Tortured myself perusing “Handmade Holiday” blogs (see Narrating Life: Here We Go and Call Me Badger), remembering a time when I used to do that sort of thing and feeling left out because I’m in a different place now. Managed to make one homemade gift: a scrapbook of memorabilia from my mother’s funeral, for my dad.
Started new part-time job for the City of Wheat Ridge in the Purchasing Department. Lament that shoe shopping is not on my list of purchasing responsibilities, but rejoice in the direct deposit made to my account every two weeks.
Made more taffeta skirts with tulle underskirts than I care to count. (see A Square with Flair: sweat shop) Lament that I have neglected to return Miranda’s email with pattern questions (see Vogue 8315 and Butterick 5032 and I'll talk to you later, Miranda).
Concede that wonders never cease; enjoy reading Mark’s newest blog incarnation and enjoy his attractive layout. (see Crisis? What Crisis?) Yearn for an updated blog banner myself. Yearn to return to blogging world myself. Agonize over number of unread Google Reader subscriptions.
Enjoy all-too-quick visit from Josh and Charlotte. Still getting used to using the word “son-in-law” in conversation. Really glad they didn’t die or total their car in accident on return trip to Portland (see minutiae, road tripping ).
Celebrated two birthdays in early January: John's 17th and my Dad's 91st. Can't decide which is more unbelievable to me.
Made it through the holidays with only two bouts of major missing-my-mom grief: one the night before Thanksgiving when faced with pies to make, and the other when taking down Christmas decorations and coming across some sentimental figurines from my childhood.
Laughter returned, however, upon finding this Happy Meal gem hidden in my Christmas tree by Charlotte.
Finally finished reading Mockingjay, the third book of The Hunger Games series (see minutiae, operation superhuman reader). Wondered if Katniss Everdeen would ever emerge from catatonic state in front of her District 12 fireplace.
Gear up for new year--2011 here I come! . . . that is, after I put away the Christmas dishes and the rest of the holiday bins. . . .
Really, what can be better than hanging out with cousins?
I was fascinated by the beautiful colors and textures of the rocks in Waterton Lake.
They are the same colors as many of the walls in my house!
(I took this picture for you, Susan.)
The water was freezing, but oh-so clear and refreshing!
the boxes full of wedding-guest gift basket goodies waiting to be assembled in a cute and alluring presentation, and . . .
. . . then there's Exhibit C1: Sewing, Sewing, and MORE SEWING!
The summer began with a very large drapery project (pictured, in part, above). Five dresses, one skirt, one jacket, and two table cloths later I still haven't made a MOB (mother-of-the-bride) dress that's fit to be seen in public. I've decided to play it safe and go with my favorite dress pattern, made this time in an iridescent silk taffeta (vermilion and pink tones).
Sewing yet-to-be-completed: three skirts, one MOB dress, one temple dress (possibly to be remade in better, more comfortable fabric), and seven decorator pillows (the latter of which are for clients--not for me).
Exhibit D: New (actually quite old) furniture found on Craig's List!
It's amazing what the thought of having company will do to open your eyes to the atrocities around your house. My sun room furniture, some 21 years old, had been recovered once and was looking a little worse for the wear. I found these two pieces on Craig's List. I won't be able to have them recovered before the wedding, but believe me--they're much cuter and in better shape than what I had. You'll just have to trust me on this one.
I think that Mom is really helping me out on the cake-making front. Sarah's chocolate cake with yellow-tinted White Mountain frosting was one of my better efforts.
Exhibit H: Back to School
Emily is back in Provo and Charlotte moved to Portland to start job-hunting. *sigh* Thank goodness I still have Sarah and John at home to keep things interesting!
Before continuing, I must remind you that I already made the disclaimer that we are low-level recreators. We love having little projects on which to work, watching movies together, taking walks, preparing tasty food together--I know, we're a little weird.
I was quite proud of the fact that I actually documented my sister Susan in a RARE moment of relaxation. She is quite possibly the most hard-working person I know. We were happy that Sarah had thought to pack both Anne of Green Gables and the sequel, Anne of Avonlea. We watched all eight hours over our five-day stay and I cried at all the same parts I usually do. I LOVE those movies and haven't watched them in years. (Yes, those are in fact my toes comfortably resting on the ottoman.)
Emily has become a knitting machine! She made this hat and began another project--something called "muffitees" while we were there. We were all impressed by her newly-acquired skill.
Charlotte brought along a complicated counted cross stitch project that she's been working on for several years now. I'm impressed that she has kept at it for so long! It's beginning to actually look like something you'd want to frame and hang on your wall. (Don't you think she sort of looks like Hilary Swank in this photo?)
One of our favorite pastimes was playing Bananagrams, our new most-favorite game. I had to document Susan's frustration at getting a poor assortment of tiles one time. We loved playing round after round of this game and even made up a new rule that if anyone sneezed during the course of a game, everyone had to mix up their tiles and pass them clockwise. It actually happened a time or two, though unfortunately for Susan, not in this round.
Almost everyday, late in the afternoon, we would take a walk in the neighborhood and gawk at the surrounding beautiful houses and scenery. There was a great park nearby and even the older kids had fun on the playground equipment.
I think Sarah would love any vacation destination that had a park like this one.
One day we went into the village (Vail proper) and strolled along the quaint shopped-lined streets. It wasn't until after I had taken this photo that I realized that my nephew Ryan was carrying his mother's purse--too funny! He isn't really a purse-carrying type of guy, but I thought it was sweet of him to tote this heavy patent leather load for his mom.
Here are two of the more interesting looking store fronts we saw:
Many of the shops were closed, or kept odd hours, as this time of year is sort of between tourist seasons.
This one turned out a little better, perhaps because we weren't trying to crowd so many people into the photo.
Saturday happened to be my brother-in-law Fred's birthday, so Susan make a breakfast tower out of one of his (and our) favorite store-bought treats--mini chocolate donuts (or as we like to refer to the little waxy-chocolately "cakes," feaux-nuts).
One night we made homemade pizzas. Regrettably, I forgot to bring a rolling pin. Ingenuity led me to use this can of Pam to distribute the homemade crust (somewhat) evenly in the pan.
My favorite of the four we made was this vegetable pizza, shown here prior to baking:
We introduced the Taylor and Olivier clans one night to a Wood family favorite dinner: popcorn, M&M's, apples, and cheese. Don't laugh until you've tried it--it's pretty darn good. We went all out and had two kinds of M&M's--dark chocolate peanut and my personal favorite, peanut butter. (And if you try this at home, it has to be real popcorn--not the microwave kind.)
Another night we grilled hamburgers--or shall I say, Mark grilled them for us, fighting vast amounts of leaping flames and smoke to do so. I think he may have lost some facial and arm hair in the process.
Eva provided a constant source of entertainment to all of us (with the possible exception of her mother, who patiently dealt with her sometimes unreasonable--though quite humorous--demands). Surprisingly to me, Eva was quite camera-shy the entire time and was not inclined to favor us with many photo ops.
One of the best parts of our stay was literally watching our beautiful surroundings bud before our very eyes. I swear that there were several trees that were bare upon our arrival and in bright green leaf by the time we left.
If you've made it this far in my post, you're probably either related to me or just bored enough to wade through someone else's vacation photos for lack of anything better to do. While I am very thankful that I did in fact have my camera's battery charger with me and could adequately document my trip, I am even more grateful for the recharging of my own battery. It's amazing what just a few days of total relaxation and escape from the daily grind can do to revitalize one!
