Hello March. So Glad You Decided to Stop By!

Over the weekend, I scooted up to Orion to watch Mother Dear play with the bell choir in church. It was a lovely performance. After a delightful lunch with Dad, Mom and I got to work on a spring arrangement for my front door.

I like to keep things seasonal here at my casita, and Jon G.'s skills are fantastic. My idea came to life in a short time. Things you should know about me: I LOVE ranunculus; I have always loved letters, and moss is my latest obsession. Could this arrangement get any better?

Oh YES it could! A happy, sunny March day to hang it up.

Even the ridiculous furnace repair bill I paid today can't keep me down. Spring is coming.

Getting Through February

Oh, February. Each year it's a struggle to find positive things to say about this horrible, cold, depressing month. There have been a few bright spots this past week.

I finally finished my scarf knitting project, which I started lasted August. No pictures because I'm over it completely. Instead, I've been knitting several dishcloths, a much faster and rewarding experience than a scarf. Here is a picture of me, happy as can be, beginning a new dishcloth, watching Lawrence Welk (I love that show!), and wearing new black boots that I've been searching for for at least four years, found on clearance at Bergner's. (They're so close to actually fitting my silly, skinny, chicken legs!) Yes indeed, a fun Friday night at my house.

Also this week, we celebrated Wes' birthday. Shaun and I like to make a big deal out of birthdays; it's how we do it in our family, but Wes wasn't really having it. We made nachos for dinner, our new favorite thing - chips, cheese, black beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and pulled pork, with apple pie for dessert. So delicious.

Ready for March. Age 26, here I come!

After a Long Wait...

Five weeks ago I got it into my head that I needed additional wool roving colors for some needle felting projects. None was to be found in Peoria, so I hopped on etsy.com and bought some from a lovely shop in the UK. Five weeks later, I'm still waiting for the package to get through homeland security, or something of that sort.

Three days ago I gave up and bought different roving from Maryland, 64 colors! It arrived in record time and has made me forget all about the UK purchase. Opening this package was like Christmas morning. So many colors, all packaged up in a fun way. I'm obsessed. I realize none of my readers care about wool roving, but I'm just too excited to keep this to myself, (and Joshua is sick of hearing about it after 5 weeks.)

Baby Shower

This afternoon, Shaun and I drove on up to Geneseo for Abby's baby shower. As far as baby showers go, it was one of the nicest I've been to. There were no stupid and embarrassing games, just some nice snacks, chatting, and opening lots of presents. Each time I go to one of these showers, I'm amazed by the amount of things one little person requires. I don't think I believe that it's all truly essential.

One issue with going to a baby shower when you've been married for a while is that people think it's a good idea to start asking when you're going to have a baby.

Official announcement folks: not yet, and Jon G., you don't "need" a grandchild.

That's all. Thanks.

Congratulations to Abby and Andy!

Blizzard (Not the Diary Queen Variety)

Tuesday night it began snow, took a break around Wednesday morning, then began snowing again until there was more than 14 inches. I never heard what the final total was, but I do know that it was more snow than I have ever seen, and the combination of snow and wind made for a real challenge yesterday.

Joshua and I started shoveling around 6:45 and kept at it until around 10, with a couple breaks thrown in. We finished his side (the lighter side) so he could get to work, and then I kept going for another couple hours. I finished my side enough that I can get out, but it's still just one lane near the street. I was defeated by the snow, that in some places was drifted higher than my waste. The last picture from above shows the snow mountain than is higher than five feet tall.

All this winter weather has left me some time for activities other than shoveling. (I'm enjoying my third snow day today.) I made a new ironing board cover to replace a very stained, boring blue one. I've had this fabric for a while, but never had a great project for it. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. I also tried out a new embroidery stitch and made a monogrammed scarf for my nightstand. Very cute! Overall, the blizzard of 2011 treated me well. Besides some sore muscles, we had a fine time snug in our little split level, happy as can be.

Terrariums and Toto

Over the weekend, Shaun and I finally put together our much-anticipated terrariums. After shopping for the perfect containers, we settled on these simple ones that offered the most space balanced with a reasonable overall size.

We found out very quickly that these jars fill up fast! Our plans to put three plant varieties in each jar had to be scaled down. The reddish plant in the regular pot was much too tall for a lidded jar, but too cute to just abandon. The pink/red plant and fuzzy fern look quite nice together, and the other is a shade-loving one that Shaun will enjoy in her office at work.

Overall, a fun project, even if they didn't turn out quite as we thought they would.

The other weekend event was the annual ladies' luncheon at church in my hometown. The theme was Hooray for Hollywood, which left plenty of room for creativity, fun, and fancy dresses. Each table was decorated in a movie theme. Mom's table was decorated to portray the Wizard of Oz, and I sang Over the Rainbow as part of the entertainment. I've been singing at the church since fourth grade, so it's always fun to go back. (And yes, the poster I'm standing next to features my picture and information. Candice is too sweet!) Both grandma's were able to attend, which was also nice. Fun weekend! Now on to snow that might be measured in feet rather than inches. My goodness, I'm ready for spring.

Derby Time!

Saturday night, Shaun and I were in the front row at the Civic Center for the Peoria Push Derby Dames' second ever bout. It was a double-header vs. McLean County and the Quad Cities. So fun, and great seats! By chance we sat next to Paula Bunyan's family (holding several poster board axes) and Dottie B. Rotten's family. They are two of the best Derby Dames, and it was quite exciting to be in their cheering section. You can't stop the chop!