Quilt till you Wilt

About once a month, a smallish group of women gather at a westside quilting shop to work on projects until 11 p.m. I haven't gone in months, so my mom, mother-in-law and I thought it would be fun to make an appearance Friday night.

Among the perks: We get an early look at the fabric lines that are coming out. One I hadn't seen before features old school storybook characters Dick & Jane. (As in "Run, Jane, run.") It would make a cute baby quilt, right? One giggly woman suggested making boxer shorts. Rather risque, but funny:

It's also fun to see what friends are working on and get ideas for projects. A few gorgeous quilts ladies were working on tonight:

We didn't plan this, part 4

I was a little worried walking into work this morning when I realized that the chances were nil that someone else would be wearing my '60s-chic-style black and white geometric print dress. It could have been a repeat of last week, when nobody matched me at work at all!

Fortunately, Denise had on a solid black top with a cute little black and white polka dotted scarf/belt. Here we are in our classic, classy getups. (It's a bit of a stretch, I know. But at least I didn't post a photo of other people matching like I did last week.)

Book club in its prime

Tonight was book club at Lori L.'s house, and we had quite a fun time. Especially later into the evening when we'd discussed our August read, "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark. (I thought the book was decent. Lots of thought-provoking themes: a woman's prime, fascism, one-armed painters, puppet masters, manipulation, betrayal, secret love, etc.) And after we'd expressed our opinions on the book and our highs and lows of the day (a new book club feature) there was lots of, hmm, well, interesting conversation, including breaking school dress codes, the contents of medical files, etc. Wow, ladies. I don't even know how to summarize some of our conversation. Thanks for making me laugh until my abs and my cheeks hurt. You can always tell that you've had a good time among friends when you reach that point!

Those in their prime at the shindig included Chris, Suzanne and Barney!

Two years since Katrina

Two years ago, Katrina reared her ugly head. Last summer, I went on a mission trip with the Aldersgate youth group to Biloxi, Miss., for relief work. I met amazing people who vowed to rebuild. I was moved by their faith and their strength. I'm still in touch with one woman I met there (pictured here). She and I e-mail occasionally. She's moved out of her FEMA trailer and into her remodeled home (we painted the interior when we were there), but her brother has yet to rebuild. In an e-mail she sent me Friday, she wrote, "I think about you and your group a lot. Please keep me in your prayers. I have been watching the weather all the time." So when you say your prayers, please drop in a good word for Ann.

Here are some of my favorite photos from that trip:

A bed sheet snagged in a tree right on the gulf.

One of the high school youth (now a freshman at K-State), absorbing the magnitude of the damage.

Three of us spent an afternoon working under a home right on the gulf. We were able to find some of the homeowner's personal items buried in sand under the house. (That's me on the far right wearing the Georgetown shirt and the KU hat. Yes, it was June and warm out. But we wore long pants and shirts to protect ourselves from glass shards and other debris. We also wore safety goggles, gloves and respirators as a safeguard against mold and "Katrina cough.") One cool discovery: I found an old letter a man had written to her neighbor expressing condolences for the death of his father and stating that his father was a wonderful man. Amazingly, we also found unbroken pieces of family heirloom china. Incredible how the hurricane ripped down concrete bridges while tea cups remained whole, waiting nearly a year to be rediscovered.

Puppies' Great Adventure

Once upon a time, there were two silly goldens, a brother and a sister named Dakota and Lilly. And because it was a Monday and people always need something fun to look forward to on Mondays, the people who care for them and feed them said it was time for a great adventure.

First, they went to PetSmart to meet new friends.

Lilly, meet cockatiel. Cockatiel, meet Lilly.

Next, they went to Sedgwick County Park, where there were lots of silly people-creatures zipping around on wheels and running but chasing nothing at all. And Dakota and Lilly got to watch lots of quacking ducks who weren't as friendly as the cockatiel and didn't want to play.

But Dakota and Lilly didn't mind, because they had each other. The lake water looked mighty fine, so the puppies took a dip. They bobbed for rocks and splashed and played.

Then they decided to dig in the sand. (Well, Dakota dug. Lilly tried to catch the sand in her mouth.) And unlike at home in the backyard, the people who care for them and feed them didn't even yell at them and tell them to stop.

As the golden moon began to rise above the trees, the puppies became awfully tired. You know, they thought, when you're with people who love you and when you're doing things you love, anything -- even Mondays -- aren't so bad. The birds' serenade faded to a whisper, giving way to the cicadas' lullaby. On the car ride home, Dakota and Lilly fell asleep, dreaming of endless games of fetch and squirrels and bunnies to chase. And they couldn't wait to tell Meow Meow about what a wonderful day and what a great adventure they'd had.

The end.

Newshound

After I perused the newspaper this morning, I proceeded to get ready for work. And then I noticed this:


My delightful retriever had retrieved a section of the newspaper.

Sure. I can't seem to teach Dakota to fetch the paper from the driveway, but he'll grab a section and curl up with it for a nap.

Even so, you just can't get mad at a face like this. When I showed Brian these photos, he suggested that Dakota probably got bored reading the paper and just fell asleep.

Very funny, wise guy.

Uncanny 'Nanny'

After brunch at Bella Luna today, Nicole and I went to see "Nanny Diaries", which opened in theaters Friday.

Years ago, my book club read this book, and I got a kick out of the writing and the story. I laughed out loud so often while I was reading it that Brian asked what was so funny. So I read it out loud to him, a chapter at a time, while we cooked or relaxed in the evening. He laughed just as much as I did. And, yes, I gave him endless grief that he was enjoying a chick lit novel as much as I was.

As I often do when I love a book, I passed it around to whomever would read it. I love owning a copy of a book that several of my friends and family members have read. It comes to mean so much more to me. Many of the books on my bookshelf are like that.

As far as the movie goes, parts were a little too cheesy. But I'm glad they did leave in the painful Nantucket scene, which is essential to the story. Poor little Grayer. It was a good guilty pleasure matinee movie.

Happy birthday, Eric!

Eric, my brother-in-law who lives in KC and does marketing for KU, is in Wichita this weekend to celebrate his 26th birthday. (He's saddened by the fact that he's now on that side of 25, headed right to 50. As John Mayer sings, "it might be a quarter life crisis.")

We had a shindig last night with quite the spread: bruschetta and crostini with garden tomatoes and basil, beer butt chicken, corn casserole, fresh fruit and homemade vanilla ice cream. Brian's grandmother made yellow cake with chocolate icing, which Eric loves.

For his birthday, Brian and I gave him the coolest portable camping table for him to use for his many football tailgating parties he has planned with his buddies. (Trust me: These guys know how to tailgate! We joined them for a few KU games and two Chiefs games last fall and plan to do the same this year.) Anyway, the cool table folds up briefcase-style for easy transport.

Flower power

Brian and I are spending the evening at my parents-in-law's house to celebrate my brother-in-law Eric's birthday. While our chicken is cooking on the grill, I took a look around my mother-in-law Janice's beautiful garden:

Great Grandma

Brian's grandmother Eleanor is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. A few reasons why I love her so much:

• She's 90, but still lives in her own home, cares for her yard and drives her car.


• She spends a lot of time volunteering and doing charity work around Wichita.


• She indulges me with stories about her youth. My favorite: She went on a girls weekend as a young woman and hung out with friends on a river bank. Her boyfriend (and future husband) was annoyed with her that she was gone so long. When she returned, he wanted them to spend time together. So they walked up to a school yard to swing. She said it was boring and that she was having more fun with the girls. (Decades old, yes. But this sounds like a timeless universal story, doesn't it, ladies?)


• She cares for her garden and has the most beautiful flowers and the tastiest vegetables. I love her home-grown spinach, which she uses to make the tastiest strawberry spinach salads I've ever eaten.

Weekend R&R

This adorable photo of Brian and Dakota illustrates two things:

1. Why weekend rest is so great.

2. Why there's never room for me on our couch.

They did plan this

Today was supposed to be the fourth installment of my Friday feature "We didn't plan this". But nobody at work was wearing purple and gray. So my co-worker Suzanne, who inspired this whole who's-matching-me-at-work-on-Fridays thing, challenged me to hit the streets to find a stranger matching me. Problem is I didn't leave work for lunch and I went straight home from work to help Brian prepare for a little dinner party we were having.

And so, I am forced to offer this as a substitute:

Thankfully, our friends Tony & Nicole (NiTony) arrived to dinner wearing T-shirts with flip-flops on them. And they did plan it.

Engagement at a work engagement

At work today, we had a Name That Tune game show-like fundraiser for United Way. Before it started, the DJ played "My Girl" and a man walked in with a bouquet of red roses and balloons, including one heart-shaped Mylar balloon that said "Together Forever" and proposed to one of my co-workers, Danna. The whole experience drew a big crowd and left many women swooning and crying and complementing Lamont for his surprise. (She said yes, by the way!)

I love witnessing wedding proposals. The first public proposal I ever saw was on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. Very romantic.

Peekaboo

Good morning, Meow Meow!

New toys for pups

Brian was feeling guilty last night because he forgot to buy more of the dogs' favorite food (Science Diet Large Breed Light). PetsMart was closed, so he had to run to Wal-Mart to buy some Purina to make due. He came home with some new toys for Dakota and Lilly as a peace offering. (Noooooo. Our dogs aren't spoiled!) Brian actually found the plush animals in the kids toy section. It's a little lamb (definitely the favorite) and a dog that baa and bark when you squeeze them. Before they could play, the pups had to sit, lie down and wait:

"OK, pups, take it! Uh-oh. No, Dakota. Don't chew off Laughing Lamb's ear!"

Things were getting a little too crazy. And Brian and I thought the toys were in peril. So he took them away for a bit while he read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

After the brief cooling-off period, it was time for more fun.

And on the count of three ...

After taking summer off, Aldersgate choir members got back together tonight for our first rehearsal of the fall. During introductions, I informed the new members that I am, indeed, married to this cute tenor. (Last year, a soprano who joined late didn't realize that we were married. After she'd been in the choir for about a month, she informed me that Brian seemed to be flirting with me throughout rehearsals. She was wondering if I'd picked up on it. "Yep," I told her. "I've known for at least a decade.")

After all, he is so incredibly charming:

The choir loft was crowded: We had 40 people tonight! I hope we stay with a full choir throughout the year. We always can get such a richer sound that way. Our choir is fortunate to have a lot of male voices, too. We had an ice cream reception afterward to catch up and chat with new members. (Linda showed me a new low-cal tasty treat: a float with raspberry sherbet and diet Sprite. Mmm!) Meet a few of the choir chicks:

From left: Irene, who's new to Wichita and Aldersgate; Lyn, whose husband has worked with my dad for years and whose daughter went to my high school; Andrea, who is from Kentucky and has a lovely Southern Belle accent; and Jennifer, who announced tonight that she's pregnant with Baby No. 2. (Congrats, Jen!)

Meet NiTony ...

... aka our friends Nicole and Tony (aka Roxy and Nanook's parents). Here they are at Colorado's Royal Gorge during their recent vacation.

Many months ago, I was asking Brian whether he wanted to invite Nicole and Tony over for dinner. But I accidentally slurred the two names together, and we've nicknamed the cute couple NiTony ever since. (This was at the height of merged celeb names, including Brangelina, Bennifer and TomKat. So NiTony seemed trendy-cool. And it has stuck.)

I've been secretly jealous about their cute merged name, because I just can't come up with one for Brian and me. Consider the options:

Lori + Brian =

• Lian: Sounds either strangely safari-like or just dishonest.
• Bori: Too yawn-inducing.
• Loan: Reminds me of interest rates (not so romantic).
• Lobri: Wha-huh?
• BriLo: Too much like JLo. Or a kind of scouring pad.

Any other suggestions?

Now here's an apron with attitude!

My quilting bee, the Bee-Attitudes, had our monthly meeting tonight. We celebrated our group's one-year anniversary and had a "make-and-take" project: aprons using cute kitchen towels. But before we got started, one of our members, Lesa, shared with us some aprons from her personal collection, including one that got our group of ladies quite riled up. (Seriously: I've never seen some of the women laugh so hard!) It's a sweet pink gingham apron featuring a lovely lady. Lesa explained that her mother received the homemade gift at her wedding shower in 1960 ...

... but this little desperate housewife is more than meets the eye:

Woo! Can you image the reaction this number must have drawn at that shower 47 years ago?! A good laugh and an hour later, I had this apron to add to my own collection:


The project was inexpensive, cute, quick -- and G-rated!