It's My Kind of Town ...

So ... I may have spoken too soon in my complaints about the heat last week. Oh ... don't get me wrong, it was hot all right. But just a few days after that, we arrived in the Windy City and found out that heat is not such a bad thing after all. We actually saw a lot of crazy weather during our short stay there. Rain, Wind, Cold and then sudden moments of what can only be described as ... balmy. The point is this:

Who the heck cared what the temperatures were?!? We were just there for the views. Like the skyline, pictured above. And our sweet 2.5 year old Miss Dub demonstrating just a few of her many talents, like ...

Yogo postures and/or dramatic gestures.

Rowing a boat at the Shedd Aquarium.

Sliding at the park and looking every bit like the angel she is.

So now we're back in the heat. Missing the rain and the dramatically changing temps. Doing our best to mend our aching hearts.

Sigh.

I'd like to thank my ... fan ...

So ... I know all you California People are complaining about the heat, what with it being in the 90s and all. And I feel for you ... really I do. But I gotta admit ... I'm feeling a tad sorrier for those of us who live in Arizona ... what with it being 102 degrees and all.

In April. Sigh.

So on Tuesday (the peak heat day) I was happily sewing away in my sewing room which sits upstairs ... where heat is wont to rise. I knew I was feeling somewhat ... sweaty ... but hey, I was hard at work. What I didn't know was that the temperature up there was quickly climbing to 86 degrees. Of course once I knew that it was suddenly way too unbearable and I was forced to turn on the A/C (on the earliest date in many ... many ... years.)

But in the meantime I want to give a shout out to my trusty Wal-Mart clip-on fan that has served me through many a sweaty AZ summer.

And yes, I am well aware that in July ... if it ever gets down to 102 degrees, I will be forced to put on a light sweater.

In the meantime ... how are you dealing with the heat? Are you thinking about heading to Wal-Mart right now?

Are you sweating?

A week late and a peep short ...

So ... I just now finished my April Block for the Bunny Hill Block of the Month that I am officially addicted to. I am not unaware that this whole post would have been a tad more appropriate about 10 days ago ... so sue me. Why the delay??

A) I may or may not have tried to actually eat the chocolate bunny.

B) I had issues. One false start and one round of sewing at the same time I was on the phone with my sister. Not recommended.

C) I was more concerned during this time period with figuring out how to post my B.O.M pics on the Flickr group. Thanks to Jodi and to PDaddy ... and to me* ... I accomplished my goal.

D) I spent a great deal of time patting myself on the back for the *very small part that I did play in the techno-figuring which was time I could have spent sewing. Did you not see my Flickr "Badge"?

E) I also had two other projects going at the same time.

F) My machine went kaput in the middle of the whole dang thing.

Hey ... it's still April and I'm going with that.

So ... does anyone else rationalize as much as me and/or try to sew while talking on the phone??

The Evolution of a Centerpiece ...

So ... my feet are killing me. Something to do with putting on a brunch for 160 people. And the fact that I was in charge of the centerpieces. But they really turned out simple and lovely in just a few easy steps ... that took a few easy ... hours.

First take pint sized mason jars.

Add ribbon from the dollar bins at Michaels.

Flowers from Costco.

Tie 'em up. Cut the stems. Mix it up. Add some water.

Ta Da! Centerpieces. Times twenty.

Excuse me while I go lie down. Oh yeah ... how was your weekend?

I'm hangin' in there ...

So ... I got my machine back ... I finished the quilt ... I'm pretty much a happy camper.

What you need to know (because I am prone to confessing things no one cares about) is that I actually finished this particular quilt top last summer ... in fact I posted a picture of it here.

Which naturally begs the question ... "Then why the heck did you wait 8 or 9 months to quilt it, putting you in a major fix when your machine broke, because you needed to have it done ... yesterday?"

And the answer to that question would be: "I haven't a clue" ...

Or ..."I put it in the closet and forgot about it" ...

Or ... "Life's just weird, isn't it?"

Which is why I'm calling this particular quilt,
"Hangin' in There".

Because it describes my brain in bright, happy colors.

Easter in La La Land

So ... we headed west for the weekend.To the land O' Sand and Sun. Land of children (2) and grandchildren (1).

Friday: The OC. Saturday-Sunday: L.A. Sunday night: Back to the OC. These pics are from a post lunch stroll at Venice Beach. Mmmmmm .... good.

Here's the little guy in his bedtime finery. He's huge and he is too precious for words. And he's rather fond of me, if I do say so myself.

Here we are on Easter morning.

A fine, fine, Easter indeed.

Hop to it

So ... Happy Easter.

From one of your favorite peeps.

Love means never having to say you're sorry.

So ... the ol' girl let me down. For the first time in all the years I have known her, she is insisting upon a doctor's appointment and refusing to wait for the annual spa treatment.

Aaaarrruuugghh.

Yeah, yeah, I know she's sorry but could she have considered the timing of her ... untimely ... illness? Could she have picked a different project to start throwing up thread balls on the underside of my machine quilting? Could she at least have up-chucked them on the top half so that I didn't sew for 20 minutes before discovering the problem, only to take 45 minutes to unpick the damage?

Does she know that I need this finished before next Monday's Teacher's Meeting?

Does she??

And to top it all off, Miss Anne at Bunny Hill just posted the April Block. Seriously, in my delusional state I am almost beginning to wonder whether she did it on purpose.

Nah ... I know she loves me. I'm just wondering whether or not I need to bring a bowl in the car for the drive to the Doc.

Poor Girl.

Honestly ...

So ... I came home from out of town only to find that I had been tagged by Queen Pam at PKM to tell six (count 'em 6!) honest things about myself. I have already disclosed several such items under the heading of True Confessions, but I will dig deep into the well of all Honest Mary Weirdness and see what I can come up with.

(1) I am a compulsive bed maker. I never don't make my bed first thing in the morning unless a) PDaddy makes it instead, b) I'm washing the sheets and don't finish the whole job until later or c) I am still in it.

(2) I have already owned up to an unhealthy relationship with cold cereal here, but to further freak you out as to my culinary tastes I will honestly admit that if the above carton is sitting in my fridge ... I am more likely to drink it than to whip it.

(3) I'm also a bit overly enamored with olives (green or black) which I am likely to mix with almost anything ... except that which sits in the gold carton, pictured above.

(4) I'll admit it, I watch my share of television. My favorite programs are The Office, 30 Rock, Chuck, The Mentalist and my newest fave Lie To Me. I watch them while sitting in this sweet little love seat, pictured above. I have also watched enough Law and Order in the course of my life to pass a bar exam.

(5) I love, love, love to read self-help books. They're like candy to me. (Unfortunately ... candy is also like candy to me.) I cannot honestly say that I have incorporated into my life every single helpful tidbit, but I can say that my attitude has been formed in part by what I have read.

(6) My dream career would be as a motivational speaker (see #5). Or perhaps as someone who works on a "Whale Watch" boat.

There you have it. At this point there is not a heck of a lot you don't know about me. Please still be my friend.

Oh, and I tag Brooke, Renee, Jody, Ginger and Ginny. Go for it.

Take me out to the Tundra ...

So ... today actually marked the first day of summer ... in a way. Today the PDaddy and I went to our first baseball game of the season. It was actually a pre-season game and it was actually to see the Dodgers play and not the Diamondbacks and they actually ... lost ... but that doesn't take away from the fact that the sun was ablazin' in the sky and we were in that piece of Heaven where it's always 80 degrees and where there is always ... always ... a seventh-inning stretch.

The irony of this is that tomorrow at this time I will step off the plane in Salt Lake City where it will hopefully be in the forties (not lower) and my patootie will be hanging on by a thread in a major attempt to avoid being frozen off. How the heck am I supposed to flip-flop like that in less than 24 hours?

Sigh.

And I'm guessing that wearing flip flops is out of the question. Sheesh. Any advice from any Utahns on what I should pack?? Please tell me there has been a last minute change to the forecast.

Please.

March Madness

So ... it is March and I am mad about something, but most of all I just wanted to throw off those looking to update their "brackets". Sorry guys ... I haven't a clue about UConn, but stick around, 'cause I actually have some practical advice as to something UCan do.

My swollen lip has gone down and the purple is almost all yellow and this morning I got the stitches out on my little dermatology "incident". Truth be told this is the third place on my relatively small face that has been cut into. The purpose of my post today, however, is not to garner sympathy but to serve as a public service announcement. Because not one of these three places was dark and irregularly shaped. Not one fit any sort of description put forth by those wishing to get us into the dermatologist to be checked. And each and every one could have gone un-checked for quite some time to come.

So pay attention, sit up straight and have a mirror handy. 'Cause I've decided that if no one else will come forward, I will. And let's be honest ... I can be a little pushy.

* My first "spot" was discovered and hacked into last summer only because I was already in the doc's office with PDaddy and casually said ... 'is this something I should be concerned about?' This particular spot was nothing more than a brittle "flake" of skin that I flicked off several times, only to see come back in a couple of weeks. There was no bump whatsoever. Just a flake. Turns out that this is a very common sign of potential skin cancer. Turns out mine was squamous cell. Turns out it was a really good idea to casually ask that question.

* That was the jolt that forced me to dial a dermatologist. Once there she discovered 2 more potential boo-boos on my face. They had been there for months without me giving them a second thought. These two were just teeny-weeny rough little bumps. I thought that they were ... like ... baby warts. They were almost translucent. They had perfect, regular shapes. Turns out one of those was benign and the other one was basel cell. They looked exactly the same. The basel cell one was removed last week and went deeper than she thought. I've got a scar in my laugh line. I'm not laughing.

So check it out peoples. I mean it. And while your are at it, listen up in behalf of your husbands/fathers/brothers/sons (or yourself) who might have a problem with chronic acid indigestion/acid reflux. Check that out too. Because an esophagus is a terrible thing to waste.

Tomorrow I'll go back to cutting up pretty pieces of fabric and putting them back together again. But today I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore. Today I just want to save your life.

(The heirchy of seriousness goes like this: benign > basel > squamous > melanoma.)

Fun with Fake

So ... I've got nothing, people. And ... I have no right taking pictures at night when I'm high on desperation and low on light.

But what I do have is some fake fruit. You have to admit that it beats the heck out of the fake fruit of yore: you know, plastic apples or glass grapes. I do have some lovely, original painted fruit. And I also have some leftover grapes in the fridge that really, really need to be thrown out that I have judiciously chosen not to take a picture of.

Oh, one more thing. I have a recipe for fake lemon bars (that I made today and forgot to take pictures of before they were given away) that are a real time-saving treat and taste quite nummy to boot. Even though the "fruit" in them is lemon jello. But here goes anyway:

Mix 1 stick soft butter, 1 box Yellow Cake Mix and 1 egg. Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil, spray with Pam and spread out the mixture.

Mix 2 large packages of soft cream cheese, 1 small box of lemon jello, 1/3 C of sugar and 2 eggs together until creamy. Pour on top of the bottom layer and spread evenly. Bake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Voila! A fake and fruity day for sure. Now ... go and eat a real apple ... I am.