Fabric Store Heaven

Stopped into the fabric store yesterday to poke around in the remnants and fat quarters. Visiting a fabric store, to me, is like visiting a museum. I am surrounded by cacophonous beauty. I have to hold myself back from buying everything I see...because the beauty is not derived from any one fabric, it's the juxtaposition of ALL of them. Consequently, I want to take them ALL home! I have to come up with specific projects to reign in my spending. Just look at yesterday's finds!

My Life in Facebook Statuses (Stati??)

Here's what's been happening in the last few weeks in small, bite-sized, candy-coated chunks!

Kristen Sassano Gill And some days I am an inspired mother...and other days I am a cranky old woman who wonders where these urchins came from. My poor children.

Kristen Sassano Gill Liam just found an open can of spray paint at Joann's and sprayed himself in the face...It stings, Mommy...yeah, I bet it does, nimrod!

Kristen Sassano Gill What's your favorite Easter hymn???

Kristen Sassano Gill Did anyone else feel like the entire natural world was celebrating Easter today in all it's glory?

Kristen Sassano Gill For the record, my kids CANNOT have MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kristen Sassano Gill Heaven is a good walk at lunchtime

Kristen Sassano Gill Seriously, HOW HOT IS IT OUTSIDE

Kristen Sassano Gill GOODNESS, I KNEW I WAS HOT! ... Record high temperature set at LaGuardia NY... a record high temperature of 91 degrees was set at LaGuardia NY today at 354 PM. This breaks the old record of 86 set in 1991.

Kristen Sassano Gill Happy Thursday! (world's most boring and uninspired status)

Kristen Sassano Gill Wanna watch paint dry? Watch your almost six year old tracking time...minute by minute waiting for it to be time for the library to open.

Kristen Sassano Gill Why does painting always end in everybody and everything being paintED?

Kristen Sassano Gill Store bought pie crust is an invention of the gods....we have had homemade chicken pot pie two nights in a row...easy to make and delicious!!!

Kristen Sassano Gill GLEEEEEE!!!! WHEEEEEEEE!!

Kristen Sassano Gill The more I try to figure Lost out, the more tangled I get...well, not true...figuring out the plot is not hard, I twist my brain in knots when I start thinking "BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN???"

Kristen Sassano Gill Tonight, tapas is on the menu tonight....rice balls, turkey and spinach patties and roasted butternut squash

Kristen Sassano Gill "Did you know that dolphins are gay sharks?"

Kristen Sassano Gill http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.xml

Kristen Sassano Gill L.M.F.A.O. - Hyperbole and a Half: The Alot is Better Than You at Everything hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com

Kristen Sassano Gill Liam's first brain freeze....owwww...."Mommy! Ice cream makes me........HURT!" (while grabbing his forehead and trying to shove his hand down his throat to warm it up)

Kristen Sassano Gill I don't mean to seem like a buzz kill, but I H-A-T-E Wubzy and his band of LOUD friends...

Kristen Sassano Gill Elena Gill: "Dinosaurs aren't real anymore, Liam, they're DISTINCT!"

Kristen Sassano Gill ME: "Life is good...Life is good, Liam" LIAM: "Cause God made it good, Mommy!"

Kristen Sassano Gill Some days are better than others...some days, your son wakes up talking like a prophet and the next day, he disregards every single thing you say until he is kicking your computer and you are holding back from spanking.

Kristen Sassano Gill Why is it that kids don't pick up on PMS? I want you to stop throwing things, climbing on my car, messing up the house, spilling water on yourself, peeing yourself...just for a few days each month...is that too much to ask?

Kristen Sassano Gill Bedtime for the kiddos came in the exact nick of time...I made it by the skin of my teeth...I mean JUST barely.

Kristen Sassano Gill This is EXACTLY what is on my mind right now....
http://www.ritasice.com/uploads/images/gelati.jpg

Kristen Sassano Gill We are about to head out...the kids may not survive until we can actually leave the house. "Liam, please get off the table!!!!"

Kristen Sassano Gill Sometimes the sidebar advertisements are scarily on target...That's ALL I NEED to become part of the "Human Tetris Project" (as if Bejeweled hasn't already stolen enough of my life, time and sanity!)

A Tale of Childhood in Balloons

JOY:
First, Liam had a balloon. He got it for Easter. It was a big yellow smiley face and he loved it. It made him have a smiley face, too....

DISAPPOINTMENT:
Until, he let it go into space. There was much sobbing...I felt like I was going to cry too...To make matters worse, it wasn't even in space, it was hanging from the high limbs of the elm tree in our driveway. He had much faith in his mommy, "Climb up and get it!!" Um...no...not possible.

SKEPTICISM:
"But Liam, it's great, we can admire it always up there and it will make us smile for a long, long time!" Liam squints and continues to cry.

FURTHER DISAPPOINTMENT:
While I am trying to convince Liam that the balloon will be a nice heralding presence in our driveway from now on, the balloon decided to detach from the tree, thumbing its nose a this line of logic. Imagine me with this face
:-S

REDEMPTION:
We walked to the market and I let him pick out a giant Thomas balloon almost as big as he was...

EVEN FURTHER DISAPPOINTMENT:
It popped within thirty minutes due to death by dragging. The look of indignation on Liam's face was priceless. How DARE you split in two on me! If you only knew the crap I've dealt with with balloons today!

MORE REDEMPTION:
He got a replacement after forcing me into the market to ask for a new one. The new one was small, tied to his hand and his underwear and is still with us...heck, will be with us for the next two months!

POSTSCRIPT:
Liam has moved on, cares nothing for the balloon now, and it merely floats around our house looking to alight on something that might pop it or dart out the door to make a vertical escape and start the whole process of childhood learning over again. Balloons are silly.

The Mystery of Popov

As I go on my walks around the office complex, there are these Popov vodka bottles as pictured. Not sure where they came from, but I have developed some theories...

1) My suspicion is that they are all from the same person, since they are the exact same bottle, size, brand, etc.

2) They are tossed there from one of the people who works in my office complex.

3) I don't think they are from someone in our building due to the fact that they continue towards a dead end, past our entrance.

4) The bottles were not put there from some partying teens. Since when have you known kids to celebrate with a quart sized bottle of Popov vodka?

5) The bottles are jettisoned on a daily or frequent basis. There must be over 100 of the bottles and they are all in various stages of decomposition.

So, here are the stories I tell myself about the mysterious containers.

Story 1: There is an alcoholic man who lives with his wife and family. They all believe he has quit drinking. So, every day he brings a bottle of vodka to work with him, just enough to get him through the day, but keep him sober enough upon his return home. On his way out, he rolls down his window and tosses the evidence onto the roadside.

Story 2: There is a man who works keeping up the grounds around our building. My theory is that he, as part of his routine, sips at the vodka all day long and then pitches the evidence out onto the road. The wind easily takes the light, plastic container, dispersing it along about a mile stretch of the complex.

I have the weirdest of fantasy of one day bringing a giant garbage bag, collecting every bottle and having a count the bottles contest. I want to photograph them and make Dadaist art. I am intrigued. Like all good mysteries, the answer is not readily available and will continue to offer mind food for my walks for a good long time.

Hanging on the Line...Waiting to be Beat...

Well, not really...but yesterday was laundry line day. First off, I want to preface this post by saying that although I try to lessen my carbon footprint on this earth, I did not switch to a laundry line to try to save electricity. I switched because, well, our dryer switch shit the bed.

The laundry has been piling up and I was just letting it until the mountain of laundry started scaring me. On Friday, I was at Wal-Mart and I had the hair-brained idea of buying some clothespins and a line. I picked out a cute little retractable 9 ft. line. I installed it yesterday and was surprised to see it held about two sweaters. The kids and I put on our walking shoes and headed off the the True Value. After buying 100 ft. of clothesline, I came back to hang it up.

It all went well. I hung the line, pinned up the first part of the first wet load and watched it flying in the breeze like a triumphant celebration. Soon I was low on clothespins and had to head back to the hardware store for another 50. I finished hanging the load and went to the basement to get the second load...a much heavier (it turns out) dark load.

Just moments later, I was in a tug-o-war with the clothesline which had slipped its knot and was threatening to dirty two loads of laundry. I was freaking out and shouting orders to the children, who at 3 and 5 were frankly more harm than help. Jeans and pjs dangled inches from a pile of dust as tugged and fought with the line, cussing and hemming under my breath. Elena said to me, "Mommy, if this project is going to be so frustrating that you're going to be so mad, maybe we should go inside?" Yikes. At one point, not my finest moment, I had the children holding the line precariously up while I followed the line to its midpoint to untwist it. Poor little dears, arms above heads, were not so pleased with helping Mommy.

Eventually, much yanking and ripping of hand skin later, the line was back up. The children, forgiving my outbursts, ran through the damp clothes, a cliche, reminding me of doing the same many times over as a child.

Sunlight Theory of God

This weekend, I had a friend ask me some questions about my faith in God. This was not a contentious discussion, but instead a real honest conversation. The crux of the questioning was, "WHY do you believe in God?" which is one of the hardest questions to answer. I can tell the story of HOW I came to believe in God or WHEN or WHERE...but, WHY? My response, after trying to find stories and logic that would show him why, was to say that I think we are making a head discussion out of something that is really a heart pursuit. I don't ever feel God in my brain...well, I do now, but I certainly didn't feel Him first there. He first held my heart in his hand and healed me with love.

So, as is my way, I tried to think of an analogy to help elucidate this feeling. Here is what I believe. God is like sunlight, bright, warm, enveloping, engendering life and growth. Like the sun, He shines on everything and everybody. With this sunlight, there is no night, only the shadows we create by turning our backs or facing away. He is still there, shining on our backs, reaching for a connection, but we cannot see him. We are turned into our own, self-imposed shadows. We are in the dark and we feel in the dark. When we turn into His light, we are offered all the benefits of his light and love. We grow. We develop. We are able to see. We feel joyous.

Even those of us who spend the good portion of our lives, faces tipped up to God, have times when we turn our backs and live in the shadows. These are times when I try to find my way, on my own, in the dark. Eventually, I turn back into the light and experience the warm, loving touch of my God. I bathe in the sunlight and am warmed all the way through. I bask. I experience the purest joy. I promise I will never turn away again, but I am human and God gave me the freedom to turn away...and sometimes I do.


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SHOT Show #4: And the lights...go down in the city...

OK Vegas, bone to pick with you. How is it that a city based on its lights and its flashing brightness could have so many burned out bulbs? Is this the city's version of SADS? Have tough economic times taken their toll on the letters and words spelled out on the sides of giant buildings and signs? You be the judge!











Even the convention center...expecting 50,000 hunters with automatic guns...


Let's get with it! Get some of those new-fangled fusili-shaped light bulbs that last 20 years...in your case, they will only last 10, but what the hey, it's going to be an improvement.

SHOT Show Post #3: The Naked Gun

At one point during the SHOT Show, I looked over and noticed that our bison looked a little nervous...why was he a little nervous? Can you see between his legs? (NO! That's not why he's nervous, dirty mind!)


Here, I'll focus it for you...


Still can't really see it? Here, let me zoom in...


Yup...just your standard naked sniper, nothing really.


And then, staring down the barrel of the naked gun...not sure you can see that he is pointed RIGHT at our bison, but there he is...


Naked gunman. Definitely NOT what I expected to see at SHOT Show...AT ALL!

SHOT Show Post #2 - SHOT Show Cuisine

Everything is better....
dehydrated?




Scrambled eggs...YUM!
From a can?


Buffalo...It's what's for dinner.


Caroline modeling the latest in cookbooks for our shelves...


At least there is a dessert section:

SHOT Show Post #1 - New Products

Well, at least new to me!

1) Game Management Systems - aka deer feeders, molasses licks, vitamins syrups and apple and peanut butter flavored pellets. These feeders are touted as nutrient rich. My question was, does the hunter really care to nourish his game? My mistaken assumption about these feeders was that they were only for luring the deer to be shot. Well, actually they are feeding systems that start in the fall and keep the deer around for the spring hunt. Their main goal is to maximize antler growth. Bizarre and, to me, a little like cheating!


2) The Game Sled - When you have bagged your kill, you then can pull it home on a tarpaulin-fashioned sled. My favorite thing about this product, beside the lovely graphic pictures of dead animals being pulled home in slings, was the slogan. Tag it! Bag it! Drag it! (I have to admit it's catchy and sticks with you...it could be heard being uttered around the booth during moments of excitement and frustration).


3) Camo Diva - Yes, ladies, camo is not just for boys anymore. On the off chance that you would like a prom dress, wedding dress, lingerie or swimsuit in camo, check out Camo Diva. Well, even if not, check it out anyway! www.camodiva.com

4) Stag Arms - I have to admit, there is nothing at all special about this product, except that when I first encountered its name, I had no idea what it was. I seriously thought it had something to do with hanging the deer after the kill. My booth mate thought it had to do with the antlers (aren't those the stag arms after all?). Can you tell we are not hunters? Stag arms is merely a hunting gun maker. OHHHH! THAT kind of arm!

5) Burnham Brothers - While not the catchiest named business, the products they make were interesting to me because I never would have conceived of a market for them. They made calls. Not only the traditional duck and goose calls you would expect, but dying rabbit calls and hurt animal calls that would attract the predator to become prey.

Las Vegas...You are a strange bird...

So, you want to have an out of body experience? Go to Vegas...It's unlike anything else in the world. Bring thousands of dollars, because buying even a caramel apple is $13.99 (yes, SERIOUSLY). Expect to be buzzed on lights, hopped up on smoke, mingled with the pure oxygen I am told they pump into the casinos. The overstimulation continues.

Now, when most people go to Vegas (which means meadows, I wikipedia-ed it), they are expecting to become night owls, nay, vampires. Up all night, exploring their dark sides and sleeping all day in small closed up caves. We are not among these people. We do not enjoy the lights and craziness and the hedonism, frankly makes us sick. But, more practically, we are forced to get up at 5:30, get ready to be on our feet all day at the trade show. This does not a night owl make. I may be the first person to visit Vegas, not do any of the traditional Vegas things and go to sleep before 10 every night.

Coming tomorrow...posts on the other strange bird...SHOT Show.

Kiki Does Vegas

Vegas is definitely a place you can poke fun at. You can laugh at the two women who you are pretty sure are hookers (or is the modern accepted term escorts?) when you arrive in your hotel lobby. You can cringe at the signs vasectomy.com – It’s easier than you think…and Babes Delivered to your Door. Excess is everywhere. Rome called, they want their hedonistic culture back.

When you fly into Vegas, it is as if it has sprouted up out of the arid soil like some radioactive mushroom patch. As you get closer, you see the skyline of New York City, a pyramid with a column of light shining straight up from it, drilling into the clouds, a roller coaster spiraling through and around buildings, and everywhere lights…so many lights. I could say it looks like Christmas, but that would be to sanctify it too much…it’s more like a two-year-old’s Lite Bright play – clashing, cacophonous, and acidic. Overstimulation has a rapid onset. I imagine there aren’t many who can sleep here, like children on the night before a big event, but I do not have that problem. I am a bit out of place as a morning person, one who longs for trees, nature and blue skies. It’s a very interesting place to peep at, but I will be happy to head home and see Vegas in my rear-view mirror.

What Was Grammy-Nanny Thinking?

It's a little disconcerting when you come home after a snow day when the family has been a little stir crazy with cabin fever and this is the page that is up on the computer when you pull it up. Not, necessarily a bad idea...I'm just sayin'!

I Want to Ask a Question

120509 035, originally uploaded by Kikigill.

The other day, the same day as the great pup tent experiment, I came into the room to find Liam attempting to shove this Rare Earth 45 into a CD player annoucing, "I want to play some music!"

My question is this: how did he know that this was an archaic form of music media?

This picture brings me right back to a party my parents had when I was Elena's age and this was one of my hand-me-down records. The Wallin kids and I turned off the lights and played "cool" music on my little record player. This one, Black and White by Three Dog Night and Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations. There was that little, swastika-shaped yellow piece of plastic that fit into the center hole so it could be played on the tiny spindle. In retrospect, we were COOL, I think, as five-year-olds go!

Tis the Season for....Obsession

120509 028, originally uploaded by Kikigill.

Every year as the holiday season encroaches, I start my ornaments. This year it's felting. Felting acorns, little flowers, fiddlehead ferns in pots, fawns, dogs, cupcakes, and, of course, fried eggs!

Yesterday We Tried Something New

120509 041, originally uploaded by Kikigill.

I was trying to head off the game of "beaver dam" by setting up the pup tent, INSIDE. I had delusions of happy children playing neatly in the tent for days on end. An inspiring fort, with just enough rule breaking to be interesting, I had hoped it would rivet them to the playroom, buying me time to read and do my felting projects. Not so, I'm afraid.

First of all, the interest in the tent lasted only about as long as any other toy...forty minutes or so. Secondly, the tent, being in essence a giant receptacle, inspired what can only be called an unsorting game. A collection of all the toys of the playroom, the winter clothing housed up there and pieces of paper trash from near and far gathered inside the tent. This game was WORSE than beaver dam.

Couple that with my sense of false security thinking I had stumbled on the perfect entertainment...and you have disaster. Turns out we had upturned game boards, dumped out bins and, the piece de resistance, the twin bed sheet on the bed up there decorated Pollack-style with green marker. What is that saying about the word assume...

Sunday Dinners

Looking in from the outside, there sits the family eating Sunday dinner at my aunt Pat's. For years and years, all my childhood (when we lived in the NY area), we had Sunday dinners at Grandma and Grandpa's. I remember bringing our new puppy to show them. Celebrating birthdays...and fresh hams...where I could pick the fat squares off the top while Grandpa carved the meat. Like this:

Halloween...Elena the Zebra

Camisole with a No-Pantyline Promise??

Explain to me how a cami would leave a panty-line anyway...

From the Cutting Room Floor...Brooklyn Trip

More pictures that were taken and never blogged below...

There's just something about the light in Brooklyn:










A little tired on the way home: