Some things that I have been thinking about posting here but kept forgetting--
a Christmas present from Debbie, my Maggie Bag that is a perfect fit for my Christmas present from Brita, Ben and Dan, my Flip video camera! Do you think they all planned this? Another example of synchronicity, a favorite word of mine.
Nutella, my new favorite thing on toast! Given I have never been a fan of peanut butter unless it's a Reese's peanut butter cup, I had never taken the time to investigate this spread made of hazelnuts. What I didn't know is that it also is chocolaty! It is Delicious, which makes me sad that I have been missing this pleasure for so long!
Got Olympics? Seems I can't get enough of the drama!
I'm looking forward to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver starting Feb. 12, in fact, Bob and I have scheduled some Olympic-watching time on our calendars so we can keep up with the happenings. This stems from a serendipitous vacation 4 years ago that brought together the Olympics, a week in a northern MN condo, and record-setting cold weather that encouraged us to find indoor entertainment. We discovered that tuning in to watch someone else excelling at both indoor and outdoor winter sports was a good substitute for actually doing it ourselves! So this year, even though we aren't going away on an official vacation, we are going to squeeze in some special time to watch these wonderful athletes. A couple weeks ago, our man Dan was involved with a big snowboarding event at Mammoth Mountain, so got to see a preview of the Team USA athletes. If you want to see a bit of what they are doing as they fly through the air, you can watch them by using this link, click on the tab for video galleries, then scroll down a bit to the early January videos on the Grand Prix events. But it sounds like a couple of their top picks are sidelined with injuries this year, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they can still come through with some medal-winning performers.
Now, what does this have to do with my world of quilting? Well, I am clueing you in to an up-and-coming sport that won't be represented in the 2010 Games, but maybe we should create a lobby to get it accepted in 2014 because it is close to the hearts of all of us. What is it, you ask? Well, it's Extreme Ironing! Not familiar with this sport? Don't worry, neither was I before I saw their calendar. And take a look at this Extreme Ironing website for everything you never imagined you would see happen to an ironing board. Makes my own ironing look pretty tame! It just might make you look at your ironing board in a whole new light.
Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post! I'll blame it on the Olympics, which require me to sit in the recliner with knitting in hand. Lots of fun watching the competition, but what I like best is the stories about the athletes and the interviews with them. It's hard to comprehend the level of dedication they need to do what they do, and for years and years. Makes me feel like a slug! I have fallen by the wayside of the road to physical fitness. The last time I felt really in shape was when I did the AIDS ride from Minneapolis to Chicago, that was quite a few years back. But my 3 months of training for that was a drop in the bucket to what these Olympians do.
Spent a couple days in Iowa last weekend, stayed with Mom and Dad, visited Jarry, Mary, Spencer, then back home again. I love driving through the farmland, I really like the view of the horizon with rolling hills, a grove and buildings scattered here and there, an occasional watertower. And wind generators! When I lived there (NW Iowa) the wind was just a given, not really remarkable. Well, now it is serving a purpose other than drying the clothes on the line! It's almost like before it was invisible but always present, and now it is a visible presence as the turbines turn. The corn and beans look so healthy, except for the fields pounded by a recent severe hailstorm, which look very sad. I guess those who engage in farming are used to the risk of Mother Nature, but for me it is troubling and just not fair! These photos highlight Shadow the wonder dog, Nora's sweet kitty, and Mary's beautiful rose.
