Jamie's Baby Shower

As is true to form for me, I was up until 4 this morning and up again at 9 to finish crafting the presents for Jamie's baby shower. I finished the blanket a good while ago and came up against a brick wall for the mobile. But, with the deadline looming within hours, I pulled it out.

It turned out better than I expected, but, of course, being the perfectionist that I claim to be, the flaws are killing me.
Also, yesterday, Jamie showed me a picture of some bafefoot baby sandals and asked me to make some for her. I found the pattern, and whipped out a pair to include with her gift.

Jamie's mother had decorated for the baby shower last night, and there were some clothes hanging on the wall which included the colors I used for the sandals.
Despite the mental block with the mobile and the quick turnout with the sandals, Jamie said she loved everything! For the party, Ted made this great baby in bassinette out of fruit.

And the cake was from Desserts by Rita.

Back to Real Life

I'm back from vacation, and it went well. For the first two days, Mom and I walked around and saw things and people that I hadn't seen in a long time. Friday, we left for Las Vegas, and stopped at the Casablanca Casino in Mesquite to see an old family friend.

Flowers and water feature at Casablanca

We met up with Wanda and her kids in Las Vegas, and went to dinner at Main Street Station at their seafood buffet.

It was not as good as Maryland seafood, but still good. Saturday, the whole family went out thrift shopping.

Flowers in front of thrift store

Later, Mom and I took Bebe swimming at the hotel pool, and then Mom and I went gambling. The next day, we drove back to Utah, with a short stop in Mesquite - where I made back all of the money I lost in Las Vegas:-) Monday, I relaxed, finished reading a book, packed, and walked around town one last time.

Sunset from Colonel's Hill

The flight back was uneventful, but I did see the forest fire in Fort Collins, Colorado from the airplane, about 150 miles away.

Fort Collins forest fire

After Tom picked me up from the airport, we went to the Inner Harbor to avoid rush hour traffic on the interstate.

USS Constellation

The trip was nice, and a little bittersweet - I'm glad to have gone.

Shroud for the Archbishop

This book was a quick read!  My father introduced me to the medieval mystery genre (which I really enjoy) with the Brother Cadfael series of books, and this one was very similar, with a main character of Sister Fidelma.  She's an Irish sister in Rome, where women's rights are worlds apart.  The mystery was well put together, with many twists and turns along the way.  I had so many theories going, I couldn't keep them straight, and none of them encompassed the eventual solution!  Luckily, the solution fell in with the storyline, and wasn't something that felt like it was pulled out of thin air.  Overall, a good book.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

This evening, I finished reading We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver.

Wow. Chyanna, who lent me the book, said it would start off slow, but to stick with it. She was right. It definitely started off slowly, but once you got into it, it was fascinating. About half way through the book, I had an inkling of how it would end, but it turned out worse than I expected. It was a really good book, told by letters written by Kevin's mother to his father, relating how she felt throughout Kevin's lifetime and things that she didn't think she could tell the father.
I recommend this book, and please, just like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, work through the slow beginning because the rest of the book will make up for it.

I'm Going Home

I started a week long vacation today flying from Baltimore to Salt Lake City, via Las Vegas. I flew Southwest for the first time ever, and the boarding process and getting a seat I wanted didn't turn out nearly as bad as I imagined it would. Here are some of the sights I saw.

On the way to Las Vegas

Flying in to Salt Lake City

New Look

Well, I've just picked up my new glasses! I left my old glasses at the beach when I went to the Raven's Roost Convention. On Thursday, they told me the glasses wouldn't be ready for 7-10 days, so I wasn't expecting to get them for a while, but here they are.

This picture is from Thursday, when I ordered the glasses.

I Spy Photo Swap

I joined this swap late in May - I thought it might be fun to try. I finished it in record time (for me). This is what I created.

I found the items in my purse and desk at work, and I thought it was a nice variety of items, with an assortment of colors. The five clues for things to find were: 4 presidents, creatures of the air, sea and land, 2 websites, a Euro, how does it taste?

Raven's Nation

This year's Ravens Roost Convention had a theme of Ravens Nation: Purple and Black Attack. There weren't many floats this year, but there were a lot a different variations on the theme.

There were also quite a few players, as well as cheerleaders, Poe, and some of the coaching staff.

#56 Chavis Williams

#23 Chykie Brown

#97 Arthur Jones

Defensive Assistant Coach Matt Weiss

The Pep Band, of course, was fabulous!