Quilt #2

I'm days away from starting my second quilt. No surprise; it will be red and white. I went through my stash and picked these fabrics. Once I wash the fabric I will be ready to cut it and then LET THE SEWING BEGIN!

Good things come in small packages

My nieece Adrienne wore this jacket at Girls Camp a few weeks ago. It was her dad's Boy Scout jacket. Robes got all those patches in the early 70's. Adrienne is small like Robes and she likes that. Pretty sweet.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Siblings

Thought for the Day

My friend, Mary Ellen, emails a "thought for the day" to her coworkers and some of her friends and family. This was a recent thought that I liked.

"A community is like a ship, everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." --Henrik Ibsen

Love Songs of the 70's

I heard on NPR this morning that Donny Osmond -- who turns FIFTY this year (how is that possible?) -- released a new album of '70s love songs today titled, appropriately enough, Love Songs of the '70s. Add that to my wish list. You can listen to a few of the songs here. Donny's looking pretty good for creepin' up to fifty. Not as good as he did on the Teen Beat posters I taped up on my bedroom wall but I think he's aged well.

B is for Bug

I've got some flu bug bugging me.

I'm in training

I went for a 5.78 mile bike ride this weekend. The ride for The Brain Tumor Society is one month from today and I'm officially in training!

Finally...a beautiful Spring day!

I borrowed my neighbors this morning and we went outside with sidewalk chalk. It's a beautiful Spring day!

Look what I wore today!!!

Elder Patton

I received this email from my sister-in-law Kim this morning:

Dear Family and Friends,

As we cleaned up a very late dinner tonight, we were interrupted by a
rare phone call from Ian at BYU- Hawaii. We were blown away by his
announcement that he received his mission call in the mail today and
will be serving 2 years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in the Argentina, Resistencia Mission. He is to
report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah June 27th. We
never had any indication that he was arranging the necessary paper
work, interviews or medical exams. Although Jamel learned of this
while visiting Ian in Hawaii for springbreak, Adrie and I were kept in
utter darkness. He waited 5 five weeks by the mailbox. As you can
tell, I am having trouble sleeping while I absorb the news.

Thank you for all the years of support you've given me to raise my kids.

Hope all is well with you and yours,

Kim

Tonight I'm going to (1) locate Resistencia on my atlas and (2) find out how much postage to Argentina is!! I'm a very happy aunt.

Soup's on

I bought a small cup of soup for lunch today. It was called beef & country vegetable but I think it was really Leftover Delight.

Computer crisis

I've got problems. Worse than Bob Wiley's problems. My computer crashed last night and I need to reload all my software. Fortunately I did not lose any data. The tech is calling me tonight to help me reload windows, etc. So...this is my post for today.

Boston's best day!

It was cold and rainy and windy with not nearly as many spectators as usual (I did have about 30 friends show up) but it was great to watch the Boston Marathon at Mile 19!! When I got there a policeman told me I was the first spectator he had seen!

My "elite" friend Emily (in the 4th photo) finished in 2:56:15.

potentially soggy Patriots Day

Unfortunately, due to predicted nasty weather, Paul Revere's midnight ride tonight is cancelled. And, the early morning re-enactment may also be cancelled. So here are a few photos from last year (my neighbor is a Minuteman and gave me a VIP pass hence the close-up "shots").

On a happier note, the Boston Marathon never gets cancelled so I will be at Mile 19 cheering for lots of soggy runners and will post photos tomorrow.

Multi-tasking

I can talk on the phone and make photocards at the same time. I can watch a movie and pay bills at the same time. I can walk and chew gum at the same time. Call me a multi-tasker.

Soon after I moved to Boston, I discovered Lyndell's Bakery (720 Broadway in Somervile) and I would frequent it on my way to work. They have amazing cookies and pies and breads and treats! My favorite thing they make is small chocolate eclairs. They are incredible. Today I bought a dozen of them (my friend Geneva has no idea how lucky she is that I shared two of them with her).

I can drive and eat chocolate eclairs at the same time!

Flattery will get you whatever you want

Today while I was eating lunch (sprite and sushi) a father and son walked by looking lost and confused. [It is Campus Preview Weekend.] The dad turned to me and asked, "Do you go here?" They were looking for the Math Department.

I pointed him in the correct direction (I hope) and smiled.

Fruit basket

There's no way I'm posting a picture of hail or sleet or rain so here's one of my all-time favorite photos. I took this in New York City nearly three years ago when the Cox family and I went to the Manhattan Temple open house.

think daisies think daisies think daisies

Seriously?

They say more snow this week...enough already.

Niece-in-Training

My niece Emma and brother Chuck are coming in May to do the Brain Tumor Society bike ride. They hiked 10 miles this weekend in Oregon to prepare for the ride.

I don't ride my bike unless it's 50 degrees. We're hovering in the 40's and may get snow this week so obviously I haven't started my training.

Easters past

Apologies to Chuck. I couldn't find any pictures with him in them. That proves he's the youngest...

Easter brunch

The coolest warm gift

My friend Lori wrote me a note about six weeks ago and said she was knitting me some socks. Knitting me some socks?! Well, today the socks arrived and they are beautiful! I absolutely love them and I'm so glad that it's still in the 30's so I can wear them!

Lori's husband Joe went to grad school in Boston so they lived here for 2 years right after I moved here. They live in Salt Lake City now. Last year Joe ran the Boston Marathon on the MGH team so their whole family came for Patriots Day! It was great to see them.

I called Lori tonight to thank her for the beautiful socks. She's an amazing friend and knitter!

Quilting class #2

I cut out a block for a quilt tonight, wandered around visiting with friends while coveting all the Bernina sewing machines.

The Mmofra Trom Project

A few years ago my friend Diane asked for donations for a village in Ghana called Mmofra Trom. I sent emails out to friends and coworkers asking for cotton dresses, shirts, socks and underwear, bathing suits, used soccer cleats, and soccer shirts. For months I drove around and collected items and when my trunk was full I would drop the things off at Diane's house. I remember Diane beaming as she told me which little girl would get a certain dress. People were so generous and Diane was able to take a lot of the things to Ghana.

Tonight I got to hear the Mmofra Trom Project Manager, Olan Adjetey, speak to a group of youth at the church. The village of Mmofra Trom has 300-400 people. They have built a school and two homes for 20 orphan children who have lost parents to AIDS. Olan showed us slides of each of the children. They were beautiful! They are looking for monetary donations so they can build a medical center and more homes for orphans.

After Olan's talk, we all went downstairs for refreshments and he played the drum while some of the kids danced around.

I have an idea of something I can do for these kids. I left tonight feeling inspired by this great man.

Adrienne goes to camp

My niece Adrienne will turn 12 in May and went to her first church Girls Camp today (during Spring break in Florida). I talked to her over the weekend and she was excited. I wanted to get her something that she could use at camp so I ordered this nalgene bottle from L.L. Bean for her. I wrote the following story for her too.

The 12th Birthday

Around the time your dad turned 12 he was preparing for his first Boy Scout camping trip. Since our family didn’t really have any camping equipment (except a very heavy big tent) Grandpa and Grandma Patton took your dad shopping. They went to a store in Van Nuys called Gizmo’s. That store sold everything for camping: tents, compasses, sleeping bags, freeze dried food, canteens, flashlights, lanterns, stoves, etc. I remember that your dad got an orange mummy sleeping bag, a big orange back pack with a metal frame, a canteen, some freeze dried food, and a few other things for his first camping trip. It added up to about $125 (which would probably be about $800 now!). It was a lot of stuff. All for your dad’s 12th birthday! He was so lucky. In our family we always celebrated birthdays and got presents but never that many presents! So uncle John and I complained that Robert got all those things for his birthday and Grandpa and Grandma Patton said, “Don’t worry, you will also get lots of things for your 12th birthday.” Well, that was not true. None of us ever got that many things for our 12th birthday! We always talked about “the 12th birthday” and all the things that Robert got. So, in memory of that and because you are about to go on your first camping trip, I wanted to get you something special so I ordered a pink nalgene bottle for you (which is like a canteen). I hope you have fun at your first Girls Camp and that you feel special like your dad who got lots of things on his 12th birthday!

Dinner guests

We've got Sisters!! I was the first to sign-up to feed them and they came over tonight! Most nights I eat goofy things for dinner but I made a normal dinner: spaghetti, corn, garlic bread, and plain red jell-O (I had some on hand to help me ease into eating on the implant side of my mouth). There was a plethora of desserts from my dessert party last night and I sent them home with a plate of treats.

The sisters were delightful and I know they will be well taken care of in the Arlington Ward.

News!!

Have you ever made fun of people and then found yourself doing that same thing you were making fun of? Well, I have. I'm always rolling my eyes when people tell me that they met someone on the internet. Whatever. I always laugh and say, "You think he's a 45 year old man from wherever..." because you can be whatever you want to be on the internet. So it hasn't been my thing. I haven't told anyone--seriously...NO ONE--but I've been lurking on www.hotsaints.com. And, I met this really great guy. And, he's coming to visit me in a few weeks!!! I can't believe I'm even typing this but I'm SO excited and I finally want people to know so I thought my blog would be a good way to share the good news with my friends! I have some friends that have met people on www.ldssingles.com and I went on there once and it was like shopping to me. Pick this trait and that trait. That's not really how I like to meet guys (or make friends for that matter). And then I thought maybe that's why I haven't met too many guys. When I was in Utah a few years ago I saw a billboard for www.hotsaints.com. I always laugh about it but it's real! Every now and then I would look at the site and then I decided I liked their format way better and so a few months ago I decided what the heck, why not give it a try. I'm not getting any younger! I spent lots of late nights working on my profile and deciding which picture to use. I'd put a batch of cookies in the oven and run up to my computer! I'm a multi-tasker like no other! Fairly soon after I finished my profile I met this guy. I NEVER thought I'd meet someone that way. First I wanted to meet guys in my time zone and then I narrowed it down to my area code (because I want to live in Boston forever). But this guy seemed interested in me and what I was all about even though he lived 3,000 miles away. So we've emailed a lot and talked a lot on the phone (now I'm so glad I got my cell phone!). He came to visit me a few weeks ago for a quick weekend and we had a great time and really hit it off (I made sure his first visit was before I had my tooth extracted!). I had to tell a few little white lies about my weekend plans because I didn't want to tell anyone before I met him in case things didn't work out. We did the Ellen Patton Tour of Maine (of course!) complete with lobster rolls and seeing Nubble Light. He even twisted my arm and we went on the Freedom Trail (can you believe it?!?). He's coming to see me in a few weeks and I'm SO excited I can't stand it. I'm looking forward to a few of my friends meeting him (maybe one friend bus load at a time). So a little bit about him...He lives on the west coast. He has a great sales job and can pretty much work anywhere which is cool. He's so nice. Seriously---one of the nicest guys I've ever met (where has he been all my life?!?). And, he's very funny. But better than all of that he has thousands of frequent flyer miles (that was one of my top 5 criteria!). He really likes New England (he usually comes here every other year for a work meeting and he's always liked the area, especially the Cape). He's going to visit the weekend of Patriot's Day which is one of my VERY favorite holidays! We'll go the re-enactment, the Boston Marathon (I LOVE the marathon!! I always go early and save seats for my friends and then we hand out water/fruit to the runners) and it's opening day at Kimball's and we both love heath bar crunch ice cream!! He likes that I'm adventurous. He likes my zest for life. He likes that I keep in touch with lots of friends. He really likes that I'm a night owl since he's on the west coast. And, of course, he likes my curly red hair. :) I don't want to jinx myself but I am so excited about him I wanted to share the news!!!

P.S. I forgot to tell you his name. It's Mr. A. Fools.

General Conference memory

When I was 16 I asked my parents if I could go to Salt Lake City for April General Conference. They said I could under one condition: that I take my little brother Charles (who was ten years old) with me. That sounded like a good deal to me. I remember standing in front of the Greyhound bus door saying goodbye to my Mom and asking her to tell Charles not to ask me questions the whole way to Utah (which he did). That was in 1977. Back then the bus traveled through lots of small towns between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City (I specifically remember stopping for lunch in either Fillmore or Beaver). It was a great adventure for two big city kids. We stayed with our Pitchforth grandparents in Salt Lake City who lived in the Bell Wines apartments at 540 East 1st South. I have some fun memories of that trip with Charles.

I remember waking up early on Saturday and walking downtown with Charles and Grandpa to wait for the 10:00am session. Grandpa left us in line at the Tabernacle and he walked home. Soon after that someone announced that we were in line for the 2:00pm session. Immediately Charles yelled, "I'm not waiting all day in line!" I couldn't let him walk back to the Bell Wines alone. I remember being mad that Charles was being uncooperative and thought my plans for attending General Conference were ruined. We left the line and walked back to the Bell Wines.

On Sunday morning I woke up early again. I think Charles stayed home with Grandma Pitchforth while Grandpa and I walked the five blocks to the Tabernacle. I got in line for the 10:00am session and Grandpa left to walk home. Not too long after that a lady approached me and told me that she had an extra ticket and asked if I would like to sit with her. I have never forgotten how nice she was. Her name was Lily Swatzell and she was from Homer, Alaska. I had her write her name and address in my steno book that I had brought along to take notes in. We entered the Tabernacle that morning and our seats were on the 4th row. That was pretty exciting for a 16 year old girl from California. It was a memorable experience to see the prophet Spencer W. Kimball up close and to be in the Tabernacle for General Conference! I know that experience strengthened my testimony.

A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to watch all four sessions of General Conference at the church instead of listening on the internet at home. I enjoyed the talks as much as I enjoyed hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing today.

I'll be back at the church tomorrow at noon to watch more General Conference.