I've been tagged...

Jackie tagged me, so I guess I'll play along. If you'd like to do so as well, consider yourself tagged too!

4 jobs I've had
waitress
restaurant manager
bookkeeper
labor & delivery nurse

4 movies I could watch over and over (and have)
The Wizard of Oz
Chinatown
Four Weddings and a Funeral
When Harry Met Sally

4 places I have lived
Fullerton, CA
Stockton, CA
Milwaukee, WI
Houston, TX

4 TV shows I love to watch
Jeopardy
Rick Steeve's Europe
Frasier
Seinfeld

4 places I've been
France
Italy
England
Japan

4 people I email a lot
Kate
Margie
Mike
my ME pals

4 favorites to eat
grilled salmon
cheese
lamb in any form
asparagus

4 places I'd rather be
Minneapolis
Hawaii
San Francisco
Paris (always!)

4 things I look forward to this year
spending our 17th wedding anniversary here
my daughter and son-in-law coming to visit
a summer vacation AWAY from Houston
my Grand Canyon trip in October

What have I been up to?

1. Birthing babies.

I had promised my friend Misty that I would be there for birth of her baby. As luck would have it, she went into labor and came in on a day that I was working, so I was able to not just be there, but to be her L&D nurse. Here I am holding baby Nina at ten days of age.


2. Going to the zoo.

We were in San Diego for a few days and I thought I would try to get some shots of the baby panda. She slept the whole time I was there.
Of course I couldn't ignore my favorite flamingos.


3. Planting flowers.

These impatiens were well past their prime, although they probably would have come back if I had pinched them back and fertilized them.
But I had been wanting to put in some cyclamen since before Christmas, which seems to be their season here. I finally got around to it today. It is nice and cool, so hopefully they will last for a few months.
4. Knitting socks.

I love this yarn...
...and the way it knits up into these stripes, so it looks like I have used 5 or 6 different yarns instead of just one.



5. Shopping for cute.

These Mary Engelbreit Chinese take-out containers are from Michaels. Not sure what I am going to do with them, but for $1 each I had to buy one of every pattern.
And here is the new Mary Engelbreit fabric from Moda as seen in the Hancock's of Paducah catalog...tempting!

SOMEONE likes the warm weather

Purrkins is definitely a Texas cat...he is happiest when the temperature AND the humidity are in the 80s. He is very content to be outside on the screen porch, relaxing or stalking birds and squirrels and chameleons when the weather is tropical. He gets miffed with me on mornings when I open the back door and the temperature is below 50º. I, on the other hand, live for the four months a year in Houston that it is NOT routinely over 80º and get miffed when the mercury nears that point. I just want to wear my socks and sweaters and woolens, oh my.

Global warming

I can't remember when our camellia has bloomed in previous years, but I'm fairly certain that it wasn't the first week of January. We have been having "unseasonably" warm weather...our high yesterday was a record tying high of 79º and this blossom just couldn't help itself.
And even in Houston, this is a sure harbinger of spring, even though we're only 2 1/2 weeks into winter.
And remember when I planted these a month ago? I guess the 10% alcohol solution really did work. I didn't use it on these and they are certainly more tall and leggy. Guess Martha was right after all.

Grandkitties

My sister keeps telling me that I need grandkids. True enough, but it won't be happening any time soon, so for the time being I guess I'll have to settle for grandcats. Here is Sam, who apparently got a taste of something yummy when Mike and Kyle were cooking dinner on the 29th.

And here is Rosie, trying to elude the camera. There is a better picture of her on her Catster page. Poor Sam doesn't have a Catster page yet...

Retail therapy

I always get the post holiday blues, but this year seems to be worse than usual. I think it's because we went away for Christmas and didn't even put up a tree. We did see my family and our kids, but it just wasn't the same, not having Christmas here.

I wasn't really in the mood to shop, but I have been on a quest for a new pair of jeans for a few months now. My mom gave me a Macy's gift card for Christmas and they were having a one day sale (which really is a two day sale, and I think they have one every week!) So I bucked up and went to the Galleria Macy's, which turned out to be a profitable venture. I found a pair of Lauren Jeans Company classic bootcut midnight overdye that were originally $89.50 on clearance for $25 that actually fit me :-)

Then I went to Central Market where I found this great Thymes reed diffuser in their Frasier Fir scent. (My daughter Kate had given me a candle in this scent for Christmas 2006 and I absolutely LOVE it...it has a beautiful intense piney fragrance.) The great thing about this was that it was 75% off...and it doesn't have to be lit to smell good! And it seems to be improving my mood because it still smells like Christmas.

New year's resolutions?

I didn't really make any new ones...just the same old ones: eat better, exercise more, get organized, etc. My house is fairly neat and tidy to the naked eye (well, except for the laundry/sewing/craft room...I keeping cleaning it up and then as soon as I start working on a project it becomes a mess again!) I do have some dirty little secrets, like the closet in the den and my junk drawer(s). Yes, there are more than one. But the main one was really out of control. So yesterday when I was at Target I found this junk drawer organizer. It even comes with little stickers that have line drawings and are labeled with things like "scissors." I wasn't going to use the stickers, but they are kind of cute, and will keep me honest...I am too O-C to put rubber bands in a compartment labeled "tape." After cleaning out the drawer (while listening to All Things Considered), I thought, "Gee, I should have taken before and after pictures." But the before was SO bad, I would have been mortified to show anyone. Now I am inspired to tackle a couple of more drawers in the kitchen, and then MAYBE the closet in the den...

Coudn't have said it better myself!

Happy New Year!

I realize that I am not the only blogger who hasn't posted over the holidays, but I hope to get back on track. We were out of town from the 24th through the 30th, first in the Dallas-Fort Worth area visiting my family, then in Minneapolis visiting our kids, so I really haven't had much opportunity. But it's a new year and I wanted to start it off right, so here, dear readers, is a sentiment for you. This is a sampler that belonged to my grandmother which now hangs in my guest room.