Diary of a gift

11/15/2009   Ken and Maureen Wuollet are here for a weekend of services. Trust was spoken of on Sunday and I had this overwhelming yearning to be at Winter Services in February. I don't want to go alone or even with just my hubby, I want 3 kids coming along with us. I just don't know if we can make this work.

11/23  I spend time hopping on the internet here and there try to see if there happens to be a screaming deal for tickets. I found round trip tickets to Phoenix for 25,000 miles each, but didn't dare buy them until I knew I had the time off work. By the time I got in to check the schedule and back to my computer, they were gone. Aargh! (This has been my frustration many times.)

12/5  The last several weeks around here have been quite stressful, enough that I am nearing desperate to leave for a while. My kids need to leave as well. They need to go see their friends. Often we question ourselves, Jari and I, as to why we're here and think about leaving. I can't say more than that ... they need to be able to see their friends ... the other halves of their hearts and souls. So I trust. I trust that God will feed our family. I trust that He will keep a roof over our heads. I trust he'll supply our daily needs as He sees fit. And I hit the Purchase button at Alaska Airlines. This was after many hours of jockeying around airlines, calendars and price shopping. It is done! We're going ... and somehow it will work out. Trust is what I will do. I have the time off work ... all is good.

12/19 I don't know if we're going to be able to keep this a secret. Jari asked the 3 younger kids tonite what they would like for Christmas if money was no object. They could pick anything. All three wanted a trip to Phoenix. Do I tell them? Do I give it to them for Christmas? Nope, we wait.

1/5  I have this great idea ... at least I think it is! I want to do a Scavenger Treasure Hunt with them. My plan is to start at Hatcher Pass and have clues all the way home. Places they have to stop to get the next clue. All kids would have to work together and find the great reward at the end ... together. Am having fun coming up with clues. Plan to tell them the Sunday before we leave.

1/10  In Minnesota for Michelle & Daniel's wedding which was so much fun. Few moments of guilt that I flew there on someone else's miles ... and haven't said a peep about what I'm up to myself. Dad was leaving to head for Brainerd and said "see you in Phoenix". Wondered if my face showed anything, but I worked real hard not to! "Web cam Phoenix to Alaska!" was my response. Jen drove and we went to meet Riitta and Tarja for coffee in the evening. Jen is planning on coming for Iditarod, but we'll be home in time for her to come. Then Riitta said something about Pekka & Laina wanting to be in MN to help Riitta. WHAT?! They were in MN last time I was in Arizona. The timing is much too close, can't risk them leaving at that time ... I had to tell her. That one should be safe!

1/22  Whew! We own a timeshare in Phoenix that we're never able to use. We did use it sporadically while we lived down there, but have not been able to since then. Last minute Nellie that I am ... we didn't think of trying to make reservations until now. We now have a place to stay for the weekend. Only one night in question now ... and a rental car. I thought it might be very enjoyable to spend some time visiting with Bill & Jane who have been Jari's second set of parents for most of his life. We still don't want too many to know we're coming. Someone will spill the beans and my kids will find out. Bill & Jane welcomed us for the nite on Thursday, have an extra set of wheels that we can use ... and will pick us up from the airport. :) My aching back is already looking forward to their sauna!

1/24  Hit Old Navy clearance racks on the way home from Mother's Camp. Score!!! Anna & Tia liked everything I bought ... and everything was bought with vacation in mind. The big bonus was that they actually liked everything I bought! Thank goodness ... money around here is not freely flowing at the moment.

1/29  This just might work! I have been all for telling the kids several days before we leave. I think we won't have to. Jari has been spinning tales that will have them bringing clothes for 60 degree weather, swimming suits for the hotel pool, workout clothes for the weight room. Maybe going as far as the tanning booth at the hotel is stretching it, but we're hoping for sunshine and tans! I was nearly giddy when I went to sleep. I don't know if I've ever had this much fun giving a gift.

1/30   Ronda called tonight. She had been at Frans and Jenny's visiting and got grilled about whether we're going to Phoenix. Poor gem. Jari had told someone that he would see them in March as he is planning to go down and get a piece of equipment that we left there. Apparently it caused quite a bit of suspicion at the Phoenix Kuoppala house. Anna has posted on FB that she can't wait until the end of February. She hasn't told anyone where she is going, but has denied going to Phoenix.

2/2  Have I written about the "Jar for Juneau"? We have a change jar that is collecting change for this little expedition of ours. Borrowing quarters from there for school lunch brings out major protest. "Not the Juneau Jar!". :)

2/10  I'm having second thoughts about not telling these munchkins of mine where they're headed. How on earth is Anna going to have the appropriate clothing, jewelery and matching shoes. I've had no luck getting called in On Call ... so no extra money in the next paycheck at this point. I was sort of planning on that to have a few extra bucks while we're gone. Hopefully something turns up between here and there. I feel horrible. Elaine asked me on Sunday if we were headed to Phoenix. Instead of saying, "we'd love to" I said "no". I'll have to beg her forgiveness for lying to her when I see her down there. Just can't let the cat out of the bag yet. Countdown is on! 13 days 'til we leave!!

2/13 Took the kids shoping today. Yippee!! We managed quite a bit today. The kids all have "appropriate" clothing to wear on this expedition of ours. They needed them anyway, but now we've added a few dress clothes to the pile to pack. My swim suit (have been wearing the same ones for about 8 years now) has been ordered from Lands End Online Clearance .. hope it fits!

2/17 We told the kids last night. They are under strict orders not to tell anyone!! Let's see if they can keep the secret going. They know the game plan ... where we plan to be when. My heart just melted at some of the comments ... and the shrieks. Was quite fun to share the surprise with them. Now my darling daughter will pack the right shoes and jewelery ... and my son will pack his shorts. Might need to dig through flip flops around here and see what fits feet. The temp in Phoenix hit 80 degrees yesterday! I'm hoping to get some sun!!!

2/19 I am thrilled. The tax refund hit the bank today. We may have a few pennies to spend while we're gone. And most importantly, be able to pay the bills before we leave. Tonite I told Alyx where we were headed ... then went out to eat. Talk about good giggles. I told Alyx not to let the others know that she knew ... and we went to eat out at the Noisy Goose. She was making comments, trying to pull off that she has no clue what is up. At one point she had a serious giggle session going on and couldn't stop. Excused herself to the restroom and I told the rest of the table that she knew. So for the rest of the evening, we tried this one. 3 traveling kids knew that Alyx knew ... and weren't going to tell her that they knew she knew. Are you with me? I think we're letting the cat out of the bag once in a while without intending to. Ryan & Amber came over visiting after we got home. Anna was modeling a coat that Alyx had picked up for her and said, "I can wear this in Phoenix on Sunday." I tried to do a real quick save ... but I don't think it worked. We'll find out after we're gone!

2/20 Brock & Anna worked like dogs today. They were just awesome. My job list before we go was a bit long. They worked it hard for me. Off to Target for a few more things. I'm not sure I need money for while we are gone, but money for getting ready to leave!!

2/21 We're counting down! Tia says that after tonite we can say we have only one more day to go! This nasty cold has caught Brock quite nicely. Heal quickly kiddo! (It's lasting forever!!)

2/23 6 1/2 hours to flight time. I think we are packed. We're trying to check only one bag at the airport, the rest we're carrying on. They are full. They are tight. Let's hope we aren't forgetting anything. Jari had to do another fibber today. Doug Forstie called ... he'd really love some salmon from next summers catch. (We're hoping there IS a catch next summer.) Dear hubby took a package of salmon out of the freezer, some jelly jars (out of other canning jars) out of the pantry, the pressure cooker ... and set to work. At least Doug will get a wee taste of it! FB today was really fun. Jenny is in a tizzy ... I'm beginning to doubt she'll be surprised. She has been rather convinced we're coming and on multiple occasions. Wonder if she'll believe us when we show up!

2/25 Thursday and here we are in Prescott. Sorry that we led some of you astray, but wanted to keep things a surprise. Looking forward to seeing many in the next few days! Have been enjoying the visit here at Mummu & Pappas ... heading to Phoenix soon.

Done. Done. Done.

I. Am.

If I don't see the inside of a Target, Fred Meyer, Sears, etc for quite a while ... I'll be thrilled. Not that bad, but I shop because I need to ... not because it is anything pleasurable for me. To find it on a clearance rack is certainly the aim and goal of the expedition. To need to find it is the frustrating part.

I don't think I've purchased a new pair of shoes in the last 2 years. My arches have gone south ... like so many other things seem to be doing. This getting older thing just sort of stinks in some departments. I love my Danskos and was almost willing to put them on my feet tonite to hit the airport ... but they've been around awhile ... and they look like it ... and they should just stay in the surgery department. I got a pair of slip on things last night. Now we'll see if they are worth or not. I expect a lot of those things .. and many years of use.

We do have a date with one of these this evening.

Tell me what they get out of charging for luggage. 5 of us are flying. 5 of us need stuff. 5 of us are carrying bags ... and I think we're going to manage to only check on one bag. We are learning something: 1) pack what you need, 2) pack it well, 3) pack anything not carryable into the one bag that is being checked. Let's see how this all works out. There are a few girls around here than can tell you what they think. Probably better that they don't! I, for one, am not interested in checking luggage so that I can pay for first class service ... especially when I'm not sitting in it.

The Juneau Jar went to the grocery store last night. (So maybe this isn't the REAL jar ... the real one was full of change ... not coffee.)

Second gripe. What is the purpose of a bank? Are they not suppose to take your change, shove it in their little change machine and give you money? I would think so. I have never had the pleasure of banking in a place that does that. Off to the grocery store and the Coinstar machine we went. They charge you 9.8 cents on the dollar ... but save you a hundred hours of rolling coins. Have snack money. Will travel.

I'm out of here. The dryer has finished spinning my clothes that need to be hung. Two girls about to catch the bus here in 2 minutes. Another one needs my car today. Another one is not going to his school ... he's going to be the practice patient for shaving at the Tech School.  OH MY! Tia just walked in dressed for school. In a DRESS. My tomboy girl is going to school in a DRESS! The school nurse is going to be busy today doctoring heart attacks. Serious heart attacks. What on earth happened to my baby?!

The peace and quiet of an early Saturday morning

It has been a miserable week of not feeling well. Amazingly enough, my laundry is caught up. Not done, but caught up. Was about to swtich loads while this picture file was uploading and found that the washing machine hadn't managed to spin the water out. Hmph. I emptied out half the soaked towels and came up here for a few minutes to let the machine do its thing. (fingers are crossed .. it just doesn't like heavy loads)

 

Being as I was doing the happy jig (direct deposit from the IRS is a beautiful thing) when I went to work yesterday morning and feeling like someone had beat me up when I finally got home ... we took everyone who was at home (Blayde missed out) and went to the Noisy Goose to eat. I could actually taste the halibut. Getting there ... getting there!! I couldn't nearly stand up by the time I headed for bed. I did fill the vaporizer with water again. The onion isn't peeled ... just needs a new one by my bed.

 

The job list on the computer room door is 2 pages long. Typewritten. The font is only 14, it does have some spaces as things are sort of organized by room ... and there is a mom section. Although I'd dearly love to give up paying bills ... the kids might do the shopping part of the list before the bill paying part which might prove to be quite disastrous. Everyone is sleeping. The house is quiet. Must go see if the washer did any good. Then off to start the list. I'd listen to some soothing music along the way to make the cleaning less painful, but there is this audio book that keeps calling my name. It has been silent all week. The call hasn't been ... the book has. :)

 

 

By the way, it was 47 degrees outdoors when I went to bed last night. This morning it is at 35, but our world is melting. Running water kind of melting. Ice fields left behind kind of melting. Camera needs to go outdoors today ... that kind of melting.

 

Have a great Saturday!

9:48 pm
Whew! Not everything is done, but enough that I feel good about it.

• "game room" is cleaned
• basement is cleaned
• mud room is organized and cleaned 
• windows are washed
• kitchen curtains are changed
• showers are scrubbed
• bathrooms cleaned
• 2 trips to Target made
• new thrift store discovered and browsed
• trip to urgent care for some antibiotics for a sinus infection (fingers are crossed that it works ... I was gone about 65 minutes in which I went to the urgent care, was seen by the doctor, picked up my prescription at Target and filled the gas tank on my way home. Good thing. I forgot my book at home.)
• truck is put back together (jari sliced open his thumb trying to fix the u-joint in the truck yesterday and is nursing a mighty sore thumb)
• no pictures taken
• computer room is so clean even I would eat in here!
• spent time on the phone with friends today :)
• actually cooked dinner tonite!

Now ... off to clean up dinner after being gone this evening ... and then on to the rest of the list.

Taryn

Keep this little love in our thoughts and prayers. She is in the PICU at Phoenix

Children's Hospital working through some difficult bronciolitis and pneumonia. Tough time for her and the rest of her family. Many prayers and thoughts going out to all of them.

We will be waiting for updates today ... and thinking positive thoughts. :)

This week ....

I've been suffering with a cold since Sunday. I haven't stopped working ... wonder how many others I've passed this on to? It's getting better ... slowly. I don't often have respiratory illnesses and don't really want to start now. Am getting plenty of sleep in the form of a nap after dinner. Two hours at a stretch seems to be about par the last several days.

Monday we went to Tia's concert. No camera along ... just enjoyed the music. I love a band instructor who expects much out of his students. It shows in the sound that entertains us. He is certainly a fan of the classical pieces. The last piece of the evening was The Entertainer ... played by the band alone ... while the instructor/conductor sat and watched. He called it a tremendous act of faith. They made him proud!

Tuesday was a big hair day for Anna ... to top off her Mardi Gras day at school. French class = Mardi Gras celebrations. We have become incredibly spoiled with the people who cut our hair. Problem is that they are very pricey according to MY price range. We go there as a major treat ... and a treat it was!

The rest of the time it has been a bit of vit c, echinacea, humidifer, vicks on my feet, tylenol cold meds, ibuprofen ... and lots of water and sleep. Altho' on Monday I came home early due to overstaffing issues. After finishing the throw I showed you in the last post, I finished this one as well.

It is a break away from my usual denim quilts ... of which I've made many. This one has no pockets and is a bit smaller. Was fun nonethless. It has been sitting here waiting to be finished for a while now. Promised gifts. This one can now come off the "need to get it done and in the mail list".

Next on the list is spending some time pitching things in this house. Maybe the reason I'm not feeling so good is that I decided to start pitching 10 things a day through the end of the month. Perhaps that is what sent my body into a tailspin. :) Once I'm feeling up to it ... shelves need to go up in several places and organization of some sort is going to happen ... at least a small space of life will get done.

The making of quilt that ended up became a throw

I had this bright idea for a sweatshirt quilt a while ago. Cut up all kinds of old sweatshirts (the pieces are nicely folded in a bag waiting for my attention) and make a throw out of them. So off to You Tube I went. It is amazing what you can find on there! I found a denim rag quilt that looked like a lot of fun to try. The denim pile was getting a wee bit large and it was time to get rid of things. The goal: don't buy anything .. use what I had.

First I cut 81 squares of denim into 6 inch squares. (I just came up with any number that sounded good and would give me the most denim out of a pant leg.)

Next to cut 81 squares of the same size of batting and 81 of denim for the backing. I use lightweight denim for backing ... not hacked apart blue jeans. (My kids still need something to wear!) The 3 pieces are put together in the right order.

The design was laid out on the living room floor and I started off with strip sewing. The fun thing about this throw is that once you're done sewing, it is all put together. The backing and batting are all sewn in at the same time. When you sew 2 pieces together, you're actually sewing 6 layers, using 1/2 inch seam allowance. The seam ends up on the front side of the throw and the back is completely finished. Getting them to all line up is a bit of a challenge. I had 9 rows ... labeled them so I didn't get messed. up.

Then to sew the rows together. I did 2 rows at a time and then sewed the double rows together.

It sounds easy ... it is. Just time consuming. The needle on the machine was giving me fits and I was blaming the machine. Went to switch machines and found some denim needles just lounging around. Ahhh! Perfect!! Zipped through 6 layers without more than one more broken needle ... and much less anxiety on my part!

Once all the rows were sewn together I wanted to add a border around the edge. Now comes the problem. I did the top and the bottom out of pieces that I had cut to 4x6 size and sewn into a row.

After getting both the top and the bottom on ... I ran out of jeans. The pile had looked rather large, but shrank quickly. Now what? If I wait to cut up more jeans as they become unwearable ... it will never get done. The unfinished blanket will be back in the laundry room with the pile of sweatshirt pieces. So I consulted the only available expert at the time. Brock. He told me it would work the way it was. Love that kid of mine!!

Rather than finish the edges with any kind of binding, I ran a stitch all the way around the edge, 1/2 inch seam.

Then off to the washing machine. Threw it in, cleaned up the mess of a washer after all that stuff coming loose in there, into the dryer and voila!

Now to trim the edges of all the fraying fabric.

Then you brush the seams. On the You Tube instruction they had used a stiff bristled hair brush. I'm not about to go buy a hair brush to brush a quilt. I used a stiff bristled scrub brush and it worked fine. This blanket's seams aren't nearly as soft looking as the one on You Tube, but we throw them through the washer quite frequently around here. It'll just need a few more trimmings until it can't ravel anymore.

It isn't big enough to wrap up in ... needs a few more rows. But it did work for snuggling under yesterday evening.

And ... the brightest side! I saved the pieces I had left over for edging on the other two sides. As I clean out jeans ... I'll finish the other sides. It should just take a trip or two through the washing machine to have it looking pretty much like the rest of the blanket!

I have the sniffles

I feel like my head is stuffed with batting and ready to fall off my shoulders. Advil is in. Throat lozenge down. Now for the coffee to kick in. Then .... I'm going to take the advise of something I picked up yesterday.

Alyx and I got up halfway bright & early and went to the Women's Healthfair at the hospital. They had complimentary blood draw and labs, with food and coffee afterwards. Have a cup of tea coffee. The labs probably won't be the one I want ... but we'll see! (If I have to lay off the butter I'm going to have some issues.) At one booth I picked up this little number.

It sort of gave me license to spend the day the way I did. Just so you know, the house did get a bit of a cleaning on Friday before I came home from work .. it is not completely neglected. Just that the corners are crying for attention. If they howl a little louder, I'll hear them eventually.

Walk, Say Thank You, Smile    4 kids and I headed to Anchorage on a shopping mission. My goal was at least 2 more stores than I hit, but we were all pleased with our findings. I would dearly love to find a pair of Dansko clogs in a thrift store. Maybe I need to spend an entire day down there looking for a pair. I'm off track again. Plato's Closet yielded wonderful things. Brock no longer needs to have a breeze going on when he's outside. :) A stop at REI where I could have spent an entire month's pay ... and didn't buy one thing. Not one. I'm itching to go back but won't. JC Penney was having awesome deals as well. I probably didn't need another long sleeve brown shirt, but for 0.97 figured I might as well. Haven't had chinese food in forever so (even if it isn't the favorite by any stretch of the imagination) we idulged at the Food Court. Then home to get Alyx to work for 3pm. Didn't have time to get to Kohl's clearance racks. I really don't think we need another thing at the moment.

Dropped the kids off at home and headed over to JoAnns to pick up some batting and thread. Have to just love coupons and sales. Less than $20 and I had batting, threads and even a new pair of scissors!! (If my cherubs take them ... there will be no Hug, Smile, or Say Thank You going on.) Home to take a Nap and Cuddle with my pillow. Does that count? Was not feeling very good and can see what's coming around the corner ... major whopping cold.

Got up and did some laundry ... those new jeans are all hanging so we have some crisp and clean ones to wear! :) Then for the Sewing machine. I solicited an expert opinion from Brock ... and called one quilt done several hours later. It needs the final touch and we'll see what it looks like. Then I'll share.  My plan was not to "finish" nearly two in one evening, but I love to read (via audiobook) while I quilt and I had another one ready to plop in the cd player. So I didn't go to bed early. I stayed up and finished another one at midnight.

It is a sad state of affairs when you need cheater reading glasses for nearly anything you do in this life. Need some buttons on this one ... and it will be done.

This one is a little more help than any one person needs. She tried to eat my safety pins. She pounced at the thread line as I sewed by hand. Loved to play with the excess batting. Kind of like having little people around again.

Once again it is Sunday with the duties that Sunday entails. Maybe I should feed this family today? I am going to take another nap ... maybe call a friend.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Big Outing coming up!

I don't go to Anchorage often. I go there as little as possible. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm a full time working mom with plenty of things that need to be done at home. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have so many hobbies at home that I'd rather spend my time on. I detest shopping. Really, I do.

But enough is enough.

Brock is down to 1 pair of jeans that is not ripped or torn. One. It has gotten downright bad. He has been wearing dress pants on Sunday because he doesn't have any decent jeans to wear to church.

Anna is almost in the same category. Not quite that bad ... but almost!

Enough is enough. Tomorrow we must go on a shopping mission. Will see what we can manage. Myself and 4 teens heading to town.

This might be considered dangerous activity.

Is it Wednesday evening already?

The quilt is still in the same spot it was the other night. Hmph. No progress in that area. Maybe Saturday I'll have time for that one.

I concentrated really hard last night. I stayed focused. I got super motivated. And I filed the taxes. Done. Done. Done. Sorry to the accountant who I really appreciate. It's just that

and I had an ongoing date. I hope they saved me enough money. I'm happy with the results. For the moment anyway. I'll be displeased as soon as the refund is spent. I know me.

In other around the house family things. The dryer is fixed. Did I tell you that? I'm still hanging clothes downstairs and loving the crisp feel of them. Tia calls her jeans "scratchy", but if I'm doing the laundry ... they're going to continue being scratchy. At least I'm not drying underwear and socks on the line. THAT drives me nuts.

The car lot is still the car lot.

We seem to be just accumulating these nonrunning things. It is teaching us patience ... or something. There must be a reason our luck is running on a full tank in the life of wheels. Someday I'll know what it is!

The wind has been blowing, taking the snow off the trees along with it. The beautiful white trees didn't last for very long. The thermometer reads 33F outdoors ... so the brown of snowplows and melting snow is becoming the scene again. The sun. Oh. My. Gosh. The sun is heavenly. It has warmth to it now. The world is still light at 6pm ... and soon it'll be light nearly around the clock. I know we have a ways to go 'til spring, but last year we were building this in April.

Now, I could almost start itching to plant a few things. Quilts first. Then planting.

Oh ... then there's this stuff waiting for us as well. There will be no fishing this year until the woodshed is full. (It's nearly empty now.)

Good thing we have a ways to go. We still want to enjoy a bit more of this.

before we start a summer of this!

although, to be perfectly honest, I'm already mapping routes for the summer!

By the way, I know why we don't spend nearly as much time at Hatchers anymore. I have drivers who can navigate my car ... to the hockey rink. They spend a lot of time skating ... in fact, they just left again!

A few of my favorites from Sunday

We took a drive up to Hatchers on Sunday. Brock wanted to hit the "hill" with the snowboard and no one else was joining us ... so Jari and I went. I just love it up there. So does he.

It kind of amazes me how much time we spent up there the first winter. We were there often .. at least it seemed like it to me. Last winter it was too stinkin' cold most of the time, and this winter ... snow has been in short supply. It is still a marvel to see and enjoy.

Then on homeward ...

to play some more ...

I worked on a Sunday School lesson and then had to meander around outside for a bit. The air was wonderful! Could have spent all day out there were not other duties calling ... pasti for dinner included. (Have to feed them something once in a while.)

How is it that a dog just cannot walk a straight line? There really was nothing between him and his ultimate goal that would have caused him to take such a winding route.

except for maybe myself. I was out there blazing new trails through fresh snow ...

and he was coming out to meet me. What a good boy he is. Maybe I should get him and myself a pair of snow shoes! Might make the treks a bit easier on both of us sometimes!

So here I sit for a few minutes before I head off to work. Instead of blogging, I should really be entering the last few pieces of information into the tax return and hitting the "send" button. That was the goal last night. And I got distracted. REALLY distracted. Give me a sewing machine, an audio book and then a table of people and a game ... and I develop some serious ADD issues. I'll share a sneak peak with you and hope to have the rest of it done in the next few days!

Part of a weekend in snippets

The weekend started with an evening out on Friday. The kids went to HAPs while Jari and I went to Ross & Denise's for coffee and some of this.

If you haven't tried the game yet ... you really need to. If you haven't visited with Ross & Denise ... you really should do that as well. So many sweet little munchkin hugs in that house. :)

Saturday I was On Call all day. One of those days.  I didn't get called in once, but being as I'm liable to leave at a moment's notice ... it's shower in the morning. No jammies 'til noon ... as wonderful as that sounds. It was whipping blowing snow when I went to bed and the wind was still at it when I got up.

Yes! A clean blanket of snow covers our world. I was getting a wee bit weary of the dirty snow look. Not anymore ... it is gorgeous! Jari left to go out snow machining for the day and I hit the kitchen. Amish Friendship Bread into the oven. That stuff is absolutely delicious. Doesn't matter that I ran out of cinnamon .. it's still delish! Then a trip to Palmer sometime before noon. The usual stops of bank, post office and library. Okay, the library may not be a "usual" stop, but I finished the Anne Perry book and needed another one. The driving conditions were a bit snowy out there.

Would you please tell me something. What on earth is wrong with this picture? Are income taxes that foremost on everyone's mind right now that you would stand out there on the sidewalk pitching your business? Apparently so.

Home again, home again, slippety slide. No ditches. Just snow, snow, snow! Blayde and Brock were going over to Russell's for an afternoon of games.

First to sweep the snow off the car. We do love our brooms around here. Everything from floors to cars to stairs ... they certainly do the trick.

Then came the problem of the driveway. Fred had already plowed and the snow just kept falling. The lovely Subaru (that just keeps on going with some TLC) has the baldest tires a car has ever seen. The 4-wheel drive doesn't work. Thank goodness it is a light little thing.

It took about half an hour of up and down the driveway, shoveling and finally being pulled with the 4-wheeler to get it out onto the road. But to game day they made it! I don't know how to load books onto i-pod. (I don't think I need to learn that right now.) The stereo in the living room quit working so I went a hunting. Found a boom box in a kids' room, loaded in a book, ignored the state of the house, ignored the dishes ... and started sewing.

I think I finally stopped sewing at about 11pm. It was wonderful. I did manage to slip some skiis on and track through our fresh blanet of snow at one point. Even dared go up the road a piece. (That's a big one for me!)

That's it for now. I'm driving to work today ... the car is buried in snow ... the roads are likely a mess ... and I need a shower.

I could try and be noble

and tell you that I'm on a mission to get these completed. But I've just been in the mood. The computer is acting goofy again, so I get a bit frantic and start scrapping photos so I can move them off the computer. Can't do B until A is done .. one of those kinds of people am I.  (Click on the photo to see it larger. I tried to make it xlarge on this blog, but it cuts off halfway across the page.)

It's a week of hanging laundry to dry in the basement, fundraiser meetings, call time at work, more call time at work ... and a goal to find the workout video in the basement somewhere. Find that ... and then I can add another goal to the list!

Did the preliminary taxes and had moments of "aaaahhhh" instead of "aarrgh". It was good. Got the PFD applications done online. More importantly, I got the user names and passwords written down where I can find them next year!

Have been listening to Anne Perry's Shoulder the Sky on i-pod while cutting something like 150 pieces of denim for another quilt. Now to cut another 150 pieces of denim for backing and 150 of batting for lining. :) Using up material ... and enjoying it! Using up denim is a little less painful than cleaning out closets for donation somewhere. That stuff just goes away and is never seen again. The quilts we can treasure and use for years. Many years if you're me. I don't like to get rid of anything!

In the middle of the things that keep life hopping ... we're sitting down for games of Monopoly Deal. You really need to try that game. It will be the first thing packed in luggage for any little weekend family getaway.