Leech Lake 2.012

June 9th-16th was the annual cabin vacation. This year was a little different because I didn't have anyone to accompany me and meg brought her boyfriend. I was a little unsure of how things would go since I wouldn't have someone to constantly occupy me and I had to share a room with a SNORER.

However, I brought some ear plugs and had a really great time. I got to know Meg's boyfriend pretty well which was nice but also kind of sad since they've been dating for 5 ish years...maybe should have happened a little bit sooner.

On the first day of vacation (saturday) I caught a 28 inch northern. This was the biggest fish of the week up until Wednesday when Annette caught a 30 inch one. Overall this wasn't the most impressive fishing trip. We caught a ton of rock bass and perch, and a few Northerns, but none were really all that big besides the two. There were also only a couple walleye caught this year. It was a good trip either way.

While I was up there I went on a few jogs. It was nice since I'm used to jogging in Mankato with nothing neat to look at, and up there I was on a forest lined highway.

I went to the casino for the first time on this trip and decided I'd much rather keep my money. I lost $30 playing the slot machines. I guess beginners luck failed me this time.

Since I was going to be gone for a week, a coworker and I decided to mess with some of the nurses and make them think I quit. Apparently it caused quite the ruckus and kind of freaked out my boss since I forgot to give her a heads up that rumors might be flying....I had a lot of good laughs reading text messages from my conspirator over the reaction from this little prank.

Baby Quilt

A couple weeks ago a friend asked me to make a baby quilt for one of his coworkers. He sang at the baptism and wanted to incorporate the songs into the quilt. I did some research on how to print onto fabric and made up the design for the quilt. The printing turned out to be a giant pain in the butt. The first few pieces wen through just fine, but then the printer kept jamming up the paper/fabric and ruining the sheets. It took several tries, but I was finally able to get all the blocks printed.

I think the quilt turned out pretty well, but I really have a difficult time getting everything to lay flat so that it doesn't bunch up when I do the top quilting. That was the one part of this quilt that I'm really not happy with. The back has some bunching and gathering that should definitely not be there. The guy was really happy with how the quilt turned out anyway. He's going to give it to his coworker this week, so hopefully they like it too.

I really like the colors of the fabric. I was going to just do a sold blue on the back, but then I found the striped fabric in the clearance section for $4 a yard and it matched the quilt way too well not to use it. 

I had a fun time making the quilt. I really should finish the one that I started at the quilt retreat so I can have a second set of bedding for my bed. I probably need to get a bit more fabric to finish it up though, so we'll see if I ever get it finished.

Planty Plants

I used to name all my plants, but they kept dying on me so I fell out of the habit since I was running out of names. Lately it seems like all my plants are thriving, so I decided I should pick the habit back up. In no particular order (keep in mind that some of these names are simple so that I can easily remember them): The aloe plant- Alleyna.  The light-colored philodendron: Phil- he's been around for awhile. The new, darker colored philodendron (featured in the first photo) is Betty. I just got her from work. Then there is the dieffenbachia named Earl. He was named a couple years ago when I got him. Next is Vern. I have no idea what he is, but I got him from a friend of a friend who was moving. Then there is this fern like thing I have that I thing might be called a croton (he's on the left in the second photo.) I named him Carlos. Lastly there is the Orchid which I've named Victoria since she makes a v shape.

This past weekend I took the motorcycle safety course. I am now officially a licensed motorcyclist. (I have been riding on a permit for the past three years.) Now I can officially and legally give rides to passengers, ride at night, ride on the highway and ride without a helmet (though I don't plan on doing this last one). It was a long weekend, but it was fun scooting around on the tiny 250cc bikes since I was so used to my bigger, 750cc bike.

The New Place 2.0

Last Thursday I (sort of) officially had my kitchen finished. They started the install on Monday and had a bunch of issues with it. So the installation that was supposed to only take two days ended up taking 4. The electrician still needed to come in to put an up to code electrical plate in on the sockets, and the jerks didn't clean up their sawdust mess, so I had to do that. But I think it's all done now. The only other things I need to complete my home are the closet doors whose eta is unknown, and a toilet paper holder for the cabinet in the bathroom.

It's been so nice to finally be able to cook normal meals, do the dishes in a real sink, and not have to dig through boxes to find a fork or tupperware.. I've already made bread and granola, and I might make some cookies soon too.

In other good news, my motorcycle is fixed. It has actually been done for a few weeks. I just haven't written about it yet. I got it all put back together and have taken it out a couple times. It seems to run really well and doesn't have the power issues and topping out crap that it was doing before. So apparently my attempt at being a mechanic worked out well which was a nice boost for the ego.

The New Place

Last weekend I moved into my new apartment. I had a lot of help from my friend Erin and my brother Jess. Thanks guys.

So far things have been going well, and I'm pretty happy with the place. In my last post I said there was an annoying incident that went along with the move. Here is what happened: I came to see the place at the end of February, and the apartment was ok but rather outdated. The manager told me that they had plans to renovate so the apartment wouldn't be available until april 1st. I was fine with that so I gave her the deposit. The plan was to repaint all the walls, get new carpet and linoleum, new lighting fixtures, and new sinks and cabinets for the bathroom and kitchen. About a 10 days before I was supposed to move in, the manager called and said the owner forgot to order the cabinets for my unit. Everything else was done but that, so they wanted me to move into a unit on the basement level for a month until my place was completed. I asked if I could just live without the kitchen for a few days, but she thought it would be too long for that having only running water in the bathtub. A couple days later she called and said the cabinets would be in a little sooner and they took the bathroom sink and cabinet from a different unit they were working on, so if I wanted to live without the kitchen finished for awhile, I could move in as planned. In an effort to make up for their giant mistake, they gave me the first month's rent free, and I demanded free parking for three months (it's an extra $20 a month for off street parking).
So I'm all settled in except for the kitchen which has several boxes of stuff waiting to be unpacked. The cabinets have been shipped now, so the kitchen should be done by Tuesday. (I'm also missing closet doors but assume those will be coming with the cabinets). I'll post more picture when it is completely finished.
I think my favorite things about the apartment are the nook for me sewing corner and all the windows with ledges for my plants. I get great afternoon sun and have room for a craft nook despite the place only being a one bedroom.

The Retreat

Last weekend I went on my very first quilt retreat. I was invited by Jan whom I have various odd connections to. There were fourteen of us total and the retreat was held in a renovated church in Granada. I was a little nervous because I'd never been on a retreat and didn't know most of the people there, but I ended up having a really good time.

One of the ladies there was actually and old high school teacher and another was the wife of a high school teacher. We had a lot of really good food, fun conversations, and a lot of sewing. There was even a st patrick's day visit to the local water hole where a fellow quilter bought me a beer.

I worked a lot on a quilt and got a decent portion of it done. I'm not sure how big I want to make it and since i'm about to move, it's sitting in quilt limbo. There is one spot where I messed up that pattern laying the pieces out, but I fixed when I sewed it all together.

Regarding the moving....yes, I'm moving....again. There is a whole story involved, but the cliff's notes version is that Andy is an asshole, we broke up, and I'm moving into a one bedroom apartment. I'll post some pictures once I get settled and share some info about an annoying situation regarding the place I'm moving into, but that will have to wait for another day.

The peeps.

So I guess my mystery cupboard game wasn't such a mystery and my guess concurred with what three other people thought. I said I would tell a story involving the first person to give me the answer or to come up with the most entertaining idea...but since there were three responses all agreeing on what it was, I will tell three little stories.

Jan - The very first quilt show I went to was the DVQ's (the guild i belong to) show last March. I figured the only people that I would know there would be people from the guild itself. Little did I know that Jan was there and she came and found me at the check-in desk to say hi. She said she specifically looked for my challenge project so she could vote for it. It made me happy to know that A) real people read this blog! B) real people read this blog and care about what I write about! C) Jan was going to vote for my project! I kind of felt like a schmuck for not submitting the piece, but it was still neat to know I would have gotten one vote. Thanks Jan!

Emily - In Fairmont there was this store called EZ Own that had this giant check list on the front window. It had three big boxes with check marks showing they had electronics, furniture, and appliances. One night Emily and I snuck to the store and added one more big box (with one of those washable window markers), but we left off the check mark and wrote "pick up dry cleaning" next to it. We are such vandals. This other time I forgot all my memories of Emily ever existing in my life and she got mad at me. Love ya Em.

Shanna - The closest my life ever came to seeming like a musical was when I was working at the mortuary with Shanna. She, myself and two other employees were working in the prep room with the radio on one day. Queen's "Under Pressure" came on and everyone started signing along. It was one of the most fun times I had working at the mortuary.