Incoherent Scribblings

A Lot of Dress

I have been working on Polly’s dress tonight. Boy, this lady sure has a lot of dress! I have the shadow colors done for the bottom of the skirt, now I just need to fill it in with white.

(Click for a larger picture!)

My short term goal is to fill in the white of her skirt over the weekend and end my “Passing Admirers” rotation at about 15 hours (give or take a few.) Then it’s back to the baby sampler again! By the time I have done the baby sampler rotation my new stuff should be here and I will start a new project. Don’t know which one yet…

A Little Stash Enhancement

I was a naughty girl today! I was just browsing my online needlework shop… really! When something caught my fancy, I stuck it in my shopping basket and before I knew it I had over 100 Euros worth of stuff in there. Well, before I checked out I went through it and picked out only a few of the pieces that I really liked. In a few days, “Teddy Teatime“, “Girl’s Time Out“, “May Angel“, and “Through a Father’s Eyes” will be arriving the mail. I can hardly wait!

Merry Late Christmas to Me!

Cookie Sorting

When I was growing up, my dad would frequently and not so nicely tell my mom her cooking couldn’t compare to his mother’s (my grandma’s). When I think back, I recognize that my grandma was a pretty good cook, but then again, my mom isn’t that bad of a cook either. However, my dad is a pretty picky eater and my grandma would always cater to his whims. By contrast, sometimes my mom likes to be adventurous and it was usually when Mom tried to cook us new things or something that Dad didn’t think he would like that he would complain about her cooking.

Therefore, when A. and I first got married, one of my biggest concerns was that he think that I cooked at least as good as his mother. I really didn’t want to spend my life hearing about how good his mother cooked and how badly I compared. Of course, this was before I tasted his mother’s cooking.

After spending my first six weeks in Germany with the in-laws and eating what A. and I jokingly refer to as “Shoe Meat” (because it is as tough as leather) and various other concoctions that were always too greasy and too salty twice a day, I realized that I never had to worry about A. thinking his mother was a better cook than me, because the fact is, she is an awful cook! She was trained to be a cafeteria cook and believe me, that’s what her food tastes like!

I will give her a little credit though. There are some things that she can cook fairly decently and so whenever A. and I go to visit we always request these dishes and the rest of the time make excuses to go out to eat.

A. always claimed that she could make decent “bakeries;” breads, cakes, cookies, etc., and while I admit that they are better than her forays into main dishes, I still find them to be too heavy, too dry, or both. It is always such a pain to smile politely and accept the rolls or cakes that she piles into odd containers and secures with twine before sticking them into our trunk when we are getting ready to go home. Sometimes A. nibbles on these rocks rolls, but more often than not they end up in the trash can once we arrive home.

I had never had any of her cookies, but when A. reported to me the other day she was sending us a package of Christmas cookies, I wondered if they would arrive before trash day, as it would be the most convenient way to get rid of them.

Well, they arrived today: A large assortment of homemade cookies wedged into a container that included a note that said, “In an emergency, the cookies can be eaten with a spoon.” I saw that the majority of the cookies were “Vanille Kipferl” (normally a very tasty German cookie) along with a few other nameless cookies (A. didn’t know what the others were) and as A. gave me one and said with a grin, “Here taste them!,” I wondered what sort of an abomination I would soon be putting into my mouth.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were actually quite tasty!

However, the cookies were jammed packed into the little container that MIL sent us and were quickly being ground into a fine powder. We decided if we didn’t sort the cookies and put them in more than one container soon we actually would need to eat them with a spoon! And so that was our strenuous and terrible task this afternoon; to sort the cookies into containers. Of course, while doing so we ate so many that we are both still zipping around the house with a sugar rush!

Unconscious Mutterings

I just found “Unconscious Mutterings” a weekly meme and think I will play it for a while. Normally I find memes a bit boring, but I have always found free association a great way to brainstorm. My thinking is that I can use it to do a little bit of brainstorming and then when I run into blogger’s block (happens occasionally, ya know) I can look at this stuff and maybe get inspired! So here goes the first “Unconscious Muttering:” (Oh yeah, maybe if I type it often enough I will FINALLY learn how to spell unconscious!)

1. holiday :: Grandma
2. fault :: not mine!; childhood; sister
3. beep :: robot
4. bubble :: gum
5. needle :: cross stitch
6. fare :: train
7. treat :: ice cream
8. express :: mail
9. webcam :: Mississippi
10. capital :: letter

Things in italics have the potential to become a blog post! Hey, this meme already has me inspired! How about that?!

New Year’s Resolutions - Part 1

I usually try to come up with a few obtainable New Year’s Resolutions. Typically I try and make one or two and am usually pretty good about keeping them. However, this year I thought I might be a little more adventurous and come up with ten reachable resolutions. I have been thinking about it for a couple of days and so far I have eight. Of those eight, I am ready to share five right now… the other five will come in a few days.

Resolution #1: Go the gym twice a week until my membership expires in April.

When we first signed up for our membership we did really well about going to the gym twice a week. However, our motivation has seriously been lacking for the past couple of months. But we pre-paid our membership for a year, so if we don’t go we are wasting all that money. As a result of this resolution not only do I hope to improve my overall health, I would also like to lose another 10 pounds.

Resolution #2: Try more new foods.

This is actually my “standard” New Year’s Resolution. I have made this one for at least the past five years and in that time I have discovered Greek, Indian, Persian, and Thai foods, just to name a few. Yum Yum Yummy! This year my objective is to try Spanish Cuisine.

Resolution #3: Read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in German.

As you may remember, I wanted to improve my German reading abilities a few months ago and as a way to motivate myself for this I bought Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone in German. As of yet, however, I haven’t had enough ambition to tackle this project. I would eventually like to read ALL of the Harry Potter books in German, but think I better try it one baby step at a time.

Resolution #4: Be nice to A.

Don’t get me wrong: I am nice to my husband. However, sometimes I think I don’t pay enough attention to the way I treat him and take him for granted. I don’t think that is a very nice thing to do to someone I love, so it is my aim to monitor myself and make sure I appreciate what I have. (Personal note to A. who reads the blog… Love You!)

Resolution #5: Learn PHP (.php)

I am a bit of a computer nerd and nearly everything I have learned about computers, the web, and the internet I have taught myself. After tackling blogging, I have yet to update my skills to include PHP.

So there you have my first five New Year’s Resolutions. I think they are all obtainable and look forward to reading my blog a year from now and seeing exactly how many I was able to accomplish. Stay tuned for the second half of my New Year’s Resolutions!