HAPPY SNOW DAY

End of Year Hopes

I hope we all have enough to eat.
I hope we can resolve our differences with words rather than with wars.
I hope we can be our authentic selves, that we can be courageous to act as who we really are without much fear.
I hope the children in this world are loved and well cared for.
I hope we seek to understand other people rather than shutting out those who opinions are different than their own.
I hope we all work toward making the planet less polluted.
I hope we preserve old growth forests around the world.
I hope we love our pets and honor the other animals who share this planet.
I hope the economy becomes stronger around the world and that Americans learn to save for purchases rather than going into debt via credit cards (and I hope the govt. better regulates credit card companies).
I hope we can love each other.
I hope that after all is said and done that we can all still have hope!

Going Batty in December

Merry Christmas All!

This photo collage represents my two favorite vacations of last year--one to Baja, Mexico, the other to the Redwoods. LeeAnn and I also went to Seattle, which was fun too. Anyway, the Mexico vacation took place in January and is represented in the three photos to right third row down and one photo at far left in the fourth row. Loved seeing the whales so close and visiting the desert. Also met so many nice people and found the best restaurant in all of Baja--it's in Todos Santos. Donna, LeeAnn, and I went on the redwoods vacation during spring break in March. We stayed at the Redwoods AYH (hostel). On the days it was sunny we went to the beach. Other days--rainy ones--we walked in the redwood forests.

Let it Snow!

More snow today. Back to riding the bus again. You'd think people would be in good moods today (Friday!) but I think the bus riders are tired of the weather as they weren't nearly as animated today. It's been a long week for those who have long commutes. In Spokane, my brother got 2 feet of snow in 24 hours yesterday. In Bellingham, my family has a couple more inches than Eugene, last I heard. Where ever you are, stay safe and don't drive unless the road conditions are pretty good. If I had a pair of X-country skis I'd be strapping those on tomorrow to make my way around town. Yee-ha!

A Warm and Balmy Day

The rain came down hard last night and this morning, which melted our snow and ice. It's now about 40 degrees whereas it had been in the teens. I now feel comfortable driving my car so didn't have to leave so early to go to work this morning.

This week has seemed extra long. I am so ready for the weekend. Have to finish getting ready for Christmas. I haven't even gone to the Holiday Market yet this year...that's rare for me. Well, I am trying to save money and I always find things I want to buy there so maybe it's for the best.

What's your favorite place to shop for Christmas or Hannakah gifts?

If you make gifts, what are some of the things you like to make?

What's your favorite dish on the holiday dinner table?

Some of my first mosaics

These are some of the first mosaics I completed in 2007. I took a class at MECCA in Eugene and made all but the one on the far left in my class. Since then I've done a fairly large faux stained glass, a jewelry box, picture frames, and more. I like to think I've been improving my skills. At least I take more time to get things right now. Mosaics is a very time consuming process--from planning a design to gathering materials, and then cutting glass and adhering the tiles/glass and grouting.

I like mosaics for many reasons: they look great outside with the sun reflecting on them -- or in windows (like stained glass); there are so many things you can mosiac; you don't have to be good at drawing (I'm not!); I can get a lot of materials cheaply at MECCA and Art of Glass ((buying their scraps); and my kiddo likes to do them too so it's a mom/daughter thing we can do together.

Sorry about the poor quality photos.

Old Man Winter

Woke up at 5:00 to get the school closure/road reports. LeeAnn had no school for the second day in a row. I had to go to work, however. Left the house at 7:00 to walk three blocks down to the nearest bus stop. Took a bus downtown, caught my connecting bus (yay!) and made it to work just five minutes past 8:00! Now I'm stuck here until my boss gives the go-ahead to leave, but it's been a pretty slow day. I'm afraid of what I will find when I get home: one arts & craft making daughter who doesn't like to clean up after herself + a no-school day equals one big mess. And who said I wasn't good at math?!

Here are a couple of images from a trip to the mountains last year.

LeeAnn in the snow

In honor of it being December and it freezing last night, here's a photo of my daughter LeeAnn (foreground) with her friend Erika. Taken last year on a wonderfully fun snowshoe trip in the Cascades.

Hi Everyone

My name is Karol. I live in Eugene, Oregon. I plan to include several different topics on my new blog: parenting, reading, cooking, art & craft making, photography, writing...pretty much anything hobby related. I hope to communicate with like minded people and share my adventures and knowledge.