Many (Completely Random) Things I've Been MeaningTo Show You!

I have been swamped at work (MAN can that job get in the way of my knitting sometimes :D)  But I think about you every day, and have sort of gathered up this assortment of things.  As I go through my workaday life, I'll take pictures on my cell phone and think, "Oh, that would be fun to share on the blog!"  So what follows is an (almost entirely random) set of photos and stories about what has been going on in and around my life for the past two weeks.

First of all, thank you all so much for your kind notes about our Libby; Nathan and I were both very touched that you reached out.  We miss her every day and are doing our best to appreciate Madeline more, and to help her adjust to single-dog life.  She seems less sad, but is still a lot more clingy than usual.  She very much likes her new doggie bed, with her new silly monster blanket.

I also bought her a long purple stuffed dachshund toy with sqeakers in it; I gave it to her and went to cook dinner, and by the time I got back to the living room this was all that was left of it (you can see the little squeaker bubble - tee hee!):

As my work overload continues unabated, I don't have much progress to show you on KOTOTW stuff.  I finished the Senorita's Floral Pullover except for the floral embellishments.  I am waiting until after my big deadline next weekend to finish the flowers and attach them to the pullover, along with the decorative red scallop edgings for the godet inserts:

I also looked through the rest of KOTOTW to see if there was some relatively straight, uncomplicated knitting projects I could skip ahead to, and get started while commuting; I started the Egyptian Isis Tunic, and the Great Bear Zip Tunic, both of which have lots of straight rows of stockinette.  I'm really enjoying this one.  I decided to stitch on the V's on the bottom and upper stripes via duplicate stitch, but I did the motif in the middle with intarsia. 

My friend Brandon sent some incredibly cute pictures of his baby girl, Finley, including this one where she is making a very droll expression:

I was lucky enough to meet her in person yesterday, and she is tiny, calm and smiley -- everything you could wish for in a baby girl, indeed. 

I had a big closing at work; in addition to her full-time job, my friend Eva is also the Vice President of Gilda's Club Twin Cities, Inc., our local chapter of the Gilda's Club organization.  When GCTC was hunting for the right space to open their first Gilda's Clubhouse, I asked her if I could please-oh-please be their lawyer and help with the purchase (and my very generous law firm, Lindquist & Vennum, P.L.L.P., agreed to donate my time on a pro bono basis!)  After a very looooooonng due diligence process, we finally reached the finish line this Wednesday and closed the on the purchase of a sweet little 7,300 sf building to turn into a Clubhouse.  Between sellers, lenders, GCTC members, brokers and closers, about 14 people attended the closing at my office, many of us wearing the signature Gilda's Club colors of red and black.  It was far more emotional than your average real estate closing; before getting down to the nitty-gritty of signing documents, we went around the table and shared some stories about how cancer has affected us or the people we love.  think the sellers were very moved to realize that their beloved building would be used by and appreciated so much in future and would serve the considerable psychological and social support needs of people dealing with the challenge of cancer. 

GCTC also had a volunteer appreciation event last week, and I received an unexpected new comer volunteer award, which I didn't expect (I didn't even have the chance to write my, "I'd like to thank the members of the Academy" speech!)   But now I have a beautiful reminder on my desk of one of the most satisfying transactions of my career.  After all, it isn't every day a real estate lawyer gets to use her powers for good.

Nathan and I received a special care package from Russia!  Our exchange-student friend Anastasia sent us some Italian and Russian sweets in a box labelled "Noyta Pocchi" which maybe means express post or something.  We went to Target to pick up some more Oreos, Jelly Bellies, M&Ms and chocolate treats to send right back!  (I wish I had thought of sending some of those written candy hearts in time for Valentine's Day; but then I don't know if Russians celebrate Valentine's day - hmmm....)

This Thursday I attended a meeting for ULI (Urban Land Institute) and heard Ted Mondale speak about the state's plans to do a better job marketing the Twin Cities as a great place to work and live.  Minnesotans are really terrible at tooting their own horns, and as a result most people picture the Twin Cities as a sort of unlivable frozen tundra/swamp with lots of snow and mosquitoes.  It is actually a beautiful place to live, and we need todo a much better job at getting the word out.  So I will henceforth try to be less mocking about my adopted home.  After all, we have some killer yarn stores, and perfect sweater weather for most of the year!

Anyway, instead of concentrating on what Mr. Mondale had to say, I was mesmerized by this woman sitting in front of me who had lovely red hair swept up into a bun, held together by two sticks topped with giraffe heads (I love giraffes - they are sort of my totem animal, being so tall and all).  I introduced myself after the meeting and told her how I admired both lovely hair and ornaments, and asked if I might take a picture.  The lovely Ms. Alison Bell, who works for the Metropolitan Council, was happy to oblige.  She told me that she used to work with the Peace Corps in Africa and had multiple sets of giraffe sticks, and would be happy to give me a set (!)  Now I just need lots more long hair.  Oh, and some Irish heritage to make it red...

The Mondale event was at the McKnight Foundation's offices, which are located in the ruins of an old flour mill on the banks of the Mississippi River.  The Foundation had a beautiful art display by an artist named Cynthia Binger Boynton, a member of the board who was about to retire.  There was a little plaque relating the story of the pieces, which were all inspired by the story of Hansel and Gretel, and started with a picture she had drawn at the age of 5.  I just thought they were both beautiful and fascinating:

My wonderful friend and fellow dachshund owner Kassia (for whom I made the tiny Audrey Hepburn) surprised me on Valentine's days with candy and this adorable luggage tag:

Simply adorable.  Kassia manages to find dachshund-related gifts of every sort.  I think that she would be amazing at one of those Hollywood jobs where you have to find objects to create movie sets, as she seems to have an unending ability to find obscure and perfect things like this.

I bought my friend Renay that new book of knitted cats for Valentine's Day and walked down the street to deliver it after my big closing.  Renay was wearing this lovely hand-knitted vest, which I immediately coveted fiercely, until I remembered that Renay weighs maybe 67 pounds and can thus wear a bulky knit like this and still appear lithe and thin:

Speaking of knitting by others, my sister finished her Catkin!  (Mine is on hold until my work project is over with, sigh - so much for a January knitalong!)  Here it is being blocked last weekend.  I asked my sister for a shot of her modelling it, but she is in San Diego this weekend teaching at a real estate law boot camp, which sounded like fun until she told me that it ran from 9 AM until 10 PM.  Not much time to enjoy San Diego, apparently...  I love the colors she chose, and can't wait to see her wearing it!  My goal is to get mine done by May so that we can wear them when we go to the Lake Elmo Shepherd's Harvest festival together!

 

I read an article in a knitting magazine about a man in Texas who lost his family and was living on his grandfather's abandoned farm, and making a living selling hand-knitted bears on Etsy.  I thought that I would buy a bear to lend him some support, and also because I thought our guest-blogger baby Adeline might appreciate a new friend:

And finally, some Legos.  My son Nathan has a Lego city on the credenza in the kitchen/dining room, of this row of buildings.  Lego recently issued a kit for the same row of buildings in miniature, which is pretty cute.  I'm thinking I would like one for my office, being a real estate lawyer and all:

Anyway, in the full-size version of the city, he sets up these little vignettes with various figures, doubtless for his own amusement.  But I check them out now and again and they really crack me up. 

Here, for instance, is SpongeBob's friend Patrick.  Judging from the guy coming up behind him with a sword and a wand, I think he is in trouble:

The mini-figure of me looks to be in quite a predicament; I'm apparently facing off with Voldemort, who has the ghost of Davy Jones from Sponge Bob swirling about his head:

This guy sort of cracked me up; evidently he is on sentry duty, but decided to enjoy a Popsicle while on the job (you'll note the teeth marks on his helmet; unfortunately Libby thought Lego mini-figs made great chew-toys):

This is my current favorite.  Nathan and I are listening to Harry Potter in the car during rides to school and on errands, so we talk about the books a lot. Evidently the valiant Dobby is defending Harry (with his owl Hedwig cowering behind him) from Lucius Malfoy, while standing atop the train to Hogwarts!

You just never know what might be going on in the little town that lives in my dining room.

I hope everything is going very well in your little towns!  Before you know it spring will be here, too, which for Minnesotans means shedding the extra layers of coats and hats and mittens.  Somehow I always feel like I've lost all this weight by May, when in fact it is mostly just a lot of extra woolens.

XOXOXO, Mar

Comments

[Linda]

I love the way the Seniorita pullover is coming along. I am amazed by your ability to split your time between knitting, work, raising your son, pro bono work, and general charity AND still find time to write a post for us. I enjoy your posts and thank you for keeping us in mind.

Lovely Libby looks great in her new bed and that photo of Finley is just wonderful!

[Jo-ann]

I love the randomness of boy's imaginations. Thanks for the tour of your lego city. (The knitting is always cool too).

[Steph]

I do the same thing when I don't have time to blog! And then I find random notes in my email or pictures on my phone of things I never posted about.

Such a funny baby picture!

We're a big Lego family...just took a book out of the library to show my brother: The Cult of Lego. Very interesting to flip through. Also I LOVE the HP audiobooks. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Jim Dale is the best reader I've heard yet on an audiobook.

[Cynthia]

I always enjoy reading your blogs! The Lego City is fabulous!
XOXO

[Batb]

Hi Mary! I read your post earlier in the week and then was interrupted and didn't get a chance to leave a Comment. I so enjoyed reading all the 'random' things you have been up to - you are one very busy girl, huh?

Lego City is particularly entertaining - I'm always amazed when I see what people can do with Legos - the extra additions to your are so much fun!

I hope your work load is settling down just a bit (at least so you can get in a little knitting :) - please!). Have a wonderful weekend.

[katebee]

The stuff on the postal box basically says "Russian Mail."

The first word would be pronounced sort of like "poch-TA," and "Poccuu" = (sort of) "ruh-SEE," which means Russian. :)

And I can't wait to see the finished Egyptian tunic! Wow!