Nettie and Friends

It has already been a fun Saturday, and it’s just barely past noon.

This morning I went out for breakfast with a nice bunch of strangers. We are the “Friends” of Nettie and Friends:

http://nettieandfriends.blogspot.com/

Nettie is a Special Ed kindergarten teacher in St. Paul. A few years ago she decided to sell some of her hand-made items, and put the money toward the special ed programs at her school. That first sale was quite successful, and took off from there. More people joined the cause. The sale eventually was moved to a local restaurant that hosts the show every year during the month of December. Last year they raised $7,000 for special ed!!

Nettie is energetic and contagiously-nice. We all met at the restaurant and ate together, and had Show and Tell of the items we made for the sale. This is my first time participating. If you plan to be in the St. Paul area any time in December, try to fit in a visit to the Egg and I Restaurant (University Ave at Hwy 280) and purchase some of the lovely items.

Nettie is thrilled that this money-raising effort has been so helpful to her local school programs. They have been able to take the kids on field trips, buy school uniforms, and help families when they experience a particular need or crisis (provide bed sheets, bus cards to make sure the kids make it to school, funding for continued hot lunch opportunity for each kid, etc. etc) I am proud to be able to help!

I donated one baby quilt, one small table runner, and six toys. It was going to be seven toys, but there was a cute little kid there to whom I gave a toy, so then I had only six left.

On a slightly different topic, I decided to donate my toys to several different programs this year:
1) prizes for kids at the Halloween party at my church (10/31)
2) bazaar at my church which raises money for mission work (10/28)
3) Nettie and Friends sale, benefitting St Paul Schools Special Ed (month of Dec.)
4) bazaar at my former church, also raising money for missions (11/07)

The Nettie and Friends sale is actually the last on the calendar of the above 4 events, but the due date for turning in items was today.

These are happy times, and as Nettie says, it’s exciting just to be alive!

the toys I put in the Nettie and Friends sale

the little girl to whomI gave a toy...

here she and her brother are playing with it

Feast your eyes on just SOME of

the beautiful items that will be

sold during the month of December.

There is much more, but you'll have

to visit Nettie's blog and see all the

items that are (or will be) posted at her Flickr account.

pins, ornaments, card holders etc etc

this large quilt will be sold

via silent auction - come and

bid on it!

look familiar?

large variety of purses and bags

hand-made wooden pens

my toys!

During breakfast, several women were knitting... do you suppose they are getting a good start on donations for next year's sale??

Around the House (a Life Examined)

I got this idea from http://lifeintheparsonage.blogspot.com/

Around the House: October

Reading: Oxygen by Carol Cassella. It started out pretty compelling, but it gets weaker as it goes on. Now I just want it to be done.

Enjoying: My last year at work. I'll retire in June, and that gives me an interesting perspective while on the job.

Learning: how to be a mother-in-law.

Watching: Favorite new TV shows: Middle (Patricia Heaton and her goofy family.. I love the boy, Brick, who whispers repeated words into his chest. Cracks me up!) and Modern Family (another goofy family story. I love watching how much giggling Charles does over this show.)

Anticipating: Thanksgiving. It'll be here before you know it, and is one of my favorite holidays.

Realizing: how my personality has affected me in ways I didn't notice until I reached an older, wiser age and stage in life. Why does wisdom have to come too late??

Pondering: Whether I can pull off participating in a quilting cruise in 2011.

Studying: how to be a better interpreter. I just registered for an online class that is going to take up hours for reading, practicing, doing homework, discussion on the online bulletin board, etc. Maybe by the time I retire I'll finally be an OK interpreter.

Wondering: about Autumn.

Remembering: my dad. I remember him fondly and miss him.

Praying: for patience and wisdom.

Views of St Paul Cathedral

Check out my friend B's new blog, here:

http://goodnightgram.wordpress.com/

B is a dang good knitter, fast, talented, and gives away most of what she makes. My daughter and I have been the lucky recipients of some of her knitted gems. She has also helped supply some wonderful knitted items to a charity or two that I pointed out to her. She posted a cute knitting video (about 6 min. long) that you might want to see. Super cute.

B posted a pic of the St Paul Cathedral, surrounded by fall color leaves and a little misty cloudiness. A few years ago I took a lot of pictures of the city of St Paul, and I found myself especially fond of unusual views of the Cathedral. It's a big part of the St Paul skyline, so how could I not have fun with it? I told B to watch my blog for a fall picture of the Cathedral, taken from the building in which B works. So.. here it is. Here's another one, taken last January. (This is the weather we have to look forward to... oh, joy.) Maybe you'll see more View of St Paul Cathedral in the next few days/weeks, depending on how my days unfold.

Tonight Charles and I set aside for "paperwork night." We had to fill out insurance forms (open enrollment time) and some other monkey business on paper. Charles is good at figuring it all out and just asking me to add my signature. Makes it pretty easy for me! I know. I'm spoiled.

Days of Our Lives

Answers to yesterday's trivia:

Beth wins the prize for explaining why Alexandria calls itself the "birthplace of America." haha! No, she doesn't. Good guess, though. Here are the trivia answers:

1) Radar was invented in Germany, and Doppler radar in Austria (developed by a woman whose last name was Doppler!)

2) Pig's Eye

3) In 1898 the Kensington Runestone was found on the farm of Olaf Ohman, near Alexandria. The Kensington Runestone carvings allegedly tell of a journey of a band of Vikings who arrived in the area in 1362. The debate about the Runestone's authenticity continues to this day. Alexandria chooses to claim its historical truth and therefore proves that the Alexandria area was "discovered" long before Columbus arrived 130 years later.

[Just a nod to the correction of history. There was a beautiful, large land populated by many people. In 1492 a guy arrived on a ship, planted a flag, and pretended the place was now his. The inhabitants of the land "discovered" Mr. Columbus and found out they didn't much like him.]

4) Duluth

5) St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud

**********************

Now here is my list of what I'm thankful for:

1) my book group - nice, supportive, funny women

2) making things and giving them away

3) beautiful fall colors and sunshine

4) my job

5) my plans for the future - exciting!

Tuesday Trivia

Last week I did St. Paul trivia, so this week I'll do Minnesota.

1) Which of the following was NOT invented in Minnesota?

masking and scotch tape

bisquick

the bundt pan

the stapler

SPAM

radar

Tonka trucks

2) What was the original name of the settlement that became St. Paul?

3) Why does Alexandria, Minnesota claim to be the "birthplace of America?"

4) The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing oceangoing ships to reach what Minnesota city?

5) Minnesota Quilters Guild sponsors a large quilt show every year in June (one of the largest all-volunteer-run quilt shows in the country). The show rotates between 4 cities. Name the cities.

A Healing Day

The topic at church today was forgiveness. It helped me a lot and gave me plenty to think about. It's a very hard thing to do, but it's important to work on it and practice it.

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and the emails I received today. You were all very helpful, even if you think you weren't. Relationships aren't easy, and it helps to bounce things off other people.

It was a beautiful day here in Minnesota! The Vikings won their game (barely)! What a nail biter! Great game to have on while I sewed. Later Charles and I went out for a walk, and it was so nice and pretty. Amazing how just one little mile walk can make my whole self feel cleansed.



I got a LOT of sewing done this weekend, and that was good. I needed to get some things done for various deadlines. This baby quilt is going to a sale of hand-made items that will benefit Special Ed children in St. Paul.

The toys have umpteen places to go... I want to keep making more so I can donate them to all the places I have in mind. I'm having fun with my Monster Mash.

This one was a complete accident. It looked nothing like this when I started out... I realized my first idea wouldn't work. I tried to back-track and sew some pieces on while it was only half ripped apart. I thought it was going to be a total failure - it looked like a mess - but it turned into this little guy, and I quite like him! He is a complete happy accident.

I love this poor little Sad Sack. He needs someone to love him and hug him up, don't you think?

Now it's time to watch "Amazing Race" on TV - the one show Charles and I usually sit down and watch together - and then make sure I'm ready for another full week of work. Get, ready, get set... GO! Off to work we go.

Admitting my Faults

This week Daughter and I had a big, fat disagreement. It happened in public. I had invited her out for lunch, because I had a day off, and the time would finally work.

Right off the bat we were snippy at each other. It wasn't fun. Instantly I was so mad. We know how to push each other's buttons... in the past we have sat in restaurants going ahead with the meal but steaming at each other the whole time. I didn't want to do that again, so I LEFT after having had only a Diet Coke. I left her sitting there with her unopened birthday presents... alone.
What kind of a mom does that??

I came home and watched Dr. Phil. He was talking about problem relationships and said his usual.. I've heard this before... "someone in this relationship needs to be the hero." Meaning, drop the crap and step up and be a nice person so you can heal the rift and get back to loving each other. Someone has to take the first step.

As a mom I should have done that.

I've been feeling like crap ever since.

Daughter and I love each other, but we have a history of wild ups and downs. We need to be adults. It's so hard to do when one is mad and feelings are hurt, and there is a liftetime of history behind it all. Easy to listen to Dr. Phil say "someone needs to be the hero" and to think about the people on his show "yeah, why don't they just stop arguing?!" In one's own personal life it is way harder.

I've been trying to call and text message Daughter. All she said was, she needs time to "get over it." Which means she is still hurt and mad. I'm just sad and feeling like crap.

I put this prayer ("help!") in God's in-box. So far I still feel like crap.

Now you know what a horrible mom I am. I've bared my soul. Not very pretty, is it?!

happier times in another restaurant

Two Days Off

I have Thursday and Friday off this week. Ahhhh! It feels great.

Yesterday I spent the entire day sewing crumb blocks. I have a lot. of. scraps. I could make crumb blocks from now until the cows come home, and still not use up all my scraps. Crumb blocks are endlessly endless. I used about 4 dozen blocks to make a couple of quilt tops. I still have a pile of over 100 blocks, I'm sure. (Didn't count, but I know...) My scrap bin is down about 1/4 of a tiny unit.

If I sewed and sewed and sewed until I used up all my scraps, how many crumb blocks do you think I would have in the end? Easily 2,000 or more, I bet. And the act of making crumb blocks creates more scraps. It's a vicious cycle.

Here is what I did today:

1) covered God's in-box .. not too professionally done, but God doesn't mind. I got this idea from reading Anne Lamott's book, Traveling Mercies. When having a problem, scribble down a note to God, or just a name, or a whole prayer if you want, and drop it into the Inbox. Surprisingly, it seems to help! God will help you with your problem!

2) a Halloween bag for sale at church bazaar

3) crumb block top which still needs some kind of borders

4) another crumb block top that needs more of something.. it's too small right now

All these projects distracted me from finishing the table runner of a couple days ago, not to mention the secret project I need to finish and deliver to someone in my guild ASAP. I would have worked on that today, but I couldn't find one part of it. Weird. It has been in plain sight for days, until now when I wanted to start working with it.

You will get to see a picture of my secret project in about one month.

I Have a Cat!?

Cat loves sleeping in The Box

I was never an animal person. When I was a kid we briefly had a dog, but I was afraid of her. I was afraid of all farm animals. I didn't like cats. They were so hard to understand, and a little creepy. They'd always choose to jump into MY lap when I visited a cat owner's house. Why, when there were authentic Cat Lovers present who would gladly offer their lap??

About ten years ago I worked in a school program with two cat lovers. They told me stories about their cats and insisted I would love a cat if I would only give it a chance and open up my home to a cat. I was adamant that they were wrong. I could never love a cat, and I would certainly never willingly have one in my home.

Famous last words. My daughter had moved into her own apartment, and she got a little kitty. Ew, I thought. Why would she do that? After a while she needed to move back home, and so along came the kitty. Well, it's temporary, I told myself. I can survive.

The impossible happened! I fell in love! The crazy cat was so endearing, so cute, and funny the way it would chase its own tail, run wildly after little milk bottle caps (and drop them into our shoes), help us make the bed (ha!). And the killer: when one of us felt sad, the cat seemed to sense the sadness; he came and sat quietly next to the sad person. Calmly. Patiently. Lovingly. Here I am. I love you. Things will get better. Purr, purr. Aren't I soft? Pet me, and we'll both feel better.

Our daughter and Cat moved out again. I worried about Cat. Our daughter is never home! This cat needs people. Really needs people around him. So... eventually we inherited Cat, or so it seems. Daughter asked us to cat-sit about two months ago, and has not asked for him back. I think she knows: Cat is better off at "grandparents" house. Gwamma and Gwampa stay home, they play with Cat, they brush him, clean his litter box, and take him to the vet for shots. Everyone is happier.

Thanks to Cat, you know what else I learned? I learned to love all animals way more than I thought I ever would! Dogs and everything (though I am more a cat person than a dog person.) I'm not afraid of dogs (finally)! I'm more interested in zoo animals now (not just the giraffes). I'm grateful to our sweet cat for teaching me so many lessons. He is sitting here right now, patiently watching me type, waiting for me to have time to cuddle. I'll do it, happily.

My friends were right! I learned to love a cat! Purr, purr.

helping me sew

Welcome to Wednesday

No one attempted my trivia yesterday, but I promised the answers today, so here they are:

1) St. Paul Winter Carnival

2) St. Patrick's Day

3) the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving

4) Patricia Hampl (author of The Florist's Daughter, among others)

5) Gordon Parks

6) T.R. Knight - he played George O'Malley

Last night I made a very simple table runner that turned out really nice! (IMO) Binding isn't quite done. I'll post a picture when it's completed.

Tuesday Trivia

How Well Do You Know Saint Paul, Minnesota?

1) What is the official name of the "Coolest Celebration on Earth?"

2) On which day of the year does the "Human Race" take place?

3) When does the Minnesota Hmong New Year occur?

4) This award-winning writer was born and raised in St. Paul. Her father was a florist. She traces her roots back to Czech Republic. Who is she?

5) This man from St. Paul was a photographer and reporter for Life magazine and also wrote books, poetry, and plays. The newest high school in St. Paul is named after him. Who is he?

6) This actor, who was a regular on Grey's Anatomy, is from Minnesota (ummm... from that other city, Minneapolis, but I'll let him be on my trivia list today). Who is he?

Three Jumps at the Pantry Door

When I was growing up, my mom did a lot of delicious cooking and baking. She gave herself the night off every Sunday. On Sunday nights we were to prepare our own meals. She called it "three jumps at the pantry door." As in,

"what's for dinner?"

"three jumps at the pantry door."

(meaning: fix yourself something!)

However, she didn't really take the night off as I would interpret the meaning of night off. She still rummaged around the kitchen and set out things that would help us: leftovers, cheese, meat, bread, vegies and fruit, fixings and even dishes for us to use... to me that is pretty much the same as making a meal, but to her it was a break from meal prep.

My hubby and I still use the "three jumps concept." But in our world, it is a 100% night off for both of us from trying to feed the other. In our house it goes like this:

"what should we do for dinner tonight?"

"how about Three Jumps?"

"OK"

and we know each of us is completely on our own. We both just scrounge; no one lays out any food suggestions for anyone else. The only overlap is if one person creates something yummy, and the other one is jealous. Then a little bit of stealing or "forced sharing" goes on.

You know what? When I sat down to write, I was going to talk about church today and the quilting I've done! Somehow this story came out instead. I probably have food on my mind, after seeing "Julie and Julia" in the theater Friday night (good movie, and Meryl Streep, as usual, was superb).

Do you have any strange language such as "three jumps at the pantry door" that no one outside of your family understands?

Hello, Friday!

photo from mesdeuxcents blogspot

What a week! I had something to do every night this week, Monday through Friday! On Sunday night I took a deep breath to steel myself for the coming week... and it worked! I have survived! Tonight's event is a fun, social event; I might even get Charles to accompany me!

Monday: UMW meeting. Interesting and fun, and a yummy snack (pumpkin bars, I think they were.)

Tuesday: book club.. always a nice gathering of women. We discussed our book and our lives and our ups and downs. We happened to have snacks there, too. (Usually we don't.) Candy corn, chips and homemade salsa, and a chocolate cake. Nothing wrong with any of that, eh??

Wednesday: a training for work. It was semi-interesting and finished early in the evening, so I still had time to unwind at home.

Thursday: another training! And this one went later into the evening. And was a little less interesting, but still worthwhile. I got home just in time to watch Grey's Anatomy.

Friday: potluck dinner at church, then a movie. We'll be in two groups.. hubby and I will be with the "Julie and Julia" group. Can't wait to see it! I looovvvee Meryl Streep.

I have not even looked at my sewing machine in too long. I'm hoping to get reacquainted this weekend.

Today I'm thankful for:

1] my students! What fun young adults they are, even when they are exasperating.

2] the gorgeous fall days we've had after the rain stopped! Breathtaking.

3] hubby being so flexible and accommodating and all-around nice

4] a full life, even when it's too busy

5] as always, good books. I'm almost done reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It's great! Here's a line from the book that I loved: "each of my kids is my favorite." You moms or dads of more than one can relate, right?

6] my beautiful and sparkling daughter, whom I forgot to highlight on her birthday. She is now 29, almost catching up to my age! Who'da thunk it?

I'll Write About This...

I wanted to post something, but wasn't sure what to write about. Then Chronicles of a Country Girl solved the problem for me. She posted questions, and my answers shall be my post for today. (See answers to yesterday's trivia at the end of this post.) Here goes:

1. What is your absolute best asset? compassion

2. What is the best thing that has happened to you in the past week? attending the state United Methodist Women conference and feeling re-invigorated to work on behalf of mission around the world

3. What do you usually use to mark a place in a book you’re reading? It varies widely. If I can find one of my homemade bookmarks, I use that (see picture above). But often it's a random piece of junk mail, a store receipt, or even a scrap of fabric.

4. How many times do you hit the snooze button in the morning? Usually only once. But I still don't get up right away.. I can go back to sleep in an instant, but I will usually have a sense of time and will know if it's getting too late, and then I snap awake.

5. What was the last thing you put a postage stamp on? a letter to my friend, Carrie (a couple states away). She and I are pen pals and still write real letters on real stationery (by hand! or sometimes typed) and send them through the mail. She likes to make interesting home-made envelopes and cards. Checking my mail box is fun!

Now for the answers for yesterday's trivia:

1) capital of Vermont is Montpelier

2) Ayers Rock is in Australia.

3) Its original name is Uluru.

4) Mediterranean Sea is between Europe and Africa.

5) Rodeo Drive is in Beverly Hills, CA.

Sears Tower is in Chicago. New name is Willis Tower.

El Alamo (or the Alamo) is in San Antonio, TX.

Cherry on a Spoon is a sculpture in Minneapolis, MN.

Tuesday Trivia

Ayers Rock as seen from space

I did this a while back, and it was fun, so here we go again... Tuesday Trivia! Some will be very easy, some a little trickier. Try your luck! Answers will be posted tomorrow.

1) What is the capital of Vermont?

2) In which country do you find Ayers Rock?

3) What was the original name of Ayers Rock, as named by the indigenous people?

4) What large sea is between Europe and Africa?

5) In which city do you find...
[a] El Alamo?
[b] Rodeo Drive?
[c] Sears Tower? (bonus: what is the new name of Sears Tower?)
[d] Cherry in a Spoon?

Church on Saturday

Yesterday I went to a state-wide conference of United Methodist Women. It was very inspirational. In fact, so much so that I decided to volunteer to become president of our local unit at church... something I thought I'd never do.

I decided to follow my mother's advice and say yes, even if I feel unqualified. She credits UMW with giving her fabulous training and experience in leadership and many other skill areas. She rose to the top of the top in her hey day, something I don't expect to do. If I live through local unit president I'll be pleased.

This is inside the church sanctuary which was built in 1956. My uncle was on the building committee back then! They have these gorgeous, very mod looking stained glass windows. I'm going to ask him if they are originals. If so, I think they were ahead of their time in 1956.

Our conference Bishop (Sally Dyck) spoke. She is so inspirational! She plugged this book which I just happen to have ordered this week, Half the Sky. It's about women around the world and the enormous burdens and suffering they endure. "As the women and girls go, so goes the village, so goes the world" said our bishop. She encourages us to read this book, if we have the stomach for it. Imagine that... some women are experiencing daily trauma that may be too hard for us to read about. How do they live through it??

By the way, Oprah was plugging the same book just the other day.

Here is the keynote speaker, whose name I can't recall. She is from the Board of Global Missions, Women's Division (hope I got that right). She was wonderful, too. Between the bishop and the keynote, and the example of my own mother, I just could not turn away from the little tug I felt toward volunteering to be president at the local level. God has a good sense of humor.

My mom received her Woman of the Year award a few weeks ago at a district meeting, and the five Women of the Year recipients were once again recognized at the state level. Here they are (minus one). My mom rocks!

Mom is in the all blue outfit.

My Bucket List

Jo at A Majority of Two wrote a list of ten things she'd like to do before she leaves this Earth. I decided it was an intriguing idea, so here's mine. I'm calling it My Bucket List; as you may know from the movie of that title, it's the things you want to do before you Kick the Bucket.

This was not easy! It took me quite a while to write this list. I wondered: should I be reasonable and name the things that are actually possible? Or should I include off-the-wall dreamy things I know I won't really achieve? It can be hard to find where the line is between those two, depending on how Far Out I go. So... see what you think and if you can tell which are Pie in the Sky dreams and which are things I might really do. Here they are, in no particular order.

1) Learn to play the bassoon. I love the mellow, sometimes mournful, sometimes silly, happy, and frolicsome sound of the bassoon.

2) Visit these places in Europe:

[a] all of the United Kingdom. Both sets of grandparents originated there (Scotland, Ireland and England). I would love to see the places where they lived, played, worked, grew up.

[b] Czech Republic where I could meet my pen pal of almost 20 years. (OMG, is it really that long??? I can hardly believe it! Yet it is true!)

[c] Scandinavia. I love the terrain and the climate there, not to mention the good and happy life which the people and their governments have created for themselves. Hey, a little Socialism here and there apparently isn't all bad!

Scotland - photo by gumbo-something -

via image search at Yahoo

3) With my husband, take at least one (preferably more than one) travel/educational trip with Elderhostel. (I know they recently changed their name, but I can't remember what the new name is.)

4) Learn to machine quilt on a long-arm machine. I don't want to own or buy one. I just want to know how and to do it successfully (i.e., not ugly). I don't expect or demand great artisanship out of myself on this one. Functional is my goal.

5) Be a grandma. Learn from my mistakes as a mom and be a really good grandma. Live long enough to see them grow up and get married.

6) Leave a large donation to some worthy cause... large enough to make a real difference. An endowment that will continue to fund itself for a hefty scholarship. A donation that could build a school, or save a school. Build a library. Help women around the world go to school and improve their lives and their children's lives. Fund a job-training and employment program that works! [Is any of this too much to ask??]

7) Live for a year or two in an Alaskan or Northwest Territory Indian village which lives on a subsistence basis.

8) Visit Panama with my sisters. All three of us were born there, and two of us have never been back.

Panama Canal, photo by my niece, RPS

9) Win a photography competition.

10) Live in Grand Marais, Minnesota from May to October.

Lake Superior, not far from Grand Marais. Photo by me.

I'm OK, You're OK

Guess what. Just the fact that I pondered that heart-achey situation described in yesterday's post, and took some time to write about it, helped heal my sadness over it! Isn't it amazing how that works? I think I just needed time to process and figure out in my heart what some things meant... and I'm pretty at peace with it now. I've had a happier attitude at work since I wrote that entry.

Thanks for your nice thoughts about my healing and all... what would we do without friends??? I know I'd be lost.

The picture above is a house we used to live in. Our kids were born when we lived there, so I have some good memories of little feet going pitter patter (and crash, bang) all over that house. See the big evergreen in front? My hubby and our daughter planted that when she was 3 or 4. It was shorter than she was at the time! And the two boulevard trees? One was planted by us, rescued from a shady spot where it was struggling and had bent to reach the sun... our neighbor was so sure it would not survive. But look at it! Gorgeous, in't it??

I'm thrilled that tomorrow is Friday. Hooray!!!!!