I made a turtle

I made a turtle

I made a turtle

He is green

I also made an elephant

J really likes it

These were my projects that allowed me to decompress after my brutal days at work this week. Who knows what I'll create next week??? I've started a felted duck for J. So far, so good.

Not posting much this week

Bad week at work. Bad, bad week.

Hopefully I'll have some downtime next week, but no promises.

In our Element

Our friends recommended a great place to stay while we were in Lexington, and I fell in love. We stayed at the Element, a new property that's very modern and strives to be eco-friendly. That appealed to the crunchy granola gal in me, and even J liked the way the rooms were laid out. We had a kitchenette complete with full-sized fridge, dishwasher, etc., and a lovely room with bamboo floors. I coveted the shower. Downstairs was a "pantry" with everything from bulk foods to frozen dinners and drinks. Complimentary breakfast was available every morning, and I am intrigued by their saline pool.

We're thinking of heading back later in the year to check out the neighboring towns. We only got a taste of Lexington and Concord, but there is a ton to see in a small area, and of course Boston is close by. For now, some shots of our cool room.

Our kitchenette. J and I disagreed about the glass tile backsplash. I loved it. He'd like it better in squares. He's such a traditionalist...

I never thought J would like this sink, but he thought it was very cool.

Part of our complete set of dishes

Why we were in MA

I became a godmother again this weekend! Our good friends asked me to be their daughter's godmother, and really, with a face like this, how could I refuse?


Especially if she promised to wear the sweater I made her to the big day.

So we headed up Lexington MA on Friday night, participating in the baptism on Saturday. Kate did OK for the most part, as long as the person holding her was named Mom or Dad.

If a godparent was holding her, well, she just looked miserable.

And of course, water on her head wasn't exactly a fun experience.

But after all was said and done, she took a nice nap with Auntie Babs.

And we got to have cake!



Congratulations, Kate!

What happens when you visit Massachusetts in January

It's OK. We got home just fine, it only took an extra hour to get through. And I wasn't driving and taking pictures at the same time, I promise.

Fun pics and stories to come.

The joys of winter

1. Our snow-covered front yard by full moon. I was walking up the driveway last week and it was simply gorgeous. All the trees and shrubs had a coating of ice on them, and they just glowed by moonlight. As I walked along, the moon caught the snow crystals, making it look like a field of diamonds. A really nice way to end the day.

2. My snow-covered office park after a warm spell. Things had started to melt, but froze up again with our latest cold snap. Especially at dusk, the lawns looked like buttercream frosting. Ahhhh...

3. The sound of snow crunching under my feet. I know there are some of you out there who hate that sound, but it's taken on a special quality in our frozen tundra this week. I could spend all day crunching snow underfoot.

Need your help

So in trying to become less of a Luddite, and to supplement my meager supply of friends in the Poconos, I've joined a number of internet groups and message boards. One of the gals I "met" on the board has "adopted" a soldier in Iraq and sends random care packages to him. Turns out he's sharing his goodies with his unit, and she decided to expand her offerings a bit, and ask a group of us if we'd like to go in on some boxes of goodies to send across the miles.

So I'm looking for ideas. If you were in a hot, dry, foreign country and wanted a reminder of home, what would you want to arrive in a box from the US? It can't melt in 120 degree heat (so much for those chocolate chip cookies I was going to bake). So far I've come up with Pez and Pez dispensers, comic books, and a knitted hat (the nights are cold). All that spare yarn will go to good use.

Leave your ideas in the comments section, and I'll let you know if they go into the box!

Forgotten pictures

Well, not exactly forgotten.

Way back in April 2008 I posted this. I mentioned that I picked up a disposable camera during my trip to Chicago and used it while I was walking along Michigan Avenue. Turns out I had a few shots left, so I took it to Shreveport to see my family. The camera sat in my kitchen cabinet until last month, when I finally got pictures developed. I got them back today.

Sears Tower on a cloudy/rainy day

Some ginormous building I encountered on my walk. Anyone want to tell me what it is? Michelle, does it look familiar?

The old water works building on Michigan Avenue

Millenium Park on a sunny spring day

OK, off to Louisiana

My welcome basket from my brother, sister in law, and nephew. Complete with animal crackers, a favorite of mine since the age of 3 or so

Flower baskets in Natchitoches

Sign showing our historic home was somewhere up the road

Desmond and his daddy. Mommy was shopping for jam at the Natchitoches farmer's market

My new favorite picture of Desmond. He looks so little!

Christmas is over at our house

We took advantage of a snowy Saturday and put away all of the Christmas decor. I left out a few snowmen here and here, because it's definitely still winter!

I'm spending the evening knitting some adorable baby booties for a good friend, and watching the NFL playoffs. I could get used to this...

Painting is done! (for now)

The white living room, before:


The green living room, after
Behr Grasshopper Wing


Doesn't the color look nice with my Christmas arrangement?

Crafty vacation

I'm feeling much better, thank you.

So, since I've had a lot of downtime, I've been quite crafty. I even made some things for me.


My striped wool funnelneck sweater. The next one will be purple!


Damn, this imported sideways. Oh well, you get the idea. This is a little sweater for a friend of mine who just had a baby boy. I tweaked the pattern a bit to add the wood toggle buttons. Love it! Even J was impressed.


My alpaca winter hat. On my head first thing in the morning. So ignore the fact that I look like death.

By the way, I've also been painting. We have a wall that leads from the kitchen to the living room. I bought paint for it 2 years ago, but finally had the time to use it.

Before (yes, everything that was on the counter is now cluttering the island). You'll notice the wall is white, like the rest of the house was when we moved in.


After--much better!


I hope to finish the living room wall tomorrow (J moved big furniture for me tonight--yay!), so I'll post pix as soon as it's done!