T-day and my little pies

Happy Day After Thanksgiving. I refuse to call it Black Friday, I'm not a shopper and ... I'm not going to go there today, I'm in a good mood. Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful here, so much so that I totally forgot to take pictures. Tommy, our previously "pet" turkey was delicious, all the sides perfect, and my little pies were a hit. everyone got their own and they ate every last morsel. It snowed all day long, and the G-kids had a ball, making snowmen and then tackling them flat. After dinner they had a snowball fight with the neighbors G-kids. Fun times!

Sorry..forgot to post this right away so...5 days later!?

List # 3 - Jobs You've Had

This list thing is starting to feel like a job. I rarely put this much information out about myself, but since hardly anyone reads this I guess doing it for myself is OK . Again inspired by by www.yesandyes.org  and the book Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists


1. File clerk - actually worked for my dad alphabetizing his customer records stored on cards with punched holes in them, very pre, pre computer database stuff.
2. Babysitter - Of course, oldest of 5 and only girl.
3. Waitress 
4. Assistant to the assistant manager in a totally upscale department store, designer salon department. Never got out from the back room but did get to try on all the new samples that came in my size.
5. File clerk  - for a then monopoly, I was just a number.
6. Wife and mother - don't let anyone kid you that his isn't a JOB. No pay, lots of benefits and very rewarding but a job none the less.
7. Switchboard operator
8. Customer service - department store
9. Direct Sales - nice name for Tupperware, and Avon pusher
10. Bank Teller 
11.Real estate agent - Loved this job, mostly the "caravan" weekly visits to the companies new listings.
12. Small business bookkeeper
13. Self employed bookkeeper
14. Online retail shop owner
15. Fill in secretary/office support


Now why can't I find a job?
What about you?

List 2

Another list inspired by www.yesandyes.org  and the book Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists .
Places you've lived:
1. my parents home -  the typical 60's built tri-level suburban family home. Lisle, Illinois
2. honeymoon cottage - actually a single wide mobile outside of the Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.
3. cozy furnished apartment - the building probably pre-dated the Civil War, I'm sure the furniture was older than WWI, the neighbors were "southern" crazy, the wildlife (cockroaches) unbearable. Shreveport, Louisiana
4. family apartment - one kiddo, 2 bedrooms in this nondescript but wildlife free apartment complex. Shreveport, Louisiana
5. Moving on up - kiddo 2, three bedroom rambler, in a neighborhood of young families moving in and out as per Air Force transfers. down side, B52's nearby on standby (end of Vietnam) Bossier City, Louisiana
6. my parents home - veerry short lived
7. Swinging Singles Apartment - we, married with 2 little kids. inexpensive sub-let with a great view of a lake and tiny ski hill. Lisle, Illinois
8. Our first purchased home - 1920's standard well built 2 story with tons of oak woodwork, floors, real plaster walls, postage stamp lot....15 years and 4 kids didn't wear this beauty out. rapidly changing neighborhood in Aurora Illinois.
9.Temporary rental - The leaking roof, suspicious mold,  mini kitchen, and barely room to breath bedrooms, did not detract from the gorgeous area we transplanted our selves into. Bellingham Washington
10. The end of the road - No foreseeable plans to move from our acre with views. nestled in a valley with our small orchard, veggie gardens and chickens, pretty close to living the dream. Deming Washington

Where have you lived?

List 1

In honor of the nasty rainy weather, my ribcage aching, mind fogging, whine inducing cold and a moment of lucidity, I thought I'd post a list. I unashamedly stole this idea from a blog I follow, seemed like a good one so here we go.

Pets I've had

1. Goldfish and or turtles, I really can't remember which but I do remember that the snails added to the bowl for cleaning purposes were a fascination until watching them made me throw up. Nice
2. Misty the big stupid cuddly dog. She was the only one that understood my teenage angst.
3. Daisy the cat. Not being a cat family, this stray stole out hearts and peed all over the house, think she was really a he and was acting out on it's name choice. Prematurely met a car he/she didn't like.
4. Tina as in Ike and.. Our first pet as a married couple. She was a stray white terrier that someone had penned "Devil" on her tummy, this may have been why she was a stray. She turned out to be a good dog  when the kids came along, and only behaved like her first name when she was required to obey.
5. Sandy the Golden Retriever. Best pet at our house award!  Kid pillow, jogging buddy, fierce sounding watch dog, best friend. She would retrieve anything including basketballs, fire crackers and an o.l.d deer carcass. She died too soon of lymphoma at 16.
6. Butch Chuckins aka Butchy. Part Lab part Retriever, part scaredy cat. Sweet and loveable a great companion for Sandy. Would follow anyone anywhere, we had to go get him from the elementary school once or twice and when our kids were getting less interested in pets he adopted the neighbor girl and let her dress him up in all kinds of humiliating clothes. He was a talker and would greet us each morning with a WHOOwhoo whoo. But scared?? he was terrified of water, even walk towards the hose and he was gone, he left the fire crackers to Sandy and found any tiny spot he could crawl into at the first bang. Miss him greatly, He lived with us for 12 years.
7. Fiona and Rebel the cats. We were petless (except for the fun filled Tiger, dessert gehko) and the boys begged for cats and as luck would have it a friend had a litter. We came home with Fiona a blue cream calico and a year later same momma had another litter and we were begged to nurse the runt, she wouldn't eat and mom had disappeared (likely dead) We took her and another for her company, she hated the formula wanted to chew the nipple not suck and we were worried. Finally we were feeding the other cats some peices of cheddar that we were grating and Rebel ate it and the rest is FAT CAT history. Saved by Cheese. Sister cat LC lives with our granddaughter.
8. too many chickens to count and thats alright cause they aren't my pets and 1 turkey, all are entertaining to watch but touch (pet) them? NOT ME.

just for fun I made this word cloud. check out http://www.wordle.net to make your own.

Purse / Tote Organizer

As promised in my last post; here are the photos of my organizer project. Here is the link for the recipe or instructions if you prefer.

Empty organizer, notice how sturdy! Easier to load this way

.

Look what I can fit in this thing! I tweeked the pattern to use in my gym bag. It measures 36" x 8" - Pocket is 36"x 7'.

Rolled and ready to put in my gym bag.

In the bag! Spread out to the sides and it leaves a nice area in the center for my towel and clean clothes. Throw in a plastic bag for wet stuff.

And GO!!

Can't wait to finish a smaller one to easily do my quick purse change!!

Out of Hibernation

I finally feel like I've come out of hibernation even with the cold weather and even the snow we have be getting lately. The days are getting longer and we are having longer and longer "sun breaks" (Pacific Northwest speak).

The true test for me is that I've been inspired to finish projects and even to do a little creating. I made one of the super simple and very functional purse organizers.  I found a free pattern at http://thegivingflower.de/?p=920 and of course as per my norm, I tweeked it to suit my needs. Awesome! Any little project that can be finished in less than a day is a great mood booster. Pictures will be coming soon.

Be Careful What You Ask For (or promise)

So I needed a rainy day to gather my thoughts and ideas? Well it's raining and I'm still distracted by other things. The sumer was so beautiful and sunny here, a treat in the Pacific Northwest. We still have a few days left until fall and the weather has definately changed. The rain is welcome, but I wasn't ready for the drearyness. Sooo, I need to get focused on creating something. I need to be accountable so I'll put in print that I will start a bi-weekly journal quilt. OK big procrastination here.. I'll start next week! I really need to work on that. I am commiting though!

 

Pretty good work when I'm motivated huh?

What a View!

I finally posted a photo on the quiltshow page. It only took an hour and all I could get was one but that's progress, yes? I'm easily distracted, but if I can get the photo posted of today's bike ride you'll see why other things catch my attention. Awesome?