Berry Delicious

I made this for Jen's birthday. It was a big hit; the recipe was requested by several people. We used to break out the dessert mid-afternoon when celebrating someone's birthday. We've since learned to start early - and graze all day!

Chocolate Berry Trifle

3 cups cold milk

2 pkgs (4-serving size) chocolate instant pudding

8 oz whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 baked 9" square pan of brownies, cooled, cut into 1" cubes

1 pint (2 cups) raspberries

Pour milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup whipped topping.

Place 1/2 the brownie cubes in 2-quart serving bowl. Top with 1/2 each of the pudding mixture, raspberries and whipped topping. Repeat layers.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Makes 12 servings.

A Better Day

Things are better today. Simon mowed the lawn. Steve bought pizza. It doesn't take much, does it?

As I've continued to stew about Steve not telling me his uncle had cancer surgery, I realized about mid-day that I've already spent about a billion times more brain cells on this than it's worth. I was wearing me out! Now I can see it wasn't about that particular event, it was a symptom of the problem I have with Steve not sharing stuff with me. That's just how he is. It's not personal. It's not directed at me. The thing is, earlier this year, I thought I finally once and for all "got it" about Steve and was beyond caring about it anymore. Guess not. Sometimes, we have to learn a lesson a few times before it sticks, don't we?

So anyway, I'm over it.

Yesterday, after Simon and I decided he should not be responsible for mowing the lawn, I asked him to mow it today, rather than leave it to Steve on short notice. Simon woke up around 8:30 and started in on it immediately. (We don't have close neighbors that care about noise.) He did the whole thing with a minimum of breaks. He did come in to tell me he ran over a snake and there were still-alive, quivering snake parts around the yard. (He even threw in a visual of the spastic not-dead-yet snake head. That was a treat!) He eventually picked them up with a shovel and threw them into the woods so Reggi wouldn't find them. I understand the ewww-factor he was feeling. I ran over a snake with my bike a few years back and it took a good hour or so for the hair on my arms to relax. Just ewww.

Steve invited Lizz and her boyfriend over for dinner, then he kindly offered to pick up pizza and wings for us. I've been crunching on this self-inflicted Pine Tree Designs deadline all day, so not cooking suited me just fine. We had pizza from Papa John's - Barbecue Chicken & Bacon pizza and Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken pizza. Outstanding! I see they have a Grilled Chicken Alfredo pizza - I'd love to try that sometime. Or Grilled Chicken Club pizza! Yep, we're health nuts, alright.

So I finished tweaking the Pine Tree Designs website today. I've literally worked on it all day. I even finished the June PTD newsletter (sign up box is in the sidebar). I was so close to finishing it all when I remembered that I needed to bake something for Jen's birthday at work tomorrow. So I asked Simon to go to the store and buy raspberries and chocolate pudding for me - and he did. Got everything right too. I like it when he knows he's on my shit-list - he does stuff for me without balking. The queen shall be served. As it should be. I'm making Chocolate Berry Trifle - brownie bits, chocolate pudding, whipped cream and raspberries - layered. I baked the brownies tonight so I'll assemble it in the morning.

Anyway, the last (for today) bit of self-promotion I wanted to do was to tell you to check out the Discontinued page - there are some good deals to be had. I really just want to get rid of the wholesale product I was selling at Celebration Gifts. (That store manager who contacted me from Tennessee a couple of months ago and we agreed upon a price and everything - fell off the face of the earth. My emails to her have not bounced so I guess she changed her mind. Oh well, these things happen.) Anyway - good deals to be had as I said. I marked everything down as low as I could go, based on my cost. I'm not getting rich here, just trying to find good homes for some nice things. Free shipping, as always.

Time to go to bed and relax. I started a new book last night, Invisible Acts of Power : Personal Choices That Create Miracles, by Caroline Myss. On Gretchen's recommendation. I'm familiar with the author's work. I really only read a few pages because I was so tired so tonight I can hopefully stay awake to at least get one chapter under my belt.

I finished Sight Hound, by Pam Houston on Saturday afternoon. Simon was working and Steve went to see the Star Wars movie with Lizz so I had the house to myself. I laid on my bed and read until I finished it. I'll tell you right now - the dog dies at the end. (You can see that coming from chapter 1.) But it's kind of okay. Believe me, I sobbed my little eyes out - the whole scrunched up face cry. Felt good actually. I loved the book.

The book centers on the main character's relationship with her dog. Each chapter is written by a different person in Rae's life, including her dog, Dante - and another dog and cat too. But it's so believable! I say that because I'm such a goof about Reggi and our cats. Ever since I read that book, I like to imagine what I think Reggi, Venus and Verona are thinking. Seriously. It's like Steve tells people, I've turned into "pet lover on steroids". Wasn't it just a few short years ago I proclaimed myself "just not a dog person". Steve likes to remind me of that statement from time to time.

Enough of that. Off to bed.

Free to a Good Home

Anyone want a 17 year old and 48 year old, both males? No? Not even for just a week maybe? Please? I'll throw in a bottle of wine.

Simon has been given an opportunity to earn money for projects around the house and yard this summer. (Enough projects that would actually pay for getting his car fixed and back on the road.) Steve and I wrote the list last weekend. So this is the first weekend Simon's really had a chance to tackle any of the tasks. I'll spare you the details but it's caused me so much stress today, that after a lengthy discussion between Simon and me this morning, he and I decided to take mowing the lawn off the list. Steve will do it, as he always has. Simon has mowed the lawn the last two weekends - but has decided it's too much work. So there goes pretty much guaranteed weekly income for him. Bonehead.

He did accomplish one other task on the list today. Sort of. He drained the hot tub so he could replace the existing light bulb with a flashing bulb (or whatever it is) that Steve bought. Turns out he can't get the old one out because he can't remove the fixture because there's too much insulation on the inside. Something like that. I saw it but it's hard to explain. It's supposed to be do-able but isn't. We're going to sell the light on eBay.

In refilling the tub, Simon was so wrapped up in his computer games and whooping and hollering on the phone with his friends, that the tub overflowed. Steve noticed it from his basement office, as the water leaked through the deck. Steve came up, saw what was happening and ran and turned the hose off. I proceeded to lose my shit at Simon. Jeez Louise, child!

Simon fixed the level of the water. I told Steve he is in no way paying Simon the full price we promised him for that task. I removed the list of chores from Simon's room and threw it away. Until I calm down or something, he's lost that opportunity. His car can rot in our driveway, as far as I'm concerned. I'm sick of trying to guide, educate and assist this kid. I'm sick of roller coaster good/bad attitudes. Let him figure stuff out for himself. Teenagers. Hmmph.

Can anyone tell me about putting his car insurance on hold until he gets the car fixed? For a couple of months. Like people do with motorcycles for the winter? Could I do that? I was going to email my insurance agent but thought I'd ask here while it's on my mind.

(Simon, I'm happy to report, is getting a few more hours/week at his job. Not enough in my mind, but I'm trying to be patient until school is out in another few weeks and see what changes that brings.)

That brings us to Steve.

Last night we went to Steve's brother's house for Steve's niece's college graduation party. In talking with Steve's mom I learned that her brother, Steve's uncle, had prostate cancer surgery recently. It looks like he'll be okay - but Steve never told me about it! This is the uncle we stay with in the Adirondacks and spend time with at Christmas. Man. I'm going to send him a card now - with only my name on it. Hmmph.

I also learned on the way home, once again from Steve's mom, that his sister will be arriving for her summer visit in July 2. That's not surprising that he wouldn't think to tell me that, but I'm PO'd about him not telling me about his uncle's cancer. I know he doesn't do this stuff intentionally but it can't help but feel to me that he's so self-absorbed that he thinks of no one but himself, least of all me. I know, with 100% certainty, that's not true. Just feels that way sometimes.

So yeah, today these two characters are not high on my list of favorite people.

Simon just came in and said, "I'm sorry I'm not the son you wish I was."

Stefani: Well, today you're certainly not.

Simon: I guess I'll just go to bed.

Now before you go all "awww" on me, get over it. He was pulling that on purpose, probably trying to get a laugh out of me by being overly pitiful. Guess I told him, huh? We're talking, things are fine - I'm just really disappointed in all this stuff. We had a major discussion this morning about all this stuff, then he just keeps screwing up. I reached my limit.

So the good news. Yes, some good news showed up at the end of my day! Steve and I took Reggi for a walk after dinner. We walked along the canal and on the way back, Steve found a cell phone on the path. We debated leaving it there in case the person came back looking for it but ultimately decided to take it with us and figure out who it belonged to and/or wait for the owner to call. (We were going to go all CSI about it and run the epithelials through the lab, but decided to just wait for the guy to call us.)

The cell phone owner called his phone just as we got home and came over to pick it up. He gave us a bottle of wine for our good deed! This little Random Act of Kindness exchange was the nicest thing that happened to me all day.

I worked on the PTD website - finished some new sale pages. As these things usually go, the more I do, the more I want to do - so I'm probably going to redo all the pages. They will look the same, just rearrange the content.

Here are the pages I finished today. I uploaded them but have not linked them to anything on the PTD website, so here is the only place you'll find them for now. I'll do that all at once tomorrow. Feel free to place orders! :-)

This is stuff I had at Celebration Gifts but will not be restocking - when it's gone, it's gone.

Blue Turtle Studio Magnets

Greeting Place Magnets

Greeting Place Cards

Pop-Up Cards

Last of the NYC Pics

The day we arrived, Gretchen and I ate lunch at a little restaurant across the street from our hotel. The waitress brought this for us while we were waiting for our meals to arrive. I thought it was sour cream for dipping the pickles but Gretchen tasted it before we left and it was mayo. Someone told me later it was to put on our sandwiches. My BLT could have used it - who knew?

What's up with the armed guards outside St. Patrick's Cathedral?

St. Patrick's Cathedral. New York does have some amazing architecture. I spent most of our 4 days there looking skyward like some slack-jawed yokel who had never seen anything taller than a 2 story office building.

You know I had to take a picture of this for my boy! The store was under construction or I possibly would have bought him something, feeling as generous as I was. (Until I saw the prices, more likely. I think A & F is ridiculously overpriced so I can only image what NY prices would be!) He had to settle for a New York skyline shotglass for his collection. His collection now totals 2. Last summer he wanted to buy one on the ferry that took us from NY to Vermont. Naturally, I assumed this meant he was on a slippery slope to becoming an alcoholic. He's not.

This is the giant keyboard at FAO Schwartz, like in the movie Big. Gretchen bought the softest kitty imaginable. She pretended it was her Ana, sleeping with her at night. She even let me borrow the kitty for moments at a time, which made me all the more homesick for Venus and Verona.

These are paper lanterns hung in the trees at Tavern on the Green, which we saw when walking through Central Park.

These are glass globes, covered with little lights, also at Tavern on the Green. To see these lit would almost be worth being in Central Park at night. Almost.

Brain Quiz and Hallmark Rejects

Juno shares some amazing childhood stories in her blog. Thank you for leaving a comment the other day, Juno - nice to meet you!


I rarely do these quizzes and even less frequently do I post them. But this is a question I've seriously been pondering for a while about myself. Not that this was a scientific quiz or anything. But from what I read about right brain/left brain stuff, I thought I'd come out 50/50. I'd say 60/40 is pretty darn close. (I considered going back to fiddle with my answers until I got the result to be 50/50, just to see.)

You Are 60% Left Brained, 40% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

You may have seen these before - heck, maybe I've even posted them before. These are Hallmark rejects. Maybe I should incorporate these into a new line for Pine Tree Designs?

My tire was thumping.
I thought it was flat.
When I looked at the tire...
I noticed your cat. Sorry!


Heard your wife left you,
How upset you must be.
But don't fret about it...
She moved in with me.


Looking back over the years
that we've been together,
I can't help but wonder...
"What the hell was I thinking?"


Congratulations on your wedding day!
Too bad no one likes your husband.


How could two people as beautiful as you
Have such an ugly baby?


I've always wanted to have someone to hold,
someone to love.
After having met you ...
I've changed my mind.


I must admit, you brought Religion into my life.
I never believed in Hell until I met you.


As the days go by, I think of how lucky I am...
That you're not here to ruin it for me.


Congratulations on your promotion.
Before you go...
Would you like to take this knife out of my back?
You'll probably need it again.


Happy birthday!
You look great for your age.
Almost Lifelike!


W hen we were together,
you always said you'd die for me.
Now that we've broken up,
I think it's time you kept your promise.


We have been friends for a very long time .. let's say we stop?


I'm so miserable without you it's almost like you're here.


Congratulations on your new bundle of joy.
Did you ever find out who the father was?


So your daughter's a hooker,
and it spoiled your day.
Look at the bright side,
it's really good pay.

Lilacs & Links

To Gretchen:

1. Put recycling bins in garage.

2. Admired your new kitchen faucet.

3. Watered your asparagus fern.

4. Helped myself to your lilacs.

Done! (Thanks.)

~ ~ ~

I said I wasn't going to watch American Idol this season, and I haven't, except for the recent special Simon made me watch with him - the worst of the worst contestants, keeping with yesterday's theme of trainwrecks. But I watched last night because it's down to the final 2. Go Bo. Except someone needs to teach him how to remove the microphone from the stand. I really hate that whole carrying around the mic stand thing he does.

~ ~ ~

But watching American Idol gave me a chance to scan the coasters I'm putting on the sale page at Pine Tree Designs. There are 16 of them and scanning only goes as fast as it goes.

I haven't totally decided if I'm still going to sell products other than my own on the website or not. I'm leaning towards yes. It will still always be about me, me, me and my cards but I think a little variety is nice. But I have a number of things that I know I'll discontinue, so thus the sale page. That page will be announced in the June Pine Tree Design newsletter, which you can sign up for in the sidebar on the right.

~ ~ ~

Card-Blanc had a booth at the National Stationery Show. When you see Kathy's cards, you'll see why they appeal to me - embellishments! And from that beautiful site, I found Forbeadin' Treasures, which combines two of my favorite things, cards & beads. Oh, here's another link found on Card-Blanc, A Sense of Scents. I love the dryer sachets!

Do you see why I could spend hours and hours on the Internet? One good thing leads to another.

Big Buttons!

Whew! Another celebrity train wreck of a trial to witness. I was afraid I'd have to endure withdrawal when the Michael Jackson trial ended. Now we have Phil Spector's murder trial to follow. And yes, this is the trendy new hairstyle for SIXTY-FOUR year old record producers. Just wait until he goes to jail and stops dying it and it turns snow white like Robert Blake's hair. You aint' seen nothin' yet!

I have to say, I only follow these stories in print. I've never seen any of the re-enactments that I hear E! is doing of the MJ trial. I have heard some hilarious parodies on the radio, however. But yeah, my guilty pleasure is reading about these celebrity train wrecks. Actually, it's probably more that I like reading about eccentric people. Yeah, that's it.

Songs, Stamps and Checks

Maybe you've seen this flying around the Internet. Ann sent it to me recently and it brought a smile to my face.

It was fun being a baby boomer...till now. Some of the artists of the '60's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include:

Herman's Hermits - Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker

The Bee Gees - How Can You Mend a Broken Hip

Bobby Darin - Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash

Ringo Starr - I Get By With a Little Help from Depends

Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face

Johnny Nash - I Can't See Clearly Now

Paul Simon - Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver

Commodores - Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom

Marvin Gaye - I Heard it Through the GrapeNuts

Procol Harem - A Whiter Shade of Hair

Leo Sayer - You Make Me Feel Like Napping

The Temptations - Papa's Got a Kidney Stone

Abba - Denture Queen

Tony Orlando - Knock Three Times on the Ceiling if You Hear Me Fall

Helen Reddy - I am Woman, Hear me Snore

Willie Nelson - On the Throne Again

Leslie Gore - It's My Procedure and I'll Cry if I Want To

I don't particularly feel stressed about anything but I must be. I've been having crazy dreams again, for the past week or two. I was just telling Jennifer a few days ago that I've decided not to be annoyed by my dreams, it's just who I am. (Last night I was hanging out with The Monkees and we were invited to the Letterman show. And there was tons of goofy stuff within that premise.)

Today, I felt that familiar sleep-deprived running-on-empty feeling. That means I'm not sleeping deeply enough, my doctor says. Tonight, I'm going to bed at 9:00 and taking two Trazodone to insure I really get some decent sleep. When I get like this, I don't feel sleepy, just not running on all cylinders. It's no fun.

While I'm watching the clock, waiting for 9:00 to roll around, let me tell you about a cool thing I saw at the National Stationery Show.

PhotoStamps are just that - you upload your own photos and create your own postage stamps, which are printed and mailed to you - and they are USPS approved! The downside is you pay $16.99 for a sheet of twenty 37 cent stamps, which would normally cost $7.40, so there's that. But it's not unreasonable to have to pay for their technology and service. If it wasn't quite that expensive, I would definitely do it. Think of the possibilities! Pine Tree Designs postage stamps. Reggi stamps! I could turn my card designs into postage stamps.

For now I'm glad the postal service continues to come up with mostly interesting postage stamps. These American Indian Art stamps are what I'm using now. And boy are they big! Each stamp is 2" tall and 1-1/2" wide. I love colorful stamps - like little works of art for the envelope! To no one's surprise, Mr. Conservative Not an Artistic Bone in His Body Steve, uses regular ol' flag stamps. Purchased by the 100-stamp coil. Nothing wrong with them but c'mon - shake it up once in a while. Variety is the spice of life, man. I switch designs every time I order stamps - about every couple of months. And yes, I buy my stamps online. Couldn't be easier, only costs $1 for shipping.

You should have seen the look on his face when he saw which checks I ordered for our joint house checking account - hot peppers! He loves hot peppers and I loved the colorful design. I think there was some eye-rolling involved. Mr. Safety Check Blue over there. Sheesh.

Container Flowers

Yesterday I accomplished just what I intended and then some!

I did the grocery shopping about 8:30, making what was supposed to be a "short" trip, and then next Saturday, I'd get back into the regular every 2 weeks associated with our pay periods. Except it ended up being a full trip somehow, with a few exceptions. I reviewed the receipt and really don't see where we can cut our bill back any further - except for that darn soda that I buy 4-5 cases of every two weeks. Except Steve and Simon would wither up and die without their diet soda. I don't know, maybe that's what groceries cost now. It's kind of depressing.

Steve and I went to Home Depot to pick up a few things. Steve bought a pair of headphones/ear protectors. It's a heavy duty ear protecting headset with a built-in AM-FM radio. When he and Simon mow the lawn, they use a portable music device but they crank them so high to hear them over the mower, they are probably ruining their hearing! So this purchase seemed like a good investment to me.

We bought a bag of river rock so I could fill in 3 big pots I have, so Verona, the annoying cat I love so much, will hopefully quit peeing in the pots. She poops in the litter box just fine, thank you, but sometimes, not always, takes a leak in these pots. Might explain the sudden growth spurts of the plants! I know, I can't believe we bought rocks either.

We bought these two Rubbermaid window boxes for the deck - and these pretty purple petunias.

I couldn't find any flowers I liked for the other window box so I went to Country Way nursery near our house and bought these white geraniums. The two plants on the end are something-Lemon. I knew I'd never remember the name but I didn't save the tag because I guess I don't care enough to remember. I believe they will cascade over the sides, that's why I put them at the ends.

At the nursery, I also bought two sweet potato vines because I love the way they look with these green spikes. I wintered over those spikes indoors but Verona (yes, her again) wouldn't leave the sweet potato vines alone so I eventually threw them out. This is the canning kettle I picked up off the side of the road last summer.

Hey look! That hanging basket I bought at the craft sale I was in a few weeks ago still looks great! I've been watering it every day - and Simon did a great job watering it for me while I was in NYC. I'll start fertilizing this stuff soon.

We ate breakfast on the deck yesterday and I was remembering that last year I never put out any (or many) plants or decorations because first we were going to wash and stain/seal our deck. Then we had the new deck added on so there was no point in decorating it up during all that. As a result, we didn't use our deck much last summer so I am determined to make up for it this year. I want me one of them outdoor living spaces all the magazines talk about. I don't want a ton of flowers but a few more. I want just enough to look nice and be easy to water because I tend to peter out on the watering chores as the summer progresses. Not this year though, she says firmly.

I've had this a few years but I've usually hung it on the front of the house I think. Now it's on the deck, near the hot tub.

We also bought this solar light. Steve's been eyeing them in catalogs for a while. Most say they are to be post-mounted or staked in the ground - but we have no posts. So we wanted to see one in person - and bought this one at Home Depot. I'm not convinced these are a good idea because any solar lights I've seen barely glow. They are definitely more for ambiance, than providing anything but the dimmest of light. We're not big on entertaining and we don't use our deck at night. Steve got to see what I was talking about last night, how dim it was, so I think we're going to stake it in the ground by the front door, in the hosta bed. Except now that I think about that, the stake it came with is only about 6" long so it really won't show much there either.

Steve's heart was in the right place though. I had strung white lights and pine garland along the deck railing in December and just took it down recently. Even though we don't use the deck in the winter either, we liked the white lights. We left it up so long because we hoped we could keep it up year round. I mean we're surrounded by pine trees, it seems like it would be okay and not look too Christmasy. But it looked fake and out of place in the warmer weather. So I took it down.

Speaking of being surrounded by pine trees, yesterday I asked the Christmas tree farmer next door how much of his property he sold. None. None! He said he had no idea why the dairy farmer would tell us that he did. Weird, huh? I don't really know why either one of them would lie to us about it, so, I don't know, whatever. Glad I asked though. I was ready to start looking into planting trees along our property line to obscure the view of any newly built houses back there. And even if he didn't sell any of his land now, he still might someday. Like I said, I can't blame the guy for looking out for his and his wife's future. So far so good, I guess.

Oh, I meant to tell you this. Steve and I were in the hot tub a couple of weeks ago and we heard noise, like people laughing and talking. I made a comment that we better get used to it, what with a neighborhood soon to be right behind us.

Steve: Are you going to bitch about this possibility for the next 3 years?

Stefani: Oh no - much longer than that.

Steve: It takes a while to make a house into a home and I think we've done a nice job of that. Let's just enjoy what we have and see what happens.

I damn near fell over. "Make a house into a home"? I asked Steve if he made that up by himself. Our running joke is that he never has deep thoughts and I have too many. Whoa. What a nice thing he said! I shut up and haven't mentioned it since. Twelve years and you think you know someone....

We also went to BJ's Wholesale Club and dropped a bundle there. I call that the Hundred Dollar Store because it's hard to get out of there for less than $100.

We also stopped for ice cream cones at one of our favorite places in Webster, Bruester's. We both had a new-to-us flavor - Tuxedo Strawberry. It's strawberry ice cream with white chocolate swirled throughout and dark chocolate chunks. It's just as good as it sounds - a definite keeper.

Simon was a "call-in" yesterday but ended up working 6:00-9:30 so Steve and I picked up Popeye's chicken for dinner. It's a fairly new place and neither of us had ever had Popeye's before. I had a sandwich which was very good and Steve had a 3-piece dinner. Did you know their trash receptacles say "thank you" when you throw something away? They say something else I couldn't catch and a red light comes on. Is it compacting the trash maybe?

Here's a little update to the entry about Strawberry Fields a couple of days ago. This is Gretchen's photograph of Silly Man, playing Maxwell Smart with the red shoe. I wish we'd gotten his name so he could Google himself someday and be surprised by this!

Glitz

I've always thought of myself as a Gracefully Aging Hippie, though I'm actually a tad too young to have been a true hippie. Or maybe an earth mother type. Not into glitz and glamour.

Except then I discovered teeny, tiny crystals.

I think it might be time to try beads and glitter! La De Da Designs had a booth at the show, in the crafts and gift area. I can buy it wholesale, in bulk! A pound of beads or glitter! (Also 1/4 and 1/2 pounds. I'll probably start small.)

Micro Glitz is a combination of Micro Beads and Chunky Glitter. I can see using some of this stuff as the center for some of my larger punched flowers, for instance.

Oh. I should explain. These are smaller than seed beads, which do have holes. These micro "beads" don't have holes. Sometimes called "Beedz" by other manufacturers. You adhere them to surfaces with glue from a fine tip applicator that you can actually write with. You can adhere them to surfaces with ultra sticky "Red Liner" tape, that every crafter should know about. It comes in several widths, including 1/8", which is how I adhere thin ribbon to cards. But what I didn't know about was that the tape comes in shapes!

These colors look good enough to eat! Or roll around in! (Oops. Was that out loud?) I'll definitely be placing an order soon.

Imagine

Tuesday morning, our last day in NYC, we decided not to go back to the National Stationery Show because I'd seen the best of what I really wanted to see, the handcrafted cards. So we ate breakfast at Cafe Europa instead of at our usual Pick-a-Bagel. Then we walked up through Central Park to Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial. Above is the picture I took of the mosaic that was donated by Naples, Italy. We learned quite a bit about Strawberry Fields from a couple of tour guides that came through with their groups while we were there. Almost every country in the world donated a tree or plant in the 2-1/2 acre tear-drop shaped area. It's the only place in 843 acre Central Park that is privately maintained, through donations, including $1 million donated by John's widow, Yoko Ono.

The benches that you see in the background of that picture surround this paved area. There is a plaque on each one dedicating it to the memory or in honor of friends and family. Some quoted Lennon lyrics. It was pretty moving, actually.

Gretchen, however, takes performance art pictures. She takes these red shoes with her on all her trips and has pictures of them all over the place - Washington, DC, Florida, her oven, you name it. It's her thang. When her photographs become famous, you can say you knew her back when.

So naturally, I had to take a picture of her taking a picture of the shoes. (Shhh, please don't wake the homeless man in the background. Sleeping, bent over like that, was giving me a backache.) What I should have been taking pictures of was the people trying to figure out what Gretchen was doing.

Two nice German (?) women asked Gretchen what she was doing. Then they took our picture for us and Gretchen took their picture for them.

But our very favorite was this man who had to find out what kind of shoes they were because he just loved them. Gretchen talked him into posing with the shoes. It took some coaxing but he finally did. He picked up one shoe, put it to his ear, saying he was "Maxwell Smart". Then he put both shoes over his ears and said he was Little Black Sambo. (Gretchen, do I have that right? I couldn't hear his explanation for that.) He was very funny - on purpose, I mean. We were laughing with him, not at him.

After he and his friend left, Gretchen walked back over to where I was sitting, "That is why I love New York!"

This is The Dakota, where Yoko Ono still lives.

We walked all the way around it - it's a very impressive building. This is the front gate which residents can drive into, parking for only 15 minutes, like to unload the car perhaps. It looked like there was a courtyard in the middle. We especially liked the really nice wood shutters on the windows you can see in these pictures.

John Lennon's death is definitely one of those I-remember-where-I-was things. It took, literally, a couple of years for me not to tear up when I heard his song, Imagine, on the radio. I'm really glad we made time to see all this. It was all meaningful to me, and a nice day for a nice walk.

John & Yoko, outside The Dakota, September 1980, three months before he was murdered.

Souvenirs

In that whole beautiful paper store, Kate's Paperie, I could only find a couple of things to buy. I really tried hard too! Any of their card-making supplies was stuff I can get around here cheaper. There were some beauuuutiful specialty papers but I'm not sure how I would have gotten them home safely. I would have bought a cardboard tube I guess. But that would have been one more thing to handle on the plane. Besides, as most paper crafters know, we love nice paper but we never want to use nice paper because then it will be gone! And what if we don't use it in the most perfect way and it's "wasted"?? I see some heads nodding.

I bought this card so I can learn to make this butterfly with Mizuhiki cord.

This is a card I made a few years ago - about the only time I've worked with Mizuhiki cord. It's paper cord and comes in tons of beautiful colors. You need about 6 hands to do it. Practice, practice, practice. (Our hotel was across the street from Carnegie Hall so that joke was resurrected several times this weekend. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. Ba-rump-bump.)

I also bought these two business card holders, which I would not have even seen if Gretchen had not pointed them out to me. I'll use them - and I'll also figure out how to make them!

Speaking of Gretchen and Kate's Paperie, being a writer, she loves pens. She by-passed the $6500 pen, a fountain pen, encased in Mother of Pearl and Gold, for one of these.

Gretchen, is this the right pen? She bought the pretty blue one, smack dab in the middle of this picture. The best part was, back in the hotel room, she kept giving me a tour of her pen. It came in a velvet sleeve, which was inside a metal tube that made that airtight thwop sound when opened - and that was inside a cardboard box. It was only $17, less the 15% discount I got because I joined Kate's Paperie Rewards Club. All that means is that I was given a one-time 15% discount for joining their mailing list. (Yeah, twist my arm.) But . . . I also get to carry this cool credit card like thing, for what purpose I'm not sure. Oh wait, it says I am to present it when making future purchases. I'm not sure if that applies to online purchases or not. So until my next trip to one of their four New York City locations (or Greenwich, Connecticut) I guess I'll just be happy with the cool factor.

Further proving how much I know about Kate's, did you know that "Kate's was founded by the current owners - Leonard Flax, Chief Executive Officer; and Joe Barreiro, President - who were united by their mutual love of paper"? It was named for Leonard's wife, Kate. So while there is an actual Kate, knowing the store was founded by Lenny & Joey, well, it's just not the same, is it?

Now THAT was fun!

Kate's Paperie

We're back and I know Gretchen and I can both say our trip to New York City and the fabulous Stationery Show was a flaming success. Wouldn't change a thing, that's how perfect it all was.

Must get to bed so I can go to stinky ol' work tomorrow. Details to follow, of course!

Class of 2005

More variations on the diploma scroll theme, one for an order.

My very favoritest uncle in the whole world had a heart attack this week. He had a quintuple bypass and seems to be doing pretty darn well, but please send him some healing vibes just the same. Some of you may remember Uncle John's writing that I shared with you when he was writing his Notes from a Prairie Prison essays, when he was a prison chaplain.

Simon's car will cost almost $600 (replace the solenoid-something plus change out the snow tires to the regular tires) to fix so we're going to pick it up tomorrow and it will sit in the driveway until he saves the money to fix it. Now I'm back to thinking we should keep the car since we've put a shitload of money into it and can never get that back in a sale. Plus, sharing a car for just these few days has reminded me how convenient it is for me when he has a car. And we all know the world revolves around me and it damn well better revolve conveniently. I want him to work as much as he can this summer so he'll really need a car for that. Steve and I can't carpool anymore because our hours don't mesh. So that's today's plan anyway.

I finished watching the Julia Butterfly Hill memoir on DVD from Netflix. She's amazing! Steve watched a few minutes of it with me a few weeks ago but it was way too tree-hugging crunchy granola for him. I loved it though.

Last week Steve went out to get the mail and ran into our dairy farmer neighbor fixing fence across the street. He told Steve the Christmas tree farmer sold some? all? of his property so houses will be built right behind us within 3 years. (They just added a pool or hot tub or something to their house last year, so they probably just sold some of the land and are staying put.) Steve emailed me this news at work so I emailed him back this: "We're moving. Start packing."

As you know, I love our house and it's location but I won't tolerate McMansions packed together like sardines within a stone's throw. I thought we'd live out the rest of our years here but now I'm thinking moving wouldn't be all bad. Simon just has one more year of school and we can live anywhere we want. I want a little cabin in the woods but Steve doesn't want a long commute to work. He's been working such mega hours for the past few months and will continue for a few more months that I never see him anymore so a solo cabin in the woods would suit me just fine right about now. A kitchen, bathroom, great room, bedroom, studio and deck or porch - and an Internet connection of course - and I'm one happy woman. Reggi, Venus and Verona come with me. Oh and I'd need to win the lottery so I can afford all that and not have to work. I'd become a permanent recluse, I just know it.

This is our backyard view we'll be losing. Some builder must have offered them a shitload of money because his wife told me when we moved in that they'd never sell. Steve and I said to each other at the time, "Until the price is right." Everyone has a price. Can't really blame the guy for looking out for his and his family's future. Still sucks.

Can you tell everything's getting to me lately? This 4-day trip to New York City with Gretchen this weekend is absolutely perfect timing, as these things always are. I bet the animals are the only ones that will notice I'm gone.

Okay, I'm not really that morose but I did call my counselor today for an appointment. I'm seeing her tomorrow morning. It's usually some time in March or April that I call her for what I call my "annual spring tune-up". Steve explained to me this morning that this is always his busy time of the year. (He's a project manager for a student loan division of a bank.) To be honest, I guess I never noticed because to me he seems like a workaholic year round. But it must always be especially bad this time of year, because like I said, this seems to always be the time of year I call Debbie to help me sort things out. I told Gretchen I need to take a tape recorder with me so I can just play the tape every spring and save myself the co-pay. God forbid I actually learn the lesson once and for all.

Simon's due home from work any minute. Damn, I love the sound of that! Words I was worried I'd never get to say again. I'm headed to bed.

Graduation Card

I've never really made graduation cards before, I don't think. This is my first effort, a simple, graphic design. To tell the truth, I don't know if I'll get it on the website or not, with getting ready for the trip to the New York City that is quickly approaching. Let me know if you are interested in one like this - can do it in school colors, for instance. It sells for $4.75 or $5.14 includes sales tax if you live in New York State.

I also made a boffo birthday card tonight but I can't post it just yet, she says mysteriously.

New Purse

You have to understand that I'm not really a purse kind of girl. I've been carrying my wallet on a string for years now. I love it's functionality but I'm bored with it. So I'm going to try traveling a little lighter. Especially for our trip to NYC this weekend. I haven't put anything in this yet, so we'll see how it actually functions.

Gretchen, on the other hand, is all about Pretty Purses. Inexpensive, colorful, short-handled purses. Mom gave me my own Pretty Purse for Christmas but I've yet to use it. It was sort of a gag gift, because of Gretchen and her Pretty Purses - but it's very usable. Maybe I'll end up using that one this weekend.

I bought this at The Wine Trek Gift Company yesterday. I paid more than I normally would (being a Target devotee) but I want to support this store and I really love the colors. I saw two of the three framed pieces I took out there and none of the cards. I was feeling pretty good on the drive back to work until I thought that maybe not seeing the cards meant they never put them out - they were in the back room in a box or something! But Mom was in there the other day and said she saw a few of my cards - so either I missed them or maybe they really did all sell! I left another batch of cards yesterday and will be speaking with Pam today, hopefully, to find out when I will get paid and how things are going in general. I have about 5 ideas for more framed pieces I can't wait to work on.

Homage to Art Deco

I made this card by accident. I made the black and white strip in the center, then realized it was supposed to be brown and white (fulfilling an order). So I made it into this. I know I love the colors and think I like the card. I definitely fulfills my need to be symmetrical. The white paper has colored flecks in it, but not enough to really show up, so instead it just looks like I sneezed on the scanner glass.

Happy Mother's Day!

How cute is this?? Simon gave me this tea light holder for Mother's Day - and the single tea light in the little metal tin. I didn't even know those little tins existed! You know I'm all about little containers. The candle clashes with the holder but I'm trying to get over that. I'll blow through that lavender tea light in no time, then I'll put a co-ordinated one in there. Anal much? But Simon gets bonus points for remembering that I said I like floral scents. He used to always buy me food fragrances, knowing I love to bake - and eat! But I like floral much better. He done good.

Steve ordered and picked up a breakfast pizza this morning, so he done good too.

This is a little lavender wreath I gave Mom for Mother's Day. It's fake but I'm not sure what it's made of. I even bought one for me too - to go in my lavender family room. They are from Avon, purchased from my friend Sherry, who is a new Avon rep. It's about 8" maybe, not including the ribbon.

This is the card I made for Mom. I realized after I made it, that it's sort of in the "wrong" colors for Mom, but I have really been noticing the brilliant red tulips in full bloom around here in the last couple of days. Guess they were subconsciously on my brain. The hearts are mounted with foam tape on a piece of red ribbon and those are red crystals in the corners.

Happy Mother's Day!

Walkin' the Dog

Early this morning Steve & I walked Reggi on the Indian Hill section of the Crescent Trail. I drive by the parking area every night on my way home and have always wanted to hike up there.

Isn't this tree amazing?

The trail is pretty steep in the beginning but levels off at the top for this nice view. It was fun figuring out what we were looking at from that high.

I went to lunch at Kathy's today, with Nancy, Kim and Crissy. The food was delicious, especially the chocolate fondue for dessert! Simon called me while I was there with a car question and his thoughts on the SAT exam he took this morning. Unfortunately, he's in such a negative spiral that the negativity is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy or something. I went back to the group and they asked me something about Simon and big surprise, I got teary eyed. So I told them stuff and they made me feel much better by telling me that they are experiencing some of the same things with their same aged kids. We concluded it's this generation and their feeling of entitlement - and boys seem to be worse about developing any kind of work ethic than girls. At least I'm not alone. Sometimes I feel like I am.

Starting yesterday, I've pretty much stopped with trying to get that light bulb to light up for Simon in terms of responsibility and work ethic and motivation. Now it's tough love. In one way, it's tough on me because this is not how I want the relationship to be between us. On the other hand, it's pretty easy because it's the only alternative. It's what they say about insanity - doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

His car is at the mechanic's because he's having transmission trouble again. It should be repaired under warranty, thank goodness. When we get the car back, we're selling it now, not when school ends, like he wants. He's not happy, as you can imagine. I don't care anymore. I haven't been happy for a while. It's his turn.

Enough of that.

It's beautiful and sunny here today. I'm going to ask Steve to help me put the deck furniture on the deck tonight. Summer is here.

One of my biggest accomplishments today was buying a cutting tool that I can take on the airplane when Gretchen and I go to New York next weekend. I want to take my needlepoint to work on of course and I don't think you can take scissors anywhere in any luggage. That's what I got from the airline website but anyone, feel free to enlighten me. I haven't flown since before 9/11/01.

This is really the one I wanted - The Stitchery sells them as a set for $12.99.

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