Measi's Musings

Archive for the ‘Memes’ Category

I confess – I far prefer autumn to summer.  Crisp mornings that lead to comfortable temperature afternoons, the lack of humidity, harvest festivals, gorgeous tree colors – the whole thing.  Autumn… BRING IT ON.

Granted, I live in New England, for which autumn was apparently created.  I’ve been here for many years now, yet every year I get that little kid excitement when I see the red leaves starting to glow on the trees.  I don’t remember trees turning that color in Montana during my childhood, despite what all of the travel photos seem to claim.  I remember a whole lot of yellow, brown, and clumps of sticky sap on my shoes from all of the cottonwood trees as they molted in September (followed by snow, usually for Halloween).

I wonder if my dad still remembers my silliness from my first year of college, where I actually mailed him a red leaf.  I forget that he grew up in Pennsylvania, so this whole color thing was normal to him.  It certainly wasn’t to me.

And for the record?  I saw the first full-color tree in Massachusetts on my Wednesday commute home.  So yes – Autumn Is Here.

As September starts, I’ll celebrate this glorious season with my Thursday Thirteen for this week:  Thirteen Things I Love to Do in Autumn.

1. Roadside Farmstands.  Erich and I love heading to them any time of year, but they get particularly cozy in the autumn.  We have two in particular that we adore – Schartners Farm in Essex, RI and The Big Apple in Wrentham, MA.  Hot pies, buckets of apples.  Yum!
2. Halloween Hayrides.  Massachusetts has several of these that run in October.  We haven’t gone in a couple years due to scheduling, but I’m hoping we can get to one of them this year.  There’s nothing quite as spooky as New England woods in the dark.
3. King Richard’s Faire.  Every September and October in Carver, MA is the regional Renaissance fair.  We’re those geeks – fully dressed in costume as we wander around with “yards” of ale and turkey legs, getting our yearly fix of the big cat show and Hercules the Liger.
4. The Brimfield Show.  This is THE largest antique show/flea market in the United States.  It’s held three times per year in Brimfield, MA, and we’re heading over there on Thursday the 8th with some specific buying plans.  Everything from kitschy stuff to gorgeous furniture can be found here.
5. Leaf Peeping.  I don’t go where all the tourists go in New Hampshire.  I wander back roads closer to home.  Far less traffic and far more time to enjoy the scenery.
6. Blanket Snuggling.  There’s no better way to start a weekend for me than with no alarm, waking up with a cat curled up against me as I burrow under the comforter.  I may or may not be able to confirm mornings where I fake being asleep so I can just stay there a bit… longer.
7. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  This is a tradition Erich and I have moved away from in recent years because we’re living a bit further away, but for the first few years of our relationship, we made an annual mid-October trek to Concord, MA to the historic cemetery that is so gorgeous in autumn color, especially up on Author’s Ridge, where Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne are buried.
8. Cape Cod.  For part of Thanksgiving weekend, we gather with friends on Cape Cod for a lazy weekend away.  It started as a computer LAN party, then became a Dungeons & Dragons weekend.  Then became “D&D – Now With Added Turkey Dinner!”  This year we’re scaling it back and are just going to chill.  Board games, some drinks, some good food, and fabulous company.
9. Halloween.  A lot of people don’t like being the neighbors giving out candy, but I confess – I love it.  We live in a great neighborhood for trick or treaters, where the kids do still go out after dark (none of that weird daylight stuff here!)  I remember it fondly, and I hope that I help the current generation build some of those memories for their future.
10. Sabbats.  Two of my favorite high holy days happen in Autumn.  Mabon and Samhain, both harvest festivals.  Mabon has taken on a more important meaning personally to me in recent years.  Samhain is such a beautiful holiday, love and rememberance mixed in with a little secular whimsy.
11. Wedding Anniversary.  Mabon (Sept. 23rd) is Erich and my wedding anniversary.  It wasn’t intentionally planned that way, to be honest – but sometimes scheduling fate just takes over.  We’re approaching four years this month.  :)
12. Pumpkin Coffee and Apple Cider.  Dunkin’ Donuts is my downfall in autumn.  I cannot get enough of the coffee and the muffins.  Apple cider is THE best thing on a cold night.
13. My Morning Commute.  Dew on the grass.  Crisp smell in the air.  Autumn really is the only time of year I absolutely feel energized in the morning.

According to NPR’s summer reader survey, these are the top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels.  My biggest issue here is that they call some of these novels, but they’re actually multiple books in a series.  So… there’s a bit of fudging here.  I may lose some serious geek cred on this list.  I’ll admit that I don’t particularly like true, straight forward sci-fi.  I find it a bit dry and difficult to deal with.

Bold = ones I’ve completed
Italics = ones I’ve attempted/partially finished

More than 60,000 ballots were cast in our annual summer reader’s survey — click here to see the full list of 100 books, complete with links and descriptions. Below is a printable list of the top 100 winners. And for even more great reads, check out the complete list of 237 finalists.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin – I’m on book 5 now.  Counting this as a yes.

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan – I gave up in book 8, when I couldn’t recall anything of importance after book 5.

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Yeah, I have quite a bit of reading I should be doing.  o.O

I actually have quite a few things to post about but have just been really busy, so there may be several blog entries over the next few days.  To sum up what’s in store:

• It’s time for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long update.  I had it in my calendar to post yesterday, but between the wild weather we had in New England yesterday (including confirmed tornados in western Massachusetts) and the Stanley Cup game (go Bruins!), I got a bit distracted.
• Erich and I started the updating process for two more rooms in our house over the weekend- our bedroom and the bathroom.  So story time about that adventure (and some helpful tips for others with old houses) will come this weekend
• Updates on the round robin stitching front
• Another Caturday post on Saturday.  :)  Any specific cat requests?
• Some gardening updates
• Warhammer painting updates
• Monthly stitching goals – my updates and my new goals for June
• Wanderlust drive musings.  It’s summer, which means I start wandering back roads in New England.

I finally got the Google Friend Connect working on my blog (hooray!) so all of you Blogger folks who prefer to follow that way (honestly, I do too… Google Reader is glorious) –  I’m up and running.  Let me know if there are any problems.  You should see it on my sidebar just above the Project: Do Me graphic link.

Today’s entry, though, is for the Thursday Thirteen.  A few weeks ago, I made a semi-joking, but semi-serious post about declaring 2012 my WIP apocalypse year.  (for those non-crafters, WIP stands for “Works in Progress”).  I’m a chronic serial starter with my stitching.  I love beginning new projects.  I love the journey of stitching projects.  But I’m not particularly good at finishing projects.  So now I have a glut of them.  I’m starting to get the itch to really get through them, too.  So what started as a joke is now really going to happen.  2012 will be my project clearing year.  :)  Any crafty folks (regardless of what you do) who want to join me and use it as a sort of Stitch-a-Long are most welcome.  I’ll set up a signup/discussion page in October.

For now, my brain is going to the projects I really, really want to finish.  So for this week, here are the Thirteen Projects Riding on the Measi WIP-ocalypse Train.  The links go to the Flickr photo  set I have for the piece.

1.  Apache Wedding Blessing – this is a gift for my friends Ivanna and Joe for their wedding, which um… happened several years ago.  Thankfully Ivanna’s a fellow crafty person and understands how these projects can go into a black hole.  But all the same, it’s annoying me.  Right now I have this out on a round robin to give it some extra oomph, and it does actually look like it’s going to get finished before the end of 2011.

2.  Witchy Washy – It’s so damn cute.   I want this done and framed on the door to my laundry room.

3.  Floral Bellpull – I’ve had this for years, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.  I just need to focus on it.

4.  Legends of the Dragons – I started this as part of a stitch-a-long in the beginning of 2010, and it just started to fall off my radar as I got into robin stitching.  It’s not a particuarly big piece, and definitely doable to finish.  Again – I just need to focus on it.’

5.  Cats on a Staircase – Right now, this is my longest running WIP.  It’s a Christmas stocking.  I think I’ve had it going for ten years now.

6.  Witches Wheel - I adore this piece.  I have a ton of energy to work on this piece.  I simply have too many commitments with the robin to stitch on it right now.

7.  Walk in the Woods – This is the second of the WIPs I inherited from my late mother in law.  The first I finished last year.  This one will get done next year.  It’s not a particularly difficult piece to stitch – but again, it’s just been a time commitment issue.

8.  Astrology Sampler – for YEARS I wanted to start this piece, and when I do – I’ve barely gotten anything done.  It’s not a particularly large piece.  It’s just stitched on black fabric, which makes it a bit more difficult to work on.

9.  Elemental Dragons – Two of the five are done (Fire and Spirit).  I have three more dragons to do (Earth, Water and Air).  I’ll take getting one done next year, but getting all three done so I can frame the project would be wonderful.

10.  Magical Night – I sent this out on a robin in 2010, and the wonderful stitchers who worked on it made tremendous progress.  It’s now about half done.  I don’t expect to finish this in 2012, but I’d like to make a good dent on what’s left.

11.  Egyptian Sampler – I adore this piece and the fabric I chose to stitch it on.  I don’t get why I struggle so badly to stitch on it, because I absolutely love it.  Hopefully in 2012 I can get into a zone and finish a good chunk of it.

12.  Noah’s Ark – this is a piece I adopted from another stitcher.  I haven’t done a particularly large amount of work on it since I got it, but I’d like to get some more of the animals around the border done.  The problem is that they’re done in petit point, so the work is so tiny and intricate that it goes very, very slowly.  My goal for 2012 on this one is to get one of the remaining side borders (left, top, right) done.

13.  Book of Ink Circles – I don’t have a photo of my WIP uploaded yet, as it was a new start in May (one of my other entries for this weekend to do).  It’s my first attempt at recoloring a design from someone else.  It’s a fabulous piece when completed, though.

Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll be catching up on blogs this weekend between my own writing.  :)

I haven’t been particularly good with this project – although those very close to me know why.  I set goals for myself, but failed to post them.  Honestly, probably it’s just as well.  It’s been a very difficult few months for me, and I’ve been in survival mode for a good portion of it.  Thankfully – hopefully – things are starting to improve.  So I’m going to try to dust myself off and start living again beyond the “just get through the day” mentality I’ve been in since late January.

So I’m starting fresh for the summer.  And hopefully I’ll manage to keep myself going on it this time!

Daily

• Start my day organizing my notes so I really know what I have to accomplish.
• Read for an hour daily.
• Cross stitch for at least thirty minutes daily.
• Exercise.  Whether 20 minutes on the bike, a long walk… whatever.  I need to get moving.  Starting this as a 3x per week goal for now, due to my current fitness level.  It’s a start, and I’ll go from there.

Weekly

• Sleep one morning with no alarm clock.
• Spend time in my garden – whether working or just enjoying everything as it grows.
• Blog – about something not related to stitching.  Anything, any topic.
• Take a wanderlust drive down one of the numbered state roads I haven’t explored.

Monthly

• Sit ritual – somewhere, for any reason.  Even if it’s just to ground and center.
• Create a space that’s relaxing in my bedroom.  Paint, new comforter – whatever’s needed.
• Spend time with the wonderful crafty women I’ve met in the last year.

Yearly

• Drop two clothing sizes

A couple weeks ago, Erich and I headed to the University of Rhode Island’s East Farm for its fantastic spring fair. It’s a big day of celebrating plants, organic living, and all things Spring.  This year was also one of the few that had beautiful weather (it’s usually as rainy and muddy as the weather we’re seeing this week in New England), so the place was a madhouse.  By the time we arrived at 10:30 in the morning, a lot of the plants for sale from the master growers program at the university were well-picked over.  I had to supplement my purchases with those from the 3rd party farms and growers that also attend the event.  For less than $100, I bought all you see in the wheelie truck here, plus some that we had to carry in flats because the wheelie’s full.

The URI Spring Fair is a great event.  The university has an agricultural program, and the master growers program starts seedlings in the greenhouses in February.  Come early May (usually Mother’s Day Weekend), they sell everything off for program funding.  A good portion of the plants are vegetable seedlings – and they specialize in heirloom varieties and ones specifically grown for our New England gardens.

The amount I’ll save on fresh produce this summer, if all goes well, will be astounding.  And – AND – it’s fresh from my own backyard.  So I’ll know what chemicals will be in them (um… none).  We have a large growing bed style garden, supplemented by some rows this year and my beloved Earth Boxes, which can turn any patio into a garden.

I’ve been meaning to get a picture of the garden that’s planted, but our weather over the past several days has been downright miserable.  Soggy and foggy and cold.   I’m running out of dry shoes for work, so TGIF tomorrow will be for many reasons.  I’m looking forward to going barefoot in the house all weekend!

For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, here are Thirteen Things I’ve Planted in the Garden This Spring.

1. Tomatoes – Easy to grow, so cost effective if you have good soil and good light.  We have ten separate vines this year and a mix of types.  Three are complete mysteries – they had no labels on them.  I make sauce from scratch every year, which requires a TON of tomatoes.  I also love just picking and eating them right from the vine.

2.  Peppers – Again, super easy to grow. I grow both bells and hot peppers.  This year we’ll be swimming in hots, as a six-pack of seedlings I thought were bells are actually hot peppers (whoops!).

3.  Cabbage - Last year I grew only green cabbage, as it was a new crop to me.  This year I have both red and green varieties.  I’m hoping to learn how to make sauerkraut this summer.  We’re also huge corned beef & cabbage fans.

4.  Corn – I’ve never grown corn before, although I remember my parents growing it in our backyard garden when I was little.  It’s one of my experimental crops this year.  You can see the baby corn plants in the second photo – about centered on the page.  Funny to think they’ll get taller than me by the end of summer!

5. Butternut Squash – Another new crop for me, but we did large vining plants last year with watermelon, so I’m prepared.  We’ve bought an A-Frame to grow them up rather than across the ground.  I love squash, especially as the leaves start turning in the autumn, and I can’t wait to play around with cooking with them this year.

6.  Lettuce – Last year was our first with lettuce, and we marveled at how stupid easy it is to grow… and how incredibly productive it is.  We literally couldn’t keep up with it! There’s nothing like popping out to the garden to get enough leaves to make the salad of the day.  No bitter tastes, no brown edges.  Just fresh lettuce for late spring through mid summer.

7.  Cucumbers – the cukes grow on a lean-to trellis over the lettuce in our garden.  Between sliced in salads, dill-cuke salad like my mom used to make, or making insta-pickles (take one recently finished jar of pickes from the store, slice your own and put into the leftover brine, then refrigerate for a couple days), they’re a staple of the garden every year.  I’m hoping to make my own pickles from scratch later this summer.  Not insta-ones.  Actual long-storing ones.

8.  Beans – I have pole beans in the garden this year.  I’ve never grown them, but remember them from my mom’s garden.  Looking forward to side dishes – the one I recall from my youth was a simple steam and blend with almonds and a very light butter sauce.  Yum.

9.  Peas – Last year, my peas were fried early by a weird heat wave in May that sent temps soaring into the upper 90s.  I’m hoping this year I have better luck with them.  I love picking and eating peas as a snack right from the garden.  Honestly, that’s how I eat them – no cooking required.

10.  Onions – I have a couple of basic yellows, some Walla Wallas, and an Egyptian Walking Onion (for the novelty on that last one, really) in my garden this year.  Just add tomatoes, the hot peppers, and some of the herbs – and I have salsa.  I confess that most of my onions just come from the store, though.  Onions are one of my play-plantings to indulge in my inner “ooh, what can I grow?!?” child who needs a science experiment.

11.  Carrots – They’re not particularly cost-effective to grow, but I love seeing carrot tops in the garden.  There’s something about the frilly, fringey leaves I just adore seeing in a vegetable garden.  Again – it’s a play planting more than anything.  But we do get some useable carrots.  (and some that are a bit…ahem… pornographic in shape to giggle about as we dig them up).

12.  Tomatillo – This is a new one for me.  I bought one of them out of curiosity this year, and to use for different salsas or to just grill for side dishes in the summer BBQs.  Very excited to see how it turns out.

13.  Herbs – I have tons of herbs.  I love growing them, just for the fun of having a plant box of them.  My perennial herb garden has spearmint, lemon balm, oregano, English thyme, common thyme, sage, and lavender growing in it.  I’m naturalizing garlic chives in the grass this year to fill in the bare spots (taking after my grandmother).  I’m also adding normal chives – the ones that get those fun purple poms on top when they bloom – into my side beds as a part-decorative, part-useable plant.  And as I do every year, I fill in the herbs that don’t survive our New England winters – basil, dill, and rosemary.  I’ve also bought one labelled “curry” this year (which smells exactly as it’s labelled… yum!) and seeds for chamomile, which I’m honestly buying for the flowers’ visual appeal more than the use for tea.

I cannot wait to start harvesting this summer!

I can’t believe that April is almost over.  Granted, it’s been a very bad year for me, but wow – the actual days are moving quickly even if I feel like I’m stuck in a rut.

May 2011 is going to be a busy one for me – it’s a month that normally is crazy for me because the weather’s finally nice.  So for this week, here are Thirteen Things I Have Planned For May.

1. Beltane.  May 1st is Beltane, and right now it looks like the weather is going to be quite nice.  So I’m hoping to be a good little Pagan and go out and enjoy the weather by heading out to the beach or out into the woods.  Rhode Island is so blissfully small that I could do both in a day if I want.  :)

2. URI Spring Fair.  Every May, the University of Rhode Island’s Master Grower program has a spring fundraising fair on the East Farm.  It is the place to pick up heirloom tomato and pepper plants, as well as lots of other young plants for very reasonable prices ($2.50 for tomato plants – often already a foot tall?).  Lots of earth-friendly vendors from the area are in attendance, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for specifically from the URI greenhouses, someone else probably has it.

3. Plant the garden.  Once we get those seedlings home, it’ll be time to plant the vegetable garden.  Erich’s taking a couple days off before the Fair so he can prep the soil and such.  I’m taking a couple days after the Fair off, in case we get rained out for planting.

4. Mother’s Day. I won’t be with my mom this year – but I’ll definitely be calling and sending a card.  :)  The actual together time with Mom will be in June.

5. RI Stitchers. We’ll be back in our comfy home library on May 14th for a stitch-in, after being unable to get a reservation last month.  The Barnes & Noble dates seem to have been a wash-out so far.  Hopefully our library crew will continue to strengthen.

6. Mom’s birthday. My mom’s birthday is always within a week of Mother’s Day, but I always make a point to make sure they’re separate.  Depending on schedules, I might surprise her… (shhh…)

7. Vacation Time. I took a week off in February, but that was actually leftover time from 2010.  I’ll be taking my first vacation days for 2011 in May, and I can’t wait.  Aside from the garden, I’m not making any big plans.  I’m going to relax as much as possible.

8. Round Robin-ing.  Two of the round robins I’m involved in will have mailing dates in May.  The Mirabilia RR is due to be mailed out on May 10th (during my vacation time), and the 2010 UFO RR is due out the day after Memorial Day.  The third robin doesn’t get mailed until June this round, so it may have to wait until early June for me to put some work into it.

9. Memorial Day Extravaganza. This Memorial Day marks the 10th anniversary of Erich and my first date.  Due to all of our repair bills this year, the romantic getaway plans have disappeared.  But we’ll still do something to celebrate.

10. Mail off the Stitching Giveaway Material. I need to get that stuff to Line.  She only won it a month ago!  Time’s getting away from me here…

11. Wallpaper removal. Mom’s coming up in June to help me paint two of the rooms in our house – our bedroom and the bathroom.  That means – wallpaper removal!  The bathroom is actually mostly done.  We have some that needs to be removed from behind mirrors and such, and the walls need to be scrubbed.  The bedroom is another story, however – and it’s going to have to be done slowly because we have horsehair plaster walls.  I’d like to get a jump on it before Mom comes so the painting part is pretty simple.

12. Postcrossing.  I need to catch up on my cards.

13. Spring Cleaning. I’m not obsessive, but I need to catch up on some dust bunnies.  Due to the cats, we’re starting to get some fur tumbleweeds around here.

Happy Spring!

Erich and I have been talking a lot on our way home about what we would do if we won the lottery. We have one of the big Powerball/Mega Millions joint bulletin boards right next to the exit to our house, so every day we see those numbers. Some of them have been rather large lately – and it’s fun to dream about what we’d do if one of those $100+ Million drawings happened to come up with our numbers.

So for this week’s Thursday Thirteen, here are Thirteen Things I’d Do With the Winnings:

1) Restore our current house. We own a lovely Victorian-era house that has all of the carved window frames and lovely spindle woodwork, but it needs some TLC. I’d like to do the updates needed to bring it up to modern needs but try to keep or restore the decor style to that timeless style of the clean designs of early 1900s decor.  The knob and tube wiring needs to go.  At least an additional half-bath needs to go in.  It’s a great house with great bones and a fantastic sized yard.  It deserves some attention to the potential it has – that we just don’t have the money for right now.   Regardless of whether we’d do the classic lottery winning “zomg, buy a new house!” I’d love to work on the one we have.

2) Go back to school. Honestly, I have no idea what topics I’d study.  I always loved school.  I loved being in the classroom learning.  I’d happily audit classes that interested me until the day I die.

3)  Set up savings accounts for needs. Whether for us, my parents, my brother, etc.   Yes, it’s unglamorous, but the reality is that some of this money needs to be set aside to live off of.  I want to make sure everyone’s okay and comfortable.

4) Start a little stitching shop. This definitely is a “if money was no object” dream.  I know that stitching shops don’t make that much money, but I’d still love to open up a little nook for supplies, classes, and space to hang out and stitch.  We currently don’t have any shops in Rhode Island.

5) Travel.  Off the top of my list – just about anywhere in continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and… once it settles down… Egypt.  I’ll go anywhere else, too.  I just want to see the world that I’ve been amazed by my entire life on TV.

6) Reconsider work.  I doubt I’d continue doing what I do now.  I think I’d probably still work part-time somewhere.

7) Volunteer. I still think I’d need something to occupy my time and give me a purpose for leaving the house.  It’s always been my opinion that the fortunate have an obligation in society to help the less fortunate.  It’s perhaps the strongest moral object I’ve brought from my Christian childhood, even though I no longer believe.

Raise a family. One of the biggest panics I always have about Erich and I attempting to raise kids is the cost.  We literally don’t have the finances to support a family, based on our expenses.  With that reason out the window, I’d be looking into adoption as soon as possible.

9) Hire a personal trainer. Fat me needs to go away.  It’s been needing to go away for a long time.  I need help to get there – I know this.  I need someone who can motivate – gently but firmly – without humiliating me and causing me to retreat yet again.

10) Purchase a place for escape.  That weekend or summer/winter getaway somewhere.  I want to go somewhere quiet, relaxing, but different than my daily atmosphere so I’m inspired to explore.  Hell, with that much money, I’d take a summer and winter place.  Just something small.  A comfortable apartment somewhere without groundskeeping needs.  Maybe with one of those glorious patios with wide-swinging French doors where I can make a dramatic entrance.  :)

11) Donate to my hometown schools. When I was a kid, my school district did pretty well, considering how nasty the community is toward paying for the buildings.  I remember far too many buckets in the hallways for leaks, and too many textbooks that were horribly out of date because there just was no funding.  (example:  when I was a junior in high school, Bush Sr. was President, but our history textbooks had Carter listed as holding the office).   I’d either set up a fund or do a one-time donation to help with building repairs or supply updates that were needed.

12) Pay off the friends.  This is partially a joke – but we’d give each of our friends a little something out of it as the “there – now don’t bring up that horrible story from college where we got drunk that night and XYZ happened” blackmail money.  (Admit it… you would too!)

13) Play. Dammit – I just won the lottery.  Spending sprees, silly stuff – I’ve been responsible with all of the other stuff above.  I’m going to enjoy some of that money!

I found this last week via Forgetfulone (when I was #2!!) for the week posting my Thursday Thirteen, and thought it would be a fun, easy topic for the week.

According to Music Outfitters, these are the Top 13 songs for the year I graduated high school.  Can you guess the year before peeking at the link?

1. I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston

(I hate her version – always have.  Way overpowered for the song. Instant change the channel when it comes on because it’s like nails on a chalkboard for me. Give me Dolly, thank you.)

2. Bring It On, Tag Team

I remember Whoomp There It Is by them.  I don’t recall this song at all.

3.  (I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You, UB40

Meh… a bit snoozey.

4. That’s the Way Love Goes, Janet Jackson

Loved Janet when I was in high school.  Preferred RN1814, but this album was good, too.

5. Freak Me, Silk

I remembered this one once I went to recall it on Youtube.

6. Weak, SWV

I don’t recall this one either.

7. If I Ever Fall In Love, Shai

I don’t recall this either…

8.  Dreamlover, Mariah Carey

Meh… I’ve never been a Mariah fan.  This is one of her more tolerable songs, though.

9. Rump Shaker, Wreckx-N-Effect

All I wanna do is just zooma zoom zoom…

10. Informer, Snow

A lickey boom boom down…  Seriously.  I couldn’t understand any other lyrics in this song.  Not that these make much sense… but at least I could identify the syllables.

11. Nothin’ but a “G” Thang, Dr. Dre

Classic.  And I’m not a big rap person, but yeah – classic.

12. In the Still of the Night, Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men were fabulous when they sang a cappella.  Still love this cover of it.

13. Don’t Walk Away, Jade

Don’t remember this either.

One thing I notice about this list – it’s VERY R&B heavy, which I find odd. Also – there are some blatant wrong tallys in years before (Welcome to the Jungle in 1989? Really? Yeah, try 1987.)

Saturday 9: Hey Nineteen

1. What was the best thing about being 19? I was in college, so I think the new found freedom was the best thing.  I was finally in charge of dictating my life, and I loved it.

2. Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity? I’ve gone to a few different places, depending on what I wanted to spark.  Nature sites, long drives to just let my mind wander, riding the subway to people watch and observe mannerisms.  It honestly depends on how focused, or how free-form, I’m desiring to be.

3. Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when… I do something that makes me feel stupid, regardless of whether it’s stupid to others.

4. Name 3 fads from your teenage years. Hypercolor clothes, Swatch watches, crazy colored mascara (I recall owning blue, purple, and yellow)

5. What’s the best birthday present you’ve ever had? It’s not technically a birthday present, but it happened four days after – so I think it counts.  My engagement ring.  :)  A close second to that is my first cat, Colley.

6. What’s your oldest possession? Packed away safely is my first-ever doll, a 1970s era Victoria doll from Madame Alexander.  I’m pretty sure it dates back to my Christening.  She still wears her original gown, although her booties are probably long lost.  If we’re talking actual age of the item… we have a couple books in the house that date back to the 1860s.

7. Do you have any phobias? Heights – specifically of falling from heights, and large groups of people.

8. This is pretty much the start of Spring (regardless of the snow in the east this week!); what’s on your to-do list for the next few weeks to transition away from this long Winter we’ve been having? Giving my house a good scrubbing & airing it out, sorting through my clothes so I can make donations and give myself the excuse to buy new ones, and we’ll get our vegetable garden planted once the weather’s safe enough to plant (sometime mid-May).

9. Which of the 50 states in the U.S. would you rather die than live in? Florida – I’d be miserable there with the heat, but with all of the elderly residents, they seem to have plenty of resources for those who are dying.  At least I could hope to find a place to be comfortable.

We’re supposed to get a late season Nor’Easter tomorrow evening through Friday.  I’m really hoping that this does not become a repeat of the April Fools Day Storm from my senior year of college.  I doubt it will, but hell – you never know.  Especially after this winter that refuses to end.  We didn’t think we’d get two feet from THAT storm, either – especially after the gorgeous weather that had been in Boston for Easter Sunday only one day before.

My poor toy daffodils are going to snuff it, I’m afraid.  (“toy” because they’re determined to bloom when they’re only about two inches tall.)  Le sigh…

So in honor of this never-ending winter, here’s my Thursday Thirteen for the week:

Thirteen Things I’m Convinced Will Never Arrive in New England Again In My Lifetime.

1.  Warmth.  Normally we’re in the 50s this time of year.  Know where we are?  Mid 30s.  Right now, 40 degrees is balmy.  I’m convinced that I’m going to be wearing gloves in July at this point.

2.  Green Grass.  Not that my yard has a lot of quality grass in it anyway – we have that “well, at least it’s green” type of yard.  But it’s brown thatch right now.  No signs of perking up.

3. The ability to open up all of the storm windows.  We attempted to open two of them when we had a strange stretch of… wait for it… mid 40s weather (yes – THAT felt warm enough to open the house… it’s been that cold!).  We were promptly rewarded with an inch of snow the next day.  Now the windows are kept closed out of fear of reprisal.  Confession:  I did open my office window due to dust on Sunday night as I did some tidying.  So… this impending storm may be my fault.

4. The URI Spring Fair – if it stays this farking cold, I can’t buy my veggies for my garden, can I?  They’ll just all die off from freezing.

5.  “The MBTA is running on time.” That doesn’t matter, regardless of season.  It just won’t happen.  I shoujld know better than to dream about that.  For the record, I’ve already given up… and starting in April, I’m back to an actual subway-only pass for the MBTA instead of my $250 per month commuter rail pass, because I just can’t deal with the train unreliability anymore.

6. Lines outside Iggys.  The window won’t open until it’s warm enough.  So on our rambles to Iggys, we’ll have to stand inside with the winter crowd instead of enjoying the beach as we wait.  Bah.

7. Cats passed out in morning sunbeams.  They’re not lasting long enough, and they’re not warm enough because we still have to keep the radiators going – detracting the cats from said sunbeams.

8. Coatless mornings. Seriously, I hate having to wear a coat everywhere.  I hate the extra weight.  I hate having to deal with it sliding off my shoulders.  It’s just still too cold to even pull off the sweater over a shirt trick.

9. Sunday morning coffee with a breeze. This may go under the aforementioned storm window opening – but there’s really nothing more soothing than that weekend morning with coffee, smelling fresh cut grass as neighbors mow, and enjoying a sunny, cheery morning that didn’t involve an alarm clock.

10.  Patio dining.  I really want a sunny lunch somewhere outside.  I’m craving eating outside.

11.  Grilling parties - we held a few nice ones last year with great weather, great friends, and great food.  Half of our friends can’t go into our house due to the cats, though – so until the weather improves, we can’t have a lot of people over for meals.

12.  A really clean kitchen floor. Like many New Englanders, I’m in that hovering “I’ll scrub it once the weather improves” phase.  I thought I would have been there by now.  But yeah, we’re still dealing with winter sand and salt, so I’ve only been doing the minimum to keep it from being disgusting.

13.  Spring.  TWO WEEKS IN – I WANT SPRING!

I forgot to post last week in the chaos of post-vacation readjustment.

Here’s my list starting this Monday.

Daily
1) Start my day organizing my notes so I really know what I have to accomplish
2) Read one chapter in a library book I checked out
3) Cross stitch at least one hour
4) Get more than six hours of sleep every night
5) Give each of the cats some personal time

Weekly
1) Enjoy the RI Stitchers meetup this weekend
2) Enjoy attending Pax East this weekend
3) Cook a fantastic dinner
4) Sleep one morning with no alarm going off

Monthly
1) Go through my current clothes for donations so I can treat myself to new ones
2)  Treat myself to a wanderlust drive – somewhere
3) Get started on an exercise program

Yearly
1) Drop two clothing sizes

I haven’t been on the Saturday 9 in a couple weeks – first for personal issues going on here, and then last week I was away at a stitching retreat.  So… hiya!  I’m back.  :)

Saturday 9: Medicate

1. Do you take a lot of medication? Thankfully no.  I take two antihistamines to cover my sinus allergies and my dermatographia every day, but that’s it.

2. Name one of your flaws and tell us about it. One of the worst flaws I have is a chronic nail-biting habit.  I keep it under control by getting fake nails put on.  For some reason, as long as I have the fake ones on, I don’t try to bite.  As soon as something starts go to wrong with one of them, it’s trouble.

I know it’s a nasty habit and I’ve tried to break it, but it’s nearly impossible.  They say that 3 weeks will break a habit?  Not with this – I  had fake nails glued on for a year straight, then took them off to take a rest – and went right back to stress biting.

So yeah – the nails stay “capped” as it were.  With pretty, non-traditional colors whenever possible.  (OPI’s “Ink” today, for the record)

3. Have you ever won first place? If yes, tell us about your victory! Aside from a couple of little field day things in early elementary school, no.  I’ve always been good at things, but I rarely come in first.  I’m the second placer most of the time.  :)

4. Who is the last person to make you smile? What was happening? My husband, Erich – tickling the belly of our alpha male cat, Gus.  Gus thinks he’s huge and vicious and he was furious that Erich could remind him so easily how small he was.  Seriously – Gus would eat both of us if he were big enough.  He thinks he’s a panther.  Too bad he’s only a 15 pound one and can’t do the damage he thinks he can.

5. Describe a time when you should have tried harder. Honestly – I don’t live with should haves/could haves.  It would destroy me since I’m already a person who lives with incredible self-doubt.  I’m sure there are plenty of times where I should have tried harder at something – but I didn’t for whatever reason.

6. What are you best at? I’m exceptionally good at multitasking and keeping other people organized at work, right down to having one of those memories that can recall tiny little bits of trivia that may not matter in the long-run.

I wish that I could apply that at home!

7. If someone was going to make a movie or TV show about your life, who would play you and why? It would be a little hard to match me – few actresses are fat like me, so I can’t quite picture anyone.  For a thinner version of me, perhaps Jodie Foster when she was younger?  It would need to be someone who can play the all American girl with a little bit of an edge, a lot more brainier than bombshell.

8. Name 3 things that you think are strange. plastic surgery, iguanas as pets, religious fundamentalism

9. What is one lesson you have learned in the past 12 months? Friends who don’t respect boundaries of behavior toward me are not friends at all (and probably never were).

My TUSAL jar is getting very colorful, thanks to a lot of retreat stitching last week at Stitcher’s Hideaway.  Over 20 hours of stitching in two days alone!  But actually, February was another successful stitching month.  I managed nearly 90 hours again!  Considering the issues that I’ve been wrestling with, that’s exceptionally good.  I’m quite pleased with myself.

February’s orts came from several projects, which comprise my Thursday Thirteen this week.

• Witches Wheel (Glendon Place)
• Witchy Washy (Raise the Roof)
• Noah’s Ark – Frog’s piece for the 2010 UFO Round Robin
• Apache Wedding Blessing (Donna Kooler)- my piece for the upcoming 2011 UFO Round Robin
• Muse of the Midnight Sun (HAED)
• Noah’s Ark (Teresa Wentzler) – not the same piece as Frog’s!
• Cats on a Staircase stocking (Bucilla/Donna Kooler)
• Floral Bellpull (Teresa Wentzler)
• Mom’s ornament from January – my orts were stashed in the bobbin box
• Annette’s piece for the Mirabilia Round Robin
• DMC labels for a number of different projects that I’m kitting up
• Orts cleaned out from my sewing box
• Orts cleaned out of my purse (hee)

For the non-stitchers reading this thread – what’s an ort?  It stands for Old Ratty Thread, and usually is the excess tails from stitching once you don’t have enough thread left and need to bind it off.  But it also can be threads that wind up getting picked out by mistake or threads that just look frayed or nasty.

And hey – fellow stitchers – check out my blogoversary giveaway (the next post down)!

Thanks for stopping by!

I wanted to come up with a big, witty Thursday Thirteen for this week but just haven’t had the mental strength this week… so I apologize for the basic list.  Hopefully it’ll be a more expansive topic next week.

This list comes almost entirely out of my discovery last autumn of the absolutely amazing Warwick Public Library near my home.  Honestly – it’s one of the best town libraries I’ve ever seen, and I love the statewide system that Rhode Island has for reserving books and having them shuttled between libraries for easy pickup.  It makes life so much easier (and cheaper!).

This week, I’m listing Thirteen Books I have in my reading queue:

1.  Dead as a Doornail (Charlaine Harris) – this is book 5 of the Sookie Stackhouse (aka “True Blood” inspiration) novels.  They’re easy reads.  I’m not a die-hard ZOMG I must read these now!!! fan of them, but they’re fun books.  I’m not going to add the rest of the books here – but assume they’re subsets of #1.  I’m planning on finishing the series to date this year.

2.  Bleak House (Charles Dickens) – I started this last year, but just wasn’t quite in the right mindset to read historical fiction.  I’ll give it another shot this spring.

3. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) – I’ve seen this book so many times as I pass through the bookstore, but my to-read stack was always too large in my house to justify purchasing it.  Now that I’m active at the library, the cost is a non-issue.  On the list for 2011 it goes!

4.  The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) – I’ve had this recommended several times, but it’s another case of “just haven’t been able to justify the cost” purchases.  Library opens the door on this one, too.

5.  Torchwood: Another Life (Peter Anghelides) – I’ve fallen behind in my Torchwood novels.  There’s a few out there that I need to read.  This is another “assume subsections to #5″ list.  I love Torchwood for its quirky British X-Files feel, and this is one circumstance where I think the novels are honestly as good as the show in most respects.

6.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson) – Everyone keeps telling me to read this.  I have no idea what it is, but I just keep getting “READ THIS!!!” recommendations.  So okay, I will!

7.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) – Somehow, I got through all of junior high, high school, and university literature courses without reading this.  And I have a sense that it’s one of those must-read books.

8.  Watership Down (Richard Adams) – When I was little, the animated movie of this book scared me.  I can’t even recall why or what was so disturbing – but I remember it as being quite traumatic to watch.  I forgot about it as the years went by, and then it came up in conversation at some point.  And I recalled my fear.  I need to read it to figure out why.

9.  The Divine Circle of Ladies Making Mischief (Dolores Stewart Riccio) – I’ve heard that this book has some fantastic, strong female characters and that it just is a great lazy day read.  Sounds good to me!

10.  The Road (Cormac McCarthy) – We have the movie taped to our DVR.  Like most movies, I’m under the assumption that the book is better and probably more powerful.  It’s another book I’ve had recommended highly.

11.  Magdalen Rising:  The Beginning (Elizabeth Cunningham) – I am an absolute sucker for books that deal with spiritual/religious mythology and the stories that can be woven around it.  Feminine divinity is even more appealing to me.  This book was recommended to me for its Pagan slant.

12.  Girl Clown (Mary Wise) – Mary is a fellow blogger who I met during the Diary-X days.  She wrote a book about her experiences as a circus clown, and I’ve had it on my casual reading list ever since.  Her blog writing is wonderful, and I can’t imagine her book writing is any less so.

13.  The Good Earth (Pearl Buck) – Another book that I don’t quite know how I managed to get through all of those literature courses without reading.  And again, I feel it’s probably important that I do so.

Do you have any other books you feel I should put on my must-read list?  I don’t care for romance novels, but otherwise I love just about everything.  I go through big genre phases where I devour books – so really, anything goes!

Thanks for stopping by!

I didn’t get around to a Thursday Thirteen list last week due to some personal insanity – but I’m back!  And this week’s list is an important one for me.  :)

Thirteen Things I’m looking forward to during my vacation week

1. Sleeping in – this comes as no surprise to anyone who has vacation time.  No worries about being a slave to the alarm.  Just get up when I want to, stay up until I want to.  Bliss.
2. Catching up on TV shows – I have four Netflix DVDs of Rome to watch, plus plenty more stuff via Instant Queue to go through.
3. Stitcher’s Hideaway – Next Thursday evening through Sunday morning, I’ll be in Mystic, CT for the annual Alumni Retreat.  Continuous stitching time, whenever I want it, in the company of other stitchers.  Bliss.
4. Getting caught up on mail – I have a bunch of Postcrossing stuff to catch up on, plus a bunch of mail that just needs sorting.
5. Organizing my office.  At some point next week, I’m going to go through and get rid of the piles of stuff that have been taking over my office.  A lot of it’s just magazines and such that need to be sorted.  But I also want to give the entire office a good scrubbing.
6. Playing some World of Warcraft.  I’ve been avoiding it after some family events of last week.  Not sure where I’ll be playing, but I plan on dipping my toes back in.
7. Getting ALL of the laundry done and put away.  Erich and I have a chronic problem with washing everything, but never getting it back upstairs from the laundry room. I’d really like to start my first week back from vacation without having to make a sleepy trek down onto the concrete slab of the basement to find pants.
8. Round Robin Stitching – I have two robins in my possession, plus my piece to prep for the new UFO robin that kicks off on March 4^th.  I’m really excited about the two pieces I currently have to stitch – both are lovely.
9. A long drive… somewhere.  Thanks to some absolutely gorgeous spring-hinting weather today, a lot of the snow is melting and the roads should be wider by next week.  I’m thinking I may need to do a mid-day drive at some point.
10. Geeking with Erich – we’re planning to spend President’s Day up at the gaming store, prepping and painting Warhammer figurines. I have tons upon tons of orks to build.  I’ll let Erich do the priming – that primer paint is nasty stuff.
11. Cooking.  I’m thinking a turkey may be in my near future.  I also have the frozen carcass from Thanksgiving to finally turn into stock. That’ll be Sunday’s project.  My office is having a bake sale in early March.  I may do a little bit of the baking on Sunday before going back to work.
12. Doing some bloggy stuff.  Ideally, I’d like to skim through some of my old posts that I copied over from LiveJournal that are still locked down, get them sorted by category, and tidy things up around here.
13. NOT GO TO WORK.

Is #13 cheating?  Honestly, it probably could be rephrased at the end of each number on this list with “… and NOT GO TO WORK.”

Thanks for stopping by!