Finally... a Photo!

My daughter, Jessica, teaches at a local high school. She found out a few weeks ago that there is a Needle Arts Club on campus. They are looking for donations of all sorts of materials for all needle arts.

Hurrah! I went through my stash and donated Christmas fabric, cross stitch fabric, hoops, patterns, etc. I'm so excited that there are enough young people interested in needle arts to warrant a club.

Fast forward to lunch with Gracie. I happened to mention the club and the need for donations and Gracie embraced the cause with enthusiasm!

Dan and I ran over to her house this weekend to pick up her huge donation of a sewing machine, fabrics, patterns, threads and more. Thank you so much Gracie!

All of that to say this... we remembered to take a photo... Tada!

We snapped this photo in front of her craft area, which is awesome. It was such fun to see her home and recognize many of the items she has posted about over the years. The banner she made before and during Dennis' hospital stay is beautiful. I found that she collects thimbles (so do I) and teapots (so do I) and her garden is lush and relaxing.

Thanks again for your hospitality, Gracie!

Lunch With Gracie

As usual, I forgot to take a photo when I was at lunch with our blog friend Gracie yesterday. I think of it as I'm driving to meet her. Then I get so caught up in the pleasure of her company and our conversation that I totally forget. Then I think of it as I'm driving home.

It's been a long time since I had the opportunity to meet up with her. I'm not even going to say how long because I'm embarrassed that my life is so out of control, but it's been a long time. Fortunately, Gracie is the type of friend that you can just take up with where you left off no matter how much time has passed!

If you don't know Gracie, be sure to check out her blog. She is delightful and I treasure our time together.

I don't, however, make any attempt to guess how long it will be until we meet again! hahaha

Meeting Gracie

Well, it finally happened. I got to meet a fellow blogger face to face! I have made two attempts in the past to see friends I've met blogging, but both times the plans fell through. This time was a success and it was delightful.

I met Gracie of Needles Pins and Dragonflies last week. She was downsizing some of her stash and I expressed an interest in her Lizzie Kate flip-its. My hope was that we would be able to meet in person since we live so close to each other and it worked out. We spent an hour getting to know each other, discussing our LNS past and present, and other shops we've visited around the country. The time flew by and we're hoping to meet up again soon.

Gracie is a dear, and the best thing about meeting her (as I told her) is that now when I read her blog, I hear her voice!

Thank you for the flip-its, Gracie, and for taking the time to meet in person. I enjoyed it immensely!

Calories

On Wednesday I met a friend for lunch at Mimi's Cafe. I haven't been there in a year or so and was looking forward to a relaxing meal. My quest for relaxation was shattered when I opened the menu and discovered that Mimi's is now posting calorie counts for each item they serve.

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.

My first thought was that I am not going to be able to eat anything for lunch. Even soup. Even salad. And forget about a sandwich or an entree. The calorie counts were through the roof! The smallest count on a sandwich was more than 700.

I frantically searched the menu for the "petite" or "half-size" portions. I literally was thinking "what am I going to eat?" when I finally spotted the soup or salad/half sandwich section.

Believe it or not the lowest calorie half sandwich was a BLT. It came in at 255 calories. Everything else was higher. Some were much higher. The garden salad was listed at 67 calories and the Caesar salad was 157. The dressings, of course, are on top of that.

I decided to order a half BLT, Caesar salad, dressing on the side. I really don't eat much dressing with my salad and I never eat the croutons. I don't like the "spiky" lettuces they put in the garden salads these days, so I thought I'd just stick with the Romaine in the Caesar salad.

Decision made, I sat back and waited for my friend to arrive. I couldn't wait to see her reaction.

After exchanging greetings, she opened the menu and I dropped the bombshell. "They have the calorie count on every item on the menu!" Her response as she scanned the menu, "oh my!"

As she exclaimed over the high calorie count on the soups and salads, and pointed out in disbelief that the BLT half sandwich had less calories than the half Turkey sandwich, I empathized. She finally ended up ordering the same sandwich, but with the garden salad.

We decided in the long run that this is a good thing. We begrudgingly opined that we hope every eating establishment starts this practice. I think I remember in the back of mind hearing that they all have to comply by January 2014. But don't quote me on that.

Our lunch was great, the conversation was uplifting, and we left having enjoyed our time together.

However...

Mimi's is now off my list of places to dine.

Our Visit With Santa

Ok. I want to end the suspense first off. We did not visit with Santa. From the moment Sunny got in my car all she said was "I don't want to sit on Santa's lap. I don't want to talk to Santa." We met my friend Joanna and her daughter Quinn at the play area and played first. We rode the merry-go-round.

Then we walked down to where Santa is temporarily residing. We oohed and aahed over the Christmas trees in the display. We slowly rounded the display to see other little kids on Santa's lap. Um, yeah. It did no good. She did not want to sit on Santa's lap.

Thunder was calm during all of this so I asked him "don't you want to sit on Santa's lap?" He stuck his thumb in his mouth and slowly shook his head "no".

So, we wrote a letter to Santa containing Christmas wishes, placed it in the big mailbox and took off to see the puppies.

As we were leaving the pet shop I hear "NOW I'm ready to sit on Santa's lap!" Maybe next time...

Thunder would not let go of my hand...

the merry-go-round goes a lot faster than it looks!

Writing a letter to Santa

In front of my main tree

Both kids love this nutcracker piece.

When you press the button it lights up and plays "The Nutcracker Suite".

Thunder likes to push the button over and over...

Kansas Part Two

While we were in Manhattan, we visited the Konza Prairie Biological Station. It is a native tallgrass prairie preserve. JD and Janel volunteer there. We were able to drive the Buffalo Loop which is not normally open to visitors. We saw wild turkey, buffalo, and lots of grasshoppers! It was a very interesting place.

After that, we visited The Discovery Center. It is new to Manhattan having just opened in April 2012. The exhibits contain information about the history and ecology of the Flint Hills area. It is a beautiful facility.

Saturday was a game day for K-State University. The kids drove us past the stadium several hours before kick-off. Oh my goodness gracious! I've never seen anything like it. A sea of purple as far as the eye could see. RV's. Buses. Tents. Thousands of people milling around at tailgate parties. I've never been to a college football game. It sure looked like fun!

On Sunday, we drove up to Topeka. We went to meet my friend, Carla. She was my best friend in Jr High, High School, and beyond. We lost track of each other a few years after I moved out to Arizona. We reconnected via the Internet a couple of years ago. We had not seen each other since 1979. It was so great to see her! We had lunch and did some more catching up.

JD and Janel took us to Shawnee Lake. They were married there in July 2009. We were unable to attend the wedding and it was so special to me to see where it took place. They walked us through their big day. Now when I look at their wedding photos, I have a better sense of the event. It is a beautiful location!

We had so much fun on our trip. Although it is always hard for me to say goodbye to JD and Janel. I miss them so much when we're not together. But it's always good to be back home...

Birthday Fun!

I had a great birthday party yesterday! Twelve of us gathered at The Spicery at 1895 House in historic downtown Glendale for lunch. We talked, laughed, ate, hugged, and reminisced. It was terrific. I had so much fun. Dan watched Sunny and Thunder. They showed up in their football jerseys in honor of football season starting. Sunny wore the Raiders and Thunder wore Chargers. I'll begin the photos with them...

Sunny helped me open some presents before we left. No, I was not brave enough to wear my hat to lunch!

Sunny loved my hat.

I think she enjoyed my gifts as much as I did.

Two Handsome Guys

Tia Jessica and Thunder

Marti - 15 years of friendship

Joanna - 11 years of friendship

Kelly - 34 years of friendship

Ashley - 3 years of friendship

Mom - 56 years of friendship

Francesca - 20 years of friendship

Jessica - 28 years of friendship

Leslie - 20+ years of friendship

Beth - 15 years of friendship

Katie - 26 years of friendship

My beautiful daughters

The Science Center

Thanks to my friend Joanna, we enjoyed a visit to the Arizona Science Center yesterday. Jessica, Sunny, and I joined Joanna, Kat, Brody, and Quinn for a fun time. I wasn't sure Sunny would be old enough to appreciate it, but she had a blast! Of course, anything involving her friends is fun for her. I didn't want to lug my big camera, so I used one of Dan's appraisal cameras. The photos are not very good, but you'll get the picture...