I've Been Tagged

A few weeks ago Beth tagged me and I’ve been lax in writing up the seven random things about myself.

Vacation is over so no more excuses! Here’s my seven random things:

1. I love love love the smell of mulch. Not just any mulch, but the really stinky black mulch. I love to mulch and refuse to wear gloves while working with it. I think I was a dog in a previous life.

2. My daughter came pretty close to being born on my birthday. I actually felt fairly strong contractions on that day, but then they stopped on their own. Quinn was born three days after my birthday, but 21 days before she was due.

3. I’ve been to Asia, Europe, and the U.K. and will be heading to South America this summer. But I’d really love to visit Africa.

4. I’m a pretty big sci-fi geek and used to watch Dr. Who every night at 7:30 on PBS with my Dad. I even know what TARDIS stands for.

5. On the subject of sci-fi: I absolutely love Starbuck from Battlestar. Don't you think that character is much better as a girl?

6. I decided that I wanted to go into advertising at the age of 13 when I saw the “1984” commercial from Apple on the supper bowl. Nine years later, I got my first job in advertising.

7. I just started running. After a lifetime of not running, I can now run eight miles. I don’t know why I started. I don’t know when I’ll stop.

Wish Me Luck

We safely got back from the beach yesterday having only one short scary incident with the kids in the ocean (there's always one scary incident). We even made it back in one day, and in time to go to a Summer Solstice party that a coworker was throwing. It was a couple of days after the Solstice, but I bet we could have still stood eggs up on their end if we wanted to.

Now that we're back I have only seven days to complete two shower gifts for friends of mine. I'm making a crib quilt for one and a diaper bag for the other. Seven days. Wish me luck.

Having Fun at the Beach

I think this one says it all. See you in a couple of days!

Ready to Go. Almost.

I've got bags under my eyes, but I got it all done:


Blankets for Xander and Quinn. I'm only showing Xander's here because Quinn picked fabric that can be described as fabric that only a two-year old would be able to appreciate.


Car bags for the kids.


That are reverseable.

And finally, this beach tote for me.


Things I like about it include the inside zipper.


The folded handles.


And the side pocket.


I guess now that I'm done with all this I had better start packing. We leave tomorrow. See you all when we get back!

Getting Ready

Kevin, Xander, Quinn and I are leaving for a beach vacation in one week. So, of course I've set some completely unreasonable goals for myself before leaving. I'd like to get a summer weight blanket done for Quinn and Xander, little bags for each of them to try and stash all their car toys in while we're on the road, and a new beach tote for me. I'll check back with you soon to let you know how I'm doing.

Quinn's Bag

Quinn is in a real Mommy mood lately. Whatever I have she wants. Whatever I do she wants to do. It's pretty cute. Except, she always wants my purse. It's driving me crazy. So today I whipped up this super-simple little bag for her. So far, so good. She hasn't asked for my purse in about ten hours.

About Turtles II

So, I've been thinking, I really ought to fix poor Turtley's shell. But I'm not sure what to do about it. Try to find some matching flannel? Replace the whole shell? I think I've decided on making patch that has some embroidery text on it about how I got the turtle along with his name. But I'm not in the embroidery mood. I'm in the sewing mood.

So last night I took a bunch of kimono scraps and made a little friend for Turtley. I think she turned out pretty good, but I don't like the way her head turns down. A friend of mine just saw her and said that if I added some extra tags around the legs it would be a great gift for babies. I have a good friend who's having a baby in early July, so I may try to make her one that matches a quilt I'm making for her.

About Turtles

Have I ever told you about My Happy Turtle? If I haven't then I suppose it's about time I did....

When I was two years old my father took me to a church fair. At this point, I can't for the life of me figure out what he was doing there. I don't ever recall him being in church with us when I was little. Anyhow, we came up to this wonderful table of little stuffed animal turtles made out of old flannel shirts.

I was instantly in love. With the whole stack. When I think about that day now, a couple of versus of Dr. Seuses' Yertle the Turtle tend to play in my head (The turtles, well now, the turtles are free. As turtles and maybe all creatures should be.) But I doubt by the age of two that I had heard that story.

My dad let me pick out a turtle and then probably regretted it ten minutes later when I still hadn't made up my mind. They were all so darn cute. Finally, I selected this green little guy.


Yes, he's having some shell problems now, but give him a break -- he's 33 years old! Frankly, my shell isn't what it used to be either.

The reason I'm telling you this is because about eight years later, Turtley, as I named him (but I referred to him as "my happy turtle") was still living in the most prized position of being on the center of my bedroom pillow, surrounded by about 30 other stuffed animals. One day, I picked him up and took a good look at him. And for the first time in my life I remember thinking, "I could make this."

I sure you remember when that happened to you. One day, you just looked at something and thought. Gee, I bet I could do that.

That very day I asked my mother to show me how her sewing machine worked.

Giving In

My kids are getting old enough to ask for things. So, a few weeks ago when I heard the ice cream truck in the neighborhood, I put it on the list of things that I was going to be tough about. I mean, come on, $3.00 for a stupid push up? No way. As you can see, my resolve lasted for exactly... a couple of weeks.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I was getting the kids out of the car today while I was on the phone. The ice cream truck came around. The kids started yelling and running up to the truck. The conversation I was having was serious and I didn't want to hang up. The truck slowed down. I looked at the truck driver and shook my head "no". He sped back up.

Then, the roofers who were at my house at the time (don't ask) jumped down and ran over to the truck and flagged him down.
The truck backed up right to my driveway and the roofers started picking out treats.

My kids went wild. I couldn't get off the phone. I found myself handing over six dollars for two spider man popsicles.

Five minutes after this photo was taken I had two kids covered in red and blue dye that only half came off in the bath. I'm pretty sure that my resolve against the ice-cream truck has been renewed today.