Bring on Spring

I took this photo in Maine a few years ago. It was the window of an abandoned house. I love that flowers are growing on the inside of the window.

Rain rain go away

I wonder if this umbrella was put in/on the trash can because it was broken or out of protest from all the rain we've gotten in Boston. Rumor is we're going to have a 75 degree day this weekend.

I. can't. wait.

C is for confidence

I love this quote. 'nuf said.

the Kwons visit

I turned around in the chapel today and recognized a family that lived in the ward 7 years ago. I think the dad was/is a judge in Korea and he studied at Harvard Law for one year before returning to Korea. They are now living in North Carolina for a year and they drove up to visit their old stomping ground. It was so great to see them. The ward has changed a lot but there were a few of us that they remembered. I'm trying to dig up some photos I took of them at the Temple right before they moved. I have one of the youngest girl that is one of my very favorite photos (I know...if it's a favorite why can't I find it...).

I love living in Boston for a lot of reasons. One of the reasons is that people that have lived here come back to visit. I always say, "If you lived in Dubuque, Iowa, you probably wouldn't want to go back but if you lived in Boston, it's a great place to visit."

Note: I hope none of my Iowa blog fans were offended by that comment.

Movie recommendation

This movie was so good. Surprisingly good. I saw it last night. It's about forgiveness and life and love. I really enjoyed it.

Craft/Treat day

I got together with Natalie and Nicole (and their mom Judianne) this morning to make Easter egg cream puffs and covered clipboards. We always have a fun time together.

Robes' Cajun Shrimp recipe

PHOTO GIVE-AWAY!!!

I woke up to SNOW this morning. SNOW?!?!? NO WAY!!! Good thing I didn't pack my coat, gloves, scarf or scraper away. I want 70 degrees. Since it's technically Spring, I'm having a Spring photo give-away. Leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner at midnight Saturday night.

Shrimp dish and a movie

Thirteen years ago my brother Robes was diagnosed with a brain tumor. That is nothing to celebrate but in honor of him (and his mad cooking skills and better-than-my-taste in movies) I made his cajun shrimp tonight (a first -- I've never cooked shrimp before), am watching "Patton" (which of course our mom took us to see in the theater in 1970) and missing him big time.

Note: the shrimp was delicious--I ate it with french bread (soaked in the juice).

Those Runaways

As you can see from these scanned in pages from my junior high yearbook, I went to school with the Currie twins. Cherie left junior high to be in the band THE RUNAWAYS. I had a paper route and was a Girl Scout.

A few years ago I watched this documentary about the band; it was really interesting. And now there is a new movie about them starring Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart.

I wonder who will be ME in the movie about my life...

While NOT thinking about The Assessment...

...I did some sewing tonight: a "table topper" and two drawstring bags. I feel bad about cutting the kid's head off in that top left square (oh well) but other than that, I think it turned out pretty cute. Maybe I should $ell these...

as-sess-ment (noun)

JUST LAST NIGHT I was telling a friend about the building I live in (and how great it was--which it is) because she had expressed interest in possibly purchasing one of the condos. In the course of the conversation I told her about the two assessments I've had since I moved in (nearly 5 years ago). The first one was right after I moved in and it was for re-doing part of the sidewalk (welcome to home ownership!). The second one was last year--to re-roof the building--and it was considerable. I told my friend that I hadn't heard any rumblings about upcoming assessments and that I doubted there would be one in the near future.

Tonight when I got my mail there was an envelope from the management company. To quote my neighbor, "When you get a letter from the management company it is never good news." Inside the envelope was an assessment. Gosh! My phone call last night totally jinxed me.

I told my neighbor that it would be nice if they sent us a little postcard with flowers on it a few weeks before they mailed us the assessment just to let us know it would be arriving. Yeah, right.

I love Mary Janes

Before I could even get my finger completely fixed I started having foot problems. I went to the doctor and the doctor said: Capsulitis. The doctor suggested I take Aleve (not to be confused with "a leave" of absence from work--I wish!), get some new running shoes (I don't run but I do like running shoes), and wear this fancy shoe for two weeks. Oh, and he also said, "Take smaller steps, walk slower, smell the roses. Take it easy." Oh, OK. I disguised my new sort of Mary Jane over the weekend and only a few people noticed. I'm not going to lie: the shoe is u-g-l-y but my foot doesn't h-u-r-t when I'm wearing it.

March 21, 1898

Grandma Pitchforth was born 112 years ago today. I wrote a little tribute to her a few years ago. Lucky me -- I wear her wedding band on my left middle finger; it's a bit big for me which reminds me of how it was on her finger too. She was a great cook, baker, pianist, card game player, letter writer, friend, and I know she loved me (even though I got sent home early from her house one summer).

Short sleeves

Yesterday I wore short sleeves for the first time in, oh I don't know, SIX MONTHS?!? It was worth the wait. We've had gorgeous weather the last few days. It's called Spring!

Arlington Ward Talent Show

From ballet to dancing to drumming to alien singing to regular singing to lots of fun acts. I was a great talent show!!

It was cheaper...

...can you guess why?!

Old green

I didn't wear any green today and nobody pinched me. Too bad.

I found this shelf while antiquing in upstate N.Y. a few weekends ago. It's old and battered and really cool. I'm quickly filling up the 10 cubbies with fabric, knitting needles and some treasures. I wonder what it used to hold?

2 visits, 2 projects, and a treat

Tonight I visited two women in the ward (one moved into the ward recently and the other had a baby two weeks ago), hung a rack for some of my bags, finished a table runner I started out of remnants from this quilt, and made some St. Patrick's Day cupcakes to take to work.

Carded (again)

One of my college roommates turned 21 so I thought I'd be clever and buy her a beer (AS A JOKE). I went to the 7-11 in Provo, Utah and got carded. I was so insulted. I was 21 and 9 days after all.

My roommate washed her hair with that bottle of beer.

Friday night I went to Target to buy some toiletry items (I had Flexible Spending Account money to spend) and I bought ALCOHOL-FREE cough syrup. And got carded. I asked the clerk how old she thought I was and she said thirty-five. This time I was flattered not insulted.

Today's talk

My talk went well today. My topic was RELIEF SOCIETY IS...and I had a list of 45 (true story) examples that I shared. My counselors' and secretary's talks were great. And all the women sang (or lip synch'd) "Home can be a Heaven on Earth" which was beautiful (I taped it so it might even end up here on the blog if I can find out how to download files off a digital recorder).

There were a few people in the audience who I didn't recognize but no one introduced themselves as a blog fan (or stalker).

I wanted to start the wave when my talk was done but I totally chickened out.

Meet my heater

I bought this fleece jacket at L.L. Bean in October with the intent that it would keep me warm this winter. And it has. Because my heater hasn't been working correctly (I had it "fixed" but there may be a leak which I'll have checked once the weather is nicer since the unit is on the roof) and trying to avoid a $250.00 electric bill (like last year) I haven't used the heat much at all. My last electric bill was under a hundred dollars---my lily pond fleece jacket is my best friend.

Cute as a button

Meet adorable Abby.

R.S. Birthday celebration

Tonight was our Relief Society birthday celebration. We had a swap (of new or gently items we were ready to part with) and decorated cupcakes. It was a lot of fun and the Relief Society Meeting Committee did a great job. Happy 168th Birthday, Relief Society!!

Note: I made the bottom "popcorn" cupcakes.

INVITATION

I am speaking in church this Sunday and YOU are invited. To celebrate the 168th birthday of the Relief Society my whole presidency will speak and all the women in the ward will sing a song. The Arlington Ward meets at 2pm (Sacrament Meeting is 70 minutes long) at 15 Ledgewood Place in Belmont.

It would be great to see you. There are no assigned seats.

Temporary pain/Permanent art

I had a mammogram today. I know this picture is blurry (who is the lame photographer? -- oh that would be me!) but it was my bright moment of the day. MGH bought these 5 photographs from me about 8 years ago--permanent art--and I love seeing them on mammogram day.

The dinner story

A newly activated couple in the ward invited me, along with the missionaries, to have dinner with them tonight. As a single sister I can't have the missionaries over without having an entourage (OK; that's an exaggeration but I believe I would have to have two additional people over). So my point of this post isn't about my issues with (not) feeding the missionaries (hey, I give them baked goods every now and then which counts for something, right?!) but how thoughtful it was of my new friend to invite me over when they "fed the elders".

The end.

View from the church parking lot

Belly buddies

Five years ago almost to the day, I took this photo of my friends (Julie pregnant with Sam on the left and Ashley pregnant with Elle on the right). They had their babies a week apart and they are little buddies.



















Here they are today. Julie pregnant with a girl (#4) and Ashley pregnant with a boy (#3). Ashley is due in a month and Julie is due in June.

CH-CH-CHange

I've been tossing my change in this bottle for a while now. Not quarters; I hoard those for laundry. I finally took the change to the bank last night and dumped it in one of those machines that counts it for you. I was shocked at how much was in there: $52.69. Sweet. I got fifty $1 bills to use in case of an emergency (I figure a fifty dollar bill will be useless).

The cancer club

I found out this week that I have squamous cell carcinoma in situ on my right index finger. I went to the dermatologist two months ago for my regular check-up and showed her a spot on my finger (the size of a pencil eraser). I never bumped it or cut it or hurt it so I was curious about it. The doctor said to put antibiotic cream and a band-aid on it for a month and if it didn't go away, to make an appointment and she would do a biopsy.


















I followed the doctor's instructions and the sore did go away but the red circle never did. These last three weeks (while I was waiting for my follow-up appointment) I didn't treat it and it got bumpy and sore. I went in Monday morning and the doctor did a biopsy (OUCH!) and gave me instructions to clean it every day with hydrogen peroxide, put antibiotic cream on it and wear a band-aid until it healed (1-2 weeks). The doctor called Wednesday with the report that it was superficial skin cancer and referred me to a plastic surgeon (I assumed that appointment was to "fix" where she did the biopsy--naive me). Sometimes we don't even know what questions to ask. When I called the plastic surgeon's office to make an appointment they said it was to have more removed. Hmmm.

I'm not shocked that I have skin cancer. I had two really really bad sunburns as a teenager and I've had numerous pre-cancerous spots on my face sprayed with liquid nitrogen. My finger is healing, the plastic surgeon will remove a teeny bit more of my finger in a few weeks and I'll be fine. No casseroles needed.

My friend Bruce (the artist)

I visited my friend Bruce tonight on my way home from work. He's 4 and he calls me "Ellen Patton". Bruce was finishing up this picture when I got there. He's on the right (all green) and that's me on the left with looooooong arms and glasses and 9 strands of hair. I love this picture and I love Bruce.

No movie night

I was looking forward to the arrival of Adam from Netflix yesterday so imagine my disappointment when all I got was half an envelope and no DVD. No movie night for me.

Whistle blower

That's my half-brother John (haha--get it?----just kidding!) reffing a girls' LA city playoff game last weekend.

Another barn in upstate N.Y.

Even my hydrogen peroxide is expired

I must have bought this hydrogen peroxide about the time I bought this. Tonight I walked over to Walgreens to get some more. I'm calling that FHE.