Cozumel was a fun time.

The Ranger and I took a trip to Cozumel a couple months ago.  We traveled with scuba diving friends. We do NOT scuba dive.  That meant lots of time to ourselves even though we were there with a group of eight.  The Ranger and I did a ton of reading (my Kindle was great, I never ran out of reading material), hung by the pool, did some sight seeing, walked about and consumed one or two cocktails.  The Ranger did a lot of snorkeling, I did a little. The snorkeling right out from the hotel beach was quite nice, I was amazed at the variation in fish from day to day.
One of our friends also free dives.  Free diving is the only way a person can spear fish.  Lucky for us he was extremely successful (on two separate dives). He brought the fish back to the hotel where the chef was more than happy to prepare them for our dinner on two different evenings.

It is not often that I get to eat fish that was swimming in the ocean 

only a few hours earlier.

We spent an entire day touring the island, Mayan ruins, snorkeling and visiting a tequila 'factory'.  Did I mention the traveling part of the tour was spent in the backseat of a Polaris?  Windy & dusty, but a great way to see the island.  The other couple was more than willing to drive, so they were the ones that learned to "drive like a Mexican"!  (direct quote from the tour guide)

This rocky coast on the opposite side of the island 

(from our hotel) had some great surf.

We did see some sail-boarders, but they were too far for a good shot.

The Mayan Ruins were interesting.  I thought it would be a larger area.

Our guide was knowledgeable and assured us that they will be celebrating on 12-12-2012,

not worrying about the 'end of the world'.

The view from our hotel deck was far more pristine and quiet.

Lots of boats and the hotel pools were there by the small beach area. 

We learned that traveling with dive weights is an adventure on it's own level. Different airports have different rules about having them in carry on luggage.  As in - you can carry on into Cozumel, but not out of Cozumel. Makes for interesting luggage rearranging at the airport.  We also learned that the humidity makes everything weigh more, so our luggage was heavier coming home than going.  Lucky we didn't buy that second bottle of tequila. That three hour time frame for international airport travel was not an exaggeration on this trip.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day!

It was a great day.
Daughter J brought the boys over for brunch and to spend the afternoon and R joined us on a break from work for the eating part. Baby G sat at the table with all of us and ate a bit of fruit.  Where did the time go?  He is so close to crawling and then, look out world.  Little J played outside almost all afternoon while his Papa watched him napped on the patio!  Big E spent the afternoon with earbuds firmly in his ears and IpodTouch in hand.

I really wanted a picture of Daughter J and I. 

(I want one of Daughter E and I too, but long distance photos just don't work.)

Gorgeous roses from Daughter J, right from her house.  

They smell so good, I will hate to see them fade away.

Heather from Daughter E.  Love them.  

Contemplating pouting one plant outside.

Daughter E called on her way home from work.  I missed having her here. Half a continent away is just too dang far!  We had a good chat and she gets to visit this summer.  

For dinner, the Ranger took me to Lakeside and we were able to eat on the patio in the sunshine.  

A perfect end to a beautiful day.  I am so happy to be the mom to two of the best daughters ever!  

blogging has been on my back burner lately!

Or maybe off the stove and in the cupboard.  Obviously I have not been blogging, but what have I been up to these last months?

• trip to Mexico
• my birthday
• our 40th anniversary
• Easter
• Little J's 4th birthday
• Baby G's 6 months
• Big E's soccer
• trip to Moab
• yard work
• supermoon
• Mother's Day

I will revisit those at some time, complete with pictures.  But for now....

I have a couple sweet potato vines that need a permanent home in a pot out front.  They have been living under the eave in the back for a week.  Explain to me how I can plant 10 pots under the forsythia, all my herbs, a couple tomatoes in pots (so I don't have to walk 'all the way' to garden for a tomato - there are a dozen or more plants in the garden), a few new perennials out front and a random assortment of other flowers and still have things to plant?
So my goal for today is to plant them.
Stay tuned, the Ranger just asked if I want to ride along to Wellfleet while he looks at some land.  Of course I will! And that explains why those particular plants are not in pots.

It is easy to get interrupted.
Life is like that.

It's Leap Day

Today is that day which only comes around every 4 years.  I have been sporadic with my postings, but thought I should not miss the 29th of February because one never knows what the next 4 year could bring.  So I think I might do a bit of a diary of the day.

7:30 am  Daughter E texts to say her friend's baby boy is here.
8:30 am  Squirrel is staring into the house from a high branch on a tree.
9:30 am  Kitchen clean, bailed on the dog walk - too cold and windy for me.
10:30 am  Choosing clothes for trip - ah, summer things in winter
11:30 am  Figuring out the dreaded lunch plan
noon         Dog to groomer
12:30 pm  Lunch over - gotta love leftovers (or as the girls called them-restovers)
1:30 pm  finishing The Heretic's Daughter
2:30 pm  Daughter J and Baby G stop by for a quick visit
              Weather temperature is nice, wind still blowing 22 mph
3:30 pm  Pick up dog from kennel, stop @ library to get new books
4:30 pm  Think about supper
5:30 pm  Make Provencal potatoes to go with flank steak
6:30 pm  Dog in and out a million times  (maybe slight exaggeration)
7:30 pm  Dinner, yum!  Discuss some bicycling plans for spring and summer.  Photography/bike weekend in the Flint Hills of Kansas.  Sounds delightful.
8:30 pm  Dog walked for the final time.  The wind is NOT blowing, first time in over a week.  I would never survived life on the prairie as a pioneer woman.
9:30 pm   Ready to watch a little Parenthood and settle in on the couch for the night.  One of my favorite shows.  Gotta love the DVR.

Pretty much an ordinary kind of day.  One that comes around every 4 years or so!  Or maybe a day like any other.  Ordinary is just fine.

10 truths about me

In the Beyond Layers class, Kim encouraged us to share 10 truths about ourselves.  I wrote 14 and then narrowed it to 10.  What does that say about me?  I don't follow directions?  I don't know when to quit?  We were also encouraged to post a fun photo to 'go with' the truths.  I chose this photo from Big Mac.  It matches up with truth #1 except for the fact that there is no ocean sound.  But there is sand and water.

Winter at Big Mac

• I LOVE the sound of the ocean and sand under my feet. How did that happen to a land locked middle of the country person? 
• I have been married for 40 years to a man called the 'Ranger' after a whirlwind courtship of 7 months - who knew it could be this good? Oh, except for making lunch - why do I have to be responsible for lunch? 
• No one told me that parenting is the single hardest and most gratifying thing a person could ever do. And they also didn't tell me it just never ends. No matter how old, how settled, how responsible my girls are, I have a worry button that doesn't turn completely off. 
• Being a grandmother is the greatest gift and grandsons are the best. They make me smile and bring me joy!
• My camera is my friend and I rarely skip a day without taking a photo (the camera phone helps here), although it does happen on occasion. I struggle with setting up a photo-shoot of still life, that is way out of my comfort zone. I much prefer just taking photos of what is available and working it out that way. 
• I am such a procrastinator. I can be sucked into the 'internetz' in a heartbeat and spend hours before I even know what happened. It doesn't matter if it is photos, crafts, digital scrapbooking, sewing, or random interesting oddities. 
• I have a group of friends I have consistently met with at least once (and usually more) a month for the past 32 years. It is a diverse group, but they make me think, encourage me to try new things, push me to make decisions, and love me like family. Their biggest influence was supporting my return to college, where I finished not one, but two degrees and ended up with a fulfilling teaching career. 
• I am a feminist. I worry about people who don't have enough food or shelter. I know I don't do enough to help my fellow beings. 
• I like wine, really good wine and just good wine and even marginal wine. I have learned that wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good. My absolute favorite is sangiovesse from Italy, but a nice cabernet sauvignon comes a close second. While I will choose an Italian wine whenever possible, wines by Vincent Arroyo winery in California are splendid. 
• Reading is an addiction. I can read a novel in a day, even if that means staying up til the wee hours to finish.

Sewing plans and projects

Daughter J has found a hobby!  She has begun to sew.  Now I have sewing 'skills' that date back to Home Ec class in the mid 60's.  I can close my eyes and see the emerald green shift dress that I made.  Yikes, it is an ugly memory and frankly it was an ugly dress.  But I spent good money on that fabric and I wore it many times.
However J has taste in fabric.  She sees things that go together in a way that amazes me.  I look at the fabric on the bolt and think 'really?' and she just knows it will work.  She made the decision to jump right in.  We generally work well together as long as I don't go straight to 'takeover' mode.  I think I did ok - I know she did great as the seamstress.

Her first projects were burp cloths for Baby G.  Cute fabric!  Some cotton and some flannel.  Lots of measuring and cutting and pinning and ironing and sewing, but they turned out very cute.

So fast forward a week and she is making dresses for her nieces for their birthdays!  The pattern is an updated version of the pillowcase dress.  J has sewing skills!  She cut patterns, sewed seams, did an occasional rip-out (but to her credit, only a couple times and she made three dresses in three days), ironed seams with the best of them and has finished dresses to send off to the little girls. Best of all - she loves her new hobby and is already planning blankets for the boys.  

There was one major discovery.  Thread makes an incredible difference. I had only ever used the old Coats and Clarks, but I am here to tell you there is a vast difference in how nicely the newer thread sews.  I have ditched the old threads for sure.  

Notice there are just two dresses in this picture.  J did make three dresses.  Here is the story:  The pattern had to be adjusted to accommodate the cute contrasting band at the bottom of each dress.  Since I am the one with experience, I measured and adjusted the first one.  Worked great!  I measured the second, cut it, and J sewed.  When it was finished it would have just about fit Baby G. Somewhere in my plan, I measured WRONG.  I totally take full responsibility for the mishap.  I am definitely not considering work in the design industry any time soon.  It about made me break out in a sweat to do the measuring for the third dress, but it went just fine. 

Luckily J has a friend whose daughter will turn one next month, so she gets a little dress too.  

Lake McConaughy is lovely in winter

The Ranger asked me to go along on a field visit west of here.  We spent the day on county roads.  I helped to navigate from one pasture to the next.  It is a good thing that most of the county roads are now marked with signs, but we really did have good maps to work with.  The best part of the day was a stop by Lake McConaughy on the way home.  We go there in the summer for camping and a bit of beach, but I haven't been there in the dead of winter.  We stopped by the eagle viewing station and saw eagles, however it is only open on the weekends, so we weren't able to use the spotting scopes.

This week in Beyond Layers, we were challenged to make a collage that shows a part of our day.  I used some of the photos from the trip to the lake to create my first storyboard.