We Are All Connected

I'm a nerd.  I haven't worked as an engineer for 16+ years now, but it's still how I think.  I'm still fascinated by science - right now it disappoints me that JC doesn't need more help with his chemistry.

So when I checked out Knitting to Stay Sane tonight, and she had a post about "Geeking Out", I was highly amused.  And then I watched the video that she embedded.



I love this.  I love that all of these people of science - that cold, dispassionate field of study - are really REALLY passionate about what they are doing.  I miss it, a bit.

But this helps.

March Madness

I've been trying to avoid complaining about the weather.  I spend way more time than I should complaining about the weather on this blog.  So the lack of posts lately is somewhat related to this goal.

BUT.

This is just a little nuts.  John snapped this picture from the bus stop on Wednesday morning, which, may I remind you, was the 2nd full day of Spring.

Really?

We are so DONE with winter.  Even William, die-hard sled and snowball enthusiast, has been taking this as a personal affront.  "Doesn't Nature know it's SPRING?!"

So instead of planning and planting the front bed for the house, which we tore out last fall, I was scraping my car this morning.

Happy Spring.

Words to Live By

I'm a news junkie.  I'll admit it.  (Hi, my name is Ann, and I'm addicted to knowing what's going on.)  I feel very cut off and isolated even going a day without watching or listening to what's going on in the world, and our local paper isn't enough (even though I generally read almost all of it every day).

But lately?  It's a little overwhelming.  The whole Egypt thing (sorry Tunisia, we didn't get as much coverage about you), which of course segued into Bahrain and Libya and Yemen and who knows how many countries in that region.  That "little" earthquake in Christchurch, protests in Wisconsin, our own very combative governor in New Jersey (he's a jerk.  There are even some of his policies I grudgingly agree with, but the guy's a jerk).

And now Japan.

It would be heartbreaking enough to see the pictures of the aftermath of a HUGE earthquake.  Then you add on a truly biblical tsunami.  We could stop there, thank you.  I can't imagine the horrors those people are living through right now.

But no, now they have impending nuclear disaster to deal with, as well.  And while I know (here in my safe suburban intact house) that the worst case scenarios you are hearing on the media are more than a little on the sensationalized side, they are living with even more fear and uncertainty and a justifiable mistrust in what their government is telling them.

Whatever religion or higher power you believe in, or even if you don't believe, take a moment and think prayers/good thoughts for all the people struggling right now, whether in Japan or Libya or New Zealand.  I don't know that the world is more tumultuous than it was 100 years ago, but we are certainly more aware of it now.

I did receive a little ray of hope today, though.  When I was filling out the online donation form for Doctors without Borders, the captcha (security words) that came up were "ndstedi calm".

And steady calm.

Something to remember.

Maybe I Should Do This More Often

William has been home sick for three days (Sunday he woke up with a 102F fever), so he's been mostly living on the couch in our family room.  This morning, as he was looking for his shoes (which he hasn't worn in three days), he walked into the front hall and said, "Mom, why is the front hall so...clean?"

When your 9 yr old boy a) notices that something is clean and b) realizes that it's a change, I think it might be a signal to clean more often.

Random Stuff

1.  I have a cold.  It started Monday with that little scratchiness in the back of my throat, and now has progressed to coughing fits that would make strangers stare in alarm, if I were going out of the house.  No fever (or at least, not that I've really noticed), no major body aches.  Just stuffed up and coughing.

2.  It's my first real cold of the season, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  It is kind of a bummer, though.

3.  The kids got their report cards in the last couple weeks.  I have one who is on the verge of failing some classes because s/he doesn't do his/her homework.  I have one who missed straight A's by one B+ (and is really annoyed by that) and one who's trending kind of upper average.

4.  Does this mean that I'm trending upper average in parenting skills?  Or am I assuming too much guilt/responsibility for the brilliance and/or laziness of my children?  It always amazes me that three such different people should have come from the same parents.

5.  The weather has finally decided that it could think about moving towards Springtime.  This means that it is sunny and cold instead of snowy and cold.  And it's windy of course.  It is March, after all.

6.  At this point, I'm very happy with sunny and cold.  Even though the season of Mud has arrived.

7.  My front entry is filthy (see #6).

Change of Seasons

Yes, the weather has improved a bit (although tomorrow will be back below freezing for the high), but the true sign that Spring is approaching?



Road Construction.



Everywhere you go (at least, that's what it felt like today!).

February Swap

OK, technically it was January 31st, but it was supposed to be February.  Thank the snow for that - we decided to be proactive based on the weather report.  We figured we had to go for the day that we were pretty sure would be OK - if we waited until the next week, who knew what we would get?

As it was, everybody pulled it together on short notice and we had a great time.  A few had conflicts and couldn't come, but the cards were great!  I hosted and kept the food super-simple - we're all too busy stamping to eat much anyway.



Ruth's card was simple and elegant, and had the most amazing blue/purple paper (it has a shimmer you can't see in the scan).  Shows what you can do with one graceful image.




I told everyone the cards had to be 10 minutes or else!  Grace went for super simple, but the glittery embossing powder really added some glitz.




Janet did super-cute.  A little color, a well-placed eyelet, and you've got a multi-purpose card good for adults or children.




Nancy went above and beyond for her cards - I think I scared her with the 10 minute threat, so she pre-stamped all the images.  We colored them in and assembled, and it's beautiful card.  We've had chickadees at the bird feeder, so I loved this.




Cathie got such a good reception for her bookmark last time, she did it again.  Wouldn't it make a lovely gift along with a book?



Sharon came up with the cleverest easiest "curtains" I've ever seen.  It's a wide ribbon, cut in half, and attached on either side of the square punch out.  It's layered between the green and the white so the inside is clean.  The snowman is inside, and I LOVE the saying.



Sue didn't think she could pull a card together, but I convinced her she HAD to come, it would be fun. Little did she know we had a cake for her birthday!  She came up with a fabulous spotlight-technique card.  I should have scanned the one Rachel made, it's much better than mine.  But it's such an effective technique anyway!




This is one where the scan truly does not do it justice.  Shona designed this card, and while I think she went over the 10 minute limit, we all loved it anyway.  The large white piece is run through a die cut machine, the center "cloud" removed, and then die-cut the outside piece again to enlarge the cut-out area.  Then run it through with an embossing folder, then brayer it all with a rainbow pad, then coat everything (the cloud twice) with embossing powder so it's got a shine to it.  Wow!




I think Dale gets the award for most versatile.  You could use this simple but elegant card for a birthday (male or female), get well, sympathy... I think it's lovely.



I have to admit I had Spring on the brain when I made this one.  Can you blame me?  Bugs and flowers and Spring-ish colors.  Just stamped and matted, but I did add the option of a dimensional paint on the flowers, ladybug spots, and dragonfly.  Just a little shine.

It always amazes me what comes out at these things.  I'm not sure any of these cards even share a color-scheme!  And the variety of techniques we can squeeze into a 10 minute card is really astounding.

In some ways it was easier having the event two days early.  I focused on having the house presentable instead of making food that not many people eat anyway.  Some chips and dip, M&Ms on the table, and Sue's birthday cake was plenty.  And then the house was cleaned up for Rachel's birthday party on Friday.  More on that later.