The Weather

Our weather this winter has been absolutely wacky. Completely! I'm sure our local weather guru, Tom Skilling is just loving it, but geez--it sure isn't much fun to live with! Here's a run-down of the past 24 hours:

• 1/12/05, 3:10 pm -- I left work and the outside temp was 57 degrees. Sunny, with quite a bit a fog due to the melting snow we had from last week.
• 1/12/05, 8:15 pm -- Went to let the dog out and it is pouring. Thunder, lightning, the works. The dog took one look outside and wouldn't go. I had to rush her out during a break in the storm.
• 1/13/05, 6:07 am -- A light rain is falling, and we've already reached our high for that day: 38 degrees.
• 1/13/05, 8:05 am -- The fire alarm goes off at work. We all head outside--it's COLD (maybe 34?) and freezing rain.
• 1/13/05, 12:35 pm -- I leave for lunch; it is now 33 degrees and snowing pretty good.
• 1/13/05, 3:10 pm -- I leave work. The wind and snow have stopped, but it's now 31 degrees. Forecast for tonight? Low of 5. Degrees. Fahrenheit.

I will say this--the snow was sticky, since the temp was falling towards and below freezing while it came down, so it made everything look pretty and frosted. Plus, it's January--I'm glad it finally looks like it!

Month of Softies

OK--so I've been intrigued by the Month of Softies project on Loobylu.com, and fully intended to participate for the month of December. The theme was "holiday hang-ups", to be interpreted however the creator saw fit. Hell, not only did I intend to participate, I made something! However, I did not at the time have access to a digital camera and my photo was trapped on real film! Ah! While I missed the deadline this month, here are the snaps of my "holiday hang-up": a Xmas card display. Not only does it hang, but the cards hang on it--clever. huh? And, it's made entirely of ribbon. Everyone together now: Ooooo.


I have recruited a friend to join me in January's theme, "Vintage Catwalk", so maybe I'll actually get it (or the pictures) done by 1/31!

Photos are up!

God bless Walgreen's Photo CD! Pictures from Xmas and New Year's are now posted. Click on the links to the left to access them. As a preview:

Happy Birthday!

It's Dad's birthday today and to celebrate we kids descended upon him and I cooked dinner. Mom was out of town this weekend, and I think she was feeling guilty about missing it. So, I cooked and all was well. Yummy sirloin steak in a teriyaki marinade with twice-baked potatoes (I offered to make them from scratch, but dad bought the frozen kind), green beans with carmelized onions, and spinach for Dad. All in all, a great meal and I enjoyed Mom's new kitchen. However, my younger brothers need to learn a thing or two about helping out. The rule in Lippoldt-land is that whoever does not cook cleans up. It's only fair. As we finished our meal, BJ reminded the boys that I had cooked and it was Dad's birthday, so they had to clean. I'll give you three guesses who was washing dishes tonight. Now, I would not have minded so much, seeing as how I was in someone else's kitchen making a mess. But I even had to wash dishes that were left in the sink before I could start cooking! Come on, children! You're 21 & 23 years old! I just don't know--they better meet some really old fashioned gals, or they are going to be single for a while.

On a brighter note, I finally finished up my roll of film and will be picking up the pix tomorrow. And yes, I requested the photo CD--I'm not spending all that time scanning them in! So, expect shots from Xmas and New Year's in the next couple of days.

Quilting

For xmas I got some gift certs from my MIL for a local quilting/crafting store (Stitches'n'Stuffing) that were thoroughly appreciated. This morning I went up there to check out their stuffing, so to speak, and unload some of that dough. BJ and I have gone there in the past and found great crafting patterns, but their materials have always been super-pricey. The same held true today. I found a relatively easy quilt pattern that I liked, but ended up spending $30 just on patterns (I got a book of them as well). I couldn't stomach the $9-$10/yd fabric, so I headed off to JoAnn and picked out several for the quilt (see below). Since BJ thinks my last t-shirt quilt is too small, I decided to make this one big enough for a double bed. And I went with fabrics that would coordinate with our kitchen/family room decor--dark red and beige, with a little dark green. I even found a cutesy beige fabric with subtle tan stars and mini-US flags. How patriotic! :) I daresay, though, that the lady doing the cutting thought I was nuts to put them all together--she said the quilt would be very "colorful". What does she know?

Here's a picture of what the quilt will (should) look like--"Linking Chevrons".

Let it snow!

Yeah! We finally got a decent winter storm! Granted, down here in Kendall County we didn't get as much snow as the northern burbs, but it was a full (maybe) 6" more than we had to start with! I'm so excited, as if you couldn't tell. The kids here were all hoping for a snow day on Thursday--most of the snow hit Wed night/Thurs morning. I daresay most of the faculty did, too. But, we stuck it out. Some of the surroudning communities cancelled, but we were all there bright and early at 7:00 am. Anyway, Nala was just loving it--we call it "nala-nip". She acts like she's high! When I was shoveling after work Wednesday (while it was still coming down), she was literally attacking me to get me to play with her. I got a tennis ball to occupy her while I finished, and she just had a blast tossing it and burying it in the snow. This from a dog that doesn't play with balls! What a goof. When I get my photos developed I'll have to post some of her in the snow.
On a side note, I found this column in the Chicago Tribune today. Schmich sure gets it right! I think I'm so excited about this snow simply because winters here have not been lately what I remember growing up with. Anyway, it made me laugh and I thought the hundreds of people who read this blog would enjoy it. Haha!

Happy 2005!

It's been a few days, but I'm back to posting. I'm sure I'll be forgiven since it was a rather celebratory weekend. We rang in the New Year by hosting a party at our home--I really do think a smashing time was had by all. You know, the kind of party where people call the next day to check in. Ha ha! We will definitely have to do it again next year. Although, BJ has vowed never again to drink as much as he did (which, by the way, was the first time he had ever been incapacitated). I only took pix with my traditional 35mm, so I'll post some photos once they're developed. It seems so archaic, doesn't it?

So, this year I've set some goals not resolutions. Being the good scientist-practitioner that I am, they are specifically defined, measurable, and attainable. And boring, but that's what makes them so attainable!

1. Wash my face and brush my teeth every day before going to bed. The long-term result of this will hopefully be clear skin, but we'll see. :)
2. Update this blog at least twice per week.
3. Start and finish a quilt.
4. Travel to a foreign country (OK--this one is a cheat to make me feel successful, since I've already bought the place tickets for our trip to Britain).

And, now, they're in writing so I have to follow through!