Brrr

Its chilly (for here) so my office at work is freezing- I was so happy to get home. Good evening- briefly worked out, made chicken and tried some store bought polenta. Nice hot bath and vegging out to the tv- may even sew a bit.
Today's moment of happy - hubby was able to pick up the New Girl prize pack I won from the tv station
Also blooming tea fail

I had the day off today. R went to go meet to switch the girls with their mom. Normally I would have gone with him, but the thought of 6hrs in the car on my only day off was not very appealing. I got up with him and saw them off. I watched some Gossip Girl on Netflix (I know... I'm embarassed for myself for watching it- but I got sucked in). I washed our sheets, tried to start making a dent in cleaning that needed to be done and worked out some on the eliptical machine. I went and had lunch with our friend T. Nothing exciting, but it was nice to get out of the house. Came home and puttered and did a little work on a quilt. Something was off with either my bobbin or my spool of thread and the tension was all jacked. I'm going to have to fool with it tonight.
We watched Tree of Life. Not entirely sure I understood the whole thing. I guess it was commentary on faith. None the less, it was visually very pretty. We then started Justified. I liked the first episode. It made me think we need to see the other 2 seasons of Deadwood, but I've heard the ending is disappointing, so I've held off.

Jan 2, 2012 Good Things
~Lunch with a Friend
~2 miles on eliptical
~Finished one set of blocks for quilt
~Comfy Kitty

New Year, Fresh start.
I read The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick this last week and really enjoyed it. He's hilarious, but it also had some valid advice. It's not as if what he was saying was anything new, but he framed it in a nerdy way. I think I'm going to try to follow his goal model for somethings I'd like to accomplish this year. Dunno, that I'll put them all in here, but I definately want to try and write down something happy/good/fun/'warm fuzzy' for each day. Sure, it's easy to find things to complain about, but there is always something nice each day even if it's just a warm bath.

So, here goes -
January 1st 2012 - Made homemade pizza with the family - one with store bought crust, one with homemade and everyone liked them.

I'd also like to take a picture for each day... but that didn't happen today.

We went to the WW2 museum this Saturday, neither hubby or I had been. We thought it was free Smithsonian museum day – however we found out that only applied to Smithsonian members. We were already there so we paid and went. The museum itself was good, but very crowded. The best part however was the Beyond All Borders movie. It was well done, and then you add the neat effects (it snows!), it was definitely worth the price. We stopped at the overcrowded soda shop and I got a Melon Mint soda that was very tasty. We just hung out and ran a few errands most of the rest of the weekend. It felt like it went by too fast.
I finished the baby quilt for a Dr. at work. I had to do it quicker than I was planning. I was going to do it this weekend and get it to her before the beginning of Oct (she was due Oct 10) but she said she might go early, so I wanted to get it to her ASAP. She said she liked it and a co-worker asked me if I could do 2 for her to give as gifts. The idea of a commission makes me a little nervous – what if they don’t like it or it doesn’t turn out as they imagine it? I have more projects I want to do than I will ever have time for. I made to cushion covers that I think turned out nicely. I want to make more for the other couch.
Tonight I’m going to go to a skate clinic for the Roller Derby. I dunno that I’ll actually try out, but I’ll at least go to this first clinic (there’s another one next Monday and tryouts the following Saturday). This morning I started having doubts about even going to the clinic - I have cracked my wrist twice as a kid skating, and I’m not very tough.
I’m a tv junkie lately and a DVR doesn’t help, but here’s my rundown
Mondays: Castle – Love IT! Nathan Fillion is so adorable and I ship Castle/Beckett so much. I’ll have to record tonight’s (and maybe future episodes).
The Playboy Club – I gave the first episode a chance. Networks are definitely trying to jump on Mad Men/1960’s bandwagon. I’m not so sure on the whole mob thing – but I’ll give it a second chance.
2 Broke Girls – Funny, and I enjoy Kat Dennings I’ll give it a second episode – but I don’t see it lasting long
New to check out Terra Nova and Hart of Dixie
Tuesdays – Love me some Glee. The New Girl – I adore Zooey Deschanel and it’s funny, I just hope that the quirkiness doesn’t become forced. Caught up on Parenthood, it’s good so far. Watched the first episode of Ringer. Dunno how I feel about it and was a little confused by the ending. I’ll give it a few more episodes. I still have to catch up on Body of Proof.
Wednesday – watched Up All Night – it’s fun. Doesn’t help the baby fever though.
Thursday – Secret Circle – This one could get really cheesy – but it might become a guilty pleasure. Watching Big Bang Theory. Taping Community til we get caught up on season 2. Whitney was ok, I’ll give it a second episode, but I’ dunno that I’ll get into it.
Fridays – SUPERNATURAL!!!! We’re still catching up on season 6 – have about 5 more episodes and then we’ll be current.
Doctor Who is wrapping up – this season has been good. I want to check out Bedlam as well.
I am not just only watching TV, I am reading some. Last week I read “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”. It wasn’t quite what I expected but it was enjoyable. The photographs in it were wonderful – I love old photos especially creepy/Odd ones. I also read “The Summoning”. It was ok – dragged some. I’ll give the second book a try so I can return it to H. I need to work through the Leaning Tower of Piza that is pile of books on the nightstand. I get sort of ADD with book – I have at least 6 with bookmarks in them. I have four coming from Barnes and Noble (I had giftcards from my birthday!).
I wanted to buy the new Girls album and maybe the Naked and Famous album, but couldn’t find them at Best Buy – so I suppose I’ll download from Amazon or itunes.

August meant a lot of changes. E started college. She's definately going to have some adjusting to do. She thought that she was going to have a dorm that had 2 separate bedrooms and one shared bathroom and living space (that's what she was shown when she went to orientation). However, when she got there, she found out it was one big room and a bathroom. She and her roommate are getting along famously so far, so that's good. We reminded her that sharing one bathroom is way better than sharing with a floor full of people. She loves her art class, and it's actually challenging her some, she despises math. She's already worrying about piling on the classes and maybe taking summer classes so she can graduate in four years. She was like "college isn't as hard and all work as everyone made it out to be, so I can take more classes"... she's only 3 weeks in and hasn't had any tests yet.. so we'll see if the attitude changes at the end of the semester. I just don't want her to get overwhelmed or burned out. Both hubby and I think it would be better for her to have a job in the summer than take a summer class, especially this first summer. I don't think she realizes how expensive a single summer class at the community college would be - with registration, fees, tuition and a book... probably 600-800 bucks. We're going to go visit her in October - I hope it will be fun.

G started 6th grade over at her mom's (much to our saddness - the Science and Technology school here would have been such a good thing for her, but it wasn't as 'bright and shiny' as the school at her mom's or the allure of no uniforms. She's getting used to having to be at school for 7:30 and navigating training bras (that's a whole other rant there...). Most of all, we just want her to be happy. I'd love for her mom to step it up and be a better parent, and I'd love for G to maybe have a better appreciation for her dad (and me) and everything he's done for her, and how much he cares and tries and puts in the effort (and the extra mile). But I'm not going to hold my breath. She's a child, and she's going to want to see the best in her mom, and also as a child, grass is greener, blah blah. She and hubby have figured out Skype, so they've been doing that once a week, and I think it's good for them (gee... only took her mom 4+ years to get and set up a webcam like R has been asking her...). I sent her a little care package friday (notebook, folders, sandwich bag, new Poison Apple book). She should have gotten it monday.

It's quieter without the kids, and it's nice, but I miss them too. Feel like we're vegging a lot with TV, but that's ok I suppose. We had what felt like a little blast of fall last week (curtesy of Hurricane Irene), but it's warm again this week. We're sleeping in some, and reading and taking in movies. We went to dinner and a concert (The Weepies) this weekend, and it was really nice. It had been months since I had been to a concert, especially one with Hubby. And, bonus, it was an early show, so we were home by 10:30 :)
I'm trying to get into an exercise routine; bought an elliptical - I'm hoping the pricetag alone is motivation to use it multiple times a week :P I'm using a phone app to keep better track of what I eat. I"m not really worrying - but it does help remind me not to grab mindless snacks, like a handful of chips when I walk in the door from work, before we have dinner. I went to the doctor for a sinus infection last week and they weighed me, and I was heavier than I thought I was, so that was a little depressing.

On the crafting front, I have more projects I want to do than will ever be possible. I finished two hoops for the ongoing hoopla swap on craftster. I'm working on a baby quilt for a doctor at work. I'm helping my friend K turn her receiving blankets and baby clothes from her 2 daughters into blankets for them. So much jersey! I never want to cut that small of squares and interface again! I told my sister I'd make a t-shirt quilt for her (I think that's like... oh 4 or 5 on the list now...). She wants some creative control over it -- that could make things interesting. I'm suppose.
My accuquilt finally came and I played with it some - hoping to spend some quality time with it this weekend. Hubby keeps saying it would work as a printing press :P

Three months... no blog. Bad blogger :P

Thought I'd make a list of things I'm loving right now

Parasol Proctorate Series by Gail Carriger
I picked up the first one "soulless" on a whim. It was was an amazon recommendation, I read the description and thought it sounded fun. It has supernatural and steampunk and the main character, Alexia is delightfully snarky. I'm about 3/4 through the second book. The first one I have passed on to two different friends. Reading it has made me want to wear more steampunk stuff as it's gorgeous, but dont' really know how/when/where to wear it without looking like a goober. I do think I'm going to get some steampunk-esque pants though.

BBC Sherlock-
I didn't know what to expect when we pressed play on Netflix streaming. I don't watch a lot of the Masterpiece theater stuff. I knew this had been getting good buzz and that Steven Moffat was involved, so we gave it a go. I didn't know it was set in modern times (Hubby gave me a "duh" look). I really enjoyed the 3 episodes of season one and hope to catch season 2 when it's on PBS

Planning scrappy quilts
Yea.. haven't even sorted my fabric yet, but I want to make a string quilt, maybe a bottled rainbow and then I found these wonderful books (material obsession 1 & 2)... that I want to make... oh everything from. This says nothing of the list of t-shirt quilts I've now said I'd do, or the quilts i've started and need to finish...

Isitcomicconyet
I find it hilarious to say, on a near daily basis to hubby "is it comic-con yet?". To which he laughs or rolls his eyes. He told me I should make that a website. But it is fun to speculate and try to hunt down info and obsessively check website and see movies that they talked about last year.

Hooping
I've done about 6 classes so far and I love it. Unfortunately there aren't any more classes in my direct vicinity until August (that may be good with the heat however). I'm not really good at it, but I have fun doing it and that's what counts.

We have E's high school graduation this weekend. Kind of strange. I'm hoping all goes well. My high school graduation was sort of a mess because of divorces and remarriages and adults not acting like adults, so I hope that doesn't happen for E's.

Books

G got her nookcolor today... I'm sort of jealous, it's pretty neat. H and I were talking about books and she was like whats that series that you read... after playing twenty questions I realized she was talking about the Jessica Darling series. I showed her Megan McCafferty's site only to see... she has a new book coming out! Yay! I would love to win a copy.

cool interview with her

http://dearwriter.tumblr.com/post/3734129280/want-to-win-a-signed-arc-of-bumped-before-it