Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Because you, Jessie, asked for it. I give no excuses for not blogging since May-ish. I believe in love at first sight. No, it didn't happen with Jim and me (and that's ok. We've managed to remain married for nearly 26 years despite not falling in love the first time we laid eyes on each other. The first time I saw Jim at work at the Morris Center back when it was a cafeteria, my first thought was "He looks Hispanic. I wonder if he has an accent?" and then I wandered back to my job in the dishroom and giggled my way through the rest of my shift and didn't think anymore about that "Hispanic" guy") (I have no idea what Jim thought the first time he saw me. He probably thought "She works in the dishroom and I bet she giggles a lot" and then he went back to work on C line and did his job like he was supposed to). Anyway back to love at first sight. It happens with your babies. I experienced love at first sight with Katie, Jimmy, Paul, H...

It's a Sunday morning, I have an hour before I have to leave for church, my Sunday School lesson is prepared, the kids get themselves ready for church, I've eaten lunch, so now what? Blog! It's almost the end of the school year, which means I tend to think about how old my babies are and wonder where the time went. Hayley is almost done being a junior and Matt is almost done being a freshman. I started this blog back in 2008 when Katie was just graduating, and Matt was in 3rd grade. It boggles the mind. Ok enough of that. I gots pictures. Band concert in the gym. Matt looked all nice and I think he knew where I was sitting. Trombonist in action   This was taken at the Robotics end-of-the-year banquet. The girl sitting next to Matt had no problem being photographed. Matt, on the other hand, would not cooperate. This was the best shot I could get of him. Matt and the KING TeC robot. I don't remember the name they gave it. Matt helped a little b...

Styx song anyone? This post isn't really about Mr. Roboto. It's about Matt. And robots. When Matt was little and when he talked all the time, I thought he was going to be interested in theater. He liked hamming it up on the stage--one time he sang "Bob the Builder" for a church talent show when he was three or four. Another year, he told jokes. He seemed to like the limelight. But now that he's a teenager, his interests have taken a very different turn. He came home from school one afternoon and said, almost as an aside, "Oh by the way, my friends want me to try out for the robotics team." and then he wandered off to help himself to a post-educational snack. He had never shown an interest in anything mechanical or computerical (other than using a computer to play games). Let me amend that: he did like drawing thousands of miniscule robots on pieces of paper when he was little. He could fill up every inch on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with tiny li...

A picture I stole from facebook. Those feet are not Jim's and mine, those are Katie's and Christian's. So Jim and I get promoted from dad and mom to Granddad and Grandma! And all the kids get promoted to aunt and uncles!  (except Katie, who is already an aunt to Christian's nephews)(and besides, Kate will be promoted to Mom!) First of all, my official mother of the mother-to-be congratulations to Katie! And mother-in-law congratulations to Christian as well! Yes, I have known about this for a while, but Katie made me not broadcast it because she wanted to do it herself, which I guess I can understand. I can't wait to be a grandma! I had two fantastic grandmas from which to draw some lessons on how to be a grandma. Sadly both of them have gone on to heavenly things, one just little while ago. Grandma Hawley, if you're listening, you are going to be a great-great grandma! I wish I could have told you while you were still here. And Grandma Talberg, you a...

Early this morning, before the sun was even sort of up, I went out to the van to hit the gym for some early morning exercise (I joined a club at the beginning of the year. I am not thin yet. I am blaming the club). The garage was pitch black, even though the garage door was open to the driveway, but I thought "Meh, I don't feel like turning on the garage light. I know my way to the car door and that way I won't have to turn the light off later." So I stepped into the garage. And promptly bumped into a box with a big squishy sleeping bag on it, which rolled to the side and bumped into something else. That bump triggered a tinkly musical noise...a music box. I don't recollect a music box in the garage. I wasn't familiar with the tune. I am familiar with horror movies though, and this seemed like the perfect opening to one. So I hustled my buns to Vanna White (the vehicle, who was NO help at all) and squealed the tires out of the garage. After I exercise...

But I'm not going to list them all here. Besides, really it's just a list of years; on the other hand, those years add up to Jim. And I'm kind of partial to Jim. Yes, folks, it's make-a-cake day! And also eat-a-cake day! I'm sure you all saw pics of his cake on fb or instagram (or both) already. But here it is again: Jim never did give me any input on how to decorate the cake, so I had to come up with it on my own. I picked what I hoped was a highlight of this past year (despite the red eyes--come to think of it, I should have put a pair of red eyes on the cake somewhere). He has also been complaining about the winter. Personally, I don't know what there is to complain about; it's Minnesota, winter is SUPPOSED to be cold and snowy. But whatev. He seems to like "warm weather" or whatever it's called. Last night we went out for dinner and then he suggested a stroll around Barnes and Noble. Jim grabbed the one book he wanted and I had to ...

Yes. Always. I've been on a sewing binge lately. I shared on Facebook this past week that I spent a whole day cutting out skirts, shirts, and a dress. I have started sewing up what I cut out. So far, I have completed two of the skirts and one shirt. Gray maxi skirt.  I love maxi skirts. SO comfortable and they cover up my legs. The pattern was one I got for a dollar and the fabric was close-out priced at Mill End (sniff. I am so sad that they are closing). White pencil skirt I LOVE this fabric, which I also got at Mill End for cheap. It's got a chevron pattern on it, and it is technically a knit so there is some stretch, but it's heavier than a regular knit. The only thing I don't like about the skirt is that I put an elastic waistband. I have half a mind to undo it and sew some darts in the back and put in a zipper and a waistband.  See the lovely chevron pattern? Lavender shirt I've sewed a teal shirt out of this pattern before and re...