Papier mache update

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Suzanne

Well, we’ve learned a few things. First off: don’t let your unfinished project sit for a week while the air leaks out of the balloon.

When you go back to try to put another layer on, the balloon is no longer supporting the structure and it gets all lumpy.

Phooey.

At least mine was open on the top, so I was able to get my hand inside and smooth the lumps back out.

The boys have already got ideas for what these are going to be once they are dry and we get the paint out. They no longer look like cannonballs, I suspect they might be monster heads or something…

At least the supplies won’t be crowding up the kitchen island anymore. Can’t wait until we get the paint out for these….that will definitely be an outside project…

This morning I was sitting eating my breakfast and Katie was whining at me. I looked down and realized that what she wanted was for me to play. Her green spiny ball was sitting on the floor next to her and she was looking up at me with those great big puppy eyes.

She’s adjusted to life without Toby pretty well, but I think she does miss him as a playmate. She’s wanted us to play with her and her ball a lot more lately. (We just roll it, we don’t throw it in the house…) It’s funny to watch her go sliding around our hard wood floors chasing it.

Here she is waiting not-so-patiently for me to put the camera down and play with her some more:

I’m not sure if she was in motion or if the camera was….

We’ve got a lot of stuff blooming outside our front door right now. I took the camera out to see what sorts of things I could capture. We’ve got several varieties of lilies. I thought this picture was kind of cool. I wish I knew the proper names for all of the flower parts.

I suppose I could always Google….LOL…

Sorry for the continued lack of quilt content. I did put a customer quilt on the frame last night and got some work done. I’ll try to get some more done later. I’ve been doing some hand applique here and there, but I don’t want to bore you with pictures that don’t look any different than the previous ones…

TTFN-

Suzanne

Mail Call!

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Suzanne

A few posts ago, I blogged about things I would like to buy if I won the lottery. In my birthday post I hinted about a surprise and implied it had something to do with purses. Finally, today, I can stop hinting:

My surprise!!!! Sunday morning, my Dad called and said he’d seen my posting about the purse and that he would like to get it for me for my birthday!

Unfortunately, Brighton doesn’t allow you to purchase their stuff online, and the nearest store I know of is 4 hours away. I started nosing around, and found this one on e-Bay! It was an auction that was ending that night, and I managed to snag it for a fair amount less than the full retail price….I was obviously having good birthday karma…

In looking for the purse, I found the matching keyring (and got a pretty good deal…), and that showed up yesterday:

Now, if I can just win an auction for the matching wallet….LOL…

Be careful what you wish for (or blog about…), it might just come true……

My friend Ronda was cleaning out some UFOs over the weekend, and sent an e-mail to a few of us, asking if we were interested.

I know, I know: why would I want someone else’s UFOs when I have plenty of my own????

I can’t answer that.

Well, I can sort of: I was intrigued by the challenge of this one. It’s a Feathered Star project, there are 4 stars that are pieced (and pieced together), but the pattern had an error and the centers of the stars didn’t fit properly. She worked on it for awhile, but decided that she was too frustrated and didn’t want to try to salvage it. In today’s mail I got all of this:

Doesn’t it all look yummy? I can’t wait to spread it all out and look at it, and think about it for awhile. Thank you, Ronda! I’ll do my best to do something fabulous with it!

So, there’s my awesome mail call report!

Thanks Dad for my surprise, I can’t wait to go somewhere and take my purse with me!!

TTFN-

Suzanne

My nose is stuck in a book

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Suzanne

Nothing much to see here, just been doing some hand applique, but am now going to be occupied by my part of my birthday present from my sister. Thanks to an Amazon.com gift cert, the newest book by my absolute favoritest author in the whole world landed on my doorstep today.

The Sharing Knife Volume Two: Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold

I hoping for a really awesome mail call today, too, so after the mailman is here, I may drag my nose out of the book and post some more later…..

Suzanne

Defending my (driving) honor

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Suzanne

Really, I’m a good driver. Honestly. I did pass the written and driving exam on the first try when I had to do them as an adult. I have just never been given a good reason for knowing how to back into a parking spot. Would it be more important if I lived in a big city?

All this to say: if we are ever out together, and you want a drink, go ahead — I’ll be happy to be the designated driver.

Last night it occurred to me that I originally got my license when I was 17, but have now had a license for 18 years. Weird.

Quadruple Tagged!

Posted on June 26, 2007 by Suzanne

Oh my goodness, I’ve now been tagged not once but 4 times! Thanks, Carla, Vicki, Ronda, and Jan. I guess this means I really ought to do this one…

So what 7 random things can I tell you that I haven’t already blogged about? Back in December I did a weird things meme, so I guess I have to make sure I don’t duplicate any of those…and in January I did another one…..

Here goes nothing:

1. I got to meet John Glenn when the submarine U.S.S. Columbus was commissioned. My Dad was the Captain. My sister and I were walking around together at the time, and my Dad introduced me as Debra, and didn’t even introduce Debra at all.

2. It took me 3 (or 4?) tries to get my driver’s license when I was a teenager. I kept failing the driving part: I was unable to back our Astrovan into a parking space. At some point I had to retake the written exam, and I think there might have been one trip at which I was just plain turned away because the law had changed about the amount of drug/alchohol awareness training you were supposed to have gotten in Driver’s Ed.

3. I accidentally let my driver’s license expire when I was an adult. Not just a month or two: a year or more. In Iowa you have to retake both the written AND driving test if your license is that out of date. Thankfully I was not required to try to back our Venture (a minivan…) into a parking space.

As an aside: I’m not really sure why it took me so long to discover that it was expired. I suspect it has to do with a few things:

a. I don’t visit bars, or otherwise order alcoholic drinks, meaning I never got carded.

b. The only time I write checks is at home, to pay bills, and so I never had to show my license at the grocery store when paying by check.

c. This was before 9/11, and when I flew, they weren’t scrutinizing photo IDs quite as closely.

Yesterday, my DH asked me if I’d checked the expiration date on my current license: in Iowa it expires on your birthday. I’m good until 2010. I can only hope I remember to look every year on my birthday….

4. Other than attempting to do it for my driver’s test, I’ve never backed into a parking space. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to parallel park.

5. When I was a senior in high school, I was a candidate for Miss Ledyard Fair. Mom made my dress, and a vest that I wore. We were escorted by cadets from the Coast Guard Academy. I didn’t even make it to the final round. My one and only brush with pageants, and I survived relatively unscathed.

6. I made it to the Connecticut All-State Music Festival for 3 years as a vocalist.

7. I would not make a very good poker player. As my friend Lynn puts it, some people can say a word or two with their expression, but my face usually says a paragraph.

Phew. Made it to 7, but barely. Nearly everyone I know has already done this, or already been tagged, so if you haven’t and want to, consider yourself tagged….

TTFN-

Suzanne

p.s. Despite all of the above evidence to the contrary, I really am a pretty good driver, just don’t ask me to back into a parking space……