Thursday, September 11, 2014
Long time • No blogging
Facebook has taken the place of my blog, but the politicio of FB, negativity of some posts and amount of information to go through each day (and sometimes several times per day) make blogging seem more appealing again. I'm not if I'll keep this one going or move it to the WordPress spot with Grandpa Pyle's info. I'll have to think that one through. For now, suffice it to say that I'm still around, through school and taking nourishment. xo
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Weekend of June 11th, 2011
(from an email to JJLondt, CEO LondtCO)
Recap: Friday 6:30pm outdoor rose garden wedding at Minnestrista accomplished between 4 thunderstorms with ping pong sized hail and winds strong enough to snap patio umbrellas. The new wedding photography team of StudioPro31: Susan, Kristen and Holly debuted and successfully (we hope) capturing the moments.
Friday night Kristen went home with Holly. I was invited but declined with the intent to really make a dent in reorganizing the house. That didn’t happen. I read the assigned reading by Dave Eggers A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 2000 Simon & Schuster. It was staggering and repulsive and impossible to put down. I was exhausted again though this time, mentally, by this long work of Creative Non Fiction. I didn’t get much housework done, though a few things did find their way back to where they belong. Kristen decided to spend another night in Noblesville. Kelly came over for a short time with the kids. She and Aaron were not seeing eye-to-eye. He, like Holly and James has purchased a fishing license and that seems to be the recreation of choice at the moment.
Sunday, it was my turn to teach Sunday school which I felt ill-prepared and hypocritical about since I had read roughly 12.5 f…k you’s to the page for 15 hours for 2 days prior. It did go well though and it was an applicable lesson for me and they even sang “Love Lifted Me” in strained, grandmotherly voices. (This was Grandma Lillie’s favorite hymn.) I had to hit reality running by going to Wal-Mart for staples (meaning bread, milk, eggs) and watery band-aids for Kristen’s exhaust pipe red badge of courage on her right leg. Dennis (on the blue bike) and James and Kristen (on the red one) joined the rest of us (in the Gnapster Yukon) on the voyage to Emily’s graduation. The bikers and I attended the ceremony, late, but not too late to hear Emily’s accolades and her portion of a 5 person speech (their GPA’s being too close to call at the end of the school day on Friday). Gnaps and Holly retreated to Grandma Coles and fished during the commencement and we reconvened there until 5:00pm when the party was to start at Pat/Judy’s house. We were given a tour of the water pipe rupture in G/G basement. They are mid excavation and repair with Grandpa confiding in Aaron that he knew the pipes were spent but he was hoping that they would outlast him. He also was the recipient of a wasp sting on his right hand so there was considerable swelling. Grandma was in good spirits and pretty good health, though she told Kelly that her new GP is trying to diagnose her with every disease under the sun. I didn’t notice her chest rattling though we weren’t ever in a quiet place together. She didn’t noticeably cough but has started to wear compression stockings for strange bumps on her lower legs.
Emily’s party was fun and packed and well attended by their church and the local family. No Chelsea or Cassondra, but other than that everyone else was in attendance. Holly asked me to bob her hair on Friday and since the weekend was evaporating we accomplished the first segment of the job in Pat’s basement. We finished it after a harrowing ride home when a Marathon gas station could not be found and the Yukon was ticking away the miles until actual “E” on the gas gauge. Being a car full of left brainer’s, it was decided to stop in Huntington on Broadway and with $5 procured the arrival at the Marathon at I69 guaranteed. Taking all the suspense and excitement out of the trip, we settled back to view Gnomeo and Juliet with Kristen wedged between the middle seats having opted out of an earlier return trip via motorcycle. The Noblesville Londt’s left for home at 11:00pm with bobbed hair, various sunburned parts and a very early work day on the morrow; the rest of us retired shortly thereafter.
I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that Abby’s recital was yesterday. I definitely would have made a point to at least telephone my congratulations to her. Thank you for the rapid post of the photos and accompanying narrative. She looked radiant!
Recap: Friday 6:30pm outdoor rose garden wedding at Minnestrista accomplished between 4 thunderstorms with ping pong sized hail and winds strong enough to snap patio umbrellas. The new wedding photography team of StudioPro31: Susan, Kristen and Holly debuted and successfully (we hope) capturing the moments.
Friday night Kristen went home with Holly. I was invited but declined with the intent to really make a dent in reorganizing the house. That didn’t happen. I read the assigned reading by Dave Eggers A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 2000 Simon & Schuster. It was staggering and repulsive and impossible to put down. I was exhausted again though this time, mentally, by this long work of Creative Non Fiction. I didn’t get much housework done, though a few things did find their way back to where they belong. Kristen decided to spend another night in Noblesville. Kelly came over for a short time with the kids. She and Aaron were not seeing eye-to-eye. He, like Holly and James has purchased a fishing license and that seems to be the recreation of choice at the moment.
Sunday, it was my turn to teach Sunday school which I felt ill-prepared and hypocritical about since I had read roughly 12.5 f…k you’s to the page for 15 hours for 2 days prior. It did go well though and it was an applicable lesson for me and they even sang “Love Lifted Me” in strained, grandmotherly voices. (This was Grandma Lillie’s favorite hymn.) I had to hit reality running by going to Wal-Mart for staples (meaning bread, milk, eggs) and watery band-aids for Kristen’s exhaust pipe red badge of courage on her right leg. Dennis (on the blue bike) and James and Kristen (on the red one) joined the rest of us (in the Gnapster Yukon) on the voyage to Emily’s graduation. The bikers and I attended the ceremony, late, but not too late to hear Emily’s accolades and her portion of a 5 person speech (their GPA’s being too close to call at the end of the school day on Friday). Gnaps and Holly retreated to Grandma Coles and fished during the commencement and we reconvened there until 5:00pm when the party was to start at Pat/Judy’s house. We were given a tour of the water pipe rupture in G/G basement. They are mid excavation and repair with Grandpa confiding in Aaron that he knew the pipes were spent but he was hoping that they would outlast him. He also was the recipient of a wasp sting on his right hand so there was considerable swelling. Grandma was in good spirits and pretty good health, though she told Kelly that her new GP is trying to diagnose her with every disease under the sun. I didn’t notice her chest rattling though we weren’t ever in a quiet place together. She didn’t noticeably cough but has started to wear compression stockings for strange bumps on her lower legs.
Emily’s party was fun and packed and well attended by their church and the local family. No Chelsea or Cassondra, but other than that everyone else was in attendance. Holly asked me to bob her hair on Friday and since the weekend was evaporating we accomplished the first segment of the job in Pat’s basement. We finished it after a harrowing ride home when a Marathon gas station could not be found and the Yukon was ticking away the miles until actual “E” on the gas gauge. Being a car full of left brainer’s, it was decided to stop in Huntington on Broadway and with $5 procured the arrival at the Marathon at I69 guaranteed. Taking all the suspense and excitement out of the trip, we settled back to view Gnomeo and Juliet with Kristen wedged between the middle seats having opted out of an earlier return trip via motorcycle. The Noblesville Londt’s left for home at 11:00pm with bobbed hair, various sunburned parts and a very early work day on the morrow; the rest of us retired shortly thereafter.
I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that Abby’s recital was yesterday. I definitely would have made a point to at least telephone my congratulations to her. Thank you for the rapid post of the photos and accompanying narrative. She looked radiant!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
2.22.2011 Tuesday
Time has really gotten away from me. I was so worried about this semester and whether I could possibly endure it and there are only 48 school days left! I shouldn't waste time worrying. I had every intention of keeping this a daily blog, but alas, I really haven't posted consistently since Christmas break.
The big news is that I am finally able to keep the counters clean int he kitchen. This is a big feat because they are magnetized with not your ordinary magnets....oh no, these magnets collect EVERYTHING. It doesn't have to be metal, it can be fiber, paper, especially USMail and junk flyers...AND these magnets have the added ability to become three dimensional because a single layer of stuff will become a foot high tower of stuff in just a few days. This transformation must happen in the late afternoon when Dennis is snoozing in his chair. I know he leaves the doors unlocked and I'm suspecting the garden gnomes are at least accomplices if not the actual culprits. I didn't notice this counter attack until I started leaving them out in the snow. And they look so innocent. Yeah right. Anyway, with much yelling, sulking and cleaning in my jammies instead of hauling myself to campus the mission was accomplished.
(I hate this computer....it's an Acer 17" and I bought it because it was cheap and had a HUGE monitor, but the wrist rest is so touchy that it will occasionally just throw the cursor all over the place and I just lost an entire chunk of this post......arghhhhhhh!)
Anyway, some of the books I've been reading include:
Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper
The Gift of Imperfection by Dr. Brene Brown
I thought it was just me also by Brown (not yet read but at the top of the pile)
The Writer's Diet: Write Yourself Right Sized by Julie Cameron
The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Vorhees
The Quiltmaker's Gift
Have purchased The Artist's Way but haven't read it yet
Purchased for Dennis: Two Volumes on Genesis
Heaven is for Real
Purchased for Kelly: The First Born Advantage
Volunteered to sort books at the WBST radio station for their upcoming book sale. THAT was like sending a drunk into a brewery. I couldn't believe the cool books that people donated. It was amazing. It's probably a good thing I won't be here for the sale.
The door to my Studio was frozen shut for about 2.5 weeks. The eaves drip straight down and that created such a mound of ice that it was unchippable. Finally, out of desperation it dawned on me to haul out 3 gallon buckets of hot water. After about 6 trips I was able to break through and get inside. I have a huge list of creative projects and I hope, someday, to pare those down so they somewhat resemble the kitchen counters....cleaned off and ready for the next great thing instead of the list hanging over my head like an avalanche. I'm thinking more and more about bowing out of the couture discipline entirely and focusing on quilts and crafts instead of clothing. That will be a big part to amputate, but maybe it's been festering for quite a while and it's time to do some critical analysis and let that division go. I'll have to make that announcement official later.
I started pulling the wallpaper out of the back bathroom about a month ago. Since James is currently unemployed I asked if he was available for hire. He said that he was and got off of the top later removed that day. (I had just removed what I could reach while waiting on the water in the shower to warm up.) I hope to paint and get a new sink/cabinet and medicine cabinet and lighting from IKEA this spring. That should brighten up that bathroom for very little investment.
James and Holly have been coming over a couple of times each week to watch TV and just chill. We have a full freezer and SINCE THE KITCHEN IS CLEAN, I really don't mind cooking. Holly made dessert one evening when I had a headache and Kristen made her first cookies from scratch last night. I'm losing a little weight (but definitely not gaining) from home cooking. I think that eating out is the debil!!!! Gnaps have come over as a family on Sundays and that's been a fun mad house!! I've gotten to keep the grandkids individually for at least one round. They are excellent at keeping track of whose turn is next to go to Granny's. I really really enjoy having them over.
Dennis is coming out of a winter funk, but he still holds firm to his bibbed overalls and long underwear and lovely highway-cone-orange hoodie. I hope that at some point in his life he can recover some of his old self. I don't know if the change is from medication, transplantation or just the inevitability of aging. Whatever it is it isn't fun for anyone. He did surprise us last night with a silent television and an evening of reading.
That should be enough to catch up anyone who stumbles into this blog. I have the capability to have a wireless internet home sitting in a box on the buffet. When that happens perhaps blogging will not be a chore, but perhaps the key to Write Sized Living.....It could happen!
The big news is that I am finally able to keep the counters clean int he kitchen. This is a big feat because they are magnetized with not your ordinary magnets....oh no, these magnets collect EVERYTHING. It doesn't have to be metal, it can be fiber, paper, especially USMail and junk flyers...AND these magnets have the added ability to become three dimensional because a single layer of stuff will become a foot high tower of stuff in just a few days. This transformation must happen in the late afternoon when Dennis is snoozing in his chair. I know he leaves the doors unlocked and I'm suspecting the garden gnomes are at least accomplices if not the actual culprits. I didn't notice this counter attack until I started leaving them out in the snow. And they look so innocent. Yeah right. Anyway, with much yelling, sulking and cleaning in my jammies instead of hauling myself to campus the mission was accomplished.
(I hate this computer....it's an Acer 17" and I bought it because it was cheap and had a HUGE monitor, but the wrist rest is so touchy that it will occasionally just throw the cursor all over the place and I just lost an entire chunk of this post......arghhhhhhh!)
Anyway, some of the books I've been reading include:
Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper
The Gift of Imperfection by Dr. Brene Brown
I thought it was just me also by Brown (not yet read but at the top of the pile)
The Writer's Diet: Write Yourself Right Sized by Julie Cameron
The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Vorhees
The Quiltmaker's Gift
Have purchased The Artist's Way but haven't read it yet
Purchased for Dennis: Two Volumes on Genesis
Heaven is for Real
Purchased for Kelly: The First Born Advantage
Volunteered to sort books at the WBST radio station for their upcoming book sale. THAT was like sending a drunk into a brewery. I couldn't believe the cool books that people donated. It was amazing. It's probably a good thing I won't be here for the sale.
The door to my Studio was frozen shut for about 2.5 weeks. The eaves drip straight down and that created such a mound of ice that it was unchippable. Finally, out of desperation it dawned on me to haul out 3 gallon buckets of hot water. After about 6 trips I was able to break through and get inside. I have a huge list of creative projects and I hope, someday, to pare those down so they somewhat resemble the kitchen counters....cleaned off and ready for the next great thing instead of the list hanging over my head like an avalanche. I'm thinking more and more about bowing out of the couture discipline entirely and focusing on quilts and crafts instead of clothing. That will be a big part to amputate, but maybe it's been festering for quite a while and it's time to do some critical analysis and let that division go. I'll have to make that announcement official later.
I started pulling the wallpaper out of the back bathroom about a month ago. Since James is currently unemployed I asked if he was available for hire. He said that he was and got off of the top later removed that day. (I had just removed what I could reach while waiting on the water in the shower to warm up.) I hope to paint and get a new sink/cabinet and medicine cabinet and lighting from IKEA this spring. That should brighten up that bathroom for very little investment.
James and Holly have been coming over a couple of times each week to watch TV and just chill. We have a full freezer and SINCE THE KITCHEN IS CLEAN, I really don't mind cooking. Holly made dessert one evening when I had a headache and Kristen made her first cookies from scratch last night. I'm losing a little weight (but definitely not gaining) from home cooking. I think that eating out is the debil!!!! Gnaps have come over as a family on Sundays and that's been a fun mad house!! I've gotten to keep the grandkids individually for at least one round. They are excellent at keeping track of whose turn is next to go to Granny's. I really really enjoy having them over.
Dennis is coming out of a winter funk, but he still holds firm to his bibbed overalls and long underwear and lovely highway-cone-orange hoodie. I hope that at some point in his life he can recover some of his old self. I don't know if the change is from medication, transplantation or just the inevitability of aging. Whatever it is it isn't fun for anyone. He did surprise us last night with a silent television and an evening of reading.
That should be enough to catch up anyone who stumbles into this blog. I have the capability to have a wireless internet home sitting in a box on the buffet. When that happens perhaps blogging will not be a chore, but perhaps the key to Write Sized Living.....It could happen!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1.22.2011 Saturday Books
I have come across some pretty amazing books lately and thought this would be a good forum for review and recommendations. The book I'm reading currently is Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper by SARK. I must admit that I purchased the book on Amazon as a sales suggestion but liked it for the title. It has not disappointed. It is originally a hand written (more like scribbled) book with rudimentary art work but tons of color. It emphasizes the theme I've been drawn to this academic year of "do it." Don't wait, don't fuss, keep your inner critics busy with some other activity and WRITE! I am amazed at how well received the Scamper book has been received by the few people I've shared it with. Abby had me read it about 20 times during the week we were in Texas. So much so, that I wished I'd made it shorter!! :^)
Back to my review. SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is definitely onto something. Her work style of write and write some more is proving prophetic for her (She has 18 published books with a 15 years absence from any kind of written word during her life). I may employ all of her techniques (such as hand writing the text...I think my brain works faster than that) but her ability to bash down fears and self-doubt are visionary. Ironically I have the templates in place now for 6 books that have been in my brain for some time and now seems to be the ideal time to launch this project.
Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper was recommended on the Brene Brown website. Dr. Brown's claim to fame is Wholeheartedness or the ability to be vulnerable and honest. Her TED talk on perfectionism and shame led to the purchase of two of her books, but I was visually attracted to the Pens/Paper first and the fact that the words are printed largely on the pages. Watch out though, the irregular type is hard to read, but this is also good because it causes you to slow down to absorb all the new concepts being hurled at you like fluffy snow coming at the windshield on the interstate. Good quotations and insights from other writers.
"A human is a story with skin." _______________ I'll have to fill in the author later.
Back to my review. SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is definitely onto something. Her work style of write and write some more is proving prophetic for her (She has 18 published books with a 15 years absence from any kind of written word during her life). I may employ all of her techniques (such as hand writing the text...I think my brain works faster than that) but her ability to bash down fears and self-doubt are visionary. Ironically I have the templates in place now for 6 books that have been in my brain for some time and now seems to be the ideal time to launch this project.
Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper was recommended on the Brene Brown website. Dr. Brown's claim to fame is Wholeheartedness or the ability to be vulnerable and honest. Her TED talk on perfectionism and shame led to the purchase of two of her books, but I was visually attracted to the Pens/Paper first and the fact that the words are printed largely on the pages. Watch out though, the irregular type is hard to read, but this is also good because it causes you to slow down to absorb all the new concepts being hurled at you like fluffy snow coming at the windshield on the interstate. Good quotations and insights from other writers.
"A human is a story with skin." _______________ I'll have to fill in the author later.
Friday, January 21, 2011
1.21.2011 Friday
Very, very cold day. I had a massage scheduled that I really didn't have time to take, but did it anyway. I definitely need to be kneaded. Finished two of Angie's Harley t-shirt repair but not to my satisfaction so I owe her four new shirts! Yikes. I went to work for the afternoon and actually made some headway. The very cold weather made doing much at home just about unthinkable. We watched a ton o' TV. Den and I switched back and forth between Only You, Momma Mia and First Wives' Club. Pretty chick flickish but Den was a good sport and even supplied some operatic seranades to trips for water. Ate in. Kristen had a date that ended early(ish) so she joined the media room crew.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
1.16.2011 Sunday
Had an interesting Sunday School Class teaching experience today and that was a little too much participation! It was kind of like trying to direct a tide or large wave. I'm glad that really wanted to share.
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