De-iced Twice

The day we flew out of Philadelphia a storm flew in. Luckly we were able to be de-iced by these crazy machines! I felt like I was in Star Wars. The snow was so wet and heavy, by the time they were done they had to de-ice us again! But we got out before flights were cancelled. It was smooth sailing from there on, or should i say clear skies? Denver was nice and sunny...no snow and Billing was the same.

Christmas Is Here

Andy and I love to Party with Benjamin Franklin every chance we get. This year's Franklin Institute Christmas party was no exception. The mood was set and the food was so good! I always feel so fancy wen I get to go to parties in this great hall.


Andy and I are heading to Montana on the 19th, then we get to do some wedding errands. We will have a short christmas with my family on the West Side of the state, then we will drive back to Billings to spend Christmas with Andy's family and have some well deserved rest. Until then I will finish up things here in Philadelphia and get ready for the long flight home.


I also love decorating the christmas tree with Jackie and Reesha! Happy Holidays!

Etsy Listings

My Etsy Shop is up and running! I will have everything up by Monday night. Here is a sample of what is up right now. Thanks to everyone who came out to Art Shop and enjoyed the festivities. I had a great time.

Friday: Party night at ART SHOP

Tonight was the opening of ART SHOP. I sold some nests and trees and a bird! This is what it looked like today. I'm so pleased with how the wall looks.

Art Shop

This Friday and Saturday I will be doing a craft fair called ART SHOP. I have done it for the past three years and it is so great. There are lots of wonderful crafts by local artist. I have been working on my birds for the past few months, and it's all come down to this!

I have birds, nests, and trees. They are all sewn on the machine using a strait stitch, the reverse button. My hands move the fabric to create the pattern. This is just a small sampling, there will be a whole lot more at Art Shop!

New Business Card!

I created a new business card for the Birds I make! I'm hoping that they will be ready and in hand by the time Art Shop happens.

My friend Eric

This is my friend Eric.

When I was in College at Philadelphia University, I rode my bike about 8 miles downtown to the bike shop where I worked. In the winter when it was cold outside, I would stay at my friend Eric & Sean's apt for the weekend so I wouldn't have to ride back in first thing in the morning. This became a bit of a routine for me. Since it was the weekend, the three of us would often go out and have a good time. Most often on First Friday. Or there would be a party...somewhere. This would lead to long nights with good friends.
This particular evening was Sean's birthday. Perhaps his 21st. I don't remember for sure or not...Anyway, we went out and had a wonderful time.

Me, Sean, Matt, Eric, Matt's lady & Rug.

I first met Sean at a show, we would dance and skank the night away. Then we started hanging out outside of shows, eventually I met Eric. I hung out with these guys for about a year and a half. Eric would often wait for me to get off work and we would go to the closest WaWa or corner store to get dinner. He even made me Grilled PB & J once! I felt very honored since he never made food...ever. When Eric and I met he had cancer and went through some chemo which made him loose all his hair, and he became very skeletal. We never talked about it though, I liked to think that that made it seem normal for him. Shortly after New Year's 2005 I stopped hanging out at Sean and Eric's. Andy had moved from Montana and it was somewhat inappropriate to be spending the night with two boys. We hung out maybe once or twice more with Eric, the last time he met up with Andy and I at Sugar Mom's, a bar in Old City that we would often go to.

Two years ago today Eric passed away from Cancer. I'm glad for the time I got to spend with Eric. He was my friend.

Wedding Dress Shopping Suprise

This weekend I had planned a sleepover at Reehsa's. All my best girls were going to be there, Reesha, Genell, Lisa & Jackie. What I wasn't planning on was my deer sweet fiance to be in cahoots with my best friend from Cottey Jen! Andy came to pick the ladies up from work and from behind a parked ambulance came Jen! What a flash! I didn't really even see her because I was in her arms. My legs weren't even on the ground for quite a while. Man she is strong! Surprise in hand we had a lovely evening. Paul Reesha's boyfriend made us a wonderful dinner. Pot pies, a pumpkin and yogurt soup, and a beet salad, oh and Pumpkin Pie. The even was complete with 2 movies "Bride Wars" and "27 Dresses." The next day the plan was to go wedding dress shopping.

After a huge breakfast of course! Wouldn't you like to see what I got. Nope not for a while! But I did try on about 500 dresses. As of now I think I have one picked out, but I need a night to sleep on it.

The ladies were very helpfull!

Sunday Jen and I had a bit of time to enjoy the day. Our friend Ted gave us a great tour of the city! Ted lived with Andy and I for about a year and Ted Jen and I all worked at FLBC together. He is an excellent tour guide. I tipped him with some of his mail that had come to the house.

It was time for my friend and I to part ways. She was here for far too brief.

Next time I hope to be in on the planning of her visit.

Good bye Jen!

Turning Cold

Today there was rain. Cold Rain. I ride a bike...even in the rain. I was sufficiently bundled, so I didn't get too wet. But I need to get some new pants. My Jeans are not as warm when they are damp with rain.

Yesterday it was just chilly and windy. First day for fingerless gloves, hood and scarf. All I need are some spats.

The windows are being closed at night as well as the fans are no longer constantly running. Flannel sheets are next and Christmas music will be soon to follow. Just got to get through these two pesky months. Fishtown is looking very creepy! It's the neighborhood that goes overboard on decorating their houses for holidays. I had a huge spider on the house last year. perhaps I should rig him up again. Maybe with a scarf and hat. It's chilly out there!

Weeks of New Things.

This past week was Andy's birthday. He is a strange one. He gets so tickled and pleased when he solves a physics problem. I have no idea what he is babbling or complaining about, but I'm happy for his success when he solves that big problem. I'll stick to dying his hair and making him cakes to make him happy.

This is a new project that I will report more about soon. This is the first step and it will be grand.

A few weeks ago Reesha and I went to an Indian Vegiterian Feast! What a Feast it was!

My tummy!

There are lots of handbags being made at work. Sometimes the thread shows it's love. It's appreciated.

The corner store is swimming in Whole Milk.
2% is starting to taste a bit skimpy.
It's hard to switch back to East Coast milk after a summer of Fresh Cold Montana Milk!

Ive had so many good opportunity's for dressing up lately. I don't remember where I was going here. But I felt good about it. :)

Labor Day

Today I went on a bike ride with Genell round the Kelly Drive Loop. It was a nice overcast cool day, but man was I saddle sore! I need to ride my bike a bit more. The 15 mile ride was a bit longer than the 4 miles I ride every day. So new goal is to take longer rides, and maybe wear my bike shorts!
Andy and I are starting the countdown to our wedding. We decided to make a paper chain to count down the days. I like to call it our "Love Chain" So I cut 2" paper strips and we were ready to start.
Andy labeled each day with the date and with how many days till the wedding. I stapled.


Then we collected the chain in a very large pile! There were over 300 days/chains to make. It is now hanging up in our bedroom. It circles the room 1 1/2 times. The count down has started! I'll spare you the details until it's actually relevant.

Fun with Friends

Kait Calli and I were up to no good back on all girls grounds crew. Kari at Lake Koocanusa on a lunch break from kayaking.
Ted watching the campers swim. Matt always dove in!

Lyndon and I ran the Mission Mountian Classic today.

Lyndons time: 22:31

My time: 30:41

Goal for next year: Better than that.

Bear Dog

I was going through some old photos at home and found some of my dog Bear. He was such a handsome boy.I Love his smile in this one.

This was at my brother Erick's 2nd birthday party. It was a circus theme. Bear Jumped over a yard stick that was 6 inches off the ground. Good boy.
What a fluff...he needs a hair cut!

Grounds Crewin it up.

I put together a few benches that were already cut. I also gave them all a nice oil coating.

I named two of the benches after Reesha and Jackie.

They are sitting on the courts watching the kids play and gather for meals. A fine place for any bench to sit.

This week was Brad Abbott's 50th birthday! He's one of the camp directors and has been there for as long as I can remember anyway... This photo was a few weeks ago when a scuba diving pastor took Brad out. Brad's so excited!

This past week I was stung by a Wasp. So I spent the rest of my week killing them! With Bee traps and cans of spray. It's a rough world out there!

I also got to install the new diving board and have the first Jump off it. So satisfying. I was waiting for 3 weeks to do that project. So happy!

I also started the camp fires...with NO lighter fluid. Totaly lagit.

Next week I'm going rock climbing with this one: We were on Grounds Crew together a while ago and we got into some mischief then... I wonder what we will do this week....