Rachel's Wedding Chuppah

July 1, 2017. Phew, it's over! My niece Rachel had a grand wedding and it was a fabulous party and I couldn't be more glad the day is done. Over a year ago I rashly agreed to sew the canopy for her chuppah. I didn't realize how stressful this would be for a variety of reasons:

-My brother-in-law Will and nephew Rob built the frame out of local aspen trees. The wedding was held at the Utah Natural History Museum and any untreated wood must be frozen for nearly two weeks before it can be used at the facility in order to kill any sneaky organisms that might unleash themselves upon the priceless artifacts. Will and Rob built the frame in June and I got just one good look at it before they took it to the museum. I never had a chance to practice draping the canopy before the wedding. Eek.

-Rachel was of no help whatsoever. She kept on saying extremely lovely (yet ultimately unhelpful) things like she trusted my judgement and I have a good eye and she would be fine with whatever I came up with. Eek.

-The frame was 6' x 6' square and approximately 8' high. Fabric doesn't come in 6' x 6' lengths so this became more of a math problem than anything. There were lots of calculations involved. And a little bit of swearing. And a bit of despair. Eek.

-What fabric do you use that looks fancy enough for a wedding, but not too fancy for rustic aspen wood? Where do you find this fabric? I shopped at pretty much every fabric store in Utah. I ended up finding some beautiful linen fabric in ivory. Luckily, Rachel prefers ivory over pure white. (Ha! Finally dragged an opinion out of her on that one.) Good thing since this fabric only came in ivory. Eek.

-The linen fabric I selected was lovely, but prone to fraying at the edges. How do you edge a monster-sized piece of fabric that was 10' wide and 18' feet long? In my case, I didn't. I took up my friend Jenny's rash offer of help. She took over and ended up using her serger to bind the edges. She also helped with some design modifications that ended up being absolutely perfect. Yay for Jenny! What if I hadn't included Jenny in the process? It could have all gone wrong. Eek.

-The museum closed to the public at 5:00 pm and we had just about 1/2 hour to assemble the frame and drape the canopy before the ceremony started at 6:00 pm. Rob was uber prepared and had the frame up in no time. Will's brother Dan and Dan's husband Chewy helped me drape the canopy and play around with a couple of options before we decided on the final design. Eek!

Lot's of "eeks" but ultimately it was a huge success.

Vacuum Obstruction

Picture of the Day for March 18, 2017. Hmm...no wonder my vacuum wasn't working properly. Look what I found in the roller.

St. Patrick's Day Celebration

Picture of the Day for March 17, 2017. I love being in my company's Irvine, California office on a holiday. They know how to celebrate.

Creepy School

Picture of the Day for March 14, 2017. I drive past this school on my way to work. I'm not sure I'd ever want to attend this institution. Pictures don't do it justice.

Perfectly-Framed Moon

Picture of the Day for March 11, 2017. I love how the branches of this tree perfectly frame the fully moon.

Post Surgical Eye

Picture of the Day for March 9, 2017. I had my post-op eye exam today. I'm not sure what is up with the green showing up in my iris. My eye looks slightly creepy...

Eye Surgery #2

Picture of the Day for March 8, 2017. Cataract/lens implant surgery #2 done. Oh man, this one HURT which is weird since I had the exact same surgical procedure as the first one and I had the exact same type of anesthesia as before. Maybe this eye didn't get the memo about the surgery and was taken by surprise. Who knows.

Based on the first surgery, I've got about three weeks before I feel completely back to normal. The first day after surgery your eye feels scratchy. The 2nd day after surgery you still feel a little crappy. For seven days after the surgery you have to wear a plastic eye guard at night so you don't accidentally poke your eye out while you're sleeping. The next three weeks your eye is kind of tender if you happen to bump into it or accidentally rub it (which happens more than you think it does). 

Glad it's done. 

By the way, the dot above my eyebrow is the mark the surgeon made to make sure he was operating on the correct eye. Phew!

Book Category

Picture of the Day for March 4, 2017. My friend Suzanne and I visited a vintage bookstore today. Apparently, there's a category for "old/cool" books. Cracked us up.

Jess Lourey at Sleuthfest 2017

Picture of the Day for February 25, 2017. I've been attending Sleuthfest for years now and I've attended a lot of good workshops on how to write a novel, but hands down Jess Lourey's sessions have been the most helpful and inspiring. I actually feel like I can go out and write a novel now without it feeling so daunting. I can't wait for her instructional book, Rewrite Your Life, to come out in May. 

Jess is one of my favorite authors* and I was so excited to meet her. She was so lovely and personable and encouraging. After her first workshop, I went up to talk to Jess and she said I was the "friendly face" in the crowd she focused on as she spoke. I was pretty flattered by that. She seemed genuinely interested in the novel I would like to write someday and fascinated by the Merrill family trait of going gray at a very young age. That may even make itself into one of her novels... 

*Check out her murder-by-month series.

Self Defense Class at Sleuthfest 2017

Picture of the Day for February 24, 2017. Attended a self defense class this afternoon at Sleuthfest 2017. It was taught by a woman who is in law enforcement. She was pretty impressive. Made me  want to take a Krav Maga (Israeli martial arts) class when I return to Salt Lake. I hear it's good exercise.

Guns 101 Class at Sleuthfest 2017

Picture of the Day for February 23, 2017. I'm back in Florida for the annual Sleuthfest (conference for published and wannabe mystery authors) hosted by the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it between eye surgeries and work, but I managed to work it out. Yay! Today I attended my friend Al's Guns 101 class in the forensics track of the conference. In addition to having classes on writing and getting published, the Sleuthfest organizers also bring in experts in the field so people writing about things like police procedures will get it right. Al teaches at least one course every year and every year it's a different topic. This year, as the session title would imply, his topic was on guns. He gave a very interesting history of guns and a comprehensive overview of the various types of firearms and ammunition. I got a kick out the guy talking to Al after the session. He was from Europe and not a fan of guns at all, but he was definitely fascinated by them. This guy had the most follow-up questions for Al.

24-Hour Boots

Picture of the Day for February 22, 2017. I went directly from my client meeting in Los Angeles yesterday to LAX where I caught red eye flight to Florida- dressed in my fancy work clothing. Yep, I wore these high-heeled boots for close to 36 hours straight by the time I was able to check into my hotel. I should win some sort of endurance award.

Flight Detour

Picture of the Day for February 21, 2017. I flew down to Los Angeles for a work meeting today. The weather between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles has been particularly bad for the past couple of weeks. There must have been some pretty bad weather for the pilot to make such a large detour to the east of St. George, Utah before heading back southwest again.

Mannequin Army

Picture of the Day for February 20, 2017. The Macy's near my house is closing so I went to check out the deals. Not much merchandise left. They are at the point where they are selling the fixtures. The mannequins look like they are assembling a creepy army. Maybe they have plans to take out a creepy army of clowns. I'd like to see that showdown!

No Such Thing as a Cute Clown

Picture of the Day for February 19, 2017. I'm wrapping up the last of the gag gift clown ornaments that I used to torment my niece Chantal and my sister Robynne for Christmas to give to my sister Paula. She was feeling a little left out. I love the label on the box of vintage clown ornaments. Cute Clowns. False advertising to be sure since there's no such thing as a cute clown.

Bun Basket Obsession

Picture of the Day for February18, 2017. My friend Suzanne and I are obsessed with the sandwiches at the Bun Basket, a deli on Bountiful, Utah's Main Street. We have started making almost a weekly appearance there now. 

DIAD

Picture of the Day for February 17, 2016. I didn't take this picture, but I have to post it since it sooooo exemplifies my sister Paula who is convinced all of her children are DEAD IN A DITCH (DIAD) if they don't respond immediately to calls and texts. Paula learned from a master- our highly overprotective mother who extrapolate a benign scenario out to its most hideous conclusion.

Pretty Sunset

Picture of the Day for February 16, 2017. Pretty view from my office window tonight.

Candy Bomber Autograph

Picture of the Day for February 15, 2017. So, Valentine's Day wasn't great, but I did receive this Berlin Candy Bomber (Gail Halvorsen) autograph from a friend. Nice memento! The National Museum of the US Air Force has a great display about him in their World War 2 hangar and I've been lucky enough to see his plane at Hill Air Force Base.

Meh Valentine's Day

Picture of the Day for February 14, 2017. I'm as sick as can be and missing out on the Valentine's Day family party, but at least I am well-accessorized and wearing the appropriate color for the holiday.

Bell's Palsy Update

Picture of the Day for February 13, 2017. I've been taking steroids to accelerate the healing process for my case of Bell's Palsy. It's been working like a charm. I can smile normally and even more important, I don't catch myself drooling!

Flashlight Reading Aid

Picture of the Day for February 12, 2017. Since I'm in between eye surgeries, it's kind of hard to read which is making me nuts. I've tried holding the book up to my nose and at an angle to see the print. Doesn't work. I've trying holding a magnifying glass over the pages. Doesn't work. I finally tried using the super-strength mini-flashlight that my sister gave me for Christmas. Works like a charm! Who would have guessed a flashlight would be a good substitute for reading glasses?

Good-Bye Cora

Picture of the Day for February 11, 2017. My bird Cora lost her mate, Malcolm, a few months ago. I came home from work one day and he was dead as could be on the bottom of the cage. Cora was understandably freaked out and has been one very lonely bird ever since. When she started pulling out her feathers last week, I knew it was time to find her a new home since I didn't want to get a new bird to keep her company. It's kind of hard to have pets when you travel so much. I was always having to haul the birds over to my sister's house when I went away for more than a day. I found a pet shop that was recommended to me that would take Cora. She's a pretty thing, but she and I have never been particularly fond of each other. I have to admit though, I shed a tear or too when I handed her over. Stupid bird for making me cry.

Binge TV

Picture of the Day for February 10, 2017. I don't get to spend an evening binge-watching TV very often. Tonight I started watching that new series Six on the History channel about Navy Seals. It's a very, very, very manly show. The testosterone fairly oozes out of the television!

Astronaut Smackdown

Picture of the Day for February 9, 2017. A friend of mine sent some items to an astronaut to be signed on my behalf. He wrote a chatty letter making some observations about the astronaut's career. The astronaut did NOT take kindly to what were meant as very benign comments. I got a chuckle out of the smackdown.

Super Glue Incident

Picture of the Day for February 8, 2017. Not My Finest Moment #453. Today at work I had an incident with a tube of super glue. Long story... Let's just say that my blouse is glued to my stomach and my skirt.

Urban Work Environment

Picture of the Day for February 7, 2017. My office building is remodeling the basement hallway that leads to the parking garage. It makes me feel like I work in an edgy, urban environment- like there's an element of danger making my way to/from my office.

Lynda Lou and Cindy Too

Picture of the Day for February 6, 2017. Flew home from California today. I got a kick out the fact that my airport shuttle driver's name was Lynda Lou. Our pilot flying home was Cindy. It was like the Whoville version of airline travel- Lynda Lou and Cindy Lou Who. 

Plans for World Domination

Picture of the Day for February 5, 2017. My new notebook. Yep, that's about right. I do like to get my way.

(I originally published this with a typo in the subject header- Plans for Word Domination. That's about right too for a former English teacher.)

Eating Eclairs

Picture of the Day for February 4, 2017. Enjoying shopping, lunch, and eclairs with my friend Suzanne today. 

"Dark" Shadows

Picture of the Day for February 3, 2017. I drove past this complex today and did a double-take when I thought I saw it was named Dark Shadows. I loved the 1990s re-make of the original TV series. I was disappointed to realize the place is actually called Park Shadows and the snow was merely obscuring the lower portion of the "P." Not nearly as creepy and wonderful as Dark Shadows.

Hazel Bazel

Picture of the Day for February 2, 2017. Miss Hazel Bazel (my great-niece) made another appearance at family lunch today. Her great aunt Robynne read her a story while her grandmother looked on. Of course, you can't actually identify the great aunt and grandmother since they are so photo-phobic and won't let me post pictures of them.

Big Hair

Picture of the Day for February 1, 2017. Got my hair dyed and trimmed today. I love the poster of big hair from the 60s and 70s that my stylist has in her studio.

I also love the wallpaper in the bathroom at the studio.

Grandma Merrill's Birthday

Picture of the Day for January 31, 2017. For some reason, I always remember my Grandma Merrill's birthday. Today she would be 117 years old!

Bell's Palsy

Picture of the Day for January 30, 2017. So, it looks like I've got a case of Bell's Palsy which is a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of the face.  It's a temporary condition but healing can be accelerated by taking steroids. I'm totally hitting up my ophthalmologist for a prescription at my upcoming post-op visit this week. This is driving me nuts. Also, I'd prefer not to involuntarily drool at an upcoming client meeting. 

Missionary Farewell/Inappropriate Photography

Picture of the Day for January 29, 2017. I attended my friend Shar's daughter's missionary farewell today. Lizzy will be going to New Mexico which I think is pretty cool since my nephew Rob spent a large part of his mission there too. I love New Mexico.

I totally took a stealth picture of Lizzy during the church service which is a bit of a no-no. My friend Jenny said there was someone sitting next to her during the service drinking coffee- even more a sin for Mormons for whom coffee = Satan juice. I have to admit I was amused by this minor act of rebellion. 

Icicles

Picture of the Day for January 28, 2017. So, in yesterday's post I complained about dealing with a leaky roof. How does that happen when it's freezing outside?

Leaky Roof

Picture of the Day for January 27, 2017. I guess when you leave a bowl to catch the water from a leaky roof  on the floor of your bedroom at all times along with a space heater to dry out the carpet, it's a clear sign that it's time to get a new roof.

Ice Cream Dynasty

Picture of the Day for January 26, 2017. My dad, the ultimate ice cream fanatic, would be so proud of his youngest great-granddaughter, Hazel. She loves ice cream too. She ate every single bit of this ice cream cone.

My niece Chantal was telling me that her daughter Sadie will get a bowl of ice cream and comment that Grandpa Bob would be so happy with her. Made me tear up. I miss the sight of my parents' freezer filled with cartons of ice cream -sometimes to the annoyance of my mother who often couldn't fit in actual food into the freezer. Who needs food when you've got ice cream?

Eye Surgery #1

Picture of the Day for January 25, 2017. Cataract/lens implant surgery #1 done. One more to go in March for the other eye. 

So here is what eye surgery is like. You're awake. Since your eye is being frequently irrigated with water, it feels like you are a few feet below the surface of a body of water looking up at lights that are just above the surface. The lights (which are actually from the microscope the surgeon is using to look into your eye) seem to keep shifting and changing colors- almost like a kaleidoscope. You can't see a scalpel coming out you. My surgery lasted a total of 20 minutes. So, for anyone facing cataract/lens implant surgery, there's nothing to be afraid of.