Archive | May, 2013

Friday Favorites.

31 May

The “keeping my chin up” edition.

It’s been a rough week here.

Burned out.

No motivation.

Tears.

Le sigh.

In the midst of it, these are happy things:

I certainly don’t need a garland of pool noodles, but, gosh, do I want to make one.  Or five.  [Sara, are you with me on this one?]

The Bachelorette began this past week and I got a tv antenna installed just in time to tune in every Monday.  The Bachelorette not your thing?  Fair enough.  It doesn’t need to be everyone’s guilty pleasure.  But maybe you want to watch The Baby Bachelor?  [Thanks to Emma for directing that one to me.]

I redbox’ed Promised Land last night.  Two of my favorites – Matt Damon & John Krasinski – together in one film.  Promised land indeed.

As my mom, sister, and I travel to Alaska in a couple weeks, we’ll be going on the fringe of rainy season.  Bring a rain jacket, my brother advised.  Well, I don’t own an appropriate rain jacket and so I ordered one.  I was going to order a calm blue one from LLBean but they were out of stock.  My next favorite color?  BRIGHT yellow.  I’m going to look like a rubber ducky but it will make any gloomy, rainy day brighter.

In the midst of a crazy not-so-good week, there were bright spots.  A phone conversation with a friend in Tennessee, running into a Dawson friend briefly while walking my dog between here and the cemetery, a skype date with friends in Montana, and a sermon writing afternoon with jD and [five minutes with] Paige.

And here’s to hoping the overall emotions of next week only go up.

A Muffin story.

30 May

I ate a muffin today.

Judy, the friend of my administrative assistant, stopped by.  And, like every other time she stops by, she brought us goodies for coffee time.  A banana chocolate muffin today.

Already not a huge fan of banana things except bananas themselves, I sat down at Marilyn’s desk to help her with some computer work and started to eat my muffin.  I was a couple bites in and Marilyn asked how it was.

I replied with some pretty non-committal language.  I mean, it was a good muffin.  It was fine.  It was banana so it would never rank super high on my list.

It’s made with mayo, Marilyn responded.

I stopped chewing.  What? I asked, my mouth still full of mayo muffin.

Mayo.  It makes it super moist.

I don’t care if it makes it moist.  Sour cream and yogurt would also make it moist.  Why not use those?  You don’t put mayo in a muffin!  I don’t care for mayo.  I never have cared for mayo.  And while mayo may belong in that potato salad at the potluck, mayo is not a breakfast food.  Mayo should not be in my muffin.

Now sure, being honest with you, truth is, I couldn’t taste the mayo, but it still took me a while to swallow that bite.  But just the thought of mayo in a muffin …

#mayoisnotabreakfastfood

#nomayoinmymuffin

#gagreflextested

[This all kinda reminds me of the muffin video my sister and cousin, Sam, can quote the whole length of.  Check it out – it’s funny.]

Stillwater getaway.

27 May

Last year, right around this time, I stayed at my first B&B in Grand Marais.  I went away to Stillwater this past Thursday thru Saturday for another B&B getaway.  Well, kinda.  Paige and I have joked with our Stillwater synod pal, Karen, for months that we would come to stay at her B&B, aka her house.  This past weekend we finally did.

Our accommodations were lovely at the B&B.  We were welcome to come and go as we pleased and were invited to sample the lovely cereal varieties available.  We were close enough to downtown to take a walking tour, including stops at the now closed theological bookstore, the daily grind for coffee, and the co-op for yummy sandwiches.  We ate dinner out on a patio overlooking the river with our hosts and devoured too much ice cream for our own good on a walk to Nelson’s.  Saturday morning was another coffee shop, relaxing by reading, and a late lunch on the screen porch before our departure.  It was all things lovely.

Eventually, the weekend had to end and we had to depart.  I didn’t even make it to the southern edge of the cities before Paige had to listen to me cry.  The weekend [well, Thursday thru Saturday] was so lovely that I didn’t want to go home.  Go home to Sunday sermon prep.  Go home where life isn’t like a B&B at all, where there are no patios to sit on, or friends to eat every meal with.  Go home and not have a long weekend like the rest of the world. [See screen shot of tweet above.] I think the tears are a symptom – I’m burned out.  I think I’m long ready for a vacation.  A full week off.  Luckily, that’s only two and a half weeks away.  Alaska, here I come.

Friday Favorites [from facebook]

24 May

I’ve had awesome friends posting awesome things on my facebook wall this week.  Case in point –

This article came to me via mi amiga, Carolyn, who posted it on my facebook wall.  I tease you with two lines.  First, the title: How garden gnomes are causing an uproar at one of Britain’s most prestigious events.  [heck yeah they are.]  Second, the last quote of the article: I’ve learned there is no place for gnomism in my life.  [sad life.]  You should read the rest for yourself.

Just when you think life can’t get any better [with or without gnomism in your life], this video shows up on your facebook wall.  Thanks to Sara dearest for posting it for me to watch and laugh and enjoy.  You should probably know the surprise party skit with Kristin Wigg from SNL for optimum laughter and understanding at this imitation.  Don’t know it?  Google it – watch that video – THEN come back here and watch this one.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

 

I will also share a photo, taken by a parishioner during worship on Pentecost.  I posted it to the church’s facebook page and it has received more likes than anything else.  It must be a favorite.

Sunday 5-20

Babies & quilts.

21 May

Babies are being born and thus quilts are being quilted.  One baby, to seminary friend Kari, was born this past week.  Exciting!  Two more are still on their way, both to Bananas.

Here are the latest two quilts:

Quilt 1.
A better view of the great fabric for quilt 1.
Quilt 2: front.
Quilt 2: back.

Letterpress, part 2.

20 May

A week ago, I went back to St.Paul for the second session of my letterpress class.  It was time to set type and print postcards.  I was ready.

I decided on something a little more versatile than shut the front door.  I went with hello. how are you today?  In Kennerley Old Style.  Size 18.

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I set the type upside down and left to right.  I used furniture and quoins to set it in the frame.  The dear instructor, Mary, told me I had a great geometrical eye.  [And I don’t just say that to anyone, she said.]

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And then it was my turn to print a whole lot of postcards.  Maybe you’ll get one in the mail someday.  When you do, it might look like it was just made on a computer.  But run your fingers lightly over that print.  It’s letterpress, baby.

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End of the year celebrations.

19 May

Confirmation and Sunday School are over until fall.  They have ended and Lindsay is sad.  We concluded the school year of confirmation a week and a half ago with ice cream sundaes and sardines.  [One of those is something we ate.  The other is something we played.  You decide.]  Today we honored our Sunday School kiddos in church and coffee hour.  They all got a mini box of cereal that read you’re CEREAL-sly awesome.  I can’t wait to hang out with all of them at day camp this summer because they are so CEREAL-sly awesome.

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Confirmation youth, post ice cream and sardines, in our bright awesome youth room.

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This is Matthew and Gracie at the table of honor during coffee hour for the Sunday school kids. Matthew decided it would be a great idea to dump his box of cereal on top of his piece of cake. He’s awesome. [See all that red? It’s Pentecost, baby. We were a sea of red today.]

The favorite things I did on Friday.

18 May

I didn’t post any favorites yesterday.  I didn’t even open my computer because I was busy doing some of my favorite things.  Favorite things like what?, asks the chorus.  Favorite things like this:

I slept in until 10.  TEN.  After a couple weeks of roofers waking me up by 7, it was needed.  And you have to love a dog that not only lets you sleep until ten but actually keeps sleeping longer.  Mabel is a sleeping rock star.

I ate breakfast and watched the SERIES finale of The Office.  The Office has been a part of my life for the last nine years.  It’s sad to see it end but it was good.  It was good.

I cleaned.  It’s been a long while since I’ve had a Friday morning/afternoon to be at home and tidy up.  Quite honestly, a Friday at home to clean is one of my favorite things.  I put away the boxes that came back with me from Geep’s and washed my sheets; unloaded the dishwasher and washed dishes.  It was productive.  And awesome.

Mabel and I went for a walk and then it was off to the cities for me.  A bit over a month ago, I got together with three college friends for a game night.  We scheduled a second one for last night and there is now a third on the calendar for June which will take place here in Austin.  I like what we have going on.  Last night we played Settlers: Cities and Knights.  it was at least a three hour game and lots of fun for a Friday night.

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The Stolen’s Museum.

15 May

I went home this past Sunday for one quick night after a full weekend of work and a busy Sunday morning.  I went home to join my family at Geep’s.  We gathered at Grandpa Sid’s house to clean it out.  It was not the ideal way to spend time together, going thru Grandpa’s cabinets and out buildings and packing up boxes.  Not ideal at all but we found some fun moments in the midst of it.

Grandpa Sid labeled everything.  Everything.  Need a broom?  Naturally, it’s hanging on a nail that above it in pencil is written BROOM on the wall.  A key?  It’s on a nail with the word KEY written and circled above it.  Wonder what that light switch turns on?  It’s probably labeled.

Need a hammer?  No need to label those by writing on the wall because they were located every five yards.  I bet we found thirty hammers.  Hammers everywhere.  Never more than a few steps from anywhere.  I talked to the Alaska brother, Ben, on the phone the day after and he asked how it went, not being able to be there himself since he was – you know – in the arctic.  We found a lot of hammers, I said.  I bet you did, he chuckled.  It really was no surprise.

What else did we find?  Admission prices to the Stolen’s Museum.  See, the garage/shed on my Grandpa’s property used to house, oh, 30-some restored gas pumps and old, classic tractors.  I actually invited one of my school classes there for a field trip one year in elementary school.  There were also vintage cream separators and classic metal gasoline and tobacco signs.  It was very nearly an actual museum.  According to the perfect printing in the cement on the floor of the museum – done by one father, John, who wrote in all pieces of wet cement – it was closed on Sundays.  And now it’s nearly empty.

I picked rhubarb from Grandpa’s patch and came home with a china set of Grandma’s.  [A pattern of china which, oddly enough, I drank coffee from on a home visit today.  I’d never seen the pattern before Sunday and now it seems to be stalking me.]  I think my Grandma would be happy to know that her Pyrex bowls will continue to live on in my kitchen, and that the mason jars from the cellar are finding new homes too.

It still is indeed sad to think that I may never again set foot on that property.  I’ve known it all my life.  I would walk down the waterway and across the creek to visit and steal fudgesicles from the freezer in the summer.  As us kids got older, we would ride our bikes around the block and Grandma and Grandpa’s was always our stop for water before we attempted to ride up the hill home again. It’s the porch on which I placed a May Day basket on many a May 1st, and the kitchen table at which I chatted with Grandpa over an open atlas.  And there was always a hammer available when you needed one.

Top floor of the museum. Empty now.
Old election signs.
Oh, look. It’s a hammer.
Pencil on wall. Classic.
Under 12 free.
Hey. A hammer.

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Friday Favorites – a day early.

9 May

If you’re in the same boat as I, you need a little lift this Thursday.  It’s cold and rainy in Austin today.  The sun is hiding.  Then there is the perpetual busy, and glorious plans for an uninterrupted weekend, well, interrupted.  So, of course, instead of doing work, I’m taking this ten minute break to show you what cheered me up.

This.  This is all you need.

If you’re not smiling and laughing, I think you might be a lost cause for happiness.  It makes me so happy.  It also gives me a newfound respect and admiration of John Krasinski.  Him and his beautiful beard.

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