Vacation: Part Duex

At the end of my fabulous vacation I went to the salon....

My ponytail is in the mail to Pantene Beautiful Lengths and is to be made into a wig for a woman fighting cancer.


This is something I have been wanting to do for awhile.  My sister donated her hair several years ago and with my nieces cancer diagnosis, I was even more determined to give something.

This is for you Allison.  You were brave, lost all your hair and beat cancer.  This hair will go to someone as brave as you, I hope.

And it does feel good to have a lot less hair in this hot, hot summer.

Vacation: Part 1

Last week, we went on a real family vacation.  I call it "real" because most of our past vacation time has been spent visiting family.  That is a good vacation, but I wanted something a bit different.  I wanted to go somewhere we had never gone before and do new things, just the three of us.

Originally, we were thinking of heading up to Chicago.  Yes, my husband and I have been there before, but it was about 10 years ago and that was only a day trip.  I had a better idea to go to Madison, WI and see are very good friends from college and their son (only a few months younger than D).

This was a great vacation.  Despite 100 degree plus days, we had a lot of fun around the city and also had a lot of downtime. We went to the zoo and the children's museum.  We walked by the lake and got ice cream.  We saw a movie. We swam every day in the hotel pool. We drove all over the city.   We arrived back feeling refreshed and happy rather than frazzled from a over-packed vacation.  

I did not take a single picture of our friends.  What an oversight.  I guess we were just happy hanging out and having fun.

That's me being my daughter's zookeeper.

Where do you go on vacation? Do trips to see family count as vacation?

Summer Signs

Sign of a great summer night...

I remember as a child playing outside all summer long until my feet were black from dirt (dirt is black in Iowa).  I am so glad my daughter will have the same memories.

What is one of your favorite summer memories?

Saving June: A Review

Image from Goodreads

Harper found her sister June dead in the back seat of her car with a sleeping pill bottle in her hand.  Harper doesn't understand why her sister, who was perfect and everything she was not, would commit suicide.  She with her best friend, Laney, starts looking for clues, anything that will lead her to understand why.   They find a mixed CD that leads them to Jake and a cross-country trip to save June the best they can.

I try to stay away from suicide themed books.  There is a plethora of them in YA, but I had two classmates commit suicide in high school so the subject is often too close to home for me to read.  Their suicides is something I still think about all the time, as I pass Jeff's house (just a few doors down from my mom and dad's) or as my nephew plays on Jimmy's brother's t-ball team. But, I decided to read this book knowing it was all based upon the death of the main character's sister by suicide.  The reviews were just so good.

I am glad I listened to the reviews. This was an amazingly powerful book.  Harper is raw and emotional, but also funny and smart.  It is very true to real life.  Plus, there is a lot of classic rock and old jazz references that make me feel smart.  Hannah Harrington has written a wonderful debut.

4/5 stars on Goodreads.

What genre or theme do you tend avoid?

Independence Day 2012

Happy Independence Day!

Image from CreativeCommons via Flickr

I hope you have your fill of foods, fun, friends, family and fireworks.

Green Thumbs

I planted a very small garden this spring.  Just 6 plants: 2 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers and 2 bell peppers.  Last year I did the same, but did not get very good results.  I am determined to make a go at this so, I tried again.  I always have the best intentions for a garden every Spring.  This year I added a secret ingredient MiracleGrow  (okay so it is not so secret) to the soil and I can really tell the difference.

They are alive and thriving despite my negligence and lack of rain (please, please, please send rain).  I probably do remember to water them ever week or so, but I am not taking care of them like I should.  I really should get our there and pull some weeds, there are a lot of weeds in those pictures.  I guess those best intentions I have in Spring wear off when it gets hot and busy in the summer. Anyway, without the MiracleGrow I am sure these plants would be a lot less healthy, at least they were last year.

This is not a sponsored post for MiracleGrow.

Are you growing anything this year? Veggies? Flowers? Just weeds?

Sweater Blocking

I am happy to announce that I have finished my first ever cardigan!!! 

Well, I have finished all the knitting.  I gave it a soak and now I am blocking it.  I hope blocking teaches those edges to stay down and not curl up.  Once it is done drying, I will sew on the buttons (the buttons are amazing, I'll show you later).

It was nearly 100 degrees on Friday when I bound off the last stitch and gave it a bath.  Something about the heat really made me want to make a sweater.  I also did a bunch of yard work.  The heat will make you do crazy things.

I really loved making this cardigan.  I like a new challenge, but something that is not too challenging.  I can definitely tell that I am improving my knitting skills with each new project.  

But for now, it is drying and waiting for me to return from vacation (our first family vacation that is not to visit family, squee!).  I hope to finish my socks and start something new... maybe that hedgehog you all voted for me to make next. 

Vacation is for knitting right? Where are you vacationing this summer?