What would you do with the money if you suddenly received:

$100? I think I would do something impractical with $100. Maybe I'd buy a new wine kit (although, once made, the wine comes out to about $3 a bottle, so I'm actually saving money, here, right? That's not so impractical!?!). Or, maybe I'd use it for a nice dinner out, or some fancy ingredients I can't justify buying otherwise. Or, a fun, new gadget for the kitchen. And, maybe I could get a great new pair of shoes....

$1,000? This one's harder. I could accomplish a lot more with this. I could take a chunk out of the balance on the truck loan. I could buy some new tires. Maybe get the exhaust manifold fixed on the Jeep through a friend of a friend. I could pay off some littler bills that keep me awake at night. I could get some more dental work done. I could get a new oven that understands what the 350º setting really means. Oooh! I could get a KitchenAid mixer with the pasta maker attachment!

I could really mail in some of the donation forms I get. American Cancer Society, American Humane Society, American Lung Association, American Diabetes Association, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Lance Armstrong Foundation, ASPCA, Last Hope.

I could not have to worry about the mortgage payment this month. I could not worry about only having 20 hours scheduled at work for the week. I could get the fence in the backyard fixed. I could rent a dumpster and purge the mentally toxic junk that has accumulated in my house and garage. I could set up some organizational systems to help our lives run smoother.

I could talk my husband into taking his motorcycle in somewhere to get it fixed, so he wouldn't have to take the time to do it himself. I could get the other bike fixed, and sell it. I could take him clothes shopping. And maybe I could get a great new pair of shoes....

$1,000,000? I'd give away a lot of it. My kids, my family, my friends. Something desperately-needed, or always-wanted, or really-just-fun-to-have.

I'd find some really great land: 20 acres or so, with running water or a pond, woods, open areas for huge gardens and space for animals. Then, I'd build an awesome B&B on it. Maybe a few little cabins in the woods, too. Greenhouses, commercial kitchen, space for hobbies. Build all of this with an eye toward sustainability and maintain-ability. (Is that a word???)

The rest I would save. Create an emergency fund. A contingency fund. A nest egg. Whatever you want to call it. I don't need to have so much money that I can spend without thinking, but I want to have enough so I can regularly save money for the things that will need to be purchased. And maybe I could get a really great new pair of shoes....

The Countdown Begins

Ok. The Going Away Party is over, successfully, I think! It was so good to see everyone and to chat the night away.

Now, I've got just over a week to get ready for the internship. I need mud boots, rain gear, bed linens.... The list goes on.

But, hey... Lists??? I can do lists! I have the List Gene. Thanks, Mom and Dad! I know that List Gene will serve me well, just as it always has!

Spring!

There are crocuses in bloom! It must be spring!

This spring has been strange, I think. We've had several weeks now of continuous warm weather. We've lost a lot of snow in a hurry because it's even been above freezing overnight. A couple of drizzly-rainy days contributed a lot, too.

At the risk of "jinxing" it, I even mentioned the other day that it's past the middle of March and we haven't had our usual March snowstorm, or Tourney blizzard, or any snow at all. March used to be our snowiest month. Global warming, maybe? Well, THAT is a subject for a different post!

Anyway, it's strange, in a nice way, to have the crocus coming up from the earth, not from a pile of snow.

Posted this on Facebook, but I love it so much, it's going here, too, to save it forever:

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

A new adveture awaits

I have been accepted for an internship at a farm in Wisconsin for the summer! I'm very excited, but a little nervous, too. I will be there from mid-April 'til sometime in October. That's a long time! But, I'll be home on weekends, so that should make it easier. I'm hoping to keep a journal of this wonderful opportunity, and turn it into a part of this blog.

My first assignment as an intern? Bring with me a list of goals I hope to accomplish over the summer!

Wish me luck!

http://www.smithgardensfarm.com/index.html

What exactly is Heidi Creating these days?

This time I thought I'd share some of my latest creations.

The scarf is only partially my creation. It was knitted for me by my fabulous step-mother. (Knitted? Is that really a word?) Saw some trim for sale at the fabric store once with little pastel buttons dangling from bits of rick-rack. I thought it was so cute...till I saw the $12/yard price tag. The scarf is so wide, I would have needed almost 2 yards! Then, I heard the little voice in my head: “I could make that myself!” I have a love/hate relationship with that voice. It's always telling me I can do that myself, but never gives me the time to do it. It took me a while, but I did actually create the trim for the scarf. I love it!





I have also recently been on a purse kick. The purse with the dots was the first one. It turned out great, and even made one for a friend just like it. But, for me, its a bit small. So, I thought I'd try again, making it bigger. I increased the size of each of the stripes, but once they were sewn together, I realized it was going to be too big. My choices were to rip the seams between the stripes and trim each one proportionately to keep the look of the first bag (not), or just take some off the top and some off the bottom. That's what I did, but when it was finished, I no longer liked the look of the stripes. The green one was just too big.

I figured, since I'm not real keen on it, I'd post it on my Etsy site (www.HeidiCreates.etsy.com). And I was back to the smaller purse, and back to the drawing board, so to speak.

I actually go in phases with purse sizes. I'll carry around everything but the kitchen sink, until I get tired of it. Then, I'll see a cute small purse and buy it (or, now, make it!). After a while, I get frustrated because I always seem to not have what I want/need because it doesn't fit in my purse. Eventually, I go back to a bigger one, that I either already have and return to service, or I find a new one to buy. (Bad, bad Heidi.) I'll carry around everything but the kitchen sink, until I get tired of it. Then I'll see a cute small purse...

After my near-successes with making purses, I was back perusing the all-mighty Internet for more ideas. Lo and behold, there were ideas-a-plenty. I found a picture of one that I really liked, but wasn't willing to cough up to buy the pattern for it. So I had to make it up. It's the floral one. It turned out kind of like the original picture, but that's all just part of the creative process. (At least, MY creative process!) Even if I'm trying to copy something, it never turns out quite the same. 99 times out of 100, I'm ok with that. I really like the purse, and I've gotten compliments on it, which is always nice.

There always seems to be room for tweaking, though...

What was your grandparents' home like? Did it have a certain smell or look?

When I first read this question about my grandparents' home, my thoughts immediately when to a place they lived when I was very little. I barely remember the place. For most of my memorable existence, they lived at “The Cabin” in Siren, Wisconsin, a place they'd owned as long as I can remember. But, the place they lived before moving there is what comes to my mind as their home. The Cabin was still The Cabin, even after they lived there. Weird, huh?

Anyway, the place I think of as their home: I'm pretty sure it was in Minneapolis (proper). And I seem to recall driving past some kind of plant or warehouse or something with a huge Purina logo on the wall. I think it was the upper portion of a duplex.

It did have a certain smell and look and feel. I can't describe the smell, but I bet I'd know it if I smelled it again. Our sense of smell is the most strongly connected to memory of all our senses. When they switched dish washing soap at the cafe I used to work at, on my very first sniff I was hit with a flash of my grandma. It was the same soap she'd used forever.

In my memory, my grandma was always either cooking something, or cleaning up after it. If there wasn't something on the stove, I'd smell that dish soap. It even clung to her hands for some time after she'd finished washing.

To me, the place always seemed dark. But, in a cozy, homey kind of way. Dark paneling, probably small windows, big, dark, overstuffed furniture with hand-crocheted throws on them. And, I remember it being warm inside. Probably came from being on the second floor.

There was always a dish of hard candies on the table next to the sofa. Those striped, wavy ribbon-looking candies. Never liked them, never ate them, but they were always there. (I also remember a candy dish of one kind or another when they moved to the cabin, and even when they got their place in Florida. Someone must have been eating them...I hope!)

There was a little store somewhere nearby, too, that we could walk to for ice cream. I know my sisters and I have had this conversation, and I think they remember the name and what that place was like, but I don't. I just remember being able to walk to get ice cream.

And, they had tinker toys. We didn't have tinker toys at home, and none of my close friends had them. It was something that was special about Grandma and Grandpa's.

I loved that, and hope I can recreate the special feelings, if not concrete memories, when my own grandchildren come along.

What games did you play in your home or neighborhood?

My family loves games. Always has. And, we love everything. Board games, card games, puzzles, action games, word games, dice games. You name it, we'll try it, and we'll probably like it.

Some past and present favorites, in no particular order: Sorry, Life, Monopoly, Clue, Gin, Poker, a million other card games I can't remember the names to, Yahtzee, Pit, Chess, Royal Rummy, Risk, Bogle, Scrabble, Scene It... This is a bad idea. I could go on forever.

Yeah. My family loves games.

The “neighborhood” games don't stand out in my mind as much, but I remember playing kick the can, we went through a double dutch jump rope phase, roller skating (is that a game? Or a sport?!?). Mostly, with my friends, though, I remember playing with toys, Fisher Price Little People (back when they were small enough to swallow—it's amazing we lived to adulthood), Barbies, playing house (“you got to be the mom last time!!!”) etc.

I love games. I wish I could play more. But, maybe it wouldn't be quite so special to play games at holiday gatherings if I did it all the time. Who knows!