Newest kid in the ward

Meet Blake. He's six days old, six pounds and adorable.

Google: Antique stores Portland Maine

This is one of the sites that pops up: Portland Architectural Salvage. My friend Elisabeth and I went to Maine today. We met a friend for lunch at the Miss Portland Diner. Stopped at Portland Head Light. Visited a quirky fabric store (it might have been 8 feet wide). And did some antiquing. Portland Architectural Salvage is a very interesting store. They sell architectural elements, antiques and decorative accessories (12,000 square feet of them). I saw some really cool things -- lots of cabinets with drawers (from printing companies, post offices, libraries, etc.). I found some vintage cook books, a cake stand, and some old pinking shears at two of my favorite antique shops. We stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream parfait (even though it was bitter cold) which reminded me of where I met my friend Jean. It was a good Maine day.

Happy Birthday, Raggedy Andy!

Love, Raggedy Ann.

Van Nuys Third Ward Road Show, August 1977.

Red thread

For as much as I:

a) sew
b) love red
c) think I'm so organized

Why did it take me 15 minutes to find some red thread?

Late dinner with Five Guys

Before leaving work tonight I mapquested directions from Needham to Five Guys in Dedham and Diana and I stopped in for a late dinner. Five Guys makes a mean burger.

From blog stalker to buddy

I've been reading (or is it stalking?) Erin Cobb's blogs for over three years. Recently she posted that she would be in Boston and asked if people were interested in having their kids photographed. I left a comment on her blog that I didn't have kids to photograph but would love to meet her for hot chocolate. She emailed me back and we made a plan!

Fast forward to tonight. My coworker Diana and I drove to Needham after work to meet Erin (we felt like we were meeting a rock star!), her friend and another Boston blogger. Erin is delightful and fun and now I feel like she's my real friend. We all had a really fun time talking about our favorite blogs and our lives. And I've got a few more friends on my bus.

Erin's family blog
Erin's photography blog

Erin and Diana took photos; I'll try to post one tomorrow.

Visiting

It was all my idea. When I got called to be the RSP I suggested that we do some visiting instead of sitting in meetings every Sunday. So once a month the leadership of our ward divides and conquers and visits new people.

I went to see two sisters on Sunday with one of my counselors. The first woman, Mildred, was 90 years old and lived in my town. I expected she would live in a rest home/senior citizen complex but when we drove up it was a single family house. We parked. Walked up the driveway. Knocked on the door. A woman answered. I asked if Mildred was there and immediately it was clear from the woman's angry face that our visit was over. She said, "She is deceased."

The woman never opened the door so our conversation was through a thick glass screen door. I was embarrassed. It was awkward. We thanked her and left.

I knew I needed to clarify things (not to mention apologize) to Mildred's daughter (I found the obituary which listed her children and one of them lives in Lexington and whitepages.com confirmed the address was the same). [Note: Mildred died in June of 2007.] I didn't want her to think we were the Avon ladies. I mailed a letter to Mildred's daughter yesterday letting her know that I was the president of the women's organization in the Arlington Ward of the LDS Church and that we only wanted to meet Mildred and welcome her. And, I apologized for not explaining who we were on Sunday and offered sympathy for the loss of her mother.

I feel like if this ever happens again, I'm prepared to handle it better than I did on Sunday. It's part of the RSP learning curve.

Note: I didn't tell Mildred's daughter this, but I had a similar experience when I called to cancel my brother's Sports Illustrated subscription. The guy asked me how I knew my brother wasn't interested in receiving the magazine any longer and I said, "He's dead."

Another note: We were told by the upstairs neighbor of the second woman we tried to visit that she had moved over a year ago. I've got issues about our church record keeping. :)

Minty cookies Made at Midnight

I saw this recipe on a blog and have been carrying it around in my "DO" folder. I finally made them tonight. I didn't intend for them to be so PINK. I was hammering candy canes around midnight. They are easy and really tasty. Especially if you love peppermint like I do. Someday I'll open my bakery!

Keep it on ice

Last night I got home at 8:30pm and ran inside to change so I could pick my friend up for a movie. When I got back in my car (Bluebell) and tried to back up I couldn't. I was stuck on the ice! [It kinda reminded me of my recent adventure in Vermont.] I called my friend and asked if she'd be willing to pick me up (what friend wouldn't?) and we went to the movie (and Sonic, just for the record).

This afternoon, at the suggestion of a condo board member, I used some of the ice melt pellets (my condo fee at work) and scattered them around all of my tires and on the fourth try I was able to back up and carry on with life.

Life...ups and downs and twists and turns and ice...that's life.

Extraordinary Measures

My friend and I went to Extraordinary Measures last night. It's inspired by a true story and stars Harrison Ford and it was really good. I recognized the NIKE headquarters in the film! My brother Chuck works there and I've had lunch at "the campus".

It's not 50

Yesterday someone said, "It's going to be fifty degrees tomorrow."

Really? I took this photo this morning while scraping Bluebell's windows. Clearly it is not fifty degrees.

Out to dinner

My friend Christina is moving to Mesa in a few weeks so we went to dinner the other night. She suggested Tupelo (as in Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis was born) which was a great choice. We tried the pan fried catfish and braised beef brisket--both were delicious. And those cheddar grits? Yum. I ordered key lime pie for dessert which I had for dessert and for breakfast the next morning. I'm definitely going back to Tupelo. The food was delicious and the service was good.

Note: A few years ago I found out that one of my coworkers (in a different department) was from Seattle and I suggested that we go to lunch since we had The West Coast in common. While at lunch she asked where I went to college and when I told her BYU she said, "Christina went to BYU." After lunch I went over to Christina's office and said, "Sister Davis?" We've been buddies ever since.

EP's got an Etsy shop

Bear with me as I try to figure this whole Etsy thing out. I'm starting out by selling some Valentine photocards. If you click here (or on the picture of the cards to your right) you should end up in my shop. So you can shop. Til you drop.

California kids

This picture of Chuck and I was taken in Salt Lake City while visiting our Pitchforth grandparents. I love our red boots!

Icy and snowy branches

Another blessing

This is my friend Claudy and her handsome son Stanley who joined her on December 20th from Haiti. We are all very thankful that Stanley arrived when he did. Blessings to their friends and family in Haiti.

Seventeen

I don't know how it happened but this kid is 17. I visited him in the hospital the day he was born -- and his hair was that same color! It's been fun to watch him grow up (well, he doesn't live in the Arlington Ward anymore but he lives nearby). That's one thing I don't like about our semi-transient ward. I want to watch all the kids grow up and so many of them move (you know who you are). I told Keaton he looked like a missionary and he said, "I'm working on it." He's a senior in high school and has big plans for his future.

Blessing day

Today was Camden's blessing. It was so nice to see some of his family members there (some of my oldest and dearest friends).

Celebrating twins

My friend Camille is having twins--a boy and a girl which is very exciting except they are moving to Texas. On Monday. I made her burp clothes--well, sewed fabric on a cloth diaper (I love that cowboy fabric and was happy to find it locally at the Fabric Corner). Double good wishes to Camille and Eric!

MIT Mystery Hunt

I heard a lot of noise down the hall and went to Lobby 7 to see hundreds of nerds, I mean people, gathered for the start of the Mystery Hunt.

I love mail

I love sending mail almost as much as I love getting mail. There is something so nice about opening the mailbox and seeing something besides a bill! And it's nice to find the perfect article to send a friend or to hand write a letter and mail it. Sometimes I see people using their cell phones or texting and I think why don't they just write a letter? One of my favorite things to do is write Mormon missionaries. And I don't use the pouch or email. I send real mail.

Write some letters this year. I dare you!

Note: Photo taken in New York City, 12/09

After Aunt Camp

I got her hooked on this:













And she got me hooked on these:

STOP means STOP (doesn't it?)

I've lived in Boston many years but I still get annoyed when people don't respect the STOP sign. Last night I was driving home through a crazy five-way intersection (that I used to live near). Every corner has a STOP sign but one and last night I had the right-of-way (which really means nothing here) and a big truck went through the STOP sign. I didn't cut in front of him (I'm not dumb) but I did honk (I hope I didn't disturb his cell phone conversation). I showed him.

I'm proud of my California heritage and that I learned to drive where people respect the rules of the road and the right-of-way (and invented Road Rage, right?!).

Care package

I'm sending my nephew a package today. He shares an apartment with a buddy in Florida. Last night I made some ranger cookies and VW bus cloth napkins for him. The napkins match his pajamas.

A holiday distraction

My friend brought Season 1 of Alias to Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed up a few nights until 4:00am and watched all the episodes. We couldn't stop then (I had to be sure Vaughn was OK) so we watched half of Season 2 on the computer (bless you, Youtube!). I was in charge of sitting close to the computer and pushing the buttons on the keyboard (the segments on youtube are about 8 minutes long). I got home around 8:00pm Sunday evening. I may or may not have stayed up until 2:00am that night to finish Season 2. I may or may not have gotten Seasons 3, 4, and 5 from the library and watched them the next three weeks. I may or may not have watched Season 1 with Adrienne as part of Holiday Aunt Camp (now she's hooked).

I may or may not have this picture of Vaughn on my cell phone.

Happy 40th, Judianne!

My friend Judianne turned 40 today! I thought her birthday party was tonight but when I looked at the evite to confirm the address I saw that it was last night. Bummer. I dropped by tonight with some mint brownies and a pouch I made her. I was really sad to miss her party but it was fun to see her tonight. Judianne has a beautiful voice, is a wonderful mother, and is a great friend (oh, and I'm always telling everyone how she has 150 first cousins!).

Leap Year

I saw Leap Year tonight and really liked it. It's a chick-flick. It's predictable. He's handsome.
















I'd love to visit Ireland some day during leap year or not.

Things to do in Boston

My friend Jenn's sister came to visit last week (from Oklahoma). Jenn asked her what she wanted to do while she was here. Her reply: Do you think I could see Ellen's condo?

Did you hear that Freedom Trail???

This may not look like much

But it's called decluttering the kitchen! I tossed some more expired food (nothing as far back as '03 though), tidied up the cupboards, and will move some items I don't use often into the crawl space. Six days into the new year/decade and I'm chipping away at my list.

Dryest skin of the day

I had appointments with the dental hygienist and dermatologist today. I was encouraged to floss more ("try Monday, Wednesday and Friday") and was told I had the dryest skin the dermatologist had seen that day (and she even saw a "really old man"). On a good note, she sprayed TEN pre-cancerous spots on my face with liquid nitrogen (ouch--it stings!) as opposed to 18 the last time I went (I count and keep track). I bought this lotion on my way home and have already used it. Should I add flossing and Cetaphil to my List of 50?!

List of 50

I'm a day or so away from wrapping up a list of 50 things I want to do this year. Just cuz. Here is one fifth of my list:

--bake a lemon meringue pie
--climb to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument (I know...I should have done this years ago)
--visit the Institute of Contemporary Art (on a Thursday night when it's free)
--invite someone to dinner (at least) once a month
--read The Book of Mormon
--read Pride and Prejudice
--drink water every day
--learn to play three (simplified) hymns
--listen to all my CDs
--sew a dress (for me!)

Happy New Goals!

My new chair

My friend, Sister Yin, found this chair on the streets of Brookline, carried it home, and made plans to reupholster it. Then her husband got in grad school in Phoenix and there was no room in the pod for the chair. She offered it to me and tossed in the roll of fabric that she bought to cover it with.

Note: time to google "how to reupholster a chair"

Snuggling

I went to visit my friends the Truscotts the end of the summer and their little boy Sam and I ended up on the couch together while he showed me one of his video games. He said, "We're snuggling!" (hey, he's the one that said it!).

Adrienne and I went to visit the Truscotts on Christmas and stayed over. Every time I asked Sam when we were going to snuggle he replied, "NOBODY".

Alright already.

Who gets what?!

I received a package from my brother Chuck a few days before Christmas. I tucked it under the tree. I opened it on Christmas morning and there was a really nice leather NIKE bag (I've gotten lots of NIKE bags from him), some cool blue shoes, and some vials of perfume. I told Adrienne that I wouldn't use the perfume and asked if she wanted it (she did--but she didn't take it home with her). I thought about giving her the shoes, but Chuck sent them to me so I tried one on and talked about how cool they were.

Fast forward a week and a day. Yesterday I was tidying up some things in my room and I happened to turn over the box that Chuck sent. Imagine my surprise when I found this:













I'm mailing Adrienne her new shoes and perfume tomorrow.

Note: I am feeling the love. And I'm also feeling like a note inside the box might have been a good idea.

Packing up the holidays

The big Christmas tree is tucked away in the crawl space (thanks, Sipherds!) and I'm trying to pack up the rest of the decorations and do some after-Aunt Camp cleaning/tidying/organizing. Oh, and it's snowing. Again!!

Happy New Year!