was still under the influence of drugs... now I'm not so sure. However, they do have Wednesday afternoon and evening dance classes at the High School. The afternoon one is a ballroom class for students taught by one of our substitute teachers, who also happens to be a gypsy. He's been trying to convince me for a while that I should get a little dancing in my life.

The evening class is salsa dancing, and taught by our Puerto Rican Science teacher. Somehow, this seems more intriguing, especially since the class is mostly for adults.

Only one problem... I am REALLY self-conscious when I don't know how to do something. And it's almost the end of the school year, so I'd have to wait until September. And Big A has Boy Scouts on Wednesday nights, so I'd have to go by myself. And I'm talking myself out of this before I've even tried it. (Ok, so that's way more than one problem)

I might have to rethink and replace this goal... I hate looking like an idiot.

Nebulous Number Nine

9. Learn to make a real composting bin, and use it in a garden.

I call this goal nebulous, since it means indistinct or vague. What is a "real" composting bin? After doing my usual Google investigation, I discovered that I can make a compost bin in something as small as a plastic bucket, or a wheeled plastic garbage can. Yahoo! (Sorry... Google!) That way I can carry it by the handle around the garden.

My loving husband has found a greenhouse for my birthday present... I am happy! He is attaching it to the south side of the shop.  Two advantages: it will get almost constant sun, and it forces him to clean up all of the scraps of leftover lumber and other assorted paraphernalia from previous house projects. Say Hallelujah!

The first thing I need to do is find a garbage can on wheels, then have Big A drill 4 holes in the bottom and around 6 holes on the sides. The supposed mix is: 1 part kitchen waste (no animal products), 2 parts garden/newspaper shreds, 1 part soil.

I have already begun saving kitchen scraps, although right now it's just in a bucket :( I also found a wheeled garbage can, but I knew I couldn't fit it in the car, so it becomes a Spring Break project. I decided to go ahead & buy seeds and planting soil, so planting will begin this week also... can you tell I've got spring fever?

Number 8

8. Changing to... create a fun cake for someone.

This one could be fun... or things could go horribly wrong.We have a dessert auction at church. Last year, I made a round chinese checkers cake using fruit rollups & gumballs, and a square checkers cake using Andes mints squares, and Hershey's Kisses and Hugs for the pieces. This year, I've decided to try and make a topsy turvy cake. I baked the 3 cakes... so far, so good.

I'm supposed to use fondant to cover the layers, but fondant doesn't taste too good, so I'm going to try to use regular butter cream frosting. Hopefully the weather is still cool enough that it won't melt down the sides.

The one thing I would do differently is freeze the cake layers longer, since they were difficult to cut. I would also use dramatically different sizes of pans... I had to trim them down a bit so that there was more of a difference.

All in all it turned out okay, but not fabulous. Good thing it's the beginning of birthday season at our house, so I can continue to find unique cakes to make from March until May.

Olympic Fever!

#4 and #5 Attend Summer & Winter Olympics

I might have to rethink doing this again, at least the Winter Olympics (Sochi, Russia in 2014? Not thrilling me) Summer Olympics in London 2012 sounds better, but probably impractical.

Big A worked at the Salt Lake Olympics back in 2002, and we all went and visited him during President's Day weekend. Downtown Provo housed the ice sculpture competitions, which were surprisingly fun.

A bus to Soldier Hollow in Heber City released us out in the middle of nowhere to watch the Biathalon... yes, that whole cross-country shooting thing :) We actually stood close enough to the competitors that we could see the frozen body fluids dripping on their faces.

Then back to The Peaks Ice Arena in Provo to buy tickets in the parking lot for ice hockey (I'm sure it was legal).

During 1984, I was lucky enough to have a friend, Lisa, whose dad was a cameraman for ABC. He got us some tickets for the diving competitions at USC during the L. A. Olympics.

I always thought that since it was the preliminaries, that's why it was outside... come to find out... It's California! We don't need no stinkin' indoor pools! Thanks, Wikipedia!

The Number Three

3. Attend a Shakespeare play...

I've seen Twelfth Night in England, so I can't say this is a new goal. Here's my favorite movie versions:

Taming of the Shrew: the Burton/Taylor version is fun(they love to fight), but the BBC remake Shakespeare Retold with Rufus Sewell is fabulous
Hamlet: Olivier or Branagh? hmm...
The Merchant of Venice: Al Pacino is the perfect intense, obsessive Shylock
Twelfth Night: Helena Bonham Carter is wonderful, but the best part is Ben Kingsley as the troubadour
Henry V: Kenneth Branagh's battle monologue made me cry

Big A & I are going to Ashland in July for some Shakespeare. I don't remember what we're seeing (big surprise), but I'm excited.

Out of Order 14

Fourteenth Goal: Read 100 "Classic" Books

Since I work in a library, I have already read a boat-load of books. I like to preview the books I purchase for the library so that I can help students find something they might actually enjoy.

However... If I read one more fantasy-vampire-werewolf-on the run young adult novel in the next little while I'm going to have my brain ooze out of my ears... I need to break it up a bit.


I've read and reread lot of classics, but I want to seek out some that I haven't gotten to yet. Right now I'm reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Although it's fairly short (136 pages), it's not a quick read. Billed that "the reader will delight in an intimate portrait of the man", I'm not feelin' it. Page after page about printing procedures, then a quick paragraph about his alcoholic pals or hanging around with disreputable ladies. It throws me off a bit, but it also makes me read it carefully, since I don't want to miss a juicy bit.

Number 2 and Lucky 7

Second Goal: Visit Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia

This is a goal that will have to wait until my husband is 50, since we've gotten in the habit of decade birthday vacations.

We both planned trips when we turned 40... he wanted to go to France, and I wanted to go to Belize. Thankfully, he travels enough for his job that we could frequent-flyer our way to both.

But first, I will visit my memory of vacations past:


France was fun... I first went there on Study Abroad as a college student. However, as a poor 19 year old, I walked everywhere, and usually stuffed myself with free bread and cocoa breakfast to survive the day. And I'm so old that they didn't have the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre :(

The second time around was different, since Big A is not much of a walker. He was a good sport about it, but when we would ride the Metro from Notre Dame to Champs Elysee, I was freaked out that I actually walked that far and back! Then again, that was definitely the best shape I've been in my life too, unfortunately. The boy likes his restaurants too, so I ate in real cafes instead of living off french bread.

Belize was warm and laid-back. We stayed in a cement block hut on the beach for a few days (when A first walked in he started laughing), and then a kind of bed and breakfast horse ranch in the jungle, complete with howling monkeys and roaming jungle cats. Definitely the trip of a lifetime.


So... Australia will have to wait for 3 1/2 years, but that's okay. I know we will visit other places in between.

Seventh Goal: Take a walking tour

For my old age trip, I want to take a self-guided walking tour of Great Britain. I know... more walking. I haven't really figured out exactly where... do I relive Braveheart or get in touch with my Irish roots? Haven't been to Ireland yet, so it's the front runner.

March Gratitude

I am grateful for a loving family and thoughtful friends.

Number 1

First Goal: Build a useful piece of furniture

I have had a pattern for an adirondack chair for more than five years now. I even let someone borrow it so they could make one, but haven't really worried about making it myself. Now that we almost have a real backyard, this summer is the time to build!

Here's the catch... my husband has taken over our shop. It used to have three sections: the back for storage, the middle for my tools and sanders, and the front for his tools. Slowly, it changed. It was my fault... I said he could keep the lathe he bought to make pens on one of the counters. Then I got busy, and the next time I went out all my tools were unplugged. At the time I didn't care, but now I want my space back!

So here's my action plan:
March - find pattern & figure out materials while husband is around so he has fair warning
April - get cleared to actually do something and build my strength up again
May - do cleanout of middle of the shop, buy materials
June - build and be happy

Why, why, why?

Thought I'd backtrack a bit today to explain... why the boredom, why the blog?

As you can see from the photo, I've got quite a good scar going. Last Wednesday, I had a titanium plate placed in my neck to ease the pressure on my spinal cord. I'm hoping it will relieve my migraines, let me do situps or pushups without pain... basically anything would be an improvement.

The bad news is: I can't lift anything over 15 lbs., can't vacuum, can't transfer wet laundry into the dryer, can't walk down the high school hallway without getting dizzy, blah, blah, blah. If I was a slob it would be a dream come true. Unfortunately, I'm going stir crazy.

The good news is: I have become a source of entertainment for the masses. Everyone likes to stop by (bringing cookies or muffins fortunately), and then gasp and say "Eew!" It makes me feel special.

Anywho, I've always meant to do a lot of things, but I thought if I wrote them down, more of them might happen. And I'm a big fan of lists... they tend to shame me into action :)

Things to Do, Things to Do Again

Here I sit, recovering from neck surgery and contemplating my life ... watching my next "Tivoed" episode of "Say Yes to the Dress", and counting off when I can take my next muscle relaxant pill. So what better way to use my time than think of all the things I've done, and more importantly, all the things I want to do with the rest of my life.

Here's my initial list of items that will help me feel like I've actually lived a little. The few I've already accomplished are italicized, but meh, they're still goals, and I'd like to do some of them again:

1. Build a useful piece of furniture.

2. Visit Uluru(Ayers Rock) in Australia.

3. Attend a Shakespearean play in Stratford-on-Avon.

4. Go to the Summer Olympics.

5. Go to the Winter Olympics.

6. Learn to ballroom dance.

7. Hike through Scotland or Ireland.

8. Bake a beautiful cake for someone.

9. Learn to make a real composting bin, and use it in a garden.

10. Live in another country.

11. Be a regular volunteer in an animal shelter.

12. Take up drawing (again).

13. Create a real cookbook for my children (not just desserts).

14. Read 100 "Classic" books.

15. Visit all human-inhabited continents (sorry Antartica!).

I've deliberately left out personality traits that I should have all the time, so my next step is to break each one down & decide how and when to accomplish each goal. As Albert Einstein said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Then again, Einstein also said,“I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference!”