Under The Weather

This is me.

Having a cold is one thing.

Having a cold when the weather is like the hot summer is another.

The weather has been so warm this week.

My head feels like it's going to pop open.  In fact I wish it would.  Maybe it would all drain out and I could feel better.  I'm soooo tired of coughing and going through box after box of tissue.

Now Duff is the only one who hasn't had this dreaded gomboo.

I assure you.  It is dreaded.
Meredith called here last night and thought she had the wrong number when I answered the phone!

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

A Royal Wedding

Thirty years ago, I got up in the middle of the night to watch Lady Diana get married to Prince Charles.

I think for most women, we still love fairy tales, or even the fantasy of fairy tales.

Thank goodness for modern technology.  I set the dvr and started watching when I got up.  Since I have been suffering (and I do mean suffering) with this awful cold, it was a perfect day to curl up on the couch and watch all things wedding.

Today was the day Prince William (Diana and Charles' oldest son) got married to a commoner, Kate (Catherine) Middleton.  They met in college.

 The British do things up in grand style.

Part of a parade before the ceremony.

 The Invitation.

(Which was accompanied by a 22 page booklet on proper protocol and etiquette for a royal wedding.)

 The groom, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, and his best man, brother Harry arrive.

 The bride and her father driving to Westminster Abbey.

 Kate and her Maid of Honor, sister, Pippa getting ready to go into the church.

Her dress was reminiscent of Grace Kelley's wedding gown from decades ago.

It was stunning. Gorgeous. Modest.  A bride getting married in the abbey must have long sleeves to show reverence and respect for the holiness of the building.  I think it says a lot that they took this respect seriously.  Not so with so many brides today.  Even those getting married in a church.

I believe her dress choice will influence a return to some modesty in the future.

 The walk down the aisle.

It took almost 5 minutes.  She was very calm and composed.

 Kate's ring.

The ceremony was quite religious.  The couple even wrote a prayer that was read by one of the clergy.

There were many nods to William's mother.  The opening hymn was the same one sung at her funeral in this same church.

 Leaving the church after the ceremony.

 The carriage ride from the church to Buckingham Palace.

 Helping her out of the carriage.

Click to enlarge.  He held on to her bouquet so it would be easier for her to get out of the carriage with her dress.  He grabbed the flowers in his hand not by the handle and smashed them.  The girls and I had a good chuckle.  Such a 'man-thing' to do!

Leading the way to Buckingham Palace.

The kiss on the balcony.

They actually gave us two!  And then the air force flew over.

I wish them all the best for a happy life.

(I did however, not like the fact that Camilla was there.  I know Diana is dead and all, but if Camilla and Charles hadn't had a relationship, Diana would still be alive to enjoy this day.  It rubbed me wrong.  Just my two cents.)

Happy Birthday, Shaun!

Today is Shaun's 25th birthday.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him when he was little.

 About 18 months at our Westminster house.  He LOVED playing in water of any kind.

"How big is Shaun?  Sooooo big!"

 Three years old.  Westminster.

In front of our rental car.  This was October1989, right after our van was totalled in an accident and the man who hit it was killed with all our kids in the car. 

It was a hot, sunny, Santa Ana windy day.

Kindergarten field trip to a local working farm.

He was fascinated with the newborn chicks.

Isn't he just the cutest little boy?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAUN!

We LOVE YOU~~

First Blog Book Here!

Look what was outside my door early this afternoon!

My first blog book printed and bound.

Duffy Doings 2007.

 I was excited and nervous to open it.

I worked so hard on it.  Would I like it?

 OH YES!  I like it.

But I was surprised it was white.  I thought it would be black.  I went back in to booksmart and realized right away that I needed to have changed the background to black.  Now I know for the future books.  I can live with the white one.

 Dedication page.

 Acknowledgements and copyright.

 No pictures early on, because I only knew how to add a post.

 Then some pictures, finally.  I like this program from Blurb.  I added a little daddy-daughter poem I found on the internet next to the picture of Duff and Chrissy.

There are many different layouts for text and pictures.

These are just a sampling.

You can click on them to make them larger.  I think some are kind of blurry because it was hard to take the photos with one hand and keep it steady and hold the pages down with the other.

Now I'm excited to start 2008!

My Birthday Service Project!

My birthday is coming up next month.  I will be 55 years old!  I've never been age phobic, but this seems like a good birthday to do something special.  Maybe it's the numbers 55.  Even my address is 55.

I thought it would be really fun and satisfying to give something this year to celebrate my birthday.  So I'm putting this out there for your help.

With all the humanitarian needs in the world right now, the LDS Humanitarian Services is in need of a lot of things.  One of those on their current list when I looked this morning, is receiving blankets for babies.  I would like to give 55 flannel receiving blankets to them for my birthday as a service project!

If you would like to help/participate please let me know!  Bring them or send them to me and I will get them to the Humanitarian Center.  If you are not a seamstress, get the fabric to me and I will sew them for you.  You can do one or if you feel so inclined you can do more.  I'll gather whatever you can give.

Here are the guidelines and instructions:

Flannel: here are two methods for flannel receiving blankets.

Method 1

· Cut two 36x36 – 45x45 inch squares of cotton flannel.
· Serge the edges with right sides facing out.
· Sew large ‘X’ corner to corner or a 10 inch square in the center to keep fabric from shifting.

Method 2

· Cut two 36x36 – 45x45 inch squares of cotton flannel.
· Place the squares together with right sides facing in.
· Sew squares together with a ¼ inch seam around the edges, leaving a 6 inch opening.
· Turn right sides out.
· Baste opening and topstitch around entire blanket fordurability.
· Sew a large ‘X’ corner to corner or a 10 inch square in the center to keep fabric from shifting.

Tornadoes In 6 States

We woke up to the news broadcasts about the horrible tornadoes from yesterday afternoon and evening along the south.  So far, 250 people are counted dead, with devastation widespread.  It came so fast, most weren't even able to prepare.  One of the tornadoes was a MILE wide.  The news was reporting hearing people buried under the rubble crying out and moaning with no way to get to them because the debris is so high and twisted.  The emergency vehicles that aren't ruined can't get anywhere because the roads are either not there anymore or blocked by rubble.  It is reported that one city is completely obliterated.  Gone. 

Signs of the times????

Sick, Errands, New Toaster

I am really sick.
My throat feels awful and I could sing bass in a choir.  My head is stuffed and clogged and my eyes are weepy.  I ache all over.
But I had to run some errands.  Hm.
After 17 years our toaster died.  It was actually kind of sad to put it in the trash.  Why is it we get attached to inanimate objects like that?  I feel the same way about cars.  I got this one today with my 20% off and $5 off coupons at BBBeyond.

We put it right to work tonight.

Adrianne had the Beehives over and taught them how to make strawberry freezer jam.  They each went home with a large baby food jar of it.  And had to sample it before going home, of course!

 I had to go to the post office and mail a box to Nats of all the things they forgot here, then to Staples for shredder lubricant (much needed after shredding 2007 blog), and printer ink.  Dang.  Why is that SO expensive?  Do any of you get your ink at Costco?  If so, how does that work?  Ours refills cartridges, I think?

I felt so completely awful at this point that I treated myself to a frozen yogurt and came home to the couch.

Kevin B. got here around 9:30.  He is in town for his brother's wedding on Saturday.  He is staying with us for about a week.

Big Enough?

Yesterday was spent just tidying up from the weekend.  I got all the laundry done promptly which means today had more time for other things.

With my first blog book done and on it's way to be delivered, I shredded all of 2007 that I had printed and put into sheet protectors and big 3" binders.  I was surprised that it was a bigger job than I thought it would be.  I shredded it instead of using it for scratch paper because it had lots of personal information and internet addresses in it that I didn't want just anyone to find.  At the time I printed everything out, it was the best option for me and I have more large black binders taking up space in my bedroom than I would like or is necessary.  Especially now that blog to bound book is available.

I think this is an interesting feeling:  My house is plenty big enough and yet not big enough.  Does that make sense?

I would like to have one room just for me.  I hope that doesn't sound selfish.  With my own desk, crafting area, computer, sewing area, books, comfy sofa and big chairs.  A place of inspiration that I can be as clean and tidy or as messy as the mood dictates.  A creative space to fill my own 'well' back up, so to speak.

So far, this place is a Costco table along the windows in my bedroom.  It is constantly in a state of flux.  It is the place where things get 'dropped' while finding the right place for it.

Today, I am three large black binders less under the table!  It motivated me to do some other organizing of that table space.  It sure looks better and feels better.  It was the typical, "why did I keep this?"  "what was I thinking?", and was satisfying to shred it up or put it in the trash basket.

Christine sat on my bed this afternoon while I worked and studied for the APeuro final on Thursday.  The end of this class cannot come soon enough for her, and the rest of us.  All of our lives have evolved around this class.  And for what?  The colleges she wants to go to don't even weight AP classes!  Wished we would have known that before.  The big AP test is the end of next week, and then it will be busy work until the end of school.  Hallelujah. 

She also filled out her interview packet for IMPACT, a mentoring/service group she wants to be involved in next year at school.  Her interview is tomorrow between 6:30 and 8:30am.  Crossing our fingers.

Remember the dreaded-gombu everyone had two weeks ago?  I think it finally hit me.  I've been fighting a sore throat all day and the aches and chills have arrived tonight.  We have all been very healthy through the winter.  A few 'little' bugs, but no big flu.  Now that Spring has arrived we are getting sick.  Hopefully it won't last long.

Easter 2011

Josh and Meredith hosted Easter Dinner this year.

Mere was organized and had everything planned out just right for hosting her first holiday.

We had ham, some turkey breast, cheesy potatoes, homemade rolls, green beans, strawberry romaine salad, Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, butter, and raspberry and strawberry jam.

Welcome to their home.



 Beautiful table with her china and crystal  and candles.

 Erik, JT, and Shaun hanging out and watching some basketball.

 Cute and clever bunny napkins!

 Delicious and fresh salad with candied pecans.

Dessert.

Josh asked her to make Trifle.  That was kind of much for Easter, so this was her compromise.

Yellow cake, vanilla pudding, sliced strawberries with whipped cream.  It was really good.

I was going to make some little lemon tarts to accompany dessert, but got out-voted by the guys.  They wanted some cream puffs (or scrumpits, as Keifer calls them).

It was a really nice day.

Good food, family, and the celebration of the Savior.

(We had a very nice Sacrament Meeting Easter Program.  The spirit was strong.  RS was really good too.  We woke up to rain and drizzle most of the day.  It was cold for Easter.)

Hippity-Hoppity Easter's On It's Way

Rolls. Check.

Cheesy, Yummy, Funeral Potatoes.  Check.

Chocolate Cream Puffs. Check.

Eggs Boiled.  Check.

It's lookin' like Easter around here!

Duff and the guys helped one of his home teaching families (Corbins) move all morning.

Chris was at an apeuro review class at the school.

It is sunny today, but don't know about tomorrow. 

Spring is so unpredictable.

441 21st Street

Again.  I didn't get to take the pictures I thought I would because of all the issues that resulted in the lacrosse game tonight.

BUT--

I will tell about it.  Since we were so close, after the games,  Duff and I drove over to my grandparent's duplex in Manhattan Beach.  To me, it is the place I associate with them, even though they sold it when they left on their mission and moved to northern California after their mission.  It is the place I went to as a child and spent holidays, birthdays, Sunday dinner days, and just because days.

It is no longer a duplex.  It was either completely or partially torn down at some point and rebuilt into a two-story beach home with balconies over-looking the ocean.  The gray siding is gone, but they kept all the stucco that pinkish color and the trim white.  The iceplant on the left side has been replaced with white rose bushes going up the slope.  I walked up the concrete stairs to the right and almost knocked on the new glass front door, but decided it was too late at night.  Maybe one day I can go back.

The first part of the street is still as quaint as it always was with the little beachy cottage type homes and all their picket fences.  The small, white obelisk street signs are still there too.  So many memories came rushing back in a flood of happiness.

The area is still very nicely kept up and that made me feel glad.

Lacrosse at Mira Costa

No pictures today.
It started out great, and then went to pretty bad, and then okay-ish.
The varsity goalie was sick.  Christine was going to move up and play the varsity game.  Very exciting.
At the field in Manhattan Beach, she went to the restroom before the game to change her clothes into her uniform.  While she was gone, the brown-nosing freshman goalie (I would use a different descriptive word here but it wouldn't be appropriate, especially in print...however true...) talked her way into the position.  WHAT???????
It was B.A.D.  The situation it created amongst both teams.  REAL BAD.  A MESS-BAD.
I talked to the head coach about it between games.  She is a young 20-something.  Nice gal. Not much coaching experience.  We do what we can to get coaches for girls teams around here in such a new to us sport.  She told me she realized the minute she put her in the goal she had made the wrong decision, but didn't know how to handle it.  Great.
Christine was ready to quit.  How it was handled spoke a novel--even if not accurate--without the coach saying one word.  We talked her through it.  Her previous coach talked her through it.  Her teammates talked her through it.  The parents talked her throught it.  I got up and took a loooooong walk around the campus.  I delivered strongly worded speeches in between praying for forgiveness for my anger and pleas to help my daughter play the game of her life.
She went out and pitched a shut out.  12-0.

Now that's OUR GIRL!

One Ringy-Dingy, Two Ringy-Dingys, etc.

Most of my day was spent on the telephone today.

Just 'stuff'.  Too much stuff.  Didn't get much else of anything done.

Hate days like that.

Cross Stitch Night at Beehives and Samplers

Adrianne serves in the Young Women program at church.

She works with the Beehives.

Tonight she was teaching them how to counted cross stitch and asked if I would come along and help her.

She wanted me to bring some projects that I have done.  I had pillows and pillow covers,  finished things and unfinished items.  I also brought some samplers.

The pictures didn't turn out well because I don't know how to not get the glare from the glass out????

But you get the idea.

She is very good with the girls and they love her.  I enjoyed watching her relate with them and teach them.  It's nice to see your adult children move into those roles.

 I did this sampler in 1993 while I was the YW president in Westminster 1st Ward.

I served there from 1989 to 1994 when we moved out of the ward down to Dove Canyon.

We displayed it each week during opening exercises.

Today, it would be missing the added YW Value of Virtue, whose color is gold.

Christine did this sampler when she was in the Faith In God program in Primary.  She was 10 when she stitched this.  She followed the 'pattern' that Natalie did when she embroidered the same sampler during her Achievement Days years, about the same age.  A different color floss for each word.  Their color choices are different though, and Natalie's is framed in a diamond shape gold frame with pink and green matting to match her room.

I did this sampler when I was in Primary during my Gaynote year.

At that time, I was 9 years old.

The Primary program for girls during the 1960's was:

~~Gaynote:  9-10  years old.  Learn embroidery.

~~Firelight:  10-11 years old.  Learn knitting.

~~Merry Hands:  11-12 years old.  Learn crocheting.

We also learned the Articles of Faith, and scriptures, and lessons about the gospel with application for everyday living.

I'm really glad my mom saved my sampler.  We had framed it in a really cheap,old white simple frame when I was a girl.  It had been stuffed in a closet cupboard for years, and when my parents moved from my childhood home she found it and gave it back to me.  Luckily, all the masking tape peeled off the back okay, and I had it reframed.

It hangs in my bedroom.