Bearypatch

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Location: Maine, United States

I am a 40 something year old mother of 2. I have always been interested in crafts since my sister and I spent summer weeks with my Grandmother, who was a very crafty lady, while my mother was in college. I mostly quilt since I seem to have an obsession with owning large quantities of fabric, but at one point or another think I have tried almost every craft out there.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

live(thank god) at red rocks or i just don't get people

My friend Jan and I frequently look at each other and say "I just don't get people". I think there are a lot of other people out there with the same feeling of confusion with our fellow man.
The night before we left Denver we went to see The Shining at Red Rocks. We were told that the best way to see the rocks was to go to a show. So we got tickets to Film on the Rocks, a night with a band, comedian and a movie. It was great even though we didn't know all the tricks. The gates opened at 6:00pm. People brought coolers with picnics, blankets and pillows (the tricks we didn't know). They staked out their real estate on the seats and chatted while picnicking, great atmosphere. It reminded me of when my parents would pack us into the back of the station wagon with our sleeping bags and snacks and we would head to the drive-in. We were having a great time people watching and and listening to the band when a couple from a group of Red Hat ladies sitting behind us got up to walk around. When they got back this ladywith the red baseball cap jumped down on the seat next to DD. Well, she wasn't very graceful and lost her balance, fell back and sat with her full weight on DD's shoulder. DD who is 5'4" and weighs somewhere around 97 pounds. Now I know in this picture DD LOOKS like she is holding up the balancing rock at the Garden of the Gods :-), but her little bones were not meant to hold that much weight. The lady mumbled "oh sorry" and proceeded to pitch her weight forward and trip over her cooler stumble, trip again and finally land on her butt in her own seat. Now here is the part I don't get. DD is sitting there in tears and rolling her shoulder. Everyone else around is looking at her with concern and asking if she is OK and the lady never even made eye contact or asked if she was alright. I totally understand it was an accident and I totally understand she was probably very embarrassed, but COME ON she is old enough to take responsibility for herself and the things she does. DD is a dancer and makes her living with her body. She has no health insurance except when the ballet is in session and I had visions of her not being able to lift her arm for work (I know gloom and doom, but I have one of those minds that runs through all scenarios good to bad. It's a curse.). I wanted to go ask for her name and phone number in case there was any lasting damage, but DD wouldn't let me. Luckily, DD seems to be fine, but what if she hadn't been? Is it just me? What would you have done?

Friday, July 20, 2007

where in the world is....

We have taken off on a little trip. DD was supposed to come home for a visit after the competition, but couldn't get away before the ballet starts up again on July 24th so we decided to come visit her. DH had never been to Denver and I didn't get a chance to do much the last time I came. So here we are.
First, I have to start with the flight. After my last couple of horrible flights and all of the horror stories lately on blogs, from friends and DD on her trip to NYC, I was sure we were not going to have a smooth flight. For the last week or so it has been the part of the trip I had been dreading. I decided to plan for the worst to reduce the stress. I packed my backpack with filling nutritious snacks in case we were stranded with closed restaurants. I checked everything that could even remotely be considered contraband figuring if we lost luggage buying new toiletries would be worth more than the security hassle. I filled a small carry on roller bag with 2 changes of clothes, jammies, jackets and an extra book each. I wore slip on shoes and comfortable clothing. Everything went great! We arrived at Dulles right on time. DH and I ended up with an empty seat between us on our connection and we pushed back right on time. As I leaned over to DH to gloat the captain interrupted me to say that we were going to have to stop there and shut down the engines. That stopped my gloating in no time. :- In the end we only had to wait for half an hour and they made up time in the air so we arrived here in Denver 5 minutes late, with all of our luggage having watched a movie and read a good portion of our books. Not bad.
We had a late flight getting in at 11:30 pm. DD had asked if we would want to go right to the hotel and go to bed. When I said we would she said she would have to bring Simba to meet DH at the airport because waiting until the next day would not be soon enough. :-D He has gotten so big since I was here last October, but he is still a cutie.
We went on a trip to Boulder today. Here is a picture of Simba as we are asking him if he wants to go to Boulder. He is so funny. When you talk to him he always tilts his head like this so I just had to get a picture. We had a nice stroll downtown, bought Simba a new doggie toy (isn't that what grandparents are for?) and took some mountain pictures. I have decided that it is human nature to like what you don't have because I grew up where most people would kill to live, right on the water. From my parent's deck it is only about 20 feet to the ocean. While I admit that is beautiful, I prefer mountains.
We haven't hit any quilt shops yet, but they are on the agenda. I am also planning on going here. Neither DD or DH have any desire to go so we have been trying to figure out a way so that they can drop me and go do something else. We also are planning Red Rocks and a day in Colorado Springs. DD has a ballet class every day except Sunday and Monday until around noon so that severely cuts down our tourist time. We'll see how the week develops. More to follow...

Friday, July 13, 2007

new york SUN

DD took a photocopy of her copy of her "sweet picture" in the New York Sun during the competition. I tired scanning it, but it came out barely recognizable. Reminded me of that movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton where he cloned himself. The clone from one of the clones who was not quite right.... So anyway I finally set it up and took a picture of it. Not great, but a picture of a photocopy does not seem to have as much problem.
I guess most have either already signed up to pay it forward elsewhere, or don't feel like committing right now. ~~ I still have spaces open if anyone else would like to join in. :-D ~~

Monday, July 09, 2007

pay it forward

I signed up for this pay it forward exchange on Andrea's blog. You gotta love one that gives an entire 365 days to complete.
Since I do have 365 days, and I wanted to do it the last time this went around, I will do it twice. The first 6 people that leave a comment and agree to pay forward to 3 others will each receive a handmade gift. Not quite sure what it will be yet, but I have some fun ideas swirling around in my head. I promise it won't really take 365 days, but I feel better without too much pressure. :-D

Friday, July 06, 2007

thank you daddy :-D

Isn't it funny how kitties think everything in or that happens in the house is specifically for them? Misty and Dusky think they have a new playroom. DH has been on vacation this week working on the new closet. They come and check it out every day. They play with the cords, climb the ladder, push the nails around and try to catch the chalk line. They are going to be so disappointed when we fill it and close the door. Aren't they cute?

Monday, July 02, 2007

productive weekend

I think I have gotten partly back on at least some sort of track. It has been so hard lately. This past weekend I forced myself to do some of the things I wanted to get done and I didn't worry that I didn't get everything done. (I have perfection issues.) Baby steps.
I have signed up to teach a hand applique class at my friend Jan's QS. I finished up this table runner using 3 different methods for hand applique that I am going to teach. It's from Journey's by Whimsicals. This will be sent off to Jan tomorrow to get quilted. She has a nice long arm in the shop and does a beautiful job.
I also spent some time painting. Our house is old and came with the customary closet space associated with a house of this age. Our bedroom has a closet the size of a front hall coat closet. DH has been building a walk-in off our bedroom into the barn. He had it ready for paint this weekend and we got that done. He is taking this week off and put cedar lining up today. It smells great. I'm going to be so happy to be able to take care of things we still have in boxes.
Thanks for all of your comments on DD. I, of course, think she is the best dancer ever. She didn't end up winning anything at the competition, but it was still a good experience. I still don't have a copy of the newspaper picture, but she is supposed to be making a copy for me and sending it when she gets a chance.