Happy News

My little sister, Jordin, is engaged!! Ramon is amazing and we all love him dearly. He will be an excellent father to Jaylah as well. We couldn't be happier. Looking forward to a wedding in Kansas City. Love you guys!!

What the Hell?!


So far 2011 is turning out to be a bit of a pisser in making me feel old. Case in point...see picture. This came in the mail the other day and sent me reeling and hyperventilating.

It is a letter from the high school informing us that it is time for

HIGH SCHOOL ORIENTATION

for Reilly and her parents (as in next week). "What the hell?!!" is what I said...okay maybe screeched (with maybe a few other colorful words thrown in) and then I had to sit down. I mean I realize that Reilly is in 8th grade and that high school is next year. But like most things I don't want to think about I don't...until I have to...and apparently it is time that I have to. I then threw the letter at Tyler who was stunned...STUNNED!! I said, "I remember high school, don't you? IT WAS YESTERDAY!!" Okay actually 20 years ago but thanks to Facebook it really feels like yesterday.

I was just starting to get use to Middle School...and by starting I mean just barely starting to get use to dropping my child off in Sodom and Gomorrah each day. High School? High School?! Holy Hell.

Why does the school district push this on us so quickly? I mean there is still another semester of middle school for heavens sake. Give parents a break...or a warning...before something like that arrives in the mailbox.

High School...Unbelievable.

PS-- Reilly was made a drill team captain...very exciting!!

Book Review: Girl In a Blue Dress

This was our book club pick for January. I was really excited to read this book. It is based on the marriage of Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. Before beginning this book I had zero back ground knowledge of their marriage...or lives for that matter. Believe me the cover alone had me intrigued.

From Randomhouse.com

At the end of her life, Catherine, the cast-off wife of Charles Dickens, gave the letters she had received from her husband to their daughter Kate, asking her to donate them to the British Museum, “so the world may know that he loved me once.” The incredible vulnerability and heartache evident beneath the surface of this remark inspired Gaynor Arnold to write Girl in a Blue Dress, a dazzling debut novel inspired by the life of this tragic yet devoted woman. Arnold brings the spirit of Catherine Dickens to life in the form of Dorothea “Dodo” Gibson–a woman who is doomed to live in the shadow of her husband, Alfred, the most celebrated author in the Victorian world.

Here is my advice: Do Not Read this book if/when you are feeling slightly depressed, fat, or if you are having marital difficulties. It could put you over the edge. It nearly put me over the edge...and I was not having marital difficulties; I have been feeling rather glum due to the cold never-ending-gray winter; and I was feeling fat due to the fact that I hadn't gone to the gym for a week. Not a good combination for reading this book.

It is another gentle read. It is a quiet novel, not too much action. Most of the time it is Dorothea reflecting on her marriage, the past, and how she has come to be in the position she is in, which is, cast-off from her home and family.

Here are the positives: It is elegantly written. It is interesting. Charles Dickens as Alfred Gibson is an interesting albeit complicated man. It is a compelling although not terribly exciting read.

The negatives: Alfred Gibson/Charles Dickens is an S.O.B. and I wanted to kick the said S.O.B.in the teeth the entire novel. Also, Dorothea is an irritating enabler who spent her whole life making excuses for him DESPITE the fact that he treated her like crap, kicked her out, took up with a mistress, and kept her from her children. Yes, Yes, I realize it was in Victorian times and women didn't have many options except to do as they were told by their husbands (it pains me to even write that) but I think I would've been putting up more of a fight especially where the children were concerned and not thinking so highly of old Alfred which she continues to do the entire novel and defends him adamantly. Another negative, the ending.

****Spoiler****

When old Alfred appears from the dead...did he have to answer to Dorothea for his abominable behavior? NO!! He again tells her what to do...and not very nicely...and she does it. Give me a break!!

You do not leave this book thinking very highly of Charles Dickens, "the Great Original", "the One and Only" and that is disappointing. Having said that it was interesting historical fiction.

My rating: Good...leaning toward OK.

Look Who's Forty

Happy Birthday Tyler!! I love you very much. I am one lucky girl. You are just getting better and better with age in every way. You ROCK 40!!

Love,

The Wizened Crone (just ask my dermatologist)

A Mother/Daughter Weekend and a Sunday Dinner

Good-bye January. Hello February. Bring on the reds, pinks, romance, Tyler's Birthday and Valentines Day. Last weekend as I was bidding long, cold January adieu I had a great weekend of fun with my mom.

My mom invited me to come up to her house for a Mother/Daughter Weekend. Well, of course I was thrilled. It's a rare opportunity for me, one of five children, and numerous family members to be able to spend much one-on-one time with my mom let alone a whole weekend. It was bliss.

I headed up to her house in Northern Idaho on Friday afternoon. When I arrived my mom, Ken and I went out for a fantastic dinner at the Captain's Table on Garfield Bay in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho. What a feast!! It was fun hanging out with my mom and Ken.

Then it was back to my mom's house to strategize about our business Sisters Creed, our upcoming sales, projects, and booth ideas. We spent hours pouring over amazing blogs, our own picture files, spark (inspiration) books, and laughing.

The next morning we were up bright and early to begin our day of fun. First stop, Pine Street Bakery (710 Pine Street) in Sandpoint. Absolutely delicious. I HIGHLY recommend their Spinach and Feta Croissant. Then it was a wonderful day of hunting high and low and finding some incredible things for our upcoming sales. We filled the back of my mom's car!!

My mom is the most incredible woman. She is tireless. She can run circles around me while shopping. She is also one of my very favorite people to hang out with. I love spending time with her, getting her advice, getting her take on all kinds of things, and she is so amazingly creative. I just love to soak it all in. Her excitement and creativity are contagious.

We grabbed an early dinner at the Pie Hut in Sandpoint (502 Church Street). OH.MY.GOSH. Their pie is out of this world. We tried both the Sour Cream Lemon which was delicious and their Creme Brulee pie is out of sight!!

After our day of shopping, junking, thrifting, and laughing it was back to her house and her amazing craft and sewing artist's studio to create and craft.

It was a little Sisters Creed Workshop. We had the Pandora cranked and we were singing and dancing around as we created until the wee hours of the morning.

Mom working on new chair covers for my dining room chairs

One down and several more to go

We stamped hundreds of price tags for Sisters Creed with three different designs. The one above is mine.

We made pillows out of thrifted cable knit sweaters

We painted and glittered many things

We organized some of our wares...I bought a few things from my mom already!! Mom, Stac and I are always our best customers!! Kelley is a pretty good customer too.

I should have been polishing

More inventory

Check out these beauties

Sunday morning after an amazing breakfast I headed back home. It was wonderful to recharge my batteries and re-spark my creativity. My head was full of all kinds of ideas, projects and plans as I drove home.

Thanks Mom for a WONDERFUL weekend!! I had the best time!!

Sunday night after I got home from my mom's house we had a Sunday Family Dinner with Kelley and Elle. When we all lived in Utah my mom would host a big Sunday Dinner every week and we would all come. My mom would make a fabulous gourmet meal, set an amazing table, and make enough food to send us all home with leftovers for days, all while being kind enough to let us do our laundry as well.

Those Sunday Dinners really saved me and Tyler as a young, poor, married couple with a baby. We could always count on leftovers to help us with our grocery budget and mom would always tuck in extra things from her pantry as well which were so appreciated and it was so nice to be able to do our laundry for free...even if we all had to get in line...Stacey and Kelley were there with their laundry in hand too. After dinner we would play games, go for walks, jump on the trampoline and hang out. Sundays up at Mom's were the best.

Now that we are all more scattered we can't really do a usual Sunday Dinner but Kelley and I decided that it would be fun to start it up again for those of us who live close. We will hold our Family Sunday Dinner on the last Sunday of the month at our house and we will rotate making the main course. We had our first one Sunday night.

Sunday Dinner January 2011

Menu: Pecan Patties with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus with butter and lemon, pop to drink and root beer floats for dessert.

It is a lot of fun to be able to catch up and hang out. It is cute to watch the kids play together.

Elle is a crack up and we love seeing her latest "tricks". This week it was her Stevie Wonder imitation. That had us dying with laughter. That must be filmed!!

These girls are the cutest little girls in town and boy do they love ice cream.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and now February is here...bring on Valentines Day!!