Happy birthday

Happy Birthday, Grace, Ruth, Esther & Kevin. Sunday was a beautiful day--it reached 60 for the first time this year. It was a good celebration with Mike and Sarah and their two boys, Jack and Sam. Zach stopped by to see how you've grown. Other neighbor kids, aka party crashers, Josiah, Asher, Pearl, Rose and Marcus, fathers Luke & Reed wished you happy birthday as well. Well all enjoyed strawberry frosted chocolate cupcakes and strawberry lemonade, while you enjoyed your extra special treats of worms, apples, bread & corn. Sponge Bob's happy bday sign decorated your coop. Thank you for all your fresh eggs. Today I'm thankful that I adopted you one year ago. You girls have blossomed into a perfect May Day celebration.

Wordless Wednesday

If you have nothing good to say....say nothing. That's the rule, right? Well, today is such a day. The sun managed to sneak out for a quick moment on this 36 degree day in between hail and thunder showers. This flowering cherry tree really is a sight to behold. (I stole the whole wordless Wednesday from my friend...of corse, I gotta work on talking less...)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Bare with me

But this is funny. First, you might have to pause the music player. Then start the video.... but watch the cat. It's a great combo. :D Sometimes, ya just gotta be silly. It could be my imagination, but I think the cat is in tempo.

New band

My friend, Charity, is in a band called "the Head and the Heart". They opened for Dave Matthews at McHall Hall for his Christmas benefit concert. They were a hit and continued on tour with him for a couple weeks. Last Friday, I heard them on the radio on 107 The End. Here, for your enjoyment is their very first video...

The Head and The Heart - Music - More Music Videos

My Review of Custom Messenger Bag

Originally submitted at Timbuk2

Customize your own Messenger

Custom Messenger Bag

The Good Stuff

By Razmond from Seattle, WA on 3/1/2011

 

4out of 5

Pros: Attractive, Well crafted, High Quality, Original, Durable , Lightweight , Customized, Comfortable , Roomy 

Cons: Strap length a bit short, Only Black Thread

Best Uses: School, Beach, Day Trips, Office, Extended trips , Computer, Picnics, Commuting, Airplane travel 

Describe Yourself: Practical, Comfort-Oriented, Quirky, Particular

The process is enjoyable. Being jealous of my older Timbuk2 bag, my friend told me about the Groupon special, suggesting I buy another one. I caved and we both began the selection process. Good times. I was thankful of the memory of the ever patient gal in the SF store that helped me 4-5 years ago, work out the details. I was able to share some of the same insights with my friend helping with his design.

Can I just say, "thank you" for bringing white back into the palette!

Although I submitted my order before my friend, (surprisingly, I was more decisive having been through the process before) he received his a day before me. No big deal...just interesting.

White. So pristine and pure white. Really like it! My original bag had to settle for the tan/linen color which has worn well. But the white...The white is perfect. Unfortunately, quite possibly the worst con of all.... The black thread. Seams from the back for the velcro shows through to the front. Not so very happy about that. In fact, it almost creases on the sew lines (there are 3). This is not to be confused with the hem lines/stitching colors together. My dislike is for the heavy duty stitching for the velro on the flap shows through to the front of the bag in both the white and orange areas. I know, I'm picky...but this was the very first thing I noticed when opening the package. I was a little let down.

The bag is virtually perfect otherwise. My friend got the computer section and the new bumpy pad is so thin, I have a hard time believing it's as durable as my thicker, foam, corduroy sleeve. Thinner allows more interior space, but less protection.

I opted for the white trim and blue interior. There are pockets gallore. A favorite feature is the red, key chain leash.

My request from my first bag remains after receiving my second...Could you, would you, please make the strap just a bit longer??? Yes, I'm built like a football player. Empty, it's easy to put on...full, comfort becomes more challenging.

Overall, a Most Excellent bag. It was a real treat to purchase my first bag, and just as exciting to purchase my second and to share the fun with a friend. My original, well used bag still looks brand new even after traversing the continent.

Thank you for offering such a superior and durable product.

Volleyball Beach Picnic Bag

Tags: Made with Product, Picture of Product, Using Product

(legalese)

Valentino

Valentino... sounds slightly more interesting than Valentines....the stupidest day of the year. Although I traditionally wear black on the day, this year, I choked and wore red...Not because I am in love...on the contrary, my favorite dream girl crush got engaged last week. Sure, I'm happy for her, but selfishly sad for me. Was there ever any chance? I pretend to think so. Dear Lord, this life you have given me, is it forever meant to be solo?

Perhaps I wore red to hide my aloneness? Maybe it was to be "festive" for the guys I cook for...and they obviously could care less what I wear as long as meals are out on time and taste half way decent. For some reason, in all the pretending and anticipation of the day, I searched stores and malls for heart shaped cookie cutters, determined to go the extra mile and make them something special.

The competition...I mean, the inspiration came from my friend Mandy and her blog. She is one amazing woman! Her inspiration came from her little heart baby, Evie, who had open heart surgery at 10 days old. This strong little girl has survived painful operations and surgeries.... but you'd never know it. At three years old now, she's a rough and tumble kinda girl, who loves bows in her hair and being the baby of the family. Additionally, she is absolutely beautiful. (You really should follow their blog...amazing story, great family, give-a-ways too.) The whole family is for that matter. And not just on the outside, they are all quality souls. Mandy, the super amazing mom, wife, parent, sister, friend, is super creative (ignore her modesty), for she is so very talented. And radiant. And thoughtful. See, she made all her heart cookies for the nurses who looked after her daughter three years ago. Of course, they are perfect. Everyone who see's her photos exclaim, "Who is this lady? How can she...? How did she....? Are you kidding me....? Those are phenomenal!!! And she's the mother of how many? Six? Are you serious!??!?! That's definitely the typical reaction. These photos are of my creations.

My cookies, not so phenomenal, but delicious just the same. Mandy was kind enough to share the recipe with me. (give me a holler if you'd like to try these for St. Patrick's day or something--they really are delicious!) I tripled and made about 12 doz, 4" hearts. I still have dough left over. She also gave me a recipe for Royal Icing. I used the royal for the trim and some detail work, while using a sugar icing to flood the cookies. After a few hours of work, I began receiving compliments on my work. Really the first time for everything...so I was pleased to some degree. They don't compare to the fine details that Mandy made, but again, the guys I serve really don't care what they look like, just that I give them dessert now and then. I was a little edgy on v-day as well which probably robbed me of some of the joy and serving them graciously. I dunno. The dinner came out well: baked ravioli with sauteed garlic mushroom marinara, caesar salad, sourdough baguettes. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. One fella commented on how clever it was that I made it a "red" dinner for v-day. I smiled and said thank you and confessed it was totally by accident.

The day wasn't a total loss. Played some video games with housemates, watched the stormy weather pelt rain at the windows and wind gusts bend trees, then grabbed my favorite blanket, wrapped up and lounged in my undies as we watched Black Hawk Down.

Today, I found this link, which is ironically funny to me.

PS--photos were taken with my iPhone 3gs (pre-flash generation) and untouched...

Family, Community, Heart and Music

The best part is that she's really more excited to give out hugs/love than more toys. Total sweetness!

1/11/11

I woke up today having dreamed that I was an astronaut. I don't dream very often...so that was kind of special. I quickly went back to sleep and thought I could hang on to it... but then I realize I wasn't really sleeping... only pretending so that I could go back to my cool dream.

Tonight, my friend, Jackson, joined me for dinner. It snowed a couple inches during that time, so we detoured our way home to a great big parking lot. This was purely for educational purposes to see how my 4runner handles in snow both in and out of four-wheel drive. Good times followed by McDonalds soft serve ice cream cone. I may have to post a couple other videos just so that you can experience the full effect...