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I don't really know why, but I just haven't had much to say lately. Not on my own blog, not on other people's blogs. I've been a true slacker. But, all of that changes today!
I did flowers for a wedding this weekend! This is most definitely not something I would have to do even a few years ago, but I'm the chair of our altar guild at church (a.k.a. flower committee, prop gatherer for the pastor, punching bag for the congregation- if you're at all familiar with church work you know what that last one means  ). However, I love this job!! It is truly one of the most delightful ways I've ever been asked to serve the church. And most importantly, it has taught me a way to worship that I never experienced before - through my creativity. Anyways, we did something a few weeks ago that a friend liked so much she asked us to recreate it for her wedding. I really think it's pretty, so I wanted to share.
And I haven't been neglecting my knitting either. I have been adding to the stash at a faster rate than I have been reducing it of late. I know I said I was on a yarn-buying time out, but I've modified the rules slightly. If I'm out of town and find something I can't get at home, it's fair game. That seems reasonable, doesn't it? I do have progress to share on the Erica Knight silk shrug and another row on the Dots & Stripes. I'll share pictures tomorrow!
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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| of my wonderfully talented husband who just scored a second place finish in a downtown photo competition hosted by the Bellwether Gallery in the new Monarch Art Factory. His prize-winning photo will be hanging in the gallery for the next month! How exciting is that! If you're out downtown this weekend for the Art Walk you should stop by and visit his pretty picture or check it out on his blog here. |
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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I just can't stop with the SNL references. I swear I'm not trying - they just come to me. I'm not really much of a fan anymore. I haven't found it very funny since the Will Ferrel days. However, I did catch part of Peyton Manning last week and thought he was pretty hilarious. Did anyone else see it? Time to move on - way more space than I intended to devote to that subject.
Any weekend that starts out with the once-a-year yarn sale at Simply Fibers is bound to be a good one!. My fellow Springfield knitting bloggers and I met immediately after work at the LYS to be there when the doors opened. I didn't do too much damage, but did come away with this:
I am so in love with my new book. That's Classic Knits by Erica Knight and it is fantastic. Everything in the book is (as the title would suggest) truly a classic. I really think that I would wear just about anything I choose to make. I also bought some Bamboo Soft to make the silk shrug out of the new book and some Mango Moon to make a short-row "sunburst" bag pattern that I picked up at Hilltop Yarn Shop when I was in Seattle last year. (On a side note, this shop is very cool and I would highly recommend a visit if you're in the area.) I needed a little break from the Dots & Stripes Blanket, so I started on the shrug and have about three inches done. I think it's going to be a rather quick knit. I'll post some pictures when I'm a little further along.
Today was a beautiful day, so we took Dolly out for a little field trip and Matt took some pretty spring pictures. Here are my favorites:
Don't you just love spring?!!
And finally, I did a little baking. Matt and I have been hosting a church small group at our house for the last six weeks and tonight was our final meeting, so I decided to make some cupcakes. Granted, I had a little help from Duncan Hines, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I found myself wondering why I would ever go to the trouble of making cupcakes and icing from scratch when they are so darn tasty out of a box. So, I'll leave you with a little eye candy.
Happy Monday, everyone! |
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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Today's trivia - can anyone name that SNL reference?
So what is it exactly that I am so in love with??? Why the Dots & Stripes Blanket of course!
I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but I don't think this photo really does it justice - it's much cuter in person. I finished my second row of squares this weekend and I'm so excited. Much of this progress is a product of a long weekend spent like this:
Here's another indication of how laid back my weekend was - I took a stress test at work today as part of a management development course and landed a perfect score meaning I am completely stress-free- because everything was based on stressors in my life over the past 3 days and I had none! Those of you who know me really well will be truly impressed by this, I know. But now it's so long to spring break and back to school and sadly I'm starting to feel a little bit of stress that I won't be able to finish the blanket before Little Boy B. (the recipient) enters this world.
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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I feel somewhat void of anything interesting to post about, but compelled to post something - anything - in spite of this. I've been on Spring Break this week which in my world basically means that I get to do what I want in the evenings and on my lunch break instead of writing papers on employee motivation through job design, reading about the price elasticity of demand, and suffering through six hours of evening classes a week.
So, what have I done with all of this free time? Well, I have been knitting quite a bit (yes this is still predominantly a knitting blog although you certainly wouldn't know it from my last few posts) and have made great progress on the Dots and Stripes Blanket. Sadly, it doesn't really look like much progress because there are so many dadgum stitches in a row on that thing. I don't think that I'm at a milestone worthy of a photo quite yet. Perhaps after I get some good knitting time in this weekend I'll post a picture.
I've also been reading some for fun - something I love to do but haven't really had much time for lately. I've enjoyed it so much however that I've made a promise to myself that no matter how busy I am I will find some time to read something for me. I've got four books in progress (or that I just finished) right now and I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of them:
 
This book is for a new book club that I'm in. I've never been in a club unrelated to church or school where you discuss literature, so I'm really excited. I don't consider myself particularly insightful when it comes to literature, so hopefully the club will be focused on food and fun primarily. Back to the book - a very quick and pleasant read. One of those books that I was sad to be done with. I kind of missed the characters after it was over, do you know what I mean?
Of all of my recent reading, I think this one may be my least favorite. I was enjoying it quite a bit initially but then it took a rather serious turn, I could see the writing on the wall of where the plot was headed and I kind of petered out about 50 pages before the end. I really don't like to see movies or read books that are in anyway unpleasant - sad, scary, unjust, or unhappy in any other way. Some might say that this is indicative of some sort of avoidance issue I may have , but I would argue there are enough unpleasant things in the real world without also having unpleasant things in the fictional world as well. So anyway, I'm not sure that I would recommend this one. If you can tolerate a pleasant story that takes an unexpected unpleasant turn then go for it. Tammy has much harsher words for it than I do.
This one is for a women's leadership group that I am in through my church. I've just read the first couple of chapters but so far, so good. I'm not typically a self-help, rah-rah kind of gal, but this one talks a lot about a subject of calling vs. career or success vs. significance which is a topic that seems to keep popping up in my life a lot lately. Hmmm...maybe someone's trying to tell me something.
Finally, a much more serious book. This is one that my mom gave me (thanks Mom!). It is a 40-day study designed to be done each day during Lent and it is fantastic and I would highly recommend it. It provides a great guide for meditation, reflection, and prayer on the events leading up to Easter for each day throughout the Lent season.
Time for bed! Happy reading everyone!
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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And Zarah too!!
Everywhere I turned today in blog land, people were talking about Mr. Rogers. Mason-Dixon Knitting has a clip of Mr. Rogers testifying before the Senate in 1969 about his program on behalf of PBS. I'm not much of a sap typically, but this one got to even me a bit! It is most definitely worth a watch if you have a spare 7 minutes.
As if a trip to the Neighborhood of Make Believe is not enough of a road trip down memory lane for you, today is also Big Bird's birthday. I'm not exactly sure how a muppet has a birthday, but apparently, today is that day!
So the question for you today is - in the battle of Mr. Rogers vs. Big Bird (perhaps battle is the wrong word to use when referring to these two peace-loving creatures), who wins in your book? It's really a toss up to me. On the one hand, Mr. Rogers makes you feel good, teaches you how to tie your shoes, how to be nice to everyone and feel good about yourself. On the other hand, Sesame Street teaches you important lessons such as how to say water in Spanish (on second thought, that may have been the Electric Company rather than Sesame Street), what a llama looks like, the difference between near and far, and how to count in a strange Eastern European accent. (Surely some of you can recall the episodes I'm referring to).
I figure the only appropriate way to complete the trip down memory lane and give everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling (and risk being a complete cornball), is to leave you with Mr. Rogers most famous words...
So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor? |
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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I wasn't exactly sure how to spell the title of this post. The sound I was going for was the one they play in Debbie Downer on SNL, you know that very cartoonish sound of disappointment.
Well, as much as I like to be right, I'm wishing I wasn't in this case. No tournament for the Bears - again. Eight years and counting. The above picture is from last year's painful seleciton Sunday. The Bears were smart enough this year to not allow anyone to capture their moment of anguish. Better luck next year, I suppose. Time to move on and prepare to kick some butt in the office pool! And yes, I do realize that all of my talk about doing well in this year's bracket will insure that I finish at the bottom of the pack. Rock Chock Jayhawk!!
P.S. I don't reallly care that much about KU - that was just thrown in there for my Mizzou friends!
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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In my world March Madness (that would be the NCAA basketball tournament for you non-sports types or people who live on Mars ) is second only to Christmas time. I could watch all 64 games and not get sick of it. I love everything about it. I love the office pool - in which I usually do quite well, by the way (this year I intend to win). I love the Cinderella teams. I love the cheesy stories about the hard-luck guy from Who's-ever-heard-of-it State that make you want them to win so badly. Ah, yes, March Madness is definitely the best of times.
Being a Missouri State Bears fan - the worst of times. For those of you not familiar with my Bears, last year we beat our OWN (doesn't seem possible, does it?) record as the highest-ranked team not to get into the tournament. Sadly, it appears that we've set ourselves up for another such scenario this year. I invest so much time and energy in these guys for 4 months, for what, a trip to the NIT?!! So sad. Perhaps next year I'll cheer for Kansas or North Carolina instead.
My husband is still optimistic and thinks they will get in. He thinks I'm a pessimist - I think he needs a reality check. 1 hour, six minutes and counting until we know who's right. Say your prayers for the Bears and I'll keep you posted!
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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I was looking back over my recent posts and decided it has been entirely too long since I shared a picture of Dolly. So, I present one of many (way too many) Dolly portraits:
I would be embarrassed to admit how many photos we have of our dog. Granted, this is due in large part to the fact that my husband's favorite hobby is photography and Dolly makes a wonderful (and strangely willing) subject. This could turn out to be beneficial, however, as Dolly is a contestant in the Springfield News-Leader pet idol contest, the grand prize for which is $1,000! If you have a minute, voting starts on Monday and you can vote here. Unfortunately, Matt found out after he submitted her photo that there couldn't be people in it and instead of replacing the photo with another he submitted, the newspaper just cropped me out of the picture. We've also discovered in past photo contests that Matt has entered (namely the Ozark Empire Fair) that a bad picture of a dog dressed in ridiculous clothes is more likely to win than a fabulous picture of a dog just looking like a dog.
In other, and completely unrelated, news I'm sort of in the middle of a pity party right now. My life seems so incredibly hectic, as I'm taking 6 graduate hours this semester and really busy at work. I'm hoping that my upcoming spring break will rejuvenate me. However, I've discovered that spring break just isn't what it was when I was a real college student.
Not much knitting news to report. I'm taking a trip for work next week
to Tampa (where hopefully it will be fabulously warm) so hopefully I'll
have lots of time to work on the Jaywalkers that I just cast on then. Pictures to come soon! Time to sign off - I have 80 (yes, 80) pages of reading to do for class tomorrow night!
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| Posted by Meredith at | | | |
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