nick burns

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this is why i would never be a good teacher, ask aaron. i'm a total nick burns when it comes to computers. thanks, gotshoo for the 2008 update on how the IT world really works.

where the elk falls

monday chad, jennaya and the boys ventured up to the high country to do a little camping. unfortunately it started pouring a little after they set up camp. we offered up the house as a shelter until the rain passed, played a little mariokart and had a little dinner. a couple hours later we all headed back over to their campsite. everything was a little damp, but we managed to get a fire going with a little boy scout recall. tepees and chimneys. aaron and i spent a couple hours chatting and catching up before we braved the heavy fog back home.

yesterday we decided to check out elk falls. chad had been there when he went to app. state years ago and we all thought it'd be a fun trip with the kids and dogs. we were quite surprised when we pulled up and cars were spilling out of the parking lot. including a church camp bus. apparently this quiet place has become a local hot spot. we all had a good time despite the crowds. it was a perfect day, even a little on the warm side. it was so great seeing jennaya and the boys. we'll have to make a trip over to greensboro soon! elk falls flickr.

just my type

a few great finds this week. hit up three thrift shops, the humane society's rummage sale and an antique mall. of course i never find too much to my liking. mostly craft findings: zippers, fabric and an occasional home accessory. i found these old press letters at the antique mall. didn't purchase them but i may return and make a "westphal" purchase. i like the look and feel of the type. i already have a place in mind.

i should be updating on sunday. busted out the polymer tonight and have a few sewing projects close to done. hopefully the weather cooperates this weekend. we've got plans with the moores and i need a sunny day to take decent photos. fingers crossed.

how to get along...

...with difficult people.

for the last month aaron's had a rash of difficult patients. pushy, overly emotional, unsatisfied. you name it, he's probably encountered it. he really hasn't had any problems til now. which is somewhat surprising since he's been there almost a year. he's not used to dealing with such fussy people, so he's been a little stressed.

on our drive home from charlotte tuesday we were discussing a bulk of them. why they act the way they do, how they're effecting his attitude/demeanor, what's the best way to handle them, etc. at the end our conversation he commented, "they should offer a course or something on dealing with difficult people."

today, on my thrift store hunt i found his answer. "how to get along with difficult people" of course the edition i found was from 1984 but it pretty much carries the same information. people are categorized into different personality traits: bob bossy, gilda guilt, sally spiritual and so on. i don't know if it will offer any sound advice, but i thought it was a funny find and so appropriate given his current situation.

the book right beside it, "health professional/patient interaction." yeah, he can add this one to his library as well.

bag lady

latest additions to the shop. although this one is already sold! i've got to freshen everything up. my goal is to have five of everything and i'm already behind. i guess that's a good thing.

while my mom was here, she asked if i could make her a tote. i let her pick out the fabric and she gave me the specs on what she wanted: pockets on the sides, slit pocket on the front and sturdy enough to stand on it's own. i started while she was here, but decided it'd be better to finish after she had left. (i don't work well with someone standing over me). i finished and it's already in the mail. hopefully she's happy with it. a couple of firsts for me: using piping, batting and making a slit pocket. i think i love piping now. watch for it in the next installment of new items. here's some more photos of the bag.

we just got back from seeing the new batman flick. more about it tomorrow, the dogs are starving for attention and i'm starving for some mint chocolate chip ice cream. yum!

tonic living

i've put the master bath off long enough. after ripping down all the green wallpaper the room has been sitting in disarray for a few months now. today i ordered some "tonic" fabric which the rest of the room will be loosely based on. instead of wallpaper i've been thinking about using vinyl wall art similar to the image below.

i came across this in my search yesterday. completely awesome and completely out of my price range. it's about $1200 a panel and consists of seven panels. there's a few others i found at velocity that are more in my budget. hopefully it's easier to handle than wallpaper. i've learned that job should be handled by the professionals.

sweet mountain

brian and irina arrived friday evening and we had waited to eat dinner with them. they arrived around 7:45 and we were out the door by 8. we decided to treat everyone to makotos, a japanese steakhouse here in boone. it was the first time for most and everyone had a good time.

brian brought his wii wheel and we played a little mariokart after dinner. it was the first time we played with three players. really not a fan of the four-split screen. a little too chaotic for my taste. we did get to play angela and family for the first time. we kicked a little butt, i'm not bragging at all! ;)

saturday the weather finally cooperated and we were able to enjoy the mountains in full force. aaron had read in the paper that sugar mountain resort opened it's ski lifts for scenic summer rides. you can either hike or bike the trails. the lifts are rigged to carry bikes up. it was crazy seeing them float by. well, after a 20-25 minute ride up we decided to hike down. even mom managed to keep up, she even passed us at one point. here's the sugar flickr set. as you can see we all had a great time.

after hiking we headed over to sugar grove for their annual music festival. we caught the carolina chocolate drops and the kruger brothers. it was brian and irina's introduction to bluegrass. and i think they both enjoyed the music. when we arrived home, the weather was still great that we decided to get a little fire going. we sat outside, cracked open a bottle of wine and enjoyed the evening chatting.

so that's how our sweet weekend wrapped up. we didn't plan everything around sugar, it just happened. and before i forget, my mom picked about 10 gallons of blackberries. literally. our counter tops were barely visible, she had bowls and jars everywhere. luckily she took it all with her. poor brian had to haul it all back to maryland. another sweet item.

friends 4 eva

a blast from the past! yes, these were all made recently. luana asked me if i knew how to make friendship bracelets and if i did, could i teach her. i only knew how to make the simple stripes and the V shape from back in the day. ahhh, the power of the internet. i found this great tutorial with detailed instructions. once you master the forward and backward knot, it's pretty easy to branch out and try the advanced designs. so these are what we've been crafting for the past week. from far left: made by mom, luana and the rest were made by me. mom is now sporting her creation.

the house quiet again. everyone has finally left the building. things should be getting back to normal shortly. more about the weekend tomorrow. i'm dead tired!

eat at cho's

i'm amazed at what you can find at a asian grocery store these days. you can now get kimchee on the go. and not just one type, but a huge variety. if we lived close by, i think i'd be there weekly, if not daily.

we've had five straight days of rain. and i think we're all getting a little cabin fever. it hasn't rained continuously, but it has daily. planning an outing has been difficult. tomorrow i think we'll brave the forecasted downpours and get a little site-seeing in.

tonight aaron ran in the bear. the race was all uphill and the elevation changes 2000 ft. he finished 377 out of 897. (not sure if that's the correct number of people that participated.) for his first time, he did great. one of the nurses finished 8 minutes behind him and there were about 200 people who finished between them. (gives you a better idea of how the numbers work) not sure if this is gonna be an annual thing with him. i have a feeling it will since he did so well.

screamtime

can you guess where we went today? with family visiting we decided it was the perfect opportunity to get a little fun in between the rain showers. it's rained the past few days and it's forcasted to rain the rest of the week. we've been cooped up playing video games, watching movies and doing a little crafting. (i'll be posting what we're making tomorrow). hopefully by the time brian and irina arrive friday afternoon we'll see some sunshine.

here's luana a little too happy to zip. she was a bit nervous at first, but she ended up being a natural. unfortunately we couldn't convince my mom to give it a go. i'm sure she would have had a ball too!

the terrain was quite different from our jamaican canopy tour a few years ago. instead of trees we pretty much zipped from hill to hill, dodging the occasional cow. and yes the mountains were "smokin" today. we were pretty much the only locals who took advantage of the ride. not that it wasn't busy, but everyone we met including the 10 others in our party were from florida up for the summer. i'll let the pictures do the talking. zipline flickr.

miss maggie

been a little incognito this week. entertaining a 17-year-old and my mother has been somewhat time consuming. hopefully by the end of the weekend i'll be able to post photos from the past week. i'm playing a bit of catch-up too, hopefully i'll be able to chat, email, comment with everyone soon.

here's the answer to my dad's question today: "How many time have you had to chase her down the road so far?" we've also got maggie (brian's yorkie) with us. last time she was here we ended up chasing her down our driveway and up the road. we decided to try the shock collar on her but with the shock feature disabled, (it would just beep when she got too close to the electric fence.) i did one training session with her and she pretty much picked it up. such a smart pooch. happy fourth everyone!