as miss m says just as i am leaving from tucking her in 'wait! i need tell you somthing'

a few somethings that i've been stacking up...
(& to make this a little more fun
i'm going to try out the webdings font that i just noticed
to bullet each point
oh the fun never stops round here...)

hwe just watched wordplay
oh my goodness
it is so good
jmbmommy mentioned it a few months ago
& i put it in our queue
& promptly forgot about it
& then with the gilmore girls
i just got so wrapped up in stars hollow
& i wasn't ready to leave even
two weeks after i watched the final season
(brian gave me season 7 for our anniversary...
i love that he gets me:)
but finally i broke out
& i left the city limits
& i watched sweeney todd
which drove me screaming back to stars hollow
for another week or so
just watching random episodes
(it helps when you own seasons 3-7
& then are surprised on your birthday with season one
thanks, ang!)
anyway
yes
wordplay
a documentary about crossword puzzles
i know sounds like
yawn
but it is so great!
& reminded me of spellbound
(which is i believe exactly
what jmbmommy said when she mentioned it...
what can i say?
she's always one or two steps ahead of me
paving the way
to better documentaries)
spellbound being the documentary about spelling bees
i know double yawn.
not even...
so great & funny
so anyhooo
get them both & make it a geek night
you won't be sorry!
(hey, jess!
what are we watching next?)

bcheck out this amazing wedding shoot
love the wedding dress!
& the bouquets
sigh sigh sigh
i want another wedding!
same guy
different stuff!

k& another amazing wedding
with another amazing button bouquet!

,favorite recent Q-isms:

me: Q do you want some of my blueberries?
Q: yes please (he got his manners from his father)
i hand him a spoonfull of blueberries with yogurt on them
Q: no thanks, i don't like yogurt. it's just the way God made me.
(hello brilliant! i can't even tell you how many arguments
i could have stopped in their tracks when i was younger
if only i had this little gem!
'sorry i don't wash dishes
it's just the way God made me')

miss m sneezes
Q: MERRA STOP IT!
me: Q please don't yell at merra
Q: but mom she just bless you'd on me!

;)

& then...

(the world's first unmanned flying desk set)

there's laundry
& there's dishes to unload
& then there's that guest blog post that you can't remember your password for
also the event you're organizing in november
& the email that she sent you last week
that you have said to yourself everyday
'i need to email her back'
there's those two packages that you need to mail
because those ladies have already paid for them
& then writing down what you ate today for lunch
so that you don't lose track of your points
there's the clothes that you are selling at that consignment sale
that still need to be labeled & double checked for stains
oh & your layouts are due in two days
there's months worth of pictures to go through
plus about ten emails that need to be answered
& your desk is looking very sad
because it's only job in the last few weeks
has been holding containers full of stuff you want to use but haven't
thank goodness the shower is over
(it was very fun though!)
but now you need to remember to go through
the pictures & try not to blame yourself too much
that you didn't take that perfect picture
you know the one where
you stand on the landing & everyone else looks up at you
& kate is in the middle of everyone with her adorable belly full of boys?
try not to blame
cause you can see it so clearly in your head...
there's also all of those ideas
just floating around your head
ideas to plan & make & create
but
but
but
but
but
the blasted internet...
an expert on the art of time suckage

but i did manage to do a post
with two ethan hawk movie references
so all is not lost...
(do you see them?)

:)

ps
i know that isn't a desk set
but it is on my desk...

something cozy....

for the little husky fan:)it's all about the lines of quilting
back & forth
back & forth
back & forth
& then i appliqued (is that how you spell it?) the W
& free motion quilted inside it...
when i appliqued i used purple thread on top
& yellow for the bobbin thread
so the back looks like this...
(these pictures are not so good
i know
believe me
i know)
& check this out...
the boy himself
in his official hospital photo:)
welcome sweet simon!
you are so loved
even if you are a husky fan...

:)

today is snuggle down at our house
(jammers all day
& we don't leave the house
or at least the driveway:)
& i get to work on finishing quilts for
some other very special boys...
the shower is sunday
can i do it?
yes i can!
:)

(i have already started the quilts for the twins
thank goodness:)

i don't have a picture but i sure wish i did...

~Q's bright blue painty hand prints on our
just-painted-this-summer side of the house
(our house is not bright blue)
...no pictures because i found it more important
to try to get the paint off while it was still a little wet
instead of grabbing the camera...
i know
what kind of scrapbooker am i?

~eugene celebration parade...
always full of
color & crazy
hippy & happy
politics & purpose
marching bands & walking dogs
bikes full of flowers & the willamettans
belly dancers & the merry pranksters bus
there were some great sights to be had:)
but none of them captured on film by me...

~tired hungry kids
eating ice cream sandwiches
made from homemade cookies
at the saturday market
weaving their way through the crowd
chocolate faces
creamy fingers
refreshed

~little hands
holding paper baskets of strawberries
red juice blending beautifully
with the remains of ice cream sandwiches
yum.

~the faces of people
as they walked toward us
grins as they said
'did you see that little boy
with the chocolate mustache?'
'oh they are enjoying those strawberries'
'she is so cute!'

& even though taking pictures is one of my favorite
ways to experience life
these lyrics are some of my favorites...
(just a few lyrics here, not the whole song)

didn't have a camera by my side this time
hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words

today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame

(3x5 by mr. john mayer)

some days you just need to leave the
lens behind...
even if you do feel quite bare without it
:)

anything you've seen lately that
you didn't get to capture on film?

hunt & gather...for girls:)

ps (that stands for pre-script
don't worry there's a real ps at the end:)
oh so many pictures in this post!
i think i might need to think more about getting that flicker account...)
one day there was nothing on that shelf
& the next day there they were...
i didn't happen quite that fast
but that's how collecting works
you just keep picking things up along the way
& along the way i started picking up vintage hats
super cute
well made
velvetie
silkie
tullie
we already had a few things that belonged to relatives...
did i mention that this was when i was in about 7th grade?
we weren't a family who woke up on saturday morning
(or for the hard core friday morning)
looking for estate sales
but we would stop if we saw one...
even just that little bit
ignited a passion akin to that of peanut m& m's
(just one will not do)
& i had a friend who helped me out
because she had some incredible hats herself
(thanks, emmi!:)...
as is my personality every few years or so
i would say
'do i really need all of these?
simplify!
simplify, i say!'
& i would sell some hats at a garage sale...
& then sad regret a few months later...
i can still picture a little green velvet number
that i just let walk away
without a good bye even
sigh
anyway
now that i have kiddos who like to dress up
(& if i wasn't worried that in a 10 years his class mates
would somehow find them online
& make posters
i could post some show stoppers worn by a certain young boy:)
the hat love is back...
this weekend i got to do one of my most favorite things:
shop the coburg antique fair
& what's more
i got to do it with about ten other crazy
6am treasure hunters...
i have gone for about 7 years or so
usually with my sister
(i missed you, kate!
but you are doing a good thing
growing those two boys:)
& going early is so fun!
there's nothing like seeing the sun rise upon a box of
old tinker toys to bring a smile to your face...
some years i buy
some years i just wander
& enjoy the great displays & quirky stuff
& cute shop girls
(hi sue!)
(sue is with kathy
who owns colby cottage
she does some great sales around eugene
her christmas sale is amazing)

we all kind of split up into little buddy systems
& would see each other here & there
toting our wares:)
this year i bought a bit...
i walked by this little stool four times
& finally when i was a block away
i realized i needed it
so now it's under my art table...
some cute little stuff needed a home
& so here they reside:)
a sweet little booth had this amazing veilie hat thing going on
& just had to have a picture in it
& then i put it back

but then i was caught
just one table over
this adorable little
super-loved-by-someone hat
for $2?
i picked it up
i put it down
i picked it up
down
up
down
i could have churned butter
for how many times i picked it up & put it down
(hey jess remember that giant butter churner we saw?)
finally i decided to get it
& wouldn't you know it
the shop girl offered me a deal for both hats!
all of my posing got me in trouble...
a wonderfully sweet kind of trouble
for then i couldn't stop with two
so i found one more...
oh honey
come home with me:)

i had the joy
neigh the privilege of walking around with jessica
(i love how the sign behind us says
'fresh for you right now!'
that's us...)
& a one point she yelled
'the woodsies!'
& we walked into a booth that magically
transported us back to 1979
the whole booth was filled with toys from our childhood
(don't get me started on how
i could be old enough to have toys
that i played with as a child
be at a sale with 'antique' in the title)
i will be showing more pictures of
those toys over the next few months...

& then there were these little cuties
inside each little tin box was a film strip
used in sunday school
with pictures & words to songs
some were little stories
they were so neat
i wanted this one so bad
& the grumpy man at the booth said that they were $5 each
i offered him $3
& he said
'those are really old'
um i know
i'm at an antique show
will ya take the $3?
nope he wouldn't
& so left them there...
was it worth it to not buy them
for the cost of a peppermint hot chocolate?
sniff
only i can be the judge...
oh well jesus loves him, right?
:)

then
we all met up at 9 to do show & tell
(i'm not in there
but my little red stool is...)

& it seemed that everyone found something


& an obsession is rekindled...


& i'm not going to sell these hats
my grandkids can do that...
hear that kids?
obey your grandma
& wear those hats
before you sell them...
:)

if you want to see some more coburg fun
check these girls out...
jmbmommy
ali edwards
on the road less traveled
life's rich pageant
pens & needles (love the name of this blog:)

just learning...

(Q's desk)

one of my most favorite blogs is finslippy
one of my most favorite friends, rachael told me about it
so it was bound to be a favorite, right?

finslippy is written by a lady named alice
who is so funny that i really do laugh out loud sometimes
& who is so real that sometimes i cry
she wrote a post a few days ago
that i just read today...
why don't you go over there & read it
it's titled 'few words about writing'
(click that sentence that's a different color)
& then come back
& we will discuss, okay?

okay...
so good right?
& so what i needed
i have been in such a funk
& not a good
marky mark & the funky bunch
kind of funk
(that link's for you, kate)
an icky kind of funk
(careful spelling that girls)

not sure exactly what i'm supposed to be doing creatively
not satisfied to just make stuff for me
but not interested in starting a business to sell stuff
(well maybe a little
but only if i got to make stuff
design displays & order things
& someone else dealt with
money
schedule
employees
(except for interviews
i've always wanted to interview someone)
& customers
(i'll help the happy ones!)
so basically i want a business where i
get to do whatever i want
& i only have to talk to people when i want to
& only if they are nice...
that should be very easy to find)

i struggle with just being satisfied with being a mom
(by the way
i love my kids & i love being a mom!
i just have to say that for myself
& my kiddos when they are old enough to read this
('hi Q & miss m! you sure are cool! obey your mother! love you!')

i always wanted to be an artist or a teacher
(that's what i would always write on my school papers
never 'an art teacher' for some reason:)
& i knew i would be a mom
but i'm so agitated
that i can't get a good balance
with the practical & the creative parts
i guess balance is it
but ugh
that is so typical isn't it?
& i just wanted to be different:)

anyway
what alice said
'doing stuff is always better than not doing stuff'
& the ceramics study she noted at the end of the post
& the ira glass thing
all compile to tell me
that i just need to do some stuff
& not worry about what it is
or what anyone else would say about it
& maybe
just maybe
then i will get my groove back
& figure this out
or maybe i will just keep growing
& that's okay too
i guess...
:)

ps i was just thinking, too about how
sometimes artistic types think about what
they are going to do so much
that once they do it
it doesn't come out how they pictured it
& so then they are afraid to try again
or something
& how no one would ever send a guy out onto the football field
& say
'i know you've never been on a field before
but you know what a touchdown looks like right?
you've thought about it
go do it!'
practice
& repetition, my friends
i think that's a big part of it

also this:
progress, not perfection.

& what i say to Q often:
'we are all just learning'

lots of pieces
& just making stuff
might do the trick...

:)

well, turn it up...

you know how sometimes you go on a site or a blog
& music starts playing
& either you think
'ugh, if i wanted to listen to classic rock
i would go watch dazed & confused'
or
'agh! that scared me
don't you know that i'm blog surfing at 2am?
geez!'

not so with this blog
in fact when i line up my blogs to read for the day
using the handy tabs maker
(puppy foot T for you mac users)
i often make it one of my tabs
& then i just listen to her list
for the hour or so that i am allowed on the computer
(my parents are so mean!!!!!)
it is so lovely
& i'm going to order some songs from itunes soon
thanks to emily ahern...

oh those emilys
let's just bookmark all emily blogs
shall we?
actually i have quite a few emily blogs in my
own bookmarks...
i smell a new link list
& strangely enough it smells like peanut m&m's...

:)