The Year in Review

In 2011, guess who . . .

1.   Plays piano

2.   Went to school in the fall

3. Ran a road race

4. Likes the climbing wall at the YMCA

5. Plays the marimba

6. Wears glasses

7. Marched in a parade

8. Likes to write stories

9. Plays soccer

10. Is the financial clerk at church

11. Was baptized

12. Visited Vancouver Island and Banff in Canada

13. Wants to move to Canada

14. Plays trumpet

15. Goes to Boy Scouts

16. Goes to Cub Scouts

17. Is a soccer referee

18. Got a concussion at school

19. Plays baseball

20. Likes to film movies

21. Plays saxophone

22. Sings in the choir at church

23. Sliced his ear open at school

24. Hopes you have a happy new year

1. T, C, S, R

2. C, S, R, D2

3. T, S

4. D, C, S, R, and especially D2

5. D

6. T, R

7. C

8. T, D2

9. C, S, R

10. D

11. R

12. We all did

13. D2

14. C

15. C, S

16. R, T

17. D, C

18. R

19. S, R

20. D2

21. S

22. D, T, C

23. R

24. We all do!

Candlelit Christmas

I'm pretty sure that Dandelionslayer and I are not alone, among Mormons, in feeling a bit of a fascination with the candlelight Christmas Eve services held in other churches.  Not that we've ever been to one.  We're usually busy spreading good cheer and cookies to friends and neighbors on Christmas Eve.  And the LDS Church has a strict rule against lighting candles in the buildings, for safety reasons.  Still, a few candles might have come in handy at church on Christmas morning.  For, lo and behold, the electricity went out soon after the meeting began.

We were not left completely in the dark, of course.  The wind that must have caused the damage had blown the clouds away, so the windows at the front of the chapel provided some illumination.  Strategically placed emergency lights kept the rest of the room dimly lit, perhaps at a candle-like level.  Sitting near the front, we could hear the speaker.  And the power returned before our choir numbers.

It was not so at home.  We opened the curtains to let in the fitful sunshine, and enjoyed the quiet (broken only by a neighbor's generator).  The boys played nicely with their gifts, and it was a pleasant afternoon.  Of course, it gets dark early this close to the solstice.  The dimming sky sent the boys scrambling for flashlights.  I wore a headlamp as I grilled a few slices of ham, and boiled potatoes on a butane stove.  I'm so glad it wasn't raining then.  We managed to have most of the planned feast, and we ate it by candlelight.

Everyone loved it.  They were less interested in the opportunity to wash the dishes by hand and lamplight, but fortunately the power came back before we had to resort to that extreme measure.

I am so grateful for the true light that comes from our Savior, that lights our way through this dark world, and gives us warmth and peace. 

Merry Christmas!

We Are Grateful for Christmas Lights

We're trying to maintain an attitude of gratitude throughout the holiday season this year.  When I ran across this suggestion somewhere on the internet, I knew we had to try it.

We enjoy seeing the lights with which people decorate their homes at this time of year.  When we see a good display, we'll point it out to each other, oohing and ahhing.  We might even think, "Wow, that took a lot of work."  Shouldn't we thank the people who go to such effort, or display such good taste?

This year we plan to jot down the addresses of our favorite displays, and send thank you notes to those creative folks.  Here is a postcard I designed for the purpose:

The back quotes John 8:12, wherein Jesus Christ declares himself to be the Light of the World, and leaves space for the address, stamp, and signature.  If you would like to print this postcard for your own use, click here for the PDF!

Dictionary Moment: Fitch

We are grateful for words.  We exercised this gratitude after our Thanksgiving feast by playing Huggermugger, a game that presents a variety of vocabulary challenges.  On one of Scoot's turns, he was to list ten words rhyming with "itch."  Following our advice to go through the alphabet, he said "ditch, fitch..."  We all discounted the one beginning with F, and he went on.  But Dandelionslayer pulled out the red Webster's dictionary, and looked it up, just in case. 

It turns out that fitch is, indeed, a noun.  It means, "the fur or pelt of the polecat." 

You know, skunk fur.  A fashion statement for sure.  But what, then, is an abercrombie?

Scoot is 11!

Scoot had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and it was a pretty happy one.  We didn't do anything spectacular, but he didn't have any homework.  That has to count for something.

(A note concerning picture quality:  our camera went into a coma on Halloween.  So for the birthday photos we pulled out the new video camera, which also has still capability.  It turns out that it doesn't use many pixels for still shots.  I hope the video looks better.  A week later, I started looking at new cameras, noticing how many megapixels are standard for only a bit more than standard repair cost.  And, lo and behold, the camera revived!  But not for Scoot's birthday.)

We gave him a new Boy Scout uniform, since he maxed out his Cub Scout shirt.  Look at all those pins!  Not pictured is the Arrow of Light, which went straight on his new shirt.

D2 bound, illustrated, and wrote a book for Scoot, in that order.  In accordance with the old advice to "write what you know," most of the dialogue consists of animals saying, "Hi!"

I crocheted a pig for Scoot, using this Lion Brand pattern,

and baked him an apple pie. 

The coolest thing I made for Scoot was a guaranteed gift success--he designed it himself.  Scoot is a talented soccer goalie, as well as a nerd like the rest of the family.  The classic scholar athlete.  He has recently been reading Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  So when we brainstormed for unique goalie jersey ideas, this logo came quickly to mind:

This image is a good reflection of Scoot's attitude as a goalie: he respects good shots, and can't wait to block them.  Bring it on! 

Oh, but go ahead and panic.

I ordered the Nebula goalie jersey from Epic Sports, and appliqued a silver version of the iconic planet.  Naturally, the number on the back had to be a silver 42.

Scoot's teammates may not (okay, definitely don't) understand, but he's a frood who really knows where his towel is, and he's ready for anything.

Keep up the good work, Scoot!

11/11/11

I really haven't had any reason to write the date today.  I have neither filled out any forms, nor recorded any transactions in my checkbook.  But such a date deserves to be written, so here it is.

You probably won't be surprised that I like patterns.  A lot.  I have spent much time in public restrooms, staring at the tiles on the floor and trying to discern their patterns.  I analyze the repeats of prints on the dresses in front of me at church, and I try to arrange menus such that we don't eat the same major ingredients too often.

And yet, I also admire the apparent randomness in the color arrangements of quilts like this, this, and this, all from Cluck Cluck Sew.  If there is a repeating color pattern in any of those, it escapes me.  But each still looks harmonious.

So I decided to try a little randomness in a quilt for D2.  I chose a Disappearing Nine Patch scheme, which can look pretty well-mixed.  But I feared that I would favor certain combinations in the original nine-patches.  So I got out a sudoku book. 

I assigned a number to each stack of squares, then started sewing them together according to the puzzle answers.

The first square did not come out the way my pattern-seeking mind would prefer.  The focus fabrics are all together, with the supporting contrast at the other end.  I knew, though, that each nine-patch would be different, and that everything would change when I sliced them up.  So I followed the sudoku faithfully for the first nine blocks.

Then I couldn't take it anymore.  I've only made small adjustments so far.  Hopefully it will all balance in the end.  D2 will probably never notice, unless he's like me.  If so, his quilt will give him something to puzzle over for a long time.