The Sees: January 2011

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Brock and Jamin

BEST BUDDIES (and cousins!) since 2006.

Brock has been THRILLED all week long for today because it's Jamin's birthday and JBug (as the family calls him) will be FIVE. Just like Brock! Happy Birthday buddy!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Finished!

Around Thanksgiving I conceived the ambitious notion to replicate this faux curled rosewood wreath.

Believe it or not, but this baby took 2 months, approx. 90,000,000 hours,

14 glue sticks and one vintage book to complete.

With ink stained, and blistered fingers, I rejoicingly placed the final rosette on the wreath and it was DONE! Finished. Finito.

And it's impressive and spectacular and rather pretty, though I do say so myself.

However, it may warrant a thorough beating by my grandmother should I bump into her when I get to heaven as it was her musty, vintage book that I fiendishly ripped apart, yellowing page by yellowing page, to create my wreath.

a.k.a. Grandma:

Here's how I did it....

I used EVERY aging page in this collection of stagecoach and cowboy stories.

circa 1957

Using 3 pages at a time, I would cut them into a rough square.

Then I would cut the square pages into one curly piece:

Time to roll the rosette!

You can start from the inside of your curly circle for a tight rosette or you can start to roll from the outside of the curly circle for a full blossom. I folded down the sharp corners. When you have the rosette completely rolled, secure the ends with a touch of hot glue, then turn the rosette on it's head and apply a puddle of hot glue on the bottom to help the rosette hold it's shape.

After you've rolled what seems like 1000 roses, neglecting your house, your children, your husband and your responsibilities in the process, then you're ready to start designing your wreath.

Hot glue the rosettes to your wreath form until it weighs about 16 pounds an all evidence of the green styrofoam form has disappeared from sight. I used about 200 rosettes for my wreath.

It came together brilliantly...

And to preserve the heritage of my grandmother's beloved cowboy stories, I added this little gem to the back of my wreath:

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Feeling Lost

~~~~~~~Symptoms~~~~~~~

Black bags under the eyes
Sudden case of aviophobia
Aversion to deranged, middle-age, french women
Insatiable urge to purchase a hand gun
Chronic yawning
Desire to find fresh water sources
Constant scratching of the head and muttering, "what the crap...?"
Packing sunscreen and an umbrella because you just never know...
Counting to ten before doing something insanely brave (and probably stupid)
Irrational fear of being attacked by a polar bear in your backyard

~~~~~~~Diagnosis~~~~~~~

If you display the above symptoms, then it is evident that you have just finished watching the first season of 'Lost' through Netflix. Clearly, you stay up uncharacteristically late watching the phenomena that your friends and colleagues raved about for years. In addition, you and your spouse argue with one another, nightly, about whether to watch the next episode or go to bed; after all the sun will rise in about 3 hours and it will be time to go to work again.
Decisions, decisions, decisions...

~~~~~~~Prognosis~~~~~~~

Recovery will take anywhere from 6-8 weeks. Expect the symptoms, and quite possibly the confusion to intensify during that time. Sleeplessness and anxiousness will continue to occur, as will the late nights and early mornings. Eagerness to put your child to bed 45 minutes early to ensure yourselves even more time for an additional episode is completely normal. A heavy cream foundation can mask the raccoon eyes. For bloodshot eyes, try eye drops. There is no cure for chronic yawning, however, several 10-minute power naps throughout the day should help alleviate their frequency. Polar bears rarely attack people in the Boise suburbs, so you should be safe. Nevertheless, stay alert. You should probably avoid flying for the time being, particularly if you intend to fly from Sydney to L.A. Also, building your own raft out of bamboo and going to sea is probably not a bright idea either.

Fortunately, the symptoms are rumored to fade after Lost: Season Six.

If you haven't already guessed it, we have contracted an intense case of LOST fever here at the See house. Our brand-spankin' new subscription to Netfix has transformed us into late night television junkies and we seriously LOVE the convenience of streaming movies via our Wii or
PS3 (HD) right into the coziness of our family room.

Dear technology,
You're amazing!