Atticus photo of the week

Atty's getting a hang of this celery thing. James's mom used to give her teething kids celery, which I think is absolutely brilliant--it's cold and soothing on their gums, and the strings make it difficult to get a big chunk off. We tried giving him some a few weeks ago, and he made some really nasty faces. But he went for it last night.

No new teeth yet, but James thinks he can feel one coming in on the side of the two on the bottom.

Atty's been sick this week. :( Nothing serious, just an upper respiratory thing with lots of snurfles and coughing. I took him to the doctor when it sounded like the cough had moved into his lungs, but she said his lungs were clear. And he wasn't acting sick; he was just his regular happy self with a snurfly nose and a cough. So we're just waiting it out, proping him up when he sleeps to facilitate drainage. And we're in the market for a humidifier.

First Project of the Year

I made a calendar! The cross-stitch pattern came from here, but my linen was too fine to try to count the threads, so I enlarged the pattern and transferred it to the fabric with carbon paper. The fabric is 100% linen from a wrap-around jumper that never fit well. I backed it with heavy interfacing to give it some stability. The calendar is a Word template reduced to half-sheet size, then sewn to the linen with a blanket stitch. I sacrificed a wire hanger for the top, then used matching embroidery floss for the hanging loop and to attach a pencil.

I'm planning to hang this in the living room, so I wanted it to be nice and discrete while still being useful. I think I reached a good balance. It will be part of a larger organizational system that I'll blog about once I get it put together. It was a brainstorm I got in the shower (for some reason I get my best ideas in the shower), and I'm hoping it works as well as it did in my head. I'll keep you posted.

I love getting stuff in the mail

After missing out on a really cool ornament swap, I joined SwapBot, an online center for all kinds of crafty swappage. And yesterday I got two packages in the mail that made my heart flutter. One was leftover (unused) Christmas cards, and the other was a package of "blues buster" goodies meant to alleve post-holiday letdown. My giver had read my profile well and picked things she thought I'd like.

Today I'm sending off my leftover Christmas cards, plus a blues-buster package to a woman in Kansas, a chocolate bar to a woman in Seattle, and a small planner to a guy in Nevada. Last month I sent handmade bookmarks to a woman in Germany. Once I get those mailed off I can sign up for the button swap I've been watching. (You can only have 5 active swaps at a time.)

Getting all this fun mail has made me want to start writing letters again. I'm all for instant communication, but there's something romantic about a handwritten letter received in the mail.

Meilleurs Voeux!

That's "best wishes" for you, the French version of "Happy New Year." Christmas cards aren't all that popular over there, but everyone sends cards for the new year. The one on the right made me smile because it's a religeuse, a very popular pastry among French missionaries. A religeuse is a nun, and sister missionaries are soeurs religeuses, so the pastries of the same name always made us giggle. And they're dang tasty.

Anyway, I digress. This post is supposed to be about the new year...

We didn't do anything special to celebrate. We were asleep on the couch by 10, and today we went grocery shopping. Woo hoo! Oh, and we bought Atty a new car seat. It's all plush and luxurious, and Atty seems to like it. So we're happy.

I usually make New Year's resolutions, but they tend to be more stressful than they should be. So I've been thinking about other ways to make goals for this coming year. And as usual I found great ideas on the blogosphere.

My favorite isn't really a resolution, but more of a new perspective: find your superpower. Everyone has one; it's just a matter of discovering it. Like my sister Susan used to say, we are all superheroes in really, really good disguises. And of course every superpower comes with kryptonite, and it's just as important to discover what that is as well. So I've been pondering that off and on.

That blog led me to another thing to ponder: my one little word. What word encompasses my hopes for 2009? My mind tells me it's order, as in "establish a house of order" and do all things "in wisdom and order." But that doesn't feel quite right. For some reason hope keeps coming to mind. I do want to establish order in my life: develop better habits, get rid of clutter, get on top of our finances and meal planning etc. But maybe I really need more hope. I'll have to ponder a little further on that one.

Several other blogs just had lists of things they wanted to do this year. Kind of like Lena's 101 things to do in the next five years, but shorter. It's not a list of resolutions per se, just things you hope/plan to do. I don't have much of a list yet, but I can tell you what I have so far:

1. Put Atty's nursery together. We finally bought a crib, but it was out of stock so we have to wait a couple weeks for it to come in. And I'm going to put together the birdie mobile I made when I was pregnant and hang the artwork I've had for months. And move the rocking chair into his room. It will happen. This month for sure.

2. Go hiking at least once a month in the warmer months. I've always wanted to see the wildflowers at Albion Basin, and I've never been. I'll go this year.

3. Take Atty for more walks. At least once a week.

4. Learn to draw.

That's all I have so far. What are your plans for the new year?

Christmas Chez Nous

I love this picture, even though it's blurry. The raised eyebrows, the pursed lips...

We had a wonderfully mellow Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we celebrated by watching the third "Mummy" movie while noshing on camembert-tomato sandwiches, Martenelli's, and a spread of assorted stinky cheeses and olives.

Between the olives and the camembert, our house stunk to high heaven (and still stinks every time we open the fridge). But DANG it was tasty. That blue cheese in the photo is Papillion Roquefort, which made me giddy with cheese-joy when I put it in my mouth. I don't want to consider my saturated fat intake for that night...so I won't. :)

On Christmas morning we slept in. We didn't have any presents to open*, and Atty's too young to care, so we had a leisurely morning eating pancakes and watching the James Bond marathon on tv. About the time I started thinking about going for a walk, the wind picked up and brought with it some pellet-y snow. So we stayed in. Atty liked having both parents with him all day--he got lots and lots of snuggles, and some extra snuggles by proxy for Nana.

It snowed all night, so when James left for work this morning at 6 am, the snow was almost knee-deep. I have a feeling it will be another snuggly day.

*Don't worry, it wasn't a gift-less Christmas. My present is at the frame shop, and we'll be using Christmas gift money to shop for James's and Atty's presents at the after-Christmas sales tomorrow.

Happy Babbles

99 Things

I tag everyone who has a blog to do this. It actually brought back some fun memories.

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog. 2. Slept under the stars. (does in a tent count?) 3. Played in a band. (bells in junior high and HS) 4. Visited Hawaii. 5. Watched a meteor shower. 6. Given more than you can afford to charity. 7. Been to Disneyland/world. 8. Climbed a mountain. 9. Held a praying mantis. 10. Sang a solo. Not necessarily in public... 11. Bungee jumped. 12. Visited Paris. 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. 15. Adopted a child. 16. Had food poisoning. 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. 18. Grown your own vegetables.19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. 20. Slept on an overnight train. 21. Had a pillow fight. 22. Hitch hiked. 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb. 26. Gone skinny dipping. 27. Run a marathon. (this used to be on my bucket list) 28. Ridden a gondola in Venice. 29. Seen a total eclipse. 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. 31. Hit a home run. (I'm lucky to get a hit at all) 32. Been on a cruise. 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language. 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I'm satisfied now, but I don't necessarily want to be in this situation forever. Does that mean I'm not truly satisfied?) 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing. 40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person (breathtaking) 41. Sung Karaoke. (badly) 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. With Suz and Bobby :) 43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. I'd forgotten about this. A good memory. 44. Visited Africa. 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. 46. Been transported in an ambulance. Three times now. 47. Had your portrait painted. 48. Gone deep sea fishing. 49. Seen the Sistene chapel in person. 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling. 52. Kissed in the rain. 53. Played in the mud. 54. Gone to a drive-in theatre. 55. Been in a movie. 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout cookies. 62. Gone whale watching. 63. Gotten flowers for no reason. 64. Donated blood. 65. Gone sky diving. 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp. 67. Bounced a check. (sadly, yes) 68. Flown in a helicopter. 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. (Mona still sits by my bed) 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten caviar (just last week! there was some roe on my sushi, and I actually liked it!) 72. Pieced a quilt. 73. Stood in Times Square. One day I'll visit New York, I swear. 74. Toured the Everglades. 75. Been fired from a job. 76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. 77. Broken a bone. 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. 80. Published a book. 81. Visited the Vatican. 82. Bought a brand new car. 83. Walked in Jerusalem. One day... 84. Had your picture in the newspaper. 85. Read the entire Bible. 86. Visited the White House. 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. 88. Had chickenpox. 89. Saved someone’s life. 90. Sat on a jury. 91. Met someone famous. (do general authorities count?) 92. Joined a book club. 93. Lost a loved one. 94. Had a baby. 95. Seen the Alamo in person. (only the outside--it was Christmas Eve, one of the few days it's closed) 96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake. Though I've walked through some stinky, brine-shrimpy mud to touch the water 97. Been involved in a law suit. 98. Owned a cell phone. 99. Been stung by a bee.