Birthday--Before and After

I guess it's been a few days since I posted.  Soo....what did I do?

We got our new stove...happy birthday to me.

Thursday was the Quilting Olympics at the guild.  The purpose of the day -- a noon to 9 pm adventure -- is to make quilt tops for the various charities we support:  foster care, Children's Hospital, and a small women & children shelter.  Piles and piles of fabrics, kits and random blocks are stacked in the kitchen area and quilters pick through the rubble and select projects to work on.

Friday I was supposed to take my car in for a brake check, but we woke up to SNOW!  I called the place and told them that the flakes were falling hard and fast in my neighborhood and I simply do not drive in the stuff anymore.  Not because I can't, but because no one else can.  The last time I did, I ended up getting hit by a car spinning out of control on the freeway.  No thanks.  I'll have to call back to make a new appointment.

Ben and Cammie built forts in the back yard, which lasted for a few hours, but eventually melted and caved in.

Saturday it cleared up, for the most part (just a bit here and there along the roadsides), and I went to have my Girlie Day with Lauri and Jean.  We went to the Magic Underwear Ladies at Nordstrom and made a few selections, then went back to the house.  On the way, we ventured downstairs where the weekend was hosting a big makeup spectacular...Jean described it as a "sea of humanity puttin' on their warpaint!"  I wish I had gotten a photo...it was an awesome sight.  With a DJ.  Seriously.  After swimming through the people, I asked to veer off to see if we could find a little geocache in a tiny park a block away from Jean's.  I headed back to the corner where it was located and found a homeless guy sleeping instead.  Never mind. I'll try another time.

We hopped in the car and went to have lunch at a mall/community center.  The place was filled with a bunch of mom-n-pop ethnic food selections (Japanese, Thai, Korean, BBQ, etc.) and a stage where students at School of Rock performed.  They also had meeting rooms and tables in the halls for gaming; anything from teenagers with role-playing dice to geezers with checkers.  It is a great addition to the community instead of more multi-million-dollar food chains and the same old stores, and really reaches out to include the people to get together.  Awesome!

Afterwards, we made a quick trip to Lane Bryant, but it was a very weird, small store.  There were a few new things in the front and a bunch of clearance stuff in the back.  I found a pair of shorts, ONE pair of jeans--apparently, they don't carry many petite sizes...what?  Are there no short people in Redmond?  I also found a pair of pajamas...well, two shirts and one pair of pants...I couldn't find another pair of PJ pants I liked.  Well, I did, but they were shorts, not pants.  I think I might make a trip up to the outlet store up North.  While I was waiting for the other girls to check out, I was thirsty, so I decided to get an iced chai.  One of the employees mentioned that she was thirsty, too, so I picked up four glasses of water for them.  The Starbucks gal gave it to me for free, which was great!  I brought it back and the employee was so happy, she hugged me!  It was great to feel appreciated. :)

We headed back to Jean's house so she could go out to sing at church--being the week before Easter and all, she had some obligations lined up that she needed to take care of.  I drove Lauri down to the nail salon to get all painted up and I went down to the fabric store to get something to finish Emma's quilt.  I didn't find anything in the standard cotton, but I did find a batik that should work fairly well.  Bonus:  it was in the discount rack!

I veered off to find a rather large geocache in a wooded area, but it was no where to be found.  I gave up and headed back to the nail salon to get Lauri.  She was nearly finished, so I sat out on the bench and got a little sunshine.  Afterwards, we drove back to Jean's and let ourselves in.  We didn't have to wait long before she came home and we headed out to dinner.  First we stopped at another clothing store that had even less appealing selection.  I got two pairs of jeans--I tried on a dozen pairs and while one pair fit, another in the same size by the same manufacturer was too small.  Eventually, I ignored the numbers and found two pairs that fit, which was labeled at least a size larger than I normally wear.  Jean found a shirt that she liked, but the size she chose was a bit snug, so choosing the next size up, discovered that it was even *smaller*.  Clearly the QA team was out to lunch that day.  I found one 3/4 sleeve sweater that was nice, but everything else was too young...again, I need to venture North to find more suitable clothing.

We ate dinner at a Mexican place, which was pretty good.  We toasted another year around the sun, but little fanfare about it.  Not a big deal; I really didn't want to wear the big sombrero and have people singing to me in Spanish.  Unless I could take the sombrero home...then maybe.

We went back to Jean's house and after about 30 minutes, I started my trek back home.  A couple hundred dollars poorer (bras and jeans are expensive!), I arrived home about 11 pm.  And when I did, I discovered THIS!
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Sharon and Michele had stopped by on their way through on the Tri-County shop hop.  The quilt blocks are actually from a guild swap, but the Pirate gear is from Michele.  Thanks Miche!

On Sunday, my actual birthday, Ben was invited to a birthday party, so I took Cammie out Geocaching (I asked Emma if she wanted to go; she declined).  We had glorious weather with bright blue skies and mountain views to die for.  We stopped by 10 different caches, 2 of which I had found before but wanted to give Cammie a chance to look for them herself.  We looked in rock walls and under lamp post covers; climbed hillsides and up trees (well, she went up the tree...I supervised).  We even had to do a repair job on the fly--one of the containers had a loop on the top that broke.  I pulled out my zip-ties from the dollar store and put together a makeshift cache holder so we could put it back in place.  I then wrote a note to the owner to let him know.

I'm working on the first of the five Quilts of Valor for Kathleen.  I wound 10 yards of the backing fabric on the frame and will feed the quilts on one at a time.  It means I'll have to tear off the first quilt before re-pinning and adding the next.  We'll see how this works...  I'm cleaning in the Creative Space now, but may need to take a quick break from it to quilt on this for a bit.

Annaleena dropped off some flowers.  She's my co-leader for Girl Scouts and her daughter is in the troop.  I guess it was Miss J's idea.  She's so sweet!  I also got some live lavender from my Mom & Dad.  It's a variety of lavender I've never seen before.  I didn't get a photo of it...I'll have to do that tomorrow.

And Cammie baked me a lopsided cake and placed the backwards numbers on it for me.  Ben offered to do everything I say for a week.  Apparently after Easter, all bets are off.