Summer Summary

As the kids go back to school, it's time to reflect on our summer. They are getting older and I relish spending these vacations together. It won't be long before they're on their own.

China (6/15-6/30)
My sister-in-law and her husband and their two children (my kids' ages) live in China and we went to visit them. Had a great time. Saw lots of sights. Got lots of good deals on things.Here we are at the Great Wall. It was steamy hot and we hiked a long portion of it (spent 5 hours on it). I'm the one in the lavender tank top (yes, my kids are taller than I am -- it happens).

Upstate New York (7/1-7/8)
Husband's family reunion in Upstate New York (See previous posts). Celebrated one daughter's 15th birthday. The kids love seeing their cousins. Each year Grandma makes them pose for a "cousin line up." They pull the board off from the see-saw and stand on it in descending height order. My kids are the two second from the left.


Brooklyn (7/8-8/17)
Spent a month back home enjoying the fact that everyone else in NYC decides to summer some where else. My older daughter attended FIT's Summer Live Program here in NYC. This was her fourth year. We also had some house guests, one of whom was a summer intern for Annie Leibowitz. No, I never got to meet her. In fact, he barely got to meet her as her mother passed away this summer so she was away a lot. Nevertheless, it was fun to have some house guests and give young people a little help on their way out to their lives.

Upstate New York (8/17-8/26)
As an annual event, we camp in Old Forge with my brothers and my father. It has become quite a tradition and we all look forward to it.Here's my younger daughter atop a water tower at the peak of a small mountain in the Adirondacks.

After camping over a weekend, we went back to my husband's family's summer cottage. We spent a rainy week there without the rest of his family. My father lives in the area as well as two of my brothers and lots of cousins. We were able to celebrate his 80th birthday (see previous posts). One of my husband's roles while we're up there is to help maintain the cottage. It belongs to his widowed mother. An area in which he has developed expertise over the years is the septic system. This year it had to be dug up. Guess who got that job?

We celebrated our 21st anniversary on August 2nd. When I'm not mad at him, I still think he's the cutest, nicest, funniest man. I mean look at him standing there at the septic tank. What more could you ask for in a man?

Colors

A thought for today: Life is a series of colors. Sometimes they're distinct and sometimes they're blended.

Threads

Don't you love old thread? And the spools? I do. I inherited a bunch of sewing stuff from my grandmother when she passed away in the early 90s. The threads are one of the favorite things from her sewing boxes. But my favoritest thing is the collection of buttons I have from her. I will share those with you another time.

I'm leaving tonight for my trip to Upstate New York (see yesterday's post). Cleaned out my (and my two daughters!!) workspace yesterday so when I come back it will be more inviting. The leaves are starting to fall here in NYC even though it's still very hot and muggy. Being an Upstate girl (lots of cold and snow), I actually like winter or at least I know how to deal with winter. So I love the change of seasons and look forward to some crisp air.

a still life

This dress form was given to my 12-year old daughter. It's from a friend of mine. I guess she didn't want it. My daughter dresses it up in clothes and has a great time with it. I plan on "borrowing" it for pictures for etsy items.

I will be away starting tomorrow and will not be updating my blog. I am going Upstate to visit my family and to stay at the summer cottage of my husband's family. It's how we met, actually. His grandparents had a summer cottage where his mom used to take him and his 5 brothers and sisters each summer. They'd arrive in June and leave at the end of August. Years later, when I (a local girl) was 22 and lifeguarding in between "real" jobs one summer at the State Park near the cottage, I ran into Tom's sister whom I knew from previous summers. Tom was standing with her. After several chance meetings, we began dating. The rest is history. We've been married 21 years, have two beautiful daughters.

So off I go to "home" where my Dad still lives all by himself in the big farmhouse where I grew up. You may be wondering why we don't stay here when we visit. Let's just say that he's gotten used to being alone and it works better for us to stay at the cottage. We're all happier that way. Here are some pictures of the house I grew up in:

What is blogging anyway?

I think I'm understanding that a "good" blog is one that expresses itself. It's not just about advertising your or someone else's work, is it? It's an online journal, right? OK, so I'm a bit slow on the uptake. I come from a different era, I suppose. I know there are a lot of people my age who blog but I find it sort of hard to express myself publicly. I used to hide my journal from my brothers so that they couldn't read my inner thoughts. And now I'm supposed to put them on the internet so everyone can read about them? Well it's not junior high anymore and I don't have a lot to hide anymore. My life is actually quite boring. But I will try to express some more of what's going on inside. I have a tendency to go way too deep in the real world, so I guess I could try that here. See if anyone is interested. I am currently living through the decade my mother was when she died. It has been an interesting ride. Especially since I have two daughters now. The whole mother/daughter bond is quite tight. Anyone I know who lost a parent early (I guess I mean before the usual time, but I know it's always hard and leaves you with strong emotions) understands how weird it is to be yourself around the age the parent was when she/he died. I am looking forward to 50.

By the way, that's me in the photo.

This Bag is Not Sold on Etsy

My 46th birthday is in late August. As an early birthday present, I received this cool bag from a friend. It is from Brooklyn Industries. When you first look at it, it's hard to see that the designs on the bag are actually sewing pattern lines. I will use it when I go to teach sewing classes or when I need to carry supplies somewhere. My photos are not very good, but the actual color of the bag is black with silver lines, and an orange zipper. Very cool. I love it.

My 12 year old daughter made this...

And I am a proud mommy. She has a big sister (15) who also likes to sew. It's fun to pass on the craft.

And anyone who checked my blog yesterday, look again, please. I just figured out how to link to the actual beginning of the 6 Million Dollar Man. So hilarious!

"We have the technology..."

OK, so I'm dating myself with that quote. Growing up with three brothers (no sisters) and one black and white TV, I watched a lot of Batman (me: Can we watch "The Brady Bunch?" brothers: "No, it's Batman night."), Star Trek and of course, the 6 Million Dollar Man. Who remembers the beginning of THAT show? Well probably not very many of you. But the guy ends up mangled in a plane crash and they say "We can rebuild him, we have the technology."

I am using that as my inspiration today. I have the technology (pictures are proof) and can build it.

And let's not forget that from the 6 Million Dollar Man the Bionic Woman originated. Now SHE was something special....

six million dollar man intro

[via FoxyTunes / Six Million Dollar Man]