What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been (oh come on, you knew I'd use that eventually)

It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since I left my home in Washington and embarked on my new journey with the love of my life.  June 23rd I moved out of the house.....the last image I had was the heartbreaking scene of Sagan looking out the front window as Pepper and I drove away.  I couldn't stop weeping.  The memory of it still makes me choke up, even though Sagie is safely on the east coast with me now, and thriving too I might add.  But back then, I wasn't sure that I'd see him ever again, although there was always a glimmer of hope; I never truly let myself believe I wouldn't see him again.  All my stuff was in a POD, which had been picked up the afternoon of the 23rd, and Pepper & I were now living out of suitcases.

I've been going through some weird stuff - moods and dreams/nightmares - over the past few weeks, with all these one year milestone anniversaries.  6/12 was my last sight seeing trip to Seattle, 6/15 my divorce was final, 6/16 was my last day at work, 6/17 the POD was delivered and I started loading it, 6/22 we divided the last bank account that was still open, 6/23 I moved out and it's also the anniversary of my dad's death.  What a high stress time it was, but what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger, I guess.

And here it is, one year later already, and I spent some of those dates at mom's, walking at the Canal a couple of times, at my love's sister's house visiting his family, and taking Marsha to lunch for her birthday.  What a difference a year makes!  As for my ex-h, he is gravely ill and living in a hospice place.  It's a shame that he's come to this end, but he Just. Wouldn't. Listen.  I was lucky to get out when I did.  I hope he can find peace in his last days, and I am grateful to him for doing the right thing in letting Sagan be flown east to be with me.  

But June 24th was the day that my sweet Bear flew to Seattle to drive me home.  Talk about my knight in shining armour coming to my rescue!!

Although we consider January 7 the first of 3 anniversary dates (3/24 is the second when I visited the Cape), our life together officially started the minute I picked him up at SeaTac Airport on 6/24.  I will never forget the butterflies in my stomach that day as it draaaaaagged by, my monitoring his flight obsessively on the computer at the Extended Stay America hotel in Tukwila, my friends keeping my morale boosted on Facebook the whole day. 

Then there was the drive over to the cell phone lot at the Airport and watching every single plane coming in, my hands  & knees trembling, teeth even chattering from nerves.  Finally he called:  He was out front of the terminal.  My hands were shaking trying to get the car started and find my way to the right place.  There he was and I was just beaming ear to ear, and so was he.  It was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears of relief. OMG he was here!!!  Really and truly HERE, in the flesh!  It worked.  We did it. A relationship that started with a friend request on January 7th was now free to offically begin.  I was divorced, all ties to WA severed and a place was already rented on the east coast for us to come home to, all done in less than 6 months. That's why I know it was meant to be. We'd endured an intense online/phone long distance relationship for months, that was sometimes challenging.  But it was worth it.  Every last bit of the stress and fear and excitement and planning.  

It was a bizarre thing to know my life with Brian was over and I was shutting the door on 22 years of marriage and west coast experiences.  To this day, I don't think Brian realizes that my squeeze was flying out to drive me back, because I kept it a closely guarded secret.  Extricating myself from that house and marriage took a lot of finesse and I didn't think it wise I mention that I was going to have a driver.  It was best to let him think I was embarking on this cross country drive with just Pepper.

It's been an incredible ride, this past year.  My life is so different and so awesome.  Completely done over.  Sometimes I think about life in Washington, and the west coast as a whole, and it seems like a dream.  But no more anti depressants, no more work stress, no more commuting, a partner who is crazy about me and I him, family & friends, the ocean is close by, I have both doggies, new photo ops....I've remained adhered to the no-conflict thing.  He and I continue to talk about our future together and the next step in our relationship, and we are very, very happy.  He's a special man and I'm an extremely lucky lady, and I tell him that all the time, and he always tells me how much he loves me, too.  Every time I look into his big blue eyes, I fall deeper in love with him.  We are, for all intents and purposes, husband and wife, just without the official paperwork.

We spent a blissful next day together, before hitting the road on Sunday, June 26th.  Get on I-90 east:  "Massachusetts or Bust".  It was such a great trip - perfect weather the whole way, no car problems....and very much like a honeymoon.

Over the next few days I'm gonna pay tribute the one year anniversary of our amazing cross country trip!

Button Tree

Pinterest strikes again!!  Saw a button tree idea on there and had to try it.  My main problem is that I have been unable to find the right pins I want to use, so I bought ones at The Evil Empire that are pretty, but really too large.  

I first painted the styrafoam cone blue, then applied a coat of multi-coloured glitter paint over the blue.

Then started adding the buttons.  It was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle to make them fit right.

Here's the finished product.  I have one more cone left and I'm hoping to find the right pins before I do another one, although I do like how colourful this one is.  

The top part is temporary for now.  I didn't get the little styrafoam balls that the Pinterest craft showed as the topper.

Painted Sunday

Sunday is the loneliest day of the week for me, so I try to keep myself occupied with lots of things to do since I don't wanna venture out into traffic, as that's a change-over day for the Cape area.  I had such a day a couple weeks ago, when I decorated the flip flops, tie dyed the canvas shoes and got some painting projects done.  The paint had been sitting out for awhile, so it was time to tackle the project ideas I'd had in mind.

So I spread out all the paint supplies on the stove.   As you can see, this was taken prior to doing the tie dyed sneakers.  The white styrofoam cone was painted blue and then coated with glitter paint, for another project to be posted later.  I spent the better part of 2 or 3 hours alternating between projects; as one dried, I moved onto the next one.

I found more rocks in the box with the paint supplies so I decided to do them too.

I'm obviously keeping the one in the bottom right corner!

Then it was time to attempt a few more shaving cream cards.

Another swirly paint shot.

I think part of my problem is the paper I'm using for the cards.  It's just not heavy enough.  I am planning on cropping out the best parts of these for use.

Fun with Footwear

I got my first pair of flip flops since I was a child.  They have always been uncomfortable with the thing between my toes, but they are a necessity to walk on the rocky beaches.  Growing up here it was a point of pride, as a Cape resident, to walk barefoot and confidently over the rocks to get to the water.  It required some skill especially to stay balanced and not twist an ankle and look like an idiot, flapping or pinwheeling your arms for balance.

Well now I'm old and klutzier than usual, so I got the flip flops so that I can walk on the beaches without pain and/or falling down.  I was crestfallen that the tie dye flip flops were sold out at Mallwart...the only size left was large 9/10, which would have been swimming on my feet.  So I settled for the next best thing.  Found some flip flop glue, grabbed my crystals and embellished them.  

Because it's all about the sparklies.

Mom was getting rid of stuff and had a pair of beige canvas Keds that she didn't want.  I hate beige.  It's so boring.  I bought a set of primary colour Tumble Dye spray-on fabric dyes and sprayed them on the shoes. 

And all over my left hand.

Win! 

Had to do the laces as well.

The dye instructions said to tumble them in the dryer for 20 minutes to set the dye, so that's what I did.  Voila!

Sadly, the left sneaker began to leave a blister on the back of my heel within 10 minutes of having them on my feet!  Gonna have to try and stretch them out or something.

Chick Pea Salad & More Awards!

I saw a wonderful looking chick pea (aka garbanzo beans) salad on Pinterest and decided to alter it to suit my own personal taste.  It's perfect for the summer months!

Chick peas
Black olives
Sliced grape tomatoes
Chopped scallions, green part
Cucumbers sliced then quartered
Sunflower seeds
Croutons
Feta cheese

I prefer Italian dressing and nothing beats Good Seasons mix, so I drizzled that on all the veggies, but you can use a vinaigrette or some such dressing.

Enjoy!

On a different note, I'd like to thank Nikki at Inspire Nordic for the Stylish Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award!!

And Meredith at The Southern Northerner put the Reader Appreciation Award up for grabs as well!

AND Anne over at Is Anyone There? gave me the Inspirational Blogger Award!  Thank you sooo much Anne! 

The support and love mean a lot to me.  THANK YOU!!!!  Please feel free to grab these for yourselves, because I would end up listing everyone on my blog roll again!!   Also, I don't have any more factoids to share about myself, that I haven't already shared.  

Threesome

Get your dirty little minds out of the gutter!  I didn't mean it that way!  ;-D

Here is the last of the beaded embroidery designs.  I started the first one at the end of April so it took just over a month to stitch all 7 designs.  Now I am working on the altered book into which they are going.

I noticed that my dear friend Marsha's birthday was coming up in June so I whipped up this beaded cross stitch and made a fridge magnet for her.  

Finally, my mom gave me an old wooden tray that saw a lot of cheese & crackers in its day, along with 4 pretty, patterned tiles.  She was going to send them to the thrift shop but asked if I wanted dibs on them first.  I painted the tray blue and envisioned stenciled designs on it.  I have always sucked at stenciling but I decided to give it another try.  

Stencil fail.

I was frustrated and posted the picture on Facebook, in the hope that someone could tell me what I was doing wrong.  Fortunately, few people commented that the trick to stenciling was to use an almost-dry brush, and dab at it, up and down, with the brush, applying more than one coat if need be.  It was a time consuming process, which took a couple of days to do.  I ended up taking over the kitchen table to get it done.

Stencil win!

As of the preparation of this blog post, I have not yet sealed the paint with Mod Podge.  After that's done, I will adhere the tiles to the center of the tray.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer-Themed Meme

Feel free to play along....

1.  What is your favourite part of summer?  When it's over.  Summer is a season to be endured, not embraced.

2.  What is your favourite quintessentially summer food?  Least favourite?   Fruit fruit n more fruit.  I'm not a fan of seafood of any kind (except fish-n-chips), which seems to be consumed more in the summer than other seasons.

3.  Best beverage to beat the summer heat?   Crystal Lite Lemond Iced Tea, or Lipton Ice Tea Mix.  Or watermelon.  And lemonade.

4.  Least favourite/most annoying thing related to summer?  Heat, humidity, sticky weather, shiny face all the time due to humidity, crickets, humidity, mosquitos, greenheads, heat, bugs in general.  Did I mention heat and humidity?

5.  Pick one: the lake or the beach.  Why?  Beach.  Because I was born by the sea, and I must live by the sea.  Besides, it's cooler on the coast.

6.  Most amusing summer vacation trip you've ever taken?  Had a lot of laughs on Summer Tour 1989 - 5 Dead shows in 8 days, but probably the best and happiest trip was driving east, last June with Russell.  It was pure magic with lots of laughs and love.

7.  Most ridiculous/cringe-inducing/blush-provoking summer outfit you have seen (Bonus Points if you were wearing it)?  Not a clue.  I rarely ever notice what other people are wearing, even at Walmart. (the following photo is a web image).

8.  Your absolute dream summer afternoon would be?  Traveling somewhere/sightseeing.  Or spending a peaceful day with my sweetie at a cottage, preferably on Spring Hill Beach in E. Sandwich.

No Memory

I was over at Sharon's and she had some photo albums in the kitchen, that she was going to bring back down to Diane in Maryland.  I had my camera in the car so I decided to browse through the albums and shoot pictures of the pictures.  

I came across a few that were obviously taken on the same night, at a party my parents had in the coop.  Based upon the furniture and the Christmas stuff on the walls and windows, it had to be from December 1971. Back then, the heat and water were kept turned on in the coop all winter because my mom was a Camp Fire Girls Leader, and our meetings were held in out there, during the school year.  

Left to right:  Uncle Yim & Aunt Glady Wilkowski, my mom in the groovy pantsuit, Aunt Evelyn in the yellow and Irene Edquist.  Glady & Evelyn are sisters; Irene is Aunt Eve's daughter and Sha & Di's mom.   The Edquists and Aunt Glady & Uncle Yimmy always came up from New York, from Christmas through New Years.  

My parents.  I'm still wondering what possessed my mom to buy that pant suit.

Aunt Eve & Uncle Dick.

Irene & Hal Edquist.

Dear friends of the family, Gene & Carol Morrow.

Mom & Dad, Carol & Gene.  See the cigarette in Gene's hand?  It should be noted that of all the adults in these photos, my dad and Hal were the only non-smokers. All of us kids were raised around copious amounts of second hand smoke.

I was surprised to see this one of me, Sharon & Diane as part of the set of pictures from that night.  I have ZERO memory of it.  ZERO.  And clearly it was a night to be remembered, based upon the happy faces depicted in these photos.  I had just turned 7, Sharon was about to turn 9 and Diane was 6-1/2.  

Obviously there was music if Sharon & I were dancing.  How is it that I have no memory of this at all?  And where were the Morrows' kids, Marybeth, Gene & baby John?  Why weren't they here?

Why don't these photos jog my memory?  I wish they did.  :-(