skills you didn't know you needed

I think it is important to constantly gain new knowledge. That's why last week - between snow storms- i went with Francie to her friend Joan's house to learn how to make boutonnieres for the upcoming April nuptials. Hi Joan. Nice to meet you. I didn't take a lot of pictures while I was learning different ways to wire flowers and greenery, using different gauge wire dependant on the stem of the flora - my hands were busy- but i did take a picture of my first finished boutonniere: lovely and simple In case you were wondering, yes it is a lot more work than you would expect to pin a flower onto a lapel. Joan had bought a dozen roses for us to work with, so with the leftovers she showed me how to make a simple, classic nosegay complete with ribbon wrapping that would be appropriate for the bridesmaids. What do you think, Francie? She seems pleased. (BTW, did i tell you that i liked your haircut?) Her colors will be white, red and black -i think- so i have no idea what flowers she and Jake are actually going to buy for the wedding. Luckily, after the wiring lessons, i read up on how to properly prep flowers based on their stem density and water uptake (yes, it is different for different flowers and involves various temperatures of water, cotton and fire - really). Also i have practiced ribbon wrapping and pinning. Plus i timed how long the flowers survive in the fridge. Basically i am totally ready for whatever flowers are waiting for me in Portland and whatever design Francie has in mind. Just another little thing to put on ye olde resume.

Momentary freedom

The library is open today so i walked here to get out of the house. I am enjoying the downtime (not only are schools closed, but the museum is even closed so i don't have to go to my office), but do miss the freedom of jumping in my car (the plow never came to do out circular drive so i can't get out). Yes, i have pictures of mounds of snow, but no i'm not gonna post them right now. I need to get over to the DVD section to see if there is anything left. Did i mention that it is supposed to snow again tomorrow?

Something good about so much snow

Blazing sunrises and sunsets when the golden light shines on the snow in the trees.

baby chins

No, not the bottom of the heads of babies - baby chinchillas: This is Nano and Pico, the newest members of the education department at my museum. They have no idea what they're in for when hundreds of school children become acquainted with them.

new massage

In an effort to do at least one new thing a month (New Year's Resolution #3) i tried a new technique at my gold star earned massage on Monday - Indian warm oil massage. It uses a higher quality, heated oil and long strokes. It is fabulous for dry winter skin. I highly recommend it. BTW, my awesome, fabulous massage place - Massage Associates- is having a sale this month so if you are in the area you should check them out. My therapist's name is Lynn and i love her, but i trust that any of the associates will be good. Be good to yourself. Try something new!

cards

The other night my friend Douglas asked me how i had done the paper treatment on my New Year's cards - whether i had dipped them or dyed them or bought them or what - and i realized that i never did a post about it. It is a funny example of what seems like a good idea actually being a terrible idea. I decided that i wanted to do something completely different this year and create a flat card instead of a folded card. Then i thought that since i have huge art sheets of cardstock i would cut them down to size myself. Then i thought i would paint the background instead of using patterned paper. But then i worried that the painted cardstock might not be substantial enough to make cards out of? My solution? I'll paint both sides of each card. Brilliant, no? So the answer to your question, Douglas, is that i triple-color hand painted both sides of the New Years cards - all 85 of them. What is wrong with me, people? I mean, i love the way the cards looked, each one different from the next, but dang there has got to be some circuit loose in my brain to think that was a good idea. Oh, and a little PSA for my crafting friends out there: don't forget that when painting cut card stock, it will curl as it dries: Yep. In fact sometimes it curls so violently that it will flip off of the coffee table onto your vintage wood floors, paint-side down at 3:00 in the morning. Yep. Do you think there is a 12 step program for crazy people like me?

being there

Last week i was having a conversation with fTM Matt about the nature of love when he posited the best definition of love i have ever heard. He said that he thinks love is actually mostly about "being there." I thought about that over the weekend as i drove to Kate P's baby shower. As the roads got worse and the sky got darker, I considered whether this was the best idea i ever had. Briefly, i considered turning back. I wondered if perhaps it had been cancelled and no one called me. I mean who would go out in this? Apparently, the answer is "the people who love you." Sure, i could barely see but i went super slow and was extra cautious cause it was important to be there for this. Driving home was even more interesting (let's put it this way: even i wasn't willing to take either hand off of the wheel to take a picture of the fleet of salt trucks in front of me on the highway) and i found myself thinking of Matt's words over and over. It is easy to show love manifest to the people geographically close to me; i can be there whenever they need me. But many of the people who really matter in my life are far away from me. I try to be a good correspondent, but too often i allow life to get in my way. In emergency or trial i can go to them, offer words, prayers, support, but what about on the normal days? What about today? Sometimes i'm afraid that my friends and family far away don't really know how much i love them because it is hard to be fully present in their lives. I really, really hope that you all know how much i love you, even if i can't drive through a snow storm for you. So i am resolved to do a better job showing my love- being there electronically, postally, vocally or however i can be to those not in this zip code. Are you doing everything you can to really be there for the people in your life?

panicked by the impending snow much?

Grab the eggs before we perish!

Oddly, no one thinks they need pickled herring to survive.

where did that smell come from?

I put on my coat last night to go home. What the HECK was that smell? It didn't smell like that earlier - did it? What could possibly have happened during the hour i was at the library? I don't remember wrestling a wet donkey. When i got home i washed my coat and now it smells like fabric softener. But what in the world happened? I guess some questions can never be answered.

crafty bio geek-out

During the work restructuring and grand cleaning i went through 16 years of accumulated stuff. In a take-away pile inside of an old convention bag i found instructions on how to make my own pet neuron from pony beads. Do i like crafty projects? check Do i own pony beads? check Do i know someone who has an undergrad degree in neurobiology who currently teaches AP biology, is an EMT and is going to medical school next year? check One afternoon i sat down and tried to make a pet neuron. And i tried. And i tried. I'm not gonna lie: those were the most poorly written directions i have ever read. They were atrocious. How could any educator from any museum have allowed them to be printed? After a few attempts i tried to just go off of the xeroxed picture, only to find out that the picture and the directions didn't even match each other. UGH! After quite a bit of time and a lap full of ugly, half-formed, mutant neurons i decided to take matters into my own hands. Firstly, i decided to dump the bulky pony beads and go with smaller, sleeker, pretty rondelles. Then i decided to make each anatomical part of the neuron a different color since i figured it might end up being used during a class session. After playing with the proportions i was happy when i finally had an identifiable pet neuron complete with crystal dendrites, a rosy cell body, a red axion and brown synaptic terminus. I liked the name Clive, but fTM Matt has declared his name to be Heathcliffe. Is it wrong that something so ridiculous can make two grown people so happy?