The Final Countdown

Seriously, I know the last hour and a half is going to go by super slow today! Why do I want it to speed up? Because Angela lands at 4:00 and tomorrow we are off to the Beach House for a weekend on the coast with the girls! I am so excited!
I am off work from tomorrow - Tuesday, back on Wednesday.

I don't think I will be posting over the long weekend, however, I am bringing my computer since some of the gals have asked me help them with photos, blogs, etc.

Anyway - have a nice weekend!!!

I will leave you with a photo of our mascot for the weekend, Daisy.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Best Wishes for a great Birthday to a man who has displayed tremendous courage and has been an inspiration to me my entire life. When I say he is my Hero, I mean it, I do not use that term loosely. This man has shown me what it is like to be a person with integrity, morals, and taught me to stand up for what I believe in, even if it goes against the status quo. I learned from him it was OK to be different (just not with dyed jet black hair). He has made me laugh the hardest laugh I have ever experienced and has also made me cry more than I ever have before. He has seen me through my fits of rage, anger, teenage drama, adult depression, frustration and has been nothing but supportive. He has never judged me, he has only loved me unconditionally. I have watched him come unwound in front of my very eyes, only to emerge a beautiful butterfly. I am blessed to have him in my life as a parent and more than that, as a true friend.

To my Dad, who let me take him out of his comfort zone and left a smile on top of Hill 861.
Happy Birthday!
Sempre Fi!

Rise of the Machine!

My machine was up and running again last night.

I think it just needed a time out.

Sometimes I need a time out too.

Rage Against the Machines

You ever have one of those days where every modern day convenience you touch breaks or doesn't seem to work right? That was my Sunday. First off, my sewing machine...she was working great after I gave her a nice new shiny needle...until the bobbin had to be changed. Once I changed the bobbin and cleaned out the feed dog she would go for about 6 inches or so and then the top thread would break. So, I re-thread the top thread a million times, loosened the tension a million times to no avail. I was literally sitting there for an hour and a half trying to get her to go. I had to pack her up and take a break. I will try again tonight. I just don't know if I can stomach having to rip out another seam because she is breaking on me.

The other machine that died on me was a little more sad than the sewing machine (which I know I can fix). My portable DVD player that my parents bought Tim and I almost three years ago played its last DVD last night. I was all ready for a movie, got my jammies on and put in a movie (I won't mention the title, believe me, you will laugh) and it played OK for a while and then froze. It played a little more and then froze yet again and then the screen went blue and it said "no disc". I took the disc out and cleaned it, hoping it would read and no dice. I tried another disc just to see if it was the movie I was watching and it wasn't. The machine will no longer read discs. Very, very sad for me. On another note, I have to give that little movie machine some props for a brand I never heard of, it lasted about 3 years and had played a TON of movies on my nightstand. I am a movie lover and unfortunately Tim and I don't like the same movies so at night time, I watch a movie before I go to sleep. It actually helps me to sleep too, stops my mind noise, which can be quite loud. I have no idea what I am going to do tonight. Maybe when I get home and try it, it will be alright and play again.

Jammin in Alameda

Are you ready to jam? Well, Debbie and I were when we attended a stone fruit jam/canning class in Alameda today. During the class, both of our minds were racing about what we could can, what herbs go well with what fruit, etc.
It was a great class and we learned a lot.
Here are some photos:
After the class was over, we carefully placed our jars of plum lavender jam in our bags and walked around Park Street which was closed for the Alameda Art and Wine fair, how lucky were we to happened upon that? We checked out the booths and then went to lunch at Burma Superstar (they opened one in Alameda!). We got there just in time, after our dishes were served (my favorite tea leaf salad, a noodle rainbow salad and samosas) lots more people arrived. Lunch was terrific - I have never had a bad experience at Burma Superstar. After lunch we walked the fair some more, paying more attention to what folks were selling, people watching and eating Hawaiian Shave Ice. It was super sunny and HOT outside, which I love because being in the city it rarely gets hot in the summer. I had never been to the main drag in Alameda, just to the flea market so it was a really nice day for me. Alameda is so old school, sweet old signs, a grand old beauty of a movie theatre and lots of families. I love it there.
When we were done in Alameda, we went back to Debbie's house, I had to check out her fabulous garden (I ate a carrot out of the ground and a bean off the vine!). I got some Swiss chard to take home and steam with dinner which was so yummy. Since Debbie and I both have the gift of gab, we sat around a talked for another hour before I headed back to the city and to my surprise, there was no fog last night! So it was clear and sunny when I got home, yeah!
Thanks Debbie for such a nice day, it was definitely one of my favorite days this summer.

Stitch n' Pitch

Last night was Stitch n' Pitch night at the ballpark here in San Francisco!

Robin, Wendy and I all went with our knitting and embroidery and enjoyed beer, brats and baseball! If you are looking for a fun outing, so to a game with your needle craft friends check out a Stitch n' Pitch night in your area and route for your home team - here is the link.

Oakland A's are hosting a Stitch N' Pitch game on Sunday, September 14th.

PS - you get a free gift when you purchase a ticket in the reserved section for the Stitch N' Pitch, check out my cap in the above photo.

Hibernation Weekend

Much to my benefit, I lost my cell phone over the weekend! I knew I didn’t have it on Friday and just located it this morning – it was nice not to have that thing bothering me all weekend. The bummer was, I wanted to have it because my friend Brady was in town and I missed out on hanging out with him some more while he was here. We had lunch on Friday, but that was not enough. Anyway, I left work on Friday not feeling so hot so I put my jammies on when I got home and got into bed with my computer and watched half of “Weeds” season 1. I am hooked! When I got up on Saturday, I stayed in bed and watched the second half and then made my way to the living room and crocheted for a little while (still in my jammies). At about 1:30 PM I decided that the home hostage situation had to come to an end so Tim and I walked to the hardware store, got burritos and went to Walgreen’s. Once we got home, I literally put my jammies back on and we just hung out at home. I made a pot of matzo ball soup for dinner and some toffee for a sweet treat.
Sunday, same thing…didn’t want to get up but had to run a couple errands so I had to get dressed (ugh!). Went to Target (stuck to the list of 3 items we needed, yesss!) and JoAnne fabrics with Tim to get fabric to make BayLee a bed (he has taken over anything fleece in the house and needs his own fleecy thing). When we got home, I made BayLee his new bed. He watched me cut the material, sew it on the machine and sew the buttons on to tuft it a little. When I was done, he just stared at it and when I placed it on the bed where he sleeps, he took a nap right next to it, ha! Typical cat, I am sure after it hangs out a little around the house he will start to use it. I don’t know what got into me but after I made the cat bed I really wanted to make a cake, so I mad a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Chocolate is not my favorite thing, I would rather have carrot cake, banana cake, vanilla, spice, something other than chocolate, but I know Tim loves it. I made the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa can and it was pretty darn good. I had to try it, but don’t really crave chocolate like other folks do (must be a genetic defect). Tim was very happy with the cake!
All in all my weekend was pretty darn boring, but I loved being domestic and just hanging out. Hope you all had a more exciting weekend than I did.

Photo a Day Project

I can't believe this is day 30 of my month long Photo a Day Project.

I thought as the last day, I would post a photo of the day, a photo staring me and my camera and a montage of all the bee photos I took over the last month in the flower beds outside of my office.

To view all photos on the series, click the "photo a day" link to the left under the header "current projects".

30/30

Paddington Bear

Blast from the past....

Wednesday Night

Peach Crisp with CSA Box peaches!

Making a prototype

29/30

Fabric Stores

For anyone crafty, the fabric store can be a total danger zone even if you don't sew, the yarn, ribbon and notions will suck you in. So, when I went to Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics yesterday I had to have a list and a budget. The store is incredible! So many cool and different fabrics and so much better than the run of the mill JoAnn's. I am trying to get my Christmas stuff done and ready to go WAY ahead of time this year so I am not feeling so rushed. I actually started back in mid-June with a couple projects. The hard thing for me is to put things that I am making for myself on hold while I get the gifts out of the way. Does that happen to anyone else? It sounds horrible, but other people have told me they are the same so I don't feel that bad about it. So last night I said a temporary goodbye to a couple things that are in the works and are non-holiday and started drawing a pattern for some holiday things I am going to make (yes, it is a secret).

PS - The new season of PROJECT RUNWAY starts TONIGHT!

Big Red

28/30

Happiness is...

27/30

One Word Meme

Can you answer in just one word?
I tried and this is what I came up with.

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your significant other? here
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? fun
5. Your father? hero
6. Your favorite thing? peace
7. Your dream last night? zilch
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? family
10. The room you’re in? living
11. Your church? God
12. Your fear? barf
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
14. Where were you last night? bed
15. What you’re not? skinny
16. Muffins? please!
17. One of your wish list items? Olive
18. Where you grew up? Berkley
19. The last thing you did? dinner
20. What are you wearing? jammies
21. Your TV? Gosslins
22. Your pets? BayLee
23. Your computer? pink
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? sleepy
26. Missing someone? always
27. Your car? Jeep
28. Something you’re not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? Target
30. Your summer? Beach
31. Like(love) someone? yes
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? today
35. Who will repost this? ehhh?

Heirloom Tomato Sauce

I had heirloom tomatoes coming out of my ears over here (about 3.5 - 4 pounds) so I chopped them and put them in a pot, added an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a shot of balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbls sugar, Olive Oil and salt and pepper and made a yummy pasta sauce.
It is still on the stove as I type this and the smell is drifting through my place.

Time to put the pasta on!

26/30

Auburn, CA

25/30

Bumble Bee

24/30

Mmmmm Breakfast

23/30

Tim Saves the Day!

My hero! Tim had jury duty today and they let him go early PLUS they didn't pick him for the 4 week trial (thank God). So, he came home, got me out of my cave and took me out for my Birthday. He also gave me this amazing book!

Coincidence?

Strange things happen to me often.
My world has a way of kind of weaving its way around in such a manner that I have to ask myself sometimes..."what does it all mean?". It seems like the irony in my world is sometimes overwhelming. I can talk about a movie and it will be on TV the next day, think of someone and they will call, have a dream and it will happen. I love it and hate it at the same time. I know now as I get older to not think about it too much and just say it may be a coincidence and go with the flow.
For example today...
I posted about my Vietnamese Momma (ok, I will admit to you all, I dated it last night because I didn't want to post about that on my Birthday). Right after I hit the publish button, they had a report on the today show live from Nha Trang, Vietnam, after that I changed the channel and Tony Bordain (who I love) was in Vietnam. There is an interconnectedness between me and Vietnam for sure. The icing on my Birthday cake would be getting the magical call today, but I am not holding my breath and will blow the candles out anyway!
Just thought I would share.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Took the day off today to have time to myself.

22/30

Rest in Peace

Most of you know about my Vietnamese Momma (Tuyet). I met her on my first trip to Vietnam in 2002 and she stole my heart. We had a connection that I can't explain other than saying it was magic. She made me cry when I needed to let it all out for the first time in years. She helped me heal in ways that again, I can't explain.

Just found out today that she passed away before I could go and see her again.

It was a dream of mine to introduce her to Tim and Olive when we took our big trip over to start our family. I feel so blessed for having met her and having the chance for my Mom and Dad to meet her.

Rest peacefully my dear friend, I will see you on the other side.

It makes me happy to know you have been reunited with your children in heaven.

Come visit me in my sleep like you have in the past, I will be waiting.

I Heart Nature

21/30

Wildflowers

20/30

WOW! Time Flies!

Snonzberries?

Do you suppose that these are the snonzberries mentioned in the original Willie Wonka movie?

Anyway, to me they look like something called snonzberries!

19/30

Sunday Camera Play

18/30

"You know those days when you get the mean reds?"

17/30

Happy 4th of July

Natural Flying Pest Catcher

Yes, it kills them, but the contents are non toxic and it really works!

Mine broke last week and the gnats are back more than ever! I cant leave a bowl of fruit on the table without putting a screen over the top so they won't get to it.

I am hoping to get another one on my way home today!

If you dont have a shop that carries them, you can order it here.

Crazy CSA Box Confetti Veggie Saute

16/30

Summertime Update

Hey folks - sorry I have been nothing but photos lately, but there is really nothing to report. Life has been pretty boring as of late.
I did get my CSA box yesterday and the contents were incredible!

I got the following:

• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Sweet Corn
• Peaches
• Potatoes
• Watermelon
• Zucchini
• Garlic
• Green Beans

I am super excited to use them for dinner tonight and over the weekend. Tim had tennis last night so I didn't really prepare anything for dinner, I just stood over the sink and ate a grapefruit left from last week, a peach and an heirloom tomato. I could defiantly live on fruits and vegetables alone.

Still plugging away on the adoption front. Just waiting really. September 1st the agreement between the US and Vietnam expires for adoption so we are in the wait and see mode right now. Our agency is telling us that the Vietnamese government has yet to announce if they are going to grand father families in after this date that have been listed and waiting since 2007 like us. It is a sad state of affairs and I never in a million years thought it would be like this, but we have to deal with the cards that are placed before us. At the end of the year we will be making some pretty big decisions about what to do next if Vietnam does not pan out.

Well, tomorrow is the 4th of July so Summer is officially here. I am sort of bummed though because the one thing I look forward to in the summer more than anything is my sister coming to visit and she is not coming out here until the fall and that is up in air. So, we will see. I have a couple other super exciting things happening though, my dear friend Sara is coming to visit from NZ with her man who I am looking so forward to meeting. I am renting a beach house with some girl friends on the Sonoma Coast again this year and we are staying three nights so that will be like a mini break holiday for me, which I am in need of badly. I am trying to make this the Summer of Katie, but with my recent lack of motivation, I am not sure...it might end up being the Summer of Lazy. My boss is on vacation for the next two weeks so I am hoping to use that time to get into a new routine of some sort - whatever that might be.

Tonight is my first Thursday night and no Craft Gym - kind of sad, but nice at the same time. I am going to try super hard to leave Thursday as my craft night unless I have a social obligation of course! I have some holiday things started already believe it or not and I am looking forward to busting them out so I am going to have to put my new found love of crochet aside for a bit.

Oh, I know, total dork, but I joined the San Francisco Beekeepers Association. My Great Uncle Roland used to keep bees and I always thought it was super cool so I thought I would join and learn how to keep my own. The decrease in the honey bee really freaks me out and I would like to learn more about what is being done to help in the fight to bring them back. There was a decrease also in the 80's but not anything like now. Did you know that if the numbers keep decreasing at the rate they are currently at there will be no honey bees in 2035? So scary! I don't think enough people realize the work that they do and that most of our foods come from flowers that have been pollinated by the honey bee. Can you imagine no more almonds, oranges, tomatoes, squash, berries and so many more wonderful fruits and veggies? I can't!

Well, that is about it for me. Here is a new little photo of BayLee, he looks so cute and innocent.

Thursday

15/30

Blue Monster!

I walked into the break room at work today and this is what I found...14/30

Breaking Up

Dear J. Crew,
I hope you don’t mind my forwardness when I say that I love you but you are killing me. At this time in my life I can not afford to be with you but you keep enticing me with your delicious selection of accessories.
I am writing to let you know that I am breaking up with you. I can longer see you any more, it is too tempting. I have added you onto my green dimes list and you will no longer be allowed threw my mail slot (in 6-8 weeks). Let’s face it, it wasn't good for us anyway, you would show up, I would look at you and drool and then throw you away in the recycling bin. I am sure you will be happier with someone who can really invest in a closer relationship.
I will always love you and may visit you online on occasion but for now, this is good bye.
Yours truly,
Katie