Jacquie's Journal

Happy New Year!

As usual for this time of year I have been thinking about what I want to achieve this year, and I actually have plans!  Here is a list:

1. It will be the year of the house - we really need to remodel our bathroom and sort out the basement at the very least.
2. On the creative front I want to release a new version of my chartmaker - it has been almost ready for far too long, join in and complete the various events we have going on  Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns including a Year Long Quilt-along and our new Sock Yarn Challenge, as well as some of the swaps we are organising each month.  I also want to knit some stuff for me and learn how to spin, and go back to Tuesday night SnB meetings for fun, inspiration and the company of some great grrls.
3. Inevitably I want to get fitter and reverse a worrying trend that may see me in pants another size larger by the end of the year if I'm not careful.  Chocolate must go!  And I must find more time for the gym.
4. I want to read more.  I am setting myself a goal of reading an Idiot's Guide to ... or ... For Dummies book each month on a topic that I wouldn't normally be interested in but that will improve my lifestyle, outlook on life, or give me a new skill. 
5. I want to cook more interesting and healthier meals - my friend Anita gave me Jamie Oliver's Cook Wityh Jamie and there are some delicious recipes in there so it will be a good starting point.
6. I would like to be more generally organised around the house and be tidier!
7. The comment from Heather on my Christmas post about my karma maybe straddling a line made me think that maybe I could improve it by being kinder to others.  I can start by doing my PIF projects as soon as I can.  And we have got ourselves into a horrible habit of buying 10 bars of chocolate for $10 each week - this special has been going on for at least 2 years and we fall for it every time.  I will save the $10 each week and donate it to a charity or charities during the year which will also mean I won't be eating the chocolate as per number 3 above.
8. I intend to make my blog more interesting, by having a competition now and again with some nice prizes.
9. I would like to be greener, so I think one of my number 4 books will be on that subject.  I would also like to be more aware of 'fair trade' companies and products and make more informed choices when I buy anything.
10. I hope we get our green cards this year and we will be able to visit all our friends and family in England and maybe even our apartment in Menorca that I miss a lot.

I think I am going to be very busy this year!

I wish you all the best of luck with whatever you have planned for 2008!

Ten signs That Summer is Nearly Over

1. Edward and Sam have gone back to school.
2. It's Labor Day (albeit the hottest since 1950 here).
3. The ends of some of the leaves are changing colour.
4. The gas on the barbecue has run out.
5. The tyres on Gary's bike need replacing but it's difficult to find replacements because the sports stores are concentrating on ski stuff now.
6. The stores are full of Hallowe'en stuff.
7. The sunflowers are in full bloom.
8. It's getting dark earlier.
9. I am starting to think about what to knit for my winter wardrobe.
10. I am getting sick of my summer wardrobe.

I nearly for got to do a list this month and last month's didn't get done til very late what with one thing and another!  What signifies the end of the summer for you?

10 Best Things About Summer

Today being the 1st of the month is list day and for July I have chosen "10 Best Things About Summer"

1. Life seems so much easier when the sun is shining.
2. All the flowers are blooming.
3. All the birds are here - especially the hummingbirds.
4. The only thing to do is have a Costco ice cream bar hand dipped in chocolate and nuts to help stay cool.
5. School's out so no need to get up ridiculously early to make sure everyone else is up and out when they should be.
6. Hikes in the mountains are beautiful and a great way to get out of the heat.
7. We get to go on vacation to the beach - more about that soon.
8. No need to put on extra clothes to go out.
9. It's fun to take Charlie out for early morning walks before it gets too hot.
10. It's fun to visit the Farmers Market on a Saturday (although we haven't actually been yet this year - it's not easy to park)

Top Ten List: Small Pleasures

The idea for this month's list was basically stolen from Mim's contest and is my Top Ten Small Pleasures in no particular order:

• Family days out when there are no arguments.
• Getting a note from a teacher saying how much they enjoy having one of the kids in their class.
• Really silly conversations with my sister where we straight facedly call things by almost the right name like Victoria's Principle instead of Victoria's Secret (I guess you have to be there!) (That is so weird - Victoria Principle appeared on an ad on TV just as I was writing this and I haven't seen or heard of her for ages!)
• A really nice piece of chocolate, or ice cream or cake.
• Seeing the summer flowers and the fall colours in the mountains.
• Seeing wildlife in our garden.  This week I have seen squirrels, and a whole variety of birds including humming birds.  We sometimes get deer nibbling the bushes in the winter and I really don't mind - after all they were here first!
• Dancing around the living room to loud music when alone in the house (What?   Doesn't everyone do that?)
• Having finally got our Green Card application forms filled in and ready to send.  We finished signing everything today and all being well I should get a Work Authorization within 90 days.  The actual green cards are still a few months away.
• Seeing a creative idea through from conception to finished and having it all fall neatly into place.
• Getting so engrossed in something that I don't notice the time passing - it could be making something, a conversation, reading, or watching a movie - if it makes me laugh that is an added bonus.
• Sorry there has to be an 11th - perfect sunny days when it's not too hot or too cold, and there is a slight warm breeze blowing and no bitey or stingy insects around and it's just good to be alive.
• Oh and 12th - the view of our mountainsand across the valley.  Whatever the time of year it is  spectacular for different reasons.

Oh dear, there are really loads more I can think of and some of them are actually quite big pleasures!

What are your innocent pleasures big or small?
 

10 Things I Like About Sam

Sam turns 21 today!   The last 21 years have flown by so fast and here he is - a handsome grown-up man!

We had planned a barbecue party for him but of course no one informed Utah weather. It has been lovely and sunny for the last few days and today it is raining!  We are postponing the barbecue til the weather cooperates and will go out to a family dinner tonight.

This month's list is my top 10 list of Things I like About Sam:

1. Although he was nearly two weeks late, he was relatively easy to give birth to and was a very good baby,
2. He is funny,
3. He is very kind and thoughtful to Sunnie, his fiancee,
4. He chooses his friends wisely,
5. He sticks to his principles,
6. He is a great artist,
7. He is a great programmer,
8. He reminds me of my Dad in some ways,
9. He is very loving,
10. He was a good teenager!

List Day : Top 10 "Firsts"

I nearly forgot that it has become my thing to post a list on the first of the month:

Here is my Top 10 Firsts

1. First Memory - my Dad getting my Mum out of bed and putting her under a cold shower because she refused to get up - it was done in a jokey way - he wasn't an abusive man! I was two.
2. First Day at School - I don't really remember this, but I apparently wanted to go back after tea.  I remember my first day at Grammar School - I wore my uniform beret as far as the bus stop, took it off when I saw no one else was wearing theirs and never wore it again.
3. First Kiss - I don't remember this at all, though I do remember who it must have been with - can't have been very romantic can it!
4. First Husband - Gary - still have him and think he'll be around for a while yet.
5. First Knitting Project - pair of mittens for my Brownie proficiency badge.  I did all the purls twisted because logic told me that if it was a knit stitch backwards the yarn should go round the needle the other way - never did submit them or any other project for the badge.
6. First trip abroad - I was born abroad in Germany where my Dad was serving in the RAF.
7. First Pet - The first one I remember was a guinea pig we called Fred, but then he had babies and we had to rename her Fredericka.  Shortly after that we went to live in Singapore for two years and I have no idea what happened to her, or the babies.
8. First pop star crush - Paul McCartney when I was six and the first record i bought myself was Hey Jude I think?
9. First learned to swim - when I was 7 or 8 in Singapore by myself.  I suddenly realised I could swim under water more easily than on top.
10. First house - our first house when we got married was an end of terrace (row house) built in 1908.  It was right next door to a dairy so we were the first in St Albans to get our milk delivered each morning.

What are your most memorable firsts?  They don't have to be these specific things, just things that special to you.

List Day: Top 10 things that haven't caught on in the USA and I don't understand why not

These are things we have in the UK and Europe that are not in general use here - 'here' may well just be Utah but as far as I know may be the whole of the USA - I will no doubt be corrected if I am wrong.  I want you to understand I am not criticising Americans for not adopting these things and I do totally understand that we have different cultures.  It's just that they could make Americans lives that little bit easier, or more efficient, or safer, or more fun, or more enriched. 

I would also agree that there is no doubt a reciprocal list which I will work on for another time.

1. Housewife Pillowcases with a sewn down flap at one end so the end of the pillow is not exposed as explained here.
2. Optics in bars that  measure a shot at the push of a button.
3. Front loading washing machines - everyone knows they are more water and energy efficient and are gentler on your clothes.
4. Christmas crackers - even though Martha Stewart used them on her Christmas table once - and Christmas pudding.
5. Food warmers on your table in Indian restaurants
6. The metric system.
7. Jersey Royal new potatoes.
8. Laws making wearing helmets on motorbikes mandatory  and the use of cell phones while driving illegal in all states.
9. Mini roundabouts instead of four-ways.
10. Heinz Baked Beans.

List Day - My Top 10 Recurring Dreams

I have quite vivid dreams and they often have a recurring theme.  I have not tried to interpret them, but am sure they are indicative of a disturbed and anxious mind.  These are my 10 most common - not in any particular order:

1. We have just moved into a huge house and I keep finding new rooms in it.  Usually there are lots of things left by the previous owner that I don't know how to deal with.
2. I need the bathroom, but there is something wrong so I can't use it - the door won't shut, the seat is too high, it is in a communal bathroom with no privacy - all sorts of weird stuff.
3. I need to use the phone but can't dial the numbers I want - the numbers are missing or the buttons don't work properly.
4. I am having a baby, then sometimes it turns into a puppy or kitten.
5. Our fish tank gets huge and the fish climb out.
6. I am back at college but can't remember my timetable/schedule and keep missing classes, or I have an exam coming up but don't know the subject matter, or I can't find my room in the hall of residence/dorm.  In the last college related dream, my friends there told me that they never really liked me!
7. I look into the sky and see a plane crashing, or things that wouldn't normally fly flying around.  Or I am in a plane flying somewhere impossible like between buildings or very close to the ground.
8. I am not married to Gary and he won't speak to me and I don't understand.
9. I am not married to Gary anymore, but it's OK because I have someone else.  That would not be OK in real life!!!
10. Family and friends who are no longer with us come back and it's lovely to see them again.

These are very generic themes.  The individual dreams are usually very detailed and specific.  In my last house dream for example we found a courtyard garden between the rooms that had lots of  plants in pots, garden furniture, cobble stones , and moss.  And there was a room with loads of books left in it. 

I have other really bizarre dreams too -  recently one featured a kind of fairground attraction where you could try out kissing celebrities just to see what they are like- I got Rod Stewart which is very odd because I don't find him at all attractive - why couldn't it have been Colin Firth, or Hugh Grant, or even Jude Law.

Do you have weird recurring dreams that you can tell us about on a family friendly blog?

Top 10 Costco Products

I am in the process of thinking through how my blog should be structured for this year.  I would like to introduce some regular features for particular days of the month and have decided that on the first of each month I will publish a Top10 List.  I like lists.  My first list will be My Top 10 Costco Products, mainly because I seem to have been there a lot lately.  I know it should  be my Top 10 Goals for 2007 or something but  to be honest I don't know what they all would be apart from the usual lose weight, exercise more, knit more, be nicer etc etc.

So my Top 10 Costco Products are:

1. Snack Granola Mix - I have it for breakfast with berries, plain yogurt and soy milk.  It contains lots of nuts and fruit and probably lots of sugar but the nutritional info on the label does not state its calories so obviously it doesn't have any!
2. Hand Dipped Ice cream bars from the cafe.  They are huge - we share one and only have them on special occasions - and they are especially good with nuts on as well as the thick chocolate which they apply by literally hand dipping the bare ice cream.  And it is only $1.50
3. Their decaf coffee beans which are really Starbucks (both companies started out in Seattle, so I don't believe this is a coincidence).
4. Their special Christmas goodies in particular the big tins of Walkers Shortbread and their Belgian chocolate cups.
5. Their real Christmas wreaths, always well made and with plenty of pine cones on.
6. Their bargain tickets for Megaplex cinemas, California amusement parks, Lagoon, etc.  I guess what they have in this category depends on the location of individual stores, but they really are a bargain.  They have ski passes for the Canyons this year too.
7. Fresh berries.  Blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in particular always fresh and undamaged and they last for ages.
8. Their all American Chocolate cake - you only need this if you are expecting a lot of hungry guests, but it is good - as are most of their desserts and they have good muffins too.
9. Their big bath towels.  I am not sure what brand they are but they are larger than average and I do like to be able to wrap myself up in a nice big fluffy towel when I get out of the shower They have a nice range of colours - I think I have nearly one of each now.  They should be in soon when all the summer stuff arrives.
10. Stationery.  I love the big packs of construction paper and coloured pens and so on.  Unfortunately our kids have grown out of that stage so I don't need it any more.

So that is my Top 10.  What are your favourite discount warehouse club products?