Craft Hope Project 8

Last night I spent a couple of hours sewing together cotton chenille, terry cloth and sherpa into 10 x 10 and 14 x 27 piece squares/rectangles which will be used as RAGS! Yes, you heard me! And I actually got a little teary thinking about it because the rags will be used by the The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies to clean the oil from marine animals in the Gulf of Mexico.

The project is being coordinated by Craft Hope and you can read all about the project here.

At first I thought, well, some corporation could just donate a bunch of new towels for this, how can I make a difference? But then I realized that big circle of life where everyone is involved and that if I can exert some energy toward the effort to help, it just might be a step in the right direction. I hope that made sense! Anyway, Craft Hope is an amazing organization, YAY Craft Hope!

Happy Easter and Living Room Makeover

Here in Colorado we are just starting to see hints of green. My little rock garden crocus came up earlier this week before we got a blast of cool weather again but it's definitely Spring.

I've been so buy with projects like a complete living room makeover; painting, new furniture and everything. We're not finished yet but getting there. Here are a few photos of the adventure.

Although we have painted the walls, ceiling, stripped and repainted the window frames and got a few new pieces of furniture, we are waiting on slipcovers for the sectional. Once we get those, new curtains will have to be put up and I'll probably finalize what I want up on the walls.

Here are some before and after so far:




I found this funky little cabinet from Housefish and had to have it, we thought it would be perfect for the TV but still be usable later if we chose not to use it for the TV. It's really well-made, sleek and modern. The wood is walnut, doors are painted steel. However, the DISH box didn't fit in the cabinet and we couldn't use the remove if the doors were closed so I found this piece of glass that used to be a console table and I had it stored in the basement. I found 4 acrylic containers at the Container Store, filled them with river pebbles and voila! I was very proud of my little invention. Oh and the TV is new.


My favorite part is finding new things to complete the look! The tax refund money was pretty much gone by the time we finished painting so I was looking for bargains and found a few. (rug was a splurge though I did get a super deal on it)

Home

Perfect place for a rocker and a cold lemonade, in the summer

Nice open great room, taken from the big kitchen

I really would love a new house. I look at houses ALL the time. I am living in my first home, that I bought alone, that I didn't intend on keeping when I got married. It's tiny and cozy with a huge yard and some days I'm really happy with that, and other days I want to pull my hair out.

Instead of sewing, I've been spending ALL my very precious and little free time looking at model homes AND looking at ways to remodel our current cottage.

About a week ago I went to the Martha Stewart model homes close to us. There are three of them and surreptitiously photographed each one as I walked through (with my new Droid). Of course, they are perfectly decorated with Martha's paints, furniture, linens, everything!

I can SEE myself waking up in the light filled bedroom, walking down the soft carpeted stairs into the great room and that big open kitchen, making coffee, sitting on the porch watching the new garden grow. There is a lovely little second floor room with an alcove where I would set up all my sewing things and look out onto the park while whipping up quilts.

Ah yes, dreams.

We COULD sell our house and move but I've lived here now for 11 years and the thought of keeping it neat and clean to show, not to mention fixing it up to show, and all that work, I just get depressed. I rarely have time to dream about moving, much less do it! Not to mention that bigger mortgage payment.

So I leave you, as I'm now late to work and my husband is asking me why I'm not getting ready, (um, because I am enjoying the garden, sipping coffee with my perfect non-shedding dog by my side? REALITY CHECK). Enjoy my little dream.

Master Bedroom, tastefully decorated with Martha furniture and linens

Master Bath with optional cabinetry which I LOVE


Perfect little crafty area


Perfect reading spot, overlooking park

Red and Aqua Bee 2 Blog Badge

Below is the html text for the blog badge for the Red Aqua Bee 2 group, just cut and paste into a gadget if you're on Blogger. It will link back to our Flickr group.

<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/red_and_aqua_bee_-_part_two/"><br /><img alt="Red and Aqua Bee Part 2 on Flickr" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4373148690_0891c0db71_m.jpg" border="0" width="200" /></a>

WOW

I just discovered shabbyblogs.com! A big thank you to Heather, I saw the tag on her new blog.

Now I have a cool and funky new blog.

Overheard at Barnes & Noble

I was in the Valentine Card aisle at Barnes & Noble yesterday and dropped in on this conversation.

Woman 1: She needs to just forget him."
Woman 2: Yes, she does. I don't know, I never felt about anyone enough to get hurt or miss them. Except my husband.
Woman 1: Oh yeah.
Woman 2: You know, when my husband knew something was wrong, or I wasn't feeling right, he would sit me down and ask me what was wrong and wouldn't leave until he knew I was alright.
Woman 1: Yeah, you are not going to find that again, for sure!
Woman 2: No, no, no.

I never looked up to see the women, I didn't want them to know I was listening, even though they were about a foot away. They didn't sound "old" to me, really. I was on my lunch hour and came into the store really frustrated about something at work so it was kind of an escape to listen in.

Woman 1: So did you have your husband cremated?
Woman 2: Oh, yes. I did. And you?
Woman 1: Oh we had a full out military funeral, the whole thing. But we had him cremated, his ashes were right there.

At this point they wandered further from the cards and then I watched them separate and go their own ways. They must have just run into each other at the store, who knows how they knew each other. I watched one of the women walk away, she was wearing a bright red top. I don't know why it touched me but I was almost in tears, right there in Barnes and Noble. I had to start looking at the Electrical Wiring for Dummies book for a few minutes to gain some composure!

I guess I was thinking how we talk about how quickly our children grow up. My niece who once fit in my arms is driving and starting to look at colleges. My youngest niece sends me email. My uncle died in January, the first death of that generation on both sides of my family. But I don't think about my marriage and how one day we will also be old. And one day it might be me in that card aisle running into an acquaintance.

This is what I learned from two gracious African-American women at Barnes & Noble yesterday. Treasure every minute of the love you have. Even when you're picking dirty underwear off the floor or wiping crumbs off the counter for the zillionth time.

Happy Valentines Day weekend.

keeping it real

MY FAMILY


My husband and I at the Emmys


I'm following in the footsteps of Heather and Kerri and posting my own "real" post.

I've met so many friends online yet never met them in person and for all I know, they are just tiny little postage stamp sized icons which is all I ever see! So here I am in my glory.

My real name is Mary Elizabeth but my family has always called me Bitsy, which was also my aunt's nickname. I answer to Mary and Bitsy and I really hate it when someone who knew me as Bitsy calls me Mary but I don't mind being Mary.

I wanted a white picket fence life, kids, husband, homemaker. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and my mother stayed home with us. I also wanted to travel to exotic places. I never had kids because by the time I got married, it was too late and then my first husband flaked on me. By the time I met my husband Cesar, it really was too late. It's hard on me but I keep busy and don't think about it and surround myself with pets.

Rocky (died in Sept) and Rosie

Speaking of pets. I have a keeshond, Rosie, 4 finches and a fishpond with two koi and 7 goldfish. I have had two other keeshond who died; one in 2005 and one last September, Rocky. I got Rocky after my divorce and he was my best friend. His death was really hard on me.

I started sewing when I was 10 and my mother took my sister and I to a neighbor's house where she taught us. I remember making culottes and a white tennis dress. Later, I sewed a lot in home ec and made so many of my clothes. I stopped sewing in college but picked it up in the form of quilting after college (in the early 80s). I was in a quilt group with women from my church.


I grew up in a church and was missionary in Africa, I also went to Haiti on a mission trip. I wanted to be a missionary so badly but I got homesick! I came home and never went back.

I have been to the countries: Africa, Haiti, Italy, England, Venezuela, Bonaire. I really want to go to France, Holland, Greece, Finland, Sweden, China, Japan.


My husband, Cesar, is from Havana, Cuba. We met when I went on an educational tour there in 2003. He came to the US in 2004 and we got married. He is a photojournalist for a Spanish TV network and won an Emmy for a short film he did in 2006. He has met and had his photo taken with Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain during the elections. I have never even seen a US president in person. I did meet Sarah, the duchess of York when I was with my first husband, at a party in New Jersey. I shook her hand and did not call her your royal highness. I think I was supposed to.


My husband and I come from such different backgrounds but we make our marriage work in spite of all the questions we sometimes get. I don't speak Spanish but he does speak English. He is 12 years younger than I am and I pay the mortgage. I'm pretty bossy and headstrong and he puts up with me. We have grown into love more after we had a passionate meeting. We had to date long distance so it was quite a risk when we got married but I feel so fortunate that he is a super guy.


Here's another list, one of those Facebook things that my niece sent me but it actually reveals a lot about me:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Mary Elizabeth is my maternal grandmother and my nickname, Bitsy, is also the nickname of my aunt, on my mother's side, Frances Elizabeth.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Watching a sappy movie the other night

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Only a grownup kid (aka husband) and a fur-covered keeshond.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yes, I would be my BFF

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
ALL the time.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes. But for the right price, I will sell them.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely not. Not even if I were promised that I would never have to work in an office again. That's a pretty serious negative.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Alpha-Bits and I also like Honey bunches of Oats but I never eat them.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes.
(where is 12?)

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Is there any other ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip all the way!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I don't even know. Whatever is most prominent about them.

15. RED OR PINK? PINK!!!!!!!
Pink first, then red

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
That I don't have any flaws (see number 7 above)

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Wow. Hm. I don't know. I miss both of my grandmothers. I miss my estranged sister. My pup Rocky who died in September. That still makes me cry.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Only if they want.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans and red felt clogs

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Entertainment Tonight is on TV in the other room (good reminder to change the channel!)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I would be a tube of cerulean blue oil paint, not a crayon!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Real lavender, garlic,

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My team at work on a conference call

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
She's my niece!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
The only sports I watch on TV are the Olympics. OH and the Puppy Bowl, if that's a sport.

27. HAIR COLOR? Blonde (real blonde)

28. EYE COLOR? blue, like my father

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes- since I was 15 (glasses since I was in 3rd grade)

30. FAVORITE FOODS? Good food, anything with garlic, fresh or artisan cheeses, French dishes, pain au chocolat, steak, fresh veggies, am I too picky?

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happily ever after all the way

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Love Happens

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? pink

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I have to have both, wow, I can't choose

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes

37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP.
OHMYGOSH, when Nelle (my youngest sister) was about 5, she made me this pencil cup by coloring on construction paper and covering a tin can. That's what I still use!

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?
Mary Cassatt used to be one of my favorites. I really love all kinds of art though.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Friday Night Knitting Club. I have Telex From Cuba waiting after that.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? My mouse pad is a replica of an oriental rug

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? The news, American Idol and Bizarre Foods

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S) birds singing, the sound of my dogs and husband sleeping (not snoring mind you)

43. BEATLES OR ROLLING STONES: Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Physically, Hawaii, culturally Africa.
(WHEN IS THE LIST GOING TO END?)

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I'm pretty good at spending money

46 WHERE WERE U BORN? Davis Hospital, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY? Anything with meaning, I have some earrings from my 18th birthday, pearls from my 21st birthday, earrings I bought in Florence on the Ponte Vecchio.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? On a trip to Havana, Cuba. It was very romantic.

My BFF Wendy who lives in New York


My Scooter


Our house

So, that's me. I'd love to hear about YOU.