Spring has Sprung

Picture of the cutest girl ever, Noelle, and her auntie enjoying the gardens on Temple Square, May 2008. Notice the flowers!

If you want to see the most beautiful gardens full of every spring flower bursting to life, then now is the time to stroll through the gardens on Temple Square. I took a stroll through the gardens today. The smell of hyacinths reminded me of the bike ride I took with my sissy through the bulb fields in Holland. I love spring.

Lisse, The Netherlands 2005

The Dentist Part II

Today was my follow-up visit to the dentist for what I believe to be an imaginary cavity. Since this is only the second time in my entire life to have a cavity filled, I am stressed out. I hate the dentist just for a good ol' fashioned cleaning, let alone getting fillings!

The dental assistant (bless her heart for taking on this vile profession) is kind and gentle and even offers to let me watch a movie. I remember this on my first cavity trip to the dentist. Why on earth would I want to watch 10 minutes of Harry Potter? Perhaps she could sense my distress and was trying to divert my attention to something other than a drill and spit vacuum.

The dentist comes in very quickly, busts open my mouth and starts numbing my tooth area. Wait...wait...wait for it to numb and then starts drilling. Ouch! I can feel that drill, so he gives me a "little more." Meanwhile he takes care of the cavity, the dental assistant is spraying stuff all over my face (yes, I know it's gross. I'm even grossed out by my own grossness) and in a matter of five minutes or less we are done. My hands were sweating and my fingers white knuckled together.

On the way home I can gradually feel the entire left side of my face becoming more and more numb. My tongue feels like it's three inches thick, my cheek is a little tingly and my eye lid I know is droopy. I can feel it. All I could think about is not drooling. Just for fear of drooling in front of my colleagues, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off.

Half Marathon Goodness

Today marks the second year G and I have run the Salt Lake 1/2 marathon. You may recall our first 1/2 marathon last year - G "gave" it to me for Christmas. I spent the next three months prepping and training. Afterall, 13.1 miles is a long distance and I didn't want to die trying.



This year I don't think I prepared as well for the big event. Sure, I did several long runs the last month or so, but I slacked big-time on my weekly runs. G had me beat this year, particularly at mile 11.5, which was a pretty gradual incline up State Street. I slowed to a snails pace for fear of my calf muscles seizing up entirely on me, but G - who ran most of the way at my pace - at that point I let him loose like a dog free from a chain. We both had a goal to finish the race in under two hours, and slowing on the last couple miles was not acceptable (regardless, we both achieved our goal! G did finish about two minutes ahead of me though).



One thing we've learned on long distance runs is to go to the bathroom before starting a race. Last year G had to make a pit stop at one of the port-o-johns on the course. Not great for your time, especially since there's usually a waiting line. He finally got smart and decided to-heck with the port-o-john. Just ditch behind some guy's garage and let it out. This really happened on our recent 10 mile race down Emigration Canyon. Never mind that the river, 5 ft from where he got his relief, is also a watershed. This year we started the race late with about 1,000 other people because we, of course, were standing in line at the port-o-john. After looking at our results, this doesn't matter. It appears as if we literally passed 3,000 of the 4,200 participants along the route. Pat me on the back!



Although we're both a little sore after today's push, it's nothing a beef stick and a Diet Coke can't cure. I can assure you, I will sleep well tonight.

You may recognize the picture. It was one taken at last year's race. Since I wore the exact same thing today, this year's pictures won't be much different. Also, BIG THANKS to my dad and step-mom, who live along the race course, for being up bright and early to cheer us on!

Come back, ladybug!

I received the saddest call last night from my three year old niece, Noelle. She was utterly distraught on the telephone. I could barely understand what she was saying through her tears. When it all came down to it, she had been outside in the garden and found a ladybug. This little creature was her new best friend, that is, until it flew away. She just could not understand how her BFF could leave her so suddenly.

I chatted with her mom this morning who told me the first thing Noelle asked when she woke up was if they could go out to the garden to find the ladybug. She's so heartbroken over the loss of her little friend.

I Spy

I was just catching up on my evening Internet browsing when I looked over my shoulder and saw this:

Apparently my sewing area exploded. Here are a few things amongst the disaster. Can you spot them?

1. basket full of fabric scraps and a bonus paper bag full of additional fabric scraps that I have good intentions of using for something yet to be imagined because I just can't throw any of it away.

2. blanket give-away neatly wrapped waiting to be delivered to the lucky winner

3. new set blanket set made with the most delicious "Al Fresco" by Michele D'Amore fabric with an edge of Egyptian thread, almost finished and ready to be posted on By-Low Baby

4. bunny-soft purple fleece fabric waiting to be made into a blanket just like the one in the give-away

5. sewing machine yet to be unpacked from it's recent trip to the cabin (I never leave home without it)

6. box of pins which I've had since 6th grade. The little white ball tips are all starting to come off leaving 70% of the pins useless

7. machine peddle, which I probably removed from the machine cover pocket so I could dig out my the safety pins I needed to pin on my race number for the 10 miler I ran on Saturday, in a snow storm.

8. rotary blade sharp enough to take off a finger

9. plastic bags to ship blanket orders

10. paper cutter to slice blanket tags for blanket orders

11. a Llardo calendar, still on January, that G gave me for Christmas. It was free with the one Llardo wise man I got from Santa.

12. the "dream board" I made one day at work in our Yes I Can committee

13. a self-healing cutting mat that has been cut into so many times it is nearly beyond the stages of self-healing

14. A grid ruler essential to any seamstress' repertoire

15. a bag full of Royale Classic Crochet Thread in every color this side of Easter

16. The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics book, which seems to be written in a language I have yet to understand (I think it has something to do with knitting or something?)

17. Multiple piles of fabrics and scraps strewn about (this is a gimme)

18. G's poker chip organizer

This is what my life looks like, my friends. I didn't even have to try.