Winter Blustery Blast

I feel like a kid in Colorado waiting to hear that schools are closed tomorrow. Like most of the midwest, southern Texas is experiencing a cold wave (it was just in the 70s earlier this week!) and they are predicting sleet this evening. While I know it isn’t the 50 inches of snow that they’ve had in CO, it is still pretty exciting around here. I only get to wear my one turtleneck sweater about four times a year!

Earlier this week I was able to drive out to Houston for a day to see Larissa, Kristopher, her mom (who I pretty much grew up with) and their baby Niko! I haven’t seen LA since Tim and I were in NY for the fourth of July a few years ago, so it was so nice to see everyone and meet one of the cutest babies on the planet. Since there are just a few of them, I went ahead and put those pics on my flickr account. Isn’t he cute?!

Photos are also up in the gallery of our trip to Florida this Christmas.

Holy 2007 Batman

Happy 2007 everyone! I returned last night from Florida, so didn’t exactly have a rockin new year, but am very excited for the changes that might be taking place over the next year. I wish all my family and friends the best for 2007.

Spent most of today doing the usual getting home things, laundry, grocery, etc. I talked to Regina today who reminded me to get out my black eyed peas, so made a quick salad. How can I afford to neglect something that will bring me good luck and financial well being in the new year (along with some leafy greens).

Between working on Ashley’s quilt and reading a suggestion from Mitch, I will be putting up pictures of Florida and working on my book list for 2006. Soon, very soon, I promise.

Beir bua agus beannacht!
Best Wishes!

Tricked II

This time we got tricked by the weather. My parents were scheduled to fly on Friday, but haven’t yet made it out of Denver due to the huge blizzard. Their flight was cancelled for Friday, and were finally lucky enough to get their flights changed, but not until Tuesday, so we’ll just have to celebrate Christmas late. My mom and I were lucky enough to get our library shifts covered on Saturday (thanks Mimi!), and get our flights changed, so we can extend our holiday a little bit and I can show them around south Florida. Neither my mom or Andrew has been to FL before and after all that snow, I’m sure they could use a little beachy weather.

While we are missing Loki, my inlaws got a mini white schnauzer named Gabe who is very cute. We’ll have to take lots of doggy photos. Actually he is still quite a bit of a puppy with all the hilarity that ensues from that. I brought my knitting project with me and after searching down a knitting store here for the right sized circulars, it is going pretty well. There is a lot of sports on this weekend, so it will be perfect to curl up in the same room and just knit.

Today we went to the beach, saw some dolphins and ate lunch at our favorite waterside restaurant. Tomorrow? Maybe a trip to Tim’s favorite…the Everglades.

Trickery

Tricked! I don’t think that it was allergies at all…but insead a cold that never left me feeling sick except for the…well…extreme congestion in my face and chest (I know you came here for phglem stories!). Still taking the claritin as a precautionary measure, but feeling much better.

I got the last of my holiday crafting done this morning…can’t put up photos until that gift is given, but I do have another holiday quilt on my flickr page that has been received and hopefully used already! After the New Year I am all set to sew Ashley’s quilt together as all the pieces are cut and ready to go (well except for I have to trim the framed blocks to 16 1/2 inches which I was all set to do the other night except for I remembered that they also needed ironing before I trimmed and the thought of plugging in the iron…was. just. too. much. after I had already ironed and trimmed 40 4 1/2 inch blocks for the inner border.). Thien also helped me start knitting a felted bed for Loki at our recent knit night at our local coffee shop/bar Ruta Maya downtown last week. That might be my project for the holidays to keep my fingers busy, though somehow, somewhere I need to track down size 11 24′ circular needles before I go too far.

The leaves on all the trees are just turning and falling, but at 80 degrees it doesn’t feel like Christmas yet!

Morguers

In light of recent airport security, I am so glad I got in all my summer trips already. My trip last weekend to Detroit Rock City was fantastic. It was so nice to see Cyn and Suzy in person and get in some good laughs and memories. We shopped in Birmingham (MI), ate all middle eastern food, saw Canada from across the river, went to the Ribs -N- Soul festival (Where my ladies at??), met Johnny Knoxville, saw the Tigers win in outstanding fashion (Pudge 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9th), checked out Ford Field, drank in Plymouth and in general had a great time hanging out.

This week at work has been…um…interesting. Interesting, disappointing, sad and frustrating. But I’ve not been fired, and it isn’t the end of the world. I have been thinking though that it is funny that through times when you feel the most down, you can also have many moments of extreme hysteria and laughter. I’m not sure the staff at the coffee shop/bar down the street wants us back after some work people got together last night to “knit”, bitch and blow off steam. It was also a farewell get together for Becka. Have fun in Chicago…we hardly knew ye.

I can’t believe my birthday is next week!

Who had the Cobb Salad?

My last minute trip to Colorado was great. While Colorado and the Denver area are changing dramatically (some of it good, some of it baaaaaad), there is something refreshing and restorative about driving by our old hangouts, sleeping in my old room, and in general being home. I also saw an old friend briefly and we ate at a restaurant that is part of a chain that I once worked (Red Robin, which I can highly recommend based on daily cleaning tasks. Also the recent site for some funny trip memories, one involving a Cobb Salad…). Sometimes it feels like going back in time. We also went to several quilt shops, a quilt museum, a cycle shop, caught a Rockies game, watched World Cup Soccer, and made the ritual trip to the mountains. And of course, the food, drink and company (including AJ!)were excellent.

Since I’ve been back, I took a long bike ride with my new cycling shoes, which I would highly recommend to anyone who rides! It took me a few tries in the yard and two trips around the block to get used to the lock and release thingy, but makes a huge difference on a ride. I am also taking a special quilt class where I will learn some new techniques (mitered borders, scalloped edging), I had sorely underestimated how long it would take me to make 63 3 1/2″ pinwheel blocks. The blocks are adorable (so tiny!), but I may have to take a make up class somewhere in there. I have my book group tonight. While I resisted joining a book group for soooooo long, I quite enjoy attending and discussing. Even (or especially) when I am a lone dissenter.

We planned to start in July, but have started early. Tim and I are changing our diets…vegetarian (ovo-lacto vegetarian to be precise). I am excited to try some new recipes, and make some changes in our (already pretty healthy) diet. We talked about trying it for a month and reevaluating from there. It has been a week, and so far, so good.

Socket Error

I rarely blog about work, only one time in the past have I even really mentioned work (three days before Staff Development Day, 2005). I have no idea if there is a city directive banning blogging about work or not, but I’m sure there is some vague statement somewhere effectively covering the city if they wish take action (firing me). Not that I expect that the city manager is reading my blog, but several work people know my address and you never know who might be the mole (ha!). Anyway, I was on a committee and it was…hard. I keep thinking it is over, but then something else comes up.

So it is a good thing I am leaving tomorrow at the break of dawn for a few days in Colorado! Tim will be kicking it with Loki at home while I visit old friends, head to the mountains, catch a baseball game, get stuffed with mom’s baking and dad’s cooking, catch up with AJ and in general hang about in my childhood home. While I am gone, I will miss Tim’s birthday (Sunday!). I’m sure he will have a wild party.

When I come back I must get busy on some quilts!

Look! Another Starbucks

It isn’t a joke. There is really a Starbucks on every corner in Seattle. Literally, ever corner. I almost died laughing when I was sitting in the lobby of our hotel (directly across from a Starbucks), and a woman asked the desk clerk if he knew where the closest Starbucks was. Clearly she hadn’t walked around yet. It has taken about three days to recover, but Seattle is great! The water! The mountains! The city! They hills! Really, the surrounding area is gorgeous, and the city totally walkable (despite the hills). There are tons of photos up (you have been warned) that sort of take you through the trip. Seattle is one of my new favorite cities. And if you are headed that direction and want to are interested in a one day death march, I am totally your gal for instructions (Number one, stop and get a Piroshky. Number two, pass the library and start walking uphill Madison street…Number 20, turn right at Broadway…Number 80, end up at Lakeview Cemetary). Good times.

A Trip a Month

Last summer was all about the big trip…Ireland and Scotland in two weeks. It was wonderful, beautiful, tons of fun, and so nice to be able to get away for that long. But a two week chunk is basically all the leave Tim has, so this summer is the summer of quick short trips. While not the full impact of international travel, by summer’s end I will have seen two US cities I’ve never been to before (Washington DC and Seattle), have a few days to chill in Colorado with the fam, and visit friends in Detroit.

Basketball is fully into the playoffs, which means it is Spurs time. I think I watched about 20 minutes of the game today which we won. That is actually a lot for me, but I need to start sitting for more of them and picking up some hand crafty projects that I would like to finish. Learned this week how to hand quilt from a woman in my quilt group, I think that I will like it, but it will take a lot of practice. I wouldn’t ever give up machine quilting most of my quilts if I want to continue finishing projects, but think that it would be fun for a few smaller projects. Also got back on my bike today for the first time in a long time. It stinks that the best months to ride (Jan, Feb and March) it is impossible for me with the allergies. And this year, once my allergies cleared up, it cut my finger, making it hard to put pressure on the handle. Oh, and if you want to watch a really good movie…check out Hawaii, Oslo. I loved it.

Fire Ants

One more reason to dislike Texas: Fire Ants. No, really…ants! That bite! Maybe because I grew up in a land (Colorado) that due to its low air moisture, altitude and cool nighttime temperatures doesn’t have a lot of bugs. Even though I grew up without lightening bugs, I look back on those bugless days with a certain fondness, especially now that I live in Bug Zone, USA. I am apparently mildly allergic to ant bites and think that any place that has ants that bite and can cause a foot to swell and hives to form over my eyelids is not the place for me. Looks like a move to Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia are out too, you know, strictly based on my ant criteria.

With a swollen foot and an entire day stretching ahead of me while Tim was at Oyster Bake on Saturday I got back on the proverbial horse. I cut fabric for the first time since I cut my finger using the rotary cutter. It was 93 degrees outside, my foot was too swollen and itchy to put into a shoe, what else was there to do? It did make me a little nervous, but I did it. There are quilts to make people.

My trip to DC was great, my hostess was divine and good times were had by all. Photos have been up for sometime and tell most of the story (though there are very few from the wild bowling night). It was so good to see old friends, family, and meet some new people. The sights were spectacular and the weather wonderful. Between the million memorials, pitchers of beer, 3,000 calorie breakfasts, sunny skies, purring cats, and endless laughter, not a bad moment was to be had. Thanks Regina!