Quiet week

Which I love... Other than sewing club on Thursday, I haven't been doing a whole lot.

Contrary to popular belief, there is some sewing that gets done at sewing club... I worked on binding the baby quilt that I finally finished piecing:

I love it. These are the instructions I used. I think it probably took me a little bit longer than 6 hours total to get everything cut and pieced, but it still went pretty fast. I'm going to make a bumper and crib skirt to match eventually. And don't worry, it's all machine sewn (except the binding)- I don't have that much free time. *grin*

And I think I've decided that four coats of paint is good enough on this dresser... so that's done too. woot woot.

This is how Leann had it painted- cute, but not quite gender neutral. :)

My garden is growing!

And my flowers. Some of them look like they could use less rain, and more sunshine. Like me.

And this is proof that there are altogether too many critters in town. A petunia, growing in the cracks of our back patio. I didn't even plant petunias back there this year! I don't want to think about how the seed got there.

We both needed to get our FOID cards renewed, so we went to get our pictures taken on Saturday night... even though they use your drivers license picture for the actual card, they still require a passport sized photo. So pointless. Anyway, Bob really wanted lava cake so we ate supper at Applebee's.

Sunday evening we went to Bob's parents' for supper since Sprout is moving to Athens this week... hooray for the hot, sickly south!

Blessings.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Why aren't weekends longer?

We went to potluck on Friday night... woot woot. I did not get to sleep in on Saturday since it was a quilt club morning, but then I went to some thrift stores and came home with lots of clothes for not a lot of money so it was worth it. Bob went fishing with my brothers that afternoon. In Matt's new boat. Which is as yet unnamed and he doesn't like any of my suggestions. (Just because all of the famous boats I've heard of were ill fated doesn't mean anything...)

Sunday we went to the farm for Hawaiian pork burgers and homemade ice cream. Er, um, sweet cream. Yeah, it didn't quite set up right... hehe. And G and G stopped by with a raspberry pie. Yum. I ate way too much.

It's so hard to get up and go to work on rainy dreary Monday mornings... especially when the laundry pile waiting for you is a small mountain. Who decided Monday would be wash day anyway?

So my sister posted a bunch of old pictures from my Grandma Schlipf... and a letter she wrote my Grandpa when they were dating:

"Dear Elmer,

Miriam was here today and said she and Joe are invited to go to Bluffton this weekend-and would I like to keep the kids. I felt like saying-"Do I want to break my leg"- but I didn't. So, unless they change their minds, I'll be in Eureka Saturday night.

If you want to come over and spend a nice quiet evening at home (with two kids), you may. If you'd rather skip this weekend, just let me know. I wouldn't blame you.

As Ever, Marjorie"

It makes me smile a lot... apparently I get it honest...

Blessings.

Happy Father's Day

An excerpt from an email from my Dad (from a long time ago):


"If you ever are pregnant, do me a favor. Don't post a picture of your belly on facebook! Or maybe any where else."


*grin*


NO WORRIES Dad.


And for the record, I'm so thankful to have a Dad who has always had high expectations for us kids... and has never backed down from his convictions and principles... and never been afraid to set us straight.


(Mom too, who probably bore the brunt of enforcing said principles. I maybe still check if my skirt hits the floor when I kneel down... *grin*)

Bubble Wrap

One of my coworkers has a tendency to be slightly accident prone... the other night she fell off her porch. She was at work yesterday, but went home early because she was feeling dizzy (probably from hitting her head when she fell- yikes!).

So the rest of us scrounged up some bubble wrap and made her desk safer for her... hehe. Padded corners, wrapped up sharp objects, caution signs.

Yes, I know we need to get out more.

I love the lab.

Festivities

Yeah. So. Busy, busy weekend again. It was great fun though!

Friday night the Turkey Fest was in full swing... I went to the Turkey Express drive through and got us turkey sandwiches for supper. And then Bob and I walked up to the park later and wandered around looking at everything. There was a jazz band playing that night... they started playing a swing tune and a few older couples got up to dance. They were awesome. Bob did not want to join them, sadly. Someday. *grin* We got strawberry short cakes for dessert and walked back home.

I went back Saturday to look through the booths... and I wanted to try a Strawberry smoothie. It was ok, but I don't think I would get one again. Too much ice and milk not enough fruit and yogurt.

Saturday night we were honored to be invited to Gab and Brian's rehearsal dinner at 3o9. The food was really, really good. Now we just need an excuse to go back... It was good to be there and it brought back lots of fun memories of U of I times. I like listening to people tell stories, not so much telling stories. Plus, half of the really good Gab and Brian stories that involved me I'm not sure I would want to share in front of my elder... and their grandparents. hehe. *grin*

The wedding was Sunday afternoon at Luthy Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous place for a wedding and the weather was perfect! I didn't even think about sunscreen though, and I got slightly burnt. Sometimes I get tired of weddings... but this one was wonderful. I'll admit I got a little teary, but who wouldn't watching Steve walking Gab down the aisle? So sweet.

And then we headed to the fabulous reception, where we were served more fantastic food. We were at a table full of U of I people... good times. Bovee was even there all the way from Wisconsin! So we had to get a roommate picture- 709 girls four years later:

Sadly, that's the only picture I took the whole weekend.

And then we went home and crashed. I tried to go to work Monday morning... lasted all of an hour and a half before I went home because I was feeling really weird... and I went back to bed and woke up at 2pm. um.... yikes! Don't know what that was all about because I feel fine today.

Blessings.

Sleep, Sleep tonight...

I'm so tired this week... I haven't been getting to bed early enough in a very long time. Plus it's been so hot that it feels like all my energy is sucked out every time I walked out the door or got in my car with it's lovely black leather seats... (for the record, I got it used so I didn't get to pick what kind of seats. Leather is hot. Black leather is an oven.) And, my cousins were here so we had to spend some extra time with them.

We went to the farm for supper on Tuesday night. Several of my cousins are vegetarians so there was quite the assortment of food... and Peggy made scones... yum. Mom had a box of quilts still from when they were cleaning out Grandma's house that hadn't been divided yet so we all went through those. Shelly and I will have to wait to inherit 'ours' though... when we put our elderly parents in the nursing home... hehe...

I went back over on Wednesday just to hang out. They made homemade ice cream which turned out really good. Homemade ice cream is pretty much amazing. And it finally started to cool off and turned into a lovely night. There really is nothing better than sitting on the front steps watching the lightning bugs come out on a summer evening (with the sound of the tractor side dressing nitrogen in the background...). I maybe miss the farm a little bit.

Last night we went with our Dads to look at a house and then I put another coat of paint on the dresser. I propped the porch door open for ventilation, so I also got to listen to the music from the carnival midway and the screams of teenage girls drifting in on the breeze... *grin* Hooray for the Turkey Festival. Thankfully we'll be missing most of it due to Brian and Gab's wedding festivities. Aaahhh I'm so excited! :D

Blessings.

School's Out

And that means that today was the last time I got to meet Dalaysia for lunch. It was also the last time I got to hang out at Whittier... sad day.

I usually wait for her on the bench outside the Principal's office, which is also where they send kids who need to, um, cool down for a few minutes. Today I shared "the bench" with three little girls and a boy... it was funny. One little girl was there for punching someone at recess. The little boy wouldn't stop talking to the girls and they were getting quite annoyed with him. And the other two little girls were very interested in what was in my lunch box. I was hungry, I didn't let them have any of it. *grin*

There's always a parade of kids coming and going from the office, and teachers trying to move classes through the hallways... funny and sad all at the same time. So cute in their uniforms and such a handful. They look so young to be getting in trouble like that... and yet, I can remember some pretty epic incidents at good old Goodfield Grade School.


Anyway, so Dalaysia is pretty cool and I'm going to miss eating lunch with her. She'll be in middle school next fall and I'll be rather preoccupied with other things... mur. I got her "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" as a goodbye and happy summer present. And a large Milky Way, which she loves. It was seriously as long as her forearm. She was pretty excited about that. Makes me smile... I've never read the book, but it won a Newbery so it must be good. :)


This was picture attempt #2. The first one is really bad of me, but it made her laugh so this one is really cute of her(me, well, you know). *sigh* I feel pale around my white friends...


On my way out, there were still three kids on the bench... they saw Dalaysia's candy bar and asked if I had any more. Um... no... sorry. And then they wanted to know if I'd bring them some the next time I came. O dear. Little beggars. hehe.

It's been a blessing. I'd highly recommend Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Summer daze...

Yeah. We've had a fairly busy, social weekend. And it's hot, and it's Monday. I'm feeling a little bit dazed and drained... woot woot.

Thursday night Nic and Amanda, Amber, Sarah, and Kaleigh came over for supper. It was really, really good to see them all again and fun to have them at our house. I did not make them anything fancy for supper; one of the stromboli rolls turned out long and skinny and the other was all puffy and exploded. It's a good thing they're not picky. *grin* And Kaleigh brought us our first baby gift- a John Deere teether... hehe... it's so cute.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early because Kerry was coming to check out a water leak... and then we went and looked at a house. It was hot and we spent a lot of time in the yard... ugh. I was ready for air conditioning again. Dale and Meg rode their bikes over in the evening and brought Pinky's. My siblings showed up for a while and Shelly and I had much fun entertaining Maria with Meg.

After church on Sunday we headed to Gridley to see my aunt and uncle from California and one of my cousins... the rest of them are getting here today. They haven't been back to Illinois since Grandma's funeral four years ago, so Bob had never met them. Nor had he ever been to the Gridley cemetery... we rectified that. My Mom's cousins got together for supper in the evening... fun times. :)

This week could be busy too, since we'll probably go hang out with my family some more.
Blessings.