Merry Christmas

The procrastinator in me won this time and I did not send out Christmas cards this year. Surprisingly, I really feel OK about it! If I had sent one out...this would have been the photo.

Merry Christmas!

Where Have I Been?

I was so touched the other day when the super talented Jen from Sanctuary Arts at Home left me a comment on my last post that is MONTHS old asking me where I've been. So sweet! Didn't realize anyone noticed I was gone!

Well...I've been in grad school. The first semester is over and I hope to squeeze some posts in before the next semester begins.

So here is where I have been too...

Soccer...lots of soccer! I have mentioned that I HATE soccer?

But when the kids are so darn cute in their uniforms, how could I resist?

Then hubby and I celebrated our 13th anniversary at the Cardinal's game. Yes. We are in the last row and it was FREEZING cold! Nothing but the best for his lady!

Halloween was great! Great weather, freinds and family and Super Heros everywhere!

You may recall that in May I ran my first 5K. Well I'm still running and in November my girls ran their first 5K. They ran the Girls on the Run 5K. If you are not familiar with the program, it is an awesome self-esteem building program for girls that using running. My girls are too young for the program but that didn't stop them! One of my proudest moments!

Then Thanksgiving rolled aroung and the hubby deep fried the turkey. As Rachel Ray would say, "YUMMO"!!

The sisters helped cook the feast and it was delicious! Lots of mom's recipes for the eating.

I think that's a good summary of where I have been. More posts to come!

Well Dressed

OK! I really have no time the write this post but I'm so excited about this that it must be done....advanced nursing theory can wait a little longer.

The kitchen is in the home stretch and has been for 6 months! The finishing touches take longer than anything. I needed curtains and knew I wanted toile. I LOVE TOILE! Easy right? NOT! I could only find toile with a base color of white and that meant too much white in my kitchen with new white cabinets. Then one day while surfing blogland, I found a post about the most lovely bedding (yes, bedding) with a blue back ground and toile scene. So off to Target and got the last one on clearance for $60. SCORE!

Problem....I don't sew.....at all! So I planned to a Nester mistreatment. Then stepped in my most lovely and talented neighbor that offered to help me do it properly. Jenny is the best! She first sent me to task ripping the whole thing apart. Here's the mess I was left with.

Don't you just love the fabric?!

So one afternoon we went to work. When I say we, I mean Jenny and I was her best cheerleader!


Then the sewing began. She swears it's easy but I'm not so sure...

What was suppose to take an afternoon took D.A.Y.S! Jenny did a great job and I really appreciate the time she put into it.

Here are the results and I love it!!!!!!



Check out the detail. Jenny took the time to use the cording I had cut off and made it look so professional.

Remember...this started out as bedding so there was only so much material to work with and no way of getting additional. So the middle treatment is yellow while the 2 sides are blue. I think it looks so great. Amazing what can be done when you are forced to use what you have.


Here are the panels by the bay window. I can't get them both in one picture so you don't get the full effect but it's fabulous!

She made bans for all the treatments and payed attention to the image that would be visible.

Check this out! She perfectly matched up the patterns where the yellow and blue materials meet. So awesome!
Thanks to Jenny for a job better than I could have imagined! She really took a lot of time and did a great job. No! You can't have her as your neighbor...I have trouble sharing!

SHE WON!

SO...no blogging this week like planned but WHO CARES!!! Melanie won the MR340 women's solo division with a time of 55 hours and 58 minutes!!! Yippee!!

I had no internet access except my iPhone. Why did I think I could get internet while sitting on the banks of the Missouri River? Completely delusional!

I would love to write more but I'm going to save it all for a time when I am less tired and can really try to share what the experience was like.

MR340-We Have Arrived!

The road trip to Kansas City was great despite the fact that I only had 2 hours of sleep at work the night before. I tried to nap but Mel seemed to veer off the road every time I closed my eyes. Coincidence? I think not! Rotten little sister!

We arrived and checked into the hotel and went directly to the boat ramp. What else would we do? There were already about 50 boats stationed around the ramp waiting for the next day.

Here is the view of KC from the boat ramp.

There she is...the Clark W. Griswold. Yep! That is the name of Mel's boat. Named for the lovable character from the movie National Lampoon Vacation. You gotta love it! Paying homage to the man that was always optimistic and confident despite the numerous blunders that occurred on his adventures. Let's hope Mel's adventures are filled with far less disasters! Oh! The paddle...it's named cousin Eddie!

The boat came off the truck and we began to ready it for the tomorrow. There really wasn't a lot to do yet but it felt good to be there and working toward her goal. Our cousin, Joe, came down to help and provide moral support! Thanks, Joe! We love you!

Here are the things that surprised the non-kayaking river support person...the people! Young, old, athletes and overweight, moms (that really looked like soccer moms) and hippies. What an eclectic group of people! And everyone was so kind and friendly, sharing tips and advice, battle stories and well-wishes.

So there they sit like soldiers waiting for battle. Remember, this is a race against the other competitors and a challenge for the mind and body.

Now we wait. Mel has checked in, attended the mandatory safety meeting and we will brief one last time before bed (and again in the morning)!

Remember her in your prayers for the next few days and I will try to update often.

WARNING!

Just a little warning that things will be different this week. My baby sister, Melanie, is competing in the MR340 river race. It is the longest non-stop river race in the WORLD! I am her official road crew...meaning I keep her well supplied in food, water and moral support. The race is from Kansas City, MO to St. Charles, MO on the Missouri River. ALL 340 miles of it! There is an 88 hour time limit. Yep...88 hours of river fun! The race begins Tuesday at 8AM and Mel hopes to be done on Thursday afternoon. Somewhere in the mid-60 hour mark. If you want to read more about it, visit http://www.rivermiles.com/. You can track her progress under the "forum" tab. Then go to "board topics" to find the leaders...Melanie Hof will be listed there!

This is a true test of physical and mental strength. That is A LOT of time of the river alone to be filled with self-doubt! So I ask you all to remember Mel in your prayers over the next few days and come back here to visit ofternand see how she is doing! Did I mention she has only owned a kayak for about 6 weeks?! She really might be a little crazy!

So the next few days, I will be basically using my blog as a journal for the adventure we are on. No decorating, no projects, no gushing about my kids...just me rambling on about the race. There may be LOTS of rambling because I will have LOTS of time by myself. I apologize in advance. I will do my best to chronicle the race for Mel and I, including photos. We will see how that goes out there in the middle of no where! Please computer, don't fail me now!

See you on the river!

Goodbye, Neighbors

Saying goodbye to good neighbors is tough. Saying goodbye to my neighbors is...well...weird. You see, my house backs to a cemetery and the cemetery is moving. Yes...all 1500 graves...moving. When we bought this house, it didn't bother use that a cemetery was in our backyard. Quiet neighbors! We thought we were safe from building and development. WRONG!

Here is the overhead view of the property. You can see the lovely circular design of the cemetery. My house backs right up to all that geometric splendor. It almost looks like a crop circle.

We first heard about moving the cemetery this winter and it has moved quickly. It is mainly nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph Order buried there. So I guess with no kids or grand kids to complain about the move, off they went!

There was a closing ceremony that the kids watched from the fence. The attendees carried banners, rang bells, sang songs and said some prayers. Everyone there seemed fine with the idea of the big move. So who were we to complain? What would be the use of complaining? It's not our property.

Then the black tarp went up and the backhoes started working. I have spared you the pictures of that! Needless to say, it has been a weird summer in our house. The blinds remain closed and the curtains drawn, just in case. I would hate for the kids to see something that would scar them for life. The work starts early in the morning so there has been little sleeping in for the kids this summer. BUMMER for mom!

So, we say goodbye to our neighbors. The quiet neighbors. The good neighbors. The neighbors that have never caused a problem. We will miss the beautiful headstones and statues, the nuns (living ones) that take walks out back and always smile and wave. We will miss the "park" we had in the yard because we know someday it will be replaced with something not nearly as lovely. RIP