there's no place like gnome.

My sewing machine broke.

BROKE.

You know how I’ve been frantically sewing with every spare minute?  Trying desperately to finish the BBQ by the boyfriend’s birthday which is next Wednesday?  I get home and, on days when I’m not at church for meetings or off with Dave, I go straight upstairs after supper and sew, sew, sew.

Until last night.  When my sewing machine broke.

Sigh.  I called a guy and I take it to him tomorrow morning.  The BBQ is really close to being done – maybe a quarter left to quilt and then binding.  A friend offered to lend me her machine and the quilters at church did the same.  I could take one of their machines home to use in the meantime if I wanted.  However, I didn’t take them up on their offer.  At least not tonight.

I’m not feeling super well.  The sluggish, chilled, not-myself kind of not well.  Maybe – just maybe – this not feeling super well is a sign of me running myself ragged.  Going, going, going.  Maybe – just maybe – I need a night to sit on the couch under a quilt that’s already complete, and just be.  Relax.  Breathe.  It’s been a very long time since I’ve done that.

[Or maybe the not feeling super well is just the beginning of really not feeling well and sickness will overtake me.  But let’s hope not.]

And so that’s where you’ll find me tonight.  Not ironing or quilting or cutting. But cuddling with Miss Mabel.  Chilling.  Sleeping.  The sewing [and Christmas cards. and cleaning. and laundry. and annual Thanksgiving day bake-off research.  and everything else.] will still be there tomorrow.  I’m going to let it wait until then.

Estate sale Saturdays are my favorite.

Dave and I headed to Rochester for not one, but two estate sales just around the corner for each other. It was the perfect morning to go about galavanting through other people’s houses and taking their things. Dave bought a pair of sawhorses for $1. I walked away with the following for myself:

New (to me) Pyrex. It’s actually old; vintage I suppose one could say. I simply can’t help myself when I see Pyrex in any shape or color. I buy it all. I’m running out of space. (But do you see the casserole dish? It’s inside is, like blue! I haven’t seen one like that before.)

Next, I spied and claimed quickly as mine this bright red pig cutting board/trivet. It definitely belongs in my kitchen.

And, finally, a couple new metal trays for my wall of trays in the kitchen. Have I shown you my wall? It’s the best because they are light, easily found second hand, hung with 3M strips, and, while they bring cheap funky color to the room, they also double as magnetic spaces. The new two will likely cap off the collection and the wall.

Estate sales most certainly are the best. Today, our galavanting was timed perfectly too, because just as we returned to Austin, it started to snow big flakes of fluffy wonder. We spent the rest of the lovely afternoon eating soup and making a batch of beer (I have declared myself to be Dave’s sous brewer.). We only went out again, likely in the worst of the 3-5 inches of snowfall expected, because there was a YEAST EMERGENCY. I repeat: YEAST EMERGENCY. At least that’s what Dave jokingly said to the guy at the home brew place in Albert Lea that we had to run to quick to buy the proper kind of yeast for this specific lager. It’s okay; the emergency resolved itself with the purchase of proper yeast. All is well in the brewing world again. There will indeed be beer.

Say what you will about the white stuff. And my tune may very well be very different in a couple weeks or months. But, for right now, the snow makes me giddy.

Lorelei Gilmore always claims she can smell snow. She loves snow. “The whole world changes color,” she says. Lorelei and I are on the same wavelength. (Now if only we had the same closet of outerwear. I love Lorelei Gilmore coats.)

It snowed for the first time this season a couple days ago. In Austin, we accumulated little more than a dusting, just enough to make the world change color. The cities – they got hammered. (I might be singing a different tune if I was still living in St.Paul.) But here in Austin, it didn’t require much plowing or shoveling. But the world changed color.

I love how bright it is and how, when I wake up in the morning, all it want to do is drink coffee and stare out the window. Snow inspires me to create and makes me crave holiday decorations. On a bright snowy day, I want to make things and make things pretty and drink coffee. (As a thought, maybe the giddiness is actually caffeine overload.) Come Friday, my day off, you can probably expect that I have begun pulling out my Christmas decorations. Maybe I’ll make some festive bunting to hang. Or a new pillow. Or … Or … Or …. endless possibilities.

Nevertheless, I’m happy and thankful to live in a state with four seasons, including winter. I like winter. It makes me giddy and full of childlike wonder. We’re best friends (at least for the time being).

Hey. Did you hear? I confirmed my first batch of confirmands two Sundays ago. It was pretty awesome.

Because the four youth are awesome. Seriously. So awesome.

They started with me as seventh graders when I was a brand new pastor with no clue what she was doing. We figured it out together. We bonded in our unknowing and general confusion. And now they are confirmed. They created awesome projects, spoke their verses clearly, and had big smiles on their faces.

They also gave me a surprise. Turns out, the Saturday before the service, they all got together and galavanted around Austin, buying me flowers and putting together a picture board of our three and a half years together. They presented these things to me during worship that day, saying nice words and giving me hugs. For nice. Really for nice. See? That’s how awesome … and thoughtful … and fun they are. I will miss them on Wednesday nights.

I know.

I know.

I have been so incredibly absent the last couple weeks. Life has been moving along at a steady pace, a pace that hasn’t allowed much space for blogging. There have been nights away for conferences, late nights quilting, trips to the cities, and a few other things thrown in the mix. I hope to update you on the happenings this week, post by post. But for today, for this afternoon, let’s start with a story from yesterday at worship.

It all started with the children’s sermon. On any Sunday when we have a baptism, the children’s sermon is centered around the baptismal font. We dip our hands in the water, say a prayer, give each other blessings. This Sunday, on Emmit’s day of baptism, his cousin was in worship. Noah is his name. (I should also mention that Emmit’s brother was there too. Walter. Walter is a great four year old. He tried to take over the children’s sermon a couple times. It’s a good thing I had a mic and he didn’t or I would have been old news real fast.)

Noah came up during the children’s sermon and we all dipped our fingers in the water. We blessed each other and then I told them to go back and bless someone else in the congregation. Boy, did that make Noah excited. He dipped his finger in the water so fast and tore off down the steps back to his family. Cutest thing ever.

THEN, Noah came up when his cousin Emmit was at the font to be baptized. At one point, I ask all the family and sponsors up front to make the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead. Noah was all over it. What did he do? He dipped his finger in the water, like we had at the children’s sermon, and made the sign of the cross on his baby cousin’s forehead.

You practically had to mop me off the floor because it was so darn darling.

And that, my friends, is what church is about.

There has been a larger than normal appearance of fabric at the parsonage lately. And by appearance, I mean I bought it. On purpose. Because it was pretty.

Most of it does have a reason for making its way to my house. I received a large order of white yardage and various green fabric last week for the BBQ (boyfriend birthday quilt) whose top is nearly complete on the empty bedroom floor.

Then there is the chair fabric. As soon as the BBQ and a couple other baby quilts are done (One of which is on the design wall currently but I can’t show you because this baby’s mother is a blog reader and I’m not ready to reveal it yet, Amanda!), it will be reupholstery time. That wingback chair from goodwill will be getting a makeover. First I bought this fabric:

But then, upon seeing a better variety at SR Harris* on Saturday, I decided that wasn’t THE ONE. I went with this instead:

See? LOTS of fabric happening at the parsonage. Add to that purchasing fabric for another baby quilt for dear Sara and her first to be born in February (February? There are too many babies in my life I can’t keep track!) and I’m swimming in cotton beauty. And, of course, loving every second.

*SR Harris, you wonder? Sara and I stopped at their new location this past Saturday. It’s a fabric warehouse whose new locale is in Burnsville. Basically, designer print fabric at half off. With a whole lot of other fabric to dig through. Go there. It will be worth it. There is a whole aisle of polka dots!

Enough said.

Back on October 1, I wrote a post detailing all of my favorite fall activities and what I hoped to do this month amidst the leaves and colors and cool temperatures. As I reflect on the last weeks, October is living up to expectations quite well. Here is the list:

Make soup. Eat soup.
CHECK. Joe and Amanda came and stayed at my house this past weekend. We cooked a turkey, two kinds of soup, and a jumbo batch of lasagna to spread between our freezers. Meals pulled from the freezer are awesome.

Walk on crunchy leaves.
Check, check, check.

Bike ride through crunchy leaves.
CHECK. Dave and I went on a bike ride this past Monday evening. It was a beautiful night to bike through Austin on paths covered by leaves. We even made a swing stop at a park.

Bonfires.
Still waiting on this one.

Carve pumpkins. Maybe paint one too.
CHECK.

Make an apple pie. Maybe some applesauce too.
CHECK. I didn’t make AN apple pie but rather many small salted caramel apple hand pies, aka individual pies to eat in four or five bites. I made some yummy crockpot applesauce too!

Visit the pumpkin patch.
Check, check, check. Most recently, Dave and I went to Farmer John’s just down the road from me to find the perfect pumpkin for my front stoop. AND, this past Saturday, my BFF Carter and I went to a patch for a corn maze and other fun.

Quilt and cuddle in quilts.
Check in progress. Two baby quilts down, I’m now working on a BBQ (boyfriend birthday quilt) and another baby quilt soon! Here is the BBQ in progress on the design wall …

I’m kinda dreaming about this butternut squash lasagna.
A mighty delicious check.

Puffy vests! Scarves!
Yes!

Read a good book. (Any suggestions?)
No progress here yet …

See Gone Girl in the theater (a good book now in movie form).
Check. Loved it.

Reinstate my tea-and-reading before bed ritual.
This is a no go so far. The bedtime ritual of late has been quilt-until-my-eyes-get-blurry/quilt-until-the-episode-of-Gilmore-Girls-is-over.

Not on the original list, but there also have been some Halloween art projects in the house! Fused beads and painting. Overall, it’s shaping up to be a mighty festive and mighty fun October!

Maybe I’m crazy because I’m going to dork-out about wrapping paper.

Yes, wrapping paper.

As a self-proclaimed paper snob, I’ve always loved a good roll of wrapping paper. I’ve always loved wrapping gifts. I used to get out of stripping tobacco by claiming that my mom needed my help in the house wrapping Christmas gifts more than my dad needed me in the strip house with tobacco leaves between my legs. (It’s how you did it. You strip the leaves from the stalks and when they become too much for your hands to hold, you put them in a bundle between your legs. Makes total sense to any kid who also played in a manure spreader filled with tobacco stalks.)

In summary: I always have loved wrapping gifts. But today it all changed.

I had a bridal shower gift to wrap and get in the mail. I went for a new roll of wrapping paper I bought many weeks ago at Marshall’s. I bought it because it was blue and white polka dot, not because I knew I would never wrap gifts in the same way ever again.

I took off the plastic wrapping and immediately knew that this roll of wrapping paper was different. It felt different. Smoother. Matte. Different. I unrolled the amount I needed and went to cut. Now, I love it when you can take the scissors and zoom across the paper. With a regular roll of wrapping paper, sometimes it works. Sometimes it leaves your edges jagged. Oh, buddy, not this time. The scissors sailed across the roll with such ease. I always have wondered what people meant when they said something cut like butter; now I know.

I wrapped the gift, fully aware I was in the presence of something wonderful. I tweeted this:

Later, someone responded to the tweet and asked about the wonderfulness. It caused me to do a little investigating about this new-to-me paper product. Turns out this was no ordinary gift wrap made from trees; this was gift wrap made from stone.

For serious.

It’s called stone wrap and it’s made from some form of salvaged limestone. It creates a paper that is matte, smooth, waterproof, nearly tear-resistant, and extremely durable. A paper that is absolutely wonderful.

I cannot begin to tell you how exciting this is for me.

Some people laugh at me when I tell them about my adult coloring book. They roll their eyes when I talk about my new colored pencils for coloring in said coloring book. They don’t believe me when I say it is relaxing to color.

A friend sent me an article from the Huffington Post. Proof that I’m not crazy or alone in this adult coloring venture. Here’s a quote from the article –

The practice (of coloring) generates wellness, quietness and also stimulates brain areas related to motor skills, the senses and creativity.

Pick up your crayons and color, folks. It’s good for you.

Two baby quilts have traveled with me to Wisconsin in the last month. They – though unplanned – went to the same baby. Here’s the story of two weekend trips, two quilts, and one baby named Natalie.

Quilt #1:

This quilt – a scrappy polka dotted baby quilt – was created with a purpose instead of a person in mind. At the end of September, a benefit was planned and held for my Uncle David who is currently awaiting a heart transplant. I made a quilt for the silent auction and there it joined an outpouring of other donations for the cause. It was overwhelming in such a wonderful way. The benefit itself was overwhelming as well, with hundreds of people in attendance. The community really turned out in support of a great family.

(I was grateful to make the quick, one-night trip home for the benefit. Dave and I left Austin Friday afternoon, only to return late Saturday night so I could lead worship the next day. It was a great though short trip; even Alaskan brother, Ben, was home!)

Ironically (or not), the winner of the quilt at the silent auction was the new grandma and grandpa of the baby girl for whom quilt number two was made – the newest baby Banana, Natalie. They plan to keep it at their house for when Natalie comes to visit.

Quilt #2:

I’m home again, this time for Crazy Cousin Molly’s confirmation, which was held this morning. Molly is my Godchild so it was important for me to make the trip. (I even got to assist at the service which was fun.) I drove home on Thursday and while home, I finished binding and then was able to deliver quilt number two. Natalie was born to Banana (aka high school) friend, Lynn, and her husband, Kyle.

Two other Bananas (Kim and Krissy) and I made the trip to Madison to meet ten-day old Natalie while I was home this weekend. I delivered the quilt and stayed a safe, hygienic distance away from the baby (as I’m fighting the inevitable fall cold). Here is Natalie giving her best monkey face –

I head back to MN super early tomorrow morning after a pretty relaxing and fun weekend at home. While these two baby quilts have been completed and rest in the arms of their new humans, I return to MN dreaming of the next baby quilt project. Next quilt due date: mid-December.