Paula's Ponderings

Wishing everyone a Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!  In honor of that here is a little Friday Fun.

Thought I would check in.  What have I been up to you ask? (Ok so you didn't ask, but you are reading this any how.)  Well, my summer is going way to fast because we have only 1 week of July left.  I am sure that August will go faster. 

Clif and I were in southern Indiana for a family reunion, my mom's side of the family.  We started that week off with a 36 hour stop over in Chicago to hang out with Clif's sister and her husband.  Ate good food, drank good drinks...best margarita ever at Topolobampo, champagne margarita!  The family reunion was fun, we stayed in cabins at Brown County State Park in Nashville, Indiana.  30 family members from 4 generations for 3 days...good times.  Trip home started off good with some of the best ice cream we have ever had at the Fair Oaks Dairy Farm, but then the Chicago traffic at 20 mph for 1.5 hours was too much to handle.

Work is busy right now with a major redesign of the university's web site due in August.  I also have a new staff member starting on August 1.  Two weeks of training I will leave him and go on vacation again for a week.  Clif and I will be going home to Western New York.  We will stay at Mom & Dad's house in Lockport, visit family grandparents, aunt/uncle, cousins, sisters, etc.  We are also looking forward to hanging some old friends for a night at the Buffalo Brew Pub... some of the best wings in the city, oh yeah they have good beer as well.

In the meantime, we are keeping a close eye on the hurricane in South Texas where Clif's mom is on the edge of it waiting for the worst to hit.  She tells us one cat in in hiding and the other one is in the window watching the rain and wind.

Wiley is now home and seems to be almost back to his normal self, just a bit tired.  He has also had the time to post about his ordeal on his blog The Wiley Wire.

Clif and I arrived home at the usual time of 4:50.  We were greeted at the door by Wiley, who was excited to head out to play frisbee even if it was raining.  As I walked into the house I quickly learned that he had gotten a hold of one of Clif's slippers.  (Now, this is one of his old slippers that Clif uses to go outside and untangle the dog when he wraps himself around the tree or deck.)  On further inspection the slipper that was on the floor surround by some bits is actually untouched.  This makes me wonder where the bits came from.  Clif and I search the house everywhere, but can't find the second slipper.  The only thing we can assume is that he ate the whole slipper.  Yes, you read that correctly, the dog ate an entire leather slip with a rubber bottom!

We called the Vet and they said that we just need to watch him for signs of trouble.  It might be that he will be fine, but that it could cause him trouble as late as sometime on Monday.  What a fun weekend this will be.

I have had a pretty productive week so far.  I launched the new Humanistic Studies web site, check it out and let me know what you think.  I have also created a design for the new Common Theme initiative on campus.  This is still only an image, but you can also check that out at http://www2.uwgb.edu/commontheme, again feedback is welcome.   Finally, I cleaned up about 25 emails that have asked me to do this and that.

It will be a really productive week if I can finish up a third design option for the redesign of the University's web site.  This has been an interesting process and I know the fight isn't over yet.

Once again I have decided that they only way I am going to blog is to blog about something that I am interested in and to kept brief.  I have created a new blog called Lens Art, you will find it at lensart.wordpress.com.  In addition, if you want to know what I have been up to you can find me on twitter from time to time, username ganyardp. 

Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.  40 years is not something that many people get to these days.  You would think it should be a large celebration, but it was a quiet celebration consisting of a gift from their children (I am the oldest of 4). We figured that we couldn't let the 40th go by with just your ordinary gift, so with a great idea from my brother, we purchased them an original piece of artwork.  There is this local artist (local to Western New York), Joe Whalen,  known for his watercolor work in particular, that my mother has always admired.  She has often said "Someday I would like to own a Whalen."  Well now she does.  Not so sure that Dad is as excited, but at least it will be something that will be in the family for years to come.

Thanks for the magic of web cams I got to watch them open it.  Clif and I gave everyone in the family web cams for Christmas for just this reason that you can be there virtually when you can't be there physically.

To my parents, congratulations on 40 years.  We all should be as lucky.

Before Christmas I posted about all of the stuff that I had to do and that I might get it all done if I didn't sleep, well here is the update to that post.

The two quilts for my sisters. Done!
Click on the thumbnail to see the pictures.


Dried flower artwork for my sister-in-law. Done! This project really started after her wedding in June. I took flowers from the wedding and broke them apart to flatten and dry the petals and leaves. Then I assembled them into a picture of three flowers (see below, click for larger image). The flowers are made of three rose petals, three orchid petals on top of that, and the stems are three leaves from the orchids. I have been told that it was the only gift that made Debra cry this year, guess that was good.


The stationary for my aunt was dropped, but that I already posted about. Maybe this year.  In fact, I really should start putting things like that together now, so that I don't find myself so much in a rush.

Afghan for my parents.  Done!  I was pleased with the way this had turned out.  If I did it again I probably would make it a little longer, but it still turned out nice.

Baking...well the poppycock was finished and I gave up on all of the rest.  We had enough stuff in the house and my mom sent us Christmas cookies, so I didn't feel the need to add to it.

All in all I didn't do too badly.  Starting a little earlier on homemade gifts wouldn't be a bad idea, but then it wouldn't be me.

I went electronic this year.  Click for the Christmas Card.

Paula

But the fire is so delightful!  Really!  The snow has been falling all day, but I don't care too much when I am sitting before a nice warm fire with a glass of Port.  My puppy dog is sleeping on his sheepskin rug.  Clif is reading some history book.  I am sure tomorrow I will be swearing about the weather, but for now...LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW.

We have just passed the one month to Christmas mark.  I have a list of projects that I need to get done in that time, which doesn't seem too bad except for the fact that since all of our gifts need to be mailed to family, which means I really only have 3 weeks at the most.

I have two quilts to make, one for each of my sisters.  They are both using the Attic Window pattern (example can be found here), one will have bright colors of greens and pinks with the window fabric being daisies.  The other one will be a black and white quilt.  I have been wanting to do a black and white quilt for sometime, but just work out until now.  These should each take a day of sewing.

The next project on the list is to take dried flower petals from my bouquet at my sister-in-law's wedding and put it into a picture that we can give to Debra and Bob.  (BTW, anyone interested in seeing me in a purple dress with my hair in an updo can check out the photos.)  I am basing this project on the picture we have that was done for us with flowers from our wedding.  I have already dried the flowers by pressing this all summer, so now I just need some creative inspiration to put it together into something.  This I need to work on this weekend because I need to get this framed when I am finished.

Next, is a set of stationary for my aunt whom I got in the Christmas exchange again this year.  I am going to print out a number of "artistic" photos from the past few years and put them on cardstock.  Maybe give each photo a title.  Not sure what else to give her, plus it gives me something to do with my photos.  This will be couple of afternoons or evenings, one to pick the photos and one to put them together.

I am also trying to finish knitting an afghan for my parents.  I am down to the last two skeins of the nine that the pattern called for.  Since I was able to knit a skein over the course of a couple of nights, I figure I should be able to finish this in the next two weeks easily.  If I could actually get a lunch hour then I might could work on it then, but I doubt that will happen.

There is also the need to make up a few batches of Poppycock, Pistachio Praline Bars, and chocolate covered pretzels.  These items are given out to a number of people at work and various friends.  Don't forget the cookies that I make for Clif each year and maybe even some homemade biscuits for Wiley.   And there is the regular shopping, wrapping and shipping once this is all done.

Finally, I need to decorate the house by December 13 because I am hosting my Bunco group for December.  Hey, at least I decided to not send Christmas cards this year.

So I figure that if I don't sleep from now until about December 18 then I will get everything done.  Check back and I will let you know how this all went.

Maybe someday a picture will be worth a thousand dollars. Here are some photos from the Florida trip a couple of weeks ago. These pictures are from Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Miami Beach.

Enjoy!
Paula

I ask myself this question every year when the cold weather starts.  I love the warm weather we had this summer.  I love the fact that on October 7 it was nearly 90 degrees. But one day of cold rain and I just hate the fact that I live so far north.  I really only have myself to blame.  I am the one that got the job here 10 years ago that moved us here.  Now I didn't move from some sunny warm climate...I moved from the Buffalo, New York area.  It is just as I get older I hate the cold more and more.

Last year I thought "if I am going to live here then I need to learn to love the winter again", so I decided that I would try some winter sports like cross country skiing and snowshoeing.  Did I get to do any of that, no.  Either we didn't get a lot of snow when I could go or we got snow when I was busy with other things.

I guess I will give it another try, but don't get me wrong I am still all for global warming! 

I got this cool new toy for my birthday. It is a digital camera that hooks directly into the telescope like the rest of my lenses and then with a USB it connects directly to my laptop. I can take photos of things like the moon quite easily now. Here is a shot that I got this morning at about 5:45 am.


Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.

I also got a shot of Venus, which is currently in a crescent phase, but it came out looking more like a 1950s UFO then a planet. 

I don't know which is worse when you can't fall asleep at night or when you wake up two hours before you need to?  Right now, my answer would have to be waking up 2 hours before you have to.  I wasn't completely wake until my mind decided to think about things, God don't you just hate that?  So then I had to get up to verify the information, so it would stop bugging me.  Well now, I am wide awake.

I hear noises, so Clif must now be up, which means that the dog will also be up.  One of them will find me in here working...Wiley...and the other one will follow asking me what I am doing...Clif.  So I will try to sneak back into bed and maybe I can get another hour.

I have always said that my age doesn't bother me and that I have never understood why people would want to hide their age.  I figure there are lots of people who didn't have a chance to be 39, so I just need to be proud of the fact. 

Instead of just adding another year, I hope that I also get better with each passing year.  I don't know if that is the case, but I do try.  Being the last year of my 30s I have decided that I am going to try and make this the best one yet.  I am going to add more things to my lifetime -to-do list and hope to take a few things off that list.  I hope to add some new place on the "Oh the Places I will Go" map.  Finally, I going to just enjoy the next year.

Clif had posted on his live journal a link to "What Tarot Card are You?", so I decided to take it. Here is the result.

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluctuation, particularly when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

 I guess that is me.  I do rely on my instincts a great deal, they have gotten me where I am today.  I also hold information and I may or may not reveal it...it all depends on whether I feel you deserve the information.  This can get me into trouble at work, but then I don't feel that I should do your job for you.  My husband will be the first to say that I can certainly be moody.

Three day weekends always make me wonder how two day weekends ever came to be.  Think about it, if you were the person creating the work week would you have done a 5 / 2 split?  Not me, I would have preferred the 4/3 or better the 3/4.

This three day weekend is for Labor Day, another thing that I have always found odd.  Why do we get a day off to celebrate labor?  This holiday has been around since the 1880s and was originally intended to celebrate the trade and labor organizations.  There used to be parades and activities for the workers and their families.  Now Labor day is filled with those final picnics of summer, even though summer goes until September 21.  It is the day when all white shoes need to be put away...seriously, who came up with that stupid rule?  For those of us in the northern states it is the last day of summer vacation before having to return to school.  For many it is a day to catch up at the office.

So whatever Labor Day is to you, enjoy it, it only comes around once a year!