Busy little bee.

2013 is already proving to be crazy busy.  My weekends are filling up with social obligations.  I have a wedding to plan.  We've had family sadness, though in the midst of that it was good to see family and feel a sense of closeness with them.  The school semester is starting in a matter of days and I hope I am ready for it.  We have plans to travel in the coming months.  I feel like my 2013 is already getting booked and we're only 17 days in!

I am sticking with my goals quite well.  The running has taken a back seat to the start of the semester, but when the days get lighter and things calm down, I will be running my little butt off. 

I've only had coffee ONCE since I started, and that was the day I had to go to my step-grandmother's funeral and I knew it'd be a long day.  This goal has been an easy one to kick.  Next year might be harder, as 2014 is going to be the year of kicking caffeine.

The vegetables are also going well.  Some days are a struggle to find a vegetable I ate so I'll try to make sure to have some carrots.  I think once the semester starts I'll be able to find time to eat healthily again.  We've been roasting a lot of brussel sprouts lately, which I love.  I also have a pinterest board of plenty of tasty vegetable entrees to cook up this winter.

The sweater.  That hasn't started yet.  I think I'll be working on it this Monday when I'm at home watching the Inauguration.  I need to find where I left off and my pattern directions again so I can pick it up.  What's annoying is that I am quite close to being done, and yet I keep putting it off with Christmas knits and a cowl for me.

As mentioned, the beginning of the year there was some sadness.  My stepgrandmother passed away suddenly.  We were heartbroken, as she was very kind and loving.  It was the first family loss Ricky and I experienced, and it's hard to think that she won't be at the wedding, just a mention in a program and a "oh Fran would have loved this!"  It was nice to see the cousins on all sides of the family, and I was glad to be there for all of my family.  January has proven to be sad and with loss two years in a row.

Wedding planning is going well, but no real plans to discuss or cool crafts to show off.  I think we're getting closer to bridesmaid wear, flowers, and food.  You know, the things people will talk about the next day when they're rehashing.

Reading for 50/50 is going really well.  I'll post more books soon to review.


That's it, really.  Just a life update for the three people who read this.

For Fran

All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent. You-You alone will have stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. ...And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night..You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me... You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh.
~The Little Prince

Holidays

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is enjoying their Boxing Day.  Ricky and I have been tidying up, enjoying our new gifts, and are off to see Les Mis at the (newly funded by Kickstarter so it doesn't have to close!) Cinema Salem. 

Above is some star lights that were on my aunt's porch that I thought were pretty when I was leaving their house the night of Christmas.  I though they were pretty against the blue and black.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 10

It's been a crazy weekend, so I am woefully behind on this.  Saturday night was Friendmas.  Friendmas is the annual Christmas get together my friends from high school and I have every year to get together and catch up.  We have a Yankee Swap and play weird games.  It's really fun, and as we've all been pairing off and settling down it's been nice having the spouses be a part of it.

This song doesn't have anything to do with Friendmas, but I wanted to talk about it for a moment.  This day, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about a favorite one of mine from the 80's.  I am of course talking about Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC.  It ends Die Hard (a Landry brother Christmas movie favorite) and it always makes me laugh. 

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 5

Monday began a very busy week of holiday events.  My department had a holiday lunch downtown, and we did our Yankee Swap.  I managed to luck out and being a wine and a weird sushi kit and come home with wine and beer.  Huzzah!

Today let's highlight a favorite of mine, though I know somewhere my mom is groaning.  I've always loved the marriage of styles and generations when David Bowie and Bing Crosby came together to sing The Little Drummer Boy.  The opening is insanely cheesy, but I do love the arrangements.  (I found a version that skipped most of the opening, which is probably for the best)

I tried to purchase it on iTunes for a Christmas mix I made for a friend, but unfortunately you can't get it on iTunes.  WTF, iTunes.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 2

I know it's hard on a day like this to think of holidays and celebration.  My heart aches and I am haunted by the photos of small children holding hands being led out of their school by police, their innocence shaken and probably gone forever.  I'm also saddened by the photos of young parents hugging each other in parking lots, overcome with grief.  Of President Obama tearing up at a press conference not as an elected official, but as a parent putting himself in their place.  It's all a lot to stomach and hopefully this moment will be the moment that calls for changed legislation and help for those who are mentally ill and unstable.

In spite of this, and maybe because of this, I listened to music that cheers me up at the end of the day at work.  A brief escape from the stress of today.  While this doesn't erase the feelings I'm feeling, it does help alleviate some of that sadness.

I decided on Vince Guaraldi's Ice Skating, since I've always loved A Charlie Brown Christmas, and thought it'd be a nice note to end today on.  Kids enjoying wintertimes and feeling carefree, something that every child should have, and sadly a grouping of them lost today.

Hug your loved ones a lot tighter tonight, and be very grateful of everything you have in your life.

While watching the DNC...

...and I see all these old grandmothers with hats that are adorned with the pins of old Democratic presidents, it makes me think of my grandmother.  Who has two embroidered portraits in her basement, and dried floral arrangements at the base of each of those portraits.

Those portraits are these two men.

And when I saw it for the first time, she asked me straight-faced "are you familiar with our presidents?"

Please keep in mind that these two men had not been in office for 61 and 43 years, respectively.

She then asked if I wanted her wedding dress -- a wedding dress that was at least 3 sizes too small -- but that's a story for another day.

Coo, what a sight!

I do promise I have several more favorite things to discuss, but I wanted to send a HUGE appreciation out to Robert Sherman.  The Sherman brothers pretty much wrote the soundtrack to my childhood.  There is somewhere out there a VHS tape of me and Pete jumping on the couch enthusiastically to Step In Time. 

When you read a list of all the Disney movies The Sherman brothers penned music for, you'll be amazed.  Mary Poppins.  Parent Trap.  Jungle Book.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  And I'm just skimming the surface!

I highly recommend renting the Sherman Brothers documentary, because it's fascinating.  It displays all the songs they wrote together, but also shows the strained and complicated relationship the brothers had their entire adult lives.  It's amazing.

The passing of Robert Sherman yesterday seems to close out a "deaths from my childhood come in threes", with Jan Berenstain and Davy Jones last week.


Here's a favorite of mine from Mary Poppins:

MFT Day 23: New Beginnings

Friends and readers will know that part of the reason I'm focusing on things I like for the next 30 days is because January, for all intents and purposes, blew chunks.  What is the highlight of awfulness for me was the loss of Millie and Coco.  I'll admit it:  I'm still sad about Millie.  A memory will pop in my head or I'll see a Weimaraner on the street and find myself being sad.  I know it'll fade with time -- I was the same way when Penny died -- but it's still quite sad.

But we can't dwell and live in the past, and it's important to move on emotionally and also open your heart to new pets and experiences.  And so I introduce my parents' new dog... Sandy:

Sandy's about 3 months old, and a mix of a wide array of dogs.  She was adopted on Wednesday and is slowly and quietly getting used to her new digs.  She's very sweet, with hints of being feisty, but down to her core she is a snuggle bunny.  We're all quite taken by her.


And if you were wondering, no she is not named after the dog from Annie.  She's named after Sandy Bay and because we live near the beach.  And unlike another Sandy I know... she won't pick up a n'er do well on the beach in the summertime for a summer fling that turns into a high school fling.

MFT Day 19: Instagram

I am late to the game, but my grandfather just gave me a hand me down iPod touch, which I've been enjoying while commuting.  The battery life is a lot longer than all other iPods I've had (disclosure:  they've all been about 4 years old and from him, which may have something to do with it) and I like having access to apps and the internet while on the train.  One app I've been really liking is Instagram.

This iPod doesn't have a camera on it, so what I've been doing is taking my favorite photos from the last few years and "Instagramming" them.  I like how low tech and slightly warped the images look, especially since they were so crisp on my digital camera.  I'm planning on getting an iPhone in the months between the two weddings I'm in (my current phone is on the decline, but I'm trying to avoid having to purchase a new phone to save money) and I can't wait until I have an Apple product with the camera so I can take new photos and Instagram them on the spot.

I wish there was a way to print some of them, because I love how they look and would definitely frame them.  Above is a photo of a barn I took when visiting my cousin's farm in Vermont.  I liked the photo before, but I LOOOOVE the photo now. 

MFT Day 10: The Point!

The siblings Landry all mourned the last month in our different ways, but one thing that we all had in common was listening to an album that we all enjoyed as a kid.  That would be Harry Nilsson's The Point!  (I get the sense that subconsciously I listen to Nilsson music to be happy)  I could wax poetic about the album for hours, but I thought instead I'd talk about the movie The Point instead.

I joked to Ricky that to me, Ringo Starr was first famous to me as the narrator of The Point and not the Beatle drummer.  We grew up watching The Point, and I still know almost all the words to the songs.  I also love all the illustrations, that they're so simple (pen and ink and a lot of watercolor) but convey so much.  And honestly, who hasn't felt like an outsider and that they don't have a point in the world when everyone else does?

I was going to post Me and My Arrow, but it made me too sad, since it's about the greatest dog ever... and clearly I can't handle that right now.  So instead I'll do my favorite number, Are you Sleeping:

A new 30 day challenge

Further proof that, yet again, Julie Andrews playing Maria Von Trapp is the answer to all of life's problems.


Friends will know that January of 2012 has been a very, very hard month.  It's been long, tiring, tear-inducing.  I'm very glad to be saying goodbye, as are my brothers and mum/Leo.

Ricky keeps telling me that good things are to come, and we both need to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and try to embrace the rest of 2012.  I think he is right.  I think while it's easy to be bogged down by the bad, it doesn't help anyone. 

This morning while getting ready for work, I thought of a new 30 day blogging challenge for myself.  And yes, this is inspired by The Sound of Music.  Every day for 30 days I'm going to blog about some of my favorite things.  It could be a song, a whole album, a person, an article of clothing, a feeling, a food, a painting, a brand of yarn.  Anything.  It's to change perspective and for myself to think of something good and happy and wonderful every day.

I'll be starting this whole process tomorrow.  I'm starting on the 31st because there are only 29 days in February.  Also, because I'll be starting on Jess' wedding weekend on the 1st, so that way I'm not frantically trying to blog something before going to Gloucester for a rehearsal/rehearsal dinner.  This could be an interesting month of posts, or it could be painfully boring.  Only time will tell.

Sonic Bloom

It's been a rough week or so in our neck of the woods, with the death of Millie and my mum's cat running away and still no sign of her (this is Coco, the little one).  I'm ready to give up on all of January 2012 unless something drastic happens.  (i.e., Coco the cat returns unscathed)

This morning when walking to work, I think my iPod knew that I needed some happy music (because... you know... iPods can think and read people's minds) so it played Sonic Bloom by the Polyphonic Spree.  I love this song and album, so it was a nice treat.




I hope you also enjoy this song today.

Millie

 

Facebook and real life friends of mine know that on Thursday, we had to put Millie down at age 12 years and 4 months to the day.  The arthritis in her hips and bad legs had gotten to be too much, and the girl couldn't walk anymore.  Sam and Mum brought her in on Thursday.

The sadness and pain are unimaginable.

We're all trying to get through this as best we can, with mixed results.  We all knew that she was old and sick, and that she had had a long and full and happy life, but it doesn't make this period any easier.  We've been emailing each other photos of happier days, of Millie running on a beach or walking in the woods.  It's easier to remember those days than the end.

This also marks an end for us, the end of our childhood pets.  Penny, Midnight, and Millie are all gone, as is that phase in my life. 

I'm thinking of happy memories of Millicent.  When we lived in Gloucester in the winter at that off season rental, and when I was home from college I'd take her for walks on Long Beach so she could run.  When she used to sleep with me, Penny, and Midnight all together in my little twin bed.  When you'd push the swirl on her behind, and her tail would instantly flop down, as if for modesty.  Her neuroses.  Her quirks.  The freckles on her nose.

I know it was time, but it highlights a cruel caveat to having pets:  inevitably, you will outlive them and have to experience a great sense of loss in what seems like a moment after they've entered your lives.



So rest in peace, sweet dear Millie.  A day will not go by where I will not appreciate all you brought to our lives.

Oh Phil

There's a Facebook meme going around where you post the #1 single in the country where you were born the week you were born.  I had high hopes of something cool and awesome, but instead... I had Phil Collins' Against All Odds:



Fortunately it seems everyone born in 1984 has similarly crappy/cheesy #1 songs.  What's crazy is when you go down the rabbit hole of #1 songs for your much younger family members.  Like my Gorrell cousins...

Zach:  Alannah Myles' Black Velvet




Calvin:  Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You




Walter:  TLC's Creep (this is when it gets a little sad times/rough, because I definitely remember having this song played at Middle School dances...)




Henry:  Spice Girls' Wannabe




Joseph:  Cher's Believe





So yeah, that happened. 

Christmas knits: the boys' hats

A few years ago, I made my brothers fingerless mitts for Christmas.  While this was fun, it was perhaps a bit too ambitious to start them in December, since I was a slower knitter and barely finished them.  Or, if I recall correctly, I only finished one mitt for each and then made the other two while they were on winter break.  There we go, that's it.  This year, I decided to just stick with hats, particularly because they both lost a mitt (ugh) and also because I didn't have as much time to focus on something that small and detailed with all the other knitting projects I had to do this time of year.

I made a bit ago the Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood for Erin's boyfriend, Matt.  He liked it, and with the scrap yarn I made myself a hat.  Matt had requested another striped hat for Christmas, so I decided to make one for him out of whatever scrap yarn I had from Pete's hat. 

Because Pete's a redhead, I decided to go with browns and greens.  This is also the color of his winter coat.  Matt's looks similar to Pete's, except that his is more darker grey stripes and less brown and green.  Sam likes blue more, so I went with various colors of blue.  The skein of striping yarn for Sam also included some greys and whites, which helped not make it too blue, if that makes sense.  I really like how they turned out, and I think they both liked them.  I used Cascade 220 for both solid colors and then Noro Silk Garden for the self striping.  Noro's colors are lovely, and I like how Cascade both highlights and mellows it.  Also, it's a very warm hat, since I've been wearing mine a lot while walking to the train and then work.  Quite pleased with it.

Mum was so impressed by Sam's hat, that she's requested her own.  Fortunately, you can make two hats from a skein of Cascade 220 and a skein of Noro Silk Garden with this pattern, so I have all the materials already!  Hers will be a bit brighter of blue, but that's fine.  When I finish that hat, I'll post the photos of both that hat and Matt's hat. 

Again, here are Ricky and I modeling Christmas hats by the water.  (in case you were wondering, we went out for Breakfast, and then grabbed all the Christmas knits and took photos of them before wrapping them up)  Ricky's wearing Pete's hat, and I'm wearing Sam's. 

I can't post the rest of Christmas knitting right now since I haven't given it away yet, so I'll be posting some of the to do list accomplishments I've completed so far.  (hooray!)  My list may also have been too ambitious, because Ricky got me Price is Right for the wii and I am hoooooked.

Christmas knits: Beth's cowl

Now that Christmas is over and most of my Christmas knits have been distributed, I'm going to blog about them.  The first will be the cowl I gave Ricky's mom Beth.  Beth's had a hard few months, and she's always been very sweet to me, so I wanted to make her a nice hand knit this year.  And, since time was of the essence, I went with a cowl.

My friend (and new mom!) Crystal of Domesticated Human recently published a cowl pattern she made for a gift using one skein of Malabrigo.  I love Malabrigo merino worsted for it's soft squishiness, and thought that Beth would as well.  I had a skein of a light purple -- I thought I'd like the color when I purchased it, but no such luck -- that I decided to use, since it's a color she'd enjoy.

Knitting this up was a breeze.  It only took a few days of knitting on the train, and I was finished.  I decided to go up a needle size to make the drape looser and also because Beth is taller and her features are larger than Crystals.  (she's like 5'10")  I'm glad I did, since it did make it a lot looser.  I loved how the dropped stitches looked, and it made for an interesting pattern.


I modeled it by the ocean to take photos for ravelry and also here.  It was definitely warm and soft, so I'm glad I picked this yarn for the gift.  I gave it to her yesterday, and she LOVED it.  So much.  Ricky was even touching it and she joked with him not to, in case it got damaged (note:  it won't, it's quite sturdy).  I'm glad I made it for her, since she definitely appreciated it and will get a lot of use out of it.

Thankful

While taking the train into work this morning, I began to make a list in my head of things I am thankful for in 2011.  I think 2011 has been, at times, even more emotionally trying than 2010, so I feel perhaps even more thankful than usual for these things:

Ricky
Lewis PizzaCat
Alva (still healthy and happy as a clam!)
My health and the health of my family
My friends
Having a reasonably priced apartment
My love of knitting
My job
The YMCA
Shopping local and the growing popularity of that concept
Friends being in love (but that being said, I am thankful that I don't have to go to another wedding for 4 months!)
Freshly baked goods
Hot tea
Tasty wine
My apartment appearing more and more like an adult lives there and not a college grad with a non-matching set of furniture
Millie
Foliage
Long weekends to Vermont
Farmer's Markets
Salem Restaurant Week
Warm wool socks
Mashed potatoes
The Landry brothers
Netflix
Comfy shoes
Blogs that post pretty things (looking at you, Apartment therapy)
Pinterest
Not moving in 2011
TBTL

Birthdays

My mom turned 50 on Saturday, which is insane.  I made cupcakes (see photo) for the party her family threw for her.  They're chocolate buttermilk cake with a chocolate cream cheese frosting.  As we know, my mom loves whales, so I found dolphin sprinkles... which are as close as I could find to a whale sprinkle.

It's definitely odd having my mom turn 50, since I always felt like I was the friend who had the young mom.  (which is true... my mom is one of the youngest of my friends who are my age)  But I guess since I am growing older, I guess that makes sense.  And, if you think about it, my mom is still the young mom since she's only turning 50 now.  And I'm pushing 28.

It was a good party.  Everyone met up at a local restaurant that's a family favorite for BBQ and volleyball in the back yard.  Low key and definitely fun.  Only two cousins couldn't make it, since they go to college in far away states, so the turnout was quite impressive.

I'm glad we could give my mom a special day, since she deserves it and does so much for us.  She said she enjoyed it, so that's all we could ask for.

If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true, The box would be empty except for the memory of how they were answered by you...

Ricky and I have been watching the original Muppet Show on Netflix.  We just watched the Edgar Bergen episode (kind of awkward/painful, watching the two forms of puppetry try to find a common ground) but one moment I had forgotten about was the Muppet Show version of Time in a Bottle.  It was a quiet, sweet, and certainly wistful moment for the show.  I sometimes wonder if Henson knew that no matter what, there wouldn't be enough time for him to do everything he wanted to do and accomplish in his lifetime. 



I think I may even like this version more than Croce's version.






Also, giant shout out to my mom on her 50th birthday.  I just got back from a party for her with all my family, and took photos, but I will post them tomorrow.