Banana Upside Down Muffins

Sunday, December 25, 2011

I decided to make Banana Upside Down Muffins (recipe here) for a late afternoon Christmas snack. 

They came out pretty tasty.  I sort of wish I would have cooked the topping a bit more, and also that my bananas were more toward overripe than under.  But, all in all pretty darn good.

Some recent crafting

Saturday, December 17, 2011

This is a wallet I made for a "scrap happy" swap.  The outside is scrap fabrics sewn together, and inside are bigger pieces of the fabrics to make a zip pouch, cash pocket, and credit card pockets.  This was a ton of work (and re-work) as I tried to figure out the assembly just from looking at pictures.  The pictures I took myself were sort of blurry, so I'm using the ones my partner posted when she received the items.

This one is a needle book.  I'd sewn several scrappy strips together and used different stitch techniques.  Inside is a piece of white felt to put needles in.

Here are some of the hearts I made to swap with others.

This one I made some time ago, it is a sugar skull mug rug:

This little guy I just made a few weeks ago for a "Christmas / winter ninni" swap

 These are pins I made, the one on the left is scrap fabric, the one on the right is made from felt.

 Another item from the scrap happy swap, a mug rug:

And another mug rug I made for the ninni themed swap (can you tell I've been on a mug rug kick lately?  I'd love to have more myself... :)  It would be so fun to have one for every holiday.

Love this.

A Prayer for the World

Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges,
the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly,
So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness,
So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrow of our neighbors.
And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to
surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven.

- Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

Unfinished Business

Friday, December 9, 2011

I have a confession to make.  I am not a 'real' Hokie.  And by that I mean, I have not attended Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia.  My love for this school and this town formed when I adopted them both as my own.  First the school, when I married a Hokie in 2002 (John Baute, class of '94), and then the town, when I moved to Blacksburg in 2008.  I am confident that I could not love them one iota more than I do today, even had I been born in the town and attended every level of higher education at the school.


But there is this nagging feeling in the back of my head.  The knowledge that I am not "on the books" as one of theirs, to the extent that they have become one of mine.  I believe I now know the feeling of Pinocchio, wanting to become a real boy.  There is always a perceived risk, otherwise...  I am not 'real' in their eyes.

To be clear, I did attend a school of higher learning and earn my Bachelor's degree.  There is no unfinished business in this regard.  Except... Wanting to become a 'real' Hokie.  To be on the books forever more as a Hokie.  To experience all that the great institution has to offer by learning there.  To create my own classroom memories, find my own inspiring professors, and absorb MORE of the spirit and energy that is the Hokie Nation. 


Unfinished business.