Update

Mindbloom is telling me to write 500 words today. While I may end up writing them in reports, it would be better for this secret agent to explain why she has been gone for so long.

I have been spending much time looking introspectively. Where am I going? Where have I been?

We can never really know where we are going, but we can all look back and picture where we have been. The picture may be incomplete or completely missing, but it has made us who we are. Who I am is written on my face. Mr. Wonderful and I have been through quite a bit lately and while I am working through the passing of my mother, Mr. Wonderful is busy being... well... wonderful.

My doctor calls what I feel "shock." I do not feel like I am in shock. I feel derailed. Time was headed down a path and decided to take a detour. As I follow the proverbial bread-crumbs the rest of the group left behind I have a tendency to get sidetracked on any rabbit-trail I may find. This leaves me feeling slightly distracted, always feel like I am forgetting something and even small tasks take me longer than they should.

But what am I forgetting?

~Emme

Monthly Quote from the Calendar

"Everything has its season, but no season is without color and life, wonder and surprise." - Hal Borland (Beyond Your Destiny)

Over the Weekend

Ever had those weeks where nothing could go right at work... and then you get sick?

It's not as fun as it sounds... I promise. It was pretty much long hours and little sleep. After all, who sleeps when they're not feeling well? That would just make things better.

This weekend we went and stayed with my family.

After shopping with my grandmother in the morning we joined the rest of the family for a breakfast/lunch at IHOP. For some reason the lunch food always looks/sounds so good on the menu, but when you actually receive it. It's usually a let-down.

That night we went out to Langley Speedway to sit in the company's sky-box and watch some races. Our cars weren't racing that day so it was not crowded and we were able to sit back and enjoy watching people try to kill themselves to obtain trophies, cash and local fame. It was great fun!

Then we came home and re-potted the basil... which by the way is flowering... who knew?

~Emme

Over the Weekend

This weekend Mr. Wonderful and I decided to try out some local activities. Our first step had been advertised everywhere... the Virginia Beer Festival.

 The art of crafting wine and beer is very interesting and we have journeyed to many a brewer and winery to learn more about the processes involved and how they have each started and where they wish to be. We have been also been to several wine festivals.

What we expected from the beer festival: attended by several breweries, learn about different beers/beer making processes, meet some interesting people, and to try several beers from one location (just like wine, you do not always enjoy every beer from one vendor).

What we expereienced: long lines at every tent, Budweiser products mascaraing as craft beers, having volunteers pour who knew nothing about the beers they were pouring, being able to try one beer at a time at each tent (vendor)... then having to go stand back in line.

After about two hours we gave up and went to Johnny Rockets. 

Sunday we went strawberry picking!

 In total we picked about four pounds of strawberries to freeze for our morning smoothies. Yum!

This would definitely be a good activity for well-supervised/well-behaved children. Those that followed a one parent - one child ratio seemed to really enjoy themselves and did not bother those around them. Those that came in a big mob of children did not seem to learn anything from the experience and went home with bags of squished strawberries... which, by the way, is what happens when you whack other children repeatedly with your strawberry loot... who would have thought?

Mr. Wonderful did not wish to take a hay ride with me... sadness...

~Emme

There was supposed to be a better post here...

... but for some reason my text disappeared when I tried to backspace... I'm glad blogger is up and running again...

... but where did my post go...

*sadness*

~Emme

PS.... it is way past 10 PM... I am going to bed... not retyping...

College Emme

I don't think I can ever say how much I love the Container Store. Just moments ago I received the best catalog ever... It's title: "Life's More Fun When You're Organized!" Everything in this catalog is bright, clean, pressed... perfect. My cleaning fairies would be rather upset with me if I expected Home Base to look like that when I got home from a day's work...

It is not that I do not love organization, I really do, it is just that you can look through the catalog and never feel like it is organized and lived in... everything is just organized. While I admit there are people out there who can and do keep their homes looking like a show room at all times... there just are not enough hours in a day! At what point does organized become obsessive? When do you have to step back and walk away. 

That is probably the hardest question I have had to deal with since moving in with Mr. Wonderful, as I am sure it is for most people who share their space with anyone...We each have our own systems for doing things and different definitions of when the organization is finished. What we do and choose not to do defines Home Base as what it is. Right now we are in transition... waiting for a potentially quick relocation. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

One of my current ongoing missions is to organize long-term apparel inventory storage. I have made good use of the Container Store's wonderful selection of clear boxes that make it easy for others to see what is in the boxes. Another easy step is to label the boxes with inventory numbers to keep track of the quantity of each item type and size in an excel worksheet or access database. The easiest label-maker I've found? The Dymo LabelWriter 450 Turbo High-Speed Label Printer:

Just download the easy to use proprietary software and you're good to go. It integrates with Microsoft products and is really incredible.

~Emme

My schedule is broken...

Yesterday I was supposed to be sewing. In my defense my machine is still at the shop being serviced... or admired for how crazy wonderful it is... here is a picture from Amazon so you can fully appreciate how gorgeous it is:

... oh how I miss my sewing machine.

Well anyways... I had been gone from home base for almost 12 hours yesterday so there was no way I was going to sit down and hand-stitch on my hex-quilt. One day I will post a tutorial on how to do so... so that you may learn to do it the right way... from someone else. Nonetheless, it is a fabulous project do when when you're traveling... it is known to be a successful project on planes, bullet-trains and cars. I have yet to try freight trains, boats, Segways, moving sidewalks, scooters, motorcycles, etc...

A little preview of my quilt (yes, it is hand-stitched)

Today I will not be going to Blueprint Class as it has not yet started... but I will prepare for a secret agent conference that will take place Thursday and Friday... super excited...

~Emme